Abu Sa'id Gardezi
Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd-al-Ḥayy ibn Żaḥḥāk b. Maḥmūd Gardēzī, better known simply as Gardizi, was an 11th-century historian and official, who is notable for having written the Zayn al-Akhbar, one of the earliest history books written in New Persian. He was probably from Gardez, a city in the present-day Paktia Province of Afghanistan, as his nisba implies.
His father's name was Zahhak, a name that was seemingly popular in the region. Gardezi started his career as an official of the Ghaznavid monarch Mahmud of Ghazni, and was an eyewitness to many of the events that occurred under the latter. In his Zayn al-Akbar, Gardezi took a dispassionate view of history which was fairly remarkable for its time. It consisted of a history of the pre-Islamic kings of Iran, Muhammad and the Caliphs until the year 1032. Included is a history of the Arab conquest of Khorasan, which it is believed Gardezi was using al-Sallami as a source. His history concerning the Turks was written using Ibn Khordadbeh, Jayhani and Ibn al-Muqaffa' as sources. He may have been a student of al-Biruni, since the Zayn al-Akbar contains information concerning Indian festivals.
