Dananir al Barmakiyya دنانير البرمكية | |
|---|---|
| Died | c. 810s Baghdad |
| Resting place | Baghdad |
| Occupation | Arabic Poet and Singer |
| Language | Arabic |
| Nationality | Caliphate |
| Period | Islamic Golden Age (Abbasid era) |
Dananir al Barmakiyya (Arabic: دنانير البرمكية) (late 8th-century - early 9th-century) was an Arabian Qiyan musician, singer and poet. She is also known as the author of the famous Book of Songs.[1]
She was from Medina. She was sold to Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki.[2]
As a slave, she was trained to become a qiyan. She was a student of the qiyan-musician Badhl, who was known for the number of songs she retained in her memory.[3] Among her instructors were Ishaf al-Mausuli, Ibn Jami and Fulaih.
Dananir is noted as one of the most famous quian-musicians. She is described as an accomplished poet, musician and singer. As a singer, she was popular with the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), who visited his minister's house in Baghdad to hear her perform, and gave her extravagant gifts, including a necklace worth 30,000 gold coins.
She is most known as the author of the famous Book of Songs.