The Structure of Genealogical Works on the History of the Chinggisids

Abstract

Research objectives and materials: This article is devoted to genealogical works on the history of the Chinggisids arranged in the form of genealogical tables. The article compares both data and graphical organization of three genealogies – those of Rashid al-Din, Hafiz Abru, and Hussein bin Ali Shah. Research results and novelty: Rashid al-Din set out to create a complex continuous history of mankind (as it was perceived by the medieval Persian historian) in his works, Shuab-i panjganah and Jami at-tavarih, while the other two authors tried to legitimize the power of the Timurids by combining the genealogy of the Timurids with that of the Chinggisids, something they did in various ways. The Timurid authors’ aims reflected on the completeness of the genealogical information used, as well as in the graphical representation of the data. Rashid al-Din’s Chinggisid genealogies are incorporated into the ge­nealogies of four other peoples or ruling dynasties (Arabs, Jews, Chinese, Franks) and integra­ted into two lines descending from Adam, symbolizing the single beginning of all mankind. The genealogies in the work of Hussein bin Ali Shah represent only the basic line of the Chinggisids to which the line of the Timurids is directly attached, while the genealogies of Timur’s rivals are deliberately omitted. The Hafiz Abru’s work connects the Timurid ge­nea­logy, relating it to the Chinggisid genealogy indirectly.