HISTORY.//*, MONGOLS

FROM THE 9th TO THE 19th CENTURY.

Part III.
THE MONGOLS OF PERSIA.

BY

Henry H. Howorth, m.p.
CORR. MEM. ROY. ACAD. LISBON, M.R.A.S., F.S.A.
AUTHOR OF 'CHINGHIZ KHAN AND HIS ANCESTORS,' 'THE MAMMOTH
AND THE FLOOD,' ETC. ETC.

LONDON :
Longmans, Green, and Co.
AND NEW YORK : 15 EAST i6,b STREET.
1888.

KR.95 v. 3

.3

TO
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR A. CUNNINGHAM,- K.C.I.E., C.S.I..
AND
M. CHARLES SCHEFER,
Member of the Institute of France, etc., etc.

IT is very grateful to me to be able to associate this volume of a long
and laborious work with the names of two friends whom I hold in
high esteem, and whose reputation is world-wide — Sir Alexander
Cunningham, who for forty years has studied so well, and so much to our
profit, the archaeology and history of India, and who is not less known
for his urbanity and high character than for his deep and scientific
knowledge of the East ; and M. Charles Schefer, the doyen of French
Orientalists, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of the history, literature, and
art of the Muhammedan world are unrivalled, and who has always been
ready and willing to put his knowledge and his skill at the service of
others. My two friends will, I know, somewhat qualify their fastidious standards
in judging of a work so multiform and so full of perpetual difficulty as
the present, and they will- not be displeased that a student who has
learnt so much from their labours should wish to associate their names
« with his own.
May the golden autumn of their lives be prolonged, and may we
ij) continue for many years to profit by their ripe and matured judgment, and
by the harvest which they have sown and reaped.
*0o

PREFACE.

FIVE years have elapsed since the appearance of the previous volume of
this work, a longer period than I had intended, and justified only on
the ground of my indifferent health and very engrossing occupations
in other fields. Those who have been over the ground, or some part of it, will
perhaps admit that this new instalment contains a good deal of honest work.
Its author knows too well that it is full of imperfections. His original purpose
was not to produce a final work ; finality is not the fate of any human under
taking. We cannot control the languid attention, the dull eye, and the hasty
thought. They are the continual companions of the best of us at times, and
more especially do they stand by us when our head is aching, and our health is
fragile. To travel away from the beaten track of scholars into the great tangled
jungle of Eastern history is in itself a toilsome task. To bring together and to
reconcile the various versions of the same tale, told by imaginative Eastern story
tellers, is too often a despairing duty. Having done so, to make a chronicle of
the whole so that it can be understood even, is by no means the'easiest of labours.
Beyond this it is nearly hopeless to venture. When the matter has to be packed
so closely that there is no room of any kind for ornament or rhetoric, and every
sentence is the statement of a new fact, it is impossible to indulge in the
luxury of style. All this binds down the weary author, and robs his work of
its philosophy. Nay, more, it not only clips his wings and makes him cling to
the humble ground, but it too often leads to obscurity, and nearly always tc
dulness. All this I know and feel better than my critics can. Beyond the
ordinary blemishes which disfigure all histories when carefully tested, this
one has the further weakness which it shares with much Eastern story, in that
the spelling of the proper names is uncertain, and in many cases irregular and
inconsistent. When myriads of names, recorded by various writers with various
modes of transcription, have to be reduced to a common orthography, it is
almost impossible to avoid many slips; and unfortunately, when the reader
looks over the pages he cannot realise or guess the tremendous labour involved
in the compilation of a few phrases, even where the matter has had to be sifted
from the reading of many books, nor can he recognise the very large number of
cases where a mistake has been corrected and a blot removed. His careful eye
naturally sees only " the flies in the ointment," and these motes in his brother's
eye are too often made the excuse for ignoring the beam in his own. I have no
fear that real students will be too exacting. They will accept the imperfect as
inevitable, and try to improve it. If their path has been lightened by my
labours, I cannot wish for a better justification of my own.

V1- HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Jingis Khan was succeeded as Imperator of the Mongols by his second
son, Ogotai, and he by his son Kuyuk. By a curious fortune the supreme
rule in the Mongol world, on the death of Kuyuk, fell into the hands of the
descendants of Jingis Khan's youngest son, Tului. For a while the families
of Ogotai and Tului struggled, but the former were presently overwhelmed, and
the Mongols, properly so called, still obeyed princes descended from Tului when
they were conquered by the Manchus.
While one branch of this family controlled the furthest east, another became
supreme in Persia. When Tului's son Mangu Khakan succeeded Kuyuk,
as Imperator of the Mongol world, he dispatched his brother Khulagu
to conquer Persia. The empire thus founded by Khulagu, which lasted
for a hundred years, is the subject matter .of the following pages. The story
is an interesting one in many ways. Khulagu was a mere nomade chief, with
the antipathy to civilisation and to town life which was shared by his grand
father Jingis. His path was ftiarked by ravage and destruction, and his army
was a plundering horde — ruthless, cruel, disciplined, brave, and, indeed,
endowed with the usual virtues of the desert. He swept away the pernicious
power of the Ismaelites or Assassins, who, under the mysterious chieftain
known in Europe as the Old Man of the Mountain, had planted a number of
strong fortresses in the hilly country of Demavend. He compelled the various
petty princes of Kerman, Luristan, Yezd, and Fars to do him homage. He did
the same with the Christian rulers of Georgia and Little Armenia, and the
Mussulman rulers of Iconium. His greatest feat, however, and one which
greatly altered the course of Eastern history, was his destruction of Baghdad,
and of its famous line of pontiff rulers, the Abbassidan Khalifs. The Khalifate
was presently revived as a mere shadow by the Mamluk rulers of Egypt, with
its seat at Cairo, but the institution as a potent fulcrum and focus of Muham-
medan power was extinguished by Khulagu. His merciless troops also laid
waste Mesopotamia and Syria, and reduced the princes of those flourishing
cradles of the arts to the condition of the desolated province of Khorasan. The
followers of Khulagu were really a nomade army, moving each season into
winter and summer quarters, and not a settled body of colonists. Their trade
was that of herdsmen, qualified by that of soldiers. They were Shamanists by
religion, their aristocracy largely patronising Buddhism.
Nomades the Mongols remained until their conversion to Muhammedanism,
a conversion which had a very important effect upon Eastern history. What
might have been the course of Asiatic annals if they had remained Shamanists
is not easy to picture. Muhammedanism, in the first place, brought in its
wake culture. Never, probably, did literature flourish so marvellously in Persia
as during the reign of Ghazan Khan and his successors. No nobler specimens
of Eastern architecture exist than the magnificent ruins of Sultania, which was
built by the Mongols ; while the finest brass work of Mosul dates from the
same era. In the second place it induced the invaders to adopt a sedentary
life instead of a nomadic one. They planted cities, and largely ceased to move
hither and thither with their herds. In the next place, it broke the ties which
the Mongols had with the Christian principalities in the East, the Crusaders,
the tings of Cilicia or Little Armenia, the rulers of Georgia, the emperors of

preface. vii.
Constantinople and Trebizond. It also interfered very largely with the per
meating influence of the crowds of Franciscan and Dominican friars, who
planted convents in almost all the great towns of the East, under the tolerant
shield of the early Mongol khans, and thus interwove for a while threads of
European culture with the web of Eastern life. Lastly, it tied together once
more, if somewhat loosely, the various states of the East which accepted
Islam, into a virtual confederation of allies, and eventually, no doubt, broke
down and enervated the power of the conquering caste, as was the case
in China, and led to the rapid emancipation of the country from their yoke,
a result which proved to be by no means an unmixed blessing. The Mongol
supremacy in Persia was also marked by a remarkable succession of able
administrators. Whether this was due to the central authority being a
strong one, and affording opportunity for skill in this respect, I will not profess
to decide ; but it would be difficult to find in Eastern history a more remarkable
example of good government, and of its best theories put into practice, than
that presented by the reign of Ghazan Khan, whose laws and regulations
remind us of the far-seeing prudence and wisdom of Akbar. Of course the lives
of even the best of these men were continually in peril, and few viziers of the
Ilkhans died peaceably. Their very ability and uprightness made the best of
them the eventual victims of jealous and envious masters. As has been well
said : " In the East the death of an official is not too often the result of his ill
deeds, but only a means of appeasing the cupidity of an avaricious tyrant."
While Muhammedanism went through these vicissitudes in Persia, it reached
its highest point of culture and prosperity in Egypt and in India, where the
most active spirits of that faith naturally took refuge, and under their patronage
were built the magnificent tombs of the Mamluk Sultans at Cairo, and the
equally splendid palaces and mosques erected contemporaneously by the
Muhammedan rulers of Delhi.
Abel Remusat has summed up in some graphic paragraphs the general effects
of the Mongol invasion of the West, which I shall not hesitate to appropriate.
He refers to the great moral revolution in the affairs of the world caused by
bringing together the civilisations of the East and West, which had hitherto
grown apart, without communication, and without mutual influence. It was
not only by means of the many stately embassies which passed to and fro, but
also by the more humble journeys of merchants, missionaries, and of those who
naturally follow in the wake of armies. The invasion of the Mongols opened
the various roads which had hitherto been closed, and brought men of all races
together, while one of the chief consequences of their invasion was the trans
portation of whole peoples to and fro. Among the royal princes who made
their way to the heart of Asia, to press their interests there, were Sempad, the
Orpelian; Haithon, King of Armenia; the two Davids, Kings of Georgia;
Yaroslaf, Grand Prince of Russia, and many others. Italians, Frenchmen,
Flemings, &c, went on the same errand as envoys to the Great Khan. Mongols
of distinction came to Rome, Barcelona. Valencia, Lyons, London, and North
ampton. A Franciscan from Naples became Archbishop of Pekin, and was
succeeded by a Professor in the Faculty of Theology from Paris. These were
all famous people, whose names were likely to be preserved ; but what crowds of

Vin. HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
obscure folk must have followed the same way, drawn by the double temptation
of gain or curiosity to visit the unknown and romantic East. Accident has
preserved the names of some of them. The first envoy to the King of Hungary
on the part of the Tartars, was an Englishman who, having been banished from
his country for various crimes, became a vagabond in Asia and eventually joined
the service of the Mongols. A Flemish Franciscan met in the depths of
Tartary with a woman from Metz, named Paquette, who had been captured in
Hungary, a Parisian goldsmith, whose brother had a shop on the great bridge
at Paris, and a young man from Rouen, who had been present at the capture
of Belgrade. He also met with Russians, Hungarians, and Flemings there.
A chanter, named Robert, after traversing Eastern Asia, returned to die at the
cathedral of Chartres. A Tartar made helmets for the army of Philip le Bel,
as we learn from the receipts of the Treasury between 1296 and 1301,
preserved in a manuscript in a French library. Piano Carpini found a Russian
at the Court of Kuyuk, acting as interpreter there ; and the Franciscan friar
himself tells us how he was accompanied on his journey by merchants
from Breslaf, Poland, and Austria. Others accompanied him on his return by
way of Russia ; among them Genoese, Pisans, and Venetians. Two Venetian
merchants, whom accident took to Bukhara, joined an embassy which Khulagu
sent to his suzerain, Khubilai. After spending some time in China and Tartary
they returned with letters from the Great Khan for the Pope, returning again to
the Great Khan, taking with them one of their sons, the famous Marco Polo,
whose narrative is such a mine of materials for Eastern history and geography.
Both uncles and nephew returned again to Venice. Similar journeys were not
less frequent in the next century, as we know from the fantastic story of Sir John
Mandeville, Odoric of Friuli, Pegoletti, William de Bouldeselle, and others.
Many such adventurers doubtless remained and died in the far East. Many
others returned home as obscure as they went, and no doubt told famous stories
in the monasteries and the lordly castles, where such visitors were always
welcome. Such travellers would take with them a knowledge of many handi
crafts, as well as precious objects. Silks and porcelain from China and from India
thus probably became familiar obj ects in the West of Europe, which had been shut
off from intercourse with the East since Roman times. Curiosity was everywhere
stirred, and curiosity is the great mother of progress. It was proposed to
found a chair at the University of Paris for the study of Tartar ; and how far
reaching the effects may have been we can perhaps gather from the fact that
it was in search of the " Zepangri " of Marco Polo that Christopher Columbus
set out to discover a new world. Nor was the influence only on one side. The
Mongols probably introduced Indian figures into China, as they introduced the
Mussulman methods of astronomy. The New Testament and the Psalms were
translated into Mongol by the Latin Archbishop of Khanbaligh. It was the
Mongols who founded the hierarchy of Lamaism in Tibet, in which they seem
to have combined the dogmas of Buddhism with the ritual of the Nestorians.
It was the Mongols who probably introduced the knowledge of the mariner's
compass, which had long been known in China, into Europe. Gunpowder had
been used by the Hindus and Chinese from early times. It apparently first
became known in Europe after the Mongol invasions, and doubtless through

PREFACE. ix.
their influence. Paper money was another early Chinese invention, the intro
duction of which by the Mongols into Persia forms an interesting incident in
the following pages ; and it is curious to find the traveller Josaphat Barbaro
telling us how he learnt from an intelligent Tartar whom he met at Azof, in
1450, and who ;had been as envoy to China, how this kind of money was
annually printed there, as he says, « con nuova stampa." Lastly, playing cards,
whose origin is so interesting, because they would appear to have been among
the first efforts of engraving on wood, were known in China in 1120, and were
very likely introduced through the Mongols. It is at least curious that the
earliest playing cards used in Europe, in the so-called "Jeu de tarots," were in
their shape, their designs, their size and number, similar to those used by the
Chinese. It may be that printing from wooden blocks also came to us from
the far East by the same channel* Thus, again, the Shan-pan, or arithmetical
machine, of the Chinese was introduced into Russia and Poland, where it is
still universally used by the women who cannot read, in their calculations, In
speaking of this interchange of most fertile ideas and inventions through the
agency of the Tartars, Remusat says it was by the mortal struggle of nations
that the dark clouds of the Middle Ages were dissipated. Catastrophes which
seemed to bring only suffering to the human race, in fact awoke it from the
lethargy into which it had fallen for centuries, and the destruction of twenty
empires was the price which Providence exacted from Europe for the civilisation
which it now enjoys.t
One of the main difficulties I have had in writing the following volume, a
difficulty which has prevented the story from flowing evenly, has been the
necessity of incorporating the history of the various subordinate principalities
under the suzerainty of the Mongols in Persia, with the main story. It must
be remembered that while the invaders in many cases conquered large
districts, and exacted allegiance from the conquered, they allowed them to
continue subject to their own rulers; and I have felt bound, therefore, to collect
and interweave in my narrative the events which occurred in the dependent
principalities. So that what follows is not merely the history of the Ilkhans in
Persia, but also that of Herat, Kerman, Fars, Luristan, Mardin and Hosn Kaifa,
Rum, Little Armenia, and Georgia, all of which had rulers of their own during
the Mongol domination.
I have also endeavoured to arrange and tell in detail the confused and yet
important history of the various fragments into which the Ilkhans' empire was
broken up, a story which has been hitherto almost entirely neglected ; so that
this volume may be accepted as a fairly complete history of Iran and its borders,
from the invasion of Khulagu to the conquests of Timur.
The next volume will comprise a more obscure, but perhaps more interesting,
section of the work, namely, the history of the descendants of Jagatai, who
ruled at Almaligh and Kashgar, and also the history of Timur and his
descendants. It is partially written, and I hope I may have health and strength
* This was the view of Paul Jovius, who has the following very remarkahle sentence on the
subject : " Cujus generis volumen irege Lusitania? cum elephante dono missum Leo P. humaniter
nobis ostendit, ut huic facile credamus hujus artis exempla, antequam Lusitani in Indiam pene-
trarant, per Scythas et Muscovitas ad incomparabile litterarum presidium ad nos pervenisse."
t Memoirs French Academy, vii. 409-419.

X. HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to finish it. The main authority for the history of the Ilkhans is of course the
great history of Rashid ud din, the vizier and historiographer of Ghazan Khan,
and the continuation of it, devoted to Ghazan's successors. This work was
partially printed, translated, and edited, with very elaborate notes, by Quatre-
mere. It seems a duty incumbent on French Orientalists to complete what he
so well began. The same work has been digested by the two Western historians
of the Mongols; D'Ohsson, who has devoted the two last volumes of his
work to this dynasty, and Von Hammer, who wrote a monograph upon it, in two
volumes. They have also incorporated much material from other sources,
Eastern and European. I need not say that these three works have been
continually before me, as has also Major Raverty's edition of the " Tabakat-i-
Nasiri," the notes to which are so much disfigured by rancour and bitterness,
and so wanting in references. I have carefully used both the Syriac and Arabic
chronicles of Abulfaraj Bar Hebrsus, and the annals of Abulfeda, which are
accessible in translations. My friend Mr. Guy Lestrange has generously
placed at my disposal a MS. translation of the " Tarikeh Guzideh" of Ham-
dullah. In addition to these authorities, I have continually used the very
valuable " Georgian Chronicle " which has been published by Brosset since the
works of D'Ohsson and Von Hammer were written ; and have incorporated the
material preserved by the Armenian historians, especially the Chronicle of
Haithon, and those of Makaria, Guiragos, &c, only recently made accessible.
For the later story I have chiefly used Dorn's memoir on the Serbedarians,
Quatremere's paper on the Muzaffarians, the Chronicle of Herat, published in
the "Journal Asiatique," &c, &c. It will be seen that I have made con
siderable use of coins in fixing chronology, &c, and have searched the writings
of Fnehn, Dorn, Tiesenhausen, and Stanley Poole. The last of these, a close
friend of mine, has also supplied me with notes from his own examination of
the Russian collections. Another generous friend of mine, Dr. Rieu,has continued
his kind services. To him I owe the notices of the later history of Great and
Little Luristan, of Hosn Kaifa and of Mardin, and other help. I hope I have
duly acknowledged all particular obligations whenever I have used an authority.
I must ask my readers, before they pass judgment upon any statement in
this volume, as in the previous ones, to see that it is not corrected or modified
in the too long list of notes and errata. The fact is, my scanty means, upon
which this publication is a heavy burden, will not allow of repeated corrections
of proofs. The consequence is that, between my indifferent sight and writing
and the human frailty of my friend the printer, the list of errata has grown
considerably. As previously, no doubt my critics will find fault with the
absence of an index ; for this I must ask them to wait until the conclusion of
the work is reached.
In again sending out a volume dealing with an unattractive and seldom
traversed field of human inquiry, I hope I may have eased some student's
burden, and done somewhat to build up, or at least to supply materials for, that
vast palace of history which it will take many generations of patient workers to
complete. Meanwhile, I will conclude with the words of a much greater man
than myself: " Nescio benevoli auditores, au vestram patientiam his nugis
fatigaverim, meam certe eas scribendo fatigavi."

CHAPTER I.
THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU.

WHEN Jingis Khan drew off his forces beyond the Oxus, he
left a terrible waste behind in Khorasan and Afghanistan.
His campaign south of that river had been one of revenge
against the Khuarezm Shah rather than one of conquest. He had chased
him with the pertinacity of a blood-hound, till he brought him down and
had driven one of his sons into the recesses of India and the other into
those of Southern Persia, but he does not seem to have treated the
intervening country as a permanent addition to his Empire. Khorasan
and the country east of it, as far as the Indus, was virtually reduced
to a wilderness, and as we shall see, was shortly after, at least
nominally, re-occupied by the Khuarezmians. The Mongol possessions
towards Persia, on the withdrawal of Jingis, may be roughly drawn
at the southern limits of the modern Khanates of Bukhara and Khiva.
South of this, the land was reduced to desolation.
Well might the Mussulman and Christian world shrink down upon its
knees in the presence of such a terrible visitation. " We pray to God,"
says Ibn al Athir, " that he will send to Islam and to the Mussulmans
some one who can protect them, for they are the victims of the most
terrible calamity, the men killed, their goods pillaged, their children
carried off, their wives reduced to slavery or put to death, the country, in
fact, laid waste."* Juveni says that in the country traversed by the
Mongols, only a thousandth part of the population remained, and where
there were previously 100,000 inhabitants there remained but a hundred.
" If nothing interferes with the growth of population in Khorasan and
Irak Ajem from now to the day of resurrection," he adds, " it will not be
one tenth of what it was before the conquest."! Pachymeres also reports
how the terror of the Mongol arms reached the Court of Byzantium,
where the Emperor John Ducas put his fortresses in order, and where
popular rumour painted the invaders as having dogs' heads, and eating
human flesh.:):
In order to understand the subsequent movements of the Mongols in
Persia, we must enter in some detail into the history of the sons of the
Khuarezm Shah Muhammed. Of these, Rokn ud din had been killed by
* D'Ohsson, i. 350. Note. t Id., 351. Note X Stritter, iii. 1028.
A

2 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the Mongols in the fortress of Sutun-avend. Jelal ud din was a fugitive
in India, while Ghiath ud din had taken refuge in the strong fortress of
Kharendar, in Mazanderan. After the retreat of the Mongols, Irak
again became the scene of a' struggle between two Turks, the Atabeg Togan
Tayissi* and Edek Khan, who divided the province, the latter taking
Ispahan. Edek was speedily defeated and killed by Togan, whereupon
Ghiath ud din, who repaired to Ispahan, gave him his sister in marriage
and received his submission. In a short time he found himself master of
Irak, Khorasan, and Mazanderan.t
Meanwhile, Jelal ud din, when he heard of the retreat of Jingis, having
received an invitation from some officers in Irak, who were discontented
with Ghiath ud din, determined to return to his paternal dominions. Leaving
his General Uzbeg in charge of his conquests in India and Hasan Karak,
styled Vefa Malik of the countries of Ghur and Ghazni, he traversed
Makran, leaving a portion of his followers in its unhealthy climate, and with
but 4,000 men arrived in Kerman, where Shuja ud din Abul Kasim, who
nominally commanded there on behalf of Ghiath ud din, was having a
struggle with a rebel named Borak, styled the Hajib or Chamberlain. Borak
was a native of Kara Khitai, and a near relative, probably the brother of Jai
Timur i Baniko or Taniko, the son of Kalduz, who commanded the forces
of the Gurkhan of Kara Khitai, and was defeated and made prisoner in
1 2 10 A.D., by Muhammed Khuarezm Shah. Borak and his brother,
Husam ud din Hamid-i-Bur, had been previously sent by the Gurkhan
to Khuarezm during the reign of Sultan Takish to collect tribute. They
had settled there, become Muhammedans, and Borak himself rose in the
Sultan's service to the position of a Hajib or Chamberlain.} After the
retreat of the Mongols, Borak had joined Ghiath ud din, and, according
to D'Ohsson, had been appointed Governor of Ispahan. With him
Ghiath ud din marched into Fars, where he defeated the Atabeg Said, and
committed great ravages and afterwards withdrew. This was in 620 hej.
He seems now to have quarrelled with Borak, who left him and set out
intending to go to India to the Sultan Shams ud din Altamsh, who, like
himself, was a native of Kara Khitai. D'Ohsson says he quarrelled with
Ghiath ud din, and asked permission to go and join Jelal ud din Khuarezm
Shah in India. As he traversed Kerman he was attacked, near Giruft, by
Abul Kasim, who held Kuwashir, otherwise called Kerman, the capital of
that province, on behalf of Ghiath ud din.
Borak defeated and slew his assailant, who was captured and put to
death, and he was about lo attack Kuwashir, whose citadel still held out
under Abul Kasim's son Shuja ud din, when he heard of the arrival
of Jelal ud din, to whom he offered presents and the hand of his
* Tayi, says D'Ohsson, means maternal uncle in Turkish, and Tayissi means the uncle. Togan
was Ghiath ud din's maternal uncle. (D Ohsson, iii. 13. Note.)
t D'Ohsson, iii. 2-3. \ Tabakat-i-Nasin, 283, 1118. Notes.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 3
daughter. Kuwashir opened its gates to the Sultan, who appointed
Borak his deputy in Kerman. Borak presently began to show signs
of treachery ; but, being advised that it would not be prudent to punish
the first chief who had submitted to him, Jelal ud din determined to move
on to Fars, and confirmed Borak in his authority as Governor of Kerman,
which he seems to have held as a dependent of Jelal ud din till the latter's
death, and then on his own behalf. His descendants ruled for 86 years,
the dynasty being known as that of the Kara Khitaians of Kerman*
At this time the Atabeg Abubekr Said, son of Zengui, ruled at Fars.
He was descended from a Turk named Salgar, whence the dynasty was
known as that of the Salgarids. Said sent his son with 500 horsemen to
welcome Jelal ud din to Shiraz, but he excused himself from going in
person, on the ground that he had made a vow never to present himself
there. He was, in fact, much irritated against the Khuarezmians, on account
of the raid Ghiath ud din had recently made; but he sent his son,
Salghur Shah, with 500 horsemen to do the Sultan honour. With him
he sent splendid presents, among which Habashi, Hindi, and Turkish
slaves are especially mentioned. Said was given the title of Farzandkhan,
and confirmed in his authority. Jelal ud din also cemented this friendship
by marrying his daughter.
Thus did he prudently make his harem a bond of union between himself
and his greater dependents. He also took Said's son with him. Quitting
Shiraz, Jelal ud din marched on towards Irak to oust his brother. The
latter, a feeble and voluptuous prince, was incapable of repressing the
anarchy which had followed the invasion of Jingis. Each district had its
petty tyrant, who had the khutbeh said in the name of Ghiath ud din,
but paid him no tribute. While he, having no money to pay his Turkish
mercenaries with, was constrained to let them plunder. Their officers
when discontented were rewarded with higher titles — an Amir became a
Malik and a Malik a Khan.t On his way, Jelal ud din was joined by the
Atabeg Ala ud daulah, who had ruled over Yezd for 60 years, and was
a lineal descendant of the last of the Dilem rulers of the Buwiah dynasty.}
Jelal ud din having reached Ispahan, advanced upon Rai, where Ghiath
ud din was collecting his forces. The former had given his men white
standards, like those of the Mongols. The latter had mustered a force
of 30,000 cavalry, with which he, however, withdrew. Jelal ud din sent
his brother a friendly message, to say he had merely come to visit
him, but seeing he was hostile to him he proposed to retire again. Taken
in by this message, Ghiath ud din returned to Rai and disbanded his
troops. Meanwhile, Jelal ud din had corrupted his generals and sent
them rings as pledges of his goodwill. News of this having reached his
brother, he had his agent arrested, but Jelal ud din, who felt sure the
* D'Ohsson, iii. 5-6. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 283, 295. t D'Ohsson.iii. 7-8.
t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 296. Note.

4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
troops were with him, marched on, although with but 3,000 men. His
brother fled, but presently went to his camp and offered his submission.
Jelal ud din was now generally recognised, and the various petty chiefs
of Khorasan, Mazanderan, and Irak deemed it prudent to offer their
allegiance, and were treated with generosity. He then marched to punish
the Khalif Nasir, who had been most unfriendly towards his father, and
was accused of having invited the Mongols to invade his dominions. He
ravaged Khuzistan, laid siege to its chief town, Shuster, and advanced as
far as Ya'kuba, or Bakuba, seven parasangs from Baghdad. The army
of the Khalif, commanded by Kush Timur, consisted of 20,000 men. A
battle ensued, in which, although his troops were much weaker, Jelal ud din
planted an ambuscade, and the result was that Kush Timur was defeated
and killed. This defeat was followed by the capture of Dakuka, and
of the Prince of Erbil, who had marched to the assistance of his suzerain,
the Khalif* This is Mirkhond's story ; Ibn al Athir says nothing of his
capture, but tells us he made peace with Jelal ud din.t
Jelal ud din, for some reason, now abandoned his enterprise against
Baghdad, and turned towards Azerbaijan, then subject to the Atabeg
Uzbeg. Having reached Meragha, he proposed to rebuild it, but set out
again to encounter Togan Tayissi, already named, who was maternal
uncle to Ghiath ud din, and who, having been invested with the districts
around Hamadan by the Khalif, had made a profitable raid upon Arran
and Azerbaijan, and had a great collection of cattle, &c, the result of his
foray around his camp. Jelal ud din made a night march, and at dawn
Togan, who had married his sister, disconcerted by the unexpected
appearance of the Imperial umbrella, which marked his presence
and that of his troops, deemed it best to submit, and returned with
him to Meragha. Meanwhile, Uzbeg Ibn Alpehluvan, the Prince of
Azerbaijan, who, as we have seen, had been very accommodating to
the Mongols, left Tebriz and went towards Gandza, or Kantzag, the
capital of Arran, leaving his wife, a Seljuki princess, in charge of his
capital. Jelal ud din attacked it. In five days the citizens surrendered.
The Sultan reproached them for having put to death the Khuarezmian
fugitives the year before, when they sent their heads to the Mongols.
They laid the blame on Uzbeg. Having occupied Tebriz, he made over
the town of Khoi and some other possessions in Azerbaijan to Uzbeg's
wife, and then set out for Georgia.}
When the Mongols invaded the steppes north of the Caucasus, the
Kipchaks who lived there dispersed. One section of them retired through
Derbend, and lived for awhile in the country of the Shirvan Shah, much
to the discomfort of the latter.§ They eventually took possession of
Derbend, and then marched to Kabala, a town of Georgia, situated on
* D'Ohsson, iii. 11-12. t Weil, iii. 390. Note 3. t D'Ohsson, iii. 14-15.
§ Ibn al Athir, Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., xiv. 463-466.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. c
the left bank of the Kur, near Berdaa. Its chief made overtures to
them to join him in conquering the neighbouring districts. They there
upon refrained from molesting his people for a few days, when their
predatory instincts overcame them, and having plundered after their
wont, they passed on to Arran, and settled near Kantzag. Kushkareh,
a freed slave of Uzbeg, Prince of Azerbaijan and Arran, who then ruled
there, treated them well by order of his master, and they were
assigned a camping ground on the mountain of Kielgun {i.e., " like a
navel"). The Georgians, who were then at constant feud with the
Mussulmans, and doubtless feared the proximity of such marauders,
attacked them, but were defeated with terrible losses*
The following year (1224) they were amply revenged, however. The
Kipchaks were defeated and dispersed. Many of them were waylaid by
the inhabitants of the country, the Georgians and the Lesghs joining in
the work, so that Kipchak -slaves were sold at Derbend for very small
prices.f The Georgians, apparently animated by this success, invaded
Arran, and attacked the town of Bailekan, whose inhabitants were busy
restoring it after its devastation by the Mongols. Having captured it,
they slaughtered the inhabitants, and behaved even worse than the
Mongols.} The Georgians now attacked Surmari, a dependency of
Ashraf, Prince of Khelat, where they suffered severely. In 1225 they
advanced against Kantzag, but were obliged to raise the siege after a
short time. They were not more fortunate in a campaign against
Shirvan, whose ruler had appealed to them to assist him against his
revolted son. They were defeated here, as they also were in a raid they
made upon Azerbaijan^ At this time they seem to have been a scourge
in fact to their Mussulman neighbours all round. They were preparing a
fresh expedition to revenge their recent defeat in Azerbaijan, when Jelal
ud din arrived at Meragha, as we have mentioned. They thereupon
made overtures to Uzbeg for a common alliance against the Khuarezm
Shah. || The latter was burning to revenge the wrongs suffered by the
Mussulmans. He sent a messenger to declare war against the Georgians,
and they bravely replied that the Tartars who had destroyed his father
had been forced to withdraw before them. They mustered a force of
70,000 men. Having captured Tovin, he sacked the country round.
The Constable Ivaneh informed his mistress, Queen Rusudan, of his
approach, and was ordered to go and meet the enemy. Jelal ud din
encamped his army at Kami, or Garhni, one of the most ancient towns of
Armenia, situated in the district of Kegh'arkunik and the province of
Siunik.1T The two brave brothers, Ivaneh and Shalwa of Akhai Tzikhe-, were
put in the advance guard. The Constable was apparently jealous
* Id., 468. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 201-202. t Ibn al Athir, Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., xiv. 468-470.
\ Id., 472. $ Id., 472-481. || Id., 481. % Vartan, Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xv. 280,

6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
of these two chiefs, and refused to march the main army to help
them when hard pressed. The Georgians were accordingly defeated.
Shalwa was captured and treated well for some time by the Sultan, but
was put to death a few months later for refusing to apostatize. Nissavi
says for carrying on treasonable correspondence with the Abkhazians.
His brother was killed in the fight by a stone rolling down upon him.*
Another account says that Shalwa had smeared his face with blood, and
lay down among the corpses to escape detection, when he was captured.
The Georgians are said to have lost 20,000 out of their army of 70,000.!
Vartan accounts for the defeat of Ivaneh as a punishment for a gross act
of sacrilege which he had committed in disinterring and burning the
remains of a saint named Parcecht, and immolating a dog on his tomb in
derision of the crowd of pilgrims who had gone there attracted by the
saint's relics. Ivaneh was attached to the Georgian Church, which was in
union with that of Constantinople, and had a strong antipathy to the
Armenians, who were tainted with the Eutychian heresy, and were not
deemed orthodox.} After his defeat Ivaneh retired to the fort of
Kheghi (the Georgian Chronicle says to Bejni). The Khuarezmians
now overran Georgia as far as the frontier of the Abkhazians, and
would have marched to Tiflis, but Jelal ud din was recalled to Tebriz
by an impending revolt in favour of Uzbeg. § Leaving his army in
Georgia, under his brother, Ghiath ud din (Ibn al Athir says Tiflis
was left in charge of Ak Sonkor, a mamluk of Uzbeg), he went there, put
to death the reis or mayor of the town, and arrested the conspirators.
Having married Malika, the wife of Uzbeg, who was divorced from the
latter by a legal fiction, he captured Kantzak, the capital of Arran (whence
Uzbeg fled to Alenjik, near Nakhchivan), after which he returned to
Georgia. || Uzbeg shortly after died.1T The Georgians, after their
defeat, had mustered a force, comprising Alans, Lesghs, Kipchaks, &c,
which was speedily crushed, and the district of Somkheth was devastated.
Jelal ud din then marched upon Tiflis, whence Rusudan had retired
to Kuthathis, leaving a garrison in the place in charge of two chiefs,
named Memna and Botzo. Some Persians, who guarded one of the
gates of the city, proved treacherous, and opened a way for his men.
The citizens were mercilessly slaughtered, except those who would accept
Islam. The men were circumcised in large numbers, and the women
ravished. The Georgian Chronicle gives some ghastly details, and
compares the catastrophe to the capture of Jerusalem by Titus. The
churches were ruined, and the sacred images torn down. This was a
terrible blow to the cause of Christianity north of the Caucasus, of which
the Georgians were a famous bulwark, and Ibn al Athir speaks of the
event with corresponding elation.
« Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, i. 497-500. t Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., xiv. 482-483.
I Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 280-281. § Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, 308. || D'Ohsson, iii. 17.
H Brosset, Add., 312.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 7"
The Georgian Chronicle describes how Jelal ud din proceeded to ravage
the surrounding districts, Somkheth, Kambejian, the banks of the Yor,
Karthli, Trialeth, Javakheth, Artan, Samtzkhe, Tao, Carniphora (KarsX
and Ani* The wretched Georgians were pursued into the country of the
Abkhazians, into which numerous raids were made, and Georgian slaves
were sold for two or three gold pieces each.t
The Ayubit prince Ashraf, lord of Harran and Roha, was brother to
Moazzam, Sultan of Damascus, and Khamil, Sultan of Egypt, all three
being nephews of the great Saladin. Moazzam had a very high opinion
of Jelal ud din, and used to wear a robe and to ride a horse which he sent
him, and used also to swear at his banquets by the head of Jelal ud din.
Being at issue with his brothers, he sent to urge the Khuarezmian prince
to attack Khelat, also called Akhlat (situated on the northern shores of
Lake Van), which was subject to Ashraf.} This was a sufficient
temptation, and the Sultan accordingly marched thither, but hardly had
he begun the siege when he raised it, on hearing that Borak was
meditating revolt in Kerman, and had informed the Mongols of his
(Jelal's) increasing power. He thereupon marched against him,
reaching Kerman on the eighteenth day from leaving Tiflis, only 300
horsemen having kept up with him. Borak retired to a strong fortress,
and sent envoys with his submission to Ispahan. These Jelal received
affably, and confirmed him in his government^ Meanwhile, some of
Jelal ud din's troops having made a foraging expedition towards Erzerum,
were attacked on their return by the people of Khelat, who secured the
booty they were carrying off.
Nissavi tells us that during the Sultan's absence, Sherif ul Mulk, his
Vizier, remained in charge of Tiflis, and devastated the country by nume
rous raids. He was prodigal in the largess he distributed, but was not
favourably looked upon by the generals of Jelal ud din (who are referred to
as " the Khans " by our author), except Ur Khan. News having arrived
that the Vizier was being pressed, at Tiflis, by the Georgians, the latter
went to his assistance with 5,000 men, but the tidings proved to be false.
Presently the Sultan returned in person, and the prodigal Vizier gave
4,000 gold pieces to the messenger who brought the news, and a fresh
devastation of Georgia was the consequence.(| Jelal ud din now marched
to attack Ani, where the Constable Ivaneh had sought refuge with the
ddbris of his army. He invested it, as well as Kars, but found them too
strong, and again returned to Tiflis, whence, by way of a ruse, to persuade
the people of Khelat that he was a long way off, he made a ten days' raid
into Abkhazia, and then speedily advanced upon Khelat, which he would
have captured but for some traitors in his camp, who duly informed its
governor. He arrived there on the 5th of November, 1226, and attacked
* Op. cit., i. 507. t Ibn al Athir, Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., xiv. 494-495. Brosset, Add., 313.
I Novairi, in D'Ohsson, iii. 18. $ D'Ohsson, iii., 18-19. || Brosset, Add., 315-316.

8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
it vigorously ; but the citizens, knowing what they might expect at the
hands of the Khuarezmians, resisted bravely. Meanwhile Ashraf went
to Damascus, and persuaded his brother Moazzam to ask Jelal ud din
to withdraw. This he did not do, however, until compelled by the
severity of the weather, and by a raid which some Turkomans, called
Ivanians, had made into Azerbaijan. He thereupon hastily left, cut off
the retreat of the freebooters, put them to the sword, captured their wives
and the booty they had made, and then returned to Tebriz. This was in
December, 1226.*
Jelal ud din now went again to superintend the siege of Khelat (called
Akhlat by Nissavi). In the autumn, Sherif ul Mulk went with his troops
into winter quarters at Kantzak. Presently, profiting by the absence of
the Sultan and the weakness of the garrison, the Georgians at Kars,
Ani, &c, assembled a force, with which they attacked the capital. It
was abandoned by Kar Mulk, who was then in charge. Knowing that
they were not strong enough to hold it, they set fire to the town.f
Jelal ud din now invaded the territory of the Ismaelites or Assassins,
to punish them for having killed one of his officers who had been given
the fief of Kantzag. He next attacked a body of Mongols which had
traversed the desolated districts of Khorasan and appeared at Dameghan.
This, we are told, he pursued for several days. It was doubtless a small
reconnoitring body merely.
Jelal ud din's temper, and the asperity of his troops, having caused
discontent, which was fanned by the intrigues of his wife, recently
the wife of Uzbeg, who regretted her new position, induced Hussam ud
din Ali, who commanded at Khelat for Ashraf, to enter Azerbaijan, where
he captured the towns of Khoi, Merend, and Nakhchivan, with other
fortresses, while he carried off the discontented lady with him to Khelat.}
Jelal ud din had to postpone his revenge, on account of the approach of a
more dangerous body of Mongols.
It would seem that it was an army sent by the Mongol Governor of
Transoxiana, or of Khuarezm. Rashid ud din says the invaders marched
with five divisions, under the Generals Taji, Baku, Assatogan, Taimaz, and
Tainal, and drove before them a detachment of 4,000 men, whom Jelal
ud'din had posted towards Rai and Dameghan. He himself made his
head quarters at Ispahan, which was approached by the Mongols. He
was very self-possessed, and when his generals reported the enemy's
approach, created much confidence by his sangfroid. Having pressed
his officers to prove themselves men, he had the armed citizens mustered
by the kadhi and reis of the town. The Mongols detached 2,000 horsemen
to the mountains of Lur for foraging purposes. They were waylaid in this
difficult country, and 400 of them captured. Jelal ud din handed a portion

1 D'Ohsson, iii, 20-22,

t Nissavi, in Hist, de la G^orgie, Add.. &c, 316
I D Ohsson, iii. 22-23.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. g
of them to the rabble of Ispahan, who killed them, while others he slew
with his own hand in the palace court. Their bodies were left to the
vultures and dogs* The astrologers having fixed the 26th of August,
1227, as a fortunate day for the fight, Jelal ud din ranged his men
in order of battle, when he was treacherously abandoned by his brother
Ghiath ud din, and by the General Jihan Pehluvan Ilchi {i.e., by
the Uzbeg already named, as left by him in command of the troops
when he left India), with their troops. He nevertheless determined
to fight. The battle was fought in the evening. His right wing,
under Otuz or Uz Khan, drove back the left of the enemy as far
as Kashan. Jelal ud din was reposing on his laurels, when he was
urged to pursue his enemies by one of his officers. Advancing confi
dently, his left and centre were attacked by a body of Mongols placed in
ambush in a ravine, a favourite stratagem of theirs. His officers died at
their posts like men, and he himself fought desperately, and with his own
hand slew his standard-bearer who was attempting to fly ; but it was of no
avail— there was a general flight. Some went towards Fars, others to
Kerman, others again to Azerbaijan^ while those who had lost their
horses remained at Ispahan. The successful division, which had
advanced towards Kashan, having turned and learnt what had taken
place, also disbanded. The Mongols had suffered too severely, however,
to renew the fight, and withdrew by way of Rai and Nishapur. They lost
a great many men in the retreat, and recrossed the Oxus much weakened.}
For eight days Jelal ud din lay perdu, and it was proposed at Ispahan to
elect a fresh ruler, and to plunder the harem and goods of the Khua
rezmians. The Kadhi persuaded the citizens to wait till the feast of
Bairam, when at the hour of prayer, if the Sultan had not returned, he
proposed they should put the Atabeg Togan on the throne. Jelal ud din,
who had fled to Luristan (according to Ibn al Athir to Khuzistan,
whence, not being well received by the Khalif s deputy, he went to the
Ismaelites), returned on the day of the feast, and was received with
great joy. He delayed a few days at Ispahan, to await the return of the
fugitives, and rewarded his generals of the right wing, conferring the title
of Khan on those who were merely Maliks. Those who had misbehaved
were promenaded through the town with women's veils about their heads.
Meanwhile, Ghiath ud din had retired to Khuzistan, where he sought an
alliance with the Khalif. The ill-will between the two brothers had come
to a head a few days before the recent battle. Muhammed, son of Kharmil,
of an illustrious family, and a favourite of Jelal ud din, had taken into his
service some troops who had detached themselves from Ghiath ud din,
on account of arrears of pay. The latter, annoyed at this, had, after an
altercation at abanquet given by hisbrother,runa poignard into Muhammed.
* D'Ohsson, iii. 24-25. t Id., 26. \ Id., 27.

IO HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Jelal ud din, who was naturally enraged, declared that he no longer
felt any obligations towards him, and should not protect him if the
relatives of the murdered man claimed the blood-penalty, while he ordered
the latter's funeral cortlge to pass twice in front of the door of his assassin.*
Ghiath ud din, as I have said, sent to the Khalif, offering to serve him
faithfully, and asking for his aid. His envoy was well received and given
a subsidy of 30,000 dinars.
Meanwhile, Jelal ud din, having sent a body of troops in pursuit of the
Mongols as far as the Oxus, repaired to Tebriz. He was playing at his
. favourite game of polo in the great square of the town, when he heard
that his brother was marching against Ispahan. He threw down his
mallet and hastened to the rescue. Learning en route that Ghiath ud din
had retired to the fortress of Alamut, in the country of the Assassins, he
demanded his surrender from the famous chief of the Ismaelites. The
latter replied that Ghiath ud din was a Sultan, and the son of a Sultan,
and he could not think of surrendering him. He would, however, gua
rantee his good behaviour, and he gave Jelal ud din leave to ravage his
territory if his guest behaved badly while he harboured him. Jelal ud din
professed to be satisfied, and was ready to overlook the past, but Ghiath
ud din was apparently not reassured, and preferred to retire to Kerman.
There the ambitious Borak insisted upon marrying his mother, who
accompanied him. She refused for a long time, but as he was all-
powerful she had to give way. Presently, two of Ghiath ud din's
dependents having plotted to kill Borak, the latter heard of it and had
them cut in pieces before his eyes. Ghiath ud din himself was then
strangled with a bowstring, and his mother suffered the same fate, while
the 500 companions who had gone with him were also put to death. +
Thus perished another son of the Khuarezm Shah Muhammed. Borak
sent the head of the murdered prince to Ogotai Khan as a peace-offering,
which secured the friendship of the Mongols, who confirmed him in the
possession of Kerman.}
The Kankalis and Kipchaks were closely connected with the Khuarezm
Shahs, who intermarried frequently with their chiefs, whence the perti
nacity of Jingis Khan in attacking them. Jelal ud din, after his defeat at
Ispahan, had sent to ask assistance from them. They assented ; and we
are told that Kurkhan, one of their leaders, embarked on the Caspian
with 300 picked men, and went to join him at Mughan, where he
passed the winter. It was arranged that Jelal ud din should secure the
Pass of Derbend in the Eastern Caucasus, by which alone a substantial
force could reach him from Desht Kipchak. A body of 50,000
Kipchak families marched to aid in its capture, while the Sultan tried
to negotiate with the young prince who ruled at Derbend, and with his

¦¦ D'Ohsson, iii. 30. t Id., 33. J Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 284 Note,

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. n
Atabeg, Al Asad {i.e., the lion), for the surrender of the place in lieu of
certain fiefs, &c, but the plan failed* We now read of Jelal ud din
securing the district of Gushtasfi, situated between the Araxes and the
Kur. This belonged to the Shirvan Shah, and was made over to the
latter's son, Jelal ud din Sultan Shah, whose father had sent him apparently
under constraint into Georgia, with the intention that he should marry
the daughter of the famous Queen Rusudan. When the Khuarezm Shah
overran Georgia he was released.! Jelal ud din claimed tribute
from the Shirvan Shah, as the successor of the Seljuki' who, when master
of Arran, had exacted tribute from him.}
Having spent some time at Mughan, Jelal ud din sent an army under
Ilek Khan, which captured Lord, in the district of Tashir, the principal
town of the Orpelians, and then advanced along the Lake of Erivan.
The Georgians fell on him at night and defeated him, whereupon the
Sultan withdrew his army.§ Meanwhile, the Georgian Queen Rusudan
and her Constable Ivaneh bad assembled a force of 40,000 men, consist
ing of Georgians, Armenians, Alans, Serirs, Lesghs, Kipchaks, Suans,
Abkhazes, and Janits (the Jiks of the Georgian Chronicle). Jelal ud
din, although his army was very inferior in numbers, marched
against them, and pitched his camp at Mendur. His Vizier, Sherif
ul Mulk, counselled a delay, but received a blow on the head with
a writing-case for his pains, and was told that a lion should not
fear a flock of sheep like that. He was also mulcted in a fine of
50,000 dinars. When the two armies drew near together, the Sultan
made overtures to the Kipchaks, who to the number of 20,000 were
in the right wing of the opposite army, and recalled the services he had
done their people, whereupon they drew off. He then proposed to the
Georgians that they should enter into a truce, and that each side should
send a champion and let them fight in view of both armies. He himself
went out to encounter the Georgian hero, and pierced him through with
his lance. He also killed three of his sons, as well as a fifth champion, a
man of gigantic size, after which he gave the signal for the struggle, and
notwithstanding the treaty, charged the Georgians, who were defeated. ||
The Georgian Chronicle, in describing these events, says that when
Rusudan heard of Jelal ud din's approach, she summoned all the
troops from both sides of Mount Likh. Shahanshah, the chief of the
Mandators ; the Generalissimo Avak (son of Ivaneh) ; Varam-Gagel, chief
of the Makhurs ; those of Hereth, Kakheth, Somkheth, Jawaketh,
Meskhia and Tao, the Dadian Tzotne, the Abkhazians, and the Jiks.
She opened the Gates of Dariel, and summoned the Osses, the Durdzuks,
and all the mountaineers. Having gathered them together at Najarmagef,

* Journ. Asiat., 4th Ser., xiv. 505-507. t W-, 507-509. } Id., 509-510,
$ Id., 510. |l D'Ohsson, iii., 34-35.

12 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
they traversed Tiflis, and encountered the invaders in the Valley of Bol'nis.
The Georgians were defeated and fled, and Jelal ud din re-entered Tiflis,
and re-enacted the massacres and ravage of his previous visit.*
He now proceeded to waste the territory of Vahram, the Armenian
Prince of Shamkor (a town situated in the Province of Udia, west of the
Kur), the Varam-Gagel of the Georgian Chronicle, who had recently plun
dered the environs of Kantzag, close by. The Sultan captured Sdkan, or
Sagam, and Ali Abad. He then besieged Kak (Gaga) and another fort,
which were constrained to sue for peace, and to pay a ransom. Sending
his baggage through Kakezvan, or Gaghzvan, a town situated in the district
of Gapdghean, north of the Araxes, he himself went by way of Nakhchivan,
and again defeated the Georgians near Pdchni, or Bejni, and having
delayed for a few days to arrange the affairs of Khorasan and Irak, went
on to renew the siege of Khelat.f This he pressed during the winter of
1228, during which he received a visit from the Seljuk Prince of Erzerum,
Rokn ud din, Jihan Shah, who presented him with 10,000 dinars, and a more
valuable gift in the shape of a great catapult and some shields and weapons.
The Princes of Amid and Mardin also submitted, and consented to have the
khutbeh said in his name. The Khalif Nasir had died in 1225, soon after
the defeat of his General Kush Timur, and was succeeded by his son
Zahir, who in nine months gave place to his son Mostansir. The latter
sent an envoy, requesting that the Sultan would not exercise any rights of
suzerainty over the Princes of Mosul, Erbil, Abuyeh, and Jebal, who were
his feudatories, and that he would re-insert the Khalif s name in the public
prayers in Persia, whence it had been excluded by his father Muhammed.
Jelal ud din consented willingly to these requests, and sent an envoy in
turn to the Khalif, who soon returned with some officials bearing the robe
of investiture of Persia for Jelal, together with some rich presents. The
Khalif styled him Khakan, and also Shahin Shah, but would not consent
to give him the title of Sultan. Thenceforward he called himself servant
of the Khalif in his letters, and styled the latter his lord and master.}
He now ordered a splendid tomb to be prepared for his father's remains
at Ispahan, and pending its building, had them removed to Erdehan, near
Demavend, and ordered his aunt, with a grand cortege, to escort them
from their resting-place in the island of the Caspian, where he had died.
Muhammed of Nissa, the biographer of Jelal who wrote her the order, did
it unwillingly. He was afraid the Mongols might return, and desecrate the
tomb, for, deeming the graves of all kings they met with connected with
the Khuarezm Shahs, they treated them accordingly. Thus they tore
Mahmud, the great Ghaznevid chief, who had been dead for more than
two centuries, from his sepulchre. Muhammed's fears proved to be
justified, for eventually the Mongols captured Erdehan, and the ashes
* Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, i. 510.
t Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., xiv. 510-511. } D'Ohsson, op. cit., 35-37.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 13
of the greatKhuarezm Shah were sent to the Khakan in Mongolia, who
had them burnt.
At this time, Jelal ud din had a correspondence with the Seljuk ruler of
Rum, Alai ud din Kai Kobad, and the latter asked that his son Kai Khosru
might marry his daughter, and thus unite more closely the buttresses of
Islam, in the east and west ; and that Jelal would surrender to him his
cousin and vassal, the Prince of Erzerum, who had behaved badly to him.
Jelal ud din refused either to give his daughter to the Seljuk chief, or to
surrender his guest ; while his Vizier, Sherif ul Mulk, who was annoyed
at the paucity of their master's presents, treated the envoys with marked
incivility, and boasted that if the Sultan would permit him, he would
enter their country with his own troops only, and conquer it. When they
returned home, Kai Kobad, disgusted with this treatment, resolved to
ally himself with his rival Ashraf.*
Meanwhile, Jelal ud din continued his feud with the latter prince, and
especially pressed the attack against Khelat. The siege continued for a
long time, and at length, after an obstinate resistance, the town fell, on
the 2nd April, 1230,! one of its Amirs having surrendered it by treachery.
Contrary to the wishes of the Sultan, and under pressure from his generals,
the place was given up to be sacked for three days, and a great number
of the inhabitants perished. The garrison had suffered severely, and the
fare of the besieged citizens had gradually deteriorated. Ibn al Athir
thus enumerates the descending scale : Sheep, cows, buffaloes, horses,
asses, mules, dogs, cats, and even mice ; and he goes on to declare that
God, the Most High, to punish Jelal ud din for his conduct at Khelat, did
not permit him to survive its capture long.} Abulfaraj says a Damascus
pound of bread cost an Egyptian gold piece. Thamtha, daughter of the
Constable Ivaneh, the Georgian wife of Ashraf, who was living at Khelat,
was captured there, and was married by the conqueror, who also took
prisoners Yakub and Abbas, two young brothers of Ashraf. He distributed
the lands of the district of Khelat among his generals. § Ashraf was the
brother of the Sultan of Egypt, who had appointed him to the Principality
of Damascus, and received in exchange Harran, Roha, Suruj, Reesain,
Rakka, and Jemelein. On the capture of Khelat, he accepted the over
tures of the Seljuk Sultan of Rum, and also demanded help from the
Princes of Aleppo, Mosul, and Mesopotamia. Kai Kobad joined him at
Sivas* and together they marched towards Khelat. On his side, Jelal ud
din sent out Chaushes and Pehluvans to summon his own dependents,
and on the advice of the Prince of Erzerum, marched to meet the ad
vancing enemy to Khartpert, hoping to attack each army separately ; but he
fell dangerously ill there, and his enemies succeeded accordingly in uniting.
Kai Kobad had 20,000 horsemen, and Ashraf 5,000 picked men. He, on
* D'Ohsson, iii. 39-40. t Brosset puts it a year earlier. Hist, de la Georgie, i. 513, Note 1.
J Joum. Asiat., 4th ser. xiv., 500-501. § D'Ohsson, iii. 41-42.

14 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the other hand, had not recalled the contingents from Arran, Azerbaijan,
Irak, and Mazanderan, whom he had dismissed to their homes: while one
division of his army was delayed at Manazguerd under his Vizier, and a
second body was besieging Berkeri. Nevertheless he resolved upon a
fight, and met his opponents at Erzenjan. He was very badly beaten,
and lost most of his men. Among the prisoners was the Prince of
Erzerum, who had promised to hand over to Jelal ud din a portion of the
territory of his cousin Kai Kobad, and instead, lost his capital, his fortresses,
and treasures. The Khuarezmian officers captured were put to death,
while the fugitives fled to the mountains of Trebizond and to Georgia.
Alai ud din was received with an ovation by his people, Christians and
Mussulmans alike. Jelal ud din fled to Manazguerd, and drawing off the
troops who were laying siege to it, retired upon Khelat, where he pillaged
what could be carried off, and burnt the rest. He also took with him
Ashrafs brothers and his Georgian wife, and departed for Azerbaijan,
leaving his Vizier at Sekman Abad, to watch the enemy. He at length
halted near the town of Khoi, and found himself deserted by his generals.
Meanwhile, however, the two allies, who apparently deemed him their
best bulwark against the Mongols, did not press their advantage. Ashraf,
in fact, made overtures for peace, which were at first rudely spurned, and
Jelal for some time also refused to entertain a friendly disposition towards
Kai Kobad, whom he deemed a traitor to himself in having joined the
Prince of Syria, and only consented to do so in view of another formidable
Mongol invasion.*
On the death of Jingis Khan, and in the spring of 1229, Ogotai was
nominated his successor at a great kuriltai held on the banks of the
Kerulon, as I have described.! At this kuriltai, it was determined to
send two armies towards the west — one against Kipchak and Southern
Russia, whose doings I have chronicled,} the other against the family of the
Khuarezm Shah. The latter was commanded by the Noyan Churmagun,
or Charmaghan.§ Von Hammer says he was a Jelair, and Major Raverty
a Mangkut— I know not on what authority, for Rashid ud din distinctly
tells us, that like several other great Amirs, he was a Sunid. He had
belonged to Jingis Khan's body guard. ||
As he was nominated to such a responsible post, he was doubtless a
person of great reputation. The Armenian historian, Chamchean, gives
a list of the Mongol chiefs who accompanied him (I give it in his corrupt
orthography, which I have no means of correcting): "Benal Noyan and
Mular Noyan, Ghataghan, Chaghata, Tughata, Sonitha, Jola brother of
Charmaghun, Asutu, Bachu (Baichu), Tutu, Khuththu, Asar or Asian,
* D'Ohsson, iii. 46-47. Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 307. f Ante, i. 116.
I Ante, i. 137-155. ii. 38, &c.
§ He is called Charman, Charma, Chorma, Chormakhan, and Charmaghan, by various
Armenian authors. Rashid ud dun always calls him Charmaghun. Abulfaraj, in his " Syriac
Chronicle, Sharmagun ; and in his Arabic one, Jurmaghun. St. Martin Memoires. ii. 272.
Note 31. || Erdmann, 178.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. I 5
Ogota,KholaorKhoga, Khurunji, Khunan, and GhatapughaorKarabugha."
Stephen Orpelian mentions Charman, Chagatai, Arslan, Asavur {i.e., Yassaur'l
and Ghadaghan.* The Georgian Chronicle mentions but four commanders,
Charmaghan, Chaghata, Yosur {i.e., Yassaur), and Bechui {i.e., Baichu),
each at the head of 10,000 men.} Others tell us the army was 30,000
strong, and comprised contingents from the various Mongol appanages.
Chin Timur, who governed Khuarezm for the family of Juchi {i.e., the
princes of the Golden Horde), was also ordered to join him with his troops.
The latter accompanied him to Khorasan, where he remained as governor,
with four colleagues representing the four branches of the family of Jingis,
namely, Kelilat, Keulbilat, or Kalbad, nominated by the Khakan, Nussal
by Batu, Kul Tuga by Jagatai or Chagatai, and Tunga by the widow and
children of Tului.} The author of the " Tabakat i Nasiri " says the force
under Charmaghan numbered 50,000 Mongols, together with those of other
races of Turkestan and captives of Khorasan, in all about 100,000 men.§
Charmaghan speedily traversed Khorasan, and advanced by Esferain
and Rai. The Georgian Chronicle says his men were much molested by
the Mulahids or Assassins. || Meanwhile Jelal ud din, under the impression
that the Mongols would winter in Irak, went from Khoi to Tebriz, but
withdrew on learning from one of his pickets that they had reached the
district between Zanjan and Ebher. Leaving his harem at Tebriz, he
thereupon repaired to the plain of Mughan, where he proposed to muster
his men, and awaiting their arrival he, with but a thousand fellowers, spent
his days in hunting and his evenings in dissipation. Meanwhile he sent
the governors of Khorasan and Mazanderan to watch the enemy, with
orders to plant post-horses at Erbil and Firuzabad. He was suddenly
attacked by a body of them, near the fort of Shirkebut, situated
on a height in the Mughan plain. He barely escaped, and fled
towards the Araxes, whence he turned towards Azerbaijan, and on
arriving at Mahan, which was well stocked with game, he sent his
prisoner, Yakub, to his brother Ashraf, to bid him march to the rescue.
Jelal ud din's Vizier, Sherif ul Mulk, who, as we have seen, had a grudge
against Ashraf, and was not faithful to his own master, being ordered to
send an envoy to accompany Yakub, gave him perverse instructions, at
issue with those of Jelal ud din. The Vizier had conveyed his master's
harem into Arran, and lodged it in the fortress of Sind-Surakh, and
deposited his treasures in several forts belonging to the chief of the
Turkomans of Arran. He then repaired to Khizan, where he raised the
standard of revolt, his grievance being that the Sultan had interfered with
his management of the revenue. When the latter was surprised at
Mughan he had written to the Sultan of Rum and the Prince of Syria,
offering, if they would make over Azerbaijan and Arran to him, to do
* St. Martin Memoires, ii. 123 and 272. Note 31.
t Brosset, Hist, de la Geor., i. 511. I D'Ohsson, ii. 103-104. § Op. cit., 1116. i Op. cit., 511.

l6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
homage for those provinces, and to have the khutbeh there said in their
names. In his letters he had referred to Jelal ud din as " the fallen tyrant."
He now endeavoured to tamper with the various Khuarezmian officers,
and to induce the Turkoman chief already named to keep a firm hold on
the harem and treasures in his care. Jelal ud din, convinced of his
treachery, issued orders that he was no longer to be obeyed. This is the
account given by Nissavi. Novairi reports that the Vizier's discontent
was due to the extreme prodigality and extravagance of his master, which
also alienated from him the goodwill of some of his generals.* Having
passed the winter of 123 1 in the plain of Mahan, he heard the Mongols
had left Aujan to search him out, and set out for Azerbaijan. On passing
the fortress where the Vizier was living, he summoned him to his presence,
professing to be ignorant of his treachery. He appeared with a cord
about his neck, and Jelal ud din did him the unusual honour of offering him
a cup of wine, it not being usual for the Khuarezmian sovereigns to feed
with their viziers. But this was only an apparent civility, and he was
really deprived of all authority. Meanwhile revolts broke out in various
parts of Azerbaijan and Arran, where the people presented the heads of
the Khuarezmian officers as a peace-offering to the Mongols. Nissavi
succeeded in collecting a considerable contingent in Arran, whereupon the
Mongols again retired to Aujan. They were speedily busy again, however,
and a Mussulman officer in the service of Taimaz, one of their generals,
was sent to summon Bailekan. Taken before Jelal ud din, who promised
him his life if he reported truly the strength of the enemy, he said that
when reviewed at Bukhara, Charmaghan's army numbered 20,000 fighting
men. The Sultan ordered the man to be killed, for fear his troops
should be disheartened by the statement^ Meanwhile he repaired to
Jarapert, near Kantzag, in the mountains of Artsakh, where he issued
orders for the arrest and execution of the Vizier. On seeing the guards
who were commissioned to put him to death, he asked for a few minutes'
respite. Then, having performed his ablutions, said his namaz, and read
a piece of the Koran, he remarked on the fate of those who relied on the
word of an ungrateful person. Being asked if he preferred to die by the
sword or the rope, he chose the sword. " It is not usual to decapitate
grandees," was the reply, and he was strangled.}
Meanwhile, a revolt broke out at Kantzag, where the Khuarezmians
were killed. Jelal ud din marched to the town, which, after a show of
resistance, surrendered, and thirty of the principal malcontents were
beheaded. The Sultan spent fifteen days at Kantzag, and, much against
his inclination, determined to ask help from his recent foe, Ashraf, the
Prince of Syria, who, hearing that his envoys were on the way on this
errand, withdrew to Egypt, and sent them courteous but insincere letters

* D'Ohsson, iii. 50-51. t Id., 52.54. I Id., 54.55.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 1 7
to Damascus, offering to send help, but really meaning to stand aloof.
Jelal uddin therr- sent to Ashraf 's brother, Mozaffer Gazi, who had been
appointed the Chief of Khelat by Ashraf, to go to him with the Princes
of Amid and Mardin. Nissavi was chosen as his envoy, and he was
to promise to reward Mozaffer with a large accession of territory ;
but he did not expect much from these Turkish princes, whose policy
was generally limited to their own advancement. Mozaffer said he
could do nothing without the consent of his brothers, the King of
Egypt and the Prince of Syria ; that his contingent would be so small
that it would be of little assistance to the Sultan ; that he could not
do homage to Jelal ud din without also doing it to Kai Kobad, the Seljuk
ruler of Rum ; and that the Princes of Amid and Mardin were not
subject to him. Nissavi warned him that by standing neutral, he wquld
fail to share in the division of the spoil if Jelal ud din succeeded,
while if defeated, he would be at the mercy of the Mongols. He merely
replied he was not his own master. It seems they had written to the
Khalif and other princes, counselling them not to assist Jelal ud din*
Meanwhile the Mongols continued their advance. A letter, borne by a
pigeon from Perkri, announced that they had passed that town; and
Nissavi, on returning from his embassy, found only the harems and
_ baggage of the army at Hany, the Sultan himself having withdrawn to
Jebel Jor. He had been joined by a Mongol officer, who had deserted on
account of some punishment he had undergone. By his advice, Jelal ud
din abandoned his baggage and posted his men in ambush, so that he
could fall on the Mongols while they were pillaging. Otuz Khan was
commanded to make a feint with 4,000 men, and to draw them on
into the ambush; but he was afraid, and returned with the misleading
message that they had abandoned the district of Manazguerd. Jelal ud
din thereupon left his retreat and went to Hany, where, after an interview
with Nissavi, who reported the result of his fruitless mission, it was
determined to go to Ispahan. While en route thither a messenger came
from Masud, Prince of Amid, who tried to persuade him to conquer
Rum, which he urged would be easy ; master of this, and secure of an
alliance with the Kipchaks, he might then make head against the Mongols.
Masud himself promised to join him with 4,000 horsemen. This
suggestion was made out of revenge, Kai Kobad having conquered several
fortresses from him. Jelal ud din approved of the plan, and went towards
Amid. On the way he had been spending an evening in drinking, when
a Turkoman arrived and reported that he had seen some strange troops
at the place where the Sultan had passed the previous night. Jelal ud din
declared this to be a lie, and a trick of the Prince of Amid, but he was
undeceived in the morning, when a body of Mongols surrounded his
" Id., 57-58.

1° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
tent while he was in a drunken sleep. Their commander is called
Baimas Noyan by Abulfaraj* His general, Orkhan, charged them with
a body of his men, while some of his officers rushed into his tent,
put a small white tunic upon him, and seated him on horseback. He
only thought of one of his wives, the daughter of the Prince of Fars,
whom he ordered two of his officers to escort. He himself fled towards
Amid with only ioo followers. Its gates he found closed against him, so
he sped on to Mesopotamia. The Mongols were in pursuit, and by the
advice of Otuz (called Uz Khan by Raverty) he determined to double
upon them. He arrived at a village of Mayafarkin, and dismounted at a
farm, intending to spend the night. Otuz Khan left him there, and at dawn
he was again surrounded by them. He had barely time to mount,
and most of his people were killed. The Mongols having heard from their
prisoners that the Sultan was there sped after him to the number of fifteen.
Two overtook him, but he killed them both, and the rest could not reach him.
He then escaped to the mountains (one of the mountains of Sophane,
says Abulfaraj), and was captured by some predatory Kurds. They
stripped him, as was their wont, and we are told his saddle, girdle, and
quiver were more than usually loaded with precious stones. They were
going to kill him, when he disclosed himself to their chief, asked him
to conduct him to Mozaffer, Prince of Erbil, who would reward him, or
else to escort him to some part of his dominions, and promised to grant
him the title of malik if he saw him safe. He therefore took him home
with him, and left him with his wife while he went to look for his horses.
Meanwhile a Kurd who came up asked who this Khuarezmian was, and
why he was not put to death. She told him who he was, and said he was
under the protection of her husband. The Kurd thereupon said, " Jelal
ud din, at Khelat, killed my brother, who was a better man than himself,"
and he struck him dead with his javelin. This was on the 15th of
August, 1 23 1.
Thus perished the last of the Khuarezm-Shahs. His biographer
describes him as brave to excess, calm, grave, and silent, laughing only at
the tips of his lips. He spoke both Turkish and Persian.! He was of
middle stature, with a Turkish face and a dark complexion, his mother
having been a Hindoo. As D'Ohsson says, he was rather a brave and
reckless Turkoman chief, than a skilled general or sovereign. Pillage,
drinking, and music were not put aside, even in the presence of the
Mongols. He did not know how to conciliate his troops, who being paid
irregularly, had to eke out their income by rapine, which again increased
his unpopularity. While at Tebriz there died a young eunuch slave to
whom he was much attached; he had a magnificent funeral prepared
for him, followed the corpse himself on foot, and ordered his troops

1 Chron, Arab., 308 (? a corruption of Taima/). t D'Ohsson, iii. 63.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 19
to do the same. He was angry with the people of Tebriz because
they did not show sufficient concern for the corpse, and ordered that
when his meals were brought to him, some meat should'also be taken to
the body, while he had a slave put to death who ventured to tell him his
favourite was dead* He was, in short, a fickle, reckless, eastern
Sybarite, with a great deal of courage and energy.
Some time after his death, Mozaffer, Prince of Erbil, sent for his bones,
which were buried in a mausoleum, but the rumour arose (his death
having been so obscure) that he was still alive, and it was reported that
he had been seen in several places, especially in Persia. A person at
Ispahan professed to be him, and the Mongols had him seized and
examined by- people who knew the Sultan, and then they put him to
death. Twenty-two years after his disappearance, a poor man dressed as
a fakir, in crossing the Jihun, told the boatmen : "lam the Sultan Jelal
ud din, Khuarezm Shah, who it is said was killed by the Kurds in the
Mountains of Amid. It was my squire who was thus killed, and I have
travelled for many years without letting it be known." The Mongols
seized him and put him to the torture, but to his last breath he continued
to affirm the truth of his story.t Major Raverty reports a more circum
stantial tale. He says, Sheikh Ala ud Daulah al Byabanki of Simnan
relates as follows :— " When at Baghdad, I used daily, at noon, to wait
upon the pious and venerable Sheikh Nur ul Hak wa ud din, Abdur
Rahman i Isferaini. May his tomb be sanctified. I happened to go upon
one occasion, at the usual hour, and found him absent from his abode, a
rather unusual occurrence at that time of the day. I went again on the
following morning, and inquired the cause of his absence on the previous
day. He replied, ' My absence was caused through Sultan Jelal ud din
Mangbarni having been received into the Almighty's mercy.' I inquired,
' What ! has he been living all this time ? ' He answered, ' You may
have noticed a certain aged man, with a mole upon his nose (mangbarni
means with a mole on the nose), who was wont to stay at a certain place,'
which he named. I had often remarked the venerable devotee in question.
' And that was the heroic but unfortunate Sultan Jelal ud din.'"_ According
to this account, he could not have died till 688, i.e., about 60 years after the
date above mentioned.} These stories are of course mere stories, and
doubtless largely arose from the fact of his having a mole on his nose,
a feature which would draw attention to others similarly endowed, and
easily give rise to imposition.
Abulfaraj says that after attacking Erbil, the Mongols went to Nineveh,
and laid siege to Khamalic (?), the citizens fleeing. Thereupon they burnt
the churches. They placed two of their leaders at two of the city gates, one
of whom gave life and liberty to those who passed him, while the other put
* D'Ohsson, iii. 63-64. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 309. \ Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 299. Note.

20 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the fugitives who endeavoured to escape by his gate to the sword. Thence
they went to Shigra, and plundered and killed a great number of mer
chants on their way to Syria.*
Orkhan, after leaving the Sultan as I have mentioned, was joined by
some troops, and reached Erbil with 4,000 men. Thence he went to
Ispahan, which he captured, and which was, shortly after, again taken by
the Mongols.! A large portion of Jelal ud din's men took service after
his death with the Seljuks of Rum and the Syrian princes. Many
others were waylaid and killed by the Kurds, Bedouins, &c. We have
seen how, when Jelal ud din captured Khelat, he secured Thamtha, the
daughter of Ivaneh, the Georgian Constable, whom he married. On his
death she fell into the hands of the Mongols, who sent her, according to
Guiragos, to Ogotai Khan, in Mongolia. Brosset suggests that she was
really sent to Batu Khan. She lived several years in Tartary.}
On the death of Jelal ud din the Mongols proceeded to ravage the
districts of Amid, Erzerum, and Mayafarkin.§ After a siege of five days
they captured Sared, two days' journey east of Mardin, and put its
inhabitants, to the number of 1 5,000, to the sword. Tanza, and Mardin
itself, except the citadel, suffered a similar fate. The district of Nisibin,
save its capital, was ravaged. The Mongols then entered Sinjar, and
laid waste Al Khabur and AVaban. Another division of them went
towards Mosul, and pillaged the town of Al Munassa, situated between it
and Nisibin. Its citizens, as well as the peasants from the country
round, had taken refuge in a khan in the middle of the town, where they
were all slaughtered. A native of the place, who secreted himself, told
Ibn al Athir, the historian, that when they killed anyone they shouted
"La illahi," and their cruelties were accompanied with laughter and
merrymaking.|| Another division inarched upon Bidlis, whose people escaped, partly
to their citadel and partly to the mountains. The town was burnt. The
strong fortress of Balri, in the district of Khelat, was now captured, and
all who were found in it were killed. The same thing happened at the
large town of Argish.
A third body attacked Meragha, which submitted on condition of its
people being spared, but a great number perished. Azerbaijan was laid
waste, and then Erbil, where the Ivanian Turkomans, the Kurds, and
Cheburkans were trampled upon, and where terrible atrocities were
committed. Mozaffer ud din, Prince of Erbil, collected his men, and
received aid from the Prince of Mosul, whereupon the prudent invaders
drew off and went towards Dakuka. Within two months after the
disappearance of Jelal ud din, Diarbekr, Mesopotamia, Erbil, and Khelat

* Op. cit., Chron. Syr., 513.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 65-66. J Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, 505-506. Notes.
$ D'Ohsson, iii. 67. || Id., 68.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 21
were desolated, without encountering any resistance. The rulers of these
small districts hid away in their fastnesses, while the people were
stupefied. I have related some anecdotes reported by Ibn al Athir,
showing the fatuous conduct of the inhabitants*
It was now three months since Jelal ud din had been seen, and it was
unknown whether he was dead or merely hiding away. The Mongols
meanwhile were in the heart of Azerbaijan. Tebriz was summoned, and
offered a ransom of silver, of rich stuffs, &c, and of wine. The kadhi
and mayor went to their camp, and the town agreed also to send a
number of artisans. Persian artisans were a most welcome present to
the Great Khakan at Karakorum, who was a patron of the arts. They
also sent him a splendid tent, and agreed to pay an annual tribute.t
Meanwhile the Khalif mustered his supporters to the rescue, while Khamil,
the Egyptian sultan, marched from Cairo with a considerable army into
Syria. He passed Damascus, and went towards the Euphrates, losing
many men between Salamiyat, north-east of Hims, and that river.
Having learnt at Harran that the Mongols had evacuated Khelat, he
went towards Amid, then ruled by Masud, of the Ortokid stock, the
capture of which, and not the defeat of the Mongols, was apparently the
main object of his march. He was accompanied by his brother Ashraf,
by the various Ayubit princes, and by the Sultan of Rum. The siege
lasted but five days, when the voluptuous Masud surrendered the place,
which was made over to Khamil's son, Salih, while Masud received an
appanage in Egypt. Khamil also attacked Hosn-Keifa, which was the
term of his expedition. These events took place in 1232.} Meanwhile
the Mongols proceeded systematically to ravage Azerbaijan, Dilem, and
the other western provinces which had been subject to the Khuarezm
Shah. They made the fertile plain of Mughan their winter quarters, and
thence sent out expeditions in various directions. §
In the year 1233 they laid siege to Kantzag, called Gandja or Guenja
by the Persians, the Jelizavetpol of the Russians, the capital of Arran.
Guiragos tells us the greater part of its inhabitants were Persians, but that
there were a few Christians there, who were subjected to constant insult
and contumely, and quotes as an example that crosses were put on the
ground at the gates so that they might be trodden under. Its destruction
was presaged by some unusual phenomena. The earth opened and vomited
out a torrent of black water. A very tall cypress outside the town was
seen to stoop down and then become erect again. This happened three
or four times, after which the tree fell down altogether. The Mongols
assailed the place with their battering engines, destroyed the vines in the
environs, and eventually breached the walls. As they delayed the assault,
* Ante, vol. i. 131-132.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 70-71. J D'Ohsson, iii., 72. § Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi., 213.

22 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the inhabitants set fire to their houses and property. This greatly exaspe
rated the invaders, who rushed in, sword in hand, and made a general
massacre of men, women, and children. Only a body of troops, which
cut its way through, and some who were reduced to servitude, escaped.
The Mongols spent some days in digging among the ruins for treasure,
and then withdrew. Fugitives afterwards returned to look for hidden
furniture, &c, and many objects in gold and silver, bronze and iron, were
thus recovered.
Kantzag remained in ruins for four years, when the Mongols ordered it to
be rebuilt* Meanwhile they made another attack upon Erbil, which they
captured, with a great booty. The citizens withdrew to the citadel, where,
although many perished from want of water, they successfully resisted the
attack, and the Mongols at length withdrew, after receiving a sum of
money. They overran the northern part of Irak Arab, as far as Zenk
Abad and Surmenrai. This district belonged to the Khalif who put
Baghdad in a state of defence. He also put it to the Ulemas
which was more meritorious, a pilgrimage to Mekka, or war against
the infidels. They unanimously replied the latter, whereupon a holy
war was preached. The grandees and expounders of the law joined
in the exercises of the troops. They marched out and inflicted a defeat
on the Mongols at Jebel Hamrin {i.e., the Red Mountain), on the Tigris,
near Takrit, and released the prisoners who had been carried off from
Erbil and Dakiika.f Another body of 15,000 invaders, who had advanced
as far as Jaferiya, now withdrew. A similar division had a more
fortunate engagement at Khanekin. Near Holvan they encountered
7,000 troops of the Khalif, under the orders of Jemal ud din Beilik,
drew them into an ambush, and killed them nearly all, including their
commander. To revert to their operations further north. We find Char
maghan now setting out from Mughan, and methodically overwhelming
Arran and Great Armenia, which were distributed among his chiefs or
noyans, who, we are told, proceeded to take possession of the portions
thus assigned them, accompanied by their wives, children, and baggage,
and consumed all the herbage in the fields with their camels and flocks.
When the Mongols invaded Armenia, that province was assigned as an
appanage to Arslan Noyan. Elikum, the chief of the once powerful family of
the Orpelians, fortified himself in the impregnable fortress of Hrashkaperd.
Seeing he could not capture it by force, Arslan sent a messenger to Elikum,
to tell him he was irrevocably settled in Armenia, and that it would be
better for him to come down from his fastness, where he would starve,
and make friends with him. Elikum received these overtures favourably,
and having exacted an oath from Arslan, went to visit him, with great
presents. The latter treated him well, and numbered him among his

* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 116-117. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 213-216 ; xvi. 282,
t D'Ohsson, iii. 73-74. Ilkhans, i. no,

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 23
generals. He then advanced to Ani, which he conquered, as well as the
country of Vaio Tzor and Eghegik, as far as the town of Ereron, opposite
Garhni, all of which he gave to Elikum. He told him what he
conquered by the sword was as much his property as what he bought
with money, and he freely gave it to him, on condition that he should be
faithful to him and the Grand Khan. Thenceforward Elikum was a good
friend to the Mongols. He took part in the siege of Mayafarkin, where
he fell ill and died. It was reported he had been poisoned, by order of
the Georgian Prince Avak. He was succeeded by his brother Sempad,
of whom we shall have more to say.* Let us now turn to Georgia.
At the time of the Mongol invasion, Georgia was in every way the most
powerful kingdom subject to the Christians. Defended by its mountains,
says Remusat, its line of rulers had never been interrupted. The generals
of the Khalifs had only made momentary raids, or gained a very precarious
footing there. The Seljuki Turks had laid their hands more heavily upon
it, but at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth century,
David, surnamed the Restorer, took advantage of the disunion among
the Turkish princes, recaptured Tiflis, and drove the Turks beyond the
Araxes. His successors followed in his steps, and numbered among their
vassals all the Armenian princes north of the Araxes, whom they rescued
from the Mussulman yoke. The family of the famous Ivaneh, Constable
of Georgia, which ruled in the greater part of the country from the Araxes
to the Kur, the Princes of Shamkor and Khachen, &c, recognised the
suzerainty of the Georgian kings, who at the beginning of the thirteenth
century dominated from the Black Sea between Trebizond and the
possessions of the Krim Tartars as far as Derbend and the junction of the
Kur and the Araxes, i.e., over Colchis, Mingrelia, the land of the Abkhazes,
Georgia, properly so called, and Northern Armenia, with many small
adjacent districts.t George Lasha, King of Georgia, died January 1 8th,
1223.} He was succeeded by his sister Rusudan, famous for her beauty
and her peccadilloes. Her subjects became noted for their debaucheries,
and she gave herself up to pleasure. § The country was virtually ruled by
the Constable Ivaneh. Rusudan married the Mussulman Prince Mogit
ud din Tughril Shah, son of Kilij Arslan, the Seljuk Prince of Erzerum,
who was a handsome person, and by whom she had a daughter, Thamar,
and a son, David. This marriage took place, according to Wakhoucht, in
1228 A.D. 1 1 She was very unfaithful to her husband, who on one occasion
surprised her in bed in the arms of a Mamluk, and duly imprisoned her.
Having later heard of the beauty of two Alans, she sent for and eventually
married one of them. She also fell in love with a Mussulman of Kantzag,
whom she could not, however, persuade to abjure his faith.H Rusudan's

* Hist, de la Siounie, 227-228. St. Martin, ii. 123-127. t A. Remusat, Mems. French Acad., vi. 400
T Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, i. 496. Note. $ Id., 496.
|| Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, i. 501. Note 3. T Abulfeda, sub. ann. 620, i.e., 1223.

24 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
daughter, who was also a great beauty, was named Thamar. She attracted
the attention of Ghiath ud din Kai Khosru, the second son of the Sultan of
Rum, who, although a Mussulman, was readily accepted by the diplomatic
Queen as a suitable partner for her daughter. Ghiath ud din promised
not to interfere with her religion. This marriage probably took place
about 634 HEJ., i.e., 1236 or 1237. She received Atskur as an appanage,
and was accompanied by her cousin David, son of Lasha, who
acted as her paranymph! ! ! He was a dangerous aspirant for the
Georgian throne, and at the instance of his aunt Rusudan was imprisoned
by Thamar. She shortly after became a Mussulman, and, according to
Abulfaraj, became the mother of Alai ud din Kaikobad, who had a
separate appanage, and whose name appears on the coins with those of
his half-brothers, Iz ud din and Rokn ud din.
David, son of Lasha, was the next heir to the throne. Rusudan was
exceedingly jealous of the young prince, and according to the Georgian
Chronicle she sent more than one message to Thamar and her husband
urging that they should put the young man away. As this was not carried
out she became very irritated, and even had the wickedness to write to
Ghiath ud din to suggest to him that his wife, her own daughter, was
carrying on an intrigue with her nephew.* Ghiath ud din, on hearing
this calumny, began to treat his wife very badly, dragged her by the hair,
kicked her till she was blue, broke the sacred images, &c, before which
she said her prayers, and threatened her with death unless she abjured
her faith, which she was constrained to do.f This statement of the
Georgian Chronicle is confirmed by Abulfaraj. The former goes on to
say that Ghiath ud din, having ill-used the young Prince David, ordered
the captain of a ship to take him out to sea, and when he had got him
fairly away from the land to throw him into the water. They accordingly
set out for Pelagon {i.e., for the ^Egean). He was duly thrown out, but
was given a plank by a benevolent sailor. With the assistance of this he
made his way towards the land, whence he was seen by a traveller, who
sent a good swimmer to his rescue. He then took him home, provided
for him, and kept him for six months. All this having comedo the ears
of Ghiath ud din, he was greatly enraged. He ordered the young prince
to be thrown into a dark pit, tenanted by reptiles and vermin, whose
mouth was closed by a stone. One of his father's dependents, Sosna, " a
Rowth" (Brosset suggests a Russian) by nation, dug a -hole secretly at
night, by which he passed victuals into the pit, and thus fed him for five
or, according to another paragraph, seven years. He used to pass down
two bags by cords to him, one containing bread and the other water.
Our author, in reporting the saga, makes out that the serpents in the hole
did him no harm, he being preserved like Daniel in the lions' den. One
* Hist, de la Georgie, 524. t Id.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 25
of them having bitten him, in consequence of his having leaned on it
heavily, was consumed by the rest* We shall revert to the distinguished
prisoner, and meanwhile turn again to Georgia.
Its beautiful and amorous queen was dominated by a crowd of courtiers.
Her most trusty counsellors were the Generalissimo Ivaneh and his son
Avak, Shahanshah son of Zak'aria, Vahram, and others. Georgia was
not in a position to resist the Mongols, having been so terribly ill-used
by Jelal ud din, Khuarezm Shah, as we have shown. When she heard of
their approach, therefore, she quitted Tiflis and went to Kuthathis,
leaving Goj, son of Mukha, in charge of the capital, with orders, if the
enemy should appear, to set fire to Tiflis, except the palace and the
quarter called Isanni, so that they could find no shelter there. When
Goj heard of their approach he fired the place, not even sparing the
palace and the Isanni.f Chamitch tells us Rusudan took refuge at the
fortress of Usaneth, but Brosset suggests that this was too dangerous a
locality for a place of refuge, and argues that she retired to the district of
Suaneth. Meanwhile the various chieftains withdrew, and each one sought safety
in some retired place. Guiragos compares the swarms of Mongols who
overran the country to flights of locusts and drops of rain. Fear
and decrepitude overcame the people. " He who had a sword hid it,
for fear that if found upon him he might be pitilessly killed ; children
were broken to death upon the stones, and young maidens cruelly
ravished. The Tartars had a hideous aspect, and bowels without pity ;
they were insensible to mothers' tears, or to the white hairs of age, and
they sped to carnage as to a wedding or an orgy. Everywhere were
unburied corpses, the services of the church ceased, while the people
preferred the night to the day. The avarice of the invaders was
insatiable, and what they could not carry away they destroyed. Having
wasted the open country they attacked the towns. As their campaign was
undertaken in the summer, and without warning, the latter were speedily
reduced by want of water, and their inhabitants were duly slaughtered or
reduced to slavery." } The district of Shamkor belonged to Vahram
{i.e., Vahram Gagel) and his son, Akbuka, who had captured it from the
Persians. It now fell to Molar Noyan. Setting out from Mughan, he
sent on an advanced guard of 100 men, and forbade the inhabitants to
pass in or out of its gates. They sent for aid to Vahram, and informed
him of the small number of the invaders, but he would not move. When
Molar himself and the main army arrived, he had the ditch filled with
fascines ; these were, however, burnt by the citizens. He then ordered
each man to carry a load of earth in his robes and to throw it into
the ditch, which was speedily filled up. The Mongols stormed the
* Id., 526-527. t Hist, de la Georgie, i. 514. J Op. cit., Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 216-218.
I Id., 219-221.

26 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
place, massacred the inhabitants, and burnt the houses. ' They then
invested the remaining fortresses belonging to Vahram, Derunagan or
Terunakan, Erkevank, and Madznaperd, all situated near Shamkor, in
the district of Kartman, in Armenian Albania. The last town belonged
to Kyrikeh the Fourth, of the dynasty of the Bagratids of Dashir. They
also captured Kartman, in the district of Udi. Meanwhile, another
Mongol chief, named Ghataghan Noyan, conquered Charek and
Kedapag, or Getabac* Vartan says he conquered the four cantons
of Kedabag and Vartanashad.t Vahram, who was at Kartman, fled and
escaped. Having imposed a tribute upon them, the Mongols withdrew.
The army which had taken Shamkor also subdued Tavush, Kadzareth,
Norpert, Kak or Gag, &c.} At this time, the great Vartabied, or doctor,
Vanakan, had made himself a retreat with his own hands on the
summit of a high rock, opposite the village of Olorut, south of Tavush,
where he had sought refuge when Jelal ud din destroyed his monastery at
Erkevank. There he lived with a crowd of disciples and a fine library,
and there he had built a church and some cells. When Molar Noyan
arrived, a crowd of men, women, and children sought refuge in his cavern,
where they were blockaded by the Mongols, and presently food and water
ran short, while the terrible heat made the place most unhealthy. The
Mongols cried out to them to come down from their vantage and surrender,
and that they would be well treated. They begged the Vartabied to go
and conciliate the terrible invaders. He accordingly went down with
his two disciples Mark and Sosthenes, and found the Mongol chief on a
height opposite the cave, with an umbrella held over his head, as it was
fiercely hot. They were ordered by the guards to bend the knee three
times, " in the fashion which camels do," and when they were admitted,
they were bidden to prostrate themselves towards the East, that is,
towards the great Khakan. Molar addressed the white-bearded doctor,
and asked him why he had not gone to offer his submission, as he had
ordered that he and his people were to be well treated. He replied that
they were unaware of his good intentions, for they did not understand
his language, and that no one had in fact gone to acquaint them with
his wishes. When they knew them they had complied. "We are
neither soldiers nor rich people," he said, "but strangers and pilgrims
collected from various places to study religion together. Do with us as
you will." Molar bade them be seated and at ease. He inquired about
Vahram's whereabouts, and about his various fortresses. He then ordered
the rest of the refugees to come down, and promised them safety under
chiefs he would appoint over them. Guiragos, who tells the story,
was among those who now went down. They felt, he says, like sheep
going among wolves. Each one, expecting to be killed, repeated his

a ¦* GuiraSos> ed. Brosset, 120. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 221.
t Journ. Asiat., ser. v., xvi. 283. J Id., xi. 222. Guiragos, ed Brosset, 120,

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 27
profession of faith in the Holy Trinity, and before leaving the cave they
all partook of the Sacrament. The Mongols, however, treated them fairly.
They first gave them water to assuage their thirst, and then put them in
custody of some guards. In the morning they stripped them of all that
they could, and proceeded also to plunder the grotto and the church of its
ornaments — copes, cups, silver candlesticks, and two gospels encrusted
with silver. Having selected such of the men as they wished to transport
elsewhere, they sent the rest to live in the neighbouring village and
monastery, and set a person over them to protect them. Among those
who had to go away was Guiragos, the Vartabied, and a young priest named
Paul, the nephew of the latter. They were dragged over a rugged
country without roads, on foot, and were escorted by Persians whose
hands had been dipped in Christian blood, and who treated them inso
lently. They were hurried on, and any who lagged were beaten with rods.
" There was no time to draw thorns out of the feet, or to drink by the
wayside." When they halted, they were shut up in small houses, whence
they were not allowed to go out, even to satisfy nature, and were closely
guarded. Guiragos and some of his companions were employed as
secretaries, to write letters for the invaders. He enlarges on the miseries
of the way. At the approach of autumn, and as they neared the frontier
of Armenia, individuals began, at all risks, to escape. Those who thus
ventured all got away except two priests, who were re-caught and executed
before Guiragos and his companions. The chronicler tells us his master
offered them horseflesh to eat ; for the Mongols ate all kinds of animals,
pure and impure — even rats and serpents. The Vartabied replied they
wanted no such food, but if he wished to do them a kindness he might
let them return, as he had promised, for he was old and ill, and could be
of no service to them either as a soldier or a herdsman. He said he
would consult his major-domo Chuchughan, who was then absent on a
plundering expedition. This man of the world insisted upon a ransom being
found, and urged that the alms which went to buy repose for the dead
might be reasonably used to ransom the living. The Vartabied declared
they had been stripped of all their goods, and had nothing left, but if they
were conducted to one of the neighbouring fortresses, the Christians there
would ransom them. They were accordingly taken to Kak, or Gag. There
the Vartabied was ransomed, but they refused to let Guiragos go, as they said
they needed him to write their letters. Guiragos says, there was at Kak
a famous cross, which performed miracles, especially in favour of captives,
and that those who invoked it faithfully saw the martyr, St. Sargis,
himself open the prison doors. The Vartabied promised to go and invoke
the saint in his behalf. He was ransomed for eighty dahegkans, fifty
more, says Vartan, than what Judas sold the Saviour for. Molar Noyan,
who evidently, like the other Mongol chiefs, valued a clever writer, consoled
Guiragos for the loss of his old master. He promised to promote him

28 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
over his own chiefs ; if he already had a wife he would send for her — if
not, he bade him choose one from among them ; and he gave him a tent
and two boys to wait on him, and promised to give him a horse on the
following day. But as they passed the Monastery of Kedig, or Getic, in
Eastern Armenia, where he had been brought up, and which had been
sacked by the Mongols, he managed to escape.*
Turning elsewhere, we find that the district of Khachen was also ravaged
at this time. Its strongholds fell by force or stratagem. A great many
of the people who had sought safety in difficult retreats were duly followed
there and put to the sword, thrown down precipices, and their bones
whitened the ground for a long time after. The Mongols also marched
against Hassan, styled Jelal, son of Vakhtang, Prince of Khachen, and of
the sister of the Constables Zakaria and Ivaneh. He was pious and
charitable, had the virtues of an anchorite, and was a faithful attendant
at the church's services, and a scholar. After the death of his wife,
Vakhtang's mother brought up his three sons, Jelal, Zakaria, and
Ivaneh. She eventually went as a pilgrim to Jerusalem, and died there.
When the Mongols drew near, Jelal assembled his people in the fortress
of Khoiakhan, or Khokan (called Khokhanaberd in Persian), in the province
of Artsakh. When summoned, he went to their camp, with rich presents.
The Mongol chief to whom he submitted, was Chola,, or Jola, brother of
Charmaghan. He was well treated, and not onlyrestored to his principality,
but it was increased in size. He was ordered to join the Mongols every
year in their campaigns, and to be faithful and obedient. By his pru
dence and conciliation, and by adapting himself to the insatiable habits of
the invaders, and meeting their greed with continual presents, he secured
an immunity from their attacks, which was most exceptional.t His
daughter Rusudan was married by Chola to Bugha, son of his brother
Charmaghan.}' In another direction, another subordinate of Charmaghan, called
Jagatai, marched upon L6rhe", capital of the district of Tashir, in the
province of Kukark, the treasure city of Shahan Shah. The latter, on
the approach of the Mongols, withdrew with his family, and took shelter
in the caverns in the neighbouring valley, and committed the defence of
Lorhe" to his father-in-law. His people were effeminate persons, and gave
themselves up to dissipation, and, in the words of Guiragos, trusted to
the strength of their walls rather than in God. The Mongols undermined
the ramparts, which fell down, and they then entered the place, and as
usual with them, commenced an indiscriminate slaughter. They dis
covered Shahan Shah's treasures, which he had amassed by the oppression
of his people, and which he had concealed in a chamber with a very

Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 120-124. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 222-231.
... t !tl" z45-248. Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 131-133.
{ Hist, de la Georgie, i. 514, Note 4 and Additions,

, 346,

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 29
small entrance, which, like a child's money-box, enabled things to be put
in, but not easily taken out again. His father-in-law was put to death.
The remaining fortresses of the district were then captured either by
force or craft, and were similarly devastated. These included Dmanis
and Shamshuilde", in the province of Kukark, and Tiflis, the metropolis*
Avak, son of the Constable Ivaneh, seeing the country overwhelmed by
this flood of enemies, sought shelter in the very strong fort of Gaian, or
Kaian, in the district of Tzorophor, in the province of Kukark, to which
the inhabitants of the surrounding district also fled. One of the Mongol
chiefs, named Tughata Noyan, with a force of Mongols, beleaguered him
there, built a wall of circumvaUation round the foot of the fortress,
and sent several messages to Avak, offering him terms if he would
acknowledge his supremacy. He offered him his daughter Khochak and
some of his riches in the hope of thus buying him off. The Mongols
accepted these, but insisted more strongly upon his going to them in
person. Water began to run short, and the crafty besiegers allowed
many of the people who had sought refuge to pass through their lines in
safety to water their horses at the river {i.e., the Ddbdda, the Kamenka of
the Russians, on whose left bank Lorhe" was situated) ; they would not,
however, let them return, but told them to summon their families out.
They thus planted their foot upon them and despoiled them, taking such
of their women as suited them and killing such of them as they disliked.
At length Avak, finding that their attack continued, and also their
cruelties, determined to surrender, and thus buy a respite for his people.
He accordingly sent Gregory, familiarly called Tgha, or the infant, his
major-domo (according to A. Remusat, his nephew ; and to Brosset, his
cousin), to Charmaghan, who was then encamped on the Keghakuni,
otherwise called by the Armenians the Lake of Kegh'am and the Lake of
Sdvan, and now known to the Turks as the Blue Sea, and to the Persians
as the Beautiful Sea. The Georgian Chronicle says the Mongol leaders
were at this time in their winter quarters at Berdaa, their summer ones
being in the mountains of Gdlakun, and near the Araxes.t Charmaghan
was immensely pleased at this embassy. Avak's envoy promised, on his
behalf, that he would faithfully serve the Mongols, and pay them the
kharaj, or feudal dues, for his domains. He also asked them to swear
solemnly that he should be safe if he went to them. This they agreed to
do. Their religion, says our chronicler, was to adore the only God, and
to make three genuflexions to him daily, at sunrise, towards the east. In
swearing an oath, they dipped a piece of gold in water, which they
afterwards drank. This kind of oath, we are told, was never broken,
and they told no lies. They gave Avak's messenger a golden tablet or
paizah, guaranteeing him a safe conduct. On Avak's arrival Charmaghan
* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 124-126. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 231-233,
t Op. cit., 516.

3o HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
rebuked him for not having at once submitted, and quoted the proverb,
" I went to the window, but you did not come. I then went to the door,
and you hastened to me." He caused him to be seated below his
grandees, and gave a grand feast in his honour, in which the flesh of pure
and impure animals, quartered and roasted, was served up, while kumis
was liberally served out of skins. Avak would not eat or drink, saying that
Christians only ate clean animals, which had been properly killed, and
drank only wine. These were furnished him. On succeeding days, his
seat at table was promoted, until he was seated among the principal
Mongol officers, while, out of consideration for him, a number of his
people who had been made captive were released, and his former
appanage was restored to him, and even enlarged.* The Georgian
Chronicle says that Mongol commissaries were placed in his towns.
Charmaghan, accompanied by Vahram and Avak, now marched
against Ani, the ancient capital of Armenia, which was fortified, had a
strong garrison, and was well provisioned. It was so full of churches
that it was usual to swear by the thousand-and-one churches of Ani. It
was subject to Shahan Shah. The envoys sent by the Mongols, calling
upon it to surrender, were murdered by the citizens. This was speedily
revenged. The town was attacked with vigour, and numerous war engines
were planted around it. It was soon captured. Some of the principal
citizens, who had probably been traitors, were spared : the rest of the
people were ordered to go out of the town in the method practised by
J ingis. They were then divided among the troops in squads and massacred.
Only a few women, children, and artisans were spared, and reduced to
slavery. The town was now sacked, its churches pillaged, and its monu
ments defaced. Guiragos describes in lurid colours the horrible sight,
the ravishing of chaste nuns, the slaughter of helpless priests, &c. One
of his phrases is grim. " Delicate bodies," he says, " accustomed to be
washed with soap, were lying about damp and livid."+ The devastation
must have been dreadful. In a work published at Venice in 1830, entitled
" Patmutiun Anuoi," and written by the Father Minas Bjechkian, we
are told that some of those who escaped on this occasion, found shelter at
Kaffa and Trebizond, where their posterity still remain ; a larger number
went to Astrakhan and Ak Serai. These, in 1299, being hard pressed by
the Tartar Khan, sent to the Genoese, at Kaffa, to ask for an asylum. They
then traversed the country of the Tartars with arms in their hands, and
settled in the Krim. They multiplied so much, that they eventually had
100,000 houses and 1,001 churches about Kaffa, as they had had about Ani.}
When the people of Kars saw what had befallen Ani, they hastened to
give up the keys of their town. But the Mongols, whose appetite for

* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 126-127.
t .- j ; Empire, xvii. 456. Note.

. Brosset, 126-127. Journ. Asial., sthser., xi. 233-236. Hist, dela Georgie, i. 516
r Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 127-128. Journ. Asiat., 51)1 ser., xi. 237-238.
I Brossel, in Lebenu Histoire du Bas Empire, xvii. 4s6. Note.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 3!
plunder had been whetted, did not in consequence spare them, but
pillaged Kars as they had done Ani, appropriated its riches, and carried
off its population into captivity. They withdrew from it, leaving a few
humble people in possession, who were afterwards exterminated or carried
off by the Turks of Asia Minor. The Mongols who captured Kars, also
took the town of Surp Mari, or Surmari, situated on the Araxes, south of
Echmiadzin. It had only a few years before been captured from the
Muhamedans by Shahan Shah and Avak. The contingent which now
took it was commanded by Kara Baghatur*
When they had completed their conquest of the country, they issued
orders for the fugitive inhabitants to return to their villages and homes,
and to rebuild and re-occupy them under their new masters. Their
campaign in these parts was undertaken in the summer, when the crops
were not all gathered, and they trod a great deal under foot with their
horses and cattle. The subsequent winter proved to be mild, and although
there was no possibility of sowing fresh crops, or of tilling the ground, it
produced a scanty crop nevertheless, while succour was afforded by the
Georgians, whose general conduct, however, towards the Armenian
fugitives who sought refuge among them may be gathered from the epithet
of " the pitiless nation of the Georgians," applied to them by Guiragos.
Shortly after this, Avak was dispatched to visit the great Khakan
Ogotai. He was accompanied by the prayers of his people, who hoped
he would obtain a surcease of their terrible sufferings. He duly arrived
at the Court and presented the letters of the Mongol chiefs, disclosing the
object of his journey, which was to offer his submission. Ogotai received
him well, gave him a Mongol wife, and sent him home again. He also
ordered his generals to reinstate Avak in his dominions, and with his aid
to reduce those who continued to resist. These orders they carried out,
and secured the submission of Shahan Shah, son of Zakaria, of the Prince
Vahram and his son, Ak Buka, of Hasan, surnamed Jelal, Prince of
Khachen, and of many others.
In the Georgian Chronicle we read how, when Shahan Shah saw the
security which Avak had brought his people by submission, he sent to tell
Avak that if he counselled it, he would also submit. The Mongols were
very pleased with this, and conferred a golden tablet on him, and also made
over Ani and all its dependencies to him. The Georgians who submitted
were well treated, while those who were obstinate were trodden under.
Meanwhile, however, says our author, Hereth, Kakheth, Somkheth,
Karthli, and all the country towards Karnukalak, was cruelly devastated,
and the inhabitants slaughtered or reduced to slavery. Tiflis was also
captured. In winter, the Mongols encamped at Berdaa, on the banks of
the Mtsuar, towards Gag. They pillaged all Karthli, Samtzkhe", and
* Guiragos, op. cit., 128-129. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 238-239,

32 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Jawakheth, and as far as Greece {i.e., Rum), Hereth and Kakheth as far
as Derbend. Overwhelmed by these disasters, the Georgian mthawars
submitted. Among these were those of Hereth, Kakheth, Karthli, Gam-
resel of Thor, and Sargis of Thmogvi, a wise philosopher, endowed with
great gifts. The Georgian Queen, Rusudan, had taken refuge in the
mountains. To bring her to her knees, we are told that Jagatai Noyan
made a cruel raid upon the province of Samtzkhe. The Meskhes in terror
fled to their fortresses, and a great number of the people were captured or
killed. Ivaneh, son of the commander of Tzikhis-Juar, also named Kuar-
kuareh, asked the Queen's permission to be allowed to submit, so as to save
Samtzkhe from utter ruin. He had the title of the Chief of the Armourers,
and was the mthawar of the province. The Queen having consented, he
went to Chaghatai, or Jagatai, who received him well and placed overseers
in the province, which was thus spared.* At first, the Mongols allowed
the princes who were submissive, as above described, to retain their
authority in peace, but presently began to harass them by perquisitions,
demands for military service, &c. Nevertheless, they did not put
any of them to death. In the course of a few years, Avak also became
the victim of their exactions, for they were most avaricious, and
demanded not only meat and drink, but also horses and rich garments ;
horses especially were their delight, and no one could keep one, or a mule,
except secretly, for wherever they met with one they appropriated it.
Each horse thus captured was marked with a hot- iron with the tamgha,
or private mark of the owner. Thus, if it strayed it was returned
to its owner ; anyone keeping such a marked horse being punished
as a thief. These exactions became more frequent after the death
of the Mongol General Jagatai, who was assassinated, as we shall
presently show. He was the friend of Avak, and when he died many of
the other Mongols declared against the latter. One day, one of these chiefs
of inferior rank, named Joj-Buka, having entered the room where Avak
was seated, and the latter not having risen to greet him, he struck him on
the head with his whip. The attendants would have fallen upon the
intruder, but were restrained by Avak. After this outrage, he collected
his men, with the intention of assassinating Avak in the night ; but the
latter fled, and sought refuge with the Queen of Georgia, who he thought
was at issue with the invaders. When Avak fled to Rusudan, the
Mongols affected to be distressed, sent to ask him to return, and blamed
those who had caused his withdrawal. His principality they made over
to Shahan Shah as to a brother. Meanwhile, Avak wrote to Ogotai, to
tell him he had only fled to escape ill-usage, and was always at his service
While he awaited the Khakan's reply, the Mongols made a search for his
treasures, which they found hidden in his fortresses. Afraid of the anger
* Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, 517.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 33
of the Khakan, they sent message after message bidding him return.
When he at length reached their camp, he was met by a messenger from
Ogotai bearing letters and presents for him, and also orders that he was
not to be molested, and that he might go wherever he pleased. He was
then sent, with an officer named Tonghuz Aka, who had been specially
deputed as commissary of taxes in Georgia, to invite the Georgian Queen
Rusudan to submit. He acquitted himself well in his mission, and a treaty
was agreed upon, by which the Queen and her infant son David, whom she
caused to be crowned, were to be subject to the Mongols, while the latter
were not to molest her .* The famous beauty was not inclined to be so
submissive as her various nominal dependents. She wrote to the Pope,
asking for the aid of a Christian army, with which to repel the Mongols,
and professed a complete submission to the Roman Church. Gregory the
Ninth, in his reply, congratulated her on the latter decision, but held out
small consolation otherwise. He perhaps doubted her sincerity, and we
are in fact assured by Bar Hebrasus that she renounced Christianity and
became a Moslem.!
Malakia has a curious story, which is not reported, so far as I know,
elsewhere. He tells us that the three leaders of the Tartars at this time
were Chorman {i.e., Charmaghan), Benal, and Molar Noyan. One
evening, at a kuriltai, where it was resolved to make a fresh invasion of
the west and a fresh massacre, the three were not of one mind. Charma
ghan, who was of a more humane disposition than the Qther two, urged
that by the order and with the help of God, they had ravaged the land
sufficiently, and that it was better that the population which remained
should take one-half of the produce of its labour for its sustenance, and
pay over the other half to them. Night coming on, the kuriltai came to
an end, and each retired to rest. When morning broke, two of the chiefs
were found dead, and Charmaghan alone remained. He set out with
witnesses for the Court of Chankzghan {i.e., Jingis Khan, but really
of Ogotai), to whom he related what had passed. The Khan was
astonished, and declared that the death of the chiefs was good proof
that their course was not grateful to God, while his was, and that the
will of God was, that in conquering the earth they should cherish and
protect it — people it — and impose their laws upon it ; and also the
four taxes, tghghu, mal, thaghar, and ghphtchur. Those who would not
obey or pay these taxes ought to be killed and to have their lands
devastated, while the others should be spared. Chorman was sent back,
and the Khakan, we are told, gave him one of his own wives, named
Ailthana Khatun, in marriage. He accordingly returned, and settled
on the plain of Mughan.}
* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 130-131. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 240-245.
t A. Remusat, Mems. de 1' Institute, vi. 406-407.
T Malakia, Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, Add., &c, 444-445-

34 history oF The Mongols.
Guiragos tells us that at this time a Syrian doctor, named Simeon, who
was styled Rabban Athor (a mixed title, rabban meaning doctor in Syrian,
and athor meaning father in Mongol), gained great influence over Ogotai.
He asked the great Khakan to issue an order exempting the innocent
people who did not resist the Mongol arms from massacre. Ogotai
assented to this, and sent him westwards, amidst great pomp, and bearing
a note for the Mongol commander, ordering him in these matters to
conform to the wishes of the Syrian doctor. On his return, he greatly
eased the condition of the Christians. He built Christian churches in the
Mussulman towns, where hitherto no one dared pronounce the name of
Christ, notably at Tebriz, and at Nakhchivan. In these two towns their
condition had been particularly humiliating, and they dared not show
themselves even. He built churches and raised crosses there, while the
jamahar {i.e., the substitute for a bell, consisting of a sonorous piece of
wood, which was struck by another), was heard by night as well as by day.
Christian funerals, accompanied by the cross and gospel, and the sur
roundings of the liturgy, openly paraded the streets. All who opposed
were liable to be put to death. The Mongol troops treated him with
great deference, while his tamgha, or seal, attached to a document, was a
free passport for his compatriots. No one dared touch those who invoked
his name, and the Mongol generals gave him a portion of the booty they
captured. He was modest and temperate, and only took a little food in
the evening. He baptised numbers of the Mongols.*
Guiragos condenses in a few graphic phrases some of the chief
characteristics of the invaders, whom he knew so intimately. He describes
them as having horrible and repulsive countenances, and as being (except
in the case of a few who had a little) without beards. On the upper lip
and chin were a few hairs, which might be counted. They had small, piercing
eyes, and a shrill, piercing voice. They were long lived. So long as they
had abundant food, they ate and drank gluttonously, and when this was
scarce, they as easily supported hunger. They fed on the flesh of all
kinds of animals, pure and impure, but preferred that of the horse. They
cut the animals into quarters, and then boiled or roasted them without
salt. They then cut them into small pieces, and having dipped them in
salt water, ate them. Some knelt while eating, like camels, while others
sat down. Masters and servants had equal shares at their feasts. In
drinking kumis or wine, a large vessel was produced, out of which a man
took a portion in a cup, and threw some of it towards the sky and towards
the four points of the compass. After the libation, having tasted, the
cupbearer handed some of it to the principal chiefs, who, to prevent being
poisoned, made the person who carried it taste any meat or drink he
offered. They had as many wives as they pleased, and punished adultery

¦' Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 137-138. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 253.254.

the predecessors of khulagu. 35
mercilessly with death. They punished theft in the same way. Guiragos
says they had no religion and no religious ceremonies, although they had
the name of God on their lips on all occasions. They often declared that
their ruler was the equal of God, who had taken heaven himself, while he
had given the earth to the Khakan, and to prove it declared that Jingis
Khan had not been produced in the ordinary way, but that a ray of light,
coming from some invisible place, had entered by the roof into the house
of his mother, and had said, " Conceive, and thou shalt have a son who
will be ruler of the world." This story Guiragos says had been told him
by Gregory, son of Marzban and brother of Arslanbeg of Sargis and
Amira, of the family of the Mamigonians, who had heard it from the lips
of Khuthu Noyan, one of the principal Tartars, while he was teaching the
young people. When a Tartar died, or was put to death, they carried his
corpse about with them for several days, since they believed that a demon
entered the body, and made a number of statements ; they then burnt it
Sometimes also they buried it in a deep grave, with its arms and apparel,
and the gold and silver belonging to the deceased. If he was a chief,
they also buried some of his male and female slaves, that they might wait
on him, and also some horses, since they believed there were great fights
in the other world. In order to perpetuate the memory of the deceased,
they slit open the belly of his horse and took out all the flesh through the
opening. They then burnt the bones and entrails, and afterwards sewed
up the skin as if its body was whole, and thrust a pole through it, which
came out of its mouth. This memorial they hung on a tree or in an
elevated situation. Their women, he says, were magicians, and cast their
incantations everywhere. It was only after a decision by their magicians
that they undertook a march*
We have now reached the term of Charmaghan's career, but before
describing his end it will be well to sum up the result of his administration,
and also to relate what took place in Khorasan and elsewhere during his
term of office in Persia. The main results of Charmaghan's campaigns,
were the thorough subjection and parcelling out among his fellows of
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Irak-Ajem, and Arran, the last of which provinces,
with its beautiful grassy plains, became the real head-quarters of the
Mongols for a long time. Georgia, as we have seen, was severely
punished, but retained, although in a dependent position, its own line of
princes, whose history continued closely entwined with that of the
conquerors. Kerman and Fars were spared devastation by timely
submission. We have seen how the Hajib Borak obtained possession
of the former. We are told by Juveni that he carried on a long
struggle with Ghiath ud din, the Atabeg of Yezd.f He agreed to pay the
Mongols an annual tribute, and received from the Khalif the title of

* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 134-135. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 248-250. t Ilkhans, i. 66.

36 history of the Mongols.
Kutlugh Sultan. When Tair Behadur, as we shall see, attacked Seistan,
he sent orders to Borak to send him some troops, and to go and
acknowledge the Khakan's supremacy. He replied that he would
undertake to capture the place himself, and that the Mongols need not
trouble themselves about it. As to visiting the Khakan, he was too old,
but he would send his son, Rokn ud din, in his place. That young
prince set out, and en roule heard of his father's death, and that the'
throne of Kerman was now filled by his cousin.* Borak died in the year
632 hej. {i.e., 1235), and was succeeded by his nephew, who was also his
step-son and son-in-law, Kutb ud din Abul Fath, the son of his elder
brother Taniko or Baniko, of Taraz, to whom he left the succession by
his will.f
The same year, some Khuarezmian chiefs who had sought shelter at
Shiraz, went to Jiraft in Kerman, a town described by Tavernier as one of
the largest cities of Kerman, having a trade in horses and wheat. They
were named Aor Khan, Sunj Khan, and Timur Malik, the famous defender
of Khojend. Having attacked Kutb ud din, many of them were killed,
and the rest captured or dispersed. Kutb ud din gave his prisoners state
robes, and sent them back to Shiraz, whose Atabeg made apologies for
the raid, which he said had been made without his knowledge. In 1236,
Kutb ud din went to Ogotai's court to receive investiture. He was well
received there, but was deprived of his sovereignty in favour of Borak's
son Rokn ud din, while he himself was sent to China, to serve under
Mahmud Yelvaj. Rokn ud din retained the sovereignty of Kerman till
the year 650 HEJ., i.e., 1252 A.D., when he was deposed by order of
Mangu Khan, and his cousin Kutb ud din was reinstated.}
We must now say a few words about Fars. We have seen how it was
ruled by the Atabeg Said of the Salgarid family.§ He died in the year
625 HEJ., i.e., 1228, and was succeeded by his son Abubekr, who, we are
told, " annexed the greater part of the tracts lying on the side of the Gulf
of Persia, such as Hormuz, Katif, Bahrain, Oman, and Lahsa, perhaps the
Al Hasa of Ibn Batuta, which he says was previously called Hajar." || We
are further told that he sent his brother Tahamtan with rich presents to
Ogotai, and received investiture from him. The author of the " Tabakat-i-
Nasiri " says, " He engaged to pay tribute to them (the infidel Mongols),
and brought reproach and dishonour upon himself by becoming a
tributary of the infidels of Chin, and became hostile to the Dar ul Khilafat."1T
Abubekr is famous as the prince to whom Saadi dedicated his famous
" Gulistan." He retained the sovereignty of Fars for thirty-three years.**
We must turn aside for an instant to see what had taken place in
Khorasan during Charmaghan's control of the army. I have mentioned

%D'°J;sf "'."': I3I;I3»- „ t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, m8. Raverty's note.
X Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1118-1119. Notes. D'Ohsson, iii. 132. i Ante.
II Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 179. Note. f Op. cit., 180. ** Id.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 37
how Chin Timur was nominated governor of that province. He proceeded
to treat it from the point of view of a farmer of taxes, and to grind out
of the remaining inhabitants of the unhappy country the little remaining
property they had. The Mongols, we are told, did not value money or
precious stones ; but he did, and extracted what he could, by torture and
otherwise, and then slew the victims of his tyranny. The few who
escaped him had to pay a ransom for their houses* While this was the
character of the civil administration of Khorasan, it was also the scene of
some military exploits. Two of the Sultan Jelal ud din's officers, named
Karaja and Tughan-i-Sunkar (called Togan Sangur by D'Ohsson), at the
head of 10,000 Kankalis, made their way to the mountains in the neigh
bourhood of Nishapur and Tus, whence they made attacks on the
country round, and killed the governors appointed by Charmaghan.
The latter ordered Chin Timur, with his deputy, Kelilat, or Kalbad, to
march against them.t Chin Timur attacked them three times without
result, when Kelilat defeated them near Sebzevar, after a three days'
struggle, which cost him 2,000 men. Karaja thereupon fled towards
Sejistan, or Seistan, and Tughan towards Kuhistan. Three thousand
Kankalis found shelter at Herat, in the great mosque. Kelilat sent 4,000
men after them, who forced their way in and killed them all.}
Meanwhile, Tair Baghatur, who commanded the Mongol troops about
Herat and its dependency Badghis, had been ordered to march against
Karaja, and to lay waste the country where he had sheltered. In regard
to this last part of the order, Juveni quotes the Persian proverb, " Wolves
know well enough how to tear ; it is necessary to teach them how to
sew."§ He was already on the march, when he heard that Karaja had
been beaten by Kelilat, and had taken refuge in the fortress of Arak,
or Uk of Seistan, which we are told lies north-east from the Shahristan of
Seistan. There Tair beleagured him for nineteen months, when, a pesti
lence having broken out, it succumbed. Major Raverty says Uk is
situated between Farah and Zaranj, and that it has been in ruins for many
years. || The author of the " Tabakat-i-Nasiri " tells a curious story of the
siege. How, on a certain night, the defenders of the place had determined
to plant an ambuscade in some kilns outside the northern gate of the town
while a sortie was made from the eastern gate. When the Mongols
attacked the latter body, the kettle-drums were to be sounded at the
citadel, whereupon those in ambush should emerge, and take the Mongols
in rear. During the night 700 men, natives of Tulak, accordingly planted
themselves, fully equipped, in the appointed place, while at daybreak the
other contingent, after performing its religious exercises, made the
appointed sortie. When they had engaged the enemy, the kettle-drums
made the appointed signal, which was repeated, but no one issued from
* D'Ohsson, iii. 104. t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1116. Note. T D'Ohsson, iii. 104-105.
$ Id., Note 2. || Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1122. Notes,

38 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the ambush. The Malik Taj ud din Binal Tigin, who was then ruler of
Seistan and Nimroz, sent trusty men to inquire the reason for this, who
reported that the whole 700 were dead. Our author says "they had
surrendered their lives to God, and there was no sign of life in any one of
them." And he explains in the context that they had died from the pesti
lence which then raged at Uk. He says it began by a pain in the mouth,
which on the second day was followed by the teeth dropping out, and on
the third day the patient died. A woman having been seized, feeling her
teeth loose, and knowing that her end was near, summoned her little
daughter, and applied henna to her feet and hands. It was usual, he
says, for women in doing this, to wet their fingers with their tongue, and
then to rub the henna. Having done this, the woman resigned herself to
death, but in the morning her teeth became fast and the aching passed
away. It was thus discovered that henna was a specific forthe pestilence,
and in consequence a menn of the drug was sold for 250 golden dinars.
After some time, Malik Taj ud din Binal Tigin was struck in the eye with
an arrow, and presently, while directing the defence of the fort from the
top of one of the towers, he lost his footing, fell down, and was captured.
The fortress then fell. "The inhabitants were martyred after a great
number of the infidels had gone to hell."* Taj ud din Binal Tigin
was taken from Seistan to the fortress of Safhedkoh, where he was put
to death underneath the walls.f
Thus was suppressed this dangerous outbreak of one part of the dis
banded soldiery of the Khuarezm Shah, consisting mainly of Turkomans.
Another portion found its way to Syria and Egypt. Meanwhile, after the
fall of Uk, Tair Behadur wrote to Chin Timur to say he had been
intrusted by the Khakan with the government of Khorasan, which he
called upon him to surrender. The latter reproached him with his
cruelties in destroying the innocent people, with the misdeeds of Karaja,
and added that he had sent to report his conduct to head-quarters.
Meanwhile, Chin Timur and his officers received a summons from Char
maghan to go to him (Raverty says to return to Khuarezm with the agents
of the princes who were with him), and to give up the government of
Khorasan and Mazanderan to Tair Behadur. A council was held, and it
was determined that Kelilat, or Kalbad, who represented Ogotai's special
interests, should repair to the Imperial Court, to solicit his master's deci
sion in favour of Chin Timur. Some princes of the country accompanied
him. Among these were Malik Baha ud din Saluk, one of the principal
chiefs of Mazanderan, who submitted at this time, and the Asfahed Ala
ud din (or Nusrat ud din), of the Kabud Jamah.} It was the first time
that any of the Maliks of Iran had gone to do homage, and Ogotai,
who was much pleased, contrasted Charmaghan's conduct in this respect

t «%t. , * 0p' c!7' "z3-"25. t Id., 202.
J (0 labanstan and Rustamdar. Vide Tab. Nas., 263, Note.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 39
with Chin Timur's. Ogotai thereupon rewarded the latter, and appointed
him supreme governor of Khorasan, with Kalbad (or Kelilat as he is called
both by D'Ohsson and Von Hammer) as his associate, making them both
independent of Charmaghan. He conferred the tract extending from the
Kabud Jameh territory to Asterabad on the Asfahed Ala ud din ; and the
districts of Islerain, Juven, Baihak, Jajurm, Khurand, and Arghaian upon
Baha ud din, and gave each of them a golden paizah* Chin Timur appointed
Sherif uddin, of Yezd (Von Hammer says of Khuarezm), his Ulugh Bitikji,
or Chief Secretary, or Master of the Seals ; and Baha ud din Muhammed
Juveni, the father of the famous author of the "Jihan Kushai," his finance
minister. In the latter's office was a representative of each of the three
other princes who had furnished contingents for the Persian war as I have
mentioned, and who had a joint interest in the revenues of Khorasan.t
Chin Timur died in 1235, and was succeeded by a very old Mongol,
named Nussal, Tusal or Usal, who, we are told, had been appointed
by Jingis as joint guardian of the Ulus of Juchi.} He was soon
after displaced by a Buddhist Uighur, named Kurguz {i.e., blind-eye),
who had risen successively from being tutor and writing-master to
the children of Juchi Khan to be the secretary of Chin Timur (like
himself a Uighur) when the latter was Governor of Khuarezm. He
had been sent with Muhammed of Juveni to Ogotai's Court, to report to
him the condition of Khorasan and Mazanderan, which he described in
inflated Persian figures, inter alia, saying that where winter formerly
reigned, there was now spring, and that the country was as full of
flowers and perfumes as paradise. These phrases, mixed with flattering
speeches, won him the favour of Ogotai, whose minister, Chinkai, also
a Uighur, favoured him. During the rule of Nussal, Kurguz was
summoned to the Court, where he had enemies as well as friends, to give
an account of the affairs of Khorasan. While Chinkai supported him,
and argued that the principal people of Khorasan also wished to have
him, Danishmend Hajib, another official at the Court, urged the claims of
Ungu Timur, son of Chin Timur. Kurguz at length obtained a temporary
authority in Khorasan and Mazanderan, with orders to make a census,
and receive the taxes in the two provinces. The order appointing him
deposed Nussal, who had been a mere puppet, the real authority having
been controlled by Kelilat, who now found himself put into the shade.
Kurguz proceeded to repress a good deal of exaction, &c, in his government.
Meanwhile, Kelilat and Sherif ud din, the vizier, secretly supported Ungu
Timur, and incited him to send complaints of the doings of Kurguz to
the Khakan. Their attacks were parried there by Chinkai, and Ogotai at
length sent Arghun, with two officers, to report on the state of things.§
They were met at Fenakat by Kurguz, who had set out to report in person,
* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1120-1121. Notes. D'Ohsson Hi. 106-107.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 107.108. I Ilkhans, i. 113. 5 D Ohsson, in. iio-iii.

40 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
and had left Bahu ud din in charge of his administration. The Imperial
commissaries asked him to return with them, and as he refused, a
disturbance took place, in which he had a tooth broken. Although
compelled to accompany them, he dispatched a messenger to Ogotai, who
carried his coat marked with blood. On the arrival of the commissaries
in Khorasan, Kelilat, Ungu Timur, and Nussal drove out the secretaries
and other officials of Kurguz from his palace with sticks, and carried them
off. The latter's messenger soon after returned. Ogotai, who was
irritated at the sight of the bloody garment, summoned the disputants to
his presence. Kurguz at once set out and was shortly followed by Kelilat
and Ungu Timur. Kelilat was assassinated as he passed through Bukhara.
I have described how the Khakan was entertained by the two rivals .*
Chinkai, who was Kurguz's patron, was appointed to report on the matter.
The latter was himself a shrewd man of business, while Ungu Timur was
young and inexperienced and had lost his most sagacious adviser in
Kelilat. Ogotai tried to reconcile the two parties, and ordered the rivals
to be deprived of their arms, and to live in the same tent and drink out ot
the same cup. This mode of reconciliation failed. Chinkai at length
made his report, and Ogotai decided in favour of Kurguz. As Ungu
Timur was a subject of Batu's, his father having been Governor of
Khuarezm, as we have seen, he was ordered to be handed over to him for
punishment. I have described how he asked to be punished by Ogotai
himself.t Some of his supporters were bastinadoed, others were handed
over to Kurguz to be punished with the cangue,% and to return with him,
their lives being spared for the sake of their wives and children. Kurguz
was given authority over all the country south of the Oxus which had
been conquered by Charmaghan. He took back with him, so as to have
him under his eye, the vizier, Sherif ud din, whose secret intrigues on
behalf of Ungu Timur had been disclosed to him.
Kurguz returned to Khorasan in 1239-40, and fixed his residence at
Tus, where he assembled the grandees of Khorasan and Irak, and the
Mongol generals, and celebrated his installation with grand fetes, at which
the new Imperial edicts were published.§ He sent his son to deprive the
creatures of Charmaghan (who were ruining Irak and Azerbaijan by their
exactions) of their posts. He protected the Persians from the ruthless
Mongol soldiery, and was everywhere respected. Tus had but fifty
houses left in it. He proceeded to restore it, and the various Persian
grandees built new houses there, and we are told the price of
furniture increased a hundred-fold in one week. || Herat, too, began to
revive. Since its destruction, in 1222 to 1236, it had remained practically
a waste. In the latter year, Ogotai having ordered the restoration of
* Ante, i. 134. t Ante, 134.
t This was a Chinese instrument of punishment, consisting of a heavy wooden collar, through
which the head and hands were thrust and then locked.
$ D'Ohsson, iii. 115-116. || Id., 117.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 41
Khorasan, a native Amir of the place whom Tului had transported with
1,000 families to Bishbaligh, where they exercised the craft of weavers, and
supplied the Court with robes, and who was named Iz ud din, was ordered
to return there with 100 families, where for want of provisions they
suffered greatly. As they had no oxen, the men dragged the ploughs in
pairs, while the canals being choked, the land had to be irrigated by
hand. After the first harvest twenty strong men were sent, each with
twenty menns of cotton, into Afghanistan to buy ploughs and long-tailed
sheep. In 1239, 200 more families were sent from Bishbaligh to
settle at Herat. Fugitives and others who had escaped the general
massacre in the campaigns of Jingis Khan, collected round them from
various parts of Khorasan, and the following year, a census having been
taken, it was found that its inhabitants had increased to 6,900, after which
it continually grew.*
Iz ud din had died at Farab, while conducting the second batch of
emigrants from Bishbaligh, and was succeeded as superintendent of
Herat by his son, Shems ud din Muhammed. He went to Ogotai's
Court, and asked that a Shahnah or Intendant, and a darugha or
Mongol commissary, should be appointed for Herat. A Karluk Turk,
whose name is not recorded, was appointed to the former post, and a
Mongol named Mangasai to the latter, while Shems ud din himself
retained the chief control of civil matters. They proceeded to open the
Jui Injil canal, and to take it into Herat, and they built the Burj-i-Karluk,
named after the Karluk Shahnah. In 1241 Shems ud din was displaced
as governor, in favour of Malik Majd ud din, the Kalyuni, who, in concert
with the Karluk, opened the Alanjan canal.t These events took place
while Kurguz was governor of Khorasan, and we are told that after
Ogotai's death he had Majd ud din put to death, and his head taken to
him at Tus. He was succeeded as governor of Herat by his son,
Shems ud din Kalyuni, who a year later died from poison.}
Kurguz had put his enemy the vizier, Sherif ud din, in the cangue,
and extracted from him confessions, which he sent on to the Court. His
messenger heard en route of the death of Ogotai. He had himself set
out to make a report to his master, and in passing through Mavera un
nehr had quarrelled with an official there, and aroused the anger of the
princes of the house of Jagatai, who were further incited by a messenger
sent by the wife of the imprisoned Sherif ud din. They accordingly
dispatched Kurbuka and Arghun, who was, as we have seen, no friend
of his, with orders to carry him off by force. The latter, on hearing
this, respited the life of Sherif ud din, who had already been handed over
to the governor of Sebzevar for execution. Kurguz himself, after a show
of resistance, was arrested in his house at Tus, with his vizier, Usseil ud
-,  _ — _
* Id., iii. 117-118. t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1127-1128. Raverty's notes. % Id., 1x28.

42 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
din Rogdi. The removal of his strong hand was the signal for renewed
anarchy in Khorasan and Mazanderan. Kurguz was taken to the ulus of
Jagatai, and thence to Mongolia, to the Court of the Regent, Turakina.
His patron, Chinkai, was now in disgrace there, and, as we read, having
no money he could get no justice. He was remitted back to the Jagatai
princes for trial, and was at length put to death by order of Kara Khulagu,
by having his mouth filled with earth. He had recently abjured Buddhism,
and become a Muhammedan* Turakina appointed Arghun in his place.
We shall revert to him presently. Among the stories recorded of the
Khakan Ogotai we read that he -was very fond of wrestling, and enter
tained at his Court a large number of Mongol, Kipchak, and Chinese
athletes. Having heard of the renown of the Persian wrestlers, he
ordered Charmaghan to send him some. The latter forwarded him
thirty, under two famous leaders, Pileh and Muhammed Shah. Ogotai
was much struck with the size and physique of Pileh. Ilchikadai, who it
would seem had charge of the Mongol wrestlers, ventured to question ¦
if the cost of bringing them so far would be repaid. Ogotai replied
that he would back him against Ilchikadai's men for 500 balishes against
500 horses. The following day the latter produced a champion to
struggle with Pileh. The Mongol succeeded in throwing his adversary
down and in falling on him. " Hold me fast," said Pileh playfully, " and
take care I don't escape." At the same time he raised him up, and
threw him to the ground with such force that his bones were heard to
crack. The emperor then rose and told him to hold his opponent fast,
and turning to Ilchikadai claimed his bet. Pileh was rewarded with many
gifts, together with 500 balishes. Ogotai presented him shortly after with
a young damsel, and asked her some time after, laughingly, how she had
found the Tajik {i.e., the Persian). She replied that they did not live
together, and when Ogotai wanted an explanation, Pileh told him that
having acquired a reputation at the Khakan's Court, and never having
been beaten, he wished to preserve his powers so as to merit the emperor's
favour. The latter replied that he wanted his like perpetuating, and
excused him from further combats.t
We must now shortly consider the doings of the Mongols in the districts
east of Khorasan, bordering on India, during Charmaghan's campaigns in
the west. According to Vassaf, when Jingis Khan withdrew northwards
he ordered each of his four sons to furnish 1,000 men, who were to plant
themselves in the districts of Shiburghan, Talikan, Ali-Abad, Gaunk,
Bamian, and Ghazni.} The author of the "Tabakat-i-Nasiri" tells us
how, on the accession of Ogotai, when Charmaghan was intrusted with
the army which overran Western Persia, other Mongol armies were sent
into the districts of Kabul, Ghazni, and Zabulistan, and how the Malik

D'Ohsson, iii. 120-121. Ilkhans, i., 115. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1149. Note,
t D'Ohsson, ii. 96-97. J Id., 280,

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 43
Saif ud din Hasan, the Karluk, who it would seem held the fief of Bamian,
together with the Maliks of Ghur and Khorasan, submitted, and
consented to receive Mongol Shahnahs or commissaries* Notwithstanding
this they attacked Saif ud din and drove him from Karmant (this was
about 636 HEJ.), Ghazni, and Bamian. He thereupon went towards Multan
and Sind. His son, Nasir ud din Muhammed, went on to Delhi, and was
granted the fief of Baran, but presently joined his father, and seems to have
fallen into the hands of the Mongol commissaries, with whom he remained
some time.} When the Malik Saif ud din Hasan withdrew across the
Indus the districts of Ghazni and Karman fell under the complete control
of the Mongol Shahzadahs or Shahnahs, and we may take it that
Afghanistan was incorporated with the Mongol Empire.
Let us now turn once more to Charmaghan. He had some time before
this been attacked by an illness which caused him to become dumb, and
which was probably some form of paralysis. He left two sons, Shiramun,
who became a famous general and was called the Golden Column by
his countrymen because of his successes, and Baurai, who was put to
death by Khulagu because of his evil character.§ According to Guiragos,
in the beginning of the year 691 of the Armenian era {i.e., Jan. 20th,
1241, to Jan. 19th, 1242), an Imperial edict of the Khakan superseded
Charmaghan, and appointed Baigu or Baichu in his place. We are further
told that Baichu was chosen by some magical process, as was customary
with the Mongols. 1 1 I believe rather that his appointment, which took
place in 1241, on the death of Ogotai,-was due to the policy of his widow,
Turakina, who, on her accession, placed her creatures in various places of
trust. It was probably as the protege" of Turakina and her son Kuyuk
that Baichu aroused the jealousy of Batu and Khulagu, as we shall see
further on.
Baichu (called Baichu Kurchi by Guiragos) belonged to the tribe
Baisut (called Yissut by D'Ohsson), and was a relative of Chepe or
Jebe Noyan, who made the famous campaign in the west with
Subutai. He commanded a hazarah under Charmaghan and, as we
have seen, was promoted to command his tuman.H His first efforts
after his appointment were directed against the Seljuki rulers of
Asia Minor or Rum. This dynasty had been founded about the
year 1080, by Suliman Shah, who had been sent into Asia Minor with
80,000 Ghuz or Turkomans, and had conquered the central part of the
peninsula from the Byzantine emperors. He fixed his capital at Iconium,
and his dominion was known as that of the Seljuks of Rum. Kai Kobad,
the seventh successor of Suliman, was on the throne in 1235-6, when a
* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, i. 119. Hasan had been a feudatory of Jelal ud din Khuarezm Shah. On p. 2,
following Abulfeda, I called him Hasan Karak, but his real name was doubtless Hasan the Karluk.
t Major Raverty explains this as meaning a darah or long valley, watered by a tributary^ of
the Shahezan. It has, of course, nothing to do with the Persian province of Kerman. (Op cit.,
499. Note 7.) \ Tabakat-i-Nasiri, mg-1129. Notes. § Malakia, op. cit., _ 449.
f Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 138. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 426. % Erdmann's Temudjin, 229.

44 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Mongol envoy, named Shems ud din, went to his Court, bearing a yarligh
or Imperial order summoning him to submit, which he accordingly did.
Notwithstanding this, a body of 10,000 Mongols invaded his dominions.*
When Baichu received the command of the Mongol armies in the west
he prepared to strike a heavy blow against the Seljuk monarchy. At this
time {i.e., 1243) Ghiath ud din Kai Khosru, son of Kai Kobad, had been
its ruler for some years. As we have seen, he had married Thamar, the
daughter of the Georgian Queen, Rusudan. Baichu first marched into that
part of Armenia which was subject to the Seljuki, and attacked Karin,
the ancient Theodosiopolis, called Karno Kaghak by the Armenians, and
better known as Erzen-er-Rum or Erzerum, which W. de Nangis identifies
with Uz, the land of Job. Its commander was Sinan ud din Yakut.
Having invested it, they summoned the citizens to surrender. They
refused, drove out their envoys, and jeered at them from the walls. The
Mongols thereupon battered the ramparts with twelve catapults. They
speedily destroyed its churches and monasteries, made a general massacre
of its inhabitants, and then pillaged and fired it. It had a numerous
population of Christians and Mussulmans, and many peasants from the
country round had also sheltered there. Inter alia, the Mongols captured
a great number of bibles, martyrologies, and liturgical books, delicately
written in letters of gold, which they sold at a small price to their
Armenian and Georgian allies, who sent them as presents to the churches
and monasteries in their own country. These Christian auxiliaries also
redeemed many men, women, and children, bishops, priests, and deacons,
and we read that Prince Avak, Shahan Shah, and Akbuka, son of
Vahram, Gregory of Khachen, son of Tuph, who was sister to the great
Atabegs Ivaneh and Zakaria, as well as their troops, gave their freedom
to their captives, and allowed them to go where they pleased. The
Mongols not only sacked the town, but also a number of the surrounding
districts. The Sultan of Rum did nothing to help them, but hid away in
fear, and it was even said he was dead. The Mongols withdrew with
their booty to spend the winter in their rendezvous on the plain of
Mughan.f While they were encamped there Kai Khosru sent their commander a
boastful message. "Do you think," he said, "because you have ruined
one of our towns that you have vanquished the Sultan and laid low his
power ? My cities are innumerable, and my soldiers cannot be counted.
Remain where you are and await my arrival. I will come in person to see
you, sword in hand." The Mongols were not disturbed at this message,
and Baichu merely said, " You have spoken bravely. God will accord the
victory as he pleases." After having got his horses and other cattle in
good condition, he set out by easy marches towards where the Sultan was

* D'Ohsson, iii. 79. Note.
t Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 138-139. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 426-428. D'Ohsson, iii. 79.80,

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 45
encamped, not far from Erzenjan.* There he was encamped with his
wives and concubines, and great store of gold, silver, and other treasures.
He also had with him a menagerie of wild animals to be used in hunting,
and including rats, cats, and even reptiles. He wished to show his
troops that he had plenty of confidence.t The King of Little Armenia and
the Princes of Hims and Mayafarkin,} who had promised him assistance,
failed to send it ; but he had 2,000 Frank auxiliaries under the orders of
John Liminata, from Cyprus, and Boniface de Castro, a Genoese. Sanuto
calls the latter Boniface de Molinis, a Venetian. Abulfeda tells us he
was also joined by a contingent from Aleppo, under Naseh ud din Persa.§
Baichu divided his army into various sections, which he intrusted to his
most valiant subordinates, and distributed his auxiliaries among them so
as to avoid treason.|| In regard to the date of this famous battle (namely,
the Armenian year 692), Vartan tells us that the letters forming this
number, make up the word Oghb (meaning woe or lamentation), which,
he adds, was well borne out by the terrible sufferings of Armenia, not
only those of its inhabitants, but also of its plains and mountains, which
were deluged with tears and blood.1T Abulfaraj tells us the fight took
place in June and July, 1243.** Abulfeda says in 641 HEJ., which began
June 20th, 1243. Rubruquis tells us that he was informed by an eye
witness that Baichu had only 10,000 men with him. Haithon says
30,000. Malakia tells us the Sultan, on the other hand, had i6o,ooo.tf
Before the fight, according to Chamchean, Baichu sent home many of the
Georgian and Armenian auxiliaries, retaining only those princes on whom
he could depend, such as Avak, Shahan Shah, Elikum the Orpelian, and
Akbuka, son of Vahram.}}
According to the Georgian Chronicle, the advance guard of the Sultan's
army was commanded by Dardan Sharwashidze Apkhaz, promoted on
account of his great valour. He was a Christian. With him was
Pharadaula, son of Shalwa, lord of Thor and Akhai Tzikhe, who, according
to Malakia, had been a refugee with the Sultan for many years. A large
contingent of Georgians fought willingly enough in the Mongol ranks, in
the hope of exacting vengeance from their bitter foes, the Mussulmans.
The Sultan's army was very numerous, but this did not cow their
opponents, who were accustomed to fight against great odds. " What
* The place was called Tchman Katuk, or Asechman gadug. Guiragos calls it a town, but
there was no town of this name, but north-east of Erzenjan is a mountain called Chimenkedik (le
defile herbu) by the Turks. Bar Hebraeus (Chron. Syr., 519, Chron. Arab., 314) calls the place
Kusa tagh (i.e., "Mons sordidus"), while Novairi approximates more nearly to the Armenian
historian in calling it Aksheher in the plain of Erzenjan. (D'Ohsson, iii. 81. Guiragos, ed.
Brosset, 140. Note 1. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi., 429.)
t Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 139-140.
X In 1241 Shihab ud din, Prince of Mayafarkin, had received a summons, commencing "The
Lieutenant of the Lord of Heaven upon Earth, the Khakan," and which offered him the title of
Selahdar, or cupbearer, and bade him raze the walls of his fortresses. He pleaded that he was
a very small person, and asked the Mongols to address themselves to the rulers of Rum, Syria
and Egypt, whose example he would follow. (Makrizi, in D'Ohsson, iii. 85-86.)
$ Abulfeda, iv. 473. Haithon Chron., 34. D'Ohsson, iii. 80-81. Ante, i. 166.
II Hist, de la Georgie, i. 518-519. % Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, Add., 308.
** Chron. Syr., 520. Chron. Arab., 314. tt Op. cit., 446. XX Hist, de la Georgie, i. 519. Note.

