Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (1247?-1318, esp. 1297-1318)

by Prajakti Kalra (See Chinese translation)

Rashīd al-Dīn and his work Jāmiʻ al-tavārīkh (Compendium of Chronicles or Collection of Histories) are known by a number of alternative names.

Rashīd al-Dīn entered the Ilkhan court as a physician. He was then made vizier/wazir to the Ilkhans of Iran in 1297 by Ghazan Khan and continued to serve under his successor, Uljeitu Khan. He served as co-vizier with Sa‘d al-Din Savaji, but was dismissed due to court intrigues, returning to his post shortly under Amir Choban. Such court intrigues eventually caused his death. His Jewish background contributed to his view of Islamic history; he included a section on Jewish history in his works. He wrote prolifically and also supported the works of other authors.

Ghazan Khan commissioned him to write histories of the peoples of the world. Jāmiʻ al-tavārīkh is considered a collective work, but Rashīd al-Dīn is considered its ‘first author’. Named collaborators, research assistants and residents at court must have helped write the narrative or provide information on areas beyond his expertise. Kamalashri, the Khasmiri monk, along with Chinese, Uyghur and Qipchaq scholars are all mentioned in the work. Bolad Ching-sang, Qubilai Khan’s Mongol-Yuan emissary to the court of the Ilkhans, and an authority on early Mongol history, provided information by oral transmission. The first part of the manuscript combines a Persian translation of a Mongol account of the period with oral history and earlier accounts like that of Ata Malek Juwayni.

The manuscript as it survives has two volumes of different lengths and is divided into parts, chapters and sections. Instead of a year by year chronology, it is a running narrative. However, it contained four volumes, according to a note left by Rashīd al-Dīn.

The first volume is also called Tarikh-i Ghazani, named after Ghazan Khan who commissioned the work. It has five parts, including the history of the Mongol and Turkic peoples, the rise of Chinggis Khan, descendants of Chinggis Khan and the history of the Ilkhans.

The second volume has not been edited in full. The opening part of this volume, which concerns Uljaitu/Oljeitu Khan, is missing. This part is divided into several sub-sections, providing information on pre-Islamic rulers, Islamic history, and the dynasties of Iran. It also describes peoples encountered by the Mongols: Indians, Chinese, Jews, Franks and other Europeans. The third volume is about the Prophet and the Arab tribes, while the fourth volume focuses on the geography and climates of various regions, including India and China. Only three volumes are mentioned in the Tarikh-i Ghazani.

Genealogical information about the Mongols and Turkic tribes is an essential component of the Tarikh-i Rashidi, as it attempts to establish the legitimacy of the Mongol Khans in Iran. It is an official history describing the reign of Ghazan Khan in much detail. The latter is said to have brought Islam to the Mongol Khans in Iran. The author is not overtly critical, narrating events in a matter of fact tone. There is also a series of passages on the good deeds and positive accounts of the Mongol rulers, providing an idealised vision of the state. Volume One contains a history of the Mongols, presenting their vision of imperial rule. The second volume attempts to provide a universal history of the world.

While modern editions dedicate distinctive sections to the Ilkhans, the original treated them very much as one line of Ghanghis [Chinggis] Khan’s successors. Rashīd al-Dīn completed the compendium in 1305/06 just after the death of Ghazan Khan. Copies of the manuscript were already underway during his lifetime. He had prescribed two copies every year, one in Arabic and one in Persian, in Rab-i Rashidi, a complex in the north-eastern part of Tabriz, which Rashīd al-Dīn had established as a charity, orphanage, scriptorium, library and religious institution. This complex declined after his death.

Although Rashīd al-Dīn does not cite his sources, it is clear that he used the following works:

• Ibn al-Athir’s al-Kamil fit-tarikh for the history of the Islamic world.

• Juwayni’s Tarikh-i Jahangushay (History of the World Conqueror) for the conquest of the territories of the Khwarezm Shah in Central Asia.

• Bolad Ching-sang's oral accounts for the earlier history of the Mongol Khans.

• Altan Daftar (Golden Register)

• Manghol-un niucha tobcha’an (The Secret History of the Mongols)