Rašīd al-Dīn Fażl-Allāh ibn ʿImād al-Dawlah / Rašīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb

Ṭabīb (d. 718/1318)

Government Administrator and Historian

Rašīd al-Dīn Fażl-Allāh ibn ʿImād al-Dawlah Abū al-Ḫayr was born in Hamadān ca. 645/1247. Though Rašīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb first entered the Mongol court as a physician (ṭabīb) to Abaka (r. 663/1265 to 680/1282), in the years to come he would establish himself in the Ilkhan government as an administrator and statesmen. In 697/1298, Rašīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb was appointed associate wazir in the government of Ghāzān (r. 694/1295 to 703/1304) and played a large part in the administrative reforms that took place under him. He also served as a wazir to Ghāzān’s successor, Ulhaytu (r. 703/1304 to 716/1316). Remarkably, however, the fame of Rašīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb rests neither in his capacity for medicine or administration but in that of history. His Jāmiʿ al-tavārīḫ, on which his fame is largely based, is considered by many to be the “most important single historical source for the Mongol Empire as a whole, not merely the realm of the Ilkhans”. Accused of poisoning Ilkhan ruler Ulaytu, Rašīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb was put to death in 718/1318.