Page:The Oriental Biographical Dictionary.djvu/301

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Zouk 289 Zulfikar Zouk, Ci^} poetical title of Shaikh Muhammad Tbrahi'm of Dehli, an Urdu poet who passed the greatest part of his life in the service of Akbar II, king of Dehli, and was living about the year 1837 A. D. Zouki Ardastani, c5-'^-«Ji;l is'j^, a poet who died in 1635 A. D., 1045 A. H. Zouzani, ts'jJJ} whose fuU name and title is Al-Kazi-al- Imam Sayyad Abu 'Abdullah-al-Zouzanf, was the author of the " Sharah Kasaed-ul-Saba-al-Muallakat," an esteem- ed Commentary in Arabic on the seven celebrated poems which were written in letters of gold, and suspended to the door of the temple of Mecca previous to the mission of Muhammad. Their authors were Amri-al-Kais, Tarafa, Zaheir, Labid, Antar, Amrii, and Harath. These poems have been so elegantly translated by Sir William Jones, that had he never published any thing else, they would have stampt his fame, as a man of taste, a good poet, and an excellent Oriental scholar. Zu or Zab, vj ^ JJ) a descendant of the ancient kings of Persia, whom Zal, the father of Rustam, raised to the throne of Persia, and drove Afrasiab king of the Turks who had conquered it, out of that kingdom. Zu died after he had conquered Pars, and was succeeded by his son Karshasp. This prince, who was soon set aside as incompetent by Zal, is considered by Persian authors as the last of the first or Pishdadian dynasty : who according to their own computation, governed Persia 2,450 years. The names of twelve kings only of their race have been pre- served. After Karshasp, Kaikubad who is the first king of the second or Kayanian dynasty, was proclaimed king of Persia. Zubari, iSj^)) the son of Muslim, an Arabian author who died in 742 A. D., 124 A. H. Zubdatun-nisa, i^-^l^ S'^^.j, the fourth daughter of the emperor 'Alamgir. Her mother's name was Nawab Bai. She was born on the 26th Ramazan 1061 A. H., was married to one of Dara Shikoh's sons. She died a few days before her father in the same month and year, 1118 A. H. Zubeida Khatun, tt^-*^^ the wife of Hariin-al- Rashid. She was the daughter of Abu J afar the son of the Khalif Al-Mansur, andmother of the Khalff Al-Amfn. Her chastity was ample, her conduct virtuous. She died at Baghdad in June, 831 A. D., Jumada I, 216 A. H. She is said to have built the city of Tabrez in 806 A. D., 190 A. H. Zuber, CJ'? J^^.J) the son of Bakkar, a Kazi of Mecca and author of the " Kitab Sunan and Kitab Akhbar Madina. He died in the year 870 A. D., 256 A. H. Zuber ibn-al-Awam, o-' j^j, was the father of 'Abdullah ibn-Zubeir, and an enemy of 'AH. He was slain by Amru ibn-Jarmuz 656 A. D., and his head carried to 'All, who not approving this act of his, Amru drew has sword and ran himself through. Zuha'k or Zoliak, or Azdahak, a tyrant of Persian mythology who overcame Jamshid king of Persia in a battle, and became the king of that country. There are various accounts of the descent of Zuhak. Some say he was an Arabian, but descended from Kyomurs : others trace his descent to Shaddad, and term him a Syrian ; and it has even been conjectured that he was the Astyages of the Greeks. All agree in one fact, that he was of a cruel and sanguinary temper. He is described as having had 73 two dreadful cancers on his shoulders, which the Persian fabulists have changed into snakes, whoso hunger nothing could appease but the brains of human beings : two of his subjects were slain daily to furnish the horrid meal : till the manly indignation of Kawa or Gawa a blacksmith of Isfahan, whose two sons were on the point of being sacrificed, relieved the empire from this tyrant, and raised Pareidun, a prince of the Pishdadian dynasty to the throne. The fable perhaps indicates an ancient subjugation of Persia by a Median or Tartar tribe who used 'the serpent, a dragon, for their standard. There is a ruin near Bamian called by the people " The Castle of Zohak. Zujja'j, ^h-j, whose proper name was Abu Is-hak Ibrahim bin-Muhammad, was the author of several works. He died at Baghdad in the year 923 A. D., 311 A. H., when he was upwards of 80 years old. Zuka, poetical name of Mir Aulad Muhammad of Bil- gram, a nephew of Mir Ghulam Ali 'Azad. He was living in 1761 A. D., 1175 A. H. Zuka'h, i^J'^, poetical name of Khubchand Kayeth of Dehli, author of a biography of poets in Urdu. Zulfika'r 'Ali, ls^ j'ft^-'l^i, whose poetical name is Mast, was the author of a Tazkira entitled " Rayaz-ul-Wifak," containing the biography of the poets of Calcutta and Benares who wrote Persian verses ; it was completed in 1814 A. D., 1229 A. H. at Benares. He is also the author of several other works. Zulfika'r 'Ali Khan, c)^ c5^* Nawab of Banda, was the son of 'AH Bahadur, ruler of Bundeil- khand. He succeeded his brother Shamsheir Bahadur on the 30th of August, 1823 A. D., 22nd Zil-hijja, 1238 A. H. He was succeeded by 'AH Bahadur Khan. Zulfika'r Jang, j^^ij'i, a title of Salabat Khan. Zulfika'r Khan, ej'^>>'-^^'ji, a nobleman of the reign of the emperor Shah Jahan. He is the father of Asad Khan whose son also held this title. He died- in 1659 A. D., Muharram, 1070 A. H. Zulfika'r Khan Turkman, ej'^ ji, an ofiicer who served under Shah Jahan and died in 1647 A. D., 1057 A. H. Zulfika'r Khan, Amir-ul-Umra, cj'^ j^A^Iji styled Nasrat Jang, whose former title was Yatkad Khan, was the son of Asad Khan, a nobleman of the reign of 'Alamgir: he was bom 1657 A. D., 1067 A. H. and held several appointments under that emperor. On the accession of Bahadur Shah in the year 1707 A. D., 1119 A. H. the title of Amii--ul-Umra was conferred on him with the government of the Dakhin. It was by his aid and intrigues that Jahandar Shah, after the death of his father Bahadur- Shah, overcame all his brothers and ascended the throne of Dehli, when he was appointed to be chief Vazir ; but after the defeat of that emperor in the battle against Farrukh-siyar, he was taken up and strangled by order of the latter as a punishment for his conduct. His head with that of the late emperor Jahandar Shah who had also been put to death in prison, were carried on poles, and their bodies hanging feet up- wards across an elephant, were exposed in the new emperor's train, when he made his triumphant entry to the palace at Dehli. This event took place in January 1713 A. D., Zil-hijja, 1124 A. H. The aged minister Asad Khan Z 's father was compelled to attend the pro-