ʿABD-AL-BĀQĪ TABRĪZĪ, MĪR, called DĀNEŠMAND, religious scholar and notable of Azerbaijan (d. 1039/1629-30). He was learned in philosophy and mathematics and skilled in Arabic poetry. He also wrote good Persian poetry, using the pen name (taḵalloṣ) Bāqī, and was expert in the calligraphic styles called ṯolṯ, nasḵ, and nastaʿlīq. His youth was passed in Tabrīz, where he benefited from the presence of the famous calligrapher ʿAlā Beg Tabrīzī. Then he set out for Baghdad and undertook to perfect his artistry under Dede Moṣṭafā, the chief calligrapher of Baghdad. He attained great fame, and the news of his excellence reached the ears of Shah ʿAbbās I. When the shah was building the Masǰed-e Šāh, he sent Moḥammad Ḥosayn Čelebī to Baghdad to invite ʿAbd-al-Bāqī to Isfahan to execute the inscriptions. Mīr ʿAbd-al-Bāqī did not accept, but shortly thereafter Shah ʿAbbās gained control of Baghdad and brought the Mīr to Isfahan, where he was put in charge of executing the calligraphic inscriptions for the Shah Mosque. These inscriptions still exist in various parts of the mosque and have the signature of Mīr ʿAbd-al-Bāqī (Tarbīat, Dānešmandān, pp. 144-46; ʿAbd-al-Moḥammad Ērānī, Ḵaṭṭ va ḵaṭṭaṭān, Cairo, 1345/1926-27, pp. 90-187; Nūr-al-Ḥasan, Negārestān-e soḵan, Calcutta, 1293/1876, p. 16; Loṭfallāh Honarfar, Esfahān, pp. 401, 434, 438, 439, 449, 451).
According to Aḥmad Rāzī (Haft eqlīm III, p. 243), Mīr ʿAbd-al-Bāqī went to India in the service of Mawlānā Mīrzā Jān and served the Ḵān-e Ḵānān until 1005/1596-97. The author of Maʾāṯer-e Raḥīmī states that this journey was made on the invitation of ʿAbd-al-Amīn Khan, known as Ḵān-e Ḵānān (Dānešmandān-e Āzarbāyǰān, p. 145). ʿA. Ḵayyāmpūr believes this Mīr ʿAbd-al-Bāqī to be different person from Dānešmand (Soḵanvarān, p. 374). However, the Maʾāṯer-e Raḥīmī entry “ʿAbd-al-Bāqī Tabrīzī” suggests that it is possible that Mīr ʿAbd-al-Bāqī was first in Tabrīz in the first decade of the 11th century A.H., then went to India the second decade; in the third decade he returned to Baghdad and went to Isfahan with Shah ʿAbbās and worked on the calligraphic inscriptions of the Shah Mosque. Numerous examples of the Mīr’s poetry are mentioned India the taḏkeras (Soḵanvarān, “Bāqī Tabrīzī,” p. 77). Several other works also have been attributed to him, among them the Menhāǰ al-velāya dar šarḥ-e nahī al-balāḡa, (Dehḵodā, Loḡatnāma, s.v. “ʿAbd-al-Bāqī”).
Bibliography: Given in the text.
(ʿAbd-al-ʿAlī Kārang)
Originally Published: December 15, 1982
Last Updated: July 14, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 1, p. 105
ʿAbd-al-ʿAlī Kārang, “ Encyclopædia Iranica, I/1, p. 105; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abd-al-baqi-tabrizi-religious-scholar-of-azerbaijan-d-1629-30 (accessed on 12 January 2014).
