ABU AL-GHAZI BAHADUR

also spelled Abulghazi Bahadur born Aug. 24, 1603, Urgench, khanate of Khiva [now Urganch, Uzbekistan] died 1663, Khiva khan (ruler) of Khiva and one of the most prominent historians in Chagatai Turkish literature. The son of 'Arab Muhammad Khan, Abu al-Ghazi spent most of his early life in Urgench. When his father died and a dynastic struggle arose among Abu al-Ghazi and his brothers for the succession to the throne, he was compelled to flee to the Safavid court of Iran in the city of Isfahan, where he lived in exile from 1629 to 1639. While in exile he studied history, examining Persian and Arabic historical sources. In 1644/45, Abu al-Ghazi finally succeeded to the throne of Khiva, reigning for about 20 years, carrying on intermittent wars with the Turkmens, the Uzbeks of Bukhara, the Kalmyks, Russia, and Iran. The historical works for which he is most famous are Shajare-i Tarakime, or Secere-i Terakime (1659; "The Genealogical Tree of the Turkmen"), written in Chagatai Turkish, mainly a compilation from the Persian historian Rashid ad-Din (d. 1318) and the semilegendary oral traditions of the Turks, and the Shajare-i Turk ("The Genealogical Tree of the Turks"), left incomplete and finished by his son, Abu al-Muzaffar Anusha Muham mad Bahadur, in 1665. This work is mainly a history of the Shaybanid dynasty (mid-15th century to 1665); it is not considered reliable because the author wrote from memory without using sources. The introduction is interesting for relating traditional material on Genghis Khan and his sons. The work became well known in Europe by the 18th century through German, French, Russian, Latin, and English translations.