Manuscript of the Tarikh-i-Wassaf, copied in Safavid Persia, 17th century

Wassaf or Vassaf ( fa, عبدالله ابن فضل‌الله شرف‌الدین شیرازی) Abdallah ibn Faḍlallah Sharaf al-Din Shīrāzī (''fl.'' 1265–1328) was a 14th-century

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 ...

historian of the

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, ...

. Waṣṣāf, sometimes lengthened to Waṣṣāf al-Ḥaḍrat or Vassaf-e Hazrat ( fa, وصّافِ حضرت), is a title meaning "Court Panegyrist". A native of

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...

, Wassaf was a tax administrator in Fars during the reigns of Ghazan Mahmud and

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 ...

. A.K.S. Lambton, "Mongol Fiscal Administration in Persia" ''Studia Islamica'', no. 64 (1987): p. 80. He is the author of the historical work ''Tārīkḣ-i Waṣṣāf'', also known as ''Tajziyat al-amṣār wa-tazjiyat al-a'ṣār'' (''The allocation of cities and the propulsion of epochs'').

Tarik-i Wassaf

His history, ''Tajziyat al-amṣār wa-tazjiyat al-a'ṣār'' (''The allocation of cities and the propulsion of epochs'') also called ''Tārīkḣ-i Waṣṣāf'', was conceived as a continuation of Juwayni's '' Tārīkḣ-i Jahāngushāy'' whose account of the rise of 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, ...

ended in 1257. ''Tārīkḣ-i Waṣṣāf'' consisted of an introduction and five volumes. The first volume (first part) only was edited and translated by

Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (9 June 1774 – 23 November 1856) was an Austrian orientalist and historian. He is considered one of the most accomplished Orientalists of his time. He was critical of the trend of ascribing classical or a ...

, published 1855., p. 148 (note 5 to p. 139). Wassaf's florid style of prose is not easily followed by modern readers, and an abridged version entitled the ''Taḥrīr-i Tārīkḣ-i Waṣṣāf'' (1346/1967) has been edited by ʿAbd al-Muḥammad Āyatī.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * ;Bibliography 14th-century Iranian historians 14th-century Persian-language writers Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Ilkhanate historians Officials of the Ilkhanate {{Iran-historian-stub