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''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' () is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol
Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...
. Written by Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318 AD) at the start of the 14th century, the breadth of coverage of the work has caused it to be called "the first world history". It was in three volumes and published in
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and Persian versions. The surviving portions total approximately 400 pages of the original work. The work describes cultures and major events in world history from China to Europe; in addition, it covers Mongol history, as a way of establishing their cultural legacy. The lavish illustrations and calligraphy required the efforts of hundreds of scribes and artists, with the intent that two new copies (one in Persian, and one in Arabic) would be created each year and distributed to schools and cities around the
Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...
, in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
,
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
,
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, and the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
. Approximately 20 illustrated copies were made of the work during Rashid al-Din's lifetime, but only a few portions remain, and the complete text has not survived. The oldest known copy is an Arabic version, of which half has been lost, but one set of pages is currently in the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art (London, England), comprising 59 folios from the second volume of the work. Another set of pages, with 151 folios from the same volume, is owned by the Edinburgh University Library. Two Persian copies from the first generation of manuscripts survive in the Topkapı Palace Library in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. The early illustrated manuscripts together represent "one of the most important surviving examples of Ilkhanid art in any medium", and are the largest surviving body of early examples of the Persian miniature.


Contents

The ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' consists of four main sections of different lengths: # The ''Taʾrīkh-ī Ghazānī'', the most extensive part, which includes: #* The Mongol and Turkish tribes: their history, genealogies and legends #* The history of the Mongols from
Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
up to the death of
Mahmud Ghazan Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes westernized as Casanus was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa Kh ...
(d. 1304). # The second part includes: #* The history of the reign of Öljaitü up to 1310 (no known copy) #* The history of the non-Mongol peoples of Eurasia (a
universal history Universal history may refer to: * Universal history (genre), a literary genre **''Jami' al-tawarikh'', 14th-century work of literature and history, produced by the Mongol Ilkhanate in Persia ** Universal History (Sale et al), ''Universal History'' ...
from the time of Creation, following the organization of work of the Abbasid historian
al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...
in his '' History of the Prophets and Kings'', often referred to as ''at-Tabari's History,'' and to the historic Muslim history of Qazi Beiza'i in the ''Neẓām al-Tawārīkh'': #**
Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...
and the patriarchs #** the kings of pre-Islamic Iran #**
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
and the Caliphs (
Rashidun The Rashidun () are the first four caliphs () who led the Muslim community following the death of Muhammad: Abu Bakr (), Umar (), Uthman (), and Ali (). The reign of these caliphs, called the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), is considered i ...
,
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
,
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
and
Fatimid Caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, i ...
s) #** the Islamic dynasties of Persia ( Ghaznavids, the shahs of Khwarezm, the Isma'ili state of Alamut) #** the
Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
#** the
History of China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the ...
#**
Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...
#** Frangistan (i.e., Europe, primarily the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
and
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
) #** the Indians # The ''Shu'ab-i panjganah'' ("Five genealogies, of the Arabs, Jews, Mongols, Franks, and Chinese"). This text exists in two copies of the manuscript in the library of the Topkapı Palace in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
(ms 2937), but has only been published on microfilm. # The ''Suwar al-aqalim'', a geographical compendium. Unfortunately, it has not survived in any known manuscript.


Author

Rashid-al-Din Hamadani was born in 1247 at
Hamadan Hamadan ( ; , ) is a mountainous city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a po ...
, Iran into a Jewish family. The son of an
apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...
, he studied medicine and joined the court of the Ilkhan emperor, Abaqa Khan, in that capacity. He converted to Islam around the age of thirty. He rapidly gained political importance, and in 1304 became the
vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
of emperor and Muslim convert Ghazan. He retained his position until 1316, experiencing three successive reigns, but, convicted of having poisoned the second of these three Khans, Öljaitü, he was executed on July 13, 1318. Hamdani was responsible for setting up a stable social and economic system in Iran after the destruction of the Mongol invasions, and was an important artistic and architectural patron. He expanded the university at Rab'-e Rashidi, which attracted scholars and students from Egypt and Syria to China, and which published his many works. He was also a prolific author, though few of his works have survived: only a few theological writings and a correspondence which is probably apocryphal are known today in addition to the ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh''. His immense wealth made it said of him that he was the best paid author in Iran.


