Creator Bio
Bābāī ibn Farhād
18th Century
Bābāī ibn Farhād appears to have been a communal leader in the city of Kashan, a wealthy Persian community that, according to ibn Farhād, boasted thirteen synagogues. He composed a Judeo-Persian historical chronicle, Kitāb-i Sar-guzasht-i Kāshān (The Book of Events in Kashan). In so doing, he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Bābāī ibn Lutf, whose Kitāb-i Anusīā (The Book of the Forced Convert), the first known Judeo-Persian historical chronicle, describes the period from 1617 to 1662.
Content by Bābāī ibn Farhād
Primary Source
The Book of Events in Kashan
Kitāb-i Sar-guzasht-i Kāshān
Bābāī ibn Farhād’s poem is a 1,309-verse account of the Afghan invasion of Iran and the tragic suffering of the Jewish community in Kashan in the 1720s.
Related Guide
Birth of an Idea: Defining the Early Modern Period
1500–1750
The emergence of the early modern period (1500–1750) in Jewish history is relatively recent and complex.