Articles
Jama’ al-Tawarikh of Rashid al-Din Hamedani, A Masterpiece of Iranian Painting
Features folios from the Jami’ al-Tawarikh (or “World History”) of Rashid al-Din (1247-1318) are one of the most significant illustrated medieval manuscripts to have survived from either East or West. The author, Rashid al-Din, was a physician and court historian at the Il-khanid court. Born about 1247…
Let’s Define the Iranian Medieval Times
Medieval times which are the subject of study in this website seem to be an ambiguous concept. To define medieval times, we should have specific criteria to determine its boundaries with the ancient and contemporary times. Comparative studies are one of the basic methods via…
Military Organization under the Buyids in Bosworth's Scholarly Research
Prof. Clifford Edmund Bosworth (1928-2015) was an English historian and orientalist, specializing in Arabic and Iranian studies. He received his BA in history from Oxford University and his MA and Ph.D. in the same field from Edinburgh University. Prof. Bosworth was a long-standing member…
Mongol Invasion of Iran and Concepts of Warfare and Destiny in Historians’ Viewpoints
Abstract The article addresses particular insights of the Iranian medieval historians with respect to the Mongol invasion. The insights of Nasawi Khorandezi (d.6471249) and Ata Malek Juvayni (623-681/1226-1283), two outstanding historians that served in the courts of forces on both sides (Khwarazshah and Mongols) examined…
Roy Mottahedeh’s Contributions to the History of Medieval Iran
Dr. Roy Parviz Mottahedeh is a Professor of History at Harvard University. He defended his Ph.D. dissertation on the Buyid administration under the supervision of Hamilton Gibb and Richard Frye at Harvard in 1970. He has taught many courses on the history of medieval and…
Moʾayyed Ay-Aba, a Slave of the Saljuqid King
MOʾAYYED AY-ABA, (مؤید آیبه) or Malek Ay-Aba (r. 1168-74), a slave (ḡolām) of the Saljuqid king, Sultan Sanjar (r. 1197-1218), who ruled in Nišāpur (r. 1168-74) in his name. The record about Moʾayyed’s career is mainly associated with the Ḡozz attack on Khorasan, which was…
The Ghaznavid Dynasty in Light of the Iranian Kingdom and the Abbasid Caliphate
From the earliest days of the Abbasid revolt against the Umayyads (661-750) the Iranians strove actively to find a way to political independence. With an ideal picture of the Iranian pre-Islamic Empires in mind, the Iranians chose to establish their unique political structures in their…