VOL. I, from the beginning to the death of Chingíz Khán.

VOL. II, from the accession of Ogotáy to the death of Tímúr (Úljáytú), the grandson of Qúbiláy Khán. * VOL. III, from the accession of Húlágú * to the death of Gházán, including the continuation of the history of the later Íl-kháns down to Abú Sa'íd compiled as a supplement to this portion of Rashídu'd-Dín's work in the reign of Sháh Rukh and by his command.

VOL. IV. The Introduction, the history of the ancient kings of Persia down to the fall of the Sásánian dynasty, and the biography of the Prophet Muḥammad.

VOL. V. The entire history of the Caliphate, from Abú Bakr to al-Musta'ṣim.

VOL. VI. The history of the post-Muḥammadan dynasties of Persia (Ghaznawís, Seljúqs, Khwárazmsháhs, Sal-gharís and Isma'ílís).

VOL. VII. The remainder of the work, comprising the history (from their own traditions and statements) of the Turks, Chinese, Israelites, Franks and Indians.

The Jámi'u't-Tawáríkh is remarkable not only for the extensive field which it covers and the care with which it has been compiled from all available sources, both written

<graphic>

Enthronement of Ogotáy, the son and successor of Chingíz, from an old
MS. of the Jámi'u't-Tawáríkh in the Bibliothèque Nationale

and oral, but for its originality. It is doubtful whether any Persian prose work can be compared to it in value, at any rate in the domain of history, and it is the more to be re­gretted that it remains unpublished and almost inaccessible. “I will dwell no longer,” says Quatremère, * “on the proofs of the extreme importance of Rashídu'd-Dín's compilation; this excellent work, undertaken in the most favourable cir­cumstances, and with means of performing it never before possessed by any single writer, offered for the first time to the peoples of Asia a complete course of universal history and geography.” The same writer illustrates the thorough­ness of Rashídu'd-Dín's work by indicating the extent to which he drew on Chinese sources, written and oral, in writing that portion of his history which bore reference to Khaṭá (Cathay), * and expresses a regret, which all must share, that the geographical portion of his work is lost, or at least still undiscovered. Perhaps, as Quatremère conjec­tures , * it perished in the destruction and looting of the Rab'-i-Rashídí which immediately followed Rashídu'd-Dín's death.

Rashídu'd-Dín composed numerous other works besides the Jámi'u't-Tawáríkh, and of these and their contents a Other works by Rashídu'd-Dín detailed account is given by Quatremère. * Amongst them is the Kitábu'l-Aḥyá wa'l-Áthár (the “Book of Animals and Monuments”), which comprised twenty-four chapters treating of a variety of Kitábu'l-Aḥyá wa'l-Áthár matters connected with meteorology, agricul­ture, arboriculture, apiculture, the destruction of noxious insects and reptiles, farming and stock-breeding, architecture, fortification, ship-building, min­ing and metallurgy. This work is unhappily lost.

Another of Rashídu'd-Dín's works was the Tawḍíḥát, or “Explanations,” a theological and mystical work, of Tawḍíḥát which the contents are arranged under a pre­face and nineteen letters. It was written at the request of Úljáytú, and is described by Quatremère from a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale.

This was followed by another theological work entitled Miftáḥu't-Tafásír, the “Key of Commentaries,” treating of Miftáḥu't­Tafásír the divine eloquence of the Qur'án, its com­mentators and their methods, Good and Evil, rewards and punishments, length of life, Pro­vidence, Predestination and the Resurrection of the Body. To these topics are added a refutation of the doctrine of Metempsychosis, and a definition of sundry technical terms.

“The Royal Treatise” (ar-Risálatu's-Sulṭániyya) is another similar work, undertaken on Ramaḍán 9, 706

ar-Risálatu's­Sulṭániyya (March 14, 1307), as the result of a discussion on theological matters which had taken place in the presence of Úljáytú.

The Laṭá'ifu'l-Ḥaqá'iq, or “Subtle Truths,” comprises fourteen letters, and begins with an account of a vision in Laṭá'ifu'l­Ḥaqá'iq which the author, on the night preceding Ra-maḍán 26, 705 (April 11, 1306), dreamed that he was presented to the Prophet. Its contents also are theological. This and the three preceding works are all written in Arabic, and together form what is known as the Majmú'a-i-Rashídiyya, or “Collection of the works of Rashídu'd-Dín,” of which a beautiful manuscript, dated 710/1310-11, exists at Paris. Another manuscript of the same library * contains a Persian translation of the Laṭá 'ifu'l-Ḥaqá'iq, and there are also preserved there two copies of an attestation of the orthodoxy of Rashídu'd-Dín's theological views, signed by seventy leading doctors of Muslim theology. This attestation was drawn up in con­sequence of accusations of heterodoxy made against Rashíd by a malicious fellow whose enmity had been aroused by the frustration of his endeavours to appropriate an emolu­ment from a benefaction for scholars and men of learning made by Gházán Khán on his death.

Another of Rashíd's works, of which, unhappily, only the general nature of the contents is known, is the Bayánu'l-

Bayánu'l­Ḥaqá'iq Ḥaqá'iq, or “Explanation of Verities,” com­prising seventeen letters, dealing mostly with theological topics, though other subjects, such as the small-pox and the nature and varieties of heat, are discussed.

The elaborate precautions (precautions which, alas! in the event proved inadequate) taken by Rashídu'd-Dín to Precautions taken by Rashídu'd­Dín for the preservation of his books preserve and transmit to posterity the fruits of his literary labours are very fully detailed by Quatremère, and can only be briefly recapitu­lated in this place. First, he caused several copies of each of his works to be made for lending to his friends and to men of letters, who were freely permitted to transcribe them for their own use. Then he caused Arabic translations of all his Persian, and Persian transla­tions of all his Arabic works to be prepared, and of both versions he caused numerous copies to be deposited, for the use of anyone who might desire to read or copy them, in the mosque-library of the quarter called after him Rab'-i-Rashídí. He also caused one large volume, containing all of his treatises with the necessary maps and illustrations, to be prepared and deposited in the above-mentioned public library, giving it the title of Jámi'u't-taṣánífi'r-Rashídí, * or “Complete collection of the works of Rashídu'd-Dín.” Of four more works treating of Medicine and the Mongol system of government he caused trilingual versions, in Chinese, Arabic and Persian, to be prepared. He further accorded the fullest liberty to anyone who desired to copy any or all of these books, and, not content with this, assigned a certain yearly sum from the revenues with which he had endowed his mosque in order to have two complete transcripts of his works, one in Arabic and one in Persian, made every year, and presented to one of the chief towns of the Muhammadan world. These copies were to be made on the best Baghdád paper and in the finest and most legible writing, and to be carefully collated with the originals. The copyists were to be carefully chosen, having regard both to the excellence and the speed of their work, and were to be lodged in the precincts of the mosque, as the administrators of the bequest might direct. Each copy, when finished, bound and ornamented, was to be carried into the mosque and placed on a book­rest between the pulpit and the miḥráb, and over it was to be repeated a prayer for the author, composed by himself, and conceived in the following terms:*