Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb ( fa, رشیدالدین طبیب; 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, fa, links=no, رشیدالدین فضلالله همدانی) was a statesman, historian and physician in
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
Iran.
["Rashid ad-Din"]
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed 11 April 2007. He was born in 1247 into a
Persian Jew
Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor s ...
ish family from
Hamadan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') ( Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ha ...
.
Having converted to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
by the age of 30, Rashid al-Din became the powerful
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
of the Ilkhan,
Ghazan
Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes archaically spelled as Casanus by the Westerners) was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of A ...
. Later he was commissioned by Ghazan to write the ''
Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'', now considered the most important single source for the history of the Ilkhanate period and the
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...
.
He retained his position as a vizier until 1316.
After being charged with poisoning the Ilkhanid king
Öljaitü
Öljaitü ( mn, , Öljaitü Qaghan, fa, اولجایتو), also known as Mohammad-e Khodabande ( fa, محمد خدابنده, ''khodābande'' from Persian meaning the "slave of God" or "servant of God"; 1280 – December 16, 1316), was the eigh ...
, he was executed in 1318.
Historian Morris Rossabi calls Rashid al-Din "arguably the most distinguished figure in Persia during Mongolian rule". He was a prolific author and established the
Rab'-e Rashidi
Rab'-e Rashidi ( fa, رَبع رشیدی) was the site of a complex, including a school and workshop for producing books in the north-eastern part of the city of Tabriz, Iran, constructed in the early 14th century during the reign of Ghazan, a rul ...
academic foundation in
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
.
Biography
![Mongol soldiers by Rashid al-Din 1305](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Mongol_soldiers_by_Rashid_al-Din_1305.JPG)
Rashid al-Din was born into a Persian Jewish family in Hamadan, now in
Hamadan Province. His grandfather had been a courtier to the founder of the Ilkhanate,
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulegu ( mn, Хүлэгү/ , lit=Surplus, translit=Hu’legu’/Qülegü; chg, ; Arabic: fa, هولاکو خان, ''Holâku Khân;'' ; 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West ...
, and Rashid al-Din's father was an
apothecary
''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...
at the court. He converted to Islam around the age of thirty.
Rashid was trained as a physician and started service under Hulagu's son,
Abaqa Khan
Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, mn, Абаха/Абага хан (Khalkha Cyrillic), ( Traditional script), "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler (''Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hula ...
. He rose to become the
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
of the Ilkhanid court at
Soltaniyeh
Soltaniyeh ( fa, سلطانيه, also Romanized as Solţānīyeh, Solţāneyyeh, Sultaniye, and Sultānīyeh; also known as Sa‘īdīyeh; ) is the capital city of Soltaniyeh District of Soltaniyeh County, Zanjan Province, northwestern Iran.
At ...
, near
Qazvin
Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was a capital of the ...
. He served as
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
and physician under the Ilkhans Ghazan and Öljaitü before falling to court intrigues during the reign of
Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan
Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan (June 2, 1305 – December 1, 1335) (Persian, Arabic: ), also spelt Abusaid Bahador Khan, Abu Sa'id Behauder ( mn, , ''Busayid Baghatur Khan'', ''Бусайд баатар хаан'' / ''Busaid baatar khaan'', in moder ...
, whose ministers had him killed at the age of seventy. His son,
Ghiyas al-Din ibn Rashid al-Din Ghiyas may refer to:
* Ghiyas, Iran, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Ghiyas ud din Balban (1200-1286), ruler of the Delhi Sultanate
* Mirza Ghiyas Beg
Mirza Ghiyas Beg ( fa, مرزا غياث بيگ), also known by his title of I' ...
, briefly served as vizier after him.
''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh''
The ''
Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' ("Compendium of Chronicles") was commissioned by Ghazan and initially was a history of the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
and their dynasty, but gradually expanded to include the entire history since the time of
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
to Rashid al-Din's time.
Rashid was assisted by
Bolad
Bolad ( Mongolian: , , , d.1313), was an ethnic Mongol minister of the Yuan dynasty of China, and later served in the Ilkhanate as the representative of the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and cultural adviser to the Ilkhans. He also provided valua ...
, a Mongol nobleman who was the emissary of the Great Khan to the Ilkhanid court. Bolad provided him with much background about the Mongols.
The ''Compendium'' was completed between 1307 and 1316, during the reign of Öljaitü.
Calligraphy workshop: Rab' i-Rashidi
The work was executed at the elaborate
scriptorium
Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes.
However, lay scribes and ...
Rab'-e Rashidi
Rab'-e Rashidi ( fa, رَبع رشیدی) was the site of a complex, including a school and workshop for producing books in the north-eastern part of the city of Tabriz, Iran, constructed in the early 14th century during the reign of Ghazan, a rul ...
at
Qazvin
Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was a capital of the ...
, where a large team of calligraphers and illustrators were employed to produce lavishly illustrated books. These books could also be copied, while preserving accuracy, using a printing process imported from China.
