Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hame-ye Jahān (The History of Half the World and the Entire World)

Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hame-ye Jahān (The History of Half the World and the Entire World), a book written by Mīrzā Muhammad-Hasan Jāberī Anṣārī *¹(1287–1376/1870–1956), a writer and politician known by the title Ṣadr al-Udabāʾ*.² The book was lithographically printed in 1333/1915 in a square trim-size (kheshtī), in the Naskh script, consisting of 214 pages.³

Jāberī Anṣārī wrote Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hame-ye Jahān at the request of an unnamed individual, described by him as a “noble person with angelic character.” In the introduction, he explains his motivation for writing the book, noting that since Isfahan was considered part of ‛Irāq-e ‛Ajam (old name of central Persia), events related to this city had usually appeared only briefly within broader historical narratives of the region, rather than independently and in detail. Therefore, despite his limited time and considerable physical and emotional challenges, he reviewed numerous Arabic and Persian historical texts over a period of two or three months, extracting materials related specifically to Isfahan and compiling them into this work. He expressed his hope that, should time permit, he would later expand and complete the work.⁴

Each page of Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hama-ye Jahān is divided into upper and lower sections, separated by a horizontal line. The upper section presents the history of Isfahan from the most ancient times up to the author’s own era, though without specifying exact dates or offering comprehensive explanations. Author’s narrative lacks a critical approach to the sources he used. Following this general history, Jāberī Anṣārī lists the religious scholars of Isfahan and highlights forty individuals from among the awtād (sing. watad, meaning “pillar” or “stake”) and forty from among the askhīyā (sing. sakhī, meaning “generous benefactor”)—the city’s most notable and respected figures. These include figures such as Mullā Esmā‛īl Kh^wājūʾī*, Muhammad-Bāqer Majlisī*, and Sheikh Muhammad-Taqī Āqā Najafī*. Another section of the book is devoted to the districts of Isfahan. In this part, the author describes the characteristics of the city’s neighborhoods, towns, villages, and farmlands, including information on population, lifestyle, water resources, and property ownership. A notable feature of the book is that, since Jāberī Anṣārī himself belonged to the landowning class of Isfahan, he provides detailed accounts of political and land-related affairs—spanning approximately sixty pages. However, readers should be aware of the possibility that the information presented may be selective. At the end of the book, Jāberī includes a brief autobiographical account composed in both prose and verse.⁵

At the bottom of each page, the author has included a separate section titled Tārīkh-e Sāl-be-Sāl (“Year-by-Year History”), presenting chronological events of Isfahan’s history. This section spans from the advent of Islam to 1914/1332, the year prior to the book’s composition. Drawing upon various sources—including general and local historical texts—Jāberī Anṣārī compiled and organized this chronolog. In his narrative, he particularly emphasized the cruelty and massacres carried out by various rulers upon entering Isfahan, while paying comparatively less attention to other aspects of the city’s history.⁶

Jāberī Anṣārī completed Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hame-ye Jahān in 1943/1322 and later published it under the expanded title Tārīkh-e Eṣfahān va Rey va Hame-ye Jahān. In this edition, the book’s volume nearly tripled. In 1999/1378, Jamshīd Maẓāherī* edited parts of it and published it under the title Tārīkh-e Eṣfahān.⁷ According to Maẓāherī, Jāberī Anṣārī wrote Tārīkh-e Eṣfahān va Rey va Hame-ye Jahān after the death of Ẓell al-Sulṭān* as a continuation of Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hame-ye Jahān, since Ẓell al-Sulṭān had already ordered to be removed a certain content during the earlier publication. Furthermore, events from the thirty years following the original printing of Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hame-ye Jahān were added to the later work by Jāberī Anṣārī.⁸ However, it remains unclear why, in publishing Tārīkh-e Eṣfahān va Rey va Hame-ye Jahān, he made no reference to the earlier version. Hussein ‛Emādzāda*, editor of the journal Kherad, noted at the beginning of the book that it was, in fact, a “completion of the deficiencies and continuation of the events” recorded in Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hame-ye Jahān, which Jāberī Anṣārī had written earlier.⁹

Jāberī Anṣārī’s method of compiling his book served as a model for later writers such as Muhammad-Mahdī Arbāb Eṣfahānī*—the father of Muhammad-Hussein Furūghī and grandfather of Muhammad-Ali Furūghī, and the author of Neṣf-e Jahān fī Ta‛rīf al-Eṣfahān*—as well as Mīr Sayyed Ali Jenāb*, the author of al-Eṣfahān*.

/Abdul Mahdi Rajaei/

Bibliography

Bāmdād, Mahdī, Sharḥ-e Ḥāl-e Rejāl-e Iran dar Qarn-e 12 va 13 va 14-e Hejrī, Tehran: Zavvār, 1978/1357.
Jāberī Anṣārī, Muhammad-Hasan, Tārīkh-e Eṣfahān, ed. Jamshīd Maẓāharī, Isfahan: Mash‛al, 1999/1378.
Jāberī Anṣārī, Muhammad-Hasan, Tārīkh-e Eṣfahān va Rey va Hame-ye Jahān, Isfahan: Hussein ‛Emādzāde, [1943/1322].
Jāberī Anṣārī, Muhammad-Hasan, Tārīkh-e Neṣf-e Jahān va Hame-ye Jahān, lithograph print, Isfahan: 1915/1333.

1. For his biography, see: Jāberī Anṣārī, Mīrzā Hasan in the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica[↩]
2. Bāmdād, vol. 6, p. 78[↩]
3. For the publication year of this lithograph edition, see: Jāberī Anṣārī, 1954/1333, p. 163; see also p. 195.[↩]
4. See: Ibid., p. 1.[↩]
5. Ibid., pp. 158–163.[↩]
6. For example, see: Ibid., pp. 11–12, 20, 22, 31–33, 35, 51, 55.[↩]
7. Jāberī Anṣārī, 1999/1378, Maẓāherī’s introduction, p. 1.[↩]
8. Ibid., Maẓāherī’s introduction, p. 7.[↩]
9. Jāberī Anṣārī, 1943/1322, ‛Emādzāde’s introduction.[↩]