The Likely Course of an Unlikely Life, 1248–1302

Abstract

Rashid al-Din Tabib (d. 1318) was born into a Jewish medical family and raised between waves of Mongol conquest in Iran. By 1297, he rose to the highest level of administration in the new Mongol state. This chapter traces the first half century of Rashid al-Din’s life through the societies in which it unfolded. These include the Jewish community of Hamadan, the Ismaʿili fortresses of northern Iran, and ultimately the new concentration of professional and political elites at the Mongol court. Rashid al-Din’s family struck a close alliance with a particular branch of the Mongol ruling family. When one member of that family, Ghazan Khan (1295-1304) came to the throne, Rashid al-Din was situated to assume a position of authority.