19 Facts About Hamdallah Mustawfi

Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet.

Hamdallah Mustawfi lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, and the interregnum that followed.

Hamdallah Mustawfi was a close associate of the prominent vizier and historian Rashid al-Din Hamadani, who inspired him to write historical and geographical works.

Hamdallah Mustawfi is the author of three works; Tarikh-i guzida, Zafarnamah and Nuzhat al-Qulub.

Hamdallah Mustawfi is buried in a dome-shaped mausoleum in his native Qazvin, Iran.

Hamdallah Mustawfi was born in 1281 in the town of Qazvin, located in Persian Iraq, a region corresponding to the western part of Iran.

Hamdallah Mustawfi's family was descended from Arabs that had occupied the governorship of the town in the 9th and 10th-centuries, later to serve as mustawfis at the advent of the Ghaznavids.

Regardless, Hamdallah Mustawfi's family still greatly served the Mongols and even rose to further prominence during this period; his older cousin Fakhr al-Din Hamdallah Mustawfi briefly served as vizier of the Ilkhanate, while his brother Zayn al-Din was an assistant of the prominent vizier and historian Rashid al-Din Hamadani.

Hamdallah Mustawfi's family was thus amongst those many families from Persian Iraq who rose to prominence during the Mongol era.

Hamdallah Mustawfi had been appointed to this post by Rashid al-Din, who made him gain an interest in history, inspiring him to start writing the Zafarnamah in 1320, as a continuation of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh.

Hamdallah Mustawfi completed the work in 1334, consisting of 75,000 verses, reporting the history of the Islamic era up until the Ilkhanate era.

Hamdallah Mustawfi was ambivalent whether to return to his native Qazvin or flee to the much more secure southern Iran.

Hamdallah Mustawfi eventually choose to leave for the southern Iranian city of Shiraz to seek better fortunes, but was let down by the reception he received at the court of the Injuid ruler Amir Mas'ud Shah.

Hamdallah Mustawfi returned up north, where he was well received in Awa, Sawa, Kashan and Isfahan, finally returning to Qazvin at the end of 1340.

Hamdallah Mustawfi completed the work in 1334, consisting of 75,000 verses, reporting the history of the Islamic era up until the Ilkhanate era.

Just like his Tarikh-i guzida and Zafarnamah, Hamdallah Mustawfi rejects to have expertise in the field, and states that he was encouraged by his friends to write the work.

Hamdallah Mustawfi thought that an available source in Persian would be helpful, due to most geographical sources about Iran being in Arabic.

Hamdallah Mustawfi defines the provinces of Iran in 20 chapters; Iraq or the "heart of Iranshahr", Persian Iraq, Arran, Mughan, Shirvan, Georgia, Byzantium, Armenia, Rabi'a, Kurdistan, Khuzestan, Fars, Shabankara, Kirman, Mukran, Hormuz, Nimruz, Khorasan, Mazandaran, Qumis, Tabaristan and Gilan.

Hamdallah Mustawfi was reportedly a "convinced Shia", and there is much evidence that supports this claim, such as his detailed report of the history of the Twelve Imams in the Tarikh-i guzida, and that of the Shia neighborhoods in Iran in the Nuzhat al-Qulub.