# Timurnama > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Timurnama > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Timurnama.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timurnama > Source revision: 1331225746 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) For other uses, see [Zafarnama (disambiguation)](/source/Zafarnama_(disambiguation)). The ***Timurnama*** (Book of Timur) or ***Zafarnama*** (Book of Victory) is a poem by the Persian poet [Hatefi](/source/Hatefi) about the life of the Turco-Mongol conqueror [Timur](/source/Timur) (1336–1405). It was written between 1492 and 1498 and is often viewed as the most important work by Hatefi. The *Timurnama* is the fourth part of [Hatefi's *Khamsa*](/source/Khamsa_of_Hatefi), a quintet of five long Persian poems, and has been published in India in 1869 and 1958. ## Author The *Timurnama* was written by the Persian poet Hatefi (c. 1454–1521), a nephew of [Jami](/source/Jami), who in turn was a prolific scholar and writer of mystical [Sufi](/source/Sufi) literature.[1] Hatefi was born in [Khar Gerd](/source/Khar_Gerd), which lies in today's [Razavi Khorasan province](/source/Razavi_Khorasan_province) of [Iran](/source/Iran) and during the author's lifetime was part of the declining [Timurid Empire](/source/Timurid_Empire) (1370–1507) and later [Safavid Iran](/source/Safavid_Iran) (1501–1736). Hatefi served at the shrine for the Sufi mystic [Qasim Anvar](/source/Qasim-i_Anvar).[1] ## History In the tradition of the [*Khamsa* of Nizami](/source/Khamsa_of_Nizami) and [that of Amir Khusrau](/source/Khamsa_of_Amir_Khusrau), Hatefi also aspired to write a *Khamsa.[2]* Nizami's and Amir Khusrau's fourth poems both retell the *[Alexander Romance](/source/Alexander_Romance)*, an account of the life and exploits of [Alexander the Great](/source/Alexander_the_Great).*[2]* Hatefi substituted this narration of the life of Alexander with an epic about Timur.*[2]* The scholar [Carles Melville](/source/Charles_P._Melville) argues that Hatefi thereby "implicitly identify[ed] Timur as another Alexander."*[2]* Hatefi, however, did not model his work on Nizami or Amir Khusrau, but after [Ferdowsi's](/source/Ferdowsi) *[Shahnameh](/source/Shahnameh)*.[1][3] The *Timurnama* was written between 1492 and 1498.[1][4] Hatefi's main source of information on the life of Timur was the *[Zafarnama](/source/Zafarnama_(Yazdi_biography))* of [Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi](/source/Sharaf_al-Din_Ali_Yazdi) ().[5] He wrote his poem for the court of [Badi' al-Zaman Mirza](/source/Badi'_al-Zaman_Mirza).[6] The number of manuscripts of the *Timurnama* which have been preserved suggest that the work was highly regarded.[7] The *[Encyclopædia Iranica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Iranica)* notes that it is "certainly the most famous of Hātefi's poems".[8] ## Content The content of the poem cannot be deemed to be a historical account of the life of Timur. The scholar Bernardini argues that it is a "literary effort to confer an aura of superhumanity over trivial historical facts".[6] ## Manuscripts and publications ### Manuscripts Many manuscripts of the *Timurnama* have survived; Bernardini lists 141 manuscripts of the poem in his provisional list.[9] Notable ones include the following: - Ms Persan 357 in the [Bibliothèque Nationale de France](/source/Biblioth%C3%A8que_nationale_de_France) by Sulṭān-ʿAlī al-Qāʾinī al-Sultānī.[9] The manuscript has been digitized.[10] - Ms Barb.or.104 in the [Vatican Apostolic Library](/source/Vatican_Library) by Mu˙sin b. Lu†fullàh Ma'àd Óusaynì Sabzavàrì.[11] The manuscript has been digitized.[12] - Object 2014.392 in the [Harvard Art Museums](/source/Harvard_Art_Museums) by Mahmud ibn Ishaq Siyavushani.[13] The 1520 manuscript has been digitized.[14] - Ms 2102 in the Abu Rayhan Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the [Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan](/source/Academy_of_Sciences_of_Uzbekistan) dated 1568 by ʿAli Riza al-Katib.[15] - Ms 22703 in the [British Library](/source/British_Library) is an incomplete excerpt of the original and has no [colophon](/source/Colophon_(publishing)). It was made between the 1540s and 1570s in Bukhara.