Rashid al-Din Tabib also
Rashid al-Din Fadhl-allah Hamadani (1247–1318) , was a
Persian statesman, historian and physician. He was born into a
Persian Jewish family from
Hamedan (Hamadani). A follower of
Islam by the time he was 30, Rashid al-Din became the powerful
vizier (prime minister) of the Ilkhan
Mahmud Ghazan. Later he was commissioned by Ghazan to write the
Jami al-Tawarikh, now considered the most important single source for the history of the
Ilkhanid period and the
Mongolian Empire. He retained his position as a vizier until 1316. After being charged with poisoning the Ilkhanid king
Oljeitu, he was executed in 1318.