Dates

• Existence: 1247 - 1318

Biography

Rashid al-Din was a physician and court historian to the Ilkhanid court. Born about 1247 AD into a Jewish family, he converted to Islam and served as vizier (prime minister) to the sultan. He died in 1318 AD, being executed on a charge of poisoning his royal master. Before that, however, he wrote what would become one of the world’s most important historical and artistic documents: Jami’ al-Tawarikh, a history of the world as it was then known, covering not only the history of the Mongols, but also that of the Chinese, Franks and Indians.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Or Ms 20: جامع التواریخ Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (Compendium of Chronicles), 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)

 Item

Identifier: Or Ms 20

Scope and Contents This manuscript, among the most iconic items held by Edinburgh University Library, is one of the supreme masterpieces of Persian book painting and one of the most important medieval manuscripts from either West or East. Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh was written by the historian and vizier to the Ilkhanid court, Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍl-allāh Ṭabīb Hamadānī (ca. 1247-1318 C.E.), and copied in Tabriz by the author's own scribes and illustrators. This fragment of the manuscript...

Dates: 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia