Abu'l-Hasan Isfarayini
Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn Fadl ibn Ahmad Isfarayini (Persian: ابوالحسن علی بن فضل بن احمد اسفراینی, died 1013/14), commonly known as Abu'l-Hasan Isfarayini (ابوالحسن اسفراینی), was a Persian[1] vizier of the Ghaznavid sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (r. 998–1030) from 998 to 1010.
Biography
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Isfarayini was most likely from the town of
The
Isfarayini's main task was to find the money to finance the military campaigns of the Ghaznavids, and managed to accomplish that for a few years; he managed to raise a large sum in only two days. However, the situation became troublesome by drought and consequent bad harvest, and a plague that followed. Still in 1010/1, Isfarayini managed to raise a considerable amount in Herat, which, however, was not enough for Mahmud, who ordered him to also use his own money to finance the Ghaznavid military campaigns. Isfarayini, however, disobeyed, and went voluntarily to prison; his property was confiscated and when he was accused of extortion, he was brutally tortured, which resulted in his death in 1013/4. Some authors mention that one of the reasons for the downfall of Isfarayini was because of a quarrel between Mahmud and Isfarayini over a Turkic slave.[2]
Isfarayini was succeeded by Ahmad Maymandi, who restored Arabic as the administrate language of the Ghaznavid state. Isfarayini had a son named Hajjaj, who became a prominent scholar, and an unnamed daughter.[2]
References
- ^ Bosworth 2001, pp. 578–583.
- ^ a b Bosworth 1983, pp. 303–304.
Sources
- ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
- Bosworth, C. E. (1983). "Abu'l-Ḥasan Esfarāʾīnī". In ISBN 978-0-71009-092-8.
- Bosworth, C. E. (2001). "Ghaznavids". In ISBN 978-0-933273-55-9.
- Khatibi, Abolfazl; Cooper, John (2014). "Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Isfarāyinī". In Fleet, Kate; ISSN 1873-9830.