The Traditions of Persian "Tazkirah" Writing in the 18th & 19th Centuries and Some Special Hints

“Tazkirah” is the term used in Persian and Turkish literature for a collection of lives, most frequently those of poets, but also of saints, sheikhs or calligraphers. A Tazkirah of poets gives a brief biography and examples of each author's work. Tazkirahs are one of the most important and widely expanded biographical works of literature. Tazkirahs as a considerable and inseparable part of manuscripts are of great interest and value in Persian Literature and they seem to be the only means of preserving and disseminating poetry and literary books over time and space. They had an outstanding position in the past because their contents were related to people's culture and conventions and due to their impressiveness; they were the center of attention. Tazkirah writing, in its old sense, was initiated in the 13 century and reached a peak of perfection and proliferation in the 18 & 19 centuries. They have for centuries been well received and the best of them are still cited by the learned people. In view of the huge numbers of Tazkirahs in manuscript and their antiquity, accessibility to them is unfortunately very limited on the Internet and they are still not actually online and pervasive, so doing the literature on Tazkirahs online is an achievement in the field of informatics. This paper is aimed at examining the main traditions of Tazkirahs, motivations for Tazkirah writing, their variety of kinds and contents, publication, contributions to the improvement of the time from cultural, literary, social and political viewpoints in general as well as introducing the most cited coeval & non-coeval Iranian Tazkirahs in special. It is also discussing them in some detail in the context of their traditions among the extant ones in the period as well as some hints on digitalizing of literature on Tazkirahs. This will lead to promoting the use of information about Tazkirahs globally. Recommendations of the study include suggestions as a necessity for promoting the use of literature on Tazkirahs.