Information AboutRashid Al-din |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT RASHID AL-DIN | |
| 1247 births | |
| 1318 deaths | |
| persian people | |
| persian jews | |
| converts to islam | |
| converts from judaism | |
| judeo-islamic topics | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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He was also an official at the 13th and 14th Century Ilkhanid court, possibly the steward to the Il-Khan Gaykhatu (1291-95), and as financial advisor to Abaqa 's grandson, Mahmud Ghazan (1295-1304). He wrote an enormous universal history, the ''Jami al-Tawarikh'', in the Persian Language . Rashid al-Din was born into a Jewish family and converted to Islam sometime around the age of 30. He served as Vizier and physician, though with colleagues, from 1298 until his death; he was executed in 1318 after being charged with having poisoned the '' Khan '' Öljeitü . The ''Jami al-Tawarikh'' was commissioned by Mahmud Ghazan , begun as a history of the Mongol s and their dynasty and then expanded to include history from Adam to Rashid al-Din's present day. It was completed during the reign of Öljeitü in 1307-1316. Rashid al-Din had access to information from a now-lost Mongol chronicle for the period of Genghis Khan , and historians find by comparison with material that survives in Chinese sources that he made good use of the source. His treatment of the Ilkhanid period is felt to be partisan—he was himself a high official—but is still seen as the most useful written source for the dynasty. The work was at the time of completion, circa 1307, of monumental size. Unfortunately all sections have not survived or been discovered. Portions of the ''Jami al-Tawarikh'' survive in lavishly illustrated manuscripts, some produced during the lifetime and perhaps under the direction of Rashid al-Din. Two portions of the surviving Encyclopedia , volumes II and III, are of great importance for the study of the Il-Khanate. Volume II is an account of the successors of Genghis Khan while volume III describes the Il-Khans of Iran. In his narration down to the reign of Möngke (1251-59), Juvayni was Rashid al-Din's main source; however, he also utilized numerous now-lost Far Eastern and other sources. The ''Jami' al-Tawarikh'' is perhaps the single most comprehensive Persian source on the Mongol period. Rashid al-Din owned large estates in the , Georgia , Iraq , and the greater part of what is now Turkey . SEE ALSO
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