![HulaguAndDokuzKathun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/HulaguAndDokuzKathun.JPG)
The work was at the time of completion, , of monumental size. Several sections have not survived or been discovered. Portions of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' survive in lavishly illustrated manuscripts, believed to have been produced during his lifetime and perhaps under his direct supervision at the Rab'-e Rashidi workshop.
Historiographical significance
Volumes I and II of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' have survived and are of great importance for the study of the Ilkhanate. Volume I "contains the history of the Turkish and Mongol tribes, including their tribal legends, genealogies, myths and the history of the Mongol conquests from the time of
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
to the end of the reign of Ghazan Khan"
while volume II describes "the history of all the peoples with whom the Mongols had fought or with whom they had exchanged embassies".
In his narration down to the reign of
Möngke Khan
Möngke ( mn, ' / Мөнх '; ; 11 January 1209 – 11 August 1259) was the fourth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire, ruling from 1 July 1251, to 11 August 1259. He was the first Khagan from the Toluid line, and made significant reforms ...
(1251–1259),
Ata-Malik Juvayni
Atâ-Malek Juvayni (1226–1283) ( fa, عطاملک جوینی), in full, Ala al-Din Ata-ullah (), was a Persian historian and an official of the Mongol state who wrote an account of the Mongol Empire entitled '' Tarīkh-i Jahān-gushā'' (' ...
was Rashid al-Din's main source; however, he also utilized numerous now-lost Far Eastern and other sources. The ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' is perhaps the single most comprehensive Persian source on the Mongol period. For the period of
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
, his sources included the now lost ''
Altan Debter
The ''Altan Debter'', ''Golden Book'' (Mongolian Cyrillic: Алтан дэвтэр , Mongolian script: ) is an early, now lost history of the Mongols. Rashid-al-Din Hamadani had access to it when writing his Chronicles, Jami al-Tawarikh. Some bel ...
'' ("Golden Book"). His treatment of the Ilkhanid period seems to be biased, as he himself was a high official, yet it is still seen as the most valuable written source for the dynasty.
The third volume is either lost or was never completed; its topic was "historical geography".
The most important historiographic legacy of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' may be its documentation of the cultural mixing and ensuing dynamism that led to the greatness of the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
s, many aspects of which were transmitted to Europe and influenced the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
. This was the product of the geographical extension of the Mongol Empire, and is most clearly reflected in this work by Rashid al-Din. The text describes the different peoples with whom the Mongols came into contact and is one of the first attempts to transcend a single cultural perspective and to treat history on a universal scale. The ''Jāmiʿ'' attempted to provide a history of the whole world of that era,
though many parts are lost.
One of the volumes of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' deals with an extensive ''History of the Franks'' (1305/1306), possibly based on information from Europeans working under the Ilkhanates such as
Isol the Pisan or the
Dominican friars
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...
, which is a generally consistent description with many details on Europe's political organization, the use of ''
mappae mundi'' by
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
mariners and regnal chronologies derived from the chronicle of
Martin of Opava
Martin of Opava, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican friar, bishop and chronicler.
Life
Known in Latin as ''Frater Martinus Ordinis Praedicatorum'' (Brother Martin of the Order of Preachers), he is bel ...
(d. 1278).
Book transmission: printing and translation
![GhazanOnHorse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/GhazanOnHorse.JPG)
Rashid al-Din also collected all of his compositions into a single volume, entitled ''Jami' al-Tasanif al-Rashidi'' ("The Collected Works of Rashid"), complete with maps and illustrations. He even had some of his shorter works, on medicine and government, translated into
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
. Anyone who wished was given access to his works and encouraged to copy them. In order to facilitate this, he set aside a fund to pay for the annual transcription of two complete manuscripts of his works, one in Arabic and one in Persian.
The printing process used at the workshop has been described by Rashid al-Din, and bears very strong resemblance to the processes used in the large printing ventures in China under
(932–953):
Authorship and plagiarism accusations
The authorship of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' has been questioned on several grounds.
Abu al-Qasim Kashani
Abu al-Qasim Kashani (died after 1324) was a Persian historian from the Abu Tahir family, who was active during the late Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hü ...
(d. 1324), who wrote the most important extant contemporary source on Öljaitü, maintained that he himself was the true author of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'', "for which Rashid al-Din had stolen not only the credit but also the very considerable financial rewards."
According to ''
Encyclopædia Iranica
''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.
Scope
The ''Encycl ...
'', "While there is little reason to doubt Rašid-al-Din’s overall authorship of the ''Jāmeʿ al-tawāriḵ'', the work has generally been considered a collective effort, partly carried out by research assistants."
Kashani may have been one of those assistants.
Some also contended that it was a translation of a Mongol original.