46 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
shall be my reward," said Baichu to Sargis, a brave and renowned warrior,
the grandson of Kuarkuareh-Jakel, " for the news that I bring you ? The
Sultan has learnt that we were coming, and has set out himself. His
camp is not far off, he has an innumerable host, and proposes to attack
us to-morrow." Sargis replied, " I know your warlike ardour and your
successes, oh Noyan, but this vast host does not seem to presage any
good." " You know not," said Baichu, smiling, " our Mongol people. God
has given us the victory, and we count as nothing the number of our
enemies. The more they are, the more glorious it is to win ; the
more plunder we shall secure. Meanwhile make ready, for in to-morrow's
fight we shall see what will become of them." It is thus, adds the
chronicler, that they dared all nations. Malakia tells us the son of
Shalwa {i.e., Pharadaula) defeated the Tartars opposed to him, and
killed many of them, but on the other side Akbuka, son of Vahram,
and grandson of Blu Zakaria, fought valiantly with the battalion of
noble Georgians and Armenians, his companions. They defeated
the right wing of the Sultan's army, and killed several of his
Amirs. Night soon after intervened, and the two armies encamped
close together on the plains between Erzerum and Erzenjan.
The following morning the Tartars, Armenians, and Georgians made
a rush upon the enemy's camp. They found it abandoned, and
secured a great booty. The Sultan's tent was splendidly decorated
inside and out, and they found, inter alia, a panther, a lion, and a leopard
chained at its entrance. The Sultan, we are told, had fled during the
night, afraid of his Amirs, who wished to submit. Leaving a guard to
watch over the camp, the Mongols went in pursuit* The Georgian
Chronicle says that Dardan Sharwashidze" Aphkhaz having been killed in
the battle, the Sultan's people fled, when there was a terrible carnage,
while a great many prisoners were made. The Sultan was much
exasperated, and put to death Pharadaula out of hatred for the Georgians.
The conduct of the latter won the hearts of their allies, who liberally
divided the booty with them.f When the Sultan fled he sent his harem
to Iconium, abandoned his baggage, and himself went to Ancyra.} The
Turks were pursued for some distance mercilessly, and the victors then
returned to plunder the dead. They ravaged the country round, and
collected a great quantity of gold and silver, of rich vestures, of camels,
horses, mules, and cattle.
The authorities differ as to the order of the next proceeding of the
invaders, but it is natural to suppose they attacked Erzenjan, which
resisted bravely. The citizens were, however, inveigled into a surrender,
when they were mercilessly slaughtered, except the young people, who
were reduced to slavery. W. de Nangis says that two Franks were made
* Brosset, Hist, de la Georgie, i. 518-519. Adds., &c. 446-447.
t Hist, de la Georgie, 1. 519. I Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 511. Chron. Arab., 314.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 47
prisoners in the town who were famed for their valour. The Mongols
determined to pit one against the other, and having armed and horsed
them, stood round to watch the fight. The two champions, however,
turned upon them, and before they were killed had destroyed fifteen and
wounded thirty Tartars* Tephrike", the modern Divirigi, paid heavy
black mail, and was spared.f Sivas or Sebaste was also submissive, and
purchased at least a respite by surrendering a portion of its wealth. The
Mongols put shahnahs there, imposed the taxes of thai and talar, burnt
the war engines they found, and destroyed the walls. They then
apparently advanced upon Cassarea, the citizens of which resisted for some
days ; but the town being at length captured, the grandees and rich people
were put to death after having been tortured, while the women and
children were carried off as slaves. Meanwhile the Sultan's mother took
refuge with her daughter and dependents in Cilicia.} Seeing that
resistance was useless, one of Kai Khosru's generals and the Kadhi of
Amasia went at their own instance to the Mongol camp, which was then
at Sivas, and undertook to pay an annual tribute of 400,000 pieces of
money, and a certain number of rich cloths, horses, and slaves.
According to the missionary friar Simon, as reported by Vincent of
Beauvais, the Seljuki undertook to pay 12,000,000 hyperperes, 500 pieces
of silk, 500 camels, and 5,000 sheep annually, which were to be transported
free of cost to the Khakan's Court. Besides this tribute, a sum equal in
value was to be disbursed in presents, while the various Tartar envoys
who visited Rum were to be supplied with what they needed, free of cost.
The Sultan, who was meanwhile at Iconium, gladly accepted these terms. §
The Sultan's notary computed that the cost of entertaining the Tartar
envoys (perhaps shahnahs or commissaries is meant) during two years
at Iconium, independent of the meat and wine they used, was 60,000
hyperperes. The treaty was made at Sivas, in the presence of
Constantine, Lord of Lampron.|| In this campaign the Mongols became
the virtual masters of Rum as far as Angora, Gangra, a town of
Paphlagonia, and Smyrna, while, as we know from Rubruquis, the
ruler of Trebizond became their vassal.1T
The Mongols after these successes once more returned to winter in the
plain of Mughan, and their Christian auxiliaries and allies again
ransomed numbers of their co-religionists. At this time the Greeks and
Latins were struggling for the Empire of the East, John Ducas, Vataces
being the Greek Emperor, and Baldwin the Latin one. Both of them
entered into negotiations with the beaten Seljuki sovereign for an alliance.
The latter naturally preferred the stronger rival, Vataces, whose greater
proximity to the Mongols made him a more certain ally. A meeting was
i Dom. Bouquet, xx. 342.
l Ha

t Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 140. D'Ohsson and Von Hammer call the place Tokat.
I Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 520. Chron. Arab., 3i4-3I5- ,$ D'Ohsson, iii. 82-83. Note.
i| Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist., xxxi. 18. II St. Martin Memoires, ii. 121, and Notes.

48 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
arranged at Tripoli on the Meeander, where the Sultan built a wooden
bridge as a means of communication between the two camps. An
offensive and defensive league was entered into between them, after which
the Sultan returned to Iconium, and the Emperor to Philadelphia.*
The campaign of the Mongols against Rum naturally took them close
to the famous town of Malatia, then governed by Rashid ud din Al Juveni,
who, collecting such treasures as he could, withdrew with a number of
the principal people towards Aleppo. Abulfaraj tells us his own father
was wishful to accompany them, and had brought together some sumpter
cattle to carry his treasures. He adds that a mule belonging to him,
having bolted when being strapped to its burden, was caught and pillaged
by the town boys, which is assuredly a naive story to occur in such a grim
narrative. His father eventually stayed behind, and arranged with the
Metropolitan for the defence of the place, Mussulmans and Christians
meeting together to consult in the great church, and agreeing to man the
walls, &c. The party which fled from the town were attacked ten
parasangs off, at a place called Beth Goza in the Syrian, and Bajuza in
the Arabic chronicle of Abulfaraj. Many of them were slaughtered, and
the young people made prisoners, only a few regaining the town, f The
following year {i.e., 1244) a detachment of Mongols under Yassaur Noyan
made an attack upon Syria, and by way of Mayafarkin, Mardin, and
Edessa or Urfa, crossing theEuphrates, they advanced as far as Hailan (?),
near Aleppo. They did not actually reach the latter city, as they were
obliged to withdraw on account of the dryness and heat, which injured
their horses' feet. Yassaur demanded black mail from the governor,
which having been paid, he approached Malatia, where he laid waste
the vineyards and orchards, and put to death everybody met with outside
the town. Its governor, Rashid ud din, collected together gold and
silver ornaments, &c, to the value of 40,000 gold pieces, together with
sacred vessels from the churches, reliquaries, thuribles, candlesticks,
crosses, covers of sacred books, &c, which he gave the invaders, and
they returned home again. Abulfaraj tells us how, about this time, his
father took his family, including himself, to Antioch, where they continued
to live for some time.} The campaign just mentioned is named by
Guiragos, who tells us the Mongols made a raid upon Mesopotamia,
Amid, Urha {i.e., Urfa or Edessa), Nisibin, Syria, &c. Although
unopposed, they lost many men from the heats. On their return they
ordered Erzerum to be restored, intrusting the work to Sargis,
bishop of that town, and to Shahan Shah, son of Zakaria.§ In the
autumn of 1244, as Matthew Paris tells us, Bohemund the Fifth,
Prince of Antioch, received a summons from the Mongol commander
* Nicephorus Gregorias, and Akropolita. Stritter, iii. I03i.i033, and Notes.
Lebeau, xvii. 411-412, passim.
. a, ,c • ™. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 521. Chron. Arab., 315.
t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 522-523. Chron. Arab., 318-319. $ Op. cit., ed. Brosset, 145.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 49
ordering him (1) to level the walls of his fortresses, (2) to send
him all the revenue of his kingdom, and (3) to send him 3,000
young damsels. Bohemund refused, and Yassaur had too many
men prostrate by the heats to enable him to compel him, and
retired to Asia Minor. The following year Bohemund and the other
Christian princes, his dependents, were constrained to submit and to pay
tribute. Thenceforward they continued subject to the Mongols.
In the year 1245 the Mongols invaded the districts north of Lake Van.
Having captured Khelat they made it over, with the surrounding districts,
to Thamtha, the sister of Avak and widow of Malik Ashraf, to whom it
had formerly belonged. After she had been captured by Jelal ud din, the
Khuarezm Shah, she had fallen into the hands of the Mongols, and had
visited the Court of the Khakan, where she had lived some years. When
Hamad-ud-daula, the envoy of Rusudan, visited Ogotai, he was allowed to
take her back with him. The Khakan then ordered that the possessions
she held while her husband, the Malik Ashraf, was living, should be
restored to her.* Haithon, King of Little Armenia, seeing how matters
were going on, and probably not sorry to break the yoke of the Seljuki,
now sent envoys with magnificent presents to the invaders. These
envoys, we are told, were presented to Baichu, to Charmaghan's widow,
Ailthina Khatun, and to the other officials. They demanded the surrender
of the Seljuki Sultan's mother, wife, and daughter, who had sought shelter
in Cilicia. As I have mentioned, Haithon professed to be greatly
distressed at this demand, and said he would rather they had asked him
to give up his son Leon, but he was constrained to obey. The Mongols
were much pleased at his conduct, and sent him a tamgha, or official seal,
constituting him a vassal of their empire.t He shortly after had to make
head against Constantine, the Lord of Lampron (now called Nimrun
Kalesi, situated two days' journey west of Tarsus, in one of the gorges of
Mount Taurus). He had rebelled, and allied himself with the Sultan of
Rum, who was naturally aggrieved at his harem having been surrendered.
Together they invaded and ravaged Cilicia, but they were badly beaten,
and their army almost destroyed.} Abulfaraj tells us they attacked
Tarsus, where they were assailed by terrible rains, which converted the
country round into mud, and made it very harassing for their horses.
They were in this plight when news arrived of the death of their master,
the Sultan Ghiath ud din Kai Khosru. This happened in 1246. There
upon the grandees put his eldest son, Iz ud din Kai Kavus, on the throne,
associating with him the latter's two younger brothers. Messengers now
came from the Mongols demanding that Iz ud din should go to the
Khakan's Court to do homage. He excused himself on the ground that
he was afraid of the Greeks and Armenians, who were his enemies,

'• Id., 145. t Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 141. I Id., 142.

50 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
promised to go later, and offered to send his younger brother, Rokn ud
din.* It seems a number of partisans of the latter wished to raise him to
the throne. When the Grand Vizier, Shems ud din, of Ispahan, learnt
this he had them seized and put to death. He then presumed to take the
mother of Iz ud din into his harem, by whom he had a son, and finally
dispatched Rokn ud din with rich presents for the Khakan.} Rokn ud din
is called the Sultan of Khelat by the Georgian chronicler.
Meanwhile the Mongols gradually enlarged their borders. Bedr ud
din Lulu, Prince of Mosul, on behalf of the Prince of Damascus, made a
treaty with them, by which the people of Syria were taxed, the
richest at ten dirhems per head, the middle class at five, and the poor at
one. This tax was duly levied in 1245. The same year a detachment of
them entered Sheherzur, eight days north of Baghdad, and sacked the
town. News of this reached Baghdad by pigeon post. The following
year they advanced as far as Yakuba, but were defeated by the troops of
Baghdad, under the so-called Little Devatdar, who took some prisoners.}
Let us now turn again to Georgia. According to the Georgian
Chronicle, the Mongols, after their campaign against the Seljuki of Rum,
went to their summer quarters of Gelakun and Mount Ararat, whence they
sent messengers to Rusudan offering her their alliance, and bidding her
send her son David to their camp, as they wished to confer the
sovereignty of Tiflis and of all Georgia upon him. This authority tells us
the Queen was charmed to comply, inasmuch as the Mongols never broke
their promises, and always treated those well who submitted. She
accordingly came down {i.e., from her mountain retreat), with Shahan Shah
and Avak, who were much esteemed by the Tartars, Shotha Kupri
Vahram, chief of Thor, Grigol Suramel, eristhaf of Karthli, Kuarkuar,
commander of Samtzkhe and of Tzikhis-Juar, and chief of the armourers,
and Sargis, commander of Thmogvi, with the people of Shawkheth, of
Klarjeth and of Tao, who all went to meet the young Prince David. The
latter was accompanied by Tzotnd Dadian, a virtuous man and illustrious
warrior ; by the B^dian, the Eristhaf of Radsha, the Guriel, and the most
distinguished people. They all went to Tiflis, and thence to Berdaa,
where the Mongol Noyans were encamped. They received him well, and
conferred on him all Georgia and Samshwildd (which had been previously
conquered by Yassaur Noyan), and Angurga (also written Agurnaga),
assisted by Avak. So great was the honour paid to the young prince that
he was called Narin David {i.e., David with the august countenance).
Wakhucht says Narin means " arrived " (venu).§ The Mongols now sent
news of their victories to the Khakan at Karakorum, and forwarded to
him a richly ornamented head-dress, a suit of armour, &c. They
reported also how the Georgians, king and people, had submitted ; that

* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 524. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 526. Chron. Arab, 320.
J D Ohsson, 111. 88-89. S Hist- de la Georgie, i. 520-521, 528. Note 3,

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 51
they professed a good religion, were truthful, and did not practice sorcery
or magic, while the Persians were false, traitors, and breakers of their
word, and much given to magic and sodomy. The Grand Khan sent
word back that they must employ the Georgians, who were trustworthy
warriors, to exterminate the Persians, and ordered their chiefs to be sent
to him. Jaghatai Noyan therefore sent on Avak, who had been created
Atabeg and commander-in-chief by Rusudan.* He travelled in company
with the Seljuk Prince of Rum, Rokn ud din. We are told they traversed
unknown kingdoms, where no Georgian had hitherto put his foot. They
eventually reached the camp of Batu, who is described as singularly
handsome. Avak had with him his chamberlain, David, son of Ivaneh of
Akhai Tzikh£, who said to him : " As we are going into strange lands, and
there is no knowing what may happen, it would be perhaps prudent that
I should act the part of your master, and you that of my slave, and if they
intend to kill you I shall be taken and executed. They will not heed a
servant." After some entreaties, Avak consented, and on arriving before
Batu, David passed himself off as his master. Batu treated them very
well, and, seeing they had nothing to fear, on a further interview Avak
himself passed in front. His host was astonished, and on having the
matter explained to him, greatly praised David, saying : " If this be the
quality of the Georgian race, I order it to have pre-eminence over all the
races subject to our khanate ; " and he issued a special order in this
sense, and gave him an introduction to the Khakan.t Shortly after, the
Mongol Noyans determined that the young King of Georgia should also
visit Karakorum. He was accordingly sent there, and was accompanied
by Bega, son of Grigol Suramel, eristhaf of Karthli; and the senior
chamberlain, Beshken, son of Makhunjag Gurcelel, to whom were
confided two pearls of great price. The party followed in the footsteps of
Avak and Rokn ud din, and first went to the camp of Batu and then
to the capital, where David was well received, and where he stayed with
Avak.} Meanwhile, his mother, Rusudan, was living in the mountain
district of Suaneth and Abkhazia. We are told she was pressed by Batu §
and by Baichu to go to their Courts. Having sent her submission to the
former, he gave orders that she was to go and live at Tiflis. She was,
however, much chagrined at the course of events and the absence of her
son, and is said to have taken poison in her embarrassment how at the
same time to conciliate Batu and Baichu, who were very jealous of one
another. She was buried in the tomb of her family in the monastery of
Gelath, and is still to be seen represented in rich costume on the walls of
the church there. || The date of her death is not quite certain. The
Georgian annals give the impossible year 1231. Wakhucht gives

* Hist, de la Georgie, 522. t Id., 522-523- I Id., 5?8.
1 He is called the chief of the army which occupied the country of the Russians, of Ossethi and
Derbend, by Guiragos.
|| Hist, de la Georgie, 528-529. Note,

52 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
1237, but there is a letter extant sent by Pope Gregory the Ninth to her,
showing she was living at that date. Chamchean says she poisoned herself
in 1247, and it is not improbable that it really occurred in 1245-1246.
Georgia was now without a sovereign, Rusudan's son being away in
Mongolia, while her nephew, according to the Georgian annals, was still
a prisoner with the Sultan of Rum. The country was accordingly
partitioned by the Noyans, who nominated chiefs of ten thousand, or
Thumnis-mthawars. The first of these, we are told, was Egarslan
Bakurtzikhel, a great orator and warrior, but without any worldly goods.
To him they confided the forces of Hereth, Kakheth, of Kambejian, and
the country from Tiflis as far as the mountains of Shamakha. Shahan
Shah was given the appanage of Avak, in addition to his own. Vahram
Gagel was given all Somkheth. Gregol got Suramel and Karthli,
Gamrecel, of Thor, the rival in bravery of Egarslan, commanded in
Jawakheth, in Samtzkhe, and as far as Karnukalak. And, lastly, Tzotnd
Dadian and the Eristhaf of Radsha, in all the kingdom beyond the
mountain of Likh.* Their various troubles, and the harsh rule of the
Mongols, drove the Georgians to despair, and we are told the Mthawars
of Imier and of Amier held a meeting at Kokhta. There were present
Shahan Shah, Egarslan, Tzotne" Dadian, Vahram Gagel, Kupro Shotha,
and the chiefs of Hereth, Kakheth and Karthli, with Gamrecel of Thor,
Sargis of Thmogwi, the Meskhians, and those of Tao, and they decided
to band themselves against the Tartars. Karthli was fixed upon as the
place of meeting, and all withdrew to make preparations. When news of
this plot reached the Noyans, Baichu and Angurg (PArghun), they
hastened to the borders of Kokhta, where they found the Georgian leaders,
who had not yet collected their people. They were captured and taken
to Shirakawan, in the district of Ani. On being brought before
Charmaghan} they declared that they had no intention of rebelling, but had
merely met to settle their own affairs, and to arrange the levying of the
kharaj, or tax. The Noyans did not credit this, ordered them to be
stripped, to be bound together, made them sit down naked and in chains,
notwithstanding the heat, and threatened them with death if they did not
confess. These punishments were repeated on several days.
Meanwhile, Tzotne" Dadian, who lived a considerable distance away,
and had gone to bring his people to the general rendezvous appointed by
the conspirators, reached Rcinis-Juar, between Samtzkhe and Ghado,
where he heard how the princes had been carried off to Ani. He
dismissed his people, and traversing Samtzkhe and Jawakheth, went
himself to that town determined to share their fate. The Noyans had
reached Ani, and their prisoners, the Georgian mthawars, were seated in
the hippodrome there, naked and with their arms bound. Seeing them in

. * Hist, de la Georgie, 529.
t This is an anachronism, for, as we have seen, he was dead.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 53
this miserable condition and condemned to death, Tzotne" Dadian
dismounted, took off his clothes, had himself bound, and seated himself
among them. The Tartars, who were astonished at this, and knew him
well, asked for an explanation. He replied that they had merely
assembled to regulate the kharaj, but had been treated as malefactors,
and he thought it right to come as a witness. If they had done anything
worthy of death he wished to die with the rest, while if they were innocent
he wished to share in their justification. The Tartars, we are told, were
astounded at so much virtue. "As the Georgians," they said, "are so
good that they do not betray each other, and this prince has come from
Abkhazia to sacrifice himself for his friends, and to devote himself to
death, they are innocent of the crime, and we remit their punishment."
The various chiefs were accordingly allowed once more to return to their
homes.* We now read that the did^buls of the kingdom met and blushed to
have Egarslan as their head, who was of no better blood than their own.
Thereupon Shahan Shah, Vahram Gagel, Kuarkuard-Jakel, Sargis
Thmogwel, Grigol Suramel, eristhaf of Karthli, Gamrecel of Thor, the
Orpelians, and several mthawars, met together and concerted about a
ruler, and especially about a strange rumour which had reached them that
David, son of Lasha, was still living and a prisoner in Rum. They
reported what they had heard to the Mongol commanders, and begged
that they would restore to them the imprisoned prince. They consented,
and Angurag was accordingly deputed to fetch him home. With him
went Vahram Gagel and Sargis Thmogwel. When they reached the
Court of the Sultan of Rum he told them that he had put the young
prince in the pit seven years before, and that he must have died long ago.
They then assured him how they had learnt he was still living. A man
was accordingly sent to see. David was drawn up out of his retreat.
He was half dead and demented — stiff and cold as one dead; his skin was
yellow, his hair reached to his heels, while his nails were grown of an
immense length. Vahram and his companions were moved to tears by
the piteous sight. He was duly bathed, and dressed in suitable clothes
and ornaments. Ghiath ud din professed to be greatly distressed at
what had occurred, asked him to pardon him, and sent him back.} The
story, which as told in the Georgian Chronicle contains several
anachronisms, is also referred to in the history of the Orpelians, where
we read that Rusudan made two attempts on her nephew's life, in
one of which he was put into a chest and thrown into the sea, and in the
second the people who had orders to kill him threw him into a deep pit.
She afterwards shipped him to a distant country, and he eventually
reached Mangu Khan. } Guiragos tells us that Rusudan having refused
* Hist, de la Georgie, S33-535. t Id., 536-537.
\ St. Martin Memoires, ii. 155. Brosset, Hist, de la Siounie, 235.

54 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to go to the Mongol camp, or to send her son, and Baichu being jealous of
her intercourse with Batu, determined to set up her nephew, the son of
Lasha, who was living with the Seljuk ruler, Ghiath ud din, and who had
imprisoned him so that he might not plot against her* Malakia tells us
that Vahram, Lord of Gag, together with a Tartar chief and an escort of
100 men, were sent in all haste to Caesarea for him. They duly found the
young prince in a deep well, where he had been preserved by the divine
will. He was tall and fair to look at, with a brown beard, and full of
wisdom and divine grace. Having dressed him appropriately, and seated
him on horseback, they took him with them to Tiflis, whence, by order of
Baichu Noyan and Ailthina Khatun, he was sent on to the Court of the
Grand Khan.f
The Georgian Chronicle says that although the Georgian grandees,
Shahan Shah, his son Zakaria, Kuarkuareh-Jakel, Grigol Suramel,
eristhaf of Karthli, the Orpelians, Gamrecel, Shotha-Kupri, and all the
mthawars, except Egarslan, went to meet David Lasha, and received him
with joy, they did not recognise him as King, but sent him to Batu, in
company with Shahan Shah and Zakaria, Akbuka, son of Vahram, and
Sargis Thmogwel. The author of this work evidently treats Batu as the
supreme ruler of the western possessions of the Mongols to the south as
well as north of the mountains. When David and his companions
reached Batu's camp, he detained Zakaria, son of Shahan Shah, and
Akbuka, son of Vahram, and sent David on to the Imperial Court,
escorted by Sargis Thmogwel and other Georgians. There were thus
two Davids, aspirants to the Georgian throne, both at Karakorum. When
David Lasha arrived he was met by Avak, the Suramel Gamrecel, and
the first chamberlain, Beshken, and they made a long stay at Karakorum.}
Meanwhile the Mongols had begun a campaign against the Ismaelites
or Assassins, which proved a very protracted one. They advanced
against their chief fortress, Alamut, taking a body of Georgians with
them. During the siege the citizens sent one of their number, who,
evading the guards, made his way to the tent of Chaghatai, or Jagatai,
one of the principal Mongol leaders, and assassinated him. In the
morning the guards, having discovered the dead body of their master,
began to weep for him. His troops also collected about his tent. It was
not known who had done the deed, and it was declared that the
Georgians, who had been much ill-used by the Mongols, had done it.
Charmaghan (?) opposed this view, and declared that the Georgians
were not a race of homicides. The exasperated soldiers, however,
made their way to the Georgian camp, some of whose occupants
prepared to defend themselves, while others, feeling too weak, awaited the
turn of affairs. Thereupon Grigol Suramel, eristhaf of Karthli, spoke out,

* Op. cit., ed. Brosset, 157. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 437.438.
t Brosset, Add., 449. } Op. cit., 537-538.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 55
and said they were too weak to resist, and that resistance would
assuredly lead to their being exterminated, while if they refrained the
Mongols would merely revenge themselves on a few thawads like himself,
and spare the rest. He advised them all, meanwhile, to go down on their
knees, and in sets of three to itnplore the aid of the Virgin. Our naive
chronicler says that when they had done so, and the Tartars were
advancing to overwhelm them, a man came out of the reeds holding
a poised lance soiled with blood. Raising his arm on high, he cried out,
." Man kuchem Chaghatai ! man kuchem Chaghatai," which in Persian
means, " It is I who killed Chaghatai." Thereupon the Tartars rushed
upon him. He fled again among the reeds. These were fired, and
he was driven out and captured. Brought before Charmaghan (?),
Yassaur, and Baichu, and being interrogated by them, he said he was a
distinguished Mulahid {i.e., an Assassin), that his chiefs had given him
plenty of gold, and bidden him go and kill one of the four Noyans. On
being asked why, having hidden among the reeds, he had come forward and
confessed his crime in the face of all, he replied that while he was in the
thickest part of the reeds a beautiful woman had met him, saying, " What
have you done ? You have killed a man, and many innocent people will
suffer death for it." " What should I do, Queen ? " I replied. " Go forth
and say you did it, and thus save a crowd of people." " I thereupon rose
and followed her, and she led me towards you. When I had made my
confession she disappeared. I know not whence she came." The Tartars
thereupon clave him in two. The Chronicle compares the beneficent act
of the Virgin on this occasion with her intervention to save Constantinople
when attacked by the Khakan of the Avars in 626*
Having described the various troubles brought upon Georgia by the
Mongols, it is well to recall them in a more humane capacity. Guiragos
tells us how, in 1247, the Vartabied Hoseph, who went about repairing
the damage done by the Turks and the Georgians, visited a Tartar chief
named Angurag, who had his summer quarters near the tomb of the
Apostle Thaddeus, who gave him permission to clean the church and
re-dedicate it. He also restored the monastery, and assembled a crowd
of worshippers. The Tartar, we are further told, caused roads
to be prepared in various directions to it, and issued orders that the
monks were not to be molested by his people, many of whom had their
children baptised.t This is not the only instance we have of the
very considerate treatment of the Christians by the Mongols. The
Syrian doctorpreviously namedhavingmentioned TerNerses, the Catholicos
of the Aghuans, to Ailthina Khatun, widow of Charmaghan, he was
summoned to her camp. He was then living in the monastery of
Khamshi, in the district of Miaphor, and was subject to Avak. He duly
*Op. cit., 530-531. _
t Op. cit., ed. Brosset, 154-155. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 446-447.

56 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
went to Mughan, carrying with him suitable presents. The Syrian
doctor was then absent at Tebriz. He was nevertheless well received by
Ailthina, who gave him a seat above her principal officers. They were
assembled to celebrate the wedding of her son, Bora or Basra Noyan,
with the daughter of a chief of high rank, Khutan Noyan, and of her
daughter with another chief named Usur Noyan. She gave the Catholicos
an introduction to her brothers Sadik Agha and Gorgoz, who were
Christians and had lately arrived from their country, and who treated
him with great consideration. She also gave him presents, and a
tamgha protecting him from imposts, and assigned him a Mongol
as an escort, who conducted him back to the country of the Aghuans
{i.e., to Arran), and went with him about his diocese, where for a long
time he and his predecessors had hardly dared to show their faces on
account of the Mussulmans.*
The inauguration of Kuyuk Khan, in 1246, was attended by a very
remarkable body of persons of rank and consequence, from many
latitudes ; an assemblage which, better than aught else, proves the
far-reaching power and influence of the Mongols at this period. Abulfaraj
tells us that in addition to his relatives, the descendants of Jingis Khan,
it was attended by the Amir Masud Beg, from Mavera un Nehr and
Turkestan ; by Arghun, from Khorasan, who was accompanied by the
grandees of Irak, Lur, Azerbaijan, and Shirvan ; by Sultan Rokn ud din,
of Rum ; by " The Constable," i.e., Sempad, brother of Haithon, King of
" Cilicia;" by the two Davids, the Greater and Lesser, from Georgia ; by
the brother of the Malik of Syria, Al Nasir ; by the chief judge, Fakhr ud
din, from Baghdad (representing the Khalif); and some chiefs of Kuhistan,
representing Alai ud din, Lord of Alamut.} From other sources we
learn that the famous kuriltai was also attended by Yaroslaf, Prince of
Russia; by the son of Bedr ud din Lulu, Lord of Mosul; by Kutb ud din,
cousin of the ruler of Kerman ; and by a Prince of Fars. A notice of
the visit of Sempad is contained in a letter he wrote to Henry, King of
Cyprus {i.e., Henry of Lusignan), his sister Emelin, and his brother
John de Hibelin. He tells us that, journeying to further the cause of
Christianity, he arrived at Sautequant (otherwise read Saussequant, i.e.,
no doubt, Samarkand). He saw many large and opulent cities which
had been laid waste by the Tartars, some three miles in circuit, and
more than 100,000 mounds of bones of those whom the Tartars had
killed. He says he crossed one of the rivers of Paradise, called Geon
{i.e., the Jihun). After journeying for eight months, he had barely
traversed one-half of the dominions of the Tartars, whom he describes as
excellent archers, terrible to look at, and very numerous. Five years, he
says, had elapsed since their Great Khan had died, and a general

1 Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 144. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 438-441.
t Op. cit., Chron. Arab., 320.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 57
assembly took place of all their notables to elect a successor. They
came to this meeting from various directions — some from India, others
from Cathay, others from Russia, others from Cascat {i.e., Kashgar) and
Tangath {i.e., Tangut). This is the land, he says, whence came the three
kings to worship Christ at Bethlehem, and the people of that land were
Christians. He had been in their churches, and seen Christ painted with
the three kings making their offerings, one of gold, one' of incense, and
the third of myrrh. He says further, the people of Tangath had been
converted by the three kings, and their Khan had thus become a
Christian. At the doors of the Tartar tents were churches, where bells
were rang after the fashion of the Latins, and paintings after the manner
of the Greeks, and it was customary to attend service in the early
morning, and afterwards to pay respect to the Khan in his palace. He
found many Christians scattered throughout the east, and saw many
churches which had been devastated by the Tartars before they became
Christians. He tells us the Tartars had made an invasion of India, and
carried off 500,000 Indians, so that the East was full of Indian slaves. He
also heard that the Pope had sent to the Khan to inquire if he was a
Christian, and why he had sent his people to destroy the Christians and
others. To this he had replied that God had ordered him to send his
people to destroy the bad, and as to whether he was a Christian or no, if
the Pope wished to know he had better go and inquire for himself. This
last paragraph doubtless refers to the mission of Carpini and Benedict of
Poland* Malakia, speaking of these events, tells us that Haithon,
having determined to submit to the Tartars, and to pay them tribute and
the khalan, so that they should not enter his country, entered into an
arrangement with Baichu Noyan, after which he sent his brother, the
Baron Sempad, Generalissimo of Armenia, to Sain Khan {i.e., the Good
Khan, meaning Batu), who then ruled over the dominions of Jingis. Heset
out and had an interview with Sain Khan, who greatly loved the Christians.
He received Sempad very graciously, and gave him the title of Sgamish (?)
and a Mongol Khatun for a wife, named Bkhtakhavor. He was furnished
also with a great yarligh and a golden paizah.t Sempad was very well
received, and returned with letters patent for his brother, and an order for
the restitution of various districts which had once belonged to King Leon,
and of which he had been deprived by the Sultan of Rum, after the death
of that prince.} Sempad was accompanied on his way home by Rokn ud
din, the Seljuk Prince of Rum. On the latter's arrival at Kuyuk's Court, one
of his officers, named Baha ud din, the interpreter, had accused the Vizier of
Rum of having set up Iz nd din without the Khakan's consent, and abused
him for his other recent acts. Kuynk thereupon ordered the deposition of
Iz ud din, and his replacement by Rokn ud din, and also that Beha ud

* William de Nangis, Gesta Sanett Ludov. li'.m. BotKj., xx. 360-362. t Malakia, 4+S.
I Guiragos, ed. Brosset, i57-/5«. Jeans. Aaat., 5th ser., xi. 453-453.

58 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
din should have the post of Vizier. The latter, on his return, proceeded
with 2,000 Mongols to proclaim Rokn ud din at Erzenjan, Sebaste,
Caesarea, Malatia, and in the fortresses of Saida and Amid.* The Vizier,
Shems ud din, is, perhaps, the same person as the brother of Ghiath ud
din, who, we are told by Guiragos, had married a daughter of Leshkar,
Sultan of Greece, who reigned at Ephesus {i.e., Lascaris, the Emperor
of Nicasa), and who had usurped power at Iconium (?), thanks to the
assistance of his father-in-law, while his young brother had done so at
Halaia, a town of Western Karamania.f
When Shems ud din heard of the decision of the Khakan, he sent
Rashid ud din, the Prefect of Malatia with a quantity of treasure to the
Khakan, to obtain a revocation of the order; but having heard of the rapid
approach of Baha ud din, he deposited the treasure at Kamah, and fled
to Aleppo. Shems ud din now tried to escape with his protege", Iz ud
din, from Iconium, so as to set him up in the maritime district ; but he was
seized and imprisoned, and presently Baha ud din sent a body of
Mongols, who tortured him until he disclosed where his treasures were,
and then put him to death. Abulfaraj tells us he was a learned .man, and
wrote some elegiac verses on his own fate, which were elegant and steeped
in pathos. It was now arranged, by the influence of an ascetic named
Jelal ud din Keratai, who had great influence at Iconium, and who had
been instrumental in arresting Shems ud din, that the empire should
be divided between the two brothers : the western parts, with
Iconium, Akserai, Ancyra, Anatolia, &c, being assigned to Iz ud din; and
the eastern districts, including Caesarea, Sivas, Malatia, Erzenjan,
Erzerum, &c, being given to Rokn ud din ; while large private domains
were made over to Alai ud din. The partisans of Rokn ud din wished to
insist, however, on the Khakan's decision being carried out to the letter.
An interview between the brothers to settle matters was arranged at
Axara or Caesarea, where Rokn ud din and his chief supporter, Baha ud
din, were treacherously surprised by some partisans of Iz ud din, who
carried them off to Iconium. He did not treat them badly, however, and
eventually the empire was jointly ruled, and the coin was struck in the
names of all three brothers, with the inscription : " The very great Kings,
Iz, and Rokn, and Alai."} Brosset says the names do, in fact, occur
together in the year 647 HEJ. {i.e., 1249).
To return again to Kuyuk's inauguration as Khakan. It was there
decided that the two Davids should occupy the throne of Georgia after
one another, the older of the two, David, son of Lasha, reigning first.

. „ . , * Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 526-527. Chron. Arab., 321.
¦ ' Pu«1,rSos»,. - ABrosset> ?,Se- Brosset says that he could not find any confirmation of this match
in the Famihae Augusta; of Ducange, nor in the articles on Lascaris and Vataces, nor in that
devoted to the Sultans of Iconium, nor lastly, in the two chronicles of Abulfaraj. At this
time John the Third Vataces, and not Theodore Lascaris, was Emperor of Nicaea. He reigned
1222-1255. I Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 527.528. Chron. Arab., 321.322.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 59
Kuyuk ordered a splendid throne, belonging to the Georgian kings, and a
marvellous crown, which had belonged to Khosru the Great, the father of
Tiridates II., King of Armenia, and had been taken to Georgia for safety
with other things, to be sent to him. The remaining objects in the
treasury were to be divided between the two princes .* On the return of
David, the principal chiefs in the Mongol service, Avak, who had the rank
of generalissimo, Shahan Shah, son of Zakaria, Vahram, and his son,
Akbuka, took him to Medzkhitha, where they summoned the Georgian
Catholicos, and had him consecrated. In gratitude to Vahram, he styled
himself Vahramul {i.e., enthroned by Vahram).} David, son of Lasha,
lived at Tiflis, and the other David in Suaneth.
At the kuriltai above named, the envoys of the Assassins were
ignominiously expelled, while those of the Georgians, Franks, and of the
Khalif were sharply upbraided.} Kuyuk superseded Baichu as
generalissimo of the forces in the west, and appointed in his place
Ilchikidai, called Elchi Gaga by Guiragos. He was the son of Khadjiun,
Jingis Khan's brother, and had distinguished himself at Herat in
Jingis Khan's invasion. Abulfaraj, who calls him Iljiktai, says
he was given charge of Rum, Mosul, Syria, and Georgia. § He
was authorised to receive the taxes there, and each of the princes of
the blood was ordered to furnish two men out of every ten to form his
army, and he was, on arriving in Persia, to make a similar levy there.
Kuyuk announced his intention of himself marching to the west, and the
army of Ilchikidai was to act as his advance guard. || We have seen how,
on the death of Ogotai, Arghun was nominated Governor of Khorasan, &c.1f
Having left several commissaries in Khorasan to receive the tribute, he
hastened on to Irak and Azerbaijan to relieve those provinces from the
exactions of the Mongol commanders, who treated them as if they were
their private property. At Tebriz he was met by envoys from the rulers
of Rum and Syria, who tendered their masters' homage, and he sent
deputies to collect the taxes there. Meanwhile, the general control of the
finances was left in the hands of Sherif ud din, the Ulugh Bitikji, who
obtained his post through the influence of Fatima, a favourite of the
regent, Turakina.** He behaved in a very cruel and arbitrary manner,
put spies in the houses of the people, kept them without food, or put
them to the torture, in order to extract more from them. The ministers
of the Muhammedan faith, the widows and orphans who had been treated
* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 157. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 451-452.
t Malakia, 449. Lebeau, xvii. 460. J Abulfaraj. Chron. Syr., 525. Chron. Arab., 321.
$ Chron. Arab., 320. |f D'Ohsson, ii. 205.
.% Arghun and his family filled a famous role in the history of the Ilkhans. He was a Uirad by
birth, and had been sold by his father during a famine to a Jelair officer, named Iluki, from whom
he passed into Ogotai's service. As he could write the Uighur character he entered the
Chancellery, and was appointed jointly with Koban on an important mission in China. It was
apparently his address on this occasion which caused him to be selected as arbitrator between
Ungu Timur and Kurguz, as we have described. (D'Ohsson, iii. 121-122. Ilkhans, i. 89.)
** He was the son of a porter at Khuarezm, and entered the service of Chin Timur, whom he
accompanied to Khorasan as secretary, his knowledge of Mongol making his services invaluable.
(D'Ohsson, iii. 122-123.)

60 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
with tenderness by Jingis Khan, were now trampled upon. At Tebriz,
people pledged and sold their children, and a teacher even had to sell the
shroud of one of his tenants who was dead. At Rai the proceeds of the
various exactions were piled up in the mosques, into which the sumpter
beasts were driven, while the sacred carpets were used to cover up the
goods. Happily Sherif ud din died in 1244, and Arghun tried to
alleviate the misery he had caused by remitting some of the taxes and
releasing some of the victims. He now set out for Tartary with a great
crowd of functionaries and many presents to attend the inauguration of
the Khakan Kuyuk, to whom he handed over, much to the Khakan's
satisfaction, a great quantity of illegal assignations of revenue, &c, which
had been issued during the regency. He was retained in his government,
and was nominated as civil governor and head of the finances of Khorasan,
Irak-Ajem, Azerbaijan, Shirvan, Kerman, Georgia, and that part of
Hindustan then subject to the Mongols {i.e., the Punjaub, as far as the
Biah). The post of Ulugh Bitikji was conferred on Fakhr ud din
Bihishti. Arghun was met on his return at Merv by the various grandees
of the country, who welcomed him at a great feast.*
Guiragos says that on his accession, Kuyuk sent commissaries to collect
a tithe of the property secured by the Mongol armies in Persia, as well as
to levy taxes on the various conquered countries. He says that Arghun,
who had attended the kuriltai, where Kuyuk was elected, was at their
head, and under him was a very tyrannical official named Bugha.
Surrounded by a crowd of Persians and other Mussulmans, he made
heavy exactions from the grandees then in camp without anyone daring
to oppose him. He seized the Armenian Prince Hasan, surnamed Jelal,
and put him to the torture ; seized and demolished his strong fortresses of
Khoiakhan, or Khokhanaberd (now ruined, and situated near Kantza Sar),
Degh, or Tet, Dzirana-Kar (the two latter near Khokhanaberd), &c, and
so completely destroyed them that their traces were not to be seen when he
wrote. Hasan barely saved his life by the payment of a large sum of
money. Bugha tried to seize Avak also and to put him to the torture, but
having been warned, the latter showed such a bold front with his people
that he was cowed. Bugha shortly after died of an ulcer in the throat.}
Arghun had enemies at head-quarters whom it was necessary to appease,
and had reached Taraz, on his way thither, when he heard of Kuyuk's
death. He received orders from Ilchikidai to return to make provision
for the campaign, which he proposed making. In 1249-50, the Mongols
made another raid upon the territory of Baghdad, and advanced as far as
Dakuka, where they killed the Prefect Bilban. The next year Nasir,
Prince of Damascus, received letters of safety from the Khakan, which he
carried in his girdle, and for which he showed his gratitude by sending
handsome presents.} * D'Ohsson, iii. 126. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, r 152. Note.
t Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 155-156. Journ. Asiat., sthser., xi. 447-449. I Novairi, D'Ohsson, iii. 91.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 6 1
Meanwhile, Georgia continued to suffer from the Mongol depredations.
Malakia tells us that the pious and good King David and his Court passed
their time in enjoying themselves, and in drinking. One day there was a
grand feast, and as the Georgians were great boasters, and fond of using
big phrases, a Georgian prince began to sum up the number of the various
princes subject to the King, and boasted that there were a thousand
grandees, and that one of them had 700 soldiers ready to defend their
master. These words were re-echoed in the crowded feasts, and they
began to count the forces which the Armenians and Georgians could
bring together against the invaders. The Tartars were, meanwhile, very
exacting, and demanded much from the Georgian princes and generals :
from some, gold or cloth ; from others, gerfalcons, a good dog, or a horse,
&c, all of which were demands in excess of the regular imposts, the mal,
the thaghar, and the khalan. These exactions were the cause of the
murmurs that arose at the feast, which were duly reported by some
traitor, and led to a fresh invasion of the country and fresh pillage. The
King and principal grandees, including Avak (who being ill and not able
to ride, was dragged off in a coffin), were taken to the tent of their chief.*
Guiragos says that their intention of putting them to death was
prevented by Jagatai, one of their principal commanders, who was a friend
of Prince Avak, and who adjured them at their peril not to kill those who
were peaceable subjects of the Khakan without the latter's authority.
Khochak, Avak's mother, who had gone to their camp, offered to
guarantee his fidelity. The Mongols proceeded to tie them together with
cords, and kept them thus for three days, jeering at them meanwhile, to
show their contempt. Having then made them give up their horses and
pay a ransom, they let them go ; but they nevertheless invaded Georgia
and plundered a number of districts, indifferent whether they were
rebellious or not. They made a great many prisoners, and, we are told,
threw a crowd of children into the rivers. This took place in 1249, and the
next year Avak died, and was buried with his father, Ivaneh, at Pghntzahank.}
He left only an illegitimate son, and a daughter Khochak, who was very
young. His principality was given by the Mongols to his cousin Zakaria,
the son of Shahan Shah. They soon after deprived him of it, and made
it over to Avak's widow, Vartoish Kontsa. Sempad had been nominated
guardian to Avak's children. He soon quarrelled with her, and by order
of Khulagu had her drowned. Khochak, Avak's daughter, was eventually
married to Shems ud din Muhammed, Khulagu's Vizier, and brother of the
historian, Juveni.}
Mangu Khan's inauguration took place on the 1st of July, 1251.
Guiragos has a curious story to tell about this election, which is
interesting as that of a contemporary, and which I had overlooked in
* Malakia, op. cit., 450. t Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 158-159- Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 456.
X Brosset, Hist, de la Siounie, 234. St. Martin, ii. 151 and 288.

62

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

writing the previous volumes. He describes Batu as occupying the vast
plains of Kipchak with an immense army, and as living under tents,
which, during the migrations of his people, were transported on waggons,
drawn by great teams of cattle and horses. The princes of his family
recognised his supremacy, and he who became khan had need of his
countenance. On the death of Kuyuk, he goes on to say, they offered the
post to Batu himself or to the one he should nominate for it. He set out
for the purpose of fulfilling this duty, leaving his son Sertak in command
at home. When he nominated Mangu some members of his family were
displeased that he did not either mount the throne himself or place Khoja
Khan {i.e., the Khoja Ogul of the Persian writers), the son of Kuyuk, on it.
They did not dare to openly oppose him, but revolted against Mangu,
whereupon he ordered several of them to be put to death, including Elchi
Gaga {i.e., Ilchikidai), who had been nominated generalissimo in Persia
in the place of Baichu. He was denounced to Batu by the chiefs of
the army, who were afraid of his haughty temper, was accused of
refusing to support Mangu, taken before Batu in chains, and by him
was put to death* Ilchikidai was arrested at Badghiz, in Khorasan.
His two sons, who were at the Imperial Court, were put to death, by
having stones thrust into their mouths.t After this, we are told by Guiragos,
kings, princes, and great merchants, together with those who had been
molested or plundered of their goods, sought out Batu, who decided
impartially among them, and committed his decision to writing sealed
with his tamgha, and no one dared disobey his orders. Guiragos says
positively that Batu's son, Sertak, was brought up by Christian governors,
and that when he grew up he embraced Christianity, and was baptised by
the Syrians, who had brought him up. He was very good to the
Christians, and with the consent of his father he freed the Christian priests
from the payment of dues, and extended the same privilege to the
mosques and those who served them. His camp was constantly
visited by Christian prelates, and attached to it was a tent where the
sacred mysteries were constantly performed. Among those who visited
his camp was the Armenian Prince, Hasan, familiarly styled Jelal, who
was courteously treated by Sertak. There also went the princes Gregory,
habitually styled Tgh'd, i.e., infant, although he was an elderly man ; the
Prince Desum, the Vartabied Mark, and the Bishop Gregory. Sertak
conducted Jelal to his father, Batu, who restored him the fortresses of
Charapert, Agana, and Gargar, in the district of Khachen, and the
province of Artsakh, of which he had been deprived by the Turks and
Georgians. He also received a diploma in favour of the Catholicos of
Aghovania, or Albania, Nerses, granting him exemption from taxes,
and a free right to traverse the various dioceses of his patriarchate. Jelal
returned, well satisfied, but presently, harassed by Arghun and his people,
* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 172. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 458. t D'Ohsson, ii. 259.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 63
he repaired to the Court of Mangu Khan* We described the doings of
Arghun until the death of Kuyuk. During the interregnum which
followed, fresh and illegal assignations were issued to the various princes
of the blood, who again settled like gad-flies upon the unfortunate
country. With his subordinates, Arghun received a summons to attend
the kuriltai, where Mangu was elected Khakan in 125 1. He reported how
the country was being ruined by the issue of indiscriminate taxing orders,
and Mangu ordered the various intendants of Persia to present each a
separate report on the evils which affected their districts, and the remedies
they proposed. They were all agreed that the best plan was to introduce a
capitation tax proportioned to the means of those who had to pay, similar
to the one Mahmud Yelvaj had established in Transoxiana. This was
decided upon, and a poll-tax varying from one dinar to ten per head was
appointed, the proceeds of which were to be devoted to paying the
soldiery and keeping up the postal communications, and on no pretence
was more to be exacted. Arghun's skill and prudence secured his
re-appointment, and he received a paizah or official tablet marked with a
lion's head. Baha ud din Juveni, the famous historian, was nominated
finance minister, while a second finance minister, named Sarraj ud din,
was nominated as his coadjutor by Nikbey, who ruled over the dominions
of Jagatai. The Khakan nominated two commissaries in addition, while
each of his brothers, Khubilai, Khulagu, Arikbuka, and Moga had his
agent at his Court. Persia was divided into four governments, the
governor of each being styled Malik, and having a paizah marked with a
lion's head. Their subordinates had tablets of gold or silver according to
their rank. The Khakan, in sending them to their appointments,
presented them with robes of Chinese brocade.t
We saw how Sempad succeeded his brother Elikum as head of the
Orpelians, and ruler of a large district in Armenia. He was a very
accomplished person, and we are told could speak five languages,
namely, Armenian, Georgian, Uighur, Persian, and Mongol.} The
Orpelians were at feud with the family of Avak, who secretly intrigued
against them. The Mongol general Baichu, we are told by Stephen the
Orpelian, was at this time encamped at the entrance of Tzage" Tzor, in
the province of Haband. He says he took by force David, the Little
King of Siunia {i.e., David, son of Rusudan), and detained him prisoner
in his camp, but he some time after succeeded in escaping at night with
three companions. David had with him a beautiful precious stone, of
great size and brilliancy, and of a red colour, probably a ruby. He also
had a piece of the true cross, which was valued more than all his kingdom.
He passed through Kudeni, which belonged to one of the nobles of
Sempad, named Tankreghul {i.e., servant of God), who tried to arrest
* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 173. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 459-460.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 126-128. X Ante, 22-23. St- Martin Memoires, ii. 127

64 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him, whereupon he drew out a little leathern bag, which was suspended
about his neck, containing the precious objects already mentioned.
This he gave to his captor, and told him to give it to his master Sempad,
for it was worth more than his kingdom. He was to tell him to keep it,
and that if he once more regained his kingdom, he would reward him
with any town or district he might ask for. If he should not succeed
in this venture he might keep it for himself. Sempad, when he received
this present, thanked God for it ; but fearing he might not be able to hide
it, he thought it better to make a present of it to Mangu Khan, and at
the same time secure his pity for his countrymen. He accordingly went
to Baichu, and asked him to take the jewel forhimself if he wanted it, and if
not to let him go and offer it to the Khakan. He bade him do the latter,
and provided him with an escort. This was in 125 1. On the way he
visited the monastery of Noravank'h, where he offered prayers for a safe
journey and a happy termination of his mission. He then went on, and
after a long journey reached Karakorum. Mangu, Stephen says, was
pious, and had at the gate of his great palace a church, where services
went on continuously without molestation. The Mongols, he says, loved
the Christians, whom they called Ark'haiun, and all the country professed
Christianity ! ! !
When he arrived, he visited the various grandees, and com
municated to them the object of his journey. They presented him to
the Khakan, to whom he gave the precious stone. He was much pleased
with it, and inquired whence he had come. Sempad then enlarged
on the desolation of Armenia, the loyalty of his brother, who
was in the service of Arslan Noyan, and the possessions he had
lost. Mangu listened attentively to him, and then handed him over
to his mother, Siurkukteni (called Surakhthembek by our author),
who was the daughter of the Kerait Prince Jakembo, and gave him the
title of enchu {i.e., lord). * He asked him to stay awhile at the Court, and
ordered his officials to supply his needs. He lived there three . years,
during which he was very diligent in his religious services. He had with
him a small consecrated wafer, before which he said his prayers.
He was thus saying them on one occasion when, as Stephen says, a
luminous cross appeared, which shed its light over the place. Mangu, we
are told, was informed of this, and himself went to see it. Sempad was
unconscious of it. When Mangu summoned him to explain he could only
produce the small host, whereupon Mangu descended from his throne,
bent his knees, uncovered his head, and declared that the cross upon it
was like the luminous cross he had seen. After this he paid great
deference to Sempad. He gave him a golden paizah, or official tablet,
and also a yarligh, or diploma, and conferred on him all the district which
* St. Martin says this title still subsists among the Mongols and Manchus in a slightly altered
form, namely, as edshan among the former, and edshen among the latter.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 65
had been conquered by Arslan Noyan, together with Orodn, the fort of
Borodn, and its revenues. He also obtained privileges for the clergy of
Armenia. He now returned home again. With the help of Baichu he
once more occupied his heritage of Orodn (as far as the frontiers of
Borodn and Bghen), in which was situated Tathev, the episcopal see of
Siunia, then in ruins. He also took Eghe"kis, and all the district of
Vaio-Tzor, Phogha-Hank, Urdz,and Vedi, with its dependent valley, asfar as
Ereron, and many places in the country of Kotaikh and Geghak'huni, and
emancipated the clergy of his province and of all Armenia. He founded
monasteries and restored ruined churches. For a long time the residence
of the bishops of Siunia had been in ruins. The bishop, John, and his
nephew, Hairapied, had begun to build a monastery with the permission
of Baichu's wife, but could not continue it on account of their poverty,
there only remaining one house out of all the property of the Church.
Sempad now devoted all his efforts to this work.*
Stephen, the Orpelian, tells us that Arghun, the administrator of Persia,
was summoned to Mangu's Court to answer a charge of treason, and that
when Sempad arrived he found him in chains. He says that the charges
against him were preferred by Sevinjbeg and Sharaphadin {i.e., Sherif
ud din Khuarezmi, his naib or lieutenant, but the latter apparently died in
1244, vide ante). Sevinjbeg was also an enemy of Sempad's, and had
some intention of poisoning him. On his arrival Mangu inquired from
him about Arghun's proceedings, if he had ruined the country, put to
death the priests, and been an assassin, as was reported. Sempad justified
Arghun completely, and charged his enemies with being the real
offenders. Thereupon Mangu summoned a council, and Sevinjbeg and
Sherif ud din were put to death. Arghun was released from prison and
promoted. He recommended Sempad to him, and they returned
together.t Our author dates these events in 1256, during Sempad's
second visit to the Court, but, as St. Martin argues,} they clearly refer to
the first one, in 125 1-4.
It was in 1254 when Arghun, who had been reinstated, as we have
seen, arrived once more in the west, accompanied, according to Guiragos,
by an official attached to Batu's Court, named K'ura Agh'a, or Thora
Agha, charged with making a census. They inscribed all males above
the age of ten on their registers, and insisted upon all paying taxes. The
people again began to be ground down, torments were applied freely, and
those who could not pay had to part with their children. The tax
collectors were escorted by Muhammedan Persians, and they were assisted
in their miserable work by those grandees whose property had been
spent. These exactions did not suffice. They made all artisans pay a
licence tax, they taxed the lakes and ponds where fish were caught, iron
* Hist, de la Siounie, ed. Brosset, 229-232. St. Martin Memoires, ii. 129-139.
t Hist, de la Siounie, ed. Brosset, 232-233. St. Martin Memoires, 11. 141-145-
X Op. cit., ii. 282. Note 4.
E

66 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
mines, smiths and masons — Brosset adds perfumers. They destroyed the
canals which belonged to the native chiefs, and seized the salt mines of
Koghb, situated at the foot of Mount Takhaltu, in the district of
Surmalinski, south of the Araxes. They also extorted gold, silver, and
precious stones from the merchants. Thus they reduced the country to
great distress. One man alone remained rich. This was a merchant
named Umeg, called Asii by the Mongols, who had been spared at the
sack of Karin. At Tiflis, where he lived, he was styled " Father of King
David." Having presented Arghun with some valuable gifts, he was
treated with great consideration, as were also the clergy, about whom the
Mongols had no orders from the Khan, also the sons of Saravan,
Shnorhavor, and of Mkrtich.* The Georgian Chronicle tells us Arghun
caused an inventory of everything to be taken, men and animals, ploughed
lands and vineyards, gardens and orchards, while one peasant in every
nine was inscribed on the rolls for military service ; the number of
Georgians thus enrolled amounted to 90,000, which gives a male
population of about a million, and as the clergy, both Christian and
Muhammedan, were exempted, this would give a population of about
5,000,000 for the provinces of Karthli and Kakheth, in which David alone
ruled — a number which seems impossible, for in the census of 1836 the
whole population of these provinces was only 225,395. Our author says
that each village furnished a lamb and a piece of gold for every chiliarch,
and two sheep and a gold piece for each myriarch, as well as three whites
per day for the keep of a horse. M. Brosset says the white is a mere
money of account, and in modern times is of the value of the hundredth
part of an abaz, an abaz being worth eighty kopeks.f According to the
Georgian Chronicle, Arghun was a protege of Batu Khan, of Kipchak,
and it makes him employ him in all parts of his empire — in Russia,
Khazaria, Ossethi, Kipchak, as far as the Land of Clouds {i.e., the Arctic
country), in the east and in the north, and as far as Khatai. It calls
Arghun a friend of equity, very truthful in his language, a deep thinker,
and profound in counsel, and says he was employed by Batu to make the
census, to fix the military conscription, and to pay to each, great and
small, according to his position, the dues for the horses, &c, furnished
for the posts on the great roads. It also says that Batu sent him to
Karakorum, to Khubilai Khakan, who employed him in a similar way in
his dominions. Thence he went to the capital of Jagatai, in Turan,
where Ushan (?) reigned, and having regulated matters there, crossed fhe
Jihun, and did the same in Khorasan, Irak, and Romgor (? Rum), whence
he passed, under the patronage of Khulagu, into Georgia and Greece {i.e.,
the Seljuki territory).} * Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 175. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 462-463.
t The date of this census is not easy to settle. Vartan, Malakia, and Guiragos all date it in
1254. The Georgian Chronicle puts it after Khulagu's arrival in Persia; while St. Martin, basing
his conclusion on the authority of Abulfaraj and Rashid ud din, dates it in 1250. (See Guiragos,
ed. Brosset, 175-176. Note 6.) J Op. cit., 550-551.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 67
Mangu was visited by Haithon, the King of Armenia, whose journey
has previously occupied us* We shall have more to say about it
presently, and will now turn to that of another Armenian prince. We
have seen how the Georgian prince Avak and his family were at feud
with Sempad, the head of the Orpelians. They constantly incited Arghun
against him, offered him presents if they might be allowed to destroy
him, promising at the same time not to appropriate to themselves
any of his territory. He would not consent, but nevertheless they
captured several of his towns and ravaged the remainder. He thereupon
determined once more to visit the Court of the Khakan Mangu, and
having obtained the permission of Arslan Noyan, he duly set out. This
was in 1256.T He was well received by Mangu. On his return the
favours he received from the Mongols disconcerted his enemies, and he
continued to prosper under the patronage of Khulagu. The latter sent
him to the country of Pasen, to cut wood for the palace he was building
at Alatagh.} Haithon and Sempad the Orpelian were close allies of the
Mongols. The former had his capital at Sis, in Cilicia, and the latter at
Ani, situated at the junction of two streams which fall into the Araxes.
It is said in the eleventh century to have had 100,000 inhabitants and
1,000 churches. § Haithon's eldest daughter was married to Bohemund
IV., Prince of Antioch, others married the Sieur de Saiete, the Sieur de la
Roche, and Guy d'Ibelin, son of Baldwin, seneschal of Cyprus,
respectively, which allied him closely with the Crusaders. His younger
son, Toros, fell in Syria, in the Mongol campaign against the Mamluks
in 1266, to be described presently. Purthel, nephew of Sempad,
similarly perished on the Terek, in the struggle with Bereke.||
One of the complaints made against Baichu by Khulagu was that he
had done little to push forward the fortunes of the Mongols, and it must
be said that not much was certainly done during the later years of
his authority, when he was, however, subordinate to Ilchikidai. In
1252-3 a Mongol division entered Mesopotamia, pillaged the districts
of Diarbekr and Mayafarkin, advanced as far as Rees-Ain, and
Suruj, and killed more than 10,000 people. They waylaid and
plundered a caravan which was on its way from Harran to Baghdad, and
thus secured inter alia 600 loads of sugar and of Egyptian cotton, besides
600,000 dinars. They then returned to Khelat.1T The same year
Yassaur, who had eight years before devastated Malatia, went once more
there. He laid waste the country with fire and sword. Some of the
Mongols passed by the town of Guba, assailed the monastery of Makrona,
and demanded money and food from the monks. These miserable people in
their simplicity refused to give any, thinking the invaders would withdraw.

* Ante, ii. 88-89. t Brosset, Hist, de la Siounie, 232. St. Martin Memoires, ii. 141-
 ~ -" ¦'- - — •- -• --- s Ilkhans,!. 165

I Brosset, Hist, de la Siounie, 233. St. Martin, op. cit., 11. 145- 5 Ilk
|| Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xviii. table 2. % Novairi, in D Ohsson, 11

111. 92-93.

68 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
They did withdraw for a while, but soon returned again, and again asked
for something. As they were again refused, they attacked the monastery
and set fire to the tower. All the monks, old and young, with 300
refugees from the neighbourhood, perished, but a large quantity of cotton,
of wax, and oil, which was stored there was saved. Abulfaraj tells us he
was at this time bishop of Guba .* We are told that, by the Khakan's
express orders, Hindujak, a Mongol general commanding a tuman or
10,000 men, who had unjustly put the governor of Kum to death, was
executed outside the gates of Tus, while his family, slaves, and other
property were confiscated to the treasury, and partitioned among the four
branches of the Imperial family. His father, Malik Shah, who belonged
to the Sunid tribe, had entered Persia at the head of a tuman, consisting
of Uighurs, Karluks, Turkomans, Kashgarians, and Kuchayens {i.e.,
natives of Kucha, east of Kashgar).}
We have seen how the Seljuk kingdom of Rum was partitioned between
Iz ud din and his brothers.} In 1254 the former was summoned to
Mangu's presence. Afraid that his brother, Rokn ud din, would take
advantage of his absence, he determined to send another brother, Alai ud
din Kai Kobad, who set out, bearing many presents, by way of the Black
Sea and the steppe of Kipchak, accompanied by Seif ud din Tarentai,
one of his principal generals, and Shuja ud din, the governor of the
maritime districts. Iz ud din excused himself on account of his fear that
the Armenians and Greeks would attack his country if he were absent.
Meanwhile the partisans of Rokn ud din forged a letter from Iz ud din to
Tarentai and his colleague, ordering them to hand over Alai ud din and
the presents he had with him to the chancellor, Shems ud din, and the
amir Seif ud din Jalish, who bore the letter, and who would accompany
the young prince to the Imperial Court. The two messengers overtook
the travellers at the Court of Batu, whom they informed that Tarentai
having been struck by lightning, could not present himself before the
Grand Khan, while Shuja ud din was a doctor, skilled in necromancy,
and meant to poison Mangu, and that consequently the Sultan had
recalled them. Batu ordered the baggage of the two suspected officials
to be searched. Some medicinal roots, inter alia, scamony, were found,
and Shuja ud din was ordered to taste them, which he did, except the
scamony, which aroused Batu's suspicion. This was allayed, however,
by his doctors. He decided that all four should go on to the Court, the
newly arrived messengers escorting Alai ud din, and those originally
appointed bearing the presents. They set out separately. Alai ud din
died en route. His mother was the daughter of the beautiful Queen
Rusudan. When the rival officers arrived at Mangu's Court they pleaded
the cause of their respective patrons. It was decided that Iz ud din

* Op. cit., Chron. Syr., 536-537.
T Rashid ud din, in D'Ohsson, iii. 128-129. " J Ante. p. 58.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 69
should retain that part of Rum west of the river of Sivas (Kizil Ermak),
and Rokn ud din should hold the country thence to Erzerum; the tribute
they were to pay was also duly fixed. While the officials just named
were absent, Rokn ud din's supporters raised some troops, and tried to
surprise Conia, or Iconium. They were beaten, and he was captured and
imprisoned in the fortress of Davalu. The following year, 1255, Baichu
Noyan, annoyed at Iz ud din's tribute not being regularly paid, sent him
a message demanding the surrendering to him of some fresh winter
quarters, as Khulagu had appropriated those he had formerly used in the
plain of Mughan. The Sultan refused to do so, and treated Baichu
cavalierly. The latter, with the Armenian king Haithon, marched
upon Conia, and defeated the Sultan's army between that town and
Ak Serai. Iz ud din took refuge with his family in the citadel of
Anthalia. Baichu thereupon took Rokn ud din from prison, and seated
him on the throne. Iz ud din now fled to the Emperor Theodore Lascaris,
who was living at Sardis, and who, afraid of attracting the revenge of the
Mongols, advised him to return home. He accordingly did so, and sent
in his submission to Khulagu, who maintained the division of the Seljuki
kingdom fixed by his brother Mangu. Iz ud din thereupon returned once
more to Conia, while Rokn ud din went with Baichu into winter quarters
in Bythinia*
We will now continue the notice of the Mongol doings east of
Khorasan. We have seen how they became masters of Afghanistan. In
639 {i.e., 1242) Tair Baghatur, who was commander-in-chief of the forces
about Herat and Badghiz, and other Noyans from Ghur, Ghazni,
Garmsir, and Tukharistan, marched towards the Indus. At this time the
Malik Kabir Khan of Ayaz was the feudal chief of Multan. On hearing of
the bold front he had assumed, they advanced towards Lahore, where the
Malik Ikhtiyar ud din Karakush was the feudal chief. We are told that
he was unprepared with either stores, provisions, or war materials, while
the citizens were disunited. Most of them were traders, and had been in
Khorasan and Turkestan, where they had obtained safe conducts, and
were careless about the fate of the Malik Kara Kush. Meanwhile, the
latter's feudal chief, Sultan Muiz ud din, Bahram Shah of Delhi, was at
issue with his Turk and Ghuz troops, and there was, therefore, some
delay in sending assistance from Delhi. The Mongols proceeded to
invest Lahore, and bombarded and destroyed its walls with a number of
mangonels. The Malik Kara Kush, feeling that from the disaffection
and disunion inside it would not be possible to defend the city, made
a sortie at night with his men, and cut his way through. Some of the
harem and of his retinue got separated from him in the darkness, and in
the tumult dismounted and hid away among the ruins and graves. The
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 542-543- Chron. Arab., 329-331. D'Ohsson, iii. 95-99.

70 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
following day the Mongols captured the place. Conflicts arose in all
directions. " Two bands of Mussulmans in that disaster girded up their
lives like their waists, and firmly grasped the sword, and up to the latest
moment that a single pulsation remained in their dear bodies, and they
could move, they continued to wield the sword and to send Mongols to
hell, until the time when both bodies, after fighting gallantly for a long
period against the infidels, attained the felicity of martyrdom," while
among the latter a vast number perished, and we are told there was not a
person among them who did not bear the wound of arrow, sword, or
nawak (some projectile is here meant).* Two of the principal of these
heroes were named Ak Sunkar, the Seneschal of Lahore, and Din dar
Muhammed, the Amir-i-Akhur of Lahore.t The former is said to have
had a single combat with the Mongol commander, Tair, in which both
were killed, " one company to heaven ; one to the flaming fire."} In
regard to Tair, the statement that he then died is probably a mistake.
The capture of Lahore was followed by the usual massacre of the old and
useless, and the making captive of the young. Kutb ud din, Hasan the
Ghuri, who had been sent with an army from Delhi to the relief of the
place, arrived too late, and after the Mongols, who had suffered great
losses, had retired.§ When he learnt of their retreat, Kara Kush retraced
his steps towards the River Biah, where in his flight he had hidden some
treasure, gold, &c. This he recovered, and then went on to Lahore,
where he put to death the Hindu Khokhars and the Gabrs, who were
committing destruction there.||
Minhaj-i-Saraj, the author of the "Tabakat-i-Nasiri," reports in regard to
this campaign, that when he himself was about seven years old he used to
go to the Imam Ali, the Ghaznivi, in order to learn the Koran, and from
him he heard the tradition how the Imam, Jemal ud din, while he
preached at Bukhara, during Ogotai's reign, used often to say, " Oh, God,
speedily transport a Mongol army to Lahore that they may reach it," the
explanation of which became evident when the Mongols captured Lahore
in the month Jamadi ul Awwal, in the year 639 HEJ. A number of the
merchants and traders of Khorasan and Mavera un Nehr afterwards
declared that Ogotai died on the second day after the capture of Lahore.U
Meanwhile, the Sultan of Delhi, Bahrain Shah, was killed by some of his
generals This was in May, 1242. His nephew, Alai ud din Masud
Shah, mounted the throne in his place.**
The next incident in the Mongol dealings with India is wrapt in some
obscurity. Minhaj-i-Saraj speaks of an invasion of Sind in 643-644
by a leader named Mangutah, whom he describes as an old man with
dog-like eyes {i.e., with eyes aslant in the Mongol fashion), who was one
of Jingis Khan's favourites. At the beginning of Kuyuk Khan's reign he
* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1133-1134. t Id. X Id., 1135-1136. $ Id., 1135. Note 3.
|| Id., 1136. •[[ Id., 1140-1142. ;:* Id., 660,

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 71
held command at Ghazni, Tokharistan, and Khatlan* He is not
mentioned eo nomine so far as I know by Rashid ud din. It may be that
he is to be identified with Ilchikidai, Mangutah being merely an
appellative meaning flat-nosed. As we have seen, Ilchikidai was at this
very time nominated supreme commander in the west, and he was a
famous general of Jingis Khan. On the other hand Mankadhu, or
Mankadah, is named as a Noyan who was sent by Ogotai into Seistan
during Jingis Khan's campaign,! while a Mongol named Mangatai, a
favourite attendant of Tuli, was by him nominated Shahnah of Herat. We,
however, read of his having been killed shortly after.} Minhaj-i-Saraj says
that in 643 HEJ. {i.e., 1246) Mangutah marched an army against Uch and
Multan. The former town was at this time governed by Hindu Khan
Mihtar-i-Mubarak, the Khazin or Treasurer, as a feudatory of the ruler of
Delhi, Sultan Alai ud din Masud Shah. Hindu Khan was not then in the
town, which was under the control of his deputy, the Khoja Salih, the
Kotwal or Seneschal.§ When the Mongols reached the Indus, Malik Saif
ud din, Hasan the Karluk, whom we have mentioned before, abandoned
Multan, and having embarked on the Indus, which then flowed east
of the town, || set sail for Diwal and Sindustan, or Sewastan. The
Mongols attacked Uch and destroyed its environs. The place was
bravely defended by the inhabitants. The breach was at length forced
by a famous Baghatur, who led a storming party in the third watch,
when the men on guard were reposing, and appeared on the top of the
breach. The people inside, however, had prepared a great pit, into which
they had poured much clay and water, so that it was in fact a quagmire
more than a spear's length in depth. Into this the storming party
stumbled, whereupon the defenders raised a shout, brought out torches,
and armed themselves, and the attacking party withdrew.1T Their leader,
however, had been suffocated in the slough. The Mongols outside thought
he had been captured, and offered to retire if he was surrendered. They
eventually retreated without taking the place, a very unusual circumstance
with them. This was on hearing that an army was advancing from
Delhi to the rescue. Minhaj-i-Saraj tells us he was himself at this time
in the service of the Sultan of Delhi.** The Mongols, on hearing of the
concentration of the army of Delhi, withdrew in three divisions, and many
of their captives, both Hindus and Mussulmans, escaped.f f When he
found the Mongols had retired, the Sultan of Delhi turned aside into the
hills to punish the Ranah of the Jud country, near the river Jhilam, who
had acted as guide to the invaders. He ravaged the country between the
Jhilam and the Sind, or Upper Indus, " so that all women, families, and
dependents of the infidels, who were in those parts, took to flight." A
body of Mongols came to the rescue, and advanced as far as the ferries of

* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1 1 52-1 153. t Id,, 1047. X Id; 1037-1049. Notes.
% Id., 1153. || Id. H Id., ii54-"55- ** Op. cit., 1155-1156. tt Id., 813.

72 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the Jhilam, but on seeing the Sultan's well-appointed army they withdrew
again* The Mongols virtually remained masters of the country west of the
River Biah, whence they seem to have made periodical raids into India.
We read that in 648 HEJ. Delhi was decorated on account of the capture
of a large number of Mongol prisoners by Ikhtiar ud din from Multan.}
At the Council held at Lyons in 1245 it was determined to send two
missions to the Tartars to try and convert them to the Christian faith, one
of Franciscans and the other of Dominicans. They were sent to induce
them to be less cruel to the Christians. One of these, under Carpini, has
already occupied us ; } the other was headed by the four Dominican friars —
Anselm (or Ascelm) of Lombardy, Simon de St. Quentin, Alberic, and
Alexander. They received a special commission from Pope Innocent IV.,
with orders to repair to the nearest Mongol camp in Persia. Vincent, the
author of the famous "Speculum Historiale, or Historical Looking-
glass," knew Simon de St. Quentin, and received from his lips an account
of his journey.§ They were joined by Andrew de Longiumello, who had
already visited the East as an evangelist, and Guiscard of Cremona, who
joined them at Tiflis, and left them again at the same town on their
return five months later, remaining in the Dominican convent there for
seven years.lj The travellers arrived at the Mongol camp, situated at an
unknown place called Sitiens, fifty-nine days' journey from Acre, on the
day of the translation of St. Dominic, 1247. Baichu was seated in his tent
dressed in rich brocade, ornamented with gold, as were his principal
councillors. He sent some of his people to summon the travellers.
They asked them whose envoys they were. Anselm replied they were the
envoys of the Pope, who was esteemed among Christians as the first among
men, and to whom they paid the reverence due to a father and a lord.
The Mongols professed great indignation at this, saying that their
Khakan, who was the son of God, was much higher, as were his princes,
Baiothnoi {i.e., Baichu) and Batu, whose names were familiar everywhere.
Anselm professed that the Pope had never heard the Khakan's name nor
that of his lieutenants, but had merely heard that a barbarous nation
called Tartars had come from the furthest east, conquered a great many
countries, and destroyed an infinite multitude of people. If the Pope had
known their names they would certainly have appeared on his letters.
He added that they had come to exhort the Tartar chief in their
name to cease his carnage, and to expiate by penance their evil deeds,
and they wished to know if Baichu had any answer for thdir master.1T
These officers having returned to Baichu, changed their dress, and
returning again, asked what presents the friars had brought. They
replied that the Pope was not in the habit of making presents, but of

* Op. cit., 815. t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, J Ante, ii. 68-75.
» Vincent, op. cit., lib. xxxi., ch. 11. || Mosheim, Hist. Tart. Eccl,, 45.
f Vincent, op. cit., ii. 2, and 40.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 73
receiving them, both from the faithful and infidels. They thereupon
again withdrew and again returned, and were told that no one ever
appeared before Baichu with empty hands, upon which Anselm said if
they could not have any audience without presents they must be content
without one, and simply hand over the Pope's letters to them to be passed
on. The officers made numerous inquiries about the Franks, of whom,
as they had heard from their merchants, a large army was being transported
into Syria, and with whom they professed to wish to be on friendly
terms.* After a short delay they again visited the brothers, having meanwhile
again changed their costume. They reported that if the friars wished for
an audience they must consent to make three genuflexions before Baichu,
as if they were before the Khakan himself, the son of God and master of
the earth. The friars debated together what Baichu meant by this
ceremony, and Guischard of Cremona, who, we are told, knew the Tartar
customs well, having learnt them from the Georgians, assured them he
meant by it to signify that the Pope and all the Roman Church was to be
subject to the Khakan. Thereupon the friars agreed that they would
rather be decapitated than go through the ceremony, and cause exultation
among the enemies of their church — Georgians, Armenians and Greeks,
Persians and Turks.} Anselm said that they were not moved in this by
arrogance, and were prepared to do whatever was seemly in envoys of
the Pope ; that they would pay Baichu the same respect they paid their
own princes ; nay, if he would become a Christian, then, for the sake of
the faith, they would not only prostrate themselves before him, but before
them all, and kiss the soles of their feet and their poorest garments.
This stirred the indignation of the Mongols greatly. " Are we dogs like
you ? — the Pope is a dog, so are all you," they said, and then withdrew
and went to report to their master.} Baichu would have killed them all
when he heard what their reply was. Some, however, recommended him
to kill two of them, and to send the others back to the Pope ; others,
again, that he should flay the senior envoy, and forward his skin to his
master. Others suggested that they should be put in front of the
battering engines, so that they should be killed by the latter, and not soil
Mongol hands with the blood of ambassadors. Baichu's counsel at
length prevailed that they should be put to death. He was eventually
dissuaded from this, however, by his principal wife and by the
chamberlain, who managed the introduction of envoys, and who
threatened to report the whole proceedings before the Khakan if the
envoys were killed.§ He now became more reasonable, and sent his
people again to inquire from the friars how they were wont to honour
their own princes. Anselm thereupon drew back his hood and inclined

* Vin

icent, op. cit., ii. 41. t Id., 42. { Id., 43- % Id., 44.

74 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
his head somewhat. They then asked how Christians reverenced their
God. " Some by prostration, some in other ways," was the answer.
They finished up by scoffingly inquiring how they, who stooped to wood
and stone, refused to thus honour the representative of the Khakan, the
son of God. Anselm replied that they did not worship the cross, but only
reverenced the symbol of that on which their Saviour had poured out his
blood. They presently withdrew, and told the friars that it would be
better they should go in person to the Khakan's Court, and there deliver
their letters, and see what was now veiled from their eyes, namely, how
great his power and glory were. Anselm, who suspected Baichu's
motives, replied that the Pope had never heard of the Khakan, and had
merely ordered him to visit the first Tartar chief he met with, and
that he did not care to go further. If Baichu wished he would present
him and his people with the Pope's letters, if not he preferred to return
with them. The Mongols once more jeered at him, saying, " How can you
claim that the Pope is so much higher than other men ? Who has ever
heard of his having conquered so many kingdoms as the Khakan, the son
of God ? Who has heard that the Pope's name, like that of the Khakan,
is diffused from the limits of the East to the Black Sea? Surely he is
greater than your Pope ? " When Anselm proceeded to explain that the
Pope's greatness depended on his being the representative of St. Peter,
the unsophisticated Mongols laughed and jeered so loudly that he could
not continue his conversation.* At the request of Baichu's messengers,
Anselm sent the Pope's letters to him. They were remitted to them to
be translated into Persian, whence they were retranslated into Mongol,
and were then again presented. Baichu now informed the friars that two
of their number must be prepared to accompany a secretary of the Grand
Khan, who was about to return to Mongolia, so that they might present
their letters in person, and see for themselves what a great person their
master was. Anselm replied that they had received no commission .to go
on thither, and should not go on unless forced, and that they did not want
to separate.t The friars, whose tent was pitched a mile away from the
Mongol camp, now solicited leave to return, and asked if Baichu had any
letters for them, but they could get no answer. They were spurned and
treated with contumely by the Mongols, who looked upon them as viler
than dogs. Three times Baichu, we are told, gave orders for their
execution. Day after clay they went and stood in the broiling heat of
June and July from sunrise to sunset without shelter, awaiting a reply.
Thus matters continued for nine weeks.} At length Baichu granted his
permission for them to leave, but revoked it again on the ground that he
had heard an envoy from the Khakan named Angutha, who had been
given authority over all Georgia (this was probably Arghun), was coming.
* Vincent, op. cit., ii. 46. t Id., 47. } Id., i&.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 75
For three weeks they patiently awaited his arrival, living on bread and
water and occasionally a little goat's milk* As the winter was coming
on, when it was dangerous to navigate the Mediterranean, Anselm once
more pleaded through a friendly official for Baichu's permission to depart.
This was at length granted, and they were about to leave when their
departure was again postponed by the sudden arrival of Angutha, with
the uncle of the Sultan of Aleppo, and the brother of the Sultan of Mosul,
who had been to the Khakan's Court bearing the homage of their relatives
and many rich presents. They now performed the triple genuflexion
before Baichu, and offered him gifts. Then followed a feast of seven
days, in which drink and dissipation prevailed, and the business of the
departure was once more postponed. This over, they were at length
allowed to depart with a letter addressed by the Khakan to Baichu, which
they called the letter of God, and a separate one from Baichu to the
Pope. They arrived safely at home after an absence of more than three
years. Vincent has preserved us copies in Latin of the two letters. The
letter of the Khakan to Baichu, which was called the letter of God,
and was apparently a copy of Jingis Khan's general instructions to his
officers, has an incoherent sound, due probably, as D'Ohsson suggests, to
the ignorance of the interpreters : " By the order of the living God,
Jingis Khan, the son of God, the gentle and venerable. The Great God
is Lord over everything, and on earth Jingis Khan is alone master. We
would have this known in all our provinces, obedient or otherwise. It
behoves thee, therefore, O Baiothnoi, to let it be known by them that this
is the will of the Living God. And let this be known everywhere where
an envoy can go, that whoever disobeys you shall be driven out, and his
land shall be laid waste. And I declare to you that whoever does not
hear this my command must be deaf, and whoever sees it and does not
obey must be blind, and he who knowing it does not carry it out must be
halt. This, my order, will reach everyone, wise and ignorant. Whoso
ever, therefore, hears and neglects to obey it shall be destroyed, lost, and
killed. Make this known, therefore, O Baiothnoi, and whoever obeys,
wishing to save his house, and undertakes to serve us, shall be
saved and treated honourably ; and whoever shall oppose it, do
according to your will and destroy him.t" The other letter ran
as follows : " By order of the Divine Khan, Baichu Noyan sends
these words. Pope, do you know that your envoys have been to us
and have brought us your letters ? Your envoys have spoken big words.
We know not whether this was by your orders or at their instance. In
your letters it is written, 'You have slaughtered and destroyed many
men.' But this is the command of God, who rules the earth, to us,
* Vincent, op. cit., ii. 49. t Id., 51-52. D'Ohsson, ii. 232-233.

76 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
' Whoever hears my words shall retain his land, water, and patrimony ;
but those who disobey are destroyed and lost.' We accordingly send you
this message. If you, Pope, wish to retain your patrimony, you must
come to us in person, and present yourself before the master of the whole
world. If you disobey, we know not what will happen. God knows.
Before you come it will be well to send messengers to say whether you
mean to come or no, and whether you mean to be friendly or otherwise.
This order, which we send you by the hands of Ibeg and Sargis, we
write the 20th of July, in the district of the Castle of Sitiens."*
In reference to the conversations of the friars with the Mongols, above
reported, and especially in regard to the delicate question of the ignorance
of the Pope of their chiefs' names, we have a story preserved showing
that the friars were ready and witty diplomatists. This story is reported
in the " Peregrinatio de Fr. Bieult," who- tells us how one of them
was at an audience with the Khakan, when the latter asked what presents
he had with him. The reply was he had none, as he was not aware of his
o-reat power. " How is that ? Have not the birds which visit your country
told you anything of our power ?" " Sire, it may well be that they have,"
said the traveller, " but I understood not what they said ; " an answer
which appeased the Khakan.t
The result of the mission to the Pope is not told us by Vincent, whose
account ends abruptly, but Matthew Paris tells us how, in 1248, two
Tartar envoys, doubtless the same as those mentioned by Vincent,
had an audience of the Pope. Their letters were thrice translated from
less known into better known languages. The Pope gave them precious
garments called "robas," made of scarlet cloth and furred, and also
presents of gold and silver. The interviews were formal, interpreters only
being present, and neither clerics, notaries, nor others, and Matthew
Paris suggests that their object was to obtain help against Vataces, the
schismatic ruler of Nicasa, but, as Remusat says, he was much too obscure
a person for the Mongols to want aid in opposing him, and their message
was much more probably a peremptory order to submit.}
The friendly intercourse of the Christians with the Mongols was
naturally very distasteful to the Mussulman princes, who put obstacles in
its way. The Governor of Erzenjan gave express orders that provisions
were not to be supplied to those who came from among the Franks, nor to
the envoys of Haithon of Armenia, or of Vastak. Similarly we read how
the missionaries who went to the Court of Malik el Mansur Ibrahim,
Prince of Edessa, were refused permission to go on to the Mongols,
among other reasons because he was satisfied they meant to incite the
Mongols against the Mussulmans.§
It was in 1247, when Saint Louis had summoned his notables
* Vincent, op. cit., ii. 50. t A. Remusat, Mems. Acad. Ins., vi. 421. Note.
| Mems, Fr. Ins., vi., 426-427. $ A. Remusat, Mems. Fr. In., vi. 430.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 77
preparatory to starting on his crusade, that a letter arrived from the
Mongols summoning him to submit, and stating that they were the people
of whom it had been stated that God had given the earth to the children
of men.* There have not been wanting speculations as to what might
have been the fate of the world if St. Louis, instead of attacking the
strong power of Egypt, had turned his arms against the Seljuki Turks, at
this time much weakened and broken by their conflict with the Mongols.
He would, no doubt, have crushed them and been then brought face to
face with the terrible Tartars. The Mussulmans who intervened between
the latter and the Christians at this time probably saved the world from
disaster. According to Haithon and W. de Nangis, it was Ilchikidai (called
Erchalchai and Ercaltai in contemporary writings) who, when St. Louis
reached Cyprus, sent some envoys to that last of the Crusaders. Mangu
afterwards repudiated them, and De Guignes has treated them as
impostors. Joinville distinctly says they went to assure Louis that the
Mongols were ready to assist him in the conquest of Jerusalem and the
Holy Land. Louis received them well and sent some of his people back
with them. Odo, or Hugh, bishop of Tusculum, another contemporary,
tells us the envoys landed at Cyprus on the 19th of December, 1248 ; that
they duly reached Nicosia, and presented the king with letters written in
the Persian tongue and in Arabic characters. After the translation of
these letters, Hugh himself reported their contents to the king. Vincent
of Beauvais and William of Nangis call the chief envoy David, and tell
us he was recognised by the brother Andrew de Longiumel, already
named, who had met him among the Tartars. Another chronicler tells
us that the king had the letter, when translated, sent on to France, to his
mother Blanche.} Another copy was sent to Pope Innocent by his legate,
Cardinal Hugh, of Chateau Royal. Vincent of Beauvais has preserved a
Latin translation of this letter : —
" By the power of the High God, the letters of the King of the Earth,
the Khan, the words of Erchaltai, the great king of many provinces, the
vigorous defender of the world, the sword of Christian victory, the
defender of the Apostolical faith, the son of the Evangelical law, to the
King of the Franks. May God increase his kingdom and preserve it to
him for many years. May his wishes be gratified now and in the future
by the truth of the divine power, the director of mankind and of all the
prophets and apostles. Amen. A hundred thousand salutations and
blessings. I hope he will accept these greetings, and that they may be
welcome to him. God grant that I may see this magnificent king who is
coming near. The exalted Creator can well bring about our friendly
meeting together. * A. Remusat, Mems. Fr. In., vi. 435.
t W. de Nangis, Bouquet, xx. 358, &c. A. Remusat, Mems. Fr. Acad., vi. 439-440.

78 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
" Let it be understood that in this our greeting we mean nothing more
than the benefit of Christianity and the strengthening of the king's hands,
God being willing ; and I pray that God will grant victory to the armies
of the Christian king, and will give him victory over his enemies who
contemn the cross. On behalf of the exalted king, may God exalt him,
namely, of Kiukai {i.e., Kuyuk). May God increase his splendour. We
have come {i.e. into Persia) with authority and power to announce that all
Christians are to be free from servitude and taxes, dues, and tolls {aservitute
et tributo et angaria et pedagiis), &c, and are to be treated with honour
and reverence. No one is to molest their goods, and those of their
churches which have been destroyed are to be rebuilt, and to be allowed
freely to sound their plates {pulsenter tabula — i.e., the substitutes for
bells, already named). No one must dare to prevent them freely
and with a quiet mind praying for our kingdom. So far we have
provided for the advantage and protection of the Christians. In addition,
we beg to send our faithful envoys, the venerable Sab ed din, Mufat
David, and Mark, that they may announce these good tidings. My son,
hear their words and believe them. In his letters the King of the Earth
{i.e., Kuyuk) — may his splendour increase — orders that there may no
difference be made between the different classes of believers — the Latins,
Greeks, and Armenians, the Nestorians and the Jacobites, and all who
reverence the cross. All are one with us, and thus we pray the
Magnificent King to make no difference between them, and to extend his
beneficence over all Christians. May his piety and beneficence endure.
Given in the end of Maharram, with the approval of the exalted Lord."*
According to Bishop Hugh, above quoted, Louis asked the envoys how
their master knew of his arrival. They said the Prince of Mosul had
sent to Ilchikidai some letters he had received from the Sultan of Egypt,
and at the same time falsely pretending he had captured sixty of the
Frank ships. Ilchikidai reported his intention of marching the following
summer against the Khalif, and asked St. Louis to make a diversion
against Egypt so as to keep its ruler employed. The envoys mentioned
that Kuyuk Khan's mother was a Christian. She was called Kuiotai,
and was a daughter of Prester John, and that he had, at the
instance of a pious bishop, named Malassias, been baptised, with
eighteen kings' sons and many grandees of the Court. They added that
Ilchikidai had been a convert for many years, although many of the
Tartars were not so, and, that although not of the royal blood, he had
much power ; that Baichu was a Pagan, and surrounded by Mussulman
councillors, hence his harsh treatment of the Pope's messengers, but that
his power was now much curtailed, and he was subordinate to Ilchikidai.
There are some misstatements in this report, and many suspicious
* Vincent de Beauvais, xxxi. cap. 91. D'Ohsson, ii. 238-239. Note.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 79
circumstances about the letter, such as its unusually civil tone, its ignoring
questions likely to interest the Mongols, and entering into the rival policies of
the various Christian sects in the East, and its reference to the request that
Louis would make no difference between the Latin Christians and their
Eastern brothers. This ledDe Guignes and others to suspect that the whole
embassy was an imposture made up by some of these Eastern Christians
to further their own aims. Remusat concludes that the embassy was a
genuine one, but that the envoys, for diplomatic or other purposes, either
concocted a letter of their own or interpreted it after their own fashion.*
Louis determined to reply to the message, and organised an embassy in
return, of which Brother Andrew deLongiumel, "who," says Joinville, "knew
the Sarrasinois," was at the head, and with him joined a French friar
named John of Carcassonne.} The presents Louis sent to the Khakan
comprised a chapel made out of good scarlet {i.e., of embroidered scarlet
cloth), ornaments for the service, a piece of the true cross for the Khakan
and another for Ilchikidai. With these, Joinville says, there were also
sent pictures of the chief events in the life of Christ — the annunciation,
nativity, baptism, passion, ascension, &c.} With these things were sent
letters, according to one account, exhorting the Khakan to imitate the
example of his mother, and to become a Christian, and to another bidding
him, as well as Ilchikidai, persevere in the faith. The legate Odo also
sent letters to the Khakan, to his stepmother, to Ilchikidai and the
bishops who were with him, saying that the Roman Church received them
gladly, and had learned with joy of their conversion, that they should cling
to the orthodox faith, recognise Rome as the mother of all churches, and
the Pope as its head.§ These letters, as Remusat says, must have been a
surprise to the Court at Karakorum. The envoys set out from Nicosia
on the 27th of January, 1248 (D'Ohsson says on the 10th of February,
1249). They apparently made their way to Antioch, and thence to the
camp of Ilchikidai, whence Andrew despatched a letter, together with
one from the Mongol general, which were translated into Latin, and sent
to France to Queen Blanche. These letters seem to be no longer
extant.|| The envoys then went on to the Imperial Court, travelling at
the rate of ten leagues a day. There they arrived at the end of 1 248 or
the beginning of 1249. Kuyuk was dead, and it was the Regent Ogul
Garnish who received them. She received the presents of Louis affably,
and gave the friars some in return, including, in Chinese fashion, a piece
of silk brocade. The Regent also intrusted a letter to them. According
to Joinville the presents sent by Louis were treated, much to his chagrin,
* Op. cit., 437-445.
t Odo names a third named William ; Joinville only mentions two Dominicans ; Thomas of
Cantunpre, two Dominicans and two Franciscans ; and Vincent of Beauvais, three Dominicans,
two secular clerks, and two of the King's officers ; W. de Nangis names Andrew, with two
brothers of the same order, two other clerics, and two of the King's waiting-men. (Op. cit., 366.)
J. Colunna reports the same as Vincent, and says he knew as a very old man one of these clerks
named Robert, who was a sub-cantor in the church of Chartres.
X D. V., xx. 262. § W. de Nangis, Bouquet, op. cit., 364. || Id., 447.

80 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
as tribute, while the letter in reply demanded an annual tribute in gold
and silver, menacing the French king with destruction if he refused to
pay it*
The notice given by Joinville of the reception of this embassy is so
quaint, and so exactly represents the Mongol mode of dealing in such
cases, that it is worth while printing it in full. " Le roi des Tartarins,"
he says, " fit tendre la chapelle, et dit aux rois qui se trouvaient a sa cour.
Seigneurs, le roy de France est venu en nostre sujestion, et vezci le treu
que il nous envoie. Avec les messagers le Roy vindrent . . si
apport£rent lettres de leur grant roy au roy de France qui disaient
ainsi. ' Bone chose est de pez, quar en terre de p£z manguent cil qui
vont a quatre pied l'erbe pesiblement ; cil qui vont a deus labourent la
terre, dont les biens viennent pesiblement ; et ceste chose te mandons
nous pour toy aviser ; car tu ne peus avoir pbz si tu ne l'as a nous, et tel
roy et tel (et moult en nommoient), et tous les avons mis a l'espee. Si
te mandons que tu nous envoies tant de ton or et de ton argent chascun
an, que tu nous retieignes a amis ; et se tu ne le fais, nous destruirons toy et
ta gent aussi comme nous avons fait ceulx que nous avons devant
nommez.' Et sachez qu'il {i.e., the king) se repenti fort quant il y
envoia."t The envoys returned two years after setting out and found the king at
Acre, and notwithstanding the ill success of his previous venture, he
determined to send another embassy. This was headed by William of
Ruysbrock, or Rubruquis, of whom we have written much in the earlier
volumes. Joinville declares that Rubruquis repudiated the character of
an envoy, and that in preaching in the church of Saint Sophia, while on
his journey, he declared he had been sent neither by Louis nor any other
sovereign, but went in accordance with the statutes of his order to preach
the gospel to the infidels ; and it would seem that he took up this position
at the instance of St. Louis himself, who, no doubt, wished to guard
himself against his acts being misinterpreted as acts of submission.
Rubruquis reached Karakorum on the 27th of December, 1252, having
traversed the Steppes of Kipchak, as I have mentioned.} Rubruquis
tells us the year before he was at Karakorum there was a cleric there
from Acre, who called himself Rammud, but whose real name was
Theodolus. He travelled from Cyprus to Persia with Andrew, taking
with him an organ from Amoric (?) (ab Ammorico ?). When Andrew went
home again he remained behind and repaired to Mangu, who asked him
what his business was, and he replied he had come from a bishop named
Odo, in the kingdom of King Louis (the text has Moles, but this is clearly
a clerical error), who, if the ways had been open, and if the Saracens had
not been posted between them, would have sent envoys to make peace
* W. de Nangis, Bouquet, op. cit., 448. t D'Ohsson, ii. 244. Note. } Ante, i. 4.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 8 1
with him. Mangu asked if he was willing to conduct some envoys to
that king and bishop. He said he was, and also to the Pope. Pie then
caused a very strong bow to be made which two men could barely pull,
and two whistling arrows called bozunes or bousiones with silver heads
full of holes, which when thrown whistled like a flute, and he bade a
Mongol, whom he had chosen as his envoy, go to the King of the Franks,
and tell him that if he made peace with him he would if he acquired
the country now held by the Saracens as far as his borders, make over to
him the remainder as far as the west. He also told him ominously to
point out to the King the bow and arrows, and to tell him such a bow shot
a long way and such arrows pierced very deeply.* He also bade his
Mongol conductor explore well the roads, districts, and castles, and the
men he should pass, and also their arms. The interpreter, who was a
European, suggested that Theodolus should drop his inconvenient
companions into the sea en route, so that no one would know
what became of them, for they were merely spies. Mangu gave
the Mongol a gold tablet, a palm in width and half a cubit in length
{i.e., a paizah). He says that anyone who bore it could order and
obtain anything he pleased. Theodolus duly arrived at the Court of
Vastaces, or Vataces, the Emperor of Nicsea, wishing to go to the Pope
to deceive him as he had deceived Mangu Khan. Vataces asked him
where his letters were, which was the envoy and which the conductor.
As he would not produce his letters he imprisoned him. The Mongol
fell ill and died there, and Vataces thereupon sent the golden tablet back
to Mangu Khan. Rubruquis says he met these messengers at Erzerum,
who told him what had happened to Theodolus.t
On taking leave, Rubruquis was intrusted with a letter for St. Louis, of
which he gives the purport, " so far," he says, " as he could understand it
through the interpreter." This letter was phrased in the usual peremptory
fashion of the Mongols. Inter alia, it denounced David, already men
tioned, as an impostor, and characterised the late regent, the mother
of Kuyuk, to whom Louis' envoys had gone, as viler than dogs.
Rubruquis reports that Mangu Khan had declared to him that she was
given to necromancy, and had destroyed all her relatives by her sorceries.}
The letters stated that it was not convenient and safe for him to send
envoys, but that he expected Louis to send him some to state whether
he wished for peace or war, and threatening him accordingly. § I have
already described Rubruquis' journey back to Serai, the capital of Batu
Khan.|| The Mongols furnished him with an escort of twenty men, to protect
him from the Lesghs and other robbers in traversing the Iron Gates. In
regard to the arms of these Mongols Rubruquis has a very interesting
sentence. Two had haubergions {i.e., coats of mail). These, they told
* Rubruquis, D'Avezac, 310-312. t Id , 313. X Id-, no. $ Id., 371.
j| Ante, ii. 87-88.

82 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him, they had obtained among the Alani, who were accounted good
makers of such suits, and splendid smiths.* Rubruquis concluded that
the only arms indigenous with the Mongols were quivers, bows and
arrows, and pellicise (? felted armour, or armour made of skins). Among
the presents he saw offered to them were iron plates, or scales, and iron
helmets, from Persia, and he saw two Alans present themselves to Mangu
in tunics of fish skin (de peccaisiis), made from stiff hides, which were
very inconvenient.!
He describes Derbend as hanging between the sea and the mountains.
No road passed below or above the town. The only road traversed the
city itself, and was closed by an iron gate, whence its name. It was well
fortified, and dominated by a fortress which the Tartars had captured.
Two days further on he reached the town of Samaron (? Shirvan), where
there were many Jews, as there were in many of the mountain recesses
on this coast, and also in the towns of Persia. Presently he reached a
great town called Samag {i.e., Shamakhi), and then on the following day
entered the plain of Moan {i.e., Mughan), through which flowed the Kur,
from which he says were named the Kurgi, called Georgians in the West.
In this plain he again met with Tartars. Travelling along the Araxes,
he passed the camp of Baichu, in whose house he was entertained and
given wine. His host, however, drank kumiz, which he says naively he
would have freely drunk if it had been offered to him. He followed the
Araxes to its sources near Erzerum. On leaving Baichu, Rubruquis'
guide and his interpreter went to Tebris to see Arghun. Baichu caused
the friar to be taken to Naxua (? Nakhchivan),} the former capital of a great
kingdom, once a great and beautiful city, which the Mongols had converted
into a waste. There were once eighty Armenian churches there, but at this
time they had been reduced to two small ones. The Armenians professed
to recount to him some prophecies of one of their saints, named Acacron,
who foretold the advent of the archers {i.e., the Mongols).§ He tells us
how he passed near Mount Ararat, which, although it seemed so
accessible, none had been able to climb ; and that a monk, who was very
anxious to do so, had a piece of the ark brought him by an angel, which the
Armenians professed to keep in one of their churches. An old man had
told him that the reason why the mountain ought not to be climbed was
that its name was Massis in their tongue, and it was of the feminine
gender, and no one should ascend it since it was the mother of the
world !!!||
Four days after leaving this town Rubruquis reached the territory of
Sahensa {i.e., Shahan Shah), formerly the most powerful of the Georgians,
but then tributary to the Tartars, who had destroyed all the fortresses his
father Zakaria had conquered from the Mussulmans. Shahan Shah,
* The Kubechi, in the Caucasus, were a famous tribe of armour makers.
t Rubruquis, 38r. J Id., 384. $ Id., 385-386. || Id., 387.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 83
with his wife and his son Zakaria, received Rubruquis with honour.
The last, an amiable boy, asked him if he went to St. Louis whether he
would receive him, for although he had plenty of all he needed he
preferred to travel to a foreign land than to wear the yoke of the Tartars*
They claimed to be faithful to the Roman Church, and if the Pope would
send them some help they would subject all the surrounding districts to
the Church. In fifteen days thence he reached Erzenjan, all whose
inhabitants were Christians, Armenians, Georgians, and Greeks, but the
Muhammedans were masters of it, and its governor, as we have seen, had
been forbidden to supply food to any Frank and to any envoy from
Armenia or Vataces, so that Rubruquis had now, till he reached Cyprus,
to buy his food. He passed through Ani, also subject to Shahan Shah, a
very strong fortress containing 1,000 Armenian churches and two mosques.
The Tartars had a bailiff there. There he met five Dominicans, who had
no interpreter except a feeble servant who knew Turkish and a little
French. They had letters from the Pope for Sertak, Mangu Khan, and
Buri, but on hearing Rubruquis' story, instead of going on, went to
consult their companions at Tiflis. " What they afterwards did," says
Rubruquis, " I know not." Leaving the valley of the Araxes, he crossed
into that of the Euphrates, and mentions a terrible earthquake which had
destroyed 1,000 people at Erzenjan. He crossed a valley, where he tells
us the Sultan of the Turks was defeated by the Tartars, the former having
200,000 horsemen and the latter but 10,000, ' and in regard to the
earthquake says quaintly -and grimly : " Dicebat michi cor meum quod
tota terra ilia apperuerat os suum ad recipiendum adhuc sanguinem
Sarracenorum."f He passed through Sebaste, and visited the tombs of
the eighty martyrs. Thence he went on by Caesarea and Iconium.
There he met, inter alios, with a Genoese merchant from Acre, Nicholas
de Sancto Siro, who, with a companion, a Venetian, named Benefatio de
Molendino, had the monopoly of exporting all the aluinun (? alum) from
"Turkia," and had raised its value in the proportion of 15 to 50.
Rubruquis was presented to the Seljuki Sultan, and received permission to
go on through Cilicia, or Little Armenia. He made his way to Kurta (?),
the port of that kingdom, and having deposited his goods on board ship,
went to pay a visit to Haithon's father, who he heard had had letters from
his son. He found him at Asium with all his family except a son named
Barunusin, who had been appointed governor of a fortress. The Court
was delighted at the news that King Haithon was on his way home,
having received a remission of part of the heavy tribute they had to pay,
and other privileges. } The old man had Rubruquis conducted to a port
named Auax (? Ayas), whence he passed into Cyprus to Nicosia, where
he had an interview with one of King Louis' officials, who conducted him

* Id., 388. t Id., 391- I Op- cit., 393-

84 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to Antioch and Tripolis, and Acre. He complains that he was not
allowed to visit the King in person, and that it was not possible to report
the results of his journey viva voce* He ends up by a survey of the
various Muhammedan powers which he had encountered, and explaining*
how easy it would be for the Christians to overwhelm them. That a large
proportion of the population of Turkia {i.e., of the Seljuk Empire)
were Greeks or Armenians. The Sultan had three sons, one by a
Georgian wife, a second by a Greek, and a third by a Turk. The
first of these he wished to succeed him, but the Turks and Turkomans
wished for the success of the third. They had twice risen in his
support, but he had been beaten, and was then imprisoned. The
son of the Greek mother also had partisans, who declared the son
of the Georgian mother, who had been sent to the Tartars, was a
feeble person. This rivalry created great confusion. There was no
money in the treasury, few soldiers, and many enemies. The son
of Vataces also was feeble, and had a war with the son of Assail
(? Jelal-Hasan), who was also ground down by the Tartar yoke. So that if
it was thought well that the army of the Church should march to the
rescue of the Holy Land, it could easily subdue or traverse that district.
From Cologne to Constantinople was only a forty days' journey by
chariot. Thence to Little Armenia not so much. It was more safe, and
quite as cheap, to go thus by land as by sea, and, adds our traveller, " I
speak faithfully ; if your peasants (I speak not of kings and knights)
would travel as do the kings of the Tartars, and -be content with the same
food, they could conquer the whole world."} Rubruquis must have been
a delightful companion ; so full of genuine hatred for the Saracens and
the Tartars, and so full of confidence in himself.

Note I. — The coinage of the district comprised in the old Empire of Khuarezm
during the interregnum between Jingis Khan's campaign and that of Khulagu
is an interesting but obscure subject. There are certain coins published by
Thomas in his " Coinage of the Pathan Sultans, 91 and 97," which bear the
name of the great conqueror himself, and strangely enough have the Khalif's
name and titles on the other side. As Major Raverty suggests, these were
probably issued by some of the Muhammedan princes on the borders of India,
who acknowledged the supremacy of Jingis Khan. One of them has the mint
city Kurman. It need hardly be said that the Mongols themselves had no
stamped money until a later date, and merely used bullion in the form
of ingots, called balishes. These coins are very like in fabric to those
issued by Jelal ud din, the Khuarezm Shah, when in the east, and by Nasir ud
din Muhammed ibn Hasan Karluk.}

* Op. cit., 393-394. t Id., 394-395, ! Op. cit.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 85
I know of no coins with the name of Ogotai. " The earliest coin of the
Mongols with Arabic inscriptions," says my friend, Mr. Stanley Poole, " and
probably their earliest with any inscription, is that struck at Tiflis in 642."*
The year 642 falls within the regency of Turakina, Ogotai's widow, and Mr.
Poole says this coin may have been struck by Arghun after his appointment to
the Governorship of Persia, or it may have been struck by some pretender to
the throne, who considered the interregnum, and the dissatisfaction caused by
Turakina's rule, a favourable opportunity for striking a blow for sovereignty. A
second coin in the same collection of the same date bas apparently the mint
place Kenjeh (? Kantzag). " The second of these coins," says Mr. Poole, " has
the familiar Anatolian and Georgian device of a mounted bowman, with dog,
and presents no indication of a striker's name except an obscure inscription
which has been doubtfully read Alush Beg by M. Bartholomaei, while M.
Gregorief, omitting the points, reads it (coin) of the great Mongol Ulus,"
which seems to me to be an exceedingly probable reading. Three specimens
in the Jena collection were apparently minted at N akhchivan. Of Kuyuk there
are in the British Museum only coins struck in his name by his vassal David
V., of Georgia.t
Of Mangu, written M6ngk6 on the coins, we have specimens struck both in
silver and copper. His name occurs alone on five coins in the British Museum
struck in 652 and 653, in all cases where the mint mark is legible, at Tiflis.}
There are also coins extant of Bedr ud din Lulu, the ruler of Mosul, with the
name and titles of Mangu upon them.§
Note 2.— Western Armenia at the time of the Mongol invasion was so much
broken up into feudal principalities that it is not easy to follow their history,
and it will be convenient to give a short conspectus of the most important
family, that of the so-called Mkargrdzels. Guiragos and Vartan agree in
giving them a Kurdish origin. They consisted of two branches. One of these, to
which the famous Constables of Georgia belonged, we are told by Guiragos,
conquered from the Persians and Turks several districts of Armenia, of which
they remained masters; that is to say, the district surrounding Gelarkuni,
Tashir, Ararat, Bejni, Tovin, Anberd, Ani, Kars, Vaiotz-Tzor, the country
of Siunia, and the fortresses, towns, &c, in its neighbourhood. They also
made tributary the Sultan of Karin, or Erzerum.
The second or collateral branch, which is deduced from the same ancestor by
M. Brosset, captured from the Persians the fortresses of Kartman, Karhertz,
Ergevank, Tavush, Kadzareth, Terunakan, Gag, and eventually Shamkor. ||
M. Brosset has criticised the pedigree of this family as given by Guiragos,
Vartan, and in inscriptions, and the following is the result :—

* It is in the British Museum. Catalogue Oriental Coins, vol. 6, liii.
t Id., liii. and liv. I Id. .
, Yule's Marco Polo, i. 62, II Hist, de la Georgie, Add., &c, 415-

86

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

THE MKARGRDZELS. Khosrov.

Zakaria II.
Constable, died
in 1212 or 1214
Shahan Shah I.
married Nazoud,
daughter of the
Atabeg Sathun,
was chief of the
Mandators,
died in 1261

Avak Sargis
Zakaria I.
Sargis I.
Amir-spasalar or Constable
under Georgi III. and Thamar,
married the sister of the
Prince Kurd,
died in 1187

Karim,
probably the Vahram
mentioned below

I I I
Ivaneh I. Nerjis, Vane,
Atabeg, died or Nerjomin or Nanan,
in 1227 or 1229 I married
Ivaneh, King Abbas 1 1 .
Vartabied of Corisian
Hoghbat,
living in 1233

Avak I.
or Sargis II.
Constable,
died in 1250

Thamtha II.,
married
i. 1203, Malik Auhad
ii. 1204, Malik Ashraf
iii. 1230, Jelal ud din,
living in 1243 

Doph,
or Shushen,
married
Kara Grigor,
or Dawith,
Prince of
Khachen .1
Grigor,
Vartabied of
Sanahin

Thamtha Ire,
or Khorishah,
married
Vakhtanc-
Sacarhian, Prince of
Khachen

J alai -D ola- Hasan ,
Lord of Artsakh
Hist de la G6orgie, 362 and 417.

Zakaria Ivaneh the Little

Vahram
was probably
the Karim of
the previous genealogy

Blu Zakaria
who married Khatun,
Princess cf Khachen
Vahram Gagel,
Chief of the Msakhurs
 I

Sargis

Zakaria

Akbuka,
still living, as well
as his father,
in 1243

Vahram

ZaJaria

Ivaneh

Hist, de la Georgie, 362.

PRINCES OF KHACHEN.
Sacarh,
Lord of Hatherk, Handaberd, and
Havkakhaghats, also called
King Sinric
Hasan the Great,
Prince of Artsakh, Lord of
Khoinkhanberd and
Khachen
Wakhtang
Jelal, styled Hasan Zakaria Ivaneh the Little
Hist, de la Georgie, 339-349.

THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 87
THE ORPELIANS.

t Sempad I.,
died before 1177

Ivaneh VI., LiparitV.,
Chief of the Mandators Eristhaf of Karthli
named in 1183 I
I '

SeinpadlL, A Daughter, Elikum I., Ivaneh VII., Zinan,
diedinii77 married to | | died in 1177
Demna, son of Liparit VI., Ancestor
David II. according to the of the Orpelians of
Hist, de la Georgia
Georgie, married the
daughter of Eldiguz,
diecl in 1263
i "1 i  1  1
Elikum II. ,. Sempad III., Ivaneh VIII., Phakradaula I., Tarsaij,
died in 1244 died in 1263 or Ancestor of died about 1257 married a baptised
1273 adopted the Orpelians of Mongol named Aruz
by Eldiguz Siunia Khatun who died before
_ 1272, and afterwards
Mina Khatun, daughter of
Jelal-Dola-Hasan. He died in 1290
Hist, de la Georgie, 350, &c.

Note 3.— In describing the struggle of the Seljuki ruler Iz ud din with the
Mongols, I overlooked the fact that at this time Michael Palzeologus, who
governed Nicsea and Bythinia on behalf of the Emperor Baldwin II., having
aroused the suspicions of his master, fled to Iconium to the Turkish Sultan,
who gave him command of a contingent of Christians. With them he fought
against the Tartars, and Michael wounded their commander with his own
lance, and drove back the enemy. Meanwhile, one of the Sultan's officers
deserted with his men, which turned the tide in favour of the enemy. The
allies were beaten, and Michael, with a Turkish general, fled for several days,
and was closely pursued as far as Castamonia, in Paphlagonia, where the
Turkish general lived.*
Note 4,— Guiragos has preserved for us a short vocabulary of the Mongol
language as spoken when he wrote {i.e., about 1241), which is very interesting
as a proof of the conservative character of the language, and the little alteration
it has undergone in the six centuries which have since intervened. I have
here printed it, together with the corresponding words in Buriat, Kalmuk, and
Mongol, as given by Brosset and Schiefner in Brosset's edition of Guiragos.t

* Akropolita, in Stritter, iii. 1038-1039. Lebeau, xviii. 18-22.
t Vide op. cit., 135-137-

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

Guiragos.

Buriat.

Kalmuk.

Mongol.

God

Thanghri

Tengere, Tengeri (the
sky)

Tenggri (the sky)

tengri, tegri

Man (Vir)

Harerian (var Ere)

ere

ere

ere

Woman

Apdji (var Erne Apdji)

erne

erne

erne (1)

Father

Etcheka

etsege, esege

etchige

etchige

Mother

Ak'a

eke, ekhe

eke

eke

Brother (older)

AghaAk'adji

akha, aka

akha

akha

Sister (sister)

egetche, egeche

egetchi

egetchi

Head

Thiuron (var Thiru)

tologoi, tumun (be
ginning)

tologhoi

(tologhai) terigun

Eye

Nitun (var Nitu)

(pi) nyideng, nyudeng
(pi) tchike chikeng

niidiin

nidun

Ear

Tchikin (Dchih)

tchikin

tchikin

Beard

S akhai

sakhal, hakal

sakhal

sakhal

Face

Hioq (var Hiugh Niur)

nyur nyur

niur

nighur

Mouth

Aman

aman, ama

aman

aman

Tooth

Skhur (var Skhursitun)

shidun

shidun, sidun

Bread

Othmak

otmok (2)

Ox (Bceuf)
Akar (var Ok'ar)
tsar
shar shir, uker
(beast with
horns) (3)
Cow
Unen
unye, unyen
ukur
uniyen
Sheep (le Mouton)
Qoina
khutsa, kusa
khutsu
khucha (4)
Sheep (la Erebis)
Qurqan
khonye, khonyen
khoin
khonin (5)
Iman
yamang
yaman
imaghan (roebuck)
Horse
Mori
moring, morye
morin
morin
Mule
Losa (var Lusa)
lus
Camel
Thaman
temen
temegen
Dog
Nokha
nokhoi nokoi
nokhoi
nokhai
Wolf
Tchina
tchono, chono
tchino
tchino
Bear
Ait'ku
otokoi (tirsa)
ayu
otege
Fox
Hok'an (var honk'an)
unege, unegen
unegen
onegen
Hare
Thaplqa (var Thoblqa-
Thula)
tulai, tulei
taulai
taolai (6)
Bird
Thakia
takiya
takya (a fowl)
Pigeon
Kokatcha (v K'ok'uchin)
kokoltchirgene
kegurdjighene (7)
Eagle
Qush (var Burkui Qush)
burgut, khanardyi
burghut, sheba-
ghun (8)
Water
Usun (var Sun)
oso, uhun
usun
usun
Wine
Tarasu
darasu, darasun
Sea
Tangez (v Naur-Tangez)
dalai
tenggis
dalai
River
Ulan Su (var Moran
Ulan-Su)
gol
ghol
ghol, muren
Sword
Eoltu (var Ialtu)
ildu
ildu, toltu (knob
of a sword-guard)
Bow
Nmu (var nmo)
nomo, nomon
numun
numun
Arrow
Ormu
somo, homon
sumun
sumun
King
Malik
Baron
Nuin (var E'ka Nuin)
noyan (9)
Earth
El (var El-Ercan)(io>
gadzer, gaser
Sky
Gogai (var Gog)
tenggere, oktorgoi
tenggere, oktor-
ghoi (11)
Sun
Narhan or Naran
nara, naran
naran
naran
Moon
Sara
sara, hara
sara
saran
Light
Otur
geren, gerel
Star
Saqra {pi.) (var Hutut-
Sarqa)
odo, odon
odon
odon
Night
Soini
sonyi honyi
sSni
suni
Scribe
Bitikchi
bitchiktchi
Satan
Barhauri (var Barha-
hurh-Elep
(1) Eptyi among the Koibals and epchi among the Sagayans=woman. (2) Turkish, etmek. (3) Tartar,
oquz. (4) Tartar, qoi. (5) Khuraghan among the Mongols and kuragan among the Koibals=a Iamb. (6)
Tartar, taushan. (7) Tartar, gogurtchin. (8) Karakush means black eagle among the Koibals. (9) Yeke
noyan=the great noyan. (10) El=people, subjects among the Koibals. (n) Tartar, kok.
THE PREDECESSORS OF KHULAGU. 89
A few Mongol words have also been preserved by Malakia, which have been
examined by M. Schiefner. The four names of taxes imposed by the Mongols,
as given by him, are Tghghu, Mal, Thaghar, and Ghphtchur. The first of
these has not been traced in Mongol. Mal in Mongol means cattle; in
Persian riches, and more especially cattle, and it is clear this was a tax on
cattle. Thaghar in Mongol is a sack for straining whey, a woven purse, a sack
or measure of grain. This, then, was a tax on grain. Ghubtchighur in
Mongol is a net. It was a tax on the revenues of the land, or, more generally,
on the products of the soil. Khalan has apparently some analogy with the
Mongol Khalkhu.to attack, or with Khulusu, hire, interest, or rent, and probably
means a war subsidy.
Kesikth, Mongol kia, Turkish keshik; a body-guard.
Bauka or buka, Mongol buke ; an athlete, a wrestler.
Kunah has perhaps some connection with the Mongol khonok, '• a degree or
section of a circle."
Bichikchi in Mongol means a scribe or copyer.
Dzarghuchi, or yarguchi, means in Mongol a judge.
The words Thagia (name of an idol), Sghamish, Yam, and Themachi
(meaning a myriarkh) cannot at present be explained in Mongol,

Malakia, ed. Brosset, 438-439.

CHAPTER II.
KHULAGU KHAN.
KHULAGU was the fifth son of Tului, the youngest son of Jingis
Khan. His mother was Suirkukteni, the niece of the Kerait
chief, Wang Khan, and daughter of his brother Jakembo. He
was thus own brother of the two great Khakans, Mangu and Khubilai,
and of Arikbuka, who contested the claims of Khubilai to the empire
of the Mongol world. He was born about the year 1216. He is
first mentioned in the winter of 1224 and 1225, when he was nine
years old and his brother Khubilai was eleven. Jingis Khan was
returning home after his great campaign when he was met near
the river Imil by the two boys just named, his grandsons. Khubilai
had killed a hare on the way, and Khulagu had captured a deer, and as
it was customary for the Mongols to draw blood from the middle finger
of boys when they first engaged in hunting, and to mingle it with some
food and fat, the operation we are told on this occasion was performed
by Jingis Khan in person* He was thirty-five years old when, at his
brother Mangu's bidding, he undertook his famous campaign in the
West, to which we shall now turn. This was one of the expeditions
decided upon at the great kuriltai held at the accession of Mangu, in
125 1 ; the other one being directed against China, under the orders of
Khubilai. As a preparatory measure a Naiman, called Kitubuka, styled baverji or
the butler, was sent in July, 1252, with an advance column of 12,000 men.
The Georgian annals also speak of Elgan the Jelair (probably the Kuka
Ilka of other writers, the Kuok'an of the Yuan shi,+ the Kulkhan of
Chamchean) as a commander of 10,000 men under Khulagu.J The first
object of the Mongol attack was the famous community of Muhammedan
schismatics known as the Ismaelites or Assassins, subject to the so-called
Old Man of the Mountain, a translation of Sheikh ul Jibal, the name by
which the Arabs knew him. They were called Ismaelites from Ismael, a
son of the fifth Imam, to whom they were devoted. § They were called
Assassins from their use of Hashish, an intoxicating preparation of hemp,
and were styled Mulahids or heretics by the orthodox Mussulmans.
* D'Ohsson, i. 323. Ilkhans, i. 79-80. t See Bretschneider, Notes, &c, 60.
t Hist, de la Georgie, 540. D'Ohsson, iii. 135-136. $ Ante, i. 15.

KHULAGU KHAN. QI
Their country has a curious synonymy. Kuhistan, by which it is some
times described, merely means the mountain land, and connotes the
country of the Shavarkoh range,, south of Asterabad and Ghilan. In a
more limited view the focus of the Ismaelites was the district called
Rudbar by some writers, which was watered by the Shahrud. This
district was situated north of Kazvin, and contained some fifty fortresses,
the chief one being Alamut, the Ismaelite capital. Its name was
corrupted into Alah Amut {i.e., the eagle's nest). Ibn al Athir tells us the
district about Alamut was called Talikan, others called it Dilem. In the
narrative of Chang ti's journey, we are told that in the country of the
Assassins all the oxen were black and had a hump on their necks; the low
country was destitute of water, wells were accordingly dug on the
summits of the mountains, whence water was conducted for a great
distance in order to irrigate the plains*
Marco Polo has a curious account of the Ismaelite chief, which Colonel
Yule says is virtually the same as that current all over the East,
and of which other versions are preserved by Odoric, in the narrative
of Chang ti, and in an Arabic version translated by Von Hammer.
Marco Polo tells us their chief had caused a certain valley between two
mountains to be enclosed, and had converted it into a garden, the largest
and most beautiful that ever was seen, " filled with every variety of fruit.
In it were erected pavilions and palaces, the most elegant that can be
imagined, all covered with gilding and exquisite painting. And there
were runnels, too, flowing freely with wine and milk, and honey and
water, and numbers of ladies and of the most exquisite damsels in the
world, who could play on all manner of instruments, and sang most
sweetly, and danced in a manner that it was charming to behold." He
wished the people to believe that this was actually Paradise, as described
by Muhammed, and his people really believed it. The entrance to this
garden was protected by a strong fortress. The Old Man kept about him
a number of warlike youths from twelve to twenty, who believed in him as
the Saracens believed in Muhammed. These he would first make drunk
with a certain potion, and then have them conveyed, six or ten at a time,
so that when they awoke they found themselves inside, where they deemed
themselves in Paradise. When he wanted to send one of these devotees
on a certain mission, he again administered the potion, and had him
carried from the garden to the palace, where he was brought before the
Prince, and when asked whence he came he would reply that he came
from Paradise, which was just as Muhammed described it, which gave the
others who stood by, and had not yet entered, a great desire to do so.
When the Old Man wanted a prince slaying, he would say to such a
youth, " Go thou and slay so and so, and when thou returnest my angels

* Bretschneider, Notes on Med. Travellers, &c, 78.

92 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
shall bear thee into Paradise, and shouldst thou die, natheless even so
will I send my angels to carry thee back to Paradise." So he caused
them to believe, and there was no order of his they were not willing to
obey, and thus he murdered anyone he wanted to be rid of, and thus he
inspired the neighbouring princes with great dread."* It is curious that
one of the Ismaelite fortresses destroyed by the Mongols was called
Firdus, or Paradise.t
The Ismaelites were close neighbours of the citizens of Kazvin, who
were good Sunnis, and between them there had been a long feud. We are
told that the Imam Kazi, Shems ud din, of Kazvin, made several
journeys between Kazvin and China. Although an ecclesiastic, he wore
a coat of mail under his clothes as a precaution against assassination.
This having attracted the attention of Mangu when he was at his court,
gave him an opportunity of denouncing the heretics, whom he also
described as a danger to the Mongols themselves.t
As we have seen, the Georgian chronicles assure us that the Mongols
had already for some time been attacking the Ismaelites, or Assassins,
and had lost one of their chiefs named Jagatai, who had been assassinated
by them. I have in a previous volume traced out the origin of these
famous schismatics and of their chiefs the old men of the mountain, § and
shall here take up the story at a later point. When Jingis Khan invaded
the West, the first Mussulman sovereign to send him his submission was
Jelal ud din Hassan, the chief of the Ismaelites. Jelal ud din died in
1 22 1, and was succeeded by his son Alai ud din Muhammed, who was
only nine years old. He received no education, for as Imam he was
infallible ; whatever he did was right, and no one could give him advice.
In his youth he had some struggles with the Khuarezm Shah, Jelal ud din.
That prince, on his return from India, gave the district of Khorasan in
charge to his general Orkhan. The latter's lieutenant made a raid upon
the Ismaelite districts of Nun and Kain, or Kuhistan. Alai ud din
thereupon sent an envoy to Khui to complain. The Khuarezm Shah
summoned Orkhan and the envoy to his presence to explain. Orkhan
drew from his boots and girdle several daggers in view of the envoy, who
had used some threats, saying, " See our daggers ; besides these we have
swords which are sharper and more pointed, which you have not seen.''
As he could get no satisfaction, the envoy returned ; but shortly after
Orkhan was assailed near Kantzag by three Ismaelites, who killed him.
They then went through the town with their bloody daggers, exclaiming,
" Long live Alai ud din." They penetrated into the Divan, intending to
assassinate the Vizier, Sherif ul Mulk, but he happened to be in the Sultan's
palace at the time, and thus escaped. They wounded one of the guards
and then sallied out brandishing their daggers, and were eventually killed
* Yule's Marco Polo, i. 145-149, t Id., 154.
J Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1189-1196. $ Ante,]. 15.16.

KHULAGU KHAN. 93
by stones thrown from the roofs of the houses, and died crying, " We are
the victims of our lord Alai ud din." Presently another envoy named Bedr
ud din Ahmed went from the Ismaelites to Jelal ud din. He said that his
people merety wanted guaranteeing from attack. Jelal ud din, in reply,
demanded the return of Dameghan, which had been seized by the
Ismaelites during the Mongol troubles. It was agreed that it should be
ceded to them on a payment of 30,000 dinars annually. The envoy, after
this arrangement, accompanied Jelal ud din into Azerbaijan, and one day
in his cups in the Vizier's presence boasted that there were fidayis {i.e.,
devotees) of Alai ud din among the Khuarezmians, among their servants
and their generals, even in the Vizier's own office, and among those in the
service of the heads of the chaushes or ushers. Sherif ul Mulk begged
him to summon them, and gave him his handkerchief as a pledge of their
safety. Five of them were accordingly brought. One of them, an Indian,
strong and determined, said to the Vizier, " I should have killed you on a
certain occasion, but that I waited for further orders." " And why ? " said
the Vizier, throwing off his tunic and seating himself in his shirt. "What
does Alai ud din want with me ? What have I done that he would have
my blood ? I am his slave as I am the slave of the Sultan. I am at your
service. Do what you will with me." The Sultan on hearing of this was
very angry that his Vizier should thus have humiliated himself, and sent
him orders to burn five of the fidayis before his tent. The Vizier made
excuses. Thereupon the Sultan had an immense brazier set up in front of
his tent, and had five of them put into it, who cried out as they were
dying, " We are the victims of our lord, Alai ud din." The Sultan then
had the head of the chaushes put to death for having such people in his
service. When Jelal ud din afterwards went to Irak, the Vizier remained at
Berdaa, when there came a fresh envoy from the Ismaelites demanding
a payment of 2,000 dinars for each of the fidayis who had been burnt to
death. The Vizier, who was delighted to be let off so easily, ordered the
Chancellor Muhammed of Nissa, to whom we owe the account, to draw
up a rescript reducing the tribute which Alai ud din had agreed to pay by
10,000 dinars. After the battle of Ispahan, while Jelal ud din was at Rai,
and nis troops were pursuing the Mongols towards Khorasan, he received
an envoy from Alai ud din, who was accompanied by nine fidayis. To
prove their goodwill, they asked him to point out those whom he wished to
destroy. Some of his councillors were for accepting this offer, but Sherif
ud din, the Vizier's substitute in Irak, urged that Alai ud din only wanted
to know who his enemies were so that he might intrigue with them, and
he accordingly replied, " You must know who are our friends and who are
our enemies. If you wish to do what you propose there is no need of
instructions, and if it so pleases God, our sabres will enable us to dispense
with your daggers." Soon after this Ghiath ud din, Jelal ud din's

94 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
brother, sought refuge with the Ismaelite chief, as we described, and was
supplied by him with horses and arms, which greatly displeased his
brother ; and as, instead of sending the tribute he had promised, he only
sent 20,000 dinars in two years, Muhammed of Nissa was sent to
expostulate, and to demand that Alai ud din should have the khutbeh
said in the Sultan's name. If he failed to pay the arrears, Nissavi was
authorised to ravage his borders with fire and sword. The Sultan's
letter was couched in rather peremptory language, and Nissavi was
ordered not to enter Alamut unless Alai ud din came out to meet
him, not to kiss his hand, and to omit all the usual marks of
respect or politeness. Nissavi set out. The Ismaelite chief did
not come out to meet him, but he was met by the Vizier, Amad
ud din El Meuhteshem, who asked that the message might be
communicated to him. This he refused, and it was four days before he
was eventually admitted to an audience at midnight on the top of the
mountain. The Vizier was seated on the Prince's right, while Nissavi
was offered the seat on his left. He asked that the Sultan's name might
be inserted in the khutbeh, as it was in the days of his father. With this
demand Nissavi handed in a written declaration from the Kadhi Mojir
ud din, who was still living, and who had been employed by the late
Sultan to secure this right. At first they pretended it was a forgery, but
they did not persist. " The thing," says Nissavi, " was too patent and too
recent. Everyone knew that they formerly paid an annual tribute of
100,000 dinars to the Sultan." The subject of the arrears was then raised,
and they pleaded that the commandant of Firuzkuh had seized a sum of
15,000 dinars, which was being transported from Kuhistan to Alamut.
When Nissavi urged that this was before the late treaty, they said:
" When have we been the enemies of the Khuarezmians, or, rather, when
have we not been their friends ? The Sultan has proved it both in ill fortune
and good fortune. Did not our companions help him in India after
passing the Indus, when he was reduced to the lowest state ? " The fact
was afterwards admitted by Jelal ud din. When Nissavi said this was no
reason for reducing the tribute, they produced the Vizier's attested
agreement for its reduction, as we have mentioned. Nissavi said this did
not bind the Sultan. " The Vizier disposes," they replied, " of all the
Sultan's revenue. He spends it as he likes without any restriction, and
according to his whim. Are his hands only tied in regard to us." It was
eventually agreed they should pay 20,000 dinars, the rest being left over
for further consideration*
As Alai ud din grew up he showed signs of mental aberration, but his
physicians dared not acknowledge it nor prescribe for it, for fear of being
massacred by the fanatics, who would not credit that the Imam could

* Nissavi, quoted by D'Ohsson, iii. 174-185.

KHULAGU KHAN. 95
suffer thus. He grew more imbecile, and as he was not contradicted or
corrected, his passion was unbounded. Meanwhile his senilities were
accepted as divine inspirations, while brigandage flourished, and his
subjects were greatly oppressed. When he was eighteen years old he
had a son named Rokn ud din Khurshah, whom he instituted as his
successor, and who, when he had passed the age of infancy, was treated
with the same honours as his father. The latter presently grew jealous, and
wished to supersede him by another son, but his followers declared this
impossible, the first nomination being irrevocable. He therefore began
to torment his son. He in turn intrigued against his father among those
who were growing weary of the latter's absurdities. He declared that
his father's conduct would bring down the Mongols upon them, and
proposed to separate from him and to send his submission to the Grand
Khan. The greater part of the grandees agreed to support him to the
last drop of blood against his father's adherents, but with the reservation that
if his father marched in person they could not raise a hand against him.
Soon after this, Alai ud din being one day drunk, was sleeping in a hut
made of wood and reeds, adjoining a sheep pen, in a place called Shirkuh,
where he used to go to enjoy his favourite relaxation of a shepherd;
about him were lying his cameleers and servants. There he was found
dead in the middle of the night, his head being separated from his body.
An Indian and a Turkoman who slept beside him were both wounded. A
few days later, when several innocent people had suffered, it was discovered
that the deed had been done by his confidante and constant companion,
Hasan Mazanderani. Rokn ud din did not have him tried, but had him
assassinated, which confirmed the suspicions that rested upon him; and
he had the cruelty to throw his three children, two sons and a daughter,
into the brazier in which the assassin's body was burnt. Shems ud din,
Ayub of Tus, wrote a poem on his death. On his accession, Rokn ud din
enjoined a strict adherence to the Muhammedan law, and took measure's
to secure the safety of the roads.
Meanwhile, as we have seen, Kitubuka had been sent on with the
advance guard of Khulagu's army, to deal him some hard blows. He
crossed the Oxus early in March, 1253, and penetrated into Kuhistan,
where he captured several strong places. Thence advancing with 5,000
horsemen and 5,000 foot soldiers, the former probably Mongols and the
latter Tajiks or Persians, he assailed Girdkuh. It was also called
Derikunbed {i.e., the vaulted gate),* and was situated three parasangs
west of Dameghan, to which town it was in fact a kind of fortress, where
its inhabitants could take refuge.f It is called Tigado by Haithon, and
Ki du bu gu in the Yuan shi, where we read it was situated on a very
steep rock, which could not be reached either by arrows or by stones

* Ilkhans, i. 93. Quatremere reads it Diz-gunbedan. t Quatremere, 278. Note,

96 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
from catapults. It was so steep that in looking up one's cap fell off*
Having put double lines of circumvaUation about it, so that his army had
a rampart and ditch both before and behind it, Kitubuka left an army to
blockade it, under an Amir named Buri, and proceeded to attack Mehrin
and Shah. Meanwhile Hirkutai, one of his subordinates, devastated the
districts of Tarem and Rudbar. The Mongols afterwards assailed
Mansuriah and Alabeshin, or Alah beshin, and continued the slaughter
for eighteen days. The garrison of Girdkuh now made a sally and killed
100 Mongols, including Buri. Kitubuka meanwhile harried all the herds
in the districts of Tun, Tershiz and Zirkuh, while Mehrin and Kemali
both fell.f Having heard that his famous arsenal, Girdkuh, was afflicted
by pestilence and likely to surrender, Alai ud din, the King of the Assassins,
sent a body of ioo men, under Mubariz ud din Turan and Shuja ed din
Hasan Sarabani, each bearing three menns of salt and one of henna (the
latter, well known as a dye to dye the nails, was made of the powdered
leaves of the Lawsonia inermis.X) On this occasion § it was welcome on
account of its medicinal qualities.
Shortly after, namely, on the 2nd of December, 1255, Alai ud din was
murdered, as I have mentioned. In the spring following Kitubuka and
Kuka Ilka received orders from Khulagu, who was rapidly advancing,
to attack the remaining fortresses of Kuhistan. This they did in the
course of a month, during which they committed great ravages there;
inter alia, they captured Tun after an attack of twelve days, and killed all
the inhabitants except the artisans, after which they joined Khulagu, who
had advanced to Tus, near Meshed.
Meanwhile, let us turn to Khulagu himself. We are told he was
accompanied by two of his ten sons, namely, Abaka and Yushmut; a
third, Jumkur, he left at his brother the Khakan's Court in charge of his
interests there; while another son, Temkian, was left at home in charge of
His yurt. With him also went his brother Suntai, or Sitai Oghul, the
ninth son of Tului. Nigudar|] represented the Ulus of Jagatai. The
Golden Horde was represented by Khuli, son of Orda, eldest son of
Juchi; by Balakhen, or Balakan, also called Bulgha, Bulga, and Bulga
Kabli, son of Sheiban, son of Juchi ; and by Tutar (called also Tumar,
Kotur, or Kotar, and by St. Martin, Bukan), son of Mankadr, son of Tual,
son of Juchi. These princes apparently joined him when he arrived in
Iran. He was accompanied also by Buka Timur, son of Jijeghan
(called Jehakan Begi by Abulfaraj), the daughter of Jingis Khan, whom
she bore to the Uirad chief Turalji, and who was step-brother to Kubak
Khatun, and Oljai Khatun, two of Khulagu's wives. Buka Timur took

* Bretschneider, Notes on Chin. Trav., 78. Notices of Med. Geog., 203 Note 34r
t Quatremere, 171, 3. J Id., 172. Note. $ Ante, i. 194.
II Called Thagudar by^Malakia (op. cit., 451), and Tacudar by Abulfaraj, who calls him the son
of Buchi Ogul. (Op. cit., Chron. Arab., 329.) Buchi Ogul is called Juchi by Von Hammer.
fllHone. 1 Rfi I

(Ilkhans, i. 86.)

KHULAGU KHAN. 97
with him a contingent of Uirads* Khulagu also had with him his wives,
Yisut and Oljai, and his stepmother, Tokuz, whom he eventually married.
It will be noted that the Ulus of Ogotai, which was at feud with Mangu,
was not represented at all.
The princes above mentioned commanded contingents supplied by their
several hordes, which commands were hereditary, and the general notion
seems to have been that the enterprise was a joint one, in which the fruits
of victory were in fact to be shared among all the Mongol ulusses. Each
one was accordingly called upon to furnish two men out of every ten for
the campaign, while, as we have seen, 1,000 skilled Chinese arbalisters
and men accustomed to hurl fire arrows (the ho pao of the Chinese), in
which naphtha was a main ingredient, were also supplied. In regard
to this section of the army Major Raverty has translated an interesting
notice, in which we are told it consisted of a thousand families of
Chinese Manjanik chis (manganel workers), naft andaz (naphtha
throwers), and charkh andaz (shooters of fiery arrows worked by a
wheel), and they took with them a vast quantity of ammunition. They
had with them also charkhi kamans, i.e., arbalists worked by
a wheel, so that one bowstring would pull three bows, each of
which discharged an arrow three or four ells long. The arrows
or bolts, from the notch of the bowstring to near the head, were covered
with feathers of the vulture and the eagle, and the bolts were short and
strong. These machines would also throw naphtha. The manganels
were made of ash, very tough and strong, and covered with the hides of
bullocks and horses (to prevent them being burnt), being thus enclosed
like a dagger in its sheath, and each manganel was so constructed as to be
capable of being separated into five or six pieces, and easily put together
again. The machines were brought from China into Turkestan on carts,
and were under the direction of skilled engineers.t A thousand pounds
of meal and a skin of kumiz were also ordered to be provided for each
man.} Orders were issued to reserve the pastures west of the Tungat
Mountains (identified by Bretschneider with the range now called Tangnu),
and lying between Bishbaligh and Karakorum. Roads were repaired and
bridges made, and to prepare Khulagu's way more effectively, the troops
of Baichu Noyan were told to draw near to Rum {i.e., Asia Minor), so that
the pastures in the Mughan plain might be fresh. Before leaving,
Khulagu gave a feast in Mangu's honour, and was feasted in return by his
young brother Arikbuka and others at Karakorum. The Khakan Mangu
bade him obey the counsels of Jingis Khan, to treat those who submitted
kindly, but to exterminate those who resisted, and he commissioned him
to conquer the land from the Oxus to the borders of Egypt, to subdue

Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 329. Ilkhans, i. 86.
t-i-Nasiri, 1191. I Quatremere, 737.

t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1191

98 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Kuhistan, the Kurds, and the Turks, and to compel the Khalif to be
submissive. When he had accomplished his mission he told him to
return again. He poured rich presents upon him and his amirs, and bade
him take council with his stepmother Tokuz. Mangu sent splendid
presents in gold, robes, and horses to Khulagu, his wives, and children,
and to the principal noyans and amirs ; and he also arranged that his
younger brother, Suntai or Sitai Oghul, was to accompany him, probably
to look after his immediate interests. Khulagu having repaired to
his own ordu, at length set out in October, 1253, leaving a portion of his
harem behind. The amirs in charge of the different districts had duly
provided provisions at the various stations. Stones and other impedi
ments were removed from the roads, while the different princes and
generals who were to take part in the expedition employed themselves in
exercising their troops. He set out in February, 1254, and marched from
station to station till he approached Almaligh.* There he was probably
met by Nigudar with the Jagatai contingent. He was feasted by
Orghana, or Irghana, the widow of Kara Khulagu, ruler of the Ulus of
Jagatai (who was a granddaughter of Jingis Khan, her mother having
been Jigeghan, already named, and she was consequently stepsister of
Oljai, Khulagu's wife). We are told he left a large portion of his family
"in Turkestan, near Almaligh."! He was again feted further on by
Masud Bey, the Governor of Mavera un Nehr and Turkestan, and
arrived at Samarkand in September, 1255. Khulagu's mission was
merely that of a general who commanded an army, and Mangu's purpose
in dispatching him westwards was not to make over to him any
independent authority over the western countries or their peoples, but
only to head a great campaign against the enemies of the Mongols.
We must understand this when we read that the various contingents of
troops from the Indus to the borders of Syria were placed under his
control, while the different feudatory princes and the civil governors of
Mavera un Nehr and Khorasan were put at his service. Mavera un Nehr
and Khorasan were treated as imperial appanages, and remained so at
least until the days of Khubilai Khakan. East of Khorasan the country
was controlled by maliks or princes, who paid tribute to the Mongols, and
were largely controlled by Mongol commissaries at their Courts. Much
the most important of these maliks was the Chief of Herat, and to him we
must devote a longer notice.
The best authority available for the history of the family of Kert or
Kurt,} is the "Chronicle of Herat," composed by Muyin ud din
Muhammed, surnamed es Zemji, who was a native of Esfizar, near Herat.
His work, entitled " The Celestial Garden," is a description of the town
* Quatremere, 145-147. t Id., 99. Ilkhans, i. 88.
X A soubriquet said to mean greatness or magnificence. Raverty, 1198. Note 8.

