JUVAYNI . Genghis Khan the history of the world conqueror. Manchester: Manchester University Press.(1997)
OF THE LAWS WHICH CHINGIZ-KHAN FRAMED AND THE YASAS WHICH HE PROMULGATED AFTER HIS RISE TO POWER’
GOD Almighty in wisdom and intelligence distinguished Chingiz-Khan from all his coevals and in alertness of mind and absoluteness of power exalted him above all the kings of the world; so that all that has been recorded touching the practice of the mighty Chosroes of old and all that has been written concerning the customs and usages of the Pharaohs and Caesars was by Chingiz-Khan invented from the page of his own mind without the toil of perusing records or the trouble of conforming with tradition; while all that pertains to the method of subjugating countries and relates to the crushing of the power of enemies and the raising of the station of followers was the product of his own understanding and the compilation of his own intellect. And indeed, Alexander, who was so addicted to the devising of talismans and the solving of enigmas, had he lived in the age of Chingiz-Khan, would have been his pupil in craft and cunning, and of all the talismans for the taking of strongholds he would have found none better than blindly to follow in his footsteps: whereof there can be no clearer proof nor more certain evidence than that having such numerous and powerful foes and such mighty and well-accoutred enemies, whereof each was the faghfur of the time and the Chosroes of the age, he sallied forth, a single man, with few troops and no accoutrement, and reduced and subjugated the lords of the horizons from the East unto the West; and whoever presumed to oppose and resist him, that man, in enforcement of the yasas and ordinances which he imposed, he utterly destroyed, together with all his followers, children, partisans, armies, lands and territories. There has been transmitted to us a tradition of the traditions of God which says: ‘Those are my horsemen; through them shall I avenge me on those that rebelled against me,’ nor is there a shadow of doubt but that these words are a referent to the horsemen of Chingiz-Khan and to his people. And so it was that when the world by reason of the variety of its creatures was become a raging sea, and the kings and nobles of every country by reason of the arrogance of pride and the insolence of vainglory had reached the very zenith of’ Vainglory is my tunic, and pride my cloak t then did God, in accordance with the above-mentioned promise, endow Chingiz-Khan with the strength of might and the victory of dominion—’ Verily, the migth of the Lord is great indeed‘; and when through pride of wealth, and power, and station the greater part of the cities and countries of the world encountered him with rebellion and hatred and refused to yield allegiance (and especially the countries of Islam, from the frontiers of Turkestan to uttermost Syria), then wherever there was a king, or a ruler, or the governor of a city that offered him resistance, him he annihilated together with his family and followers, kinsmen and strangers; so that where there had been a hundred thousand people there remained, without exaggeration, not a hundred souls alive; as a proof of which statement may be cited the fate of the various cities, whereof mention has been made in the proper place.
In accordance and agreement with his own mind he established a rule for every occasion and a regulation for every circumstance; while for every crime he fixed a penalty. And since the Tartar peoples had no script of their own, he gave orders that Mongol children should learn writing from the Uighur; and that these yasas and ordinances should be written down on rolls. These rolls are called the Great Book of Yasas and are kept in the treasury of the chief princes. Wherever a khan ascends the throne, or a great army is mobilized, or the princes assemble and begin [to consult together] concerning affairs of state and the administration thereof, they produce these rolls and model their actions thereon; and proceed with the disposition of armies or the destruction of provinces and cities in the manner therein prescribed.
At the time of the first beginnings of his dominion, when the Mongol tribes were united to him, he abolished reprehensible customs which had been practised by those peoples and had enjoyed recognition amongst them; and established such usages as were praiseworthy from the point of view of reason. There are many of these ordinances that are in conformity with the Shari’at.
In the messages which he sent in all directions calling on the peoples to yield him allegiance, he never had recourse to intimidation or violent threats, as was the custom with the tyrant kings of old, who used to menace their enemies with the size of their territory and the magnitude of their equipment and supplies; the Mongols, on the contrary, as their uttermost warning, would write thus: ‘If ye submit not, nor surrender, what know we thereof? The Ancient God, He knoweth." If one reflects upon their signification, [one sees that] these are the words of them that put their trust in God—God Almighty bath said And for him that putteth his trust in Him God will be all-sufficient‘ —so that of necessity such a one obtains whatever he has borne in his heart and yearned after, and attains his every wish.
Being the adherent of no religion and the follower of no creed, he eschewed bigotry, and the preference of one faith to another, and the placing of some above others; rather he honoured and respected the learned and pious of every sect, recognizing such conduct as the way to the Court of God. And as he viewed the Moslems with the eye of respect, so also did he hold the Christians and idolaters in high esteem. As for his children and grandchildren, several of them have chosen a religion according to their inclination, some adopting Islam, others embracing Christianity, others selecting idolatry and others again cleaving to the ancient canon of their fathers and forefathers and inclining in no direction; but these are now a minority. But though they have adopted some religion they still for the most part avoid all show of fanaticism and do not swerve from the yasa of Chingiz-Khan, namely, to consider all sects as one and not to distinguish them from one another.
It is one of their laudable customs that they have closed the doors of ceremony, and preoccupation with titles, and excessive aloofness and inaccessibility; which things are customary with the fortunate and the mighty. When one of them ascends the throne of the Khanate, he receives one additional name, that of Khan or Qa’an, than which nothing more is written [in official documents]; while the other sons and his brothers are addressed by the name they were given at birth, both in their presence and in their absence; and this applies both to commoners and to the nobility. And likewise in directing their correspondence they write only the simple name, making no difference between Sultan and commoner; and write only the gist of the matter in hand, avoiding all superfluous titles and formulas.
He paid great attention to the chase and used to say that the hunting of wild beasts was a proper occupation for the commanders of armies; and that instruction and training therein was incumbent on warriors and men-at-arms, [who should learn] how the huntsmen come up with the quarry, how they hunt it, in what manner they array themselves and after what fashion they surround it according as the party is great or small. For when the Mongols wish to go a-hunting, they first send out scouts to ascertain what kinds of game are available and whether it is scarce or abundant. And when they are not engaged in warfare, they are ever eager for the chase and encourage their armies thus to occupy themselves; not for the sake of the game alone, but also in order that they may become accustomed and inured to hunting and familiarized with the handling of the bow and the endurance of hardship. Whenever the Khan sets out on the great hunt (which takes place at the beginning of the winter season), he issues orders that the troops stationed around his headquarters and in the neighborhood of the ordus shall make preparations for the chase, mounting several men from each company of ten in accordance with instructions and distributing such equipment in the way of arms and other matters as are suitable for the locality where it is desired to hunt. The right wing, left wing and centre of the army are drawn up and entrusted to the great emirs; and they set out together with the Royal Ladies (khavatin) and the concubines, as well as provisions of food and drink. For a month, or two, or three they form a hunting ring and drive the game slowly and gradually before them, taking care lest any escape from the ring. And if, unexpectedly, any game should break through, a minute inquiry is made into the cause and reason, and the commanders of thousands, hundreds and tens are clubbed therefor, and often even put to death. And if (for example) a man does not keep to the line (which they call nerge) but takes a step forwards or backwards, severe punishment is dealt out to him and is never remitted. For two or three months, by day and by night, they drive the game in this manner, like a flock of sheep, and dispatch messages to the Khan to inform him of the condition of the quarry, its scarcity or plenty, whither it has come and from whence it has been started. Finally, when the ring has been contracted to a diameter of two or three parasangs, they bind ropes together and cast felts over them; while the troops come to a halt all around the ring, standing shoulder to shoulder. The ring is now filled with the cries and commotion of every manner of game and the roaring and tumult of every kind of ferocious beast; all thinking that the appointed hour of C And when the wild beasts shall be gathered together’ is come; lions becoming familiar with wild asses, hyenas friendly with foxes, wolves intimate with hares. When the ring has been so much contracted that the wild beasts are unable to stir, first the Khan rides in together with some of his retinue; then, after he has waned of the sport, they dismount upon high ground in the centre of the nerge to watch the princes likewise entering the ring, and after them, in due order, the noyans, the commanders and the troops. Several days pass in this manner; then, when nothing is left of the game but a few wounded and emaciated stragglers, old men and greybeards humbly approach the Khan, offer up prayers for his well-being and intercede for the lives of the remaining animals asking that they be suffered to depart to some place nearer to grass and water. Thereupon they collect together all the game that they have bagged; and if the enumeration of every species of animal proves impracticable they count only the beasts of prey and the wild asses.
