Persian Jews, Persian Jews

In 1993, Israel was home to 75,000 Persian Jews, including second-generation Israelis. . In recent years, Persian Jews have been well-assimilated into the Israeli population, so that more accurate data is hard to obtain.

One of the Ilkhanate rulers, Arghun Khan, even preferred Jews and Christians for the administrative positions and appointed Sa'd al-Daula, a Jew, as his vizier. The appointed, however, provoked resentment from the Muslim clergy, and after Arghun's death in 1291, al-Daula was murdered and Persian Jews suffered a period of violent persecutions from the Muslim populace instigated by the clergy. The Orthodox Christian historian Bar Hebraeus wrote that the violence committed against the Jews during that period "neither tongue can utter, nor the pen write down". Littman (1979), p. 3 Ghazan Khan's conversion to Islam in 1295 heralded for Persian Jews a pronounced turn for the worse, as they were once again relegated to the status of dhimmis. ljeit, Ghazan Khan's successor, destroyed many synagogues and decreed that Jews had to wear a distinctive mark on their heads; Christians endured similar persecutions. Under pressure, some Jews converted to Islam. The most famous such convert was Rashid al-Din, a physician, historian and statesman, who adopted Islam in order to advance his career at ljeit's court. However, in 1318 he was executed on fake charges of poisoning ljeit and for several days crowds had been carrying his head around his native city of Tabriz, chanting "This is the head of the Jew who abused the name of God; may God's curse be upon him!" About 100 years later, Miranshah destroyed Rashid al-Din's tomb, and his remains were reburied at the Jewish cemetery.

Skilled Persian Jews were imported to develop the empire's textile industry.

Littman (1979), pp. 1214 Representatives of the Alliance Isralite Universelle recorded other numerous instances of persecution and debasement of Persian Jews. Lewis (1984), p. 183.

Source: Wikipedia > Persian Jews