KHULAGU KHAN. 99
of Herat, and was finished in 897 HEJ. {i.e., 1491-2). The portion which
interests us at present was translated by M. Barbier de Meynard in the
sixteenth and seventeenth volumes of the "Journal Asiatique." Iz ud din
Omar Meraghani was the favourite Minister of the Ghurian Sultan,
Ghiath ud din. He is styled Malik of Khorasan by Minhaj-i-Saraj*
He conferred on his brother, Taj ud din Osman, the fortress of Khaisar,
and he occupied the post of chief armour-bearer at the Court of Mahmudi
Iz ud din's son. Osman, on his death, transmitted his fief to his son,
Rokn ud din Abubekr, who married a daughter of Sultan Ghiath ud din,t
who was reigning when Jingis Khan invaded the west. He seems to have
conciliated that conqueror. His heritage was unmolested when the rest
of Ghur was overrun, and he apparently was confirmed in its possession
by Jingis Khan. According to Muyin ud din Esfizari, Jingis Khan was
about to attack the fortress, and had a plan of it first made, when, afraid
of being beaten, he left it in the hands of Rokn ud din Kert.J It was the
strongest fortress of Ghur, and its citadel still remains north-east of
Teivereh, at the foot of the peak of Chap dalan, on an inaccessible rock. §
We are told that when Malik Rokn ud din used to attend the
camp of Jingis Khan, of Ogotai and the Mongol Noyans, he used
to take his son Shems ud din with him, so that he became
acquainted with the Mongol usages and regulations.|| Rokn ud
din died in 1245, and was succeeded by Shems ud din, who is found the
next year accompanying Sali Noyan (perhaps the Mangutah previously
mentioned)! in his invasion of Sind, and treating with the governors
of Multan and Lahore. The former was, at his instance, ransomed for
100,000 gold pieces, and the latter for 30,000 dinars, 30 loads of fine
cloth, and 100 slaves. We are told that in consequence of his
success on this occasion he was made military governor of Lahore,
but presently the Mongol chiefs grew jealous of him, and accused
him of having secret negotiations with the infidels of the country.
They said he had accepted 50,000 dinars from the governors of
Multan and Lahore, and had promised he would join the troops
of the Sultan of Delhi if they should approach. Shems ud din,
on hearing of these accusations, determined to escape to Tair Baghatur,
Sali's superior officer, and accordingly fled with a few soldiers, and took
shelter in a pagoda near Guejuran. From the people there he begged
some arms, &c, to present to Tair Baghatur, but Fakhr ud din, the chief
of Guejuran, having been told that he meant to possess himself of that
district, sent Emad ud din with some troops to seize him and lodge him
in the fortress of Guejuran. Emad ud din first consulted Tair Baghatur,
who, remembering his friendship for Rokn ud din, the father of the

* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 193. t Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvn. 440-441.
t journ. Asiat, 5th ser., xvii. 455. Note.
i See Ferrier's Travels, it. 9. II Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1200. Note. IT Ante, p. 71,

IOO HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
fugitive, ordered him to be taken before him to be tried. Tair's tent was
pitched on the crest of a hill, and when Shems ud din was admitted he
asked him, "These towns and villages on the right, to whom do they
belong?" "To you, prince," said the culprit. "And these fields and
orchards in front of us ? " " To you also." And he made the same reply
to a number of similar questions. He then turned to Emad ud din and
asked him to point out his property. He diplomatically said he owned
only one poor house there, and had few connections with the country.
" Know then," said Tair, laughing, " that it belongs very largely to Shems
ud din, and that he is at liberty to levy requisitions without being treated
as a rebel." Emad ud din thereupon withdrew, and left the Mongol
camp the same night, while Shems ud din remained with Mat with his
protector till the return of Sali Noyan from India with a large booty.*
Tair Behadur died in 645 {i.e., 1247), whereupon his son Halkatu
Noyan (Arkatu), in concert with Kara Noyan, who, it seems, had a
grievance against Shems ud din, reported him to Jagatai Khan. He set
out to justify himself, but on his arrival Jagatai was dead.t He seems to
have been driven away by Jagatai's son, Yissu Mangu, and fled to the
Court of Batu, whence he made his way to the kuriltai where Mangu
Khakan was inaugurated. % The officers who introduced him exalted his
virtues and the services of his ancestors, and Mangu received him with
special honour, and conferred on him as a fief the whole province of
Herat, with Jam, Bakherz, Kusuyeh, Fushenj, Tulek, Ghur and Khaisar,
Firuz Kuh, Gharjistan, Murghab, Meruchak, Fariab, as far as the Oxus ;
Esfizar, Ferrah, Sigistan, Kabul, Tirah, and Afghanistan, as far as the
Indus and the borders of the Hindus.§ Besides granting him the great
fief I have mentioned, Mangu issued an order to Arghun Aka, the civil
governor of Khorasan, to make over fifty- tomans of money to the
intendants of Shems ud din. The next day, in a private audience, the
Khakan presented the Malik with one of his own robes, gave him a
paizah, or official tablet, 10,000 dinars, and arms, including an Indian
sabre, a lance of Alkhatt, a mace with a bull's head on the top, an axe,
and a dagger. Shems ud din left for Herat, accompanied by an officer of
the Khakan. He turned aside to pay a visit to Arghun Aka, to whom he
presented the Khakan's order, who duly handed him the fifty tomans. ||
After occupying Herat he put Sherif ud din, the Bitikji, whose tyranny
had ruined the country, to death, and severely reprimanded Korlogh, the
military governor of the place. He also obtained possession of Bakar, a
fortress of Sijistan, which no one had been able to capture by force since
the days of Nushirvan ; and in 647 HEJ. {i.e., 1249) he slew Saif ud din,
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 442-445. \ Id., 445. % Ilkhans, i. 276-277.
5 Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 445.
|| Id., 445-446. D Ohsson, 111. 129-131. M. de Sacy says Alkhatt is a plain in the district
of Yernama, or Bahrein, where the handles of lances are made that come from India. (Chrest
Arab., 11. 79. Note 12.)

KHULAGU KHAN. IOi
the Malik of Gharjistan, who had apparently refused to acknowledge his
authority. He sent 400 men against him, whereupon Saif ud din fled to
Arghun, who would not listen to him, but sent him bound in chains to the
Malik of Herat, and he was put to death by being trampled under foot by
horses near the gate Khosh, and his corpse remained exposed for three
days in the great bazaar.* The date of this event is clearly wrong, since
Mangu did not mount the throne till 1252.
To revert to Khulagu. While he was encamped in the meadows of
Kan Ghul, near Samarkand, he was visited by the Malik Shems ud din
Kert, and the subordinate chiefs of the district, who duly did homage.
He was also feasted there for forty days in a tent of golden tissue
furnished by Masud. At this time he lost his brother and companion,
Sitai Oghul, and, according to Abulfaraj, he received news of the death of
another brother named Balador, who is not otherwise known to me.f At
Kesh, the birthplace of the Great Timur, he was met by Arghun, the
Mongol Governor of Khorasan. There also went at his bidding the two
joint Sultans of Rum, Iz ud din and Rokn ud din ; from Fars there went
Said, son of the Atabeg Muzaffar ud din, while other chieftains greeted
him from Irak, Khorasan, Azerbaijan, Arran, Shirvan, and Georgia.}
While at Kesh, where he stayed a month, Khulagu issued a firman, or
order, to the various princes of Western Asia to march and aid him
against the Mulahids, or Assassins, or take the consequences. The boats
and boatmen on the Oxus having been impounded, the army safely
traversed the river on the 2nd of January, 1256. The boatmen were
rewarded for their zeal on this occasion by being relieved of the dues they
had previously paid.§ Guiragos says Khulagu's army was so large that
it took a month to pass over the Oxus. || Having crossed the river he, by
way of amusement, held a review on the banks. Suddenly several lions
came out of a forest. Khulagu ordered his horsemen to form a ring and
surround the animals, and, as the horses were afraid of the lions, they
mounted on camels, and succeeded in killing, according to the Jihan-
Kushai, ten — Rashid says two. Quatremere argues that the lion was
unknown to the Manchus and Mongols, who borrowed a name for it
(arslan) from the Turks.1T The next important halt was at Shiburghan,
corrupted into Shibrghan, a town situated about ninety miles west
of Balkh, and now containing about 12,000 houses. It is a very old
place. Its earliest recorded name is Asapuragan, while the Arabs called
it Saburkan or Shaburkan. Its famous dried melons are mentioned by
Marco Polo.** A fall of snow and a frost, lasting seven days, caused so
many horses to die that it was determined to delay there during the
winter. There, in the spring, Arghun Aka entertained Khulagu in a tent
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 446. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 330. _
X Quatremere, op. cit., 153. § Quatremere, 153. || Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 482.
If Op. At., 153-155. Notes. ** Op. cit., ed. Yule, i. 156-157-

102 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
of golden tissue, pinned down by 1,000 golden pegs. It had a rich
pavilion as an ante-chamber, while the hall of audience was furnished
with gold and silver vessels decked with precious stones. A grand feast
was given on a day fixed as auspicious, during which Khulagu was seated
on a throne, while the various princes and grandees who surrounded him
did him honour. After the feast Arghun, by Khulagu's order, set off for
Mangu's Court. He left his son, Kirai Malik Ahmed, the Bitikji, and
Alai ud din Ata Malik, in charge of the affairs of Iran in his absence*
Khulagu now dispatched the Malik Shems ud din Kert, the Lord of
Herat, to summon the Mohtesshim (Preceptor) of Kuhistan, Nasir ud din,
who was then at Sartakht. The latter set out, and was duly submissive,
whereupon he gave him a paizah or official tablet, and a yarligh or
diploma, with the command of the town of Tun, but he shortly
after died. Tun was situated near Kain or Ghain, whence the two
towns were joined together by Marco Polo, under the name of
Tunocain.t It is described as a fine town, with a moated castle in the
centre, surrounded by houses and a market-place, outside which were
cornfields and melon gardens. Khulagu now advanced to Zawah, the
modern Turbat-i-Hadari, and Khavuz or Khaus, where he was taken
slightly ill. Thence he went on to Tus, where he was rejoined by Kitubuka
and Kuka Ilka. Tus was the head-quarters of the civil governor of the
Western Mongol possessions. There he was feasted, and then went
on to Mansuriah, which had been restored by Arghun, and where the
latter's wives and the Amir Khoja Iz ud din Tahir entertained their
powerful guest. At Radekan, between Tus and Khabushan, he feasted
on the rich products of Merv, BaverdJ (or Abiverd, situated between
Sarrakhs and Nissa), and Dahistan. At Khabushan he restored the
ruins caused by the previous Mongol invasion, the cost of which he
defrayed out of the public purse. Canals and workshops were made, and
a garden laid out near the principal mosque. Saif ud din, the Vizier,
superintended these works. On the order of Khulagu the amirs and
principal courtiers also built themselves houses there.§ Raverty says
they were not canals which were made, as here stated, but that kahrezes,
or subterranean aqueducts, were repaired. || On the 2nd of September,
1256, Khulagu reached the environs of Kharakan, or Kharkan, and
Bostam. The latter, situated in the valley of the upper Attrek, in the
east of the district of Kumus, was the birthplace of several famous men;
among them of the mystic Sheikh Bostami, the founder of the order of
dervishes named after him, Bostami.1T From Bostam Khulagu sent two
envoys, named Merketai and Menklemish, to menace Rokn ud din, the
chief of the Ismaelites, with his vengeance. At this time the famous poet
* Quatremere, 165. t Quatremere, 157-159. Ilkhans, i. 95. Note 3. Marco Polo, i. 84.
X Called Yesrud by Von Hammer. Ilkhans, i. 97,
§ Quatremere, 181-183. || Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1196. Note. - % Ilkhans, i. 98.

KHULAGU KHAN. io3
and astronomer, Khoja Nasir ud din Tusi, with several doctors, were living
against their inclination among the Ismaelites, and having determined to
put an end to the oppression of the chief of the latter, they, in concert
with some other Mussulmans, persuaded him to be submissive.* He
accordingly sent from Maimundiz, where he was living, an officer to
Yassaur, the Mongol Noyan, who was then at Hamadan, to assure him
of his submission. He advised him to repair to Khulagu. Rokn ud din
said he would send his brother, Shahin Shah, to him. The latter, in fact,
set out, and Yassaur commissioned his son to accompany him on his
return. Notwithstanding this, he entered a few days later, viz., in
June, 1256, the district of Alamut, with an army composed of Turks and
Persians, and attacked that fortress; but after a sharp conflict his troops
were obliged to retreat, and wreaked their vengeance in destroying the
crops and ravaging all the country round.t Meanwhile Shahin Shah
repaired to and was well received, by Khulagu, who in turn sent four
envoys to the Ismaelite ruler, among whom was one called Bakhshi by
Rashid ud din. The Buddhist Lamas were so styled, and he was perhaps
one of them.J They were to tell him to dismantle his fortresses, and to
go to him in person, and meanwhile Yassaur, with his Mongols, was to
withdraw from his territory. He partially complied, and began to over
throw the ramparts of Maimundiz, Lembeser, and Alamut, and offered to
accept a Mongol baskak or commissary at his Court ; but in regard to going
in person to his Court, he pleaded that he would do so in the course of a
year. Khulagu had determined to destroy him, however, and on this
pretext he ordered his troops to come together from Irak and the
adjacent provinces.
While Khulagu was advancing towards Kuhistan, the three princes of
the house of Juchi had apparently traversed the pass of Derbend from
Kipchak with their contingents. They advanced, says Guiragos, with
their chariots, having levelled and made passable all the roads. §
Khuli, one of the three, styled himself "Son of God." Malakia tells us
that he was a merciless persecutor of the Christians ; that he caused all
the crosses on the roadsides and mountains he met with to be burnt, and
treated with especial brutality the inmates of the various monasteries they
passed. One of his chiefs went to the Monastery of Gereth, whose
abbot was called Stephanos, and was a very old man with grey hair,
distinguished for his sanctity. On the approach of the Tartar chief he
took a glass of wine, and offered him the tghghu {i.e., the usual tax or
offering insisted upon by the Mongols on such occasions), and conducted
him to the monastery, where he killed a sheep and distributed it with the
wine to the leaders of the band. They went on drinking till night, when
they returned to their quarters, which were close by. On rising the
* Quatremere, 183-185. t D'Ohssonj iii. 186-189. Ilkhans, i. 99.
{ Quatremere, 184. Note 51. % Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 182.

104 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
next morning their chief was very ill, and charged the monks with having
poisoned him, his illness really being the result of his gluttony. They
nevertheless seized and chained Stephanos. They tortured him to
extract a confession, and this not being forthcoming, they fixed four
stakes, to which they fastened him, spread some earth over him, and then
lit a fire over all until they roasted his flesh and he gave up the ghost.
Malakia goes on to report what is usually told of Armenian martyrs, that
a light hovered over his remains, while the cruel chief was driven by the
demon which possessed him to tear his own flesh with his teeth, and
several of his companions perished from the complaint which had seized
them. This epidemic spread to Khuli himself. Malakia then tells a very
grim story, viz., that Khuli summoned a doctor, who is elsewhere said
to have been a Jew, and who declared that there was no other remedy for
this disease than to thrust his feet into the warm entrails of a child who
was to be cut open for the purpose. They accordingly seized some
thirty Christian children in the streets. They killed them with arrows
and cut them open. Khuli's pain was not, however, assuaged, and in a
rage he had the doctor himself cut open and his entrails thrown to the
dogs. Khuli presently died, and was succeeded by his son Migan, also
called Mizan, or Mishan*
Let us now return to Khulagu, who, as we have seen, had ordered a
general muster of his troops. The right wing, commanded by Buka
Timur and Kuka Ilka, marched by way of Mazanderan ; the left, under
Nigudar and Kitubuka, went by Khowar and Semnan ; while Khulagu
commanded the centre, called kul by the Mongols, in person. | Mean
while, he dispatched the doomed prince another warning. The Khurshah
in reply sent his Vizier, Kaikobad, and other envoys, who met the
invading army at Firuzkuh. This place was visited by Morier, to whom
the ruins of the castle of the Ismaelites were pointed out as a windmill
and baths of the time of Alexander the Great.} Quatremere has a long
note on the place, which was situated under the famous mountain of
Demavend, and near Rai. Clavigo describes it as situated on a high
rock rising precipitously from a plain, and as, in reality, comprising three
fortresses girdled by walls and bastions.§ It was, as we have seen,
perhaps " The Paradise " of Marco Polo. The envoys offered to surrender
all the towns in the country except their ancestral strongholds of Alamut
and Lembeser, and again pleaded for a year's delay, after which they
promised that their master, who meanwhile gave orders for the surrender
of Girdkuh and the fortresses of Kuhistan, would visit Khulagu in
person. The Mongols continued their advance, and reached Lar and Demavend.
The latter is one of the oldest cities of Iran, and is situated at the foot of

* Malakia, 451-453- t Quatremere, 191-193. } Ilkhans, i. 99. § Quatremere, 274-276.

KHULAGU KHAN. IOj
a famous volcanic peak in the Elburz chain, which is 20,000 feet high, and
which bears the same name. It was the residence of the tyrant Sohak,
the carbuncle on whose shoulder, which appeared when Satan kissed
him, could only be eased by the brains of two men, killed daily; and from
whose tyranny the people were delivered by the smith Giawe, whose
leathern apron, fixed on a lance, was the gathering point of those who
opposed him. The 31st of August is kept as a festival in the Mussulman
world in memory of the deliverance from Sohak's tyranny* The
mountain of Demavend was the scene of much early romance, and
Quatremere has devoted a long note to it.f From Demavend Khulagu
advanced to Shahdiz, which he captured in two days. Fresh envoys
were thence sent to the recalcitrant chief, who now consented to send his
son with a contingent of 300 soldiers, and to demolish his fortresses.
The Mongols delayed at Abbasabad, on the main route from DemaVend
to Sari, awaiting the performance of these promises. Rokn ud din
sent a young son he had had by a Kurdish concubine, who was then
eight years old, and who in consideration of his youth was allowed
to return. Khulagu now asked him to send an older prince, namely,
his second brother, Shahin Shah. The latter accordingly went,
and reached the Mongols at Rai. He was deluded by a fair-sounding
yarligh or diploma, setting out their goodwill, and stating that if
Rokn ud din duly demolished his fortresses he would have nothing to
fear. The Mongol troops, however, kept advancing. When Buka Timur
and Kuka Ilka neared Aspendan — called Ispidar by Von Hammer, and,
doubtless rightly, Astadar by Major Raverty — the Khurshah sent to ask
what motive they had for going there, since he had submitted to their
master and was occupied in demolishing his fortresses. Their enigmatical
answer was, " As we are at peace with one another, we have come to
search for pasture."}
On the 2 1 st of October Khulagu left the district of Rudbar by the pass
of Baskal or Yaskal, and took the route of Talikan,§ situated between
Kazvin and Abher.|| He advanced with his troops, and planted them
round Maimundiz. As the walls were very strong, a council was held
as to whether they should press the siege or withdraw. Most of those
present urged that it was mid-winter, that their horses were thin, and that
it would be necessary to get provender for them from Armenia and
Kurdistan, and urged a retreat. Buka Timur, Kitubuka, and Saif ud din,
the bitikji, on the other hand, advised the siege to be pressed.1T Mean
while the contingent of 300 men sent by Rokn ud din were put to death
near Kazvin. A summons was sent into the town bidding it surrender in
five days. The reply was that Rokn ud din was then absent. Trees
* Ilkhans, i. ioo. t Op. cit., 200-204. I Quatremere, 207.
§ Von Hammer has confused this place with the more famous Talikan in Tokhanstan. Ilkhans,
i. 101.
|| Quatremere, 278. H Quatremere, 211.

106 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
were now cut down to make catapults with, which were dragged to the
top of the neighbouring heights. Meanwhile the besieged returned a
heavy fire. The following day the duel was renewed, but the chief of the
Ismaelites proposed a cessation of hostilities. Khulagu insisted on
immediate surrender, and Atha ul Mulk of Juveni was ordered to draw
up the form. Meanwhile a tumult occurred among the citizens (to which
their chief was probably privy), who did not wish to surrender. Rokn ud
din sent word to the Mongols of what had occurred, and stated that his
life was in danger, and the bombardment recommenced. The vigour of
the attack and the uncommon mildness of the season made the besieged
at length lose heart* Rokn ud din accordingly sent his brother, Shah
Kiya, with the astronomer Khoja Nasir ud din of Tus, two sons of Rais ud
daulat, from Hamadan, who were famous as doctors, with many grandees,
bearing rich presents, and a few days after, on the 19th of November, he
went in person and, in the words of Rashid ud din, "kissed the ground
before his August Majesty." Khulagu treated him kindly, and this induced
others to submit. Sadr ud din, or according to Abulfaraj, Shems ud din,
prefect of the fortresses of Kuhistan, was sent to demolish the various
Ismaelite fortresses in Kuhistan, Kumus, and Rudbar. There were
a hundred, well provisioned and armed. The governors of the
fortresses of Dilem also agreed to demolish their walls, and all were
thus razed except Girdkuh and Lembeser. The latter held out for a
year, when a disease broke out there and it had to surrender. Girdkuh
held out longer; the Yuan shi says it was captured by Kitubuka in 1257.
In the biography of Kuo Khan {i.e., of Kuka Ilka) he is made to capture
it. We there read that it was only accessible by suspended ladders,
which were guarded by the most valiant troops. It was battered
with catapults, when its commander, Bu-jo na-shi-r, elsewhere called
Da-dje na-shi-r, surrendered.! Other writers make out that Girdkuh held
out for many years. To reconcile these notices we must suppose that
after its surrender it again rebelled. The author of the "Tabakat-i-
Nasiri " tells us that when he wrote it had been besieged for ten years,
but still held out.} It apparently finally surrendered in December, l27o.§
The treasures collected by the Ismaelite princes at Maimundiz, which
were less valuable than was expected, were distributed among Khulagu's
soldiers, who then advanced to Alamut by way of Sheherek, the ancient
capital of the Princes of Dilem, where he celebrated his success in a feast
of nine days.|| Alamut was ordered to surrender by the Khur Shah
himself, but its governor, Sipah Salar, sent an uncivil reply, and refused. IT
Bulghai was left with a considerable contingent to attack it, and after three
days it surrendered. The Mongols entered and broke the war engines on

* D Ohsson, 111. 196. t Bretschneider, Notes on Med. Travellers, &c, 78 and 70.
I Op. cit., 1207-1210. % See Yule's Marco Polo, i. 153.
|| D'Ohsson, m. 197. f Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1209-1210. Notes,

KHULAGU KHAN. loy
the walls, removed the gates, and pillaged the place. Khulagu himself
entered the fortress, and was astonished at the extent of the mountain,
which was compared in shape, by Eastern writers, to a camel kneeling
with its neck stretched out, the fortress being built on the summit, and
approachable only by one narrow path.* He sent his Vizier, Athamulk
Juveni, to inspect the archives and library there. The astronomical
instruments, Korans, and some other valuable works were put aside,
including one with the title, " Serguseshti Sidina ; or Adventures of our
Lord and Master," giving an account of the founder of the sect, Hasan
Sabbah, from which Juveni drew the main portion of his account of the
Ismaelites. All the works dealing with the tenets of the sect were given
to the flames. The solid vaults of the fortress were found stored with
great quantities of provisions; inter alia, were wine, vinegar, and honey,
which, it was said, had been there since the time of Hasan Sabbah, and
were still wholesome after 160 years. A Mongol officer was assigned the
tedious duty of destroying the strong walls of the fortress, f Khulagu
now went to Lembeser, or Lemser, where his winter quarters were, and
where he left Tairbuka to prosecute the siege while he went to pass the
New Year's feast at the Grand Ordu, seven parasangs from Kazvin. A
whole week was spent in festivities, and the grandees were rewarded
with robes of honour. The Khurshah was given a yarligh and a paizah,
and a Mongol damsel for his wife, and Kazvin was assigned as a depot
for his treasures and wealth. Thence he dispatched two or three
confidential men in company with the Mongols to order the governors of
the Ismaelite fortresses in Syria to surrender. Khulagu apparently held
his hand until these various fortresses, which might have taken years to
capture, were in his power, when he was disembarrassed from a promise
he had made to spare his life by his request to be allowed to visit the
Khakan Mangu. He set out with some messengers of Khulagu, with
whom he had some sharp words at Bukhara. When they reached
Karakorum, Mangu would not see him, and said he ought not to have
been sent on to him, as it unnecessarily fatigued the horses. Abulfaraj
says he ordered him to return and surrender the fortresses of Girdkuh and
Lembeser, which still held out. He set out on his return, but when near
the mountains Tungat {i.e., Tangnu) he was put to death with his suite.
Orders were sent to Khulagu to exterminate the Mulahids. Thereupon
he sent word to Kazvin, and the two sons of the Khurshah, with his
daughters, brothers, and sisters, and their attendants, who had been
moved to a place between Abher and Kazvin, were put to death. Orders
were given to eradicate the rest, even to children in their cradles ; and
we are told the Mongol Governor of Khorasan assembled the Ismaelites
of Kuhistan under pretence of taking a census for a military levy, and put
* Id., 1210. Note. Quatremere, 215.
t Ilkhans, i. 102-103. D'Ohsson, iii. 198-199.

I08 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
them to death to the number of 12,000. They were similarly slaughtered
elsewhere* Alfi says that a number of the Khurshah's offspring and
relatives were made over to Salghan Khatun, the daughter of Jagatai, in
order to take blood revenge upon them for the murder of Jagatai, who had
been killed by Mulahid assassins.t All the Khurshah's people were
apparently not destroyed, for in 674 HEJ. {i.e., 1275) a body of the
Mulahids, combined with one of Khurshah's sons, seized the fortress of
Alamut. Abaka sent an army against them, which defeated them, and
the fortress was razed.} Muhammed of Esfizar, in his history of Herat
says that at the beginning of the 16th century some of the people of the
district were still attached to the errors of the sect. They levied among
themselves a tax called the money of Hassan Sabbah, which was devoted
to the decoration of his sepulchre, and the old women put aside one
out of every ten spindles of yarn which they had spun, and which they
called the tenth of the Imam {i.e., of Hassan Sabbah).§ The author of
the Georgian Chronicle says that many of the Mulahids took refuge in
Egypt, where their descendants remained when he wrote. || A very
interesting and graphic account of the descendants of the Ismaelites as
they exist now in India has been given by Colonel Yule.T
Having overwhelmed the Ismaelites, Khulagu set out in March, 1257,
for Hamadan (the Ecbatana of the Greeks'), the famous capital of the
ancient Medes ; famous also in Muhammedan times as an opulent and
beautiful city. Among its noted monuments were the tomb of the
Gazelle of Bahram-gur, and a colossal stone lion which stood over the
pillar of one of its gates, and has been described in detail by Masudi. It
was reported to have been put there by Alexander,-and was looked upon
as a kind of palladium, like the famous stone of Scone. It was broken
to pieces by Merdavij in the year 319 of the HEJ., when he captured the
town at the head of the troops of Ghilan and Dilem, and perpetrated a
terrible massacre, so terrible that, according to the author of the
" Mujmal Altawarikh," fifty asses were laden with the drawers of the
dead. It again revived, and is reported to have been 12,000 paces in
circumference, and to have contained 1,600 fountains, and several shrines
which were objects of pilgrimage, and it abounded in fruits, flocks, and
merchandise.** The astronomer, Nasir ud din, of Tus, with the two doctors above
mentioned as captured at Maimundiz, were now taken into Khulagu's
service. This famous astronomer had formerly been in the service of
Nasir ud din Abdur Rahim, governor of Kuhistan on behalf of the
Khurshah, to whom he had dedicated a work entitled " Akhlak Nasiry,"

* Quatremere, 2i5-22r. Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab, 332. D'Ohsson, iii. 201-202.
t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1211. Note. This was the Noyan Jagatai, whose death we have previously
described, and not, of course, the Khan Jagatai.
X Id., 1212. Note. % D'Ohsson, iii. 202. Note. |1 Op. cit., 544.
% Yule's Marco Polo, i. 153-155. ** Quatremere, op. cit., 220-223. Note,

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 09
or the Ethics of Nasir. It was divided into three parts, the substance of
one, treating of moral perfection, had been written by an Arab named
Abu Ali Meskuyah, and was much esteemed by Muhammedans. The other
two books, on economics and political society, the author declares were
chiefly taken from Greek sources. The author of this work having sent an
ode in praise of the Khalif to Baghdad, the latter's vizier, Ibn Alkamiyi,
a zealous Shia, wrote a verse on the back of it, in which he advised the
governor of Kuhistan to keep his eye on him, as he was corresponding
with the Khalif. He had accordingly put him under arrest, and sent
him to Maimundiz, where he was when it was captured* Khulagu now
treated him and the sons of Rais ud daulat and Muvaffek ud daulat,
famous physicians, with especial favour, and having learnt that they were
natives of Hamadan, gave them horses on which to transport their
families, servants, and slaves. They and their descendants retained
positions of trust for some time in the household of the Ilkhans. f
Let us now go on with our story. At Hamadan Khulagu was met
by Baichu, who in answer to his reproaches that he had done so little
with his army, replied on his knees that he had conquered all the
country from Rai to the borders of Rum and Sham {i.e., Asia Minor and
Syria). As to Baghdad, he enlarged upon the power of the Khalif and
the difficulty of approaching his dominions. " Nevertheless," he said, " it
is for the prince to command, and his slave will punctually obey his
orders." Appeased by this reply, Khulagu bade him return and conquer
the country as far as the sea, and to take it from the Franks {i.e., the
Crusaders) and the infidels. He set out on this errand, defeated Ghiath
ud din Kai Khosru at Kuseh tagh, and gave up the Seljuki dominions in
Rum to pillage. Meanwhile Khulagu, with the Princes Khuli, Bulghai,
and Tutar, and the great Amirs, Buka Timur, Kadsun, Katar Sunjan
(called Sunjak by Von Hammer), and Kuka Ilka, encamped in the
meadows of Khaneh-abad, in Kurdestan, near Hamadan, and proceeded
to organise and equip his troops afresh.}
The Georgian Chronicle make the Georgian chiefs, with Egarslan at
their head, and the Mongol Amirs who had preceded Khulagu, meet the
latter at Tebriz. Khulagu mounted them on horseback, and gave them
commands in the army. One was named uldachi {i.e., sword-bearer) ;
another was girded with a scimitar and ordered to stand guard at the
door, with the title of evdachi (Schmidt, who has explained these words,
says it means porter) ; another was named sukurchi {i.e., umbrella-
bearer). The Georgian writer says this umbrella, which was apparently
new to him, was held over the Khakan, was round, and attached
to a large pole; only the Khan's relatives were privileged to have the
sukur over them. Others were called qapchak {i.e., those charged with the
* D'Ohsson, iii. 205-206 t Quatremere, 216-217. X Id., 223-225.

110 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
clothes and boots. Schmidt says qapchaki means keeper of the clothes) ;
others were doorkeepers or evchis ; others were quiver and bow-bearers
{i.e., korchi). It was by such patronising favours the Khan rewarded the
great mthawars of Georgia.*
We read how at this time, the revenues of the churches, of Mtzkhetha,
and the other monasteries, as well as of those dependent villages and
land, were unprotected, as each of the grandees contented himself with
looking after his own interests. In consequence the Catholicos Nicoloz
repaired to Khulagu, who, we are told, was struck with his character, for
he had hitherto, of the Christians, only known the Arkauns {i.e., probably
the Nestorians). Khulagu gave him a yarligh, and assigned him a
a shahnah, or overseer. He had two gold bejewelled crosses made, of
which he gave one to the Catholicos and the other to the Superior of
Wardzia, his companion. He also gave the former a gilt baton,
surmounted by a cross. He then bade them good-bye, and gave them
charge of the churches and monasteries.t
Guiragos tells us the condition of the Georgians now became worse.
The invaders " ate and drank without ceasing, and brought the people
within two fingers' breadth of death." Among other things, whereas
Arghun had imposed the two taxes of mal and khaphchuri on the people,
Khulagu added that called thaghar. All the people entered on the royal
registers had to pay one hundred litras of wheat, fifty of wine, two of rice,
two sacks of dzgndjat (?), three topraks (?), two cords (probably bow
strings), one white {i.e., a piece of money), one arrow, and one horse
shoe, besides a twentieth of cattle, and money and other presents.
Those who could not pay were robbed of their sons and daughters.}
There is some confusion in the authorities in reference to the doings of
the two Georgian kings at this time. It would seem, however, from the
narrative of the author of the Georgian Chronicle, that they lived on good
terms with one another. He tells us that he had himself seen numbers
of charters headed " David and David, Bagratids, kings by the will of
God," with their double signature. § Vartan tells us Khulagu was visited
by the two kings, who were well treated. The Georgian Chronicle, on
the other hand, assures us it was only David, son of Lasha, who was his
favourite. He was a big man and stout, and could draw the strongest
bow, was simple, frank, and credulous; while his cousin, the son of Rusudan,
was small, puny, and fair to look upon. He had beautiful hair, and was
a skilled hunter, was eloquent of speech, generous, and modest, a good
horseman and brave warrior, just, and stirred by an active ambition.
The son of Rusudan, we are told, was much disliked by Khulagu, who,
when at Alatagh, had him arrested and sent to the winter camp of
the Tartars, at Berdaa. When they reached Nakhchivan he escaped, with

* Hist, de la Georgie, 540. t Id., 541-542.
X Op. cit., ed. Brosset, 182. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 483-484. $ Op. cit., 543.

KHULAGU KHAN. IU
the Gurcelel amir Ejib and Bega-Suramel, whom the Mongols called Salin
(Sain) Bega, or the Good Bega, and fled to Aphkhazeth. When he reached
the district ruled by Avak, dressed in humble costume, he was seen by
Sempad the Orpelian, who was then hunting. He begged him not to betray
him, and gave him a precious stone which had belonged to his mother.
Sempad accordingly sent him disguised to Thor, where the Liparit
prince, Thorel, surnamed Dewis Kur {i.e., the camel's ear), gave him
horses and clothes, and conducted him to Kuthathis. Thereupon the
Aphkhaz, the Suans, the Dadian Bedian, the Eristhaf of Radsha, and all
those beyond Mount Likh, assembled together and saluted David as
King of Aphkhaz, as far as that chain of mountains which thenceforward
separated the two principalities.* The story of the feast is no doubt the
same which has been already told, and it is a proof of the impossibility of
reconciling the various accounts of these transactions. The Georgian
Chronicle reports how, shortly before the campaign against Baghdad,
Batu Khan, of Kipchak, of Osseth, Khazaria, Russia, Bulgaria, and all
the country between Servia, Derbend, and China, sent an express to
summon David, who left with rich presents, leaving behind him as Regent
the Queen Djigda Khatun, and the mestumre't Jikur, during whose rule
brigandage and robbery ceased. He built a magnificent palace at Isanni,
imposed a tribute on the Phkhoels, and used this savage people as
muleteers. David went, according to the Georgian annalist, to Batu ; if it was
really to Batu it must have been before 1256, when the latter died, but the
dates of our author are so crooked that they are not to be relied upon,
and it was more probably Bereke to whom he went. He was well
received, and remained at the Golden Horde for some time. David, in
setting out, had appointed deputies in his various provinces, and among
others, gave Kakheth to Thorgua Pancel {i.e., chief of Pancis), with orders
to obey the Queen. Imagining that David would never return, he retired
to the citadel of Pancis, and usurped authority in Kakheth for himself, and
ceased to obey the Queen and Jikur, the mestumre". Batu, we are told,
conferred the sukur, or umbrella, which the Khan and his family had
alone the right to use, upon David. He also asked Khulagu to give him
precedence over every one but himself. We are told that among the
Tartars no one could sit in the Khan's presence, not even at meals.
David now returned again to Karthli. He was received with rejoicings
at Hereth, and thence went to Tiflis. Thorgua was summoned to his
presence. He demanded a safe conduct, and it was granted him ; but he
was, nevertheless, taken to Cldd-Karni, and put to death.} David now
repaired to Khulagu, who granted him the privileges of the other Noyans
* Op. cit., 545-546.
t The person so called issued invitations in the king's name, and welcomed the guests.
I Hist, de la G&rgie, 547-548.

112 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
in regard to standing and sitting, with the title of Yaraguchi {i.e., in
Mongol, a judge), the right to try cases and give judgment*
The Georgians were not the only Christians who were very considerately
treated by the Mongols at this time. I have already described how
Haithon, King of Little Armenia, visited Batu.f The account given of
his journey by his relative, the Armenian Prince, Haithon, in his
chronicle, verges on the improbable. He says he asked Mangu Khan to
become a Christian, and cause his people to be converted ; and goes on
to say that this demand, with six others, having been laid before Mangu, he
assembled his council, and the King of Armenia being present, addressed
him in these terms : " Since the King of Armenia has come a very long
distance without being compelled, it is reasonable to satisfy his wishes, at
all events, in what is just. We tell you, then, O King of Armenia, that
your requests are agreeable to us, and by the help of God they shall be
carried out. In the first place I, the Emperor of the Tartars, will be
baptised. I hold the Christian faith, and will urge my people to conform
to it also, although I will use no force to compel them to do so." Haithon
goes on to say that Mangu, in fact, had himself baptised by a certain
bishop who was chancellor to the Armenian King, together with his
household and many grandees of the Empire. D'Ohsson remarks, in
regard to this, that " it is quite possible he was baptised, for he supported
without favour the various religions practised at his Court, without
professing any positive faith, and the Mongols doubtless looked upon
baptism as a form of purification." Haithon reports that the King secured
the exemption of the Christian priests from taxes ; but the exemption had
already been specially provided for by Jingis Khan. The towns captured
from his people by the Mussulmans, and re-captured by the Mongols,
were to be restored to him. The Mongol generals in the west were
ordered to help him when in need. They were, lastly, to attack the
Khalif, and to unite themselves with the Christians for the emancipation
of the Holy Land from the Muhammedan yoke.} I shall reserve an
account of Haithon's itinerary from Karakorum to the Oxus for the next
volume, and will here merely say that after crossing that river he went on
by way of Mrmn (Merv), Sarakhs, and Tus; then, entering Mazanderan,
he passed by Bostam, and thence to Irak, on the borders of the Mulahids,
or Assassins. He then passed successively the towns of Dameghan, Rai,
Kazvin, Abher, or Ahr, Zenguian, Miana, Tebriz, and eventually reached
the Araxes. At Sisian (?) he met Baichu Noyan, who conducted him
to Khoja Noyan, to whom he had deputed his command, while with
the bulk of the army he had set out to meet Khulagu. On arriving
at the village of Vartenis, where lived Prince K'urth, and where he
had left his suite and baggage, he awaited the return of the priest
* Hist, de la Georgie, 548. t Ante, ii. 88-89. X Haithon Chron., 23. D'Ohsson, ii. 312-313.

KHULAGU KHAN. U3
Basil, whom he had sent to Batu to take him the letters with which
he had been intrusted by Mangu. There he was met by various
ecclesiastics, to whom he presented some rich vestments and other
presents. The ingenuous king reported to his friends some of the
marvels which he had seen or heard tell of on his journey. How beyond
Khatai was a race among whom the women were as they were elsewhere;
while the men were shaped like dogs, were big and hairy, and had no
reason or were dumb. These dog-men allowed no one to enter their
country ; they hunted, and lived on the game they caught, which they
shared with their wives. Of the offspring of these people, the males
followed the appearance of their fathers, and the females that of their
mothers. He also spoke of a sandy island where grew a bone of great
value in the form of a tree, which they called a fish's tooth. When this was
cut down another grew in its place like a stag's horn. The former story
may be compared to the tales about Burtechino, the wolf ancestor of the
Mongols, and of Tsena, the ancestor of the Turks, and their intercourse
with women, while the latter, as Brosset says, seems a distinct reference
to mammoth ivory.* Haithon also brought home stories about people
who worshipped clay statues, which were very large, and called Sakia
munim {i.e., they were statues of Buddha). They reported to him
that this god had lived 3,040 years, and still had 35 tumans of years
{i.e., 350,000) to live, when he would lose his divinity in favour of another
god named Madri {ie., Maitreya), to whom they raised enormous clay
statues in a magnificent temple. All this people, men, women, and
children, were clerics, and were called tuins (this is the Mongol name for
the Buddhist clergy). They had their chins and heads shaved. They wore
a yellow mantle like the Christians, with this difference : that it hung
from the neck, but not the shoulders. They were temperate and chaste.
Haithon reached his house in Armenia eight months after leaving Mangu.
This was in the year 1255. f
Let us now turn more directly to Khulagu's own doings. Of the
principal commissions he had received from his brother he had amply
fulfilled one, viz., the crushing of the Ismaelites, and he now turned
to acccomplish the other— the destruction of the Khalif. Matters were
going on badly at Baghdad. In the autumn of 1256 a terrible downfall
of rain had flooded the town and submerged many of the houses, while
one-half of Irak remained untilled. The Khalif Mostassim was a weak
prince, and passed his life in debauchery— musicians, dancers, tumblers, &c,
being his chief companions. His arrogance was a match for his imbecility.
The princes who went to Baghdad to do homage were not admitted to his
presence. They had to be content with holding to their lips a piece of
black silk, representing the lappet of the Khalifs gown, which was

* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 180. Note.
t Brosset, op, cit., 176-181. Joum. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. Id., 47°-473-

114 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
suspended at the palace gate, and to kiss a stone placed on the threshold,
like the pilgrims to Mekka, who similarly kissed the black stone and the
veil of the Kaaba. When he sallied forth on horseback on solemn
occasions his face was covered with a black veil.* The great vassals who
formerly received investiture at his hands were the Sultans of Egypt and
Rum, the Atabegs of Fars and Kerman, the Princes of Erbil, Mosul, &c;
but the chiefs of Rum, Fars, and Kerman were at this time feudatories
of the Mongols. The Khalif 's principal officers were Suliman Shah, the
generalissimo of his army, which was said to consist of 60,000 cavalry;
the Great Devatdar, or chancellor, the Devatdar i Kuchuk, or Little
Devatdar, i.e., the vice-chancellor, the Sharabi, or cupbearer, and the
Vizier, Muayad ud din Muhammed, son of Abdul Malik el Alkamiyi.
The Khalif's most trusted officer was the Little Devatdar, Eibeg,
who, notwithstanding, plotted with some of the principal people to
dethrone him in favour of some other prince of the house of Abbas.
The Vizier having heard of this reported it to his master, who was
infatuated by Eibeg and told him what he had heard, and said he should
not credit the accusations. Although the Devatdar Eibeg continued his
intrigues, he wrote a memoir in his own hand, declaring all the accusations
against him to be calumnies. This was publicly proclaimed in the
streets, and the Devatdar's name was inserted in the khutbeh, or Friday
prayer, directly after the Khalif's.f Eibeg, in his turn, charged the
Vizier with having secret negotiations with the Mongols. This charge
had some truth in it, and Wassaf distinctly states that he sent his
submission to Khulagu, and invited him to invade the country.}
Abulfeda, Wassaf, and others tell us why he was dissatisfied. They say
that the village of Karkh, near Baghdad, was occupied almost entirely
by Muhammedans, of the sect Ranefi {i.e., Shias), between whom and the
Sunnis there arose a dissension, whereupon the Baghdad troops, under,
the command of Abubekr, the Khalif's son, and Rokn ud din, the Devatdar,
proceeded to ill-use the Ranefitis shamefully, to drag their women out
of their harems, and to carry them on their horses' cruppers with their
faces and feet bare in the public streets. The Vizier, who belonged to
this sect, was outraged, and sent a letter to the Seyid Taj ud din
Muhammed, Ibn Nasir el Hoseini, the rais of Hillah, a famous seat of
Shia influence, complaining, inter alia, that Karkh had been plundered,
that the sons of the house of Ali had been robbed, the people of the
stock of Hashim made prisoners, and the dishonour which had formerly
been put upon Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet in the plundering of
his harem, and the accompanying bloodshedding, had been renewed.
The Seyid replied in the names of all the relatives of the Prophet : "The
heretics must be put to death and destroyed, and their race be uprooted.
* D'Ohsson, iii. 308. t Quatremere, 229. J Op. cit., 57-58,

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 15
If you will not side with us you will be lost. You will be despised in
Baghdad, as henna, which delights women, is despised by rough men, and
as a ring is despised by him who has had his hand cut off."* Khulagu at
this time had captured the Ismaelite fortress of Alamut, and the Vizier
wrote to him pointing out the weakness of Baghdad, and inviting him to
march thither. Khulagu was naturally a little anxious about a struggle with
a power so formidable as that of the Khalif, whose troops had already twice
defeated the Mongols, and he consulted Husam ud din, an astrologer,
who had accompanied him at the instance of the Khakan. He was
apparently a Mussulman (friendly to the Abbassi dynasty), and foretold
that an expedition against Baghdad and the House of Abbas would be
followed by six grave events : (1) all the horses would die, and the soldiers
be attacked with pestilence ; (2) the sun would not rise ; (3) rain would
not fall ; (4) there would be violent hurricanes and earthquakes ; (5) plants
would cease to grow ; (6) the Emperor would die during the year.
Khulagu insisted on the astrologer putting these lugubrious prophecies
down in writing. On the other hand, the Mongol bakshis and the amirs
declared that the expedition would have a fortunate issue, an opinion also
propounded by the famous astronomer, the Khoja Nasir ud din, of Tus,
who was a Shia. He had a personal grievance against the Khalif and
also against the Vizier. It seems that on one occasion he sent the Khalif
one of his poems, on the back of which the Vizier wrote a note addressed
to Nasir ud din the Mohtesshim, in which he sneeringly said that the
composer had the knack of putting into his letters and writings the
thoughts of other people, a jibe which was highly resented by Nasir ud din,
who was the most learned man of his time.f Elsewhere Von Hammer
gives a different version of this, and says that while Mostassim was one day
sitting by the Tigris, Nasir ud din took him a poem, in which he expressed
his devotion. Instead of rewarding him the Khalif, in consequence of a
sharp criticism of the Vizier's, had it thrown into the Tigris. He thereupon
left Baghdad in a rage and went to Sertakht, to the Ismaelites.}
Meanwhile things were going badly at Baghdad. The Vizier, probably
in preparation for his intended treason, persuaded the Khalif to reduce
his army, urging that with so many powerful princes as his vassals, he had
no need of such a large force, which continually drained his resources. He
urged also that with the money thus saved he might buy off the invaders
for a while, and persuaded him to reduce his army from 100,000 to 20,ooo.§
Meanwhile earthquakes and some terrible fires desolated the country.
These were apparently caused by lightning. One of them laid waste the
district of Hara, near Medina, over a district of four parasangs. Medina
itself was burnt, and afterwards plundered by the Arabs. In this last fire
its famous library perished. " Thus," says Von Hammer, " there were
* Abulfeda, iv. 551. Wassaf, 53-54. t Wassaf, 56. I Ilkhans, i. 140.
$ Abulfeda, iv. 551. D'Ohsson, iii. 212.

Il6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
destroyed in one year two of the most famous libraries in the East, that,
at Alamut and that at Medina."* Khulagu having determined to crush
the Khalif, now sent him a summons from Hamadan couched in haughty
phrases. He began by denouncing him for not having assisted the
Mongols in their campaign against the Ismaelites ; reminded him of the
success which had attended the armies of the Mongols from the time of
Jingis Khan, and how the Khuarezm Shahs, the Seljuki, the rulers of
Dilem, the Atabegs, and others had all succumbed, all of whom had been
masters of Baghdad. Why should its gates be closed to him? He
warned him not to strike with his fist against an iron spike, nor to mistake
the sun for a taper, and bade him dismantle the fortifications of Baghdad,
to leave his son in charge there, and go to him in person, or, at least,
send the Vizier, Suliman Shah, and the Devatdar to confer with him. In
that case he should preserve his dominions ; if not, the Mongols would
march on Baghdad ; and where would he hide — in the heavens or the
depths of the earth ?t The Khalif received the envoys with courtesy, and
sent back Sherif ud din ibn Duzy, or Juzy, an eloquent person, Bedr ud
din Muhammed, and Zanghi Nakhjivani, who was probably an Armenian,
with his reply, which was by no means a cringing one: — "O, young man
only just commencing your career, who show such small regard for life,
who, drunk with the prosperity and good fortune of ten days, deem yourself
superior to the whole world, and think your orders equivalent to those
of destiny, and irresistible. Why do you address me a demand which you
cannot secure ? Do you think by your skill, the strength of your army, and
your courage, that you can make captive even one of the stars ? You are
probably unaware that from the east to the west, the worshippers of God,
religious men, kings and beggars, old men and young ones, are all slaves
of this Court, and form my armies ; that after I have ordered these isolated
defenders to gather together, I shall first settle the affairs of Iran, and will
then march upon Turan and put each man in his proper place. No doubt
the earth will be the scene of trouble and confusion in consequence, but I
am not greedy for vengeance nor eager to win the applause of men. I am
not anxious that through the tramp of armies men shall have occasion
either to bless or curse. I, the Khakan, and Khulagu all have the same heart
and the same language. If, like me, you would sow the seed of friendship,
what have you to do with meddling with the intrenchments and ramparts
of my servants ? Follow the road of goodness and return to Khorasan.
If, however, you desire war, I have thousands of troops who, when the
moment of vengeance arrives, will dry up the waves of the sea."} This is
apparently the message reported by Guiragos in somewhat different
terms. He says the Khalif was very arrogant, styled himself Jehangir,
master of the sea and land ; boasted that he possessed the standard of
* Ilkhans, i. 142-143. t Quatremere, 231-233. D'Ohsson, iii. 215-217.
| Quatremere, 235.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 17
Muhammed, and if he set it in motion he and all the universe would
perish. " You are only a dog and a Turk, why should I pay you tribute
or obey you ?"* Hardly were the envoys outside the walls of Baghdad
when they were attacked by the fanatical mob, who tore their clothes,
spat in their faces, and would have killed them if the Vizier had not sent
some people to rescue them.f Khulagu, who was at Panj Angusht (the
five fingers), on hearing of this declared that the Khalif was as crooked
as a bow, but he would make him as straight as an arrow ; and sent back
his envoys with the message that God had given the empire of the world
to the descendants of Jingis Khan, and as their master refused to obey
there was nothing for it but that he must prepare for war.}
Meanwhile the Khalif was perplexed by the varying counsel of his
Ministers. While the Vizier advised him to propitiate the Mongols by
rich presents, including 1,000 Arab horses, 1,000 camels, and 1,000
asses, laden with treasure and richly caparisoned, and by offering to
have the khutbeh said, and money coined in Khulagu's name, his rival,
the Devatdar, bade him rely on his army, and on the assistance of the
faithful. The latter at length prevailed. He and his supporters professed
great contempt for Mostassim, whom they accused of being fond of
musicians and buffoons, and of being unfriendly to the army. The
amirs complained that they had lost everything in his reign which they
had acquired in his father's, and their chief, Suliman Shah, spoke out
bravely that if troops were only summoned from the various provinces
and he was put at the head of them, he thought he could break
the Mongol army, and even, if beaten, it was well for a brave man to
perish with glory and honour in the midst of the fight.§ The Khalif
approved of these words, ordered largess to be distributed to the soldiers,
and told the Vizier to give the command over them to Suliman Shah,
The Vizier prepared to carry out these orders, but only in a languid
fashion, which strengthened the suspicion that he was in league with the
Mongols, a view which the Devatdar widely proclaimed. The Khalif's
avarice prevented sufficient money being spent, and it was five months
before the troops were ready. He now dispatched Bedr ud din Diriki
and the Kadhi of Bindinjan, a town of Kurdistan, with a fresh mission to
Khulagu to remind him of the fate of many who had formerly attacked
the sacred Abbassidan House. "How Yakub ibn Leith, of the family of
Saffar, had died while on his way to attack Baghdad. How his brother,
Amru, who had the same intention, was captured by Ismail ibn Ahmed,
the Samanid, who sent him in chains to Baghdad. How Besasiri had
marched from Egypt with a large army and had captured the Khalif and
kept him prisoner at Hadithah, and for two years the khutbeh had
been said and the money struck at Baghdad in the name of Mostansir, the

* Op. cit., ed. Brosset, 185. t Quatremere, 257.
X D'Ohsson, iii. 2i8-2r9. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 123'- N°te- $ Quatremere, 237-247.

Il8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Ismaelite Khalif of Egypt; and how then Besasiri was attacked and put to
death by Tughrul Bek, the Seljuk. How the latter's successor, Muhammed,
had to retreat after his venture on Baghdad, and died on the way ; and,
lastly, how the Khuarezm Shah Muhammed, who had determined to
uproot the family of Abbas, had been almost overwhelmed in the defile of
Asad abad by a storm, in which he lost most of his troops, and was forced
to retire, and how he had ended his days miserably in the Isle of
Abisgum, chased thither by the Mongols." The envoys concluded by
reminding Khulagu that he had no cause of quarrel with the Khalif, and
bidding him take warning.* This portentous retrospect only aroused
the anger of Khulagu, who is said to have quoted in reply some lines from
the great Persian epos, the Shah Nameh :
Build about yourself a town and a rampart of iron ;
Erect a bastion and a curtain-wall of steel ;
Assemble an army of Peris and of Jins ;
Then march against me, inspired by vengeance,
If you were in heaven I would bring you down,
And spite of yourself I will reach you in the lion's den.t
Khulagu knew it was a serious matter to assail a town so renowned
as Baghdad, and he took precautions accordingly. Hearing that Husam
ud din Akah — who on behalf of the Khalif commanded at Daritang {i.e.,
the narrow defile), a fortress commanding the main route from Hamadan
to Baghdad, and the key to Irak Arabi — was dissatisfied, he summoned
him to his presence. Leaving his son Said in the town, which was famous
for its beauty and strength,} he obeyed. Khulagu received him well, and
gave him as an appanage the castles of Warudah, Merj, &c.§ He
proceeded to occupy these fortresses. Having collected a considerable
force about him, he seems to have repented of his treachery, and
communicated with the Khalif through Taj ud din Ibn Salayeh, of the
family of Ali, who governed the town of Erbil, offering to raise an army
of 100,000 Kurds and Turkomans, with which to overwhelm the invaders.
His proposition was not accepted by the Khalif. Meanwhile the intrigue
had reached the ears of Khulagu. He was naturally greatly enraged, and
ordered Kitubuka to march with 30,000 cavalry to forestal the traitor.
This officer sent him word he wanted to concert common measures
against Baghdad. He unwittingly went to his camp, whereupon
Kitubuka arrested him, and told him if he wanted to save his life he must
order his wife and son, and all his adherents and soldiers, to march out
of the fortress, that a census of them might be taken for the poll tax.
Husam ud din had to issue an order to this effect, and also to demolish
his fortresses, after which he was put to death with all his adherents.

".Quatremere, 249.251. t Rashid ud din, by Quatremere, 253.
,,' 1Jle.d.efil' ln which it lay was watered by the Diala, which some miles higher up flowed past
Kasr Shirin, the ancient Artemita. Ilkhans, 145.
§ Quatremere, 255. Von Hammer calls these two places Disser (i.e., the Golden Castle) and
Dis Merjh (i.e., the Meadow Castle). Ilkhans, i. 145.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 19
Only one of his towns escaped, viz., that governed by his son Said,
who refused to surrender, and afterwards made his way to Baghdad,
where he fell fighting.*
Khulagu now summoned the various contingents of his army to
converge on the doomed city. Baichu was sent for from the borders of
Rum, while Bulghai and the other princes, who then commanded
contingents belonging to the other ulusses, with Sunjak and Buka Timur,
took the road from Shehrsor to Dakuka.f Kitubuka Noyan, Kadsun,
called Kurusun by Von Hammer, } and Nerkilka, arrived from Luristan,
Beiat, Takrit, and Khuzistan. Khulagu himself, leaving his family and
greater baggage in the meadows of Zek, not far from Hamadan, in
charge of Kaiak Noyan, advanced with the centre towards Kerman-
shahan and Holwan. He had with him the great amirs Kuka Ilka>
Arkatu, Arghun-aka, the bitikchis Karatai and Seif ud din, his favourites
the astronomer Khoja Nasir ud din, Alai ud din Ata Mulk {i.e., the
historian, Juveni), as well as all the sultans, kings, and secretaries of Iran.§
He passed by way of Asad abad, a small town seven parasangs from
Hamadan, which still exists, and is mentioned by Kerr Porter. || Thence
he sent a fresh message to the Khalif, who only replied by evasions.
When the army reached Dinawar, twenty parasangs north-west of
Hamadan, Ibn Juzi came with fresh threats from the Khalif in case
Khulagu did not retire; but he replied that, having come so far, he could
not go back without having an audience of the Khalif, and that after
conferring with him and receiving his orders, he could then retire.
Khulagu marched through the Kurdish mountains (Kuh-Girdaa), captured
Kdrman shahan and pillaged other places on the route. At Tak Kesra
he was joined by Sunjak, Baichu, and Suntai, with whom he held a
consultation ; and we read how, after leaving him, the Mongol officers
consulted the burnt shoulder-blades of sheep which were used by them in
divination. We must here make a short digression, to bring up the story of the
Mongol doings in Rum to this point. We have seen how Rum was
divided between the two brothers, Iz ud din and Rokn ud din. Iz ud din
was very suspicious of Baichu, and, we are told, began to collect some
forces, and sent a messenger to Malatia and Khartabert, or Saida, to
bring together a contingent of Kurds, Turkomans, and Arabs. Two
Kurdish chiefs, named Sherif ud din Ahmed ibn Bilas, from Al Hakkar,
and Sherif ud din Muhammed ibn Al Sheikh Adi, from Mosul, came to
him, and he appointed the former governor of Malatia and the latter of
Khartabert. The Malatians having sworn allegiance to Rokn ud din,
refused to receive the Kurdish chief, and as he besieged the place, until
great want prevailed there, they attacked him and killed 300 of his

* Quatremere, 257-259. t Ilkhans, i. 146 J Id., i. 46
i Quatremere, op. cit., 265. || Travels in Georgia, &c, ii. 139.

120 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
followers. He himself withdrew through the district of Klaudia, and
burnt the monasteries of Madhik and Mar Asia, and plundered that
district and Guba. He then went on towards Amid, where he was
attacked and killed by the governor of Mayafarkin. The other Kurdish
chief was on his way to join Iz ud din when he was attacked and killed
by the Noyan Angurg. Iz ud din now nominated Ali Behadur as
governor of Malatia. He was small of stature but of great vigour, and
speedily reduced the neighbourhood to order, and severely punished the
Turkomans who infested the neighbouring mountains and continually
harried the country round. Malatia had, however, been assigned to
Rokn ud din in the partition already named, and Baichu marched from
Bithynia, with his Mongols who were scattered in Cappadocia and
Galatia, to secure it for him. He first attacked Abulestin, which he
captured, killed 7,000 people, and carried off the boys and girls into
captivity. When he approached Malatia, Ali Behadur, its governor, fled.
The citizens then surrendered the place. He made them swear allegiance
to Rokn ud din and pay a fine. Fakhr ud din Ayaz was appointed its
governor.* It would seem from Guiragos that Haithon, the King of
Little Armenia, took part in this campaign of Baichu's. The latter
afterwards sent him with an escort to Sis, his capital.
On the departure of Baichu, Ali Behadur again obtained possession of
Malatia, after a siege in which the inhabitants were reduced to great
want. He put to death Rokn ud din's deputy and some of his supporters,
and presently, fearing the return of the Mongols, again abandoned the
place. Baichu meanwhile advanced upon Mosul, where he arrived in
the beginning of 1258. Malik Salih, son of Bedr ud din Lulu, Prince of
Mosul, who was an ally of the Mongols, had recently returned from
visiting Khulagu, and had married a daughter, of the Khuarezm Shah,
Jelal ud din. According to Minhaj-i-Saraj, both he and the ruler of
Fars had furnished a contingent to the Mongols for the campaign. The
people of the country round sought refuge in the town at Baichu's
approach, but he left again without doing them any harm.f He crossed
the Tigris and joined Khulagu as I have mentioned. The advance guard
of the Khalif's troops which was stationed at Yakuba, or Bakuba, was
commanded by a Turk from Kipchak, called Kara Sonkor {i.e., black
falcon), while in the Mongol army there was a Khuarezmian Turk named
Sultan Juk. The latter now wrote to his compatriot, counselling him if he
wished to save his family, to do as he had done, viz., to submit to the
Mongols, who had treated him well. Kara Sonkor, in reply, vaunted the
long history and prosperity of the Abbassidan House, and having
denounced the threatened advance of Khulagu, offered complacently to
ask the Devatdar to obtain the Khalif's pardon for him if he would
* Abulfaraj Chron. Arab., 332-333. Chron. Syr., 542-544. t Id., Chron. Syr., 544.

KHULAGU KHAN. 121
retrace his steps and be penitent* Khulagu laughed when this letter was
read to him, and, according to Rashid, replied in poetry :
In my eyes the ant, the fly, and the elephant are alike indifferent ;
So are the springs, the rivers, the seas, the Nile.
If our measures contravene the orders of God,
Who can tell but Himself what the end may be.t
Abulfaraj apparently refers this incident to Eibeg al Halebi, an envoy of
' the Khalif himself.} Khulagu sent a fresh demand for the Khalif's
submission, and orders for him to send the Vizier, Suliman Shah, and
the Devatdar to him to arrange terms. If he was determined to resist,
however, he bade him prepare for war, and the next day he pitched his
camp on the River Holwan, where he remained for thirteen days, while
the Amir Kitubuka conquered the greater part of Luristan.
Meanwhile, Baichu Noyan, Buka Timur, and Sunjak crossed the
Tigris. Bedr ud din, Prince of Mosul, had supplied Baichu with a
bridge of boats, which he put on that river at Takrit. The people of
Takrit sallied out and burnt it, and killed some of the invaders. The
next day, however, they repaired the bridge, and crossed over to the west
bank of the Tigris, and . pushed on towards Kufah, Hillah, and Karkh,
and martyred the people. § Elsewhere we read that Baichu, with Buka
Timur and Sunjak, went to encamp on the Nahr Isa, or the canal of Isa.
Sunjak took command of the advance guard of this division, and speedily
arrived at Harbieh. The inhabitants of the district of the Little
Tigris (Dojeil), of El Ishaki, and the canals of Malik and Isa fled
precipitately, and freely gave the boatmen bracelets, brocaded robes, or
large sums of money to transport them in safety to Baghdad. When the
Devatdar and the general Fath ud din Ibn Korer (Minhaj-i-Saraj says
Fath ud din's son, Iz ud din), who were posted between Yakuba and
Besheriyeh, on the way to Holwan, learned that the Mongols had thus
approached Baghdad on the western bank of the Tigris, they also
crossed that river. Minhaj-i-Saraj says they summoned the men of
Karkh and other towns to assist them. The forces of the Khalif were
chiefly infantry, and sustained the attack bravely, and killed many
Mongols.|| Elsewhere we read that the Khalif's officers fought the Mongols
under Sunjak, near Anbar, before the Koshk Mansur, above
Madrikah or Mezzrikah, on the east bank of the Euphrates, about nine
parasangs from Baghdad. Wassaf merely says the fight took place near
the Dojeil, or Little Tigris. Abulfaraj says the struggle took place at the
tomb of Ahmed.1T It was fought on the 9th Muharrem, 656 {i.e., the 16th
January, 1258). The Mongols were defeated, or perhaps merely pursued
* Quatremere, 269-277. t Id., 279. J Chron. Arab., 337-338.
§ Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1237-1238.
|| Quatremere, 279-281. D'Ohsson, iii., 229-230. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1237-1238.
^j Ilkhans, i. 148. Chron. Syr., 549.

122 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
their usual Fabian tactics, and having made a detour joined their main
army under Baichu at Besheriyeh* The Devatdar wrote to his master
to tell him he would complete the victory next day, and exterminate the
enemy. Meanwhile a discussion arose between the Khalif's two principal
officers. Fath ud din, who was a skilful soldier and feared some stratagem,
counselled delay ; while his civilian companion, the Devatdar, urged an
immediate pursuit, while the enemy was distracted.t Fath ud din allowed
his judgment to be overborne by his imprudent friend. The Mongols
having reached the Dojeil turned about, and a second and more terrible
struggle followed, to which an end was put by the darkness, when each
army bivouacked on its own ground. In this struggle Fath ud din had
ordered the feet of the mule on which he rode to be shackled with iron
splints, so that he could not well escape.} Minhaj-i-Siraj says that "near
the battle-field was a piece of water, called the Nahr i Sher, which was
connected with the Euphrates, and the land through which it flowed was
elevated, while the Mussulmans were encamped on the low ground.
During that night the accursed rafizi Vizier dispatched a body of men
and turned the water of the canal on the Mussulmans, and the whole was
flooded with water, and their arms and armour were spoiled, and they
became quite powerless. Next morning at dawn the infidels returned,
and another battle ensued." The Khalif's people were defeated and
driven across the Little Tigris, and posted themselves where the great
Sanjari mosque and kazr (castle) was situated.§ Wassaf, Rashid ud din,
and Abulfaraj, who wrote under the shadow of the Mongol rulers, do not
suggest the breaking of the dykes as the work of the Vizier, which is
indeed most improbable. With these authors it was the Mongols them
selves who cut the dykes, so that the plain behind the Khalifs army was
flooded. They then attacked and routed the latter. Fath ud din and
Kara Sonkor, with 12,000 men, were killed, without counting those who
were drowned and smothered in the mud. || The Devatdar reached
Baghdad again with only a few — one account says three — persons.
Others found refuge at Hillah and Kufah. Meanwhile Khulagu, leaving
his baggage at Khanekin, pitched his tent to the east of the city. This
was on the nth Muharrem {i.e.,the 18th of January, I258).1T He planted
himself opposite the gate Ajami. The Noyan Kuka Ilka, with the two
princes Tutar and Kuli, of the Golden Horde, faced the Kalwaza gate,
while the princes Bulghai, Tutar, Aroktu, and Shiramun posted
themselves opposite the gateway of the Suk-i-Sultan {i.e., the Sultan's
market-place). Meanwhile, on the western bank of the river, Buka
Timur was on the side of the citadel, near Dulabi-Bakul (Abulfaraj says
* D'Ohsson, iii. 230.
t Minhaj-i-Saraj reverses the positions of the two men, but here, as so frequently elsewhere,
cannot be trusted. I Wassaf, 63-64. § Op. cit., 1241-1244.
|| Quatremere, 281. Wassaf, 64. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 549. % Quatremere, 281.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 23
near the kitchen garden), and Baichu and Sunjak were on the west,
where the Uzdi hospital (called Adad by Quatremere) was situated
(Abulfeda says in Karia, near the Sultan's palace).*
Meanwhile the Khalif continued in a state of mental imbecility.
When the Little Devatdar returned to him after the slaughter of his army,
accompanied by only three men, he merely said, " God be praised that
Mushahid-ud din is safe," as when the Mongols made a previous invasion
of Irak Arab, and had advanced to Jebel Hamrin, he had said, " How
can they ever pass it ?"t The walls were ordered to be repaired and
barricades made, and the citizens were told off to man the defences, and
the two Devatdars, the Munjenk, Suliman Shah, and other leaders of
the army and the Mamluks encouraged them. The attack was pressed.
The bricks that lay about outside the city were collected and built into
great mounds, upon which were planted battering engines and machines
for shooting burning naphtha.} The Khalif now sent the Vizier with one
of his favourites, named Ibn Darnus, and Makiko, the Nestorian patriarch,
with presents. Khulagu told them that the conditions which would have
satisfied him at Hamadan were no longer enough, and he must insist on
the Devatdar and Suliman Shah, the latter of whom had won more than
one victory over the Mongols, being surrendered. The next day the
Vizier, the Sahib Divan, or Minister of the Interior, and a deputation,
consisting of the principal inhabitants of the city, went to Khulagu's
' camp. He would not, however, receive them. The attack was closely
pressed, and the bombardment continued for six days. As there were no
stones near Baghdad to ply the machines with, they were sent for from
Jebel Hamrin and Jelula, and palm trees were also cut down to furnish
projectiles, while letters were shot into the place offering their lives to
the kadhis, doctors of the law, sheikhs, Atevis, and other non-combatants. §
At length, on the 28th Muharrem {i.e., the 4th of February||), the Burj-i-
Ajami, or so-called Persian Tower, was battered down, and presently the
Mongols stormed this part of the wall. Khulagu having reproached his
relatives who were posted before the gate Suk Sultan with being dilatory,
they also stormed the wall in front of them, and during the night the
whole of the defences of the eastern part of the city were in the Mongol
hands. The invaders had taken care to close the Tigris with bridges of
boats, on which were planted war engines.1T Buka Timur was dispatched
with a tuman {i.e., 10,000 men) towards Modain and Basrah, to cut off the
retreat of any who might try to escape by the river. Minhaj-i-Saraj says
the Devatdar tried to persuade the Khalif to embark on a boat with his
treasure, and to make his way down the Little Tigris to Basrah, and to
take shelter in the islands in the delta of the Euphrates and Tigris till the

* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1243. Raverty's notes. t Wassaf, 64. X Id., 66. D'Ohsson, iii. 233.
$ D'Ohsson, iii. 233-234. II See Weil, iii. 477. f D'Ohsson, 111. 234-235.

124 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
danger had passed. The Vizier argued against this counsel, and persuaded
the Khalif that he was himself arranging terms with the Mongols.*
Rashid ud din says nothing about the proposed escape of the Khalif,
but that the Devatdar himself made an attempt to get through and to
reach the town of Sib, but when he reached Karia ul Ukab {i.e., the
eagle village), also called Karia ul Ghaffar, a shower of arrows, stones,
and stink pots drove him back, after losing three of his boats, the men on
which were all killed, and the Devatdar had to make his way back to
Baghdad.! The Khalif now began to lose heart. He sent Fakr ud din, of
Dameghan, and Ibn Darwish to the Mongol camp, to try and appease
Khulagu, sending only a few presents with them, as he feared to excite
his cupidity. These not having been received, it was determined that
the Khalif's second son, Abu fazl Abd ur Rahman, should go to Khulagu's
camp. He is called Abubekr by Minhaj-i-Saraj, who says he was sent
at the instance of " the accursed Vizier," who at the same time sent a
messenger to Khulagu to tell him to pay the young prince special
attention, so as to secure his object with the Khalif. He goes on to say
that the prince was met by a crowd of Mussulmans and Mongols as he
neared Khulagu's camp, who paid him the usual deference. When he
came to the place of audience Khulagu advanced four steps to meet him,
took him to a seat, and said- that his uncle (relative) Bereke had
become a Mussulman at the hands of the Sheikh Saif ud din, the
Bakhurzi. He then went down on his knees before him, affirming he had
gone to Baghdad in order to accept Islam under the Khalif himself. All
this is a most unlikely proceeding, as anyone who has any acquaintance
with Mongol ways will allow. The prince, we are told, returned to his
father thoroughly deceived by these promises.} Rashid ud din says, on
the contrary, that Khulagu would not receive him nor his elder brother,
who went out with the principal citizens to beg for clemency. Khulagu
sent them back, and ordered the Khoja Nasir ud din to go with Itimur
and open negotiations directly with the head of the Faithful. They
returned on the 7th of February, and were followed by Fakhr ud din, of
Dameghan, and Ibn Darwish, who were armed with a yarligh and paizah
and were told to summon Suliman Shah, the Khalif's commander-in-chief,
and the Devatdar. Abulfeda says Khulagu wanted to treat the Khalif
generously, and wished to marry his own daughter to his son Abubekr.§
Having received safe conducts, Suliman and the Vice-Chancellor went at
length to the Mongol camp. They were ordered to go back into the city
and fetch their relatives and retainers, as Khulagu intended to send them
with some of his own people against Syria and Egypt. They accordingly
went in to bring them out. On their return they were distributed among
* Op. cit., 1245. t Quatremere, 291-293 Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1245. Notes.
I Tabakat-l-Nasiri, 1247-1248. § Op. cit., iv. 553.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 25
the Mongol soldiery. At this stage, an arrow having struck Hindu ,*
who was a bitikchi or secretary, and a favourite of Khulagu's, in the eye,
he ordered the siege to be pressed, and told the Khoja Nasir ud din, of
Tus, to station himself at the gate Halbeh, and to receive those who
came out of the city to surrender, t
On the 8th of February, Eibeg, the Little Devatdar, was put to death.
Suliman was summoned to his presence by Khulagu, who said to him,
" You are an astrologer, who understand the portents, good and evil, of
the stars. How is it you did not foresee these events, and forewarn your
master?" "The Khalif," replied the warrior who had already twice
defeated the Mongols, " was led by his destiny, and would not heed the
counsel of his faithful servants." Khulagu had him put to death, with all
the people of his household, to the number of 700. The Amir Haj ud din,
son of the Great Devatdar, suffered the same fate. The heads of the
three chiefs were sent to Salih, who commanded the Mosul contingent,
in which were enrolled the Shias from Karkh, with orders to send them
to his father, Bedr ud din, who had been an old friend of Suliman Shah,
and now with tears in his eyes had to give orders for the three heads
to be exposed.}
On the ioth of February the Khalif left the town with his three sons,
Abd ur Rahman, Ahmed, and Mobarek, with 3,000 other people — Seyids,
Imams, Kadhis, and grandees. Khulagu, on his arrival in his presence,
asked after his health. He was told to order the citizens to lay down their
arms, an order which was proclaimed in the streets. A special tent was
set up for him before the gate Kalvaza, in the quarters of Kitubuka,
where he was guarded by some Mongols, and on the 15th of February,
Khulagu having entered the city to visit his palace, had him
summoned, and said to him: "You are the master of this house and I am
your guest. Let us see what you can give us." The trembling Khalif
broke some locks, and offered Khulagu 2,000 complete sets of robes,
10,000 gold dinars, and a quantity of precious stones. He would not
take them, but said, " It is unnecessary to point out what is patent ;
disclose your hidden treasures." The Khalif then bade them dig in a
certain place, where they found a cistern filled with gold pieces, each
weighing 100 miskals.§ Sunjak was ordered to make an inventory of
the treasures. These were taken to the Mongol camp, and piled up like
mountains about Khulagu's tent. The Mongols, says Wassaf, treated the
gold and silver vessels which they had carried off from the Khalif's
kitchens as if they had been lead. Many of these treasures in this way
reached Shiraz, and those who had been wretchedly poor became very
rich. The soldiers secured so much money, rich stuffs, and products of
Greece, Egypt, and China, Arab horses, mules, Greek, Alan, and

* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1246. Note. t Quatremere, 297. ... I D'Ohsson, iii.L237-238.
j Quatremere, 299 and 301. D'Ohsson, 111. 239-240.

126 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Kipchak boys; Turkish, Chinese, and Berber slave girls, that it was
impossible to count them. Inter alia, Wassaf mentions that they secured
a beautiful bowl, decorated with gold, and engraved by Mostansir and
Nassir. It was a curious circumstance that the Khalif En Nassir lidin
illah left behind him two basins or cisterns filled with gold. His
grandson, Mostansir, was one day with one of his most trusted followers,
and expressed the wish that he might not live until it was necessary for
him to spend this money. His companion laughed. The Khalif was
angry, and asked him the cause. " One day," he replied, " I came into
your grandfather's presence here when one of those two basins was
not full, when he said, ' I wish to live only until I have filled up these
two basins.' I was contrasting the two wishes." Mostansir spent all
this money in good works, and, inter alia, built the famous college,
Mostansiriyeh. " The point of this story," adds Wassaf, " is that when
Mostassim came to the throne he once more filled up these basins, or
rather reservoirs, by his avarice, and finally emptied them as well."*
Khulagu now gave orders that the Khalifs harem should be numbered,
and it was found to contain 700 wives and concubines, and 1,200
servants. He thereupon implored that 100 of the females, on whom the
sun and moon had never shone, should be handed back to him, and this
being granted he selected his relatives.t
The Georgians especially distinguished themselves in the capture of
Baghdad, where Guiragos tells us Zakaria, son of Shahan Shah, was
present. It was a grand opportunity for them to repay on their
Mussulman enemies the terrible sufferings they had long borne at their
hands. We are told in the Georgian Chronicle that it was they who
breached the walls, and having entered the place commenced a great
slaughter, the troops of Baghdad having great dread of the Georgians.
The latter are made to open the gates through which the Tartars
entered. The booty captured, we are told, was so great that
Georgians and Tartars succumbed under the load of gold and silver,
precious stones and pearls, rich stuffs, gold and silver vessels, &c,
while as to the vases from China and Rashan {i.e., porcelain), and those
made in the country of iron and copper, they were deemed of scarcely any
value, and were broken and thrown away. The soldiers were so rich
that the saddles of their horses and mules and their most ordinary
utensils were inlaid with stones, pearls, and gold. Some of them broke
off their swords at the hilt and filled up the scabbards with gold, others
emptied the body of a Baghdadian, refilled it with gold, precious stones,
and pearls, and carried it off from the city.} The place was cruelly
ravaged ; the only people to whom consideration was shown were the
Christians, who were sheltered in one of the churches by the Nestorian
* Wassaf, 73-74. t D'Ohsson, iii. 240. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1250. Note.
I Op. cit., 550.

KHULAGU KHAN. 127
patriarch. This fact seems to give some foundation to the remark of
Minhaj-i-Saraj, that they had been in communication with Khulagu.
Abulfaraj says that many rich Muhammedans handed over to the
patriarch their treasures in the hope of securing their lives, but all
perished* The place was now gutted, and the Khalif 's palace was reduced
to ashes, together with the Great Mosque. The tombs of Musa-Jewad
and of the Khalifs were burnt. Nearly all the inhabitants, to the number,
according to Rashid ud din, of 800,000 (Makrizi says 2,000,000) perished,
and thus passed away one of the noblest cities that had ever graced the
East— the cynosure of the Muhammedan world, where the luxury, wealth,
and culture of five centuries had concentrated. Presently the wretched
remnant of the population sent Sherif ud din Meraghi, Shehab ud din
Zengani, and Malik dil rast to beg that the carnage might cease.
Khulagu gave orders accordingly, and, we are told, he had to withdraw to
the villages of Wakhf and Jelabieh to avoid the tainted air.t As a proof of
the horrors that took place at this time, a story told by Hamdullah may
be cited, viz., that a Mongol, named Mianju, found, during the massacre,
in a small street of the city, upwards of forty motherless sucking babes,
and thinking to himself that without mothers' milk they would perish, put
them to death to deliver them from their sufferings.}
It is probable that Khulagu would have spared the Khalif's life,
impressed by the lugubrious prognostications of the faithful Mussulmans
about him, if he had not been dissuaded from this course by the Shias
who were with him, and who had a bitter resentment against the
Abbassidan dynasty. Minhaj-i-Saraj tells us that the Malik Bedr ud din,
Lulu of Mosul, and other infidels (thereby probably meaning Shias)
represented to Khulagu saying, " If the Khalif continues alive, the whole of
the Mussulmans among the troops, and the other Mussulman peoples who
are in other countries, will rise and bring about his liberation, and will
not leave thee alive."§ Wassaf says that Khulagu was afraid of releasing
him, since the Mussulmans looked upon him as the successor of the
Prophet, and the true Imam, and the absolute master, of all life and
property, and would have gathered round him a very powerful army.|| On
turning to the Vizier for counsel the latter replied, " The Vizier has a long
beard." This was a joke which had been used against that official by the
Devatdar, and is derived from the Arab proverb, " Long in beard, short
in wit."1T Some of the orthodox Mussulmans affirmed that if the Khalif's
blood was shed upon the ground there would be an earthquake.** Another
account attributes the warning about the portents that would happen if
the Khalif were executed to the astrologer, Husam ud din, and tells us that
these predictions were answered by his brother astrologer, Nasir ud din,
of Tus, who was a Shia, and who said that no such portents had occurred
* Op. cit., Chron. Syr., 550. t Quatremere, 303. I Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1250. Raverty's Note.
$ Op. cit., 1252. || Op. cit., 76. -H Ilkhans, i. 154. ** Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1252.

128 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
when John the Baptist, the Prophet Muhammed, and the Imam Hussain
were killed, and that they were not likely to happen then* It was
determined, therefore, to put him to death, and we are told that Husam
uddin was himself executed on the 23rd of November, 1262, his prophecies
having proved false.f The mode of the Khalif's execution is wrapped in
some obscurity. Rashid ud din says that, having lost all hope of saving his
life, he asked permission to make his ablutions. Khulagu ordered five
Mongols to attend him, a cortege "of infernal guards" to which he
objected.} He recited two or three verses of a poem beginning thus :
In the morning we dwelt in a house like paradise or heaven,
In the evening we had no longer a dwelling as if we had been homeless.
On the 20th of February, we are told, he was put to death in the village
of Wakf, with his eldest son and five eunuchs who remained faithfully
with him. The mode of his execution is not stated by Rashid ud din, and,
Quatremere suggests, it was in fact probably kept secret.
The Georgian Chronicle tells us that on being brought into the presence
of Khulagu, the Khalif was ordered to bend the knee. This he refused,
and remained standing, saying: " I am an independent sovereign, who am
dependent on no one. If you choose to set me free I will submit to you ;
if not I will die before becoming any man's slave." To make him
stoop they tripped him up by the foot, so that he fell on his face. As he
remained obstinate, Khulagu told Ilka Noyan to take him out and kill
him and his sons. "The Khan pities you," that officer said to him.
" Does he propose then to restore me Baghdad ?" " No," said Ilka,
" but he will kill you with his own hand, while his son Abaka will perform
the same office for your relatives." " If I am to die," he replied, " it
matters little whether it be a man or a dog who kills me."§ Wassaf and
Novairi say he was rolled up in carpets and then trodden under by horses
so that his blood should not be spilt. This was in accordance with
the yasa of Jingis Khan, which forbade the shedding of the blood of
royal persons. Guiragos, whose account, as he tells us, was derived from
the lips of Prince Hasan, son of Vasag, surnamed Brosh, who was an
eye-witness, and employed by Khulagu as one of his envoys to the Khalif
tells us that when Khulagu had summoned him to his presence, he asked
the Khalif, " Are you God or man ? " The latter replied, " I am a man,
the servant of God." " Did God order you," said the Mongol chief, "to
treat me with contumely, to call me a dog, and to refuse me, the dog of
God, something to eat and drink? Verily, I am the dog of God, and I am
very hungry, and will devour you." He then killed him with his own
hand, telling him it was as a special honour he did so, instead of remitting
the work to another. He ordered his son to similarly kill a son of the
Khalif's, and to throw a second one into the Tigris. He afterwards put
* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1253, Raverty's note. t D'Ohsson, iii. 225.
{ Koran, ch. xcvi., verse 18. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1253. Note. \ Op. cit., 550.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 29
to death many of the grandees, while his men for forty days continued a
horrible butchery of men, women, and children. Tokuz Khatun, Khulagu's
Christian wife, redeemed the lives of the Nestorian and other Christians.*
Another and much more romantic story is told by Nikby and
Mirkhond. They tell us that when the Khalif presented his treasures to
Khulagu the former put him before a trencher covered with gold pieces
and bade him eat. " I cannot eat gold," was the reply. " Why then
have you hoarded it instead of giving it to your troops ? Why have you
not converted these iron gates into arrow points and advanced to the
Jihun to prevent my crossing it ?" The Khalif replied that it was the will
of God. " What will happen to you is also the will of God," was the grim
answer.t A similar story is told in his inimitable language by Joinville,
who calls Khulagu the Lord of the Tartarins, and speaks of the Khalifas the
apostle of the Saracens. He says the former insisted on the Khalif
entering into matrimonial relations with him, that when he consented he
urged him to send forty of his principal people to attest the marriage, and
afterwards forty of his richest men, and that, having thus secured the
leading people in Baghdad, he made sure of over whelming the place. He
goes on to say : " Pour couvrir sa desloiaute' et pour geter le blasme, sur
le Calife de la prise de la ville que il avait fete, il fist prenre le Calife et le
fist mettre en une cage de fer, et le fist jeuner tant comme Ten peust
faire home sanz mourir, et puis li manda, se il avait fain. Et le Calife
dit que oyl ; car ce n'estoit pas merveille. Lors le fist aporter le roy des
Tartarins, un grand taillouer d'or, charge" de joyaus a pierres precieuses et
li dit. ' Cognois tu ces joiaus ? Et le Calife respondi que oyl,' il furent
miens. 'Et il li demanda si les amait bien, et il respondi que oyl.'
Puisque tu les amoies tant, fist le roy des Tartarins, or pren de celle part
que tu vourras et manju. ' Le Calife li respondi que il ne pourrait; car ce
n'estoit, pas viande que 1'en peust manger. Lors li dit le roy des
Tartarins, Or peus veoir, 6 Calife, ta deTaute ; car se tu eusses donne
ton tresor d'or, tu te feusses bien deffendu a nous par ton trdsor se tu
l'eusse despendu, qui au plus grant besoing te faut que tu eusses onques."}
This is much like the report of the Armenian historian, Malakia, who
says that Khulagu ordered him to be imprisoned for three days without
food or drink. He then summoned him and asked him what he needed-
The Khalif denounced his inhumanity, and said he had lived three days
at the bottom of a pit. He had boasted to his people before the
siege how he would put Muhammed on his standard and disperse
the enemy. Khulagu then sent for a salver with some gold coin on it and
bade him eat it, and thus satisfy his hunger. The Khalif replied that
' one cannot support life on gold, but needs bread and meat and wine."
" Why, then, did you not send me a lordly present of gold so that I might

Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 490-491- t D'Ohsson, iii. 243- Note. I D'Ohsson, iii. 245. Note.
I

130 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
have spared your city and not captured you, instead of spending your time
in eating and drinking," and he had him trodden under foot.* The
Khalif's death took place on the 21st of February, 1258. His tragical end
forms one of those grim episodes which Longfellow delighted to put into
verse. He makes Khulagu address the avaricious Khalif thus :
I said to the Khalif, " Thou art old,
Thou hast no need of so much gold ;
Thou shouldst not have heaped and hidden it here,
Till the breath of battle was hot and near,
But have sown through the land these useless hoards,
To spring into shining blades of swords,
And keep thine honour sweet and clear."
Then into his dungeon I locked the drone,
And left him there to feed all alone,
In the honey cells of his golden hive ;
Never a prayer, nor a cry, nor a groan,
Was heard from those massive walls of stone,
Nor again was the Khalif seen alive.
On the morrow after the Khalif's death all his attendants were killed, as
well as nearly all of the family of the Abbassides, except some obscure
individuals, and Mobarek Shah, the Khalif's youngest son, who was
spared at the request of Khulagu's wife, Oljai Khatun. She sent him to
Meragha, to the Khoja Nasir ud din. He afterwards married a Mongol
woman by whom he had two sons.t Minhaj-i-Saraj reports that a
daughter of the Khalif was also spared, who, with some females from his
harem and some rarities from his treasure, were set aside to be presented
to the Khakan Mangu, and were dispatched towards Turkestan. Other
things were sent to Bereke, the Khan of the Golden Horde, who refused
to accept them, and, according to this author, put the messengers who
took them to death, thus causing enmity between him and Khulagu.
When the booty meant for Mangu Khan reached Samarkand, the daughter
of the Khalif asked leave to visit the tomb of Kusam, son of Abbas, in
that city. He had accompanied Said, the son of the Khalif Osman, who
had been sent to Mavera un Nehr with an army, and had died and been
buried at Samarkand. There she performed the customary rites, made a
prayer of two genuflexions, and said, " O God, if this Kusam, son of
Abbas, my ancestor, hath honour in Thy presence, take this Thy servant to
Thyself, and deliver her out of the hands of these strange men," whereupon
she died.}
It is curious to contrast these accounts of the famous campaign against
Baghdad with the accounts -given by the Chinese. In the " Si shi ki " we
are told how the city, which is there called Bao da, a name like M. Polo's
Baudas, was divided into an eastern and a western part, separated by the
Tigris, the eastern city having walls of large bricks, the upper part of
* Malakia, ed. Brosset, 453. t Quatremere, 306-307. I Op. cit., 125.

KHULAGU KHAN. !3I
splendid construction, and the western having none. A great victory
was won against 400,000 men (!!!) beneath the walls. The western city first
fell, and its population was slaughtered ; then the eastern city was
assailed, and after an attack of six days it was captured, and a terrible
slaughter ensued. The Ha li fa {i.e., the Khalif) tried to escape in a boat,
but was captured* In the biography of Kouo Khan {i.e., of Kuka Ilka)
we read that this chief during the siege built floating bridges, to prevent
the retreat of the enemy down the river. When the place was taken the
Khalif tried to escape in a boat, but finding the way thus barred went to
the Mongol camp and surrendered. Kouo Khan then went in pursuit of
a general of the Khalif's, named Judar {i.e., the Devatdar), captured and
put him to death.t In the " Si shi ki " we are told the Khalif's palace was
made of fragant and precious woods, viz., of aloe-wood (aloexylon
agallochum), sandal-wood (santalum album), ebony (diospyrus ibenum),
and a red fragrant wood called hiang chen hiang by the Chinese, and
whose botanical name is not apparently known.} The biography of
Kouo Khan states that when the palace was burnt the fragrance
impregnated the air for a distance of 100 li.§ The walls of the palace
were built, according to the " Si shi ki," of black and white jade {sic, but
surely porcelain tiles are meant). Great stores of gold and immense
pearls, precious stones, and jewelled girdles, worth a thousand liang, were
found there. The people of Baghdad were famous for their goods, and
the horses there were called tolicha. The Khalif, we are told, did not
drink wine, but sherbet, made of orange juice and sugar. His people
used guitars with thirty-six strings. On one occasion when the
Khalif had a bad headache, a man was sent for who played on a guitar
of seventy-two strings, when the headache immediately left him.|j
Muayid ud din Alkamiyi retained his post as Vizier, the reward
doubtless of his dubious loyalty. Fakhr ud din Dameghani was made
Sahib-divan, or chief of the administration. Ali Behadur, who was the
first to enter the city when assailed, was given control of the
merchants and artisans, with the title of Shahnah {i.e., governor), Imad
ud din Omar Kazvini, deputy of the Amir Karatai, caused the mosque of
the Khalif and the Meshed of Muza Jewad to be rebuilt. Nejm ud din
Ibn-Abu Jafar Ahmed Amran, who was entitled Vizier-rast-dil (the sincere
Vizier), was given command of the districts east of Baghdad, including the
country towards Khorasan, Khales, and Bendinjein.1T Nizam ud din Abd
* Bretschneider, Notes on Med. Travellers, &c, 82. t Id , 83.
I Id., 83. Note no. % Id. \Id.,%$.
If Quatremere, 307-309. His is a good example of the rapid fortunes that often attend men in
the East. Mirkhond reports how when Khulagu arrived he was in the service of the Governor of
Yakuba, employed to tickle the soles of his master's feet to lull him to sleep. One day he told his
master how he had dreamt that he had become Governor of Baghdad, and received a kick for his
pains. ^ When the siege of Baghdad took place, Ibn Amran shot a letter attached to an arrow
informing the Mongols, who were then in some stress for provisions, that if they would send for
him he would tell them something useful. Khulagu having accordingly asked the Khalif to let him
go to his camp, he conducted the Mongols to some hidden granaries at Yakuba, where they found
corn to keep them going for fifteen days. His reward was the command already mentioned, which
was an approximate realisation of his dream. Wassaf, 79. D'Ohsson, iii. 247-248. Note.

132 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
ul Mumin Bendinjein was made Kadhi of the Kadhis, or chiet judge.
Ilka Noyan and Kara buka, with 3,000 Mongol horsemen, were sent into
the city to restore order, and rebuild the houses. The bazaars were
rebuilt, and the corpses of men and animals removed* The devastation
must have been dreadful, and when Wassaf visited the place sixty years
later not a tenth part of the old city remained.! Master of the city,
Khulagu proposed this question to the Doctors of the Law there : " Who
is to be preferred, a just, unbelieving ruler, or a Mussulman ruler, who is
unjust ? " The Ulemas, who had assembled in the college of Mostansir
to deliver their fathva, or decision, on this question, hesitated to reply,
when a famous doctor, called Razi ud din Ali Ibn Tavus, took the paper
and wrote the words, " The infidel who is just is preferable to an unjust
Mussulman," and his example was followed by the rest.}
Khulagu having left Baghdad, encamped near the tomb of the Sheikh
Makarem, and afterwards marched by easy stages to rejoin his ordu in
the town of Khanekin.§
During the siege of Baghdad, some of the chief people of Hillah, where
the Seyids or descendants of Ali were influential, sent an embassy to
Khulagu with their submission, and stating that it was a tradition among
them derived from their ancestors, Ali and the twelve Imams, that he
(Khulagu) would become the master of that district {i.e., of Irak Arab).
Khulagu thereupon dispatched Buklah, or Tuklah, and the Amir Bijel-
Nakhchivani (called Alai ud din by Wassaf and Ali by Von
Hammer), and eventually Buka Timur, brother of his wife Oljai
Khatun, to secure the towns of Hillah, Kufa, and Vassit. The
people of Hillah put a bridge on the Euphrates, and went to
meet him gladly. He therefore passed on towards Vassit, where he
arrived seven days later, and where he was resisted. He speedily captured
the place and slaughtered its male inhabitants.! | Buka Timur now
advanced towards Khuzistan, taking with him Sherif ud din ibn Juzi. He
captured Shuster, where the soldiery were put to death, while Basrah and
other places submitted willingly. Meanwhile Seif ud din, the bitkichi,
with the approval' of Khulagu, sent a body of one hundred Mongols to
protect the tomb of Ali at Nejef. Buka Timur rejoined his master on the
12th of Rabi the First {i.e., the 19th of March).! When Khulagu
marched against Baghdad he dispatched Arkatu (called Oroktu by
Von Hammer and D'Ohsson) to attack the fortress of Arbil or Arbela,
* Quatremere, 309. t Ilkhans, 155. X D'Ohsson, iii. 254-255, % Quatremere, 311.
|| Quatremere says 40,000 were thus killed. D'Ohsson says, more probably, 4,000. Quatremere,
309-311. D'Ohsson, iii. 255. Ilkhans, i. 155-156.
il Quatremeie, 311. Minhaj-i-Saraj here tells a story which is not confirmed by the other
authorities. He says that some of the Khalifs people who had retired into the Wadi (i.e., the low
marshy ground near the river) to the number of 10,000, suddenly crossed the Dijlah, and attacked
Baghdad, cut the Vizier and the Mongol Shahnah to pieces, together with all the supporters of
the Mongols and Christians they could lay hands upon. When news of this reached the Mongol
camp, a body of cavalry was sent to reinstate matters, but the assailants had withdrawn, and not
one among those holy warriors of Islam was taken. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1260-1261. I look upon
this story as a fable.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 33
whose fame dates back at least to the time of Alexander the Great.
Rashid says it had not its equal in the world. It was situated between the
Greater and Lesser Zab, two days' journey from Mosul. It owed its
chief importance to the Turkoman chief, Kukebusi ibn Abul Hasan Ali,
entitled Malik Moaasem Mozaffer ud din, who had died about twenty-eight
years before. He was famous for his beneficence, and made Arbil one of
the finest towns of the Persian Irak. He founded several institutions
there, such as had not been patronised by Islam before — a foundling
hospital, an institution for wet nurses and for suckling babes, a house for
widows, a common hospital, a special hospital for the blind, a karavan-
serai, in which travellers were not only provided during their stay, but had
the expenses of their further journey defrayed ; a sort of monastery
(probably for dervishes), a medressah, or school, in which both the Hanifi
and Shafi rites were taught ; and, lastly, a mosque, where the birth
of the Prophet was annually celebrated with great pomp. During this
feast visitors, preachers, orators, poets, koran readers, and sofis flocked
thither from the surrounding towns. A month before, twenty dome-shaped
buildings of three storeys high, and made of boards, were erected between
the monastery and mosque. From their galleries poets and orators
addressed the crowd, while others exhibited magic lanterns. Mozaffer ud
din himself repaired to one of these buildings for the mid-day prayer
spent the night in the monastery with the dervishes, and in the morning
went out hunting. At the birth-feast itself, a great number of camels,
cattle, and sheep were taken to the square, and there killed and cooked
amid music. At night the town was illuminated, and in the morning the
guests sat down at two tables — one for the more distinguished, the other
for the crowd. The dervishes danced, and prayers were sung from the
minarets, while dancers and singers were rewarded with alms. Such was
Arbil ; the town itself was situated on a plain, and its castle on an isolated
hill close by.* The Vizier, Taj ud din ibn Salaia, who apparently governed
it, went to his camp. Arkatu said he would believe in his sincerity
when the town had submitted, but the Kurdish garrison refused to
surrender it. He was thereupon sent on to Khulagu, and was put to
death. The garrison meanwhile resisted the Mongol attack bravely.
They made a sortie, and destroyed their siege apparatus and killed many
of their men. Bedr ud din Lulu, the Prince of Mosul, who had sent a
contingent of troops to help the Mongols, was asked his advice as to
what should be done. He counselled the abandonment of the siege till
the summer, when the Kurds would seek shelter from the heat in the
mountains. The siege was confided to him. He captured it in the summer,
and it was made over to him.t Bar Hebraeus says Lulu bought the town
and its contents from the Mongols for 70,000 dinars, but his people were
not long in possession of it, and the unruly Kurds there speedily gained
* Ilkhans, i. 158-159. t Quatremere, 316-317.

134 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the upper hand, and a Kurdish amir, named Sherif ud din Jelali,
drove out the garrison, and secured the place, but having shortly after
marched with a Tartar army against some rebels at Gulmeragi,
Bedr ud din sent some Kurds, who assassinated him while sleeping in his
tent. A Christian called Muktez, the brother of a famous doctor of Arbil,
named Saphi Solimani, now secured the place, and on his death was
succeeded by his son, Taj ud din Isa, a good and faithful person*
Meanwhile the Malik of Herat, Shems ud din Kdrt, who was perhaps
the most powerful of the Mongol vassals, and who had not taken part in
the campaign against Baghdad, was having some adventures of his own in
the far east. We read that he attacked Mustebij, a town of Guermsir.f
The chiefs of Guermsir, Shahin Shah, Bahram Shah, and Miranshah,
shut themselves up in the fortress of Khasek with 5,000 men. The
fortress was blockaded for ten days, when it was reduced to extremity.
Miranshah escaped with some men in the night. The next day the
place was captured, and the two other chiefs, with ninety of their adherents
and relatives, were put to death. Shems ud din then attacked Hissar
Tiri, another fortress of the Afghans, which was taken after an attack of
two months, and its Afghan governor Almar was cut in two, and his
principal officers were either executed or bastinadoed. Three other
fortresses, named Kehberar, Duki, and Saji, the last of which was razed,
fell into the hands of the Malik of Herat. A great number of Afghans
perished in this campaign. In 1258 Shems ud din had another adventure,
which shows that Khulagu's authority in these regions was an
administrative one merely, and shows also what a powerful person Batu
Khan of Kipchak, who was the Aka, or senior prince of the Mongol
world. We are told that in that year the Malik returned from Badghiz from
visiting Bulghai and Tumar (both princes of the Golden Horde), when
some officers of his army informed Batu that he disregarded the
yarlighs or Imperial orders, and despised the envoys of the Mongol,
Shah zadehs. Batu sent one of his officers named Guerai-beg to Bulghai
to tell him to arrest the Malik. Bulghai, who was then in Mazanderan,
forwarded the order to Kebtuka {i.e., Kitubuka) to apprehend and take
him to Mazanderan. A little before this Shems ud din had set out for
Sijistan to strengthen his authority there. En route, he met his deputy
in that province, the Malik Ali Masud, who was not friendly to him, and
who was now on his way to Kitubuka's camp, where he professed to have
a pressing engagement. When he reached it he urged upon Kitubuka that
if the Malik of Herat were left at liberty he would presently displace the
Mongols from all Khorasan, that already his power extended as far
as India, and that he was master of the principal fortresses of Khorasan
This intrigue was reported to Shems ud din by a secret agent, who
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 551.
t Yakut says Mustebij is a town of Sind, a day's journey from Khandabil, seven days' journey east
of Bost,

KHULAGU KHAN. 135
hurried to let him know, and was speedily followed by Masud and Dendai,
who, with 10,000 men, was charged by Kitubuka to arrest Shems ud din.
The latter shut himself up in his castle, and decided to defend it to the
last extremity. Dendai secured an audience with him, and urged him to
come out and receive the letter and robe of honour which Kitubuka had
sent him, but he was not to be taken in with such a trick, nor would he
leave the limits of his castle, asking that the yarligh and the robe of honour
might be given to him there. Various expedients were tried, but without
avail. Eventually Masud, having secured an interview, determined to try
and assassinate the Malik, and said to his men : " When you see his head
roll down from the walls rush into the castle." Shems ud din, who
evidently suspected something, ordered ten men to be posted at each one
of the gates, and that all Masud's men were to be detained, and when he
reached the fourth gate he found himself with but three companions.
Shems ud din, who was concealed behind a veil, sprang upon
him, killed him, and threw his head over the wall of the audience
chamber. The soldiers of Kitubuka, and the Sinjars, or people of
Sijistan, mistaking the head for that of Shems ud din, pressed their
attack, but on seeing the Malik himself still alive they retired in disorder.
Shems ud din then came out and proclaimed Mangu Khan as his
suzerain. The next day he put to death the three chief kelaunters
(calendars) of Sijistan, disarmed the Sinjarians, and then distributed a
large number of khilats or robes, and 30,000 pieces of gold to the learned
men and poor. He then went to the camp of Khulagu, and met Tumar
and Bulghai, who were on their way to arrest him. Although he told
them he must hasten on to Khulagu, and could not stay with them, " yet the
Turks," says the chronicler of Herat, " with their natural brutality, tried to
detain him." He struck the Mongol who seized his bridle over the face
with his whip. Things were becoming critical, when Khulagu's envoys
arrived and conducted him to the Imperial camp.*
According to other authorities, the events just related are told very
differently, and we are assured that Shems ud din, having incurred
Khulagu's resentment, the latter ordered Tegur to march against him and
to bring him his skin stuffed with straw. Shems ud din defeated Tegur,
and also a second army sent against him, at Shelaun, on the borders of
Herat, but afterwards sent an embassay with his submission and with
presents. He had put to death the Governor of Nimroz {i.e., Sijistan), by
whom Masud is no doubt meant. Khulagu demanded why he had done
so, when he answered, " I slew him so that the Khan might inquire of me,
' Wherefore didst thou kill him,' and not inquire of him why he had killed
me." Major Raverty makes him give this answer to Mangu.t Of the
two accounts the former seems to be the most reliable. We are told that
Khulagu sent Shems ud din back again covered with honours.
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 447-451. t Ilkhans, i. 278. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1200. Note.

'3° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
In 657 (i.e., 1258) the Malik laid siege to Bikr, a fortress of the Afghans,
built on a rock in the midst of the sea* It was deemed impregnable, and
was thence known as Bikr {i.e., the Virgin). In eighteen days the Malik
built thirty large vessels and one hundred boats. He then attacked the
place on two sides, and after a struggle of twelve days, during which most
of the officers in the army of Herat were killed, the inhabitants submitted,
and agreed to pay the capitation tax. Its governor also offered a sum of
10,000 dinars, ten loads of silken goods, five Arab horses, and fifty slaves
loaded with precious objects. After this Shems ud din entered Zamin
Daver, and pursued Miranshah (previously named), t who, on his approach,
left Khasek. He was captured and put to death.}
We must now return again to Khulagu. On the 1 7th of April he once more
reached Hamadan and Siah Kuh, where he rested from the fatigues of the
Baghdad campaign. He ordered the Malik Majd ud din Tebrizi to build
a treasure-house, where the various treasures he had captured in the
fortresses of the Ismaelites, of Rum, of the Georgians, Armenia, Luristan,
and Kurdistan were to be guarded. We can hardly picture the number of
valuable objects thus despoiled. Wassaf, as usual, is rhetorical on the
subject, but here, at least, his rhetoric seems justifiable. He speaks of the
gold, of the rich stuffs and cloths from Greece, Egypt, and China, Arab
horses, rare mules, Greek, Alanic, and Kipchak boys, Turkish, Chinese,
and Berber slave girls, &c. § The site of Khulagu's treasure-city is
discussed by Quatremere in a long note. The place itself was called
Tela, and was, situated in the great lake of Azerbaijan, the
Lake of Urmia, called Spauta by Strabo, and Gabodan by the
Armenians, whence the name of Kabudan given it by some of
the Arabic and Persian writers. Its waters are said to be very
salty, and to contain no fish, but its banks were strewn with towns and
were well cultivated. Large numbers of boats traversed it to and fro.
From its saltness it was also called Deriai Shur {i.e., the salt lake),
while the districts of Urmia, Oshmiah, Dehwarkan, Tasuj, and
Silmas, which bordered it, also gave it their name. It is now
called indifferently the Lake of Shahi and the Lake of Urmia. ||
The fortress itself of Tela, according to Von Hammer, is the
modern Gurchinkalaa, a great rock inaccessible on three sides. It is
compared by Porter, who visited it, to Konigstein, in Saxony. IT Abulfeda
says that Khulagu garrisoned his fortress with a thousand men, and
that its commander was changed every year.** Hulaju was sent to the
Khakan Mangu with a share of the spoil. He also took him word that
Khulagu, having conquered Iran, now proposed to attack Syria and Egypt,
news which was very grateful to the Khakan. tt
* i.e., the Lake of Abistandeh, the only one in Afghanistan. Its waters are salt like those of
the streams Paltsi and Jilga, which feed it, and it is situated three or four miles S.S.E. of Ghazni.
Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 45r. Note.
t Ante. X Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 451-452 $ Wassaf, 73-74.
|| Quatremere, 316-321. Note. Ilkhans, i. 160. ^j Porter, ii 592-593
** D'Ohsson, iii. 257. Note, tt Quatremere, 321.

KHULAGU KHAN. 137
A few weeks after the capture of Baghdad, and on the 2nd of Jumada
{i.e., May), the Vizier Alkami died, and was succeeded by his son, Sherif
ud din .* Eastern opinion has been divided in regard to the merits of the
Vizier, but the majority of his critics denounce him as a traitor. For a
long time it was customary to inscribe in books used in colleges, &c. :
" May he be cursed by God who will not curse Ibn ul Alkamiyi."t The
historian Ibn Tagriberdi says expressly that the Vizier, belonging to the
sect of the Rafizis, designed the ruin of the Abbassidan house and the
transference of the Khalifate to that of Ali.} Wassaf speaks more
diplomatically, but refers to the chagrin the Vizier felt when he was made
to play a second part to Ibn Amram, the Governor of Yakuba, after his own
ignoble behaviour and disobedience of the Khalif.§ Minhaj-i-Saraj
continually refers to him as the accursed Vizier, and invokes God's curse
upon him, charging him with continual treachery to his master. || On the
other hand, a contemporary Arab writer, the author of the " Fi adab is
Soltaniyet," or " Qualities of the Sovereign," defends him warmly. He tells
us how he studied the belles lettres in his youth, wrote well, and had an
excellent memory. He describes him as accomplished, generous, able as
a governor, equitable and honest. He was a patron of men of letters, and
had acquired a library of 10,000 volumes, of which several had been
dedicated to him. The household of the Khalif were jealous of him, and
he was accused of treachery; " but his best character," says our author,
"was the confidence Khulagu reposed in him. He would never have
trusted him if he had betrayed his master."1T His title of Alkamiyi was
derived from the fact that he had made the canal Alkami in Egypt, of
which country he was a native, and which was afterwards known as
Kazani.** About this time there also died the Khoja Fakhr ud din, who
held the post of Ulugh bitkichi. This was given to Hosam ud din,
although he was the youngest of his sons, but he could speak Mongol
and write Uighur, " which," says Juveni, " was considered a paramount
accomplishment." tf
We are told how the astronomer Nasir ud din ventured at this time to
suggest to his peremptory master, who was at Meragha, that he should do
something else than destroy, and told him that once when the Khuarezm
Shah was being pursued by the Mongols, and his troops were pillaging
Tebriz, he answered the protests of the people with the words, " I came
as a world conqueror, and not as a world preserver." Khulagu replied,
" Thank God I am both a world conqueror and a world preserver, and no
weakling like Jelal ud din Khuarezm Shah."}} Nasir ud din was therefore
commissioned to build an observatory. Rashid ud din tells us that
Mangu Khan was distinguished among all the Mongol sovereigns by his
prudence, tact, sagacity, and wit, and was sufficiently intelligent to have
* Quatremere, 313. t D'Ohsson, iii. 249. X Id., 253. Note. § Id., 252. Note.
|| Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1234, &c. If D'Ohsson, iii. 250-251. Note. ** Id., 251-252. Notes,
tt D'Ohsson, iii. 268. XX Quatremere, 324-325.

138 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
mastered several problems of Euclid, and he desired that during his
reign an observatory should be built, and charged Jemal ud din
Muhammed ibn Tahir ibn Muhammed Zeidi, of Bukhara, to build one,
but the difficulties proved insurmountable. The reputation of Nasir ud
din having reached Mangu, the latter, in saying goodbye to his brother,
asked him, when he had destroyed the Ismaelite fortresses, to send Nasir
to him, but as Mangu was then occupied with his campaign in Southern
China, Khulagu ordered him to build an observatory in Persia, which was
completed in his seventh year. With him were associated four learned
men— Muayid-ud-din-Aradi (or Urzy), Fakr ud din Meraghi, Fakr ud
din Akhlati, and Nejm ud din Denran Kazvini.* Nasir ud din had
convinced his master of the desirability of such a work, since it was
necessary to calculate some new tables and to make some new observa
tions, if the daily position of the sun, stars, and planets was to be duly
calculated, for the purpose of drawing horoscopes, &c. ; and as the stars
had a certain motion of precession it was necessary to continue these
observations for at least thirty years, to cover the revolution of Saturn.
Khulagu wished him to complete the work if he could in a dozen years,
and he said he would try to do so with the help of the earlier tables,
including those of Enerjes drawn up fourteen centuries before, those of
Ptolemy 275 years later, others made at Baghdad in the reign of the
Khalif Meimun, others again by Tebani, in Syria, and lastly those of
Hakemi and Ibn ul A'lem in Egypt, made 250 years before, which were the
latest. These facts are recorded by Nasir ud din himself in the preface
to his own tables. Abd ulla Beidavi tells us that Khulagu took with him
many learned men from China, astronomers, &c, and it was from one of
these, Fao mun ji, better known as Sing-Sing, or the learned, that Nasir
learnt about the Chinese era and their mode of calculating tables.t The
observatory was built on a hill north of Meragha, and was duly furnished
with armillary spheres, astrolabes, &c, including a terrestrial globe, in
which the earth was divided into seven climates, while a slit in the cupola
allowed the sun's rays to record on the pavement the height of the
meridian, &c. Some of the learned works captured at Baghdad were
sent there. The tables which were now made were published during the
reign of Khulagu's successor, Abaka, under the title of Zij ul Ilkhani
and they showed an error of forty minutes in the position of the sun at
the beginning of the year as calculated by previous tables.} The building
of the observatory, the instruments for which alone cost 20,000 dinars,
was a costly matter. Nasir ud din, to further convince his master that the
money was well spent, rolled a metal bowl down the hill. At the noise
made by this the soldiers, who did not know its cause, rushed from their
tents, while the astronomer and his patron, who both knew it, remained
* Quatremere, 325-327. D'Ohsson, iii. 266-267. Note. t D'Ohsson, iii. 263-265.
I Id., 265.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 39
tranquil; the moral being that events do not cause panic when they can be
foretold* While Khulagu was at Meragha he was visited by Bedr ud din Lulu
{i.e., the full-moon pearl), Prince of Mosul, who was then ninety years of
age.f He had been the slave of Nur ud din Arslan Shah, of the dynasty
of the Sunkars, rulers of Diarbekr, who on his death appointed him tutor
to his son Masud, and he ruled the principality during that prince's life,
which ended in 1218. Nur ud din left two infant sons, who died within
two years of his own death, whereupon Bedr ud din was acknowledged as
ruler, and had many struggles with the Ayubit princes. He had now
exercised authority for 39 years.} He had apparently taken care not to
declare himself too openly for the Mongols until their success was quite
assured; the contingent of 1,000 men under his son Salih only arrived
afterthefall of Baghdad. Having aroused their suspicion in consequencehe
was constrained to pay Khulagu a visit in person. § Some writers say that his
family wished to dissuade him from going, as he had incurred Khulagu's
anger, buthereplied that he hoped to conciliate this redoubtable warrior, and
to rub his ears. 1 1 When he arrived, he presented Khulagu with rich presents,
and went on to say, " I have reserved a gift which I mean for you
personally." He then produced two splendid ear-rings, each containing a
large pearl, and asked permission to put them on Khulagu's ears himself,
which would bring him great credit among the other princes. Khulagu
having consented, he turned to the people of Mosul, who had accompanied
him, and pointed out how he had kept his word.1T Bedrud din thereupon
returned to Mosul, where he shortly after died. Abulfeda says he died in
the year 657 HEJ. {i.e., 1258).** Makrizi says the same. He left three
sons. Malik al Salih al Ismael, the eldest, succeeded him at Mosul,
Alai-ud-din at Sinjar, and Saif ud din at Al Jezireh.tt Salih was confirmed
in his authority by Khulagu, who gave him a daughter of Jelal ud din
Khuarezm Shah, named Turkan Khatun, in marriage.}} We shall hear
of him again.
Bedr ud din Lulu's visit to Khulagu was followed by that of Said, son
of Abubekr, atabeg of Fars, who congratulated him on the capture of
Baghdad.§§ Khulagu having moved his quarters to Munik, in the district of
Tebriz, was also visited by the brothers, and now reconciled rivals, Iz ud din
and Rokn ud din, the joint Seljuk rulers of Rum. The former had not
only defied Baichu Noyan, as we have seen, but had ventured to attack
him, and it was necessary he should now be humble. He accordingly had
a splendid boot, worthy of a sovereign, made, upon the sole of which was
painted his own portrait, and presenting it to Khulagu, he begged him to put

* D'Ohssou, iii. 266. t Quatremere, 321. X D'Ohsson, 111. 258.
§ Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 344-345. Chron. Syr , 553.
|| This is an eastern expression, meaning to vanquish, and was used by Mohere in lartuffe —
"jour de Dieu 1 je saurai vous frotter les oreilles." .
1[ Novairi, &c, quoted by Quatremere, 236-237. Notes. __ ** Op. cit., iv., 567.
tt Abulfaraj, Chron.^Arab., 347. XI Ilkhans, i. 194- D'Ohsson, 111. 306. $$ Quatremere, 323.

14° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
his foot on the head of his slave. Khulagu was moved at this, and Tokuz
Khatun, his Christian wife, having asked for his pardon, it was granted.*
Rokn ud din ruled over the district between Caesarea and Great
Armenia, with his capital at Sebaste, while Iz ud din held the country
thence to the sea, with his seat of power at Iconium. The two princes
accompanied Khulagu on his march towards Syria as far as Mesopotamia,
and then returned home again.f
The Greater Lur was now ruled by a line of Atabegs, founded
about a hundred years before. Its ruler at this time was the third
Atabeg, Tekele, the son of Hasarsif or Hasarasp. When Khulagu
advanced against Baghdad, he went to do homage, and was ordered to
join the advance guard under Kitubuka. Unable to restrain his
indignation at the capture of Baghdad and the death of the Khalif, he
incurred the displeasure of Khulagu, and hearing that he was suspected,
escaped from the Mongol camp. Khulagu reprimanded Kitubuka for
allowing this, and sent him with the Noyan Sidak and some troops in
pursuit. His brother, Shems ud din Alp Arslan, counselled him to allow
him to go to the Mongol camp and intercede for him. He set out, but
was waylaid by the Mongols, and, notwithstanding his errand, was put in
irons and his men were killed. Tekele sought refuge at the fort of
Manjasht. He presently offered to surrender if Khulagu would send him
his ring as a guage of safety. This was sent, but notwithstanding he was
put to death on his arrival at Tebriz, and his brother, Shems ud din Alp
Arslan, was given the throne of the Greater Luristan.
The Lesser Lur was ruled by another dynasty of Atabegs, founded
seventy years before. The fourth of these Atabegs, Bedr ud din Masud,
had been driven out by his cousin and rival, Suliman Shah, who was
supported by the Khalif's troops. He went to implore the help of
Mangu, and accompanied Khulagu in his westward march. At the siege
of Baghdad his rival, Suliman Shah, commanded the Khalif's army. He
asked to have him surrendered to him if captured. Khulagu replied,
" That is a great promise to make to you by God." When Baghdad fell,
however, and Suliman Shah was killed, the latter's family were handed
over to Masud. He behaved so well to them that when he presently gave
them the choice of remaining in Luristan or going to Baghdad, few of
them went. He was renowned for his judgment, and knew by heart 4,000
juridical maxims of the Shafi Rite. He died two years after the taking
of Baghdad. On his death his sons, Jemal ud din Bedr and Nasir ud din
Omar, struggled with Taj ud din Shah, son of Hosam ud din Khalil, for
authority in the Lesser Luristan.}
The generally favourable treatment meted out to the Christians by the
Mongols had an exception in the case of Takrit, whose Christian

* Quatremere, 323. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 554,
{ Tarikhi Guzideh, cited by D'Ohsson, iii. 259-261. Ilkhans, i. 16^163.

KHULAGU KHAN. I4I
inhabitants had applied to the Catholicos to secure that they should have
a prefect sent to protect them. When the Mongols proceeded to slaughter
the Arabs, the Christians, who remained for six weeks concealed in one
of their churches, were accused by an Arab, called Ibn Duri, of having
killed many of his co-religionists, and appropriated their property. When
the Prefect brought this charge before them they would not deny it, and
sent him what things they had secreted. The facts having been reported
to Khulagu, he ordered them, in accordance with the Draconic Mongol
code, to be put to death, and an officer was sent with a contingent of
troops, who took the Christians in parties of twenty to the citadel under
pretence of making them assist at its demolition, and then put them
to death. Only the old people were spared, and the boys and girls whom
the Mongols carried off captive. The Muhammedans once more occupied
the cathedral of Takrit, while the few Christians who had escaped were
ministered to by two Carmonian priests (presbyteri Carmonenses), in the
other churches. Presently Ibn Duri was in turn put to death by a
Christian named Bahram, who had been nominated Prefect of Takrit.*
Altogether, however, the condition of the Christians was greatly improved
all over the East by the Mongol invasion. They were relieved from many
indignities which the Moslems had heaped upon them, and they looked
upon Khulagu as a deliverer. After the capture of Baghdad the
Georgians — David and his people — having been a long time under arms,
asked permission to return home. Khulagu gave his permission, and
they set out loaded with presents and booty, and returned to Tiflis
by way of Azerbaijan. This was in 1259. At this time the grandees
of the kingdom were greatly distressed that David's wife, Jigda Khatun,
had no son, and in order to secure a successor he married a pretty
Ossetian damsel called Althun, engaging not to see her again if she should
have a male child. She had a son called Georgi, who was adopted by the
Queen. Althun presently had a daughter named Thamar. Soon after
the Queen was buried in the Royal Sepulchre of Mtzkhdtha.t
The Mongols were now masters of all the country from the Oxus to the
Tigris, but Khulagu's commission was that he should lay his hands upon
all Asia, as far as the farthest west, and the next objects of attack
therefore were Mesopotamia and Syria. These two countries, with
Egypt, had been dominated over by the famous Ayubit dynasty, of which
Salah ud din was the greatest name. Egypt had been lost to the family,
however, and was now controlled by the Mamluks, but six branches of
the Ayubit stock ruled over Arabian Irak and Syria. These were the
princes of Mayafarkin, Hossnkief, Karak, Aleppo, Harnath, and Hims.
If they had been united in a common policy they might have offered a
reasonable resistance to the Mongols. But who ever heard of union
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 552-553. D'Ohsson, iii. 270-271. t Hist, de Ia Georgie, 553-554-

142 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
among the Kurds? The most powerful of these princes was Malik Nasir
Yusuf, Prince of Aleppo and Syria, and great grandson of Salah ud din.
Mayafarkin, Hossnkief, and Karak were ruled by descendants of Malikol
Aadil, Salah ud din's brother ; Harnath by a descendant of Shahin Shah,
another of his brothers, and Hims by a descendant of Shirkuh, Salah ud
din's uncle* Nasir, Prince of Aleppo, had succeeded his father in 1236,
when only six years old, and in 1250 conquered the principality of
Damascus from the Mamluk Eibeg, who had usurped authority in Egypt.
He intended driving Eibeg completely out of Syria, but having been
defeated by him in 1251 he ceded to him, on the mediation of the Khalif,
Jerusalem, Gaza, and the coast as far as Nablus.t Nasir had sent his
Vizier, the Sahib Zain ud din Hafedi, to the Court of Mangu, with
precious gifts worthy of a sovereign, and had been granted a yarligh and
paizah.} On Khulagu's arrival in the West, in 1258, he sent his son Aziz,
with the same Vizier, to conciliate him.§ Khulagu asked him why his
father had not gone in person, and was conciliated by the reply that he
feared to leave his dominions lest they should be attacked by
the Franks. || Makrizi says the young prince offered Khulagu the
presents which he bore, and also asked for his aid to help
him to drive the Mamluks out of Egypt. Khulagu ordered that the
prince on his return should be escorted by 20,000 horsemen.1T Novairi
tells us that Nasir had also sent a letter to the Prince of Mosul to inter
cede for him.** The young prince took back with him for his father a
letter which was composed by Nasir ud din of Tus, and which Wassaf
praises as a chef d'ceuvre of this kind of Arabic composition, in which
brevity and condensation, sonorous phrases, short periods, cadences and
rhymes, alliterations and puns, and apt citations from the Koran, are
greatly admired. tt We have this letter in several copies differing from
one another greatly. It has been preserved by Rashid ud din, Wassaf,
Abulfaraj, Makrizi, and by Ibn Arabshah in his history of Timur.}} In
the first volume of this work I gave the letter as reported by Wassaf,
Here I will transcribe the version preserved by Makrizi : —
" We inform Malik Nasir, Prince of Aleppo, that by the strength of the
sword of the most high God, we have conquered Baghdad, exterminated
the warriors of that town, destroyed its buildings, and made its inhabitants
prisoners, according to the maxim which God has enshrined in the sacred
volume. ' When the Kings enter a town, they cause ravage there and
reduce to the direst humiliation the most distinguished of the inhabitants.'
We summoned the Khalif to our presence, and addressed him questions
which he answered deceitfully. But he presently repented of his conduct,
and has well deserved the death which we inflicted on him. The perverse
man devoted himself only to amassing riches, and hoarding up precious
* Ilkhans, i. 168-160. t D'Ohsson, iii. 290-291. X Quatremere, 327.
§ Abulfeda, iv. 565. || D Ohsson, iii. 294. ^| Makrizi, i. 78-79. ** D'Ohsson, iii. 294.
tt Id., iii. 302-303, &c. It Id., iii. 302-305 Note.

KHULAGU KHAN. 143
objects, without caring at all for his subjects. His reputation had spread
very widely, and he occupied the highest rank. May God defend us from
perfection, and the fate attending grandeur.
When a thing has reached its highest point it begins to descend.
When you hear a man say there is perfection beware of a catastrophe.
If you are prosperous be on your guard,
For crimes continually undo goodness.
How many men have spent the night happily,
Without suspecting that death would suddenly overtake them ?
" When you have considered my letter hasten to submit to the King of
Kings, Lord of the World, and to subject to him your person, your people,
your warriors, and your riches. Thus you will avoid his anger and
deserve his benevolence. As God the most high has declared in his
august work, ' Yes, man shall only reap the reward of his works, and God
who knows his works, will not fail to recompense him with the greatest zeal.'*
Mind you do not, as you have done before, imprison our envoys, but treat
them according to the laws of justice, and send them back with proofs of
goodwill. We have heard that some Syrian merchants and others have
taken refuge in a caravan-serai with their wives and riches. If they were
to retire to the mountains we would tear them down ; if they hid beneath
the ground we would root them up.
Who shall escape, for no one shall find a hiding place.
The two elements — the land and the water — belong to us.
Our redoubtable strength has overcome lions,
Amirs and viziers are subject to us." t
The young prince, with this somewhat truculent letter, started homewards
about a month after the capture of Baghdad, and we are not surprised
that it should have aroused some panic in Syria. Nasir sent his wife to
seek refuge at Karak, many of his people fled towards Egypt, and many
were robbed and plundered en route thither. Among other fugitives was
the Prince of Hims, and Wassaf has preserved the text of a bitter letter
which he says he sent to Khulagu in reply to the one the latter had sent.
This I have already abstracted.} This no doubt inflamed the wrath of
the Mongols, which would not be made calmer when they heard how
Nasir had lately given a welcome to 5,000 deserters from Khulagu's army,
who are called Sheherzurs, whence it is probable they were Kurds from
Sheherzur. Presently they deserted him in turn and went over to one of
his rivals, Moguith, the Prince of Karak, with whom he was at this time
in strife. Having at length made peace with Moguith, on condition
that the latter surrendered all the Bahri Mamluks in his service, and
dismissed the Sheherzurs, he returned to Damascus. Some of the
Sheherzurs went on to Egypt, and as far as Maghreb {i.e., Africa).§
Khulagu set out on his new campaign on the 12th of September, 1259,
and was accompanied, inter alios, by Salih, the Malik of Mosul. Kitubuka
* Koran, ch. liv. verses 40-41.
t Op. cit, 83-85. I Ante, i. 206-208. § Makrizi, i. 79-80.

144 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
commanded the advance guard, Singkur or Shiktur and Baichu the right
wing, Sunjak and other chiefs the left wing, while Khulagu himself took
charge of the centre.* West of Ararat, between it and Erzerum, and
south of Hasan Kalaa, rises the mountain Alatagh {i.e., the spotted
mountain), where was the town of the same name. Khulagu passed by
this, and was so pleased with the rich pastures in its neighbourhood that he
gave it a new Mongol name, viz., Lebnasagut.t Thence he entered the
district of Akhlat or Khelat, on the northern shores of Lake Van, and the
mountains of Hakkar, the resort of Kurdish brigands, all of whom who fell
into the hands of the Mongols were duly executed.
Khelat, or Akhlat, which I have mentioned frequently before, was a
very old town, famous in the time of Nushirwan, and the residence
of his uncle, Shahmasp, and was called Khliat by the Greeks. It was
famous for the size of its apples, some of which weighed 100 drachmas.
It first suffered from an attack of the Khuarezm Shah, and twenty years
later was much injured by an earthquake. Seyid Hussein of Akhlat,
learned in all eastern knowledge, had, before the great Mongol inroad
into Persia, incurred the displeasure of Jingis Khan, and migrated with
12,000 families to Cairo, where his gravestone and the part of the city
known as the quarter of the Akhlattians still preserve their memory.}
Khulagu now reached the province of Diarbekr, where he captured Jezireh,
generally called Jezirat Ibn Omar, a famous and very ancient little town on
the Tigris, thirty parasangs from Mosul. It was surrounded by a wall,
with vineyards and pleasant suburbs about it. Ibn Haukal describes it as
the centre of trade for Armenia, Mayafarkin, and Arzen, and that its
boats floated down to Mosul laden with honey, oil, cheese, walnuts,
filberts, pistachio nuts, figs, &c. It had been captured by the Seljukis,
and was devastated at a later day by Timur. The Syrians call it
Gozarto.§ Khulagu now sent the Malik Salih to attack Amid, the ancient
Tigranocerta. || The geographer, Seif ud daulat ibn Hamdan, tells us it was
situated on a rock west of the Tigris, which it dominated from the height
of fifty fathoms. It was surrounded by a black wall composed of stones
used in Irak as millstones, each one being worth fifty gold pieces. Inside
the wall were three streams, which turned several mills. It was formerly
very flourishing, vines and fruit trees girdling it about, while many pious
foundations existed on its ramparts. "When I- visited it," says our
author, "in 534 HEJ., it only retained feeble traces of its former self.
Formerly it was the home of distinguished men, sages, philosophers, men
of letters, and wealthy people, ; but tyranny, injustice, and intolerable
oppression compelled them to fly from their hearths, so that the homes of
Amid were deserted."1T It revived again under the Ortokid princes, and
* Quatremere, 327.329. t id.. 329 Ilkhans, i. 173. { Ilkhans, i. 173-174.
$ Quatremere, 328-331. Note. || Id., 33T. Note. f Quatremere, 332. Note.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 45
became a centre for the carpet trade. It was repeatedly captured and
re-captured by the Arabs, Egyptians, and Mongols. Haidar Razi calls it
Kara Hamid, and tells us its citadel was one of the strongest in the
world. The Portuguese Teixeiro calls it Caraemite, and in the itinerary
of an Italian merchant of the 16th century, published by Ramusio, it is
called Caramit.*
Meanwhile the Prince of Mardin sent his son with a suite to
offer his obedience. In reply to the summons of Khulagu he professed
that he was ill and could not go in person. The Mongol chief
deemed the sickness diplomatic, and that the cautious prince was
evidently afraid of taking sides with a possibly unlucky cause.t
To revert to Khulagu, we are told he advanced upon Nisibin, where the
people having resisted, it was pillaged. Duniasar {i.e., the head of the
world), according to Ibn Khallikan, a place between Nisibin and Ras ain,
where several roads converged, and Harran were then secured.}
Abulfaraj, who says Khulagu's army numbered 400,000, adds that the
people of Harran submitted. Roha or Edessa (the modern Urfa) did the
same. The people of Saruj, however, having resisted, were almost exter
minated^ At Roha Khulagu was visited by Haithon, the King of Little
Armenia. The Mongol chief's known friendliness for the Christians, and
the bitter strife the latter in their crusading days had with the Mussulmans
of Syria, doubtless made Khulagu's arrival seem like that of a deliverer.
We are told Haithon, whose contingent was a respectable one — 12,000
horse and 4,000 foot soldiers — recommended him, in attacking Syria, to
beginwithAleppo.|| This was perhaps partly to protect the Crusaders
and his relative, the Prince of Antioch.
While Khulagu was at Harran, Nasir, the Syrian prince, called a
council, where it was determined to resist ; but he was a poet rather than a
warrior, and his heterogeneous force of Arabs, Turks, and volunteers
was not reliable. His Vizier, Zain ud din El Hafizi, who was aware of
this, enlarged on the power of Khulagu, and urged him to submit. This
aroused the fanaticism of the Mamluks, and especially of Bibars, one of
their chiefs, who one day struck him and accused him of wishing to ruin
the Mussulmans. The next night Nasir was attacked, and only escaped
assassination by seeking shelter with his brother Tahir in the citadel of
Damascus. Some of the principal Amirs persuaded him to return to his
camp, which he did, but Bibars, who was disgusted with his pusillanimity,
rode off to Gaza. Nasir now sent his wife, who was a daughter of the
Seljuk ruler, Kai Kobad, his son, his treasures, and his harem to Egypt,
and this was followed by a large exodus of those who left under various
pretences, so that Nasir's army virtually disbanded, and he was left only
* Quatremere, 331-333. t D'Ohsson, iii. 308. X Quatremere, 331, and notes.
§ Chron. Arab., 347. Chron. Syr., 555. I would add that the order of Khulagu's conquests in
this campaign, as given by Rashid ud din, is misleading and irregular.
|| D'Ohsson, iii. Note. Ilkhans, i. 174.
K

146 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
with some Amirs.* Nasir sent to ask help from the Egyptian
authorities. When his envoy reached Cairo, the throne was filled by
Mansur, a son of Eibeg, who was a mere child. His council was
convened, and the grand judge, Bedr ud din Hasan, and the Sheikh Izud
din Ibn Abd us Salam, were asked for their opinion, whether it was lawful
under the circumstances to levy a war tax on the nation. They replied
that when the enemy had entered the territory of Islam, it was the duty of
every Mussulman to arm, and that a levy might be made. This decision
was accepted. Meanwhile the times were not favourable for a boy to
fill the throne. The threatening aspect of affairs, and the appearance of
Khulagu, gave a pretentious excuse to Kuttuz, Mansur's atabeg, or tutor, to
seize the throne, at least until the Tartars were driven back. He professed
to be a nephew of the Khuarezm Shah, Jelal ud din, and that he had been
formerly captured by the Mongols, and sold as a slave at Damascus,
whence he was taken to Cairo. Having imprisoned the discontented, and
received the allegiance of the army, he wrote to Nasir a humble letter
offering him the throne of Egypt, and treating himself as his lieutenant
there. He said he would march into Syria to his help if he wished it, but
if this would embarrass him offered to send an army under any general he
might name.t
Khulagu having secured his rear by the conquest of Mesopotamia, now
continued his advance, accompanied by his wife, Dokuz. He captured
the fort of Bire or El Biret, on the Euphrates, where the Ayubit prince
Said had been imprisoned for nine years. Having set him at liberty,
and given him the command of Subaibah and Banias,} Khulagu crossed
the river by four bridges of boats, viz., at Malatia, Kalat ur Rum {i.e.,
the Roman castle), El Biret, and Kirkesia, respectively on the sites of
the ancient Melitene, Zeugma, Birtha, and Kirkesion. The guards
stationed at these fords were killed. He captured Menbedsh, the ancient
Hierapolis, also called Bombyce, and once famous for its temples (especially
that to Astarte) and cotton products. § Various places on the Euphrates
were taken, and their inhabitants slaughtered, such as Mabug Nejm
{i.e., the star castle), Rakka (the ancient Kallinike or Nicephorium),
Jaaber (famous in the history of the Osmanli as the place where Suliman,
one of their early sultans, was drowned, and where we are told his grave,
called the Turkish grave, still remains), and Lash (?). || When a division
of the Mongols reached Salamiyet, near Aleppo, some of the garrison,
with a rabble of the citizens, went out to oppose them, but seeing that the
enemy offered a firm front they withdrew. Presently they made a similar
effort, and posted themselves at the mountain Bancussa, under the Ayubit
prince Moazzam Turan Shah. The Mongols drew them into an ambuscade,

* Makrizi, i. 87-88. + D'Ohsson, iii. 315-316. J Makrizi I
$ Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 555. Chron. Arab., 347. Ilkhans, 181-182!
II Abulfaraj, Chi on. Syr., 555. Ilkhans. 182. D'Ohsson, iii. 316.

KHULAGU KHAN. 147
killed a considerable number of them, and then marched to Azaz, north
of Aleppo, which capitulated. Other divisions secured the towns of
Maaret Naaman, Harnath, and Hims, and also the town of Bab Ali
or Babela, near Antioch, so called from St. Babylas*
The Mongols now approached Aleppo. Aleppo is famous both for its
ancient prosperity and trade, and for its products— cucumbers, water
melons, figs, apricots, and especially pistachio nuts, which are called by
the Arabs the daughters of memory, since eating them is thought to
strengthen that faculty. As the entrepot for Indian goods, it was known
as the Little India. Before the Jewish Gate, also called the Gate of
Delight, is a great and ancient stone on which Jews and Christians used
to swear. Mussulmans reverence Aleppo as the abode of Khizr, the
guardian of the sources of life (the legends about whom are mixed up with
those of Saint George), and also because Abraham is said to have milked
his herds here. The latter legend has possibly arisen out of the corruption
of the ancient name of the city, Khalybon, into Alep, which in Arabic
means milk.t The Mongols now approached the famous city. Khulagu
sent the Prince of Erzerum to Moazzam Turan Shah, its governor,
to say that they did not wish to do it or its inhabitants any harm,
their quarrel being merely with Nasir, and requesting only that two
Mongol Shahnahs might be allowed — one in the town, the other in the
citadel — to await the impending battle which was to decide to whom the
place should belong. If the Mongols won it was to be theirs, if the Sultan
won then they might put the Shahnahs to death. Moazzam replied that
there was only a drawn sword between them — a rash reply, which
brought a sharp Nemesis.}
The place was now beleaguered. Arkatu Noyan was posted at
the gate of the Jews, Kitubuka at that of Rum {i.e., of the Greeks),
Sunjak before that of Damascus, and Khulagu himself before that of
Antioch.§ The town was surrounded by lines of circumvaUation, on
which were planted the battering engines, consisting of twenty catapults,
and the attack was sustained for seven days, being chiefly pressed against
the so-called gate of Irak. The place fell on the 25th of January, 1 260, 1 1
and a general massacre ensued, which lasted for five days, and was at
length put an end to by a proclamation of Khulagu. He had issued a
firman, in virtue of which the houses of Shihab ud din Ibn Amru, of
Najm ud din, the brother of Mazdekin, of Bazdiad, and of Aim ud din
Kiasari, of Mosul, were to be spared. In these, in the khanoka or
monastery of the Sufis, where Zain ud din Sufi lived, and the synagogue
of the Jews, upwards of 50,000 people found shelter.1T The citadel,
whither Moazzam Turan Shah had fled, held out for two months longer,
^ Ibn Tagri Birdi, in D'Ohsson, iii. 317-318. Ilkhans, i. 182. Abulfeda, iv. 573-575, and Note 413.
t Ilkhans, i. 183. J Abulfeda, iv. 577-579. D'Ohsson, iii. 318-319. $ Quatremere, 334-335.
|| Weil, iv. 13. ^f Abulfeda, iv. 579.