A friend has related how during the reign of Qa’an they were hunting one winter in this fashion and Qa’an, in order to view the scene, had seated himself upon a hilltop; whereupon beasts of every kind set their faces towards his throne and from the foot of the hill set up a wailing and lamentation like that of petitioners for justice. Qa’an commanded that they should be set free and the hand of injury withheld from them.
It was Qa’an that commanded that between the land of Khitai and his winter quarters a wall should be built of wood and clay, and gates set into it; so that much game might enter it from a great distance and they might hunt it after the manner described. In the region of Almalighand Quyas Chaghatai constructed a hunting ground in the very same manner.
Now war—with its killing, counting of the slain and sparing of the survivors—is after the same fashion, and indeed analogous in every detail, because all that is left in the neighbourhood of the battlefield are a few broken-down wretches.
With regard to the organization of their army, from the time of Adam down to the present day, when the greater part of the climes are at the disposition and command of the seed of Chingiz Khan, it can be read in no history and is recorded in no book that any of the kings that were lords of the nations ever attained an army like the army of the Tartars, so patient of hardship, so grateful for comforts, so obedient to its commanders both in prosperity and adversity; and this not in hope of wages and fiefs nor in expectation of income or promotion. This is, indeed, the best way to organize an army; for lions, so long as they are not hungry, will not hunt or attack any animal. There is a Persian proverb: ‘An overfed dog catches no game’, and it has also been said: ‘ Starve thy dog that it may follow thee.’
What army in the whole world can equal the Mongol army? In time of action, when attacking and assaulting, they are trained wild beasts out after game, and hi the days of peace and security they are like sheep, yielding milk, and wool, and many other useful things. In misfortune and adversity they are flee from dissension and opposition. It is an army after the fashion of a peasantry, being liable to all manner of contributions (mu’an) and rendering without complaint whatever is enjoined upon it, whether qupchur, occasional taxes (avarizat), the maintenance (ikhrajat) of travellers or the upkeep of post stations (yam) with the provision of mounts (ulagh) and food (ulufat) therefor. It is also a peasantry in the guise of an army, all of them, great and small, noble and base, in time of battle becoming swordsmen, archers and lancers and advancing in whatever manner the occasion requires. Whenever the slaying of foes and the attacking of rebels is purposed, they specify all that will be of service for that business, from the various arms and implements down to banners, needles, ropes, mounts and pack animals such as donkeys and camels; and every man must provide his share according to his ten or hundred. On the day of review, also, they display their equipment, and if only a little be missing, those responsible are severely punished. Even when they are actually engaged in fighting, there is exacted from them as much of the various taxes as is expedient, while any service which they used to perform when present devolves upon their wives and those of them that remain behind. Thus if work be afoot in which a man has his share of forced labour (bigar), and if the man himself be absent, his wife gods forth in person and performs that duty in his stead.
The reviewing and mustering of the army has been so arranged that they have abolished the registry of inspection (daftar-i-arz) and dismissed the officials and clerks. For they have divided all the people into companies of ten, appointing one of the ten to be the commander of the nine others; while from among each ten commanders one has been given the title of’ commander of the hundred’, all the hundred having been placed under his command. And so it is with each thousand men and so also with each ten thousand, over whom they have appointed a commander whom they call ‘commander of the tümen'. In accordance with this arrangement, if in an emergency any man or thing be required, they apply to the commanders of tümen; who in turn apply to the commanders of thousands, and so on down to the commanders of tens. There is a true equality in this; each man toils as much as the next, and no difference is made between them, no attention being paid to wealth or power. If there is a sudden call for soldiers an order is issued that so many thousand men must present themselves in such and such a place at such and such an hour of that day or night. ‘They Thai! not retard it (their appointed time) an hour; and they shall not advance it.’And they arrive not a twinkling of an eye before or after the appointed hour. Their obedience and submissiveness is such that if there be a commander of a hundred thousand between whom and the Khan there is a distance of sunrise and sunset, and if he but commit some fault, the Khan dispatches a single horseman to punish him after the manner prescribed: if his head has been demanded, he cuts it off, and if gold be required, he takes it from him.
How different it is with other kings who must speak cautiously to their own slave, bought with their own money, as soon as he has ten horses in his stable, to say nothing of when they place an army under his command and he attains to wealth and power; then they cannot displace him, and more often than not he actually rises in rebellion and insurrection! Whenever these kings prepare to attack an enemy or are themselves attacked by an enemy, months and years are required to equip an army and it takes a brimful treasury to meet the expense of salaries and allotments of land. When they draw their pay and allowances the soldiers’ numbers increase by hundreds and thousands, but on the day of combat their ranks are everywhere vague and uncertain, and none presents himself on the battle-field.’ A shepherd was once called to render an account of his office. Said the accountant: ‘How many sheep remain?’ ‘Where ?7 asked the shepherd. ‘ In the register.’ ‘ That,’ replied the shepherd, ‘is why I asked: there are none in the flock.’ This is a parable to be applied to their armies; wherein each commander, in order to increase the appropriation for his men s pay, declares, ‘I have so and so many men,’ and at the time of inspection they impersonate one another in order to make up their full strength.
Another yasa is that no man may depart to another unit than the hundred, thousand or ten to which he has been assigned, nor may he seek refuge elsewhere. And if this order be transgressed the man who transferred is executed in the presence of the troops, while he that received him is severely punished. For this reason no man can give refuge to another; if (for example) the commander be a prince, he does not permit the meanest person to take refuge in his company and so avoids a breach of the yasa. Therefore no man can take liberties with his commander or leader, nor can another commander entice him away.
Furthermore, when moonlike damsels are found in the army they are gathered together and dispatched from the tens to the hundreds, and each man makes a different choice up to the commander of the tümen, who makes his choice also and takes the maidens so chosen to the Khan or the princes. These too make their selection, and upon those that are deemed worthy and are fair to look upon they recite the words ‘Keep them honourably’, and upon the other, 'Put them away with kindness.’ And they cause them to attend on the Royal Ladies until such time as it pleases them to bestow them on others or to lie with them themselves.
Again, when the extent of their territories became broad and vast and important events fell out, it became essential to ascertain the activities of their enemies, and it was also necessary to transport goods from the West to the East and from the Far East to the West. Therefore throughout the length and breadth of the land they established yams, and made arrangements for the upkeep and expenses of each yam, assigning thereto a fixed number of men and beasts as well as food, drink and other necessities. All this they shared out amongst the tümen, each two tümen having to supply one yam. Thus, in accordance with the census, they so distribute and exact the charge, that messengers need make no long detour in order to obtain fresh mounts white at the same time the peasantry and the army are not placed in constant inconvenience. Moreover strict orders were issued to the messengers with regard to the sparing of the mounts, etc., to recount all of which would delay us too long. Every year the yams are inspected, and whatever is missing or lost has to be replaced by the peasantry.
Since all countries and peoples have come under their domination, they have established a census after their accustomed fashion and classified everyone into tens, hundreds and thousands; and required military service and the equipment of yams together with the expenses entailed and the provision of fodder—this in addition to ordinary taxes; and over and above all this they have fixed the qupchur charges also.
They have a custom that if an official or a peasant die, they do not interfere with the estate he leaves, be it much or little, nor may anyone else tamper with it. And if he have no heir, it is given to his apprentice or his slave. On no account is the property of a dead man admitted to the treasury, for they regard such a procedure as inauspicious.
When Hülegu appointed me to [the governorship of] Baghdad, the inheritance taxes were in force in all that region; I swept away that system and abolished the imposts that had been levied in the countries of Tustar and Bayat.
There are many other yasas, to record each of which would delay us too long; we have therefore limited ourselves to the mention of the above.
OF THE CAPTURE OF BOKHARA
IN the Eastern countries it is the cupola of Islam and is in those regions like unto the City of Peace.1 Its environs are adorned with the brightness of the light of doctors and jurists and its surroundings embellished with the rarest of high attainments. [76] Since ancient times it has in every age been the place of assembly of the great savants of every religion. Now the derivation of Bokhara is from bukhar, which in the language of the Magians signifies centre of learning. This word closely resembles a word in the language of the Uighur and Khitayan idolaters, who call their places of worship, which are idol-temples, bukhar. But at the time of its foundation the name of the town was Bumijkath.