Description

The ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh'' was one of the grandest projects of the Ilkhanate period, "not just a lavishly illustrated book, but a vehicle to justify Mongol hegemony over Iran". The text was initially commissioned by Il-Khan Ghazan, who was anxious for the Mongols to retain a memory of their nomadic roots, now that they had become settled and adopted Persian customs. Initially, the work was intended only to set out the history of the Mongols and their predecessors on the steppes, and took the name ''Taʾrīkh-ī Ghazānī'', which makes up one part of the ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh''. To compile the History, Rashid al-Din set up an entire precinct at the university of Rab'-e Rashidi in the capital of
Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
. It contained multiple buildings, including a
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
, hospital, library, and classrooms, employing over 300 workers. After the death of Ghazan in 1304, his successor Öljaitü asked Rashid al-Din to extend the work, and write a history of the whole of the known world. This text was finally completed in sometime between 1306 and 1311. After Rashid al-Din's execution in 1318, the Rab-i-Rashidi precinct was plundered, but the in-process copy that was being created at the time survived, probably somewhere in the city of Tabriz, possibly in the library of Rashid's son, Ghiyath al-Din. Later, Rashid's son became Vizier, in his own right, and expanded the restored university precinct of his father. Several of the ''Jāmiʿ''s compositions were used as models for the later seminal illustrated version of the ''
Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...
'' known as the Demotte ''Shahnameh''.Blair. pp. 31–32. In the 15th century, the Arabic copy was in
Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...
, perhaps claimed after a victory by the
Timurid dynasty The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani (), was the ruling dynasty of the Timurid Empire (1370–1507). It was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol originB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of I ...
. It then passed to the court of the
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
in India, where it was in the possession of the emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605). There is then a record of it passing through the hands of later Mughal emperors for the next few centuries. It was probably divided into two parts in the mid-1700s, though both sections remained in India until the 19th century, when they were acquired by the British. The portion now in the Edinburgh library was presented as a gift to Ali-I Ahmad Araf Sahib on October 8, 1761, and in 1800 was in the library of the Indian prince Farzada Kuli. This fragment was acquired by Colonel John Baillie of Leys of the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
, and then in 1876 passed to the Edinburgh University Library. The other portion was acquired by John Staples Harriott of the East India Company sometime prior to 1813. At some point during the next two decades it was brought to England, probably when Harriott came home on furlough, when the manuscript entered the collection of Major General Thomas Gordon. He then bequeathed it to the Royal Asiatic Society in 1841. In 1948, it was loaned to the British Museum and Library, and in 1980 was auctioned at
Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
, where it was purchased by the Rashidiyyah Foundation in Geneva for £850,000, the highest price ever paid for a medieval manuscript. The Khalili Collection acquired it in 1990.


Sources

To write the ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh'', Rashid al-din based his work on many written and oral sources, some of which can be identified: * From Iran, it is very similar to work by Ata-Malik Juvayni, a Persian historian who wrote an account of the
Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, 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 Euro ...
entitled '' Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy'' "History of the World-Conqueror". Also from Iran, the ''
Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...
'' is drawn upon. * For Europe, the ''Chronicle of the Popes and the Emperors'' of
Martin of Opava Martin of Opava, Order of Preachers, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican Order, Dominican friar, bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and chronicler. Life Known in Latin language, Latin as ''Frater Martinu ...
* For the Mongols, it seems that he had access to the Altan Debter, through the ambassador of the Great Khan to the court of the Il-Khanate. * For China, the author knew the translation of four Chinese manuscripts: three on medicine and one on administration. Furthermore, it is known that he enjoyed calligraphy, painting and Chinese music. The links with this world were made all the easier because Mongols also ruled China.


