Sanjar Kashani
Biography
Sanjar Kashani, Mir Muhammad Hashim (1572-1612), son of Mir Haydar Mu’amma’i. A poet with the nom de plume and title of Sanjar and Sayyid al-Shu’ara’ respectively. Similar to his father, he was a poet flourishing in the 16th and 17th centuries. He spent the majority of his poetical career in India, where he was quite well-known. He was born in Kashan and was raised there. He married a daughter of Malik Qumi. Sanjar’s father departed for India (1591) when his son was 19 years of age. He followed his father in departing for India at the age of 23. He was well-received at the court of Jalal al-Din Akbar in Agra and received a stipend of one silver coin (daily remuneration). Sanjar stayed in Agra when his father returned to Persia, but owing to his misdemeanors, he was purged from the court and was imprisoned by a feudal rajah of Gujarat on the orders of the king. After his release, he went to Ahmadabad, Gujarat, and later to Bayjapur, Deccan, the ‘Adilshahi seat of government where he was attached to the court of Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah for a while. Sanjar was summoned by the Safavid Shah ‘Abbas to return to Persia, but he died en route in Bayjapur. His works include his Divan of poetry and a Sakinama, titled Farrukhnama, composed in the meter of Khusraw u Shirin.
Sanjar was a poet of vigor. It is reported in Tadhkira-yi Maykhana that he only stood second to ‘Urfi in employing metaphors and contrary to his father who had not composed poetry in different forms, he made poetical compositions in an array of forms and wrote elegant qasidas, ghazals, and mathnawis. His divan, running to more than 4,800 couplets, includes qasidas, ghazals, and mathnawis. His mathnawi of Khusraw va Shirin, in 600 couplets, has been composed in the meter of hazaj musaddas maqsur and mahdhuf. His Saqinama, approximately 500 couplets, is in the mutaqarib meter and unrivalled in terms of poetical composition. It opens with encomium of God and invocations to Him. Then, it proceeds to include wise counsels in the forms of anecdotes and allegories. It closes with eulogies of the Safavid Shah ‘Abbas and depictions of morn, night, and love. In this work, Sanjar frequently remembers his homeland and his love for it and expresses his sorrows in staying in India. In his qasidas he eulogizes Jalal al-Din Akbar, Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah, Mirza Jani Beyg, Ghazi Beyg’s father, and Qari, the governor of Sind, indicating that he also stayed with Qari for a while. His poetry is quite elegant and vigorous, composed on the model of his predecessors, particularly those flourishing in the 15th and 16th centuries, in terms of elegance and fluency. His ghazals are more exquisite than his poetry composed in other forms.
Tarikh-i Adabiyyat dar Iran (5/ 931-937); Tarikh-i Naz va Nasr (420); Tazkira-yi Maykhana (321-350).