Chingiz-Khan, having completed the organization and equipment of his armies, arrived in the countries of the Sultan; and dispatching his elder sons and the noyans in every direction at the head of large forces, he himself advanced first upon Bokhara, being accompanied by Toll alone of his elder sons and by a host of fearless Turks that knew not clean from unclean, and considered the bowl of war to be a basin of rich soup and held a mouthful of the sword to be a beaker of wine.
He proceeded along the road to Zarnuq, and in the morning when the king of the planets raised his banner on the eastern horizon, he arrived unexpectedly before the town. When the inhabitants thereof, who were unaware of the fraudulent designs of Destiny, beheld the surrounding countryside choked with horsemen and the air black as night with the dust of cavalry, fright and panic overcame them, and fear and dread prevailed. They betook themselves to the citadel and closed the gates, thinking, ‘This is perhaps a single detachment of a great army and a single wave from a raging sea.' It was their intention to resist and to approach calamity on their own feet, but they were aided by divine grace so that they stood firm and breathed not opposition. At this juncture, the World-Emperor, in accordance with his constant practice, dispatched Danishmand Hajib upon an embassy to them, to announce the arrival of his forces and to advise them to stand out of the way of a dreadful deluge. Some of the inhabitants, who were in the category of ‘Satan hath gotten mastery over them', were minded to do him harm and mischief; whereupon he raised a shout, saying: ‘I am such-and-such a person, a Moslem and the son of a Moslem. Seeking God’s pleasure I am come on an embassy to you, at the inflexible command of Chingiz-Khan, to draw you out of the whirpool of destruction and the trough of blood. It is ChingizKhan himself who has come with many thousands of warriors. The battle has reached thus far. If you are incited to resist in any way, in an hour’s time your citadel will be level ground and the plain a sea of blood. But if you will listen to advice and exhortation with the ear of intelligence and consideration and become submissive and obedient to his command, your lives and property will remain in the stronghold of security.’ When the people, both nobles and commoners, had heard his words, which bore the brand of veracity, they did not refuse to accept his advice, knowing for certain that the flood might not be stemmed by their obstructing his passage nor might the quaking of the mountains and the earth be quietened and allayed by the pressure of their feet. And so they held it proper to choose peace and advantageous to accept advice. But by way of caution and security they obtained from him a covenant that if, after the people had gone forth to meet the Khan and obeyed his command, any harm should befall any one of them, the retribution thereof should be on his head. Thus were the people’s minds set at ease, and they withdrew their feet from the thought of transgression and turned their faces towards the path of advantage. The chief men of Zarnuq sent forward a delegation bearing presents. When these came to the place where the Emperor’s cavalry had halted, he asked about their leaders and notables and was wroth with them for their dilatoriness in remaining behind. He dispatched a messenger to summon them to his presence. Because of the great awe in which the Emperor was held a tremor of horror appeared on the limbs of these people like the quaking of the members of a mountain. They at once proceeded to his presence; and when they arrived he treated them with mercy and clemency and spared their lives, so that they were once more of good heart. An order was then issued that everyone in Zarnuq—be he who he might—both such as donned kulab and turban and such as wore kerchief and veil, should go out of the town on to the plain. The citadel was turned into level ground; and after a counting of heads they made a levy of the youths and young men for the, attack on Bokhara, while the rest of the people were suffered to return home. They gave the place the name of Qutlugh-Baligh. A guide, one of the Turcomans of that region, who had a perfect knowledge of the roads and highways, led them on by a little frequented road; which road has ever since been called the Khan’s Road. (In the year 649/1251-2, when journeying to the Court of Mengü Qa’an in the company of the Emir Arghun we passed along this very road.)
Tayir Bahadur was proceeding in advance of the main forces. When he and his men drew near to the town of Nur they passed through some gardens. During the night they felled the trees and fashioned ladders out of them. Then holding the ladders in front of their horses they advanced very slowly; and the watcher on the walls thought that they were a caravan merchants, until in this manner they arrived at the gates of the citadel of Nur; when the day of that people. was darkened and their eyes dimmed.
It is the story of Zarqa of Yamama. She had built a lofty castle, and her keenness of sight was such that if an enemy attempted to attack her she would descry his army at a distance of several stages and would prepare and make ready to repel him and drive him off. And so her enemies achieved nought but frustration and there remained no stratagem which they had not tried. [Finally one of them] commanded that trees should be cut down with their branches and that each horseman should hold a tree in front of him. Thereupon Zarqa exclaimed: ‘I see a strange sight: the likeness of a forest is moving towards us.’ Her people said: ‘The keenness of thy sight hath suffered some hurt, else how should trees move ?‘ They neglected to watch or take precautions; and on the third day their foes arrived, and overcame them, and took Zarqa prisoner, and slew her.
To be brief, the people of Nur closed their gates; and Tayir Bahadur sent an envoy to announce the arrival of the World-Conquering Emperor and to induce them to submit and cease resistance. The feelings of the inhabitants were conflicting, because they did not believe that the World-Conquering Emperor Chingiz-Khan had arrived in person, and on the other hand they were apprehensive about the Sultan. They were therefore uncertain what course to take, some being in favour of submission and surrender while others were for resistance or were afraid [to take any action]. Finally, after much coming and going of ambasiadors it was agreed that the people of Nur should prepare an offering of food and send it to the Lord of the Age together with an envoy, and so declare their submission and seek refuge in servitude and obedience. Tayir Bahadur gave his consent and was satisfied with only a small offering. He then went his own way; and the people of Nur dispatched an envoy in the manner that had been agreed upon. After the envoys [sic] had been honoured with the Emperor’s acceptance of their offering, he commanded that they should surrender the town to Subetei,1O who was approaching Nur with the vanguard. When Sübetei arrived they complied with this command and delivered up the town. Hereupon an agreement was reached that the people of Nur should be content with the deliverance of the community from danger and the retention of what was absolutely necessary for their livelihood and the pursuit of husbandry and agriculture, such as sheep and cows; and that they should go out on to the plain leaving their houses exactly as they were so that they might be looted by the army. They executed this order, and the army entered the town and bore off whatever they found there. The Mongols abided by this agreement and did no harm to any of them. The people of Nur then selected sixty men and dispatched them, together with Il-Khoja, the son of the Emir of Nur, to Dabus to render assistance to the Mongols. When Chingiz-Khan arrived, they went forth to meet him bearing suitable [presents] in the way of tuzghu and offerings of food (nuzl). Chingiz-Khan distinguished them with royal favour and asked them what fixed taxes (mal-i-qarari) the Sultan drew from Nur. They replied that these amounted to two dinars; and he commanded them to pay this sum in cash and they should suffer no further inconvenience. Half of this amount was produced from the women s ear-rings, and they gave security for the rest and [finally] paid it to the Mongols. And so were the people of Nur delivered from the humiliation of Tartar bondage and slavery, and Nur regained its splendour" and prosperity.
And from thence Chingiz-Khan proceeded to Bokhara, and in the beginning of Muharram, 617 [March, 1220], he encamped before the gates of the citadel.
And then they pitched the king’s pavilion on the
plain in front of the stronghold.
And his troops were more numerous than ants or locusts, being in their multitude beyond estimation or computation. Detachment after detachment arrived, each like a billowing sea, and encamped round about the town. At sunrise twenty thousand men from the Sultan’s auxiliary (biruni) army issued forth from the citadel together with most of the inhabitants; being commanded by Kok-Khan and other officers such as Khamid-Bur, Sevinch~Khan and Keshli-Khan. Kok-Khan was said to be a Mongol and to have fled from Chingiz-Khan and joined the Sultan (the proof of which statements must rest with their author); as a consequence of which his affairs had greatly prospered. When these forces reached the banks of the Oxus, the patrols and advance parties of the Mongol army fell upon them and left no trace of them.
When it is impossible to flee from destruction in any
manner, then patience is the best and wisest course.
