A Unique Manuscript of the Shibanid Epoch from the Fund of the Center of the Written Heritage of Tajikistan

Abstract

The article introduces the results of a preliminary study of the unique work, the Manaqib al-khulafa (The Virtues/Excellences of the Caliphs) compiled by Qawam ad-Din Muhammad al-Husaini alSanaujiradi al-Ziyaratgahi al-Harawi in 997/1588. This is a response to the protest message of the Shiites of Herat, who survived the siege and capture of the city by the Sunnis the Shibanid troops. The Manaqib recreates the early stages of the history of Islam before the split caused by the difference in the understanding of principles of the supreme political power (elective or hereditary) transfer and reveals the virtues of the four righteous caliphs. Fragments of the Quran and hadiths cited in the treatise present irrefutable evidence of the Sunnis superiority over Shiism. The treatise is an excellent example of polemical literature of bitter ideological struggle between two orthodoxies Sunni and Shiite and contains valuable information on the religious and political history of Eurasia in the premodern period.