Azar Bigdeli

Hajji Lotf-Ali Beg Azar Bigdeli, better known as Azar Bigdeli, was an Iranian anthologist and poet. He is principally known for his biographical anthology of some 850 Persian-writing poets, the Atashkadeh-ye Azar, which he dedicated to Iranian ruler Karim Khan Zand. Written in Persian, the Persian studies academic J.T.P. de Bruijn considers it "the most important Persian anthology of the eighteenth century". Azar was a leading figure of the bazgasht-e adabi movement, which sought to return the stylistic standards of early Persian poetry.