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 fiqh 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.

Modern era

In 1921, the Rahat al-sudur was published by Muhammad Iqbal. It was recognized by Iqbal, Edward G. Browne and Mirza Muhammad Qazwini as a source in other texts, namely Jaml al-tawarikh, Rawdat al-safa of Mir Kwand and Tarikh-i guzida of Hamd Allah al-Mustawfi.