Illustrations

Much of the illustration for the various copies of the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh was done at the Rab-al Rashidi university complex, though they were also done elsewhere in the Mongol empire. The illustrations in this text are part of the artistic tradition of Persian miniatures and the medium of the numerous Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh manuscripts vary slightly, with most of the miniatures being made using ink, watercolor, and occasionally silver. The images within, designed to correspond to its texts, depict historical and religious events, courtly scenes, and authority figures spanning nationalities and ethnicities. Because of Rashid al-Din’s mandate for an Arabic and Persian version of the text to be produced every year there was an adopted standard style for the illustrations, giving characters Mongol countenance and dress, that made the differentiation between key figures difficult. Stylistic Influences Elements of the illustrations are influenced by
Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as , meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western styles of art which b ...
techniques; most notably, the use of dark outlines and transparent washes, in contrast to the opaque watercolor style which would later become characteristic of Persian painting. The rendition of the landscape echoes conventions of Chinese painting under the Yuan dynasty, as seen in handscrolls and woodblock illustration. The illustrations also reflect late
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
influence in the elongation and gesture of the figures. Illustrators of the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh likely used Byzantine illustrations as references for some of the scenes depicted in the first section of the non-Mongol history of the world, about Adam and the patriarchs. Hazines 1653 & 1654 Hazine 1653 (MS H 1653), made in 1314, includes later additions on the Timurid era for Sultan
Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh Mirza (, ''Šāhrokh''; 20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynasty in 1370 ...
. The full collection, known as the Majmu'ah, contains Bal'ami's version of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari's chronicle, the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh, and Nizam al-Din Shami's biography of Timur. These portions of the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh cover most of the history of Muhammad and the Caliphate, plus the post-caliphate dynasties of the Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Khwarazmshahs, Is'mailis, and the Turks. MS H 1653 contains 68 paintings in the Ilkhanid style.Hazine 1654 (MS H 1654), a fragmentary piece of the second volume of the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh is the most complete surviving example of the Persian transcriptions made in Rab'-e Rashidi.The illustrations in this version of the text are made up of direct copies of illustrations from MS H 1653 and emulate illustrations from the Arabic Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh. The manuscript was left unfinished by the Ilkhanids after the inscription's completion in 1317, with only seven illustrations having been added to the beginning and other pages having blank spaces left for illustrations. A selection of the illustrations would be completed at the end of the fourteenth century. MS H 1654 later came into the ownership, along with the Arabic and other Persian versions, of the Timurid ruler Shahrukh, whose royal library both refurbished and added illustrations to the Hazine 1654. While increasingly simplified, the illustrations from the MS H 1654 are significant in that they display an increase in production under Ilkhanid and Timurid workshops and help modern scholars fill in the gaps from fragmentary manuscripts made earlier that cover non-Islamic histories. Mongol, Shahrukh, and Timurid styles are exemplified among these depictions of Ughuz Turks and Chinese, Jewish, Frankish, and Indian history.


Questions about work

There is little reason to doubt Rashid al-Din's editorial authorship but the work is generally considered a collective effort. It may also be possible that it was compiled by a group of international scholars under his leadership. Yet, a number of questions remain about the writing of the ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh.'' Several others, such as Abu’l Qasim al-Kashani, claimed to have written the ''universal history''. Rashid al-Din was, of course, a very busy man, with his public life and would have employed assistants to handle the materials assembled and to write the first draft: Abu'l Qasim may have been one of them. Furthermore, not all of the work is original: for instance, the section on the period following the death of Genghis Khan in particular is directly borrowed from Juvayni. Other questions concern the objectivity of the author and his point of view: it is after all an official history, concerning events with which Rashid al-Din in his political capacity was often involved at first hand (for the history of the Ilkhanate in particular). Nonetheless, the work "is characterized by a matter-of-fact tone and a refreshing absence of sycophantic flattery."


Contemporary manuscripts

The ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh'' was the center of an industry for a time, no doubt in part due to the political importance of its author. The workshop was ordered to produce one manuscript each in Arabic and Persian every year, which were to be distributed to different cities. Although approximately 20 of the first generation of manuscripts were produced, very few survive, which are described below. Other later copies were made from the first set, with some illustrations and history added to match current events.


Arabic manuscripts

The earliest known copy is in Arabic, dated to the early 1300s. Only portions of it have survived, divided into two parts between the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
(Or Ms 20, 151 folios) and the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art (MSS 727, 59 folios), although some researchers argue for these being from two different copies. Both sections come from the second volume, with the pages interwoven. The Edinburgh part covers some of the earlier history up through a section about Muhammad, and then this story is continued in the Khalili portion, with further narratives weaving back and forth between the two collections, ending with the final section also being in the Edinburgh collection.