On the following day when from the reflection of the sun the plain seemed to be a tray filled with blood, the people of Bokhara opened their gates and closed the door of strife and battle. The imams and notables came on a deputation to Chingiz-Khan, who entered to inspect the town and the citadel. He rode into the Friday mosque and pulled up before the maqsura, whereupon his son Toli dismounted and ascended the pulpit. Chingiz-Khan asked those present whether this was the palace of the Sultan; they replied that it was the house of God. Then he too got down from his horse, and mounting two or three steps of the pulpit he exclaimed: ‘The countryside is empty of fodder; fill our horses’ bellies.’ Whereupon they opened all the magazines in the town and began carrying off the grain. And they brought the cases in which the Korans were kept out into the courtyard of the mosque, where they cast the Korans right and left and turned the cases into mangers for their horses. After which they circulated cups of wine and sent for the singing-girls of the town to sing and dance for them; while the Mongols raised their voices to the tunes of their own songs. Meanwhile, the imams, shaikhs, sayyids, doctors and scholars of the age kept watch over their horses in the stable under the supervision of the equerries, and executed their commands. After an hour or two Chingiz-Khan arose to return to his camp, and as the multitude that had been gathered there moved away the leaves of the Koran were trampled in the dirt beneath their own feet and their horses’ hoofs. In that moment, the Emir Imam Jalal-ad-Din ‘All b. al-Hasan Zaidi, who was the chief and leader of the sayyids of Transoxiana and was famous for his piety and asceticism, turned to the learned imam Rukn-ad-Din Imamzada, who was one of the most excellent savants in the world—may God render pleasant the resting-places of them both— and said: Maulana, what state is this ?
That which I see do I see it in wakefulness or in sleep. 0 Lord?
Maulana Imamzada answered: ‘Be silent: it is the wind of God’s omnipotence that bloweth, and we have no power to speak.’
When Chingiz-Khan left the town he went to the festival musalla and mounted the pulpit; and, the people having been assembled, he asked which were the wealthy amongst them. Two hundred and eighty persons were designated (a hundred and ninety of them being natives of the town and the rest strangers, viz. ninety merchants from various places and were led before him. He then began a speech, in which, after describing the resistance and treachery of the Sultan (of which more than enough has been said already) he addressed them as follows: ‘O people, know that you have committed great sins, and that the great ones among you have committed these sins. If you ask me what proof I have for these words, I say it is because I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.’ When he had finished speaking in this strain, he continued his discourse with words of admonition, saying, ‘There is no need to declare your property that is on the face of the earth; tell me of that which is in the belly of the earth.’ Then he asked them who were their men of authority; and each man indicated his own people. To each of them he assigned a Mongol or Turk as basqaq in order that the soldiers might not molest them, and, although not subjecting them to disgrace or humiliation, they began to exact money from these men; and when they delivered it up they did not torment them by excessive punishment or demanding what was beyond their power to pay. Arid every day, at the rising of the greater luminary, the guards would bring a party of notables to the audience-hall of the World-Emperor.
Chingiz-Khan had given orders for the Sultan’s troops to be driven out of the interior of the town and the citadel. As it was impossible to accomplish this purpose by employing the townspeople and as these troops, being in fear of their lives, were fighting, and doing battle, and making night attacks as much as was possible, he now gave orders for all the quarters of the town to be set on fire; and since the houses were built entirely of wood, within several days the greater part of the town had been consumed, with the exception of the Friday mosque and some of the palaces, which were built with baked bricks. Then the people of Bokhara were driven against the citadel. And on either side the furnace of battle was heated. On the outside, mangonels were erected, bows bent and stones and arrows discharged; and on the inside, ballistas and pots of naphtha were set in motion. It was like a red-hot furnace fed from without by hard sticks thrust into the recesses, while from the belly of the furnace sparks shoot into the air. For days they fought in this manner; the garrison made sallies against the besiegers, and Kok-Khan in particular, who in bravery would have borne the palm from male lions, engaged in many battles: in each attack he overthrew several persons and alone repelled a great army. But finally they were reduced to the last extremity; resistance was no longer in their power; and they stood excused before God and man. The moat had been filled with animate and inanimate and raised up with levies and Bokharians; the out-works (fasil) had been captured and fire hurled into the citadel; and their khans, leaders and notables, who were the chief men of the age and the favourites of the Sultan and who in their glory would set their feet on the head of Heaven, now became the captives of abasement and were drowned in the sea of annihilation.
Of the Qanqli no male was spared who stood higher than the butt of a whip and more than thirty thousand were counted amongst the slain; whilst their small children, the children of their nobles and their womenfolk, slender as the cypress, were reduced to slavery.Fate playctb with mankind the game of the sticks with the ball, Or the game of the wind blowing (know thou!) a handful of millet.
Fate is a hunter, and man is naught but a lark.’
When the town and the citadel had been purged of rebels and the walls and outworks levelled with the dust, all the inhabitants of the town, men and women, ugly and beautiful, were driven out on to the field of the musalla. Chingiz-Khan spared their lives; but the youths and full-grown men that were fit for such service were pressed into a levy (bashar) for the attack on Samarqand and Dabusiya. Chingiz-Khan then proceeded against Samarqand; and the people of Bokhara, because of the desolation, were scattered like the constellation of the Bear and departed into the villages, while the site of the town became like 'a level plain.'
Now one man had escaped from Bokhara after its capture and had come to Khorasan. He was questioned about the fate of that city and replied: ‘They came, they sapped, they burnt, they slew, they plundered and they departed.’ Men of understanding who heard this description were all agreed that in the Persian language there could be nothing more concise than this speech. And indeed all that has been written in this chapter is summed up and epitomized in these two or three words.
After the capture of Samarqand Chingiz-Khan appointed Tausha Basqaq to the command and governorship of the district of Bokhara. He proceeded thither and the town made some little progress towards prosperity. Finally, when, by the order of the World-Emperor, the latter-day Hatim, Qa’an, the keys of government were placed in the solicitous hands of the Minister Yalavach, those scattered and dispersed in nooks and crannies were by the magnet of his justice and clemency attracted back to their former homes, and from all parts of the world people turned their faces thitherward; for because of his solicitude the prosperity of the town was on the increase, nay it reached its highest pitch and its territory became the home of the great and noble and the place of assembly of patrician and plebeian.
Suddenly in the year 636/1238 a sieve-maker of Tarab in the district of Bokhara rose up in rebellion in the dress of the people of rags,and the common people rallied to his standard; and finally things came to such a pass that orders were given for the execution of all the inhabitants of Bokhara. But the Minister Yalavach, like a good prayer, averted their evil fate and by his mercy and solicitude repelled from them this sudden calamity. And that territory regained its splendour and prosperity and the affairs thereof recovered their lustre. And day by day the bounty of God’s favour, by dint of which mercy and compassion everywhere form the carpet of justice and munificence, shines forth like the sun in the mercy of Mahmud and the pearl of that sea, namely Mas'udd. And to-day no town in the countries of Islam will bear comparison with Bokhara in the thronging of its creatures, the multitude of movable and immovable wealth, the concourse of savants, the flourishing of science and the students thereof and the establishment of pious endowments. Two edifices of lofty porch and firm foundation that were built in this place at this period are the Madrasa-yi-Khani built by Sorqotani and the Madrasa-yi-Mas'udiya, in each of which every day a thousand students are engaged in profitable studies, while the professors are the greatest scholars of the age and the wonders of their day. And indeed these two buildings with their lofty pillars and trim courts at once adorn and dignify Bokhara, nay they are an ornament and delight to all Islam.
Under these circumstances the people of Bokhara have regained some comfort as well as relief from subventions and similar burdens. May God Almighty adorn the surface of the earth with the continuance of the Just King’s being and with the splendour of Islam and the Hanafite faith!
OF THE REBELLION OF THE TARABI
IN the year 636/1238—9 there was a conjunction of the two malefic planetsin the house of Cancer, and the astrologers had calculated that an insurrection would break out and that perhaps a heretic would arise.
Three parasangs from Bokhara there lies a village called Tarab, in which there dwelt a man named Mahmud, a sieve-maker, of whom it was said that in stupidity and ignorance he had not his equal. This man began to sham and counterfeit piety and saintliness and claimed to’ have powers of magic (pari-dari), i.e. he asserted that jinns held converse with him and informed him of what was hidden.
For in Transoxiana and Turkestan many persons, especially women, claim to have magical powers; and when anyone has a pain or falls ill, they visit him, summon the exorcist (pari-kwan), perform dances and similar nonsense and in this manner convince the ignorant and the vulgar.
Mahmud’s sister used to instruct him in all the absurdities of the magicians (pari-daran) which he would at once spread abroad. Now what can the vulgar do but follow their ignorance? And in fact the common people turned towards him, and wherever there was a paralytic or one afflicted in any way they would bring him to Mahmud. It chanced that one or two of the persons that were brought to him in this way were found [afterwards] to bear signs of health; whereupon most of the people turned towards him, both the nobility and the commonalty, save them that shall come to God with a sound heart'.
