Iskandar Beg Munshi

Iskandar Beg Munshi (Persian: اسکندر بیگ منشی; 1561/62 – 1633/34) was an Iranian^[1] court scribe and chronicler, who is principally known for his historical book Tarikh-e Alam-ara-ye Abbasi ("The world-adorning history of Abbas"),^[2] which focuses on early Safavid history, especially the reign of Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629).^[3][4]

Iskandar Beg Munshi
Manuscript of the Tarikh-e Alam-ara-ye Abbasi by Iskandar Beg Munshi. Created in Qajar Iran, dated July 1812
Born	1561/62
Died	1633/34 (aged 71–73)
Occupation	Court scribe, chronicler
Notable works	Tarikh-e Alam-ara-ye Abbasi
Relatives	Faraj Beg (brother)

Life

Iskandar Beg was born in 1561 or 1562.^[3] He belonged to a Turkoman clan which was part of the Qizilbash, a militant Shia group that had helped the Safavids establish their rule. Even though Iskandar Beg came from a Qizilbash family and was affiliated with the military elite of the Safavids, both he and his elder brother Faraj (Farrukh?) Beg joined the bureaucracy instead. Iskandar Beg served as Mirza Ata-Allah Isfahani's pupil scribe during the later rule of Shah Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576).^[3]

Iskandar Beg died in 1633 or 1634.^[3]

Work

Iskandar Beg's Tarikh-e Alam-ara-ye Abbasi (abbreviated as TAAA^[5]) is considered the most significant piece of Iranian historiography written about Safavid Iran.^[6][7] The book was influenced by the Mughal chronicle Akbarnama of Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (died 1602).^[8]