148 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
during which some people who were suspected of carrying on a corre
spondence with the Mongols were put to death. At length, however, the
garrison deemed it better to surrender. Haithon says it was captured by
sapping, and their lives, including that of Moazzam, who was a very
old man, and who died a few days later, were spared. The Mongols
released some Mamluks who had been imprisoned there, inter alios,
Sonkor Ashkar, Seif ud din Tenkez, Seif ud din Beramak, Bedr ud
din Bekmesh Masudi, Lajin jamdar Salehi, and Kijadi the Little.
They were handed over to a Kipchak in the service of the Mongols,
named Sultan Jak, of whom we have already spoken in describing the
campaign against Baghdad* The prisoners were sold to the Armenians
of Cilicia and to the Europeans.! Makrizi says the streets were so
encumbered with corpses that the Mongols marched over them. The
number of women reduced to slavery he calculates at 100,000. The
citadel was razed, and the walls of the city, the jamis, mosques, and
gardens were destroyed. } Rashid ud din tells us that during the siege
several chiefs, such as the Amirs Kurjan, Uju Sokurji and Sadek Kurchi,
were wounded in the face and elsewhere. Khulagu congratulated them,
saying that as a rose colour is the prettiest parure of a woman, a man
can have no nobler ornament than some crimson blood strewn over his
face and beard.§
Among the prisoners were several of Nasir's children with their
mothers. 1 1 Haithon says that Khulagu presented the King of Armenia
with the spoils he had captured at Aleppo, and also made over to him
some of the lands he had conquered, so that the King secured several castles,
which he fortified. Khulagu afterwards sent him some presents by the
Prince of Antioch, and restored to him the districts he had captured from
the Muhammedans, and which they had retaken,1T a heritage which
brought its Nemesis when the Mussulmans were again dominant.
Vartan tells us that Haithon accompanied Khulagu on this campaign, and
redeemed many Christians, both lay and cleric, who had been made
prisoners.** Abulfaraj, the historian, was at this time the Jacobite
metropolitan of Aleppo. He tells us the upper part of his church had been
destroyed by the Balbecenses {i.e., the people of Baalbek), and in fear of
these events he had gone to visit Khulagu. He had been detained by him
at the fortress of Nedjm, on the Euphrates, and deplores that in
consequence he could not protect his flock as he would have wished.
The Mongols apparently found their way into a Greek church and killed
a crowd of Christians who had sought refuge there, only a few being saved
by the exertions of an Armenian priest named Turus, the brother of the
Catholicos Mar Constantine, and by the monk Khurakh.tt
Khulagu now issued a proclamation, in which he appointed Amad ud
* Id., 583. Makrizi, i. 90. t D'Ohsson, iii. 320. J Makrizi, 90. § Quatremere, 357.
II D'Ohsson, iii. 320. % Op. cit., ch. 29. D'Ohsson, iii. 321. Note.
** Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 293. ft Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 555-556.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 49
din, of Kazvin, his locum tene?is at Aleppo, and intrusted the citadel of
the same place to Fakhr ud din ; Tukal Bakhshi being appointed Shahnah
or Mongol commissary.* On the arrival of the Mongols in Syria,
Mansur, son of Mozaffer, Prince of Hamath, left that town in charge of
the Tavashi Mureshid, and went to Damascus. Mureshid, on hearing of
the fall of Aleppo, rejoined his master, whereupon the notables of
Hamath, taking the keys of the city with them, went and submitted to
Khulagu, asked him to spare their lives and property, and to appoint a
shahnah. Khulagu appointed a Persian named Khosru Shah, said
to have been descended from Khaled, the son of Valid, as governor of the
town, and Mojayed ud din Kaimaz as commander of the citadel, f When
the news of the fall of Aleppo reached Damascus, the Malik Nasir was still
there. He had collected an army of 100,000 Arabs and Persians, who now
disbanded, each one sold his furniture, and prepared to fly in hot haste.
Nasir left the camp at Berzah, near Damascus, on the 29th of January,
and taking with him the Prince of Hamath, and the few retainers who
stood by him, went towards Gaza. The citizens were thus defenceless,
and so great was the anxiety to get away that the hire of a camel rose to
700 pieces of silver. There was a general stampede, and it was thought
the Day of Resurrection had arrived.} On the departure of Nasir the
Vizier Zain Hafidi, already named, took possession of the city, and
closed its gates, and having summoned the citizens, it was agreed to
surrender it to the Mongols, and it was duly made over to Fakhr ud din
Merdegai, to the son of the commander of Erzerum, and the Sherif Ali, who
had been sent as his envoys to Nasir by Khulagu. They informed
Khulagu, who sent a Mongol corps to take possession of it, forbidding his
soldiers to touch anything belonging to the citizens. Khulagu meanwhile
appointed the Kadhi, Muhi ud din ibn Zaki, Kadhi of all Syria, and gave
him a robe of honour, made of golden tissue. The Kadhi thereupon returned
to the city, and having assembled the chief inhabitants in the great mosque,
on the Sunday, the 3rd of February, dressed in his khilat, read out his
diploma of investiture, with Khulagu's order granting a general amnesty. §
He was shortly followed by two commanders, one Mongol and the other
Persian, who had received orders to treat the people well, and to
obey him, and they were followed on the 1st of March by Kitubuka
Noyan with a body of Mongols. The act of amnesty was again
read, and also a diploma conferring on Kamil ud din Omar Tiflisi the
office of Kadhi alkodat in all the towns of Syria, at Mosul, Mardin, and
Mayafarkin, and also the superintendence of the mosques and pious
foundations. This order was publicly read in the Maidan-akhdar, or
green square. 1 1

* Abulfeda, iv. 585. Quatremere, 339. t Abulfeda, iv. 581. D Ohsson, 111. 322.
X Makrizi, i. 91-95. D'Ohsson, iii. 322. % Abulfeda, iv. 585. Makrizi, 1. 96-97.
|| Makrizi, i. 97-98. D'Ohsson, iii. 323-324'

150 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Makrizi tells us the Christians at Damascus now began to be in the
ascendant. They produced a diploma of Khulagu guaranteeing them
express protection and the free exercise of their religion. They drank
wine freely in the month of Ramazan, and spilt it in the open streets, on
the clothes of the Mussulmans and the doors of the mosques. When
they traversed the streets, bearing the cross, they compelled the merchants
to rise, and illtreated those who refused. They carried the cross in the
streets and went to the church of St. Mary, where they preached sermons
in praise of their faith, and said openly, " The true faith, the faith of the
Messiah, is to-day triumphant." When the Mussulmans complained they
were treated with indignity by the governor appointed by Khulagu, and
several of them were by his orders bastinadoed. He visited the Christian
churches, and paid deference to their clergy.* The governor here meant
was no doubt Kitubuka, who was a Kerait and a Christian. " Guiboga,"
says Haithon, " loved the Christians, for he belonged to the race of the
three kings who went to worship Our Saviour at his nativity."!
Meanwhile Zain Hafidi levied immense sums on the inhabitants,
with which he bought costly stuffs, and gave them to Kitubuka, to
Baidara, and to the Mongol amirs and generals, and sent them daily
gifts of various kinds.} The citadel of Damascus still held out under
Bedr ud din Muhammed ibn Karmjah and the Amir Jelal ud din ibn
Sairafi. Kitubuka laid siege to it. Meanwhile, however, there came on
a terrible storm of rain and hail, with a hurricane of wind, and an earth
quake which shook the district, and the siege was accordingly protracted.
Twenty catapults battered the walls without ceasing, until the wearied
garrison agreed to capitulate. The Mongols then entered the place,
secured all the valuables, demolished a large number of the towers, and
set fire to the siege machinery.§ Zain Hafidi sent to ask Khulagu what
was to be done with the commander of the fortress and his deputy, and
having received orders to put them to death, he did so with his own
hand, at the Mongol camp of Merj Bargut.||
At this time the Ayubit prince Ashraf, who had been deprived of Hims
by Nasir twelve years before, and had been given Telbashir in exchange,
having presented himself before Khulagu was by him reinstated in his
principality. He was also given a diploma constituting him viceroy of
Damascus and of all Syria, and Kitubuka and the other amirs were
constrained to obey him.1T
While the siege of Aleppo was proceeding a summons was sent to
Harim, a town situated between Aleppo and Antioch, often mentioned in
the history of the Crusades, and famous for its pomegranates; and as it
did not surrender it was attacked. The citizens offered to submit if a
Mussulman in whom they could trust was sent to swear on the Koran
¦* Makrizi, i. 98. t Op. cit., 30. D'Ohsson, iii. 325. J Makrizi, i. 98-99.
§ Makrizi, 99. II D'Ohsson, iii. 326. H Makrizi, i. 99.

KHULAGU KHAN. 151
that they would be spared. Khulagu inquired whom they wished, and
they replied Fakhr ud din, who was the commander of the citadel of
Aleppo. Khulagu accordingly sent him, but piqued at their refusal to
trust his word, he had them all slaughtered — old and young, women and
children — except an Armenian goldsmith.* Fakhr ud din was also put
to death, having been charged with tyranny by the people of Damascus. t
Abulfaraj says he was upbraided by Vali ud din, son of Safi ud din,
Prince of Aleppo, who said, " He killed my father and brothers, to whom
he had said, ' surrender the town, lest you be put to death.'" } Zain
Hafidi, -from Damascus, was given his command, and we are told that
Mogul, with three Persian assessors, Alai ud din Jashi, Jemal ud din
Karkai Kazvini, and the Kadhi Shems ud din Komi, were given charge of
Damascus.§ While Khulagu was encamped at Aleppo, Sinktur Noyan arrived from
the Imperial head-quarters in Mongolia with the news that Mangu Khan
was dead. Khulagu was greatly distressed, and determined to return
- home.il Haithon says that it was his intention to have returned to
Mongolia to put in a claim for the Imperial throne, but that when he
reached Tebriz, hearing that his second brother Khubilai had been raised
to that dignity, he did not go on.1T

Note I. — The spelling of Mongol names is a subject of great difficulty. For
the most part Western writers have followed the spelling used by the Persian
authors, to whom we owe so much of our information about the Mongols, in
which the names are presented in a decayed fashion. The name of the founder
of the power of the Ilkhans is generally written Hulagu or Hulaku. I have
spelt it Khulagu, and have followed in so doing the excellent example of
Schmidt,** who was one of the first Mongol scholars of our time. Fraehn wrote
a paper which he entitled, " De Ilchanorum seu C/zalagidarum numis com-
mentatio." M.Renaud wrote the name, Kulagu.tt Remusat has the interesting
note : " Houlagou (mieux Khoulakou) est nomme par les Grecs xaAal/ par
nos historiens Olaon, par les Armenians Houlav."}} Von Hammer writes :
" Hulagu oder wie die Mongolen den Namen schreiben und sprechen, Chulagu."§§
Schiefner also writes the name in the same way. This is assuredly ample
authority, and in view of it I cannot resist quoting the following characteristic
phraseof Major Raverty, <z/w/taf of the way I spelt the name in a former volume :
" Anyone who understands a single letter of Oriental tongues knows that
Khubilai is as impossible as Khulagu for Hulaku, and is incorrect, whatever
the ' Mongol ' professors may say." || || While the Armenians retain the initial
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 348. Chron. Syr., 556. t Quatremere, 339. I Chron Syr., 556.
% Quatremere, 339-340. || Quatremere, 341. If Op. cit., ch. 29. D'Ohsson, 111. 328. Note 2.
** journ. Asiat., ist ser., iii. 108. tt Journ. Asiat., 3rd ser., xiii. 114, &c.
U Recherches sur les Langues Tartares, 168. Note. H Ilkhans, 1. 70.
Illl Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1215. Note. See also same work, pp. 1225-1226. Note,

152 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
aspirate in the forms Houlav, Haulaou, Hulaou, the Georgians have dropped
it in that of Ulo, which is like the form given by Marco Polo, Alau. The
Chinese write the name Hiu lie wu. The name in Mongol means simply
thief.* Note 2. — Some Mongol words which habitually occur in these pages deserve
a little notice here. i. Noyan. Noyan or Noin is a Mongol word, and means
the leader of a tuman or division of 10,000 men.t The Jihan-kushai says one
of Jingis Khan's sons was called Ulugh Noyan, that is to say, Great Amir. In
the Zafer Nameh we read in one place, "The amirs and noyans of Jagatai."}
At the present day, noin or noyan among the Mongols and Kalmuks means a
prince or any member of the Royal Family.§ 2. Taiji or Taishi. The over chief
of a ulus or tribe was formerly styled Taishi among the Mongols and Kalmuks.ll
Now the title is used nearly co-extensively with the word Noyan, and is
applied to those of royal blood-lf Among the Tumeds and Karchins the
Taijis are styled Tabunans, which was possibly the primitive title in use in
Mongolia. Among the Mongols generally by tabunan is now understood the
sons-in-law and brothers-in-law of emperors and princes, answering to the
Oefu of the Manchus.** The title is of Chinese origin,tt and corresponds to
the very primitive title of Tai si or Taishi, which means Grand Master, a title
which was borne by the senior official of the empire.}} Rashid ud din says
that Taishi was a Chinese word, meaning a great teacher, or a skilful writer.jj§
Abulghazi also says it was a Chinese word, meaning the same as Hafiz in
Arabic, i.e., one who knows something by heart. |||| 3. Baghatur. The word
Behadur or Bahadur, says Quatremere, is not of Persian origin, but is derived
from the Mongol word Baghatur, meaning brave, warlike. Clavigo speaks of
" los valientes ebahadures," and a little lower down he says that the man who
drinks the most wine is styled Bahadur. The word is written bagator in
Jehosaphat Barbara's Travels, and later, in those of Hanway, a derivative of
the word isbehaduri, meaning an act of courage. The Akbar Nameh mention
a corps of behadurs. In later times the name was applied to a class of function-
aries.lflf The Russians have adopted the word in the form bogatur. 4. Shahnah.
This word, according to Quatremere, meant at different times a governor, one
who had charge of the police in a town, a head man. In the Kamus we read
the word Shahnah, in speaking of a town, indicates the person who governs it
on behalf of the Sultan. According to the supplement to the Borhani Kati,
p. 1060, the term among the Persians was chiefly used to connote the person
charged with superintending the night patrols, and otherwise called kutual,
Ibn Khalidun, speaking of the Mongols, says: " They established one of their
amirs in each town, who, with a body of troops, was charged with the protection
of the country, and they gave this officer the name Shahnah ; " and in another
passage he says : " A Shahnah who represented the supreme chief of the
* See Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 179. Note 12.
t Masalak Alabsir, quoted by Quatremere, 76. Note. J Id.
§ Pallas, Saml. Hist. Nach, i. 186. Rytschkof Orenburgishe Topographie, i. 32. Bergmann
Nomadische Streifereien, ii. 30.
|| Pallas, loc. cit. Bergmann, id. 1[ See Hyacinth's Mongolia, by Borg, 320.
** Id., 321. Note. ft Pallas, Saml. Hist. Nach, if 186. Note.
IX De Mailla, 1. 179.181. Notes. $$ Erdmann, Temudschin, 196. |||| Op. cit., 67.
ITU Quatremere, 307-308. Note.

KHULAGU KHAN. 75^5
Mongols, resided constantly at Baghdad. When Gazan Khan mounted the
throne, he drove the Shahnahs out, and caused his own name alone to be graven
on the coin.'' In the history of Bedr ud din Aintabi we read that Timurlenk
established a Shahnah at Damascus to command there in his name. Firishta
applies the name to the head of the council and also to one intrusted with
superintending the police of the markets, and speaks of a Shahnah of the
bazaar.* Von Hammer seems to imply that the word, which he writes Shohng,
is Arabic and not Mongol, and he makes it the equivalent of the Mongol baskak,
which means a governor, and occurs frequently in this sense, as " Arghaman,
the Great Baskak of Volodomir," &c.t Darugha was a similar title, which
originally meant one in charge of the police. The Byzantines knew the
title in the form Daregas ; the Kalmuks use it in the form Darghui.
The Tunguses also employ it in the sense of head of a tribe.} 5. Bitkichi.
The word bitkichi, or bitikchi as it is sometimes written, is a Mongol
word meaning a scribe or secretary. In the "Jihan-kushai" we read,
" the bitkichis, the maliks, and the other amirs," and elsewhere, " among
the Mussulman bitkichis was the Amir Imad ul Mulk." There is also mention
made in the same work of the chief secretary, Ulugh bitkichi. Rashid, who has
frequent references to the title, says : " Formerly the key of the Grand Seal was
in the hands of the bitkichi." In the " Zafer Nameh " we read of "the bitkichis
of the Chancellary." The word is still in use among the Mongols, for we read
in Hyacinth's work, " Denkwurdigkeiten ueber die Mongolie," 306, " bitschet-
schi," that is to say, scribe ; and in " Timkofski's Journal," " bitkhechi," that
is to say, secretary of the seventh class. §
Note 3. — The Eastern Christians were at this time broken into so many sects
that it is not easy to exactly realise or follow the details of their organisation
or to understand the nature of the dignities filled by their higher clergy. A
few words on this subject may not be uninteresting. There were three great
schisms in the Eastern Church, arising out of different ways of viewing the
Incarnation. First and most important was that of the Nestorians, dating
from the fifth century, who held that Christ had two distinct natures, one
divine and one human, and that the Incarnation was not a natural and complete
union of the Divine Word with human nature, but a simple residence of the
Word in a man, as in a temple. Almost contemporaneous in origin with the
Nestorians were the Monophysites, also called Jacobites, who held that there
were not two natures mingled together in Christ, but one nature only. The
Monophysites prevailed chiefly in Egypt and Syria, while the Nestorians had
their chief seats further east. Lastly, the Armenian Church separated itself
at the Council of Chalcedon, on the question of the single nature of Christ, and
other matters.
The orthodox were styled simply Greeks or Melkites (i.e,, Imperialists), since
they recognised the civil supremacy of the Emperor of Byzantium, and the
ecclesiastical superintendence of the Patriarch of Antioch, who was once the

* Makrizi, by Quatremere, ii. 195-197. Note.
t Von Hammer, Golden Horde, 238. Note 10. I Id., 238-239. Notes. GeorgiBesch, &c, 307.
$ Quatremere, Rashid ud din, 113-115.

154 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
supreme head of all the Asiatic Christians. The Jacobites had a patriarch of
their own, with his seat either at Amid, or in the monastery of Barsuma, near
Malatiya. They also had a Maphrian or Primate, whose dignity was inter
mediate between that of the Patriarch and the Archbishop, who lived at
Takrit, and ruled over the more eastern dioceses. In Syria, Asia Minor, and
the countries watered by the Euphrates and the Tigris, there were as many as
121 Jacobite bishoprics.
The Patriarch of the Armenians had his seat at Kalaat ur Rum, on the
Euphrates, and ruled over sixty-four dioceses. The Nestorian patriarchs, in
the time of the Seleucidan Empire, had their seat at Koch6, near Seleucia, a
town separated by the Tigris from Ctesiphon. When the Abbasidan Khalifs
made Baghdad their capital the Nestorian patriarchs moved their seat thither
Before the schism these patriarchs had been suffragans of the patriarchs of
Antioch, with the title of Archbishops of Seleucia. After the separation from
the orthodox church, about the year 498, it became the practice for them to be
elected by a synod, composed of a number of metropolitans and the bishops of
the dioceses nearest to Baghdad, and after having received the confirmation of
the Khalif, they were duly consecrated according to ancient custom in the church
of Koche\ The Nestorian patriarchs had secured the exclusion from Baghdad
of the suffragan of the orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, and of the Maphrian of
the Jacobites. The Jacobites had only a bishop there, and the orthodox Greeks
at Baghdad were only occasionally visited by one of their own bishops. The
Nestorian Church in Asia comprised twenty-five provinces and seventy
dioceses, and included Irak Arab, Mesopotamia, Diarbekr, Azerbaijan, Syria,
Persia, India, Transoxiana, Turkestan, China, and Tangut.* The Nestorian
patriarch was not only the spiritual head of his co-religionists, but had civil
authority over them also, and also held from the Khalif the right to judge
disputes among the Jacobites and Melkites ; and even the clergy of the two
latter rites were subjected to him by two diplomas, written in Arabic, of which
the terms have come down to us. They ran as follows : " The ruler of the
faithful has thought proper to constitute you Catholicos of the Nestorian
Christians living in the City of Salvation (i.e., Baghdad) and of all other
countries, and to set you over the Jacobites and Greeks living in the country
of the Mussulmans, or who happen to be travelling there. Cause your orders
to be respected by all Christians, "t Many Christians during the Khalifate
followed the profession of doctors, and although it was contrary to law, were
also employed as scribes in the administration. These officials acquired
considerable influence over their co-religionists, and thus influenced the
elections of the patriarchs. During the first two lines of Khalifs, Christians
even secured sometimes the government of provinces. They prospered greatly
for some time in Egypt and Syria, but presently aroused the envy and cupidity
of the Mussulmans, and as they became richer they became also the more
certain victims of the orthodox officials and of outbreaks of fanaticism. The
Christians therefore looked upon the Mongols as saviours and friends, and for
a while the latter, no doubt finding them useful allies against a common foe,
* D'Ohsson, iii. 278-281. t Id., 281-282,

KHULAGU KHAN. I 55
treated them with consideration, and until they themselves became Muham
medans the condition of the Christians was no doubt greatly improved.*
Note 4. — The unfamiliar titles and dignities in use among the Georgians,
several of which occur in these pages, make it useful to devote a few words to
them. Immediately below the King were the thawads or princes, a word
derived from thawi, head, and equivalent to the Latin princeps {i.e., primum
caput). They were of three classes : the first class, styled didebuls (i.e., " the
great " or the glorious), comprised in Karthli the heads of the six aristocratic
families {i.e., the Eristhavs of Aragvi and of Ksan, the heads of the
Amilakhors, Orpelians, and Tzitzishivili, and the Maliks of Somkheth), but in its
widest sense the term included all the princes having large domains, or an
influential position either in Karthli or the other Georgian districts. 2. The
mthawars, an administrative rank, including the Dadian, the Guriel, the Atabeg,
the Sharwashidzg of Abkhazia, and the principal grandee of Suaneth. 3. The
eristhavs {i.e., literally, chiefs of the people), also rather administrative titles
than titles of nobility, included, besides those already named, those of Radsha,
of Bar in Imereth, and certain great vassals of the Prince Guriel.
Next to the thawads or princes were the aznaurs or nobles. These were
sometimes in the feudal service of the thawads, and could pass into that rank.
A class somewhat apart was that of the mokalakfis or bourgeois, who were
found chiefly at Tiflis, and were almost entirely of Armenian origin, that town
being essentially an Armenian town. The traders of Gori, another Armenian
town, formed a similar body. Nearly all the larger merchants in Georgia were
Armenians, except in Western Georgia, where there were many Jewish traders.
Few Georgians followed the vocation of trade in the towns. Next to the nobles
were the msakhurs, a class standing above the serfs or slaves, and employed in
the service of the ruler or the State either as soldiers or with civil functions.
The chief of the msakhurs was the third official in rank in the State. " It would
seem," says Brosset, " that, as in Russia, the fact of a man's being in the public
service gave him a special status."
The title " son of an aznaur " had the same significance in Georgia that that
of " son of a boyard " had in Russia. The head of « family represented its
nobility; the other members were known as sons of aznaurs ; so it was also with
the thawads.
Lastly, were the monas or slaves, and qmas or serfs, who were attached to
the soil, and worked it, performing in return certain services, paying certain
imposts, &c. They were royal serfs (i.e., belonging to the Treasury) or private,
Some could have property of their own, others not.t

* Id., 283-285. t Hist, de la Georgie, Introduction, lxxix., lxxxi.

CHAPTER III.
KHULAGU KHAN .—Continued.
BEFORE describing the subsequent doings of Khulagu and of his
lieutenant in Syria, Kitubuka, it will be well to bring the story
of Mongol aggression in other directions up to this point. And
first in regard to the Arabian Irak, and the old frontier fortresses of the
Byzantines and Persians.
Mayafarkin was a famous old town situated to the north-east of
Diarbekr, on the site of the Karcatiocerta (the capital of Sophiene) of the
ancients. It was situated on the Nymphius, now called the Golden
River (the boundary between the Roman and Persian Empires),
and north of it flowed the stream Bekr. Malakia and Guiragos call it
Mufarghin ; Stephen the Orpelian, Nephergherd ; while it was called
Maifkerkat by the Syrians. The Greeks called it Martyropolis, after its
bishop, Marutha, who had assembled there the relics of many martyrs he
had found in Persia, Armenia, and Syria, and had fortified it. It filled a
very important rdle in the wars of the Romans and Sassanians, and in
early Muhammedan times, and was the capital of the province of
Diarbekr. Quatremere has a very valuable note on the town* At this
time it was ruled by the Ayubit prince, Malik el Kamil Nasir ud din
Muhammed, the son of Muzaffar Shihab ud din Gazi, who was the son
of El Adil Abubekr, son of Ayub, who gave his name to the dynasty.
Kamil had succeeded his father in 642 HEJ. (i.e., 1244). When the
Mongols under Charmaghan and Baichu were harassing the west, we are
told that Kamil determined to visit Mangu Khan, by whom he was
presented with an honorary dress. This was because he had refused to
drink kumiz at a feast, urging that it was forbidden by his religion, and
he therefore would not act contrary to his faith. When Khulagu set out
westward Kamil accompanied him to Irak. When he advanced to
Baghdad he ordered him to furnish 7,000 horse and 20,000 foot for the
campaign. Kamil pleaded that he could not furnish more than about
2,000 horse and 5,000 or 6,000 foot. Khulagu was annoyed at this, and
told the Vizier he must be put to death. He was then apparently at the
Mongol Court, and the Vizier, who was friendly to him, informed him of
* Op. cit., 360-365. Note. See also Ilkhans, i. 186-187.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 57
Khulagu's resentment. He therefore made an excuse that he wanted to
go on a hunting excursion. He set out with eighty followers, and hastened
away to his own country, which he reached in seven days. There he
gave orders to put to death the various shahnahs who had been placed in
the towns he ruled over during the control of western affairs by
Charmaghan and Baichu. These shahnahs were executed, we are told, by
having five spikes driven into them — one into their foreheads, and four
others into their feet and hands. Abulfaraj says that Kamil also put to
death a Syrian priest from Badlis, who had been sent to him by the
Khakan with a yarligh or diploma. When Khulagu heard of his flight he
sent in pursuit, but in vain. Kamil now asked Nasir, the Prince of
Damascus, to make common cause with him against the Mongols, to aid
the Khalif, and to prevent the invaders entering Syria, but he was put off
with empty promises. He set out for Baghdad himself, but heard en route
of its fall. He accordingly returned home, put his strong places in order,
and warned the nomads who lived in his land to seek shelter in places of
strength, and himself took up his quarters at Mayafarkin.*
After the capture of Baghdad, Khulagu ordered his son Yashmut to
march upon Mayafarkin. He was accompanied by the Amirs Ilka Noyan
and Suntai. Stephen, the Orpelian, says they were also joined by the
Armenian princes, Avak, Shahan Shah, and Elikum, the last of whom fell
ill there, and was eventually poisoned, it was said, by a doctor at the insti
gation of Avak.t The Malik Kamil having been in due course summoned,
sententiously replied that it was useless for the Mongol chief to hammer
cold iron, that he had no faith in his promises, and was not to be taken in
by his smooth phrases. He did not fear the Mongol army, and should
fight, sword in hand, as long as he lived. He charged Yashmut with being
the son of one who had broken his promise to the Khurshah, the Khalif,
and others, and said he did not mean to court their fate by imitating their
ingenuousness. Having dispatched these brave words, he busied himself
with putting the place in defence. Addressing the citizens, he said : " You
shall have the gold and silver in the treasury and the corn in the granary.
It shall all be distributed among those who have need. Thanks be to
God, I am not like Mostassim, a worshipper of gold and silver." His
spirit animated that of his people. They made several successful sorties,
in which two famous champions, named Saif ud-din Arkali, or Lukbili, and
Kamr i Habash or Anbare Habashi, killed many Mongols and greatly
distinguished themselves. Inter alios, they killed a Georgian hero, called
Aznawari, who fought on the side of the Mongols. A famous and large
piece of siege artillery inside the city was also admirably worked, and the
Mongol amirs began to despair. At length Bedr ud din Lulu, Prince of
Mosul, ordered a famous engineer in the besiegers' army to build a great

* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1262-1268. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 553 ; Chron. Arab., 345.
| Hist, de la Siounie, 228.

158 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
catapult to oppose to that inside, and we are told that both machines being
discharged at the same moment the stones cast by either met in mid-air,
and were broken to pieces. All were astonished at the skill of the
engineers, but presently the machine outside was set on fire with naphtha.
As the siege was very protracted, Khulagu sent Arkatu with a division of
troops to help his people, and ordered that the attack should not be
relaxed till the money and food began to run short. Arkatu or Oroktu*
went with this view, but when he reached the camp the two champions
from the garrison, who had already performed prodigies of valour, again
made a sortie, and created some confusion. Arkatu, who happened to be
drunk, ordered the attack to be pressed, but the sortie was more or less
successful : the two heroes killed a number of the enemy, and, we are told,
the Mongol general, Ilka Noyan, was himself unhorsed. Every day the
two warriors, who were doubtless protected by heavy armour, made their
attack. Thus a year passed by. Food began at length to run short, and
live provisions came to an end ; the people began to live on carrion ; dogs,
cats, and rats, and even human flesh were put under requisition.
Guiragos says a pound of human flesh sold for 78 dahekans. Like fish,
says Rashid ud din, they devoured one another. The two champions
having no barley or straw left, killed their horses and ate them. Malakia
says an ass's head was sold for thirty pieces of silver. Vartan says they
first ate various animals, pure and impure, then the poor, then their own
children, and lastly each other. The dean and chief of the clergy, in his
terrible hunger and rage, ate some of the flesh of his relatives. " He wrote
the confession," says our author, " on a slip of paper, hoping that it would
fall under my eyes, and that he would obtain pardon from the merciful
Being who created us. Then giving himself up to lamentation and grief, he
took it so to heart that he died. We have seen, as he hoped we would, his
written confession, and we have confidence that he will obtain grace from
Him who is goodness itself. All of you into whose hands this book may
come, implore God with all your hearts, saying Amen for him and for the
vartabed Thomas, the transcriber. "t To revert to the siege, treachery
presently began to appear. A letter was written to the Mongols
describing the condition of things, and urging an immediate attack. We
are told by Rashid that, having entered, they found the place almost full of
corpses piled on one another ; but seventy remained alive. Malik Kamil
and his brother were both captured, and the place was given up to pillage.
The two champions we have named meanwhile climbed to the roof of a
house and shot with their arrows those who came near. Arkatu ordered a
number of brave men to dislodge them. They now came down, and holding
their bucklers in front of them, fought desperately until both were killed.

* He is called Jagatai by Guiragos, who says he was accompanied by Prince Hasan, surnamed
Prhosh. Op. cit., ed. Brosset, 188.
t Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 292-293.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 59
Kamil himself was taken to Telbashir, the Turbeysel of the Crusaders,
not far from Aleppo, and on the other side of the Euphrates, and brought
before Khulagu, who had reached that town on his return from Syria, and
who reproached him bitterly, and recalled the various favours he had
received at the hands of the Khakan. He was then cut into small pieces,
which they thrust into his mouth till he died. Rashid says he was a pious
and austere man, who, although a prince, followed for humility the craft
of a tailor* The head of the hero, for he surely deserved the name, was
paraded round the Syrian towns of Aleppo, Hamath, and Damascus, with
music and singing, and hung out at last from one of the windows of the
gate known as the Gate of Paradise at Damascus. On the victorious
entry of Kuttuz into that city (vide infra), it was buried in the tomb of the
martyr Hussein. His memory was celebrated in some stirring verses by
the poet Sheikh Shihab ud din Ibn Abu Shamah, in which he
apostrophised the two heads which met together thus gloriously in one
tomb.f Of the mameluks who were captured with Kamil, seven were put
to death, while the eighth, who had been Master of the Hunt, was
taken into his service by Khulagu. :f Vartan has a curiously worded
paragraph about the siege, showing what curious alliances the religious
animosities of the time brought about. He says " there perished there a
fine young man, Sevata of Khachen, son of the Grand Prince Gregory.
After prodigies of valour, he won an immortal crown, always faithful to
God and the Ilkhan. He will be associated in the triumph with those who
have shed their blood for Christ, and who have preserved their faith and
the fear of our Saviour. Amen."§ On the sack of the town, the churches
as usual were spared, as well as the innumerable relics which the holy
Marutha had collected there. We are told that the Christians who fought
in alliance with the Tartars had let them know the veneration in which
these relics were held, and recounted to them the numerous apparitions of
the saints which had shown themselves on the ramparts with luminous
bodies. Minhaj i Saraj, who was then writing in India, reports similar stories.
He says that while the siege progressed several horsemen, clothed in
white and wearing turbans, used to sally out and attack the enemy.
" They used to dispatch about a hundred or two hundred infidels to hell,
while no arrow, sword, or lance of the infidels used to injure them, until
about io,ooo Mongols had been destroyed by them." Khulagu sent
Ilka Noyan to complain to his son that while he himself had captured
Baghdad in less than a week, he had not been able to capture the small
fortress after such a prolonged attack. Yashmut replied that his father
had taken Baghdad by treachery, while he had to fight hard, and that it
* Quatremere, 361-375. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1270-1274.
t Abulfeda, iv. 589-591. Ilkhans, i. 188-189. , I D'Ohsson, iii. 357.
§ Joum. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 294.

l6o HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
was not fair to compare the place with Baghdad. Khulagu, we are told,
was much displeased at the answer, and sent him word to keep out of his
sight or he would kill him, and swore he would take Mayafarkin in three
days. He hastened there. The attacks of the supernatural champions
continued, and many Mongols continued to be killed, whereupon Khulagu
remarked that the fortress belonged evidently to the Tengri (i.e., to
heaven, or to the gods), and he would spare it, but he asked the citizens
to tell him who the white-robed champions were. They swore they knew
not any more than himself. He thereupon offered a propitiatory offering
of 1,000 horses, 1,000 camels, 1,000 cattle, and 1,000 sheep, but the citizens
would not accept his offer. He thereupon raised the siege, leaving
behind the offering he had made, and went towards a verdant plain
called the Sahra i Mush (i.e., the rats' plain, which is marked on the
maps, according to Raverty, on the eastern branch of the Euphrates, fifty
miles west of Lake Van). There was soft mud and stagnant water, and
he sank in it.* This story doubtless grew out of the exploits of the
champions already named, and out of the prolonged resistance offered by
the place, and is interesting only as showing the kind of tales that found
their way to India about the Mongol doings. The same author reports
that the son of Bedr ud din Lulu, of Mosul, who was with Yashmut, saw
in a dream, several times, Muhammed appear on the ramparts of Maya
farkin and draw the hem of his garment about the fortress, declaring it
was under the protection of God and of himself, and that eventually he
became so frightened that he left the Mongol camp and went to his father,
who reproached him for the danger and trouble he would bring upon his
kingdom. " I cannot war with Muhammed, the Apostle of God, the
Almighty bless him and guard him," was the reply. And he wrote out
an account of what he had seen, and departed.t
Mayafarkin fell in the early spring of 1260. Malakia tells us how some
of the Christians were enriched by the capture. Thus, we are told, the
Armenian Grand Prince Thaghiatin, who was one of the Bagratid
princes of Lor£, secured the cross of St. Bartholomew, which a Syrian
prince was carrying off, and which he was afterwards obliged to cede to
the Grand Prince Sadun the Ardzrunian, who deposited it in the monastery
of Haghpat, which belonged to him, and with it the right arm of St.
Bartholomew.]: The Mongols nominated one of Kamil's amirs, named
Abdulla, to govern the city.§ At the same time as the capture of Maya
farkin the country of Sanasun, or Sasun, a mountainous district in the
province of Aghetznik, north of Armenian Mesopotamia, south-east of
Mayafarkin, also submitted. This was through the influence of Prince
Sadun, son of Sherparok and grandson of Sadun, a strong and brave

* Op. cit., 1271-1275. t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1279.1280. I Op. cit. ju.
$ Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab.' 349. ' 454

KHULAGU KHAN. t6i
warrior, who was a Christian, and had gained the goodwill of Khulagu by
his skill as a wrestler. The district of Sasun was made over to him*
About the same time that Kamil, Prince of Mayafarkin, came to his
end, there also perished his cousin, Mowahid, son of Turan Shah, the last
Ayubit Sultan of Egypt, who ruled over the strong fort of Hosnkeif (the
castle of Kiphas of the Byzantines), which derived its name from the
Syrian word kifo, a rock.f According to the Arab legends the name was
derived from a certain brave man named Hasan, who, confined there
as a prisoner, asked the Amir's permission one day to exercise one of his
mares in the castle garth. He galloped round and round, and eventually
leaped desperately over the wall into the Tigris below, over which he
safely swam. The name of the place, it was said, was derived from the
exclamations of the bystanders, " Hasan Keifa." (Go on, Hasan.)J The
geographer Seif ud daulah ibn Hamdan speaks of it as very strong, and
protected by defiles on all sides save the east. It was situated on the
western bank of the Tigris, and opposite to it was a high bridge of stately
architecture, re-erected in 510 HEJ. It contained beautiful streets, shops
and houses, markets and baths, all built of stone and with lime ; but its
climate, especially in summer, was unhealthy. The author of the
" Nozhat alkolub " tells us " that the town, although largely ruined, had
a customs receipt of 82,000 pieces of gold." The Portuguese traveller
Teixeiro calls it Arcengifa ; Josaphat Barbaro, Hassan Chifh. He
mentions the caverns cut in the mountain close by, which are also named
by the modern traveller, Kinneird. A merchant, who travelled in Persia
in the sixteenth century, and whose voyage was published by Ramusio,
calls it Asanchif. He places it four days' journey from Mardin, and
mentions a magnificent bridge of five arches over the Tigris, no doubt the
one above-named.§ Before it was fortified by the Ayubit Amir Merd
Mahmar, it was called Rasol Ghul (i.e., the Demon's Head) by the
Arabs, probably from the position of its citadel. Hosnkeif was now
captured by the Mongols, and its prince killed. ||
When Khulagu recrossed the Euphrates on his return from Syria, he
sent to command the ruler of Mardin to go to him in person. This he
refused. His son Mozaffer, who was at Khulagu's Court, was then
specially commissioned to urge his father to go, and to point out to him
the danger of obstinacy. The old man, instead of listening to him, put
him in prison.1T The town was built in terrace above terrace on the
mountain called Izale, Judi, or Masius, the last name derived from
its oak woods (from the Persian, masti). In Moslem tradition
Noah's ark rested on its highest summit, and thence Noah and his
sons went forth to repeople Mesopotamia. There Sunni and Shia,
* Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 188. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 495-496.
t Quatremere, 333. Note. I Ilkhans, i. 189-190. § Quatremere, 333-334. Note.
II Ilkhans, 189-190. On p. 193, Von Hammer says that the Ayubits continued to rule there.
If Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 349. Chron. Syr., 557.
L

1 62 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Catholic and Schismatic, Armenians, Jacobites, Nestorians, Chaldasans,
and Jews, sun, fire, calf, and devil worshippers still live over each
others' heads. The most numerous are the devil-worshipping Kurds,
called Yesidi, perhaps descended, says Von Hammer, from the Mardi,
who gave their name to the town.* Arkatu summoned the place,
and bade Malik Said remember that if his head reached the sky it would,
when trodden under by the Mongol army, be as dust, and that if he
refused to listen the Eternal God knew what would happen. The old
chief replied that it had been his intention to submit, but the fate of
several of his friends who had done so deterred him, and that, thank God,
the town was well provided with arms and provisions, and defended by a
good garrison of Turks and Kurds.t Arkatu therefore planted his siege
apparatus, and commenced a bombardment. For eight months the place
held out bravely, while the Mongols plundered the neighbouring towns
of Duniasar and Arzan. At length pestilence, preceded by famine,
began to devastate the place, and Malik Said himself fell ill, and as
he still refused to submit, his son Mozaffer gave him a bowl of poison
and he died. Mozaffer now surrendered. Khulagu reproached him for
the base crime, which he defended on the ground that his father's
obstinacy was causing a terrible calamity to the town and its inhabitants.
Khulagu pardoned him and gave him command of Mardin, where he
ruled till the year 695 HEJ., and was succeeded by his son and grandson,
the latter of whom was a favourite of Gazan Khan, who also made him
governor of Diarbekr and Diar rabiah.f Thus the family of the Ortokids
subsisted here as vassals of the Mongols, as the Ayubits did at Hosnkeif
and Hims.§ Wassaf calls the Mongol commander who attacked the town
Shamaghar. Soyuk Kotoghtai and Tenghur were the names of the
envoys he sent to summon the place. He says Mozaffer had been
imprisoned by his father, and adds that Said was submissive, but notwith
standing was put to death with his seven viziers, and Mozaffer having been
put on the throne in his place, the three envoys above-named were
appointed baskaks of the town.||
Malik Ashraf Musa, the former Prince of Hims, or Emessa, had been
deprived of that fief by Nasir, the Prince of Syria, and been given Tel
bashir in exchange. On the fall of Aleppo he retired towards Egypt, but
changing his mind determined to submit to Khulagu, who reinstated him
at Hims, and presently appointed him Viceroy of Syria. Shortly after he
received orders from his new master to dismantle the walls of Hims and
of Hamath. He accordingly went to the latter town (whose prince, Malik
Mansur, son of Mozaffer, had fled to Egypt with his family), destroyed the
walls of the citadel, burnt the arsenal, and sold the library. He would
also have destroyed the city walls but for the warning of Ibrahim, styled
* Ilkhans, i. too. t Quatremere, 377. J Id., 377-379.
$ Ilkhans, 192-193. || Op. cit., 91.92.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 63
Ibn el Afrangia from the fact of his mother having been a Frank, who
was in the M ongol service as a tax collector, and who reminded Khosru
Shah, the Mongol prefect at Hamath, that the presence of the Crusaders
at Hesn el Akrad (? Acre) made it imprudent to do so.* The activity he
showed at Hamath covered an excusable lack of that quality at his own city
of Hims, where he only very nominally carried out his master's orders.
A few days after Ashraf was nominated Viceroy of Syria an outbreak took
place at Damascus, in which the governor of the citadel was the leader.
Kitubuka proceeded at once to attack it, amidst a terrible hurricane of
rain and hail. The place held out obstinately for forty-five days, but was
at length battered by twenty war engines, and the garrison sued for
capitulation. The place was pillaged, and many of the towers, with the
war machinery and arms of the garrison, were destroyed. The Mongols
then marched upon Baalbek. Kitubuka's camp was in the beautiful valley
of Ghuta, deemed by Orientalists one of the four paradises of the East.t
D'Ohsson calls the place Merj Bargut.J There he received deputies from
the Franks (i.e., the Crusaders), who were accompanied by Dahir, the
brother of Prince Nasir, who was confirmed in the possession of
Sarkhad. Nasir himself continued his retreat towards Egypt. He halted a few
days at Nablus, the ancient Neapolis, and having left a garrison there
under Mojir ud din ibn Abu Zakr and the Amir Ali ibn Shogga ud din,
went on to Gaza, where he was joined by his brother Dahir, and by the
Mamluks who had recently deserted him. A few days after he left
Nablus the Mongols arrived there under Kushluk Khan, and the garrison
having made a sortie were put to death with their two commanders. §
They continued their advance as far as Gaza, Beit-Jebrail, Khalil
(Hebron), the lake of Zira, and the town of Salt, killing or making captive
the people, and carrying off a great booty. They then returned to
Damascus.|| Malakia says Jerusalem also fell into their hands, but he
somewhat mars the credibility of this statement by telling us that
Khulagu went there in person, and having entered the Church of
the Resurrection, prostrated himself before the tomb.1T Nasir mean
while arrived at Katia. The Egyptian Sultan, Kuttuz, was not well
pleased that an Ayubit prince with such prestige as Nasir should come
so near Egypt. He had, it appears, some reason for suspecting that he
had some designs on that goal of many fugitives,** and when he reached
Katia he went with his troops and encamped at Salahiyet, where Nasir was
deserted by his Kurdish and Turkoman followers. Some of them ranged
themselves under the banners of Kuttuz. Others went to Belbeis, and
there only remained with him his brother Dahir, the Malik Salih Nur ud
* Abulfeda, iv. 587. t Ilkhans, i. 196. I Op. cit., iii. 329.
$ Abulfeda, iv. 581. D'Ohsson, iii. 329-330. || Makrizi, i. 98.
% Op. cit., 458. ** Weil, iv. 13.

164 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS,
din Ismael, son of the ruler of Hims, and three amirs of the tribe
Kaimeris. The deserters had been seduced by offers of rewards, &c, but
they were not well treated. The Amir Jemal ud din Musa ibn Yagmur
was imprisoned, while Nasir's pages and secretaries were plundered.*
Nasir himself, not daring to advance further towards Egypt, crossed the
desert to Shubek, being robbed of his baggage en route. Thence he went
towards Karak, whose prince, like himself an Ayubit, sent him horses,
tents, and clothes, and offered him an asylum either at Shubek or Karak.
He did not accept this, but went on to Balka. His place of retreat was
disclosed to Kitubuka by two Kurds in his service.f He was captured
on Lake Ziza, and taken before Kitubuka, who was then engaged in
besieging Ajalon. He bade him order the governor of the fortress to
surrender, which it did after some resistance, and its walls, which had
been built by Iz ud din, an amir of Saladin's, were razed.f The Mongols
had a short time before secured the possession of Baalbek, which they
ruined, as well as its citadel. Malik es Said, son of Azis, son of Aadil, son
of Ayub, the ruler of Subaiba, or Sabib, and Banias, who had been
incarcerated at Biret for nine years and been released by the Mongols,
was invested with that district. He supplied his patrons with suggestions
for punishing the Mussulmans.§ Nasir, with his brother Dahir, and
the Malik Salih above named, were sent on to Khulagu at Tebriz.
The Sultan of Karak also sent his infant son Azis with them. They
passed through Damascus, Hamath, and Aleppo. When he saw the
ruins of the last of these towns, Nasir wept. Khulagu treated him well,
and promised to restore Syria to him when he had conquered Egypt.||
The Mongols were disposed to be friendly towards the Crusaders of
Sidon and Beaufort, who were the enemies of their enemies, the
Mussulmans; but the Christians brought vengeance upon themselves by
plundering some of them, and then killing a nephew of Kitubuka, whom
he had sent to get the plunder restored. He revenged himself by harrying
Sidon, and destroying a portion of its walls. This contretemps impaired the
confidence which previously existed between the Mongols and Christians,
and which was due to Dokuz Khatun's influence, and to the friendship
which existed between Khulagu and Haithon, the King of Little Armenia.
The latter, however, obtained for his son-in-law, the Prince of Antioch, the
restitution of all the places of which the Moslems had deprived him.1T
The successes of the Mongols in Syria were not altogether reassuring to
the Christians. We are told how the people of Acre cut down all the
gardens about their town, while urgent letters were written to the
Sovereigns of Western Europe to come to the rescue. A rumour spread
that Antioch and Tripolis had been taken by the Tartars, and an envoy
* Makrizi, i. 100. t Makrizi sajrs he was betrayed by the halbardier, HosaurKurdi
I Abulfeda, iv. 591. D'Ohsson, iii. 330-331. $ Abulfeda, id. Makrizi, i. 88.
I! Abulfeda, 591-593. D'Ohsson, 111. 330-332. Ilkhans, i. 196-197. Quatremere s Rashid 341
II Ilkhans, i. 197-198.

KHULAGU KHAN. T65
reached England, where a council was held, and prayers and fasting
enjoined. St. Louis held a similar council at Paris, where a like
discipline was enjoined, and orders given that no games were to be
played except archery and shooting with the cross-bow. The next year
(1261) the Pope tried to arouse the Christians to make some opposition to
the Tartars, both in Persia and Hungary* Egypt, which had been a
refuge and retreat for the various victims of the Mongols, now found itself
threatened, and the greater part of the Africans (we are told) who lived
there withdrew. Khulagu, according to Rashid ud din, as he was leaving
Syria sent an envoy named Ilchi Mogul with forty subordinates to summon
the Egyptian ruler to submit.t
Makrizi has preserved a copy of this minatory message, which is couched
in the usually arrogant language of the Mongols. It was addressed from
the King of Kings of the East and West, the Supreme Khan, to Malik
Mozaffer Kuttuz, of the race of the Mamluks, who had fled to escape their
sword. It bade him and his people remember that the Mongols were the
soldiers of God on earth, who had created them in his anger and delivered
into their hands all the objects of his wrath. It bade him take
warning from what had occurred in other countries, and not to oppose
them, but to submit before the veil was torn, for they were insensible
to tears or entreaties. " You have heard," says the letter, " how we have
conquered a vast empire, how we have purified the earth of the disorders
which tainted it, and have slaughtered the greater part of its inhabitants.
It is for you to fly and for us to pursue, and whither will you fly, and by
what road shall you escape us ? Our horses are very swift, our arrows
sharp, our swords like thunderbolts, our hearts are hard as the mountains,
our soldiers numerous as the sand. Fortresses will not detain us, nor
arms stop us. Your prayers fo heaven against us will not avail. You
enrich yourself by vile means and break the most solemn promises.
Revolt and disobedience are in your midst. And you are about to receive
a terrible punishment for your pride. Those who have been unjust are
going to learn their fate. Those who dare to make war upon us are about
to repent. Those who seek our protection will alone be safe. If you will
submit to our orders and the conditions we impose you shall share our
fortune. If you resist you will perish. Do not commit suicide. He who
has been warned ought to be on his guard. You are persuaded we are
infidels while we look upon you as criminals, and God, whose orders are
irrevocable and whose decrees are perfectly just, has caused us to triumph
over you. Your strongest forces are in our eyes mere small bands of men,
and your most distinguished people we contemn. Your kings we despise.
Do not delay long. Hasten to reply to us before war lights its fires and
throws their sparks upon you, or you will find no refuge from the terrible
* Remusat, Mems. Ins., vi. 467. t Quatremere, 341.

1 66 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
catastrophe that will overwhelm you, and you will make a desert of your
country. We mean well by our warning. It is to arouse you from your
slumber. At present you are the only enemy against whom we have to
march. May safety be with us and you and all those who follow the
divine commands, who fear the issue of death and submit to the orders of
the Supreme King. Say to Egypt : ' Holaun is about to come, escorted
by naked swords and sharp blades. He is going to humiliate the great
ones of this land, and will send the children to join the old.'"* According
to Novairi it was Kitubuka who sent the message.!
When the envoy arrived with this insolent letter Kuttuz summoned a
council of his officers. He told them how Khulagu had been everywhere
successful and was already master of Damascus, and asked them to
consider whether they should resist or obey him. Thereupon Nasir ud
din Kaimeri, one of the six Khuarezmian leaders who had abandoned
Nasir, spoke out, and said that in the presence of such a power it would
be no disgrace to give in, but they must remember how faithless Khulagu
was, and he recounted the names of the various princes who had trusted
him and been undone. Kuttuz then replied that all the country from
Baghdad to Rum was laid waste ; that unless they took time by the fore
lock and attacked the Mongols, that Egypt would share the same fate.
There were only three courses open to them — to submit, to fight, or to
abandon their country, and the last was impracticable, for " the Maghreb,"
(i.e., North- Western Africa), their only resource, was too far off; while
peace with those who never kept treaties was also undesirable. Some
amirs urged that they had not resources with which to oppose the
enemy, but asked him to do as he pleased. Kuttuz then summed up
his resolve. " I am of opinion," he said, " that we should march together
to the combat. If we win, we shall gain our end ; if we lose, men cannot
reproach us." The same night the Mongol envoy and three of his
companions were executed ; one in the horse-market, at the foot of the
famous Castle of the Mountain ; the second outside the gate of Zavila ;
the third beyond that of Nasr ; and the fourth in the place called Ridania.
Their heads were hung at the gate of Zavila, and, we are told grimly,
were the first Tartar heads which were suspended in that place. Only
one of the envoys, who was a young man, was spared, and was enlisted
among the Mamluks. The next morning the Egyptian army set out.}
To pay the expenses of the expedition, Kuttuz had recourse to sources of
revenue forbidden by Muhammedanism. He levied an income and a
capitation tax, but these only produced 600,000 dinars. He confiscated
the property of all the adherents of Nasir, who had abandoned the latter
to join him (assuredly a curious kind of gratitude). The wife of Nasir
was obliged to produce her jewels, of which a portion were taken. The
* Makrizi, 101-102. t D'Ohsson, iii. 333. Note.
J Makrizi, 102-103. Ilkhans, i. 202-203. Quatremere, 345-347. D'Ohsson, iii. 335.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1*67
wives of other amirs had to make similar sacrifices, and some of them
were badly treated, and even put to death. Kuttuz set out from his
fortress, called the fortress of the mountain, on the 26th of July, 1260.
His army of 120,000 men consisted (independently of the Egyptian
troops) of the Syrians who had joined him, of Arabs and Turkomans, and
of the debris of the Khuarezm Shah's troops who had sought shelter in
Syria and Egypt. A general levy for the defence of Islam was made, and
those who hid away were bastinadoed. A summons was sent to Ashraf,
Prince of Hims, Khulagu's deputy in Syria, and to Said, Prince of Sabib,
to ask them to aid him in the enterprise. Said illused the envoy, and
received him with insulting phrases. The messenger then went on to
Ashraf, who gave him a private audience, and then prostrated himself
before him, offered him a seat, and told him to do obeisance in his name
to his master, to tell him that he was at his service, that he thanked God
that He had raised him to aid their common faith, and to go on and
fight the Tartars, for the victory would be his*
At Salahiyet Kuttuz held a council of war. Most of his generals were
for halting there. " Oh, chiefs of the Mussulmans," he said, " you who
have lived for so long out of the public purse, do you now shrink from a
holy war? I mean to advance. Those can follow who please, while
those who remain behind, God will not forget them ; on their heads rest
the dishonour of the Mussulman women." He then took an oath from
the generals he knew to be faithful, to follow him to the war, and the next
day the cymbals sounded the advance, and none presumed to stay
behind. The advance guard was commanded by the Mamluk Rokn ud
din Bibars Bondukdari, a dependent of Nasir's.t Baidar, who com
manded at Gaza for the Mongols, informed Kitubuka, who was at
Baalbek, of the advance of the Egyptians. He was ordered to stand
firm, but was beaten before Kitubuka could arrive, and pursued to the
River Asi. Gaza was occupied by Bibars. The army rested there
awhile, and Kuttuz received a deputation from the Knights of St. John,
offering him a contingent of troops and also presents. He distributed
robes of honour among them, and made them promise that the people of
Akka, or Acre, would remain neutral, t When he approached the enemy,
Kuttuz roused the enthusiasm of his troops by appeals to their faith and
patriotism, calling upon them to rescue Syria, and to deal a great blow
for the faith. ' His officers shed tears, and promised to use every effort to
drive out the hated Tartars. Bibars having gone on ahead with a body
of troops, was the first to encounter the Mongols, and began a skirmish
with them. This was at Ain-i-Jalut (i.e., the Springs of Goliath), between
Nablus and Baissan. Kitubuka and Baidar, on hearing of the march of
the Egyptians, had brought together all the Mongol forces in Syria, and
* D'Ohsson, iii. 335-336. t Makrizi, 103. D'Ohsson, iii. 330-337,
X Makrizi, 103-104. Quatremere's Rashid, 347.

1 68 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
had marched against them. The two armies were in presence of one
another on the 3rd of September, 1260. Makrizi tells us the Egyptians
went into the battle with little confidence ; that it was sunrise, and that
the cries of the labourers in the villages were mingled with the martial
sound of drums.* The Mongols poured in a shower of weapons, and one
wing of the Egyptian army gave way.t Thereupon Kuttuz pulled off his
helmet and threw it to the ground, shouting out, " O, Islam !" and threw
himself, with those about him, upon the enemy, who were in turn broken.^
Rashid says that Kuttuz had planted a section of his men in ambush, and
that when his main army was beaten, and was being hotly pursued and
losing many men, those in ambush sprang out and restored the battle,
which lasted till mid-day, when the Mongols broke and fled.§
Wassaf has an improbable story, in which he makes out that the
Mongols were taken by surprise in their camp by the Egyptians, who
displayed white standards, such as were used by themselves, || and dressed
themselves in white overcoats called burkas, such as are still used and so
called by the Circassians, and which, he says, were also used by them-
selves.1T The Egyptian historians and Haithon declare that Kitubuka was
killed in the battle, and Makrizi adds that Malik Said, who fought in the
Mongol ranks, also perished.** Rashid, who was naturally a flatterer of
the Mongols, reports matters differently. He tells us that during the
fight Kitubuka fought desperately. He refused to surrender. " Go and
tell Khulagu I refused to retreat disgracefully, and sacrificed my life in
consequence. As for the rest, the loss of a Mongol army ought not to
distress the King. What does it signify? If the wives of his soldiers or
the horses in his stables have young ones during one season, it will
replace this loss. The monarch himself is safe, and this is a sufficient
balance to all the rest. The life or death of us his slaves matters
nothing." Although abandoned he fought on alone desperately. At
length, his horse having fallen, he was captured. His hands were tied,
and he was led before Kuttuz, who jeered at him, saying, " Perfidious man,
after having shed so much innocent blood, after having undone a host of
warriors by your vile double-dealing, and overturned so many ancient
houses with your lies, you have at last fallen into a trap yourself."
Kitubuka, like a true Mongol to whom fear of death was unknown, replied
with dignity, "Do not be too much elated with your momentary victory.
If I perish it is by the hand of God, and not by yours. As soon as the
news of my death shall reach the ears of Khulagu Khan, his wrath will
boil over like an angry sea. From Azerbaijan to the gates of Egypt the
whole land shall be trodden under by the hoofs of Mongol horses, and our
soldiers will carry off in the sacks of their horses the sands of Egypt.
Khulagu Khan has among his followers 300,000 warriors equal to Kitubuka.
* Op. cit., 104. t Quatremere, 349. j Makrizi, 104-105. § Quatremere, 349.
II Op. cit., 89. f Id., S9-90. ** Op. cit., 105.

KHULAGU KHAN. ,69
My death will only make them one less." Kuttuz replied, " Do not boast
of the valour of the horsemen of Turan, for they only succeed by treachery
and chicane. None of them have the courage of Rustem, son of Destan."
Kitubuka answered again, " From my birth I have been the slave of the
King. I am not like you, a traitor and murderer of my master. Make
haste and put an end to me that I may no longer hear your reproaches."
Kuttuz then ordered him to be decapitated.* Abulfeda makes Kitubuka
be killed in the fight, and his son be made prisoner.
Makrizi tells us how, during the battle, the young envoy of the Mongols
who had been enlisted among the Mamluks, put an arrow to his bow and
aimed it at the Sultan, but before it was shot he was cut down : others
reported that the arrow in fact struck the horse of Kuttuz, and that he was
dismounted.t The Mongols were sharply pursued, and many were killed
arid others captured ; one body of them took refuge in a thicket of reeds,
which Kuttuz ordered to be fired, and they perished. The main body was
pursued as far as Baisan, where they turned round, and a second fierce
struggle followed, more animated than the previous one, during which
the Sultan is reported to have cried out three times : "O, Islam, O God
protect thy servant Kuttuz, and make him triumph over the Tartars."
The Mongols were again defeated, whereupon Kuttuz dismounted, laid
his head in the dust, and offered a prayer of thanksgiving, accompanied
by two rikahs.| The Mongols were everywhere driven out of Syria, and
as far as the Euphrates. The camp of Kitubuka was pillaged. His wife,
children, and dependents were captured. The various deputies and
governors, except those at Damascus, were put to death.g Zain Hafidi
and the other authorities at the latter town fled hastily when they heard
the news, and thus escaped slaughter, but their goods were pillaged by
the -villagers. The Mongols had been at Damascus altogether seven
months and ten days. Kitubuka's head was sent to Cairo. ||
In reference to this campaign, Malakia tells us that " Kitubuka had the
presumption to advance ten days' journey beyond Jerusalem, but the
doglike and impure Egyptians, knowing that the Tartar troops were not on
their guard, marched against and massacred many of them, making some
prisoners, and causing others to fly." They recaptured Jerusalem, Aleppo,
and Damascus, and were aided by the Frankish knights, who, he says,
had not as yet allied themselves with the Tartars.1T
The victory of the Egyptians was a turning point in the world's
history. It was the first time for a long while that the Mongols
had been fairly beaten, and although the defeat was probably largely due
to the smallness of their numbers, Kitubuka having apparently only
10,000 men with him, it was none the less decisive. It stopped the tide
of Mongol aggression and probably saved Egypt, and in saving Egypt
* Quatremere, 349-353. t Op. cit., 105. X Makrizi, 106.
$ Quatremere, 353. || Makrizi, i. 106. II Op. cit., 458.

17° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
saved the last refuge where the arts and culture of the Mussulman world
had taken shelter ; where, under the famous Mamluk dynasties, and
under the new line of Khalifs, it blossomed over in wonderful luxuriance,
and not only made Cairo the cynosure of eastern cities, but was eventually
the means of distributing culture to the Golden Horde, and very largely
also to the Empire of the Ilkhans itself.
The march of the Egyptian army had greatly elated the citizens of
Damascus, and the Mongols, who had imprisoned the Naib and Vali of
the town, apparently for encouraging this feeling, had then hanged them.
The Christians had during the domination of Kitubuka, who was himself
a Kerait and a Christian, behaved themselves with great arrogance towards
the Moslems, and had openly beaten in the streets the wooden clappers,
called nakus, used instead of bells for summoning people to church, and
even taken wine into the great mosque. Their day of humiliation was
now at hand, and the infuriated Mussulmans, on the victory at Ain-Julat
becoming known, destroyed the church of the Jacobites, and also the
famous great church dedicated to the Virgin. This was the church which
the Khalif Omar II., Ibn Abd el Aziz, had surrendered to the Christians
to compensate them for the loss of that of St. John, which on the
capitulation of the city to Omar I., Ibn Khattab, had been made over in
perpetuity to them, but had been taken from them again by Valid, the
son of Abdul Malik, and converted into the Great Mosque, the master
piece of Saracenic art* The Mussulmans also put to death a great
many Christians, and reduced the rest to slavery, and thus revenged
themselves upon those who had lately pulled down the mosques and
minarets near their own churches, and otherwise aggrieved them. The
Jews were the next victims, and their houses, shops, and synagogues were
plundered or destroyed. Lastly came the turn of those Mussulmans who
had supported the invaders. Among others was Hussain, the Kurd, who
had betrayed his master, the Prince Nasir. Thirty of the Christians were
put to death, and a contribution of 1 50,000 drachmas was levied on their
community. Makrizi, who was a Mussulman, says the town offered a
terrible spectacle.t
It was not only the Christians who suffered severely by the Egyptian
victory. The Ayubit princes of Syria also had cause to regret it. We
have seen how Said, the son of Azis and grandson of Malik el Aadil, who
had been granted a fief at Sabib and Banias by Khulagu, received the
overtures of Kuttuz for an alliance, with contumely. On the defeat of the
Mongols he surrendered himself, and offered to kiss the hand of Kuttuz.
The latter, however, struck him in the mouth with his foot, and thereupon
one of the Egyptians decapitated him.f A similar fate overtook Nasir,
the Prince of Aleppo. He had taken refuge, as we saw, with the Mongols,
* Abulfeda, iv. 595. Ilkhans, i; 207. t Makrizi, 107. D'Ohsson, iii. 342-343.
X Novairi, in D'Ohsson, iii. 340-341.

KHULAGU KHAN. 17 1
and had gained the good opinion of Khulagu, who had restored him to
the government of Damascus, and had dispatched him thither with 300
horsemen, the very evening when he heard of Kitubuka's defeat. A
Syrian who was present suggested that Nasir only wished to join Kuttuz,
who owed his victory to his machinations, whereupon a party of horsemen
was dispatched in pursuit.* Bar Hebrasus reports what followed, on the
authority of one of Nasir's companions. He reported that while Nasir
was sitting in his tent with himself, whom he had ordered to draw his
horoscope, there arrived about noon a Mongol chief, with fifty followers.
He spoke to Nasir, who had gone out to meet him, and told him that
Khulagu was giving a grand feast that day, and had sent to ask him, with
his brother, sons, and grandees to attend it. Thereupon he set out
with twenty followers. Shortly after a body of twenty horsemen came up
to the tent and summoned the rest of the party, except the servants, cooks,
and herdsmen. They mounted accordingly, and rode on to a deep valley
where the Mongol chiefs were assembled. The latter approached them
and took them severally into custody. The individual who reported
the matter to Abulfaraj, and whom he calls Mohar ud din, is called
Mej ud din by Rashid, who says he came from Maghreb, or Africa.
He let them know that he was an astrologer, and could interpret the
stars, whereupon they spared him. All the rest, including Nasir, except
two of Nasir's sons, who were taken into his harem by Khulagu, were put
to death.f Rashid ud din confirms this.J The astrologer was sent to
join the staff at the observatory of Meragha. Makrizi reports that
Khulagu, in addition to Syria, had invested his protdge with the govern
ment of Egypt, had loaded him with presents and honours, and given
him a seat by himself. He says the party was overtaken in the mountains
of Selmas, and that, besides Nasir, there perished his brother Malik
Dahir Gazi, Malik Salih, son of Malik Ashraf, Lord of Hims, and many
others. Malik Azis, a son of Nasir, who was very young, was spared on
the intercession of Dokuz Khatun.§ This slaughter took place on the
29th of October, 1260.H Abulfeda reports that Nasir implored Khulagu
to spare him, and was rebuked by his brother, Dahir, who bade him meet
his fate, which was inevitable, in a manly fashion. Nasir, he adds, fell by
Khulagu's hand, who shot him with an arrow.1T
He had been a very powerful prince. Not only had he ruled over
all Syria, but also over a large portion of Mesopotamia, including Harran,
Roha, Rakka, Ras Ain and later over Edessa, Damascus, Baalbek, Caele-
Syria, and Palestine, as far as Gaza. He lived very luxuriously, and 400
sheep were daily killed for his kitchens. His clemency was so great that
the country was overrun with robbers, and men needed a military escort
* Quatremere, Rashid, 353-355.
t Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 350. Chron. Syr., 558-559- I Quatremere, 355-359-
\ Makrizi, 108-109. II Ilkhans, 208. Note 4. Il Op. cit., iv. 621.

172 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
in going from Damascus to Hamath ; while the Arabs and Turkomans in
his service greatly plundered and illused the people, and the miscreants
who were brought before him for punishment were "lightly treated, his
policy being, we are told, to preserve the living, and not to increase
the dead. He was a poet, and Abulfeda has preserved some of his
verses. ¦¦ He also built a school at Damascus, which was called after
him, and prepared himself a grand tomb at Salahiyet, in which he
was not buried himself, but it became the tomb of the Mongol amir
Karmun* Meanwhile let us turn again to Kuttuz. Abulfeda tells us he had been
accompanied from Egypt by Malik Mansur, the Prince of Hamath, and
by the latter's brother, Malik el Afdal, who was Abulfeda's father. After
his victory he proceeded to distribute fiefs among his followers. Malik
Ashraf, Prince of Hims, who had conciliated the Mongols, and had also
sent him a friendly message, was pardoned and restored to his principality,
to which were added Palmyra and Rahbah. Mansur was re-appointed
Prince of Hamath, and was also given Barin and Maarah, the latter of
which the Prince of Aleppo had appropriated twenty-four years before.
Salamiah was taken from him, however, and given to the Arab Amir
Sherif uddin Isa ibn Mohanna. Mansur, with his brother Afdal, now
returned to Hamath, and imprisoned some of those who had sided with
the enemy, their advent being celebrated at Maarah in some verses by
the Sheik Sherif ud din Sheik es Shoiush, who congratulated them on their
victory.t Alem ud din Sanjar, of Aleppo, was appointed governor of
Damascus, and the Prince of Sanjar, Mozaffer Alai ud din Ali (called
Malik es Said by Abulfeda), son of Bedr ud din Lulu, Prince of Mosul,
was made governor of the district of Aleppo. Shems ud din Albarli
(Von Hammer says Berlas), a Turkish dependent of Nasir's who had
abandoned him and joined Kuttuz in Egypt, and fought at Ain-Julat, was
appointed governor of the Sahe'l and Gaza.J Hussain Kurdi, the tabardar
who had betrayed Nasir, was strangled. Thirty Christians were put to
death, and a fine of 150,000 dirhems was imposed on their co-religionists.
We have seen how the Prince of Karak, Moguith, sent his son Azis to
Khulagu with his submission. He was then but six years old. Novairi
tells us how he heard from his lips the adventures he went through. He
was presented to Khulagu at Tebriz, and, although so young, was given a
seat by the great conqueror. The Empress (i.e., Dokuz Khatun) then
spoke to him through an interpreter, asked him if his mother was still
living, and whether he preferred to stay or to return to his parents. The
boy answered that his mother was alive and with his father, and that as
to his return it did not depend on himself, who had merely gone on behalf
of his father to secure his safety, and that he was at her orders. On her

* Abulfeda, iv. 621-625. t Id., 597-603. X Id,, 597-603. Makrizi, i. 107-108.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 73
intercession, Khulagu granted his prayer on behalf of his father, and he
then knelt down and withdrew. He set off homewards with a Mongol
who had been nominated Prefect of Karak. He was at Damascus when
Kitubuka was defeated, was captured there by the Egyptians, and taken
to Egypt, where he was detained for two years, when he was sent back to
his father, with whom the Sultan formed an alliance. This did not
prevent him from afterwards inviting him to Egypt under pretence of
friendship, executing him on a charge of holding communications with
the Mongols, and then appropriating the principality of Karak* After
his victory, Kuttuz entered Damascus in state. It had been in the
Mongols' hands for seven months and ten days. He dispatched the
Mamluk chief Bibars towards Hims in pursuit of the Mongols, of whom
he killed a great many, and then rejoined his master. Rashid says the
Mongol Noyan Ilka, with a number of his followers, found refuge in
Rum.f Vartan says the fugitives went to Haithon, King of Little
Armenia, who supplied them with horses, clothes, and victuals, and
they then returned to their master, both Tartars and Christians pouring
blessings on his head. " Thus was the name of Christ glorified in the
person of the King, both by strangers and our own people."} From
the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt Syria was now free from the
Mongols, and Kuttuz turned his steps homewards to meet with a singular
fate. He had been a traitor to his master, as Kitubuka charged him, but
had assuredly done the Mussulman world such a service as might condone
many crimes. The Mamluk, Bibars, who had fought so well in the
late battle, having been refused the government of Aleppo, was much
irritated, and formed a plot with some of his friends to murder the Sultan.
The latter was hunting near Kosseir, a day's journey from Salahiyet, and
had just returned to his tent when Bibars entered it and asked for the
hand of a female captive who had been taken from the Tartars. The
Sultan assented, whereupon Bibars kissed his hand and took the
opportunity to fall upon him with his companions and kill him.§ This
took place on the 25th of October, 1 260. The body of Kuttuz was removed
to Cairo.
Meanwhile Bibars, with the other conspirators, returned to the camp
at Salahiyet, and entered the royal tent. They were about to proclaim
their senior Bilban Rashidi as sultan, when the Atabeg Fars ud din
Ogotai, called Aktai Mostareb by Makrizi, who had been left in charge of
Egypt, arrived and asked what they were doing. " We are about to
proclaim Bilban." "What is the fashion among the Turks in such a
case ? That the murderer should succeed. Which is he ?" They there
upon pointed out Bibars, whom he accordingly conducted to the throne.
The latter said, " I sit here by the will of God ; kneel down and swear
* D'Ohsson, iii. 351-352. t Quatremere, 359. J Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 294.
$ Makrizi, 110-113. D'Ohsson, iii. 345-346.

174 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
allegiance." " It is you," said Ogotai, " who must swear first that you
will treat them loyally and as your equals, and will promote them."*
After this grim comedy, Bibars set out for Cairo, which was en fUe,
preparing to welcome the victorious Kuttuz, and the people there were
naturally startled to hear the criers in the streets shout out, " O people,
pray for divine pity on the soul of the Sultan El Mozaffer (i.e., Kuttuz), and
pray for your Sultan, Ez Zahir Bibars.f Bibars (i.e., the panther beg)
was a Turk of the Kipchak tribe of Berlas, called Albarli by Abulfeda.
He had been sold at Damascus for 800 drachmas. The purchaser,
noticing that he had a white spot on his eye, repudiated the purchase.
He was then bought by the Amir Idekin el Bundokdari, whence, after
the custom of the Mamluks, he was styled Bibars al Bundokdari.
His master having been disgraced in 1246, he entered the service of the
Ayubit Sultan Salih, by whom he was successively promoted to several
posts, and ended by becoming one of the chiefs of the Bahri Mamluks.}
His full name was Rokn ud din Bibars, and he first took the title of Sultan
Kahir (i.e., the vanquisher), and afterwards that of Sultan Zahir (i.e., the
glorious). A curious legend was apparently current among the Armenians
about the origin of Bibars, for Malakia tells us that when the Tartars
captured Baghdad there were two slaves of the Egyptian Sultan there,
named Phentukhtar (i.e., Bondukdar) and Sghur. They managed to
secure horses and escaped. They were pursued by the Tartars. The
former, who was grown up, rode a miserable horse, while Sghur, who was
younger, rode an excellent one. As they were being overtaken Sghur
exchanged horses with his companion and bade him flee, saying that if
captured, as he was young, the Tartars would not harm him, but reduce
him to slavery, and that Phentukhtar could redeem him. Sghur was, in
fact, captured, while his companion arrived safely in Egypt. The Sultan
being then dead, they made Phentukhtar sultan in his place.§ Bibars was
acknowledged by the several chiefs who obeyed Kuttuz, except Alem ud
din Sanjar, the governor of Damascus, who set up authority on his own
account, adopted the title of Malik Mujahid, and had his name inserted
on the coin and in the khutbeh jointly with that of Bibars. Presently he
went still further, had the gashia borne before him, and took the title of
Sultan.|| When the Mongol general Baidar heard of the assassination of Kuttuz
he marched at the head of 6,000 troops, consisting of the dibris of the army
defeated at Ain Jalut, and some other troops from Mesopotamia, to try
and restore his master's fortune. When he reached the fortress of El
Biret, on the Euphrates, Prince Said, the governor of Aleppo, already
* Makrizi, i. ri6. Shafi, in his Life of Bibars, quoted by D'Ohsson, iii. 345-346.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 347.
t Shaft's Life of Bibars, D'Ohsson, iii. 347-348. Another account is followed by Wolff, Geschichte
der Mongolen, 403, and i have also followed it in an earlier page, ante ii. 115.
$ Op. cit., 459-460. || Makrizi, i. 120-121.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 75
named, sent a small body of troops under Sabuktigin against him, contrary
to the advice of the Mamluk chiefs of Aleppo, who thought that a disaster
was invited by sending such a small contingent. The Mongols were
victorious, and Said's people had to seek shelter at El Biret* This
defeat exasperated the Mamluks, who were further estranged, according
to Abulfeda, by the cruelties and ill-conduct of Said himself. They
accordingly seized him, plundered him of all his money, and pillaged his
tents, and after supplanting him by the chief amir, Husam ud din, they
sent him in chains to Shogr and Baka. Husam ud din received a
diploma from Bibars constituting him ruler of Aleppo ; meanwhile the
Mongols had marched upon that town, which they re-entered in
November, i26o,t and he sought refuge with Malik Mansur at
Hamath.} Thither the Mongols now marched, whereupon the prince
withdrew towards Hims, and in conjunction with Malik Ashraf, ruler of
that town, and his own brothers, Afdal and Mobarez ud din, set out at
the head of 1,400 horsemen, who were joined by a large body of Arabs
under the Amir Zamil ibn Ali, and attacked the Mongols near Restin on
the ioth of December, 1260. Although the latter numbered 6,000, the
confederates defeated and destroyed many of them — according to Ez
Zehebi, with the loss of only one man, proving, if true, that the fight was a
surprise and massacre rather than a battle. The heads of the slain were
taken to Damascus.§ This victory was won on the 4th Muharrem, 659.
Baidar now retired by way of Famia, and was attacked and punished
by the governor of the citadel. Damascus being relieved by this victory,
Mansur, Prince of Hamath, and Ashraf, Prince of Hims, put up at their
own palaces there. We have seen how Mujahid had usurped authority
at Damascus. Makrizi tells us that Bibars dispatched Jemal ud din
Muhammed with 100,000 pieces of money and an array of robes to gain
over the principal people of Damascus. This he succeeded in doing, and
they proclaimed Bibars as sultan, whereupon Mujahid with his supporters
marched against him, but they were defeated, and Mujahid himself was
wounded and sought refuge in the citadel. Meanwhile an army marched
towards Damascus under the Amir Idekin Bundokdari, Bihar's former
master, and now his major domo, and who had been nominated Governor
of Egypt by the Sultan, and Mujahid fled towards Baalbek. He was
pursued and captured, and sent to Egypt, where he was confined for
a while, and eventually released. || All Syria was now completely subject
to Bibars, who proceeded to rebuild the various fortresses there which had
been ruined by the Mongols — viz., the citadels of Damascus, Salt,
Ajelun, Sarkhad, Bosra, Baalbek, Shaizer, Subaibah, or Sabib, Shemaimis,
and Hims. Their towers were restored and their ditches cleared, and they
* Abulfeda, iv. 609-611. t Makrizi, i. 121-122. Abulfeda, iv. 611. D'Ohsson, iii. 359.
I Abulfeda, iv. 613. § Makrizi, i. 132-133. Abulfeda, iv. 613. D'Ohsson, iii. 360. Note.
|| Makrizi, i. 138-139. Abulfeda, iv. 615.

176 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
were supplied with garrisons and provisions, and inter alia there was built
near Ain Julat, as a memento of the recent fight, a monument named
"The Meshed of Victory."*
Let us return to Baidar and his Mongols. After their defeat they
withdrew by way of Famia to Aleppo. According to Abulfaraj, in his
" Syrian Chronicle," their leader was called Khukhalaga Noyan, and in
his Arabic one Gugalki, both being probably corruptions of Kuka Ilka.
A crowd of fugitives from the country round had collected at Aleppo.
The Mongols ordered the people to leave the place, and that those of
each district and village should collect apart. They assembled, according
to Abulfeda, at a place called Makar al Anbiia (i.e., the seat of the
prophets, which was corrupted into Karnabia). D'Ohsson says at Babili.
The country people who had sought refuge in Aleppo were mercilessly
slaughtered, on the plea that they had not trusted the Mongols, and among
them many Aleppins who had joined them, including some of Nasir's
relatives. The Aleppins themselves who had not fled were spared.
The invaders now withdrew towards the Euphrates. The town was
given up to various excesses, and the ill-fortune of the citizens was
completed by the arrival of an Egyptian army, which levied a contribution
of 1,600,000 drachmas.t
We must now devote a few words to a very important event, viz.,
the revival of the Khalifate. On the capture of Baghdad, Abul Kassim
Ahmed, son of the Khalif Dahir Abu Nasir Muhammed, and uncle of
Mostassim, who was killed by Khulagu, fled, escorted by some Arabs.
After living for some years among the Arabs of Irak he determined to go
to Egypt, to the Court of Bibars. The latter gave orders that he was to
be received en route with the honours due to a relation of the Prophet,
and he himself went out to meet him, accompanied by the grandees and
the principal people of Cairo and Fostat. The Jews bearing the
Pentateuch, and the Christians the Gospels, also went out to greet him,
a piece of timely diplomacy. Ahmed entered Cairo on the 19th of
June, 1261, dressed in the costume of the Abbasides, and rode through
the streets, accompanied by Bibars, to the Castle of the Mountain,
where splendid apartments were prepared for him, and where the
Sultan sat beside him without any symbols of his dignity — neither
throne, nor dais, nor cushion. Proofs of his identity were formally
examined and attested, and then the various dignitaries, headed by
the Sultan, did homage. He in turn invested Bibars with the govern
ment, not only of all the lands subject to Islam, but of all such as he
should by the aid of God conquer from the infidels. All classes in turn
swore allegiance to the new Imam. Messages were sent out to the

* Makrizi, i. 141. 142.
t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 560; Chron. Arab., 351-352. Abulfeda, iv. 611-613. D'Ohsson,
iii. 361-362.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 77
different provinces, calling upon them to follow the example of Egypt,
and it was ordered that the new Khalif's name should be inserted
in the khutbeh, or Friday prayer, and on the coin. He adopted the
same surname as his brother, the predecessor of the late Khalif, viz.,
El Mostansir Billahi, which was an innovation on the previous practice
of the Abbasides.* He himself read the khutbeh in the great mosque in
the Castle, which he ended by imploring the blessings of heaven upon the
Sultan. The latter then strewed gold and silver pieces over him
and, amidst tears, repeated the prayer with his people. The Sunday
following, the two made a progress in state on the Nile, where a sham
fight took place between the galleys. The next day the Sultan was
dressed in the robes of the Abbasides, which were given him by the
Khalif, consisting of a black turban embroidered with gold, a violet robe,
a golden collar, a golden chain, which was fastened about his legs, and a
sword, two pennons, two long arrows, and a buckler. He mounted
a white horse, with a black scarf about its neck and a horsecloth of the
same colour on its back. Ibn Lokman, chief secretary of the chancellery,
then got into a pulpit and read out the formal diploma containing the
investiture granted by the new Khalif to the Sultan.f It is given at
length by Makrizi. It begins with the usual language of praise to God
(who had once more displayed the glory of his pearls, hidden for a while
in a rough shell), and to the Prophet. It then goes on to describe the
virtues of Bibars, and especially his beneficence in restoring the family of
the Abbasides to prosperity. It then duly makes over to him the sovereignty
of Egypt, Syria, Diar-Bekr, Hejaz, Yemen, the borders of the Euphrates,
and all the lands he might conquer ; bids him cherish his people, and
beware to-day of ambition, for to-morrow he could demand nothing, but
it would be from him that demands would be made ; tells him to cloak
himself with piety as with the provisions for a journey, and to devote
himself to virtue and justice. The preacher reminded him that the
various provinces needed governors, both civil and military, and as he
would be responsible for them he ought to have confidential people to
report to him their doings ; that he was to choose virtuous men as his
subordinates, who would follow the precepts of clemency and moderation,
and not let private affection interfere with justice ; who would listen to
the complaints of the poor with a bright face ; who would treat those
subject to them with kindness, for every Mussulman, whatever his rank,
ought to deem himself the brother of another Mussulman. Let them try
and win legitimate praise, which, at whatever sacrifice it is secured, is
always underpaid, and to remember that riches extracted by crime are
a load which presses heavily on a prince, and that no one is more
unfortunate than he who at the day of Resurrection shall have the crowd
* D'Ohsson, iii. 366. t Makrizi, i. 148-150.

178 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
for his enemies. The sermon afterwards went on to enjoin the duty of
fighting the infidel, which was indispensable to all Mussulmans, and
which God had promised to reward magnificently. It reminded him
how he had already distinguished himself in this way, and how his
sword had dealt incurable blows to the heart of the unbelievers, and that
it was his duty to* restore the throne of the Khalifs. It bade him look
well to the fortresses on the frontier, especially those on the borders of
Egypt, and also to cherish his fleet. God would not fail to reward him,
for reward is the outcome of good deeds* When this address was
finished, Bibars made a grand tour of Cairo, accompanied by a cavalcade,
the streets being carpeted with rich rugs. The Sultan then devoted
himself to providing his august protdgi with an army and a suitable
Court, the various officers of which are enumerated by Makrizi. He
supplied the necessary arms, and, we are told, also bought him a hundred
Mamluks, great and small, and gave them each three horses, and camels
to carry their baggage ; besides these there were pages, doctors, surgeons,
secretaries, horses, palfreys, mules, camels, &c; while he gave to the
various persons who had come- from Irak in the Khalif's suite, diplomas
granting them fiefs.
At length the Khalif and Sultan set out together for Syria, accompanied
by all the army. This was on the 4th September. They made a solemn
entry into Damascus, whence Bibars returned home while the Khalif
went on.f Bibars intended to give his protdge" a body of 10,000 troops
to see him seated safely on the throne at Baghdad, but was dissuaded by
one of his followers, who urged that he would then be too strong and would
try and deprive him of Egypt. He accordingly only gave him an escort
of 300 horsemen. He set out accompanied by the three sons of Bedr ud
din, the Prince of Mosul, who had been to pay Bibars a visit, but they all
left him en route to go to their several appanages. At Rahbah he was
joined by the Amir Ali ibn Hodhaifah with 400 Arabs, by 60 Mamluks
from Mosul, and some 30 horsemen from Hamath.} They went on
towards Baghdad, along the western bank of the Euphrates, and at
Meshed Ali met EI Hakim, who belonged to the stock of the Abbasides,
and claimed to be a rival Khalif. Mostansir invited him to make
common cause with him to restore the fortunes of the family. This he
agreed to do after he had been abandoned by 700 Turcomans who
escorted him, and they went on together. Mostansir was well received
at Anah and Haditse', but at Hit the gates were closed against him, and
the place had to be stormed. This was on the 24th of November.
The Jews and Christians were duly plundered.§
Meanwhile Karabuka, the Mongol general whom Khulagu had put in
command of the troops of Irak Arab, hearing of his approach, set out to
* Makrizi, i. 150-158. t Id., 158-164. t Id., 167. $ D'Ohsson, iii. 368.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 79
attack him with 5,000 troops. He fell suddenly upon Anbar and
slaughtered all its inhabitants. He was then joined by Behadur Ali, the
Governor of Baghdad, and met the Khalif close to Anbar on the 29th of
November, 1262. The latter placed the Turcomans and Arabs on either
flank, and reserved a corps of picked troops for the centre. He fell in
person upon the Mongols and broke their advance guard, but he was
betrayed by the nomades already named, who fled. The troops about him
were thereupon surrounded and killed ; only a small body escaped.
The fate of the Khalif is unknown. According to some he was killed
during the struggle ; according to others he was only wounded, and took
shelter with some Arabs, among whom he died.* Well may the
biographer of Bibars, Shafi, declaim against the absurdity of spending a
million and sixty thousand dinars in inaugurating a new Khalif with
becoming honours, and then sending him home with such an insignificant
escort, that it could not make head against 1,000 Mongols, a race which
had made so many conquests.! It would almost seem as if Bibars was
chiefly aiming at establishing his own magnificence and power on a better
basis, and that he cared little for the prote'ge' whom he had so patronised.
It gives point in fact to the doubts of Abulfeda about the Khalif's origin,
for he speaks of Ahmed as " a certain Egyptian of a black colour, called
Ahmed, who was said to be a son of the Imam Dahir."} Among those
who escaped in the struggle with Karabuka was Hakim, whom we have
described as having rival pretensions to Ahmed. He claimed to be
fourth in descent from the Khalif Mostereshed, who was assassinated in
1 135 by the Ismaelites. He now fled to Egypt, where Bibars gave him
welcome. He was pleased to entertain and be the patron of one so
reverenced in the Moslem world as a scion of the house of Abbas. He
gave him a lordly home in the palace called Menasirolkebesh. His
duties were those of giving legitimacy and a good title to those in
authority, otherwise his power was a mere shadow. He was styled
" Shadow of God upon earth, Ruler by the command of God, Hakim biemr-
illahi." He lived thus for forty years, and was the first of a line of
Egyptian Khalifs who were mere puppets of the Egyptian Sovereigns,
and were only displaced when Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman
Sultan, Selim I. Shortly after the accession of Bibars, Said, brother of
Salih, Prince of Mosul, who had been driven away from Aleppo by the
Mamluks, as we have seen, and had gone to Egypt, wrote a letter to his
brother, the Malik of Mosul, advising him to repair to Bibars, who, when
he had conquered the Tartars, would constitute him ruler not only of
Assyria, but of all the East. This letter was surreptitiously acquired by
one of his father's magnates, Shems ud din Muhammed Ibn Yunus al
Baashiki, who put his hand under the coverlet and abstracted it. He
* Makrizi, i. 171-172 t D'Ohsson, iii. 369. Note. I Op. cit.. 625.

180 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
then set out for Baashika, in the province of Nineveh. When Salih
missed the letter he sent two slaves after him; but afraid of punishment if
caught, he fled towards Irbil, and at Bakteli or Bartella, advised Abad
ullah, son of Kushu, to escape at once with his people, as Salih meant to
destroy the Christians there, and then escape to Egypt. They accordingly
fled towards Irbil* Meanwhile, Salih, afraid that Ibn Yunus might
inform the Mongols, set out from Mosul with his son Alai ul Mulk,
and withdrew towards Syria. His wife, Turkhan Khatun, refused
to go with him. She remained behind with the Mongol prefect, Yasan.
They shut the gates and prepared to defend themselves. One
of Salih's officers, named Alam ud din Sanjar, left him as he
retired through Syria with a troop of soldiers, and returned to occupy
the town. He found the gates barred, and attacked it for some
days, when Mohai, son of Zebellak, and a number ol the citizens
arose within, and opened the gates. Sanjar thereupon entered, and
the Mongol prefect, with the princess, were obliged to seek shelter in
the citadel. Sanjar commenced a cruel persecution of the Christians,
killing those who would not become Mussulmans; and we are told that
many priests, deacons, grandees, and others, except those belonging to
the families of Said, Dekhukh, and Naphis the goldsmith, renounced
their faith. At the same time the Kurds made an attack on the surrounding
district, and slaughtered many Christians. They stormed a nunnery at
Khudida, and put to death many who had sought refuge there, and for four
months they attacked the monastery of Mar Matthew with i, ooo horsemen
and foot soldiers, and attempted to storm it, but the monks burnt the
scaling ladders with naphtha. The Kurds now rolled, two great rocks
against the walls from a height above. One of these stuck fast in the
wall, we are told, like a seal in a ring ; the other pierced the wall. When
they tried to force their way through the opening the monks and others
opposed them bravely with stones and darts, and repaired the breach
with stones and lime. In these struggles the Abbot Abunser lost an eye.
The weapons and strength of the defenders began presently to fail, and
eventually the Kurds, who were afraid of a Mongol attack, were bought
off by the sacrifice of the gold and silver ornaments in the churches, &c.
Their booty weighed 1,000 golden denarii. The Amir Kutlughbeg
perpetrated another slaughter of men and women at Irbil. t Alam Sanjar,
who had secured possession of Mosul, as we have seen, having heard that
the Mongols were advancing upon that town, marched against them, but
was defeated and killed.}
Let us now return to Salih, the Malik of Mosul. He made his way,
with his son Alai ud din, to the Court of Bibars, who was then apparently
at Damascus with the Khalif. He was there received with great
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 561. Chron. Arab., 352-353. t Id., Chron. Syr., 562-563.
X Id,, Chron. Syr., 563.

KHULAGU KHAN. 10 1
honours, as were his brothers Malik Mujahid Saif ud din Ishak, Prince
of Jezirah, and Malik Mozaffer Alai ud din Ali, Prince of Sanjar. They
were presented with robes of honour, banners, horses, &c, and were
granted diplomas confirming them in possession of their states, which
were further confirmed by the new Khalif. Salih was appointed Prince
of Mosul, Nisibin, Akr and Shush (both near Mosul), of Dara, and the
fortresses of the district of Amadiah. Mujahid was styled Prince of
Jezirah, and Mozaffer Prince of Sanjar.* The three brothers set out from
Egypt, as I mentioned, in company with the new Khalif, but they all left
him en route to go to their several principalities. Salih repaired to
Mosul. He was speedily followed by a Mongol chief named Samdaghu
called Sadagun by Makrizi, and Shidaghu by Raverty), who, we are told,
was a Christian, and therefore probably a Kerait. He was also young
and amiable. He attacked the place with a tuman of troops and twenty-
five battering engines, while Malik Sadr ud din, of Tebriz, assisted with
a tuman of Tajiks.f The siege began in December and lasted till
summer. The garrison consisted of Kurds, Turcomans, and Shuls (a tribe
of Luristan, on whom Quatremere has a long note}), and Salih distributed
largess freely among them, and promised that Bibars would speedily send
to their assistance. The place was bravely defended. One day eighty
Mongols succeeded in scaling the walls, but they were all killed, and their
heads shot among their companions. Sadr ud din, of Tebriz, was himself
wounded, and was allowed to return invalided. He went to Alatagh and
reported what was going on, whereupon Khulagu sent a second army to
relieve Samdaghu. Meanwhile Bibars ordered Agush Arbarlu (called
Barlu in his "Arabic Chronicle" by Abulfaraj) to succour the place. He
sent a pigeon, with a note fastened to its wing, to inform the garrison that
help was at hand, but by a singular fatality the bird alighted on one of the
Mongol battering engines. Samdaghu having had the letter read, dis
patched a tuman of troops to surprise the Egyptians. They planted
themselves in ambush in three sections, near Sanjar, almost destroyed
their army, and then took vengeance upon the people of Sanjar, many of
whom they killed, carrying off the women and children prisoners. They
then dressed themselves in the uniforms of the Syrians, and let their hair
hang down after the fashion of the Kurds. When they neared Mosul
many of the citizens saw them and went out to meet them, fancying they
were friends, whereupon they were surrounded and all killed. The siege
had now lasted six months, and the terrible heat of summer had made
each party desist a while from attacking the other. Famine and pestilence
raged inside. Salih sent out a letter, offering to surrender if
Samdaghu would send him on to Khulagu and intercede for him. §
Abulfaraj suggests that it was the Mongols who made overtures and
* Makrizi, 164-167. t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1280-1281. Notes. I Op. cit , 380-381.
§ Quatremere, 383-389. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 565.

182

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

fair promises. Salih was a dissipated person, and came out of the
city accompanied by dancers and tumblers, and amidst the playing
of cymbals and sistras.* Samdaghu would not see him. The Mongols
entered the town on the 25th of June, 1262, when the whole population,
except the artizans, were put to death. The latter were carried away
captive. The place was completely depopulated, and it was only after the
withdrawal of the enemy that 1,000 fugitives, who had sheltered in the
mountains and caverns, returned.t In reading these accounts we can
realise why Mesopotamia ceased to be a civilised land, and how it came
about that a country once so thriving and prosperous became the home of
bitterns and pelicans.
Salih was sent to Khulagu, who treated him with great cruelty. He
was wrapped in a fresh sheep's skin, which was fastened tightly round
him, and in this condition he was exposed to the sun. In a week's time
the foul skin produced horrible vermin, which attacked his flesh, and he
perished after a month's sufferings. His son, Alai ud din, only three
years old, was sent to Mosul.} Having made him drunk, they fastened a
cord so tightly round his body that they squeezed his entrails towards his
face. They then clove him asunder into two pieces, which they hung on
two gibbets on each side of the Tigris; Bar Hebrasus says, on each side
of the city gates. Rashid ud din says dolefully :
He rotted and fell down from that place.
O, Heaven, thou art not satisfied then with this act of vengeance.
Thou hast delicately nurtured this lovable man,
And hast then given him over to the tooth of the worm. §
Mohai, son of Zeblak, was also decapitated. The traitor, Shems ud din
Ibn Yunus, called Bar Yunus by Bar Hebraeus, was appointed Governor
of Mosul. Samdaghu, after his success at Mosul, went on to Jezirah, called
Gazarta by Abulfaraj, which he beleagured during all the winter and into
the summer. At that time Hananieshua (meaning the grace of Jesus) was
Nestorian bishop there. He knew Khulagu personally, who patronised
him on account of his knowledge of alchemy. He went to the Mongol
ruler, from whom he obtained a yarligh securing their lives to the
inhabitants. The town gates were opened, and Samdaghu entered
and ordered the walls to be razed. They then withdrew to Shemam, in
the district of Irbil. They set over the place Jemal ud din Gulbeg, an
officer of Seif ud din, the Ayubit Prince of Jezirah, who, as we have seen,
had been a refugee in Egypt. But some time after, the latter having sent
to Gulbeg to forward him a quantity of gold which he had hid when he
retired, the news coming to Samdaghu's ears, he arrested Gulbeg and let
him know that he had been appointed ruler of Jezirah by the Mongols
and not by the Egyptian exile. He then had him executed, and replaced
him by Mar Hasia.|| This took place in 1263. The next year Bar Yunus,
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 565. t Quatremere, 389. I Id., 389.
I) Id., 389. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 565. || Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 565-566.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 83
the ruler of Mosul, whose treacheries we have described, was charged before
Khulagu by a spy named Al Zaki, or Zacchaaus, of Irbil, with secreting
a quantity of treasure with the intention of sending it to Egypt. Knowing
that Al Zaki was aware of his design, he had tried to poison him, but he
had been saved by a Christian doctor named Muphek, who gave him an
antidote. Khulagu, who was enraged, ordered him to be bastinadoed.
When he was stretched out a document fell from the folds of his cloak,
which was written over with the following sentence from the Koran : " If
their tongues clave to their mouths, their feet were shackled, and their
necks in chains, we should be delighted and greatly pleased." Khulagu
having asked the meaning of these words was told it was an incantation
directed against himself, upon which he had him killed. Al Zaki was
appointed in his place.* About this time (i.e., June, 1262) Salar, Prince
of Vassit, Kufat, and Hillet, a feudatory of the Khalif's, who, after the
capture of Baghdad, had sought refuge in the desert of Hejaz, and had
remained there six months, received a message from Khulagu reinstating
him in his former dominions. When Bibars mounted the throne of
Egypt he had summoned him more than once to his presence, and he had
professed that he would go when he had collected his wealth. This
having reached the ears of Khulagu, he was summoned in turn by him.
Afraid to obey, he left his family and goods and retired to Egypt, where
Bibars gave him a military command and a fief.t
We must now turn aside to consider what was taking place in Rum.
We have seen how the two brothers Iz ud din and Rokn ud din made
friends, submitted to the Mongols, and divided Rum between them.}
They remained good friends till the death of their common vizier, Shems
ud din Mahmud, when each prince got a vizier of his own. Rokn ud din's
vizier, Moyin ud din Suliman, better known by his Persian title of Sahib
Pervana, or keeper of the seals, and called the Peishwa of Rum by
Wassaf, determined to make his master ruler of the joint kingdom, and
endeavoured to win over Khulagu's lieutenant in those parts, the Noyan
Alijak, who, under his instructions, informed his master that Iz ud din
was conspiring with the Egyptian sultan, and meditated a revolt ; and, in
fact, Iz ud din had sent a missive to Bibars offering, for his assistance, to
surrender half his kingdom to him, and sending him a number of blank
patents, which Bibars might fill up and confer on whom he pleased some
fiefs in Rum. The latter ordered his men to march from Damascus and
Aleppo to the aid of Iz ud din, and prepared several diplomas conferring
fiefs in Rum on his friends. But he presently heard from his ally that
in view of his alliance his enemies had withdrawn, and that his own
people were attacking Conia (or Iconium). This was during the year
1262. Khulagu issued orders that Iz ud din was to be suppressed. At first
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 567 ; Chron. Arab., 354-355. t D'Ohsson, iii. 375-377.
| Ante, .139-140.

184 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
he thought of going to Khulagu's Court in person. He was setting out,
when a messenger came to announce that his brother, Rokn ud din,
with his minister, the pervana, and the Mongol Noyan Alijak were
marching against him, and intended to capture him and to take him to
the Mongol Court. He accordingly abandoned his camp and fled.
Alijak Noyan entered Iconium, and Rokn ud din was constituted sole
ruler of Rum, with the pervana as his minister.* The Alijak Noyan
of this notice is no doubt the Aljakta Noyan of Minhaj i Siraj, who
says Rokn ud din married his daughter.! Meanwhile, Iz ud din sought
shelter with the Greek Emperor Michael Palaeologos, who had recently
regained that city from the Latins, and who had already offered an asylum
to several of his chiefs and found them employment in his service. Having
collected his treasures, he accordingly set out from Iconium for Nymphaea,
where the Emperor was staying with his treasures. The latter behaved
with marked duplicity. While he professed to welcome his guest and to
treat him with hospitality, assigning him a guard equal to his own, and
also the use of the imperial insignia, he meanwhile negotiated with the
Mongols, who wished him to keep Iz ud din under durance, so that he
might not disturb their control of Iconium. To secure this end still
more, he had the Sultan's wives and children sent to Nicasa. Iz ud din, to
whom Michael was under obligations, was deluded by one excuse after
another. He accompanied Michael in his various journeys, and enjoyed
a kind of imperial servitude, the wily emperor deeming anything better
than the imprudence of drawing upon himself the Tartar arms, even to
the extent of disarming the natural buckler of the Greek Empire on its
eastern flank, namely, the Seljukian kingdom.} Abulfeda says that
presently Iz ud din, having conspired against the life of his host, was
imprisoned, and the eyes of his supporters were seared with a hot iron. §
Let us now turn to the Mongol doings at the other end of Iran. Khulagu
had been nominated generalissimo of all his forces in the west by Mangu.
He had a commission to destroy the enemies of the Mongols, but he was
not apparently endowed with any territory or special jurisdiction. This
came afterwards. He and his descendants nominally exercised jurisdiction
in the country east of Khorasan. The troops cantoned in Afghanistan
and its borders were, nominally at all events, part of their command,
and when Khulagu marched westwards we are expressly told that Sali,
or Sari, who had previously commanded the troops on the borders of
India, was ordered to put himself at his disposal. Sali was a true Tartar,
and belonged to the Tartar tribe Tutukaliut. When his race was
virtually exterminated by order of Jingis, he owed his life to the inter
cession of Yessulun and Yessugat, the two Tartar wives of Jingis. Sali,
we are told by Rashid, had effected the conquest of Kashmir, whence he
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 564. t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 164.
I Stritter, iii. 1042-1044. Lebcau, xviii. 79-81. % Op. cit., v. 13.

KHULAGU KHAN. 185
had carried off many thousand captives. He adds that all the troops
which were under his orders, wherever they were stationed, became
by right of inheritance the special property of the King of Islam
(i.e., of the Ilkhan).* The conquest of Kashmir by the Mongols is also
mentioned in the biography of Kuo Khan (i.e., the Kuka Ilka of Rashid ud
din) in the " Yuan shi," where we read that Ki shi mi and a sultan named
Hu li, or Khu li, surrendered to the Mongols.f In the " Yuan shi " we are
told that in 1263 the generals Sa-li-tu-lu-hua and Ta-ta-r-dai (i.e., Sali
and Tair) were sent to Hin-du-sze and Kie-shi-mi-r.}
In the year 654 Sali and his Mongols invaded India. We are told that
after crossing the Indus they sent Shems ud din Muhammed Kert, who
was then the ruler of Khaisar in Ghur, to Multan, on a mission to the
Sheikh of Sheikhs, Bahai ud din Zakaria, also known as Bahai ul Hakk,
whose tomb Major Raverty says was much battered by the English in the
siege of Multan, in 1848-9. He agreed to pay 100,000 dinars, and to
accept a mamluk of Shems ud din as hakim of the town.g The invaders
dismantled the fortifications of Multan. || After this they marched upon
Lahore, or what remained of it after its sack by Tair Baghatur in 639 HEJ.
After that event it is said to have been occupied by the Khokars and also
by Kurt Khan, who now agreed to pay a ransom of 30,000 dinars, thirty
ass-loads of soft fabrics, and 100 captives.1T After this Sali plotted against
Shems ud din Muhammed, who retired from India and went towards
Ghur, but was apprehended en route by Malik Imad ud din, the Ghuri,
and we are told he thereupon sent a messenger to inform Tair Baghatur
(who, according to this account, still governed those parts). He ordered
his release, and afterwards had him living near his person.**
At this time Iz ud din Balban, originally a Turkish slave from Kipchak,
was the governor of Uch and Multan.tt He was not loyal to his suzerain,
the Sultan of Delhi, but entered into negotiations with Khulagu through
the medium of the Malik Shems ud din Kert ; virtually threw off his
allegiance, and asked the Mongols to send a shahnah or intendant to
superintend his country. He also sent one of his grandsons to Khulagu
as a hostage. Soon after this Balban marched against Delhi, but after
making a demonstration before its walls withdrew again, and was
abandoned by many of his men. Having reached Uch in safety he went
to pay Khulagu a visit in Irak, whence he returned again to his fief.}} In
consequence of this he felt constrained to go to Sali who about this
time arrived, and proceeded to dismantle the walls of Multan. News of
the Mongol invasion having reached Delhi, the Sultan Ulugh Khan i
A'zam summoned his troops. On hearing of this concentration they

* Quatremere, 130-131. D'Ohsson, ii. 280-282.
t Bretschneider, Notes on Chinese Travellers, &c, 82. I Id. Note 103.
$ Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 442. Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1201. Note. II Id., 844.
1 Id., 1.201. Note. ** Id., 1202. Note. tt Id., 784. II Id., 786.

1 86 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
did not advance further, but harried the frontiers of Sinde and Lahore,
as far as the River Biah.*
About this time a curious diplomatic intercourse took place between
Khulagu and the ruler of Delhi. According to Minhaj i Saraj the
Malik Nasir ud din Muhammed, son of Hasan, the Karluk, who held
authority about Banian, had sent secret overtures to Ulugh Khan
i A'zam, the Sultan of Delhi's most valiant feudatory, for a marriage
between their families. The latter sent a Khalj Turk named the Hajib
i Ajall (the most worthy chamberlain) Jamal ud din Ali with his answer.
En route, he was detained at Multan, and closely questioned about his
journey by the Malik Iz ud din Balban and the Mongol shahnah or
intendants. He was allowed to go on, and reached Banian safely, but the
news of his arrival having reached the Mongol shahnah there, the Malik
itfasir ud din was forced to send him on to Khulagu to Irak and
Azerbaijan, and in addition wrote letters and sent presents by him in the
name of Ulugh Khan i A'zam. They reached Khulagu's presence at
Tebriz ; the Hajib Ali was well received, and his letters were translated
from Persian into Mongol. It was customary in writing letters to the
inferior Mongol and other dependent chiefs to alter the usual designation
of Khan, borne by many of the grandees of India and Sinde, to Malik,
since Khan was among the Mongols a title of supreme dignity. We are
told by our courtly author that Khulagu having noticed this alteration
in the case of Ulugh Khan i A'zam, enjoined that in his case the title
Khan should be used — a very improbable story. When the Hajib
returned, Khulagu ordered the Shahnah of Banian, who was a
Mussulman, to accompany him, and we are again told a questionable
story, viz., that Khulagu sent orders to the Mongol troops under Sali
Noyan, saying : " If the hoof of a horse of your troops shall have
entered the dominions of the Sultan of Sultans, Nasir ud din Mahmud
Shah (God perpetuate his reign), the command unto you is that all
four feet of such horse be lopped off."f When Khulagu's envoys arrived
near the capital orders were given that they should be detained at
Barutah.} After a while they were conducted to the capital to be
presented to the Sultan, and a magnificent review of troops was held,
when, according to Minhaj i Saraj, 200,000 foot soldiers and 50,000 horse,
fully equipped, were present, and the imposing armament " was paraded
in twenty lines of men one behind another, like the avenue of a pleasure
garden with the branches entwined, placed shoulder to shoulder, row after
row."§ This spectacle was doubtless arranged to create a feeling of
respect on the part of the Mongols when they heard of it. There is a
curious bit of local colour in the remark that some of the emissaries were
thrown from their horses when the trumpeting elephants charged. || The
* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 846-850. t Id., 859-863. J Perhaps Merut. Id, 851.
J/rf.,856. \Id., 857.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 87
envoys were conducted to the capital and received with the honours due
to distinguished guests. They were conducted to the Kasr i Sebz, or
Green Castle. The castle was decorated with various kinds of carpets
and cushions, and a great number of rare articles of gold and silver, with
two canopies, one red and the other black, adorned with costly jewels
over the throne. The distinguished maliks, amirs, and sadrs, &c, and
the handsome young Turk slaves, with golden girdles, stood round about.
On the throne sat the Sultan, " as a sun from the fourth heaven, with
Ulugh Khan i A'zam in attendance as a shining moon, kneeling upon the
knees of veneration and reverence, the maliks in rows like unto revolving
planets, and the Turks in their gold and gem-studded girdles like unto
stars innumerable."* Minhaj i Saraj unfortunately closes his narrative at
this point, and we do not know what was the issue of the embassy.
Let us now turn to Khulagu's doings nearer home, especially in
Georgia. According to Vartan, on his return from Syria he went to
winter in the plain of Mughan.f There, according to the Georgian
history, he was visited by King David of Georgia, who afterwards went to
his summer camp, and was thence sent to Karthli to prepare to assist in
the campaign against Egypt. He traversed the territory of Avak, the son
of the Atabeg Ivaneh. Avak was then dead. He had left no son, and
only a daughter named Khoshak. David visited Bejni to mourn for
him, and having seen his widow, Gontza, who was of the family of
Kakhaber, eristhaf of Radsha, and very beautiful, he shortly after married
her and gave her the title of queen. Khoshak was left behind in charge
of Sadun Mankaberdel, a prudent and sagacious counsellor, fortunate in
his undertakings, and famous for his bodily strength, and his skill as an
archer and wrestler. Chamchean says he belonged to the princely family
of the Ardzrunians, and was the grandson of Kurd of Sasun. Malakia
calls the latter the Amir Kurd. Sadun visited Khulagu, and challenged
any man in the Mongol army to wrestle or draw the bow with him, and
no one was found who could compete with him.} Malakia reports a
curious story of him, viz., that Mangu was visited by an adventurous
character, who had a repulsive appearance, was very high, and had great
shoulders, a neck like a buffalo, hands like a bear, and who devoured a
sheep daily. He was a famous wrestler. He committed to him a
letter and a robe of honour of great value. The letter was addressed to
Khulagu, and stated that if any wrestler overcame him he was to have the
robe, but if his champion proved unconquerable he was to have it,
and to be sent back to Mongolia. Khulagu, on his arrival, summoned
his chiefs, and asked if they knew anyone who could cope with him. The
Armenians and Georgians said they knew such an one, upon which he
sent for him. This was Sadun. He was of great stature and well skilled,
* Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 858. t Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 293.
X Hist, de la Georgie, i. 554-555. and notes.

1 88 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
but was disconcerted by the invitation, as he had never wrestled before
the Khan, and had heard of the prowess of his adversary. He repaired
to some hermits to pray for him, went to Kak, to the Church of St. Sargis,
the dispenser of justice, and received the blessing of the Vartabied
Mesrop, and having made a vow and an offering at the Church of the
Holy Cross then went on to Khulagu, who was delighted with his
appearance. He ordered the two athletes to live together for nine days,
and furnished them daily with a sheep and a skin of wine. They were
at length matched, and struggled for three hours without either getting
the advantage, when Sadun, in the name of God, by a sudden throw
overturned his opponent. Khulagu was delighted, and gave him a
yarligh freeing him and nine of his descendants from taxes.* He is
mentioned in several Armenian inscriptions in the monastery of Haghbat.f
One of these is on a cross, set up in 1279, and dedicated to St. Sargis,
the general, to whom Sadun chiefly addressed his prayers before
encountering the Mongol champion.
At this time the kingdom suffered greatly from the exactions of Arghun
and his tax collectors. We read that three whites (i.e., silver pieces) were
levied on every 100 sathers (a derivative of the Greek san/pov)
a talent) of anything sold at Tiflis. A certain Khoja Aziz, who
was a Persian by race and religion, was the tax superintendent at
Tiflis, and was very exacting, and even levied the tax on every sheep and
lamb for the royal kitchen. David, the Georgian king, was much
annoyed at this, and determined to revolt. When he summoned his
supporters and told them his views, some of the grandees joined him, but
the greater part, such as Ivaneh, son of Shahinshah ; Grigol Suramel, the
Orpelian ; Kakha Thorel, eristhaf of Akhai- Kalah, and the majority of the
chiefs of HeYeth and Kakheth remained faithful to the Mongols, and
went and joined Khulagu. He nevertheless determined to prosecute his
plans, and sent an invitation to Sargis, the commandant of Jak and
Tzikhis Juar, who had the title of General of Samtzkhe-, to join him. He
agreed, and the king went to Samtzkhe', where he was royally entertained,
and where he spent the summer with a few followers, while his queen,
Gontza, and his son Dimitri stayed at Bejni, in the house of Avak.}
Khulagu, on hearing of this revolt, summoned Arghun and 200 other
captains, whom he placed under his command, as well as 20,000
horsemen, and also ordered the Georgians friendly to him to assist.
Arghun traversed Kantzag (i.e., Arran) and Somketh, and came to Tiflis,
where he was joined by the chieftains above named as siding with the
Tartars, and then marched towards Samtzkhe\ Meanwhile the king
assembled the Meskhes and the people of Khawkheth (i.e., the Caucasus)
and of the Clarjeth, who had remained faithful to him, and managed to
* Op. cit., 457-458- t Hist, de la Georgie, 555. Note. X Id-, 556-557.

KHULAGU KHAN. iSg
collect a small army of 8,000 men, of which Sargis Jakel, whose courage,
military reputation, and physique were exceptional, was in command.
This army set out, and reached the valleys of the Mtsuar. Arghun crossed
Karthli, and having halted at Suram, detached a body of 6,000 men as an
advance guard, which proceeded to the valley of the Shola, and himself
remained at Shindara. Sargis had also detached an advance guard. This
was 1,500 strong, and went boldly across the bridge of Akhai Daba,
unaware of the proximity of the Tartars. It was then midwinter, and
there was a hard frost. Scarcely had they emerged from the defile when
the Tartar advanced guard was seen and very bravely charged by the
Meskhes, who broke it and pursued it for a long distance, returning to
Sargis with a number of Tartar heads as trophies. Sargis determined to
at once march against Arghun with the main body of the army. The
latter would have retired, but his Georgian allies would not allow him.
"We know how to fight these people," said Cakha Thorel, "we will
defeat them for you."* A hard struggle ensued, in which the Parthian
tactics of the Mongols were put in force. They professed to retreat, but
presently turned round on their pursuers, who were scattered, and
pitilessly slaughtered them. Few escaped, and they were pursued to the
bridge of Akhai Daba, or even further. Among the prisoners were
Murwan Gurcelel and others. Arghun now returned to Khulagu, and
Sargis to his unfortunate patron, King David. David having spent part
of the winter in Samtzkhe", went afterwards into Khawkheth (i.e., the
Caucasus) and Clarjeth (? Abkhazia), and entered into the valley of
Nigal (probably situated near Artanuj). When the spring grass was
ready for the horses, Khulagu again dispatched Arghun with his Georgian
allies, who laid waste Samtzkhe' and besieged Tzikhis Juar, otherwise
called Juaris Tzikhe", which he did not, however, succeed in taking. He
was a Mussulman, and no doubt enjoyed the task of harrying the
Christians. He was hastily summoned away by a message from Khulagu,
saying that the Khan of Turan (i.e., the chief of the Jagatai horde) was
meditating an attack upon him in Khorasan.t Juveni, who describes
these events very shortly, places them in the autumn and winter of
1259-60.} According to Guiragos, in the campaign just described, Arghun pursued
the king, but could not overtake him, and proceeded to cruelly ravage
Georgia. The famous monastery of Gelath in Imeretia (the burial-place
of the Georgian kings) was razed to the ground, as was Atzghur, the
residence of the Catholicos. Arghun having returned to his master
incited him to imprison Gontza, the wife, and Khoshak, the daughter of
King David, together with the Grand Prince Shahin Shah, Jelal ud din
Hasan, lord of Khachen, and many others, under pretence that they were
* Id-, 557-558- t Id., 558-559- I D'Ohsson, iii. 269.

19° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
behind in paying their tribute. A large sum of money was extorted from
them as the price of their lives. Jelal ud din was treated with especial
cruelty. He was called upon to pay a much larger sum than he could
afford, and as he could not meet the demand, he had a wooden collar, or
cangue, fastened about his neck, while his feet were chained. This
treatment was suggested by the fanatical Mussulmans, who knew that Jelal
was a very fervid Christian, and whom they described as the greatest
enemy of their faith. He was removed to Kazvin. Meanwhile his
daughter Ruzukan, who had married Pora Noyan, the son of the Mongol
general Charmaghan, went to entreat the good offices of Dokuz Khatun,
but Arghun, having heard of this, sent some executioners, who, having in
vain asked him to apostatise, put him to death during the night and
dismembered his body. This took place in 1261. His son Atabeg sent
furtively to collect his father's remains, which had been thrown into an
empty cistern. They were removed to the monastery of Kantza Sar, the
burial place of the princes of Khachen, situated on a mountain near the
town of Kantzag, in the province of Artsakh. A bright effulgence is said
to have surrounded the body of the prince. With the consent of
Khulagu and Arghun, he was succeeded in his principality by Atabeg,
who was much given to religious exercises, and harmless as an anchorite.
Zakaria, son of Shahin Shah, the Lord of Ain, having been accused before
Khulagu, was also put to death. He was in the Mongol service, and had
won the favour of its chiefs by his bravery. He was with the army which
ravaged Georgia, on which occasion, without informing Arghun, he went
to pay a visit to his wife, who was living with her father, Sargis, here
called Prince of Ukhthik (a town and district in the province of Daik),
who had taken part in the rebellion of King David. This having been
reported to Khulagu he was put to death, and his dismembered remains
were thrown to the dogs. When his father, Shahin Shah, heard the news,
he became so depressed that he also died. He was buried in the monastery
of K'opair, some distance to the south-east of Sanahin and Otzun. Its
Arabic name means a tomb.* The Georgian Chronicle makes out that
Zakaria, understanding that he was charged with being privy to Bereke's
invasion, to be mentioned presently, fled to King David, son of Rusudan,
in Kuthathis, where he was well treated. Presently the Khan having sent
for him, and sworn not to kill him, he trusted himself at his Court, where
he was nevertheless put to death.t
Let us now return to the fugitive king, David. We are told that on the
retreat of the Tartars, he returned to Samtzkhe', and summoned his friends
to ask their advice. Sargis said the province was too small for him
to live in, and he advised him to cross the mountains of Likh, and to go
to his cousin David, son of Rusudan, for each part of the kingdom really
* Guiiagos, ed. lirossct, 190-192. Jouin. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 499-503. t Op. cit., 568.

KHULAGU KHAN. 191
belonged jointly to the two princes, and added that he would devote
himself and all his wealth to his service, and if his cousin refused to have
anything to do with him he (Sargis) would at all events cling to him. He
accordingly sent a messenger to his cousin, who promised to receive him.
He went and was treated hospitably. There he remained a year.
Feeling, however, that he was treated as a stranger, Sargis plotted
with Kakhaber, Eristhaf of Raja, with the son of Kakhaber, and the
Phardjainans, sons of Kwabul, to nominate him as King, and he having
consented there arose a strife in Likht Imereth (i.e., the country beyond
the mountains of Likh). Some espoused the cause of David Lasha, and
others that of his cousin. The Dadian Bedian, son of Juansher, attached
himself to the latter. The Suans were also divided into parties.
Meanwhile, however, the two kings, notwithstanding that their partisans
were at issue, distributed no arms to them. They eventually decided to
divide the kingdom and the arsenal in two, as well as Tiflis and Kuthathis.
They also divided the thawads and eristhafs of Nicophsia at Derbend.
The famous necklace of diamonds, the precious stone cut in the shape of an
anvil, and the large pearl, which it would seem were celebrated Georgian
state jewels, fell to David, son of Rusudan. This partition applied only
to the part of Georgia beyond the mountains of Likh. The rest was too
closely controlled by the Tartars to be the subject of such arrangements.
Meanwhile Khulagu, who wished to make terms with David, ordered
Arghun to send him a messenger with a guarantee for his safety.
Another account reports that David's wife Gontza and his son Dimitri,
having been removed as prisoners to the Ordu, and the Khan having
determined to do the latter harm, the wife of a noyan who had no
children sent an express to David suggesting that peace might be made.
A treaty was therefore entered into. David was to be restored to his
kingdom, his wife, and younger son, while his elder son Giorgi was to be
detained as a hostage. Khoja Aziz, the author of his troubles, was
to be surrendered to him, to pardon or kill him as he wished,
while David was to go in person to Khulagu's Court. Enuk Arkun
(i.e., the Christian) acted as Khulagu's agent in this negotiation, and
answered with his head for the safety of the king and his son. He was
allowed to take the young prince with him. He took him to Tiflis, where all
the mthawars and eristhafs went to meet him. Among others was an
Armenian, named Badin, who had charge of Tiflis and of the throne.
Arghun made Giorgi some rich presents. He then went on to Khulagu's
Court. The latter sent his wife, Tonghul Khatun (the Kerait Dokuz
Khatun), who was a Christian, to meet him. When she saw him, we are
told, she loved him, for he was beautiful, she herself being the same. The
Khan was also pleased with him. He remained at the Mongol Court for
a year. David himself had not yet been to the Ordu, and excused himself
through Arghun on the ground that Khoja Aziz had not yet been

192 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
surrendered to him. At this the Khan was greatly irritated, and was
counselled by Arghun to put the young prince to death, and to intrust
him with an army ; and promised to bring him back in chains. Khulagu
thereupon ordered Giorgi and his attendants to be killed. At this news
Enuk Arkun at once repaired to Dokuz Khatun, who reproached her
husband with his cruelty in ordering the death of a descendant of such a
long race of kings, who had gone to him on the strength of his oath.
She added that he and Enuk Arkun were prepared to offer their lives for
the prince. She also urged that the ruler of the Khanate of Kipchak was
habitually intriguing to persuade the Georgian king to open for him the
passes of Darialman and of the west, which were in his power. " What
was the life of a Persian merchant to the danger of having the Ulus of
Batu in alliance with the King of Georgia?" We see here how it was
that the Georgian kingdom survived so long. The fact is the rival
policies of the Khans of Kipchak and of the Ilkhans made it easy to secure
an ally against either power when it assumed a threatening attitude.
Khulagu was disconcerted by these home truths. He at once handed
over Giorgi to Dokuz Khatun and Enuk Arkun to do what they pleased
with him, and they in turn offered to secure the attendance of David if
Khoja Aziz was handed over to them to take to him. This was done.
Enuk Arkun set out for Tiflis with his charges, and the king went to the
extremity of Kwishkheth, and stopped between that place and Suram. As
soon as Khoja Aziz was handed over to him he had him beheaded, and
his head was sent to Tiflis, where it was placed on a stake. Rashid ud
din mentions the death of Khoja Aziz. He calls him one of the governors
of Gurgistan (i.e., Georgia). This event happened, according to the
Persian historian, in November, 1262*
David now went to the Ordu, and was accompanied by his friend
Sargis, lord of Tzikhis-Juar and Jak, who insisted upon going, although
the safe conduct did not include him. The King was much pleased at his
devotion, and conferred on him the district of Kwabulian, in Samtzkhe,
and the church of Tbeth in the Khawkheth.t They presented them
selves to Khulagu at Berdaa, his winter quarters, without knowing what
their fate would be. He, a few days later, summoned David and the
mthawars to an interview. Everyone thought they would be put to death.
Khulagu, however, offered the king wine out of a gold cup with his own
hand, after the fashion of the Khans. The King and the mthawars
having seated themselves with their legs crossed, Khulagu then asked
him why he had rebelled and disobeyed his orders, and fought against
Arghun, and reminded him how, when an exile and condemned to death,
he had been drawn out of the pit filled with serpents and placed on the
throne. The King had nothing to say, and turned to Sargis, who had

» Quatremere, 395. t Hist, de la G&rgie, 563.564.

KHULAGU KHAN. 193
been the chief abettor of the attack on Arghun. Seeing that the blame
was going to be put upon him, Sargis rose and advanced towards
Khulagu, and said boldly, " It was I, great king, who attacked Arghun,
but the only blameworthy person was Khoja Aziz. He took the king's
domains, towns, and villages, and took possession of everything. He
ruined the churches and fortresses, most blessed Khan, and in order that
no one should suspect him he closed by corrupt means the avenues to
your Court. This is why I carried off the King, in order that the Khan
might cause inquiries to be made, and that his eyes might be opened as
they are now. Know too, oh Khan, that from time immemorial the
Persians have been the enemies of the Georgians. If I therefore fought
against Arghun it was because I could no longer bear the injustice of
Khoja Aziz towards the King. The King is innocent. It was I who
prevented him coming to your Court." The conversation was prolonged,
and diverged into various matters, Sadun Mancaberdel, who was an
excellent orator, acting as interpreter. Everyone expected that the King
would be punished and that Sargis would be put to death ; but happily, as
the interview was still in progress, one of the Khan's sentinels on the
route of Derbend arrived, saying : " This is no time for disputation. The
Grand Ulus of the Khan Batu is in motion, and the Khan and his son
Barkai are advancing towards Derbend with an innumerable army."*
The mention of Batu is an anachronism. He was then dead, and it was
his brother Bereke whose march was thus announced.
I have described the struggle between Khulagu and Bereke in a
previous volume.f Since writing that account I have met with fresh
materials. As we have seen, Bereke had become a convert to Muham
medanism. The very orthodox and inaccurate author of the " Tabakat-
i-Nasiri " gives us some characteristic details about him. He tells us he
was born about the time when his father captured Khuarezm (i.e., 618 HEJ.,
A.D. 122 1 ), and adds that the latter from the first was determined that he
should be brought up as a Mussulman, and that accordingly his nurse
severed his navel string in the Mussulman fashion, that he was suckled by
a Mussulman nurse, and taught the Koran by a Mussulman doctor. Some
reported that he had studied the Koran at Khojend with a pious ulema of
that city. On arriving at the proper age he was duly circumcised, and
when he arrived at manhood was set over the Mussulmans in his father's
ulus. Batu retained him in the same position, and confirmed him
in his command, fiefs, vassals, and dependents.} The " Shajrat ul
Atrak" has a similar story. It says Bereke refused to take the
breast of any female except that of the Mussulman woman who
brought him up. It also says his mother was a Mussulman. When
he grew up, his brother ordered him to go to various parts of the

* Id., 564-565 t Ante, ii. 113, &c. J Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1283-1284.
N

194 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
empire. On one occasion he went to Bukhara, where he fell in with the
Sheikh Hazrat Seif ud din Bakhurzin, a disciple of the Sheikh Nejm ud
din Kobria. He remained for some time under his tuition, when he was
ordered to return home, which he did by way of Chaji Turkhan (? Shash
or Tashkend) .* Minhaj i Saraj tells us how in the year 631 HEJ. (i.e.,
1234) a number of envoys went from Bereke to the Indian Sultan Iyal
tamsh, taking various rarities with them. The Sultan always refused,
however, to have communication with the Mongol chiefs, and these
envoys were sent to the fortress of Gwalior. They were Mussulmans,
and used every Friday to be present in the mosque there, and, our author
tells us, used to say their prayers behind his own nawab. Eventually the
envoys were removed from Gwalior to Kinauj, where they were restricted
to the limits of the city, and there died. Minhaj i Saraj tells us further
that Bereke made a pilgrimage to visit the illustrious ulemas at Bukhara,
and also sent envoys to the Khalif, who was said on two occasions during
his brother Batu's reign to have sent him robes of honour. All his army
consisted of orthodox Mussulmans, and trustworthy persons reported that
every one of his horsemen had a prayer carpet, and that they refrained
from intoxicating drinks. Bereke made companions of the great ulemas,
consisting of commentators, traditionists, theological jurists, and dis
putants, and had many^religious books. Most of his receptions and
debates were with ulemas, and in his place of audience debates on moral
science and ecclesiastical law constantly took placet These exaggera
tions are very pardonable when we consider what a notable event in
Mussulman history the conversion of such a potent Mongol chief as
Bereke must have been. We can well believe, too, that to a recent
convert the slaughter of the Khalif and his family by Khulagu must have
been a great outrage. In addition to this, Bereke, as we have pointed
out, had other grievances.} In regard to the death of his relatives the
Armenian monk, Malakia, reports matters somewhat differently. He says
that after the capture of Baghdad the Khan's seven sons, who were gorged
with riches, gold, and pearls, would not obey each other, but each one
followed his own way, and pillaged and laid waste the country. Khulagu,
their senior, thereupon wrote to his brother, the Khakan Mangu, in these
terms: "We seven chiefs of tumans, thanks to the grace of God and to
yours, have arrived here, and have taken with us the former temashis
(i.e., chiefs of tumans, meaning Baichu, &c). We have advanced and
captured Baghdad, the city of the Tajiks, and have returned thence
laden with treasures, thanks to the grace of God and yours. Mean
while, what are your wishes ? These people are lawless, and living
in anarchy; the country is devastated, and the ordinances of Chanks
Khan are not carried out, for he ordered us to cherish the lands
* Op. cit., 229. t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, T283-1286. J Ante, ii. ir4-

KHULAGU KHAN. 195
subject to us or conquered by us, and not to lay them waste. If
you have any other commands, give them, and we will obey." The
bearers of this letter were questioned by Mangu as to what had
occurred. He now ordered his arghuchis or judges to proclaim
Khulagu as Khan in the countries where he was, and that anyone who
disobeyed him was to be summoned to answer for it in Mangu's name.
The arghuchis thereupon summoned a kuriltai, to which all the various
chiefs, as also the King of Georgia with his suite, were summoned. The
Khan's sons, such as Balakhain, Bora, Tegudar or Nigudar, and Mighan,
son of Khuli, were summoned by special messengers. It having been
announced that Khulagu was to be supreme, four of the chiefs,
viz., Balakhain, Tutar, Ghataghan, and Mighan, became rebellious.
Nigudar and Bora were more submissive. The arghuchis ordered
Balakhain, Tegudar ,* and Tutar to be strangled with a bowstring (such
was the Mongol method of putting Khans to death), while Mighan, son
of Khuli, on account of his youth was arrested and imprisoned on an
island in the Lake of Urmia, called the White Sea by the Mongols. They
also ordered the troops of Khulagu, together with the Armenians and
Georgians, to march against the contingents of the guilty princes and
exterminate them, which was accordingly carried out. So many were
killed that the mountains and plains were infected with the Tartar
corpses. Two of the chiefs, however, named Nukhakuun and Aradamur
(the Ala Timur of the Georgian Chronicle) fled, taking with them twelve
horsemen and considerable treasure. They crossed the Kur, and went
with all speed to the country whence they had come (i.e., the Kipchak),
where they were protected by Bereke Khan, and for ten years committed
great depredations. Malakia goes on to say that Mangu's arghuchis then
proceeded to duly instal Khulagu (i.e., to instal him as ruler of the
western countries he had conquered).t
The Georgian Chronicle calls the Kipchak princes who were put to death
Tutar^, or Khutare", Balgha, and Kuli.} In regard to the families of the
slaughtered princes it adds some graphic details. We there read of the wives
of Tutar, Kuli, and Balgha, who were living in Greece (i.e., among the
Seljuki), escaping with their baggage under charge of a certain distinguished
person named Ala Timur, in the direction of Samtzkhe'. They were
pursued by Khulagu's people, and in a struggle which followed many of
the latter were killed. Ala Timur fought several successful engagements
with his pursuers before he reached the mountains of Kola. He at length
arrived at the village of Glinaf, in Lower Artan, where he met Murvan
Gurcelel, son of Makhujag. They would have killed him, but he
promised to conduct them to Imereth, whence they might escape to
Bereke Khan. But instead of this he treacherously led them to the
* This is a mistake ; perhaps Ghataghan is meant.
t Op. cit., 454-455. I Op. cit., i. 572, and note.

196 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
forest of Gurcel, in Samtzkhe, whence he sent on couriers to Sargis
Thmogwel, to Shalwa, son of Botzo, and all the Meskhes and people of
Sargis Jakel, to come and seize them. Ala Timur having heard of this,
took his charges across the Mtsuar (Kur) and went towards Jawakheth,
passed a place called Eladi, and reached Lerdzavni, below Oshora, where
Sargis barred his way ; but as soon as he saw the Tartars he and the
army retired. Murvan Gurcelel encountered them with a small force, but
was beaten and lost many men. The enemy then traversed Jawakheth
and Trialeth, and crossed the Kur at Rusthaf. A succession of fights
followed, in which Ala Timur was continuously successful. He traversed
Kambejian, Kakheth, and Hereth, and took the route to Belakan, entered
Ghundzeth {i.e., Kunzag, the country of the Avars), whose king gave him
battle, but he was again victorious, and eventually reached the Court of
the Khan (i.e., of Bereke) covered with glory. It was certainly a mar
vellous march, and we are told the survivors who accompanied Ala Timur
were given the style of aghnarghoms (superiors or elders).* Tutar, who
is also called Kutar, was put to death, according to the authority followed
by Major Raverty, for having caused Balgha's death by sorcery, on the
17th Safar, 658. The Sadr, Sauchi, he adds, was also put to death,
as he was charged with having prepared a charm for Tutar.t
In addition to the various causes enumerated in a former volume for"
the strife between the two cousins, Guiragos tells us there was this — that
Bereke supported Arikbuka, while Khulagu was a champion of Khubilai
in the struggle for the Khakanship, thus confirming my conjecture.}
Guiragos names the princes of the ulus of Juchi who were killed by
Khulagu, Kuli, Balakha, Tutar, Meghan, son of Kuli, Ghatakan, and
many others, who he says were exterminated with many of their followers ;
old and young all securing the same fate. Some escaped to Bereke.§ He
also adds the interesting statement that Alghui, the son of Jagatai, had a
feud with Bereke, because the latter had incited Mangu to destroy his
family,|| and that he accordingly wrote to Khulagu offering him his
alliance against the common enemy.1T On the other hand, Makrizi tells
us that Bibars, the Sultan of Egypt, having heard that Bereke had become
a Mussulman, sent to ask him to march against Khulagu.**
The envoys of Bibars and Bereke were welcomed at Constantinople,
where the Greeks had recently driven out Baldwin and his supporters,
who were allied with the Crusaders, the friends of Khulagu. The Emperor
asked Bibars to send a patriarch to take charge of the Melkits,ft while he
received the Sultan's envoy, who presently escorted the patriarch, very
graciously, and allowed an old mosque which had formerly been
* Op. cit., 570-571. t Tabakat-i-Nasiri, 1286. Note.
I Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 192. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 504. Ante, ii. 113.
$ Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 504. || Brosset has misread the passage.
IT Id. ** Op. cit., i. 170.
jt i.e., the Greek Christians who acknowledged the Patriarch of Antioch as their head.

KHULAGU KHAN. 197
occupied by the Mussulmans, and which was said to have been built in
the year 96 of the HEJ., to be restored. Bibars also allied himself with
Manfred, the famous King of Naples, who was styled Imperator by the
Arabs, and who was at deadly issue with the Pope.*
To revert to Bereke. We are told he assembled an army of 30,000
men to revenge his various wrongs. On his part Khulagu also collected
his forces, and divided them into three sections. He confided the first to
his son Abaka, associating with him the experienced Arghun, and sent
them to Khorasan, to join hands with Alghui, the ruler of the Khanate
of Jagatai. He posted a second division at the gate of the Alans (i.e., the
pass of Dariel); while he himself, with the third division, went towards
Derbend.t Bereke's army, under Nogai, who was a near relative of
Tutar, or Kutar, and therefore appropriately helped to avenge him, had
already crossed the mountains and was in the neighbourhood of Shirvan.}
It attacked the advanced guard of Khulagu, commanded by Shiramun, the
son of Charmaghan Noyan, and Semagher, or Shamaghu, and defeated
it with great carnage near Shamakhi, a chief named Sultan-juk being
drowned. This was on the nth of November, 1262J and the reverse
was apparently attributed to the flight of the troops of the Kipchak
princes Khuli and Bukan (? Mighan). || This defeat was avenged by
Abatai, who arrived shortly after, and Nogai was in turn badly defeated.
Thereupon Khulagu set out in person from Shamakhi for Derbend
Some of the Inaks, we are told, denounced the vizier, Seif ud din
bitkichi, as well as Khoja Azis, one of the governors of Georgia, and Khoja
Mejd ud din Kerman. They were all put to death, as well as Hosam ud
din, the astrologer, who was also denounced. Malik Sadr ud din, of
Tebriz, and Ali Malik, governor of Irak Ajem, escaped the last penalty
and were bastinadoed. We are not told what the offence of these officials
was, but it was probably some conspiracy on behalf of the Mussulman
princes who were at this time opposing Khulagu. The latter approached
Derbend, where some of the enemy showed themselves, but were driven
away by a flight of arrows, and the place was stormed. A fight took
place with a Kipchak army outside the walls, which lasted till nightfall.
It ended in the defeat of the latter.1T It would seem that when Shiramun
was beaten Khulagu sent his son Abaka with a force to the rescue. I
have already described what followed.** I would only add here that
among the victims in the battle on the Terek was Biurthel, nephew of the
Orpelian prince, Sempad.ft
The Georgian Chronicle in describing this campaign, in which the
Georgians took part, makes them as usual fight in the advance guard.
Sargis, after his recent revolt, was evidently put upon his mettle to prove

Weil, iv. 43-44. t Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 193. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 505.
X Ante, ii. 116. % Quatremere, 393. || St. Martin, ii. 285.
if Quatremere, 395. ** Ante, ii. 116. tt Hist, de Ia Siounie, 233.

198 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
himself a hero. When he had ranged his men, a so-called shweli, or wild
goat of the Caucasus, ran along the lines, and was killed by Sargis, who
was armed cap a pie. Presently he killed a fox, and last of all a hare.
Khulagu, having seen this, complimented him greatly. When the two
armies were close to one another a tall archer left the ranks of Bereke and
approached King David. The King put an arrow to his bow, and struck
this man's horse in the chest. The Georgians thereupon raised a cry
of joy, and charged. When Bereke's men were defeated and being
pursued, Khulagu was left with but four men on a small eminence.
The fugitives noticing this, seven of them rushed upon him. Sargis,
who was passing at the time with three other warriors, went to the
rescue and killed four of the assailants, the rest escaping. On his
return to Bardaa, Khulagu, we are told, covered the Georgian king
with honours, and gave Sargis Sarnukalak, with all the surrounding
district, and also Erak (? Irak).* This addition to his importance aroused
the jealousy of some of the Georgians, who urged on the king that Sargis
would now be so powerful that he would not obey him. He listened
to them, went to consult the "Noyan Elgon (called Engin by Wakhusht),
and told him that if the Khan gave Sarnukalak to Sargis he might
as well make him king. Elgon was surprised, and said the Khan
had thus rewarded him because he had defended him, but if it displeased
the King he would no doubt withdraw his gift. " You Georgians," he
added, " do not know how to reward those who behave bravely in battle.
Don't you know that Sargis saved the Khan's life, and fought most
gloriously?" On Elgon's report to the Khan, Sarnukalak was taken
away from Sargis, who was much irritated. The King was detained at
Bardaa during the winter by the Khan, while Sargis, who was disaffected,
went to Samtzkhd.f
Meanwhile, it would seem that Guantsa, or Gontsa, the widow of Avak,
and wife of the Georgian King David, remained among the Tartars,
among whom she was killed. According to the Georgian Chronicle, her
death was instigated by her daughter, Khoshak, who was married to the
Seviphaddar Khoja Shems ud din. Chamitch says it was Stephen the
Orpelian who ordered her death, seized her goods, and gave her daughter
in marriage to the Sahib divan of Khulagu. Stephen the Orpelian
himself tells us Sempad, by order of Khulagu, caused her to be
drowned, and appropriated the inheritance of Avak, of which he had
been trustee. It is probable that her death really occurred in 1262-3.}
The Georgian Chronicle says that the King, having thus lost his wife,
married Esukan, daughter of the great noyan, Charmaghan, and sister of
Shiramun, and left for Tiflis, where he celebrated his wedding with great
rejoicings. _* Op. cit., 565-566. t Hist, de la Georgie, 567-568.
X Hist, de la Georgie, 568-569. Note 4. Hist, de la Siounie, 234.

