Badr ad-Din Kashmiri and His Treatise Rawzat ar-Rizvan

Abstract

The essay of Rawzat ar-Rizvan by the Indian author of Muslim origin Badr al-Din Kashmiri is subject-ed to a source analysis. Based on the biographical information about the author contained in the work, an attempt is made to highlight his respectful attitude to the Juybar khodges, devotion to this family. A com-plete list of the historiography of the Juybarids is also provided, which will make it possible to imagine how attentive medieval authors were to the legacy of the Juybar Khojas. Rawzat ar-Rizvan is perhaps the only list that has reached us in good condition. Unlike other works devoted to the Juybar Khojas, this source covers in more detail the issue of the social status of two of their representatives — Khoja Islam and Khoja Sa’d. The work consists of an introduction, seven chapters and mainly information about Khoja Islam and his successor Khoja Sa’d. The historical part of the work is mainly written on the basis of the author’s per-sonal observations. The article briefly describes each of the chapters. The historical, artistic, hagiographic genre of the work allows us to consider this source from different angles. The historical genre mainly con-tains the real socio-political situation in Bukhara in the second half of the 16th century, and the place of representatives of the house of Juybarids in it. Judging by the essay, under Sheibanid Abd al-Aziz Khan (1539–1549), Khoja Islam managed to secure the right to the village of Sumitan, which was, as it were, the hereditary property of the Juybar Khojas. On the basis of Rawzat ar-Rizvan, the source of the formation of the economy of the Juybarids is investigated, in which the village of Sumitan played an important role. Based on the information of the essay, the relationship between the
supreme ruler of the Sheibanid state Abdullakhan and the Juybar Khojas is investigated. The significance of this source in the study of the socio-political role and indisputable spiritual au-thority of the Juybar khojas of Bukhara is investigated. The main content of the work is revealed in the con-text of the political situation of the Bukhara Khanate in the middle of the 16th century, when the struggle between the Sheibanid appanage rulers for supreme power in Bukhara escalated.

Keywords:

Khoja, treatise, disciple, spiritual mentor, successor, manuscript, hagiography, information, genealogy, brotherhood, spiritual status, sultan, throne, ruler, truce, influence