d. 470/1077
Historian
Abū al-Fażl Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn Bayhaqī spent a large portion of his life in the chancellery of the Ğaznawid rulers at Ğaznin. In his service of Maḥmūd (r. 389/999 to 421/1030) and his son and successor Masʿūd (r. 421/1030 to 433/1041) he was entrusted with drafting and making copies of some of the most important official documents. During the reign of ʿAbd Rashīd (r. 441/1049 to 444/1052) Bayhaqī briefly served as the head of the secretariat, however, he was dismissed a short while afterward and later imprisoned under the charge that he had not settled his wife’s dowry. After being released from prison, Bayhaqī continued to serve the Ğaznawid court. He retired from public life in 451/1059 and focused on the writing of the work for which he is widely known, Tārīḫ-i Bayhaqī.