KHULAGU KHAN. 1 99
At this time there arrived at the Georgian Court, as fugitives from the
country of Bereke, two wonderful women named Limachav. They had
some young children with them of the race of Akhasarphasaian, the elder
called Pharejn and the younger Bakathar ;* there also went several
chiefs, who were sent on to Khulagu. He remitted them again to
David, who assigned them lands at Tiflis, Dmanis, and Jinwan.f
Khulagu himself, on the approach of October, went to Shirwan,
to a place called Chalan Ussuri, or White Water, where he formed
the entrenchment of a camp, which was called Siba (an Arabic word,
meaning an entrenchment). He went there as he expected an attack on
the part of Bereke Khan. From this time, we are told, the Tartars and
Georgians began to live at Siba from October till the spring.} Guiragos
says that the war lingered on from the year 1261 to 1265, the two sides
coming to blows every winter, but remaining quiet in the summer on
account of the great heats and the swollen rivers. §
Rashid ud din says that Khulagu, having heard that Nogai was
meditating another attack, ordered the Sheikh Sherif Tebrizi to cross the
mountains of Lesghistan and to spy out what he was doing. The Sheikh
having ventured into Nogai's camp, was made prisoner. Nogai asked
him if it was true that Khulagu in his fury had slaughtered his sherifs, his
grandees, his holy men, anchorites, and merchants. " It is true," said the
Sheikh, " that he was much irritated, and has burnt the green with the
dry ; but now," he added, diverting into poetry, " by his justice the fire
no longer burns the silk, and the kid sucks the lioness. Quite
recently envoys have arrived from Khitai with the news that Khubilai
has mounted the throne, that Arikbuka has recognised his authority, and
that Alghui is dead. A yarligh, addressed to Khulagu, gives him authority
over all the lands from the Oxus to the borders of Syria and Egypt, and
30,000 young Mongols, picked men, are marching to his assistance." On
hearing this Nogai was much disturbed, and the Sheikh returned again
to his master, who rewarded him handsomely. ||
At this time Jelal ud din, the son of the Little Devatdar, of whom we
heard much in the account of the overthrow of the Khalifate, who had
been much patronised by Khulagu, was nevertheless treacherous. He
urged that there dwelt in the territory of the Khalif many Kipchak
Turks, who knew perfectly the laws and customs of their country, and
requested permission to collect them together, so that they might form
the advance guard in the contemplated campaign against Bereke.
Khulagu approved of the notion, and sent a yarligh and a paizah ordering
the governors of Baghdad to make over to Jelal ud din what he should
require in the shape of arms and war engines, and that he was to be free
* Like Brosset, I am at a loss to explain this sentence.
t Hist, de la Georgie, 569. I Op. cit., 569. $ Op. cit., ed. Brosset, 193.
|| Quatremere, 399-401.

200 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to do as he pleased. He accordingly went to Baghdad, and having
assembled those whom he deemed suited for military service, told them
that Khulagu was enrolling them so that they might form a buckler and
shield from the blows of the enemy. He said that death was their
probable portion in the campaign, and if they survived it, it would only
be to be dragged to another elsewhere. "You know," he said, "my
origin, my family, and the ties which bind me to you. Although Khulagu
has shown me very great favour, I cannot permit you to be slaughtered.
I mean, with your help, to break the Mongol yoke. We must act
together." They agreed to follow him. Thereupon, crossing the bridge
of Baghdad, he fell on some Arabs of the tribe Khafajah, and captured a
number of buffaloes and camels, and took from the treasury at Baghdad
the horses, arms, and money necessary for the equipment of his men.
Soon after, having told them to hold themselves in readiness, with
their wives, children, slaves, servants, and goods, he again beat the drum
for departure, and crossing the bridge of Baghdad, said to them, " Let us
take our wives and families to visit the sacred places, for otherwise they
will have no other dwelling-places than Derbend, Shirvan, and Shamakhi.
As for the rest of us, let us provision ourselves from the Arabs of Khafajah,
who are our enemies." After crossing the Euphrates, he said to them,
" I mean to go to Syria and Egypt ; those who care may follow me, while
the rest may return." They were all afraid to speak, and went on together
by way of Anah and Hadithah towards Syria and Egypt. Khulagu was
naturally very much irritated when he heard of this treacherous act.*
Let us turn once more to Egypt, where a new Khalif was at this time
inaugurated. This was the Amir Abdul Abbas Ahmed, who had escaped
from the combat at A'nbar, as I have described. His inauguration took
place on the 8th Moharrem, 66 r, and he took the title of the Imam
Hakim bi Amr Allah, and when he had stated his genealogy, which was
attested by the Kadhi Mohai ud din, the Sultan swore allegiance to him,
and to his duty as a faithful Mussulman, whereupon the Khalif in turn
invested him with the empire "over kingdoms and men" (i.e., with universal
empire). His example was followed by the- various grandees, all in turn
doing homage to the new head of the faith. At the grand audience when
this ceremony took place the subjects of Bereke who had fled to Egypt,
as I have described,! were present. After dispatching the envoys whom
he sent to Bereke, and nominating Jemal ud din Akush as his viceroy at
Damascus, Bibars set out for Gaza, in Syria, where he regulated the
affairs of the Turkomans, and wrote to the ruler of Shiraz (i.e., of Fars)
and the Arabs of Khafajah, urging them to make war upon Khulagu, and
encouraged them by telling them how he had heard of Bereke's recent
victories over him.} From Gaza Bibars went on to Tur (i.e., Mount Tabor),
* Quatremere, 405-415. t Ante, ii. 114-115. J Makrizi, i. 189-190.

KHULAGU KHAN. 201
where he received a visit from Malik Ashraf, Prince of Hims, whom he
treated with great courtesy. Not so Moguith, Prince of Karak, who was
charged before the great officials, the judges, the ambassadors of the
Franks, &c, with having carried on a correspondence with the Mongols,
inciting them to invade Syria. From an intercepted letter of Khulagu it
would seem the latter had offered him the government of Gaza. He was
sent off prisoner to Egypt, where he was afterwards put to death.* Karak
was soon after conquered, while on another side Bibars laid a heavy hand
on the Crusaders, the allies of the Mongols, and returned home again
after what was really a triumphal progress. I have described the
embassies that passed at this time between Egypt and Kipchak at some
length, and how, in the autumn of 1263, a large body of Bereke's people
arrived in Egypt.t In the following spring there also went thither for
shelter several officers of the army of Fars, some chiefs of the Arab tribe
Khafajah, and the Amir of Irak Arab. They were rewarded with fiefs.
While Bereke and Bibars were united in their alliance, Khulagu was
befriended by Haithon, the King of Little Armenia, who made an
incursion upon the Egyptian territory, and advanced upon Aintab
(Makrizi says upon Sarfand). He had previously formed an alliance with
Rokn ud din, the Sultan of Rum. Bibars, who was kept well informed of
the doings of his neighbours, ordered the troops belonging to the
principalities of Hamath and Hims to advance upon Aleppo. The
Egyptian troops followed them. This was in 1262-3. The Armenians
were surprised and defeated, whereupon Haithon summoned to his help
700 Mongols who were encamped in Rum. With them he advanced into
Syria, and was joined by 150 horsemen from Antioch. This little army
encamped near Harim, but was obliged to withdraw by the severity of
the weather. Haithon tried to deceive the Egyptians into believing that
he had received a reinforcement, by dressing 1,000 of his men in Mongol
capes and caps, but it availed him nothing, and the Egyptians revenged
themselves by ravaging his borders and those of Antioch.}
The rivalry of Khulagu and Bibars extended to the realms of diplomacy,
and each one sought diligently for allies against the other. While Bibars
drew the ties with Kipchak closer, and offered a ready asylum in Egypt
to fugitives from the Ilkhan's dominions, the latter tried to win over some
of Bibars' dependents, and allied himself with the various Christian
communities, including the Crusaders, and with the rulers of Asia Minor.
About the same time Bibars heard from his secret emissaries in Irak that
Khulagu had dispatched two agents to try and tamper with his officers,
and that they had set off by way of Sis, the capital of Little Armenia. He
afterwards heard of their departure from Acre for Damascus, and ordered
them to be arrested there. They were sent on to Cairo, where they
* Makrizi, 191-193, 242. D'Ohsson, iii. 395. Abulfeda, v. 3-9.
t Ante, ii. 117-122. J Makrizi, L 234-236. D'Ohsson, iii. 393-394,

202 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
were interrogated, and not being able to clear themselves were duly
hanged.* Khulagu had, as we have seen, put his vizier to death in the spring of
1263, when he marched to Shamakhi, and appointed Shems ud din
Muhammed, of Juveni, in his place. He was given entire charge of the
affairs of the empire, while his brother, Alai ud din Atta Mulk, the historian,
was appointed governor of Baghdad.t The same year, Zain ud din Abul
Muayid Suliman, son of the Amir El A'sarbani, better known as El
Hafidi, was charged with embezzling some of the revenues of Damascus
when he was governor there. Khulagu also accused him of an attempt
to betray him, as he had betrayed his former masters, the Princes Nasir
and Hafiz, and still earlier the Prince of Baalbek. He was executed, with
all his family — his brothers, sons, relatives, and dependents, to the
number of fifty ; only one of his sons and one of his nephews escaped.}
Khulagu's attention was now turned to Fars. We have seen how its
ruler, Muzir ud din Abubekr, sent his brother Tahamtan with rich presents
to the Khakan Ogotai,§ with his submission. Ogotai granted him a
diploma of investiture, with the title of Kutlugh Khan. Fars, by this
submission, was saved from Mongol attack. Its ruler paid an annual
tribute of 30,000 gold dinars, which was not much, considering the
revenues of the province. In addition, the prince generally sent a
member of his family every year with presents to the Court of the Grand
Khan. When Khulagu marched west he was met on the Oxus by Seljuk
Shah, the nephew of Abubekr, who was well received by him. Abubekr
died in 1260, and was succeeded by his son Said, who died twelve days
later, leaving a young son in the care of his widow, Turkhan Khatun,
sister of Alai ud daulat, Atabeg of Yezd. This infant, named Muhammed,
died two years later, whereupon one of his uncles, named Muhammed
Shah, who had commanded the contingent of Fars in Khulagu's campaign
against Baghdad, succeeded. He was brave, but cruel, and his tyranny
caused discontent. He had married Turkhan Khatun (Von Hammer says
he married her daughter, Selgham). The Khatun, who disliked him, had
him arrested as he was passing her harem, and conducted to Khulagu,
with a message to the effect that he was not fit to reign. She then, with
Khulagu's consent, released Seljuk Shah, brother of Muhammed (so
named because he was descended from the Seljuki on the mother's side),
from his imprisonment in the citadel of Istakhr, married him, and put
him on the throne. He had a vile temper, and one day, when drunk,
having been taunted with what he owed to Turkhan Khatun, he ordered a
eunuch to go and decapitate her. Presently, the negro returned with the
head of the beautiful princess in a golden basin, whereupon her brutal
husband tore two pearls from her ears, and threw them to the musicians.
* D'Ohsson, iii. 394. t Quatremere, 403-405. X Novairi, in D'Ohsson, iii. 397.
§ Ante, 36.

KHULAGU KHAN. 203
He then fell upon the two Mongol commissaries at his Court — Ogul Beg,
or Oghlubeg, and Kutlugh Bitikji— killed one with his own hand, and had
the other put to death, as well as all their people. Thereupon Khulagu
ordered Muhammed Shah, whom he was about to release, to be put to
death, and sent his generals, Altaju and Timur, together with the con
tingents of Ispahan, Luristan, Yezd, Kerman, and Ij ,* to march upon
Fars. They sent a messenger to call upon Seljuk to submit, and offering
him pardon. The latter was cruelly maltreated. The Mongols accordingly
entered Fars, with the ruler of Kerman, the Atabeg of Yezd, who was
brother to Turkhan Khatun, and the Prince Ilk Nizam ud din Hasneviyeb,
who ruled a small mountain district of Fars. Seljuk Shah retired with
his troops to the borders of the Persian Gulf. The magistrates of Shiraz
went out with banners, korans, and provisions to meet Altaju, who, having
promised them safety, forbade his people to plunder and marched on.
They met Seljuk Shah at Kazerun, or Kiarsun. He fought desperately,
but had to give way, and took shelter in the mausoleum of a holy
sheikh, named Morshed, where he was duly beleaguered. Going up
to the saint's tomb, he struck its cover with his mace and broke it, saying,
" O, sheikh, come to my help," for it was known there that the sheikh had
bidden those who were menaced by any danger to let him know it at his
tomb. The Mongols soon forced their way in and captured the Atabeg,
who was put to death at the foot of the castle of Sifid. This was in
i264.t There only remained of the Salgar dynasty two daughters of
Said, son of Abubekr. One of these, named Abish Khatun,} who was
the daughter of Turkhan Khatun, was placed by Khulagu on the throne of
Fars. Timur, one of the Mongol generals, wished to exterminate the
people of Shiraz, as an example, but was restrained by his colleague, who
declared its citizens were innocent, and that the army could not do this
without an order from their master. He contented himself with carrying
off some of the notables to Khulagu's Court.
Meanwhile, the grand judge of Fars, Sherif ud din, who was one of the
chief Seyids or descendants of the Prophet in Fars, and therefore a person
of much consequence, having become ambitious, called upon the people
of the province to do him homage. In the various towns and villages he
passed through many attached themselves to him, believing him to be the
Madhi expected at the end of the world by the Shias, and that he per
formed miracles. Having adopted the insignia of royalty, he went from
Shebankiareh to Shiraz with a crowd of followers. The Mongol prefect
and Abish Khatun's chief minister sent an army of Mongols and Mussul
mans against him. The rival forces met each other at Guvar. It was
thought that spirits fought for the Sheikh, and that whoever struggled
* The capital of the Shebankiar princes.
t Mirkhond, quoted by D'Ohsson, iii. 397-402. Weil, iv. 131-132. Ilkhans, i. 241-243.
X See Ilkhans, i. 243. Note.

204 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
against him would be paralysed. At first the people of Shiraz were in
consequence afraid to fight, but two soldiers having ventured to shoot
their arrows others followed their example. The Mongols now charged
the insurgents, who fled, and the Seyid with the greater part of his people
were killed. This was in May, 1265. When Khulagu heard of the
revolt he ordered Altaju to be bastinadoed for having interfered with his
colleague's wish to destroy the people of Shiraz, and he sent a tuman of
soldiers to wreak his vengeance on the place ; but hearing that the Seyid
had been killed, and that the Shiraz people had not taken his part, he
revoked his order.*
After reigning for a year, Abish Khatun, who is called Uns by
D'Ohsson, was summoned to the Ordu to marry Mangu Timur, son of
Khulagu. From this time Fars was governed by the Mongol Divan, in
the name of Abish, who brought her husband a handsome dowry, com
prising a sixth of the domains of Shiraz, with an annual charge of 8,000
ducats upon them. She reigned nominally for twenty years, but the
authority was really in the hands of the Mongol baskaks and maliks. On
her death, in 1287, at Tebriz, the Salgarid dynasty came to an end.}
We will now turn to an obscure corner of our subject. A turbulent
tribe of Kurds, named Shebankiars, occupied one of the five districts of
Fars called Darabgherd. They succeeded in forming a separate princi
pality, under Nizam ud din Mahmud, son of Yahia, grandson of
Hasuieh, or Hasnuieh. In 624 the principality was ruled by Muzaffer
ud din Muhammed, son of Almarz, son of Hasuieh, who increased his
territory by the conquest of several towns and districts bordering on
Hormuz. The district of Shebankiareh was bounded towards Fars by
Hasuieh, Rabir, and Khireh. In another direction were the towns of Mish-
kanat, Lar, Babek or Sanek,and Guristan, seven parasangs from Hormuz.}
The turbulent Shebankiars made raids on Fars, burnt the palm and other
fruit trees, destroyed the crops, &c, arid the troops of Fars sent against
them made really no impression. In the year 658 HEJ. (i.e., 1260),
Khulagu sent Tekucheneh, of the Jelair tribe, with orders to capture
the fortress of Ij, the capital of the Shebankiars. He advanced with
17,000 men to attack it. Malik Muzaffer ud din Shebankiari and the
garrison bravely defended it, when at length he was struck in the eye
with an arrow, and died. His children and the principal inhabitants of
the place thereupon determined to submit. Tekucheneh, having thus
secured the capital, marced upon Esfid (the White Castle), situated to the
south. This he captured, broke down its walls, and destroyed its
cisterns. Ij itself, we are told, contained 17,000 houses, squeezed close
together round the citadel. It was much favoured by nature, and
produced the fruits both of warm and cold countries, and its purple
* Mirkhoud, in D'Ohsson, iii. 402-404. t Id., 404. Ilkhans, i. 243,
X Quatremere, 445-446.

KHULAGU KHAN. 205
oranges, figs, and apricots were especially noted. Having secured the
treasures in the place, Tekucheneh conferred the principality of Sheban
kiareh on Kutb ud din Mubarez, son of Malik Mozaffer ud din, and
appointed Mongol darughas to be with him. Eleven months later, on
the ioth Zulhijah, 659, Kotb ud din was assassinated by his brothers. He
was succeeded by Nizam ud din Hasuieh, or Hasnuieh, son of Ghiath
ud din Muhammed, and grandson of Muzaffer ud din. He fell on Zebr
the 2nd, 662, in a fight with Seljuk Shah, near Kazerun, and was succeeded
by his brother, Nusret ud din Ibrahim, by a special edict of Khulagu, and
as his brother had been killed in fighting for the Khan he received
orders, according to Mongol custom, to marry his widow. She eventually
married in succession two of her husband's brothers. Nusret ud din
died on Zebr the 2nd, 664, and was succeeded by Jelal ud din Taib Shah,
who was on the throne for seventeen years.*
In the latter part of 1264 the Mongols laid siege to El Biret, where the
Amir Jemal ud din Akush commanded on behalf of Bibars. It was deemed
the key of Syria, and they proceeded to fill up its ditch with wood. The
besieged mined underneath and set fire to the wood, and the battery of
seventeen catapults which was brought against the walls was met by a
vigorous resistance on the other side, in which even the women took part.
It seems that the Franks had written to the Mongols advising them to
invade Syria in the spring, when the Syrian troops were dispersed in their
several fiefs and their horses were out at grass. When Bibars heard
that El Biret was being assailed he sent a contingent under the Amir
Iz ud din Aigan, and four days later a second body, under Jemal ud din
Aidogdi, to its assistance. Bibars set out in person on the 27th of
January, 1265. He arrived six days later at Gaza, and there heard of
the precipitate retreat of the enemy, the fact being that on the approach
of the Amir Aigan, in alliance with Mansur, Prince of Hamath, they had
raised the siege and hastily retired. Bibars ordered El Biret to be
supplied with arms, provisions, and everything that would enable it to
sustain a siege for ten years. He sent 200,000 drachmas and 300 robes
of honour to be distributed among its defenders.t Meanwhile, he pro
ceeded to press the Crusaders once more. Abulfeda tells us that this
year (i.e., 1264) he captured Carkesia (i.e., Circesium, one of the
towns on the Euphrates) from the Tartars, which was governed in his
name by Rahaba.}
Let us return once "more to Khulagu. He spent the year 1264 in
reforming the administration of his dominions. He charged his eldest
son, Abaka, with the government of Irak, Mazanderan, and Khorasan, as
far as the Oxus. To Yashmut, his third son, he intrusted Arran and
Azerbaijan, as far as the Araxes. The provinces of Diarbekr and Diar-
* Quatremere, Rashid ud din, 447-448. t D'Ohsson, iv. 404-406.
X Op. cit., v. 17.

206 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
rabia, from the Tigris as far as the Euphrates, were made over to the
Amir Tudan. Rum was assigned to Mo'yin ud din P'ervaneh, Tebriz to
the Malik Sadr ud din, Kerman to Turkan Khatun, and Fars to the
Amir Ankianu* This is Rashid's statement, but in reference to
Kerman it is certainly a mistake, for Kerman was subject to the family of
Borak, the Kara Khitaian.
Vartan tells us how, during the year 1264, the great Ilkhan, Khulagu,
summoned him by a man named Shnorhavor (i.e., the gracious), who had
acquired considerable influence at the Courts of Khulagu and Batu.
Shnorhavor transported him and his companions, viz., the Vartabieds Sargis
and Gregory and the married priest Avak, from Tiflis. They arrived at
the solemn season of the Mongol new year, that is, in July, when the
Tartars spent a month in feasting, and held their kuriltai or grand
assembly, which was attended by the various chiefs and by the
subject princes. Each day, says our author, those who attended the
meeting wore a costume of a different colour, j Vartan noticed at the
Court, Haithon, King of Little Armenia, David, King of Georgia, the
Prince of Antioch, and a number of Sultans from Persia. When he was
admitted the ceremony of prostration was excused. Khulagu caused his
visitor to bless the wine which he received from his hands. " I have
sent for you," said the Mongol chief, " that you might see me and make
my acquaintance, and pray for me with all your heart." He caused him
to be seated, and offered him wine, while the monks, his companions,
chanted hymns. The Georgians, the Syrians, and the Greeks all
celebrated their offices. Khulagu, noticing what a crowd of clergy had
assembled, said he had summoned only him, and wanted to know why
they had gone at this particular time to see and bless him — a most
unusual phenomenon — and concluded that it was by the special favour of
God, a view in which Vartan diplomatically concurred. On one occasion
he sought a more private interview with our chronicler, making his people
stand at a distance, and related to him, in the presence of two others
only, the various events of his life from his childhood. He told him that
his mother was a Christian, and that he felt much attached to the
Christians, and, taking his hand, bade him speak frankly if he wanted him
to do anything. Vartan says he answered as he was inspired : "Just as
you are raised above other men, so are you more like a god. The throne
of God reposes on justice. He gives to each nation the empire of the
world, and puts it to the proof. Hitherto these nations have ravaged the
earth and been pitiless towards the unfortunate. They now have to bear
a heavy servitude themselves, and their plaints are laid before God, who
has taken the power away from them and given it to others. If you are
benefactors to the people and pitiful to the weak, He will not take it from
* Quatremere, Rashid ud din, 403. f Compare the statements of Rubruquis, &c.

KHULAGU KHAN. 207
you, but will let you keep what He gave you, for He takes away from one
and gives to another as He pleases. Place about your gates men who
fear God and are faithful to yourself. When the unfortunate come to you
with tears in their eyes, and with nothing to offer, send them home again
satisfied. Cause your realm to be inspected by honest men, who will not
take bribes, and will report the truth to you." Khulagu replied that it
was singular these views should have been already impressed on his
heart, and asked if God had appeared to his visitor or spoken to him.
Vartan said no, he was but a poor fisherman, and had merely read the
books of men who had spoken on God's behalf, while kings were in the
hands of God, who it was clear had spoken to him (Khulagu) personally.
He went on to tell him that all the Christians who lived on land or sea
were devoted to him at heart, and did not cease to pray for him. " I
believe it is so," said Khulagu, " but the Christians are not in God's
presence. What good will it do if they pray to Him for me? Can they
secure a favourable hearing? Can the Christian priest cause God to
come down on to the earth. Those alone pray to God who follow His ways.
On these questions we and our brothers are at issue, for we love the
Christians and their faith is favourably looked upon by us, while they
favour the Mussulmans. Why don't you wear a robe of golden tissue,
instead of one of sheep's skin?" Vartan replied, he was not a grandee;
but a simple monk ; that gold and dust were to him of equal value, and
what he would prize much more would be to secure his goodwill for the
people. The conversation ended by Khulagu offering him money to buy
incense for his church. At a subsequent interview, where he bade him
adieu, Khulagu gave him a balish and two dresses. He also gave him a
yarligh or diploma, which he bade him read to see if it contained what he
wished, and if not to alter it, and told him he had confided the care of his
country and person to Sakhaltu and Shampandin, with orders to obey his
behests.* Abulfeda thus enumerates the provinces ruled by Khulagu : Khorasan,
whose capital was Nishapur ; Irak Ajem, commonly called Belad al Jibal
(i.e., the mountainous region), whose capital was Ispahan ; Irak Arab,
whose capital was Baghdad ; Azerbaijan, with its capital, Tebriz ;
Khurestan, with its capital, Tostar (i.e., Shuster) ; Fars, with its capital,
Shiraz ; Diar Bekr, with its capital, Mosul ; and Rum, whose capital was
Conia (i.e., Iconium).t Rashid says he had been told by the Sheikh Shems
ud din, of Ispahan, that Khulagu never enjoyed absolute authority. He ruled
as the viceroy of his brother Mangu, and could not strike money in his
own name, but the dinars and dirhems were struck in the name of Mangu
Khan, a practice which was followed out by Khulagu's son, Abaka.
Arghun, the son of Abaka, was the first to add his name to the coins, and
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 300-305. t Op. cit., 1. 15-17.

208 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Gazan eventually excluded the Khakan's name altogether. During the
reign of Khulagu and his successors the Khakan had an amir who lived
at their Courts as his representative, and who was treated with great
consideration and honour,* but after the step taken by Gazan, as above
mentioned, this office virtually ceased, and became of small repute. The
author of the "Mesalik Alabsar" confirms the statement that Khulagu
never had absolute authority. During Khulagu's reign and those of his
successors the Khakan used to send an amir into Iran, who lived there
as his representative, and who was treated with every honour and
consideration by the reigning Ilkhan.t
The actual power of Khulagu was no doubt greatly strengthened by
the struggle which took place for the supreme Khanship of the Mongols
in Mongolia. I described this struggle in a former volume.} We are
told that among those who supported Arikbuka against Khubilai was
Jumkur, the son of Khulagu, who had his camp in Mongolia, in Mangu's
old country, and was therefore constrained to side with Arikbuka, who
represented the Nomadic Mongols against Khubilai, whose settlement in
China, and adoption of Chinese habits, had probably irritated his less
sedentary subjects. When, subsequently, Arikbuka declared war against
Alghui, the chief of the Jagatai Horde, Jumkur accompanied him; but,
feigning illness, he left him when near Samarkand and went to join his
father, who all through took the side of Khubilai, as his rival, Bereke, did
that of Arikbuka. Jumkur had been previously ordered by Khulagu to
remain neutral.§ Khubilai rewarded Khulagu's constancy by appointing
him, as we have seen, ruler of all the country from the Oxus to the
borders of Egypt,|| and he adopted the title of Ilkhan, on which see the
note at the end of the chapter.
Khulagu died on the night of the 19th Rebi, 663 (i.e., the 8th of
February, 1265), at the age of 48. "A comet," says Rashid ud din,
" appeared in the sky, in the shape of a pointed column, and showed
itself for several nights. When it at length disappeared there happened
the great catastrophe."1T Makrizi also describes this comet in some
detail, and from his account it must have been a very imposing object.**
Malakia and Guiragos also describe it at some length. The former says
that Khulagu, as soon as he saw it, knew that it referred to him. He
touched the ground with his head and adored God, and his fears increased
greatly as its light diminished. Khulagu survived the appearance of this
comet only for a year, when he died, leaving thirty sons.ft Vartan, in
referring to the great chief's death, uses the turgid phrase, " Death, with
his great foot, overthrew this lofty mountain, and levelled it with the
* Quatremere, 12. Note. t Quatremere, Rashid ud din, 12-13. Notes.
I Ante, i. 217, &c. % Quatremere, 101. Ilkhans, 1. 222.
|| Rashid ud din, quoted by Quatremere, 12-13. Notes. ¦[[ Quatremere, 417.
** Op. cit., i. 241-242.
tt Malakia, 458-459- Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 194. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 508,

KHULAGU KHAN. 209
plain." This contrasts sharply with the terse words of Abulfeda, " In the
year 683, 4th month and 9th day, there died the cursed chief of the
Tartars, Hulaku, son of Tului, son of Jingis Khan, near Meragha."* It
happened in his winter quarters, on the banks of the River Chagatu
Nagatu, that is, says Rashid, the Zerineh rud, or golden river.f (See
Note 3.) According to the Egyptian historian, Ibn Tagri berdi, Khulagu
was subject to fits of epilepsy, which perhaps account for his strange
cruelties at times, and the attacks became more and more frequent, until
he had two and three fits in one day. He at last became worse, and after
lingering for two months, died.} He was buried on the summit of the
mountainous island of Shahu, opposite Dihkhawarkan (the Deschawakan
of Von Hammer). D'Ohsson identifies it with Yala, on Lake Urmia, but
Von Hammer questions this, and quotes Rashid to show it was near
Mount Sehend (i.e., near Kazvin). § According to Mongol custom, they
placed gold and precious stones in the tomb, while some young and
beautiful damsels, in rich garments, were buried with him, and funeral
meats were offered at his grave for several days.||
Vartan tells us that on one occasion Khulagu said to him, " I have not
sent for you to obtain exemption from death for me, for I know it to be
inevitable, but that you will pray God that I may not die by the treason
of my enemies." " God alone knows," says this chronicler, " whether this
wish was gratified, for the news spread abroad that he was in fact
poisoned."1T This is not altogether unlikely, when we consider the
animosity he and his wife showed to the Mussulmans. His death was
quickly followed by those of two of his wives — one of them the mother
of his eighth son, Ajai, eight days after his own death ; and four months and
eleven days later the famous Princess Tokuz, or Dokuz Khatun, who had
been his father's wife before she joined his harem.** She was a Christian,
and through her influence, as Rashid ud din says, the Christians were
much favoured by Khulagu, who, profiting by this patronage, built many
churches in various provinces. ff Vartan says the Tartars carried about
with them on their journeys a cloth tent in the form of a church, where
the jamahar or rattle called the faithful to prayers, and where priests and
deacons performed the services daily. There were also schools for
the children. The ecclesiastics were well treated at their Court, and
consequently crowded thither from all parts.}} Malakia says much the
same.§§ The deaths of Khulagu and his wife were naturally much regretted by
the Christians. Rashid tells us how, to please her, Khulagu had loaded
them with favours, that churches daily arose in various parts of the
empire, and that one was always stationed at the gate of her ordu,
* Op. cit., v. 15. t Quatremere, 401. D'Ohsson, iii, 406-407. I Id., 406. Note 3.
§ Quatremere, 417. Ilkhans, 229. |j D'Ohsson, iii. 406-407. Wassaf, 97.
^[ Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 308. ** Quatremere, Rashid ud din, 419-423.
tt D'Ohsson, iii. 407. II Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 290. §§ Op. cit., 455.
O

2I° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
where bells were sounded* Bar Hebraeus writes, in 1265, "At the
beginning of Easter died Khulagu, whose wisdom, magnanimity, and great
deeds are not to be matched. The following year died the very faithful
queen, Dokuz Khatun. The grief of Christians in all the world was
very great at the departure of these great lights and protectors of the
Christian religion."} Stephen Orpelian speaks in even stronger terms.
" The great and pious king, the master of the world, the hope and stay
of the Christians, Khulagu Khan, died in the year 1264. He was soon
followed by his respected wife, Dokuz Khatun. They were both," he
adds, " poisoned by the crafty Sahib Khoja. The Lord knows they were
not inferior in well-doing to Constantine and his mother Helena ! ! ! "}
Haithon, speaking of Dokuz Khatun, says she was devoted to the
Christians and very zealous in destroying the temples of the Saracens,
and so illused the latter that they dared not show themselves.g
This sympathy for the Christians seems to have reached the ears of the
Roman Pontiff, and Odoric Raynald has published a letter without name
or date, but which he assigns to Alexander IV., and the year 1261. The
Pope expresses the pleasure with which he had heard from a certain
Hungarian, named John, how he had been commissioned by Khulagu to
report to him his willingness to become a Catholic, and his wish that
some one would go and baptise him. " O what joy," says the Pope, " fills
our heart when we consider how your presence will delight your Maker
and Redeemer, who gave Himself up for the salvation of mankind to the
punishment of the Cross, if you present yourself on the day of judgment
with the mark of baptism and the other emblems of Christianity ; not only
you, but all your subjects, who will no doubt follow your example, a fact
which will increase your merit and your eternal recompense. Surrounded
by this crowd, rescued from the very throat of the enemy, with what
safety will you await this terrible judgment. Consider, my son, consider
how transitory is this life— how quickly and easily the body decays. If you
have any such intention, therefore, it would be well to lose no time. See
how it would enlarge your power in your contests with the Saracens if
the Christian soldiery were to assist you openly and strongly, as it could,
with the grace of God. You would thus increase your temporal power,
and inevitably also secure eternal glory. For the rest, as the afore
said John has not produced clear proofs of his commission, we have
addressed our letters to our venerable brother, the Patriarch of Jerusalem,
telling him to inform himself of your Serenity's intentions, and then to
write to us. This is why we request you to confide your wishes to the
patriarch, so that we may make all the necessary arrangements." ||
Guiragos tells us how Khulagu was much imposed upon by the Tartar

* Quatremere, 95. t Op. cit., Chron. Syr., 567. Chron. Arab., 355.
I Hist, de la Siounie, 234-235. St. Martin Memoires, ii. 151-153- $ Op. cit., 44.
) Mosheim, Hist. Eccl. Tart., Appendix, xvii. D'Ohsson, iii. 410-412.

KHULAGU KHAN. 211
magicians, whom they called Tuins, who he says could make horses,
camels, and the idols made of felt* talk. The priests had their heads
shaved, and wore yellow mantles fastened about their necks. They
adored everything, but especially Sakyamuni and Madri (i.e., Maitreya).
The former, says Vartan, was a god, and had already lived 3,040 years ;
he still had 37 tumans of years (i.e., 370,000), when Madri would evict
him. They persuaded Khulagu that he himself would live to a great age
in his present body, and would then pass into a new one.f He regulated
his conduct by their decisions, and halted, marched, or mounted on
horseback when they pronounced it propitious. He daily prostrated
himself several times before their chief. He ate meats consecrated in
the idol temples, and treated the priests with greater consideration than
anyone else, and was very lavish in gifts to their temples. His wife,
Dokuz Khatun, reproached him frequently, but she could not turn him
aside from these magicians.}
Malakia tells us that many kings and princes having offered him rich
presents, Khulagu became so powerful and rich that his horsemen and
troops were innumerable. His riches, precious stones, and pearls were
like the sands of the sea, without counting all kinds of precious things,
a great quantity of gold and silver, and horses and cattle without number.
Personally, he says, he was a man of great intelligence and justice, that
he was very cultivated, and although he shed a great quantity of blood, he
only put the wicked and his enemies to death, and not good men ! ! ! He
loved the Christians more than any others. He reports that when he
once levied a tax of 200,000 heads of sows§ upon Armenia, he sent 200
swine into each of the towns belonging to the Tajiks (i.e., the Persians),
with orders that they were to eat them, and ordered a special report to be
furnished him of those who ate the pork. If any Tajik, great or small,
refused to eat, he had him decapitated. He did this (i.e., this outrage
upon Muhammedan feelings) to please the Georgians and Armenians in
his service, who, from their bravery, he named bahadurs. His body
guard, who took charge of the entrance of his tent, was made up of the
sons of the great Armenian and Georgian princes, whom he named
kesiktoi. They were armed with bows and arrows. He began the
restoration of the places which had been devastated, and selected certain
artisans from each town, whom he called yam, one from each of the
small ones and two from the great, and sent them in various directions to
repair the ruins, exempting them from all taxes except to supply bread
and soup to the Tartars who should pass that way.||
Novairi reports some singular judgments given by Khulagu. Several
people went one day to ask justice from him against a manufacturer of
* The idola or imagines de Jiltro of Rubruquis and Piano Carpini, and ies dieux de feutre of
Marco Polo. t Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 306.
I Guiragos, ed. Brosset, 193-194. Journ. Asiat,, 5th ser., xi. 507.
§ Brosset says the translation of the word is doubtful. II Op. cit., 456-457.

212 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
files, who had killed one of their relatives, and who they demanded
should be given up to them for punishment. Khulagu having inquired if
there were many manufacturers of files in the country, and learning there
were only few, ordered the aggrieved to avenge their relative's blood upon
a manufacturer of pack saddles, for they were numerous. As they insisted
that this would not do, he made over a cow to them in satisfaction. On
another occasion, a gold embroiderer having thrust out the eye of a man
in a quarrel, Khulagu ordered an arrow maker to be deprived of an eye,
and when asked the reason for this curious decision, he said the
embroiderer had need of both eyes, while the other had need of but one,
since he closed the other to see if his arrow was straight.* He was very
fond of architecture.! The year before his death he divided between his
architectural works and the administration of the empire. He also pushed
on the completion of the observatory at Meragha, which we have already
named. Rashid ud din says he was also very fond of philosophy. He
encouraged learned men to discuss science and history, and granted them
pensions and gifts, and was especially fond of alchemy. In the pursuit
of this hobby, says the matter-of-fact historian, his assistants burnt a
great number of different substances and, " without any real gain, caused
many large and small volumes of smoke, and made some large earthen
crucibles. But all this produced nothing, and merely earned them their
morning and evening meals. Nor could they produce a single piece of
gold or silver which they had made, from their laboratories. The amount
of money wasted in this search was so enormous that the unfortunate
Karun,during all his life, and with the aid of the philosopher's stone,
could not have replaced it."}
Khulagu had six wives and twelve concubines. The first wife was
Dokuz Khatun, of whom we have said so much. She had been betrothed
to his father, Tului, shortly before the latter's death, but Tului had not
consummated the marriage. According to Mongol custom, Khulagu
married his stepmother. Her niece Tukuri, or Tukiti, became one of
his concubines, and inherited her ordu.§ Dokuz was the daughter of
Ittiko, or Iku, second son of Wang Khan, and was therefore niece of
Khulagu's mother. They neither of them had children. He also married
two wives from the Uirat tribe, viz., Kubak, Koyuk, or Kuik Khatun,
and her half-sister Oljai, the former the mother of his second son, Jumkur,
and the latter of his eleventh son, Mangu Timur. They were both
daughters of the Uirat chief, Turalji. Kuik's mother was Jijegan, daughter
of Jingis Khan. Kuik was the first wife married by Khulagu. She died
in Mongolistan. He also had two wives from the Kunkurat tribe —
Kutui Khatun, the mother of Tekshin (called Bikin and also Tekshi by
Quatremere), his fourth, and of Ahmed Takudar, his seventh son ; and
* D'Ohsson, iii. 409-410. t Vide infra. Note 3. I Quatremere, 401-403.
$ Quatremere, 95.

KHULAGU KHAN. 213
Mertai Khatun, who was childless. The former had the ordu of Kuik
given her when she died. Yisut, or Yisunchin (Quatremere calls her
Sunjin), of the Suldus tribe, was the mother of Khulagu's eldest son
and successor, Abaka, who was only a month older than Jumkur.* Yash
mut and Tuzin, Khulagu's third and sixth sons, were by a Chinese concu
bine, named Tukaji, or Bukajin Ikaji, who was a slave in the household of
his wife Kutui. Tarakai, who was killed by lightning in Persia, was the
son of Burkajin, also a slave in Kutui's household ; he was Khulagu's fifth
son. The mother of Ajai, his eighth son, was Irtikan Ikaji (called Arikak
by Quatremere), also in the household of Kutui. He remained at
the head of her establishment when Khulagu marched westwards.
Ajuji or Juji Ikaji, the mother of his ninth son, Kuikurtai, or
Kunkurtai,t was a slave in the household of Dokuz. She was after
wards decked with the boktak or pyramidal cap, which was the symbol
and privilege of a wife, as distinguished from a concubine.} Yesudar,
the tenth son, had Uwishjin (Quatremere calls her Hesijin, sister
of Akrabeighi), the Kurlas, for his mother ; Hulaju, his twelfth son,
had II Kaji, a slave in the household of Dokuz, for his ; while the mother
of Sherbaweji, or Siauji, the thirteenth, and Taghai Timur, the four
teenth son, was also a slave in the household of Kutui. Her name is
illegible in the MS. followed by Quatremere. Of Khulagu's seven daughters,
Bulughan Aka was the daughter of Kobak, or Kuik. She married her
uncle, Jume Kurkan, the son of the Tartar Juji, brother of Bokdan Khatun,
chief wife of Abaka Khan ; on her death he married Jemi, Khulagu's
second daughter by his wife Oljai (Quatremere calls her Hami). His
third daughter, Mengelugan, or Manglukan, also by Oljai, was married to
Jaku, or Jakir, Kurkan, the son of the Uirat Buka, or Tuka, Timur, and
the brother of Oljai ; she therefore married her uncle. His fourth
daughter, Tutukaj, or Budakaj, by a slave in the household of Dokuz, was
first married to the Uirat Tengkir, or Tenker, Kurkan ; she afterwards
married his son Sulamish, and lastly his grandson Jijak Kurkan, so that she
was married to the father, son, and grandson. The fifth, Tarakai, whose
mother was the concubine Irtikan Ikaji (Quatremere here calls her
Baganikaji) already named, was married to the Kunkurat Musa Kurkan,
the grandson of Jingis Khan, by his daughter Tumalun. The sixth
daughter, Kutlukan, or Kotlkan, whose mother was Menklikaj ikaji, was
first married to Yisubuka Kurkan, of the tribe Durban, and afterwards
to his son Takel. Baba, Khulagu's seventh daughter, whose mother was
Oljai, was married to Legsi, or Lekzi, Kurkan, the son of the famous
amir, Arghun Aka, of the Uirat tribe.§
During Khulagu's reign coins were struck both in silver and copper.
They may be divided into two series — those struck during the supremacy
* Ilkhans, i. 82-83. t Quatremere, 107. I Id.
i Ilkhans, i- 83-86. Quatremere, 107-113.

214 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
of Mangu (spelt Monghe on the coins) as Supreme- Khan, on which Mangu's
name and title occur in full ; and those struck during the reign of
Khubilai, in which only the Grand Khan's title occurs, and on which the
inscription reads : " The very great Kaan ; the great Hulagu Ilkhan."
During the former period Khulagu styles himself Khan on his coins,
and during the latter Ilkhan. On his coins in the British Museum,
Mosul, El Basrah, Mardin, El Mubarakiyeh, El Jezireh, Irbil, and Jorjan
occur as mint places. As in the case of some of the Khans of the Golden
Horde, previously referred to,* coins occur with Khulagu's name on them
struck in the years 665-669, that is, after his death.t These posthumous
coins are probably to be explained in the same way as those of Janibeg.}

Note 1. — On his coins struck during the reign of Mangu, as we have seen,
Khulagu styled himself Khan, but after the accession of Khubilai he called
himself, as did his successors, Ilkhan. This title has received more than one
explanation. Quatremere has devoted a learned note to it. //, in the dialect
of Jagatai-Turkish, and in Persian, means nation, tribe, or people. The word
is used also as an adjective, and then means subject, dependent. As used by
the Mongols, Ilkhan doubtless meant Khan of the people, or of the nation. It
must be remarked, however, that in a marginal note to a passage in Wassaf
// is glossed as meaning " Great," Ilkhan thus meaning Great Khan. The
former meaning is, however, much more probable.§ Fraehn, in a memoir on
the coins of the dynasty, supposes the title conveys a notion of dependence
on the Grand Khan. He also explains it as meaning the strong Khan, the
energetic Khan. It has also been explained as meaning Prince of Peace. Vartan
gives the title as Elghan, whence Brosset suggests the Georgians derived
the forms Eldjin and Ehdj in. ||
Note 2. — The Mongols were essentially nomades, and they never ceased to
be more or less nomades during their occupation of Persia. Their armies had
wintering quarters and summering quarters, between which they moved to and
fro. Many stories are told to show their attachment to their nomadic life.
Inter alia, we read how the powerful amir Nuruz, wishing to seek shelter at
Herat, was warned by some of his people, who said to him : " The Mongols
have the immensity of the desert in lieu of fortresses and citadels. It behoves
the amir, therefore, to renounce his project, and that he takes care not to
confine himself between four walls.'^T The author of the " Mesalek Alabsar"
says: "The town of Aujan is situated near Tebriz. It is surrounded by
splendid meadows, and has capital supplies of water. There is a palace
there, built by the later Mongol chiefs, and all around it the principal amirs
have built themselves houses. The princes, amirs, and chiefs also form
* Ante, ii. 204. t Poole's Catalogue of Oriental Coins, vi. 8-16. I Vide Ante, ii. 204.
§ Quatremere, Rashid ud din, 14-15. Note. || Hist, de la Georgie, i. 539. Note,
H Quatremere, 69-70. Notes.

KHULAGU KHAN. 215
pounds or parks, inclosed with reeds and wattles, in which they keep their
cattle, and in which they live during the winter season, which they pass
at Aujan, They also make tents of felt and horsehair. During the winter
the place looks like a vast town, with great streets and markets in it, but
when they leave Aujan for their summer quarters they set fire to all the
huts, for otherwise a vast number of serpents would accumulate there.
The princes of Iran (i.e., the Ilkhans) passed the winter either at Aujan
or at Baghdad. The summer camp is at Karabagh, meaning in Turkish the
black garden, and so called from the colour of the soil. In that district are
many settlements. The air is pure, the water excellent, and the pasture
abundant. When the ordu, or Ilkhan's camp, is fixed there, and the princesses
and amirs have built their houses, jamis or mosques are also built, and bazaars,
where objects of all kinds are sold, are constructed. There are also houses for
courtesans. Although food, utensils, clothes, &c, are there in any quantity,
they are very dear, in consequence of the cost of transport, which doubles their
value. The Sultan always has with him in his journeys some of the principal
wise men and doctors, who receive pensions from the treasury. Each one is
accompanied by several fakihs (jurisconsults) and disciples, and they are known
as itinerant doctors. The chief officers of state, commanders of troops, tax
officials, scribes, and workmen of all kinds follow the ordu, so that it resembles
a large town. Tents, ready- made and furnished, and of various sizes, can
be bought by those who need them."*
To revert to Aujan, the wintering quarters of the Mongols. Ghazan Khan
gave a grand fete there, which is described in detail by Rashid ud din. Wassaf
also names a general kuriltai or diet as having been held there. It was at
Aujan that Uljaitu was proclaimed Ilkhan, and it was near there that Adil
Shah Khatun, wife of Abu Said, died in 732 hej. Timur, after his expedition
against Baghdad, spent eight days at Aujan, in Arghun's palace. Lastly, in
823 the famous Turkoman chief Kara Yusuf died there.t Rashid ud din refers
to the Kerineh rud, or Golden River, called Chagatu Nagatu by the Mongols,
as the wintering quarters of Khulagu.} According to the author of the "Nozhat
Alkolub " this river springs in the mountains of Kurdistan, not far from a town
called Siahkuh. It traverses the district of Meragha, and unites with the rivers
of Safi, and Bagatu or Nagatu, and eventually falls into the salt lake of Tasuj (i.e.,
the Lake of Urmia). § The summer quarters of the Mongols in the time of
Khulagu and his successors, according to Rashid, were in the neighbour
hood of Alatagh. Khulagu halted there in his campaign against Syria,
and, we are told, was so pleased with the pastures in the neighbourhood
that he gave it the name of Lebnasagut. || According to the "Jihan
Numa " the Alatagh range is that in which the Murad chai, or Euphrates,
springs. Alatagh, in Turkish, means the spotted mountain.^ Rashid
ud din tells us that Khulagu built a palace there, and idol temples
(i.e., Buddhist temples) at Khoi.** Malakia, in referring to this palace, says it
was built in the plain of Darhin Dasht, adding the odd comment, which is no
* Quatremere, 21-23. Note. t Id., 23. Note. J Id., 400.
§ Id., 103-105. Note. || Id., 329. H D'Ohsson, iii. 380. ** Quatremere, op. cit., 411.

2l6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
doubt a mis-translation, that he called it after his own name, Alatagh. He
adds further that this place was formerly the residence of the kings of
Armenia, of the Arkhakunian dynasty.* Chamitch identifies this plain with
the famous plain of Mughan, whose pastures are so famous, and which is
situated partly in Azerbaijan and partly in Arran and Shirvan.t Stephen the
Orpelian, speaking of the same palace, calls the plain where it was built Darhan
Dasht, and says the Tartars called it Aladagh. Sempad, we are further told,
went to Basen, by order of Khulagu, to get red cedar-wood for this palace.}
St. Martin also identifies this plain with the plain of Mughan, south of the
Kur and the Araxes.§
Note 3. — The fact of Khulagu marrying his stepmother, Dokuz or Tokuz
Khatun, sounds strangely in our ears, but it was quite in accordance with the
Mongol law. Quatremere says that when a man died among the Mongols, and
above all a prince, his wives became the property of his eldest son, who could
marry which he liked, except his mother, and dispose of the rest as he pleased.
Juveni says this was the custom among the Mongols and Uighurs, and he is
confirmed by Abulfaraj. According to Haidar Razi, the Mongol law prescribed
that the senior wife had the disposal of the others, but Quatremere suggests
that the senior wife is here a mistake for the eldest son. Rubruquis says that
on the death of a Mongol chief his son married his various wives, except his
own mother. Similar statements are made by Carpini and Marco Polo. Among
the Mongols a man's sons took rank according to the rank of their mother. ||
Khulagu only married Dokuz Khatun after he had crossed the Oxus, when he
already had several other wives, but as his father's widow she retained her
pre-eminent position.
Note 4. — In 1259 Khulagu was visited by an envoy from his brother Mangu,
named Chang ti. The narrative of his journey has been published by Remusat
and Pauthier, whence I abstracted it in the first volume of this history .If Since
then there has appeared Dr. Bretschneider's admirable edition of the same
story, which has corrected many mistakes, and is illustrated by his usual wealth
of notes, and I feel bound to abstract the story again from his pages, in so far
as it deals with the Ilkhan's dominions, leaving the earlier part of the journey
to be illustrated in the next volume. Two days after leaving Talas, he says, he
reached Bie-shi-lan (? Tashkend), where a fair was held by the Muhammedans
like the fairs in China. Next day Chang ti crossed the Hukien, or Sir Daria,
in a boat resembling a Chinese lady's shoe. Jade, we are told, was produced
in the mountains at the sources of the Sir Daria. In the district our traveller
now entered there were post stations, and inns like bathing-houses (i.e.,
caravanserais), whose windows and doors were glazed. Ten golden dinars
was the maximum poll tax paid by each individual there. Sun sze kan (i.e.,
Samarkand) our diarist describes as large and populous, and the country
round as very fertile, roses and other flowers, vines, rice, winter wheat, and
many medicinal plants growing abundantly. Chang ti crossed the Anbu,
(i.e., the Amu Daria or Oxus) on the 14th of the 3rd month. In this district,
* Op. cit., 456. t Id. Note 1. J Hist, de la Siounie, 233.
§ Memoires, ii. 283. Note 10. || Quatremere, Rashid ud din, 92-93, Notes. ^[ i. 280.

KHULAGU KHAN. 217
he tells us, it did not rain in summer, only in autumn, when the ground became
very moist. There were large swarms of locusts there, and of birds which ate
them. Bretschneider identifies the latter with the pastor roseus.* Five days
later he passed Lich'u (?), where mulberry trees and jujubes abounded. In this
place he tells us the Mongols halted for some days in their march westward.
Our traveller successively passed Ma Ian (?Merv),t Na shang (? Nishapur),}
where lucerne was the chief grass and where cypresses were used for hedges,
and T'i-sao-r § Thence he went by Gi-li-r (? some place in eastern Mazan
deran). || Here large lizards, five feet long, and with black and yellow bodies,
were found ;*[ and passing A-la-ding(?) and Ma-tze-t'sang-r (?), where the people
wore dishevelled hair, red turbans, and black clothes, thus resembling devils, he
apparently terminated his journey and reached the Court of Khulagu (who was
then at Tebriz) in the latter part of April, 1259. We have no account of his
further progress, or of his dealings with Khulagu.** I ought to add that the
whole of the narrative of his journey, with nearly all the illustrations, I owe to
Dr. Bretschneider.

* Op. cit., 77. Note 78. t Id. Note 81. I Id.
% Bretschneider suggests Sebzevar. He remarks that Conolly mentions mines of rock salt near
Nishapur. Id., 78. Notes 83-84. || Id. Note 96.
^| Dr. Bretschneider suggests they were a species of stellio. Id., 80. Note 97. ** Id., 81.

CHAPTER IV.
ABAKA KHAN.
VARTAN, who was in the confidence of Dokuz Khatun, Khulagu's
Christian wife, tells us that before the Khan's death she
consulted him as to whether they should say masses for his soul.
He replied that this would not be proper, but that they should distribute
charity and remit taxes. The Syrians on the contrary argued that
such a mass was allowable. Dokuz Khatun also consulted him as to
whether Abaka should be put on the throne in accordance with his father's
will, or no, and he advised that he should be so.*
When Khulagu died a courier was dispatched to summon Abaka, who
held the post of Governor of Khorasan, and who was then in winter
quarters in Arran,} with his vizier, Arghun, and the princess Oljai
Khatun. All the routes leading to the imperial residencewere meanwhile
closed, and travellers were stopped. Yashmut, his younger brother, who
was encamped in the neighbourhood of Derbend, arrived seven days
after his father's death, and hastened to sound the amirs as to his own
prospects, but meeting with no encouragement he left again, two days
later, for his government. Abaka arrived at the ordu of Chagatu on the
9th of March, 1265,} and was welcomed by the amirs; the marshal of the
ordu, Ilkai, offering him the funeral meat and wine usual on such
occasions. Having presented their devotions to the spirit of the dead
chieftain, the khatuns, princes of the blood, and generals met to elect
a successor. The principal chiefs who thus came together were : Ilga
or Ilkai, Sugunjak, Suntai, Abatai, Temagu (called Semaghar by Von
Hammer), Singtur or Shiktur, and Arghun Aka.§ Singtur, who had
received the last wishes of Khulagu, attested that he had nominated
Abaka as his successor. As was usual, he professed to decline the
honour, and offered it to each of his brothers, but they as regularly
on their knees pressed it upon him. He then said he could not
mount the throne without the concurrence of his uncle, the Khakan
Khubilai. The whole assembly replied that no one had a better right to
the throne than himself, who was the eldest brother and had been
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., "xvi. 308. t D'Ohsson says in Mazanderan.
X Weil, on the authority, of Novairi, says the 8th of February.
§ Wassaf says Arghun Aka, Ilkan, Peder i Shiktur, Borghan Oghul, Amir Sansis, Shiramun,
son of Charmaghan, &c. Op. cit., 102,

ABAKA KHAN. 219
nominated by his father, and that no one knew better what the yasa
prescribed. Thereupon, on the 19th of June, which the kams and
astrologers declared to be a lucky day, Abaka, whose name means
" maternal uncle " in Mongol, was duly inaugurated at Chaghan Nur
(i.e., the White Lake), in the district of Berahan.*
It is curious to read that among those who attended the obsequies of
Khulagu and the inauguration of Abaka, was Mar Ignatius, the Jacobite
Patriarch of Antioch, who obtained a diploma confirming him in his post.t
Vartan says a prince of the blood named Ilkhan Takudar (? Abaka's
brother, so called) placed him on the throne, and all the army ratified
the choice and did homage,} The princes of the blood each went with
his girdle over the back of his neck and prostrated himself seven times
before the sun. The fetes lasted for several days, during which
dissipation of various kinds was rife. Abaka did not wish to adopt his
full style until the authorisation came from Khubilai, and till then abjured
a throne, and would only consent to be seated on a stool, whence he
dispensed justice. Having distributed gifts among the various officials,
messengers were sent out in different directions to announce his accession,
and that the yasa of Jingis Khan would be rigorously carried out. He
then distributed the various great appointments. He was born in
March, 1234, and was therefore 31 years of age. His brother Yashmut
was given command of the troops on the northern frontier towards
Derbend, Shirvan, the plain of Mughan and Alatagh. Tekshin,
another of his brothers, had charge of the eastern frontier of Khorasan
and Mazanderan. Tughu, or Tuguz, the bitikji or secretary, son of
Ilkai Noyan, and Tudan, brother of the Noyan Sunjak, or Sugunjak,
commanded the troops stationed in Rum, where they were afterwards
relieved by the Amirs Semaghar and Kehurkai. Durtai, or Dutai
Noyan, led those at Diar Bekr and Diar Rabia, on the Syrian
frontier. Shiramun, son of Charmaghan, commanded those in Georgia,
while those in Baghdad and Fars were confided to Sugunjak Noyan,
whose deputy at the former town was Alai ud din, brother of the
vizier. The management of the Crown demesnes was made over
to Baltaju Aga, and that of the Imperial dues (makatir) to Arghun Aka.
Shems ud din Muhammed, of Juveni, was nominated vizier and head of
the divan at Tebriz, and his son Khoja Bahai ud din was put at the head
of affairs at Ispahan. The administration of Khorasan was confided to
the Khoja Iz ud din Tahir, and after him to his son the Khoja Weji ud
din. Fars was governed in the name of the Atabeg Abish, while Tasiku
was sent thither to superintend the dues claimed by the Imperial
treasury. Kerman was subject to the Princess Turkan Khatun ; Nimruz
* Berahan, or Ferahan, was a town of moderate size situated near a lake 16 parasangs square,
where, according to Persian tradition, Tahmuras the Div tamer built himself a palace. D'Ohsson,
iii. 413-415. Ilkhans, i. 245-247. Shajrat-ul-Atrak, 248. .
t Bar Hebraeus, Chron. Eccl., i. 760-762. X Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 308-309.

220 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to the Malik Shems ud din Muhammed Kert ; Georgia to Abd (doubtless
a corruption of David) and his son Sadren ; Armenia (i.e., Little Armenia)
to Haithon. Diar Bekr was governed by Jelal ud din Tarsi, Diar Rabia
by Mozaffer Fakhr ud din Kara Arslan, Kazvin and a portion of Irak by
Iftihshar ud din Kazvini, and Tebriz by Sadr ud din.
As Von Hammer says, this enumeration, which is that given by Rashid
ud din, proves the administration to have been like that of the Ottomans
in later times, which was in many points imitated from that of the
Mongols. The military and civil administration were in different hands,
as was the direction of the finances from the other functions of state.
There were, as we have seen, six frontier commanders, stationed
respectively in Shirvan, Khorasan, Georgia, Rum or Asia Minor, Fars,
and the Arabian Irak ; three viziers, heads of the divan, at Tebriz,
Baghdad, and Ispahan ; three superintendents of taxes and revenue, and
five overseers of internal affairs. Rashid enumerates, as we see, five
princes who still retained their sovereignty under Mongol suzerainty.
These were the rulers of Kerman, Nimruz (i.e., Herat), Georgia, Little
Armenia, and Fars. To these should be added the Malik of Herat, the
Atabegs of Great and Little Luristan and of Yesd, the Princes of Mardin
of the Ortokid stock, and those of Hosnkief of the Ayubit family.*
Soon after his appointment as head of affairs at Baghdad Alai ud din,
of Juveni, the historian, was the victim of an intrigue. The prefect of the
town, Karabuka, and his deputy, the Armenian Isaac, having a grudge
against him, plotted to undo him, and suborned a certain Bedouin,} who
falsely accused Alai ud din of intending to escape with his family and
property into Syria, and declared that he himself was to conduct them.
Karabuka thereupon had him confined in his house. But the matter having
been examined at the ordu, the Arab confessed under torture that he had
been incited to say what he did by the Armenian Isaac, and he and Isaac
were put to death. Alai ud din was restored to his honours.}
Under the fostering care of the vizier, Shems ud din Muhammed, the
empire began to revive. " The sheep," says the inflated Wassaf
" recovered the blood-tax which the wolves had so long taken, and the
partridge exchanged loving looks with the falcon and hawk. Through
him the good name of the Padishah was inscribed in fortunate characters
on the white and black pages of the day and the night." Under his
patronage Baghdad, which was immediately governed by his brother,
Alai ud din, began once more to flourish. He spent a hundred thousand
gold pieces in digging a canal leading from the Euphrates to Meshed, near
Kufa, and the neighbourhood of Nejef. Upon this canal Taj ud din Ali,
the son of the Amir Dolfendi, who was intrusted by the vizier with its

: Ilkhans, i. 248-249. D'Ohsson, iii. 416. Vassaf, 98-102.
t In the Chron. Syr. he is called a Mede.
X Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 568. Chron, Arab., 355-356.

ABAKA KHAN. 221
construction and with the cultivation of the desolate land, wrote a
special treatise.* While the vizier, Shems ud din, devoted himself
to restoring the country to prosperity, his eldest son, the Khoja Bahai ud
din, who was over the divan at Ispahan, conducted himself very
differently. He was a person of considerable attainments, especially
cultivated philosophy and the belles lettres, and studied music under
Safr ud din Abdul Mumin. As we have seen, he was given charge
of the Persian and Arabian Irak, and of Yezd, and had his seat at
Ispahan. He governed it with the greatest rigour ; a word spoken
contrary to his wishes was followed by the overwhelming of the house
hold root and branch, many thousands were tortured or put to death, great
and small all trembled for their lives, and the people of -Ispahan when
they went to bed at night were in mortal dread of what might befal them
in the morning. Nevertheless, he put down all kinds of ruffianism.
Bloodshed and outrage had been common in the city, open robberies in
the bazaars, and the workpeople had had neither rest nor safety. The
ill-doers now became so cowed and humble that the peasants used to
leave their agricultural implements in harvest time in the fields at night.
If anyone dared to remove them " the harvest of life of the delinquent was
speedily cut off with the sickle of destruction."t The overseers and leaders
were so carefully checked that the market folk used at night to leave the
booths strewn with goods and food without anyone in charge and
no one took the smallest thing. As a proof of this it is said that on one
occasion at night as the watchmen were going their rounds, one of them
entered the booth of a sugar baker or confectioner, took a sweet cake, and
left two silver dirhems, which was double the price, in the corner of the
booth. On the following morning, when the owner of the booth found a
dirhem more than his due he dared not conceal it, could not rest, showed
the silver piece to the treasurer, and gave information of what had
happened. It was immediately ordered that the watchman who had
transgressed the rigid law should be hung to a hook like meat at the
butcher's.} Bahai ud din had a slave named Nikpei, whom he employed as a spy
upon the watchmen and police. Wassaf tells a story how he reported of
three men : that one was vigilant and dutiful, that another was found
sleeping at his post, and the third, instead of being on duty, had
wandered away. The governor ordered all three to have 71 strokes of the
cudgel. The Sheikh of Islam, Jemal ud din, protested that he who had
done his duty had not deserved this, and should not be treated like the
two delinquents. The governor replied, "The reason for their punish
ment is negligence ; his fault was that when Nikpei came to him furtively
in the night he did not punish him as an evil doer, and did not make

* Wassaf, ii2. Ilkhans, i. 250. t Wassaf, 116. X Id-. 116-117.

222 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
inquiries into his reason for being abroad at such an hour."* On one
occasion when the Khoja was riding out with his Court amidst great pomp,
he was annoyed that one of the common people should stare at him,
summoned him and asked him what he was looking at. " The poor man's
tongue was bound in a knot," says Wassaf, meaning he was silent. The
tyrant thereupon gouged his eyes out with his knife, and tore out his
eyelashes. The following quatrain was written upon this lugubrious act : —
An eye in wrath was torn out since it gazed on you,
And why, since many thousands do the same ?
The angel of death has removed you from office.
How many souls does death not overwhelm?
To show his passion, the same author mentions that one of his boys, a
favourite child, having in play touched his beard, he swore a terrible oath,
and ordered him to be put to death. As none of the grandees, the
imaums, or the queens interceded for the child, he was seized by the
executioner and put to death. This terrible act stirs the rhetoric
of Wassaf into unwonted vigour, and seems to have made a great
impression. The rigorous measures of Bahai ud din certainly produced
order at Ispahan, and it is reported that after his death disorders again
broke out, and Wassaf' was told that after an outbreak there more
dead bodies were found about the streets than all the victims of his
severity put together. He was a great worker, and distributed his time in
the active duties of his position and in the patronage of learning, devoting
little to sleep or to his harem. He built many palaces and other
buildings, and laid out pleasure grounds. His weakness seems to have
been wine, in which he indulged with his brother Khoja Hasun and his
intimates. At these parties the great musician, Safr ud din Abdul
Mumin, already named, was generally present. On one occasion
Hasun having had too much to drink, addressed the musician, and
called him familiarly by his proper name, Safr ud din. This familiarity
greatly displeased Bahai ud din. Hasun replied, " I am a son of the head
of the Divan, and have wedded a pearl from the mussel of the Khalifate.
My name is Hasun, and that of my son Mamun, and I am now Governor
of Baghdad, where the khalifs ruled, and where there are innumerable
excellencies. Is it strange, therefore, that I should adopt the mode of the
khalifs and address him as Safr ud din?" This reply was unanswerable.
Soon after this Bahai ud din died. He was only 30 years old. His death
took place on the 23rd of December, 1279,} and he was much regretted
by his father. His was a strange type of a Draconic nature, in which
hardness and cruelty were prominent factors. He nevertheless secured a
short respite of peace in a very turbulent community.}
Abaka chose Tebriz for his capital, appointed Alatagh and Siah kuh
* Wassaf, 117-118. t Id., 118-125. t Wassaf, loc. cit. D'Ohsson, iv. n-13. Note.

ABAKA KHAN. 223
(i.e., the Black Mountains) as his summer quarters, and Arran, Baghdad,
and Chagatu for his quarters in winter. We have seen how Khulagu
asked the hand of one of the daughters of Michael Palaeologus in marriage,
and how he accordingly sent one of his natural daughters, named Maria.
Her mother belonged to the family Diplovatatze. She was escorted by
Theodosius, of Ville Hardouin, Archimandrite of the convent of
Pantocrator, and brother of the Prince of Achaia and the Peloponnesus.*
Her father gave her some splendid presents, including a tent of silken
hangings, which was destined for a church, and containing golden figures
of the saints, crosses, sacred vessels, &c.} On arriving at Caesarea the
princess heard of Khulagu's death, but she continued her journey and
married Abaka.} Vartan says that before marrying she wished him to
be baptised, and the rumour went abroad that he was so baptised.§
Guiragos expressly says that the Patriarch of Antioch and other bishops,
Sargis, bishop of Ezenga, and the Vartabed Pener, baptised Abaka, and
then married him to the princess. || The Mongols called her Despina,
from her Greek title of princess, and she is so called by Rashid ud din,
who makes her a daughter of the ruler of Trebizond.
The first important event in the reign of Abaka was the war he sustained
on his northern frontier against Nogai, the general of Bereke Khan of the
Golden Horde. This was in the spring of 1266. The Ilkhan had passed
the previous winter in Mazanderan, whence he moved to Tebriz. It was
while there he heard of Nogai's invasion. I have described what followed
elsewhere.1T According to Vartan, Bereke defeated Abaka and his son,
and afterwards crossed the Kur and repaired to pay his respects at the
tomb of a Mussulman saint. The troops who were stationed there had
built a solid rampart with a ditch, which they called Shipar (i.e., the
Siba previously named), and employed the winter in making all kinds of
preparations. Bereke, losing confidence, retired. Vartan says he was
reputed to be of a pacific nature, and averse to shedding blood.** The
"History of Herat" tells us how, on the invasion of the Tartars of the
Golden Horde, Shems ud din, the Malik of Herat, was at Abaka's Court.
The latter promised him a handsome reward if he would march with him
and take command of a picked body of 200 cavalry, each man having a
coat of mail, cuirass, sword, and javelin. The Malik swore to sacrifice
his life if necessary to secure victory, and we are told he took off his
helmet and rushed bareheaded into the fight. He was badly wounded on
this occasion. Abaka was much struck by his bravery, and sent his
private surgeons to attend him, and after he had beaten the enemy he
conferred on Shems ud din a special diploma, and the drums and banners
* Abulfaraj and Guiragos call her conductor Euthymius, Patriarch of Antioch.
t Pachymeres, Stritter, iii. 1045. X Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 567-568. Chron. Arab., 355.
§ Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 309.
| Op. cit., ed. Brosset, 194. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 508.
% Ante, \l. 123-124. ** Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 311.

224 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
which were the insignia of royalty, and returned to Herat with a rich
booty.* At this time the Georgian king, David, went to Abaka's Court, and was
well received by him. When Bereke made his invasion David was
summoned to attend Abaka with his troops. The Georgian Chronicle says
that the Ilkhan, on discovering the strength of Bereke's army, instead of
crossing the River Mtsuar (? Kur) contented himself with an inspection of
all the fords, and planted garrisons at the confluence of the Mtsuar and
the Araxes, and thence as far as Mtzkhetha. Bereke, when he had
ravaged Shirvan, Hereth, Kakheth, and the borders of the Yor, advanced
as far as Tiflis, and many Christians were killed, but he died while in the
mountains of Garesja, and his people withdrew beyond Derbend with
their booty. Fearing a repetition of the invasion the people of the
Ilkhan repaired annually, in October, to Sibat (i.e., the Shipar of Vartan).
The rampart there is said by eastern writers to have been bordered by
a wide ditch, and to have reached from Dalan or Valan, or Dalai Nur
(? the Caspian), to the Kurdish waste. Wassaf calls it Assia. It was
garrisoned by Mongol and Mussulman troops.} At this time David,
the Georgian king, who had grown jealous of Sargis-Jakel-Tzikhis-
Juarel, summoned him to his palace, and imprisoned him in the arsenal.
The arsnaurs in Sargis' service repaired to the Khan, who demanded
from Abathai Noyan that the king should be punished, that Abaka should
be informed of what had happened, and that the captive should be
released. Abaka consented to this. Sargis was sent for to Tiflis, and
thenceforward, until the reign of George the Brilliant, who mounted the
throne in 1318, the princes of Jak were immediately subject to the
Ilkhans, and not to the Georgian kings.§
Abaka spent the winter of 1266 in Mazanderan and Jorjan, the ancient
Hyrcania, and the next year went to Kebud Jameh (i.e., " Blue cloth"),
in Taberistan, to meet his mother Yisunchin Khatun, who arrived from
Mongolia with Kutui Khatun, another widow of Khulagu, with
Tekshin and Takudar, two sons of Khulagu, with Jushkaf, son of
Jumkur, and Badu, son of Tarakai. Jumkur was Abaka's younger
brother, and had been left in charge of his ordus as we have mentioned.
He afterwards set out to join Abaka, and died en route, leaving two sons,
Jushkaf and Kinkshu. Abaka gave the revenues of the district of
Mayafarkin as an appanage to Kutui Khatun for pin money (called tonlik
by the Mongols) ; Diarbekr and Jezireh to Oljai Khatun, another widow
of Khulagu, and other domains to the sons Khulagu had left by his
various concubines.|| He spent the winter at Changanlu, near Meragha,
and the summer in the meadows of Alatagh at the sources of the

* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 452.453. D'Ohsson iv. 180.
t Hist, de la Georgie, 1. 572-573. X D'Ohsson, ni. 4x9. Von Hammer, Ilkhans i. 255
J Op. cit., 572-573. || D'Ohsson, iii. 419-420.

ABAKA KHAN. 225
Euphrates and Siahkuh and the following winter (i.e., that of 1266-7) in
Arran. We will now revert to the progress of the Egyptian arms, whose
recovery of Syria we have previously traced. After the death of
Khulagu, Bibars, the Egyptian Sultan, attacked the Crusaders in
Palestine vigorously, and during the years 1265-6 captured the towns of
Caesarea, Arssuf, Safad, Yafa, and Shakif, and the fortresses of Meluhat,
Haifa, Jeliba, Arka, and Kaliat from them* Bibars now turned upon
Haithon, the King of Cilicia, or Little Armenia, who under the segis of the
Mongols had, as we have seen, considerably enlarged his borders at the
expense of the Mussulmans. He demanded the surrender of these con
quests, the payment of tribute, the opening of commercial communications
with Syria, and the exportation of horses, mules, grain, and iron, from his
country. Not having received a satisfactory answer he sent an army
against Cilicia, commanded by Al Mansur, the Prince of Hamath, under
whom were the two generals, Iz ud din Ighan and Saif ud din Kalavun.f
Malakia tells us that Haithon left his army under his two sons, Leon and
Toros, and himself went with a body of troops to secure the assistance of
the Tartars between Ablastan and Cocosn.} Abulfaraj says he went to
maRe his appeal to the Mongol commander in Rum, called Naphshi, who
replied he could do nothing for him without the orders of Abaka. He
thereupon dispatched a messenger to the Khan himself ; but, meanwhile,
his army had been attacked by the Egyptians. The same author tells us
that Haithon's brother, Gondu Setbal, as well as his two sons, were with
the Armenians. Leon had posted his men in the pass of Iskanderun, near
the sea, which Abulfeda says he protected with catapults. The Egyptians
however, forced the heights which commanded it, and which were thought
safe, the forts which the king had planted there being very strong. They
attacked Leon near the fortress of Serund, or Hajar Surwand. The
Armenians were defeated, Toros and one of his uncles were killed, and
his other uncle, the Constable, fled, leaving his sons in the hands of the
Mussulmans. Leon himself was made prisoner, and the Armenian army,
which comprised twelve princes, was completely dispersed. § Malakia
charges the Armenian princes with treachery, saying they gave the heirs
to the throne into the hands of the infidel wolves, and themselves fled to
theirmountainfortresses.il The following day the victors reached Tel
Hamdun, devastating the country on the road. They crossed the river
Jihan and captured the fortress of Arnudin (called Arsaf by Weil), which
belonged to the Knight Templars. Two thousand two hundred people
were in the fortress at the time ; the men were killed, the women and
* D'Ohsson, iii. 420. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 257-258.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 421. Vartan, in Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 311. Lebeau, xviii. 472.
Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 568 ; Chron. Arab., 356.
X Malakia, op. cit., 460.
§ Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 568-569 ; Chron. Arab., 356. D'Ohsson, iii. 421-422. Ilkhans, i. 257.
|| Op. cit., 460.
P

226 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
children were carried off, and the fort was then burnt. Vartan says that
the Sultan captured Sis, the Armenian capital, and discovered the royal
treasure, which was contained in a storeroom, and it is said that out of one
vase or cistern 6,000,000 gold tahegans were taken. He advanced as far
as Adana, and eventually retired with 40,000 captives, but our chronicler
chiefly laments the death of Toros, whom he greatly praises, and who, he
says, on being captured, refused to give his father's name, in order that
they might not spare him and use him against his country.* Abulfaraj tells
us the Great church and all the others there were burnt, except the Jacobite
churches of Deipara and Barsuma, and this because they were made of
stone.} While the Prince of Hamath superintended the ruin of Sis, the
General Ighan moved towards the frontiers of Rum, and Kalavun
destroyed Ayas, Massissa (Mopsuetia), and Adana, and burnt many ships.
They carried off a great number of captives. They buftit the monastery
of Paximatus, but they did not molest Guiechat, since there was a
monk there who could speak Arabic and parleyed with them, nor did
they go to Tarsus. After wasting the country for twenty days, and
advancing as far as Adana, they withdrew. Vartan says they carried off
40,000 captives, } and another author that the number of cattle secured
was so great, that although oxen were offered at two drachmas each they
found no purchaser.§ King Haithon, who was getting an old man, did
not shine in these transactions. Malakia says he repaired to the
hermitage of Acants, where he remained with the monks till the
withdrawal of the enemy, and afterwards gave way to exaggerated laments.
Meanwhile Leon, his son, was carried off to Egypt, where Bibars, who
had been jeered at as a slave by Haithon, said to him, " Thy father called
me a slave, and refused to be at peace with me. Now it is thou who art
my slave." || Abulfaraj says that a few days after the retreat of the
Egyptians, Haithon returned with a body of Turks from Rum, and of
Mongols, who finally destroyed what the invaders had spared.1T Malakia
says Haithon summoned his grandees, and when they were assembled
asked if all were present. When they replied yes, he asked pathetically
where Leon and Thoros were, whereupon the assembly broke out into
lamentations in the spirit and language of Jeremiah. He afterwards
consulted with them as to the best way of securing the young prince's
release. He told them that he was informed by Armenians at the Court of
Abaka that the bitikchis, or secretaries, there, who were doubtless chiefly
Mussulmans, were secret partisans of the Egyptians, and were writing to
Bibars to say they would urge Abaka to overrun Armenia and trample it
under. It would seem that their method of operations was to suggest to
the Khan that Haithon was carrying on a secret correspondence with the
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvi. 311-312. t Chron. Syr., 569. Chron. Arab., 556.
X Op. cit., 311. § D'Ohsson, iii. 423. || Op. cit., 460-461.
If Chron. Syr., 569 ; Chron Arab., 356.

ABAKA KHAN. 227
Egyptian ruler, a charge which the death of his two sons, one would
suppose, would have saved him from.* This reported communication
from the Armenian princes at Abaka's Court may have been genuine, but
I confess it looks like a clever tactical move on the part of the King to
assist his proposed negotiations with Bibars.
Meanwhile the Pervana, who administered Rum, desired to ally himself
with the Armenian king by marriage, and suggested the matter to the
monk Persig, who was Haithon's envoy at the Ilkhan's Court, who
suggested that when the King passed through his territory he should
approach him, pay him great honour, and make his request in person,
which he thought would not be refused. When the King, therefore, was
returning from the ordu, and arrived at Kertai, the Pervana went to him
with his grandees and many presents, and preferred his request. The
king, who was afraid he would be waylaid en route if he refused, promised
to give him his second daughter. When he reached home and the
Pervana pressed for her to be sent, he replied it was not seemly that her
marriage festivities should be in progress while her brother was still a
prisoner in Egypt. Meanwhile she died, and the Pervana wreaked
his vengeance on Persig, the monk.t Haithon now appealed directly
to Bibars as to the terms upon which he would surrender his son.
He replied that if Haithon would procure the liberty of a friend of
his, Shems ud din Sonkor el Ashkar, of Samarkand, called Sangolascar
by Haithon, to whose good offices he owed his lucky escape from
Baghdad, and who had been captured at Aleppo by Khulagu, Leon
should be exchanged for him. Bibars' friend is called Sghur by Malakia,
who says the Armenian King collected a great number of valuable
presents, with which he repaired to Abaka at Mosul, and laid his
difficulties before him, and secured the release of Sghur, who had been
in confinement at Samarkand. In addition to this Bibars also insisted on
the surrender of the fortresses of Bahasna, Darabsak (or Darbasak),
Marzaban, Roban (called Ra'nan by D'Ohsson), Er Rub, and Sikh ul
Hadid, and undertook to release Haithon's son and nephew and their
dependents. A treaty to this effect was signed at Antioch, and was duly
carried out. This took place in 1267.} The country ceded by this treaty
was the district included between the River Jihan and Syria. The Jihan
is a well-known river falling into the Gulf of Iskanderun. Haithon says
that the King surrendered the citadel of Aleppo which the Armenians had
held since the days of Khulagu. He also gave up Tempesack and
dismantled two other fortresses.§ On the return of Leon from captivity,
Haithon set out for Abaka's Court at Baghdad to thank his patron for the
assistance he had rendered in securing his son's release, and to ask that

* Op. cit., 463-464. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 570 ; Chron. Arab., 357.
X Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 569-572. Malakia, 464. Abulfeda, v. 23. D'Ohsson, iii. 423-425.
$ Op. cit., 50.

228 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
on account of his great age and infirmities he. might be allowed to resign
the Royal dignity in favour of Leon. To this Abaka consented, and Leon
went to the Indian's Court and was duly invested with the kingdom;
Haithon himself becoming a monk under the name of Macarius. He
shortly after died and was buried in the monastery of Drazark. Leon
was duly consecrated at Tarsus, and devoted himself to restoring some
prosperity to his country, which had been so terribly shattered by the
Egyptian inroads. Haithon, according to Brosset, died on the 28th of
October, 1270*
We may well believe that the Egyptian attack on Cilicia was very
distasteful to the Mongols, and we find Abaka in 1269 sending envoys to
Bibars, who received them at Damascus, as well as those sent by the
Greek Emperor and by Mangu Timur, Khan of the Golden Horde. In his
letters Abaka reproached him with the murder of his master Kuttuz, and
demanded how he, a mere slave, who had been sold at Sivas, dared to
resist kings and sons of kings. He menaced him with his vengeance, and
told him if he mounted to the clouds or descended into the ground he
should not escape him. Bibars acknowledged that he had killed Kuttuz,
but he added that he had been elected by the people. As to his threats,
he was ready to receive him, and hoped to recover what the Mussulmans
had lost. Abaka's envoy was sent back with this answer.t
Abaka's intentions in regard to Egypt were frustrated, for a while at
least, by an invasion of his eastern borders by Borak, the ruler of the
Jagatai Horde. Borak had sent Masud, the famous governor of Trans
oxiana, on a special mission to the Ilkhan. The professed motive of his
journey was to look after the special domains belonging to Kaidu, Ogotai's
grandson, and to himself within the jurisdiction of Abaka, and as the bearer
of a friendly message for the latter ; but he was secretly instructed to make
inquiries about the armies of Irak and Azerbaijan, and also about the
roads traversing those provinces. Masud crossed the Oxus, and posted
onwards, leaving two horses with a trusty man at each post-station on his
route. When he drew near Abaka's residence the latter's vizier,
Shems ud din, went out to meet him with presents, and notwithstanding
his elevated rank he dismounted and kissed Masud's stirrup. The
latter asked him if he was the chief of the divan, and then rudely
said that his reputation was in excess of his worth. Shems ud din,
who was a proud man, dissembled his rage, for, as Khuandemir
says, the place was not a suitable one for explanations, and he remained
silent. At his interview with Abaka, Masud was treated with special
honour. He was given a seat above the other amirs, except the
Noyan Ilka, and was dressed in the tunic of Jingis Khan. He acquitted
himself gracefully, using diplomatic and courtly phrases, and gained the

* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 572. Malakia, 464-466. Lebeau, xviii. 474. D'Ohsson, iii. 425.
Abulfeda, v. 29. Haithon, 51. t D'Ohsson, iii. 426.

ABAKA KHAN. 229
confidence of Abaka; but feeling presently that he was an object of
suspicion, he asked for his congd. Abaka ordered that the information
asked for by Masud was to be ready in eight days, whereupon he hastily
set out on his return. The day after he left, news came from Khorasan
that Borak was preparing for war, and that Masud was only a spy.
Abaka dispatched a messenger to arrest him, but, as we have seen, he
had arranged relays of fresh horses at the post stations, and retired so
rapidly that, according to Wassaf, he reached the Oxus in four days and
nights. Having crossed that river, he reported to Borak what he had
learnt.* This journey of Masud's was apparently made in the winter of
666 (i.e., 1267-8).} Von Hammer dates it a year earlier ; Weil a year
later. Before he set out Borak tried to secure the alliance of Nigudar, one
of the princes in Abaka's service. It does not clearly appear whether he
sent a special envoy for the purpose or intrusted Masud with the
commission. Nigudar was the eldest son of Juchi, the eldest son of
Jagatai, and had accompanied Khulagu in command of the contingent
furnished by the Ulus of Jagatai. The Georgian Chronicle says he
commanded two myriads (i.e., 20,000 men) ; that he had his summer camp
in the mountains of Ararat, and his winter one on the banks of the
Araxes and at Nakhchivan. It calls him Thaguthar Khan, and makes
him Borak's brother.} Malakia, the Armenian historian, also calls him
Thagudar, and says he was very rich in men and treasures ; that it
required 300 camels and 160 carts to carry his riches, while his flocks
and herds were innumerable. He had 40,000 horsemen under him, brave
and intrepid warriors, who were accustomed to plunder the caravans.
They also attacked and ravaged the villages, plundering their contents,
and killing their inhabitants. They assailed the monasteries, hung the
monks up by their heels, and having mixed salt and soot thrust it into
their nostrils, saying, " Bring us a sea of wine and a mountain of meat."
In many places they forced the monks in the monasteries who said they
had no wine to hold a dog's tail in their mouth while making the statement,
this being a mode of swearing with them. In consequence of these
indignities the Armenian and Georgian princes went to Abaka, and putting
their swords down before him, demanded either that he would deliver
Nigudar and his people over to them or make them put him to death in his
presence. Other Tartars also presented their complaints that the people
of Nigudar plundered them and carried off their horses. Malakia makes
Abaka declare to them that Nigudar was too strong for him to punish.g
This author knows nothing of the negotiations with Borak, to which we
must now revert. Among the presents taken by the latter's envoy was
one of the arrows, called tugane by the Mongols, which concealed a
* Khuandemir, Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., xix. 252-255. Wassaf, 132-134. D'Ohsson, iii. 432-433.
Von Hammer, Ilknans, i. 255. t Khuandemir, op. cit., 252.
X Hist, dela Georgie, i. 575-576. % Malakia, 465-466.

230 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
letter. On presenting it the envoy made a certain sign which Nigudar
understood, and on breaking the arrow he found in it a letter from
Borak announcing his intended invasion of Persia, and expressing a wish
that he who, like himself, was descended from Jagatai, would not fight
against his relative. Nigudar, who was at the Court, accordingly asked
permission to return to his quarters in Georgia. Presently, on more
alarming news arriving from Khorasan, Nigudar was summoned to
Abaka's presence to take part in a council of war. He made various
excuses, and presently set out for Derbend, in order to reach Borak by
the north of the Caspian.*
The Georgian Chronicle makes the negotiations start with Nigudar,
who suggested to Borak that by attacking the dominions of Abaka on
either side they might secure them, and makes him send the arrow.
Borak is made to answer his overtures by a similar missive, and to
suggest that in the course of two months he should be ready to rise.
The time was very short, but Nigudar managed to assemble his women
and baggage and over 10,000 of his men, and afraid of being discovered
he set out for the mountains of Ghado, Kartzkhalni, and Kars. When
he reached Phijutha he urged Sargis to let him pass into Abkhazia, as
he wanted to have an interview with the Georgian king, and offered to
reward him handsomely if he let him pass. Sargis summoned his
troops, together with the great Shahin Shah, son of Ivaneh, chief of
the mandators, and Shiramun, son of Charmaghan (styled, says Malakia,
the Golden Column), who was very friendly to the Christians, and who,
with other Mongol chiefs, was encamped in the mountains of Artan, whom
he sent in pursuit. The Georgian Chronicle here has one of its marvellous
tales. It says that Nigudar wished to plunder a rich hermitage dedicated
to John the Baptist called Opiza, and situated in the mountains of
Ghado, where was preserved as a relic the saint's windpipe. It was
stored with rich images, lamps, &c, and Nigudar sent 1,000 of his men to
pillage it, but there came on a great storm, induced by the saint to
protect his shrine, and the would-be plunderers all perished except one
individual who, like Job's herald, went to announce what had happened
to his master.t As Nigudar was near the mountain Arsian he was
informed that his pursuers were on Mount Artan, and would arrive
the following day. He accordingly posted his women and baggage on
the mountain of Kars, and himself crossed the mountain Arsian. At the
mountain Kuel he found himself in the presence of Shiramun and his
men. The principal chiefs on the side of Nigudar were Segzi, Jolaki,
Abib Khanui (the name is also given as Abibkhanokhi and Abib Akha),
and Thelka Demur. After a fierce struggle Nigudar was beaten, and fled
to his women at Jinal, in the mountains of Ghado. Shiramun pursued
* D'Ohsson, iii. 434. t Op. cit., 577-578.

ABAKA KHAN. 23 1
him, and another struggle, two days long, ensued, after which Nigudar
escaped secretly. Some of his people retired towards the Adshara, and
others towards the valley of Nigal, which was considered almost
impassable for men — much more, therefore, for horses — so rugged was it,
and so incumbered with thick woods and prickly shrubs. In crossing one
portion of the wood which was planted on loose soil, the whole gave way,
slipping over the rocks like an avalanche, and overwhelmed a thousandmen
and women, who were precipitated into the valley of Adshara, " where,"
says the chronicler, "the people still dig for and find women's ornaments
in gold and silver." Crossing the valleys of Adshara and Nigal, they
reached Guria and came to Kuthathis, to King David, who, we are told,
prepared a great feast for his guest, at which 500 oxen were boiled, in
addition to pigs and sheep : 600 horses, 1,500 oxen, 2,000 sheep, and
as many pigs were devoted to feeding the army, while wine was given
without measure. We are told that the gift greatly touched Nigudar,
especially as the King adopted the humble tone of a slave, while his wife,
who was the natural daughter of Michael Palseologus, showed the same
consideration to the wife of Nigudar, the two ladies treating each
other familiarly and on equal terms, while David paid his guest several
visits. Wassaf says Nigudar gave the King one of his daughters in
marriage. Meanwhile Shiramun had returned to Abaka, just before a
messenger arrived to say that Borak, with all the army of Turan, had
crossed the Jihun. On hearing the news, Abaka summoned all his
vassals, including the other King of Georgia (David, son of Lasha),
who, notwithstanding the recent death of his son, set out for Khorasan
with his troops, to join his suzerain.*
Let us now revert to Borak. Before setting out he asked assistance
from his nominal suzerain, Kaidu, the grandson of Ogotai, who set up
rival claims to the Empire of the Mongol world against Khubilai. Kaidu
gladly assented, and ordered Ahmed ibn Buri, son of Moatugan, son of
Jagatai ; Nikbei Oghul, son of Sarban, son of Jagatai ; and Balighu, or
Yalgu, the son of Kaidu, son of Jagatai, to cross the Oxus by the ford at
Termed ; Chabad, son of Hukur, or Huku, son of Kuyuk Khakan ;
Mobarek Shah, the son of Kara Khulagu, the predecessor of Borak on the
throne of Jagatai ; and his own son Kipchak, to cross the river with
Borak at the town of Amuye : that Kokaju Buzurg (called Gueuk Achui
the Great by D'Ohsson) and Bainal, or Banial, were to cross the river
at Khiva ; and Kokaju Kuchuk (called Gueuk Achui the Little by
D'Ohsson) was to cross it at Ming Kishlak, which was the most frequented
. fording place in Khuarezm. They were to unite together beyond the river
and join Borak.t Khuandemir says that when he gave orders to these
princes to march he also gave them secret instructions that they were
* Id., 579-580. D'Ohsson, iii. 434.435.
t Wassaf, 134. D'Ohsson, iii. 435-436. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 262.

232 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to return before Abaka and Borak actually came to blows.* Besides
the chiefs ordered by Kaidu to join him, Borak was joined also by the
two Yasaurs, the Great and Little (the former, called Besmar by Wassaf,
was Borak's brother, and was also called Yesas by Rashid ud din ; the
latter was the son of Juchi, son of Kaidu), and by Merghaul and Jelairtai,
who was the son of Hindu, son of Jagatai, son of Juchi, of the Golden
Horde.t Borak forbade his soldiers to ride on horseback, the horses
being needed for other purposes. Each horse was supplied with seven
menns of barley and corn per day. The cattle were all killed, and
shields were made from their hides, and Borak wished to make special
requisitions upon Bokhara and Samarkand, but was prevented by the
entreaties of Masud.} Some time before Borak sent a message to Tekshin,
or Tushin, called Tebshin Oghul by Khuandemir (Weil reads the name
Buchin), the brother of Abaka, who had been granted the government of
Badghiz, east of Herat, by his father, Khulagu, and been confirmed in
that post by Abaka, to tell him that the district between Badghiz, Ghazni,
and the Indus having belonged to his ancestors, he (Tekshin) must evacuate
it. Tekshin said he had received it as a patrimony from his aka, or
elder brother, Abaka, to whom he must first appeal. Abaka, on being
appealed to by his brother, said that Badghiz belonged to the dominion
of Khulagu, and that he would defend it.
Borak now crossed the Oxus, leaving his son Bey Timur, or Beg Timur,
with 10,000 men, to defend his dominions during his absence. He crossed
the river on a bridge of boats, and encamped near Merv.§ Malik Shems
ud din Kert, of Herat, was summoned to do homage to him, in order to
save his district from being ravaged. Orders were given to lay waste all
the country subject to Khubilai Khakan or his nephew Abaka. Abaka's
army was commanded by his eldest son, Arghun, who was intrusted with
the government of Khorasan. Among his officers was a leader of 1,000
men, named Sijektu, who had been formerly a dependent of Kipchak
Oghul. When he heard that the latter was in Borak's army he deserted,
and sent him a present of some beautiful horses, with some others for
Borak. The next day Kipchak being at the latter's quarters, was
addressed by the general Jelairtai, who remarked sarcastically that it
would seem the expedition had been made for his (Kipchak's) special
profit. " What do you mean ?" the latter replied. " Why," said Jelairtai,
" if Borak had not come hither you would not have received a present of
these from Sijektu." He went on to suggest that he had taken advantage
of his position and received a number of horses, which ought to have
been Borak's, for himself, while the inferior horses which had been passed
on to Borak ought in reality to have been his. Kipchak, getting enraged
at this, asked him how he, a karaju (i.e., a subject), dared to use such

* Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., xix. 256, t Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 263.
X Wassaf, 134-135- $ D'Ohsson, iii. 436-437. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 264.

ABAKA KHAN. 233
language to a descendant of Jingis Khan. He also went on to compare
him to a dog. " If I am a dog," said Jelairtai, " I am Borak's dog,
and not thine." " I would hew thee in twain," said Kipchak, "only
that my aka (i.e., Borak) would blame me." " If thou comest near me,"
said Jelairtai, laying his hand on his dagger, " I will rip thy belly open."
As Borak did not speak, Kipchak fancied he approved of his adversary's
conduct, took offence, returned to his quarters, two leagues off, and
having consulted with his officers, withdrew during the night, and retired
rapidly towards the Oxus with 2,000 horsemen. He left his family,
however, behind, persuaded that Borak would do them no harm, and
his wife was the first to inform Borak of his flight. The latter,
fearing a surprise, collected his people, and at daybreak sent his
three brothers after the runaway, to persuade him to return, or at all
events to detain him till Jelairtai, whom he dispatched with 3,000 men,
could overtake him. The three princes overtook Kipchak and rushed to
embrace him. " Borak is troubled at your departure," they said, " and
does not know how he has offended you. Justly irritated against Jelairtai,
you left without hearing what he had to say. He intended punishing this
insolent officer the following day. He begs that you will return, and will
punish him as you may direct." " I am not a child," said Kipchak, " to
be led away by your fair words. I set out originally by order of Kaidu ;
I return home because you do not care for me. I have left my family
behind ; send it on to me, or I will seize yours." The three brothers,
seeing they could not persuade him, asked him to drink a glass of their
wine before separating. " People drink wine," said Kipchak, " when they
are going to make merry. Now is not such a time ; but I see plainly that
some troops are coming after me, and that you wish to detain me. Leave
quickly, or I will take you with me." The three princes accordingly left,
and Kipchak entered the desert of Amu. Jelairtai, who was short of
provisions, was obliged to return, while Borak presently sent Kipchak's
family back again. Kaidu was apparently irritated at the treatment
his son received, and made friends with Abaka, the two princes
styling themselves Ortak (i.e., companions).* Soon after, Chabat,
grandson of Kuyuk Khan, taking advantage of a journey Borak made
towards Herat, also fled. Borak did not send in pursuit of him, but
complained to Kaidu, and demanded the punishment of the two princes.
Chabat remained for a while near Bukhara, and his presence there was
made known to Beg Timur Oghul, whom Borak had left in command of
Transoxiana, by an amir of the Tajiks or Persians. He asked the latter
if he could not arrest him with 500 men. The Tajik replied he was a
karaju (i.e., a subject), and could not attack an urugh (i.e., one of the
royal house). Therepon Beg Timur himself went after and defeated
* D'Ohsson, iii. 436-440. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 264-265.

234 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him. He barely escaped with ten men, after destroying the bridge of
Chiramegan. After being pursued thirty leagues, he at length reached
Kaidu's camp, and eventually died from the results of the terror he had
suffered.* Borak now entered Khorasan, and we are told he ravaged the whole
land from Badakhshan, Kishim, Shaburghan, Talikan of Benda, Mervjuk
(i.e., Meruchak), and Merv Shajan, as far as Nishapur.t Rashid says that
after some fights with Prince Tekshin he occupied the greater part of
Khorasan. His cavalry horses fed in the best pastures of the province,
and he forbade his soldiers to mount them, so that they might grow fat,
and they accordingly went to and fro riding on bullocks and asses. The
army was living in clover. Borak took up his quarters at Talikan. His
troops entered and reached Nishapur, which they abandoned the following
day. He would have done the same thing at Herat, but Kutlugh
Timur assured him he would thereby alienate Shems ud din Kert and all
the grandees of Persia. Shems ud din, who had been invested, as we
have seen, by Khulagu with the districts of Herat, Sebzevar, Ghur, and
Garja, had also occupied Seistan, and his dominion extended to the
Indus. He lived at the fortress of Khaisar, east of Herat, whither
Kutlugh Timur, with 500 men, went to him. He told him that Borak
was marching into Irak, and if he would embrace his cause with zeal he
should be invested with authority over all Khorasan. He consented,
accompanied Kutlugh Timur on his return, and was well received by
Borak, who gave him Khorasan as a fief, and promised to add to this the
provinces which he should conquer. Borak's people boasted largely of
what they would do, and talked of advancing to Baghdad and Tebriz.
After these fair promises Borak demanded from Shems ud din the names
of the richest men in Khorasan, and then dismissed him, but he sent
him several Mongol commissaries, who were ordered to raise a contri
bution of money, arms, and cattle from the district of Herat. Shems ud
din had Borak's orders carried out, and having heard of Abaka's advance
he withdrew to the fort of Khaisar, to await the turn of events.}
Borak had now secured the greater part of Khorasan. A few days after
the plundering of Nishapur, viz., on the 28th of April, 1269, Abaka set out
from Azerbaijan to oppose him. He ordered his brother Yashmut to
leave 40,000 men, Mongols and Mussulmans, for the defence of Derbend,
and to join him with 10,000 picked horsemen. The Sultan Mozaffer ud
din Hajaj received orders to march with the troops of Kerman. Tekshin,
who had withdrawn, waited with 10,000 men in Mazanderan for his father's
arrival. The vizier, Shems ud din, supplied a body of 1,000 horsemen, and
10,000 horses in addition.§ Abaka strictly forbade his troops to touch the
growing corn. When he reached Sherubaz (called Kungkur-ulang by
* D'Ohsson, iii. 440. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 266. t Wassaf, 135.
I D'Ohsson, iii. 440-442. $ D'Ohsson, iii. 442 and adds, and corr., p. 624.

ABAKA KHAN. 235
the Mongols), a district of Irak Ajem, between Zengan and Ebher, famous
for its pastures, and where was afterwards built the town of Sultania,* he
met Meka Bey (called Tekajhek by Von Hammer), the envoy of Khubilai,
who had been waylaid by Borak, but had escaped, and who furnished
information about the condition of his army. On reaching Kumis he was
joined by Tekshin, who, after being beaten by Borak's advance guard,
near Herat, had retired to Mazanderan. With him were his son Arghun,
Arghun Aka, and Hajaj, the Sultan of Kerman. On the way to Tus (Von
Hammer says in the district of Radegan) Abaka distributed largess among
his soldiers. Thence he passed through Bakhers, the district lying
between Nishapur and Herat, and famous as the country of the cele
brated author Bakhersi. Near Faryab, he sent out flying parties and
distributed his army in various sections. Yashmut was appointed to
command the right wing, Abatai Noyan remained with himself and the
centre, while Tekshin was sent to Beljaghran, where the yurt of Merghaul,
one of Borak's commanders, was stationed, and who informed Borak of
the approach of the enemy. Borak ordered him to go and stop Abaka's
advance until his people were got ready. From Badghiz Abaka sent
envoys to Borak with offers of peace. He offered to give up the country
of Ghazni, as far as the Indus. If this offer were accepted, he might
return in peace ; if not, he must get ready for a struggle. The Prince
Yassaur advised that they should accept these terms, rather than
measure themselves against such a powerful ruler as Abaka, while
Kipchak and Chabat had both fled, and their horses were weak. The
astrologer Jelal also urged a delay of a month, as the stars were not
propitious. Merghaul argued, on the contrary, that they must not allow
themselves to be thus overcome by fear. " Where is Abaka ? " he said.
" Is he not occupied in Syria ? It is Tekshin and Arghun Aka who have
spread the false rumour of his arrival." " We came here to fight," said
Jelairtai. " If we wished for peace we should have remained in
Transoxiana." These speeches decided Borak, who, boiling with rage,
said : " What does it matter whether the stars are or are not propitious ?
We must remember that the enemy is coming to destroy us in our camps."
It was determined therefore, to give battle, and to send spies to
Abaka's camp.}
In regard to these spies Khuandemir has a good deal to say. He tells
us that Abaka, having set out for Herat, against which he was irritated
because of the assistance it had given his enemies, and which he had given
orders to sack (an order which he recalled), the news of his march was
brought to Borak, whose men were further disconcerted by the defection
of the princes who had been told by Kaidu to join him. He accordingly
sent three spies to inquire if he was really with the army, or whether
* D'Ohsson, iii. 442 and 505.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 442-444. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 268-269.

236 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
he had intrusted it to one of his princes. The spies found Abaka's people
encamped on a vast plain bordered by the mountains called Karasui by
the Mongols, and which his general, Burgur, had chosen as a battle-field.
Having been captured by some of Abaka's men, they were conducted before
him, were fastened to the pillar of his yurt, and under terrible menaces
one of them confessed. Abaka then caused a false rumour to be spread
abroad that Azerbaijan was in a state of confusion in consequence
of an attack by an army from Kipchak, or the Golden Horde,* and
himself repeated publicly that the safety of the empire demanded the
withdrawal of the army. He then ordered the troops to retreat, and
calculated he would reach Tebriz in ten days. The camp and baggage
were abandoned, and the army set out for Mazanderan. Abaka also
shouted out loudly that the spies were to be put to death. He, however,
gave secret orders that the one who had confessed was to be allowed to
escape, and the other two alone were to be killed. The spy who thus
escaped fled to Borak as quickly as he could, and reported how the plain
of Hazar Jenb was dotted with tents, pavilions, stuffs, and carpets, while
not a soldier belonging to the army of Azerbaijan remained there.
Thereupon Jelairtai and Merghaul both entered the audience chamber in
high glee. Before dawn Borak and his amirs mounted their horses, and
set out for the plain of Hazar Je"rib. Having found that district crowded
with abandoned tents and booths they passed the day in feasting. " In the
morning, when the sun, the King of the East, puts his chariots in the sky,
and chases the army of the stars, Borak Khan, like an impetuous torrent,
again broke forth in pursuit of Abaka," and when he reached the village of
Shekendian he was surprised to find encamped there the army of Irak and
Azerbaijani Abaka, we are told, had encamped on the plain of Jine, five
or six parasangs from Herat, and he sent to the Kadhi of Herat ordering
him not to open the gates of the city to Borak. When Borak's army
neared Herat, Masud Bey went ahead, and, surprised to find the gates
closed, he summoned the Kadhi, Shems ud din, who cried out from the
walls that Abaka had intrusted him with the defence of the place, and
that he had sworn not to surrender it. Masud Bey returned after having
menaced him, and Borak did not deem it prudent to delay, but, having
crossed the river of Herat and pillaged the valuables abandoned by
Abaka, speedily came upon the latter's forces set out in battle array. He
was naturally taken aback. His courtiers, especially Merghaul and
Jelairtai, offered him consolation, and devoted the night to preparations
for the struggle on the following day. Abaka exhorted his men to fight
bravely. He told them how he had deceived Borak, and that it was now
their turn to show themselves, and that they were about to fight for their
families and their sovereign, whose ancestors had conferred so many
* D'Ohsson says that he arranged that a messenger should arrive hastily with this misleading news.
t Khuandemir, Jonrn. Asiat., 4th ser., xix. 258-260. D'Ohsson, iii. 442-445.

ABAKA KHAN. 237
benefits upon them. His generals replied with a cheer, and repaired to
their posts* Ibn Farat tells us that the two armies were in presence of
one another when an astrologer, skilled in foretelling events, deserted
Borak, and announced to Abaka a certain victory, which he foretold after
examining the fissures on the shoulder bones of sheep in the approved
fashion. Abaka treated him with every honour, and promised to make a
village over to him if he was successful — a promise which he afterwards
carried out.}
The Georgian Chronicle, of course, enlarges on the great doings of its
special protdges, the Georgians, in this campaign. We are told how their
king, David, was sent ahead with the advance guard as the two armies
approached each other, in the plain of Amos, near Her (i.e., Herat).
Other noyans also marched four or five miles ahead to report on the
measures of Borak. These advanced patrols were called karauls by
the Tartars. Having gone ahead in this way, the King and the Mongol
karauls noticed a great dust, and were certain it proceeded from Borak's
army. The King and Sikadur (Samaghar) made their preparations.
The latter wished to retreat his soldiery, instinct telling him that advanced
patrols have no business to fight, save when compelled. The King
replied it was not the custom with the Georgians to turn their backs
without fighting when they saw the enemy coming. " Ought we to
fight ? " At these words the Tartars, who were rigid disciplinarians,
replied that they had received orders from Abaka not to fight without
him against the Grand Khan. " You Georgians," they added, " are mere
ignorant people, and do not know how to behave ;" and they threatened
in the name of Abaka to ill-use the King and his people, but without effect.
They thereupon sent an express to the Khan, to tell him Borak was
approaching, and that the dust raised by his army was to be seen in the plain
of Amos ; that they wished to withdraw in accordance with his orders,
but that the Georgians, who understood nothing, would not retire,
saying it was not their wont to turn their backs on the enemy, and entreating
him to come to their aid or they would be lost. Abaka ordered
his people to mount, and hastened forward to find the advanced patrols
set out in battle array. He summoned the King, and said, " I know the
bravery of the Georgians. You are unruly, like real demons. If one of
my noyans had behaved thus I should have had him killed, but you do
not understand our methods. Meanwhile, take the advance-post with
your men." Descending from his horse, the King bent the knee, and
repeated that it was not customary for the Georgians to turn their backs
when they had seen the enemy, and that the Khan should see how death
could be faced. He then left, and took his post with the advance guard.}
Let us now revert shortly to the Mussulman authorities. They tell us
* Khuandemir, 257-260. D'Ohsson, iii. 444-447. Ilkhans, i. 267-268.
t Quatremere, 268. Note. X Op- cit., 580-581.

238 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
that Abaka gave the command of the right wing to his brother Tekshin,
or Buchin, with the Noyan Semghur or Samaghar ; the left wing to Prince
Yashmut, who had under him the generals Sunatai, Mingtur Noyan,
Burultai Abdulla Aka, and Arghun Aka. Arghun Aka had in his
division the troops of Kerman and Fars, which were led by the Sultan
Hajaj and the Atabeg Yusuf Shah ; Abatai commanded the centre. In
the beginning of the battle Merghaul was killed while fighting bravely,
being shot with an arrow. Meanwhile, Jelairtai asked permission to
charge the left wing of Abaka's army, which he routed, and drove back
with great slaughter as far as Pushenk, or Fushenj, four leagues from
Herat. The centre and right of Abaka's army held their ground bravely,
and he ordered Yashmut to go and rally the broken left wing. Jelairtai's
men having got into disorder in the ardour of the pursuit, he could not
hold them in hand, and finding his retreat cut off he was obliged to flee.
His success at the beginning of the fight stirred the zeal of the aged
Sunatai, who was over 90 years old, and who, seating himself on a
stool in the middle of the battle-field, cried out to the officers who
surrounded him : " To-day we must show what we owe to Abaka, victory
or death." Abaka himself charged at the head of some of his men,
and his troops gathered themselves together and made a desperate
effort. At the third charge Borak's line was broken and he himself
was dismounted. He cried out to his officers, who sped past him in
their flight : " I am Borak, your sovereign ; give me a horse." They
were too frightened to stay. At length one of them offered him his
horse in exchange for some arrows, which Borak threw to him, and he
thereupon hastily fled. Abaka pursued the defeated army, giving no
quarter. They would nearly all have perished but for the courage and
presence of mind of Jelairtai, who rallied them and led them to the
desert of Amu, protecting their retreat with a body of troops like Ney
so often did in the famous retreat from Moscow. He thus saved the
ddbris of the Jagatai army, which recrossed the Oxus. Some men
had sheltered in a kiosk. Abaka ordered this to be fired, and all
perished in the flames.*
The Georgian Chro7ticle describes the battle with some detail. It says
the Grand Noyan Abathan, whom it also calls Abathai, who was
generalissimo, commanded the left. With him was Sirmon (i.e., Shiramun),
Sikadur, Tougha-Bugha-Jinilis (the same person otherwise known as
Bugha Chingsang ; Chingsang being a Chinese title). Arghun Aka and
Yasbugha were posted on the right, while the other noyans were dis
tributed between the two wings. When the men were ranged in their
ranks a centurion, named Alinak, of great size, courage, and of comely
appearance, asked permission from the Generalissimo Abathan to be
* Khuandemir, op. cit., 260-262. D'Ohsson, iii. 446-449. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 268-270.

ABAKA KHAN. 239
allowed to fight in the front rank where he should please. This was
granted him. Twice with his companions he cut his way through the
enemy's ranks, crying out, " Allah ! Allah ! " and compelled them to
retire. Abathan also fought very bravely, and we are told "he
dragged one of the enemy in full armour from his saddle and held
him on the pommel of his own during the rest of the fight like an eagle
holds a partridge." Shiramun also behaved well. Meanwhile Borak
attacked Abaka's right wing, where Sikadur, Tougha-Bugha-Jinilis, and
Arghun Aka found it impossible to hold their ground, and were pursued
till the following day. Abaka similarly pursued the wing opposed lo
him for two days, and during this long interval it was not known what
had happened. Presently both Borak and Abaka retraced their steps,
and a fresh struggle ensued. Abathan Noyan at the head of his men
charged those of Borak and made a dreadful slaughter, and captured
many prisoners.*
Let us now shortly revert again to Nigudar, whom we left as the guest
of David, son of Rusudan, in Guria. Wassaf says that the latter gave him
his daughter in marriage,} but this is not mentioned in the Georgian
Chronicle, which has so many details about his adventures. There we
read that while Borak was invading Khorasan, Nigudar contrived to send
some of his officers, viz., Segzi-Badur, Abib Akha, Tholak-Demur,
and Jolak, with their wives and baggage, apparently to make a diversion.
They set out, and reached the mountains of Likh (? Lesghistan), and
crossed its western portion called Ghado. They stopped at a place
called Lomis Thaf, and ravaged Jawakheth as far as Phanawar. The
corps of Tartars which was posted in the district descended into the
valley of Eser, crossed the ford of the Mtsuar (Kur) above Atskur, and
having penetrated into Jawakheth, carried off a stud of horses belonging
to Sakha Thorel, entitled chief of the armourers (? of the Kubechi
or Sirgherans, a famous tribe of Lesghistan, whose name means
armourers), and another belonging to Kurumchi, a commander of 1,000
men, and his son Aralikan, and returned with them to Lomis Thaf.
Kurumchi and Sakha set off in pursuit. The two bodies met by the
Kur, near the outfall of the river of Gursel. The people of Nigudar
were greatly outnumbered, but Tholak Demur having crossed the Kur
without being seen, and with but thirty men, mounted a hillock and
unfurled another standard, and advanced with loud cries. Kurumchi,
fancying this was a fresh army, and that he was being attacked in front
and rear, fled hastily, and a number of his followers perished, among
others the two chiefs of Sokhta. Samdzimar lost his horse, and swam
over the river. Kurumchi fell by the hand of the Tartar chief, and many
of his followers lost their way, and went towards the mountain of Rugeth,
* Op. cit., 581-582. t Op. cit., 137.

240 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
which is nearly impassable. The success of this raid made Nigudar more
audacious, and he descended into Karthli, where he committed great
excesses. Meanwhile Abaka sent word to David, son of Rusudan, that he was no
longer to protect Nigudar, making him at the same time generous
promises, whereupon the King placed guards so as to prevent his sudden
escape. Abaka also sent Shiramun and some other noyans to secure
him. They entered Thrialeth and summoned the other Georgian King,
David, son of Lasha, to go to him, but he was then ill, and sent his
officers, who accompanied Shiramun to Karthli. A struggle now took
place, which was prolonged into the following day, and in which Nigudar's
people were utterly beaten and dispersed, and Nigudar himself, his wife,
and his son were captured, stripped of their belongings, and taken
before Abaka, who pardoned him and sent him to live in Irak,
gave him abundance of food and raiment, falcons, &c, and a lordly
establishment, with a guard to prevent him moving elsewhere. He
terminated his days in peace, while King David was rewarded with
numerous presents, and was given Atehi, with its appurtenances, and
other villages in Karthli.* Wassaf says that Nigudar excused his conduct
to Abaka on the ground that he had been invited to do what he did by
Borak, that he was pardoned, but that six of his chief supporters were put
to death, and his troops were incorporated with those of the Ilkhan.
Nigudar himself was put under the surveillance of the Noyan Kurumchi.}
Von Hammer says he was guarded by fifty Mongols and imprisoned at
Deriar Kebudan, whence he was released on the defeat of Borak.}
After his defeat Borak retired to Transoxiana. Thereupon Abaka,
leaving Tekshin in command of the army of Khorasan, went homewards.
On the way a party of people from Dilem tried to assassinate him.
Yusufshah, the son of Shems ud din Alp Arghun, the Atabeg of
Luristan, who lived at Abaka's Court and had taken part in the
recent campaign (his own country being governed meanwhile by
prefects appointed by himself), sprang from his horse and saved him.
For this, and his brave conduct in the war with Borak, for which he
had supplied a contingent, he was rewarded with the district of
Khuzistan, the mountain Kiluya, and the two towns of Firuzan and
Jerbadakan. The former took its name from the Sassanian monarch,
Firuz, who built it ; it was famous for its cotton, corn, and fruit, and was
situated in the Persian Irak. The latter was also called Derbayekan, or
Giiljadkian, and was situated between Kerj and Hamadan. Yusufshah
repaired to the mountain Kiluya, where he defeated the Shuls, a Kurdish
tribe, the victory costing the life of his brother, Nejm ud din.§ Abaka
reached Meragha on the 18th of October, 1270, and twenty days later
* Op. cit., 582-583. t Wassaf, 137-138. D'Ohsson, iii. 433-435.
X ilkhans, i. 261. § Id., i. 274. D'Ohsson, iii. 454-455.

ABAKA KHAN. 24 1
arrived at his ordu at Chagatu, where he received from the envoys of his
uncle, the Khakan Khubilai, a crown, a mantle of investiture, and letters-
patent conferring on him the government of Iran, which his father had
held. The ceremony of investiture was accompanied by the usual
rejoicings. He also received envoys from Mangu Timur, of the Golden
Horde, congratulating him on his victory, and taking him presents of
falcons. When Abaka was hunting on one occasion outside Meragha, he was
wounded in the neck by the horn of a wild ox. To stop the flow of
blood one of the aidajis or cooks made a light ligature about the wound
with a bowstring, which caused it to become cicatrised. A tumour having
supervened, which caused him much pain, none of his doctors dared to
open it until the famous astronomer, Nasir ud din, offered to answer with
his head if any harm came of the operation, whereupon it was cut open
and he was relieved* This was shortly followed by the death of the two
princes, Yashmut and Tekshin, who had so distinguished themselves in
the war against Borak ; and six months later Yisunchin, the mother of
Abaka, also died. Her household was made over to his wife, Padishah
Khatun, the daughter of Kutb ud din, Sultan of Kerman. It was in this
year also that Girdkuh, the fortress of the Assassins, identified by Von
Hammer with the Gilgerd of the Byzantines (a veritable castle of Lethe or
oblivion), is said to have been finally captured.} The next event of any
moment in Abaka's reign was the expedition he sent to ravage Trans
oxiana, which did its work very effectually. Its issue I shall relate in
the next volume. The Turcoman, Akbeg, who took an active part in
this campaign, would have gone with the booty he had secured to Kaidu,
but one of his brothers disclosed his intentions to Arghun. He was
arrested and sent on to Abaka. He was executed, en route, at Kokje
denis, or the Blue Sea (i.e., the Sea of Aral) ; the intendant, Malik Sadr
ud din, was also put to death at Rai. Jenglaun Bakhshi, Khulagu's and
Abaka's secretary, and the Amir Arghun Aka, son of Charmaghan, died
a natural death at this time. There was also an earthquake at Tebriz
which caused much destruction there. The same year there died at
Iconium the famous mystic sheikh, Sadr ud din of Konia.}
The Georgian Chronicle tells us how, after his return from the campaign
against Borak, Abaka went to Siba with King David (the son of Lasha),
who spent the winter there, where the king fell ill and died. He was
succeeded by his young son Dimitri. The date of his death has been
discussed by Brosset.§ He fixes it in 1269, but it would seem that
Malakia's authority must be right, and he tells us David died the same
year and the same month as Haithon, King of Armenia (i.e., October,
1 270). The youth of the young king, D imitri, caused many of the eristhafs
* Ilkhans, i. 272-273. D'Ohsson, iii. 456-457. Quatremere, 13. Note.
t Ilkhans, i. 273-274. I Id., i, 275. § Hist, de la Georgie, 584. Notes.
Q

242 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to join the Mongol ranks. About this time also Aghatar and Sakhaoer,
eristhaf of Raja, determined to break the yoke of David, son of Rusudan,
and to go over to Abaka. They discussed matters with Alikan Behadur,
who lived in the mountains of Jawakheth. He informed the monarch, who
made them large promises. The Khan complained of the way in which
David had given shelter to his enemies, such as Nigudar and Yalkhur,
and it was necessary to punish him. Thereupon Sakhaber said he and
his companions knew the country well, and would willingly act as his
guides. Abaka thereupon ordered Shiramun, Alikan, Taicho, and
Abchi to march against the King. They collected a force of 30,000 men,
traversed Trialeth, crossed the mountain Likh, and fell on David, who
was then bathing at Kuthathis. He had barely time to mount, covered
with a single garment. Meanwhile the Tartars pillaged the churches,
killed or made prisoners a large number of Christians, and returned
without any loss to Abaka. Two years later, Shiramun and Alikan,
called Alinakh by Stephen the Orpelian, and no doubt the Alinak
already named, were again ordered to invade Georgia. David at
once withdrew, and allowed them to plunder at their will. Presently,
having heard that he was collecting a force to attack them, they withdrew
hastily with their prisoners and booty. At this time Sadun Mankaberdel
had become the first of the mthawars. Abaka attached him to his
person, and gave him the surveillance of Georgia, and also confided to
him the daughter of the atabeg Avak, who appointed him her chamberlain.
Meanwhile the Georgian thawads conveyed the young king Dimitri, son of
David Lasha, to the ordu, and were accompanied by I vane", son of-Shahin-
shah, the chief of the Mandators. Abaka invested Dimitri with the whole
kingdom, except the territory belonging to Sargis Jakel, and caused him
to be escorted home by Sadun, whom he appointed atabeg, and on
reaching Tiflis he was duly consecrated there.*
We will now turn to Abaka's intercourse with Egypt. The Mamluk
Sultan Bibars, who, as we have seen, now ruled there, was a terrible
foe to the Crusaders, whom he had determined to drive out of Syria.
In 1268 he captured Antioch, which belonged to Bohemond, Prince
of Tripoli. After the capture the citizens were killed or reduced to
slavery, while other districts subject to the Crusaders were devastated,
and Bibars' intentions were strengthened by the result of the ill-starred
expedition of Louis IX. to Tunis. Driven to desperation, the Crusaders
appealed to Abaka to go to their rescue.t By his orders a division of
10 000 men under Samaghar, the commander of the Mongols in Asia
Minor, with a body of Turks from Rum, under the Pervana, first minister
of the Sultan of Rum, advanced into Syria. Their advance guard, con
sisting of 1,500 Mongols, commanded by Amal, son of Baichu, which went

* Op. cit., 585-586. t D'Ohsson, iii., 458-459.

ABAKA KHAN. 243
by way of Amk, in the district of Aintab, surprised and cut to pieces
a tribe of Turkomans encamped between Harem and Antioch, ravaged
the districts of Harem and Al Muruj, and advanced as far as Apamia.
Abulfeda says they attacked Aintab, Rug, and Camit, near Famia. The
garrison of Aleppo retired upon Hamath. A thousand pieces of silver
was asked for a camel, while to hire one for a journey to Egypt cost 200.
Bibars, who was at Damascus, sent orders to Baisari to march at once
with 3,000 men from Cairo. That officer duly arrived at Damascus on
the 1 2th of November, 1271. The Sultan, with his troops, set out for
Aleppo, but the Mongols had already retired. He, however, dispatched
the Amir Ak Sonkor Farekani, with a large number of Arabs for Merash
(the Germanicia of the ancients), while another division was sent to
Harran and Roha (i.e., Edessa), which opened its gates to them. At
Harran they put to death the Mongols who were in the town, and caused
the rest to take to flight* The Egyptians did not permanently occupy
Harran, and on their withdrawal the principal inhabitants, afraid of the
vengeance of the Mongols for having surrendered the place, left it, and
scattered themselves in various parts of Syria. A Mongol division
re-entered it on the 26th of April, 1272, razed the walls, destroyed the
buildings, carried off the greater part of the citizens, and the town was
thus ruined.t
Meanwhile, supported by the Crusaders, the Mongols attacked the
fortress of Kakun, not far from Caesarea, which its governor, Bejka Alai,
abandoned. Bibars secretly left Aleppo, and arrived at Damascus with a
large number of Mongols captured at Harran. He dispatched Akush
Shemsi with the troops of Ain Jalut to relieve Kakun, whereupon the
Crusaders fled. They were pursued and severely punished. While
Bibars was at Damascus envoys came from the Mongol general Samaghar
and the Pervana to negotiate for peace, and asking that some one should
be sent to treat. He accordingly sent Mobariz ud din Tuzi, the amir
tabardar, and Fakhr ud din Mukri, the hajib. They found Samaghar
encamped in the province of Sivas, and presented him with nine bows
and nine maces, excusing the poverty of their present on the ground that
they had had to ride post haste. On the following day they were received
by the Pervana, and gave him the costly stuffs with which they had
been intrusted by Bibars. With him they went on to Abaka, to whom
they presented a cuirass, a helmet made of hedgehog's skin, a sword, a
bow, and nine arrows, and reported that their master had received several
envoys from Mangu Timur, of the Golden Horde, asking him to make a
joint attack upon himself. This news naturally distressed the Mongol
ruler, and two days later he sent back the envoys. The fact is that the
bitter feud which separated the Khans of the Golden Horde and the
* Makrizi, i. (part ii.) 100-101. D'Ohsson, iii. 459-469, Weil, iv. 73-74.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 46;.

244 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Ilkhans caused the former to seek the assistance of their co-religionist,
the Sultan of Egypt, while the Ilkhans as naturally clung to the Crusaders,
and the Emperors of Byzantium.
In September, 1272, some fresh envoys went to Damascus from Abaka,
and others from Rum. Makrizi says the former were told to go through
the Juk or Kow-tow (i.e., the well-known Mongol form of prostration)
before the two naibs of Aleppo and Hamath. They had been charged
to ask that Sonkor Ashkar should be sent to the Imperial Court,
but they now changed this message into a summons to Bibars either
to go himself or to send his first subject. The Sultan replied that as
it was Abaka who desired peace he had better go in person, or send one
of his brothers to go to him. He also ordered his troops, in complete
equipment, to perform their evolutions in the Meidan, outside Damascus,
before the envoys. Soon after, news arrived that the Mongols were
attacking the fortresses of El Biret and Er Rahbet, and had seized the
fords of the Euphrates. The people at Biret sent messengers to Hamath
and Hims by pigeon post, asking for help. The Sultan dispatched Fakhr
ud din, of Hims, from Harim, with one division, while Alai ud din Alhaj
Taibars Waziri went in another direction with a second one. He himself
set out from Damascus and Hims, taking with him some boats which were
mounted on carts. On reaching the Euphrates, he was deceived by
the Mongols, who had moved from the ford where they had previously
been posted, and had intrenched themselves opposite a deep part of the
river. Bibars launched his boats, filled with soldiers, and a sharp hail of
arrows followed from each side. Presently, Kelavun crossed the river by
a ford, and defeated the Mongols. The rest of the troops then swam
over the river, the horsemen being close to each other, holding their
horses' bridles with one hand, and using their lances as oars. The Sultan
was one of the first over. The enemy's camp was captured, and he
thanked heaven for his victory in a prayer, accompanied by two rik'ats.
The enemy were 3,000 or, according to Novairi, 5,000 strong, and lost
their commander, Haifar (read Chabakar by D'Ohsson), and many of
their number. The Euphrates was crossed at Menbej, after which troops
were dispatched up and down the river, who captured and killed many
others. Meanwhile Derbai, with the Mongol army that was besieging
El Biret, hastily withdrew, abandoning their catapults, baggage, and
provisions. Having waited to see if they would return, Bibars once
more recrossed the Euphrates and repaired to El Biret, which he
entered by a bridge of boats that had been prepared by the Mongols.
He rewarded the governor with a robe of honour and a thousand gold
pieces, while he distributed 100,000 dirhems and other marks of favour on
the inhabitants ; and having strengthened the garrison returned to
Damascus, which he entered in triumph, preceded by his amirs.* D'Ohsson
* Makrizi, i. (part ii.) uo-m. D'Ohsson, iii. 463-464. Weil, iv. 76.

ABAKA KHAN. 245
says the Egyptian army numbered 12,000, and that to enable him to cross
the Euphrates Bibars threw 35,000 camels into the river, whose
bodies formed a bridge over which his men advanced ;* but this is
corrected by Von Hammer. What Wassaf says is that the camels were
linked together by their bridles.
The Egyptians now once more assailed Little Armenia, of which
Leon^II. was ruler. They complained that the citizens of Kinuk molested
the Mussulman merchants and travellers. They accordingly crossed the
frontier and suddenly appeared before the town. The inhabitants fled to
the citadel, which was taken in July, 1273. The men were killed, and the
women reduced to slavery.} Tarsus was also sacked. Leon himself,
who suspected the fidelity of his vassals, withdrew to the mountains,
whence he, according to Chamitch, inflicted a defeat on a second Syrian
army which invaded the district. These events took place in the latter
part of 1273.}
While his troops were ravaging Cilicia, Bibars learnt that Abaka was
making preparations to attack him, and prepared in turn to repel him.
He set out from Cairo on August 12th, 1273, and heard at Askalon that the
Ilkhan had left Baghdad on a hunting excursion towards the Zab, and he
sent to Egypt to summon his troops. A division of 4,000 accordingly set
out under his general, Taibars, and as the news from Persia became daily
more alarming, the Sultan ordered all the Egyptian forces, including the
Arabs, to march, and whoever had a horse was instructed to obey the
sacred call and set out. Bibars reached Damascus on the 2nd of
September, but no enemy appeared.§ A few months later Sherif ud
din Issa, son of Mohanna, the chief of the Bedouins of Syria, made a
raid by his orders into Irak Arab, and advanced as far as Anbar.
The Mongols, who fancied it was the Sultan in person, retired fighting,
and rejoined Abaka. ||
The Malik Shems ud din Behadur, Prince of Semsat, son of the
Malik Ferej, chief cupbearer of the last Khuarezm Shah, after the
death of that prince, had occupied the strong fortress of Kirat and six
others in the district of Nakhchivan, and had then gone to Rum, where he
received the town of Akserai as an appanage: He had begun a secret
correspondence with Bibars, to inform the latter of what was going on
among the Mongols. He had also joined in a plot with the Sultan for
the destruction of the Catholicos of the Christians (i.e., of the Nestorians)
at Baghdad. The latter lived in the palace of the Khalif, and had treated
the Mussulmans with contumely. The Sultan wrote him a letter, saying
he had heard how much he had at heart the wellbeing of the Christians
in his states, and that it was in consideration for him that he (Bibars)
treated him so kindly, and went on to say, "Thanks to you, we are well
* D'Ohsson, iii. 464. Wassaf, 167. t D'Ohsson, iii. 465. _ X Id., 466-467.
§ Id., 467. || Id., 466-467. Makrizi, i. (part ii.) 117.

246 HISTORY OP THE MONGOLS.
acquainted with the most secret affairs of the Mongols." The letter then
went on to make some imaginary statement, as : " We grant what you
have asked for such an one. We promise to promote the person you
name. We shall know how to treat the person you have in view. You
ask us for some balm, and some relics of the Messiah. We send them to
you, as well as a portion of the Cross. We have sent these things to
Rahbet, and we have communicated to the naib there the secret sign
between us ; send a confidential person who knows the sign to fetch
them." The Sultan gave this letter to the naib of El Biret, with orders
to hand it to an Armenian, who was to pass it on to the Catholicos. He
then informed Shems ud din Behadur of what he had done. The latter
had the messenger arrested and sent to Abaka, who ordered the Catholicos
to be put to death. Shems ud din did several other services for the
Sultan, but the Mongols having discovered his intrigues, arrested and
conveyed him to the ordu. His mamluks and attendants, to the number
of 200, fled to Egypt, where they were well received by the Sultan.
Shems ud din himself managed to escape, and went to El Biret, where
the people went out to meet him. Thence he passed into Egypt, where
he and his followers had appanages granted to them* This story is a
good example of the diabolical ingenuity of the eastern princes in intrigue.
It also shows a curious phase of relic-dealing, when ingenuous bishops
were ready to buy Christian relics and pieces of the true Cross from the
Sultan of Egypt, the great antagonist of the Crusaders, and who would
no doubt have gladly supplied such articles ad libitum. The story above
told is preserved for us by Novairi, but, as D'Ohsson says, there was at
this time no Catholicos living at Baghdad, nor did any Catholicos perish
by order of Abaka. Abulfaraj tells us that in 1268 Henan Yishua, bishop
of Jeziret, was put to death by his orders, his skull being broken with a
stone when he was asleep, and his head then exposed at the gate of
Jeziret. He was accused of unnatural crimes, and of interfering in
matters of state. Perhaps he is the person mistaken by Novairi for the
Catholicos.} Although no Catholicos was actually killed, the Christians
seem to have had rather a bad time of it at this period, in consequence of
the intrigues of the Muhammedans. The Catholicos of the Nestorians
left Baghdad in 1268, after an outbreak there. He was called Mar Denha,
and was the successor of Makisa. He had seized a Nestorian from
Takrit, who some years before had turned Mussulman, and had threatened
to drown him in the Tigris. The people appealed to Alai ud din, the
civil governor of the town, who demanded the release of the apostate, and
on the refusal of the Catholicos they attacked his house, burnt the
entrance, and tried to get in and kill him. Mar Denha escaped by some
tortuous streets to the house of Alai ud din. He laid his complaints
* Makrizi, i. (part ii.) 116-117, and note 143. D'Ohsson, iii. 467-469.
t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 571-572.

ABAKA KHAN. 247
before the Mongol Court, but no one there supporting him, he retired to
Irbil. In 1271 some Ismaelites (i.e., Bedouins) tried to assassinate Alai
ud din. They failed, and were cut in pieces. The Muhammedans
declared the attempt had been made by some Christians, emissaries of
Mar Denha. This sufficed to cause a general imprisonment of the
bishops and the heads of the regular and secular clergy at Baghdad.
At the same time Kutbuka, the governor of Irbil, imprisoned the
Catholicos and his bishops, and they were only released after some
weeks, and by order of the court. Thereupon the Nestorian patriarchs
fixed their residence at Ashnu, in Azerbaijan.*
Sempad, whose journeys to the Mongol Court we have described,
apparently died about 1273.} We are told that he built many churches,
monasteries, &c, and that having repaired to Tebriz, to visit Arghun Aka
and the Sahib Divan, he fell ill and died. He was succeeded by his brother
Tarsaij, with the permission of Arghun and the Sahib Divan.} In 1273
Abaka sent an army to invade Khuarezm, which was then subject to the
Khans of the Golden Horde. It laid waste the towns of Khiva, Urgenj,
and Karakush.§
Abulfaraj describes how, in 1274, a Nestorian monk from St. Michael's
monastery, near Mosul, having had an intrigue with an Arab woman,
became a Mussulman, much to the distress of the Christians. His fellow
monks, including his uncle, repaired to Tepash, the leader of the Mongol
soldiery, who at their instance went to Mosul, where they seized the
renegade. Thereupon a tumult arose, and a crowd of Mussulmans went
to the palace armed with clubs and torches, and threatened to kill the
Mongol leaders unless they released their co-religionist. He was
accordingly released, and was taken in triumph on horseback round the
city, which was a greater grief to the Christians than his apostacy.|| We
are further told that at this time the Christians of Irbil, intending to
celebrate the festival of palms, and afraid they would be molested by the
Arabs (i.e., the Mussulmans), asked a number of Christian Mongols who
were encamped not far off to escort them. They did so, and they
marched out, the Mongols carrying crosses on the points of their spears.
The crowd marched headed by the Nestorian metropolitan, and accom
panied by Mongol horsemen. They were assailed with stones and
dispersed, however, by the Mussulmans, and for some time after dared
not come out of their houses.1T During the same year (i.e., 1274) some
of Bibars' officers having been found corresponding with the Mongols
were arrested, and twelve of them were put to death.**
In 1273 we read in Abulfaraj that Intab and Birha, from Syria, made
a raid into the district of Claudia. They marched continuously, without
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 571-573.
t Hist, de la Siounie, 235. Note 4. St. Martin, ii. 291. Note 38.
X Hist, de la Siounie, 235. St. Martin, ii. 153. 6 Weil, iv. 135.
|| Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 574-575. 1 Id., 575-576. *'* D'Ohsson, iii. 471.

24§ HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
bivouacking, for fear the Mongols might attack them, and carried off
many prisoners.* Two years later some fakirs went to visit the tomb of
the Khalif Mamun, at Tarsus. It was suspected that the Egyptian
Sultan, in person, was among them, having gone to explore the country,
and they were accordingly arrested and imprisoned by order of the
Armenian king. Several people were sent from Egypt to inquire why
they were imprisoned, which only increased Leon's suspicions. This was
not the only grievance which Bibars had. He plausibly charged the
Armenian king with several offences — that he had not sent him the
presents agreed upon ; that he had built some new forlresses and added
to the old ones; that, contrary to his promise, he had not furnished him
with useful intelligence ; and, lastly, that Armenians, invested with
Mongol sarakuchis, had assailed his caravans, falsely pretending to be
Mongols — acts which had led to the destruction of Kinuk, as we have
mentioned. Bibars left Cairo on the 1st of February, 1275, and Damascus
on the 6th of March. At Hamath he was joined by Mansur, prince of
that country, and later by the Arab Sherif ud din Issa, son of Mohanna.
He had kept his purpose secret. When his army reached the country
between Derbessak and Bagras he divided it into bodies of 1,000 men,
which forced the mountains at various points. The soldiers carried
torches, and thirty boats followed the army, with which to cross the rivers.
The Sultan encamped beyond the defile of Iskanderun, behind a wall
which Haithon, father of Leon, had built, whence he advanced to Merkes
(not Mankab, as D'Ohsson has it), which takes its name from the river,
the ancient Kersos. His people captured and burnt Massissa, the ancient
Mopsuetia, on the Jihan (the Pyramus of the classics). There they
secured a large booty, and caused much slaughter. We are told that
some clans of Arabs and Turkomans, who were owners of great herds
here, submitted to Bibars, who moved them into Syria. Once more
advancing, he crossed the defile separating Cilicia from Rum, where he
captured the families of some Mongols. Thence on to Sis, which was
burnt, the palace of the king, with its pavilions and gardens, being
destroyed ; the citizens had abandoned the city and sought shelter in the
citadel. He dispatched the prisoners and cattle he had captured home
wards, and sent detachments to the maritime towns of Tarsus (where they
recited the Mussulman prayers on the Friday), Adana, Barin, and Ayas.
Ayas, situated two days' journey from Baghras and one from Tel Hamdun,
was in the hands of the Crusaders. They transported their wealth on to
ships which were anchored in the harbour. The Egyptians burnt the
town and killed many of the citizens. Two thousand Franks and
Armenians who tried to escape by sea were drowned. Some of its
citizens fled to the Lesser Jeziret, which was not far off; others who

* Chron. Syr., 574.

ABAKA KHAN. 249
escaped were pillaged even of their coats by the Franks ; " they did not
kill any of them, however," says the considerate Abulfaraj. At Adana the
men were killed and the women carried off. Abulfaraj says the invaders
advanced, plundering, burning, and murdering, to Cyric. They killed
twenty-one monks in the monastery of Paximiatus, with an illustrious
old monk named Salomon, and the praetor of the patriarch Mar Ignatius.
They burnt the monastery, as well as the one at Gujekhat, and the rest of
the monasteries of the Armenians and Greeks, except the small one
belonging to the Jacobite patriarch at Sis. That dignitary had fled to
Behga, where he hid till the invaders withdrew.* On returning to
Massissa the Sultan set fire to the two parts of that town on the banks of
the Jihan, and when all his men had assembled again, and the Turkomans
and Arabs who were subject to him had passed the defiles on the Syrian
frontier, he continued his retreat. He stayed awhile on the plains of
Antioch, which were covered with immense numbers of cattle, and
proceeded to distribute the booty, every functionary, both of sword and
pen, participating ; he did not retain any for himself. He there learnt
that the division which he had sent to Biret had advanced as far as
Rees Ain, driving before it the Mongols it met en route, and had
returned loaded with booty. This terrible raid is said to have cost the
lives of 60,000 people, while a larger number were made captive.}
The next year the Mongols made an attack upon El Biret. They
invested the fortress on the 29th of November, 1275, and bombarded it
with catapults. They were led by the noyan Abatai (called Antai by
Abulfeda). They had to withdraw, however, on account of the scarcity
of provisions and the severity of the weather, which caused the death of
many horses ; and Bibars, who had already set out from Damascus and
distributed largess to the troops, again returned.} Abulfaraj tells us
the invaders on this occasion numbered 70,000, and that after his failure
Abatai returned to Assyria, where he became very ill. The withdrawal
of the Mongols, as here described, was followed by a raid upon Cilicia by
a number of Turkomans, in which Sempad, Leon's uncle, and several
grandees were killed.§ The Pervana, who governed Rum, had a critical
part to play. His Mussulman inclinations inclined him to be friendly
towards the Sultan of Egypt, whereas the way in which he had been
virtually cheated out of his wife by her father, King Haithon, made him
ill disposed towards the Armenians, although Haithon's son, Leon,
had tried to appease him by a marriage between his natural daughter
and the Pervana's son.|| To keep himself in good odour with the
Mongols, he repaired to their ordu with the daughter of Rokn ud din,
Sultan of Rum, to save her, as he alleged, from being taken off to Egypt.

* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 578.
t Makrizi, i. ("part ii.) 123-124. D'Ohsson, iii. 471-474. Ilkhans, i. 290-293.
X D'Ohsson, iii. 474-475. % Chron. Syr., 580. |[ Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 574.

250 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
He also warned the Mongols that a certain amir, called Mar Khetir, had
got possession of the young Sultan Ghiath ud din, and was conveying him
to Egypt. He asked for some troops with whom to rescue him. These
were given him, under the command of Kongurtai, Abaka's brother.
They overtook Mar Khetir, with the young Sultan, at Ablestin, killed the
former, and rescued the latter, whom they made over to the Pervana,
who thus acquired great credit among them.* The young Seljukian
Sultan, Ghiath ud din, had been taken to Nakidah (now called Nigdeh),
between Marash and Konia, for safety, by the Amir Sherif ud din Masud
Ibn Alkhatir, a strong opponent of the Pervana. Bibars, who had gone
to Aleppo, sent a division under Seif ud din Bilban Azzeini, with orders
to march upon Nakidah; but when he reached the Koksu, or Blue River
(probably an affluent of the Jihan, falling into it south-east of Marash), he
was attacked by a Mongol contingent and forced to retire upon Aintab.
The result of this expedition was that the Pervana once more secured
the custody of Ghiath ud din.t
About the year 1276, Alem ud din Yakub, a great merchant, who
was a Christian, and a native of Berkut, in the district of Irbil, and had
been on a visit to Khubilai Khan's Court, died on his way home in
Khorasan. Yashmut, an envoy of the Khakan's, who was his companion,
and also a man of great consequence and illustrious birth, of Uighur
origin, and who had been a monk, took charge of his sons, and went with
them to Abaka's Court. Abaka received them well, and appointed the
eldest of them, Masud, governor of Mosul and Irbil, while Yashmut
became his chief minister.} According to St. Martin, Arghun Aka, the
famous Mongol official, died in 1275. In the " Shajrat ul Atrak" we are
told he died in 673 HEJ., at Tus.§ Another important personage died at
this time, viz., Shems ud din Kert, the Malik of Herat. His enemies at
Abaka's Court had intrigued against him, and the latter, grown suspicious,
determined to secure his person. He had to set about it diplomatically,
since the malik's fortress of Khaisar was impregnable. Accordingly, in
1275, he sent him a khilat or state robe, a paizah or official tablet, and a
yarligh or diploma. This last was thus phrased : " The Malik Shems ud
din Muhammed Kert knows that we are very fond of him ; that his words
and acts have always won our approbation and praise ; that all which he
has sent to the foot of our throne has been very welcome ; that the
statements of his detractors and those envious of him have not been
listened to ; and that we have several times told our brother, Tekshin
Oghul,|| to send him some of his most distinguished officers to invite him
to quit his inaccessible home, this abode of lions and tigers, this nest of
eagles and vultures (i.e., Khaisar), and to take up his residence at Herat.
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 582. t Weil, iv. 81.
X Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 582-583. D'Ohsson, iv. 24. § Op. cit. 254. See Ante, p. 241.
His name is otherwise read Tebsin and Bishin.— See journ. Asiat., 5th ser , xvii. 454. Note.