Edinburgh folios

The Edinburgh part has a page size of 41.5 × 34.2 cm, with a written area of 37 × 25 cm, and contains 35 lines per page written in Naskhi calligraphy. There are some omissions: folios 1, 2, 70 to 170, and the end; and it is dated to 1306–1307, in a later inscription, which is nonetheless accepted. The text comprises four parts: the history of Persia and pre-Islamic Arabia, the story of Muhammad and the Caliphs, the history of the Ghaznavids, Seljuks and Atabeys, and the history of the sultans of Khwarezm. This part of the manuscript was discovered in the 1800s by Duncan Forbes, who found it among the papers of Colonel John Baillie, so this section is sometimes referred to as "Baillie's collection". Seventy rectangular miniatures adorn the manuscript, which reflect the cosmopolitan nature of
Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
at the time of its production. In this capital, a crossroads of trade routes and influences, and a place of great religious tolerance, Christian, Chinese, Buddhist and other models of painting all arrived to feed the inspiration of the artists. The miniatures have an unusual horizontal format and only take up about a third of the written area; this may reflect the influence of Chinese scrolls. Some parts of the surviving text are heavily illustrated and other parts not at all, apparently reflecting the importance accorded to them. The miniatures are ink drawings with
watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...
washes added, a technique also used in China; although they are generally in good condition, there was considerable use of metallic silver for highlights, which has now oxidized to black. Borrowings from Christian art can also be seen; for example the ''Birth of Muhammad'' adapts the standard Byzantine composition for the ''
Nativity of Jesus The Nativity or birth of Jesus Christ is found in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew and Gospel of Luke, Luke. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, in Herodian kingdom, Roman-controlled Judea, th ...
'', but instead of the
Biblical Magi In Christianity, the Biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also known as the Three Wise Men, Three Kings, and Three Magi, are distinguished foreigners who visit Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in homage to hi ...
approaching at the left there is a file of three women. The section includes the earliest extended cycle of illustrations of the life of Muhammad. Like other early Ilkhanid miniatures, these differ from the relatively few surviving earlier Islamic book illustrations in having coherent landscape backgrounds in the many scenes set outside, rather than isolated elements of plants or rocks. Architectural settings are sometimes given a sense of depth by different layers being shown and the use of a three-quarters view. Rice distinguished four major painters and two assistants: * The ''Painter of Iram'': the most influenced by China (reflected in Chinese elements, such as trees, interest in the landscape, interest in contemplative characters). The work is characterized by open drawing, minimal modelling, linear drapery, extensive details, stripped and balanced compositions, delicate and pale colours, and a rare use of silver. He painted mostly the early miniatures, and may have been assisted by the ''Master of Tahmura''. * The ''Painter of Lohrasp'': characterized by a variety of subjects, including many throne scenes, a variable and eclectic style, quite severe and angular drapery, a variety of movements, stripped and empty backgrounds. His absence of interest in landscape painting shows a lack of Chinese influences, which is compensated for by inspiration from Arab, Syrian and Mesopotamian painting. His work is of variable quality, and uses silver systematically. His assistant: the ''Master of Scenes from the Life of the Prophet''. * The ''Master of the Battle Scenes'': a somewhat careless painter, as becomes evident when the number of arms does not match the number of characters, or a leg is missing among the horses. He is notable for a complete lack of focus and horror, and for strong symmetry, his compositions usually comprising two parties face to face composed of a leader and two or three followers. Decoration is limited to grass, indicated in small vegetative clumps, except during sieges and attacks on the city. * The ''Master of Alp Arslan'' appears briefly, at the end of the manuscript. His style is crude and unbalanced, his characters often badly proportioned. Just as distinguishable are different racial and ethnic types, made manifest not just in the physical attributes of the characters, but also their clothes and their hats. One can thus distinguish a remarkably well observed group of Abyssinians, Western-style figures based on Syrian Christian manuscripts, Chinese, Mongols, Arabs, and so on. The Edinburgh folios were displayed at an exhibition at the University of Edinburgh Main Library in summer 2014


Khalili folios

The portion in the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, where it is referred to as MSS 727, contains 59 folios, 35 of them illustrated. Until sold in 1980 it was owned by the Royal Asiatic Society in London. The collector David Khalili has described it as one of his two favourite objects out of the 35,000 he has collected. It is a different section of the History than that of the Edinburgh version, possibly from a different copy. Each page measures (slightly different dimensions to the Edinburgh portion due to different models copied). According to Blair's description of the collection, "Two major sections were lost after division: thirty-five folios (73-107) covering the life of Muhammad up to the caliphate of Hisham, and thirty folios (291–48) going from the end of the Khwarazmshahs to the middle of the section on China. The latter may have been lost accidentally, but the former block may have been jettisoned deliberately because it had no illustrations. The folios about the life of the Prophet were further jumbled, and four were lost. The final three folios (301–303) covering the end of the section on the Jews were also lost, perhaps accidentally, but judging from the comparable section in MS.H 1653, they had no illustrations and may also have been discarded."Blair. p. 34. The manuscript was brought to Western attention by William Morley, who discovered it in 1841 while he was cataloguing the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society in London. For some time this collection was displayed in the King's Library of the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
. It includes twenty illustrations, plus fifteen pages with portraits of the emperors of China. The text covers the history of Islam, the end of China's history, the history of India, and a fragment from the history of the Jews. The work of the Painter of Luhrasp and Master of Alp Arslan is again evident. Some differences in style can be observed, but these can be attributed to the difference in date. A new painter appears for the portraits of Chinese leaders, which uses special techniques that seem to mimic those of Yuan mural painters (according to S. Blair): an attention to line and wash, and the use of black and bright red. This artist seems to be very familiar with China. The folios are dated 1314, and it was transcribed and illustrated in
Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
under the supervision of Rashid al-Din.


