1419–22) was an envoy of the Timurid ruler of Persia and Transoxania, Mirza Shahrukh (r. 1404–1447), to the court of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) of the Ming Dynasty of China, known for an important account he wrote of his embassy.
[8] Ghiyasu'd-Din Naqqash was the official diarist of the large embassy sent by Mirza Shahrukh, whose capital was in Herat, to the court of China's Yongle Emperor in 1419.
Naqqash's account notes the existence of large "infidel" communities in both Turpan and Kumul (Hami), both those that "worshipped the cross" and those adoring Shakyamuni.
As it was commonly the case with Central Asian embassies to China, a large number of merchants had joined the emirs' envoys, the overall size of the traveling party reaching about 500 men.
[17][18] Naqqash's account contains a detailed description of the court ceremonies (in particular, the early-morning audiences), the banquets combined with musical and artistic performances (he was especially impressed by Chinese acrobats),[19] and the administration of justice (he got to witness death by a thousand cuts).
The names of all members of the party were checked by the border authorities against the register which recorded their original entry into the country, and once everything matched, they were allowed to leave.
[23] The earliest known work containing Ghiyāthu'd-Dīn's account is the Persian chronicle (whose name is variously transcribed as Zobdat al-tawāriḵ-e Bāysonḡori or Zubdatu-t-tawārīḫ-i Bāysunġurī[24]) (زبده التواریخ بایسنقری), compiled by Shah Rukh's court historian Hafiz-i Abru (died 1430).
One such translation, bearing a rather misleading[26] title Tārīkh-i Khaṭā'ī ("History of Cathay"), has survived to our day in Cambridge University Library.
It is a copy of the translation made in AH 900 (AD 1494/1495) in Ardistān by Hājjī bin Muhammad, for the city's Turkic-speaking governor who did not speak Persian.