Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn Julugh Farrukhi Sistani (), better known as Farrukhi Sistani (; – 1040) was one of the most prominent Persian court poets in the history of Persian literature. Initially serving a dehqan in Sistan and the Muhtajids in Chaghaniyan, Farrukhi entered the service of the Ghaznavids in 1017, where he became the panegyrist of its rulers, Mahmud () and Mas'ud I (), as well as numerous viziers and princes. Background Farrukhi was born in in Sistan, a region extending across the border between eastern Iran and what is now southern Afghanistan. At that time Sistan was under Saffarid rule. Farrukhi's father Julugh was a high-ranking military slave (ghulam) of the Saffarid king Khalaf ibn Ahmad (). The origins of Julugh are unclear. Regardless, Farrukhi grew up in a Muslim Persian-speaking environment, and was essentially a Persian. In 1003, the Saffarid dynasty was abolished by the Ghaznavid monarch Mahmud (), who made Sistan a Ghaznavid province. Life According to the tadhkirahs, Farrukhi was talented from an early age in poetry and playing the lute. During his youth, he used these skills to serve a landowner (dehqan), but due to insufficient salary, he left Sistan to seek his fortunes in Transoxiana, where he in the autumn of 1016 entered the service of the Muhtajid prince Abu'l-Muzaffar Fakhr al-Dawla Ahmad ibn Muhammad, who ruled Chaghaniyan as a vassal of the Ghaznavids. During the Mehregan festival, Farrukhi composed a poem for Abu'l-Muzaffar. However, hardly a year later, Farrukhi left for the Ghaznavid capital of Ghazni, where he joined the court of Mahmud, eventually becoming his panegyrist. It was at Ghazni that Farrukhi reached his goal of renown and riches. Farrukhi continued to hold a strong love for his homeland Sistan, even though he would never live there again. He seemingly visited the place from time to time, and still kept touch with relatives and friends. In 1027, he composed a poem for the Ghaznavid vizier Hasanak, applauding the latter for improving the conditions of Sistan, which had been in a state of chaos after Mahmud's brutal conquest in 1003. However, this was only temporary; many Sistanis continued to dislike the Ghaznavids and the heavy taxes they imposed on them. According to the Tarikh-i Sistan—whose author was staunchly pro-Saffarid—the start of Ghaznavid rule was the "beginning of calamity for Sistan." In 1030, Mahmud was forced to step in, appointing the Saffarid prince Taj