ABAKA KHAN. 25 1
He must, on the receipt of this order, repair at once to Herat and rule
there firmly, and make the frontier provinces, as far as Afghanistan on
the one hand, and of Shiburghan and the Amu (i.e., the Oxus) on the
other, flourish ; he must reside in the flourishing city of Herat, and
there punish those who have been oppressive and tyrannical." Abaka
finished his letter with numerous expressions of his goodwill, and swore
never to injure him. Shems ud din thereupon assured him of his
obedience, and sent rich presents to him, as well as to Tekshin Oghul and
the great amirs and chiefs of the administration, and he went to Herat,
where the maliks and grandees of the surrounding district went to meet
him. Shortly after, there arrived letters from his namesake, the vizier,
and from the vizier's son, the Khoja Bahai ud din, the governor of Ispahan,
inviting him to go to Irak. He accordingly set out. Bahai ud din, with
a crowd of grandees, went to the borders of his province to meet him, and
conducted him to the ordu, but Abaka gave him a very cold welcome,
and his suspicions having been aroused, determined that he should not
return again to Herat. He was detained at the ordu, while his son, Rokn
ud din, was sent to join the army at Derbend* Von Hammer has
translated a number of epigrams and poems which he and his namesake,
the vizier, wrote in answer to one another at this time.} Abaka himself
refused him an audience. He was detained at Ispahan, and his two sons
were enrolled among the troops stationed at Baku. The amir Bahai ud
din, supported by Tikneh, one of the chief dignitaries of the Court, in
vain recalled the services of the family of Kert. Abaka refused to see
him, and the following year (i.e., 1277), while he was in a bath at Tebriz,
he ate a water melon which Abaka had sent him, and which was poisoned,
and died. This was in January, 1278. The Ilkhan's suspicion of him
was so great that, fearing a trick and that he was not really dead, he
ordered one of his courtiers to superintend the laying out of the corpse,
and to fasten the coffin with iron chains. He was buried at Jani, in a
turbeh, or funereal chapel.} The death of the malik caused matters at
Herat to fall into disorder, and we are told that the following year (i.e.,
1278) Prince Tekshin, on his return from Ghazni, reported the state of
things to his brother Abaka, and persuaded him to nominate Shems ud
din's son, Rokn ud din, who as we have seen had been sent to Derbend,
in his father's place, and ordered him to bear, like his father, the title
of Shems ud din, adding to it that of "the Little," to distinguish him
from his predecessor. He reigned without dispute for three years,
and received the homage of the chiefs of Khorasan, except of
the governor of Kandahar, against whom he marched in 680 (1281),
Khuandemir says in 677 (i.e., 1278). The inhabitants defended them
selves bravely, but after thirteen days' attack, finding that the gates
* D'Ohsson, iv. 180-182. t Ilkhans, i. 278-284.
} Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 453-454. D'Ohsson, iv. 182-183.

252 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
of their fortress had been fired, they agreed to submit and 'to pay a
money fine*
Let us now turn our attention to the other end of the empire. We
have seen how Iz ud din, the joint ruler of Rum, fled to Constantinople,
leaving his brother Rokn ud din in complete possession of that empire.}
We have also traced his subsequent fortunes until his death.} Rokn ud
din was only nominally ruler. The real ruler was the Pervana, who,
fearing that his nominal master meant to assert himself, charged him at
the Mongol Court with intending to revolt, and having received due
authority, he had him strangled with a bowstring, after he had corrupted
the Mongol generals with large presents. This took place in 666 HEJ.
(1267-8), at a banquet to which he had invited the Sultan and the Mongol
generals. Rokn ud din's son, Ghiath ud din, who was only four years
old, was put on the throne. Nine years later, troubles broke out in Rum.
Some of the amirs there, who had combined with the Pervana to secure
an Egyptian alliance, having been betrayed by that treacherous person,
fled to Egypt, and incited the Sultan to invade Rum ; among them Seif
ud din Jenderbek (the Haidarbek of D'Ohsson), Prince of Ablestin,
an old amir called Bishar, and others. Bibars remitted the matter
for discussion to some of his own amirs, and ordered two of them,
Baisari and Anes (D'Ohsson calls him Akush), to report to him the
result. Bibars himself repaired to Egypt, where we are told great
exertions were made, and the artisans were fully employed in preparing
arms, &c. Bibars presented splendid equipments to his mamluks, and held
a grand review, a sham fight, and a feast, which are described in picturesque
detail by Makrizi. § The " Shajrat ul Atrak " reports how, before he set
out against the Mongols, Bibars went as a spy to Rum. On his return
to Egypt he sent a message to Abaka to tell him he had been to Rum for
his amusement, and had left a ring in pledge with a certain cook or
confectioner for provisions supplied to him, and he coolly asked Abaka
to return it. The latter, who was astonished at his rashness, ordered the
Pervana to send Bibars a friendly answer.|| When the Armenian king
heard of the Egyptian preparations he warned the Mongols, but the effect
of his messages was discounted by the Pervana, who disliked him, and had
a crooked policy of his own to carry out, and who suggested that Leon
had some corrupt motive in what he was doing, whence they distrusted
him. Bibars, on setting out, left the amir Ak Sonkor Farekani as his
deputy in Egypt, with the title of naib algaibah, and left in his charge his
son Said Bereke Khan, whom he had nominated as his successor. When
he reached Aleppo he ordered its governor to march to Sajur, on the
Euphrates, to guard the fords and prevent the Mongols from invading
'' Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 454-455. t Ante, 184.
X Ante, part ii. 122-123. I ought to say here that Abulfeda attributes his rescue rightly to
Mangu Timur, and not to Bereke Khan. Op. cit., v. 27.
§ Op. cit., i. (part ii.) 135-138. D'Ohsson, iii. 480-481. || Op. cit., 253-254. Wassaf, 164.

ABAKA KHAN. 253
Syria. In conjunction with the Arab amir, Sherif ud din Issa Ibn
Mohanna, this general defeated a body of Khafajah Arabs sent against
< him by the Mongols, and captured 1,200 camels.* Bibars himself went
by way of Heilan, Aintab, Dulek, Merj Dibaj, and Kinuk (i.e., by the
pass in the Taurus mountains, still followed by the caravans of pilgrims).
He passed the defile of Akcha, where he stationed guards, and thence
sent on an advance guard, under the general Soukor, which met
and defeated a contingent of 3,000 Mongols, and captured many
prisoners.} Bibars advanced to the Jihan, where the Mongols and
Seljuki were assembled, and when he had crossed a mountain range he
found the enemy ranged in the plain of Ablestin. The Mongols were
divided into eleven divisions, each having more than 1,000 men in it.
The Seljuki cavalry formed a division apart ; the Mongols probably
deemed them uncertain allies in a struggle with their co-religionists.
They were under the command of Tukuz (called Tanaun by Abulfeda),
son of the noyan Ilka, his brother Urugtu, and Tudun (the Behadur
Thudan of Abulfaraj), brother of Sugunjak, or Sughurjak (called Thonda,
of the family Saldukh Bahadur, governor of Gartha, in the Georgian
Chronicle), who were encamped on the frontiers of Rum ; Wassaf says
of Temghur Noyan and Tudaun Behadur.} The battle took place on
Friday, the 1 6th of April, 1277, on a very cold day. The impetuous
charge of the Mongols gained an advantage at first, but Bibars in person
urged his men that this was a holy war. He thrust himself into the thick
of the fight. The fierce struggle ended in the victory of the Egyptians.
Tukuz and Tudun, two of the Mongol commanders, were killed, as well as
6,770 Mongols. According to Abulfaraj, out of 3,000 Georgians who
fought with them, 2,000 perished, and the rest were dispersed. One of
their champions, named Morghul, is specially named as having thrown
himself alone on the enemy's ranks and cut his way through. He escaped,
his horse carrying him for three days, after being mutilated by being cut
above the pastern of the hind leg.§ Bibars occupied the enemy's camp,
where the Mongol prisoners were taken and put to death, except some of
the superior officers. He also spared the Seljukian officers, whom he,
however, reproached with having fought on the side of the infidels.
Among the prisoners were a son and nephew, and the mother of the
Pervana. In regard to the latter,- we are told that before the fight
he supplied the Mongols freely with meat and drink, especially with
drink, so that when the Egyptians arrived they were so drunk they
could hardly guide their horses ; but inasmuch as their laws forbade
them to fly until they had attacked the enemy, they rushed against
the Egyptians and were defeated. || The Georgian Chronicle tells
* D'Ohsson, iii. 481. t Makrizi, i. (part ii.) 140. D'Ohsson, iii. 481-482.
X Op. cit., 169. § Georgian Chronicle, 588.
|| Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 583-584. Chron. Arab., 35S-359.

254 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
us how in the struggle the Georgians surprised the Tartars by their
valour. Abulfaraj tells us that after the great battle in Rum, Bibars sent his
younger brother, whom he calls Bar Khetir, to examine the dead bodies
of the Mongols to see which of them of any distinction had been killed.
A Mongol who lay concealed among the dead, and hoped to escape at
night, fearing he would be discovered, shot the prince in the back. Those
who were with him thought the weapon had come from heaven. He was
taken to his brother, and shortly afterwards died.* The next winter
(i.e., that of 1278) the weather was again terribly severe, and many cattle,
&c, perished. This was followed by great scarcity. The Pervana
himself, with his protege', the young Sultan, Ghiath ud din, fled first to
Csesarea, and then towards Tokat. Bibars dispatched Sonkor in pursuit
of the fugitives, and intrusted him with a missive to the inhabitants
of Caesarea bidding them submit, and ordering them to hold markets
outside the town. Sonkor met and dispersed a body of Mongols who
were travelling with their kibitkas. He was followed by Bibars in person,
who marched along a route which had been much devastated. He
received the submission of the fortresses of Semendu, Darenda, and
Devalua. The people of Caesarea came out to meet him and f^ted him in
some royal tents belonging to the ruler of Rum, and when he entered the
Seljukian capital in triumph on the 23rd of April, a canopy was held over
his head like the one used by the Seljuks. He sat himself on the royal
throne in the palace with a crown on his head, and sent a respectful
message to the princesses who were in the harem. He then again seated
himself on the throne, when the great religious and civil functionaries were
admitted, and ranged according to their rank by an officer of the Seljuki,
who wore the largest robe and the biggest turban. The royal air, only
played in the residence of the ruler of the Seljuks, was played ; pieces
from the Koran were read, and verses in Arabic and Persian in praise of
Bibars were recited. After a feast he repaired to the mosques. His
name was inserted in the Friday prayer in the various mosques of the
town, and his name was stamped on the coin. The vast wealth which the
Pervana and his wife, Gurji Khatun (who was the daughter of the
Prince of Erzerum, Ghiath ud din Kai Khosru, and his Georgian wife,
Thamar),} and the other fugitives had left at Caesarea was divided among
the victors. The Pervana himself, with his usual versatile loyalty, sent to
congratulate Bibars on mounting the throne of the Seljuki. When
he withdrew to Tokat, his wife, Gurji Khatun, who had also set
out for Caesarea with a following of 400 female slaves, died at four
days' journey from that town. In his reply to the Pervana, Bibars invited
him to go to Caesarea, intending to give him control of Rum during his
* Chron. Syr., 586. t Georgian Chron., 587. Note,

ABAKA KHAN. 255
absence. He asked for a delay of fifteen days, while he urged the Ilkhan
to march at once to the rescue, hoping that in the meantime Bibars,
informed of the approach of Abaka, would withdraw. He did, in fact,
retire, setting out from Caesarea on the 28th of April. He had expected
that the grandees of the country would have hastened to him to escape
from the Mongol yoke, but they held aloof, fearing the vengeance of
Abaka, and he therefore deemed it prudent to return. He put to death
many Christians before doing so, but his troops did not otherwise
maltreat the inhabitants, paying for everything they took, even straw for
their horses, as he said he had gone to Rum not to devastate the country,
but to rescue it from the Mongol yoke. On leaving Kai Kobad, he sent
Taibars to punish the Armenians who lived in the town of Roman, which
had sheltered a body of Mongols. It was burnt, and its inhabitants killed
or made captive. At this time one of his officers, Iz ud din Eibeg, of
whose prowess he was jealous, and whom he had struck a blow, deserted
to the Mongols. On passing the battle-field of Ablestin, which was still
encumbered with the slain, he asked how many there were. The Mongol
dead numbered 6,770. He ordered most of his own people to be buried,
to make it appear his loss had been much less than that of the enemy.
At Caesarea he was visited by Shems ud din Muhammed, the chief of
Karamania (the founder of the Turkoman dynasty of Karamania), at the
head of 3,000 Turkomans. He received standards and letters of investi
ture for himself and his brothers. He had recently rebelled against the
Seljuki and the Mongols.* The district ruled by him was in the south
of Asia Minor, and it is now known as Ich il. On leaving Bibars he
marched upon Conia, or Iconium, which he obtained possession of, as
well as the citadel and the town, where he set up a Pretender, who he
made out was Iz ud din Kai Kobad, who, as we have seen, had gone to
the Krim, where he had died. Shems ud din only remained in the place,
however, for thirty-seven days, for having heard that Abaka was advancing
against him he withdrew to the mountains with his Turkomans. Bibars,
to avoid pursuit, gave it out on leaving Caesarea that he was going towards
Sivas, and went across the river Kizil Irmak (i.e., the Red River), which
Weil identifies with the upper Sihun.t When he reached Harim, he
received a letter from the Turkoman chief just named, saying he was going
to him with 20,000 cavalry and 30,000 foot soldiers, but he was too late.
Bibars had already set out for Damascus (taking with him the Pervana's
aged mother and his eldest son), where he died on the 30th of June at the
age of fifty-five. Haithon says he was poisoned ; Abulfaraj that he was
struck in the leg with a weapon, the head of which remained in the wound,
and was extracted by the doctor when he died. He adds another report,
that the treasurer mixed some poison with mare's milk, and gave if
* D'Ohsson, iii. 486-489. Makrizi i. (part ii,) 144-145. Weil, iv. 83-84.
t Op', cit., 83. Note.

256 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him to drink. When he felt a pain he ordered that the treasurer should
drink also, and they both accordingly died. He was a brave soldier of
fortune, tall, with blue eyes. He was full of energy, and frequently passed
from Egypt to Syria, and vice versa, on post horses or swift dromedaries,
to see for himself what his subordinates were doing. He had 12,000
Mamluks divided into three bodies, stationed respectively in Egypt and
in the districts of Damascus and Aleppo. The Egyptian Mamluks were
his own private property, whom he had himself bought. They formed
his bodyguard, and their officers occupied the chief positions in the
State. His entire army was about forty thousand strong. His death was
concealed till the army reached Cairo, the news being given out that he
was sick, and had therefore to be carried in a litter. Meanwhile, his
body had been buried at Damascus. He was succeeded by his son Said
who was nineteen years old.*
Bibars had few scruples when anyone stood in his way. Thus Almalik
Almuvahid, son of a former ruler of Egypt, Almalik Assalih Nedjm ud
din Ayub, having some claims to the succession, was an object of great
jealousy to him. Inasmuch, however, as he had submitted to the Mongols,
and been appointed by them governor of Hosn Keif, he could only ruin
him by creating a dislike against him on the part of the Mongols. He
accordingly incited some of the amirs to commence a correspondence
with some of his friends, suggesting that it was worth his while to make
an attempt upon Egypt, where the Ayubits still had many supporters.
One of the answers being somewhat compromising, was dexterously con
veyed to Abaka, who ordered the writer of the letter to be put to death.
Malik Muvahid himself was imprisoned, and remained in confinement for
seven years, when he was restored to his principality, which he retained
till his death in 682 HEJ. Another of his victims was the amir Shems ud
din Sallar, a Turkish mamluk of the former Khalif Zahir, who had been
nominated by him governor of Kufa, Vasith, and Hillah, which post he
filled during the reigns of his two successors. When Khulagu attacked
Baghdad he fought against him, in alliance with the princes of Khuzistan,
and fled eventually to the Arabian desert. Presently Khulagu invited
him to return, and reinstated him in his former position. When Bibars
became the ruler of Egypt and Syria he invited him to go to him. He
accepted the invitation, but delayed setting out, as he wished to put his
treasures in safety. He now dispatched a messenger with a letter, bidding
him go, and followed this up with a second one, ordering the bearer
of the second letter to overtake the first, to kill him, and leave his body,
with all that was upon him, near the frontier guards of the Mongols. As
he expected, the body was duly found, and the letter upon it. Khulagu
ordered him to be sent for, but he heard of this, and fled to Egypt, where

* D'Ohsson, iii, 489-495.

ABAKA KHAN. 257
Bibars treated him in a very friendly manner. Again, Zain ud din
Alhafiz, who had been sent by Nasir, the Prince of Syria, to Khulagu,
with his son, Almalik Alaziz, and who afterwards induced the surrender
of Damascus, had gone after the battle of Ain Jalut to Khulagu, who
treated him in a very friendly manner. In order to undo him, Bibars
ordered his brother Imad ud din, who was in his service, to write and ask
him to go to Egypt, and to betray Khulagu. He suspected the letter, and
showed it to Khulagu. Bibars, not to be beaten, wrote a second one in
person, in which he commended him for showing the former one to
Khulagu, as a good means of gaining his confidence, and thus more easily
betraying him. He ordered the bearer to drop his coat off, with this letter
in it, as he crossed the Euphrates. The coat was duly found by a
Mongol, and the letter having reached Khulagu, Zain ud din and all his
family were put to death .*
We can hardly realise the misery and destruction caused by the
internecine struggle of the two great rivals, the Ilkhan and the Egyptian
Sultan. Thus, in the year 660 HEJ., Bibars, dreading a fresh- invasion,
caused all the women and children to be removed from Northern Syria,
while the country was laid waste from Aleppo as far as Mesopotamia. and
Asia Minor, and the bushes and trees were burnt, so that the Mongols
should, find no food for themselves or forage for their cattle. The results
of such policy are quite obvious, and we read that in 1271 the famine
was so pressing that the people of Hamath had to seek shelter at
Damascus, and among others the parents of the prince-historian,
Abulfeda, who was born that very year at Damascus.
Let us revert again to Abaka. The slaughter of his men by the
Egyptians was a heavy blow for him, and he set out from Tebriz to
revenge it. At Ablestin, the site of the battle, he was met by the Seljuk
chief, Ghiath ud din, who went to him with his vizier, Fakr ud din, of
Ispahan. He shed tears on the battle-field, and was surprised at the
discrepancy between the number of his own people who were dead and
those of the army of Rum, not knowing the trick which had been played
on him. In his rage he put to death several Seljuki officers, to whom
he ascribed the disaster. He caused the Egyptian camp to be measured
with the handle of a mace to test what numbers the enemy had
mustered, and he reproached the Pervana for not having given him due
warning of the force of the Egyptians. The latter tried to excuse himself
on the ground that they had arrived suddenly, and he had not, therefore,
had means of informing himself. The amir, Iz ud din Eibeg, who had
deserted Bibars and gone over to Abaka, pointed out to him, by thrusting
his lance into the ground, where the centre and wings of the Egyptian
army had been posted. Abaka remarked that it must have outnumbered

* Weil, iv. 37-40.
R

258 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the army which he then had with him, which was, nevertheless, 30,000
strong. Abaka's troops now, by his orders, spread themselves over the
country between Caesarea and Erzerum, which they wasted with fire and
sword over a distance of seven days' journey, so that there perished
more than 200,000 souls, or, according to some accounts, 500,000. The
kadhis, fakirs, &c, perished in the common slaughter, which lasted for
seventeen days. This punishment was limited to the Mussulmans, how
ever, and we are expressly told by Makrizi that no Christians were
killed.* Many captives were also redeemed by the vizier, Shems ud
din Juveni. Half the town of Sivas was destroyed, the other half being
spared on his representation that it was wrong to punish a whole people
for the faults of a few.t Nur ud din Khasneyi and Sahir ud din Ibn
Hush were executed.} Bar Hebraeus contradicts the statement made by
Makrizi. He tells us that although Abaka had issued orders that the
Christians having sheltered and otherwise served the Mongols, were not
to be molested, yet the latter through their cupidity killed some and
reduced others to slavery. He accordingly supplied a priest and a monk
with a yarligh or order, and told them to traverse his camp and release
the Christians who were of Rumean origin (i.e., from Asia Minor).§
Haithon says that the Mongols pursuing the Egyptians overtook a body
of them at a place called Pasblank, and captured 2,000 prisoners and
much booty, and also secured 5,000 Kurdish families who encamped in
that district. 1 1
Abaka wished to follow Bibars into Syria, but his amirs urged him that
this was imprudent in the heat of the summer, and that it was better to
postpone the campaign till the spring. He contented himself, therefore,
with sending him a menacing message, " You pounced like a robber on
the advance guard of our army, and have defeated it, and when we drew
near you fled like a thief." He also bade him come and meet him like
a man, and not slink away like a fox. This letter reached Bibars at
Damascus shortly before his death.1T Having advanced as far as Aksha
Derbend, in the mountains of Cappadocia, he left his brother Konghuratai
in command of the troops in Rum, ordered Tokat and the castle of
the Pervana to be destroyed, and then returned to his head-quarters at
Alatagh.** As he passed the fortress of Baiburt, in Armenia, famed for
the beauty of its women, it was reported that a sheikh asked permission
to speak frankly to him, a permission which was freely granted. " Sire,
your enemy entered your borders, but did no harm to your people, nor
did he shed any of their blood. You marched against this enemy, and
because he has escaped you you have slaughtered your own subjects
and ravaged this land. Which Khan among your ancestors behaved
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 584. Makrizi, i. (part ii.) 145. Weil, iv. 84. D'Ohsson, iii. 495-496.
t Ilkhans, i. 298. D'Ohsson, loc. cit. X Ilkhans, i. 298.
$ Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 584. || Op. cit., 52. «[ Ilkhans, i. 298. ** Id., i. 298.

ABAKA KHAN. 259
thus ? " These words, we are told, had a great effect upon Abaka, who
ordered 40,000 Mussulman captives to be released.*
On reaching Alatagh the Pervana was tried by a council of generals,
and was found guilty upon three charges : (1) of having fled before the
enemy ; (2) of not having warned Abaka of the invasion of the Egyptians ;
and (3) of not having, immediately after the battle of Ablestin, repaired
to the Ilkhan. Meanwhile, the messengers whom the latter had sent with
the above-mentioned menace to Bibars, returned and reported that they
had been told at Cairo that the expedition of Bibars had been instigated
by the Pervana, who had nevertheless treated him falsely, and fled on his
approach, instead of handing over the kingdom to him. He was
accordingly strangled with a bowstring. This was on the 23rd of July,
1278.} Novairi says that Abaka intended sending the Pervana to Egypt,
but that the widows of the Mongols who had perished in the recent fight
went to the royal palace in tears, imploring that the manes of their
relatives might be avenged upon him, whereupon he determined upon his
death. He ordered one of his officers, named Gunkji Behadur, to carry
out his wish. The latter told his victim that the Khan wished to go out
riding, and wanted him and his companions to accompany him. The
Pervana, with thirty-six of his people, were accordingly escorted by
Gunkji and a body of 200 horsemen, and on arriving at the place
appointed were surrounded. The Pervana, conscious of his fate, asked
for a momentary respite, which he employed in praying a namaz of
two rek'ats, after which he was put to death, and with him all his com
panions.} Abulfaraj says he was invited to a feast by the Mongols,
and liberally supplied with mare's milk, and that while he went out for
an interval some Mongols, on a signal from the Khan, dismembered
him. He did not give way to lamentations when he knew his fate, but
poured imprecations on his murderers.§ The Armenian historian,
Haithon, makes out that his body was cut in pieces, and a portion
of his flesh was mingled with the food which Abaka and his chief
officers ate. ||
He was a native of Dilem, whence his father, Mohazzab ud din Ali,
had gone to seek his fortune in Rum, where he was patronised by
Said ud din, finance minister of the Seljuk Sultan, Alai ud din Kai
Kobad, who gave him his daughter in marriage. He afterwards became
vizier, and left the post to his son Suliman, known as the Pervana.
Having conquered Sinope, it was granted him as an hereditary fief by the
Sultan Rokn ud din Kilij Arslan. After his execution this fief, in fact,
passed to his son, Moyin ud din Muhammed, who, dying in 1297, left it
to his son, Mohazzab ud din Musud, who also took possession of
Janik and Samsun. In 1299 two European ships arrived at Sinope with
* Novairi, quoted by D'Ohsson, iii. 497-498. t D'Ohsson, iii. 498. Ilkhans, i. 299.
X D'Ohsson, iii. 498-499. Note. $ Chron. Syr., 585. II Op. cit., 52.

260 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
merchandise. One day those who manned them fell suddenly on the
Bey's palace, and captured and carried him off. He redeemed himself
for 900,000 aspres, and returned home, where he died in 1300. The
territory of Sinope then passed into the possession of the Beys of
Castiamuni.* Haithon tells us that Abaka now summoned the Armenian King and
offered to make him ruler of Rum as a reward for the faithful services of
himself and his father to the Mongols. The King was very grateful for
the offer, but prudently declined it, urging that he could not easily
govern two kingdoms, and that in view of the ill-will of the Egyptian
Sultan he must devote himself to protecting the Armenian frontiers.
He urged Abaka, however, that before he withdrew from Rum he should
pacify that province, and not hand it over to a Muhammedan adminis
trator. He also urged him to rescue the Holy Land from the Mussulman
yoke, an appeal which was not ungrateful to Abaka, who told him to
write to the Pope and the Christian princes to ask for their aid in such
a campaign.} The Georgian Chronicle tells us that the post filled by Pervana was
conferred on Erinj, a distinguished person descended from Onk Khan
(i.e., Wang Khan, of the Keraits), and related to the earlier Khans.
From this charge there was excepted Atskur, in Samtzkhe, which the
Pervana had held in right of his wife, it having been made over as a
dowry to her mother Thamar. This was given to Sargis Jakel and his
son Beka.}
Six weeks after the execution of the Pervana, Abaka sent his vizier,
Shems ud din, to Rum, to restore prosperity to that desolated land. He
rebuilt the ruined towns, and also introduced a stamp duty which was
previously not known there. The predatory prince of Karaman having
concealed himself in pathless woods, they were fired, and he was burnt in
them. Iz ud din Ibek, the Syrian, was nominated governor of Malatiya.
Having settled matters in Rum, Shems ud din went home by the Caucasus,
Derbend, Elburz, and the country of the Lesghians, whomhe subjected to
the Mongol yoke.§ These good offices of the vizier, which marked his
character as a statesman, were coincident with the beginning of his
collapse. This was brought about by Majd ul Mulk, son of Safr ul Mulk,
the former vizier of the Atabegs of Yezd. At first in the service of the
Khoja Bahai ud din, Governor of Ispahan, he afterwards was employed
by the Khoja's father, the vizier, Shems ud din, in various important
commissions. He superintended a census of the inhabitants of Georgia,
and afterwards, by the influence of Bahai ud din, he was employed in Rum.
The vizier was not, however, very fond of him, and he therefore determined
to ruin him, and began accordingly to tamper with the Mongol amirs. He
* D'Ohsson, iii. 499-500. Notes. t Op. cit., 52-53. X Hist, de la Georgie, 588-589.
§ Ilkhans, i. 300. D'Ohsson, iii. 500-501.

ABAKA KHAN. 26l
suggested to Yisubuka Kurkan, the husband of Abaka's sister, Kutlukan,
that Majd ud din Athir, the deputy of Alai ud din Juveni (the vizier's
brother), was carrying on a treacherous correspondence on behalf of the
two brothers with the Egyptians, and meditated handing Baghdad over to
them. Informed by his brother-in-law, Abaka had the deputy arrested,
but, although he received 500 strokes with a stick, no confession fell from
him. Hoping to disarm his enemy, the vizier nominated Majd ul Mulk
Governor of Sivas, and gave him a golden balish, and a charge of 10,000
dinars on the revenues of.Rum ; but this did not appease him, and he
intrigued still more against the two brothers.
Abaka having left Tebriz for Khorasan, in March, 1279, his son Arghun
went to meet him at Kazvin, where Majd ul Mulk got an introduction
to him. He assured him that he had a secret which he had wished to
convey to the Khan for more than twelve months, but the mouths of the
grandees of the Court had been closed by the gold which the vizier had
liberally given them out of the treasury. " If -they sell their sovereign's
rights you won't sell yours," he added. He then went on to accuse him
of appropriating immense sums from the treasury ; of being in corre
spondence with Bibars ; of having incited the Pervana to invite him to
his recent raid on Rum ; and of being the real cause of the death of so
many of his people. He also accused the vizier's brother, Alai ud din,
of seizing absolute power at Baghdad, and that he had had made for
himself a crown, garnished with precious stones fit for a royal head. He
accused the vizier of having appropriated 400 tumans (i.e., 4,000,000)
worth of the public domains, and of being possessed in addition of 2,000
tumans in money, jewels, and cattle ; while the whole treasures belonging
to the Ilkhan, including the booty from Baghdad and the Ismaelites, only
amounted to 1,000 tumans. " It is for this reason," he added craftily,
" that the vizier wishes to close my mouth, by offering me a sum of money
and the government of Sivas."* Arghun reported this to his father, who
recommended secrecy, so that effective measures might be taken. While
Abaka was at Sheruyaz, a fertile district in the north of Irak Ajem,
between Zenjan and Ebher, where Soltania was afterwards built, Majd
ul Mulk, through the intervention of the general Togachar and of Sadr
ud din of Zenjan, secret enemies of the vizier, obtained an audience with
him while he was having his bath. He repeated his accusations with the
insinuating diplomacy of an eastern courtier, charged the vizier with
never having furnished an account of the revenue, and of treating the
State as his private property ; while he accused his son, Bahai ud din, the
governor of Irak, with appropriating 600 tumans, without devoting a dinar
to the public service. Abaka listened to these complaints, and rewarded
their author with the present of a cup and a state robe. He also replied
* Wassaf, 173-176. D'Ohsson, iii. 502-505. Ilkhans, i. 300-301.

262 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
so ably to his questions about the administration that he was made
superintendent of the finances, and ordered to make an examination into
the receipts and expenditure of the previous few years. He was given a
patent marked with a lion's head, a favour never before conferred on a
Mussulman, not even a sovereign prince. In it everybody, including
military commanders, khatuns, and princes of the blood, were forbidden
to put any obstacle in the way of the complete accomplishment of the
commission. The naibs, or lieutenants of the vizier, were summoned to
Tebriz with their registers. Meanwhile the informer basked in the
sunshine of royal favour. He surrounded himself with pages with
golden girdles, mounted on Arab horses, and built himself a tent of satin
of Shuster, supported by forty pillars* The vizier, growing alarmed,
repaired to his patron and protector, the Khatun Oljai, who spoke in his
behalf, and he sought an audience with Abaka. The latter said to him ;
" You served my father for a long time. I retained you in your old position.
Majd ul Mulk has made these accusations against you. How could you
be so ungrateful?" He saw that Abaka's prejudices were too much
aroused to make it prudent to accuse his enemy of calumniating him, and
he was most submissive. "My life and goods," he said, "are my master's.
Without doubt, with my brother and sons, I have shared his munificence,
and have dispensed it to others. Part of it has been expended upon the
royal princes, the khatuns, and grandees ; another part has been spent in
alms, to secure a long reign for your majesty. What I possess now in
land, in goods, in slaves and herds, I owe to your favour. At your
command I will surrender it all, and only ask that I may be allowed to
serve my master to the end of my days." These words appeased Abaka,
who took him again into favour, and ordered the release of his naibs.
But Majd ul Mulk was not satisfied. Professing himself in danger, he
asked for Abaka's protection from the vizier, who was now in power again,
and requested to be put under the protection of one of the great amirs.
Abaka accordingly ordered him to live with the Amir Togachar. He
continued his intrigues, and at length, through the support of Sadr ud din
of Zenjan, he was, in the spring of 1280, appointed joint vizier with
Shems ud din. Abaka ordered the ordinance appointing him to be read
aloud in the idol temple at Meragha (not Mekka, as Von Hammer says),
in presence of the various princes and princesses, and the grandees, and
it was remarked that never had a Mongol prince treated a Persian thus.
He was given control of the finances of the treasury and the administra
tion, and was told to remain near his sovereign, and that if anyone
attempted his life, Abaka said he would have to answer for it to himself.}
Majd ul Mulk was now the object of general respect, and had his
agents everywhere, while the various decrees issued from the royal divan
* Wassaf, 178-179.^ D'Ohsson, iii. 505-507. Ilkhans, i. 301.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 507-509. Ilkhans, i. 302-303.

ABAKA KHAN. 263
bore the vizier's name on the right and his own on the left. It was at this
time he sent the vizier a waspish verse, which may be thus translated : —
I wish to dive into the ocean of thy spleen,
And there to drown, or bring with me a pearl ;
It is not safe to strike thee, but I will dare.
And my face or breast shall crimson o'er.
A blushing face means a happy issue, while a red breast means a violent
death.* To this the vizier replied : —
As we may not lay our grief before the Shah,
We must endure the kicks of fortune ;
But mark that in the task you are engaged in
Both neck and face will redden o'er.t
The vizier saw his, influence gradually decline, and some anecdotes are
preserved showing the indignities which, under such circumstances, the
Mongol officials had to submit to. Abaka having summoned him one
day to answer a charge made by Majd ul Mulk, the two appeared as
usual before the throne, and knelt down opposite one another. Abaka
ordered the vizier to kneel further away. On another occasion, at a feast,
Shems ud din three times offered his master the cup without his deigning
to notice it, and without his losing his composure. On his offering
it a fourth time, Abaka presented him in return with a morsel of swine's
flesh at the tip of his knife. The vizier, after kissing the ground, ate this
(to a Muhammedan) most unclean food, upon which the Khan took the
cup and pointed him out to his courtiers. " He was not offended when I
refused the cup, and if he had in turn refused the meat I should have
thrust his eye out with my knife." Such was the subservience demanded
by these autocratic masters, and such the incense his subjects were
willing to offer him, rather than lose their positions.
In July, 1281, the vizier's brother, Alai ud din, arrived from Baghdad to
pay his court to Abaka. He offered a large sum of gold as the regular
proceeds of the taxes for the year, and a second sum representing the
increase these taxes had made during the year. Majd ul Mulk accused
him of having annually received twenty gold tumans more than he had
accounted for during the twelve years he had been governor of Irak Arab
and Khuzistan, and several naibs who were under deep obligations to the
vizier for various favours nevertheless ungratefully joined in the denuncia
tion of his brother. In vain he protested that it was impossible to save
such a sum, considering the expenses of his government, and that the
revenue was invaded by the assignations made to the royal princes, the
khatuns, &c, and by the profuseness of the sovereign. That notwith
standing he had had an actual deficit the year before, yet he had presented
the full amount of royalty due from him as the farmer of the tax. This
year he had done even more, for the excess which he presented was
imaginary, and had to be paid for by himself, while the revenue of
* Ilkhans, i. 303. Note. t Wassaf, 182. D'Ohsson, iii. 510. Note. Ilkhans, i. 303-304.

264 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the last two years had been curtailed by extraordinary expenses. His
enemies, afraid that he would prove his case, changed their mode of
attack. They declared that in the year 669 (1270-1) the officials charged
with receiving the revenue of the different provinces had found a deficit
of 250 tumans in that of Alai ud din, which was still unpaid ; but they
forgot to remind Abaka that this matter had already been before him,
when he had been convinced that the deficit could not be made up without '
ruining the inhabitants, that he had remitted it, and had sent Alai ud din
back to his government with honour*
The immediate cause of this pressure put upon Alai ud din was the
need of money for a campaign against Egypt. Abaka sent a division
under his brother Mangu Timur in that direction. He also reinforced
the command of his son Arghun, in Khorasan, and sent assistance to the
garrisons about Derbend. In the middle of September he set out by way
of Irbil and Mosul for Baghdad, where he intended to winter, and sent on
Alai ud din to prepare relays of horses and provisions. The very day
the latter set out, and when Abaka was having a great hunt at Deviasir,
in the district of Rahbet, Majd ul Mulk laid before his master the charge
about the deficit above named. Officers were sent after him to inquire
into the matter, who sequestered all his property. The vizier obtained
permission to set out at once for Baghdad, and to appease Abaka's wrath
he brought together all the precious stones, the gold and silver vases
which he had in his house and those of his children, precious carpets and
rich hangings, slave girls and palfreys, horses, mules, and camels, oxen
and sheep, drums and trumpets, and obtained from his naibs all the money
and precious objects they could furnish. He repaired to Abaka, who was
at Dojeil, with them as a present. The Ilkhan was expecting a much
larger sum, and was by no means satisfied, and it was suggested that it
was because the vizier had been in collusion with his brother that he now
sacrificed his private fortune to save him. Abaka was still more
embittered, and Togachar, the grand judge, was sent to Baghdad, where
the trial commenced. All conditions of people were interrogated about
the supposed secret hoards of the governor. A visit was then paid to his
pious foundations, and to the tomb where his family was buried. The
most minute search was made, but in vain. He was nevertheless carried
off from his house. Instead of being manacled, as was ordered, his
enemies had him fastened with a cangue, or wooden collar, a Chinese
punishment, introduced into the West, no doubt, under Mongol patronage.
His life was spared on his acknowledging himself debtor to the treasury
to the extent of 300 golden tumans. His brother had advised him, in
order to avoid being put to torture, not to dispute any of the sums claimed
from him.} * Wassaf, 182-186. D'Ohsson, iii. 510-514.
t Wassaf, 186-194. D'Ohsson, iii. 510-516. Ilkhans, i. 304-305.

ABAKA KHAN. 265
This was not a solitary instance of the same kind. Abulfaraj tells us
how Masud, the governor of Mosul, having contemplated the death of a
certain Persian, named Papa, he accused him in turn of wasting the
province of Mosul and maladministering its affairs. Abaka ordered the
charges against Masud and his minister, the Uighur Yashmut, to be
investigated. Papa suborned some false witnesses and corrupted the
judges. The two Christian governors were accordingly displaced, and
Papa put in their post. Masud is also called the son of Kota by Bar
Hebraeus.* This went on till 1280, when the two displaced grandees
succeeded in obtaining a new inquiry. Abaka sent two of his relatives to
investigate matters, and the result was that the former judges confessed
they had been bribed, Papa was beheaded, and Yashmut and Masud were
reinstated at Mosul and Irbil.t We are told that at this time the
Christians not daring to go out at Epiphany-tide to bless the waters, on
account of the Mussulmans, the Khatun Kotai went to the town of
Meragha, and ordered that the Christians were as usual to bear crosses
at the ends of their spears. When they went out, our chronicler tells
us that the wintry cold subsided and the weather became genial again,
much to the delight of the Mongols, on account of feeding their horses,
while the Christians rejoiced in the victory of their faith.}
At this time troubles broke out in Fars, caused by an incursion of the
Nigudars. These were the followers of Nigudar, grandson of Jagatai,
who had gone with Khulagu, as we have described, and on the disgrace
of their leader had escaped and settled in Seistan. They now invaded
Fars, and defeated a combined army of Mongols, Shuls, Turkomans, and
Kurds, at Tenk Shikem, on the frontiers of Kerman, and caused them a
loss of 700 men, and having pillaged the town of Kerbal, retired again
loaded with booty. Three months later they again invaded Fars, and
advanced as far as the Persian Gulf, whence they retreated loaded with
booty.§ Abulfaraj, speaking of this campaign, says that 5,000 fugitive
Tartars, who had gone to the borders of India, invaded the district of
Shiraz and made a great slaughter there, but could not enter the town.
The garrison made a sortie, but was overwhelmed and almost destroyed.
They also assailed the lion hunters of Shiraz, who were men of wealth, and
despoiled them. Abaka's son (i.e., no doubt, Arghun) went against and
killed many of them.|| In the spring of 1279 a certain informer or spy,
who was in the employment of the prefect of Baghdad (? of Alai ud din)
committed great excesses, corrupted the women, and mocked at the praetor
(i.e.t the mayor of the town). The latter took the opportunity of the
prefect's absence on a hunting expedition, had him seized and bound
hand and foot, and paraded in a waggon round the streets of Baghdad,
with a jeering crowd as an escort, two large pins being driven through

* Chron. Syr., 586-587. t Id., 590-591- I Id; 587- $ D'Ohsson, iii. 516-517-
|| Chron. Syr., 587.

266 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
his tongue. Behind him in the waggon stood a boy, who with a shoe
brushed away the flies from his face. He buffeted him, saying : " Thus
are punished those who make sport of the grandees." They then took
him to the Tigris, where they decapitated him, put his head on the
bridge, and burnt his body.*
We now read of the Egyptians making an attack upon Kelat ur Rum
(i.e., the Roman fortress), which occupied the site of the ancient Zeugma,
and guarded one of the fords of the Euphrates. They had 9,000 cavalry
and 500 foot soldiers with them, and were led by Basar and Hosm ud
din, the latter of whom commanded the Syrian contingent. They sent
two messengers, an Armenian and an Arab, to the Catholicos, and said
to him : " The Sultan orders you to surrender the castle, and to take your
monks and remove them to Jerusalem. He will give you lands where you
may live. If you prefer to go to Cilicia, he will provide you with horses
and mules. If you refuse, the blood of all these Christians God will
demand at your hands." The Catholicos replied : " I will die then, and
will fight, for I will not be faithless to God and the King." They there
upon occupied the surrounding gardens, and cut down the trees, from
which they made scaling ladders. They attacked the city on the Sabbath,
and drove away the Armenians from the lower walls. They then stormed
the place, which they pillaged and burnt. The citizens had meanwhile
taken shelter in the citadel, which they failed to take. They retired after
a delay of five days, having destroyed what they could, laid waste the
the vineyards and orchards, and carried off the baths to Beroea.}
Meanwhile, affairs in Egypt were very unsettled. Bibars, as we have
seen, had been succeeded by his son Said, over whom the chiefs of the
Mamluks acquired considerable influence ; and the feudal military chiefs,
who filled such an important part in Egyptian polity, growing jealous,
determined to depose the young prince, who received the fortress of Karak
as an appanage, where he died in April, 1280. He was replaced by
another son of Bibars, who was only seven years old, and over whom
Kelavun exercised complete control as the young prince's atabeg. He
was given command of the army, and his name was read out in the public
prayer after that of Selamish. The latter only reigned 100 days, until
Kelavun had put his own creatures in the various places of trust, and put
under arrest the partisans of the family of Bibars. The young prince was
then deposed and sent to Karak. This was on the 27th of November,
1279. Kelavun was a Kipchak Turk of the tribe Burj Oghli. He had
been sold to a Mamluk when a child for 1,000 dinars, whence his name of
Elfi (i.e., the millenarian). The Ayubit Sultan, Salih, placed him among
the Bahi-it Mamluks, and in honour of that patron he added to his name,
on mounting the throne, that of Es Salihi. KelaVun had appointed

Abulfaraj. Chron. Syr., 587-588. t Id., 588-589.

ABAKA KHAN. 267
Sonkor Ashkar (or the Red) governor of Syria. When the latter heard of
his patron's mounting the throne, he himself rebelled in Syria, but he was
beaten in two fights, in which his troops abandoned him, and Damascus
opened its gates to the new Sultan. The amir Bektut was appointed its
governor, and Sinjar governor of Aleppo.* Sonkor fled to the fortress of
Rahbet, on the Euphrates (to the Bedouin amir, Issa, son of Mohanna),
which he seized, together with Borzaia, Blatanusa, Shogr, Bakas, Akkar,
Shaizar, and Famia, and then wrote to Abaka, offering his submission^
and asking him to seize Syria. After his revolt, Alai ud din, the civil
governor of Baghdad, had, in concert with the military authorities there,
sent him and his fellow rebel, Issa, an invitation to submit to the Mongols,
but before the messenger arrived Sonkor had repented and withdrawn.
Issa sent the envoy back with his brother, who was given a robe of
honour, with a charge on the revenues of Baghdad, by Abaka. Sonkor
meanwhile shut himself up with his family and treasures at Sihiun, which
was one< of the strong fortresses belonging to the Assassins.
Deeming this a favourable opportunity for attacking Syria, and
recovering the former Mongol possessions there, and hoping much from
the partisans of Sonkor, Abaka ordered his people to march. This was
in the autumn of 1280. One body of them, under the generals Sagaruni
and Turunji, went towards Rum ; another came from the east, under
Baidu, son of Targai, son of Khulagu, accompanied also by the Prince of
Mardin ; while the main body was commanded by Abaka's brother
(Abulfaraj calls him Konghuratai ; other authorities say it was Mangu
Timur). Meanwhile the Egyptian troops in Syria, together with a con
tingent from Cairo, united together at Hamath, and sent an invitation to
Sonkor to co-operate. He sent a division of troops, but remained himself
near Sihiun. The Mongols were accompanied by Dimitri, the Georgian
king, with a contingent of his people. Mangu Timur also sent a summons
to Beka, who complained of Arghun Aka's inroad into his country, but
who offered to join him if his safety was guaranteed. Mangu Timur
swore to protect him in the usual method, viz., by drinking water in which
gold was mingled, and gave him the ring on his finger, which was deemed
the most solemn engagement. Beka then assembled his Meskhes, and set
out. Mangu Timur covered him wjfti honours, and he was warmly
received by the Khan. The Mongols entered the province of Aleppo on
the 1 8th of October, 1280. They speedily captured Aintab and Derbessak,
where Beka and his Meskhes greatly distinguished themselves, being
the first to enter the place, and being duly rewarded with robes, &c,
by Mangu Timur. They then went on to Bagras, and advanced as far
as the town of Aleppo itself, which was defenceless, and which they
entered, burning mosques and colleges, the Sultan's palace, and the
* D'Ohsson, 519-521. t Abulfeda, v. 53.

268 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
houses of his generals. They killed many men there, and reduced
the women and children to slavery. The sack lasted for two days. Many
of the inhabitants of the province had previously, however, escaped to
Damascus, and thence to Egypt* After this exploit the Mongols with
drew again from the city. Abul Mahasin tells usthat the cause of their
sudden withdrawal was that a native of Aleppo, who had remained in the
place, mounted a minaret in despair, and shouted out, " God is great, and
has sent us aid." Thereupon he began to wave a cloth as a signal of
approaching succour, and entered the houses as if he were a woman. The
Mongols now took their departure.t Kelavun set out from Egypt to meet
the invaders, leaving his son Salih as his deputy there, and after dis
tributing a gratuity of 1,000 dinars to each of his officers, and 500 drachmas
to each of his soldiers ; but having heard at Gaza that the Mongols had
withdrawn, he returned to Cairo. The next spring he set out to deal
with his vassals who had rebelled. Issa, the son of Mohanna, who had
gone from Irak to Egypt to implore his pardon, was treated generously,
while Sonkor, who demanded that Shogr and Bakas, Famiat (Apamia),
Kaffartab, Antioch, Sahiun, Blattanus (the ancient Banias), Berziyet, and
Ladakiya (Laodicea) should be made over to him, and that he should also
be given command of 600 cavalry, whose officers he was to choose himself,
was granted the conditions he asked for. Abulfeda says he received
Shogr and Bakas.}
Let us now turn again shortly to Georgia. Its young king, Dimitri,
ruled there under the superintendence of Sadun, the famous wrestler, of
whom we have already spoken, and who had the confidence of the Tartars,
by whom he was invested with Thdlaf, Belakan, and other districts ; and
during his rule the Tartars abstained from doing violence in Georgia,
which beg*i once more to become prosperous. Dimitri himself visited
the Ordu, where he was constrained to pay some large sums to the ever-
craving Tartars. Sadun himself became constantly more powerful. He
asked for the district of Dmanis, which Dimitri was constrained to. make
over to him, and he was surrounded with wealth. He won the favour of
the monks by his benevolence to the monasteries, and we are told that
during his rule he paid the two Mongol taxes of kalan and mal for the
twelve monasteries of Garesja. He married Khoshak, the daughter of
the atabeg Avak, and also apparently a daughter of Sargis Jakel, and bore
the title of grand Sahib divan of Avak. He resided at Kars, which
had been made over to him, and had control of all the Georgians,
except the grandees of the Court, of Karthli, Somkheth, Hereth, and
Kakheth, who were subject to the King.g Dimitri was married about the
year 1277, to a daughter of the Emperor of Trebizond.|| We now find
* Makrizi, ii. 25.26. D'Ohsson, iii. 522.523. t Weil, iv. 122. Note.
t D'Ohsson, iii. 523.524. Ilkhans, 1. 311. Abulfeda, v. 55.
$ Hist, de la Georgie, 589-590. |l Id., 590-591.

ABAKA KHAN. 269
Arghun Aka, who had made the former census of Georgia, as we saw,
sent to repeat his work, and he found that the previous calculations had
been greatly marred by the desolation caused by Bereke's invasion,
especially in Hereth, Kakheth, and the plains of Karribej. While he
was at Tiflis he asked for the hand of Dimitri's sister, Thamar, for his
son, a union which had been consented to by his father, David. Dimitri
strongly objected to this union of a Christian princess to an infidel, but
he was too weak to resist, and the wedding having been celebrated with
due rejoicings, Arghun returned to the ordu, leaving his son in Georgia. *
Ghilan was still independent of Abaka, and did not pay him the kharaj.
Shiramun was accordingly sent with a force of Mongols and Georgians
into this difficult country, protected on one side by the sea, and on the
other by difficult mountains. A fierce fight ensued, and we are told when
the Ghilanians fired their arrows, Shiramun dismounted and sat on the
ground with his back to the enemy. His men also dismounted. When
the arrows were exhausted they remounted, and he charged " like a tiger."
He lost two fingers of his right hand in the struggle, but otherwise the
Tartars and Georgians suffered no loss. Seeing the country was too
strong and difficult to be conquered, he returned again to Abaka.t
We now read of Arghun Aka going with an army of 20,000 men to visit
Sargis Jakel, in the country of Samtzkhe\ The latter was old and very
decrepit. The Mongols traversed Somkheth, Tiflis, and Karthli, com
mitting excesses on the way. This, we are told, was not by Arghun's
wish, but was caused by the necessity of providing for such a large force.
Having reached Atskur, Sargis and his son Beka visited him. The
former was taken to the ordu, while Beka was left in Samtzkhe\} This
rueful visit of Arghun was followed by a terrible series of earthquakes in
those parts. Arghun himself, having returned to Abaka, fell ill and died.§
His death, according to St. Martin, took place at Radekan, near Tus, on
the 2 1 st of June, 1275.H Arghun's son was now deserted by his wife,
Thamar, who professed to detest him as an infidel, and more probably as
a Turanian of not very gainly appearance. She fled to Mthiuleth. As
she did not wish to return to her husband, Sadun negotiated for her
purchase (sic) from Abaka, who approved of the negotiations, and the
King thereupon gave over his sister to Sadun, who, notwithstanding that
he was a Christian, and in spite of being anathematised by the Catholicos
Nicholas, thus became the husband of three wives, the other two being
the daughters of the atabeg Avak and of Sargis. About this time we are
told that Sargis and his son, for some unknown reason, revolted against
the Mongols. Sargis was then old, and his feet were bad (? with gout).
Buka Noyan (called " The Eye ") sent his brother Arukha, with 20,000
men, to ravage Samtzkhe'. Beka withdrew to the mountains between
* Id., 591. t Id., 592-593- X Id; 593- $ Id,, 594-
l| Memoires sur l'Armeine, u. 282.

270 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Ajara and Guria, and the Meskhes took refuge in the fortresses, caverns,
and woods. The enemy traversed the country, and remained there for
twenty days, doing no harm.*
In the year 1280, Masud, who had been reinstated at Mosul, as I have
described, was accused by Jelal ud din Turan, a native of Khoten, who
was connected with the treasury there, with having appropriated a large
quantity of gold and precious stones. Being put to the torture, he
promised to refund 500,000 darics. His cousin Suidat was condemned
as an accomplice, and put to death, while a Kurdish leader, named
Abubekr, who had for some years been rebellious in the mountains of
Assyria, and had been pacified by Masud, was also put to death,
as was his son, Sheikh Ali, who had fled to Syria, and then
returned to the ordu to excuse his flight. Masud himself was taken to
Mosul, so that he might pay over the money which he had promised
to do. When he had been there a few days, however, he escaped at
night.} Scarcely was this matter settled, when news arrived that the
Mongols were again advancing on Syria in two bodies. One, 30,000
strong, under Abaka himself and the Prince of Mardin, was marching
on Rahbet, while the other, commanded by his brother, Mangu
Timur, was advancing by another route, and had encamped between
Caesarea and Ablestin. Abaka was joined by Leon, the King of Little
Armenia. Wassaf says that Abaka and Mangu Timur had with them
the amirs Ayaji, Arghasun, and Alinak, and three tumans of troops.} An
Egyptian detachment, sent in advance from Aintab, captured an equerry
of Abaka's, who had been sent on to report on the state of the pastures.
He was taken before the Sultan, and reported that the Mongols intended
to invade Syria, 50,000 strong, towards the middle of October. Thereupon
the people of Aleppo emigrated in large numbers towards Hims and
Hamath, so that the place was deserted.§ Mangu Timur advanced
leisurely and by short stages, contrary to the usual Mongol tactics, by
way of Aintab, Bagras, and Harim, and reached the environs of Hamath,
where he plundered the palace and gardens of Malik Mansur. Kelavun,
who was at Hims, was there joined by Sonkor, who had recently rebelled,
and who had consented to join him on condition that after the fight he
might be allowed to go back to his fortress of Sahiun. He arrived with
seven amirs who followed his fortunes, each of whom headed a contingent
of troops, and whose arrival greatly raised the spirits of the Egyptians.
The two armies faced one another on the 30th of October, 1280, in a
plain situated between Hamath and Hims, near the tomb of Khalid, son
of Valid, known as " the Sword of God," who ravaged Syria in the time
of the Khalif Omar, and who died at Hims in the year 642 A.D. The
army of Mangu Timur comprised 25,000 Mongols, 5,000 Georgians, a
* Hist, de la Georgie, 594. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 591-592. I Op. cit., 170.
§ D'Ohsson, iii. 524-525. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 592. Haithon, 54.

ABAKA KHAN. 27 1
contingent under the King of Armenia, and another of Turkomans from
Rum. Makrizi also mentions Franks among his allies. Abulfeda says
the Mongol army was 80,000 strong, 50,000 being Mongols, and the rest
Armenians, Georgians, people from Irak Ajem, &c.,* and says that a
Mamluk deserter pointed out to Mangu Timur the most vulnerable points
in the array of the Egyptians. The latter, whose numbers were about the
same as their opponents', passed the night on horseback, and the following
day were reviewed by Kelavun. He put the Prince of Hamath, with the
generals Baisari, Alai ud din Taibars, Iz ud din Ibak al Afram, and
Keshtagdi, with their troops, and also the governor of Damascus, in the
right wing ; while in front of them were those admirable skirmishers,
the Syrian Bedouins, of the tribes Al Fazel and Al Mora, under the orders
of Issa, son of Mohanna. To the left wing were attached Sonkor, Bedr
ud din Bilik, Bedr ud din Bektash, Salah, Sinjar, Bekjha, Bektuk, and
Cherek or Khabrek'; while its front was protected by the Turkomans and
the troops of the Castle of the Kurds. In the jalish, or advance guard of
the centre, were placed Tarantai, viceroy of Egypt, the generals Ayaji and
Bektash, son of Keremun, with the Sultan's mamluks to the number of 800.
Kelavun himself remained with the royal standards, surrounded by his
guards, the officers of his household, and the civil functionaries. This
body, the dlite of the army, consisted of 4,000 troops. There were with
him many Kurdish and Turkoman chiefs not belonging to the army of
Egypt and Syria. His entire force was also estimated at 50,000 men.
Kelavun, we are further told, wanted to await the enemy's attack near
Damascus, but his amirs insisted on advancing to Hims, and threatened,
if he did not go, to kill him on their return. He therefore went to that
town, and planted himself on a hill, whence he could survey and some
what control the battle.} The battle began by the Mongol left wing
making a furious charge which was well met by the Egyptian right, which
charged in turn, and forced it back upon the centre. Meanwhile the left
of the Egyptians and the left of the centre were utterly broken by the
onslaught of the Mongol right, which Abulfaraj says was composed of
avarithei (i.e., Uirads), in which the Armenian king and his army were
incorporated, and also of 5,000 Georgians. They pursued them to the
gates of Hims. These were closed, and the wretched camp followers and
other non-combatants who crowded there were mercilessly slaughtered.
This Mongol wing, Rashid ud din says, was commanded by Mazuk Aka,
Hindukur, and Alinak, and secured a vast booty in darics, mules, &c.
Haithon says a division of the Egyptian army was routed by the Mongol
chief Almack (? Alinak), and fled to a town called Tara.} The victories of
the Mongols at these points caused a panic in various parts of Syria, as
* Op. cit., v. 59.
t Makrizi, ii. 34-36. D'Ohsson, iii. 525-527. Abulfeda, v. 57-59. Weil, iv. 126.
I Op. cit., 54.

272 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
some of the fugitives made their way to Safad, others to Gaza, and others
again to Damascus. The victors dismounted under the walls of Hims,
and proceeded to pillage the baggage of the Egyptians, and then to
refresh themselves, awaiting the arrival of Mangu Timur. As he did not
arrive, they sent to inquire, and found to their natural surprise that he
had fled. They accordingly remounted, and retired precipitately.*
The cause of Mangu Timur's rout is variously assigned. The courtly
Rashid ud din, who naturally glosses over the ill fortune of his patrons,
says merely that the centre of the Mongol army, commanded by Mangu
Timur, a young prince who had no experience of war, was broken, that
the Mongols fled disgracefully, and many were killed. Ibn Tagri- Berdi
tells us that Iz ud din Aitimur Alhaj, one of the first of the Egyptian
generals, made his way into the midst of the Mongol army, pretending
he was a deserter, and asking to see Mangu Timur, he rushed at, wounded,
and unhorsed him. The Mongols, seeing their prince fall, dismounted.
The Egyptians took advantage of this position and charged, whereupon
Mangu Timur fled and his people followed his example. The Arab amir,
Issa, son of Mohanna, contributed to the final defeat by falling upon the
Mongols suddenly with his 300 Bedouins, and proceeding, more suo, to
pillage the baggage.} Wassaf says that Prince Bakurmishi and Kumishi
having fled were followed by Mangu Timur. Some one shot an arrow
after the latter which killed him.} Abulfaraj assigns to the Bedouin attack
the panic and rout of the Mongol centre.§ Haithon makes the
Armenian king command the Mongol right wing, which had been
victorious. He adds that Mangu Timur, who was inexperienced in war,
seeing the Bedouins, became frightened, recalled the Armenian king and
Almack, and fled. These two chiefs returned ; the former, finding
Mangu Timur had retired, followed his example, Almack did the same
after a delay of two days.|| Meanwhile Kelavun remained where he had
planted himself, as we have seen, on a hill, one half of his army being
dispersed and the other in pursuit of the Mongols. There only remained
with him 1,000 Egyptians (Haithon says but four armed men). When
the victorious Mongols returned from Hims he ordered the tymbals to
be struck and the royal standards to be raised, but they were in no
mood to stay. They hastened past him, and were in turn pursued by the
Egyptians. The Mongols lost a considerable number of men, among
them the noted general Samaghar, who had made several attacks
upon Syria. The Egyptians also lost twelve noted officers, among others
Ai Timur, who had wounded and unhorsed Mangu Timur.1T The victory
was a very complete and a very fortunate one. For the second time, the
Egyptians gave a heavy blow to the Mongols, and again prevented their
desolating influence from overwhelming the only refuge left for Mussulman
* D'Ohsson, iii. 527-528. t Id., 528-529. Weil, iv. 127.
I Op. cit., 172. $ Op. cit., 592. II Op. cit., 53.54. % D'Ohsson, iii. 530.

ABAKA KHAN. 273
art and culture. But it was pure good fortune. No doubt that but for
the panic of which Mangu Timur was the victim the victory would have
been on the other side. As Makrizi frankly says, " It was a wonderful
proof of the divine protection afforded to the Mussulmans, for if it had
pleased Him that the enemy should return, the troops of Islam were not
in a position to resist."* Kelavun himself expected their return, and
ranged his men in order to meet them, until the troops which had
pursued the Mongols returned.
The Mongols had retired in two bodies, one towards Salamiyet and the
Syrian desert, the other towards Aleppo and the Euphrates. Of the
former, who were 4,000 in number, we are told their retreat was cut off
by the commandant of Rahbet, and taking to the desert they perished of
thirst and want, except 600 horsemen, who were attacked by the garrison of
Rahbet, and partly killed and partly made prisoners. The prisoners were
decapitated at Rahbet. That town had been besieged, as we said, by a
division under Abaka himself, but the day after the battle a pigeon with
the news reached the place, when the commandant caused victorious
strains to be played, and the besiegers withdrew.} Of those who fled
towards the Euphrates, we are told many sought shelter in the caverns
bordering that river, and were burnt out, as the Kabyles were in Algeria
by Pelissier.} A body of Mongols that was laying siege to Biret was
also attacked by the garrison there ; 500 of them were killed, and all the
rest were made prisoners. Mangu Timur himself crossed the Euphrates,
and went to Jeziret, his mother's appanage. § These incidents prove how
very disastrous one defeat is to armies constituted like those of the
Mongols, even when possessed of long prestige and discipline.
Notwithstanding their victory, the Egyptians had lost the greater part
of their baggage, which had been pillaged after the rout of their left wing
by its custodians, but none of the coin Kelavun had taken with him was
lost, as he had taken the precaution of distributing it among his mamluks,
who carried it in their girdles.
The Georgian Chronicle limits its account of the battle mainly to the
doings of the Georgians, who, there can be small doubt, distinguished
themselves by their usual bravery. Their young king, Dimitri, fought in
the advance guard, and was attacked by the dlite of the Egyptian army,
12,000 strong, under Kara Songhul (i.e., Sonkor) and Yakub Aphrash. A
terrible struggle and slaughter followed. Dimitri's body guard of 200
men was cut in pieces, his own horse being killed by a lance thrust from
Kara Songhul, but he was speedily remounted by one of his followers, and
the Georgians about him fought so desperately that the 12,000 Egyptians
who had charged them were thrown back. Meanwhile Mangu Timur,
with his Mongols, had retreated, and the Georgians had to do the same.
* Op. cit., ii. 38. t D'Ohsson, iii. 531. X Makrizi, ii. 39.
§ Id., 41-42. D'Ohsson, iii. 531-532.

274 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Their king escaped almost miraculously, although most of their number
were killed* The Armenians also suffered greatly in the retreat, their
horses having been quite worn out by the bad roads and scant forage.
Many of their soldiers were thus separately overtaken and killed by their
pursuers ; and thus the greater part of the Armenian army, and especially
of its chiefs, perished.
During the period of uncertainty before the victory was known, the
people of Damascus had passed an anxious time. Prayers were fervently
offered up in the Great Mosque, and in the oratory outside the town,
for the victory of the Mussulmans, while the Koran of the Khalif Osman
was borne on the head of one of the clergy. In the midst of the
excitement a pigeon alighted, after the Friday prayer, on the day after the
fight, bearing news of the victory. Music at once resounded in the
citadel, and both it and the town were decorated, and the crowd loudly
expressed their joy. Presently there arrived some fugitives, who related
not a victory, but the defeat of which they had been witness. The wave
of excitement now collapsed, and a rush was made for the open gates, to
try and escape elsewhere, but a few hours later a special courier brought
the true account. It was publicly read in the principal mosque. A
similarly fitful mood had passed over Egypt. There also people read the
Koran diligently, recited the Salih of Bokhari, &o, when a pigeon from
Kakun, a town situated between Lejun and Ramla, brought news of the
arrival of the fugitives there. The agitation was very great. Prince Salih
sent some Turkish and Arab troops to Kattiya to drive back the runaways
and prevent any of them from entering Cairo. A second pigeon post
speedily relieved the public mind. Great rejoicings took place in Egypt,
and Salih wrote to his father asking him to pardon the fugitives, and
urging Baisari to intercede for them.
Among the captives made by Tarentai, the viceroy of Egypt, in his
pursuit of the Mongols, was a man who had charge of Mangu Timur's
portfolio, or valise. In this were found letters from Sonkor and
some of his amirs, urging the Mongols to invade Syria, and promising
them their help. Kelavun magnanimously ordered the writing to be
erased, renewed his pact with Sonkor at Hims, and sent him back to his
fief of Sihiun. He then set out for Damascus, into which he made a
triumphal entry, headed by the prisoners, of whom several carried the
tymbals and standards which had been captured, while the poets poured
out a deluge of compliments.}
When Mangu Timur invaded Syria, Abaka, as we have seen, advanced
hunting towards Rahbet. He did not, however, cross the Euphrates,
but after destroying some forts returned to Sinjar on the 25th of
September, and in the beginning of November rejoined his ordus at
* Hist, de la Georgie, 595-596. t Makrizi, ii. 39-41. D'Ohsson, iii, 532-535.

ABAKA KHAN. 275
Mahlibiya, near Mosul. There he learnt of the defeat of his army. He
was greatly irritated, and announced that at the next kuriltai, to be held
in the spring, those who were found blameworthy for the recent disaster
would be punished. He also announced his intention of marching in
person upon Egypt.* The Georgian Chronicle tells us the news of the
disaster to his army was disclosed to Abaka by a Tartar, who addressed
him in verse in his own tongue, describing how each of the chiefs had
behaved. He said Alikan had attacked like a falcon pouncing from the
clouds, and compared Mangu Timur to a ram ; Abagan, son of Shiramun,
to a tiger, which bounds ; Yasbugha to a young bull ; Buka to a buffalo,
while as to the Georgian king he expressed himself thus in the Tartar
tongue : " Thengari methu kaurkurbai, bughar methu buirlaji" (i.e., " They
growled like God ; they bit like the camel"). Abaka received the
Georgian king with honour and sent him home.
When the defeated Mongols retired from Syria, a body of Mussulmans
Turkomans, Kurds, &c, made a raid upon Cilicia. They advanced as
far as Aias, which they plundered and burnt. It had been deserted by its
inhabitants, who had taken refuge in a fortress they had built on a
neighbouring island. The Muhammedans withdrew with their booty, but
returned again three times, the last time advancing as far as Tel Hamdun.
On this occasion they were attacked, while retiring with their gains, by
the Armenians, who had occupied the defiles. They captured their arms
and stripped them of their scalps, and sent Abaka several loads of arms,
lances, swords, and scalps. A few days later the governor of Biret,
named Haidar, having collected 2,000 horsemen, captured the castle of
Saida. Many Christians who had sought refuge in a large mosque were
released. Others had fortified themselves in a place called Alastona, which
the invaders had not been able to capture, as the approach to it was like
a cavern. They nevertheless carried off 4,000 women and children, with
whom they safely crossed the Euphrates, and went towards Malatia,
where they laid waste the country, and carried off many Christians from
the town of Erka, with whom they again withdrew to Syria.}
We described the machinations of Majd ul Mulk against the vizier
and his brother, the governor of Baghdad. The latter, to save his
position, had promised to restore 300 golden tumans to the treasury,
which his enemy went to Baghdad to receive. He sold his wives and
children, and undertook to pay with his head for the least prevarication
proved against him. Abaka pitied him and released him from prison,
but soon after his relentless enemy again went to Baghdad, with the
generals Togachar and Ordukaya, to drag from him, by torment, if
necessary, the hundred tumans he charged him with appropriating. Alai
ud din could not pay, and was tortured and promenaded naked about the
* D'Ohsson, iii. 535. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 594.

276 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
town* His enemies were relentless in their attacks. His correspondence
with Sonkor and Issa ibn Mohanna, the Egyptian refugees, whom he had
tried to persuade to submit to the Mongols, was turned into a charge of
treasonable correspondence with the Sultan, and employed as an instru
ment of their plots, the Arab messengers whom he had employed being
corrupted into making false charges against him. An unknown Jew
having written several times with saffron and cinnabar on a piece of
paper, as if it were a talisman, this was hidden away among his clothes
while his house was being searched. During all his troubles the famous
historian and administrator consoled himself by composing verses,
satirical and elegiac, many of which became famous. Several are con
tained in " The Consolations of the Brothers," a kind of Arabic Boethius.
One of his poems was glossed by many poets. As Alai ud din was
being led off by his enemies from Baghdad to Hamadan, accompanied by
his faithful friends, his nephew, Khoja Bahai ud din; Ali ibn Issa of Irbil,
and Nuruddin Abdur Rahman of Shuster, and when he had reached the
heights of Asadabad, he learnt of the death of Abaka, which brought him
and his brother considerable respite, and proved, for a while at least, a
new turn in his fortunes.t
Abaka set out for Baghdad on the 13th of February, 1282. He arrived
at Hamadan on the 18th, where he put up at the palace of Fakr ud din
Minoche'er. There he fell ill. According to the Persian historians he
was habitually given to drinking to excess, and having one night got very
drunk went out, and believed he saw a raven sitting on the branch of a
tree. He ordered one of his guards to shoot it with an arrow. The
bystanders looked attentively, but could see no such bird. Suddenly
Abaka closed his eyes and died. This was, Wassaf says, on the 20
Selhije (i.e., the first of April). Abulfaraj reports that Abaka had
passed the previous Easter Sunday with the Christians, and taken part
in the service in the church at Hamadan ; that on the Monday he
dined with a Persian gentleman named Behna, and the night following
he saw visions in the air, and died on Tuesday morning, the ist of
April. The "Shajrat ul Atrak" says he died of excessive drinking,
after a feast at the house of the vizier, Shems ud din.} Novairi says that
according to some, Abaka, after his defeat, fell into a state of melancholy,
which was increased when news arrived that the famous treasure house
which his father had built on Lake Urmia had collapsed, and that the
various treasures it contained had sunk into the lake. When he heard
this he was going to his bath. As he came out he heard a raven croak,
and declared that it presaged his death, while his favourite hunting
dog barked at him, which he accepted as another ill omen, and he
died shortly after.§ Abulfeda says it was reported he had been
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 595. D'Ohsson, iii, 536-537.
t Wassaf, 195-199, Ilkhans, i. 309. D'Ohsson, iii. 534-536. J Op. cit., 255-256.
§ Weil, iv. 129. Note.

ABAKA KHAN. 277
poisoned.* Other accounts say that Mangu Timur died fifteen days after
his brother, at Jeziret.t Haithon says both brothers were poisoned, that
Abaka, having determined to avenge his recent disasters in Syria, was
about to set out, when a Mussulman arrived at his Court with rich
presents, and in conjunction with some of Abaka's courtiers arranged his
death.} Abulfaraj says that a certain informer, named Al Saphi Karbuki,
accused some of the grandees of Jeziret to Mangu Timur. He accordingly
punished them, and they plotted with his butler, who, when he one day
came out of his bath, mixed poison with his cup. He set out ill
from Nisibin for Jeziret, and died on the way. The informer was duly
put to death.§ Rashid ud din and Wassaf say nothing of this, but it
must be remembered they were good Muhammedans, and that Abaka
was an infidel. We, at all events, learn from Novairi that Mumin
Aga, the commander of Jeziret,. was accused of poisoning Mangu
Timur, and fled to Egypt with his two sons, where he was rewarded
with some fiefs. His wife and children were put to death by the
prince's relatives. It was said that the poisoning was arranged by
Alai ud din Juveni, who had ample reasons for wishing Abaka's death. ||
Abaka and his brother were buried with their father in the fortress of
Tela, or Teke, on the Lake of Meragha.1T Soon after this the Georgian
chief, Sadun, died. The Georgian Chronicle says that his son, Kutluk
Shah, succeeded to his father's domains, and was raised to the rank of a
generalissimo.** The Christian writers speak of Abaka in terms of considerable praise.
The Georgian Chronicle calls him good, generous, and clement, soft and
modest, a lover of justice, charitable to the poor, and so forgiving that
whatever a man's faults he would not sacrifice his life. " God has given
me the empire of the world," he said, " I must not take away that which I
cannot give." He urged that theft was an effect of poverty, and several
times refused to punish with death those who had stolen from him. As
he was surrounded by people who plundered the treasury by securing
immense sums, he chose a man who was charitable, just, attentive to his
religious duties, and a patron of pious people, named Aghubagha, and
charged him to protect the weak and the poor.}} Haithon speaks of
Abaka as a prudent and prosperous ruler, fortunate in all things save
two; first, that he failed to become a Christian as his father had been, but
was devoted to idols and their priests, and secondly that he was con
tinually at strife with his neighbours, and did not in consequence molest
the Egyptian Sultan as he might have done, whose power consequently
greatly increased. His people were so weighed down with exactions
that many of them fled to the Sultan, who showed his sagacity by
* Op. cit., v. 63. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 595. J Op. cit., 55.
} Chron. Syr., 594. Chron. Arab., 361. II D'Ohsson, iii. 538. IF Id. Ilkhans, i. 313.
** Op. cit., 597. tt Op. cit., 572.

278 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
his close alliance with the Tartars in Cumania and Russia (i.e., in the
Kipchak), which prevented Abaka from attacking the Egyptians as he
might have done, and thus the Christians lost Antioch and several other
fortresses which they had possessed in Syria.*
Abaka had eleven wives and three concubines. These were (1) Oljai,
who came out of his father's harem ; (2) Durji Khatun ; (3) Tokini, the
cousin of Khulagu's wife, Dokuz, who on the death of Durji was given the
baghtak, or wife's head-dress, and made his head wife ; (4) the Tartar
Nukdan, the mother of Gaikhatu ; (5) Iltirmish, the daughter of Timur
Kurkan, and belonging to the Konkurat tribe ; (6) Padishah Khatun,
daughter of Kutb ud din Muhammed, the Khan of Kerman ; (7) Mertai
and (8) Kuti, both Konkurats and both widows of Khulagu : they were
sisters of Musa Kurkan, and their mother was a daughter of Jingis Khan ;
(9) Tudai, also a Konkurat ; (10) Bulaghan, a relative of the chief
judge, Nokar (? a mistake for Buka) ; and (11) Maria, styled Despina,
the daughter of Michael Palaeologus.t Abaka left two sons,- Arghun, by
a concubine named Katmish Ikaji,} and Gaikhatu, by Nukdan.
Abaka, like his father, had considerable intercourse with the Christians.
In fact, it was necessary the Mongols should begin to look out for allies.
The world of Islam was naturally incited against them, and it had received
great encouragement by the Mongol defeat at Ain Jalut. Although
nominally their subjects, it was hardly likely that the Seljuks of Rum,
that the Prince of Mosul, the chiefs of the Kurdish mountains, or the
Ortokids of Mardin and Hosnkeif, should have felt any great loyalty for
the Mongols, who were infidels and strangers. The latter naturally leaned
more and more on the Christians. The princes of Georgia and Great and
Little Armenia clung to them as their natural allies, in the face of the
hereditary enemies of their faith. So did the Crusaders, who probably,
as Remusat says, expected to become their deputies in Syria, where the
climate was so ungrateful to them, and expected also to be relieved from
taxation, as the Christians of Armenia and Georgia were.§ We must
also remember that Abaka was married to Maria, the daughter of Michael
Palaeologus, who doubtless used her influence to draw the Christians
of the West and the Mongols nearer together. We find the Ilkhan
engaged in a correspondence with the supreme Pontiff. In a letter dated
1267, at Viterbo, Clement IV. says he had received his letter, but as
it was written in Mongol no one at his Court could read it, and he
expresses his regret that it was not written, as previous letters had been,
in Latin, and that he had therefore been constrained to employ his
messenger as an interpreter, who apparently somewhat sophisticated in
his report his master's religious views, for the Pope begins his reply by
thanking God that Abaka recognised the Eternal God, and humbly
* Op. cit., 40. t Ilkhans, i. 252-253.
X Id., 360. Erdmann Temudjin, 243. § Acad, des Inscript. vii. 335-337.

ABAKA KHAN. 279
adored His crucified Son. He continues : "You rejoice, you say, in the
victory we have gained in Sicily, where the presumptuous usurper,
Manfred, natural son of Frederick, Emperor of Rome, fell on the field of
battle, with a great number of perfidious Christians and of Saracens,
deprived of his life and throne by the same blow, by our very dear son
in Jesus Christ, Charles, to whom we have given the kingdom. The
kings of France and Navarre, followed by a great number of counts and
barons, a multitude of soldiers, and others, taking to heart the condition
of the Holy Land, are preparing valiantly and powerfully to attack the
enemies of the faith. Many others, lords and commons, in other
countries are wishful to follow his example, to exalt with all their power
the name of Christ, and to destroy the power and sect and even the name
of the Saracens. You have written to say you intend to join your father-
in-law to help the Latins. We shall do everything to help you, but we
cannot say, until we have made inquiry from these princes, what route
our people propose to take. We will communicate to them your intentions
and those of your father-in-law, so that they may develop their plans, and
we will instruct your magnificence by a trusty messenger. Persevere,
therefore, in your admirable plans. If you trust in God, he will strengthen
your throne. His is the power and the dominion. He holds in His
hands the hearts of kings, and humiliates and raises whom He wishes ; no
one can resist Him."* D'Ohsson doubts, very naturally, whether a letter
was ever written by Abaka himself to which this was a reply. The clause
about the fate of Manfred and the statement about his conversion are
hardly consonant with Mongol ways of thought, and it is more likely that
the letter was either composed or sophisticated by the hand of some
Eastern Christian, not improbably by some dependent of the Greek
Emperor of Byzantium.
In 1269 the envoys of Michael Palaeologus and of Abaka visited James,
King of Arragon, at Valencia. Surita says that James had not previously
heard of either of the two princes, and that it was suspected, that the real
object of the mission was far from being a pious one, and was merely to
rid themselves of some domestic foe. Mariana, on the other hand, says
James had already received some Tartar envoys, and had sent in return a
certain John Alaric, a native of Perpignan, with whom the new envoys
came. They promised, on behalf of their master, his help if he would
join his forces to those of the other princes. The envoys stayed at
Barcelona, but Alaric went to Toledo, where he laid before the Junta a
full account of his doings. James, although so old, determined to go to
the war, and would not be dissuaded by the prayers of his relative,
Don Alphonso, and the Queen of Castile, who pointed out the treachery
of the Greeks and the ferocity of the Tartars. Alphonso promised
* D'Ohsson, iii. 539-542. Remusat, Acad, des Ins., vii. 339-340.

280 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to send subsidies. Michael Palaeologus had offered, by his envoys,
ships and provisions. The expedition was wrecked, however, by a
storm at "Aigues mortes" (?), and obliged to return. The fatal
expedition to Tunis, in 1270, postponed any active alliance between
Western Europe and Abaka. After his return from his campaign against
Borak, Abaka seems to have again made overtures to the Western
princes. To this, it is said he was urged by the King of Little Armenia,
who wished him to relieve the Holy Land. His envoys, according to
Remusat sixteen in number (one having died en route), arrived at Lyons
in 1274, where Gregory X. had called a council. They were admitted
to the council at its fourth session, on the 6th of July, 1274. The Pope
made them sit opposite to himself, and at the feet of the patriarchs,
and their letters, or rather the version they chose to give, were read out
at the succeeding session on the 16th of July. The chief envoy, with two
distinguished Tartars, was baptised by Peter of Tarantaise, cardinal of
Ostia, afterwards Innocent V., and they were presented with precious
garments. This was the sole result of the embassy, for the continued
advance of the Mussulmans and the decay of the crusading spirit made a
great effort at this time impossible .* Abaka's letter was sent to Edward I.
by David, chaplain and familiar of Thomas, patriarch of Jerusalem and
legate of the Holy See. Edward's answer, dated the 26th of January, 1274
(? 1275), at Bellus locus (? Beauchamp), is given by Rymer. It runs as
follows : " Brother David, of the order of preachers, chaplain and familiar
of brother Thomas, patriarch of Jerusalem, legate of the Apostolic See,
has arrived at our Court, and presented letters sent through your envoys
to the Holy Father and other Christian kings. We note in them the love
you bear to the Christian faith, and the resolution you have taken to
relieve the Christians and the Holy Land from the enemies of Christianity.
This is most grateful to us, and we thank you. We pray your magnifi
cence to carry out this holy project. But we cannot at present send you
any certain news about the time of our arrival in the Holy Land, and of
the march of the Christians, since at this moment nothing has been settled
by the Sovereign Pontiff, but we will inform your excellence as soon as
we learn. We commend to your puissance both this matter of the Holy
Land and of all the Eastern Christians."t
Two years later, under the pontificate of John XXL, two fresh envoys,
named John and James Vasalli (? Vasili), went to Rome from Abaka, and
were admitted to audience in an assembly of the cardinals. These envoys
invited the Christians to invade Palestine, and promised them aid if they
went. They were sent on to the Courts of France and England. To
Philip III., king of France, they promised that if he would go to Acre,
with a view of invading Palestine, their master would help him. William

* Remusat, op. cit., 141-345. t D'Ohsson, iii. 543-544.

Abaka khan. 281
of Nangis, speaking of them, says : " Were they really envoys or spies
God knows. At least they were not Tartars, either by birth or manners,
but Christians of the sect of the Georgians."* They were taken to
St. Denis for Easter, and then passed on to the Court of Edward, the
English king. What befel them in England we have apparently no record
of. The two envoys reported that their master, as well as his uncle the
Khakan Khubilai, wished to be instructed in the Christian faith. This
persistent report was partially due, perhaps, to the welcome sound it
naturally had at Rome, but more, as Remusat suggests, to the open
patronage which the Mongol Khans, as we have seen, extended to
the Christians, according to their cosmopolitan notion that there is only
one religion, the forms of which have been varied according to time and
place by the wise men of each country.} The Pope determined to verify
this report, and five Franciscans, viz., Gerhard of Prato, Anthony of
Parma, John of St. Agatha, Andrew of Florence, and Matthew of Arezzo,
were selected to go and preach the faith in the East. John XXI. having,
however, died during the year 1277, the mission was delayed, and only
set out the following year with letters from Nicholas III. to Abaka and
Khubilai. The former expressed the joy felt by the Roman see at the
news brought by the two brothers Vasalli, and acknowledged gratefully
the Ilkhan's offers of assistance to any Christian army that might
land in Syria. The Pope went on to say that to secure the salvation of
Abaka and of the Khakan, of his sons and of his people, he had
sent the friars mentioned to administer baptism to those who wished
for it, or who had not had it duly administered before, and had
ordered them, if he thought right, to go on to the Khakan's Court
and do the same there. By letters patent special powers were conferred
on the friars. They were authorised to preach the Word of God
in all the land of the Tartars ; to baptise Abaka and those of his
sons and his people who should wish to become Christians ; to
absolve those excommunicated who wished to return to obedience ;
to confess and exact penance ; to absolve the murderers of clerics and
monks, if they gave due satisfaction to the churches, monasteries,
or persons injured by their crimes ; to found new churches in extra-
diocesan places, and to confide them to meritorious men ; to allow
converts already married to people within the prohibited degrees to
continue to cohabit ; to decide matrimonial cases brought before them ;
to perform mass and other divine offices, where there was neither church
nor oratory ; to consecrate cemeteries, grant indulgences, dissolve vows,
bless the sacred vestments, altars, &c, where there was no Catholic
bishop, and, in fact, to do singly or collectively everything that could
contribute to the glory of God's name and the furtherance of the faith.}
* The Chronicle of St. Denis says Gregeois, or Greeks. t Remusat, op. cit. 350.
X D'Ohsson, iii. 545-549.

282 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Abaka's reign was coincident with a very flourishing epoch in Eastern
literature. The most famous among his protdges was the great astronomer,
Nasir ud din, of Tus, of whom we have already spoken. Nasir ud din
died at Baghdad, on the 25th of June, 1274. As Bar Hebraeus says, he
excelled in all sciences, especially in mathematics. He refers to the
famous astronomical instruments which he constructed, and which have
already occupied us, and Meragha, the seat of his observatory, became
the goal of a great number of learned men. As he had been assigned the
revenues from the temples, i.e., mosques, and schools (the so-called vakfs)
of all Baghdad and Assyria, he distributed with a free hand assistance
to indigent scholars. He wrote works on many subjects — on logic and
natural science — as well as commentaries on Euclid and the Almagest of
Ptolemy, and on the ethics of Plato and Aristotle, besides his famous
ephemerides, dedicated to the Mongol Khan, and entitled "Zij Ilkhani."
It was reported that he died by poison* Next to him were the two
brothers Shems ud din and Alai ud din Juveni, whose ill fortune during
the latter years of Abaka I have described. Wassaf has preserved a
number of poetical compositions which were exchanged between the
former of these, the Vizier Shems ud din, and Shems ud din Kert, the
ruler of Herat.t In Rum there lived the poets and philosophers,
Sadr ud din, of Konia, and Jelal ud din, of Rum. At Shiraz there
still flourished the famous and now very aged Persian poet Saadi,
in close friendship with Mejd ud din Semeki, known as the king
of the poets, with Imami, of Herat, and with Khoja Hemam ud din,
who was clerk to Nasir ud din, of Tus, and was well known for
his prodigality, having on one occasion given a splendid feast to the
son of the vizier, Shems ud din, at Tebriz, in which 400 porcelain
bowls were used. There also flourished the following poets : Purbeha
Jami, whose verses were composed in a mixture of Persian and Mongol ;
Abulmadhi Raigani, so called from the village of Raigan, near Kazvin ;
Jemal ud din, of Kashan ; Jemal ud din Rastak ol kotu, who lived to the
age of ninety, in the reign of Abaka, and was so called from Rastak, one
of the quarters of Kazvin ; the judge, Bahai ud din Senjani, the panegyrist
of the vizier, Shems ud din, who also, like Purbeha, mingled Mongol and
Turkish words with his Persian ; Rasig ud din Bela, who had charge of
the revenues of Diarbekr, of whom Von Hammer quotes a verse, com
plaining of Abaka having deprived him of his post in favour of the amir,
Jelal ud din ; Nejm ud din Serkub (i.e., the goldsmith), who flourished
also in the reign of Arghun ; and, lastly, Nisam ud din, of Ispahan.} The
chief poetry then fashionable is marked largely by puns and play upon
words, and by adulation, clothed in inflated imagery, which Wassaf also
introduced into his prose, and of which his work is an exaggerated
* Abulfaraj, 576. D'Ohsson, iii. 538-539- . t Op. cit., 154-158. Ilkhans, i. 278-283.
X Ilkhans, i. 317-319.

ABAKA KHAN. 283
example. Besides these poets there also flourished during Abaka's reign
the famous geographer, Jemal ud din Yakut, whose work is still so
deservedly esteemed ; and the musician, Safr ud din Abd ul Mumin Al
Urmeir (i.e., from Urmia).*
In the year 1278, the Metropolitan of the Nestorians having died, the
patriarch, John Denha, ordained Simeon, called Bar Kalig, formerly
bishop of Tus, to this post. Before he left, however, he had a feud with
the Catholicos (z>., with Denha), whom he treated badly, and was
accordingly imprisoned. Having tried to escape, he presently, with some
other bishops and monks, came to a violent end.t Meanwhile, two
Uighur monks passed through Mesopotamia, en route for Jerusalem
They had come from China, and had gone by order of Khubilai Khan, for
the sake of visiting the Holy City. Mar Denha ordained one of them as
Metropolitan of China, and gave him the name of Yaballaha. Before he
set out for his post, however, Mar Denha died. Thereupon Abaka having
been informed by Yashmut, who, like the two travellers, was a Uighur, of
the death of the Catholicos, asked the Christians living there (i.e., at
Baghdad) to accept Yaballaha as their Catholicos, and issued an edict to
this effect, whereupon some twenty-four bishops assembled together from
Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and ordained him as Catholicos. Bar Hebraeus
says naively that this Mar Yaballaha, " although he was too little versed
in doctrine and in the Syriac tongue, was nevertheless of a naturally good
disposition, endowed with the fear of God, and showed much charity to
us and our people."} Yaballaha now consecrated his late companion as
Bishop of Uighuria. He was called Bar Suma. This very friendliness
and patronage of the Christians was no doubt a great cause of offence to
his Muhammedan subjects and employe's, who doubtless looked with
much more favourable eyes upon his rival, the Sultan of Egypt, and made
it easy to suspect that his end was hastened by some sinister act on the
part of those who treated him as a heretic.
In the British Museum there are silver coins of Abaka struck at Mosul
and Tebriz, and copper coins struck at Mosul, Irbil, and Baghdad. They
occur of various dates, from 666 HEJ. to 680. Most of them bear Arabic
legends, but some have an inscription on the obverse side in Mongol
characters, and in the Mongol language, which was read by Schmidt,
" Khaganu darugha Abagha Khan deled keguluksen " (i.e., " The Great
Khan's Viceroy Abagha- Khan, his coinage ").§ Mr. Poole questions the
reading " darugha," as did De Saulcy, and says the letters read '' arab " or
" arun."|| Although anything but a Mussulman, Abaka's coins often
contain a formula from the Koran, notably the sentence, " There is
no God but the one God who has no equal."1T
* Wassaf, 103. D'Ohsson, iii. 539. t Mosheim, 69-70.
X Abulfaraj, Chron. Eccles., ii. 453-454- Mosheim, 70.
§ Fraehn Resentio, 637. II Catalogue, Oriental Coins of the British Museum, vi. 46-49.
% Frsehn, op. cit., 636.

284 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Note 1. — In a MS. translation of the " Tarikhi Guzideh," for which I am
indebted to my friend Mr. G. L'Estrange, I find it stated that in the year 674
a body of Mulahids, or Assassins, joined the son of Khurshah, gave him the
name of No Daulat, and seized the fortress of Alamut, and their insurrection
having spread, Abaka sent an army, which captured and ruined the fortress.
Note 2. — I find I overlooked an interesting passage in the Georgian Chronicle
referring to Mangu Timur's campaign in Syria. We read there that before
setting out he sent a summons to the mthwar of Samtzkhe (i.e., to Beka) to
accompany him. " My enemies," he replied, " have aroused the anger of your
brother, Abaka Khan, who sent Arghun to devastate my country. As I was
innocent I withdrew, but now I dread the Khan. If, therefore, you will promise
to forget the past, to cause my lands in future to be respected, I will go and
join you with my troops." Mangu Timur gave an undertaking accordingly,
and ratified it by drinking water in which gold had been mingled, and also sent
Beka the ring he had on his finger as a further pledge. Beka then assembled
his Meskhes, and went and joined Mangu Timur, who received him heartily
and introduced him to Abaka. They then set out for Egypt. At Darabsak
Beka and his Meskhes distinguished themselves in repelling a sortie from fhe
town, and were the first to enter the place. Mangu Timur rewarded him, his
didebuls, and arsnaurs with presents of horses and garments.*

' Hist de la Georgie, i. 935

CHAPTER V.
SULTAN AHMED KHAN.
BY his will Abaka had nominated his son Arghun, whom he had
previously appointed governor of Khorasan, as his successor.
But this was clearly contrary to the yasa or law of Jingis Khan,
which, in regulating the succession to the throne, appointed that the
eldest living prince of the house should succeed. This position was now
occupied by Abaka's brother, Tagudar (called Tongudar by Haithon and
Nigudar by Wassaf), the son of Khulagu by Kutui Khatun. He had
remained behind in China when his father set out for the West, as we
have seen, and was sent to Persia by Khubilai Khakan during the reign
of Abaka. According to Haithon, he had been baptised in his youth
under the name of Nicholas.* Later in life he greatly favoured Muham
medanism, and this, together with his patronage of the two viziers,
Shems ud din and Alai ud din, who controlled Tebriz and Baghdad, and
against whom Arghun had great animosity, created a powerful party in
his favour among the Muhammedans. He was supported by Khulagu's
three sons, Ajai,} Konghuratai, and Hulaju ; by Juskab, or Chuskab, and
Kunkju, sons of Chumkur, the second son of Khulagu ; and by the amirs
Singtur and Sughunjak, Arab, and Karabukai. Arghun was supported
by the two brothers Buka and Aruk, and by Akbuka, amirs attached to
his father's household, and by the great amirs, Shishi Bakhshi, Doladai
Aidaji, Jushi, and Ordukia. A third party gathered about Oljai Khatun,
who tried to create a diversion in favour of her son, Mangu Timur, but
as he died twenty-five days after his father, she and Kutui Khatun joined
the party of Arghun.} The " Shajrat ul Atrak" says that Arghun was of
opinion that Mangu Timur should succeed his father, but Tagudar having
assumed the office he was reluctantly compelled to submit. §
On Abaka's death, Tagudar set out for Tebriz from Kurdistan, and
Arghun, who was already on his way from Khorasan, halted at
Meragha, and heard from Singtur of his father's death. There the
funeral ceremonies, including the offering of the bowl of kumis, were
gone through, while Buka ordered the officers of Abaka's household to do
homage to him. After the funeral the assembly adjourned to Chagatu,
where Shishi Bakhshi, who saw that the majority of the princes favoured
# Op. cit., 56. I Rashid, however, says Ajai was already dead. ^See Quatremere, 107.
X D'Ohsson, iii. 551. Ilkhans, i. 323. § Op. cit. 257.

286 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Tagudar, persuaded Arghun to submit gracefully, and Tagudar was
unanimously elected on the 6th of May, 1282. Three days later
Arghun set out for the Siah Kuh, or Black Mountain, to secure his
father's treasures.* Wassaf calls the place Alatagh.} Abulfaraj says
that on his accession to the throne he showed great generosity and
clemency. He distributed his treasures among his brothers, the great
amirs, and the army, and treated his people kindly, especially the
heads of the Christian religion, and issued edicts in their favour,
exempting their churches and monasteries, their priests and monks,
everywhere from tribute.} The vizier, Shems ud din, who was in
the hands of Arghun, was summoned to Tagudar's presence, and on the
2 ist of June, the various princes having sworn the oath of allegiance, he
was duly enthroned, his brother Konghuratai and the amir Singtur Noyan
taking him by the right and left hand respectively. This was on the 21st
of June, 1282. § As he was a Muhammedan, he adopted the name
Ahmed (the Acomat of Marco Polo) and the title of Sultan. He then
sent to the castle of Shahu-tela for the treasures, and distributed largess
liberally, each soldier receiving 120 dinars (Von Hammer says twenty).
Arghun now returned, and complained that they had not waited his
arrival before going on with the ceremony of inauguration. Tagudar
received him graciously, and presented him with twenty golden balishes,
which he said he had specially reserved for him. It was during this visit
that he formed a close friendship with Konghuratai, and swore mutual
oaths of attachment in the ordu of Tuktai Khatun (called Tuktini by
Von Hammer), one of Abaka's widows.||
Ahmed, soon after his accession, made a public profession of his faith,
and addressed a brief to the authorities of Baghdad, which has been
preserved to us. It runs as follows : " In the name of the clement and
merciful God. There is no other God but God, and Muhammed is the
Prophet of God. We who are seated on the throne of sovereignty are
Mussulmans. Make it known to the inhabitants of Baghdad. Let them
patronise the medressehs (colleges), the wakfs (religious foundations), and
their other religious duties as they were accustomed to do in the time of
the Abbassidan khalifs, and let everyone who has claims upon the various
charities attached to the mosques and colleges be reinstated. Do not
transgress the laws of Islam, O people of Baghdad. We know that the
Prophet (may God grant him peace and pity) has said : ' This faith of
Islam shall not cease to be triumphant till the day of resurrection.' We
know that this prophecy is true, that it emanated from a true prophet,
that there is only one God unique and eternal. Rejoice, all of you, and
make this known throughout the province."1T Haithon says his conversion
" D'Ohsson, iii. 552. t Op. cit., 201. I Chron. Syr., 596.
$ Wassaf, 202. || D'Ohsson, iii. 553.
W. Life of Kelavun, in Makrizi, ii. 185-186. D'Ohsson, iii. 553-554. Ilkhans, i. 325.
Weil, iv. 137-138,

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 287
to Islam was followed by that of many of his people, and also by a
persecution of the Christians.* Ahmed appointed the Noyan Sughunjak
his lieutenant-general, and Shems ud din Muhammed his finance minister.
He stayed a few days at Siah Kuh, and sent to Hamadan to summon
Majd ul Mulk Yezdi and his deadly rival, Alai ud din Juveni, the latter of
whom was still in prison.}
We have seen how Alai ud din learnt of the death of Abaka at Asadabad,
while on his way from Baghdad to Hamadan. His enemies instructed the
commissary who was in charge of him not to release him, and he remained
in chains till the accession of Ahmed, who ordered his release. When he
reached the Court with Majd ul Mulk, the latter, supported by a Mongol
grandee, renewed his intrigues, and was on the point of again obtaining
the farming of the taxes; but Shems ud din having secured the protection
of Ermeni Khatun, Ahmed's second wife, also obtained the favour of her
husband, and poured a series of accusations, true and false, upon his bitter
rival. He, in turn, wrote to Arghun, saying : " The vizier poisoned your
father, and now wishes to take away my life because I am aware of his
crime. If I die you will know the reason." Shems ud din, in turn,
employed a nephew of Majd ul Mulk, named Said ud din, who had been
deposed by his uncle from his post of mestufi, or president of finances, in
Irak and Persia, on account of his dishonesty, and who now accused him
of having had secret correspondence with Arghun. Ahmed ordered Alai
ud din's confiscated property to be restored to him, but he would not take
it, and gave it up to the crowd for pillage, a very diplomatic movement.
Meanwhile, Majd ul Mulk was hoist with his own petard. Sughunjak Aka
and Aruk (called Sunjak and Arukaka by Von Hammer), who were sent
to apprehend him, found among his effects a piece of lion's skin with
certain unknown figures upon it in cinnabar and saffron (i.e., red and
yellow), which had been secreted there by Abdur Rahman, a friend of
Shems ud din. The Mongols were very timid in the presence of such
necromantic charms. Their bakhshis and shamans declared that the skin
was to be dipped in water which the accused was to drink, whereupon he
acquired magical powers. This he stoutly denied, but he was found
guilty.} Sughunjak would have spared him, but, unfortunately, he was laid
up with a bad foot, and Abdur Rahman urged his execution strongly upon
him. Ahmed ordered him to be handed over to his enemies. We are
told by Rashid that Shems ud din wished to spare him, but that this was
opposed by Alai ud din and his son Harun. Wassaf, on the other hand,
says that Alai ud din would have pardoned his enemy, but was opposed
by the Treasury officials. He was taken to Alai ud din's tent, where
from the mid-day till the evening prayer he was called to account for all
his extortions, and especially for the 300 tumans he had appropriated at
* Op. cit., 56. t Ilkhans, i. 325. D'Ohsson, iii. 554.
X Quatremere, Rashid ud din, 359-360. Note,

28'8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Baghdad, and also for the various warrants, diplomas, &c, he had unlaw
fully issued. As Alai ud din went to the evening prayer, he was brought
out of the tent, and was torn in pieces by the crowd. This was on the
14th of August, 1282.* He was dismembered, and his head was sent to
Baghdad, upon which Rashid ud din writes —
The head with so much proud ambition girt,
That it aspired even to the viziership ;
I saw it the toy and sport of the hangman,
A portion held in either hand.
Some one paid a hundred gold pieces for his tongue, and took it to Tebriz.
His feet were sent to Shiraz, where he had made his entry so proudly,
and his hands to Ispahan. Whereupon the famous poet Pur-beha Jami
said :— He would have raised his hand to heaven ;
It did not reach thither, but it has come here.
Alai ud din was now restored to the government of Baghdad. Ahmed
gave him one of his own robes, and a paizah or tablet of office,
hoping thus to secure a continuance of his services, he having expressed
a wish to retire into private life. Shems ud din recovered his authority
as vizier, while the superintendence of the affairs of Islam was made over
to the Sheikh Kemal ud din Abdurrahman er Rafii. The latter, according
to Bar Hebraeus, was the son of a slave of the Khalif Mostassem, and a
Turk of Rum by origin,} who escaped from the massacre at Baghdad and
went to Mosul, where he carried on the trade of a joiner. Thence he
went to A'madiyah, and informed its ruler, Iz ud din, that the spirits had
taught him magic. Being taken by him to Abaka, he told him that if he
were taken to the castle of Tala, where the imperial treasures were stored,
he would show him something wonderful, and having measured the
ground from one side to the other, he ordered them to dig in a place he
pointed out, while he stood some distance away. A valuable precious
stone was found and taken to Abaka. He acquired great repute in
consequence, and became head of the administration during the short
reign of Ahmed, and had control of the wakfs, or pious foundations, in all
his dominions, from the Oxus to the borders of Egypt, with orders to
restore them to their original purpose, and to detach from their registers
of pensions the Christian and Jewish astrologers and doctors whose
names had been inscribed on them during the previous reigns, and whose
salaries were ordered to be paid out of the Treasury. Arrangements were
made for the comfort of the caravans of pilgrims to Mekka, and the
sending of provisions to the Kaaba, while Ahmed ordered the Buddhist
temples and the Christian churches to be converted into mosques.}
Haithon says he caused the Christian churches at Tebriz to be destroyed,
He threatened to decapitate the Christians who refused to adopt Islam,
* Ilkhans, i. 326-327. D'Ohsson, iii. 557-558.
t According to the Persian writers he was a native of Mosul of humble rank.
X Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 614-615. D'Ohsson, iii. 561.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 289
and summoned the kings of Armenia and Georgia to his Court. He adds
that they preferred to risk a struggle rather than go, which can only apply
to the Armenian king* Besides Abdur Rahman, he had another favourite,
named Mingueli, a Muhammedan saint, whom he called his son. He
spent a part of the day with these two doctors, listening to their lessons,
and occupied himself very little with affairs of government. His mother,
Kutui Khatun, who according to the biography of Kelavun was a
Christian, used to go to him there and discuss state affairs with him.
Ahmed neglected Sughunjak Aka and Singtur Noyan, to whom he owed
his elevation to the throne.}
Shems ud din began his new career by economising the expenditure of
the imperial household. The cost of the cooks' department, which was
superintended by the head cook, Fakr ud din, had hitherto been eighty
tumans annually. This was reduced to one half, and was dictated by his
jealousy of Fakr ud din, who at the accession of Ahmed had applied for
the post of vizier, and thus threatened to displace him. Wassaf, the
historian, tells us how he had also committed himself in making accusa
tions against Shems ud din, and tried to make amends by an outflow of
his very profuse rhetoric in apologies. Towards the end of Abaka's reign,
viz., in 1279, the government of Shiraz had been entrusted to the amir
Sughunjak, whose sagacity and equity Wassaf enlarges upon. Dis
contented with the farmers of the taxes, he selected the Khoja Nisam
ud din, the one who had embezzled the least public money, and set him
over the rest. He nominated Ibn Muhammed Yahya Imad ud din to be
chief judge, although the citizens desired Seyid Abdallah, the author of
many works on exegesis and hermeneutics, on tradition and jurispru
dence, on dogmatics and philosophy. Sughunjak went to the Court with
some tax collectors who were short in their accounts. During his
absence his vizier and chief judge quarrelled. He sent orders that the
former should be confined in the "house of the latter. The judge Seyid
thereupon repaired to Buka, one of the secret tax appraisers of Abaka,
who was then at Shiraz, who sent him with the tax farmers, who were
deputies of Shems ud din, to the Court. There they laid before Abaka
their complaints against the administration of Sughunjak, and of his
vizier, Nisam ud din. Abaka offered them a beaker of wine, and ordered
that Nisam ud din should make good 200 tumans that were wanting of
the public money. The amir Toghachar was sent to execute this order.
Nisam ud din was at this time under arrest in the house of Imad ud din,
but the tax farmers, becoming alarmed, made common cause with him.
They did not rest until they had released Nisam ud din, and caused
Toghachar great embarrassment. Toghachar, on the accession of Ahmed,
repaired to the Court, taking with him the malik Shems ud din and
* Haithon, 57. t Wassaf, 209-211. D'Ohsson, iii. 559-561 Ilkhans, i. 328-329.
T

290 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Imad ud din. Ahmed appointed the latter to the viziership of Shiraz, and
promoted the governor, Bulghuvan, who had openly taken sides against
Toghajar. The latter accordingly went to join Arghun in Khorasan .*
After his conversion, Ahmed naturally desired to draw nearer to the
Egyptian Sultan, who controlled the head-quarters of Islam at this time.
As his envoys he selected the chief judge, Kutb uddin Mahmud of Shiraz,
the Kadhi of Sivas, and the Amir Bahai ud din (called Sebaby Abulfaraj),
Atabeg of Sultan Masud of Rum, while the Prince of Mardin also sent his
vizier, Shems ud din ibn Sharf ud din ibn Tenesi. The envoys set out with
a magnificent cortege, leaving Alatagh on the 25th of August, 1282. When
the Sultan heard of this embassy he became suspicious, and sent two of
his hajibs or chamberlains to meet it at Biret, with orders to exercise
the greatest vigilance, not to permit its members to communicate with any
one, and to cause them to travel by night. The remembrance of Mongol
treacheries was so recent and so keen that the Egyptians were naturally
timid. The envoys entered Aleppo by night, and their arrival there
was kept secret. Passing by Damascus, they arrived at Misr, opposite
Cairo, at night, and in the month of October. Admitted to an audience
by Sultan Kelavun, they submitted their master's letter, as well as a verbal
message. The former is such an interesting document that I will
transcribe it at length from the copy printed by Quatremere in his
appendix to Makrizi. It contained neither subscription nor seal, but was
marked with thirteen tamghas in vermillion, and was as follows : —
" In the name of God, the most clement and pitiful. By the power of
God, and under the auspices of the Khakan. The Firman of Ahmed to
the Sultan of Egypt. The Supreme Being worthy of all praise has, by
his grace and the light of his supreme direction for a long time, and since
our youth, caused us to know his divinity, to confess his unity, to proclaim
Muhammed. May God be propitious to him and grant him peace, to
venerate the saints whom he has chosen as his disciples and placed
among his creatures. God opens and purifies the heart of him whom he
intends to direct, so that he may adopt Islam. } For a long time, and until
the death of our august father and brother opened the succession to us,
we have ever exalted religion and wished well to Islam and the Mussul
mans. God has deigned to confer on us all the favours and benefits
which we would hope for from his munificence. He has opened this
empire to our eyes, and made it over to us as a bride. We have assembled
a kuriltai (a meeting where the friction of opinion produces light), where
we have collected all our brothers, sons, the princes of the blood, the great
amirs and generals, and the governors of the towns. At this meeting it
was resolved to carry out the work of our elder brother, and to send
against you such a multitude of men that the earth could scarcely hold
* Ilkhans, i. 329-331. t Koran.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 29 1
them, with a zeal that would level the highest mountains and soften the
hardest rocks, and whose courage and fury would fill men's hearts with
fear. We have sifted the cream which rose from this discussion, and have
found it contrary to the wish of our heart for the general good. In order to
strengthen the foundations of Islam, and being determined that no orders
should come from our hand, save those which would tend to prevent the
shedding of blood, to calm the troubles of men, and to cause the soft
zephyrs of peace and security to blow over every country, so that the
Mussulmans should recline in peace on the couch of our favour and
beneficence, wishing thereby to show our respect for the Most High, and
our love for his people, God has inspired us therefore to quench this fire
to re-establish calm, and to make known to those who have advised us
that we should devote ourselves to furthering man's wellbeing, and
postpone indefinitely an appeal to the last resort. We have no wish to
draw the spear till we have gauged the end for which we are doing it, nor
to throw it till we have satisfied ourselves that our cause is right. We
have fortified our resolution to make peace, and to do what is necessary
to secure it by the advice of the Sheikh ul Islam, the model of wise men,
Kemal ud din Abdur Rahman, who is our good helper in matters of
religion. We have published this in the hope that God will pity those
who call upon him, and will punish the disobedient. We have sent the
chief judge, Kutb ud din, the pole of law and religion, and the Atabeg of
Bahai ud din, both of whom have our confidence, in order that they may
convey to you our good faith and good intentions towards all Mussulmans,
that you may know that God has opened our eyes, that Islam may blot
out what has gone before, and that God has inspired our heart to follow
the ways of truth, and to accept as guides those who know it. You will
recognise in the intentions he has inspired us with, a great favour of God
to men, and you will not thrust aside our peaceful message because of
what happened in the past, for every day has its special character.
" If you wish for a proof of what we say, contemplate our acts, which
are well known, and whose effect has been universal. By the grace of
God we have unfurled the banner of the faith, and proved our belief in
different ways — in recommending the observance of the Muhammedan
law and in pardoning those who have incurred penalties. We have given
orders for the re-organisation of the wakfs or pious foundations attached
to the mosques, tombs, and colleges ; to rebuild the hospitals and the
ruined ribats ; to restore their incomes to those who have title to them
according to the wishes of the founders ; and have given orders that
nothing is to be taken from the recent charities and nothing altered from
the old ones. We have ordered the pilgrims to be well treated, and their
needs to be supplied, to guard the routes by which they travel, and to
find escorts for their caravans. We have given complete liberty to
the merchants who visit your country, and have expressly forbidden

292 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the soldiery, the karaguls (i.e., the guardians of the roads), and the
governors of provinces to molest them, either on setting out or in
returning. Our karaguls having seized a spy, disguised as a fakir, we
have remitted the punishment of death which was his due, and out of
respect for the divine commands we have released him and sent him back
again. Nevertheless, you will not forget how prejudicial to the cause of
Mussulmanism the sending of spies is. For a long time our soldiers
having found that these spies disguise themselves as fakirs, anchorites,
&c, have formed a very bad opinion of these religious, and have killed
those they have laid their hands upon. Thank God, since a free passage
to merchants has been granted through our dominions, there is no longer
any need for such disguises. If you consider all these acts, you will see
that they are innocent and natural, and quite inconsistent with artifice
and chicanery. This being so, there are no longer any causes of ill-will
between us. Our anxiety has had as its source a zeal for religion and
for the defence of the land of the Mussulmans, but by divine grace our
reign has been lit up with a true light. We declare that whoever
follows the way of reason will find in us a friend and a defender. We
have raised the veil and speak freely. We have made known to you our
sincere views, which have the Almighty God for their object, and have
forbidden our soldiers to act contrary to these views, so that we may gain
the favour of God and His Apostle, so that the Mussulmans may be spared
from the consequence of our discords ; that the mists of enmity may be
dissipated by the light of good harmony, and that townsfolk and rustics
may equally repose under its tutelary shade ; that the hearts which have
been forced by fear to the gorge may be tranquillised, and that old
grievances may be forgotten. If, by the grace of God, the Sultan of
Egypt is inspired to do that which shall secure peace to the world and
the well-being of men, he will follow the right path, and open the way to
union and good friendship. Thus shall his country prosper, troubles will
be appeased, swords will return to their scabbards, the earth will become
calm again. The necks of Mussulmans will be relieved from the chains
of ignorance, but if evil thoughts prevail over the designs of the God of
pity, and you refuse to appreciate our benevolent offers, God will
recompense our efforts, and take note of our excuses. We shall not
inflict punishment before sending an Apostle. But may God point out the
right way, and grant success. He is the protector of countries and people,
and alone suffices for us. — Given in the middle of jumada the first, 681
(21st August, 1282), at our camp of Alatagh."*
To this rhetorical epistle the Egyptian Sultan replied in these terms :
"In the name of God the clement and pitiful. By the power of the
Most High, by the fortune of the reign of the Sultan Malik Mansur. The
* D'Ohsson, iii. 563-570- Quatremere, Makrizi, ii. 187-191. Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 361-365.
Wassaf, 215-218. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 331-335.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 293
reply of Kelavun to Sultan Ahmed. Praise be to God who has opened
for us and by us the path of truth, who in bringing us hither has made
divine help and victory follow our steps, so that men have in crowds
joined the religion of .God. May his blessing rest on our Lord, our
Prophet Muhammed, whom God has made greater than all the prophets,
by which means he has saved the people. May this blessing lighten
those who are in darkness, and overwhelm the hypocrites. By the favour
and devotion of the Imam, Hakim biemrillah, the amir ul muminin, the
offspring of the khalifs, who has trodden the right path, the cousin of the
Lords of the Prophets, the Khalifs, who were the protectors of religion.
We have received your noble letter, in which you report your conversion
to the faith, and your separation from those of your family and your nation
who are its enemies. On the opening of this letter certifying your
Islamism to the Mussulmans, thanks have been offered to the Eternal,
and prayers have gone up to him praying that he will make you persevere
in your resolution, and cause to grow in your heart a love for religion,
as he makes the tenderest plants grow in the most arid soil. We have
attentively read the first part of your letter, in which you announce that
from your early youth you have confessed the unity of God and the truth
of Islam in thoughts, words, and acts. May God be praised that he has
thus opened your heart to the faith, and favoured you with his holy
inspirations. We thank God that he drew us to this sacred goal even
earlier, and has strengthened our steps where we have acted and fought
for his glory, for without him our steps totter. If you have taken
possession by right of inheritance on the death of your father and elder
brother, if God has conferred on you his surprising favours, if you have
mounted the throne which your faith has purified, and to which your
power has given additional lustre, it is God who has given it to whom he
has chosen among his servants, and has realised in him what he has
promised, the graces belonging to the saints of God and holy men.
" You say that at the kuriltai where your brothers and the other princes
of the blood, the grandees of the empire, the chiefs of the army, and the
governors of the provinces unanimously determined to send an army
against us, having reflected on this decision you found it contrary to
your convictions, which were solely devoted to the public good and the
general peace, that you, therefore, sought to calm the troubles, and to
quench this fire. This is the conduct of a pious sovereign, who looks
tenderly to the safety of his subjects, and prudently calculates the results
of things. If, in fact, your people had followed out their intentions and
abandoned themselves to their illusions, their exploit would assuredly
have brought them a terrible reverse ; but you have acted like a man
fearing God, who is not misled by passions nor shares the ways of evil
men, nor of those blinded by illusions. You say that you do not wish to
rush into war before you have traced out your path and justified it by

294 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
argument, but now that you have joined the faithful your efforts and ours
should be directed against those whose idolatry prevents them following
this route, and God and man know that we have only armed ourselves in
order to protect the Muhammedans, and have only acted for the glory
of God and man. You have embraced the faith. All animosity has
disappeared. The past is forgotten. Mutual aid has succeeded to
aversion, for the faith is like a building, each part of which supports
another. Wherever it unfurls its banner there should be one family.
" You say you have taken these steps by the counsel of the Sheikh ul
Islam, model of doctors, Kemal ud din Abdur Rahman. We hope that
by his benign influence, and by the merits of the past, all countries may
be won over to Islam, and that the scattered fragments of the faith may
be re-united, and we do not doubt that one who has begun so well will
complete his noble work. As to the mission of the grand judge, Kutb ud
din, and the atabeg Bahai ud din, they have delivered your messages,
and they have reported a thousand interesting things about your situation,
your ideas, and projects.
" You call our attention to the proofs of your justice and equity,
especially in the good administration of the wakfs of the mosques, &c.
These are acts worthy of reward, and of a great prince who desires the
stability of his empire, but such matters are too little for a great prince to
glorify himself about them. They are but elementary duties. The glory
of great sovereigns is to restore empires to their rulers. See what your
father did. The Seljukian sultans and other princes were not of his
religion, yet he confirmed them in their sovereignty ; he did not expel
them from their kingdoms. If you find a right violated it is your duty to
correct it, and not permit the oppressor to continue his oppression, so that
your empire may become consolidated, and your reign be embellished by
acts of piety.
" The order you have given to your soldiers, your karaguls, and the
governors of the different provinces, to protect travellers from all vexations,
has been reciprocated by ourselves, who have issued similar orders to the
governors of Rahbet, Aleppo, Biret, and Aintab, as well as to the
commanders of the provincial troops.
" As to the spy disguised as a fakir, whom you have released, and as to
the suspicion attached to his profession from such disguises, and the
number of dervishes and others who have consequently perished from
suspicion, it is from your side that this kind of thing began. How many
people disguised as fakirs have come to spy out our land ? We have
arrested many and spared their lives, and have not tried to learn things
hidden under their mendicant robes.
" You say that our union will bring peace to the world and well-being
to man. One ought certainly not to turn aside when the door of
reconciliation is opened, and he who turns aside to avoid an encounter is

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 295
as worthy as he who offers the hand of friendship ; peace is assuredly the
first of the commandments.
" The general matters you enter into are indeed necessary as a basis on
which the social edifice may be built, and by which we can learn whether
peace exists or no ; but we need other matters more specifically settling ;
and in regard to these we have charged our envoy to treat with you about
them viva voce, for what is contained in the breast of a messenger is
better than what is written on a scroll. You cite this passage from the
word of God : ' We have never punished anyone without first warning
him by an envoy! This sentence does not savour of friendly intercourse
like ours, and is not to be commended. The man who has the
advantage of priority on the road and in the defence of the faith, has
rights which should be respected, and prerogatives which belong to him.
However many follow him, the first will retain his pre-eminence.* We
have heard the message which has been delivered to us by the grand
judge, Kutb ud din. It accords with your letter, and confirms the news
that you have embraced the true faith, and have taken rank among the
true believers, and are everywhere the patron of justice and right, qualities
which deserve the praise of men. May God have the glory. Did not he
in revealing to the prophet what concerns those who accept the faith,
say : ' Do not think you do me service by being converted to Islamism, it
is the grace of God that draws you thither.'
" According to the message you have sent us, God has given you so
much that you do not covet other territories, and you say that if we are
ready to treat on this basis you, too, are willing. We reply that when
things are settled on the basis of a common accord they become stable,
and the foundations of friendship. God and man know how we exalt our
friends, and abase our enemies. How many allies have we, when we
have neither father, nor brother, nor relative? In the early days of Islam
the faith was founded by the co-operation of the companions of the
prophet. If you wish to be on friendly terms, make an alliance with us
against our common foes, and lean on those who can offer you at all
times a strong succour. You remind us that if we covet any part of your
territory we shall merely injure the cause of Islam, by sending hostile
forces into your territory. We reply that if you close the hand of hostility
against travellers, and leave the Mussulman princes in peaceable possession
of their own, calamities will cease, and so will bloodshed. Nothing is
more just than to abstain from doing ourselves what we forbid another to
do, and more unjust than to prescribe a good action to others and to
forget to do it ourself. At this moment Konghuratai is in the land of
Rum, which is subject to you and pays you taxes ; nevertheless he has
shed blood there, has dishonoured women and reduced children to
slavery, sold free men, and continues his devastating course.
* This is doubtless a reference to Ahmed having been a recent convert, while Kelavun was a
Mussulman of older standing.

296 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
" You send us word that if strife is not to cease between us, that we had
better choose a battle-field, and that God will give victory to whom he will.
Here is our answer : Those of your troops who survived their last defeat
are not anxious to revisit the former battle-field. They fear to go there
again to renew their misfortunes. As to the day of battle, God can alone
fix that, and the victory will be to him whom God chooses, and not to him
who feels himself secure. We are not of those who can be deceived, nor
are we anxious about the result. As to the hour of victory, it is like that
of the last judgment : it arrives unexpectedly. God does what is best for
his people, and he is strong enough to do right.
" Written in Ramazan (December)."
When the envoys had concluded their mission, and received robes of
honour and magnificent presents from the Sultan, they again set out.
They were subjected to the same surveillance as on their arrival. . No
one was allowed to see them. They arrived at Aleppo on the 6th ol
Sheval, 681*
During this year there arrived in Egypt the Sheikh Ali, of the tribe of
the Uirads or Kalmuks, who had become a Mussulman, and had adopted
the profession of a fakir, and, according to Makrizi, miracles had been
performed by his hand. Finding himself followed by a number of Mongol
children, he passed at their head first into Syria, then into Egypt. He
was there presented to the Sultan, together with his brothers, Akush,
Timur, Tukhi, Juman, and others. They were well treated, and some of
them, including the three brothers, Akush, Timur, and Omar, were
enrolled among the irregular troops, or khasse'ki (i.e., kazaks), and
promoted to the rank of amirs ; but presently Sheikh Ali, having
misconducted himself, was put in prison with Akush. Timur and Omar
died in the exercise of their functions.t
Let us now return to the more intimate affairs of the Mongols. We
have seen how Arghun aspired to the throne on the death of his father,
Abaka. He continued to nurse his resentment against his uncle and the
vizier, Shems ud din. After repeated requests of Sultan Ahmed, he
sent the amir Buka, who married Kutui Khatun, Abaka's widow, to him.}
He was residing at Sughurlak, in the district of Baghdad, where there
encamped a tuman of predatory Karaunas who had belonged to the
military household of Abaka, and had their winter quarters at Siah kuh.
Wassaf, who calls them a kind of demons, and the most fearless of the
Mongols, says that Arghun made the General Toghachar (on whom he
conferred the insignia of drums and standard) their commander. Under
Toghachar were Gaikhatu and Baidu, the brother and cousin of Arghun, as
well as the generals Chaukur, Chongutur, Doladai, Idaji, Iji, Tetkaul, Juchi,

* Makrizi, op. cit., 199-200. Wassaf, 218-223. Abulfaraj, Chron. Arab., 365-367. D'Ohsson
111. 570-580. Ilkhans, 1. 335-342. Weil, iv. 139.142.
t Makrizi, ii. (part i.) 53. X Ilkhans, i. 342. Wassaf, 223.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 297
and Kimshkabal. The principal supporters of Abaka were thus devoted
to the cause of his son. This was doubtless as champions of the Mongol
and Shamanist elements of the community as against the Muhammedans,
who, under the new regime, were again holding up their heads ; and
Haithon says Arghun sent to inform their suzerain, the Khakan Khubilai,
how Ahmed had deserted the ways of his fathers, and how he and his
followers were becoming Mussulmans, which greatly displeased Khubilai,
who sent Ahmed his reproof* We are told that at this time two faithless
dependents of Alai ud din Juveni, named Ali Chinsang and Kutluk
Shah, went to Arghun to tell him he had sent word to Wejih ud din, the
Vizier of Khorasan, to poison Arghun. He had him at once arrested and
imprisoned at Kerker, appropriated his property, and only spared his life
on the solicitation of Bulughan Khatun, Abaka's favourite widow, who
had joined his harem. Arghun then went to winter at Baghdad. As he
passed through Rai he treated the Malik Fakhr ud din with honour, and
appointed him governor of the district. When Sultan Ahmed heard of
this he had him arrested and taken to Shirvan, where he paid for his
recent honours by being tortured. Arghun, greatly enraged at this, sent
word to the Vizier Shems ud din and the amirs that Abaka had made
Fakhr ud din over to him, and that he would revenge the injuries done to
his protege. When he reached Baghdad he demanded from Alai ud din's
deputy, Nejm ud din Asfer, that he should pay over the sums which had
been declared owing .to the treasury in the reign of Abaka, and which had
not yet been paid. What there was in the treasury was seized, and
torture was applied to extract more from the officials, Arghun's efforts
being seconded by those of Sishi Bakshi, Pulatamur, and Toghachar,
whose names prove them to have been of Mongol extraction. Alai ud din,
on hearing of these persecutions, had an attack of apoplexy and died.
This was, according to Abulfaraj, at Mughan, in Arran. He was buried
at Tebriz on the 5th of March, 1283. Thus passed away the famous
historian, who has preserved us such graphic accounts of the earlier
Mongol doings, and who, under the name of Juveni, has a world-wide
reputation. He was succeeded in his office by his nephew Harun.t
The author of the Georgian annals, in referring to Ahmed, tells us he
was wanting in all the qualities of a sovereign, which, in ordinary English,
means he favoured the Muhammedans and not the Christians. At the
commencement of his reign the Georgian king visited the ordu, where he
gave his daughter Rusudan in marriage to the son of the Great Buka, an
alliance which greatly distressed the Catholicos Nicholas, and brought on
the king a severe reprimand.} After his accession to the throne, and in
* D'Ohsson, iii. 581-582. Ilkhans, i. 344. Note 2. Haithon, 57.
t Ilkhans. i. 343-344 ; and 344, Note 1. D'Ohsson, iii. 582. Abulfaraj says : ' He wrote an
admirable chronography in Persian on the kingdoms of the Seljuks, Khuarezmians, Ismaelites,
and Mongols, from which we have taken what we have hitherto related in this work. Chron.
Syr., 604. { Hist, de la Georgie, 1. 598.

298 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
April, 1282, Ahmed sent his brother Konghuratai with an army to the
borders of Rum to guard that unruly frontier, after having married him to
Tuktai Khatun, the widow of Khulagu, and niece of the famous Princess
Dokuz Khatun* As he heard that Konghuratai was corresponding with
Arghun, he posted a force at Diar Bekr to prevent them from uniting
their forces. It would seem that Prince Jushkab, the son of Jumkur, the
second son of Khulagu, a partisan of Arghun's, also wintered in that
town. Ahmed now sent Alinak, the Governor of Georgia, to summon
Arghun to a kuriltai. He was won over by the latter, and did him
homage, and on his return to the Court he tried to make excuses for
Arghun's non-appearance there; but the vizier saw through it all, and
Alinak was again won over by being given the hand of Kuchuk, Ahmed's
eldest daughter, and being raised by an edict to a higher rank. When
in the spring Arghun left his winter quarters at Baghdad for his summer ones
in Khorasan, he took the Prince Jushkab with him.t Having reached
Rai he had Ahmed's deputy there bastinadoed, put a cangue on him, and
sent him thus to his master to remind him that Shems ud din had not yet
paid the sum which was found to be owing by him to the treasury. So
Von Hammer reads the story. Wassaf says he sent Juchi to ask Ahmed
to state that the vizier, although he had controlled the finances so long,
had not given any account of them, and he seems to have raked up the
rumour about Abaka's and Mangu Timur's death having been caused by
poison administered by the vizier, and asked that the latter might be sent
back with Juchi, but the Khan replied that Shems ud din could not be
spared from the divan, as there was no one to take his place, and Juchi
returned with this answer.} Meanwhile, Arghun was strengthening his
position in Khorasan. When he reached the borders of Mazanderan, on
his way thither, he met Yankaji Noyan, who commanded a tuman there,
and Hindu Noyan, who commanded two tumans on the frontier of the Oxus,
and told them how, on his father's death, being without an army, he could
not seize the throne, but now, if they would help him, he could carve his
way to it with the sword. Hindu replied that Ahmed, as the aka, or
eldest prince of the house, was entitled to the throne, while he (Arghun),
God be praised, was ruler there. He bade him be content with this
position, and follow the advice of those who had grown grey in his father's
service. If Ahmed ventured to attack him, however, they promised to
side with him.§ Arghun also needed money, and it was always possible,
under these circumstances, to make charges of embezzlement against the
officials of his treasury. Some of the amirs now incited Ali Chekbin and
others to accuse the Sahib Weji ud din Sengi el Furumdi, son of the
Sahib Iz ud din Tahir, of having misappropriated money. || When thus
* Wassaf, 236. Ilkhans, i. 342. D'Ohsson, iii. 583-584.
t Ilkhans, i. 344. D'Ohsson, iii. 584. X Wassaf, 224-225. D'Ohsson, iii. 585-586.
§ Ilkhans, i. 345. || Wassaf, 230.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 299
charged, the vizier wrote a pathetic letter to Tughan, the ruler of
Kuhistan, which, together with the answer he received, is reported in
inflated verse by Wassaf* The vizier did not fly, we are told, to the
women in the Serai for succour, but he boldly faced the charges, and
offered, if the slightest misappropriation was proved, to replace every
piece by a thousand.} Arghun was not to be moved by any answer save
the production of some coin, nor, says Wassaf, would he accept golden
words in lieu of gold. He had him arrested, and insisted on his finding
500 tumans, 300 tumans in gold bars and 200 in kind (i.e., in cattle, fruit,
clothing, materials, &c.) " Eye-witnesses report," says Wassaf, " that on
a single day as much as 3,000 menns of gold were paid down, while the
treasuries of Firuzkuh, Herat, Merv, and other places were stripped of
jewels and rich robes to meet the demand."} Arghun then gave the vizier
a robe of honour, and left him in charge of Khorasan. He now demanded
from the Ilkhan, in addition to that province, the cession of the royal
domains in Irak and Fars. " As you hold in virtue of your right and
the general suffrage the throne of my father, it is necessary I should have
a province sufficient to support the troops which I command. If you
make over to me the provinces which pertain to the private domain, §
the best feeling will exist between us ; if not, the contrary." The Khan
replied: "We have from our affection and solicitude given him Khorasan,
his appanage. If he wishes for another province, let him come to the
kuriltai. After having consulted about matters, we will not refuse him
our favours, but if he persists in his disobedience we shall march against
him." 1 1
Ahmed had summoned Konghuratai to a kuriltai. The latter
accordingly went to Alatagh. We have seen how he was on intimate
terms with Arghun, and we read how he sent the latter some rarities from
Rum, and received from his nephew a present of two pairs of hunting
panthers in return. The Ilkhan further heard that Konghuratai had made
a conspiracy with the two amirs, Kuchuk Anukji and Shadi (or Shashi)
Akhtaji, to seize upon him during the feast of the New Year, when,
according to Von Hammer, the Khan and all his Court went through the
emblematic process of tempering iron in memory of the march out from
Irgene Kun.1T The plot was revealed by one of the conspirators. On
the morning of the 18th of January, 1284, the day fixed for the carrying
out of the conspiracy, Konghuratai was arrested by the General Alinak,
and was put to death by having his backbone broken. Being a prince of
the blood, it was unlawful to shed his blood, according to the yasa of
Jingis Khan. This was in January, 1284. His two accomplices were
taken to Karatagh, in Arran, and after six days' trial were condemned and
executed.** * Op. cit., 232. t Id. X Id-, 233-234- . .
$ The greater part of Irak and Fars did so. II D'Ohsson, m. 587.
1 See Vol. I. of this work, p. 35. ** D'Ohsson, in. 588.

300 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
The Georgian Chroiiicle, in referring to these events, says Ahmed
committed an execrable deed. He summoned his brother Kongharda
from Greece, and put him to death. Two brothers, sons of Abuleth, who
had escaped from the hands of Sadun, met the same fate by order of
Kutluk Shah, son of the latter* Stephen Orpelian says that, in
addition to Konghuratai, there were put to death the two sons of Tsaghan,
who, Brosset suggests, belonged to the family of the mthawars of Dzaganis
Dze", mentioned by Wakhusht.t He also says that Ghiath ud din, Sultan
of Rum, was killed by him, but the other authorities assign the deed to
Arghun, Ahmed's successor.
The chiefs of the troops encamped at Diar Bekhr received orders to
arrest Arghun's officers in the district of Baghdad, and accordingly the
generals Toghachar, Chaukur (called Jaughir by Wassaf), Jinkutur,
Doladai (or Tuladai), Iji Ilchi (or Anji), Tetkaul, Juchi, and Kunjukbal,
Abai (the son of Sunatai), and Jenghatu (the son of Juchi) were taken to
Tebriz, and put in irons. Chunghur was sent to Yusuf Shah, the Atabeg
of Luristan, to tell him to prepare an army to co-operate with his
suzerain's and to guard his frontiers. The Prince Gaikhatu (called
Kenjatu by Von Hammer), with the Amir Batmaji (called Temaji Aktaji
by Wassaf) and others, managed to escape, when they reached Sawa,
and made their way to Arghun in Khorasan. The latter was informed
of what had happened by the judge of Kazvin Rasiuddin. Meanwhile
Ahmed was married to his niece, Tudui Khatun, the daughter of Musa
Kurkan, the husband of Tarakai, Khulagu's fifth daughter.} Ahmed
was well seconded in his efforts to oppose his rival by his vizier, Shems
ud din, who knew well that his own life and fortune depended on the
issue. Yusuf Shah, the Atabeg of Lur, received orders to guard his
frontiers carefully, while a large force of all races and religions, Mongols,
Mussulmans, Armenians, Georgians, and Turkomans, was got ready, the
army consisting of 80 tumans (i.e., 80,000 men). Ahmed was also
accompanied by the Georgian King Dimitri, who took with him Yoane",
the chief of the Mandators, son of the great Shahin Shah, and the
Generalissimo Kutluk Shah, son of Sadun. A heavy fall of snow at the
end of January (1284) delayed the march of the army, which at length
started from Mughan, the advance guard of 1 5,000 men being commanded
by the Ilkhan's son-in-law, Alinak, by Baisar Oghul, and Tagai Kokoltash
(Wassaf, instead of the last, mentions the Prince Hulaju). Other chiefs
in it were Arghasun Tekta, Narin, Ahmed, and Ashghan Asan. The
advanced posts reached Talikan on the 27th of April, and advanced
against Kazvin, where 300 families of Uzes (i.e., of Turkomans) belonging
to Arghun were seized. As soon as he heard of Alinak's advance Arghun
sent to his treasury in Gurgan (Hyrkania), and to the cities of Nishapur,
* Hist, de la Georgie, i. 598. t Hist, de la Siounie, 238.
X Ilkhans, 1. 345-346. D'Ohsson, iii. 588-589. Wassaf, 240.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 30I
Tus, and Isferain, for money, clothes, and weapons, which he distributed
among his amirs. Fakhr ud din, of Rai, who kept the register of these
things, wrote above it, "Account of the sums distributed among the
victorious army." Arghun, who was accidentally present, took up the pen
and wrote the word " victorious " in a beautiful Persian hand, of which he
was master. Kawam ud din, the Persian vizier, thereupon prognosticated
a happy issue to their venture* On the following day Arghun heard
of the capture of Kazvin, that Ahmed had ravaged the province of Rai,
and ruined the Serai of Lur, which was his private domain, whence he had
carried off his people into Azerbaijan. He swore to be revenged,t and
dividing his army into three bodies, set out. His advanced guard was
sent on under Yula Timur, Jorghodai, and Bulughan, while he himself
set out on the day fixed by the astrologers at the end of May, 1284.}
With him were the amirs Amakaji, Nokai Yarghuji, Tawtai, Kasan
(the son of Kutluk Buka), Baitmish Kushji, Sertak, Alghu, Oladai,
Kadughan, Aghman, and 4,000 horsemen,§ and he left Sishi Bakhshi in
charge of his baggage and impedimenta, while he summoned Nuruz to
join him with his tuman of Karaunas. From Irbil, Ahmed dispatched
Kurimshi, the son of Alinak, to his father to tell him not to engage the
enemy unless he was superior to him in numbers, otherwise to await his
arrival. He now advanced again, leaving his baggage in charge of
Abukian. The advanced guards of the two armies met at Khiel biiziirg
(called Khail buzurk by D'Ohsson), situated about half-way between Rai
and Kazvin. One of Arghun's spies, who was caught and made drunk,
disclosed the strength and position of his master's people. Alinak
marched against him, and a battle was fought on the plain of Ak Khoja,
near Kazvin, on the 4th of May, 1284. The " Shajrat ul Atrak " calls the
plain Fuhwacheh. Yula Timur and Amakaji commanded Arghun's right
wing, Bulughan the left, and Tawtai the centre ; while on the side of the
Ilkhan the centre was commanded by Prince Hulaju, the twelfth son of
Khulagu, the right by Alinak, and the left by Basaraghul.|| Notwith
standing the disparity of numbers, Arghun's people fought well, and as
is often the case in Eastern battles, where the picked troops are put
in the right wing, the left wing of each army was defeated, and the
division of Basaraghul was pursued as far as the walls of Kazvin.
His wife and son were captured, and the village of Gurgan was
plundered.1T The fight lasted from mid-day to sunset. At length,
seeing that his people were overmatched, he withdrew with 300
horses towards Firuzkuh, where he hoped to meet the body of Karaunas
whom he had summoned to his aid. Meanwhile his men, on hearing
of his flight, disbanded. The Karaunas arrived at Ak Khoja after the
* Ilkhans, 346-347. Wassaf, 259. D'Ohsson, iii. 589- Shajrat ul Atrak, 258. Hist, de la
Georgie, 600.
t Wassaf, 242. I Id., 241. % Id.
Id., 241. Ilkhans, i. 344. D'Ohsson, iii. 590. U Wassaf, 245.

302 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
battle, and proceeded, after their truculent fashion, to plunder and
burn Damaghan, and to waste the country round* On his precipitous
retreat, Arghun was joined by an officer who had been dispatched by
Ahmed before the fight to tell him that he had not instructed Alinak to
attack him, but merely to secure his presenting himself at the Court, and
asking him to lay down his arms and submit. Arghun sent Kutluk Shah
Noyan and Legsi Kurkan (Rashid calls them Legsi and Ordubuka) with
his answer, which was submissive, but reminded the Ilkhan that if he
drove Arghun to extremity, and he was joined by the Karaunas, things
might be very awkward, and complained of the ravage committed by the
Ilkhan's troops, especially near Damaghan. The matter was remitted to
the vizier, Shems ud din, who said it was impossible to stop the ravage by
the army, which was necessary to keep up its spirit ; " predatory birds
preferred to seize their prey rather than to live on regular rations," a
sentiment which, Wassaf says, brought the vizier no good, while the
State speedily suffered.t
It is reported that Arghun on his retreat towards Bostam made a
pilgrimage to the tomb of the Sheikh Abu Yezid, while Ahmed similarly
went to the grave of Babi to ask their aid, which, as Von Hammer says,
is certainly remarkable in the case of the former, who was not a
Mussulman. Ahmed now ordered his brother Hulaju to go to Rai with a
tuman of soldiers. He also ordered all the leading officers of the army to
subscribe a document stating that they would not obey any other
commander but Buka, whom he appointed generalissimo. All signed
this, including Alinak.} Ahmed's officers tried to persuade him to pardon
Arghun's conduct as due to youthful indiscretion, and to end the campaign,
for the heat was terrible, and many horses had perished. He would not,
however, listen to them, and when Sadr ud din and Arsil ud din, sons of
the famous astronomer, Nasir ud din of Tus, declared that the stars were
unfavourable, he was angry with them. When the Ilkhan reached Surkh,
near Semnan, the Surikkala of Fraser, there went to him from Arghun the
latter's famous son Ghazan, with Omar Oghul, son of Nigudar, of the
family of Jagatai, together with Nokai, the yarghuji (i.e., the superior
judge), and Sishi Bakhshi (i.e., the Secretary of State). Ahmed, in reply
to this embassy, dispatched his brother Togha Timur, and his nephew
Suke, the third son of Yashmut, son of Khulagu, with the amirs Buka
(called Buka Gizbara by Abulfaraj) and Doladai to tell Arghun that if he
was sincere he should go to him in person. Buka suggested, in setting
out on this mission, that it would be better if the army were meanwhile to
halt. Ahmed said he would go as far as Kharkan (called Khojan in the
" Shajrat ul Atrak "), where there was good pasture, and there await his
return. His men ravaged the country as they marched, especially the
* Wassaf, 245. Ilkhans, i. 348. D'Ohsson, 590-591.
t Ilkhans, i. 351. Wassaf, 246-247. } Ilkhans, i. 351.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 303
Georgians, and plundered in the town and district of Damaghan what the
Karaunas had spared. Kharkan was famous as the birth and burial place
of the Sheikh Abul Hasan Kharkani. The amir Jirkudai, his brother
Yesuder, and Bulughan, the Governor of Shiraz, went there to do homage
to Ahmed. The latter did not stop at Kharkan, as he promised, but
dispatched Alinak ahead with an advance guard, while he himself went to
Kalpush and Kebud Jameh (i.e., Bluecloak), a district of Dahistan, rich in
corn, grapes, and silk. He was now joined by the envoys he had sent to
Arghun, viz., the Princes Togha Timur and Suke, and the amirs Buka
and Doladai, who took Gaikhatu, Arghun's brother, with them. Buka
complained that Ahmed had not halted at Kharkan, as he promised.
Nuruz and Buraligh, Arghun's envoys, who accompanied them, returned
without securing anything. Shortly after the amir Yula Timur and
Imkajin, son of Suntai, went to Ahmed with their submission. He grew
impatient at the delay in Arghun's submission, displaced Buka by Akbuka,
and naturally made the former even more a secret partisan of Arghun.*
Let us now turn to Arghun. With only a hundred followers he repaired
to the strong fortress of Kelatkuh, famous in early Persian history and in
later times as a treasure place of Nadir Shah. It is situated in a beautiful
valley rich in horses and game, between Kazermian, Serkhaz, Abiverd,
and Tus. The Georgian history calls it Kala. Here Arghun sought
shelter with his favourite wife Bulughan.} Nuruz, a faithful dependent,
urged him to cross the Oxus and take shelter with Kubinji, who had his
yurt there. On the other hand, another of his officers, Legsi, went over to
Ahmed and asked him for an army with which to attack him, and
with which he in fact harried the yurt of Arghun's wife, Kutlukh Khatun.
He also tried, but in vain, to persuade Nuruz to imitate his example. On
reaching Ahmed's camp with his booty he was richly rewarded.}
Meanwhile Alinak with his troops reached Kelatkuh. Arghun thereupon
came out of the fortress alone, and shouted with a loud voice to him.
He prostrated himself, and said his uncle wanted to see him. Arghun
replied that he also wished to see his uncle. Alinak made him a present
of a white horse. They then entered the fortress together and had a
long interview, at which the young prince was much pressed to submit.
Seeing that there was no other course open, he set out with Alinak, and
joined Ahmed at Guchan, or Ghujan, on the 29th of June.§ He was
treated with scant civility by his uncle : entered the camp by the entrance
on the left side, and was deprived of his girdle, nor was he admitted to
an audience for some time, but was exposed to the sun till the perspiration
covered his face, until his sister Taghan, who loved him dearly, came
out from the royal tent to shade him. Presently his wife Bulughan
Khatun was allowed to enter, and Ahmed presented her with a bowl of
* Ilkhans, i. 353. t Wassaf, 247-248. Ilkhans, i. 353-354. X Ilkhans, i. 354.
% Wassaf, 248. D'Ohsson, iii. 594.