In Bokhara I heard from several respectable and creditable persons how in their actual presence he had blown a medicine prepared from dogs excrement into the eyes of one or two blind persons, and how they had recovered their sight. I replied:
‘The seeing were blind, or else this was a miracle of Jesus, the son of Mary, and no one else. As God Almighty hath said: "Thou dust heal the blind and the leper." As for me, if I should see such things with my own eyes, I should concern myself with the treatment of my eyesight.’
Now in Bokhara there was a learned man, renowned for his virtue and descent, whose laqab was Shams-ad-Din Mahbubi. This man, by reason of his prejudice against the imams of Bokhara, aggravated the disease of that madman and joined’ the band of his followers, telling that ignoramus how his father had recorded and written in a book that from Tarab of Bokhara there should arise a mighty lord, who should conquer the world; and had indicated the signs thereof, which were manifest on Mahmud.
By this deception the ignorant, foolish man became even more puffed up with pride; and since these words agreed with the calculation of the astrologers, his followers increased in number, the whole town and region turned towards him, and confusion and unrest became apparent. The emirs and basqaqs that were present in Bokhara consulted with one another as to the means of quenching the flame of the turmoil and dispatched a messenger to Khojend to the Minister Yalavach, to acquaint him with the situation. Meanwhile, under the pretext of seeking favour and a blessing, they went to Tarab and besought Mahmud to come to Bokhara that the city also might be adorned with his presence. It had been arranged that when he reached Sar-i-Pul, near Vazidan he should be suddenly assailed with a shower of arrows. When they set out from Tarab, he observed signs of displeasure in their attitude; and when they drew near to Sar-i-Pul, he turned to Tamsha,6 who was the senior shahna, and said: "Desist from thy evil intent, else I will command that without the intervention of human hand thy world-comprehending eye be wrenched out.’ When the Mongols heard these words, they said: ‘It is certain that no one has advised him of our intention; perhaps everything he says is true.’ They were afraid, and did him no harm; and so he came to Bokhara and alighted at the palace of Sanjar-Malik.
The emirs, grandees and chief men surpassed themselves in showing him honours and attentions, while all the time they sought an opportunity to shy him; but the common people were in the majority and that quarter of the town where he was lodged and the neighbouring bazaar were so filled with people that there was not even room for a cat to pass. The thronging of the people soon passed all bounds; and as they refused to depart without his blessing and there were no ways of entry left and it was equally impossible for him to come out, he went up on the roof of the palace and rained down spittle upon them. Every person on whom there fell a sprinkling departed to his home smiling and contented.
One of the followers of his error then informed him of those people’s ‘ intention; and all at once he stole out of a doorway and mounted one of the horses that were fastened there. The onlookers, being strangers, did not know who he was and paid no attention to him. In one gallop he reached the hill of Abu-Hafs; and in one moment a crowd of people were gathered around him. After some time [the Mongols] sought that foolish man and could not find him. Horsemen galloped in all directions in search of him, until all at once they discovered him at the top of the aforesaid hill. They returned and reported his whereabouts. The common people raised up a shout, saying: ‘With one stroke of his wings the Master (Khoja) has flown to Abu-Hali.’ And at once the reins of choice fell from the hands of great and small, and the greater part of the people turned their faces towards the open country and Abu-Hafi, and gathered around Mahmud.
At the time of the evening prayer he rose up, and turning towards the people spoke as follows: ‘O men of God, why do you linger and wait? The world must be purged of the infidel. Let each of you equip himself as best he can, with weapon or tool, staff or club, and set to work.’
Upon this all men in Bokhara turned towards him; and that day being Friday he re-entered the town, alighted at the palace of Rabi Malik and sent for the sadrs, grandees and notables of the town. He superseded the chief of the sadrs, nay of the age. Burhan-ad-Din, the seed of the house of Burhan and the last of the race of Sadr-Jahan, because he had no defect in reason or virtue; and in his stead he appointed Shams Mahbubi to the office of sadr. And he insulted most of the grandees and notables and besmirched their honour; some of them he slew but others succeeded in escaping.
Thereupon he sought the favour of the vulgar and dissolute (‘avamm va runud) by speaking as follows: ‘My army is partly visible, consisting of men, and partly invisible, consisting of the heavenly hosts, which fly in the air, and of the tribe of the jinns, which walk on the earth. And now I will reveal these to you also. Look at the heaven and the earth that you may see the proof of my claim.’ The initiated amongst his followers began to look and he would say: ‘Behold! in such-and-such a place they fly in green raiment, and in the same place they also fly in garments of white.’ The vulgar (‘avamm) agreed with all he said; and whenever anyone said, ‘I see nothing,’ his eyes were opened with the cudgel.
He also kept saying: ‘God Almighty will send us arms from the invisible’; and at this juncture a merchant arrived from Shiraz bringing four kharvars of swords. After that the people no longer entertained any doubt as to victory; and that Friday the khutba was read in Mahmud’s name as Sultan of Bokhara.
When the prayers were concluded he sent to the houses of the great to fetch tents, yurts, carpets and rugs. And the people formed themselves into large bands, and the rogues and ruffians (runud va ausbash) entered the houses of the wealthy and set their hands to pillage and plunder. When night fell, the Sultan suddenly retired to the company of pen-like maidens and heart-ravishing damsels and engaged in pleasant dalliance with them. In the morning he performed the ceremonial purification in a tank of water, in accordance with the verse:
When she left me she washed me,
as though we had seen applying ourselves to what was wrong.By way of seeking favour and a blessing the people divided this water into portions of a maund and a daramsang and made them into potions for the sick. As for the property they had obtained, Mahmud bestowed it on this man and that and shared it out (tafriqa) amongst his troops and associates.
When his sister saw his pre-occupation with women and riches, she seceded from his faction, saying: ‘His cause, which came into being through me, has changed for the worse'.
Meanwhile the emirs and sadrs, who had read the verse of ‘Flight’, assembled in Karminiya, and calling together the Mongols that were stationed in that area, they fitted out an army of such troops as could be mustered from every side and advanced on Bokhara. Mahmud, too, made preparations for battle and marched to encounter the Mongol army with a band of market loungers clad only in shirt and izar. Both sides put themselves in battle-array, the Tarabi and Mahbubi standing in their ranks without weapon or breast-plate. Now it had been spread abroad among the people that whoever moved a hand against Mahmud would become paralysed (khushk); consequently this army too were somewhat slow in stretching their hands to sword and bow. Nevertheless, one of their number let fly an arrow, which struck him in a vital part, while another of them shot Mahbubi also; but no one was aware of this either of his own people or of their other opponents. At this juncture a strong wind arose and the dust was stirred up to such an extent that they could not see one another. The enemy thought that this was one of the Tarabi’s miracles; and they withdrew their hands from battle and set their faces towards flight, with the Tarabi’s army at their heels. The people of the country districts issuing forth from their villages fell upon the fugitives with spades and axes; and whenever they came upon one of their number, especially if he was a tax-gatherer or landowner, they seized him and battered in his head with their axes. They followed the Mongols as far as Karminiya. and nearly ten thousand were slain.
When the followers of the Tarabi returned from the pursuit, they could not find him and said: ‘The Master has retired into the unseen; until he re-appears his two brothers Muhammad and ‘All shall be his vicegerents.’
These two ignorant men proceeded after the manner of the Tarabi; the vulgar and the rabble (‘avamm va aubash) became their followers and at once, the reins being loosened, set their hands to plunder and rapine. At the end of one week Ildiz Noyan and Chigin Qorchi arrived with a large army of Mongols. Again these foolish persons advanced with their men into the open country and drew up in battle-array completely unarmoured. At the first discharge of arrows both these misguided fellows were killed, and about twenty thousand others were also slain on this occasion.
The next day, after the swordsmen of dawn had cloven the skull of night, the people of Bokhara, both men and women, were driven out into the open; and the Mongols sharpened the tooth of revenge and opened the jaws of greed, saying: ‘Again we will strike a blow, and satisfy our appetite, and turn these people into fuel for the fire of calamity, and carry off their property and their children.’
