Bayazid Ansari

Born 1525 or 1515, in the city of Jalan-dhar, Punjab; died 1585. Afghan writer. Founder of the sect and leader of the antifeudal and anti-Mogul movement of the Roshani in Afghanistan.

Bayazid was born into the family of an ecclesiastic. Among his followers he was known as Pir Roshan (Serene Elder). Bayazid Ansari and his followers opposed the domination of the Great Moguls, and they were also against the seizure of communal lands by the leaders of the Afghan tribes. Bayazid set forth his doctrines in a work entitled The Most Blessed Tidings, written in rhymed prose in the Pashto language; there are verse inserts in Arabic, in the language of the Farsi, and in Urdu. Bayazid Ansari was influential in the development of Afghan literature.

WORKS

Qair-al-bayan, tasnife Bayazid Ansari. Peshawar, 1967.

REFERENCES

Aslanov, M. G. “Narodnoe dvizhenie roshani i ego otrazhenie ν afganskoi literature 16–17 vv.” Sovetskoe vostokovedenie, 1955, no. 5.
Khadim, Qiyam al-Din. Bayazid Roshan. Kabul [1953].
Rishtin, S. “Dy mian Roshan ’Khalnama.’ ” Kabul, 1964, no. 2, Apr.-May.

M. G. ASLANOV

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