Abstract
The llkhanid statesman and historian, Rashīd al-Dīn, writing in 703/1303-4, soon after the adoption of Islam by Ghazan Khan (695/1295), depicts the ancestors of his Mongol masters, including Chinggis Khan himself, as monotheists-a portrayal which is markedly at variance with the evidence of other sources, whether the Secret Histoiy or Rashīd al-Dīn's Muslim precursor Juwaynī. This article examines the differences in perspective and suggests possible reasons for the distinctive image that Rashīd al-Dīn purveys.