It was only the divine grace and favour that through the agency of Mahmud’s mercy rendered the end of this disturbance as praiseworthy as his name and the ascendant of the town once more auspicious.’ When he arrived he checked And prohibited their massacring and looting, saying: ‘Because of the wickedness of a few how can you slay so many thousands? And how can you destroy a city which we have so long endeavoured to restore to its prosperity because of a few ignorant people ?‘ After much importunity, exertion and insistence he agreed that the matter should be referred to Qa’an and that whatever order he might give should be put into execution. Afterwards he dispatched messengers to the Emperor and exerted great efforts, so that the litter passed over the fault which had no possibility of forgiveness and spared their lives. And because of that endeavour he earned praise and thanks.
OF THE CONQUEST OP SAMARQAND
IT was the greatest of the countries of the Sultan’s empire in width of territory, the most pleasant of his lands in fertility of soil and, by common consent, the most delectable of the paradises of this world among the four Edens.
If it is said that a paradise is to he seen hi this
world, then the paradise of this world it Samarqand.
O thou who comparest the land of Balkh therewith, are
colocynth and candy equal to one another?Its air inclines to mildness, its water is embraced in the favour of the North wind and its earth by the force of its exhilaration has acquired the property of the fire of wine.
A country whose stones are jewels, whose soil is
musk and whose rain water is strong wine.When the Sultan withdrew from the conflict, the control of firmness having slipped from his hands and the attraction of constancy having been replaced by that of flight, while perplexity and doubt had taken abode in his nature; he deputed the protection of most of his lands and territories to his generals (quvvad) and allies (ansar,). Thus to Samarqand he has assigned a hundred and ten thousand men, of whom sixty thousand were Turks, with their khans, who were the Sultan’s elite and such that had Isfandiyar of the brazen body felt the prick -of their arrows and the thrust of their lances, he would have had no resource but [to acknowledge] his weakness and [beg for] quarter. The rest of the army consisted of fifty thousand Taziks, picked men (mufradan) each of whom was in himself the Rustam of the age and the cream of the armies; together with twenty elephants of perfect shape and div-like appearance,
Who twisted columns and played with serpent
And wore coat of mail that exhibited many coloursto be a protection (farzin-band) to the king’s horse and foot upon the field of battle, that they might not avert their faces from attack and assault. Moreover, the numbers of the townspeople themselves were such as to be beyond computation. And in addition to all this, the citadel had been greatly strengthened, several lines of outworks (fasil) had been drawn around it, the walls had been raised to the Pleiades and the moat sunk through the dry earth to the water beneath.
When Chingiz-Khan arrived at Otrar the news had been spread abroad of the strengthening of the walls and the citadel of Samarqand and the great size of its garrison; and everyone was of the opinion that it would be a matter of years before the town could be taken, to say nothing of the citadel. Following the path of circumspection he held it expedient to purge the surrounding country before proceeding against the town. First of all, he advanced against Bokhara, and when his mind had been set at rest by the capture of that city, he concerned himself with the question of Samarqand. Turning his reins in that direction he drove before him a great levy raised in Bokhara; and whenever the villages on his path submitted, he in no way molested them; but wherever they offered resistance, as in Sar-i-Pul and Dabusiya, he left troops to besiege them, while he himself made no halt until he reached Samarqand. When his sons had disposed of the affair of Otrar, they too arrived with a levy raised in that town; they chose the Kok-Sarai for Chingiz-Khan’s encampment. The other troops also, as they arrived, encamped round about the town.
For a day or two Chingiz-Khan circled the town in person in order to inspect the walls, the outworks and the gates; and during this period he exempted his men from fighting. At the same time he dispatched Yeme and Sübetei, who were two of the great noyans and enjoyed his special trust, in pursuit of the Sultan together with thirty thousand men; and sent Ghadaq Noyan and Yasa’ur’ to Vakhsh and Talaqan.
Finally, on the third day, when the flare of the sun’s flame had risen from the darkness of the pitchy night’s smoke and the nocturnal blackness had retired to the seclusion of a corner, so many men, both Mongols and levies, were assembled together that their numbers exceeded those of the sand of the desert or drops of rain. They stationed themselves in a circle round about the town; and Alp-Er Khan, Shaikh Khan, Bala Khan and some other khans made a sally into the open, drew up opposite the army of the world-subduing Emperor and discharged their arrows. Many horse and foot were slain on either side. That day the Sultan’s Turks engaged in constant skirmishes with the Mongols—for the light of the candle flares up a little before going out—killing some of the Mongol army, capturing others and carrying them into the town, while a thousand of their own number likewise fell.
Finally,
when for the benefit of the earth the fire of heaven was hidden by the earth’s smoke,
everyone retired to his quarters. But as soon as the deceitful shield-bearer again struck his sword upon the cloud of night, Chingiz-Khan mounted in person and stationed his troops in a circle round about the town. Both inside and outside the troops assembled and nude ready for battle; and they pulled up the girth of combat and hostility until the time of evening prayer. From the discharge of mangonels and bows, arrows and stones were set in flight; and the Mongol army took up a position at the very gates and so prevented the Sultan’s troops from issuing forth on to the field of battle. And when the path of combat was closed to them, and the two parties had become entangled on the chess-board of war and the valiant knights were no longer able to manoeuvre their horses upon the plain, they threw in their elephants; but the Mongols did not turn tail, on the contrary with their King-checking arrows they liberated those that were held in check by the elephants and broke up the ranks of the infantry. When the elephants had received wounds and were of no more use than the foot-soldiers of chess, they turned back trampling many people underneath their feet." At length, when the Emperor of Khotan had let down the veil over his face, they closed the gates.
The people of Sarnarqand had been rendered apprehensive by this day’s fighting, and their passions and opinions were divergent: some were desirous of submission and surrender, while others feared for their lives; some, by heavenly decree, were restrained from making peace, while others, because of the aura diffused by Chingiz-Khan, were prevented from doing battle. Finally, on the next day
When the shining sun spread its glory, and the black raven of the firmament shed its feathers,’
the Mongol troops being bold and fearless and the people of Samarqand irresolute in mind and counsel, the latter put the idea of war out of their heads and ceased to resist. The cadi and the shaikh-al-Islam together with a number of wearers of the turban hastened to approach Chingiz-Khan: they were fortified and encouraged by the breakfast of his promises and with his permission re-entered the town.
At the time of prayer they opened the gate of the manila and closed the door of resistance. The Mongols then entered and that day busied themselves with the destruction of the town and its outworks. The inhabitants drew their feet beneath the skirt of security, and the Mongols in no way molested them. When the day had clad itself in the black garb of the heathen Khitayans, they lit torches and continued their work until the Walls had been levelled with the streets and there was everywhere free passage for horse and foot.
On the third day, when the unkind, black-hearted juggler of the blue countenance held up the hard, brazen mirror before his face, the greater part of the Mongols entered the town, and the men and women in groups of a hundred were driven out into the open in the charge of Mongol soldiers; only the cadi and the shaikh-al-Islam together with such as had some connection with them and stood under their protection were exempted from leaving the town. More than fifty thousand people were counted who remained under such protection. The Mongols then caused a proclamation to be made that if anyone sought safety it~ the corner of concealment his blood should be forfeit. The Mongols and the [other] troops busied themselves with pillaging; and many people who had hidden in cellars and cavities were [discovered and] slain.
The mahouts brought their elephants to Chingiz-Khan and demanded elephant fodder. He asked them what the elephants lived on before they fell into captivity. They replied: ‘The grass of the plains.’ Whereupon he ordered the elephants to be set free to forage for themselves. They were accordingly released and finally perished [of hunger].
When the king of the heavens had sunk beneath the ball of the earth, the Mongols departed from the town, and the garrison of the citadel, their hearts cut in two with fear and terror, could neither stand and resist nor turn and flee. Alp Khan," how-ever, made a show of valour and intrepidity: issuing forth from the citadel with a thousand desperate men he fought his way through the centre of the Mongol army and joined up with the Sultan. The next morning, when the heralds of the Lord of the planets rose up striking their swords, the Mongol army completely encircled the citadel, and discharging arrows and projectiles from either side they devastated the walls and out-works and laid waste the Juy-i-Arziz.’ During the space between the two prayers they took the gates and entered the citadel. A thousand brave and valiant men withdrew to the cathedral mosque and commenced a fierce battle using both naphtha and quarrels. The army of Chingiz-Khan likewise employed pots of naphtha; and the Friday mosque and all that were in it were burnt with the fire of this world and washed with the water of the Hereafter. Then all in the citadel were brought out into the open, where the Turks were separated from the Taziks and all divided into groups of ten and a hundred. They shaved the front of the Turks’ heads in the Mongol fashion in order to tranquillize them and allay their fears; but when the sun had reached the west, the day of their life drew to its close, and that night every male Qanqli was drowned in the ocean of destruction and consumed by the fire of perdition. There were more than thirty thousand Qanqli and Turks, commanded by Barishmas Khan, Taghai Khan, Sarsigh Khan and UlaghKhan, together with some twenty of the Sultan’s chief emirs, whose names are recorded in the yarligh which Chingiz-Khan wrote to Rukn-ad-Din Kart; in which yarligh full mention is made of all the leaders of armies and countries whom he crushed and destroyed.