Persian manuscripts

There are two early 14th century copies in Persian in the Topkapi Palace Library,
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. * MS H 1653, made in 1314, containing 68 Ilkhanid-style paintings. * MS H 1654, made in 1317, which includes 118 illustrations, including 21 pages of portraits of Chinese emperors. It was copied for Rashid al-Din, and like H 1653 was later owned by Shahrukh.


Later versions and manuscripts

Interest in the work continued after the Ilkhans were replaced as Persia's ruling dynasty by the Timurids. Timur's youngest son, Shahrukh, who ruled the eastern portion of the empire from 1405 to 1447, owned incomplete copies of the ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh'' and commissioned his court historian Hafiz-i Abru to complete it. The earliest dated manuscript made for Shahrukh includes the original text and additions by Hafiz-i Abru, along with other histories, and is dated 1415–16 (Topkapi Palace Library, MS B 282). The Topkapi MS H 1653, discussed above, combines an incomplete Ilkhanid ''Jāmiʿ'' with Timurid additions, which are dated 1425. Another ''Jāmiʿ'' is in Paris ( BnF, Supplément persan 1113), dated to about 1430, with 113 miniatures. Most of the miniatures for these volumes copy the horizontal format and other features of the Ilkhanid manuscripts, while retaining other features of Timurid style in costume, colouring and composition, using what is sometimes known as the "Historical style".Blair and Bloom, 58 and notes


See also

* Secret History of the Mongols * Persian literature *
Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...
* Depictions of Muhammad * List of most expensive books and manuscripts


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

* "Rashid al-Din Tabib", in Encyclopedia of Islam, Brill, 1960 (2nd edition) * Allen, Terry, ''Byzantine Sources for the Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh of Rashīd Al-Dīn'', 1985, ''Ars Orientalis'', Vol. 15, pp. 121–136, * S. Blair, ''A compendium of chronicles : Rashid al-Din’s illustrated history of the world'', 1995, 2006 (contains a complete set of the folios from Khalili collection, with discussion of the work as a whole) * S. Blair and J. Bloom, ''The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250–1800'',
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
, 1994 * Canby, Sheila R., ''Persian Painting'', 1993, British Museum Press, * O. Grabar, ''Mostly Miniatures: An Introduction to Persian Painting'',
Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
, 2000 * B. Gray, ''Persian painting'', Macmillan, 1978 * B. Gray, ''The 'World history' of Rashid al-Din: A study of the Royal Asiatic Society manuscript'', Faber, 1978 * * Min Yong Cho, ''How land came into the picture: Rendering history in the fourteenth-century "Jami al-Tawarikh"'' (Dissertation), 2008, ProQuest, ,
fully online
* D. T. Rice, Basil Gray (ed.), ''The illustrations to the “World History”'' of Rashid al-Din,
Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...
, 1976 * A.Z.V. Togan, ''The composition of the history of the Mongols by Rashid al-din'', Central Asiatic Journal, 1962, pp 60 – 72.


Further reading

* * * *


External links

* Online text: * Hillenbrand, Robert
"Propaganda in the Mongol ‘World History’"
2010 Aspects of Art Lecture,
British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
* Paul Lunde and Rosalind Mazzawi
A History of the World
''Saudi Aramco World'', January 1981, describing the copy now in the Khalili collection

Timeline of Art History,
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Edinburgh pages in an exhibition at Cambridge

Online scan of the Edinburgh manuscript

Khalili Collection: The Jami‘ al-Tawarikh of Rashid al-Din

Devatasutra in the Arabic Compendium of Chronicles of Rashid al-Din


{{DEFAULTSORT:Jami' Al-Tawarikh 14th-century history books Ilkhanate Persian literature Islamic illuminated manuscripts Illuminated histories Persian art History books about India Historiography of India Chronicles containing universal histories in Persian