Historian, (d. 1061)
(d. 1061/1650–1)
Historian and geographer, Ṣādiq Iṣfahānī was born in 1018/1609 in the W Indian city of Surat. He was appointed news-writer by Šāh Jahān and following the latter’s accession to the throne he traveled to Bengal and served in the administration of two governors there. The reputation of Ṣādiq Iṣfahānī is largely based upon two works: Šāhid-i Ṣādiq and Subḥ-i Ṣādiq, both of which were dedicated to the second son of Šāh Jahān.
Šāhid-i Ṣādiq is comprised of an array of encyclopedic knowledge full of extracts, proverbs, and anecdotes listed under innumerable subject-headings. It also contains two extracts on geography, Taḥqīq al-Iʿrāb and Taqwīm al-buldān, published by the Oriental Translation Fund under the title The Geographical works of Ṣādiq Iṣfahānī.
Subḥ-i Ṣādiq, completed in 1048/1638–9, is divided into four volumes: from Creation to the time of the Abbasids, Persian dynasties before Čingīz to Šāh Jahān, celebrated men of the first ten centuries, and geography. Ṣādiq Iṣfahānī died in Bengal in 1061/1651.