3°4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
kumiss. He then went out hawking for two hours. When at last Arghun
was admitted, he knelt down and did homage in the usual Mongol
fashion. Ahmed embraced him, and promised that he should retain the
government of Khorasan, as in his father's reign. Nevertheless he had
him closely watched by a guard of 4,000 men, commanded by Aruk, the
brother of Buka, who surrounded him, says Wassaf, like the circling
planets.* Ahmed now set out to join his new wife, Tudai Khatun, to whom he
was much attached, and, according to Wassaf, left orders with Alinak to
put Arghun to death when the royal banners had withdrawn.} Rashid
says that it was Alinak who urged the Ilkhan to put an end to him at once.
He asked what harm he could do with neither army nor treasure, and
said he would first ask the advice of his mother, Kutui. Meanwhile he
ordered Arghun's amirs, Sishi Bakhshi, Kadan, and Buraligh to be
executed.} The Georgian Chronicle tells us how, on the march home,
some bands of Mussulmans attacked and killed several Georgians,
whereupon Rat, son of Bega Suramel, pursued and dispersed them ; many
of them were killed, and others taken to the Georgian king. The latter
was much thanked by Ahmed for his services in Khorasan. Ahmed
granted him many honours, and gave him all the Georgian aznaurs, after
which, we are told, he went to his kingdom to show his victorious self to
his wives. He was accompanied by the Georgian king, while Alinak
was left to look after Arghun, with orders to presently put him to
death. § Buka obtained permission to stay behind under pretence of
assisting at the marriage of his intimate friend, Kipchak Oghul, a
descendant of Juchi Khasar. He had been attached to Arghun's
household during the reign of Abaka, and had only left him with
regret after considerable pressure from Ahmed, who had treated him
with distinction and given him one "of Khulagu's robes. He had been
displaced, as we have seen, by Karabuka, and had a corresponding
grievance. He now persuaded several officers, some of whom were his
relatives, that Ahmed, with his confidantes, Hugai, Kara Buka, Alinak,
and Abugan, intended to make an end of them near Isferain. " It is
necessary to protect ourselves. Ahmed has determined to exterminate
the descendants of Jingis Khan. Through the influence of the vizier he
favours the Mussulmans. It is in order to destroy the Mongols that he
has placed the Georgians under the orders of Alinak, and that he has
raised him above the other generals and courtiers." Seduced by these
words, the officers in question, as well as the Princes Jushkab and
Hulaju, determined to carry out their purpose that very night. Buka
invited Karabuka, Biak, and Alinak to a feast. The last of these excused
himself from drinking on the ground that the following night his regiment
* Wassaf, 249-250. D'Ohsson, iii. 595-596. f Op. cit., 250.
X Ilkhans, i. 355. D'Ohsson, iii. 596. 5 Op. cit., 600-601.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 305
(K&zik) was to act as Arghun's guard. Jushkab offered to take his
place. He accordingly went, and at midnight was dead drunk. Buka,
followed by three horsemen, now entered Arghun's quarters, and sent one
of them to go quietly and awake him, and announce to him that he
had formed a party in his favour, and was there to save him. Arghun
was frightened, and thought it part of a plot, but being reassured on his
taking the most solemn oaths, he came out of his tent, and Buka bade
him mount. On leaving the camp the Mongol sentry asked how it was
they were only four when they entered, and were now five. They assured
him he was mistaken, and reached Buka's camp safely.* Arghun having
put on his armour and mounted, they repaired to Alinak's tent, in which
they cut him to pieces, together with the mosquito net with which he was
covered. Some of his men seized their bows. Buka cried out to them,
" Hitherto we have obeyed Ahmed. We have killed Alinak by order of
Hulaju." Whereupon the guards threw down their arms and prostrated
themselves.t Messengers were now sent to Hulaju and Bektu, who were
at Firuzkuh, bidding them do to Basar Oghul (the Yessar of D'Ohsson)
and to Abukian what they had done to Alinak. Basar, or Yessar, was
thereupon killed while drunk in his tent with some of his companions.
Karabuka, Biak, and Tabui were also arrested on the following morning.
Some of these were put to death, while others were released.}
A horseman, named Mama, meanwhile escaped from the camp and
went to warn Ahmed, who was then four parasangs from Isferain. With
him were Kinshu, the son of Jumkur, son of Khulagu, and the amirs Ak
Buka and Legsi. He had already turned back to punish the rebels when
he heard of the fate which had overtaken his officers. There was nothing
for it now but a rapid flight. He passed the night at Kalpush with his
wife Tudai, and then went by way of Kumus and Irak in order to reach
the ordu of his mother, Kutui, near Serab, a town of Azerbaijan, between
Tebriz and Irbil. As he retired, his officers and the petty princes who
were with him broke away. The " Shajrat ul Atrak " says that at Kazvin
he put to death Tilai Timur, one of Arghun's chief amirs, and his sons.
The Vizier himself arrived at Jajerem with only one attendant, and went
on to Ispahan. " It was a veritable rout," says Wassaf, " in which the
confusion and fear were such that gold and silver balishes, vessels
ornamented with precious stones, rolls of golden tissue, and Chinese silk
were strewn along the roads like stones or leaves, without anyone staying
to collect them. The fugitives threw away the pearls and jewels round
their necks and in their ears, and went to hide themselves in caverns,
&c."§ Sughunjak, with Agharuk Sultan, escorted Ahmed's treasures on
camels and other beasts towards Mosellemi, intending to join his master
at Serab, but he was attacked en route by Taiju Kushji and Kitbuka

* D'Ohsson, iii. 597-599. Ilkhans, i. 356- t D'Ohsson,. iii. 599- X Id- Ilkhans, i. 356.
$ Wassaf, 255-257- D'Ohsson, m. 599-601.

U

3o6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
(called Kituga Kuruji by D'Ohsson). They secured the treasures, which
were detained at Mosellemi* Buri was sent to order the Karaunas who
were at Siah kuh to seize Ahmed, while Jerik, the amir of the ordu of the
murdered Prince Konghuratai, was also dispatched with 4,000 men to
avenge his late master.t
The princes of the blood, amirs, &c, were met together at Kharkan
with Arghun to decide upon a successor to Ahmed. There they were
joined by Hulaju and Kinshu. There were three parties. Buka, and,
according to the Georgian Chronicle, Yas Buka, chief of the Uirads,
supported Arghun. His brother Aruk and Kurmishi were in favour of
Jushkab, the brother of Kinshu, who, they said, held the great yurt ; and
Bekta, or Tekia, of Hulaju, who was a son of Khulagu, and who,
therefore, according to right, had superior claims to the younger men.
Buka said that the Khakan, who was the master of the earth and also the
aka of the house of Jingis, had given the sovereignty of Iran to Abaka
on his father's death, and that it now ought to belong to his son ; and
when Bekta interfered he drew his sword, and swore that so long as he
bore it no one should be ruler but Arghun. He then turned to Tenguiz,
or Tengir Kurkan, the husband of the Princess Tudukash, the fourth
daughter of Khulagu, and the father of Arghun's wife, Kutluk Shah, and
asked him what Abaka's own intentions had been. " I and Singtur," he
replied, "heard him say that he left the throne to his brother Mangu
Timur, and afterwards to Arghun." " You have invented these words,"
said Bekta ; " where did you hear them spoken ? " Arghun said he did
not want the throne, and would be content with the government of
Khorasan. Buka then interposed with the sage remark that their enemy
was yet at large, and that when he had been captured they should meet
in the yurt of Oljai Khatun and the other princesses to elect a new khan.
All agreed to this, and Arghun and Buka set out on the nth of July with
the advance guard, while the other princes followed with three divisions.}
Meanwhile Ahmed, having reached Sheruyaz, called Kunkur Olang by
the Mongols, pillaged the ordu of Buka, and would have put his family to
death but for the interference of Sughunjak. He reached his camp on the
1 8th of July, and having embraced his mother and told her what had
happened, proposed escaping towards Derbend ; Kutui advised him to
stay in her ordu, and to try and secure the support of the generals there.
But the news of his ill luck had already spread. Karabuka and Singtur
having gone to do him homage, asked him why he had returned in this
haste, without escort. He said that, having secured Arghun, he had
returned to arrange about provisioning the army. Naitan, or Natian,
who was seated outside the tent, having heard this, said in a loud voice,
" It is not so ; ten princes of the blood and sixty superior officers have
* D'Ohsson, iii. 601. t Ilkhans, i. 357. J D'Ohsson, iii. 601-603. Ilkhans, i. 357.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 307
leagued themselves with Arghun, while Ahmed has come here as a
fugitive. The good of the State and the public peace demand that he
should be arrested." The two generals thereupon placed a guard over
his tent. Singtur committed his custody to the Princess Kutui, who
appointed 300 men to guard him.* We have seen that the Karaunas
had been ordered by Buka to fall upon Kutui's ordu, where Ahmed now
was. They arrived under Bureh, entered the tents of the princesses, -
and robbed them of their clothes and jewels. Everything in the
royal camp — clothes and furniture, gold, silver, &c. — became their
prey. They took the jewels from the neck and ears of Kutui herself, and
dragged the boots from her feet, and she was left naked with the
princesses Tudai and Ermeni Khatun. It was against the yasa of the
Mongols to thus illuse women and children, but the Karaunas (Mongolian
demons, as Wassaf calls them) were not subject to such scruples. They
ended by seizing Ahmed, stripped him of his robes, and guarded him in
his tent.
Meanwhile, Arghun himself, fearing that his victim might escape if he
waited till his horses were in condition and his men all with him, set out
with but 300 horsemen. When he arrived near Mosellemin he was met
by Karabuka and Singtur at the head of the Karaunas, who had Ahmed
with them. It was the fashion with the Mongols, when engaged in
archery, that the one who won stretched out or clapped his hands, and
shouted " Morio." When Arghun saw Ahmed bound he cried out
" Morio," and his officers followed his example, and they celebrated their
good fortune beaker in hand, and congratulated Arghun.t Arghun
having crossed the River Moor on the 26th of July, reached Abshur, near
Yuz Agach, on the Sunday following. His adherents, the generals
Toghachar, Kunjukan, and Doladai, who had been imprisoned at Tebriz,
were now released, and some of the officers of the late Prince Konghu
ratai, with Bektu, were told off to act as Ahmed's judges. They charged
him with ingratitude towards those who had raised him to the throne, and
with ill-treating Konghuratai and Arghun. He confessed his guilt.
Arghun and the amirs wished to spare his life on account of his mother,
Kutui Khatun, who was much respected ; but as the mother and six sons
of Konghuratai demanded the blood penalty, and as Yesubuka Kurkan,
the husband of Kutulun, Khulagu's sixth daughter, reported that the two
princes Hulaju and Jushkab were collecting an army at Hamadan, Arghun
gave orders for his execution, and he was put to death in the same way
that Konghuratai had been, viz., by having his back broken. This,
according to Rashid, was on the loth of August, 1284. Abulfaraj says
the 16th.} The " Shajrat ul Atrak " says they broke his back, and at the
same time the hearts of the people of Islam. Marco Polo, in relating the
* Wassaf, 258-259. D'Ohsson, iii. 603-604.
t Wassaf, 260. D'Ohsson, iii. 605-606. Ilkhans, i. 358. X Weil, iv. 145. Note.

308 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
downfall of Ahmed, speaks of Arghun's chief supporters as Boga (i.e.,
Buka), Elchidai, Togan, Tegana, Tagachar, Ulatai, and Samagar. He
also says that Acomat (i.e., Ahmed), when he fled, was trying to escape,
to take shelter with the Sultan of Babylon (i.e., of Egypt), attended by a
small escort, and that he was arrested and taken to the Court by an
officer in charge of a pass by which he had to go .* He was buried at
Kara Kapchilghai. Wassaf says that it was Arghun who incited Timur
and Ilduz, or Ildir, to demand the death of Ahmed.} There can be small
doubt that Ahmed's death, which was a remarkable event when we
consider the constancy and loyalty of the Mongols to their princes, was
mainly due to his patronage of Muhammedanism, which set against him
the conservative feeling, both political and religious, of the Mongol
chieftains, and also to his injudicious behaviour.
We must now revert somewhat, to relate some other events that
occurred during his reign. The year before his death he sent a
second embassy to Egypt, which was presided over by the Sheikh
Abd ur Rahman, his tutor, who had persuaded him to become a Mussul
man. The envoy took with him as presents, precious stones and pearls,
rich stuffs, and gold tissues. Leaving Alatagh, he went to Tebriz, where
he stayed a month, and enlisted a number of skilled artisans (goldsmiths,
shoemakers, &c), and prepared right royal surroundings for himself.
Thence he reached Mosul, and having sent for a large quantity of gold
from Baghdad, went to Mardin. There he was met by a messenger from
the Egyptian Sultan, bidding him hasten on to Damascus, where he had
been awaiting him for some time, and whence he must speedily set out
homewards, as the district could not maintain such a large army. Abd
ur Rahman, in reply, said he was ready to go, but he asked that he
might be treated in a becoming manner, and not have to travel in the
night, as the preceding envoys had had to do. The Sultan sent him an
assurance that this would be so, and he accordingly set out in January,
1284, with the Mongol general Samdagu, and with Shems ud din
Muhammed, vizier of the Prince of Mardin.} He marched with a suite
of about fifty persons, including secretaries, doctors of the law, &c,
lawyers, guards, servants, and slaves, and was escorted by a detachment
of Mongols, while the Prince of Mardin also joined him with his troops,
to see him safely to the Euphrates.§ When he reached Harran, he was
met by an Egyptian amir, named Jemal ud din Akush Faresi. He
expected that the latter would have dismounted and kissed his hand, but
he contented himself with saluting him from a distance. He also
demanded that the Sheikh should send back his Mongol escort, which he
accordingly did. He had also to lay aside the State umbrella which he
* Yule's Marco Polo, ii. 470-471.
t Wassaf, 260-261. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 600-602. D'Ohsson, iii. 606-607. Ilkhans, i. 358-359.
X Abulfaraj, Chiun. Syr., 596-597. D'Ohsson, iii. 608-609. $ D'Ohsson, iii. 609.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 309
carried, and also his arms, nor was he permitted to advance by the
ordinary route. When he reached the Euphrates the troops of Mardin
wished to return home, but were told that the Sultan wished to see them
at Aleppo, and they accordingly crossed the river. When they had
encamped on the other bank the Sheikh retired to rest after his evening
meal, but was awakened in an hour. The Amir was already on horseback,
and said they must set out at once, and when the envoy said he should
not start till morning he was told .that the orders were that he was not to
be allowed to travel except by night. "You may kill me," said the
Sheikh, " but you will not make me travel by night." " We shall not kill
you," was the unmistakable reply, " but we shall compel you to do our
way." The Sheikh, indisposed to making a scene, consented to go. The
Amir had ordered his men not to exchange words with the strangers.
These indignities prove the intolerant arrogance of the Egyptian
authorities at this period, and also show the dread which the Mongols
everywhere inspired. The envoy entered Aleppo on ,the night of the
7th January, 1284, so secretly that no one knew of his arrival. The
Mardinians were there rewarded with 200 zuzae each, and sent home. The
travellers, again travelling by night and by unfrequented routes, reached
Damascus on the 2nd of March, and were lodged in the Hall of Ridwan.
Orders were again given not to speak to the strangers ; they were to be
listened to, but not answered. One thousand silver pieces were assigned
daily for Abdur Rahman's needs, and a similar sum to buy meat, sweets,
and fruits for his table.* At Damascus he had to await the return of
the Sultan Kelavun, who left Cairo on the 17th of July, and learnt at Gaza
of the death of Ahmed. On reaching Damascus, on the 20th of August,
he at once gave him an audience. This was also at night, in the
presence of 1,500 Mamluks, dressed in red embroidered atlas (i.e., satin),
with turbans made of golden tissue, and with golden girdles, each bearing a
torch. The Sheikh presented himself, with the Mongol amir Samdagu,
and with Shems ud din Muhammed, son of Sherif ud din Beiti, surnamed
Ibn-alsahib, vizier of Mardin.t The Sheikh was dressed as a fakir. He
was ordered to prostrate himself, and on his refusal was rudely thrust
down. He made several prostrations, while the Sultan took no notice of
him. He nevertheless received Ahmed's letter from his hands, and
ordered the three envoys to be given kaftans. Ahmed's letter was dated
from Tebriz, in June, 1283. It was written in Arabic, and merely con
tained a number of friendly phrases. Among the presents offered by the
Sheikh were sixty strings of large pearls, a piece of yellow yakut (i.e.,
topaz) weighing more than 200 mithkals, a red yakut (a ruby), and a piece
of balkhash (i.e., the precious ruby of Badakhshan) weighing 22 dirhems.
The envoys having delivered their message were sent to their quarters.}
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 596-598. Makrizi, ii. 64-65. D'Ohsson, iii. 609-612.
t Makrizi, ii. 69-71. X !•¦¦, "¦ 69"72- D'Ohsson, iii. 612-614.

310 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
While Ahmed and Kelavun were carrying on this diplomatic intercou rse,
the latter did not scruple to commit acts of aggression on his neighbour
He sent a body of men from the fortress of Karkar to lay siege to Katiba,
one of the fortresses of the province of Amid. It was blockaded until the
garrison surrendered it, and was then garrisoned with troops from Biret,
Aintab, and Revandant, and became, says Makrizi, one of the strongest
bulwarks of Islam. The Egyptians also this year secured the fortress of
Kakhta. Its governor was put to death by the citizens, who then gave the
place up freely. It formed a capital base in the Egyptian operations
against the Armenians in Cilicia, who, when at Aleppo, two years before,
had burnt the great mosque there. To avenge this, Kelavun now
ordered his troops to invade Cilicia. They advanced as far as Ayas,
plundering, and having defeated a body of the enemy near the defile of
Izkanderun, arrived at home again safely with their booty.*
The Armenian historian, Haithon, in describing the struggle between
Arghun and his uncle, tells us that the conversion of Ahmed to Muham
medanism, and his efforts to convert the Mongols, were reported to the
Khakan Khubilai, who was much irritated by the news, and sent to reprove
him ; that he in turn was annoyed at the rebuke, and although he dared
not oppose himself to the Khakan, he proceeded against his own brother
(i.e., Konghuratai) and nephew (i.e., Arghun). t
Ahmed had several wives. The first of these was Dokuz Khatun,
the Konkurat. The second one was also of the same tribe, and was
called Ermeni. The third one was Tudakun Khatun, the daughter of
Musa Kurkan. The fourth, Baitegin, the daughter of Huseinaga. The
fifth, Ilkotlogh, the daughter of Shadi Noyan; she was the mother of
Tughanjik, who, being suspected of magic, was drowned in the River Kur.
The sixth was Tudai Khatun. By these wives Ahmed had three sons —
Kaplanshi, Arslanshi, and Nukajiyeh — and six daughters.}
Mr. S. Poole only describes one coin of Ahmed's as being in the
British Museum. This was struck at Mosul. The date is obliterated. It
bears a curious type, which is also represented on one of Abaka's coins
from the same mint, viz., a figure seated cross-legged, holding the crescent
moon in its uplifted hands. §

Note i.— Sultan Ahmed's name before he became a Mussulman is written
in several ways by the authorities, the confusion caused by misplacing the
diacritic points being the main cause. Hence several Persian writers have
called him Nikudar. His name, as we learn from Rashid ud din and Abulfaraj,
was really Takudar, and it is possible that the great-grandson of Jagatai, who
accompanied Khulagu to Persia, was also called Takudar, and not, as he is

* Makrizi, ii. 61-63. D'Ohsson, iii. 615-616. t Op. cit., 57. J Ilkhans, i. 325-326.
§ Catalogue Oriental Coins, Brit. Mus., vol. vi. 24.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 311
generally styled, Nikudar, or Nigudar. The Georgian annalist calls the Ilkhan
whom we have been discussing, Thaguthar. Wakhusht calls him Thenguthar.
Note 2. — The Egyptian historians have a curious story about the pilgrimage
of a Georgian king to Jerusalem at this time, which is not referred to in the
native annals. Novairi, Abulmahasen and the soi disant Hasan ibn Ibrahim
report the fact under the year 1272, in the reign of Bibars. Makrizi puts it in
the reign of Kelavun, as does the biographer of the latter Sultan. He is
variously called Buba suta, Tauta sutena, and Tuma suta, and is said to have
been the son of Gulbaz, or, as it is otherwise written, of Kiliari. We are told
he was one of the most faithful allies of the Tartars. He had an old wound,
caused by an arrow, on his neck, wore a golden ring on his right hand, and was
about forty years old ; was pale in colour, with black eyes and a. narrow fore
head. Quatremere reads the name of his kingdom as Chavaketi. Brosset
reads the name of his companion Thamgha, son of Abgar ; Quatremere, as
Tibaga, son of Ankavar; and we are told he had a round face, a cicatrice over
his right and left eyes, a long beard of a russet colour, and a tall and stout
body. His interpreter was a prince of Abkhazia. Some writers say he went
overland to Sis, and thence set sail for Acre or Ptolemais. Another story is
that he sailed from Poti. When the Sultan heard of his travelling incognito, he
gave orders that his steps were to be watched. He was arrested while en route
by Bedr ud din, Governor of Jerusalem, who handed him over to the amir Rokn
ud din Mankuris, who took him to Bibars at Damascus, and he was eventually
imprisoned in the Castle of the Mountain*

" Makrizi, ii. 56. Notes. Hist- de la Georgie, 596, and notes,

CHAPTER VI.
ARGHUN KHAN.
ARGHUN was the eldest son of Abaka by one of his concubines
named Kaimish Igaji (the latter -being the title given by the
Mongols to the concubines of their princes, and meaning elder
sister). Immediately on Ahmed's death, on the 22nd of June, 1284, the
khatuns Oljai and Takteni, the amirs Buka, Singtur, and Toghachar, &c,
having met together at Abshur, near Yuz Agach (called Kamsiun, between
Hesht er Rud* and Kurban Shira, by Wassaf) unanimously elected
Arghun as his successor. The festivities which took place on this
occasion are described by Wassaf in more than his usually inflated
sentences, and with less than his usual modicum of tangible fact. He
tells us that news of the event was dispatched in various directions,»-from
the sources of the Oxus to the borders of Egypt. The princes Hulaju,
Jushkab, Kinshu, Baidu Oghul, and Gaikhatu had not arrived when this
election took place, nor was Shems ud din, the vizier, whom Arghun
cordially hated, present. A gracious message was, however, sent to him,
and he sent a reply by Yusufshah, of Lur, and Malik Imad ud din Kasvini.
Hulaju was the son of Kumukur, second daughter of Khulagu, and was
the agha or senior prince of the royal family, and as such entitled to
succeed, and a party was favourable to him. Arghun sent him a present
of a rich tent, with a message telling him how he had been chosen by'the
princesses, &c, to mount his father's throne, and offering to share that
throne with him. Hulaju had no wish to do this, and joined Arghun,
who, with the other members of the kuriltai, adjourned to Kurban Shira
(Rashid ud din says to the yurt Suktu), where Gaikhatu had also arrived.
The final ceremony of installation was completed on the nth of August,
1284, Hulaju taking Arghun by the right hand, and Anbarji by the left, and
seating him on the throne, while the various grandees prostrated them
selves before him, putting their girdles about their necks, like slaves
ready to be strangled for their lord, holding their caps in the air, and
drinking his health.} Three days later there arrived the princes Kinshu
and Jushkab, sons of Jumkur, son of Khulagu, who had supported Hulaju
for the khanship, and also proffered their allegiance. Abukian, son o.
Shiramun son of the famous general Charmaghan who was yarghuji,

The Hesht Rud rises in the mountains of Ojan, north of Meragha.
t Wassaf, 262-266. D'Ohsson, iv. 2-3. Ilkhans, i. 357. "

ARGHUN KHAN. 31 3
or chief judge, was put to death, as one of Ahmed's most intimate
advisers. The rest of Ahmed's supporters were each granted a yarligh
of indemnity. Wassaf makes no exception, and says that Bukia, Tinai,
Abkian, son of Shiramun, and Hulaju, the baskak of Tebriz, all received
this favour* Baidu, son of Targai, son of Khulagu, was made governor
of Baghdad ; Jushkab, of Diarbekr ; Hulaju and Gaikhatu, of Rum ; Ajai,
eighth son of Khulagu, of Georgia ; while Arghun's own son Ghazan was
given Khorasan, Mazanderan, Rai, and Kumus, the Prince Kinshu and
Nuruz, son of the famous Arghun Aka, being nominated his assistants.
On the 1 8th September, Arghun appointed his faithful friend Buka
vizier, and ordered as much gold to be poured over his head as would
entirely cover him.}
Arghun's accession was naturally very grateful to the Christians, and
we are told how the Georgian king, Dimitri, was especially favoured by
him ; and by the influence of Buka, who was his friend, he was given
authority over all the land of the Armenians, including the principality of
Avak, that of Shahan Shah, with those of the families of Vahram and of
Sadun, the last of whom had died in 1282. Arghun also favoured
Dimitri's right-hand man, the atabeg of Armenia, Darsaij.} The
" History of Georgia " adds that Dimitri sent his young son David to take
possession of the country of Avak, and to hold it as an appanage. §
Ghiath ud din, the Sultan of Rum, had been deposed by Ahmed, who had
appointed Masud, son of Iz ud din Kai Kavus, in his place, and sent
Ghiath ud din to Erzenjan. There he was strangled by order of Arghun,
for having been privy to the death of Konghuratai. || Hamdullah says he
was put to death by Ahmed, for being implicated in Konghuratai's
rebellion. Abulfaraj says he was poisoned there by his grandees on
account of his prodigality and ill-government.1T Abulfeda and Makrizi
agree that this was in the year 1283. Hamdullah says that the affairs of
Rum at this time were much disturbed, and that the children of Muhammed
and Tughrul Shah seized on the coast of Anlakiah (?), Alasah, and Ladakiah
by force, and took Basara saraf, a neighbouring province to Sis, from the
Mongols. To put this down, the princes Gaikhatu and Hulaju were
sent to Rum, and the viziership was conferred upon Fakhr ud din
Muhammed, otherwise called the Khoja Fakhr ud din Mestofi, who by
his goodness and wise measures compelled some of these people to
submit, and destroyed others, and made the kingdom of Rum the cynosure
of realms. Presently Fakhr ud din visited the ordu, and showed Arghun
an elaborate calculation, in which the various expenses of the empire
were tabulated under several heads, as the treasury, the camp, &c. This
aroused the jealousy of Arghun's Jewish vizier, Said ud Daulat, who, when
* Wassaf, 267. Ilkhans, i. 359. t D'Ohsson, iv. 4. Ilkhans, i. 359.
I Hist, de la Siounie, 238. St. Martin Memoires, &c, 11. 163-165.
$ Op. cit., i. 602. || D'Ohsson, iv. 203-204. 11 Chron Syr., 604.

3H HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Arghun was drunk, got his permission to execute him, and he was
accordingly executed on the first of Ramazan, 689.
To revert, however. Abulfaraj tells us that on the accession of Arghun
fear fell upon everybody, and there was a general rush from Syria towards
Egypt, and the price of a camel for the transport rose accordingly.
Arghun re-appointed the Uighur Masud, whose former administration
we have described,* governor of Mosul.} This was greatly to the
delight of the Christians. His friend Yashmut had been assassinated
a short time before by the sons of Jelal ud din Turan, whose death he had
brought about. Abulfaraj tells us that when the Egyptian Sultan heard
of Ahmed Khan's death, and the accession of his successor, he released
Abd ur Rahman, the former's envoy, who had been imprisoned at
Damascus, gave him a pension, and assigned him a residence.}
Makrizi says the envoys were thrice summoned to his presence by
the Sultan, who, having abstracted from them the information he needed,
told them their master Ahmed was dead. They were conducted to less
stately rooms in the citadel, and their rations were reduced to mere
necessities. They were then ordered to disgorge. The Sheikh did not
long enjoy his liberty, for he was presently sent to the fortress of
Saphda, at Damascus, and detained there. It is curiously like modern
journalism, and its great autumn gooseberry, to find Abulfaraj digressing
at this point to tell us how a pigeon at Bertellus laid an egg as big
as that of a goose, and another which was long and crooked like a
cucumber.§ Makrizi goes on to say that Abd ur Rahman was forced
to surrender the treasures he had with him belonging to the Ilkhan,
including a great quantity of gold, pearls, &c, inter alia, being a neck
lace of pearls belonging to himself, worth 100,000 dirhems. He and his
companions were put in prison, where he died on the 18th Ramazan. His
companions were presently released, except the Amir Shems ud din
Muhammed, who was sent to Egypt, and imprisoned in the so-called
Castle of the Mountain.||
The new rdgime at the Ilkhan's Court was naturally fraught with
danger for the late vizier, Shems ud din, who had called down upon
himself Arghun's resentment in many ways, and he at once took flight
from Jajerem, where he was living. Mounted on a dromedary, and with
but two companions, he hastened across the desert to Ispahan. News of
what had happened had not yet reached there, and the maliks (the
governors of provinces were so styled under the Ilkhans), amirs, kadhis,
and a crowd of people of all ranks went out of the town with presents to
meet the vizier. So says Wassaf. Von Hammer, apparently quoting
Rashid ud din, says that having heard of the revolution which had taken
place, they consulted with the Atabeg of Yezd, who had been arrested by
* Ante, 270. t Chron. Syr., 601. J Id., 604. % Id., 605-606,
|| Op. cit., ii. (part i.) 72.

ARGHUN KHAN. 315
the governor of Ispahan during Ahmed's reign, as a supporter of Aryhun,
as to what should be done. Shems ud din, informed of this, under
pretence of going to pay a visit to a burying place outside the town, fled
on a swift horse towards Kum, to the famous sacred tomb of the sister of
the Imaum Riza, which for a thousand years has been a place of asylum
for those who entered its walls. Its sacred character was respected by
the Mongols, no less than by the princes of the Seljuki and Buyid
families. Chardin described its magnificence in detail, and it is still
famous for its silver lattice-work and gold-plated doors, and its treasury,
whose riches chiefly date from the time of the Safevi dynasty, but were
much augmented by the gifts of Feth Ali Shah, who, inter alia, dedicated
there a head-dress of his mother's, as Crcesus did his wife's necklace and
girdle at Delphi. Morier says the town is now famous for three things :
the gilt cupola over the tomb, the market-place, and also for its ruins. Its
old walls had a circuit of 40,000 ells, i.e., 40 ells more than those of Kazvin.
Kum gave its name to rich silk stuffs, called kumash, which still bear that
name. It is famous for its high cypresses and its blue drinking mugs.
At Kum Shems ud din was joined by his friends, who advised him to
go to Hormuz, on the Persian Gulf, and thence take ship for India,* but
he thought it would be wrong to abandon his family and supporters to
Mongol vengeance, and preferred to go to Arghun's Court, hoping to
secure the good offices of his old friend Buka.} He therefore delayed a
few days, and was then apparently joined by Imad ud din, of Kazvin, and
Yusuf Shah, the Atabeg of the Greater Luristan, who had been sent by
the Ilkhan. Yusuf Shah had been forced to join Ahmed in his campaign
against Arghun. Now that the latter was on the throne the Lurs had left
Khorasan, and turned their faces homewards by way of Tabs, but the
greater part of them perished of thirst on the way.} Yusuf had married
a daughter of Shems ud din, and he took his father-in-law with him.
When near Sava they were met by the amir Khumar, who brought the
Vizier word that the past was forgotten, and that he was restored to
favour. He at once sent word round to inform the various chiefs of Irak
of the welcome news. He reached Kurban Shira, where Arghun was, on
the 2 1 st of September, and repaired to Buka, with whom he was formerly
on friendly terms. The meeting was full of superficial good feeling, but
this was feigned on both sides. Buka presented him to Arghun, who
received him coldly, but restored him to his former post as Vizier. He
now held it, however, jointly with Buka. Shems ud din confessed that he
only wished to be the latter's substitute ; but inasmuch as presents and
gratitude poured continuously upon the elder occupant of the office, Buka's
jealousy was aroused.§ This was further fanned by some of the Court
officials whose enmity he had secured, viz., Ali Tamghaji, Fakhr ud din
* Wassaf, 265-266. Ilkhans, i. 362. D'Ohsson, iv. 4-5. t Wassaf, 267-268.
I D'Ohsson, iv. 5. Ilkhans, i. 363. § Ilkhans, i. 364. D'Ohsson, iv. 5-6,

3!° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Mestofi, and Hosam ud din Hajib, who urged that he would be speedily
eclipsed by Shems ud din, who would not be quiet until he had thrust
him into the shade, as he had Arghun Aka. Buka now urged upon his
master that the Vizier had been unfaithful to his father and would be the
same to him, and being already irritated against him for various reasons,
he gave orders that he was to be tried by the two amirs Kadagai and
Ogotai. He had already been ordered to find the 200,000 gold pieces
which he had been declared to be deficient, and had replied that he had
no ready money, since he had not been accustomed to bury it like some
people, but had' bought properties with it which brought him in 1,000
dinars a day.*
Abulfaraj tells us that when the Vizier said he could not find the sum
demanded, unless he were restored to his former income, he was bidden
to borrow it. He thereupon borrowed what he could among his friends
and servants, but could not get together more than 40,000 gold pieces,
and said if they were not satisfied, they must put him to death.t When
he had been manacled he was subjected to the jeers of the Turks and
Persians, but stoutly affirmed his innocence. He was bastinadoed, but
without effect, and was therefore conducted, on the ioth of October,
to the place appointed for his execution, viz., Munia, near Ebher, north of
Kazvin. • Having obtained a few minutes' surcease, he performed the
prescribed ablutions, and opened the Koran he had with him at haphazard,
looking for an omen, and then sat down and wrote to the heads of his
faith at Tebriz: " Having consulted the Koran, I have found this passage,
' Truly those who have said, " God is our master," and who have after
wards been constant to the faith, will see angels descend upon them.
Therefore have no fear. Do not regret, but, on the contrary, rejoice in
the paradise into which you are about to enter.' God, who has greatly
favoured his servant and granted him all his wishes, has come to introduce
him to life eternal. I deem it right, therefore, to inform the mulanas
Mohai ud din, Afdhal ud din, Shems ud din, and Humam ud din, and the
other great sheikhs whom this is neither the place nor time to mention
more particularly, that I am about to quit this world, and wish them to
aid me with their prayers. Let them look to my sons, whom I make over
to God as a pledge ; for God does not forget- his pledges. I had hoped
to see them again, and help them with my counsel." As this was not to
be, he commended them to their care (i.e., of the mulanas), bidding them
protect them, and see that they needed for nothing ; that they led good
lives, and did not forget what God had done for them. If his son
the Atabeg, and his mother Khoshek wished to return home, they
were to be allowed to do so. His two sons Nuruz and Masud, with
their mother, were to remain with the Princess Bulughan, and were to
* D'Ohsson, iv. 7-8. t Chron. Syr., 603.

ARGHUN KHAN. 317
stand at either end of his tomb. They were to support the 'eating-house
and cloister of the Sheikh Fakhr ud din, and to repair thither. Ferrukh
and his mother were to attend on Atabeg. Sekeria was to work in the
Ilkhan's service. In regard to the rest of his property, he left it to the
amir Buka. If he chose to return some of it, well and good ; if not, he
would still be satisfied. " May God grant his pity and his blessing. I
now resign my life into the hands of God, who will not forget me. If the
Almighty gives anything to my sons, may they take it and be content.
Whatever happens to the great harem at Tebriz, this is my wish : May
he be happy who seeks the right path."* When he had finished writing
the Vizier said, " What comes from thee, O Lord, is right, be it weal
or woe." He was seized by the hands and feet by his executioners,
raised up and struck against the ground three times. He was then
trodden under foot till he was dead, after which he was castrated, and his
head was decapitated. This was on the 16th of October, 1284.
" Such was the end," says Abulfaraj, " of this most powerful man, who
supported on his finger the whole Mongol world. He was a prudent
man, and endowed with natural capacity, and well cultivated and
polished."} This is remarkable testimony from a Christian, and it is
not strange, therefore, that the Muhammedan writers should speak in
hyperbolic terms of his memory. He had been a very powerful factor in
the Mongol polity for thirty years, and with his brother and other
relatives had done much to restore prosperity after the desolating wars of
Khulagu. He was, nevertheless, a vindictive, crafty, and not very
scrupulous person, and the misfortune which eventually overtook him
he had not hesitated to bring upon his rivals. One of the contemporary
poets said of his death —
On the departure of Shems (the sun) from the heavens it rained blood ;
The moon scarred her sweet face, and Venus tore her hair.
Night clothed herself in mourning for him,
And the morning sighed deeply and tore her veil. J
His death was followed by the ruin of his family. Buka sent the amir
Ali Tamghaji to Tebriz to seize his son Yahia, and he was put to death
there. His other sons, Ferrukhshah, Masud, and Atabeg were some time
after also put to death. Yusuf Shah, Prince of Luristan, the Vizier's
son-in-law, died on his way back to Luristan. He left two sons,
Afrasiab and Ahmed, of whom the former was given his father's state of
the Greater Luristan, while the latter remained with Arghun as a hostage.
Shems ud din and his sons were buried at the burying-place of Cherendab
at Tebriz, where his brother, Alai ud din, already reposed.§ With the
death of the Vizier, Abulfaraj closes his Arabic chronicle.
During the year 1285 we read how a body of Syrian, Kurdish, Turkish,

* Ilkhans, i. 366-367. Wassaf, 269-271.
t Op. cit., Chron. Syr., 603-604. D'Ohsson, iv. 9-10. X Shajrat ul Atrak, 261.
$ Wassaf, 273. Ilkhans, i. 367.

3l8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
and Bedouin vagabonds, 600 in number, made a raid upon the district of
Irbil, and killed many Christians in the towns of Emkabad, Surhegan, &c.
Behai ud din, a Kurdish amir at Irbil, went out against them and was
defeated, and they carried off a great booty and many women. Other
plunderers made another attack on the province of Turabden, and killed
many people at Kalesht, Beth Mana, and Beth Sebrina, and carried off
many captives from Beth Resha. In 1286 another band of Kurds,
Turkomans, and Arabs, 10,000 strong, with whom were 300 Mamluks,
attacked Mosul and its neighbourhood. Masud went out against them,
but finding himself quite outnumbered he withdrew again, crossed the
Tigris, and sought refuge in the monastery of Mar Matthew. They
entered the town, and were regaled there by the Arabs (i.e., the
Mussulmans) with rich meats and cooling drinks, in the hope that they
would wreak their vengeance on the Christians. They proceeded to
plunder and ravish at their will, and carried off many prisoners, both
male and female, and including both Mussulmans and Christians.* This
shows the confused condition of affairs while the Mongol sceptre was in
uncertain hands.
After Shems ud din's death, Arghun went to his palace of Mansuria in
Arran, where, on the 23rd of September, 1284, he was joined by Pulad
Ching Sang, whom he had sent to the Khakan Khubilai. A kuriltai was
held between Serah, Irbil, and Sain, and nine days later (i.e., on the
2nd of October) he returned to Tebriz, and thence again went to his
winter quarters in Arran, where a solemn assembly was held for the trial
of the Princess Abish, the widow of Mangu Timur, in whose name, as
we have seen,t as the heiress of the Salghurid family, Fars had been
governed by the Mongols for many years. After her marriage with Mangu
Timur, she had lived at the Ilkhan's Court, and the country was really
under the control of the Mongol baskaks, or governors. During Ahmed's
reign this post had been filled by the Noyan Toghachar, who had command
of 10,000 men, and who sided with Arghun in the latter's quarrelwith his
uncle.} He was succeeded by Bulughan, or Bulghuran, whose rule was very
unsatisfactory, and he was accordingly displaced in favour of Tashmenku.
Bulughan was not disposed to give up his post without a struggle. He
put to death Hosam ud din, son of Muhammed Ali of Lur, an employe
in the office of Crown demesnes, whom Tashmenku had sent as his
forerunner, but when the latter called in the aid of the Atabeg of Luristan
Bulughan seized what there was in the treasury and fled to Khorasan
with his agents, Kawam ud din and Seif ud din. Tashmenku busied
himself in administering the province, but was deposed in the course of a
year for heading the orders issued in Ahmed's name with the formula,
"Ahmedaga," which was contrary to all the rules of the Mongol
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 606-608. t Ante, 204. J Ilkhans, i. 344.

ARGHUN KHAN. 319
chancellary. On his deposition the Princess Abish was herself appointed
governor, a position she owed to the influence of Oljai, the mother of
Mangu Timur, who had much influence at the Court. There was great
rejoicing in Fars at the news of her return. As her substitute, or deputy,
she nominated her relative, Jelal ud din Arkan, the son of Malik Khan,
son of Muhammed, son of Zengi, while she appointed the Khoja Nisam
ud din Abubekr, who had an old feud with the chief judge, Imad ud din,
to be vizier.* Nisam ud din, who was a clever financier, proposed to the
princess to acquire, through a diploma of the Ilkan, power to redeem such
of the property of her family as was in strangers' hands. Ahmed granted
this diploma thoughtlessly. Nisam ud din, however, speedily confused
the princess's property with that of the Crown demesnes and that
belonging to private people, and treated the people of Shiraz, both the
crowd and aristocracy, as if they were slaves. The beginning of the
administration of Abish and her finance minister fell in the latter part of
Ahmed's reign. On the accession of Arghun, Buka's protdgd, the Seyid
Imad ud din, repaired to the Court to lay before it the true condition of
affairs in regard to the treasury at Fars, and through the influence of
Buka he obtained a diploma constituting him sole administrator of Shiraz,
both sea and land (i.e., including the islands in the Persian Gulf), with
very large powers, his diploma being sealed with a lion's and a cat's head.
Meanwhile the two employes of Bulughan who had fled with him to
Khorasan, as I have described, viz., Kawam ud din of Bukhara and Seif
ud din Yusuf, had returned to Fars and been intrusted by the Princess
with the management of the finances. They aroused her hatred against
the Seyid before his arrival, and as he began his work by hanging one of
her bailiffs to a tree, and summoning her to the Ilkhan's presence, her
anger was still further inflamed. As soon as the Seyid reached Shiraz he
erected himself a royal throne. Eight days later there commenced the
east of Bairam, at which the Princess did not appear as usual. Presently
there came news that the Nigudars were threatening an invasion, and
that it would be prudent for her to take shelter in the Castle Istakhr.
This she declined, as she was afraid he wished to imprison her. One
evening after this the Seyid repaired to her house with a great following.
On the road he was met by a party of Mamluks belonging to her house
hold. A struggle ensued, in which the leader of his own men, on whom
he had heaped his favours, and who was called Zeraj ud din Fazli of
Lur, and was doubtless a Kurd, struck him the first blow. He was killed,
his head was cut off, and his house was plundered.} His death was
followed by that of his cousin, the Seyid Jemal ud din Muhammed,
whom the Mamluks murdered in the night, and then spread the report
that he had fled to Kerker. The pestilence and famine which visited

* Ilkhans, i. 368-369 t Id., nx-yjz-

320 -HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Shiraz shortly after, and in which over 100,000 people are said to have
died, was deemed a punishment from heaven for this double crime,
for the Seyids were a sacred family.
The Seyid's son, who was a minor, now repaired with his complaint to
his father's protector, Buka* Buka called the Ilkhan's attention to these
occurrences, and he accordingly summoned the Princess, with the
opponents of the Seyid, to the Court, and also sent word to Oljai, by
whose influence Abish had been made governor of Fars. They loaded
the messengers with presents, but did not obey the summons. Doladai
Yarghuji, Jiyurghutai, and Hosam ud din were commissioned to inquire
into the whole affair. Kotan Ataji was sent to bring her by force, while
her finance officers were imprisoned. She arrived at Arghun's Court
at night, and was conducted by Buka's major-domo to one of his
master's tents. It was contrary to Mongol custom for a princess thus to
enter the tent of a karaju, or subject, and the unfortunate major-domo
was ordered to be bastinadoed for his pains. Oljai made excuses for her
protdgd, laying the blame for what had happened on her relative, Jelal ud
din Arkan. The three head men of her treasury, Kawam ud din, Seif ud
din, and Shems ud din, each received seventy-two strokes on the soles of
his feet. Imad ud din's Mamluks, who had been treacherous to her, were
unsparingly punished. Jelal ud din justified himself at the cost of the
Princess. She and her relatives were ordered to pay fifteen gold tumans
as a fine, together with twenty tumans to the orphans of the murdered
Seyids. The Princess outlived these events but two years. On her death,
prayers, readings of the Koran, and distributions of alms took place in
the mosques at Shiraz. According to her will, her private estate was
divided into four portions, of which two fell to her daughters, the Princesses
Gurdujan and Algharji, another to her Mamluks and freedmen, and the
fourth to Taiju, the son of Mangu Timur, to whom she also left 1 0,000
gold pieces. With her the famous dynasty of the Salghurs came to an
end. Fars lost even the semblance of independence, and was incorporated
with the Mongol empire.t
We will now return to the more immediate affairs of the Ilkhan. On
the 24th of February, 1286 (Quatremere says on the 25th of June),
the general Ordu Kia, who had been sent by Arghun to the Khakan
Khubilai with the news of his elevation, returned with the title of
Khan for Arghun, and that of Chingsang for Buka. The fetes and
rejoicings of the installation were accordingly renewed. Ten days
later a body of 16,000 men were sent against the Kurdish tribe Hakari,
under the Amir Masuk Kushji (i.e., the fowler) and Nurinaga the Jelair.
A month later the Princess Bulughan died on the banks of the Kur, and
her remains were taken to the mountain Sejas. On the 20th of April
* Ilkhans, i. 372-373- t Id., 372-374-

ARGHUN KHAN. 32 1
Arghun went to Tebriz, where he was handsomely entertained by Buka,
and afterwards went to Sughurlak by way of Meragha. There he was
met by Aruk, Buka's brother, with the bitekjis, or Mongol secretaries of
Baghdad, with whom was Harun, the son of the vizier, Shems ud din,
whose strict rule at Ispahan we have previously described. Aruk, on the
strength of the support given him by his brother Buka, had put to death
Mestofi Said ud din, the brother of Fakhr ud din, and Majd ud din, son
of Asir, without the Khan's permission. The latter was a protdgd of
Gaikhatu, Arghun's brother, who poisoned the Ilkhan's mind against Aruk.
Aruk had another enemy in Yesu Kurkan, the husband of the Princess
Tudukash, Khulagu's fourth daughter. Buka, on the other hand,
supported his brother, and the death of the son of Asir was attributed to
the instigation of Harun, who was accordingly put to death.* Wassaf
says that Aruk, who commanded in Irak Arab under the Prince Baidu,
put to death Khoja Harun, whom he accused of being in league with
Majd ud din Asir, one of the richest and most influential men of his time,
to charge him with peculation.t But this seems at issue with a previous
statement of the same author that Harun, whose remarkable career at
Ispahan we described under the reign of Abaka, died in his father's
lifetime.} Soon after this Yesu Kurkan, Aruk's enemy, died, and for a
while he and his brother basked in prosperity.
On the 27th of September, 1286, Arghun went to Tebriz. Two months
later, when he was one day in Arran, combing himself, an unusual quantity
of hair came out in the comb. This, according to Mongol notions, was
caused by his having taken poison, and Wejih, the son of Iz ud din,
was executed on suspicion of having administered it. On the 7th of
January, 1287, Tudai Khatun, the Konkurat princess, who had passed
from Abaka's harem to that of his son, was crowned with the head-dress
of the royal wives (baghtak). Arghun, during the year 1287, lived
respectively at Pilsuvar, at Tebriz, in the summer camp of Alatagh, and
the winter one of Arran. In March, 1288, he lost his wife, Kutluk,
the mother of his youngest son, Khatai Oghul ; while in April Buka's
envoys brought back with them to Persia one of the relics so much
esteemed among the Buddhists, called sharil. These are hard pieces of
a substance which is said to be found in the ashes of some saintly persons
when cremated. Von Hammer says that Buddha's heart was supposed
to be made of bone and not of flesh, similarly with the hearts of great men,
and that the sharil is really held to be the ossified heart of the cremated
person. Arghun, we are told, treated this relic with the greatest honour,
gold was strewn over it, while a feast was duly celebrated.
Later, viz., in May, 1288, news arrived that Nogai, the famous
leader of the armies of Kipchak, was making an invasion, by way
* Ilkhans, i. 374-375. t Wassaf, 272. I Id., 125.

322 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
of Derbend, at the head of 5,000 men, and was putting to death such of
the merchants as he could meet with. Arghun at once marched to the
rescue, crossed the Kur, and halted at Shamakhi. Buka and Kunjukbal
were sent on with an advance guard, and returned in a few days with the
news that the enemy had retired.* A few months later, viz., in the
spring of 1290, the Khan of Kipchak made a fresh invasion by way of
Derbend. The amirs Siktur Noyan, Kunjukbal, and Toghachar, were
ordered to march, and Arghun followed to Pilsuvar, and thence pushed
on to Shaburan with the heavy baggage, &c. The two armies met at the
Karasu. The army of Arghun was commanded by the amirs Toghachar,
Kunjukbal, Toghrulji, and Taiju, the son of Bukuwa ; and that of Kipchak
by Nogai, and by the two sons of Mangu Timur, Abaji and Mengli. The
enemy was defeated, 300 of them were slain, and many were captured.
The " Shajrat ul Atrak " says that Choban, the Sulduz, of whom we shall
hear much presently, greatly distinguished himself in the fight, which,
according to Hamdullah, was the first in which he took part. The victory
was celebrated by a feast at Pilsuvar, and was announced by special
letters throughout the empire by the Vizier.t
The " History of Georgia " has a notice of a campaign which seems to
be the same as this. It says the people of Derbend having revolted,
Arghun marched against them in company with Dimitri, whereupon the
rebels retired to the strong fortress of Anik, which, having resisted
obstinately, Dimitri was told to attack it. The Georgians were not long
in storming it, Rat Begashwili leading the assault. The principal people
in the fort were put to death, and a large number of prisoners, riches, and
women were captured, while the citadel was burnt. The Khan, who was
a spectator of the whole affair, conceived a violent jealousy against the
king, who surrendered to him a famous suit of armour which he wore.}
We must now describe the collapse of the great Mongol chieftain,
Buka, called Buka Gizbara by Bar Hebraeus. We have seen how the
Khakan conferred on him the title of Chingsang. In addition to this
he had secured special privileges. He was not to be punished until
he had committed nine offences, and was only to be called to account
by the Khan himself. The ordinances of the Khan were not to be
valid unless his red seal was attached, while his own orders did not
need the royal sanction. These privileges no doubt aroused the animosity
and envy of the other amirs, for he was a haughty and impetuous person.
Wassaf describes him as a terrible Turk, whose severity and prudence
were remarkable. As an instance of his severity, it is reported that he
put one of his own ostlers to death for stealing an apple from a fruit stall.
Abulfaraj says that the various princes and princesses had to stand at his
gate while he distributed their salaries to them. Among his principal
* Ante, ii. 139. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 376. Golden Horde, 265.
t Ilkhans, i. 388-389. Shajrat ul Atrak, 263. J Op. cit., 602-603 ; and 603, note 2.

ARGHUN KHAN. 323
enemies were Sultan Aidaji and Tughan, son of Tarakjai, Governor of
Kuhistan, Arghun's intimate companions, who had been twice cudgelled,
and had had many indignities put upon them by Buka's orders, and they
lost no opportunity of denouncing him to Arghun. The arbitrary doings
of his brother Aruk, who governed the provinces of Babylon, Azerbaijan,
and Mesopotamia, also reflected on himself. Aruk treated the Ilkhan's
envoys with scant courtesy. Three officials having brought an accusation
against him were ordered to be put in custody till his arrival. He had
them executed mercilessly before any trial, and appropriated the
revenues which should have gone into the State treasury. The officers of
Ordu Kia, Sherif ud din, and the Jew, Said, handed over 500 tumans to
Aruk, who did not account for a farthing of it to Arghun* Abulfaraj calls
this Jew Said ud daulet, and says he was the father-in-law of the Prefect
of Baghdad, who had recently died, and that he told the Mongol amirs
if they would prevent Aruk from going to Baghdad he would undertake
to double the income of the treasury, whereupon Aruk was ordered
not to go there, and the Jew was nominated Procurator of Baghdad.
" Behold," says the Syrian chronicler, " there sits a Jew there to-day as
prefect in the capital of the Abbassidas. How humbled is the position of
the Arabs (i.e., of the Muhammedans)." From this time various
accusations began to pour in upon Aruk — inter alios, we are told a Persian
named Abd ul Mumin declared that he and his creatures had so
plundered the country, that if he were arrested a million golden dinars
might be extracted from him.}
Turning to Fars, we read that Sadr ud din Zenjani, the financial
secretary of Toghachar, complained to his master of Buka's continual
demands for money, and that he was virtually the ruler, the Khan
having quite a secondary authority.} The financial affairs of Fars had
been a source of irritation for a long time. Fakhr ud din Hassan,
one of the illustrious Seyids of Shiraz, who during Abaka's reign was
attached to the Court of Arghun, had often told him that much property
in the province of Shiraz, which had belonged to his ancestor, the
grand judge, Seyid Sherif ud din, and which he had inherited from the
daughter of the Sultan Azd ud Devlet, of the Salghur dynasty, had
been unjustly confiscated by the atabeg, Abubekr, Prince of Fars,
and its revenues appropriated to the public treasury. He produced
abundant documentary proofs of this, and urged Arghun to press his
father to have these lands transferred from the registers of the general
treasury, and assigned to his special domain (inju). Abaka consented,
and sent one of his officers with the Seyid to carry out the transfer ; but
the treasury officials put obstacles in the way, and were supported by the
Mongol commanders, and the affair was not carried out. Fakhr ud din
* Ilkhans, i. 377. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 610-611. I Ilkhans, i. 377-378.

324 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
returned to Arghun. When the young prince mounted the throne, he
issued an order withdrawing this property from the public registers,
and assigning it to his own domain, according to the title he had
proved, and the Seyid summoned the finance officials of Fars, who were
then at the Court, and peremptorily demanded the restoration of the
property according to the Ilkhan's orders. Buka urged reasonably that
inasmuch as the province of Shiraz now belonged to him (Arghun),
what was the necessity of separating these lands, and making a special
department of them. Arghun would not listen, and ordered that Buka
should not meddle with Fakhr ud din's affairs, nor with those of his own
private domain. At the same time, the latter property was confided to the
Noyan Togachar as administrator. Buka was thus deprived of the
greater part of his authority. Fakhr ud din was ordered to repair to
Shiraz with Yul Kutlugh, son of Arghun Aka, to superintend the transfer
of the disputed property from the register of the public treasury to that of
the private one of Arghun, and as no one was in a position to answer their
assertions on the subject, they succeeded in thus transferring one-fourth of
the villages, fields, gardens, corvdes, irrigating canals, and windmills in
the province of Fars, so that in a short time these private domains were
farmed for the large sum of 600,000 dinars, and many families who had
been in possession of their property for a century were compelled to
surrender it. Fakhr ud din himself died eighteen days after his arrival
at Shiraz, which looks suspicious. His son, Seyid Kutb ud din, was
invested with his father's authority in the Ilkhan's name by Yul Kutlugh,
already named.*
This matter, thus carried out in spite of Buka's views, was no doubt a
large invasion of his prestige. Another attack on it was made by the
appointment of the amir Kunjukbal to superintend the affairs of the army.
Meanwhile, Tughan continued to poison Arghun's mind against him,
urging that, although Ahmed had completely confided in him, he had,
nevertheless, betrayed him, and he was now appropriating all the power
in the kingdom. One day Buka and Bekta quarrelled over their cups in
the presence of Arghun, and the latter not having reprimanded Bekta,
Buka was further irritated, while a more real grievance was forthcoming
when his principal dependents, including especially the Amir Ali,
collector of the customs at Tebriz, were deprived of their posts. It is not
to be wondered at that under these circumstances he should have begun
to conspire with a number of discontented princes and amirs. Among
these were the Princes Hulaju, Toka Timur, Karabuka, Kingshu, and
Gabarchin (Von Hammer calls the last three Karankai, Konghshir, and
Anberjin), with the Amirs Aruk, Kurmishi (the son of Haidu Noyan),
Machu, Tamdui, and Tughluk Karauna. Rashid ud din adds to this
* D'Ohsson, iv. 15-17. Ilkhans, i, 378.

ARGHUN KHAN. 325
list, Aujan, the armour-bearer ; Kadan, the envoy ; Zengi, the son of
Babu Noyan, amir of the camp of the Khatun Oljai ; Ghazan Behadur,
Ishik Togli, and Ashak Togli.* Buka also wrote to Prince Jushkab, who
was encamped by the Euphrates, to urge that although Arghun owed his
throne to him, he had shown himself very ungrateful. Jushkab, who felt
sure Buka meant to make a tool of him, refused to join in the conspiracy
unless he saw the written agreement (called muchalga in Mongol) between
the conspirators. This Buka incautiously sent to him. Jushkab now
repaired to Arghun, in Arran, to acquaint him with the plot. He would
not believe in it until the written proofs were produced, and then broke
out into bitter complaints against Buka, whom he had raised to such
honour, and who had, nevertheless, been so treacherous. He ordered
his three officers, Sultan Aidaji, Doladai, and Tughan, to go and arrest
him. He had had timely warning, however, and had crossed the Kur and
sheltered in the camp of the Khatun Oljai, one of Arghun's wives. She
refused to receive him, but the amir of her camp, Zengui (Von Hammer
says the son of Zengui), allowed him to shelter in his tent. Doladai and
Tughan speedily crossed the Kur in pursuit of him, and having secured,
conveyed him to the Court. There he was brought before Siktur,
who sarcastically asked him if he wanted to have a fresh master every
day, and charged him with being the cause of much mischief. He denied
having done anything against the Ilkhan, and said that he had only been
plotting against his own personal enemies, Aidaji and Tughan, who had
so persistently maligned him, but being confronted with the incriminating
papers he trembled and fainted. Arghun ordered him to be at once put
to death, and Jushkab asked the favour of being his executioner. When
they reached the place of execution Tughan kicked him in the chest,
saying, " This is the reward for thy ambition to mount the throne."
Jushkab himself cut off his head, and slit the skin of his back into strips.
Bar Hebraeus says he was dismembered. The head was stuffed with
straw, and then displayed on the bridge Jaghan, while the troops were
ordered to pillage his quarters. This execution took place on the 17th of
January, 1289, and was followed by the deaths of the various amirs who
had joined in the conspiracy, Maju, Tughluk, Ashak, Toghli, Zerwana,
Nokhshi, Tushkina, Hosam ud din of Kazvin, and the Malik Ali, the
temghaji of Tebriz. Kadan, the Khakan's envoy ; the Bitekji Naghai,
who had spoken out the truth; and another, for whose life the amirs
interceded, were spared. Among those who perished were also the
astronomer, Imad ud din ; the Christian, Simon of Rumkalaa ; Bahai ud
daulet Abul Kirem, and the King of Georgia, Dimitri, to whom we shall
revert presently.t Abulfaraj says there perished Simeon the priest, and
a doctor and scribe from Irbil called Abu Alkherem, and many Mongols.
* D'Ohsson, iv. t8. Ilkhans, i. 378. Note. t Ilkhans, i. 380.

326 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Buka's wives and daughters were distributed among the army. The
corpses of the slain were put together in piles, and left for the wolves
and dogs to devour their flesh, after which their bones were buried.
Betmish Kushji, Tamudai Aktaji, and Shadi, son of Buka, were sent
to Diar Bekhr to fetch Buka's sons and brothers. In six days they
reached Irbil, and killed Ghazan, Buka's eldest son, who was living
with his uncle Aruk. Aruk himself, who did not know what had
happened to his brother, seeing the Mongol garrisons of the district of
Amid approaching, fled to the fortress of Keshaf. Betmish summoned
him to surrender. He said he had no intention of resisting, but wanted
to know why they had thus come. Betmish then told him what had
happened to his brother, and that he had been ordered to take him to
the Court. He then left the fortress, and was carried off in chains.
When he saw his brother's head on the bridge Jaghan, he merely asked
where that of his armour-bearer, Aujan, was. He was then put to death.
This was on the 3rd of February, 1289. His head, with that of his
relative Kurmishi, was exposed near that of Buka. Zengui, who had
sheltered Buka in his tent, was handed over to Oljai, as one of her
dependents, for punishment. She ordered him to be decapitated, saying
she would have done so if he had been her eldest son, Anbarji. Four
sons of Buka, named Abaji, Malik, Teikhan Timur, and Kutlugh Timur,
fled to Tughan. He gave them shelter until he thought Arghun's anger
was appeased ; but the latter, when he heard of it, ordered them to be put
to death, and thus exterminated the family. A proclamation was now
issued announcing far and wide how Buka, having been guilty of the
basest ingratitude, had been destroyed, with his wives and children, his
friends and relatives ; while his wealth, which he had acquired through
the Ilkhan's munificence, had been pillaged, and all who were suspected
of having abetted him, Mongols or Mussulmans, paid the last penalty.*
The sudden downfall of such a powerful chief as Buka, whose
dependents filled places of trust in various directions, naturally entailed a
reaction, when envy, cupidity, and revenge had a free field. Under the
orders of Betmish, Abdul Mumin, whom we have previously named, paid
the sum of money which each of Aruk's officers at Mosul was charged with
having robbed. Torture and death were freely applied to extort this
money and to punish the wrong-doers. Among those who suffered from
the revolution was Masud, the Governor of Mosul. Devoted to Buka, and
probably fancying that that minister's position was impregnable, he had
neglected to be civil and attentive to Arghun's own creatures. Accordingly
the very day of Aruk's arrest he was put under surveillance until the arrival
of Abdul Mumin, which was the signal for a cruel persecution against the
Christians. Bethag Alden, son of Mohtesi, who was Prefect of Irbil, was
* D'Ohsson, iv. 18-23. Ilkhans, i. 380.381. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 610-612.

ARGHUN KHAN. 327
among those put to the torture. They put him on the rack and sat down
upon him, and thus tortured him till they had extorted 50,000 dinars from
him. He at length escaped and plunged into the Tigris. Masud was
himself ill, so they did not torture him, as they feared that if he died they
would not be able to secure the wealth he was supposed to have
concealed. The Mongol commissaries promised that he should retain
his position and be released if he paid ten tumans of gold. But fancying
they were afraid of him, he dealt hard words to them. Thereupon he
was cudgelled and threatened until they had extracted what they could,
and he was then taken to Irbil, where he was put to death on the
4th of April, 1289. His son was branded and imprisoned, while his
brother, Shihab ud din, fled, and a villager named Dobis, from Beth
Sehar, who was suspected of sheltering him, although he swore he
had never seen him, was killed, and his corpse was stoned by the crowd.
This series of cruelties was no doubt instigated by Muhammedan hatred
of the Christians. A young Christian accused of an illicit intercourse
with a Muhammedan was also put to death. His body was dragged
through the streets and burnt, while his head was carried round in
procession past the various church doors to humiliate the Christians
" The cruel persecutions," says Abulfaraj, " which the people of Mosul
suffered during these two months, tongue cannot describe nor pen indite
Awake, O Lord, and do not sleep ! Look at the blood of thy servants
shed without mercy. Have pity on thy Church and flock, which are being
torn by persecution." Abdul Mumin, the prime actor in the movement
did not long survive. Denounced by an Egyptian scribe employed at
Mosul, named Faraj Allah, he was tried and executed*
These were not the only troubles of the wretched inhabitants of
Mesopotamia and its borders at this time. We read how 2,000 Syrian
cavalry crossed the borders of Shogr and Arabia, and went as far as the
town of Pishabur, near the Tigris. Crossing that river, they approached
Vassit, where the Nestorians were very strong. The town was captured,
500 men were killed, and 1,000 boys and girls carried off, as well as great
herds of oxen and flocks of sheep. When the invaders reached the River
Habora, which was traversed by a very narrow bridge, they had great
difficulty in passing over. News of this having reached the Mongol amir
at Mosul, he set out, and caught the intruders while still embarrassed at the
bridge. They killed all who had not yet crossed, and rescued 300 boys
and girls. The same summer 1,000 Syrian horsemen approached Malatia.
Karbenda, the Mongol governor there, attacked them, but was defeated,
and many of his people were killed, while several of his friends and
relatives were captured. He himself, with forty followers, retired to the
fortress of Hesnun.} At this time, Alaalmish, the governor of Maya-
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 613-615. D'Ohsson, iv. 23-27. t Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 616-617.

328 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
farkin, greatly persecuted the Christians, and especially laid heavy hands
on the monks of the monastery of Mar Koma. One of the monks repaired
to Arghun, who listened courteously to him. When the Ilkhan was one
day crossing a bridge over the River Khorer, this monk seized his bridle,
and swore he would not let him pass until he had ordered Alaalmish to
be put to death, which he accordingly did*
Among those who were compromised when Buka fell, perhaps the
most important was the King of Georgia, who had been his close friend.
On his execution, we are told, a messenger was sent to summon Dimitri
to the ordu. Greatly distressed, he called together the Catholicos
Abraham, the bishops, the monks from the monasteries and from the
hermitages of Garesja, and all the mthawars of the kingdom. Seating
himself on his throne, while they were seated also, he bade them listen,
and told them that when his father David died he was left very young,
and at the mercy of the Tartars ; that God, the all-powerful, our
Saviour, Christ, the most holy mother of God, and the adorable cross
which had been presented to him by the emperor had protected him (so
that he had arrived at the age of manhood), had granted him the kingdom,
the sceptre, and the purple, while with their help his reign had been a
prosperous one, and there had been general peace. Now the Khan was
irritated, and had exterminated the mthawars, and summoned him to his
presence, no doubt with evil intentions against him. If, instead of going
to the ordu, he withdrew to the strong positions of Mthiuleth, he would
save his life, but his kingdom would be at the mercy of the Tartars.
" How many Christians would be enslaved, how many churches profaned
or pillaged, how many images and crosses broken ? If I go," he saidi
" they are certain to kill me. Decide, therefore, according to your
wisdom. As for me, I look upon the world as a troubled sea, and life
as a dream, a shadow, and in spite of ourselves we must leave it. What
advantage is it to me to live if many have to die in consequence ? If I
must some day leave life bearing the burden of my sins, I would prefer to
go to the Khan ; the divine will will then be accomplished. If I am put
to death my country will not suffer." The assembly, touched by the
proof of his devotion, declared that there was no one who could replace
him. "God preserve us from seeing you massacred by the Tartars.
The country will be desolate, your sons dispersed. No one can replace
you. Our advice is that you seek the fastnesses of Mthiuleth and
Aphkhazeth, as your father did. We must not despair of your safety.
We will remain faithful to you." He still insisted that he could not leave
his people to become the victims of the Mongols, and declared he should
go to the ordu ; and, notwithstanding their arguments, he determined to
go in great pomp, and to take the Catholicos Abraham with him. He

* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 617.

ARGHUN KHAN. 329
assigned fitting portions to each of his sons, and confided them to the
care of the mthawars, who remained behind, and sent some of them to
Mthiuleth and others to Kakheth, while the young George was sent to
Asparakhen, to the citadel of Ishkhan in Tao.
When the King arrived in the territory of Khochak, son of Avak, he
met his son David, whom he took with him, so as to disarm Arghun's
suspicions by another proof of loyalty. As he drew near, Arghun, who
had not expected that he would go, sent the Noyan Siukol, son of Yas
Buka, who deprived the King of his baggage and wealth, and led him
captive to the Khan, and he was put under arrest. Arghun, we are
told, was troubled, because he did not know who to put in his place, while
he could hardly spare one who had been an accomplice in the treacheries
of Buka. Kutlugh Buka thereupon suggested that he should put
Wakhtang, son of Narin David, who, as we have seen, was the ruler of
Abkhazia, on the throne. Arghun thereupon sent Buka to David,
bidding him send his son, whom he intended to put on the throne,
and to give him his sister Oljath in marriage. Dimitri was ordered to
draw up a list of his possessions, his arms, cattle, sheep, and all that he
had. He was compelled to obey, and a Mongol was sent to bring the
enormous wealth, the sight of which seemed to appease Arghun, who
released him, and the mthawars advised him to take advantage of his
more conciliatory mood to escape ; but he refused to put his people in
jeopardy by such a step. Presently news arrived that Kutlugh Buka
was returning with the young Wakhtang, whereupon Dimitri and his son
David were again arrested and put in separate prisons. The King was
now bastinadoed, which people thought meant he was not going to be
executed, for we are told it was not the Mongol custom to put those to
death who had been thus punished. Nevertheless, the Khan's anger
was not appeased. He was taken to the Hall of Justice (called the
divan khana), where he was asked if he had taken part in Buka's
conspiracy, and, we are" told, he was found innocent, which seems like a
diplomatic phrase on the part of the chronicler. His death was decided
upon. Twelve horsemen came to conduct him to the place of execution.
He spoke cheerfully to his supporters, and asked Kutlugh Buka to
plead with the Ilkhan for his young son David. Having said his prayers
and taken the sacrament, he offered his neck to the executioner, and
was decapitated on the plain of Mughan. The day of the execution
was marked by a solar eclipse, which seems to fix it as in March,
1289. Dimitri's son David was made over to Tachar (i.e., Togachar) for
execution. He remonstrated with his master on thus putting a boy to
death, and asked him to make him a present of him. This the Ilkhan
consented to do, and he accordingly confided him to his khoja, who
afterwards became sahib divan, or vizier. Dimitri's body was conveyed
to Mtzkhetha, and buried with those of his fathers.

330 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
By his principal wife, the daughter of the Emperor of Trebizond,
Dimitri left four sons, David, Wakhtang, Lasha, and Manoel, and a
daughter named Rusudan. By Sorghala, the Tartar, he had two sons,
Badur and Yadgar, and a daughter, Jigda Khatun ; while by Nathila,
daughter of Beka, he had a son, Georgi. On Dimitri's death David, we
are told, was well treated by Tachar Noyan. The queen and other
widows of the king hid themselves. Sorghala went to her father's home
in Tartary ; the daughter of Beka also to her father in Samtzkhe.
Wakhtang was in Mthiuleth. He assigned the valley of Scoreth for
the support of his mother, who kept by her her two young sons, Manoel
and Lasha. Badur and Yadgar followed their mother home, and " our
country," says the annalist, " was without a king."
Arghun now summoned Kutlugh Buka, and said to him, " I have
destroyed my enemies, and Dimitri, who was your enemy. There is now
no king ; go and fetch the son of the King of Abkhazia, that he may
mount the throne." He accordingly went and brought his protdgd,
Wakhtang, to Tiflis. His father, David, collected his troops and escorted
him thither. Having crossed the mountains, they stopped in the
plain of Kwishkheth, at Tasis-Sar. Konchiba, son of Shiramun Noyan ;
Kurumchi, son of Alikan, who lived in the mountains of Jawakheth,
between Artan and Samtzkhe' ; and all the didebuls of Georgia, assembled
together and swore an oath of unalterable fidelity to the young prince.
Thereupon the King returned to Kuthathis. Arghun was much pleased
with Wakhtang, and gave him the kingdom of Georgia, and after having
married him to his sister Oljath, sent him to Tiflis.* The death of
Dimitri reminds one of those of the various Russian princes, at Serai, as
related in a former volume. It is not unlikely that he may have been
compromised in Buka's conspiracy, Buka having been a great friend and
patron of his, but it seems more likely that he was also the object of
personal animosity, for we are expressly told that the son of Khoja Azis,
whose father had been killed by Dimitri's father, David,} plotted with
Kutlugh Buka for his destruction.} Wakhtang now ruled over Georgia,
from Nicophsia to Derbend, except the domains of Beka Jakel and
Tzikhisjuarel. He appointed Kutlugh Buka atabeg and generalissimo of
the united kingdom. Meanwhile David, son of Dimitri, remained with
the Mongols, suffering great troubles there. His mother was at Sacureth,
or Scoreth, while his brothers were dispersed abroad. Georgi, the
youngest, whose mother was daughter to Beka, was living with his
grandfather^ The next important victim of Arghun's jealousy was the Prince
Jushkab, who had divulged Buka's conspiracy, and had killed the traitor
with his own hand. Arghun, suspecting that he had plans of his
* Hist, de la Georgie, i. 602.607. t Vide ante. I Hist, de la Georgie, 605. % Id., i. 608.

ARGHUN KHAN. 33I
own, sent some troops after him under the Amirs Yatmish Kushji,
Gharbetai Kurkan, Burju (the son of Duriai), Boghdai, and Arkasun
Noyan, who overtook him on the River Karaman (D'Ohsson calls it
Kumar), between Erzen and Mayafarkin. He resisted and escaped, but
was pursued and captured three days later, and was taken before Arghun,
who had him put to death. This was on the 6th ot June, 1289. He had
been Governor of Diar Bekr. This year, when Arghun had gone to his
. summer quarters at Kongorolang, Ordu Kia and the Jew Said went to him
a second time, taking with them a good store of money, the proceeds of
the taxes at Baghdad. Said reported that the amount would have been
double, but for the interference of the Mongol officials. Their execution
was ordered, and their heads were sent to Baghdad. Mansur, the son of
Khoja Alai ud din of Juveni, was also taken from Hillah, and put to
death. Jelal ud din, of Semnan, who held the post of vizier, and who had
aroused the suspicions of Tughan, would also have been executed but for
the intercession of the Bakhshi Berendeh. He was replaced by Said,
and presently being accused of complaining that he had been displaced
in favour of a Jew, he was condemned to die, and was put to death on
the 7th of August.*
The elevation of a Jew to such a high position as vizier, in which he
controlled the lives and fortunes of so many true believers, was indeed a
proof of the terrible degradation of Islam during the Mongol supremacy.
Said, styled ed daulat (i.e., felicity of the empire), was the son of
Hebetollah Ben Mohesib of Ebher. He had five years before been
appointed to an important post in the exchequer at Baghdad, and by his
activity had greatly increased its receipts. Kutlugh Shah, the Governor
of Baghdad, and others had become jealous, and complained to the
vizier about him. They also praised Said's unusual skill in medicine,
and suggested that as a doctor he would be very useful at the Court.
Thither he went, and attached himself to Ordu Kia, by whose influence
he was sent back to Baghdad to collect the arrears of revenue, which
now amounted to 1,600 tumans.t He spoke both Mongol and Turk,
while his long residence at Baghdad made him familiar with the
condition of that province. According to Wassaf, Arghun's attach
ment to him was due to his having cured him by administering on one
occasion a strong dose of medicine, and having gained his confidence he
inveighed against Buka and Aruk for their depredations on the exchequer,
declared their houses to be full of treasures, and complained especially
against Aruk for his arbitrary acts— among other things, that he had
demolished a mosque, and several colleges and hostels, in order to use
their materials in building his own palace and the houses of his friends.
Under the protection of Ordu Kia, as we have seen, he worked at

* Ilkhans, i. 382. D'Ohsson, iv. 28-29. Weil, iv. 148. t Ilkhans, i. 383.

332 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Baghdad in spite of Aruk, and having got together a considerable
sum by collecting arrears, by new taxes, &c, he took it to Arghun, who
was greatly pleased, presented him with the cup with his own hand, and
granted him a robe of honour, and he was now appointed controller of the
finances of Baghdad, under the authority of Ordu Kia. He worked so
well that presently his patron and superior was able to lay a larger
sum at his master's feet. Ordu Kia praised the zeal and other qualities
of Said, and suggested that as he had done so well at Baghdad he might
be intrusted with the finances of the kingdom, which he accordingly was,
displacing, as we have seen, Jelal ud din of Semnan*
The Jewish minister now became very powerful. He appointed his
own relatives as farmers of the taxes. Irak Arab he confided to his
brother, Fakhr ud daulat ; Diar-bekr and Diar-rabia to Shems ud daulat ;
Tebriz to his cousin or nephew, Abu Mansur Mohesibed daulat (i.e., the
realm's purifier), the doctor ; and Azerbaijan to Lebid, son of Abi-rabi.
In Khorasan and Rum alone did he fail to put his dependents, for those
provinces were the appanages of Arghun's son and brother, Ghazan and
Gaikhatu.t Bar Hebraeus says that Arghun, wearied by the continual
intrigues, perversity, and audacity of the Mussulman officials, ordered that
only Christians and Jews should be employed in controlling the finances.
The new minister therefore conferred the prefecture of Baghdad, which
he was himself resigning, upon one of his brothers. To another
he confided Mosul, Mardin, and Diar-bekr, associating with him Taj
ud din, son of Moktadh. When these two arrived at their post, a
Kurdish amir named Mobariz, who had been displaced from the
prefecture of Irbil, feeling himself insecure, went to the ordu to seek
protection. They sent such accusations after him, however, that Arghun
resolved upon his death ; but he lulled him for a while with false hopes,
until he had secured his sons, parents, clients, and servants, wishing to
put them all to death as well. He managed to escape, sped on in advance
of the messengers, and carried his family off to the mountains. Troops
were sent in pursuit, hut the heavy snow prevented the Mongols securing
their prey. They returned to the plain, and revenged themselves by
pillaging and killing the Kurdish peasants they met there. Their chief
allies in this work, we are told, were the Christian mountaineers called
Kiashis, who hated the Muhammedans cordially. The country was
terribly wasted, men being killed, and women and children carried off.
This aroused the animosity of the Arabs, who felt sure that the Mongols,
many of whom were now Mussulmans, would not have committed these
ravages but for the Kiashis, or unless they had been urged on by their
chiefs. On the return of summer they left the country of Mosul and
Irbil. Thereupon the Kurds descended in great numbers from their
* D'Ohsson, iv. 31-33. Ilkhans, i. 382-383. t D'Ohsson, iv. 33-34. Ilkhans, i. 348.

ARGHUN KHAN.

333

mountains. The people rushed from the plains to take refuge in the
towns and fortresses. Those of Irbil itself fled to the citadel, where they
were beleaguered by the Kurds for seventeen days, when there arrived at
Mosul, by way of the Tigris, 200 Franks, who had gone by orders of
Arghun to Babylon, where they were to obtain boats, and thus to descend
by Basrah and on to the Persian Gulf, to attack the Egyptians. Seven
hundred others, who had gone overland, had stopped to winter at
Baghdad. The Kurds, fancying these Franks had come to attack them,
withdrew. This passage, as D'Ohsson says, shows the state of anarchy
to which the Ilkhan's dominions were reduced by the contests and bitter
animosities of the Christians and Muhammedans*
Inasmuch as Said feared the influence of the Mongol generals
Siktur, Toghachar, Samaghar, Kunjukbal, &c, he was crafty enough to
solicit from Arghun the services of some colleagues of influence. He
chose for this purpose Ordu Kia, to whom he allotted the military
government of Baghdad. Karajar (called Kujan by D'Ohsson) was made
governor of Arran, while Juchi was similarly given that of Fars. Said
reduced the other generals to impotence by concentrating the general
administration in his own hands. He himself was virtually supreme and
uncontrolled. He tried to reform abuses ; urged that civil affairs should
be judged by the Muhammedan code ; forbade the military commanders
interfering with the decisions of the courts, and enjoined them to support the
cause of justice, and to protect the weak and innocent. Requisitions of food
and of post-horses for the grandees were put a stop to, as were the periodical
visits of special commissaries to collect taxes, who used to tyrannise over
the people, and make great exactions. The taxes were in future to be
sent to the Court at stated times by the civil and military governors of
the provinces. Said largely increased the pious foundations, and gave
many charitable gifts. He surrounded himself with men of letters, and
many pieces in his praise were composed in prose and verse. A number
of these productions were collected in a work to which his name was
attached. In imitation of the princes of the Buyid dynasty, he and his
brothers took a surname compounded with Devlet, or Daulat, meaning
"realm" or "court." Thus his own name meant "The future of the
realm."} Well might the Jews fancy that their Messiah had arrived,
when they saw one of their long-despised race treated as an equal by the
princes and noyans, and even by the Ilkhan himself. A notable instance
of this is recorded. One day, when he had been playing at backgammon
with the Ilkhan for a long time, and had reclined himself on the sofa, he
extended his foot with great unconcern. One of Arghun's wives, who
came in, asked him how he dared to stretch out his foot in the presence
of a Khan, whose very slaves played with the stubborn sky as if it were
* Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 618-620. D'Ohsson, iv. 34-36. Note.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 34-38. Ilkhans, i. 384-385-

334 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
a bowl of paste. He excused himself on the ground that he had the
gout, and his excuse was allowed by Arghun.*
When Said was placed at the head of the finances, Mahmud and
Ali, grandsons of the late vizier Shems ud din, and sons of his son,
Bahai ud din, were reduced to want. Arghun, having heard of their
distressed condition, ordered that a portion of their father's property
in Irak Arab should be restored to them. Ali had gone with his
mother, the daughter of Iz ud din Tahir, to Ispahan. At this time
Mejd ud din Muminan, of Kazvin, having represented that the revenues
were considerably curtailed in consequence of the income which had
to be paid to Shems ud din's family, an order was issued that the latter's
sons were to be put to death. Two of them, Masud and Farajulla,
were accordingly executed at Tebriz. His grandson Mahmud was
spared, because the edict only mentioned sons and not grandsons, but
this did not save Ali, who was put to death at Ispahan. But one son of the
late famous vizier escaped execution.}
The Egyptian, Faraj Allah, who had exposed the ill-doings of Abd ul
Mumin at Mosul, and brought about his death, encouraged by his
success, again repaired to the Court, and made complaints there
about Taj ud din, son of Moktadh, the substitute of the vizier of
Diar-bekr, brother of the vizier, pretending that he had misappropriated
400,000 pieces of gold. Said ud daulat, alarmed at these accusations,
flattered Faraj Allah, and pointed out to him that the accusations were
as fatal to his (the vizier's) brother as to his deputy. Faraj Allah
was now embarrassed, afraid on the one hand of braving the vizier,
and on the other of being condemned to death by the Draconic
judges of the ordu if he should retract his charges. He was persuaded
to say that he had made them when drunk, and that Taj ud din
and his patron were both innocent, being promised that if he made
this statement the vizier would see him harmless. The latter, however,
no sooner had obtained the retractation in writing, than he laid it, with
the other circumstances, before Arghun, who ordered the unfortunate
Egyptian to be put to death at Mosul, as well as two of his companions.
Some days later, says Bar Hebraeus, Matthew, a generous person, and
one of the principal buttresses of the Christians, was sent from the ordu
to Mosul to collect the tribute of that town. The citizens, who hated the
Christians, deemed this an indignity. They attacked him in his house
and killed him. This was in July, 1290. His sons fled to the Court.
They were authorised to put their father's murderers to death, and to
exact a fine of 10,000 gold tumans from the town. They accordingly
returned, and put seven or eight of the principal inhabitants to death.}
We have seen how Juchi was appointed governor of Fars under the aegis
* Ilkhans, i. 385. t D'Ohsson, iv. 39. Ilkhans, 383-384.
| Abulfaraj, 622-623. D'Ohsson, iv. 39-41.

ARGHUN KHAN. 335
of the vizier. He was assisted there by two functionaries, and the son
of Sunjak, as Zerwans or Chaushis (i.e., as executive officers). Having
gone there to collect the taxes, Jelal ud din of Sirustan undertook to pay
them a sum exceeding that fixed as the levy of that province by 400
tumans. The farmers of the taxes undertook, on the other hand, to
furnish 500 tumans if Jelal ud din was made over to them bound, but
as they failed to keep their engagement the two Mongol officials ordered
them to be put to death, and Jelal ud din was released, and a monstrous
sum was squeezed out of the community by confiscations and other
pressure.* In the autumn of 1289, Arghun, who was fond of astronomy and
alchemy, went to Meragha to consult the stars. In the following May he
presented his wife Bulughan, the daughter of Otaman, son of Obotai
Noyan, with the household of another Bulughan, who had been the wife
of his grandfather and father, and had eventually passed into his own
harem. Four days after this, viz., on the 28th of May, 1290, news arrived
that the people of Kipchak had made a raid by way of Derbend
as previously described.}
Let us now turn our attention further east. The famous administrator
of Khorasan, Arghun Aka, had died peaceably near Tus in 1278. His
son Nuruz had been intrusted with the superintendence of Khorasan and
Mazanderan, for the young Prince Ghazan, son of Arghun, whose
appanage they constituted. Although he had been long faithful to Arghun,
he seems to have become afraid of his future on the downfall of Buka and
had perhaps taken part in the latter's conspiracy. He accordingly
determined to trust only to his own strong arm. Under pretence of going
to review the troops under his command, and of making preparations
against a threatened raid from Transoxiana, he left Ghazan at Merv
leaving behind him his wife Tughan, the fourth daughter of Abaka ;
his mother, Surmish ; and his two brothers, Ordai Ghazan and Narin
Haji. Von Hammer says his three brothers — Uiratai, Ghazan Haji, and
Narin Haji. Ghazan passed the winter of 1288 in his usual quarters at
Jesir, and Prince Kinshu, son of Jumkur, at Herat. In the spring of
1289 Ghazan moved towards Merv, and encamped in the neighbourhood
of Sarakhs, which was famous as a pasture ground. He sent several
times to summon Prince Kinshu, who had married Nuruz's sister, and
Nuruz himself. The latter excused himself on the ground that his foot
was bad. Fearing some movement against himself, he called together
the millenarians and centurions belonging to his army, the officers of his
household, and his guards (khassdkis), and told them that he knew
positively Ghazan meant to put them all to death as accomplices of Buka.
He told the same story to the Prince Kinshu, and inspired him with
* D'Ohsson, iv. 41-42. Ilkhans, 386. t Ante, 322.

336 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
similar fears to his own. Meanwhile the family of Nuruz asked his
permission to go to the wedding of one of his daughters with Nikpei, son
of Sarban, the eighth son of Jagatai, and left him under that pretext.
Ghazan set out from Karatepe towards Tus and Radikan, in the end of
March, and sent word to Nuruz to meet him at the River Keshf. Von
Hammer says the River of Ferghana (i.e., the Heshtrud). Knowing that
the messenger had recently been on a mission to Arghun, Nuruz put
him to the torture, to extract some information about the intentions of the
Court towards himself, and as he learnt nothing in this way he would
have put the unfortunate man, who was called Sadak Terkhan, to death,
but for the intercession of his wife and mother. He detained him
prisoner, however, raised the standard of revolt, and marched to surprise
Ghazan on the Keshf He surrounded the quarters of three of his
generals, who were encamped on the river, hoping to secure the
young prince himself. The three generals were captured and their
tents pillaged. Ghazan was not there, however, having escaped towards
Nishapur, where he was joined by the amirs Satilmish and Mulai, and
with them went to Mazanderan to try and secure the person of Prince
Hulaju, who was said to be leagued with Nuruz, the latter having in his
letters spoken of Kinshu and Hulaju as allies. Putting himself at the head
of the troops of Mazanderan, he marched to Hulaju's residence. The
latter fled to Jorjan, near the mountain Kortaghu, where he was
captured by Mulai, and taken before Ghazan. He firmly denied having
any part in the plot. Nevertheless he was taken before Arghun,and put
to death at Damaghan, on the 7th October, as well as Karabuka, son of
Yashmut, who was accused of the same offence.* Von Hammer says
that Hulaju and Karabuka were captured by Muktil, brother of Ordu
Kia, who was in the latter's service. They were lodged for some time at
Girdkuh, the famous fortress of the Assassins, and were put to death four
months later.t
On the 19th of June, 1290, Arghun lost his son Yesutum, and about this
time the Amir Sunjak and his son Shadi died at Meragha. Two months
later Majd ud din Muminan was put to death at Tebriz, while Arghun
went to his summer quarters at Alatagh. Thence he returned to Van and
Vastan, where he was met by the Shah Kotb ud din of Shiraz, who t6ok
with him his atlas of the Western seas, with a description of their coasts
and islands, and of the empire of Rum and the Mediterranean borderlands.
Arghun had it all explained to him, and, we are told, he was specially
interested in the town of Amuria, the birthplace of the Emperor
Theophilus, and famous for its capture by the Khalif MotSassim.
Amirshah, Fakr ud din, and his son, Haji Leila, three administrators of
the province of Rum, who had apparently misbehaved themselves, were
* D'Ohsson, iv. 42-45. Ilkhans, ii. 10-12. t Ilkhans, i. 381-382.

ARGHUN KHAN. 337
now apprehended. The first owed his life to the intercession of Kotb ud
din and the Vizier. The other two were put to death. This year, the
Ramazan fast was observed with great solemnity at Tebriz, much to the
satisfaction of the Muhammedans. Four minarets were erected, and the
kadhi and imams, the khatibs and sheikhs, were all assembled together
there.* After the retreat of the army of Kipchak, Arghun sent the general
Toghachar to help Ghazan. This was in the beginning of May, 1289.
Eight days later two commissioners were sent to Khorasan to distribute
the revenues of that province among the troops who were defending it.
Meanwhile Ghazan, with the amir Kutlugh, marched against the rebels
Kinshu and Nuruz, and having made a forced march of eighty fersenkhs
in seven days, attacked him in the fertile plain of Raigan, or Radkian,
in the neighbourhood of Tus. The troops behaved badly and fled, and
Ghazan retired to Kalpush with the ddbris of his army, to await his
father's orders.} Von Hammer says he retired to Juven, the birthplace
of the two famous brothers Shems ud din and Alai ud din. There he was
not welcomed by anyone, and accordingly felt grateful when the mehter,
or tent maker, Nejb ud din, treated him very hospitably at Lirabad — a
fact which he did not forget, and, when he mounted the throne, he made
the village over to him as a fief, gave him a yarligh as Terkhan, nominated
his family as managers of the richly-endowed monastery of Busijerd, near
Hamadan, and appointed him besides to an office in his household. At
Jajerm, near Izferain, which had been spared in various struggles, the
country for two days' journey round being remarkable for its unwholesome
herbage, a council of war was called, when it was decided to go to
Kalpush, and await the return of the messengers who had been sent to
Arghun. At Samatkam and Jermakan the advance guard met Nisam ud
din Yahya, of Beihak, with a welcome supply of camp furniture, weapons,
sumpter cattle, &c.}
A few days before the above struggle a body of Karaunas, under the
command of Alaju, or Aladu, had pillaged the baggage of Nuruz, which
was posted near Kelat. He started in pursuit. The unruly robbers, after
their attack, had refused to obey their leader, and had divided into three
bodies, the largest one of which joined Nuruz, while the other two with
drew to their quarters. Aladu went to join Ghazan, who, after halting
at Kalpush forty days, had been joined by a contingent of troops from
Irak and Azerbaijan, under Prince Baidu, the son of Tarakai, and Nurin
Aka, and had marched to Kabushan. Nuruz went to meet him as far
as Charmagan, but feeling himself too weak, withdrew again, and was
pursued. The people of Ghazan found all the country from Jam to Herat
strewn with cattle which had been abandoned by the enemy, and part of

* Ilkhans, i. 389. t D'Ohsson, iv. 45-46. I Ilkhans, ii. 12-13.
Y

338 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
which they had harried from the Arabs and Turkomans of the province.
So much booty was captured that a sheep was sold for a penny. Nuruz
fled with a few followers towards Sebzevar, crossing in the heat of
summer a dry desert, which prevented Ghazan's pursuit. The latter went
to Hera*, encamped near the bridge Malan, and sent some amirs to
Badghiz, to summon Prince Kinshu, who had prudently retired to the
mountains of Ghur and Gharjestan. His chief officers, with Tekin and
his Karaunas, went to Ghazan, at Herat. He now took up his quarters
at Shutur kiuh (" the camel hill"), where he passed the summer of 1290.
Prince Baidu, the amir Nurin, and the other amirs were profusely
feasted, and Ghazan himself having partaken too freely of drink on the
occasion, was laid up with illness for forty days at Anjujan. The next
summer and spring were passed between Radkian and Khaujan
(Khabushan), and the spring near Nishapur. Ghazan had his own
quarters at Moeyidi ; Baidu at Shankyan, between Nishapur and
Baihak. The severity of the winter was very fatal to the horses, and the
following spring many of the troops were unmounted. As this severe
winter was followed by a summer of corresponding drought, Baidu and
his troops, on the orders of Arghun, returned to Irak and Azerbaijan. A
body of plundering Karaunas from Juven were driven away by the Amir
Mulai. During the winter Ghazan dammed the River Kialteshen for the
purpose of irrigation. Khuarezmi, the Terkhan, went from Arghun to
superintend the taxes of Khorasan, and all the secretaries and tax-collectors
were arrested. In the spring the Karaunas rebelled at Merv (D'Ohsson
says at Sarakhs). Aladu Noyan was sent against them, while Ghazan
marched towards Derei and Murgha. Ghazan encamped for a while in
the district of Darjah and Shevkyan, whence he went to Sarakhs and
Karatepe (i.e., the black hill, also called Eshirsil).*
Meanwhile Nuruz had gone towards Badakhshan, and had eventually
joined Kaidu, who was then a rival Khakan, representing the claims of
the house of Ogotai against Khubilai.t Kaidu asked him why he had
fled. " Because," he said, " an honest man is obliged to imitate the fox
in the fable, who one day running as hard as he could, was seen by a
jackal, which asked him why he ran. ' Because the king is hunting wild
asses.' ' But you are not a wild ass,' said the jackal. ' My friend,' said
the fox, ' before it was discovered that I was not a wild ass I should have
received many wounds.' " Kaidu was much amused at the answer, kept
him at his Court, and treated him with honour ; but Nuruz had been too
important a person while his father had ruled Khorasan for thirty years,
and he had inherited too much wealth from the latter to submit easily to
the position of a pensioner, while his haughty attitude brought him into
trouble with Kaidu's officers. Meanwhile Kaidu furnished him with an
* Ilkhans, ii. 14-15. t Vide Ante, i. 173-18;.

ARGHUN KHAN. 339
army of 30,000 men, under the command of the Princes Abughan and
Uzbeg Timur. Von Hammer says under Sarban, Abukaan, and Oreg
Timur. They were also allowed to make use of the garrisons encamped
on the banks of the Oxus and at Shaburgan*
Ghazan dispatched some troops towards Jebekis to get information, and
on the news that the enemy was marching, inasmuch as his men were
scattered, he withdrew from Karatepe to Merghana, on the River
Keshfrud, to await the arrival of the Amir Kutluk Shah and the troops
of Herat. Kunjuk was sent to Mazanderan, and Mulai to Kuhistan, to
collect troops there. Ghazan was presently joined at Meshed by Kutluk
and his division, whom he received with great honour. He sent his
harem for safety to Isferain. Meanwhile, news arrived that the enemy
had advanced towards Nishapur by way of Habak and Ishakabad. The
amir Aladu at the council of war quoted the Mongol proverb, "It is easy
to quarrel with an enemy, but difficult to vanquish him." It was
determined to withdraw first to Tus, where a struggle took place.
Ghazan now began to feel one of the inconveniences of a fading fortune.
Some of his amirs found specious excuses for withdrawing from him.
Aladu asked to be allowed to go and collect some troops at Juven ;
Shirin Ikaji to remove his family from Nishapur ; Arghurtai Ghazan,
who had a close connection with the Jagatai princes, also withdrew.
Ghazan encamped for a while at the village of Kisragh, near Izferain. A
body of Karaunas having revolted, the Amir Kutluk was left behind to
suppress them, while Ghazan moved to Jorbed. He ordered the Karauna
families who lived there to be moved to Jajerm and Bostam. Nuruz and
his troops committed ravages in Khorasan. They blockaded Nishapur,
and carried off many prisoners from the district round. Near Nishapur
is a strong position called Barubaka, where a crowd of people with their
herds had retired. The invaders cut off their retreat both at the head
and foot of the valley, and killed more than 1,000 folk who were not
Mussulmans. They then plundered the sacred tombs at Tus, and carried
off four golden ornaments which adorned the fountain. At Badghiz the
invaders mustered their men, and as the numbers were 5,000 horsemen
short, Nuruz was bastinadoed at the instance of his allies, the princes of
the house of Ogotai. Ghazan withdrew again from Jajerm towards Bostam
and Damaghan, at which latter place he heard of his father's death.} In
regard to the ravages of the Jagatai troops under Nuruz, Wassaf says he
was so feared in the country that when cattle were seen rushing to water
people said it was because they had seen the spirit of Nuruz.t
Let us now return to Arghun. He abandoned the cares of State more
and more to his Jewish vizier, who governed the country prudently for
two years, repressing disorders, and accumulating 1,000 gold tumans in
* D'Ohsson, iv. 46-49. Ilkhans, ii. 14-15. t Ilkhans, ii. 15-16. I D'Ohsson, iv. 46-49.

340 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the treasury, and his authority grew daily. But he was not without
enemies, the most dangerous of whom was. Arghun's favourite, Tughan.
Tughan was the son of Tarakai, formerly Governor of Kuhistan. He was
very accomplished. In judgment and sagacity, in wit and eloquence, he
had no equal among the Mongols, and was a good letter writer, book
keeper, poet, and astronomer. He had been sent with a body of troops
in October, 1289, to Khorasan, to oppose Nuruz. When he arrived there
Nuruz had withdrawn, so Tughan returned. He was thereupon charged
by a bakhshi, at the Vizier's instance, with having impressed more post-
horses than he was authorised to do by his warrant (kara tamgha). This
having been proved, he was, according to the inexorable yasa, or law,
ordered to receive seventeen strokes with the bastinado. Tughan, who
was always self-possessed, and had a ready answer at command, looking
round the room, and seeing more than seventeen amirs present, asked
what harm it would do if the seventeen strokes awarded to him were
distributed among them. Arghun laughed, and quoted a verse of
Motenebi — If the lion winks with a lion's strength,
Do not imagine that the lion laughs.
By his happy remark on this occasion, and his general good-humour, he
escaped punishment ; but he did not forget that the Jew was the
foundation of the affront which he had received, and determined upon his
ruin, allying himself for the purpose with the amir Kunjukbal and others,
who had grievances against him. Their plans were not easy to carry
out, since Arghun was much attached to his vizier, who had not only
kept his coffers well filled, but had flattered him by a much more potent
offer. He had tried to persuade Arghun to become, like Muhammed, the
founder of a new religion. Wassaf reports that he had been told by the
vizier Sadr jihan, that he had one day met Said ud daulat on the main
road, and had asked for a short consultation. Said alighted, and they
talked together confidentially. Having prepared him by some preliminary
remarks, he showed him a memoir, in which it was set out that there
should always be on the earth, as was assured by the conjunction of the
stars, a man who dominated his contemporaries, whose existence was
necessary to maintain order among men, and who introduced, according
to the exigencies of the day, and the needs of the people, new religious
laws, employing either force or persuasion, as needs be, to secure their
obedience. The qualities, he added, of this heavenly apostle were to be
found united at that moment in the person of the Ilkhan the Just. To
the foot of this document were appended the signatures of the chief
imaums, or doctors of the law, who confirmed the position therein
maintained by several quotations. One of them had written, " The people
follow the faith of their sovereigns." Said had asked Wassaf's friend,
Sadr Jihan, to add his signature also, but he had excused himself. It

ARGHUN KHAN. 34 1
was said that Said proposed to convert the sacred Ka'aba into an idol
temple to force the Muhammedans to become Pagans, and that he had
already begun to prepare for a campaign against Mecca. Wassaf adds
(but we must remember that he was a Mussulman, and speaking of a
despised Jew, who held authority over true believers) that Said sent
another Jew, named Khoja Nejb ud din, the oculist, with a list of 200
proscribed persons, including the most noble and best in the land, whom
he was to put to death ; while Shems ud daulat, who commanded at
Shiraz, was ordered to put to death seventeen prelates and grandees of
that city. (Von Hammer says to pay the penalty inflicted by the yasa
which he interprets as the bastinado.) To him also were attributed the
various sanguinary acts of Arghun, who, when a youth, had been very
gentle, and had on one feast day expressed his pain on seeing a number
of dead sheep in the shambles, saying it was dreadful to have to kill so
many innocent animals merely for our food*
Arghun was a great believer in alchemy, and in its professors, the
bakhshis or lamas, who claimed to have found the object of quest of
mediaeval philosophy, viz., a potion for securing long life, and which we
are told in their case was a salivating decoction compounded of sulphur
and mercury. Mirkhond tells us that a lama who came from India in
698 HEJ., prepared such a decoction for Arghun, who took it for eight
months, and was then advised to retire for forty days to Tebriz, where he
saw no one but the general Ordu Kia, the vizier Said ud daulat, an
officer of his household named Kujan, and the bakhshis, who surrounded
him day and night, and disputed on the mysteries of their faith. He then
went to his winter quarters in Arran, where he became ill, and as the
medicine given him by the doctor, Armu ud daulat, did not cure him,
one of the bakhshis gave him a large dose of some potion. This
brought on a partial paralysis, and as he got no better, inquiries were
diligently made as to the real cause of his disease. The Shamans having
consulted the burnt shoulder-blades of sheep, as was their custom,
declared that his illness was due to sorcery, and one of his wives, named
Tukchak, or Tughanjak, the daughter of a sister of Jushkab, was
accused of being the cause of the mischief, and was interrogated and
tortured before the other Kha'tuns. She replied that she had done
nothing except employ a charm written on a piece of paper, such as was
commonly used to secure the Ilkhan's affection. She was thereupon
drowned, with all her maids. The Ilkhan's continued illness was
naturally very distressing to Said ud daulat, who knew that his own
fortunes depen"ded-upon it, and after consulting with other courtiers it was
determined to dispense liberal alms, and to open the prisons. A month
passed by, and Arghun gradually sank, while the Vizier multiplied
* D'Ohsson, iv. 49-53. Ilkhans, i. 386-388.

342 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
various acts of benevolence. He dispatched seventy letters in one day,
recommending the authorities to protect the oppressed, relieve the poor,
and release prisoners. He made a present of 30,000 dinars to the people
of Baghdad, while 10,000 were distributed among the poor and the
fakirs, &c, at Shiraz. Similar alms were distributed in other places,
while the khatuns, princes, and princesses were forbidden to appropriate
anything which had been devoted to good works.
When inquiries were instituted in view of releasing various prisoners,
it was found that Kara Buka and Hulaju had been put to death at
Girdkuh and Damaghan respectively, while thirteen princes of the
blood had been put to death by order of Sultan Aidaji. Meanwhile,
the principal military chiefs, Toghachar, Kunjukbal, Tugal, and Ilchidai,
banded themselves together to exact vengeance from their personal foes.
Inter alios, Aidaji had put to death the young children of Hulaju and
Kara Buka, as well as Tukchak Khatun. He said he had merely carried
out his master's orders. Ordu Kia was sent to inquire from Arghun,
and brought back word that the latter knew nothing of the matter.
" How could he have said so, since he has not spoken for some days?"
" If so," was the reply, "he could not have given you orders. You have
committed these cruelties without his knowledge, and now you lay them
to his charge." They accordingly put him to death. This was on the
4th of March. Only Juchi and Said ud daulat, both of whom were in the
greatest jeopardy, had access to the Ilkhan's tent. The latter had sent a
messenger to Ghazan, bidding him hasten home, hoping he would arrive
before his father's death, or at least before it should have become
generally known, and thus escape the fate he felt to be impending over
him ; but the generals who had leagued themselves together, suspecting
from the prohibition to enter Arghun's tent that the latter's case was
getting desperate, determined to complete their work. Juchi and Ordu
Kia were killed at a feast given by Toghachar. Tughan killed Kujan,
brother of Ordu Kia, with a sabre cut, in the ordu of Uruk Khatun, one
of Arghun's wives. Said ud daulat himself was arrested and conducted
to Toghachar's quarters by Tugal and Kurumishi, son of Alinak, where
he was decapitated. His palace at Tebriz was ransacked, and a large
quantity of treasure was found stored in jars, &c, in the walls. Arghun
not seeing his usual courtiers about him, asked the reason. They made
an excuse, but Wassaf says he guessed their fate.* Said's death took
place on the 29th of February, 1291.
Thus perished a very remarkable man. " From the beginning of the
Arab domination in Asia," says Abulfaraj, " Jews had never been intrusted
with responsible posts. The humbler among them kept shops, dye
works, or rope walks ; those who were better off became doctors or
Y D'Ohsson, iv. 53-57. Ilkhans, i. 391-393. Quatremere, 194. Note.

ARGHUN KHAN. 343
scribes in places where Mussulmans contemned these occupations. The
Mongols," he says, "on the other hand never honoured those who were
worthy, nor confided the government of their towns or districts to those
of high birth. They made no difference between a slave and a free man ;
between a Muhammedan, a Jew, or a Christian. They treated men of
all nations with the same asperity. Whoever went to them with presents
in his hands obtained the office he asked for, irrespective altogether of his
fitness. They only exacted perpetual deference. Said ud daulat directed
in person all the affairs of the State. He neglected the grandees of the
Ordu. He prohibited them from giving or receiving. He treated the
amirs, generals, and great dignitaries disdainfully. He himself was the
only avenue to every suppliant. There gathered about him from all parts
of the earth numbers of Jews, who declared it was for their special safety
and his own glory that God had given this man to the Jews. They
became greatly inflated in consequence."* It is certainly singular that a
Jew should in these times have been able to climb to the vizierate of the
Mongol empire of Persia, and apart from the natural capacity which this
success proves, there is something remarkable in the Vizier's suggestion
that Arghun should found a new religion, and the reasons urged for the
step, which makes us wish to know something more about him. Arghun
himself died, after a five months' illness, on the ioth of March, 1291, at
his palace of Bagchi Arran.
The "History of Georgia," speaking of his illness, says that his
limbs shrivelled up, his flesh and bones fell, and he became like a corpse,
and eventually, after an illness of four months, his body began to putrify
from his head to his feet, whereupon his noyans fell on him and choked
him to death under his tent. We are further told that he died on the
1 2th of March, the same day on which King Dimitri had been put to
death.} Abulfeda agrees in the date here given, and says Arghun died
in the third month of 690 (i.e., in March, 1291).} Wassaf's notice of his
death is characteristic : "The parroqueet of the soul of the Ilkhan left the
cage of his body to go and dwell among the peacocks of the palace of the
sublime garden."§ Rashid says that the magicians or bakhshis having
been consulted on the cause of his death, reported, after examining the
burnt shoulder-blade of a sheep, that his illness was caused by sorceries. ||
Stephen Orpelian, in the 70th chapter of his " History of Siunia," reports
that Arghun was poisoned by one of his concubines whom he greatly
loved. This happened, he says, on the plain of Mughan, and on the
feast of St. Theodore. This story is doubtless founded on that already
related about one of his wives having used a charm to gain his love.
Orpelian adds that his death was marked by the massacre of several
chiefs— Khojan, the grand treasurer ; Sultan, superintendent of meats and
* Chron. Syr., 624.625. D'Ohsson, iv. 60-61. Note. t Op. cit., i. 608-609.
X Id., 609. Note. 5 Quatremere, 9. Note. || Id., 268.

344 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
drink ; Chishu and Ordu Khan, chiefs of tribunals ; the virtuous Jit ; Sada
daula, of the grand divan, director of taxes in Georgia and elsewhere.*
The " Shajrat ul Atrak " says of Arghun : " The religion of Muhammed
by his death became flourishing as a garden by the breezes and flowers
of spring, and the hearts of its enemies were broiled on the fire of grief
and despair." It says that he was buried on the mountain of Zobir, near
the burying-place of Kyde, one of the prophets, in a tomb made for the
purpose, and the environs were made kuruk, or sacred. The place,
says the author of that work, is still known by the name of the Tuffuruk
of Arghun.t Others say he was buried on the mountain of Sijas,
which the Mongols called Avizeh, and for three days the commanders
of ten men in his regiment sent funeral meats to his grave, which,
after the usual Mongol fashion, was unmarked and undisclosed until
his daughter placed a domed tomb and a chapel over it. The place
itself was a famous pasture ground, called Endjrud, and Abaka had built
a palace there. The mountains Sijas took their name from a village
which was destroyed by the Mongols. They ran through beautiful
meadows, which they called Kungkur ulong.}
Rashid ud din, who had to temper his Muhammedanism with con
siderable servility, says that Arghun had an agreeable temper, but was
irascible. Ez Zehebi, who is more candid, says he was unjust, cruel,
ignorant, hardy, courageous, strong and active. If three horses were
placed together, he would vault over two of them and seat himself in the
saddle on the third.§ Haithon says he was very handsome, and a powerful
and prudent ruler. || Arghun was fond of building. He erected a
suburb to the west of Tebriz, which was called Shem, or Shenb, and
where at a later day his son Ghazan built his tomb. D'Ohsson says he
built two palaces there, between which was a town, to which he gave the
name of Arghuniya. He built another town near Sheruyaz, north of
Kazvin, in the meadows of Kungkur ulong (meaning in Mongol the
pastures of the sorrel-coloured horse), which was afterwards known as
Sultania. Abaka had built a palace a day's journey from this spot, where
there was a natural lake whose water did not grow or lessen. At
Alatagh, Arghun built another serai, or palace, while he put up a summer
palace at Lar, or Larjan, the chief town of the district of Laristan, at the
foot of the mountains of Demavend. This was called Arghun's Kiosk,
and retained the name for some time, being so called in the "Zafer
Nameh." The bazaar of the town is still reputed the most beautiful in
Persia, while the existing ruins of the palace are remarkable.U
Arghun's great passion, however, was for alchemy, and his Court was
the rendezvous of the various professors of the art in the East. Not-
* Hist, de la Siounie, 259. Hist, de la Georgie, i. 609. Note. t Op. cit., 264-265.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 5-8. Ilkhans, i. 293. § D'Ohsson, iv. 58. Note 1. || Op. cit., 59.
If D'Ohsson, iv. 58-59. Ilkhans, i. 389-391. Quatremere, 203. Note.

ARGHUN KHAN. 345
withstanding the cost of their experiments, he did not complain, but
readily paid what they needed. One day, when the alchemists had been
discussing the mysteries of nature in his presence, he turned to the
mollah Kutb ud din, of Shiraz, a learned man of repute, and said : " You,
who are a learned man, believe, because I am a Turk, that these people
are deceiving me ; but it is quite certain that there is a science of alchemy,
and there is some one somewhere who knows its secret. If I ill-treat and
put to death these ignorant people, that one man will be afraid to come
and see me." Nevertheless, after seeing the result of many futile
experiments, his faith in them began to falter.*
As soon as his death became known the troops proceeded to
plunder the houses of the Muhammedans and Jews who were about, and
dug holes in their tents to find hidden treasure. The catastrophe which
overwhelmed the vizier Said ud daulat was the subject of great rejoicing
to the Muhammedans, and was followed by a terrible reaction against
the Jews, who were everywhere treated with renewed cruelty. At
Baghdad their dwellings were pillaged, and more than a hundred of their
principal people were reduced to poverty. Abulfaraj tells us how, when
they had killed the Vizier, they sent messengers in various directions, who
seized and imprisoned his brothers and relatives, and robbed them of
their property. Such of the Jews as were not killed resumed their humble
mode of living again. A general attack was made on the Jewish quarter
at Baghdad, but the assailants were beaten back, and many on both sides
were killed.t
We are told that when Kutlugh Buka and his partisans learnt of the
serious illness of Arghun they determined to put David, son of Dimitri,
on the throne of Georgia, and to dethrone Wakhtang. In this they were
supported by Tachar (i.e., Toghachar) and by Pharejan, son of the King of
Ossethi, and they met to deliberate as to which of the two should be king.
The other mthawars were not partial to David, and remained attached to
Wakhtang. David, instead of the kingdom, secured a grant of some
villages and districts.}
Armenia proper was at this time a mere geographical expression, its
independence having been absorbed by the Mongols and Georgians.
The annals of the country dwindle down to notices of ecclesiastical
jealousies and disputes. Darsaiji had been appointed atabeg of all the
country between Tiflis, Ani, and Kars (i.e., of Armenia), with the guardian
ship of his sons, by King Dimitri of Georgia. His son Stephen was in
1287 made bishop and metropolitan of Siunia. Some of the bishops
were jealous of him, and caused considerable trouble. Stephen there
upon repaired to Arghun, and showed him a letter from the patriarch, so
that he could see for himself how matters stood. Arghun received him
* D'Ohsson. iv. 59-60. t Id., 60. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 625.
I Hist, de la G6orgie, i. 608.

346 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
kindly, and sent him a yarligh which gave him authority over the church,
the country, and the bishops. He also assigned him a person from his
Court, and gave him a golden paizah or tablet, and sent him back to his
see. Darsaij died in his palace of Arpha, in 1290, and was buried at
Noravankh by his brother Sempad. A feud arose among his sons about
the succession. They brought the matter before Arghun, who selected
the eldest, Elikum, put him in his father's place, and made him prince
over his brothers. He divided what he had with the bishops, vartabeds,
and nobles, gave a portion to his brother Jalal, and another to his cousin
Liparit. Peace reigned everywhere, and the ruined monasteries and
devastated land began to revive. " The family of the Orpelians," says
the historian of the house, " was at this time, by the grace of God, like
Noah's ark amidst the waves that were desolating the world, and it is
to be hoped the Lord will continue it so until the end of time."*
Arghun had nine wives. 1. Kutlugh, daughter of the Uirat Tengir,
who was a Kurkan (i.e., son-in-law of the ruler, inasmuch as he married
Tudukash, a daughter of Khulagu). 2. Oljatai, daughter of Tengir's son
Sulamish by the same princess, Sulamish having married his father's
widow in the recognised Mongol fashion. 3. Uruk, daughter of Saruji,
and sister of the Kerait amir, Irinjin. 4. Seljuk, daughter of Rokn ud
din, Sultan of Rum. 5. Bulughan, the relative of Buka Yarghuji, who
had been one of his father's wives. 6. On her death he married a second
Bulughan, the daughter of Utaman, son of Obotai Noyan of the
Konguruts. 7. Mertai, the Kongurut, who had been the wife of Khulagu
and Abaka. 8. Tudai, the daughter of Musa Kurkan and of Tarakai,
daughter of Khulagu ; she had been Ahmed's widow. 9. Kultak Ikaji.
By Kultak, Arghun had his eldest son, Ghazan. Uruk was the mother of
his two sons, Yesu Timur and Uljaitu, and of his three daughters,
Oljaitai, Oljai Timur, and Kutlugh Timur. Kutlugh was the mother of
Khatai Oghul, while the second Bulughan, the favourite among his wives,
was the mother of his daughter Dilenji.t
Marco Polo has a story about the elder Bulughan, whom he calls
Bolgana, a name quaintly and accurately translated Zibellina by Colonel
Yule. He says that when she died she desired in her will that no lady
should take her place, or succeed her as Arghun's wife, except one of
her own family who still lived in Cathay (i.e., one of the tribe of Bayaut).
Arghun therefore dispatched three of his barons — Ulatair, Apuska,
and Koja, as envoys to the Great Khan, with an escort, to bring home
some lady of Bulughan's family. The Great Khan received them well,
and sent for a lady named Cocachin (Kukachin), who belonged to the
same tribe as Bulughan. She was seventeen years old and very
beautiful, and when she reached the Court she was presented to the
# Hist, de la Siounie, 238-239. St. Martin Memoires, ii. 169.
t Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 360-361.

ARGHUN KHAN. 347
three barons, who declared that the lady pleased them well. At this
time Marco Polo himself, who had been sent by the Great Khan as
envoy, returned from India, and reported the various things he had seen
in his travels, and described the seas which he had crossed. The three
barons determined to return to Persia in the company of Marco, his father
Nicolo, and his uncle Maffeo, who were all then at the Great Khan's
Court, and they determined to return by sea, to avoid the great fatigue
which the land journey would be for the lady they were escorting. The
Great Khan gave the Poli two golden tablets or paizahs, to secure them
liberty of passage through all his dominions, and securing them all
necessaries, &c, for their journey. He also sent messages by them to
the Kings of France, England, Spain, and the other rulers of Christendom.
He then had thirteen ships equipped, each of which had four masts and
often spread twelve sails, among which were four or five which carried
250 or 260 men. They were provided for a journey of two years. After
sailing for some three months, they reached the island Polo calls Java,
but which was really Sumatra, and after a voyage of eighteen months
more they reached their destination, to find that Arghun was dead.
Ramusio's version says that 600 of the mariners and others on board had
died on the way, while of the envoys only Khoja survived. The envoys,
besides the Princess Kukachin, also had in charge a daughter of the
King of Manzi (i.e., a princess of the Sung dynasty) who had also been
sent to Arghun* They probably learnt of Arghun's death at Hormuz.
They thereupon sent word to Gaikhatu, Arghun's brother, who directed
them to convey her to Ghazan, Arghun's son, who was then in the
province of the Arbre Sec (i.e., Khorasan), guarding the passes with
60,000 men. Having done so they returned to Gaikhatu, with whom they
stayed nine months. We learn from other sources that it was at Abher,
near Kazvin, that Ghazan met the princess, whom he married. She died
twelve months later, in June, 1296.}
During Arghun's reign we read of no intercourse with the Egyptians of
a peaceful kind. The fact was that Arghun's patronage of the Jews and
Christians created a breach with the Egyptian Sultan, which probably
would have ended in war, but that each had other troubles on his hands.
Arghun's we have described. Kelavun's were caused by fear of the
supporters of Bibars, the so-called Zahirits, and who made Karak,
which a son of Bibars held, their centre. The Sultan contented
himself therefore with strengthening his fortresses, the securing of Karak
and of Sehyun, in Syria, where Sonkor headed another body of the
discontented, and with assailing the remaining fortresses of the Crusaders,}
and it was not long before the famous stronghold of Tripoli was in his
hands. He also bitterly pressed the King of Little Armenia, whose land
* Yule's Marco Polo, i. 34-39. t Id., 38. Yule's notes. X Weil, iv. 147.

348 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
as far as Ayas was devastated, and who in 1285 sought a ten years' truce,
by agreeing to pay an annual tribute of a million dirhems, undertaking
not to build any new fortresses in his country, and to release any
Mussulmans he held prisoners.*
On the other hand, Arghun tried to draw closer his ties with the
Christians. Haithon says he undertook to rescue the Holy Land from
the infidels, while he rebuilt the churches which had been destroyed by
Ahmed.t A letter is extant, in very canine and broken Latin, which
professes to have been sent by Arghun to the Pope Honorius IV. It is
probably a translation by one who did not know his original very well.
It is dated the 18th of May in the year of the Hen (i.e., 1285), " in Coriis,' '
which Remusat suggests is a mistake for Tebriz. It is written in the
name of Christ, and is courteously phrased. The Ilkhan recalls the
good feeling which the Mongols, since the time of Jingis Khan, the first
father of all the Tartars, had had for the Pope, the serene King of the
Franks, and the serene King Charles (i.e., Charles of Anjou), and the
protection they had always extended to Christians, whom they had
exempted from paying dues, &c. He speaks gratefully of the reception
accorded to his envoys, Ise turciman (i.e., Ise the interpreter), Bogagok,
Mengilik, Thomas Banchrui, and Ugeto turciman, who had, if we
understand the very clumsy Latin, been rewarded with presents of
precious robes and perfumes (roba et tus). Arghun goes on to say
that his mother was a Christian, while his grandfather and father,
Khulagu and Abaka, had greatly cherished the Christians, as did at
that time Khubilai Khakan. He had determined himself to send the
holy father a present of precious robes and incense, and to guarantee
the Christians the advantages they had previously enjoyed. The
long interval which had elapsed since the previous embassy was
due to the apostacy of Ahmed. He recalled the fact that the people
of Scam (i.e., Shem, or Syria) intervened between his folk and those
of the Pope, and suggested a joint campaign against Egypt.} " It is
singular," says Remusat, " and certainly a matter of regret, that we
cannot illustrate this singular letter from other sources." A few years
later, viz., in 1288, other envoys from Arghun arrived at Rome. They
were Bar Sauma, a Uighur monk, who had been nominated bishop of
Uighuria by Yahaballaha, patriarch of the Nestorians ; Sabadin Arkhaun
(Arkhaun is the term by which the Christians were known to the
Muhammedans) ; Thomas de Anfusis, and the interpreter Ugeto, the
two latter being apparently the same persons as are mentioned in the
previous letter, and there called Thomas Banchrui and Uguet. These
envoys were received at Rome by the newly-elected Pope, Nicholas IV.
They reported how the faith was flourishing in Tartary; that Arghun was
* Weil, 159. t Haithon, 59.
X Remusat, Mems. Acad. Inscr., vii. 356-357 and 426-427. Mosheim, Hist. Eccl. App. N xxv.

ARGHUN KHAN. 349
determined to prosecute his campaign against the Mussulmans, and to
rescue the Holy Land ; that the Grand Khan was not averse to the faith,
and that missionaries might be sent to him ; many of Arghun's officials
were Christians, many again were Muhammedans, and it was the latter's
influence which prevented him from becoming a Christian ; two of his
queens, viz., Elegag and Tuktan, had been baptised, while Arghun
himself was determined to be so at Jerusalem, after he had taken it from
the Saracens ; finally, the Nestorians and Franciscans were engaged in
spreading the faith everywhere in Tartary. At Arghun's Court were
several Christian interpreters, such as Johannes de Bonachia, Hugo
Gantelini, Petrus de Molina, Girardus Kasmuri, from Constantinople ;
Balaba de Yanua (? Genoa), Girardus de Caturco, Georgius Cusi,
Johannes de Barlara, and Johannes de Casaria*
These matters having been reported to the Pope, he replied in a letter,
dated the 10th of April, 1288, in which he expresses his satisfaction at
having received the Khan's letter, and also at its contents, and the
assurances of the envoys, which had been delivered in the presence of his
brothers (i.e., the cardinals). He was especially thankful to the Saviour,
who held in his hand the hearts of worldly sovereigns, that he had inspired
Arghun, not only to treat the Christians kindly, but also with a desire for
the spread of Christianity. He sent him his thanks, and also an
exposition of the principal articles of the Catholic faith— the sacrifice,
resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the remission of the keys and
the power of binding and loosing to St. Peter and his successors. As the
vicar of Christ on earth the Pope exhorted the Khan to enter the only path
which led to eternal safety. In a second letter the Pope mentioned that
he had heard from his envoys that it was his purpose to deliver Jerusalem
from the infidels, and that he proposed to be baptised there. He praised
this intention, but wisely, if not craftily, ¦ suggested that his previous
baptism would facilitate the conquest, while considerations of his own
safety would not brook delay. He urged him to be baptised at once ; it
would lead to many following his example. The Pope also wrote to
Tuktan,t and to another princess named Elegag (i.e., Ilkutlugh), saying
he had heard of their conversion and their zeal for the faith, which he
urged them to redouble. He also wrote to Denis, bishop of Tebriz, a
letter from whom had accompanied that of the Ilkhan.}
The object of the Mongols was no doubt more political than religious.
They wanted help against the Egyptians more than fraternal advice. It
seems that the Pope sent on the Khan's message to Philippe le Bel, king of
France, who is in turn found sending envoys in 1288 to Persia. We learn
about them, chiefly through Arghun's subsequent complaints, that they
* Mosheim, op. cit., 75-76.
t D'Ohsson identifies her with the widow of Abaka of that name, but Von Hammer says, on
the authority of Rashid ud din, that she died in Abaka's lifetime.
| Remusat, op. cit., 359-360. D'Ohsson, iv. 66-69.

35° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
would not do him homage after the usual fashion, on the excuse that he was
not a Christian, and it would therefore be an indignity to their master if
they prostrated themselves as had been demanded. Eventually they were
received in their own fashion, and were treated with courtesy. In the
year 1289 some Franciscans returned to Italy after an evangelising tour
in the East. John of Monte Corvino was among them ; he had been
away ten years, and reported how a certain Isola, a noble of Pisa, had
acquired great authority among the Tartars. He presently returned
again, and the Pope sent with him a letter, dated the 15th of July, 1289,
in which he repeated his former congratulations, and recommended John
of Monte Corvino himself to his favour* Other letters were sent for
Prince Caidon (? Baidu) and for Khubilai Khan. Shortly after there
arrived another envoy from Arghun at Rome, in the person of a Genoese)
named Buscarel de Gisulf, reporting that he (the Ilkhan) was ready to
march to the rescue of the Holy Land at the time fixed for the crusade.
Buscarel was sent on to Edward I. of England, with a letter of recom
mendation from the Pope, dated the 30th of September, 1289. On his
way he presented Philippe le Bel with a letter from Arghun which is still
preserved in the French archives. Remusat says it is nearly six feet and
a-half long and ten inches wide, written on paper made of cotton, and is
in the form of a roll. On one side it has thirty-four lines of black writing
and a thrice-repeated mark of a red seal, five and a-half inches square.
The letter is written in the Mongol language, and in Uighur characters,
in vertical lines. The seal bears six ancient Chinese characters. This
Mongol roll has attached to it a document in French, to explain the
nature and contents of Arghun's own communication.! Arghun's letter
has naturally attracted much attention. It has been published and
translated both by Remusat and Schmidt. The former says it contains
the earliest known specimen of Mongol. This was so when he wrote,
but we have since recovered the vocabulary preserved by Malakia, which
is considerably earlier.} The letter is written in a dialect differing
somewhat from either standard Mongol, or the Kalmuk dialect, with
less complicated phrases, and in more simple grammar.§ The following
is a translation of it as given by Schmidt : —
" By the power of the Almighty God. Under the auspices of the
Khakan Arghun, our word. The King of France,
by the envoy,
Mar Bar Sauma||
Sakhora.
You have told us you will set out to join us when the Ilkhan's troops
* D'Ohsson, iv. 69-70. t Remusat, op. cit., 363-364. J Ante, Notes to chapter i.
§ Remusat, 365.
|| Mar is a Syriac title of honour, meaning Mr. or Esq., and is given to all respectable people.
Bar Sanma has been already mentioned. (Remusat, op. cit., 369.)

ARGHUN KHAN. 351
begin their march towards Egypt. Pleased with this communication, I
say that we propose, confiding in God, to set out in the last month of
winter, in the year of the panther (i.e., January, 1291), and to pitch our
camp before Damascus on the 15th of the first month of spring (i.e.,
towards the 20th of February). If you keep your word and send your
troops at the time fixed, and God favours our undertaking, when we have
taken Jerusalem from these people we will make it over to you. But
unless you join us at the rendezvous it is useless to send your people at all,
and if in consequence we do not know what to do, what good will it do ?
We have sent Muskeril, the Kuruji, to say that if you will send us envoys
knowing several languages, and bringing us presents, rarities and images
of different colours from the land of the Franks, we will be very friendly
with you, by the power of God and the fortune of the Khakan. Our letter
is written at Kundulen, the 6th of the first month of summer, of the
year of the cow."
It will be noticed that Buscarel's name is written Muskeril. This is
due to the usual substitution of M for B by the Mongols and Turks.
Kuruji means one who has charge of the arms (i.e., of the prince) and
answers therefore to our western armiger and the Persian selahdar. The
sovereign's body guards are also called kurujis.* Kundulen is an unknown
site, according to D'Ohsson. Remusat suggests that it may be a corrup
tion of Kongorlan, the earlier name of Sultania, but prefers to identify it
with some place north of Lake Urmia, and says there is a river Kundalan
which falls into the Araxes. St. Martin says that Soyuthi, in his
geographical dictionary, mentions a place called Kondelan, near Ispahan.}
In regard to the mark of the seal attached to the document, Remusat urges
that the seal which made it was probably sent to Arghun with his
investiture as Ilkhan. The inscription is in the early Chinese character
called chuan, which is otherwise known as the seal character. The
inscription does not impress one that the position of Ilkhan was held in
high estimation at the Grand Khan's Court. It reads, "Seal of the
Minister of State, pacificator of peoples." Remusat calls attention to the
singular result of the Crusades on the one hand and the Mongol conquests
on the other, in bringing together the affairs of the furthest East
and those of Jerusalem and Egypt, and to the curious fact that part of
the story should be preserved in ideographic characters which, so long
extinct in the valley of the Nile, still survive in China.
The letter in French accompanying the Mongol original is more
diffusely written, and more courteously phrased, a sophistication doubtless
due to the courtly and diplomatic interpreter. In this note Arghun adds
that in his expedition against Jerusalem he intended taking with him
the two Christian kings of Georgia, who were his vassals, and could

* D'Ohsson, iv. 71-73. Remusat, op. cit., 369-372. t Remusat, op, cit., 372-373.

352 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
muster 20,000 horsemen. As it would be very inconvenient for the
King of France to cross the sea with a great number of horses, he
(Arghun) was prepared to furnish him with 20,000 or 30,000, either by
way of gift, or at a reasonable price. Arghun could also, if the French
king pleased, order in Turkey (i.e., Rum) for him, cattle, cows, and
camels, grain and flour, and such other provisions as he would need.
As a proof of his good intentions he mentioned how, having heard of it,
he had greatly rejoiced at the news of the recent disaster of the
Christians at Tripoli, and that he had had four of the principal people
among the Muhammedans put to death, and refused permission for
their bodies to be buried, but ordered them to be given to the dogs and
birds of prey. He mentions how his sister had recently married the King
of Georgia, and that she had become a Christian. That during Lent just
past Arghun had caused the mass to be chanted in a chapel where the
Nestorian bishop Rabanata had officiated, and had also caused several of
his grandees to take the sacrament. He then went on to express his surprise
that the envoys of the French king had refused to salute him in the
prescribed fashion, and had declared that they could not kneel before
him, since he was not a Christian ; that he had summoned them to do
so by his great barons three times, and finding them obdurate he had
admitted them and treated them with great honour. Arghun said if this
was by the king's wish he had nothing to say, and that everything that
pleased the king would please him also, but he desired that if he sent him
envoys in future they would salute him in the fashion customary at his
Court, without crossing fire (i.e., without being purified by being made
to walk between two fires, as in the Mongol ceremonial).*
Buscarel, having delivered his message, apparently went on to England,
where he had been preceded by a brief of Pope Nicholas, addressed to
King Edward, stating how one Zagan, who had recently been baptised by
the Archbishop of Ostia under the name of Andrew, with his nephew
Dominic, formerly called Gorgi (? Kurji), and Buscarel de Gisulf, a
Genoese citizen, as well as Moracius, envoys from Arghun, the illustrious
King of the Tartars, bearers of presents, would presently arrive at his
Court. He begged him to receive them well, to listen attentively to what
they had to say, and to send them back as quickly as possible, for on
their return he proposed to send them home again, accompanied by his
legate at that time in England. Remusat says there are two briefs extant,
one dated the 30th of September, 1289, and the other the 2nd of December.
D'Ohsson speaks of one only, which is dated the ioth of December, 1290,
and of which the above is the abstract.} From the wardrobe accounts of
Edward I. we learn that Buscarel arrived in London on the eve of the
Epiphany, January 5th, 1290, accompanied by three esquires, a cook,
* Remusat, id., 430-432. D'Ohsson, iv. 74-76. t D'Ohsson, iv. 76-77. Remusat, 381,

ARGHUN KHAN. 353
eight horses, and six garcons. He remained thirteen days at the Enghsh
Court, and in all twenty days in England. His expenses were defrayed
by Edward. On Buscarel's departure Edward gave him a letter for
Arghun, in which mention is made of the attachment which his father had
always shown towards the Christians. The English king compliments"
his correspondent on his intention of arming against the Soldan of
Babylon (by which title the ruler of Egypt is meant) in aid of the Holy
Land and the Christian faith, and thanks him for the offer of horses, &c,
when he shall reach Palestine, and assures him that as soon as he had
obtained the assent of the Roman pontiff to the passage of himself and his
army beyond the sea he would inform him by envoys, and also send him
some gerfalcons and other treasures of his land (de nostris Girofalcis et
aliis jocalibus nostre terre), as Arghun had requested.* Edward's wars in
Scotland prevented him from carrying out the crusade, to which he was
persistently urged by the Pope.
In 1 291 Arghun renewed his message, and sent fresh letters to
Nicholas IV. and the King of England. His envoy on this occasion was
called Chaghan, or Zagan.} The faith was spreading, it seems, among
influential people in Tartary, for we read how two queens, whose names
are given as Dathanicatum and Anichohamini, had become Christians, as
had also Arghun's son " Karbaganda." In his letters to the Pope the Ilkhan
chiefly refers to a joint expedition against Syria. The English king
had already taken the cross, but the fall of Ptolemais, the only remaining
vantage held by the Christians on the coasts of Syria, the news of which
reached Western Europe about the time of Chaghan's embassy, damped
the spirits of the Christians, and, as Remusat says, led to the strange
result that the most eager crusading spirit was actually found among the
Mongols, who desired the alliance of the Franks against their powerful
enemies, the Egyptian sultans.}
In his reply, dated the 21st of August, 1291, the Pope acknowledged
the receipt of the letter which Chaghan had taken, and said he had
forwarded the one addressed to Edward. He seems to have said little
about Palestine, but repeated his entreaties to Arghun to be baptised,
excusing himself from sending the presents which the Ilkhan had asked
for on the ground that he was an ecclesiastic, and concluded by recom
mending to his favour William de Sherio, the penitentiary, and Matthew
" de civitate Theatina," a Franciscan, who carried letters with them for
the Ilkhan. In a second letter, dated two days later, on the occasion of
the capture of Tyre and Acre by the Mussulmans, Nicholas told the
Ilkhan how he had urged the kings and princes who were Catholic to
unite in recovering the Holy Land ; that Edward, king of England, had
crossed the sea with an imposing force ; that he had ordered a crusade
* Archaeological Journal, vii. 48-49- Article by T. Hudson Turner.
t Mosheim, op. cit., 79. I Remusat, op, cit., 382.

354 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to be preached throughout Christendom against the Mussulmans, and
that he was convinced if Arghun would assist that the venture would
come to a fortunate issue. He again urged him to be baptised, and to
exert himself for the recovery of Palestine as his own royal prudence
judged best. The Pope also sent by the two friars a letter for Uruk
Khatun, who was great grand-daughter of Wang Khan, of the Keraits,
who, according to Haithon, was a Christian, and had a chaplain and a
chapel. Her son Karbaganda (i.e., Kharbanda) was baptised under the
name of Nicholas, but on his mother's death became a Mussulman, and
afterwards mounted the throne as Sultan Uljaitu. The Pope expressed
his gratification at hearing she was a Christian, and urged her to induce
Arghun's sons Saron* and Kassian (i.e., Ghazan), to whom he wrote
directly, to embrace the faith. He also commended the two friars to her.
In his letter to Ghazan, which is dated the 23rd of August, 1291, he also
exhorted him to become a Christian, expounded to him the principal
articles of the faith, thanked him for his kindness to the Christians, of
which he prayed the continuance, and introduced the friars to his notice.
A similar letter was addressed to Toghachar, the general, and one to
Isolus, already named. In writing to Nicholas, the son of Arghun, who
was already a Christian, he bade him fulfil zealously the demands of the
faith, to change nothing of his mode of living, costume, or food, for fear
his people should be estranged from him, but to keep up the same
customs he had before his baptism. The Pope also expounded to him at
length the dogmas of the faith, and recommended the bearers of his letter
to his regard.}
Remusat has some apt remarks on this correspondence of the Pope
with the Christians. The supreme Pontiff was no doubt very anxious to
obtain a set-off against the losses Christianity had recently sustained in
the East by the victories of the Mussulmans, and such a set-off would
certainly have been the conversion of the Mongols. But these nomades
were for the most part indifferent both to Islam and the religion of
Christ. If they had openly embraced either faith earlier, they might
probably have prolonged their dominion in Persia considerably, instead
of being evicted after a short supremacy there, without leaving scarcely
any traces of their nationality. Far different was the fate of the Turks,
who became zealous Mussulmans, and retained, with varying vicissitudes,
the real control of the affairs of Asia for many generations.
Arghun was on terms of friendship with Christians nearer home.
Stephen the Orpelian, the historian of Siounia, whose work we have often
quoted, was one of the sons of Darsaij, the atabeg of Armenia.} Stephen
became a priest, and in 1285 was consecrated metropolitan of Siunia by
Ter Hakob, at the Court of Leon III., King of Cilicia.§ He returned
* No such name occurs in Rashid ud din. t D'Ohsson, iv. 77-81.
{ Ante, 345-3+6- $ Hist, de la Siounie, 238 and 264.

