Kufī, ʿAlī ibn Ḥāmid fl. ca. 613/1216-7

Originally of Kūfah in Syria, little is known of the life of ʿAlī ibn Ḥāmid Kufī beyond that surrounding his writing of the Čāč-nāmah, itself a Persian translation of a no longer extant Arabic book that recorded the Islamic conquest of Sind by Muhammad b. Qāsim al-Thakafi in 92/710. Around 613/1216-17 Kufī traveled from his residence at Uch to Alor and Bhakkar to seek out information on the history of the Islamic conquest in Sind. In Alor he obtained an Arabic manuscript entitled Minhāj al-dīn wa-‘l-mulk from a descendant of one of the conquerors. Kufī translated the manuscript into Persian and dedicated the work to the vazīr to the ruler of Sind.

Works

Čač-nāmah     The Book of the Čač

Composed ca. 613/1216-7.

Čač-nāmah is a “historical romance telling the story of Čač, the Rajah of Alor, and the conquest of Sind by Muhammad b. Qasim al-Thaqafi in 92/710”.