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Ata-Malik Juvayni

Ata-Malik Juvayni
Depiction of Ata-Malik Juvayni writing, from a 1290 edition of the Tarikh-i Jahangushay. Located in the Bibliothèque nationale de France
Governor of Baghdad
In office
1259–1283
Preceded byGuo Kan
Succeeded bySharaf al-Din Harun Juvayni
Personal details
Born1226
Died5 March 1283
Mughan, Ilkhanate
Resting placeCharandab Cemetery, Tabriz
RelationsShams al-Din Juvayni (younger brother)
Sharaf al-Din Harun Juvayni (nephew)
ChildrenMansur
Unnamed daughter
Parent
  • Baha al-Din Muhammad Juvayni (father)
Military service
AllegianceMongol Empire, Ilkhanate
Writing career
LanguagePersian
Notable worksTarikh-i Jahangushay

Ata-Malik Juvayni (Persian: عطاملک جوینی) was (1226 - 5 March 1283) was a bureaucrat and historian from the Juvayni family who served under the Mongol Empire. He is known for composing the Tarikh-i Jahangushay ("History of the World Conqueror"), an important account on the history of Central Asia and the 13th-century Mongol invasion of Iran.

Early life

Born in 1226, Ata-Malik belonged to the Persian Juvayni family, whose history of bureaucratic service goes back to the Seljuk era.[1] Both his grandfather and his father, Baha al-Din, had held the post of sahib-divan or Minister of Finance for Muhammad Jalal al-Din and Ögedei Khan, respectively. Baha al-Din also acted as deputy c. 1246 for his immediate superior, the emir Arghun Aqa, in which role he oversaw a large area, including the Kingdom of Georgia.[2]

Career

Just like his predecessors, Ata-Malik became an important state official. He visited the Mongol capital of Karakorum twice, beginning his history of the Mongols conquests on one such visit (c. 1252–53).[3] He was with Ilkhan Hulagu in the 1256 campaign at the taking of Alamut, where he selected many 'choice books' from the famous Alamut library for his own purposes and burnt the books that he did not like.[4] He was responsible for saving part of its celebrated library. He had also accompanied Hulagu during the sack of Baghdad in 1258, and the next year was appointed governor of Baghdad, Lower Mesopotamia, and Khuzistan.[3][5] Around 1282, Ata-Malik attended a Mongol quriltai, or assembly, held in the Ala-Taq pastures northeast of Lake Van. He died the following year in Mughan.

Ata-Malik was survived by at least one son, Mansur (died 1293) and a daughter who became the wife of the Sufi shaykh Sadr al-Din Ibrahim Hamuwayi, who played a key role in converting the later Ilkhanate ruler Ghazan to Islam.[1]

Siege of Alamut

Ata-Malik's brother was the powerful Shams al-Din Mohammad Sahib-Divan, who had served as Minister of Finance under Hulagu and Abaqa Khan. A skillful leader in his own right, Shams al-Din also had influential in-laws: his wife Khoshak was the daughter of Avag Mkhargrdzeli, Lord High Constable of Georgia, and Gvantsa, a noblewoman who went on to become queen of Georgia.

Work and legacy

Ata-Malik's position at court and his family connections made him privy to information unavailable to other historians. For unknown reasons, Ata-Malik's Tarikh-i Jahangushay ends in 1260, more than twenty years before his death.

The standard edition of Ata-Malik's history is published under the title Tarikh-i Jahangushay, ed. Mirza Muhammad Qazwini, 3 vol, Gibb Memorial Series 16 (Leiden and London, 1912–37). An English translation by John Andrew Boyle The History of the World-Conqueror was republished in 1997.

References

  1. ^ a b Lane, p. 63–68.
  2. ^ Lane, George E. (Autumn 1999). "Arghun Aqa: Mongol Bureaucrat". Iranian Studies (journal). 32 (4): 462. doi:10.1080/00210869908701965. ISSN 0021-0862. JSTOR 4311297. Juvaini, who worked as Arghun Aqa's private secretary from 1243
  3. ^ a b Woolf, Daniel (2011-02-17). A Global History of History. Cambridge University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-521-87575-2.
  4. ^ Daftary, Farhad (September 20, 2007) [July 19, 1990]. The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 305. ISBN 9780521850841. Click here to view a Preview of the previous edition (1st illustrated reprint edition, published April 24, 1992).
  5. ^ Dashdondog 2011, p. 166.

Sources