AMĪRAK BALʿAMĪ, name given to ABŪ ʿALĪ MOḤAMMAD (also called Baḷʿamī-e Kūček “the lesser, younger"), son of Abu’l-Fażl Moḥammad b. ʿObaydallāh Baḷʿamī (also called Baḷʿamī-e Bozorg “the greater, elder”); both served as viziers of the Samanids . Mostly known as Bal'ami , was a Persian

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

 historian, writer, and vizier to the Samanids. He was born in Lashjerd in the district of Marv

Marv

Marv is a fictional character in the graphic novel series Sin City, created by Frank Miller. In the 2005 film adaptation, he is played by Mickey Rourke. He first appears in The Hard Goodbye and follows with appearances in A Dame to Kill For, Just Another Saturday Night, and Silent Night...

, a city in modern Afghanistan. His most famous work is Tarikh-e Bal'ami, which is a translation of Tabari

Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari

Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a prominent and influential Sunni scholar and exegete of the Qur'an from Persia...

's History of the Prophets and Kings. It contains supplementary material, some of which is found nowhere else. Having been written in 963

963

Year 963 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Turkish Khan Sebük Tigin establishes his empire in modern day Afghanistan....

, it is the oldest New Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

prose work after the preface of the Shah-nama by Abu Mansur