Abu al-Qasim Kashani (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: ابوالقاسم کاشانی; died after 1324) was a

historian from the Abu Tahir family, who was active during the late

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

era. He is notable for claiming that the vizier of the Ilkhanate,

Rashid al-Din Hamadani Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (;‎ 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, ) was a statesman, historian, and physician in Ilkhanate Iran.Jami' al-tawarikh ''Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh'' () 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 has caused it to be call ...

''. Although modern scholarship regards Rashid al-Din as the overall author of the work, he is generally considered to have been aided by several assistants, including Kashani. Kashani's major work is ''Tarikh-e Oljaytu'' (''History of Öljaitü''), covering

Öljaitü Öljaitü, also known as Mohammad-e Khodabandeh (24 March 1282 – 16 December 1316), was the eighth Ilkhanid dynasty ruler from 1304 to 1316 in Tabriz, Iran. His name 'Öjaitü' means 'blessed' in the Mongolian language and his last name 'Khod ...

's reign until his death in 1316. It is there that Kashani makes his allegations against Rashid al-Din. Since Rashid al-Din's account of this ruler in Jami' al-tawarikh is missing, whereas Kashani's work is complete, this gives some credibility to Kashani's claims.

List of works

# ''Zobdat al-tawārīḵ'' ('The Quintessence of History'), 1303, dedicated to the Il-khan, a history of the Islamic world down to the

siege of Baghdad The siege of Baghdad took place in early 1258. A large army commanded by Hulegu, a prince of the Mongol Empire, attacked the historic capital of the Abbasid Caliphate after a series of provocations from its ruler, caliph al-Musta'sim. Within ...

; mostly unpublished. # ''Tārīḵ-e Olǰāytū'', 1325, an account of the Il-khan's reign. # ''ʿArāʾes al-ǰawāher wa nafāʾes al-aṭāʾeb'', a work on

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

, gemmology and

perfumery Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

, to which is appended a short treatise on ceramics.

Editions

''Tarikh-e Oljaytu'', ed. Mahin Hambly, Tehran 1969

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Encyclopædia Iranica , volume = 1 , fascicle = 4 , title = Abu'l-Qāsem ʿAbdallāh Kāshānī , last = Soucek , first = P. P. , url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/abul-qasem-abdallah-kasani-historian-of-the-reign-of-the-il-khan-olaytu-r , pages = 362–363 14th-century deaths People from Kashan 14th-century Iranian historians Historians from the Ilkhanate