The ''Rahat al-sudur wa-ayat al-surur'' or ''Rahat al-sudur'' ( fa, راحة الصدور), is a history of the

Great Seljuq Empire The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to t ...

, its breakup into minor

beys Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

and the subsequent Khwarazmian occupation, written by the Persian historian

Muhammad bin Ali Rawandi Muhammad ibn Ali Rawandi ( fa, محمد بن علی راوندی; died after 1207), was a Persian historian who wrote the '' Rahat al-sudur wa ayat al-surur'' during the fall of the Great Seljuk Empire and the subsequent invasion by the Kharwarzm ...

and finished around 1204/1205. Rawandi was encouraged and supported in his endeavour by Shihab al-Din al-Kashani. Written in Persian and originally dedicated to Süleymanshah II, Rawandi re-dedicated his work to the

Sultan of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchy Triarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = B ...

Kaykhusraw I Kaykhusraw I ( 1ca, كَیخُسرو or Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Kaykhusraw ibn Kilij Arslān; fa, غياث الدين كيخسرو بن قلج ارسلان), the eleventh and youngest son of Kilij Arslan II, was Seljuk Sultan of Rûm. He succeeded his ...

Content

The early history of the Seljuqs written in the ''Rahat al-sudur'', relies heavily upon the ''

Saljuq-nama The Saljūq-Nāma ( fa, سلجوق‌نامه, "Book of Seljuk mpire) is a history of the Great Seljuk Empire written by the Persian historian Zahir al-Din Nishapuri around 1175. Written in Persian, it has been acknowledged as the primary source ...

''. However, events after 1175 are directly witnessed by Rawandi since he was a member of Toghrul III's court, making the ''Rahat al-sudur'' an invaluable source for Toghrul's reign. According to the ''Rahat al-sudur'', the Seljuqs held the

Ghaznavids The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

in contempt due to their slave origins. Rawandi appears to have intended the ''Rahat al-sudur'' to be a historical work, yet the book contains chapters on

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia an ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, calligraphy, horsemanship, hunting and feasting. The final two chapters encompass the sultanate of

Toghrul III Toghrul III ( fa, طغرل سوم) (died 1194) was the last sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire and the last Seljuk Sultan of Iraq. His great uncle Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud (1134–1152) had appointed Shams ad-Din Eldiguz (1135/36–1175) as a ...

, the last Seljuq beys and the Khwarazmian invasion. Rawandi viewed the

Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchy Triarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = B ...

as champions of the Sunni faith and deplored the Khwarazmians. The final section consists of Hanafi legal works and courtly accomplishments. A final chapter was to cover anecdotes and jest, was never written. The book, as a whole, is written in a moralizing nature. The ''Rahat al-sudur'' was translated into Turkish during the reign of Ottoman Sultan

Murad II Murad II ( ota, مراد ثانى, Murād-ı sānī, tr, II. Murad, 16 June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451. Murad II's reign was a period of important economic deve ...

Modern era

In 1921, the ''Rahat al-sudur'' was published by

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

(died 1938). It was recognized by Iqbal, Edward G. Browne and Mirza Muhammad Qazwini as a source in other texts, namely ''

Jami' al-tawarikh The ''Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh'' ( Persian/ Arabic: , ) is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanate. Written by Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318 AD) at the start of the 14th century, the breadth of coverage of the work ...

'' of

Rashid al-Din Hamadani Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb ( fa, رشیدالدین طبیب;‎ 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, fa, links=no, رشیدالدین فضل‌الله همدانی) was a statesman, historian and physician in Ilk ...

(died 1318), '' Rawdat al-safa'' of Mirkhvand (died 1498) and ''

Tarikh-i guzida The ''Tarikh-i guzida'' (also spelled ''Tarikh-e Gozideh'' ( fa, تاریخ گزیده, "Excerpt history"), is a compendium of Islamic history from the creation of the world until 1329, written by Hamdallah Mustawfi and finished in 1330.''E.J. Bri ...

'' of

Hamdallah Mustawfi Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini ( fa, حمدالله مستوفى قزوینی, Ḥamdallāh Mustawfī Qazvīnī; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, an ...

(died after 1339/40).

References

Sources

* * * * * * Seljuk Empire Anatolian beyliks History books about the Middle East 1200s books Iranian books {{MEast-hist-book-stub

Content

Modern era

See also

References

Sources