Wassaf (1265–1328, fl. 1297-1328)

by Prajakti Kalra (See Chinese translation)

Abdullah bin Fazlullah Wassaf Abdallah ibn Faḍlallah Sharaf al-Din Shīrāzī (alternative names) was a native of Shiraz and served in the Ilkhan court. He was the fiscal administrator of Fars and lived mostly in Shiraz. He visited Baghdad on various occasions, and the Ilkhan court, thus he was an eyewitness to the events he wrote about in Ghazan and Oljeitu’s reigns. He was also the court poet.

His history of the Mongols focuses mostly on the Ilkhanate but also includes Yuan dynasty China and the Central Asian Mongols. As a tax administrator in Shiraz, Wassaf possessed a solid knowledge of fiscal affairs that comes through in his work. He also worked for the ruling dynasty that preceded the Ilkhans and recorded information about the subordinate, local dynasties of Iran as well as the Mongol Ilkhans. While his work has been referred to as an ‘official’ history, his treatment of the ‘rebel’ Ogedeid prince Qaidu is sympathetic and impartial. He also touches on Yuan China under Temur (r. 1294-1307). His work, while not translated in full, provides information that is not covered by other Persian historiographers of the Ilkhanate. His inclusion of the Chaghataid Khanate and the Delhi Sultanate along with the Yuan Mongols is noteworthy. Wassaf’s work thus provides a fuller understanding of the Mongol Empire than the prescriptive and more researched work of Rashīd al-Dīn, which also served as an official history and was written for a particular audience. Events described in Wassaf’s work shed new light on other parts of the Mongol Empire, especially in Central Asia, which were so important when Chinggis Khan’s power was beginning to grow, but which have been poorly understood because of the paucity of sources and Wassaf’s difficult prose.

Wassaf’s Tarikh-i Wassaf, or Tajziyat al-amṣār wa-tazjiyat al-a’ṣār, is one of the earliest sources on Ilkhanid Persia. It covers the years 1257-1328. He is said to have begun writing it in 1297. It is meant to be a continuation of Juwayni's Tārīkḣ-i Jahāngushāy, the history of the rise of the Mongols from 1252, which is partially included in the Tarikh-i Wassaf. It covers the reigns of Möngke Khan through Abu Said (the last Ilkhan ruler to exercise any real power), who died in 1335. It is by all accounts an eyewitness record of the events and is marked by fairness and impartiality.

The work consists of five volumes. Only the first volume has been translated into German by Joseph Hammer-Purgstall in 1865. Mohammad Ayati has an abridged version which is easily accessible. Wassaf was a protégé of Rashīd al-Dīn, and companion of Khwaja Sadr al-Din Ahmad Khalidi Zanjani, Sadr-i Jahan and Sa’ad al-Din Muhammad Sawaji. While his main focus was the Ilkhan court, he wrote extensively about the Central Asian Mongols and their activities, and even their interest in Hindustan (India), which is not covered in other contemporary sources. He writes about Qaidu, the Ögödeid prince, who fought the Ilkhans and the Yuan for many years; again his is one of the few extant sources on the subject. He was referred to as Wassaf al-hadrat (the court panegyrist).

The first volume of the Tazjiyat al-amsar wa-tazjiyat al-a’sar (The Apportionment of Counties and the Passing of Epochs), begun in 1298/99, was presented to Ghazan Khan, and the third volume was presented to Oljeitu. The final version came out in 1327/28.

The scope of his work is extensive. His bombastic style has long intimidated scholars and kept them from fully using this source. Rashīd al-Dīn and Sad al-Din referred to it as a great work written in Persian; there are also Arabic verses in the text, making the work inaccessible and difficult to read. By his own admission, Wassaf was more concerned with stylistics, eloquence of language, rhythm and rhetorical figures than history, yet it still contains a wealth of information useful for modern scholars. Other works of the time are silent on or deficient in the history of some areas, such as the Mongols of Central Asia. The prose is stylistic, rich in adornments, synonyms, Quranic verses and references to traditions. Wassaf claimed that his contemporaries criticised its stylistics because they could not find other faults. In Karl Jahn’s view, while Wassaf’s stylistic approach is difficult for scholars, the work remains an important source that has been ignored or side-lined due to such past criticisms.

Although the work is divided into five volumes it can be understood as having three parts. The first focuses on Möngke Khan and continues into Oljeitu’s reign. It was presented to Oljeitu in 1312. The second part is full of details on the provinces in Ilkhan Iran, including Fars, Kirman and other cities. The fourth volume reads almost like a conclusion; it provides background to the Ilkhanate, mentioning Chinggis Khan and Hülegü. The fifth and last volume covers some of Oljeitu’s rule, and events in Khurasan, especially the incursions made by the Chaghatai Khans. In general, the work has few headings, and the Bombay manuscript does not contain a table of contents at all, which makes it difficult to use.

Wassaf discusses the Chagahtaid Khanate, including the division of territories between the Chaghatais and the Ögödeis under Qaidu, the politics within the Chaghataid Khanate, especially succession issues, and the expansion of the Chaghataid Khanate. His work supplies information on Mongol fiscal administration in Iran, as well as military campaigns and social issues. In its treatment of the Central Asian Mongols, Wassaf’s work is important for its explanation of the way in which Central Asia was jointly administered under the Chagahtai and Ögödeid princes, which was accepted by the populace and the Mongols. We know from this work that Qaidu and Du’a jointly ruled Central Asian territories and shared foreign policy, administrative and other responsibilities. V. V. Barthold’s "A Short History of Turkestan" uses Wassaf’s work in the most comprehensive and complete manner. Not only does Wassaf provide details about the administration but he also mentions Qaidu’s deathbed speech, which left Du’a as the sole ruler of Central Asia. Events unfolded differently, but Qaidu’s rule and leadership, which is so essential to understanding Mongol rule in Central Asia, is one of many topics in Wassaf’s work that needs further attention. Wassaf also discusses the army divisions that were active in Central Asia under Qaidu, Du’a and his successors. His work shows that a closer look at the Central Asian Mongol Khanate can shed light on the overall Mongol Empire. Wassaf had a unique understanding of overarching leadership and loyalty to the Khans and princes that characterised Mongol rule. The notion of voluntary association or individual assent was as essential in Central Asia as it was in the rest of the Mongol Empire. Wassaf has also left behind a genealogical chart of Du’a’s successors.

Wassaf’s Tazjiyat al-Amsar, a sequel to Juwayni’s work, was presented to Ghazan Khan in 1303 and the discussion of Alaudin Khalji in the Delhi Sultanate was copied into the India section of Rashīd al-Dīn’s Jāmiʻ al-tavārīkh. It covers the earliest years of the Mongol empire and its contact with Hindustan until the 1290s, when Alaudin Khaji became the Sultan. Wassaf’s information on the latter’s reign came mainly from travellers and other sources. His account provides details on Mongol incursions, raids and campaigns in Hindustan, Alauddin Khalji’s campaigns in the Gujarat and the Deccan (Southern India) in Hindustan, and the Ilkhan Oljeitu’s embassy to Alauddin Khalji. Wassaf’s work not only refers to the direct contact between the Central Asian Mongols and the Delhi Sultanate, but also sheds light on the motivations behind the Chaghataid invasions of Hindustan in the last decade of the 13th and the first decade of the 14th centuries, something that is missing from other Persian sources of the time.