T?rik?h-i Khayr?t and A?a?? al-taw?rikh: the Representation of the Early History of Islam in Two General Histories from the Ninth Century A.H.

Tārikh-i Khayrāt and Aṣaḥḥ al-tawārikh by Muhammad ibn Fazlullah Musavi are less well-known general histories from the ninth century AH/ the fifteenth century AD. The purpose of this essay is to introduce the above-mentioned works and discussing representation of the early history of Islam in Tārikh-i Khayrāt and Aṣahh al-tawārikh. Although Musavi's works are not much significant in terms of historiographical data and literary value, the reflection of his approach as a believer in the religio-political legitimacy of Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and his descendants and also the influence of Sufi doctrine on Musavi’s narrative of the history of early Islam represents the context of religious thought in Timurid Khorasan. Moreover, the marginal annotations and revisions on the manuscripts of Tārikh-i Khayrāt and Aṣaḥḥ al-tawārikh, which have been made in the following centuries, could be the readers' different perusal of the text and reflecting the transformation of Shiite identity boundaries in Persia during the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries.