An illustration in the 1405-14
Jami‛ al-Tawarikh
by Rashid al-Din.

Universal History

or Compendium of Chronicles

Ğāmi‛ al-tavārīḫ. Rašīd al-Dīn Fazl-ullāh Hamadānī

Mahmud of Ghazni crossing the Ganges


A larger image of Mahmud ibn Sebuktegin crossing the Ganges, ‘Jami' al-Tawarikh’, 1305-14.


Mahmud of Ghazni crossing the Ganges, from the history of the Ghaznawids section in the Jami‛ al-Tawarikh of Rashid al-Din. The painting is done in black ink with colour washes - a Chinese technique. Moreover, the paintings illustrating this section are amongst the largest and most dynamic in the book, indicating the Mongol affinity to the Turkish traditions of conquest, which the Ghaznawids represented and to which they succeeded.

Title: Ms Or 20 f.134v Mahmud ibn Sebuktegin crosses the Ganges, miniature from the ‘Jami' al-Tawarikh’ of Rashid al-Din, c.1307
Creator: Islamic School, (14th century)
Description: Rashid al-Din (1247-1318); 'History of the World'; miniature attributed to the Luhrasp Master; Sebuktekin; most famous Ghaznavid sultan (971-1030); conquered India and Bukhara and ended Samanid rule in Transoxiana;
Location: Edinburgh University Library, Scotland



Referenced on p.5, The Mongols (Men-At-Arms Series, 105) by Stephen Turnbull
Mongols in long robes crossing a river. An illustration from Raschid-al-Din's World History.

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Back to the Ilkhanid Illustrations in Jami‛ al-Tawarikh by Rashid al-Din.