User:Kansas Bear/Tarikh i Yamini

The "Tarikh i Yamini" or "Kitab i Yamini", written in Arabic in an embellished, flowery rhetorical rhymed prose, it is a history of the reigns of Sebuktigin and Mahmud up to 1020. Written by the historian Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad al Jabbaru-l 'Utbi(al-Utbi) the Tarikh Yamini also contains information chronicling Sultan Mahmud's expeditions as well as the end of the Samanid Amirs of Sistan. Al-Utbi, being Mahmud's secretary, did not accompany the sultan, therefore his topography is deficient and his writing style consists of an explicit orthodox nature.

Content
Al-Utbi states when Sebuktigin invaded Afghanistan, that the Afghans were pagans given to rapine and rapacity, and that Sebuktigin defeated and converted them to Islam.

The Tarikh Yamini, asserts that at the time of Mahmud's invasion of Ghur, that the rulers and people of Ghor were heathens. That, "After the Sultan had purified Hind of idolatry and raised mosques therein, he determined to invade the capital of Hind, to punish those who kept idols and would not acknowledge the unity of God. He marched with a large army in the year A.H.404(CE 1013) during a dark night and at the close of Autumn, on account of the purity of the southern breezes of that season...".

Though, plagued by incorrect dates and incorrect topography, the Tarikh Yamini does contain valuable information concerning Sultan Mahmud's invasions of India.

On Mahmud's 12th expedition of India in 1018-1019, the Tarikh i Yamini states, he brought back so many slaves that, "merchants came from distant cities to purchase them, so that the countries Ma wara' an nahr(Central Asia), Iraq and Khurasan were filled with them, and the fair and the dark, the rich and the poor, mingled in one common slavery.".

Al-Utbi states that he intentionally suppressed many events, unnatural or strange that he found skeptical, that did not fit the objectives he had set down in the preface.

Early translations
The 13th century Persian translation of the Tarikh i Yamini, by Jurbadqani, takes many liberties as well as introducing images not found in the original and can be considered an independent work of art, but is a reliable copy of the narrative.

Modern era
The Tarikh i Yamini was translated from Persian into English in 1858 by James Reynolds under the title, Kitab-i-Yamini.