Ali-Shir Nava'i 16th-century portrait of Ali-Shir Nava'i by Mahmud Muzahhib, now located in the Museum of the Astan Quds Razavi in Mashhad, Iran Born

"Alisher Navoi" redirects here. For the film, see Alisher Navoi (film).

Ali-Shir Nava'i
16th-century portrait of Ali-Shir Nava'i by Mahmud Muzahhib, now located in the Museum of the Astan Quds Razavi in Mashhad, Iran
Born	9 February 1441 Herat, Timurid Empire
Died	January 3, 1501 (aged 59) Herat, Timurid Empire
Resting place	Herat, Afghanistan
Pen name	Navā'ī (or Nevā'ī) and Fāni
Occupation	Poet, writer, politician, linguist, mystic and painter

'Ali-Shir Nava'i (9 February 1441 – 3 January 1501), also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī^{[n 1]} (Persian: نظام‌الدین علی‌شیر نوایی‎) was a Turkic^[1] poet, writer, politician, linguist, Hanafi Maturidi^[2] mystic and painter^[3] who was the greatest representative of Chagatai literature.^[4][5]

Nava'i believed that Chagatai and other Turkic languages were superior to Persian for literary purposes, an uncommon view at the time and defended this belief in his work titled Muhakamat al-Lughatayn (The Comparison of the Two Languages). He emphasized his belief in the richness, precision and malleability of Turkic vocabulary as opposed to Persian.^[6]
Because of his distinguished Chagatai language poetry, Nava'i is considered by many throughout the Turkic-speaking world to be the founder of early Turkic literature. Many places and institutions in Central Asia are named after him.

Alisher Nava'i's portrait in Isfana, Kyrgyzstan

Alisher Nava'i was born in 1441 at the city of Herat to a family of well-read Turkic chancery scribes.^[7] During Alisher's lifetime, Herat was ruled by the Timurid Empire and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual centres in the Muslim world. Alisher belonged to the Chagatai amir (or Mīr in Persian) class of the Timurid elite. Alisher's father, Ghiyāth ud-Din Kichkina (The Little), served as a high-ranking officer in the palace of Shāhrukh Mirzā, a ruler of Khorasan. His mother served as a prince's governess in the palace. Ghiyāth ud-Din Kichkina served as governor of Sabzawar at one time.^[5] He died while Alisher was young, and another ruler of Khorasan, Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza, adopted guardianship of the young man.
Alisher was a schoolmate of Husayn Bayqarah, who would later become the sultan of Khorasan. Alisher's family was forced to flee Herat in 1447 after the death of Shāhrukh created an unstable political situation. His family returned to Khorasan after order was restored in the 1450s. In 1456, Alisher and Bayqarah went to Mashhad with Ibn-Baysunkur. The following year Ibn-Baysunkur died and Alisher and Bayqarah parted ways. While Bayqarah tried to establish political power, Alisher pursued his studies in Mashhad, Herat, and Samarkand.^[8] After the death of Abu Sa'id Mirza in 1469, Husayn Bayqarah seized power in Herat. Consequently, Alisher left Samarkand to join his service. In 1472, Alisher was appointed amir (commander) of the dīvān-i aʿlā (supreme council), which eventually led him into a conflict with the powerful Persian bureaucrat Majd al-Din Muhammad Khvafi, due to the latters centralising reforms, which posed a danger to the traditional privileges that the Turkic military elite (such as Alisher) enjoyed.^[7] Alisher remained in the service of Bayqarah until his death on 3 January 1501. He was buried in Herat.
Alisher Nava'i led an ascetic lifestyle, "never marrying or having concubines or children."^[9]

Babur (Persian: بابر‎, romanized: Bābur, lit. 'tiger';^[3][4] 14 February 1483 – 26 December 1530), born