, Persian statesman and the greatest historian of the Īlk̲h̲ānid period (ca. 645-718/ca. 1247-1318).

Ras̲h̲īd al-Dīn Faḍl Allāh b. ʿImād al-Dawla, Abu ’l-K̲h̲ayr, was born in Hamadān into a Jewish family with a professional medical tradition: his father was an apothecary. He himself was originally trained as a physician (hence he remained known as Ṭabīb), and in that capacity he entered theservice of the Mongol court during the reign of the Īlk̲h̲ān Abaḳa (r. 663-80/1265-82). He had converted from Judaism to…