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[[File:Rashid-al-Din Hamadani.jpg|thumb|Statue of Rashid al-Din Hamadani in [[Iran]]. ]] 
'''Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb''' ({{lang-fa|رشیدالدین طبیب}}), also known as '''Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī''' ({{lang-fa|رشیدالدین فضل‌الله همدانی}}, 1247–1318), was a statesman, historian and physician in [[Ilkhanate]]-ruled Iran.<ref name=EBO>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9062730 "Rashid ad-Din"]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed 11 April 2007.</ref> He was born into a [[Persian Jews|Persian Jewish family]] from [[Hamadan]].

Having converted to [[Islam]] by the age of 30, Rashid al-Din became the powerful [[vizier]] of the Ilkhan, [[Ghazan]]. Later he was commissioned by Ghazan to write the [[Jami' al-tawarikh|''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'']], now considered the most important single source for the history of the Ilkhanate period and the [[Mongol Empire]].<ref name="EI2"/> He retained his position as a vizier until 1316.

After being charged with poisoning the Ilkhanid king [[Öljaitü]], he was executed in 1318.<ref name="EI2" />

Historian Morris Rossabi calls Rashid-al-Din "arguably the most distinguished figure in Persia during Mongolian rule".<ref>''Genghis Khan: World Conqueror?'' Introduction by Morris Rossabi http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Content_store/Sample_chapter/9780631189497/GK_sample_chap.pdf</ref>  He was a prolific author and established the [[Rab'-e Rashidi]] academic foundation in [[Tabriz]].

==Biography==
[[File:Mongol soldiers by Rashid al-Din 1305.JPG|thumb|Mongol soldiers in the ''[[Jami' al-tawarikh|Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh]]'' of Rashid al-Din, 1305–1306.]] 
Rashid al-Din was born into a Persian Jewish family in Hamadan, now in [[Hamadan Province]]. His grandfather had been a courtier to the founder Ilkhanate ruler [[Hulagu Khan]], and Rashid al-Din's father was an [[apothecary]] at the court. He converted to Islam around the age of thirty.<ref>George Lane, ''Genghis Khan and Mongol Rule,''Hackett Publishing , 2009 p.121.</ref>

Rashid was trained as a physician and started service under Hulagu's son, [[Abaqa Khan]]. He rose to become the [[Grand Vizier]] of the Ilkhanid court at [[Soltaniyeh]], near [[Qazvin]]. He served as [[vizier]] and physician under the Ilkhanate emperors Ghazan and Öljaitü before falling to court intrigues during the reign of [[Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan]], whose ministers had him killed at the age of seventy. His son, [[Ghiyas al-Din ibn Rashid al-Din]], briefly served as vizier after him.

==''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh''==
The ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' "Compendium of Chronicles" was commissioned by Ghazan and initially was a history of the [[Mongols]] and their dynasty, but gradually expanded to include the entire history since the time of [[Adam]] to Rashid al-Din's time.

Rashid was assisted by [[Bolad]], a Mongol nobleman who was the emissary of the Great Khan to the Ilkhanid court. Bolad provided him with much background about Mongol history, especially about the [[Borjigin]] clan.

The ''Compendium'' was completed between 1307 and 1316, during the reign of Öljaitü.

===Calligraphy Workshop: Rab' i-Rashidi===
The work was executed at the elaborate [[scriptorium]] [[Rab'-e Rashidi]] at [[Qazvin]], where a large team of calligraphers and illustrators were employed to produce lavishly illustrated books.  These books could also be copied, while preserving accuracy, using a printing process imported from China.

[[File:HulaguAndDokuzKathun.JPG|thumb|[[Hulagu Khan]] with his [[Church of the East|Eastern Christian]] wife, [[Doquz Khatun]]. Hulagu conquered Muslim Syria, in collaboration with Christian forces from [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Cilician Armenia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], and [[Antioch]]. From Rashid al-Din's work.]]

The work was at the time of completion, c. 1307, of monumental size. Several sections have not survived or been discovered. Portions of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' survive in lavishly illustrated manuscripts, believed to have been produced during his lifetime and perhaps under his direct supervision at the Rab'-e Rashidi workshop.<ref>The large literatre on these includes: S. Blair, ''A compendium of chronicles : Rashid al-Din’s illustrated history of the world'', 1995, 2006 ISBN 1-874780-65-X (contains a complete set of the folios from Khalili collection, with discussion of the work as a whole); B. Gray, ''The 'World history' of Rashid al-Din: A study of the Royal Asiatic Society manuscript'', Faber, 1978  ISBN 0-571-10918-7.  See the article on the work for more</ref>

