The Life of the Buddha" in the Compendium of Chronicles (Jami' al-Tawarikh), the famed world history (in Persian) authored by Rashid al-Din (d. 1318), vizier to the Mongol rulers of Iran (1258-1336), is one of the best noted examples of inter-ecumenical exchange and cross-cultural translation in the eastern Islamic World in later the Middle Ages. Scholars have particularly noted the way Rashid al-Din attempted to make the Dharma comprehensible to a Muslim audience by comparing Buddhist perceptions of Heaven and Hell to the Muslim visions of the afterlife and by ingeniously presenting the Buddha as a prophet with a book.

Far less noted, however, are Rashid al-Din's extensive writings against the Buddhist dogma of reincarnation. This brief talk examines three treatises in which Rashid al-Din makes the case against the transmigration of souls and in favor of the resurrection of the bodies on the Day of Judgment. I suggest that we should consider Rashid al-Din's "favorable" presentation of Buddhism in the "Life of the Buddha" and his passionate anti-Buddhist polemics together within the context of the cosmopolitan and highly competitive environment of the Mongol court in Iran, where Buddhists and Muslims competed over influence, resources and access to the Mongol rulers by showcasing the ability of their traditions to support the Mongol claims to sacred kingship