A Sensational and Unique Novelty

The Reception of Rashid al-Din’s World History

Bibliographic Data

ID12044600
AuthorsStefan Kamola (0000-0003-1422-6097, History, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT, USA, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume58
Issue1
Pages50-61
Publication date2018-11-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueIran (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0578-6967 • E-ISSN: 2396-9202
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/05786967.2018.1544836
OpenAlexW2900761806
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited13

Rashid al-Din’s world history, contained in the second volume of the Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh, is widely popular among modern scholars as a monument of early Persian book art and a witness to the cultural hybridity of Ilkhanid Iran. However, for most of the seven centuries since the work’s creation, it received very little attention and was copied in only a handful of contexts. This article examines the circumstances for the production of the world history to understand why it was so unpopular until the nineteenth century. Composed as part of a programme of Ilkhanid political ideology, the world history mattered less as a narrative of the past than as a demonstration of sovereign authority. This may help explain when and how it was copied and why it was mostly ignored

Ancient history · Art · Literature · Novelty · Theology · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Philosophy

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