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Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini

Ata-Malik Juvayni

A Persian history by the official Ata-Malik Juvayni describing the Mongol conquest of Persia launched under Genghis Khan.

Records the Khwarazmian campaign begun under Genghis Khan and his reported claim to be 'the punishment of God'.

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Painted manuscript frontispiece in gold, blue and green tones: on the left a seated bearded man in blue robes writes beside a flowering tree, while a standing figure in gold-patterned robes gestures toward it. On the right a white horse with a blue gold-decorated saddle cloth stands above a small seated figure, with stylized clouds and a bird-like motif above.
Frontispiece detail, Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini manuscript (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Suppl. Pers. 205).

About this source

What it is

Written in Persian by the bureaucrat and historian Ata-Malik Juvayni, this work describes the Mongol conquest of Persia, including the campaigns begun by Genghis Khan and continued by his successors. It is one of the earliest illustrated Persian manuscripts, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanid court style.

Why it matters

Juvayni served in the Mongol administration and wrote with both admiration for Mongol power and horror at the destruction it caused, including reports of Genghis Khan declaring himself the agent of divine punishment at Bukhara. This mixture makes it an important and complicated source for understanding how conquered peoples viewed their new rulers.

Look closer

  • Why might someone working for the Mongols write about them with both admiration and horror?
  • What does the illustrated, luxurious style of the manuscript suggest about who it was made for?
  • How might a history written by a conquered people's official differ from one written by the Mongols themselves?

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