When the town and the citadel equalled each other in ruin and desolation and many an emir, and soldier, and townsman had taken a sip at the cup of destruction, on the next day, when the eagle which is the heavenly Jamshid had raised its head above the mountain-tops of the earth and the fiery countenance of the sun was lit up upon the round tray of the sky, the people who had escaped from beneath the sword were numbered; thirty thousand of them were chosen for their craftmanship, and these Chingiz-Khan distributed amongst his sons and kinsmen, while the like number were selected from the youthful and valiant to form a levy. With regard to the remainder, who obtained permission to return into the town, as a thanksgiving because they had not shared the fate of the others nor attained the degree of martyrdom but had remained in the ranks of the living, he imposed [a ransom of] two hundred thousand dinars on these suppliants and deputed the collection of this sum to Siqat-al-Mulk and Amid Buzurg, who belonged to the chief officials of Samarqand. He then appointed several persons to be shahnas of the town and took some of the levies with him to Khorasan, while the others he sent to Khorazm with his sons. And afterwards, several times in succession levies were raised in Samarqand and few only were exempted therefrom; and for this reason complete ruin overran the country.
This event occurred in Rabi’ I, 618.
Where are there men of insight to gaze with the eye of reflection and consideration upon the movements of deceitful Destiny and the trickery and cruelty of the vainly revolving wheel; until they realize that its zephyr is not equal to its simoom, nor its gain commensurate with its loss; that its wine lasts but a single hour, but the headache therefrom for ever; that its profit is but wind, and its treasure pain?
O heart, lament not, for this world is only metaphorical;
O soul, grieve not, for this abode is only transient.
XIX .- OF THE FATE OF KHORAZM
THIS is the name of the region; its original name was Jurjaniya, while the inhabitants call it Urganch. Before the vicissitudes of fortune it stood in the category of 'Goodly is the country, and gracious is the Lord’. It was the site of the throne of the Sultans of the world and the dwelling-place of the celebrities of mankind; its corners supported the shoulders of the great men of the age, and its environs were receptacles for the rareties of the time; its mansions were resplendent with every kind of lofty idea, and its regions and districts were so many rose-gardens through the presence of men of quality, great shaikhs being assembled in one place with the Sultans of the age.
such was the state of that country.All that thou wishest is therein, spiritual and temporal When Chingiz-Khan had completed the conquest of Samarqand, all the countries of Transoxiana were subdued and his opponents crushed in the mills of calamity, while on the other side the districts of Jand and Barjligh-Kent were secured; so that Khorazm was left in the middle like a tent whose ropes have been cut. Since he wished to pursue the Sultan in person and to purge the countries of Khorasan of his adversaries, he dispatched his elder sons, Chaghatai and Ogetei, against Khorazm together with an army as endless as the happenings of Time and such that the mountains and deserts were filled with its numbers. He commanded Tushi also to send levies from Jand as a reinforcement.’ The princes proceeded by way of Bokhara, sending on ahead as vanguard an army which moved like evil destiny and flew like lightning.Khorazm to me is the best of lands—may its rain-giving
clouds never be blown away!
Happy it that man’s face which is greeted by the shining
faces of its striplings!At that time Khorazm was deserted by [both] the Sultans, but Khumar Tegin, one of the leaders of the army and a kinsman of Taken Khatun, was still present; and certain of the chief emits had likewise remained behind, viz. Moghol Hajib, Er-Buqa Pahlavan, the sipahsalar 'Ali Durughini and a number of others of the same sort, to enumerate whose names were prolixity without utility. Besides these there were so many of the notables of the town and the learned of the age as could be neither counted nor computed; while the number of the inhabitants exceeded that of grains of sand or pebbles. And since in all that great multitude and assembly of mankind no leader had been appointed to whom they might refer upon the occurrence of untoward events and for the administration’ of affairs of state and the business of the commonweal, and by whose agency they might resist the violence of Fate; Khumar, by reason of his relationship to the royal house, was with one voice elected Sultan and made a Nauruz king?
And they were heedless of the disorder and unrest prevailing in the world and of Fate’s assault and battery of her creatures, great and small; until suddenly they beheld a small troop of horsemen like a puff of smoke, who arrived before the gates of the town and busied themselves with driving off cattle. Here at some short-sighted persons became exultant thinking that they had come in so small a party out of bravado and that they had ventured on such insolence by way of sport. They did not realize that this would be followed by calamities, that after the mountain-top of these calamities would come other mountaintops, and thereafter torments. A whole world of people, both horse and foot, rushed thoughtlessly out of the gates upon that small troop. The Mongols, like wild game, now started, now cast a glance behind them and ran. Finally when they came to the Bagh-i-Khurram, which lies a parasang distant from the town, they caused Tartar horsemen and men of might and dread and prowess and war to spring forth from the ambush of the wall. They cut off the road before and behind and fell briskly upon them like wolves upon a flock without a shepherd. They dispatched flying arrows against that people and wielding sword and lance they drove them before them: by nightfall they had felled to the dust nearly a hundred thousand souls of fighting men. And in the same fever and excitement, with shouts and cries they cast themselves after them into the city by the Qabilan Gate and advanced’ like fire to a place called Tanura.
As the sun began to set the strange army withdrew by way of caution; but on the next day when the Turkish swordsman raised his head from the ambush of the horizon, the fearless swordsmen and intrepid Turks spurred on their mounts and set their faces towards the town. A certain Faridun Ghuri, who was one of the Sultan’s chief generals, awaited them at the gate with five hundred men and preparing to resist deprived those accursed ones (? rujum) of the power to attack. And to the end of that day they continued to struggle and fight.
Chaghatai and Ogetei then arrived with an army like a flood in its onrush and like blasts of wind in the succession of its ranks. They made a promenade around the town and sent ambassadors to call on the inhabitants to submit and surrender.
The whole army then encompassed the town as the circle encompasses the centre and encamped around it in the guise of Fate. They busied themselves with the preparation of instruments of war such as wood, mangonels and missiles therefor. And since there were no stones in the neighbourhood of Khorazm they manufactured these missiles from the wood of mulberry trees. As is their custom, they daily plied the inhabitants of the town with promises and threats, inducements and menaces; and occasionally they discharged a few arrows at one another.
Finally, when the preparations for battle had been completed and the necessary instruments finished, when, moreover, the reinforcements had arrived from Jand etc., they at once set their faces towards war and combat from every side of the town, and raising a yell like thunder and lightning they rained down missiles and arrows like hailstones. They commanded rubbish to be collected and stuffed into the moat; and then the levies were moved forward in a circle (bi-jirg) to demolish the foot of the outworks and cast earth into the eyes of the heavens.
When the counterfeit Sultan and leader of the army, Khumar, drunk with the wine of adversity, (God Almighty hath said: ‘As thou livest, O M’ohammed, they were bewildered in the drunkenness of their lust’,) beheld the slaughter which they wrought, for fear of abasement his heart was cut in two, and the signs of the Tartar army’s victory agreed with his secret surmise; cunning was removed from his nature, and with the appearance of Destiny the face of counsel and deliberation was hidden from him. He descended from the gate, and on this account even greater confusion and disorder prevailed among the people.
The Tartar army planted a standard on the top of the wall, and warriors climbed up and caused the earth to ring with their shouts, cries, yells and uproar. The inhabitants opposed them in all the streets and quarters of the town: in every lane they engaged in battle and in every cul-de-sac they resisted stoutly.
The Mongols meanwhile were setting fire to their houses and quarters with pots of naphtha and sewing the people to one another with arrows and mangonels. And when the cloak of the sun’s light was being wrapped in the tyranny of evening darkness, they began to return to their encampment. In the morning the people of the town for a while applied themselves to battle in the same manner and bared the claw of conflict with sword, arrow and banner. By now the greater part of the town was destroyed; the houses with their goods and treasures were but mounds of earth; and the Mongols despaired of benefiting from the stores of their wealth. They therefore agreed among themselves to abandon the use of fire and rather to withhold from the people the water of the Oxus, across which a bridge had been built inside the town. Three thousand men from the Mongol army put themselves in readiness and struck at the centre of the bridge; but the inhabitants entrapped them there, so that not one was able to return.
