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Rashid Al-dinRashid al-Din Tabib (1247-1318), a Persian official of the 13th-14th century C.E. Ilkhanid court, 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, though with colleagues, from 1298 until his death; he was executed after being charged with having poisoned the Khan Oljeitu. The Jami al-Tawarikh seems to have been written on commission, begun as a history of the Mongols and their dynasty for the Ghazan Khan and then expanded to include history from Adam to Rashid al-Din's present day. 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. 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. Rashid al-Din Rashid al-Din Rashid al-Din
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