Jami' al-tawarikh

The Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (Persian/Arabic: , ) is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanate. Written by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318 AD) at the start of the 14th century, large coverage of the work has caused it to be called "the first world history". It was in three volumes and published in Arabic and Persian versions.
The surviving portions total approximately 400 pages of the original work. The work describes cultures and major events in world history from China to Europe; in addition, it covers Mongol history, as a way of establishing their cultural legacy.
The early illustrated manuscripts represent "one of the most important surviving examples of persian art in any medium", and are the largest surviving body of early examples of the Persian miniature.
Contents.
The "Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh" consists of four main sections of different lengths:
Author.
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani was born in 1247 at Hamadan, Iran into a Jewish family.
Description.
Sources.
To write the "Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh", Rashid al-din based his work on many written and oral sources, some of which can be identified:
Contemporary manuscripts.
The "Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh" was the center of an industry for a time, no doubt in part due to the political importance of its author. The workshop was ordered to produce one manuscript each in Arabic and Persian every year, which were to be distributed to different cities. Although approximately 20 of the first generation of manuscripts were produced, very few survive, which are described below. Other later copies were made from the first set, with some illustrations and history added to match current events.
Edinburgh folios.
The Edinburgh part has a page size of 41.5 × 34.2 cm, with a written area of 37 × 25 cm, and contains 35 lines per page written in Naskhi calligraphy. There are some omissions: folios 1, 2, 70 to 170, and the end; and it is dated to 1306-1307, in a later inscription, which is nonetheless accepted. The text comprises four parts: the history of Persia and pre-Islamic Arabia, the story of the Prophet and Caliphs, the history of the Ghaznavids, Seljuks and Atabeys, and the history of the sultans of Khwarezm. This part of the manuscript was discovered in the 1800s by Duncan Forbes, who found it among the papers of Colonel John Baillie, so this section is sometimes referred to as "Baillie's collection".
Seventy rectangular miniatures adorn the manuscript, which reflect the cosmopolitan nature of Tabriz at the time of its production. In this capital, a crossroads of trade routes and influences, and a place of great religious tolerance, Christian, Chinese, Buddhist and other models of painting all arrived to feed the inspiration of the artists.
Khalili folios.
A new painter appears for the portraits of Chinese leaders, which uses special techniques that seem to mimic those of Yuan mural painters (according to S. Blair): an attention to line and wash, and the use of black and bright red. This artist seems to be very familiar with China. The folios are dated 1314, and it was transcribed and illustrated in Tabriz under the supervision of Rashid al-Din.
Persian manuscripts.
There are two early 14th century copies in Persian in the Topkapi Palace Library, Istanbul.