===Historiographical significance===
Volumes I and II of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' have survived and are of great importance for the study of the Ilkhanate. Volume I is "contains the history of the Turkish and Mongol tribes, including their tribal legends, genealogies, myths and the history of the Mongol conquests from the time of [[Genghis Khan]] to the end of the reign of Ghazan Khan"<ref name="nation">{{cite journal|last1=Lunde|first1=Paul|last2=Mazzawi|first2=Rosalind|title=A History of the World|journal=Saudi Aramco World|date=1981|volume=32|issue=1|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198101/a.history.of.the.world.htm}}</ref> while volume II describes "the history of all the peoples with whom the Mongols had fought or with whom they had exchanged embassies".<ref name="nation"/> In his narration down to the reign of [[Möngke Khan]] (1251–1259), [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]] was Rashid al-Din's main source; however, he also utilized numerous now-lost Far Eastern and other sources. The ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' is perhaps the single most comprehensive Persian source on the Mongol period. For the period of [[Genghis Khan]], his sources included the now lost ''[[Altan Debter]]'' "Golden Book". His treatment of the Ilkhanid period seems to be biased, as he himself was a high official, yet it is still seen as the most valuable written source for the dynasty.

The third volume is either lost or was never completed; its topic was "historical geography".<ref name="nation"/>

The most important historiographic legacy of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' may be its documentation of the cultural mixing and ensuing dynamism that led to the greatness of the [[Persian Empire|Persian]] and [[Ottoman Empire]]s, many aspects of which were transmitted to Europe and influenced the [[Renaissance]]. This was the product of the geographical extension of the Mongol Empire, and is most clearly reflected in this work by Rashid al-Din. The text describes the different peoples with whom the Mongols came into contact and is one of the first attempts to transcend a single cultural perspective and to treat history on a universal scale. The ''Jāmiʿ'' attempted to provide a history of the whole world of that era,<ref name="nation"/> though many parts are sadly lost.

One of the volumes of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' deals with an extensive ''History of the Franks'' (1305/1306), possibly based on information from Europeans working under the Ilkhanates such as [[Isol the Pisan]] or the [[Dominican Order|Dominican friars]], which is a generally consistent description with many details on Europe's political organization, the use of ''[[Mappa mundi|mappae mundi]]'' by [[Italians|Italian]] [[sailor|mariners]] and regnal chronologies derived from the chronicle of [[Martin of Opava]] (d. 1278).<ref>Jackson, p.329–330.</ref>

===Book transmission: printing and translation===
[[File:DiezAlbumsArmedRiders I.jpg|thumb|left|[[Mongol military tactics and organization#Cavalry|Mongol cavalry]] pursuing their enemy.]]
[[File:GhazanOnHorse.JPG|thumb|[[Ghazan]] on his horse. Rashid al-Din, ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh''.]]
Rashid al-Din also collected all of his compositions into a single volume, entitled ''Jami' al-Tasanif al-Rashidi'' ("The Collected Works of Rashid"), complete with maps and illustrations. He even had some of his shorter works, on medicine and government, translated into [[Chinese language|Chinese]]. Anyone who wished was given access to his works and encouraged to copy them. In order to facilitate this, he set aside a fund to pay for the annual transcription of two complete manuscripts of his works, one in Arabic and one in Persian.

The printing process used at the workshop has been described by Rashid al-Din, and bears very strong resemblance to the processes used in the large printing ventures in China under [[Feng Dao]] (932–953):
{{quote|[W]hen any book was desired, a copy was made by a skillful calligrapher on tablets and carefully corrected by proof-readers whose names were inscribed on the back of the tablets. The letters were then cut out by expert engravers, and all pages of the books consecutively numbered. When completed, the tablets were placed in sealed bags to be kept by reliable persons, and if anyone wanted a copy of the book, he paid the charges fixed by the government. The tablets were then taken out of the bags and imposed on leaves of paper to obtain the printed sheets as desired. In this way, alterations could not be made and documents could be faithfully transmitted.<ref>[[Joseph Needham]], ''Science and Civilisation in China''. v.5, "Paper and Printing", ed. [[Tsien Tsuen-hsuin]]. Cambridge University Press, 1985. p. 306–307.</ref> Under this system he had copies made, lent them to friends, and urged them to transcribe them and return the originals. He had Arabic translations made of those works he composed in Persian, and Persian translations of works composed in Arabic. When the translations had been prepared, he deposited them in the [[mosque]] library of the ''Rab'-e Rashidi''.<ref name="nation" />}}

=== Authorship and plagiarism accusations ===

The authorship of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' has been questioned on several grounds.