[16] ### Publications The *Timurnama* has been published in 1869 and 1958 in India.[8] However, no [critical edition](/source/Critical_edition) of the text has been produced. The 1958 edition is based on "two manuscripts available in the [Government Oriental Manuscripts Library](/source/University_of_Madras#Madras_University_Library_System), Madras" and is "both erroneous and defective at a number of places".[17] - Hatifi, Abdullah (1869). [*Ẓafar-nāma-ye Hātefi*](https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.438863). Lucknow. - Hatifi, Abdullah (1958). [*Timur Nama*](https://archive.org/details/aclarch000053a59). Vol. 19. Madras University Islamic Series. Yuša, A. S. (ed.). University of Madras. ## References ### Citations 1. Melville 2021, p. 1123. 1. Melville 2021, p. 1124. 1. Bernardini 2003a, p. 4. 1. Bernardini 2003a, p. 3. 1. Melville 2018, pp. 56–57. 1. Bernardini 2003a, p. 8. 1. Bernardini 2003a, p. 7. 1. Bernardini 2003. 1. Bernardini 2003a, pp. 10–17. 1. ["Persan 357"](https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc1015772?collect). *[Bibliothèque nationale de France](/source/Biblioth%C3%A8que_nationale_de_France)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240726203545/https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc1015772?collect) 26 July 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 July 2024. 1. Bernardini 2003a, p. 6. 1. ["Barb.or.104"](https://digi.vatlib.it/mss/detail/Barb.or.104). *[Vatican Apostolic Library](/source/Vatican_Apostolic_Library)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240721172239/https://digi.vatlib.it/mss/detail/Barb.or.104) 21 July 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 July 2024. 1. Melville 2021, pp. 1128–1129. 1. ["2014.392: Illustrated Manuscript of the Zafarnama (Book of Conquest) by Hatifi; with lacquer binding"](https://hvrd.art/o/351923). *[Harvard Art Museums](/source/Harvard_Art_Museums)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240726203544/https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/351923) 26 July 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 July 2024. 1. Comstock-Skipp 2024, pp. 279–282. 1. Comstock-Skipp 2024, pp. 282–288. 1. Melville 2018, pp. 57–58. ### Sources - Bernardini, Michele (2003a). ["Hātifī’s Tīmūrnāmeh and Qāsimī’s Shāhnāmeh-yi Ismā‘īl: Considerations for a Double Critical Edition"](https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047401711_004). *Society and Culture in the Early Modern Middle East. Studies on Iran in the Safavid Period*. Newman (ed.). Leiden: Brill. pp. 3–18. [doi:10.1163/9789047401711](https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047401711). ISBN 978-90-474-0171-1. - Comstock-Skipp, Jaimee K. (3 October 2024). ["From the Khan to the Sultan: The Abu'l-Khairid Shāhnāma in the Topkapı Palace Library (H.1488) and Manuscript Production and Presentation under ʿAbdullah bin Iskandar Khan"](https://brill.com/view/journals/muqj/40/1/article-p273_8.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoo6IJiFck6k9r1cIcPYxDVXuxq4kzTpSL_HqalMGhwQ0Rf7MXCm). *Muqarnas Online*. **40** (1): 273–314. [doi:10.1163/22118993_0040_009](https://doi.org/10.1163/22118993_0040_009) - Melville, Charles (2018). ["Notes on Some Manuscripts of Hatifi's Timurnama in Cambridge University Collections"](https://www.academia.edu/38685358). *Asiatica*. **12** (2): 54–68. - Melville, Charles (2021). ["On Some Manuscripts of Hatifi’s Timurnama"](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110753301-055). *Exploring Written Artefacts: Objects, Methods, and Concepts*. Vol. 25. Studies in Manuscript Cultures. Quenzer, Jörg B. (ed.). De Gruyter. pp. 1123–1146. [doi:10.1515/9783110753301](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110753301). ISBN 978-3-11-075330-1. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Timurnama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timurnama) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timurnama?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.