Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

226 HISTORY OF PERSIA CHAP.
also utilized the valuable history known as the Tarikh-i-
Jahan-Gusha, or "History of the World- Conqueror,"
written by Ala-u-Din Juwayni (so called from a district
in Khorasan), who being the Secretary of Hulagu enjoyed
exceptional advantages.
This history treats of the origin
of the Mongols and the conquests of Chengiz Khan,
of the Khwarazm Shahs, and of Hulagu's campaign
against the Assassins, in which the author took part.
A
third history
is the Jami-ul-Tawarikh, or " Collection of
Histories," by Rashid-u-Din Fazl Ulla, who wrote in
the reigns of Ghazan Khan and of his successor. It
treats fully of the Mongols and also of the dynasties
which ruled in Persia immediately before the Mongol
invasion. A fourth historian is the Jacobite Christian
known as Barhebraeus, or " The Son of the Jew." His
is carried down to
Abridgement of the History of Dynasties
the accession of Arghun and is of great value. Finally
there is Shibab-u-Din, Mohamed of Nisa, the secretary
of the fighting Jalul-u-Din of Khwarazm, whose history
was written in A.H. 639 (1241), ten years
after the death
of his master, and is a useful contribution to our know-
adventures in which he himself took
ledge of the stirring
a part.
The Later Historians. Of the historians who wrote
in the later
Mongol period, Mirkhond, who was born in
the middle of the fifteenth century, and his son Khondemir
are the best known. Mirkhond was attached to the
Court of Herat, and his patron was the cultivated AH
Shir, Vizier of Sultan Husayn. His great work is the
Rauzat-u-Safa, or " Garden of Purity," which is a general
history of Persia in seven ponderous tomes from the
creation to A.D. 1471. His narrative, like those of other
writers, is enlivened by numerous anecdotes. Khondemir
was the author of an abridgement of his father's history
and also wrote a history of the Mongols. Owing
to the
Uzbeg irruption, Khondemir quitted Khorasan in A.D.
1528 and lived at the Court of Baber in India.
Yakut, the Geographer. Among the geographers,
Yakut, son of Abdulla, occupies the first place.
Born
in A.D. 1
179 of Greek parents, he was sold as a slave, but