Biographical Dictionary of Persian Poets Inscribed on UNESCO

Date: 29 May 2016 - 21:09

News ID: ۲۷۲۰۷

TEHRAN (CHN) – The Tazkirah-i Arafat al-Ashiqin wa Arasat al-Arifin, a biographical dictionary of Persian poets compiled by Safavid-era scholar Taqi ad-Din Mohammad Awhadi Balyani (1565-ca. 1640), has been added to the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Register of the Memory of the World.
Several other works from China, South Korea, Japan, some other countries were also registered on the list during the 7th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP), which was held in Hue, Vietnam from May 18 to 20.
Awhadi Balyani compiled the dictionary during his journey to India at the court of the fourth Mogul Emperor Nur-ud-din Mohammad Salim, better known by his imperial name Jahangir, who ruled from 1605 to 1627.
The book provides brief biographies of almost 3500 Persian-language poets and also gives examples of poems from each poet.
A reproduction of the Tazkirah-i Arafat al-Ashiqin wa Arasat al-Arifin was published in six volumes by the Mirase Maktoob Research Center in Tehran in 2010.
The original version is kept at Tehran’s Malek Museum and Library, one of Iran’s major centers for rare Persian and Arabic manuscripts.
UNESCO launched the Memory of the World Program in 1992 to protect documentary heritage, and helps networks of experts to exchange information and raise resources for preservation of, and access to, documentary material.