Abu al-Qasim Kashani (d. 1324), who wrote the most important extant contemporary source on Öljaitü, maintained that he himself was the true author of the ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'', "for which Rashid al-Din had stolen not only the credit but also the very considerable financial rewards."<ref name="EI2">{{Cite encyclopedia | edition = 2nd| publisher = Brill Academic Publishers| volume = 8| pages = 145–148| last = Morgan| first = D.O.| title = Rāshid Al-Dīn Tabīb| encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]| isbn = 9004098348| date = 1994}}</ref>

According to [[Encyclopædia Iranica]], "While there is little reason to doubt Rašid-al-Din’s overall authorship of the Jāmeʿ al-tawāriḵ, the work has generally been considered a collective effort, partly carried out by research assistants."<ref name="Melville">{{Iranica|jame-al-tawarik|Jāmeʿ al-Tawāriḵ}}</ref> Kashani may have been one of those assistants.<ref name="Melville"/>

Some also contended that it was a translation of a Mongol original.<ref name="EI2" />

==Authorship of his ''Letters''==

Scholars are in dispute about whether Rashid al-Din's ''Letters'' are a forgery or not.  According to [[David Morgan (historian)|David Morgan]] in ''The Mongols''<ref>''The Mongols'', 2nd ed., p. 183.</ref> Alexander Morton has shown them to be a forgery, probably from the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] period.<ref>A.H. Morton, "The Letters of Rashid al-Din: Ilkhanid fact or Timurid fiction?", in R. Amitai-Preiss and D.O. Morgan, ''The Mongol Empire and Its Legacy'' (1999), pp. 155–199.</ref> One scholar who has attempted to defend the letters' authenticity is Abolala Soudovar.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Soudovar|first1=Abolala|title=In defense of Rašid-od-din and his Letters|journal=Studia Iranica|date=2003|volume=32|page=77–122}}</ref>

==Fahlavi poems==
There are some [[fahlavīyāt]] by him apparently in his native dialect: a hemistich called ''zabān-e fahlavī'' (1976, I, p.&nbsp;290), a quatrain with the appellation ''bayt-efahlavī'', and another hemistich titled ''zabān-e pahlavī'' ("Fahlavi language").<ref>[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/fahlaviyat Ahmad Tafazzoli, "Fahlaviyat" in Encyclopedia Iranica]</ref>

==Loss of influence and death==
[[Image:DiezAlbumsStudyingTheKoran.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] ruler, [[Ghazan]], studying the [[Quran]].]]

In 1312, his colleague [[Sa'd al-Dawla]] fell from power and was replaced by [['Ali Shah]]. Then, in 1314, Öljaitü died and power passed to his son, Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, who sided with 'Ali Shah. In 1318, Rashid al-Din was charged with having poisoned Öljaitü and was executed on July 13, at the age of seventy.<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|last=Lewis|first=Bernard|authorlink=Bernard Lewis|title=The Jews of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0EbKFRxrT4C&pg=PA101|year=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=1-4008-2029-4}}, p. 101.</ref> His Jewish ancestry was referenced numerous times in the court. His head was carried around the city after the execution and people were chanting :"This is the head of the Jew who abused God's name, may God's curse be upon him." <ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|last=Littman|first=David|authorlink=David Littman (activist)|title=Jews Under Muslim Rule: The Case of Persia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENrHHAAACAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Institute of Contemporary History}}, page 3. </ref>

His property was confiscated and ''Rab'-e Rashidi'', with its scriptorium and its precious copies, were turned over to the Mongol soldiery. A century later, during the reign of [[Timur]]'s son [[Miran Shah]], Rashid al-Din's bones were exhumed from the Muslim cemetery and reburied in the Jewish cemetery.<ref>[{{cite book|ref=harv|last=Douglas|first=William O.|authorlink=William O. Douglas|title=West of the Indus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ikEQfhEeSYC|year=1958|publisher=Doubleday}}, p. 417]</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Iran|Biography|History}}
* [[List of Muslim historians]]
* [[List of Persian scientists and scholars]]
* [[Ghiyas al-Din ibn Rashid al-Din]], his son

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Elliot|first=H. M. (Henry Miers), Sir|author2=John Dowson|title=[[The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians]]|volume=3|chapter=10. Jámi'u-t Tawáríkh, of Rashid-al-Din| chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924073036737#page/n15/mode/2up|publisher=London : Trübner & Co.}}

==External links==
*[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/634/_sup31.htm The Mongol siege of Mosul from a manuscript of Rashid Al-Din's Jami' Al-Tawarikh, 14th century]
*[http://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/s/kwl89a Rashid al-din Hamadani's ''Illustrated History of the World'' in digitised book form from the University of Edinburgh]

{{High-ranking ministers and commanders of the Mongol Empire}}
{{Islamic medicine}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Din, Rashid Al}}
[[Category:1247 births]]
[[Category:1318 deaths]]
[[Category:Medieval Persian physicians]]
[[Category:14th-century physicians]]
[[Category:Physicians of medieval Islam]]
[[Category:14th-century historians]]
[[Category:Iranian historians]]
[[Category:People of the Ilkhanate]]
[[Category:Historians of Mongolia]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam from Judaism]]
[[Category:Persian people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Iranian inventors]]
[[Category:Muslims of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Medieval Jewish physicians of Persia]]
[[Category:People involved in plagiarism controversies]]
[[Category:Iranian people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:13th-century Jews]]
[[Category:Medieval Persian Jews]]
[[Category:13th-century Iranian people]]
[[Category:14th-century Iranian people]]