ABSTRACT
THE twelfth century was the golden age of the panegyric in Persia. The profession of
verbal flattery which R#dak" had found so profitable under the S!m!nids, and
and his ‘school’ under the Ghaznavids, rose to new heights of prosperity in the reigns of Alp Arsl!n, Malik Sh!h, Barkiy!r#q, and above all Sanjar. The lesser ruling houses of these times competed with the greater in offering prizes for men of words, and the gilded cage of singing-birds now gathered songsters from as far afield as Lahore. The long history of Indo-Persian literature opened.