On this account the townspeople became more energetic in their action and more stubborn in their resistance. On the outside also, the weapons of war became more furious, the sea of battle more raging and the winds of confusion more tumultuous, on earth and in the heavens. Quarter by quarter, house by house, the Mongols took the town, destroying the buildings and slaughtering the inhabitants, until finally the whole town was in their hands. Then they drove the people out into the open; those that were artisans or craftsmen, of whom there were more than a hundred thousand, were separated from the rest; the children and the young women were reduced to slavery and borne off into captivity; and the men that remained were divided among the army, and to each fighting man fell the execution of twenty-four persons. God Almighty bath said: So we made them a tale, and scattered them with an utter scattering. Truly, herein are signs to everyone that is patient, gratefu’. The army then busied themselves with plunder and rapine and destroyed what remained of the quarters and houses.
Khorazm, which was the centre of battling men and the venue of banqueting women, on whose threshold Fate laid her head and which the phoenix of Fortune made its nest, became the abode of the jackal and the haunt of owl and kite; pleasure was far removed from its houses and its castles were reduced to desolation; so withered were its gardens that one would think that the words ‘ 117e changed them their gardens into two gardens’ had been revealed concerning their condition. Upon its parks and pleasances the pen of tall that is transient departeth’ has written these verses:
To be brief, when the Mongols had ended the battle of Khorazm and had done with leading captive, plundering, slaughter and bloodshed, such of the inhabitants as were artisans were divided up and sent to the countries of the East. To-day there are many places in those parts that are cultivated and peopled by the inhabitants of Khorazm.How many horsemen have dismounted about us, mixing wine with limpid water; Then in the middle of the morning Fate snatched them away - for such is Fate, time and again.
The princes Chaghatai and Ogetei returned by way of Kalif, which they joined with Khorazm in two days.
As for the fighting and killing, in spite of the proverb ‘Do as was done before’ I have heard of such a quantity of slain that I did not believe the report and so have not recorded it.
‘0 God, preserve us from all the ills of this world and the torments of the world to come.’
XX .- OF THE DEPARTURE OF CHINGIZ-KHAN TO NAICHSHAB AND TIRMIZ
WHEN Samarqand had been taken and he had dispatched his sons Chaghatai and Ögetei against Khorazm, he passed the spring of that year beside Samarqand and proceeded from thence to the meadows of Nakhshab.
When the summer had come to an end and the horses were fattened and the soldiers rested, he set out for Tirmiz. Upon arriving there he sent forward messengers to call upon the people to surrender and submit, and to destroy the fortress and citadel. But the inhabitants, encouraged by the strength of the fortress, half of whose walls were raised up in the middle of the Oxus, and rendered proud by the multitude of their troops, gear and equipment, would not accept submission but sallied forth to do battle. Mangonels were set up on either side, and they rested neither day nor night from strife and warfare until upon the eleventh day the Mongols took the place by storm. All the people, both men and women, were driven out on to the plain and divided proportionately among the soldiers in accordance with their usual custom; then they were all slain, none being spared.
When the Mongols had finished the slaughter they caught sight of a woman who said to them: ‘Spare my life and I will give you a great pearl which I have.’ But when they sought the pearl she said ‘I have swallowed it.’ Whereupon they ripped open her belly and found several pearls. On this account Chingiz-Khan commanded that they should rip open the bellies of all the slain.
When they had done with looting and slaying he departed to the region of Kangurt and Shuman, where he passed the winter. That region also he purged with slaying, and attacking, and sapping, and burning; and sent armies into the whole of Badakhshan and all that country, and conquered and subjugated the peoples, some by kindness, but most by severity; so that in all that region there was left no trace of his opponents. And when the season of winter drew to a close he made ready to cross the river.
All this occurred in the year 617/1220—21.
XXI .- OF CHINGIZ-KHAN S CROSSINTG OF THE RIVER AT TIRMIZ AND THE TAKING OF BALKH
BALKH, by reason of the multitude of its produce and its manifold kinds of revenue, was superior to other regions; its territory was more spacious than that of other countries; and in former time it was in the Eastern lands as Mecca in the West. As Firdausi says:
He departed unto fair Balkh to that nau-bahar which at that time the worshippers of God
Held in as much honour as the Arabs now hold Mecca.’Chingiz-Khan crossed the river and advanced on Balkh. The chief men of the town came forward professing submission and servitude and bearing all manner of tuzgbu and presents. Whereupon, because a census had to be taken, he gave orders that all the people of Balkh should be brought on to the plain and numbered. But as Jalal-ad-Din was still casting confusion and disorder into those regions and riding his horse on to the field of rebellion and contumacy, the Mongols could place no confidence in their professions of submission, especially in the case of Khorasan. And since the sea of the annihilation of lands and peoples was raging and the tempest of calamity had not come to an end, there was no possible wile whereby they might ward off disaster; and since Destiny held them captive, surrender availed them not, neither could they rely on submission and abasement; while to rebel was a deadly poison and an irremediable pain. Therefore Chingiz-Khan commanded that the population of Balkh, small and great, few and many, both men and women, should be driven out on to the plain and divided up according to the usual custom into hundreds and thousands to be put to the sword; and that not a trace should be left of fresh or dry. For a long time the wild beasts feasted on their flesh, and lions consorted without contention with wolves, and vultures ate without quarrelling from the same table with eagles.
And they cast fire into the garden of the city and devoted their whole attention to the destruction of the outworks and walls, and mansions and palaces. God Almighty hath said: ‘ There is no city which we will not destroy before the day of Resurrection or chastise it with a grievous chastisement. This is written in the Book.’Eat and rest. O hyaena, and rejoice in the flesh of a
man who had no one to help him this day.When Chingiz-Khan returned from Peshawar and arrived at Balkh, he found a number of fugitives who had remained hidden in nooks and crannies and come out again [after the Mongols’ departure]. He commanded them all to be killed and fulfilled upon them the verse, ‘ Twice will we chastise them.’ And wherever a wall was left standing, the Mongols pulled it down and for a second time wiped out all traces of culture from that region.
And their mansions shall weep for them, which were once accustomed to glory.
We began by gazing on them with admiration and ended by gazing on them in astonishment.After Chingiz-Khan had thus disposed of Balkh, he dispatched his son Toll with a large army to conquer the countries of Khorasan, whilst he himself turned against Talaqan. The citadel of that place was called Nusrat-Kuh and apart from its own strength was crammed full of warriors prepared to earn a glorious name. Though he dispatched messengers and envoys and called on them to tender submission, they would not give in but were inclined for nothing but strife and battle. The Mongols drew a circle about the citadel and set many catapults in motion; they bestirred themselves untiringly nor did the garrison rest from their exertions: both sides fought fiercely and inflicted many wounds on their opponents. The garrison of Talaqan continued to resist in this manner until after Toli had subjugated Khorasan and returned from thence with large forces; when the size of the Mongol army was greatly increased and they took Talaqan by storm, leaving no living creature therein and destroying fortress and citadel, walls, palaces and houses.
Of a sudden there came tidings that Jalal-ad-Din had gained a great victory and vanquished Tekechuk and the army under his command. Chingiz-Khan hastened to meet him. The road lay through Gurzivan, and on account of the resistance offered by the inhabitants of that place he tarried there a month until he took it and forced down the throats of its people that same draught of slaughter, rapine and destruction which other like peoples had tasted.
Starting from thence the Mongols came to Bamiyan, the inhabitants of which place issued forth in hostility and resistance, and on both sides hands were laid to arrows and catapults. Suddenly, by the thumb of Fate, who was the destroyer of all that people, a quarrel, which gave no respite, was discharged from the town and hit a son of Chaghatai, the favourite grandchild of Chingiz-Khan. The Mongols made the greater haste to capture the town, and when it was taken Chingiz-Khan gave orders that every living creature, from mankind down to the brute beasts, should be killed; that no prisoner should be taken; that not even the child in its mother’s womb should be spared; and that henceforth no living creature should dwell therein. He gave it the name of Ma’u-Baligh, which means in Persian Bad Town.And to this very day no living creature has taken up abode therein.
This event fell out in the year 618/1221-22.