On Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī's Life and the Patronage He Received

This very brief summary of Fakhr al-Din’s life includes the gist of the patronage he received: he had lived under the Khwarazmshahs and under the Ghurids and managed to gain patronage from both these parties, who were at war with one another. Yet in Herat, under the Ghurids and the Khwarazmshah, he was hated by the populace and could not go about openly in the street without bodyguards He studied there with his father and later in Nishapur. After he finished his education in Maragha we find him teaching at madrasas in Azerbaijan and western Iran. He teaches for some time in Rayy before he travels to Khwarazm and Transoxania in search of patronage. For a while unsuccessful, he eventually earns the favours of the Khwarazmshah Tekish and his family. Next, we hear that for reasons unknown to us he is expelled first from the lands of the Khwarazmshah and later from Transoxania, which is governed by the latter’s ally, the Qara Khitai.