Iskandar Beg Munshi

Iskandar Beg Munshi (Persian: اسکندربیگ منشی‎), a.k.a. Iskandar Beg Turkman (اسکندربیگ ترکمان)[1] (c. 1560 – c. 1632),[2] was a Persian[3][4] historian of Turkmen origin[5] of the Safavid emperor Shah Abbas I. Iskandar Beg began as an accountant in the bureaucracy, but later became a privileged secretary of the Shahs.[6] He wrote one of the greatest works of Persian historiography, Tārīk̲h̲-i ʿĀlam-ārā-yi ʿAbbāsī (Alamara-i Abbasi). The work begins with the origins of the Safavids and continues through the reign of Shah Abbas I.

He knew the Azerbaijani language.[7]

References

"HISTORIOGRAPHY vi. SAFAVID PERIOD" Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 30 May 2015
Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2018-05-01). "Iskandar Beg Munshī". Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Iskandar Beg Munshī (b. 969/1561–2, d. c.1043/1633 or 1634) was a Persian court scribe (munshī) and chronicler whose Tārīkh-i ʿālam-ārā-yi ʿAbbāsī (“The world-adorning history of ʿAbbās”) deals with Ṣafavid history and the reign of Shāh ʿAbbās I (r. 995–1038/1587–1629). Its sequel (dhayl) chronicles the first five years of the reign of his grandson and successor, Shāh Ṣafī (r. 1038–52/1629–42).
Paulina Kewes, Ian W. Archer, Felicity Heal. The Oxford Handbook of Holinshed's Chronicles. — Oxford University Press, 2013. — P. 256."Iskandar Beg's work is regarded as one of the finest works of Persian historiography, notable for both its literary quality and its author's Thucydidean claim to rely only on his own knowledge or that of direct participants in events."
The Oxford History of Historical Writing, Volume 3: 1400-1800. Oxford University Press. 2012. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-19-921917-9. Most, but not all of them were ethnic Turks. To this category belong Hasan Beg Rumlu, Wali-Quli Shamlu, and, above all, Iskandar Beg Munshi..
Savory, R. M. "Iskandar Beg Munshi." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.
Willem Floor, Hasan Javadi The Role of Azerbaijani Turkish in Safavid Iran // Iranian Studies. Vol. 46. Issue 4. — 2013. — С. 569-581. Not only did Persians learn another language, but so did the Azerbaijani Turkish speakers, who, despite the fact that Azerbaijani Turkish was the court language, had to know Persian, because it was the bureaucratic and literate language of the land. Shining examples of Qizilbash who spoke and wrote perfect Persian were Hasan Beg Rumlu (author of the Ahsan al-Tavarikh) and Eskandar Beg Monshi (author of the Tarikh-e ‘Alamara-ye ‘Abbasi). But among those Azerbaijani Turkish speakers who were less literary inclined some (or maybe many) made slow progress in learning Persian.

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[1] "HISTORIOGRAPHY vi. SAFAVID PERIOD" Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 30 May 2015

[3] Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2018-05-01). "Iskandar Beg Munshī". Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Iskandar Beg Munshī (b. 969/1561–2, d. c.1043/1633 or 1634) was a Persian court scribe (munshī) and chronicler whose Tārīkh-i ʿālam-ārā-yi ʿAbbāsī (“The world-adorning history of ʿAbbās”) deals with Ṣafavid history and the reign of Shāh ʿAbbās I (r. 995–1038/1587–1629). Its sequel (dhayl) chronicles the first five years of the reign of his grandson and successor, Shāh Ṣafī (r. 1038–52/1629–42).

[4] Paulina Kewes, Ian W. Archer, Felicity Heal. The Oxford Handbook of Holinshed's Chronicles. — Oxford University Press, 2013. — P. 256."Iskandar Beg's work is regarded as one of the finest works of Persian historiography, notable for both its literary quality and its author's Thucydidean claim to rely only on his own knowledge or that of direct participants in events."

[5] The Oxford History of Historical Writing, Volume 3: 1400-1800. Oxford University Press. 2012. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-19-921917-9. Most, but not all of them were ethnic Turks. To this category belong Hasan Beg Rumlu, Wali-Quli Shamlu, and, above all, Iskandar Beg Munshi..

[6] Savory, R. M. "Iskandar Beg Munshi." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.

[7] Willem Floor, Hasan Javadi The Role of Azerbaijani Turkish in Safavid Iran // Iranian Studies. Vol. 46. Issue 4. — 2013. — С. 569-581. Not only did Persians learn another language, but so did the Azerbaijani Turkish speakers, who, despite the fact that Azerbaijani Turkish was the court language, had to know Persian, because it was the bureaucratic and literate language of the land. Shining examples of Qizilbash who spoke and wrote perfect Persian were Hasan Beg Rumlu (author of the Ahsan al-Tavarikh) and Eskandar Beg Monshi (author of the Tarikh-e ‘Alamara-ye ‘Abbasi). But among those Azerbaijani Turkish speakers who were less literary inclined some (or maybe many) made slow progress in learning Persian.