page_title: Jami' al-tawarikh
section_title: Persian manuscripts
hierarchical_section_title: Jami' al-tawarikh / Contemporary manuscripts / Persian manuscripts
caption_attribution_description: English: An agent (fida’i) of the Ismailis («Order of Assassins») (left, in white turban) fatally stabs Nizam al-Mulk, a Seljuk vizier, in 1092. Русский: Агент (фида'и) исмаилитов («ассасинов») (слева, в белом тюрбане) наносит смертельный удар Низам аль-Мульку, сельджукскому визирю, в 1092 году. فارسی: قتل خوجه نظام‌الملک توسی به دست یکی از اسماعیلیان
context_page_description: The Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh, is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanate. Written by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani at the start of the 14th century, the breadth of coverage of the work has caused it to be called "the first world history". It was in three volumes. The surviving portions total approximately 400 pages, with versions in Persian and Arabic. 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 lavish illustrations and calligraphy required the efforts of hundreds of scribes and artists, with the intent that two new copies would be created each year and distributed to schools and cities around the Ilkhanate, in the Middle East, Central Asia, Anatolia, and the Indian subcontinent. Approximately 20 illustrated copies were made of the work during Rashid al-Din's lifetime, but only a few portions remain, and the complete text has not survived. The oldest known copy is an Arabic version, of which half has been lost, but one set of pages is currently in the Khalili Collections, comprising 59 folios from the second volume of the work.
context_section_description: There are two early 14th century copies in Persian in the Topkapi Palace Library, Istanbul.
  MS H 1653, made in 1314, which includes later additions on the Timurid era for Sultan Shah Rukh. The full collection, known as the Majmu'ah, contains Bal'ami's version of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari's chronicle, the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh, and Nizam al-Din Shami's biography of Timur. The portions of the Jāmiʿ cover most of the history of the Muhammad and the Caliphate, plus the post-caliphate dynasties of the Ghaznavids, Saljuqs, Khwarazmshahs and Is'mailis, and the Turks. It contains 68 paintings in the Ilkhanid style.
  MS H 1654, made in 1317, which includes 118 illustrations, including 21 pages of portraits of Chinese emperors. It was copied for Rashid al-Din, and like H 1653 was later owned by Shahrukh.
caption: An Assassin (left, in white turban) fatally stabs Nizam al-Mulk, a Seljuk vizier, in 1092, from Topkapi MS H 1653.
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