DASTJERDĀNĪ, JAMĀL-AL-DĪN, Il-khanid bureaucrat. He first came to prominence as inspector of awqāf (pious endowments) in Iraq in 683/1284. Later, during the reign of Arḡūn (683-90/1284-91), he acted as kāteb (scribe) to the Jewish administrator Saʿd-al-Dawla, who was attempting to repair the financial ravages of Būqā, who is notable for having been the only Mongol to have headed the Il-khanid Persian bureaucracy. During the brief reign of Bāydū (694/1295) Jamāl-al-Dīn served as chief vizier (ṣāḥeb-dīvān; Jomādā I 694-Ṣafar 695/March-November 1295). He was restored to that office a few months later by the new ruler, Ḡāzān Khan (694-703/1295-1304), succeeding Šaraf-al-Dīn Semnānī. But his good fortune lasted a very short time: He was brought to trial on charges instigated by one of his predecessors, Ṣadr-al-Dīn Zanjānī, who then succeeded him. During his trial the alleged facts of treasonable correspondence between the influential Amir Nowrūz and the Mamlūks during the reign of Bāydū came to light. Dastjerdānī was said to have prepared, on the orders of Nowrūz, a substitute version of the “genuine” correspondence, in order to present it to Ḡāzān Khan. The version produced at the trial was, however, according to J. A. Boyle (pp. 382-83), a forgery concocted by Nowrūz’s enemy Ṣadr al-Dīn. This incident precipitated a crisis leading to Nowrūz’s fall and death. Jamāl-al-Dīn was himself executed on 28 Ḏu’l-ḥejja 695/27 October 1296.
Bibliography:
J. A. Boyle, “Dynastic and Political History of the Īl-Khāns,” in Camb. Hist. Iran V , pp. 303-421, esp. pp. 376-83.
Rašīd-al-Dīn, Jāmeʿ al-tawārīkò (Baku), pp. 219, 298, 306, 311-16.
Spuler, Mongolen3, pp. 90, 286, 350.
(David O. Morgan)
Originally Published: December 15, 1994
Last Updated: November 18, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. VII, Fasc. p. 111
