Muhammad bin Ali Rawandi

Who is Muhammad bin Ali Rawandi?

Muhammad bin Ali Rawandi, was a Persian historian who wrote the Rahat al-sudur wa ayat al-surur during the fall of the Great Seljuk Empire and the subsequent invasion by the Kharwarzmian empire.

Rawandi was from a scholarly family and studied Hanafi fikh in Hamadhan from 1174 to 1184. As a calligrapher, Rawandi was brought to court to craft a Quran for Toghrul III and gained the sultan's favor. After Toghrul's incarceration, Rawandi gained the patronage of Shihab al-Din al-Kashani, who urged him to write the Rahat al-sudur. Rawandi had intended to dedicate his book to Süleymanshah II, but dedicated it to Kaykhusraw I, following the latter's accession as Sultan of Rum. Later the Rahat al-sudur was translated into Turkish during the reign of Murad II.