Muhammad Hassan Khan Sani ad-Dovla

Muhammad Hassan Khan was born in 1843 in an Azerbaijani family in the city of Merag, Iranian Azerbaijan, and was the eldest son of Haji Ali Khan Mukaddam. Muhammad Hassan Khan studied at the university of Tehran - Dar ul-Funun . He bore the honorary nickname (lacab) of Sani'ud-dovle, and later I'timad us-saltane. He is the author of a number of historical and literary works. His books “Tarih-e muntazam-e Nasiri” (“Nasirov's Ordered History”) and “Matla'ush-shams” (“The Place of Sunrise”) are the result of the author’s trip to the Nasir ad-din shah’s retinue in Khorasan.

Of considerable interest is a series of works published by the State House of Press and Works (Dar at-taba‛a wa taalif) under the name of its head Muhammad Hassan-khan Sani ad-Dovla Itimad al-Saltan. The first experience was a volume that contained a brief history of the world and, to a large extent, the history of Iran from ancient times until the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah, as well as a detailed yearbook for 1875. The book had two names - “Tarih-i Iran” and “Salnam” .

Muhammad Hassan Khan Sani ad-Dovla died in Tehran in 1896 .

Muhammad-Hasan Khan Sani ad-Daule set out to give a description of the Persian cities and villages of Iran in the form of a dictionary in “Mirat al-buldan”. To carry out this project, circulars were sent to local officials demanding that they provide the information necessary for the publisher. But the task was not fully completed: the dictionary itself occupies two volumes of the essay: the first and fourth - terrain whose names begin with the letters “Alef” to “Jim”, the second and third volumes are devoted to the rule of Nasir ad-Din Shah (1848 –1878). Books were published in 1877–1880. Complete sets are stored at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (LO IV, No. 117) ^[1] . and at the University (Leningrad State University, No. 57), the first volume is presented in the MFN (MFN, No. 26) ^[2] .

Since information about individual cities and villages was compiled at the command of the governors by local experts, this work of Muhammad-Hassan Khan was already at the beginning of the 20th century. became a source for new historians. An example of this is the work of Ahmad b. Karima Tabrizi “Ardabil. Azerbaijan ”dedicated to Azerbaijan. The source for a detailed description of Tabriz was Vol. I LO IV, No. 126, Bombay, 1912, on the margins of Safvat as-safa Ibn Bazzaz, LO IV, No. 225) Mirat al-buldan ^[3] .

Al-Maasir wa-l-asar is entirely devoted to the time of the reign of Nasir al-Din-Shah, the glorification of the monarch and his deeds. At the same time, the essay is a valuable reference book containing the names of members of the Shah family, the names and positions of officials who made up the state administration apparatus, and the list of provincial governors and their subordinates. The events of internal life in Iran are described: the suppression of the rebellions, new construction and beautification undertaken by Nasir al-Din Shah, his travels around the country and beyond, social transformations and innovations. A significant place (more than 100 of 294 pages) is devoted to information about the outstanding personalities of the time of Nasir al-Din-Shah: religious authorities, scientists and writers, representatives of various professions. The data on the state budget for 1268 / 1851–1852 and 1303 / 1885–1886 are given.

Events abroad are reported, the names of modern state leaders are named, the composition of foreign missions in Iran is indicated. The work was completed in 1889 and was not published then, the portrait of the shah and the yearbook for the current year are attached to the publication (LO IV, No. 53, LSU No. 30 ^[3] .; Story-Bregel, 983–984) ^[4] .

The author of this work was Shams al-Ulama Sheikh Mahdi Abd al-Rabbabadi, one of the subordinates of Muhammad Hassan Khan Itimad al-Saltan, an employee of the House of Press and Works (Dar al-taalif), in the future one of the compilers of the biographical dictionary “Name yi Danishvaran” (LO IV, No. 163) ^[3] ..

The works, published under the name of Muhammad-Hassan Khan Itimad al-Saltan, were not compiled, apparently due to the odiousness of the figure of Itimad al-Saltan in the eyes of subsequent Iranian historians, nevertheless, the information contained in them retains its value.

• E'timad al-Saltan, Muhammad Hassan Khan. Durar al-tidjan fi ahbar bari Ashkan / Comp. Ni'mat Ahmadi. Tehran: Atlas, 1371/1992.
• E'timad al-Saltan, Muhammad Hassan Khan. Sadr al-tavarikh / Comp. Muhammad Mushiri. Tehran: Wahid, 1349/1970.
• E'timad al-Saltan, Muhammad Hassan Khan. Contemplation, or Book of the Interpretation of Dreams (Halsa, ya hvab-nama) / Comp. Mahmoud Katirai. Tehran: Tahuri, 1348/1969.

• Anwar Chingizoglu, Maragin Khanate. Baku: Mutardjim publishing house, 2013, 280 p. (azerb.)

• Persian literature
• Maragin Khanate
• Merage
• Mukaddam
• Javanshirs