Qiladat al-Nahr fi Wafayat Ayan al-Dahr
- Author died
- 947 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Minhāj
Qiladat al-Nahr fi Wafayat Ayan al-Dahr (The Throat Necklace on the Obituaries of the Eminent Figures of the Age) is a biographical chronicle and obituary dictionary compiled by the Yemeni Shafi'i jurist and historian al-Tayyib Bamakhrama (870–947 AH / 1465–1540 CE) .
Scope and Contents
The work covers the span of Islamic history from the start of the Hijri calendar in 1 AH through the author's own era down to the year 927 AH . Although written by a Hadrami scholar based in Aden, the scope of its biographical entries is pan-Islamic, spanning geographically from Transoxiana in the east to the Maghreb and al-Andalus in the west .
The biographical coverage encompasses a wide spectrum of figures across various fields and stations in society, including hadith scholars, jurists, caliphs, viziers, kings, sultans, military commanders, conquerors, judges, grammarians, poets, men of letters, ascetics, worshipers, and physicians . A distinct feature of the book is its detailed preservation of Yemeni history, documenting biographies and events across Hadramawt, Aden, and Ta'izz .
Structure and Method
The work is organized chronologically by centennial units (centuries), each divided into five segments spanning twenty years . Each twenty-year section is further split into two distinct parts:
- The first part presents biographical entries arranged chronologically by the year of death (obituaries) .
- The second part records notable historical events arranged year by year .
Bamakhrama does not segregate Yemeni figures into isolated chapters; rather, he places them alongside individuals from other regions across the Islamic world . In treating various madhhabs and theological factions, he adopts an impartial scholarly tone, avoiding partisan bias while aiming for concise exposition and verified reporting .
Sources
Bamakhrama drew upon a wide array of historical and biographical authorities:
- For general Islamic history and non-Yemeni figures, he relied on the works of Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi (notably al-Ibar), Ibn Khallikan's Wafayat al-Ayan, al-Nawawi's Tahdhib al-Asma wa-l-Lughat, and Taqi al-Din al-Fasi's al-Iqd al-Thamin .
- For Yemeni figures and regional events, his sources included Kitab al-Suluk by al-Jandi, Tiraz Alam al-Zaman by Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Khazraji, Tuhfat al-Zaman by al-Ahdal, al-Jawhar al-Shaffaf by al-Khatib, al-Burqa al-Mushiqa by Ali ibn Abi Bakr, and Tabaqat al-Khawass by Shihab al-Din al-Sharji al-Zabidi .
- The work preserves extracts from lost regional sources that survive only through citations in this text, such as Tarikh Ibn Hassan .
Transmission and Modern Edition
Bamakhrama passed away before producing a final fair copy (mubayyada) of the work, leaving it in draft form (musawwada), yet the manuscript was preserved, circulated, and utilized by subsequent scholars and historians .
The complete work was edited by Bu Jum'a Makri and Khalid Zawari and published in six volumes by Dar al-Minhaj in Jeddah in 1428 AH / 2008 CE, based on five manuscript witnesses, including a copy preserved in the British Museum .
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