Authorship of his ''Letters''
Scholars are in dispute about whether Rashid al-Din's ''Letters'' are a forgery or not. According to
David Morgan in ''The Mongols'', Alexander Morton has shown them to be a forgery, probably from the
Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror:
* Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent
** Timurid Empire of C ...
period. One scholar who has attempted to defend the letters' authenticity is Abolala Soudovar.
Fahlavi poems
There are some
fahlavīyāt
''Fahlaviyat'' ( fa, فهلویات, Fahlavīyāt), also spelled ''fahlavi'' (), was a designation for poetry composed in the local northwestern Iranian dialects and languages of the Fahla region, which comprised Isfahan, Ray, Hamadan, Mah Naha ...
by him apparently in his native dialect: a hemistich called ''zabān-e fahlavī'' (1976, I, p. 290), a quatrain with the appellation ''bayt-efahlavī'', and another hemistich titled ''zabān-e pahlavī'' ("Fahlavi language").
Loss of influence and death
In 1312, his colleague
Sa'd-al-Din Mohammad Avaji fell from power and was replaced by
Taj-al-Din Ali-Shah Jilani. Then, in 1314, Öljaitü died and power passed to his son, Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, who sided with Ali-Shah. In 1318, Rashid al-Din was charged with having poisoned Öljaitü and was executed on July 13, at the age of seventy. His Jewish ancestry was referenced numerous times in the court. His head was carried around the city after the execution and people were chanting: "This is the head of the Jew who abused God's name, may God's curse be upon him."
His property was confiscated and ''Rab'-e Rashidi'', with its scriptorium and its precious copies, were turned over to the Mongol soldiery. A century later, during the reign of
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
's son
Miran Shah
Mirza Jalal-ud-din Miran Shah Beg (1366 – 20 April 1408), commonly known as Miran Shah ( fa, میران شاہ), was a son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire.
During his father's reign, Miran Shah was initi ...
, Rashid al-Din's bones were exhumed from the Muslim cemetery and reburied in the Jewish cemetery.
National and political thoughts
Rashid al-din was an Iranian patriot and also an admirer of the Iranian state traditions. The name of "Iran" is mentioned in his ''Jami' al-tawarikh'', and he showed dislike for Mongols (whom they referred to as Turks).
[
* Although Rashid al-Din was of a family of Jewish origin nevertheless in his correspondence (as well as in the ''Jami' al-tawarikh'') he invariably speaks as an ardent Sunni Muslim and Iranian patriot, an admirer of the Iranian state traditions.
* Equally, the state of the Ilkhans was to Rashid al-Din not a Mongol ulus, but "the state of Iran" (Mamalik-i Irãn) (...)
* In the ''Jami' al-tawarikh'', a work of semi-official historiography, this Iranian patriotic tendency shows itself only here and there, and then in a disguised form. In his letters Rashid al-Din is more outspoken. There he speaks sharply about the Turks (i. e. the Mongols) as tyrants and oppressors of the Iranian ra'iyyats. Rashid al-Din's dislike for the Turks was also due to the fact that under the last Ilkhans the Mongol-Turkish tribal aristocracy was the main bearer of the centrifugal tendency and a wilful element not always obedient to the central authority in the person of the Ilkhan. In a letter Rashid al-Din calls the Turkish (= Mongol) amirs "pure swindlers and accomplices of the devil".
]
See also
*
List of Muslim historians
:''This is a subarticle of Islamic scholars, List of Muslim scholars and List of historians.''
The following is a list of Muslim historians writing in the Islamic historiographical tradition, which developed from hadith literature in the time of ...
*
List of Persian scientists and scholars
The following is a non-comprehensive list of Iranian scientists, engineers, and scholars who lived from antiquity up until the beginning of the modern age. For the modern era, see List of contemporary Iranian scientists, scholars, and engineers ...
*
Ghiyas al-Din ibn Rashid al-Din Ghiyas may refer to:
* Ghiyas, Iran, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Ghiyas ud din Balban (1200-1286), ruler of the Delhi Sultanate
* Mirza Ghiyas Beg
Mirza Ghiyas Beg ( fa, مرزا غياث بيگ), also known by his title of I' ...
, his son
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
The Mongol siege of Mosul from a manuscript of Rashid Al-Din's ''Jami' Al-Tawarikh'', 14th centuryRashid al-din Hamadani's ''Illustrated History of the World'' in digitised book form from the University of Edinburgh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Din, Rashid Al
1247 births
1318 deaths
14th-century Iranian physicians
14th-century Iranian historians
13th-century Iranian historians
Ilkhanate historians
Historians of Mongolia
Converts to Islam from Judaism
Medieval Iranian people of Jewish descent
Iranian inventors
Medieval Jewish physicians of Persia
People involved in plagiarism controversies
13th-century Jews
13th-century Iranian physicians
Viziers
People from Hamadan
Executed Iranian people
Executed prime ministers
Mongolists
Turkologists
Viziers of the Ilkhanate
Jews of the Ilkhanate