ARGHUN KHAN. 355
home in 1287, and tells us how he repaired to Arghun, who treated him
with great kindness and honour. He showed him his encyclical, which
the Ilkhan caused to be translated and read, and also the documents by
'which Darsaij had made over to him for his sustenance the monasteries
of Tathev, Noravank, Tsaghats-Kar, Arates, &c. Arghun confirmed him
in his authority, both spiritual and temporal, and ordered him to remain
with him, and to consecrate in his palace the church (probably a movable
tent) which had been sent to him by the Pope. He tells us he consecrated
this church with great pomp, with the assistance of the Catholicos Nestor
and twelve bishops. Arghun with his own hands dressed him in his
pontifical ornaments. Holding the wooden rattle which did office for a
bell, the Ilkhan himself made the round of the camp, and compelled
everyone to receive benediction. Another bishop, sent by the same pope
some time after, baptised Arghun's young son, whom he christened
Theodosios, in the Mongol language Kharbanda (the name is written
Khudabandah on his coins), and put him under the care of a Frankish
prince named Sirchol, whom father Chanazarien has identified with
Buscarel de Gisulf, already named.*
Arghun's coins occur both in silver and copper. Those in the British
Museum were struck at Baghdad, Tebriz, Mardin, Mosul, Arrajan (?),
Kashar, and Jeziret. Two in that collection are posthumous coins, and
were struck in the year 691. Such posthumous coins have already been
mentioned in the history of the Golden Horde, &c.t It is curious to find
Arghun's coins struck at Baghdad with the orthodox Sunni symbol upon
them, and then to find on a coin which Fraehn with great probability
suggests was struck in Georgia, the sentence ; " In the name of the
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the one God."} The Mongol
inscription on some of Arghun's coins is like that on the coins of Abaka
already mentioned.§ Since I wrote the latter description I have met
with an interesting passage by Schiefner, showing that the reading there
criticised of darugha is not in fact maintainable as Burnouf and Poole
have both argued, the word so read by Schmidt really reading arebri,
arebari, or arebchi.\\ Schiefner views in this word, which he reads
arebchi, a corruption and contraction of the Tibetan rab-mdses-rin-tch'en-
rdordge, pronounced rab dze rin-tcVen dordge, being the translation of the
Sanscrit sundar araratnavagr a (very beautiful, precious diamond).1T

Note 1. — I have made more than one reference in the previous chapter to
Abulfaraj which ought to have been to the continuator of that chronicler.
Abulfaraj, whose full name was Almufrian Mar Gregorius Abulfaraj Binalhakim
Harun Almalaty, was the son of a doctor named Aaron, or Harun, and was born
* Id., 265-266. t Ante, ii. 204, and iii. 214. I Fraehn Recenssio, 180.
§ Ante, 283. || Journ. Asiat., 3rd ser., xiii. 118. IT Hist, de la Siounie, 266. Note 4.

356 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
at Malatia, in 1226. At the age of 20 he became bishop of Gobos, next year
bishop of Lacabene, and later of Aleppo, and was finally, in 1264, elected
maphrian or primate of the Jacobites, a dignitary intermediate between that of
patriarch and metropolitan. He wrote an abridgment of universal history, in
Syriac, which was translated into Latin by Bruns and Kirsch, in 1789. The
part relating to the Mongols is partially based on Juveni, and partly on his
own observations. He also translated his history into Arabic, or rather
re-wrote it in Arabic, under the title, " Tarikh oktasir ud Dual," which was
translated by Pocock in 1663. This history closed in 1285 or 1286, but was
continued in the Syriac version by an anonymous author, who carried it down
to 1297, an^ whose notices of Arghun's two successors are very valuable. It
will be understood that all references to this author dated after 1286, ought to
be to the continuator.
Note 2. — The word yarligh, which I have used more than once in this work,
is so written in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, while in Syriac it is written
yarlik. It is derived from the Mongol wotdyarlikA, a law, decree, or ordinance,
from yar, meaning law.* It came to be used definitely, however, for an order
or patent emanating directly from the sovereign. The missionary, Ricold de
Mont Croix, speaking of these orders, describes one peculiarity which Quatre
mere says is quite exact. " The Tartars," he says, " honour their rulers so
much that they do not insert their names with the other words, but leave a
blank, and insert the name in the margin."t The yarlighs or patents were
generally accompanied by metal tablets, called paizahs, which I have described
in vol. i. pp. 271 and 530.

* St. Martin Memoires, ii. 281. Note 22.
t Lhystoire merveilleuse du grand Chan de Tartarie, f. 36, v. Quatremere, 180-181.

CHAPTER VII.
GAIKHATU KHAN AND BAIDU KHAN.
Gaikhatu Khan.
THE name of this Ilkhan has been corrupted by most authors. The
best reading is that on his coins, which is Gaikhatu, which in
Mongol means " the surprising, the admirable."* The " Shajrat
ul Atrak," quoting the " Ulusi Arba," or history of the Four Ulusses (i.e.,
Ulugh Beg's history), calls him Kenjatu, and says that he was originally
called Unkatu, which in Mongol meant " astonishing," or " wonderful."t
Abulfeda calls him Kanachtu} — Marco Polo, Kiacatu.§ Haithon calls
him Regayto, which is clearly a corruption of Kaikhatu. || Stephen
Orpelian names him Kegathoi, and the Georgian history Keghato and
Keghtu.H St. Martin calls him Kantchatu, while Klaproth calls him
Khultho Khan.** At his accession, we are told, the bakhshis conferred on
him the name Irinchin Durji, or Arinjin Turji, which occurs on his coins
and also on his paper money. Burnouf explains this name by two Tibetan
words, rintchhen rdo-rdje, meaning "precious diamond."}} This is
doubtless the correct explanation of it. Wassaf says it is Chinese, while
Von Hammer explains it as old Turkish.}} Khuandemir says the name
was conferred, not by the bakhshis, but by the Emperor of China.§§
Wakhtang, son of Narin David, king of Karthli, died soon after
Gaikhatu's accession, viz., in 1292, and was buried at Gelath, in the royal
sepulchre, whither he was conveyed at the desire of David, son of
Dimitri, the other ruler of Georgia. His father took his death much to
heart, and himself died the following year. Narin David left three sons,
Constantine, Michael, and Alexander, whose mother was a daughter of
the Emperor of Byzantium. We are told that Constantine and Michael
had a lifelong feud, and that during their lives Imeuthi was in a state of
confusion.|||| On the death of Arghun, the generals Singtur, Toghachar,
and Bekta nominated governors for the various provinces, in order to
secure order during the interregnum, but anarchy was not averted.TIT
We must now make a short digression to bring up the history of " Great
Luristan " to this point. We have seen how Shems ud din Alp Arghun
* D'Ohsson, iv. 82. t Op. cit., ed. Miles, 270. Ilkhans, i. 394, &c.
t Op. cit., v. lor. § Op. cit., i. 35. | Op. cit., ch. xxxix. f Op. cit., 610-61 1.
** See St. Martin, Memoires, &c, ii. 298. Note 8.
tt Journ. Asiat., 3rd ser., xiii. 131-132. II Ilkhans, i. 405. Note 2.
%S Journ. Asiat., 3rd ser., xiii. 124. Ill Hist.de la Georgie, 1. 610-611. Iffl D Ohsson, iv. 61-62.

358 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
secured the throne there* Hamdullah tells us when he arrived in
Luristan he found the country ruined and the peasants scattered. By his
good arrangements he soon restored it to prosperity. After the manner
of the Arabs and Mongols, he shifted to and fro between his summer
quarters on the skirts of the mountains, and his winter ones near
Shuster. After reigning for fifteen years, Shems ud din died, and left two
sons, Yusuf Shah and Imal ud din Pehluvan, apparently also called Nejm
ud din.} The former succeeded his father, but lived at Abaka's Court,
governing his own country by deputy. He took part in the campaign
against Borak, and for this, and for saving Abaka's life when he was
attacked by a body of marauders from Dilem, he was rewarded by the
Ilkhan.} On Abaka's death, and during Ahmed's struggle with Arghun,
Yusuf Shah was summoned to his aid by the latter, and took with him
2,000 horsemen and 10,000 foot. On Ahmed's defeat the Lurs set out by
the desert road of Tabas,*to try and reach Luristan as speedily as possible,
but a great number of them perished there of thirst. Arghun sent to
summon Yusuf Shah, who duly went to the Court and married the
daughter of the vizier, Shems ud din. He died in the year 680 hej, and
left two sons, Afrasiab and Ahmed. Afrasiab succeeded him as
ruler of Luristan, and sent his brother to live at the Ilkhan's Court.
Hamdullah says he greatly persecuted the viziers (of Lur), the khojas
Nisam ud din, Jelal ud din, and Sadr ud din, in whose family the
viziership had frequently been since the days of Hazarasp. He brought
down their beneficent houses, and when some of their relatives fled to
Ispahan he sent Kizil after them, who was his father's uncle.§ Afrasiab
had, during Arghun's reign, in spite of the remonstrance of the governor
of Shiraz, attacked the mountain district of Kiluyeh, which was the
frontier between Fars and Lur, had captured the fortress of Manjasht, and
put his nephew Kizil over the newly-conquered district, while Kizil's
eleven brothers were put at the head of as many bodies of troops.
Presently, a dispute arose between the uncle and nephews in regard to
the administration of the district. Kizil was defeated and fled to Shiraz,
but presently returned and made peace with his uncle, who conciliated
him by executing his vizier, Jelal ud din, and paying a handsome sum
to him. At Kizil's instigation Afrasiab, during the troublous time which
preceded Arghun's death, made a raid into Irak. He put to death at
Ispahan the deputy of Jelal ud din, and also the Mongol governor, Baidu,
the brother-in-law of Toghachar; and Kizil's brother Salghurshah, with a
following of turbulent Lurs, took possession of the city. Salghurshah
mounted the throne in the house of the Khoja Bahia ud din, and money
was struck at Shiraz in the name of Afrasiab of Lur. His authority at
this time extended from Hamadan to the Sea of Fars, over which he
* Ante, 140, where I have inadvertently given his name as Alp Arslan.
t Hamdullah passim. I Ante, 240. § Hamdullah passim.

GAIKHATU KHAN. 359
distributed his countrymen as governors. He now sent a body of 2,000
cavalry, under Jelal ud din, the son of the atabeg Tekele, of the Lesser
Luristan, and Malik Nasret, against the tuman or division of the Mongol
general Arghasun. In the struggle which ensued they were at first
successful, and captured considerable booty, but the Mongols turned
upon them and defeated them badly, practising, doubtless, the Fabian
policy for which they were famous. In this struggle we are told that a
Mongol heroine herself killed ten Lurs* The council of regency now
sent Doladai Aidaji against him with a tuman of soldiers, and ordered the
Mongol and Mussulman troops in the governments of Ispahan and Shiraz
to reinforce him. On his approach, Afrasiab's deputy at Ispahan fled.
The town of Yezd, which had revolted under the atabeg Yusuf Shah, was
sacked by the Mongols. Afrasiab himself sought shelter in the fortress
of Manjasht, and Luristan was ravaged. Hamdullah says he was like
a gnat tossed by a strong wind. He presently sent in his submission
and was taken before Gaikhatu, who, on the intervention of Uruk
Khatun and Padishah Khatun, pardoned him and restored him to
Luristan, whither he went with his brother Ahmed, and put to death
Kizil Salghurshah, and a number of his relatives and of the great nobles,
and his licence was unrestrained.}
To revert to the Mongols. Five days after Arghun's death the generals
sent the news to Ghazan in Khorasan. The next day Baitan was sent
to Baidu, at Baghdad, and Le"ke"zi, or Legsi, to Gaikhatu, in Rum.
L&fei was told to offer the throne to Gaikhatu, and to press him to go
and occupy it, but after his departure several of the generals repented
what they had done. Toghachar urged that Gaikhatu would prefer to
surround himself with his present officers ; nor did he favour Ghazan,
whose vigorous and severe disposition he dreaded, but he declared for
Baidu, the son of Tarakai and grandson of Khulagu. The various com
manders of the left wing, viz., Singtur, Shamagar or Samaghar, Tuladai or
Doladai, Bekta or Tekne, Ilchidai, Kunjukbal, Tughan, Timur buka,
Toghdai, and Tugal, sided with him, and they sent an officer named Balizad
to inform Gaikhatu of Baidu's threatened elevation to the throne. Gaikhatu
put this messenger to the torture, forced him to disclose the names of the
authors of the scheme, and sent a division under the orders of Baitmish
Kushji towards the royal residence. Meanwhile, the generals had sent
to summon Baidu, and to urge that the throne belonged to him by virtue
of seniority. He was timid and prudent, and said that according to the
yasa of Jingis Khan the throne belonged to the son or brother of the last
sovereign, and he preferred to decline the honour. What could he say,
was his reply, to his good ancestors, who had made of the State a bridge
of gold, and had decided which member of the family should pass over
* Hamdullah. Ilkhans, i. 401-402. t Hamdullah passim.

3°0 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
first. He sent Gaikhatu the act of submission which the generals had
forwarded to him, and advanced slowly towards Kurban Shira, whence he
took the road to Kuit bulak (i.e., cold spring). The various generals who
went to do homage to him there, having learned his determination, with
drew disconcerted, having earned the resentment of Gaikhatu. Tugan,
the most zealous partisan of Baidu, fled to Ghilan, but he was arrested
and taken to the Court. Toghachar was arrested by order of the noyan
Siktur. Kunjukbal withdrew towards Alatagh, and Tugal towards the
Georgian frontier.
When news arrived that Gaikhatu was en route, the Prince Sugai, or
Suka, son of Yashmut, son of Khulagu, the generals Choban and
Kurumishi, the son of Alinak, and the ordus of the khatuns set out on the
23rd of May, by way of Alatagh, to meet him. They were followed
by a chief of 4,000 men, and furtively by other leaders. Presently, the
eyu oghlans (body guards) and the other generals went the same way.
This movement in his favour was the work of Uruk Khatun, the widow
of Arghun, and niece of Dokuz Khatun, the wife of Khulagu. She was
therefore a Kerait, and doubtless a Christian* As Gaikhatu neared
Alatagh he was met by Khatai Oghul, the youngest son of Arghun, and
by other princes. He was enthroned on the 22nd of July, 1291, in a place
near Akhlat, where the various princes, khatuns, and generals had
assembled. Soon after, the officers who had exercised authority during
the regency were arrested. They were sharply questioned about the
circumstances of Arghun's death, and that of his Jewish minister and
other supporters. Gaikhatu was present at the first sitting of the court,
and ordered Singtur, who was the highest in rank of the conspirators,
to give an explanation of their conduct. " The generals are present,"
said Singtur, " for the Ilkhan to interrogate them. He knows my faults
and those of the rest." The generals all agreed that Toghachar and
Kunjukbal were the real authors of the plot, that they had induced
Shamagar and Bekta to join them, and that these four had communicated
their plan to Singtur, who had then offered to make common cause with
them. " What could I do," said Singtur, " against so many powerful
chiefs ? If I had resisted, I should have met the same fate as Juchi and
Ordu Kia." Gaikhatu admitted this excuse, and set him at liberty. The
others having confessed their fault were also liberated, Toghachar and
Kunjukbal receiving three strokes with a cudgel, according to the yasa.
They eventually had their full of revenge, as we shall see. Toghachar's
tuman, or division, was made over to Baiju Tetkaul (called Bighaul by
D'Ohsson), that of Kunjukbal to the noyan Singtur, and Tugal's to
Narin Ahmed. Tughan remained in prison, as the relatives of Juchi and
Ordu Kia demanded his blood. Gaikhatu wished to pardon him also,
* D'Ohsson, iv. 6i*66. Ilkhans, i. 396-398.

GAIKHATU KHAN. 36 1
but Uruk Khatun urged strongly that such clemency would only encourage
the guilty, and the Ilkhan said that Tughan in fact deserved to die,
whereupon Akbuka and the Khatun Uruk went out and informed the
sons of Ordu Kia, who speedily put him to death.* Gaikhatu returned
to Alatagh on the 7th of August, and having received the homage of the
chiefs he had pardoned, he assigned Khorasan to Anbarji, the son of
Mangu Timur, and named the noyan Singtur as his lieutenant-general in
the kingdom, with control both of civil and military affairs.
On the ist of September he set out to repress an outbreak in Rum,
where the Karamanian Turkomans had attacked the Mongol garrison.
The continuation of Abulfaraj calls them the Augajian Turkomans.} The
" History of Georgia " says he set out to suppress the revolt of the Greek
town of Thonguzalo (called Tangezlu by the author just quoted). He was
joined by David, the son of King Dimitri, with all the mthawars of Karthli,
the latter having left his wife and home in charge of the noyan Elgoz.
Gaikhatu posted Kutlugh Buka and the other Karthlian mthawars at
Mughan, as he expected an attack from Kipchak, and having set out with
David, as just mentioned, attacked Tonguzalo for four months. In the
fifth month it was stormed, by David and his Georgians forcing their way
in. In one corner of the place were the Christians, who implored the
King to spare them and to plead for them with the Khan. The latter
acceded and withdrew, after securing a kharaj and immense riches.}
The continuation of Abulfaraj says he afterwards pursued and punished
the Turkomans, who had fled into the country.§
The withdrawal from his capital so soon after his accession led to the
forming of ambitious projects. Toghachar spread the rumour that
Gaikhatu's army had been destroyed in Rum by the Karamanian Turko
mans. This news was sent to Kutb ud din, brother of Sadr ud din Ahmed
Khaledi, the latter of whom was in league with Toghachar. Kutb ud din
was then in the employ of Anbarji, the new ruler of Khorasan, whom it
was wished to put in Gaikhatu's place. He told the false news to Jemal,
Sheikh of Shiraz, who was a confidante of Anbarji. The latter was too
prudent and circumspect to enter upon such a dangerous venture without
due inquiry. He sent the Sheikh on a friendly embassy to Singtur. On
the way the Sheikh met Toghachar and Sadr ud din. They urged him
to turn back with them, and to persuade Anbarji to advance at once. He
expressed himself as willing to do so, but said he wished first to pay his
home a visit. On this excuse he made his way to Singtur, to whom he
disclosed what he had heard. Singtur sent him back with a friendly
message and presents for Anbarji, and proceeded to arrest Toghachar
and Sadr ud din, keeping them in durance until he heard of Gaikhatu's
return in triumph, when he sent Toghachar, guarded by an escort of 500

f D'Ohsson, iv. 84-85. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, i. 398. t Chron. Syr., 626,
I Op. cit., 6rt. § Chron. Syr., 627.

362 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
men (D'Ohsson says 2,000) to Erzerum. Gaikhatu once more pardoned
him and his accomplices.*
In reward for his services at the capture of Tonguzalo, Gaikhatu
conferred on David the throne of Karthli, which had been filled by his
father Dimitri, and had him conducted to Tiflis by Shahinshah, Kutlugh
Buka, and all the didebuls. Beka was summoned from Samtzkhe. He
refused to go, but sent his son Sargis, the general of Samtzkhe', with all
the wealth which Dimitri had confided to him, including a very precious
girdle. David was duly consecrated by the Catholicos Abraham. The
Khan married him to his sister Oljaitai, the widow of Wakhtang. This
is so said in the Georgian history, but Rashid apparently makes Oljaitai
marry the noyan Tukal, and afterwards Kutlugh.}
Soon after his return to Alatagh, Gaikhatu was taken seriously ill.
Ulemas and imaums, bishops and monks, as well as the Jewish rabbi,
were summoned and ordered to pour out prayers for the Ilkhan's recovery.
Meanwhile, abundant alms were also distributed.} On his restoration to
health he was solemnly enthroned with the usual ceremonies. The
installation had been postponed, because the astrologers declared the
stars to be unpropitious. The festivities lasted a month. The treasury
chests, which had been filled at the cost of much blood during Arghun's
reign, were lavishly emptied. Gaikhatu distributed to the khatuns and
princesses the precious jewels brought together by the Khans his pre
decessors, saying such things were only fit for women to wear. He
ordered the prisons to be opened, alms to be dispensed, and exempted
from all taxes the ulemas, the descendants of the prophet, and learned
men.§ In the midst of these festivities news arrived that the fortress of Kalat
ur Rum, situated on the right bank of the Euphrates, a little distance
north of Biret, had been captured on the 29th of June by the Egyptians,
commanded by Sultan Ashraf Khalil in person. Kelavun, his predecessor,
had pursued with ardour the project of Bibars for expelling the Franks
from Syria, and had captured Markab, the chief stronghold of the
Hospitallers, and also Laodicea, and had demolished the flourishing town
of Tripoli. He died at Cairo on the ioth of November, 1290, at the age
of 68, when he was setting out to attack Acre, the strongest of the
Christian settlements. His eldest son Salih was dead, and he was
succeeded by his second son, Malik al Ashraf Salah ud din Khalil, who,
in pursuit of his father's intentions, captured and sacked Acre in 1291,
and followed this up by occupying Tyre, Sidon, Tortosa, Haifu, Athlith,
and Beyrout, the last remaining possessions of the Crusaders in the East.
The next year a holy war against the Mongols was preached three times
by the Khalifat Cairo, and also in Syria, while at the head of the armies
* Ilkhans, i. 399-400. D'Ohsson, iv. 85-86. Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 627.
t Ilkhans, Genealogical Table. J D'Ohsson, iv. 86. $ D'Ohsson, iv. 86-87.

GAIKHATU KHAN. 363
of Egypt and Syria the Sultan attacked Kalat ur Rum. The walls were
bombarded with twenty catapults, and mines were also sprung. The
amir Sanjar, naib of Damascus, fastened one end of a chain to the
battlements of the citadel, while the other was firmly fixed in the ground,
and his men clambered on to the walls by its means. The place was
captured, after an attack of thirty-three days, on the 29th of June, 1292.
The garrison, consisting of Mongols and Armenians, was put to the
sword, and 200 men, with the women and children, were reduced to
slavery. From the year 1268 Kalat ur Rum had been the seat of the
Armenian patriarch. The patriarch's palace and church were burnt, and
he himself, named Stephen IV., was taken with his monks to Jerusalem.
According to some, says the continuation of Abulfaraj, he was crucified,
and his companions were taken off in chains to Egypt. When the
Armenians heard of this they elected a fresh Catholicos, whose seat was
at Sis, in Cilicia, or Little Armenia. The name of Kalat ur Rum (i.e.,
Castle of the Romans) was changed to Kalat ul Muslimin (i.e., Castle of
the Mussulmans). The news of its capture was received with great
rejoicings at Damascus. The amir Sanjar was appointed naib of Syria,
with the duty of restoring the fortress, one-fourth of which was in ruins.
Novairi tells us that in the bulletin of victory published at Damascus
there occurs the following sentence : " The way is open to us after this
victory, if God pleases, to conquer the East (i.e., Persia), Rum, and Irak,
and to take possession of the land from the furthest east to the furthest
west." Gaikhatu had sent some troops to the relief of Kalat ur Rum, but
they arrived after its fall*
Some months later an envoy arrived in Egypt from Gaikhatu, to say
that he proposed to fix his residence at Aleppo, which had been conquered
by his ancestor Khulagu, and threatened that if he were not allowed to
do so he would occupy all Syria. The Sultan replied : " The Khan has
similar intentions to my own. I intend to take Baghdad, and to put the
garrison to the sword, for I hope to restore to its former eminence the
capital of Islam. We will see which of us will first invade his enemy's
land." Orders were sent to Syria to review the troops, and to prepare
provisions.t Let us now turn to Kerman. We saw how, in 1252, Rokn ud din, the
ruler of that province, was displaced by his cousin Kutb ud din, by order
of Mangu Khan.} After four months, according to Hamdullah, Kutb ud
din married Kutlugh Turkhan, who had been one of the women of Borak
the Hajib, the founder of the dynasty, by whom he had many daughters.
Rokn ud din set out to win the Khalif over to his side, but hearing that
the latter's people, fearing the resentment of the Mongols, were unwilling
to give him an asylum, he determined to set out for Karakorum. His

* D'Ohsson, iv. 87-89. Weil, iv. 184. Makrizi. ii. 141. Chron. Syr., 626-628.
t Makrizi, ii. 150. . I Ante, 36.

364 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
cousin followed him there, and the two competitors pleaded their cause
before Mangu, who decided in favour of Kutb ud din. He ordered that
his cousin should be given up to him. Kutb ud din put Rokn ud din to
death with his own hand in the year 65 1 hej, and returned to Kerman.
At this time a man who resembled the last Khuarezm Shah, Jelal ud din,
in figure, and was well informed in his affairs, gathered a number of
people round him and rebelled. Kutb ud din marched against him and
dispersed his people, after which he set out to punish the robbers of " Luch
and Baluch," whose bands boldly paraded the highways with drum and
flag. Kutb ud din surprised them at night, and slaughtered them. He
reigned for six years, and spent his time, says Hamdullah, in justice and
equity, and building lofty buildings. He died in Ramazan, 655 (i.e., 1257).
His son, Sultan Hajaj, received the investiture of the country from
Mangu. As he was only an infant, his father's widow, Kutlugh Turkhan,
was appointed regent, and exercised this authority for fifteen years.
When Sultan Hajaj took the reins of power there arose a violent strife
between him and Kutlugh Turkhan, who accused him, inter alia, of so
forgetting the reverence due to her as on one occasion, at a feast, to have
led her out in a dance. She went to implore Abaka's protection. Abaka
had married her daughter, Padishah Khatun, and he gave her absolute
authority in Kerman. Sultan Hajaj during her absence, we are told, had
sought aid from the sons of Ogotai Khakan, of which she heard on her
return. He now, in 669 hej., fled to Delhi, whence he returned ten
years later with an army furnished him by the Sultan Jalal ud din Khalj,
but died before reaching Kerman. This was in 1270. Kutlugh Turkhan
reigned in peace for twelve years longer, when Jelal ud din Siyurghatmish,
the second son of Kutb ud din, having done homage to the Ilkhan
Ahmed, obtained from him, through the influence of his mother, Kutui
Khatun, and of the noyan Sughunjak, the investiture of Kerman. On his
arrival there, in 1282, Kutlugh Turkhan left and set out for the ordu.
There she was supported by the khatuns, the amirs, and by the vizier
Shems ud din Muhammed, who wished that she should be associated
with Siyurghatmish. The partisans of the latter suggested that their patron,
discontented with this arrangement, would join Arghun in Khorasan,
and urged that the decision should be postponed until Siyurghatmish
himself came to the Court to settle his affairs, when the matter could
be arranged. Meanwhile Kutlugh Turkhan died at Tebriz, after having
reigned twenty-five years in Kerman with great prudence and sagacity,
and her daughter, Bibi Turkhan, conveyed her body back to Kerman.
When Arghun mounted the throne he summoned Siyurghatmish to the
Court, no doubt to be tried as a partisan of Ahmed's. He owed his safety
to the good offices of Buka, who confirmed him in his government, while
the revenues of Kerman were farmed to him for the sum of 600,000 dinars;
19,000 were devoted to the expenses of the administration, the rest being

GAIKHATU KHAN. 365
assigned to Siyurghatmish for the expenses of his Court. He married
Kurdujin, the daughter of the atabegin Abish, wife of Mangu Timur, son
of Khulagu, who was herself the last of the house of the Salghurids, rulers
of Fars. His sister, Padishah Khatun, was married to Abaka, as we
have seen, so that he was very closely connected with the Mongol
Imperial house. On Abaka's death Padishah Khatun had joined the harem
of Gaikhatu, who apparently gave her some authority in Kerman, but her
brother's vizier, Fakhr ul Malik Muhammed, who was the real ruler
there, refused to admit her claims, and said, " If the Sultanate come to
thee, thou mayest cut me in twain with a butcher's knife." This aroused
her rancour. Gaikhatu now (i.e., in 691 hej.) gave his wife the Sultanate
of Kerman, while the late Vizier fled to India. She inveigled him back
by fair promises, and then put him to death. She was witty, and wrote
verses, among others the following : —
Was ever a fleck of musk seen on a ruby (lip) 3
Or did ever civet taint the golden honey ?
My soul, that black mole on thy lip
Is like the meeting of darkness with life's fountain.
She made her brother her vicegerent, but when she discovered that he
was plotting to recover the throne she imprisoned him. His wife,
Khudavand Zadeh Kurdujin and his daughter Shah Alam Khatun,
sent him a coil of rope in a water skin into the castle, by means of which
he escaped and went to the camp; but he was speedily seized and put to
death, by his sister's orders, in 694 hej*
We must now turn again to the affairs of Khorasan. We described the
raid made by Nuruz, and the retreat of Ghazan to Damaghan, where he
heard of his father's death. The citizens had left the town on his approach.
Some fled to Girdkuh and others to the strong fort of Dih Muyan.
He could therefore obtain neither provisions nor shelter there. He
sent word to those who had fled to Dih Muyan to return, and as they
refused he sent to attack them. They submitted after three days, and
sent him plenty of provisions. The fort was razed, and only rebuilt again
after Ghazan's accession. On Arghun's death the customary Mongol
mourning was ordered by Ghazan, a feature of which was that all
ornaments and feathers were discarded from their caps. Ghazan was
now joined by the amir Mulai, who had come from Kuhistan across the
desert to meet him. He was gladly welcomed, and given the sister of the
amir Satilmish in marriage.
We have seen how, when Ghazan reached Tus on his retreat, several of
his amirs asked for furlough and left him. One of these, Aighurtai, went
over to the enemy's cause, and we are told that he set out from Sultan
Meidan, traversed Kabushane and Jorjan, and went as far as Devin
and Asterabad, proclaiming Kaidu as the supreme ruler of the land. As
* Hamdullah passim.

366 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
none of the great amirs were there, some of lower rank, named- Saighan,
Abaji, Mamluk, &c, undertook to drive him away. Ghazan now moved
from Semnan to Firuzkiuh, and to the borders of Demavend, as far as
Menshan. There the Princess Bulughan was confined, and died in
childbirth. When Gaikhatu mounted the throne, Ghazan sent the amir Kutlugh
with his submission, and apparently also to inform him of the deplorable
condition of Khorasan and to ask for help. The summer of 1291 he
passed at Ezran, also called Nekatuilak, which was situated between
Firuzkiuh and Semnan, where he passed the time in hunting, and feasting;
and in the autumn he went by way of Damaghan and Bostam to
Kialpush, where Nisam ud din- Yahya Kutlugh Khoja was called to
account for various malpractices, and was imprisoned at Andemed.
Ghazan then went on to Sultan Devin, near Asterabad, where he was
joined by the Prince Anbarji, or Enbarji (a grandson of Khulagu, by his
son Mangu Timur), and by the amirs Doladai, Kunjukbal, and Iltimur,
who had been sent to his aid by Gaikhatu. They fixed their winter
quarters at Karatughan.* The winter was not over when news
arrived that Nuruz was approaching with the intention of releasing
Nisam ud din Yahya. He contented himself, however, with plundering
Juven. In the spring, Prince Anbarji was ordered to march by way
of Dahistan, Yasu, Nissa, and Abjurd. There was a famine in
the land, corn became exceedingly dear, and the army had to have
recourse to hunting. Ghazan pitched his camp for a while at Jukjuran,
on the river of Herat, but retired thence to Badghiz on hearing that the
enemy was about. The pressure of famine became so great that the
troops began to kill their horses. He therefore returned to Herat, and
encamped near the bridge of Pulmalan. Shems ud din Kert, who had
imprisoned his elder son, Fakhr ud din, in the strong fort of Hissar, sent
the younger one, Alai ud din, to express his submission. Ghazan was
very considerate with the people of Herat, who had suffered much during
the recent famine, but he ordered the town of Fushenj, which had not
furnished the provisions he had demanded for the troops of Irak, to be
attacked. On its capture there was an overflow of booty and prisoners, but
the women and children were presently released. Gaikhatu left the army
of Khorasan without pay. He wished to go there in person, but afterwards
changed his mind. When Prince Anbarji returned home with the troops
of Irak and Azerbaijan, Ghazan went to the summer quarters of Shutur-
kiuh, and built the kiosk Murad. A mob having killed the sons of
Malik Susen and several other grandees, at the village of Jizerd, near
Khavas, the amirs Sutai and Mulai were sent against them. They were
met by Shah Ali, the son of the ruler of Seistan, who had surrounded
* Ilkhans, ii. 17.18.

GAIKHATU KHAN. 367
Khavas. Ghazan's troops fell upon him, and cut his army in pieces. We
next read of the execution of Amad ud din, a preacher, of Nishapur, who
had declared for Nuruz in the recent troubles. The winter of 1292 was
passed at Devin and Asterabad, and in the spring the army moved
towards Jorjan and the towns of Shereknev and Murjabad, and it was
further decided to march through Azerbaijan. At Temish the amir
Kutlugh was married to the daughter of Jinghutai. From this place to
Shuril, a distance of thirty parasangs, was traversed in one night. Ghazan
dispatched the amirs Satilmish and Khoja Said ud din to bring the revenues
of Khorasan, Mazanderan, Kumis, and Rai, from Demavend. He also
ordered provisions to be collected, and then set out for Tebriz, but at
Abher he received orders from Gaikhatu, who was probably suspicious of
his intentions, to return at once to his government. He took no notice
of this, or of a second message, and it was only on receipt of a third,
which reached him at Tebriz, that he withdrew, sending Gaikhatu word
that he wished to see his uncle a hundred times more eagerly than his
uncle wished to see him. He went to Yusagaj, where he married Eshel,
or Ishil Khatun, the daughter of the amir Toka Timur, and a month later
set out for Khorasan.*
We have seen how the Poli were sent from China in charge of a
princess for Arghun, and how when they arrived in Persia they found him
dead. This news they apparently learnt on their arrival at Hormuz.
Having sent news of their arrival to Gaikhatu, he ordered them to conduct
the lady to Ghazan, who was then living in the region of the Arbre sec
(i.e., of Khorasan), guarding the frontier with 60,000 troops. They did so,
and then went to Tebriz, to Gaikhatu, and stayed at his Court for nine
months.} Von Hammer, apparently quoting Rashid ud din, tells us that
it was while at Abher that Ghazan received the lady Kukachin from the
envoys he had sent to the Great Khan. The marriage festivities were
celebrated with great splendour. She did not long survive, and died in
June, 1296.} When the Poli left Gaikhatu's Court on their journey
westward, the Khan gave them four golden tablets or paizahs, two of
them bearing gerfalcons, one bearing a lion, and another plain,
with inscriptions stating that the envoys should receive the same
honour and service as was rendered to the prince in person, and that
horses, provisions, &c, should be supplied them. And so it came about,
as Marco Polo says, they frequently had as many as 200 horsemen to
escort them. " And this was all the more needful," says our author, " for
Gaikhatu was not the legitimate lord, and therefore the people had less
scruple to do mischief than if they had had a lawful prince."§ The
Poli now hastened on to Trebizond, Constantinople, Negroponti, and
Venice. ||
* Ilkhans, ii. 19-20. t Yule's Marco Polo, i. 38 Note 6. I Id. Ilkhans, ii. 20,
$ Op. cit., i. 35. || Id., i. 36.

368 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Gaikhatu appointed Akbuka to be generalissimo of the forces, and
nominated Singtur and Toghachar as his lieutenants. He confided his
private domain to the charge of two'of his favourite officers, Hassan and
Taichu, while the post of vizier was conferred on Sadr ud din, of Zenjan,
deputy of Toghachar, and a co-conspirator with him, as we have seen.
Enriched by the spoils of the Mongol grandees who had perished at the
close of the previous reign, he distributed large presents to those who could
assist him, and had gained the patronage of Akbuka. A list of persons
well fitted to fill the post of vizier had been prepared and presented to
Gaikhatu. In this list the name of Sadr ud din Ahmed el Khalidi did
not appear. Gaikhatu noticed this, and said that he knew no one more
worthy than he. Thereupon the khatuns and grandees sang his praises.
Von Hammer says he owed his promotion to the influence of Gaikhatu's
favourite, Buzaljin Ikaji, and to Sherif ud din, of Semnan, who had great
influence with Akbuka. He was duly installed as vizier, or sahib divan,
on the 19th of November, 1292. He changed his name to Sadr Jihan, or
president of the world. He was given a golden seal (al tamgha), with a
lion's head on it, a tuk or horsetail standard, a drum, and command of a
tuman of soldiers ; while it was forbidden to the amirs, khatuns, or
princes of the blood to interfere in any way with financial matters. The
dignity of Kadhi ul Kudhat, or chief judge, was conferred on his brother,
Kutb ud din Ahmed. He had control over everything relating to
Muhammedanism — the administration of the wakhfs and the charitable
institutions. He took the title of Kutbi Jihan, or pole of the world. His
uncle, Kavam ud din, was appointed governor of Tebriz, with the style
of Kavam ul Mulk (i.e., the strength of the kingdom). Fakhr ud din
Aidaji was nominated to look after the supply of food and the provisioning
of the army. He begged to be excused, urging that he had already had
this duty for thirty years, and had got into debt in consequence of the
demands of the princes and princesses. Gaikhatu ordered three tumans
to be devoted to paying off his debts, and afterwards treated him with the
greatest liberality. Gaikhatu's aim was to emulate the mild administration
of Ogotai Khan.*
He was extremely lavish in his expenditure. We are told he some
times made presents to the khatuns to the amount of thirty tumans
at a time. When he received presents from other princes, or from his
great vassals, he made them over at once to his khatuns or the young
princesses without looking at them, or he distributed them to his officers.
He devoted himself to debauchery and lasciviousness ; wine, women, and
boys were his main delight. He abused without shame or restraint the
sons and daughters of his grandees. Many women fled away to avoid
his lust, while others sent their boys and girls to distant places in order
* D'Ohsson, iv. 95-97. Ilkhans, i. 400-401.

GAIKHATU KHAN. 369
to escape him* He abandoned the direction of affairs to the vizier, Sadr
Jihan, whose authority became supreme, and who decided as he pleased,
displacing the prefects and others according to his whim. He deprived
Hassan and Taiju of the control of the private domain of the Ilkhan
(inju), which he united with the public domain (ddlai). These two
officers, in concert with Daulat Shah and some of the notables of Tebriz,
made an attempt to destroy Gaikhatu's good opinion of his Vizier. In
November, 1293, when he was in one of his hunting boxes, they urged
upon him that Sadr Jihan devoted the public revenue to his own private
expenditure, and neglected the troops and the proper provision for the
khatuns, adding that the treasury was empty ; and as an example they
cited the case of Tebriz, where they declared the Vizier had appropriated
to his own use thirty tumans of the eighty which the taxes of the
province produced. Gaikhatu was unmoved by these charges, told Sadr
Jihan what they were, ordered, his accusers, with their wives and
children, to be made over to him for punishment, and issued an order
that anyone in future accusing the Vizier of malpractices should be put
to death without trial. The accusers of the Vizier, having confessed their
fault and demanded pardon, were forgiven. A new edict was issued,
re-affirming that the administration of the kingdom, from the Jihun to
the borders of Egypt, was made over to Sadr Jihan, that he was authorised
to appoint whom he pleased to public offices, and that all the deputies of
the khatuns and generals were subject to] him. It was also forbidden
the princes of the blood and the military chiefs to take anything from
the revenue for their sustenance, or the pay or keep of their people.}
After the death of Arghun a disease called yut in Mongol had carried
off the greater part of the cattle in the kingdom, especially in the
districts of Baghdad, Mosul, Diarbekr, and Khorasan ; meanwhile,
the treasury was exhausted by the extravagance of Gaikhatu and his
minister, the latter of whom, with the wish of conciliating everyone,
distributed largess widely, especially to those devoted to religion. In
the course of two years Sadr Jihan had to borrow about 500 tumans,
the whole revenue of the kingdom being 1,600 tumans. Seven
were required for the ordinary expenses of the government, and what
remained was not sufficient to meet the prodigalities of the Ilkhan.}
We are told by Wassaf that whereas the whole cost of the kitchen
in the reigns of Abaka and Sultan Ahmed only amounted to 40 tumans,
it now rose to 165 tumans. The continuation of Abulfaraj tells us that the
needs of the treasury were so great that money was not forthcoming even
to buy a sheep for Gaikhatu's table. A Jew, named Rashid ud daulat, was
accordingly ordered to get what was needed for the Khan's table in
whatever way he could. He applied himself diligently to this duty, and
* Chron. Syr., 628-629. t D'Ohsson, iv. 97-99.
I Id., 99-100. Extract from Wassaf, Ilkhans, i. 423.424.
A*

37° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
spent in it the greater part of his fortune, buying a large number ©f oxen
and sheep, engaging cooks, &c. He had been promised that the money
he advanced should be repaid him at the end of each month, but the
treasury was empty, and the orders given him by the Vizier on the
provinces were dishonoured, for there was no money there. The Jew
having spent all his fortune, and unable to perform his commission any
longer, fled*
Amidstthese difficulties a man named Iz ud din Mozaffer Ibn Muhammed
Amid, who is referred to in terms of reproach and indignity by Wassaf,
suggested to the Vizier that he had a plan which would restore the public
prosperity and be without reproach. This was to put in circulation, in
lieu of metallic money, a paper currency like the chao in China. The
Vizier, pleased with this advice, repeated the proposition to'Gaikhatu, who
took counsel with Pulad Chingsang, the representative of the Khakan at
his Court, and a plan was accordingly arranged for its issue. In vain the
noyan Singtur, the most intelligent of the Mongol grandees, warned him
of the dangers of the plan. Sadr ud din only suggested that Singtur had
mercenary motives for his opposition, and in May, 1294, an order was
issued for the creation of the chao. The 3rd of July following, the
generals Akbuka, Toghachar, and Tamaji, and the Vizier, left for Tebriz,
where the new money was to be made. On the sides of an oblong piece
of paper were written several words in Chinese characters. At -the top
on both sides was the profession of the Muhammedan faith : " La illahi
ill' Allahi Muhammedun rassul Ullahi " (There is no God but God, and
Muhammed is his prophet) ; and below, " Irenchin Turji," or " Irichi
Turichi," i.e., the name which the bakhshis had given Gaikhatu on his
accession.} In a circle in the midst of the paper was marked its value,
the varieties being from half a dirhem to ten dinars, and then came the
sentence : " The sovereign of the world has issued, in the year 693, this
propitious chao. Whoever defaces it will be punished with death, with
his wives and children, and his goods will be confiscated." A mint for
the issue of the chao was founded in each province, which had its
governor, scribes, cashiers, &c. The use of a metal currency was
prohibited in all the kingdom, as was that of gold and silver for
bowls, &c, and also for the manufacture of golden tissue, except what was
needed for the Ilkhan's own wardrobe and those of his chief officers.
The goldsmiths and others who were thus deprived of a living were given
orders on the chao banks. These banks were ordered to exchange the
old notes for new ones on payment of a discount of 10 per cent. The
merchants of the Persian Sea who trafficked with foreign lands were alone
to be allowed to exchange their notes for gold at the treasury, but orders
were given to look after them closely.}
* Chron. Syr., 631-632. D'Ohsson, ioo. Note. t Vide supra, 283 and 355.
I D'Ohsson, iv. 102-103. Wassaf, Ilkhans, i. 428-429.

GAIKHATU KHAN. 37 1
Gaikhatu had been told that when gold had been displaced by the chao
there would be no more poor in the land, while provisions would be very
cheap, and poets sang the praises of the paper money. The first issue of
chao took place at Tebriz on the 12th of September, 1294, and it was
accompanied by an edict declaring that whoever refused to accept it,
whoever bought and sold for other money than chao, and whoever
did not take his coin to the mint to be exchanged for paper money,
was to be punished with death. This was shouted in the streets by criers.*
The fear of punishment caused the order to be obeyed for eight days, but
afterwards the shops and markets were deserted. Nothing was to be
bought in the city, and people began to leave. The famished citizens
rushed to the neighbouring gardens to get fruit. Gaikhatu one day
traversing the bazaar, and noticing that the shops were empty, inquired
the reason why. The Vizier said that a great magistrate was dead, and
that it was customary with the citizens to leave the bazaars on such
occasions. The authorities and troops had great difficulty in restraining
the crowd. The Mussulmans met in their mosque on the Friday, and
broke out into lamentations. Presently open murmurs were heard, and
imprecations were flung at Iz ud din Mozaffer and the other authors of
the innovation, and eventually attempts were made on the lives of the
Vizier and his people. As in the famous panic at the time of the issuing
of the French assignats, prices became quite arbitrary, and Wassaf tells
us how the sellers of a horse not worth more than "])i gold pieces asked
750 in paper. In the panic that ensued the Vizier's brother, Kutb ud din,
was compelled to sanction the purchase of provisions with coin, and
several were put to death for having taken part in the disturbances. The
Vizier presently saw the ill effects of his experiment. An ordinance
permitting the use of coin in buying provisions was issued, and coin
appeared again in other commercial affairs. Finally, the chao itself
was suppressed, amidst universal joy. For two months commercial
dealings had virtually ceased, the shops were empty, the roads were
deserted by traders, while wits and poets emulated each other in con
structing lampoons and gibes at the expense of the paper money and its
authors. Much money was wasted also in building the various mints,
that at Shiraz having cost five golden tumans. In that town no one could
sell a sheet of paper without the permission of the bank.} Prince Ghazan
did not wish the chao to be introduced into his appanage, and when the
official arrived with the paper and materials for its fabrication he sent
word to the Ilkhan that the air in that part of the country, especially in
Mazanderan, was so damp that arms and armour could not resist it for
twelve months, while a piece of paper when used became as fragile as a

* Cont. of Abulfaraj, 632. D'Ohsson, iv. 104.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 106. Cont. of Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 632-633. Ilkhans, i. 43?-433-

372 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
spider's web, and he ordered it all to be burnt. Von Hammer assigns
this story to Oghul, and not to Ghazan*
The dissipation and extravagance of Gaikhatu were wearying the whole
nation, and opened a way for the ambition of Baidu, who had been a
competitor for the throne with himself. The continuator of Abulfaraj
tells us that in July of the year 1294 Baidu was at a banquet with
Gaikhatu. They were eating, drinking, and laughing, when the
latter, who was apparently drunk, said something insulting to his
relative, who retorted, calling him a product of adultery. Gaikhatu,
much enraged, ordered the attendants to take Baidu outside the ordu,
and there to put him to death. Wassaf says he ordered one of them
to hit him with his fist. They fell on him accordingly, and put him
in a small tent with the intention of killing him, but Gaikhatu having
awoke after a short sleep, relented, and sent his people to ask him
how he had dared to say such a thing to the king of kings. Baidu
professed to be still drunk, feigned not to understand what they said,
and asked where Gaikhatu was. " Bring some wine," he said, " and
let us drink. What has happened, and why am I here?" Gaikhatu
was taken in by the artifice, and repented of the indignities he had put
upon his relative, and determined to appease him. After he had slept
for a while he sent some attendants to ask him if he knew what he had
said when drunk. He said he did not, and that if anyone had struck him
he was unaware of it, and pressed them to say whether they were joking
or speaking seriously. They thereupon related what had happened. He
appeared to be stupefied, and said, " Truly, Gaikhatu is most good to
me, or he would have ordered me to be cut in pieces on the spot." When
this was reported to the Ilkhan he was much touched, went to Baidu in
person, took him to the ordu, and dressed him in royal robes. Wassaf
says he took off his kulah or cap, and put it on Baidu's head. The latter
declared himself a guilty criminal, cursed drunkenness, and said, " I am
not conscious of having committed the offence. I did it unwittingly. I
beg you to give my flesh to the dogs without pity." Gaikhatu was now
more effusive than ever, and gave him in three or four days things of the
value of forty tumans, in gold and silver, in dresses of golden tissue,
precious stones, horses, and mules. For this he was reprimanded by his
courtiers, who told him he ought not to have wounded Baidu's honour,
nor illtreated him, nor handed him over to brutal people, who had pulled
him by the hair, cuffed and wounded him ; but that having done this,
neither his caresses nor his gifts were of any avail, and that he must be
on his guard against him. Some suggested that he should put him to
death, or he would do him harm ; others that he should be retained as
a prisoner for the rest of his life in the ordu. Gaikhatu determined to
* D'Ohsson, iv. 106. Hkhans, i. 405.

GAIKHATU KHAN. 373
insist on Baidu leaving his son with him as a hostage. Having sent the
boy, he withdrew to the mountains of Hamadan, as if on a hunting
excursion, and sent to inform Ghazan of the indignities he had suffered*
Rashid ud din says Baidu's life was spared at the entreaty of Gaikhatu's
nurse, Borakchin Igaji, who had considerable influence. In the spring
following, Baidu returned to his winter quarters at Dakuka, nursing
his revenge. He opened his grievances to several generals who had their
quarters in the neighbourhood of Baghdad, such as Tudaju, the superior
judge ; Jijek Gurkan Legsi, the son of the famous administrator, Arghun ;
and Iltimur, the son of Hindukur Noyan, and made a conspiracy with
them. Jemal ud din of Destajerd, the chief secretary of the treasury at
Baghdad, went over to him, and thus secured him provision for his men.
Having collected some troops, he marched upon Mosul, where he had
the governor seized and put to death. His people also went to Baghdad,
to put to death Muhammed Sikurji, who governed the town in the name
of Gaikhatu, and the standard of revolt was openly unfurled.t The
continuator of Bar Hebraeus tells us emissaries were sent to inform the
Khakan himself,} to tell him that Gaikhatu had abandoned the customs
of the Mongols and contemned Jingis Khan, that he gave himself up
to debauchery and extravagance, and that the grandees had therefore
determined to put him away, and to raise him (i.e., Ghazan) to the
throne. The latter replied, according to the continuation of Abulfaraj,
in biblical phrases, telling Baidu that he was greatest in Israel, and that
he was ready to submit to him, and to follow his counsel. He bade
him do what seemed best to him to rescue the State from its condition
of decrepitude. It behoved their future king to eschew a lascivious
life, gluttony, drinking, &c, extravagance and inordinate gifts, and to
protect the kingdom. §
Let us revert shortly to what had passed recently in Khorasan. We
have seen how, after his unfortunate campaign against the rebellious
general, Nuruz, Ghazan set out to pay Gaikhatu a visit, and how when
he refused to see him he returned. When he reached Firuzkuh he
learnt that his general and locum tenens during his absence, Kutlugh,
had defeated Nuruz, and compelled him to seek shelter in the mountains
of Nishapur. Kutlugh met him at Bostam with a considerable booty, and
they went along the road from Huirmabehrud towards Jorjan, and
encamped at Sultan Devin, near Asterabad. It is quaint to read that at
this place the amir Kutlugh, having become ill through drinking to excess
at a feast, took a pledge not to drink wine any more, and kept it. Kia
Salah ud din, who had once before rebelled, submitted, and been forgiven,
was again rebellious. He was defeated, and a considerable booty
was divided among the army. Ghazan passed the spring and summer
* Cont. of Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 629-631. D'Ohsson, iv. 107-109. Note.
t Cont. of Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 633. Ilkhans, i. 405-406. D'Ohsson, iv. 107-110.
X Clearly a mistake for Ghazan, as D'Ohsson has read it. § Op. cit., 634.

374 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
near Damaghan, Sultan Maidan, and Firuzkuh. The amirs Mulai and
Hirkudak having reported that the people of Nishapur behaved haughtily,
and took no heed of his messengers, he set out in October, 1294, for
that town, and encamped at Moeyedi, close by. The Khoja Said ud
din negotiated with the deputies of the town for the surrender of the
peace-breakers, but as the townsfolk refused to give them up it was
determined to attack the place. A large portion of the citizens sheltered
in the mosque Migh, whose walls were undermined. They now implored
mercy, which was granted them. Having put down the rebellion,
Ghazan returned to Jorjan, and wintered at Sultan Devin.*
Meanwhile Nuruz had quarrelled with his patron, the Khakan Kaidu.
After his defeat by Kutlugh Shah he had retired to Seistan, where he was
supported by the so-called Nigudarians, or troops who had followed the
rebellious Prince Nigudar. Thence he sent several expeditions into
Khorasan. At the end of 1294, discontented with Kaidu, he agreed with
Prince Uzbeg Timur (called Uruk Timur by Von Hammer), who was his
brother-in-law, to drive Kaidu's troops beyond the Oxus. They marched
together against Yassavur, but, obliged to give way before superior forces,
they went towards Herat. Notwithstanding this check, Nuruz continued
to make himself feared in Khorasan, and sent orders in various
directions in the name of Uzbeg Timur, which he had countersigned.
The two proceeded to assail Nishapur, which was about to surrender
when they quarrelled. Uzbeg Timur, fancying that Nuruz meant
to supersede him, left with his men. Nuruz, who was thus in a
difficulty, was persuaded by his wife Tuganjuk to send his submission
to Ghazan. He accordingly sent his relative Satilmish, and presently a
number of officers. He asked for pardon and oblivion as to the past, and
promised to be faithful in future. Ghazan was pleased to secure such a
redoubtable person as a friend, and offered to pardon him. The messenger
then begged him to advance with his troops as far as Mervchak, so
as to protect Nuruz if his opponent should attack him. Ghazan said he
would go in person, making pretence of a hunting excursion, and sent
them away with tokens of his goodwill. The Mongol new year was
spent at Sarakhs, and afterwards Ghazan, with the generals Nurin
and Kutlugh Shah and a large body of troops, went towards Merv,
hunting. At Bagshur (called Mori Shiburghan by the Mongols, Von
Hammer calls it Yaghshu), Nuruz, with his wife Tuganjuk (Von Hammer
says with Prince Tughan), went to meet him, and offered him nine
beautiful horses. Ghazan promised him every favour if he were faithful
to him, and they swore an eternal friendship. The feast lasted for three
days, but as there was little wine the healths were drunk in water. In
token of the reconciliation one of the memorial cairns called obo by the

* Ilkhans, ii. 20-21.

GAIKHATU KHAN. 375
Mongols was set up* Nuruz took the road of Shahrevan and Mervchak,
while Ghazan marched to Fariab by Anjui. There the troops of Trans
oxiana had established their magazines. A large quantity of cattle was
captured and taken off towards Shiburghan. Ghazan went himself
by way of San and Harik, and encamped on the banks of the river
of Shiburghan. The amirs who went in pursuit of the enemy inflicted a
severe defeat upon him in the neighbourhood of the mountains of San and
Harik. This was on the 19th of January, 1295. The enemy lost many
men and much booty, and the magazines were filled with grain. Having
waited there for twenty days, Ghazan went to Firamarsan, and thence by
way ot Sarakhs to Karatepe. There he was met by Boghdai Aidaji,
Gaikhatu's messenger, who brought news of the revolt of Baidu, already
described.} Meanwhile Gaikhatu's son-in-law, Ghurantai, or Gartebai Gurkan,
informed his father-in-law of the conspiracy, and warned him that the
generals Doladai Aidaji (i.e., the butler), Kunjukbal (who had married
Arghun's eldest daughter, Oljatai), Tukal (the husband of Arghun's second
daughter, Oljai Timur), Ilchidai (chief falconer and huntsman, according
to Stephen Orpelian), and Ildar, a grandson of Khulagu (Von Hammer
omits Ildar, and mentions Bukdai), who were at his Court, were in league
with the rebels. Gaikhatu had them arrested at Kiawabari, or Gaupari, and
sent to Tebriz. His close friends, Hassan and Taiju, counselled him
to nip matters in the bud by putting the rebel amirs to death. Toghachar
obtained a reprieve for them on the plea that it would be well first to see
what Baidu intended doing, and that if the latter were summoned to the
Court, and refused to attend, it would then be time to push matters to
extremity with the generals. Gaikhatu agreeing to this, they were handed
over in chains to Toghachar, who conveyed them to Tebriz. Khurumchi,
we are told, was confined for a while in the Armenian monastery of
Tathef, and regaining his liberty, was restored to his post by a miracle of
the Church. Tukal went to Georgia. Meanwhile Baidu was summoned
to the Court, while Toghachar sent him word that if he hastened thither
his partisans would seize Gaikhatu, whereupon he set out with his troops.
Orders were now sent to Baibuka, who commanded at Diarbekr, to
seize Baidu. When the messengers reached Irbil, they learnt that Baibuka
had already been seized by Baidu's people. They thereupon returned
hastily to inform their master.} Fancying that Baidu would make for
Khorasan to join Ghazan, troops were sent to seize the roads leading thither.
Tughachar (doubtless the Tagrus of the continuator of Bar Hebraeus) was
sent to prevent Baidu crossing the mountains of Sheharzur, and shortly
after Akbuka, who was Gaikhatu's father-in-law, was sent with another army
in the same direction. Other writers tell us that Taitak was sent ahead
* D'Ohsson, iv. 1 18-120. Ilkhans, ii. 21. t Ilkhans, ii. 22.
X Ilkhans, i. 406. D'Ohsson, iv. 111. Hist, de la Siounie, 259-260.

376 history of The Mongols.
with an advance guard of 5,000 men, while Akbuka and Toghachar each
commanded a tuman. Near Hamadan there was a struggle of outposts.
Toghachar meanwhile marched ahead of his colleague, and when the
latter sent to inquire his reason, he replied that he was obliged to hasten,
because of the want of pasture. As he continued to draw away, Akbuka
reminded him that he was acting against his master's orders. Toghachar
now threw off the mask. "Hitherto," he said, "Akbuka has ruled the
kingdom in the name of Gaikhatu ; henceforward I shall rule it in the
name of Baidu." The continuator of Abulfaraj tells us that this took
place at the foot of the mountain Sheharzur. Akbuka now found himself
deserted by most of his men, and returned with barely 300 men to
Gaikhatu, who was encamped at Abher. That prince wished to fly to
Rum, but his courtiers urged him not to run away while he still had so
many resources. He summoned Berim, one of his officers, and entreated
him not to desert him, and presented him with a robe. He then withdrew to
his ordu in Arran, accompanied by a few horsemen, leaving his permanent
quarters to be pillaged by Berim. He was soon abandoned by Hassan
and Taiju, the former of whom went over to Baidu, whose example was
followed by other Mongols. At Mughan he alighted in the quarter of his
equerries. He fancied that Kunjukbal and Doladai, who had been
unfaithful to him, were at this time in prison at Tebriz, but Toghachar
had already released them, and they had made their way to the royal
ordu with the intention of plundering it, while the amirs Irinjin and Taijik
having banded themselves with others, released Baidu's son Kipchak
(who, as we have seen, had been left at Gaikhatu's Court as a hostage),
and sent him to his father.
Three days after the skirmish outside Hamadan, above-mentioned,
Taitak and Toghrulji had another struggle with Baidu's people,
commanded by Bashmak Oghul and Karaju, in which the victory rested
with Taitak. But at this time Tukal, who had collected an army in
Georgia, drew near. He sent word to the various amirs that he had
declared for Baidu, and bade them join him on the Kur. A body of one
thousand men, who were at Pilsuvar, apparently under the Berim already
named, now seized the unfortunate Khan, and handed him over to the
amirs who had revolted.* Abulfeda calls the place Salasalar, in the
district of Mughan. He begged for his life, saying he had never been
ambitious to occupy the throne, and had only done so at the instance of
his generals, and that if they wished to dethrone him his duty was to
obey. This was not the kind of language to inspire much respect among
the Mongol soldiery, whose chiefs had been made of very different stuff
They replied with gross insults. They dragged him into his tent, where
he was strangled with a bowstring, on (according to Rashid) the 23rd of
* Cont. of Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 635-636. Ilkhans, i. 407.408.

BAIDU KHAN. 377
April, 1295* Marco Polo says he was poisoned.t He was buried at
Karabagh by order of his successor Baidu.} Wassaf, drawing his simile
from one of Gaikhatu's vile habits, in describing the catastrophe by which
his life and reign came to an end, has an extraordinary rhetorical
outburst. " A la fin I'empire montra a Gaikhatu ce qu'il aimait, c'est a
dire le derriere?' His singular weakness and overstrained clemency,
which probably lost him his throne, are attributed by Wassaf to an
opinion of the Shamans, who being asked by him how it was that Arghun
had enjoyed such a short life, replied because he put to death so many
princes, officers, and soldiers. §
All the authorities agree in describing Gaikhatu as a dissolute and
lecherous person. This is the character Marco Polo gives him.
Haithon's graphic denunciation has been well translated by Colonel Yule.
" A man without law or faith, of no valour or experience in arms, but
altogether given up to lechery and vice, living like a brute beast, glutting
all his disordered appetites ; for his dissolute life hated by his own people
and lightly regarded by foreigners." || This opinion of the Christians is
for once fully shared by the Muhammedans, Wassaf, Abulfeda, &c. In
the " Shajrat ul Atrak," after reciting his dissolute habits, the author
adds : " It may be stated in his favour that he was the most generous of
all the descendants of Khulagu Khan, and that during his reign he never
caused the execution of an innocent man, or permitted the punishment of
the guilty otherwise than was prescribed by the law.1T
Gaikhatu had six wives, viz., Aisha, daughter of Tughu, son of Ilkai
Noyan ; Dundi, daughter of Akbuka, son of Ilkai ; Ilturmish, daughter
of Kutlugh Timur Gurkan, the Konkurat ; Padishah Khatun, daughter
of Kutb ud din, the ruler of Kerman ; Bulughan, and Uruk. He left
three sons, Alafreng and Iranshah by Dundi, and Jiuk pulad by
Bulughan. He also left four daughters.**
De Saulcy published two gold coins of Gaikhatu, and Mr. S. Poole has
published three silver ones. On these coins his name is replaced by the
formula, Arinchin Turji (very precious diamond), previously discussed.}}
These coins bear the Sunni symbol, and were struck at Baghdad and
Tebriz, between the years 691 and 693.}}

Baidu Khan.
On the murder of Gaikhatu, Akbuka, Tamaji, Sertak, and several
others of his favourites were put to death. Taiju was conducted
to the ordu and there examined. Baidu accused him of having received
many favours from Gaikhatu, notwithstanding which he had not
* D'Ohsson, iv. 113. Hist, de la Siounie, 260. t Yule's Marco Polo, 474.
I Shajrat ul Atrak, 270. § D'Ohsson, iv. 113-114.
[ Yule's Marco Polo, ii. 474. K Miles, op. cit., 270. ** Ilkhans, 1. 400.
tt Ante, 283 and 356. II Journ. Asiat., 3rd ser., xin. 129-130. Poole Cat., vi. 32.

378 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
helped him in his distress, and he suggested that he himself might
expect the same treatment, and he had him put to death. Hassan was
condemned to death for the same reason, but was pardoned. Baidu
summoned Ayet-Kali, who had struck him at the banquet by order of
Gaikhatu, and apostrophised him about his audacity. He replied that
Gaikhatu being his sovereign, if he had ordered him to kill his brother or
his son he should have felt bound to obey him, and that now he was the
servant of Baidu he should feel obliged to obey him in the same way.
His excuse was accepted, and he was allowed to retain his post.* The
throne on which Abaka and Arghun had been enthroned was brought
from Tebriz and set up at Aujan, where Baidu was duly proclaimed in
April, 1295. Stephen Orpelian says the installation took place in the
plain of Srav. After the usual festivities Baidu set out for Siahkuh, and
issued an edict, and had it sent to various parts of the empire, in these
words : " As Gaikhatu had a distaste for the affairs of government, and
acted contrary to the yasa of Jingis Khan, we have dethroned him, in
concert with our akas and degus,t with the khatuns and the amirs. May
the pensions and payments fixed by our father be paid punctually to those
who are entitled to them."
The noyan Toghachar was appointed generalissimo and head of the
administration, while Kunjukbal, Tugan (the Tukal of Von Hammer),
Chichak, Legsi Gurkan, and Tudaju were appointed his deputies. Jemal ud
din of Destarjirdan was put over the finances, and adopted the title of vizier
in lieu of that of sahib divan, deeming it would bring him good fortune.
Considering that the amirs were discontented with Gaikhatu because they
were not employed in the administration, he gave them the government
of the provinces, recalling the fact that during Abaka's reign, when
each province was controlled by one of the ruler's familiars, order and
tranquillity generally prevailed, and the troops were quiet. Baghdad was
confided to Tudaju, Rum and Diarbekr to the noyan Toghachar, Irak
Ajem and Lur to Doladai Aidaji, and Shiraz and Shebankiareh to
Kunjukbal. Each was absolute in his own province. }
Let us now revert shortly to the doings of Ghazan in Khorasan. When
he heard that Baidu had revolted he took no notice of it, but having
permitted Nuruz to leave for his camp, he himself went to Badghiz, and
after a halt of some time repaired again by way of Eshja, Shevkian and
the valley of Kharir to Radkian, to hunt. Envoys now arrived from
Baidu with the news that the amirs and other grandees had adjudged
him the throne. Ghazan consulted with his amirs, and sent for Nuruz,
whom he appointed governor of Khorasan, with powers equal to those
held by his famous father, but took no other immediate steps. After
* D'Ohsson, iv. 116,
t Akas, a term which in Mongol and Turk means elders ; degus, the Turkish ini, means the
younger members of the royal stock ; together, all the members of his family.
I D'Ohsson, iv. 115-118. Ilkhans, i. 408-410.

BAIDU KHAN. 379
spending some time at Radkian and the springs of Kebseb, he went
to Duber, where he was met by Nuruz. Meanwhile, Prince Suka, with
the greater part of Gaikhatu's troops in Mazanderan, went by way of
Shehreknev and Jorjan to Sultan Devin, where they joined Ghazan,
and feasted for several days.* Before leaving Sultan Devin, Ghazan
sent word to Baidu that he was coming to see him, and then advanced by
way of Jehardih to Damaghan. He would have stayed to rest at
Girdkuh, but was urged to go on by his amirs, who pronounced it to be
of unhappy augury if he stayed to sup there. The sons of Taj ud din
Ilduz, the former commander, were brought out of the castle, and the
astronomer Said ud din Habesh was told to look after them. At Semnan
they were met by Ardubuka, who had been sent by Gaikhatu with a sack of
paper money, and machinery for making it. Ghazan ordered it to be burnt.
At Hetran (D'Ohsson says at Khailbuzurg, between Rai and Kazvin) he
was met by Timur Aidaji, whom he had sent to Baidu, and who brought
word that he had mounted the throne, and that the amirs Toghachar,
Kinduskul (? Kunjukbal), Doladai, &c, had declared for him. At the
council which was now summoned Nuruz said it was not wonderful that
the amirs who had usurped power should have declared against him
(Ghazan), as they were afraid he would avenge the death of his uncle
Gaikhatu, of Ordu Kia, and of Juchi ; but they feared still more his great
qualities, and wished to retain the power in the hands of a feeble and
timid prince, whom they could control as they pleased. He advised
Ghazan to send successive envoys to Baidu, and to act according to their
report of what took place. As he had never dreamt there might be a
struggle, Ghazan had only brought a few troops and very little baggage
with him. He determined to send the two amirs Mulai and Yaghmish
to say he was coming to have a personal interview with him, assuring
him of his goodwill, but also saying that according to the yasa of Jingis
Khan it was forbidden for karajus (i.e., those not of royal blood) to shed
the blood of princes, and demanding the surrender of the guilty beys, so
that they might be tried and punished. When he reached Akkhoja, near
Kazvin, he was met by Shadi Gurkan, the son of Bukua, and the Princess
Yelturmish, who came on behalf of Baidu, to say that he had not
desired the throne, but as on the death of Gaikhatu he (Ghazan) was so far
off, the khatuns, generals, and noyans, to put an end to the confusion
which was desolating the country, had united in electing him, that all
would be well. Ghazan was further urged not to fatigue his troops,
but to turn back home again.}
Ghazan, who had a very small force with him, was for returning, but
Nuruz urged him to go on. " Man must end by dying," he said. " As
death is certain, let it be honourable." Ghazan decided to follow the
* Ilkhans, ii. 22. D'Ohsson, iv. 121. t D'Ohsson, iv. 121.122. Ilkhans, ii. 23-24.

380 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
counsel of Nuruz, and to advance with his little army of 6,000 men .*
He assigned to each officer his part in the coming struggle, and promised
to reward them each with the command of a district or a province if they
should prove victorious, while he urged on his men that it was better to go
on than to retrace the long journey they had already made. On arriving
at the station of Robat Moslim, the place was summoned, and Shadi
Gurkan was sharply questioned about the usurpation of Baidu. Prince
Ildar, the second son of Kiukurtai, son of Khulagu, who was with Shadi
Gurkan, boasted when drunk that if Ghazan would not submit to Baidu,
there would be open war between them. The envoys were now dismissed.
The amirs Nurin and Kutlugh Shah were told to have the army ready,
and I sen Buka, who was a subordinate judicial officer, was sent to Baidu
with the laconic message, " We are coming." Ghazan advanced by way
of Tuka, Turuvan, and Sipidrud.} Baidu learnt at Heshtrud, near
Meragha, that his rival was approaching. He sent his equerry, Bughdai,
to report, and as he did not bring encouraging news, a council was called,
including the amirs Toghachar, Doladai, Kunjukbal, Ilchidai, and Tugal,
and it was determined to offer battle. The two armies were before one
another on the 19th of May, near Kurban shira (which was a few
leagues west of the Sipid rud, i.e., the White River), and Karieh
Shirguiram. Nuruz advised an immediate attack. Prince Ildar and the
amirs Ilchidai and Chichek commanded Baidu's right wing, and Kutlugh
Shah and Nurin Aka the right wing of Ghazan. The. Princes Suka and
Buralighi, with Nuruz, were with Ghazan in the centre. The battle began
by Kutlugh Shah charging Ildar before the great trumpet sounded. Ildar
and eight hundred of his men were killed, while Arslan Oghul (Von
Hammer calls him Arslan Arghun) was captured, and led with a cord
about his neck before Ghazan. Prince Burultai was for cutting him down,
but Ghazan would not permit it, and ordered a kaftan, a cap, girdle, and
trousers to be given him out of his wardrobe. He also ordered medicine
to be distributed to the wounded. All the army of Khorasan was about to
charge, when the equerry Bugdai rushed in between the two forces, and
prostrating himself before Ghazan, said, " Prince Baidu sends to tell you
that relatives should not fight. If you will divide the kingdom you may
have Khorasan and Mazanderan, Irak, Kerman, and Fars."}
The continuator of Abulfaraj says nothing about any battle, but that
Ghazan sent to inquire why he had been summoned, and why, further,
having been so, Baidu had not awaited his arrival, so that he might mount
the throne with his consent. He adds that the latter consented to make over
to him Khorasan, Shiraz, Behrin, and Shirvan, and also gave him the camp
and effects of his father Arghun, reserving only one tent for himself.
Nurin and Kutlugh Shah pressed Ghazan to accept the offer, but Nuruz

* D'Ohsson, iv. 121-123.
t Ilkhans, ii. 24. X D'Ohsson, iv. 124. Ilkhans,

BAIDU KHAN. 381
advised him to take advantage of his rival's weakness to attack him
suddenly at night. When his men were duly mounted, however, a terrible
hurricane came on, and they lost themselves and each other, and when
daylight broke they were very weary, and much disturbed at finding
themselves close to Baidu's people, who marched out to attack them.
Ghazan seeing the position of affairs agreed to a truce.* Thereupon the
two princes advanced to meet one another between the armies,
accompanied by ten men each. With Baidu were Toghachar, Doladai,
Kunjukbal, and Ilchidai ; while Ghazan was accompanied by Nuruz,
Nurin, Kutlugh Shah, and Sutai. They all dismounted on the battle-field,
and the two princes embraced one another. Thereupon Baidu repeated
what he had already sent as a message to Ghazan several times, and they
promised in future npt to disturb the public peace by their quarrels, and
in the usual Mongol fashion wine, in which gold was mingled, was drunk
from golden cups. Nuruz refused to drink wine in swearing, pleading
that he was a Mussulman. The generals on each side followed the
example of their masters in swearing friendship. It was decided that
Baidu should be duly enthroned the following day. He promised to do
all that Ghazan should require, and in the evening the two princes
returned to their camps. The two armies marched together as far as
Kurban Shira, but there was continual watchfulness and jealousy on
either side, and each man kept his hand on his bridle. Meanwhile
the Sheikh Hurkasan, who was one of the pages of the Princess Bulughan,
had gone over with a considerable following and joined the party of
Ghazan. As the latter's troops were passing through a narrow defile,
Kukatu and Kunjukbal urged Baidu to close the entrance, and thus catch
them in a trap, but he refused to do so. At length, by the intervention
of the officers on either side, it was arranged that the two princes should
have another interview in a royal tent pitched between the two armies.
To this they repaired with the same grandees who had accompanied them
before. This interview was brought about by the invitation of Tudai
Khatun, the widow of both Abaka and Arghun, whose yurt was in the
neighbourhood, and who wished the reconciliation to be effected in her
own presence. A long debate took place, lasting from morning till sunset.
It was arranged that all the property of Arghun, including that of the
Princesses Bulughan and Uruk, and of Prince Khudabendeh, Ghazan's
brother, should belong to the latter, and that he should control the
country beyond the Sipid rud, viz., Irak Ajem, Khorasan, Kumuz,
Mazanderan, and one-half of Fars. The "Shajrat ul Atrak" adds
Khoristan (?) and Luristan. Baidu was to keep Irak Arab, Diarbekr,
Azerbaijan, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, and Rum. Ghazan was to retain
the royal domains there. He asked in addition for the tuman of
* Cont. of Abulfaraj, Chron. Syr., 637-638,

3^2 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Karaunas commanded by Toghachar, which had been attached to Arghun's
appanage, but Baidu urged that Arghun, who had treated him as one of
his own sons, had assigned him the tuman of the Karaunas of Baghdad
for his retinue. The amirs urged that the matter should rest as it had
bee fixed. While the negotiations were in progress the army of Baidu
was being continually reinforced. There arrived troops from Baghdad
and from Mughan, and his generals urged him to take advantage of his
opportunity to put an end to Ghazan. Tugal was so discontented with
his refusal to entertain this that he hurriedly returned to his quarters in
Georgia. Nor would Baidu listen to those who demanded the blood
penalty for the relatives who had been killed by Ghazan's people.
Kunjukbal, we are told, urged that, as in case of Baidu's discomfiture the
amirs would turn to Akbuka, who was in chains, it would be well to put
him to death. Baidu was apparently quite loyal to the arrangements he
had made. He sent Doladai with meat and drink to attend upon Ghazan,
and to offer him the cup.
Ghazan, alarmed at the increasing forces of his rival, determined to
withdraw by way of Siah kuh, Sipid rud, and Sukurluk, but Baidu feared
that the Karaunas who were encamped in that direction would desert to
him, and also that he would lose a considerable treasure which was there,
and he sent the famous amir Pulad Chingsang to urge him to return by
the same route he had come. The next day, Baidu's son Kinjak (called
Kipchak by D'Ohsson) went to Ghazan's camp at Kurban Shira to offer
him the cup again, and to invite him to a parting feast, after which he
might return to Khorasan. Ghazan was naturally suspicious. We are
told his generals swore mutual oaths, Nurin, Kutlugh Shah, and others
doing so by drinking out of gold cups, while Nuruz, Buralkai, and Mulai
did so with their hands on the Koran. Nuruz pressed his patron to
become a Mussulman, saying he would thus attract all the followers of
Islam to his side. He presented him with a beautiful ruby ring, of the
weight of ten miskals, on his knees, and said that although it was not
seemly for a karaju, or subject, to make such presents to a prince of the
blood, he had been made bold by his goodness to him, and begged him
to retain the ring as a memento of the promise he had made. Baidu
pressed for another interview, but the generals of Nuruz, fearing some
treachery (the " Shajrat ul Atrak " says Baidu's amirs had determined to
put Ghazan to death next day at a display of fireworks), urged him to
refuse, and he sent word that the astrologers had declared .the day fixed
for the interview to be unpropitious, but that he would be at the rendezvous
the day after. During the night, however, he hastily left with the advance
guard, and marched so quickly that he had crossed the Sipid rud before
morning, and taking the road Dih Minar, reached Zenjan. He left Nuruz
and Tuktimur behind to receive the act of investiture of the provinces of
Irak and Fars, and to superintend the removal of the ulusses of the wives

BAIDU KHAN. 383
of his father and uncle, as well as of the troops belonging to the military
establishments of Arghun and Abaka. They were also to try and learn
Baidu's plans, and to prevent him from pursuing. From Mosellim (called
Robat Moslim, on the Kur, by Von Hammer), Ghazan sent word to Baidu,
begging him to execute the treaty they had made, and to make over to
his generals what he had promised to give him. Meanwhile Kunjukbal,
Ilchidai, and Doladai went in pursuit of him with 5,000 men. When
the latter reached the river Kiuh (not Kiere, as D'Ohsson reads it, says
Von Hammer), called Turkan Muran, or the Turk's river, by the Mongols,
east of Kazvin, there came Kesher Bakhshi with a message from Baidu,
expressing his concern that they had not had another interview.. Ghazan
sent him back his spear bearer, Ibrahim, to again urge the fulfilment of the
treaty. It seems Baidu had ordered Jemal ud din to deliver up a part of
Fars to Ghazan, but when the latter's officers went to take possession a
counter order was produced. He now went on to Demavend to await
Baidu's answer. Nuruz and the other officers of Ghazan who had been
left behind went with Baidu to Sheruyas (Sultania). They were arrested,
and menaced with all kinds of threats, but Nuruz remained unmoved.
Thereupon Baidu's officers changed their tactics, and charged his brother
Legsi to try and win him over. But promises were no more effective
than threats ; nor was he to be induced to break his oath to Ghazan
when the amirs went to him in troops to threaten him. He, on the
other hand, tried counter intrigue. He succeeded in gaining over
Toghachar, and even persuaded Baidu that he was friendly to himself,
and promised solemnly to hand Ghazan over to him bound hand and foot.
The continuation of Abulfaraj says he promised to send him his head on
a charger. He was released, while his son was given the amirship of
Yezd, with an assignation of 10,000 dinars on the revenues of that town.
Ghazan's amirs were also allowed to leave, and Baidu himself encamped
in his yurt of Sughurlik. Nuruz now hastened, with Tuktimur, to rejoin
Ghazan, and traversed the distance from Meragha to Firuzkuh, near Dema
vend, in four days. He told him that to save his own life he had feigned an
intention to betray him. In order to keep his word to Baidu he sent him
a cauldron, bound in cords, in a sack. (Ghazan means, a cauldron.) On
receiving this, Baidu and his people were naturally outraged, and regretted
having let such a dangerous enemy escape them.
At a council which Ghazan now called, Nuruz again urged him to
become a Mussulman. " The astrologers, doctors of the law, and other
holy people have foretold," he said, "that about the year 690 HEJ.
(i.e., 1291) there will appear a ruler who will protect the Muhammedan
faith, will restore to it its ancient glory, will bring prosperity to his
subjects, and will reign for many years. I have always thought that this
meant you. If you will embrace Islam you will become the ruler of Iran.
The Mussulmans raised by you from the degradation they have suffered

3§4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
at the hands of the pagan Tartars will be devoted to your cause, while
God, recognising that you have saved the true faith from extinction,
will bless your arms." Ghazan was moved by this address. He sent for
the ruby which Nuruz had given him, and which he had kept as a gauge
of his promise. He gave a great feast on the 19th of June in the meadow
of Lar-Demavend, near a country house where his father had often lived.
Having purified himself by a bath, and dressed himself in new clothes,
he entered the house, where, standing at the foot of the throne, he repeated
several times the profession of faith which was recited by the Amir Sadr
ud din Ibrahim, the son of the great Sheikh Said ud din, descended from
Hamuyah, the disciple of Mohiyeddin Arabi, the pole star, says Von
Hammer, of Arabian mystics, who was born in 11 64, and died in 1240.
Sadr ud din Ibrahim was the contemporary of Sadr ud din of Konia, and
the author of some famous mystical works, as the " Kitabi Mahbub "
(i.e., the book of lovers), the "Sijilol-ervah" (i.e., the records of spirits),
and of many mystical verses. The example of Ghazan was followed by
his officers and soldiers. He distributed largess to the imaums, sheikhs,
and seyids, or descendants of Muhammed, and gave rich alms to the
poor. He visited the mosques and tombs of the saints, asking God to
grant him victory over his enemies. Couriers were sent with the news of
his conversion to Irak and Khorasan, whence many imaums and sheikhs
hastened to his camp. He observed the fast of Ramazan, and every
evening had many Turks and Persians to sup with him at his table. The
auspicious event took place on the 16th of June, 1295.* According to
the "Shajrat ul Atrak" the adoption of Islam by Ghazan took place at
Firuzkuh. It adds that in commemoration of the event, Nuruz raised a
white marble pillar on the spot, which, it says, is between Ubeh (?) and
Gurgistan, or Georgia, which stone was known as Mir Nuruz's pillar when
the author wrote.} Ghazan now adopted the name of Mahmud. He had
been up to this time a devoted Buddhist, and had built a large Buddhist
temple at Khabushan. His conversion on the present occasion was
doubtless in a large measure due to political rather than to religious
considerations, but with whatever motive the result was exceedingly
important and fraught with the greatest consequence for the history of the
East. Not only did it re-arrange entirely the forces of politics in
Persia, but it drew into the service of the State in much closer fashion all
the best elements and the greatest political insight in the East at this
time. Its immediate effect on Ghazan's own fortunes were naturally very
marked. Baidu made Toghachar governor of Rum, and appointed as his assistant
the vizier Sadr ud din, of Zenjan, surnamed the Chaoyian, or introducer
of paper money. This was a virtual deposition of the latter officer, whose
* Ilkhans, ii. 24-29. D'Ohsson, iv. 122-133. Shajrat ul Atrak, 273, &$.
t Op. cit., 273.

BAIDU KHAN. 385
post as vizier was given to Jemal ud din, of Destarjerd, who owed the
greater part of his fortune to him, but nevertheless became his open
enemy. The deposed vizier saw that his best chance of revenge was to
join the party of Ghazan, and he incited Toghachar, who was at this time
irritated in consequence of a quarrel with Todaju, one of Baidu's generals
to join him. They determined to act in concert. At this time there was
at the Court an envoy of Ghazan's, named Ariktimur, who had gone to
urge the departure of the Princess Bulughan, whom Baidu had detained
on the ground that she ought not to make the journey in that unfavourable
season. Sadr ud din persuaded the princess to send the sheikh Mahmud,
of Deinavar, to Ghazan, to make her excuses. He was also instructed to
assure him secretly of the goodwill of the amirs Toghachar, Choban,
Kurumishi, and Bogdai, as well as of the ayu-oghlans (meaning
good fellows in Turkish, and probably connoting pages.*) The sheikh set
out with an officer named Kutlugh Shah.t On his arrival he delivered the
message from the princess openly and before his colleague, and then had
a private interview with Ghazan, and told him how all the military chiefs,
except Kunjukbal, Tugal, Doladai, and Ilchidai, who were too guilty to
expect pardon, were ready on the news of his march to join him. Ghazan
was delighted with this unexpected news, and asked for information
about what was passing at Baidu's Court. At this time the forces
of Transoxiana made au invasion of Khorasan, but withdrew again on
the approach of Nuruz, who marched against them. On the return of
the sheikh to the Court he reported this invasion, which had necessitated
the departure of Nuruz. The news]was welcome to Baidu, who disbanded
his troops. The sheikh also reported to the generals the result of his
secret interview with Ghazan. He had been one of Arghun's companions,
and disliked Baidu because he favoured the Christians, and supported
Ghazan in the interests of Muhammedanism.} Sadr ud din, pretending
that he was on his way to Rum, stayed at Tebriz. He sent to fetch his
brother, Kutb ud din, or Kutb Jihan, from Kazvin, and fled with him and
his cotfsin, Kavam ul Mulk, with all the gold and silver which he could
carry. He was pursued by the troops of Kunjukbal, and his baggage was
pillaged, but he arrived safely at Firuzkuh, where he was received with
great honour by Ghazan. He promised that Toghachar, over whom he
had great influence, would faithfully keep his promise of joining him with
his troops when he should advance, and obtained a promise from Ghazan
that he himself should be made vizier if their plans did not miscarry.
Kutlugh Shah was again sent by Baidu to Ghazan's camp. He was
arrested, and under torture confessed that he had gone to report
whether it was Ghazan's intention to advance. He was imprisoned in

* D'Ohsson, iv. 155. Note.
t Not the general of that name, who was one of Ghazan's amirs.
I D'Ohsson, iv. 133-135- Ilkhans, ii. 29.

386 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the fort of Hebl rud, and Ghazan set out on the 26th (Von Hammer says
the 28th) of August for Rai. Nuruz, with Kutlugh Shah, or, according to
the " Shajrat ul Atrak," Sadr ud din, and Khoja Ahmed Khabdi, went on
with the burunghai, or advanced guard, of 4,000 horsemen, and with them
marched Sadr ud din, of Zenjan. After the flight of the latter, the
generals Choban and Kurumishi Kurkan, son of Alinak, who were
attached to the tuman of Tudaju, asked permission from that chief
to go and exercise their horses, so as to have them ready, since news was
continually arriving of Ghazan's march. They accordingly took 500
horses, and setting out at nightfall went and joined Ghazan at Hebl rud,
and were rewarded by him with kaftans and jewelled girdles. At their
request they were sent to join the advance guard. A few days later
Ghazan reached the river Kiuheh (called Kuma by D'Ohsson). Nuruz
was intrusted with the organisation of the army. By his advice news was
spread abroad that he (Ghazan) was marching at the head of twelve
tumans to secure his father's throne ; that the sword having been drawn,
those who opposed him would be put to death with their families. This
proclamation had the desired effect. The advance guard stopped all
whom they met, so that news of the march might not reach Baidu.
Nuruz hastened on to Sijas and Sohravrad, on the banks of the Sipid rud.
This was reported to Baidu by Doladai, who commanded his advance
guard. After the promises which had been made to him, he was
very indignant, and especially resented the conduct of Nuruz, who
had so completely deceived him. He at once sent to inform Toghachar,
his generalissimo, and to ask his advice. He reassured him, and
promised to disperse the enemy if he marched against him. But
during the night he furtively escaped with some of his officers and
joined Nuruz. This defection was followed by that of numerous
soldiers. When Baidu learnt of this the following day he lost heart
and fled. Leaving the Sipid rud, he reached Maidan Sulimanshah
the same day with some officers. The next day Eltimur, with his tuman,
and Khodabandeh, brother of Ghazan, went to join Nuruz. Learning this
new defection, Baidu continued his flight towards Aujan and Merend with
the amirs Kunjukbal, Chichak, and Ilchidai, and several officers, with the
intention of reaching Georgia, where he hoped for support from Tugal.
Ghazan meanwhile reached Sijas, where he received the submission of
Khodabendeh and Ildar. Further on, on the Sipid rud, he was joined by
the generals Doladai, Iltimur, and others. He then went to Merend, to
await the return of Nuruz and Kutlugh Shah, who had gone towards the
Aras in pursuit of Baidu. Nuruz advanced very rapidly, and his horses
being worn out, he dispatched Kurumishi and Shadi with 4,000 men, who
overtook the fugitive near Nakhchivan, in Armenia. When he was brought
before Nuruz, that unscrupulous believer in blood and iron jeered at him,
saying : " Did we not agree that I would bring you to Ghazan ?

BAIDU KHAN. 387
You see I meant what I said. I have kept my word, but why have
you not kept yours? Why did you turn your back upon us when
we came ?" Baidu begged to be conducted before Ghazan, who had
halted at Aujan. News was sent on to the latter that his rival had been
captured, and would arrive the following day, escorted by 200 men.
Ghazan, who was not anxious for an interview, sent one of his equerries
with some troopers to put him to death. They met him and his escort
near Tebriz, and having in the Mongol fashion given him a feast, which
lasted until night, and during which he was treated with the honours due
to one of his rank, put him to death on the 5th of October, 1295. His
son, Kipchak Oghul, was put to death at Keshur, near Meragha. Ildar
fled towards Rum, and Tugal to Georgia.*
Baidu had barely reigned eight months. The continuation of Abulfaraj
praises his good qualities, and tells us he was free from the debauched
habits and unnatural offences of his predecessor. He was prudent, gentle,
and modest, and patronised the distinguished men of every country,
giving them splendid presents and robes. He had passed much time in
the society of the Greek wife of Abaka, the Princess Despina, from
whom he had acquired a good opinion of the Christians. He had allowed
a Christian church to be set up in his camp some years before, and also
allowed the bells to be rung.' At this time many of the Mongols had
become Mussulmans, were circumcised, and practised the ablutions and
said the prayers enjoined upon the faithful ; and, we are told, to please
them Baidu also became a Mussulman, but according to the continuator
of Abulfaraj, he was really a Christian, and wore a cross suspended
about his neck. Although a nominal Muhammedan, he did not join in
their services, but to please the faithful he sent his son to pray with
them.} Haithon has a notice confirming these statements of Bar Hebrseus.
He says he was a good Christian, rebuilt the Christian churches, and
forbade the preaching of Muhammedanism among the Tartars, and as
there were many of them who had become converts to that faith, they
were much opposed to him. This was why they made secret overtures to
Ghazan, and why when Baidu marched against him those who were
Muhammedans went over to him.}
Abulfeda's notice of Baidu § adds nothing to the accounts already
given, which were derived by D'Ohsson and Von Hammer from Rashid
ud din and Wassaf.
In the Georgian history a very prominent role is assigned to Tukal,
or Tugal, who, as we have seen, had his camp in Georgia, and whose
doings it confuses with those of Baidu. It calls him khan, and
says he lived in the mountains of Ararat, where he summoned the
* D'Ohsson, iv. 133-140. Ilkhans, ii. 29-30. t Op. cit., 642-643. D'Ohsson, iv. 141.
} Op. cit., xl. D'Ohsson, iv. 141-142. $ Op. cit., v. 121-126.

388 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Georgian king to go and see him. He treated him courteously, and gave
him Dmanis, the widow of Kutlugh Buka, brother of Mangasar, in
marriage. This authority makes Nuruz and Kurumishi, the son of Alinak
or Alikan, flee from Tukal, who had killed the latter's brother Buka, and
go over to Ghazan in Khorasan* They united their forces with his,
while Tukal, we read, joined Baidu, and the rivals came to an issue near
the little town of Zangan. The result was indecisive. Ghazan was not
present at this fight, but was represented by Nuruz and Kutlugh Buka.
Nuruz was captured after a severe struggle by Jalirman, and Ghazan
withdrew to Khorasan.
Stephen the Orpelian says Baidu was a Christian, but was persuaded
by his generals to become a Mussulman. He says he was a feeble
administrator. He sent Jelal, son of Darsaij, with some Mongol troops
to Amaras, the former residence of the Catholicos of Arran, situated
south-east of Gantzasar, in the district of Haband and the province of
Artsakh, and carried off " the cross " of St. Gregory, grandson of St.
Gregory the Illuminator, and another richly jewelled cross. The Greek
princess, Despina, who had been foster mother to Baidu, begged it, and
it was sent to Constantinople.t The same authority tells us that when
Ghazan marched against Baidu he did so at the head of the troops of
Khorasan called Gharavunas (i.e., the Karaunas), under the command of
Kutlugh Shah, who was of Armenian origin.l
Baidu left a son named Ali, whose son Musa at a later date became
Ilkhan. In the British Museum there is a silver coin of Baidu's, dated in
the year 694, and struck at Tebriz, and a copper one without mint or
date.

Note 1. — The Karaunas. Under this name we have constant reference in the
historians of the Ilkhans to a body of freebooters whose exact nationality is not
easy to fix. Their name has been connected by Von Hammer § with Karaun
Jidun, by which the Mongols knew the mountains separating the Gobi desert
from China and Manchuria. In this district were encamped the Turkish tribe
of the Kunkurats, one of whose branches is called Karanut by Rashid ud din.
The " t " in this name is merely the Mongol plural, and if we remove it we
have a name singularly like that of the Karaunas. In support of this view it
may be mentioned that Niki Behadur, a grandson of the Kunkurat chief,
Tukujar, whom Jingis Khan left in command of his ordus when he marched
against China, is expressly said to have commanded a hezareh of the Karaunas
which was encamped at Badghiz. || Von Hammer says they were employed in
working the machines for throwing naphtha, in which they were much skilled;^
In 1278 we find Abaka visiting Herat, and receiving the submission of the
amirs of the Karaunas.** Arghun passed the winter of 1283 at Baghdad,
* Op. cit., 613-614. t.Hist. de la Siounie, 260. I Id., 261. $ Ilkhans, i. 309.
|| Erdmann Temudschin, 200. ^[ Ilkhans, i. 17 (note) and 309. ** Id,, 309.

BAIDU KHAN. 389
where 10,000 Karaunas, described by Wassaf " as a kind of demons, the
fiercest of the Mongols," were posted.* The next year, when Arghun
was at war with Ahmed Khan, the former sent word to Nuruz to send
him a tuman of Karaunas. They arrived too late to take part in the
battle of Ak Khoja, but ravaged that district and burnt Damaghan.t Later in
the year the rebels against Ahmed sent Buri to Ispahan to the Karaunas to
tell them to seize Ahmed,} When Ahmed fell, we are told these robbers
plundered his harem at Sughurluk, and drove out his wives and mother naked. §
Under a leader named Aladu they plundered the camp of Nuruz in 1289, and
later in the year we read of their going to Herat with their leader Tekne to
pay their respects to Ghazan. Their summer quarters at this time were at
Shuturkiuh (i.e., the Camel mountain).|| In i2go a party of these robbers were
driven away from Juven, and later in the year they seized on Merv.^f
Somewhat later Ghazan removed a body of them from Jorbed to Jajerm and
Bostam.** Baidu claimed that the tuman of the Karaunas at Baghdad had
been made over to him by Arghun. tt
D'Ohsson treats the Karaunas as identical with the Nigudarians,}} the
latter name being taken from their original leader. Although this view is
disputed by Von Hammer there is some probability in it. They were both
robbers, and both apparently infested the same district, and it is certainly
curious that Marco Polo should identify them in his not very satisfactory
account of them. He says, speaking of the plain between Kerman and Hormuz,
that the villages there were protected by lofty walls of mud, against the
banditti, who are very numerous, and called Caraonas. " This name," he says,
" is given them because they are the sons of Indian mothers by Tartar fathers.''
He describes them as producing darkness when they pleased, by their enchant
ments. They knew the country well, and rode abreast, keeping near one
another, sometimes to the number of 10,000, and thus extended across the
whole plain they were harrying, and secured everything. They killed the old
men, and sold the young ones and the maidens into slavery. " The king of
these scoundrels," he says, " is called Nogodar, who went to Jagatai's
Court with 10,000 of his men, and abode with him, Jagatai being his uncle. "§§
The details he gives of this Nogodar's adventures I shall return to on another
occasion. To revert to the Karaunas. I am not at all certain that they are not to be
identified with the Kara Tartars, who are mentioned in Khorasan at the break
up of the power of the Ilkhans, and whom I shall mention presently. Von
Hammer suggests that the word carbine, for which no satisfactory etymology
is forthcoming, was derived from the naphtha-using Karaunas, whose name he
writes Karavinas. Colonel Yule says that a link in such etymology is perhaps
furnished by the fact that in the 16th century the word carbine was used for
some kind of irregular horseman. || || Marco Polo's own etymology of Karauna is
possibly a confusion founded on the existence of an Indian term, Karani, for
children of mixed parents.^lf

Ilkhans, i. 344. t Id., 348. I Id., 357. $ Id., 358., || Id., i3.14.
f Id., 14-15. ** Id., 16 tt Id., 26. II Op. cit., 11. 516.
$$ Op. cit., ed. Yule,99-ioo. || IJ Yule's Marco Polo, 103. ff Id.

390 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Note 2. — Paper Money, In describing the experiment in paper money made
by Gaikhatu, I mentioned that it was a close imitation of that used in China,
and that it was known by the same name, i.e., chao. My friend M. Terrien de
la Couperie says the Chinese traditions date the first introduction of paper
money in China as early as the beginning of the Empire, in 2697 B.C. The
statement in the annals is that PSh ling, minister of Hien yiien (i.e., Huang ti),
began to make use of fabrics (pa poh) as substituted money (ch'u pi).* But, as
M. de la Couperie says, this refers rather to the use of various forms of material
used in lieu of coin, and not to a paper curiency as we understand it. The
first paper money, properly so called, was issued in the reign of the Emperor
Hian tsung, of the Tang dynasty, about the year 806 A.D., and a specimen of
it from *he Tamba collection is preserved in the British Museum, and consists
of an oblong piece of paper, less than two inches long, with the representation
of an ordinary Chinese coin (cash) on it, and the inscription " current value of
the Tang's counting-houses."t
This paper money of the Tang was called/« thsian, or flying money. It was
introduced to remedy the scarcity of copper coin, which had also led to an order
forbidding the use of copper for making vases, bowls, &c. People were allowed
to deposit what copper money they had in the Government banks, and received
in exchange these notes, which were cashed on presentation elsewhere, thus
obviating the necessity of merchants and others having to carry large quantities
of coin about the country. For some reason they were withdrawn from
circulation in the capital within three years of their issue, and only allowed to
circulate in the provinces.} Tai Tsu, the founder of the Sung dynasty, who
mounted the throne in 960, issued similar notes on the same terms. They
were called piau thsian, or convenient money. They were much used. In
9g7 a.d., the issue of such notes amounted in value to 1,700,000 in silver, and
in 102 1 to 1,130,000 ounces.§ Meanwhile the plan was abused, and we read
how in the district of Shu in Sechuan, one called Chang yung introduced
notes answering to assignats, having no deposits to represent their value.
These were introduced to replace the iron coinage, which was deemed too
clumsy and inconvenient. These assignats were called chi tsi. During the
reign of Chin Tsung, of the Sung dynasty (997-1022), this example was
followed, and notes called kiao tsu were issued, which were redeemable in three
years. Each kiao tsu was worth a string of a thousand cash, and represented
in value an ounce of pure silver. Sixteen wealthy houses undertook the
operation, but speedily became bankrupt, which led to much litigation, and an
order forbidding private individuals from issuing notes was promulgated, and a
public bank for this money was founded at I chau. In 1032 there had been
issued 1,256,340 ounces in value of kiao tsu. False ones having appeared, the
makers were punished in the same way as those forging Government orders,
Presently banks for assignats were founded in different provinces, those of
each province not circulating outside it, and the terms of payment and mode of
circulation were frequently changed.^ In 1 131, during the reign of Kao tsung,
* Numismatic Chronicle, 3rd ser., ii. 337. t Id., 334-336.
X Klaproth, Mems. Relatifs a 1 Asie, 378-379. La Couperie, op. cit., 334-335.
$ Klaproth, op. cit., 379. f Id., 380-381.

BAIDU KHAN.

39'

certain notes called kuan tsu were issued at U Chau for the payment of those
supplying the army with provisions, which were cashed at a special bureau ;
but they were liable to abuse, and caused discontent. They were nevertheless
issued in other provinces. In 1160 a new kind of assignats was issued in
Chekiang and its neighbourhood, called hoei tsu. Eventually these also were
issued generally. The paper for them was first made at Hoei Chau and Chi
Chau in Kiang nan and afterwards at Ching tu fu in Sechuan and Lin gan fu
in Che kiang. At first each hoei tsu was worth 1,000 cash, but presently
others were issued of the value of 200, 300, and 500. Between 1160 and July,
1 166, as much as 28,000,000 ounces in value of these assignats had been issued,
while in November of the same year they had been augmented by 15,600,000
ounces. During the continuance of the Sung dynasty the number continually
increased, as did that of the kiao tsu and other provincial issues, and the value
constantly fell, while that of provisions rose, notwithstanding the efforts of the
Government to prevent it. In 1264 the minister, Kia szu tao, tried to substitute
a new form of assignat, apparently redeemable in silver, and called in kuan,
offering one of these for three of the discredited notes ; but the depreciation
continued.* Meanwhile the Sung dynasty lost hold on Northern China, which became
subject to the Kin Tartars. There, also, copper money became very scarce,
in consequence of the disturbed state of the country, and assignats were
introduced. These were of the value of 100, 300, 700, and goo cash respectively
and others of two, four, eight, and ten strings of 1,000 cash each. They were
to be in circulation for seven years, when they were to be exchangeable for new
ones. There were banks in all the provinces, and the Government, to cover
their cost, retained 15 cash out of every 1,000 presented for exchange.
The Mongols having conquered a large part of China, soon adopted this
ready expedient of raising money. Khubilai Khan issued in the period Chung
tung (1260-1263) notes, which were called pao chao, or precious paper money.
Fresh notes, issued between 1264-1294, were exchanged for the previous issue
at one-fifth of the value, those of 1,000 cash replacing the notes of 5,000 cash.
This process was again repeated during the years Chi ta (1308-1311), showing
how fast they depreciated. The total issue during the 34 years of Khubilai's
reign was equivalent to 249,634,290 ounces, or 124,827,144 pounds sterling
The issue was continued during the Ming dynasty, but was gradually replaced
by metal coinage again. So far had the depreciation gone that in 1448 the
chao of 1,000 cash was worth only three.t There is no further mention of
paper money in China after 1455.} No paper money of the Yuen period survives,
but some of those of the Ming do, and one has been figured by Colonel Yule.
Marco Polo has a graphic account of these notes which I shall transcribe
He says: " The Emperor's mint is in the city of Cambaluc (i.e., Khanbaligh or
Peking), and the way it is wrought is such that you might say he hath the
secret of alchemy in perfection, and you would be right, for he makes his
money after this fashion : He makes them take the bark of a certain tree, in
fact, of the mulberry tree, the leaves of which are the food of the silkworm
* Id,, 381-383. t Yule's Marco Polo, 412-414. X Klaproth, op. cit., 387.

392 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Then what they take is a certain fine white bast or skin, which lies between the
wood of the tree and the thick outer bark, and this they make into something
resembling sheets of paper, but black. When these sheets have been prepared
they are cut up into pieces of different sizes. The smallest of these sizes is
worth a half tornesel ; the next, a little larger, one tornesel ; one, a little larger
still, is worth half a silver groat of Venice, another a whole groat, others yet
two, five, and ten groats. There is also a kind worth one bezant of gold, and
others of three bezants, and so to ten. All these pieces of paper are issued
with as much solemnity and authority as if they were of pure gold or silver, and
on every piece a variety of officers, whose duty it is, have to write their names
and to put their seals, and when all is prepared duly, the chief officer deputed
by the Kaan smeareth the seal entrusted to him with vermillion, and impresses
it on the paper, so that the form of the seal remains printed upon it in red.
The money is then authentic. Anyone forging it would be punished with
death, and the Kaan causes every year to be made such a vast quantity of this
money, which costs him nothing, that it must equal in amount all the treasure
in the world. With these pieces of paper, made as I have described, he causes
all payments on his own account to be made, and he makes them to pass
current universally over all his kingdoms and provinces, and territories, and
whithersoever his power and sovereignty extends ; and nobody, however
important he may think himself, dares to refuse them on pain of death, and
indeed everybody takes them readily, for wheresoever a person may go
throughout the Great Khan's dominions he shall find these pieces of paper
current, and shall be able to transact all sales and purchases of goods by means
of them, just as well as if they were coins of pure gold, and all the while they
are so light that ten bezants worth does not weigh one golden bezant."
Polo adds that merchants who brought gold, gems, &c, from India and else
where were prohibited selling to anyone but the Emperor, who paid a good
price for their wares in paper money, with which they could trade in any part of
the Empire. " And it is a truth that the merchants will, several times in the
year, bring wares to the amount of 400,000 bezants, and the Grand Sire pays
for all in that paper, so he buys such a quantity of these precious things every
year that his treasure is endless, whilst all the time the money he pays away
costs him nothing at all. Moreover, several times in the year proclamation is
made through the city that anyone who may have gold or silver, or gems, or
pearls, by taking them to the mint shall get a handsome price for them, and
the owners are glad to do this, because they would find no other purchaser
give so large a price. Thus the quantity they bring in is marvellous. Those
who do not choose to do so may let it alone ; still, in this way nearly all the
valuables in the country come into the Kaan's possession. When any of these
pieces of paper are spoilt — not that they are so very flimsy neither — the owners
carry them to the mint, and by paying three per cent, on the value they get new
pieces in exchange ; and if any baron or anyone else soever have need of gold
or silver, or gems, or pearls, in order to make plate, girdles, or the like, he goes
to the mint and buys as much as he lists, paying in this paper money."*
* Klaproth, op. cit., 409-411,

CHAPTER VIII.
GHAZAN KHAN.
KHULAGU and Abaka were two important figures in Asiatic
history. They conquered and controlled a vast empire with
vigour and prudence. Their successors, until we reach the
reign of Ghazan, were for the most part weak and decrepit rulers, whose
authority was gradually disintegrating. Had it not, in fact, been -for the
utter desolation and prostration caused by the campaigns of Jingis and
Khulagu in Persia, they would undoubtedly have been driven out and
displaced ; and, as it was, a very little more aggressive vigour on the part
of the Egyptian rulers who controlled the various forces of Islam would
no doubt have led to the collapse of the empire of the Ilkhans. With the
accession of Ghazan that empire entered upon a new lease of power. He
was not only the greatest of the Ilkhans, but also one of the most
important figures in Eastern history, while he was fortunate in having as
his vizier the famous historian, Rashid ud din, to whom we are indebted
for so many details of the Mongol polity, and we consequently have
abundant materials for illustrating his reign. He was the son of Arghun,
by Kultak, the daughter of Bitekji Kehin, of the tribe Durban (D'Ohsson
calls her Kutluk Igaji), who was very beautiful, and thus matched her
husband, of whom Haithon Says : " Iste vero Argonus fuit aspectu
pulcherrimus."* He married her when but twelve years old, and was
very fond of her. We are told that he would have gone out to meet the
bridal procession on its way to the camp, contrary to Mongol etiquette,
but for the advice of his amirs, Sertak and Jujegian. Von Hammer's
eastern phrase, " the oyster of purity bore the pearl of royalty," means
that she was the mother of Ghazan, who was born at Abisgun (D'Ohsson
says at Sultan devin), on the borders of Mazanderan, on the 4th of
November, 1271 (D'Ohsson says the 30th), when the horoscope showed
the conjunction of two lucky stars. His nurse was Moghaljin, the
wife of the Chinese Ishik, who came to Persia with Kultak. She
was an usenin (i.e., one well versed in old songs and tales), and had
a pleasant expression. It was a rule among the Mongols that one
* Op. cit., lib. 38.

394 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
who was suckling a prince was to keep away from her husband,
but as, notwithstanding this prohibition, she was found to be pregnant,
the child was removed from her and given in charge to the mother
of Hasan, who became the chief of the Tukjis or standard bearers.
When the boy was three years old he mounted a horse for the first
time. When his grandfather, Abaka, heard of this he sent for him.
Arghun took him himself to Konghuralank,* where Abaka was, and the
latter met him, took the boy off the horse, and seated him beside himself
on his own saddle. He took such a fancy to him that he asked Arghun
to allow him to undertake his education, and he was given in charge of
the famous Princess Bulughan, who had no son, and only a daughter
named Malik, and who was delighted, saying it was a present from God,
and that she would take care of the child as if he were her own son.
Arghun took him accordingly to Sughurluk, where Bulughan lived, and
leaving his two dependants Kukamachar and Kalkai Altun Buka with
him, he returned to Khorasan. Abaka had the boy constantly by him
when hunting, and at his meals when he was feasting or drinking. The
boy did not care for boys' games, but loved weapons and horses, and we
are told that, like Napoleon, he engaged in mimic fight with his com
panions. D'Ohsson says they made puppet soldiers of felt, and ranged
them against one another. They also used to imitate courts of justice.
When he was five years old he was handed over to the Chinese Barik
Bakhshi, to learn the Mongolian and Uighurian writing, and the other
studies in the Lamaist curriculum. At ten he changed the pen and the
ruler for the bow and sword, in using which, and playing at mall or polo,
he afterwards greatly excelled.t
When Abaka marched against the Karaunas in Khorasan he was met
at Semnan by Arghun, who was much pleased to again see his boy
Ghazan. In the mountain of Akhid, between Semnan and Damaghan,
Abaka engaged in hunting, and Ghazan, who was but eight years old,
killed a stag, and was duly smeared with its fat in the approved Mongol
fashion by the famous hunter, Kurji Buka. This was celebrated by a
three days' feast. As it was still winter, Abaka went off towards Bostam,
while the Princess Bulughan, with Ghazan, took the route of Mazanderan
towards Nervbirun, and joined Abaka again near Radkian. The Ilkhan
now went towards Kutujan and Herat, and having sent Arghun towards
Ghur and Garja to oppose the Karaunas, Ghazan asked to be allowed
to act as his father's cup-bearer. Abaka was pleased with the boy's
request, and we are told the ceremony of installation as cup-bearer,
equivalent among the Mongols to the western conferring of knighthood,
was gone through in the garden of Husein, near Tus.
Abaka commended his grandson to Seljuk, the wife of Arghun, and to
* D'Ohsson calls it Kunkur ulong. t Ilkhans, ii. 1-5. D'Ohsson, iv. 153-154.

GHAZAN KHAN. 305
the Chinese Okbakhshi, so that he might under their teaching improve
his writing, while he was in summer quarters at Demavend. In the
autumn he rejoined his grandfather at Rai, who used sometimes to put on
an old cap and creep away furtively to his tent to romp with him. On
the advice of Isht Ikaji he was not allowed, as was usual with Mongol
princes, to have a cushion on his saddle. He became, as the Mongol
proverb has it, " like a tooth in tender flesh," and was named in conse
quence, Ghazan, or the tooth * When his grandfather died he was ten
years old. He spent the next winter with Bulughan at Baghdad, and in
the spring went to his father in Khorasan. The latter now married
Bulughan, as we have seen, and Ghazan lived with them. When Ahmed
Tekudar marched against Khorasan, Arghun sent Ghazan to meet him at
Semnan, and got permission to return to Bostam. When on one occasion
Ildar made some false accusations against Arghun in Ahmed's presence,
Ghazan answered him so eloquently that they were all surprised. When
Arghun mounted the throne he was accompanied to Azerbaijan by
Bulughan, leaving Ghazan as his deputy in Khorasan, with the ogruks,
his personal effects, and also the ayu-oghlans (i.e., good boys, or pages).
On Bulughan's death Arghun took to himself some gold and silver vessels
which belonged to her, but her pearls and jewellery were made over to
Ghazan, as Abaka had arranged. These were very valuable, since Abaka
was in the habit of presenting her with the most valuable objects he
secured in his campaigns. D'Ohsson says these objects were made over
by Arghun to another of his wives, named Bulughan, who was the
daughter of Utuman, a Konkurat, and not to Ghazan, as Von Hammer
says.t On Arghun's accession to the throne Ghazan was made governor
of Khorasan. The history of his administration there, and of his
struggle and eventual reconciliation with Nuruz, has been related in the
account of the reigns of Gaikhatu and Baidu.
We will now resume our story. We have seen how Ghazan sent his
generals in pursuit of Baidu. He himself set out from Aujan, and made
his solemn entry into Tebriz on the 5th of October, 1295. Sadr ud din
of Zenjan, the vizier, who had monopolised a great deal of power, set out
to meet him, surrounded with great pomp. The amir Doladai, or Tuladai,
told him to put this aside, and as he took no heed, that truculent general
struck him over the head with a whip and compelled him to return. J
Prince Sukai and the chief judge, at the head of a number of imaums,
sheikhs, ulemas, and seyids, went out to meet Ghazan. He alighted at the
palace built by his father in the meadows of Shems. Von Hammer calls
the palace Shenb, and tells us that a suburb there still bears this name.
His first edict commanded his people to live in peace with one another,
forbade the grandees to oppress those below them, and enjoined upon all
* So says Von Hammer, but Ghazan, as we have seen, meant a kettle in Mongol.
t Ilkhans, ii. 5-8. D'Ohsson, iv. 154-5. X Ilkhans, ii. 30.

396 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS:
the observance of the precepts of religion. Orders were issued to destroy
all the idol temples, the churches, synagogues, and fire towers, in fact, all
buildings prohibited by the Mussulman law. The idols were broken and
tied to pieces of wood, and promenaded through the streets of Tebriz.*
Nuruz had already, before this, when pursuing Baidu, given orders to
destroy these buildings, to kill the Buddhist priests, to treat the clergy with
contumely, and to insist on their paying taxes like other people. Christians
were not to appear in public without having a zonar, or peculiar girdle,
about their waist, nor Jews unless they wore a special head-dress. The
people of Tebriz destroyed all the churches in that town, and it is impossible,
says the continuator of Abulfaraj, to enumerate the indignities the Christians
had to endure, especially in Baghdad, where none of them dared appear
in the streets. Their women used, in consequence, to do all the buying
and selling, as they could not be distinguished from the Muhammedan
women, but if they were recognised they were insulted and beaten. The
Christians were asked jeeringly : " Where is your God ? We will see if
you have a protector or a liberator." The same persecution extended to
the Jews and to idolatrous priests, says the same author, and it was
particularly hard for the latter, who had been so tenderly treated by the
Mongol sovereigns, who used to spend immense sums in making gold and
silver idols. Many of these priests now became, at least outwardly,
Mussulmans, though secretly favouring the old faith. Presently, Ghazan
issued a yarligh, and sent commissaries to destroy the churches and
monasteries. His emissaries were easily bribed not to do their duty.
Thus, at Arbela, or Irbil, they waited for twenty days to see if anyone
would offer them some money, and as no one came, not even the
metropolitan, they allowed the rabble to begin their work of destruction,
and on one day, the 28th of November, two beautiful churches, one
belonging to the Jacobites and the other the Nestorians, were destroyed.
At this news the people of Mosul were much disturbed. When the
commissaries reached the latter town they were met by those who
offered them a large sum of money. To make this up they took the
sacred vessels, the censers and crosses, and stripped the volumes of the
Gospels of their rich coverings, and also took money from the Christians
in the neighbourhood, and thus got together a sum of 15,000 dinars, with
which they redeemed the churches, and none of them were in consequence
injured.t During these troubles the Mussulmans seized the church
which the Nestorian patriarch Makika had had built in the palace of the
Devatdar, at Baghdad, and which had been made over to him by
Khulagu. Haithon says these harsh measures against the Christians
only characterised the beginning of his reign, and were meant to conciliate
the Mussulman faction, to which he owed his elevation to the throne, and
* D'Ohsson, iv. 144-145. t Chron. Syr., 644-645. D'Ohsson, iv. 145-147,

GHAZAN KHAN. 397
he was afterwards much more tolerant.* Stephen the Orpelian gives a
grim account of their immediate effect. He says many churches were
destroyed and priests killed, and those who escaped were plundered,
while their wives and children were made slaves of. At Baghdad, Mosul,
Hamian, Thavrej, and Meragha the persecution had most dire results.
In Armenia the churches and monasteries of Nakhchivan were plundered,
their doors broken, and the altars overturned, but out of respect for their
Georgian allies the churches were not destroyed. The metropolitan
church of Siunia, of which the chronicler was then bishop, paid a ransom
for its safety. The Nestorian Catholicos of Meragha was captured and
put to great indignities. Ter Tiratsu, bishop of the Church of the
Apostles (probably that of Dadi Vank or Kutha Vank, dedicated to
St. Thaddeus,) was tortured and robbed, while his monastery, in which
reposed the remains of St. Thaddeus, was ruined.f
As we have seen, Ghazan had built several Buddhist temples at
Kabushan, or Kaushan, where he spent much of his time talking, eating,
and drinking with the Bakhshis, and worshipping the idols. After the
Mongols settled in Persia there went thither a great number of Lamas
from Kashmir, India, Uighuria, and China, who had built Buddhist
temples in many places, and Buddhism for a while threatened to resume
the status which it possessed six centuries before, when it was driven out
by Muhammedanism. Rashid argues that Ghazan's conversion was not
one of mere policy, and quotes a conversation he himself had had with
the Khan, in the course of which he said : " There are sins which God
never forgives. The greatest of these is the worship of idols. I have
been guilty of this myself through ignorance, but God has enlightened
me. Those who first made an idol only wished to commemorate the
memory of some man more perfect than the rest. Full of confidence in his
merits, they accepted him as their intercessor, and supplicated him to
secure their prayers being answered, forgetting that this man when alive
had never asked for such deference, nor would he in fact have permitted
that anyone should prostrate himself at his feet. Living in humility, he
would have thrust down into the nether regions those flatterers who
give birth to pride in the heart. They address their prayers to him,
but how can he tolerate men who adore the image of his body? It will
not hear them. The body is nothing without the soul which animates
it ; one is the image of hell, the other of paradise. An idol is only
fit to be used as a threshold upon which travellers may tread. The
soul will be delighted to see the image of the body in that position of
humility by which it attained its perfection when they were united. Men
would thereupon say, ' Since the body belonging to a soul so perfect is
reduced to dust, and its very image to a doorstep, what should our body
* Op. cit., xii. t Hist, de la Siounie, 261-262.

39§ HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
be to us, who are so far from perfection?' Such reflections will cause
them to neglect their perishable bodies. They will think only of the
soul — of life eternal, and where the blessed dwell. It is thus they
may improve the present life, for man was only made to pass from this
land of shadows to the land of light." This prince, says Rashid, frequently
spoke thus, in a more lofty strain than any of the philosophers.*
Ghazan having learnt that many of the bakhshis, as was natural, still
clung to their old faith, gave permission to such of them as wished to go
back to Kashmir, Tibet, &c, to return, while those that remained he
insisted should honestly conform to Islam. Anyone who made a fire
altar or an idol temple was to be put to death. As many still remained
unchanged he said that his father, who had lived and died an idolater,
had built himself an idol temple, which he (Ghazan) had reduced
to ruins. They were at liberty to go and live there upon the income
which had been devoted to its service. The amirs and princesses
then addressed him, saying, " Your father built a monastery, on whose
walls was painted his portrait. Now that the building is decayed the rain
and snow are ruining these pictures. Send some Lamas to live there, and
thus secure repose for your father's soul." This advice having been
rejected, it was suggested that it should be converted into a palace. He
said, " I intended building a palace, but I would not build one in a place
where idolatrous monks have lived." Eventually he forbade the Lamas,
on pain of death, practising their religion openly. Otherwise they might
continue to live in the country, and many of them accordingly did so.t
When Ghazan was safely seated on the throne he proceeded to punish
several chiefs who had compromised themselves in the troubles of the
previous years. Among these was Ilchidai Kushji, who went to swear
allegiance with Prince Alafreng, the eldest son of the Khan Gaikhatu,
and was put to death without trial. Stephen the Orpelian calls him an
excellent man in all respects, and commander of 10,000 men. Nuruz and
Kutlugh Shah arrived on the 12th of October from their expeditions
towards the Aras, in pursuit of Baidu's officers, several of whom they took
back with them in chains. Bulughan, Ghazan's wife, interceded vigorously
for Kunjukbal, but Nuruz, who had to avenge his father-in-law Akbuka's
death, as well as a private grievance, in that the amir had urged Baidu to
put him (Nuruz) to death, pressed for his head so eagerly that he was
executed on the 15th of October. J Tukal, who as we have seen had filled
an important position in Georgia, and had been closely allied with its
king, David, also suffered the same fate. We are told he had fled to
Beka, a Georgian prince who was practically independent of David, and
sent his son to the latter. Ghazan sent to David and Beka, demanding
the surrender of Tukal. Twice they refused to give him up, and pleaded
* D'Ohsson, iv. 147-150. t Quatremere, 195. Note. J D'Ohsson, iv. 150.

GHAZAN KHAN. 399
for him. At length, Ghazan having given his word and sent his ring as
a proof of good faith, he was sent towards Tebriz, but he was waylaid
en route at Nakhidur, by Kurumchi (i.e., Kurmishi), who killed him.
David also surrendered Tukal's son, with all the wealth he had deposited
in the fortress of Ateni, in charge of Barejan, mthawar of Ossethi. Prince
Ildar, who fled towards Karin, hid away in the house of a Sheikh, but
was also put to death* Doladai, Chichak, and Idaju were released
after being bastinadoed.!
Ghazan now went for a short time to Kara tepe, whence he returned to
Tebriz. The amir Mulai was appointed governor of Diarbekr and Diar
Rabia, while Nuruz was given charge of all the uluses from the Oxus
to the Euphrates, as the lieutenant-general of Ghazan, who set off for
Mughan, in Arran, where, on the 17th October, 1295, he married his
father's widow, Bulughan, with Muhammedan rites. A halt was made at
Puli Khosrau (D'Ohsson says at Karabagh), where Nuruz with the various
princes and princesses arrived, and a formal installation took place on
the 3rd of November, 1295 (the 23rd day of the 9th month of the year
of the sheep), which had been fixed by the astrologers. Ghazan took
the -title of sultan, and the name Mahmud. The festivities lasted eight
days. When Nuruz was promoted as I mentioned above, Ghazan told
him to ask some favour. He knelt down and asked that in future the
name of God and the Prophet should appear at the head of all the royal
ordinances, while the altamgha, or royal seal, should in future be round,
and not square, the circle being the most perfect figure. He also asked
that their various ranks should be assigned to the different members of
the divan. This was granted, and in future the coinage also bore the
profession of the Mussulman faith, and according to the author of the
" Shajrat ul Atrak " the names of the Rashidi Khalifs, who during the rule
of the Abbasidan Khalifs were included in the kutbeh after the two
professions of faith were restored.^ Ghazan appointed Sadr ud din of
Zenjan vizier, and Sherif ud din of Semnan ulugh bitkiji, i.e., secretary or
keeper of the seals.
After the installation, Toghachar, whose activity was considered some
what dangerous at head-quarters, was sent to command the troops in
Asia Minor. Meanwhile the Mongols of Transoxiana, taking advantage
of the defenceless state of Khorasan, invaded that province. News of
the invasion reached the Ilkhan's Court on the 8th of December. Prince
Sukai, son of Yashmut, the third son of Khulagu, with the amir Nuruz,
were ordered to oppose them. Sukai had meanwhile withdrawn to his
yurt, and did not come when sent for, nor until Ghazan dispatched the
amir Hirkudak to fetch him. He had used some treasonable language
when drunk, but Ghazan took no notice of it, and treated him very
* Hist, de la Georgie, i. 615-6T6. Hist, de la Siounie, 261.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 150-151. I Op. cit., 278. D'Ohsson, iv. 151. Ilkhans, ii. 31.

4°3 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
graciously. The recent change of rulers and the lavish expenditure of
the late Court had denuded the treasury. A special requisition in advance
had therefore to be made in the various provinces, and especially Fars,
and two out of every ten of the cattle there were appropriated, while the
officials at Tebriz had to furnish several tumans of gold in advance.
Nuruz now set out. With him went Prince Sukai (to whose person were
attached two chiefs of tumans, viz., Barula the Olkonut, and Arslan
Oghul, the grandson of Juchi Khasar, Jingis Khan's brother), and the
general Hirkudak, Nuruz's brother Hajfu Narin, Satilmish, and others
of his old and faithful supporters, were appointed their substitutes.*
Sukai and Barula, who marched with the advance guard, having halted
on the river Kiuhe (called Ke're' by D'Ohsson), also known as Turkan
muran, or the Turkish river, made a plot to kill Nuruz and to dethrone
Ghazan, whom they reproached for having become a Muhammedan.
Sukai was to be put on the throne. They sent a message to Prince
Taiju, son of Mangu Timur, to join them. He pretended to join them,
but in reality informed Nuruz, who put his troops in ambush and left his
camp. The conspirators assailed his tent, whereupon his men came ou
from their ambush. Barula was killed, and Sukai fled towards Kharkan
and Sava. Hirkudak was sent in pursuit, and captured him near
Kharkan, and ordered Sati, who had had a hand in the conspiracy, to
put him to death in the mode prescribed for Mongol princes, but Sukai
ran a knife into his stomach. This weapon was taken from him by
Beitimur, a follower of Hirkudak, who dispatched him in turn. On the
7th of March, 1296, the Prince Ildar, son of Kunkuratai, ninth son of
Khulagu, fled with 300 men. Shadi Gurkan was sent in pursuit of him with
3,000 men. He overtook and put him to death at Erzenrum. Yedutai, the
son of Tashiminku, who had created a disturbance at Diarbekr, and
Buralghi Katai, the lance bearer, were also put to death. These executions
were doubtless the result of the conversion of the Court to Islam.
Ghazan had set out from Abubekrabad on a hunting expedition to
Aktagh, when he heard of Sukai's outbreak. He at once returned, stopped
at the bridge of Mangu Timur, and sent the amirs Kutlugh Shah, Satilmish
and Sutai, who were with him, to the assistance of Nuruz, and in order to
capture Issen Timur, the brother of Ildar, and Kurmishi, the son of
Barula, who had taken up arms to avenge the deaths of their relatives.
They were brought to trial and executed, as were also Chichek and
Doladai, who had been implicated in the revolt. Of the various rebels,
Arslan Oghul, who is described by Stephen the Orpelian as of royal
blood, alone remained at large. He marched and encamped with his
people near the palace of Mansuriah. (Stephen says at the Ilkhan's palace
at Mughan.) Ghazan did not feel himself strong enough to oppose him,
* D'Ohsson, iv. 156-157. Ilkhans, ii. 32.

GHAZAN KHAN. 401
but as he knew that his only safety was in showing a bold front, he acted
as if he was unaware of the enemy's proximity, ordered his men to engage
in hunting, and himself followed leisurely, performing his usual occupa
tions. His dissimulation and firmness saved him, for before his men
were aware of their danger he was joined by a large contingent under the
amir Choban. The latter, with Sulamish, Toghrilji, Taitak, and
Kurmishi, son of Alinak, attacked Arslan near Bailekan. They were
beaten, but having received a reinforcement of 2,000 men under Hirkudak,
were prepared to renew the fight, when the rebels submitted. Many
chiefs had fallen on both sides, but victory leaned to Ghazan's men. Arslan
Oghul and Prince Tulek, the son of Aujan, were captured and put to
death. This was on the 28th of March. In the short space of one
month five princes of the blood and thirty-eight amirs were executed,
thus clearing away a large number of competitors for power, and also the
most energetic and restless spirits in the army.*
While these proceedings were going on in one part of Ghazan's
dominions, a horde of Uirats, or Kalmuks, encamped in the province of
Baghdad (Rashid ud din says in Diarbekr), passed into Syria. Their
leader, Targai Gurkan (called Tukai by Von Hammer, Tongai by
Quatremere, and Taragaih by Abulfeda), who had the position of chief of
a tuman, and had married a grand- daughter of Khulagu and daughter of
Mangu Timur, whence his title of Gurkan, had been threatened with death
for having assisted Baidu against Gaikhatu, and Mulai, the new governor
of Diarbekr, had received orders to arrest him and the other leaders of
the Uirats. He thereupon crossed the Euphrates, and when pursued by
Mulai defeated and killed many of his men.f The continuator of
Abulfaraj tells a different story. He calls the Uirats Avirathei, and says
they wintered near the monastery of Mar Matthew, and that during the
reign of Baidu they had taken from the Turkomans a great number of
cattle, horses, sheep, swine, mules, and camels. Ghazan issued orders
that this plunder should be restored on pain of death, but inasmuch as
a large proportion of it no longer existed, the Uirats, who were hard
pressed by the commissaries of Ghazan and of the Turkomans, put them
to death, and then migrated, to the number of 10,000 warriors, with their
families and property.! The Egyptian historians tell us that the fugitives
numbered about 18,000 tents. The Sultan Ketboga, when he heard of
their arrival, sent orders to the naib or viceroy of Syria to dispatch the
amir Alem ud din Sanjar, the devatdari, to the town of Rahbeth to
meet them, and sent two of his officers, viz., Kara Sonkor Mansuri
and Seif ud din Alhaj Behadur Halebi, the hajib, from Cairo, to meet
them at Damascus. There the leaders of the Uirats, to the number of
1 13, arrived on the 30th of January, with Tugai, Alus, and Kakbai at their
* D'Ohsson, iv. 155-159. Ilkhans, ii. 32-34. Hist, de la G6orgie, 620. Note.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 159-160. Abulfeda, v. 127. J Chron. Syr., 646. D'Ohsson, iv. 160. Note.
C*

402 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
head. The naib and amirs went out to meet them amidst considerable
pomp. They then set out for Cairo, conducted by Kara Sonkor. The
Sultan received them very graciously, and conferred on several of them
the rank of grand amir ; but they remained idolaters, nor did they take
heed of the feast of Ramazan, and the orthodox Egyptians shrank from
taking their posts beside them when on guard at the entrance of the
castle. They fed on the flesh of horses which had not had their throats cut,
and which had merely had their limbs tied and were then killed by being
struck over the head. The people grumbled at the honour paid to these
strangers, and the prince was blamed for showing them so much con
sideration. Orders were given to settle the horde in the province of
Sahel. When they reached Damascus they were encamped outside, and
provision dealers were ordered to go to them and plant their booths in the
meadows near the village of Damin, and at Kisueh. The Uirats were
forbidden to enter Damascus itself. The amir Sanjar remained with
them. Many of them died. We are told that their children were
beautiful, and that the officers and troopers adopted the boys and married
the girls, while the men were distributed among the various troops, and
having become Mussulmans were speedily absorbed* Abulfeda tells a
different story, and says these Uirats, urged by their leader, became
Mussulmans, and that they were settled at Cacun, which was a place near
Caesarea, in Palestine, called Caco by William of Tyre.t In regard to
the invasion from Transoxiana, we are told that the enemy withdrew
with a great booty on the approach of Nuruz.
Ghazan was now visited by the King of Cilicia, or Little Armenia.
Leon III., the king of that country, had died on the 7th of January, 1290,
leaving five sons — Haithon, Thoros, Sambat (or Sempad), Constantine
(called Condin by Abulfeda), and Ushin.j: Haithon succeeded him, and is
known as Hethum or Haithon II. When the Egyptians captured Tyre,
in 1 291, he had sent to the Pope and the other principal rulers of Europe
to ask for aid. The Pope sent a special request to King Philip of France,
and also dispatched a general summons to the Western Christians, to go
to the assistance of their brothers in the East, but it was in vain. In
1293 the Egyptian Sultan Ashraf marched upon Armenia. The King sent
envoys to implore his pity. The Sultan insisted upon the surrender of
Behesna, Merash, and Tel Hamdun, as the price of peace. The demand
was immediately granted. Behesna had, before the invasion of Khulagu,
belonged to the rulers of Syria, but at that time the officer who
commanded in these parts for Nasir sold it to the Armenian king for
100,000 dirhems. After reigning for four years Haithon surrendered the
crown to his brother Thoros, and went into a monastery of Franciscans,
and took the name of John. There Thoros and the great chiefs used to
* Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 29-30. D'Ohsson, iv. 161-162.
t Abulfeda, v. 129, and Note 84. X Id., v. 139. Journ. Asiat., 5th series, xvii. 385.

GHAZAN KHAN. 403
go, however, to consult him on matters of State policy, and at length,
under pressure from Thoros and the other grandees, who had assembled
at Sis to celebrate the marriage of his sister Isabella with Amauric,
Count of Tyre, brother of the King of Cyprus, Haithon in 1295 resumed
the reins of government. Having heard of Baidu's accession, and of the
favour he showed the Christians, he set out to pay his respects to him.
After a journey of about two months he reached Siah kuh (i.e., Sughurluk).
At this time Baidu was being hard pressed by Nuruz, and sent word to
Haithon to return to Meragha and wait there till things were more pacified.
Haithon had only been there a few days, where he was subjected to some
insult. Baidu was finally defeated. Ghazan having pitched his camp at
Tel Ukhama, or Okma (i.e., the black hill), near Dihburkan, Haithon
went to him, bearing magnificent presents. Ghazan reproachfully
said that he had gone to see Baidu, and not himself. Haithon
diplomatically replied that it was his duty to pay homage to the whole
family of Jingis Khan, and to pay his respects to the person who occupied
the throne. Ghazan, who laid the blame of much of the recent action
against the Christians upon Nuruz, was pleased at this answer, and
presented him with some royal robes, gave him a diploma of investiture,
and ordered that his wishes were to be carried out. Although orders
had gone out for the general destruction of churches, Haithon urged that
these buildings should be spared, since they were used in the worship
of God. Ghazan consented to their being spared, issuing commands
at the same time that the idol temples were to be converted into mosques
and colleges. Haithon left the ordu again on the 9th of October, 1296,
well satisfied with the services he had rendered to the Church.*
Nuruz was now all powerful. He proceeded to depose the vizier, Sadr
Jihan, on the pretext that during the recent troubles he had taken upon
himself to issue orders in his own name, although he had acted faithfully
in his office, and devoted the taxes obtained to the payment of the troops.
He was replaced by Jemal ud din of Destarjerd. His brother, Haji Bey,
was made general controller of finances and head of the royal chancellery,
while another brother, Nasir ud din Satilmish, was appointed to counter
sign his private dispatches with a red seal. Sadrud din soon felt another
reverse of fortune. He himself told the historian Wassaf that he had
dreamt on the night of his arrest, and when he expected to be put to
death, that a bright figure with a halo of light about it alighted in the
hand of death! At all events, being accused of complicity with
the rebels, and this charge being supported by the employe's of
the Divan, who feared that he knew of their incapacity and dishonesty,
he was arrested, put to the torture, and orders were given to put him
to death without further trial. Two men accordingly seized him, and

» Hist de la Siounie, 262. Cont. of Abulfaraj, 643-644. D'Ohsson, iv. 162-164.

4<H HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
led him, naked and bound, on a pack-horse to the place of execution,
which was in a thick forest. Fortunately, his two conductors were under
obligations to him for some good service he had rendered them in the
reign of Gaikhatu. They delayed his execution till night, when he saw
the same apparition which had appeared to him in his dream, and
fell from his horse to the ground. At this fortunate moment the amir
Hirkudak, who was returning from his expedition against Sukai, came
by, and inquired what had taken place. He ordered the execution to be
stayed. The next day a list of the rebels was presented to Ghazan.
Sadr Jihan's name was not among them, and he was accordingly
pardoned, at the instance of the Princess Bulughan, and assigned a
residence near the ordu.*
Hirkudak, who had been appointed governor of Fars, set out on the
13th of April, 1296, to arrange the affairs of that province. Its finances
he specially confided to Jemal ud din, the mufti of Shiraz, while he himself
went to Hormuz, to quell the disorders which had arisen there.t At this
time the struggle between Toktu Khan and Nogai, which I have described
elsewhere,^ was rife, and we are told that in consequence of it Chini, the
wife of Bukai (? Nogai), with his younger son Turi, fled to Ghazan,
who received them well and treated them with honour. Ghazan himself,
on the 31st of May, 1296, married his sister Oljaitu (called Oljai Timur
by D'Ohsson), the widow of the amir Tukal, to the amir Kutlugh Shah.§
This statement is, however, contrary to the Georgian history, which
makes her marry David, King of Georgia.
We have seen how the energetic Toghachar was appointed governor of
Asia Minor. Ghazan was not satisfied of his loyalty. The author of the
" Shajrat ul Atrak" says he suspected him of having fomented the revolt
of Sukai and Arslan. He determined therefore to put an end to him.
Khurmenji (called the amir Jirmchi by the author just cited) was
charged with this delicate duty. He was first to gain over the military
chiefs in Rum, and to lull Toghachar into security by presenting a friendly
letter from himself, and then to destroy him. Ghazan's pohcy was as
cold and selfishly calculating as Napoleon's, and on this occasion,
according to Rashid ud din, he related to his courtiers a story how, in
former times, two princes contended for the throne of China. One of
them being defeated fled before his enemy. An officer having found him,
took pity on him, and hid him away in a dry well. When the soldiers
who were in pursuit arrived at the place, uncertain which way to take,
since a violent wind had covered the tracks with sand, the officer urged
that further pursuit was needless, and they all accordingly left. Presently
the concealed prince came out of his hiding place, collected a body of
followers, and defeated and killed his rival. He thereupon promoted the
* D'Ohsson, iv. 165-166. Ilkhans, ii. 34. t Ilkhans, ii. 35.
I Ante, ii. 143, &c. $ Ilkhans. ii. 45.

GHAZAN KHAN. 405
officer to whom he owed his life to high honour. One of the courtiers
having expressed his surprise that he should have rewarded, and not
punished, a man who had betrayed his prince and caused his overthrow,
he, after thinking a moment, ordered his favourite to be put to death.
" It is I who saved your life," said the officer. " I feel you have reason
to complain," said the emperor, in tears, " I am greatly distressed,
but justice and the interests of the empire demand your death," and
the order was carried out. " It costs me much," said Ghazan, " to put
anyone to death, but if a ruler is not severe when the good of the State
demands, he cannot reign." It must be said that he did not scruple to
carry out his philosophy with rigour. The execution of Toghachar did
not prevent the outbreak of a rebellion in Rum. Baku, son of Tebsin, son
of Khulagu, had held a command there since the days of Arghun, and
had been very powerful, especially after the death of his colleague, the
amir Shamaghar, who, according to the Syrian chronicle, was a Christian.
He had been summoned several times to the Court, but had always
excused himself, and on the death of Toghachar he rebelled. Kutlugh
Shah was sent in 1297 against him, at the head of three tumans. He
defeated Baku in the plain of Amasia (Von Hammer says at Maliyeh),
and then returned to Arran, leaving Sulamish behind to pursue him.*
On the 1st of June, 1296, Ghazan set out from Pil Suwar for Tebriz, and
Ainabeg, who had been brought from Khorasan, was put to death. A
report on the state of that province was made to him by the amir Oladu
and he afterwards went to the place called Sain (i.e., the good), between
Sireh and Irbil, where he held a kuriltai.t
Ghazan's theory about breaking his subordinates was now going to be
tested in the person of no less a grandee than Nuruz, to whose help he
owed so much, and whose arrogance had been aroused with his success.
He naturally created enemies. Among these was Nurin Aka, the military
governor of Khorasan and Mazanderan, who was a great favourite of the
Ilkhan, owing to his reputation and his descent, for he belonged to the
famous stock of the Kiats. Nuruz complained that he had slighted his
brother Uiratai. He attributed the success of the recent invasions of
Khorasan to the negligence of Nurin, and in careless conversation let fall
some bitter phrases about him, and hinted that Prince Taiju, the son of
Mangu Timur, who at this time arrived at Temisheh, in Mazanderan, had
gone there to report about himself. This caused them both to have an
ill feeling towards him. On the 6th of June he sent Taiju and Nurin to
Radkian, where an outbreak had taken place, and then suddenly left his
post in Khorasan, and set out for Azerbaijan, with the excuse that he
wanted to see his sick wife (Tughan, Abaka's daughter and Ghazan's
aunt), and also the Ilkhan. A number of troops whom Ghazan had sent

* D'Ohsson, iv. 168-169. Ilkhans, ii. 38. Shajrat ul Atrak, 279-280.
t Ilkhans, ii. 35-36.

406 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to reinforce him thereupon dispersed, or went with him, and, inter alios,
the amir Sum returned to his yurt at Irbil with 400 horsemen. Ghazan
was much displeased at this, and gave orders that he was to return. He,
however, asked to see his wife, and arrived at the Court on the 23rd of
June, 1296, where he was received by his master with at least outward
courtesy. Kutlugh Shah and other amirs urged that he was too dangerous
and ambitious a person to be allowed to retain the government of
Khorasan, while the sons of the judge Nogai, whom Nuruz had put to
death, clamoured for the blood penalty. Ghazan resisted these impor
tunities, saying he could not violate his word on simple suspicion. He
was ordered to return to Khorasan, and soon after his wife, the Princess
Tughan or Tughanjuk, died, and Nurin returned to the Court, and was
well received by Ghazan, who appointed his own brother, Khodabendeh,
commander of the troops of Khorasan.* On the nth of July Ghazan left
Sain, and went by way of Naurdul to Tebriz, where he began the building
of a country house and garden. Executions meanwhile continued to be
frequent. On the 2nd of September, 1296, Dundi, the widow of Gaikhatu
and mother of his son Alafreng, and Baighut, son of Shiramun, son of
Charmaghan, the famous pioneer of Mongol conquest in Western Asia,
were put to death at Sehkiinbed (i.e., "the three domes"), in Mazanderan.t
We must here shortly digress to consider the affairs of the Lesser
Luristan. We have seen % how this principality, on the death of Bedr ud
din Masud, in the year 658 hej., was divided between his two sons
Jemal ud din Bedr and Nasir ud din Omar, who struggled with
Taj ud din Shah, the son of Hosam ud din Khalil, the brother
and predecessor of Masud. The two former were put to death by
order of Abaka, who nominated Taj ud din as ruler of the country.
He was a famous caligraphist and a good ruler, and was also put
to death in the year 677 HEJ., by order of Abaka Khan, who divided
the Lesser Lur between Falak ud din Hasan and Iz ud din Hussein, sons
of Bedr ud din Masud. They ruled the country for fifteen years, and
were very successful in struggling with their neighbours, and we read
that the country from the province of Hamadan to Shuster, and from
Ispahan to the frontiers of Arabia, was subject to them. They had an
army of 17,000 men. Hasan, we are told, was wise, witty, and devout,
while his brother was revengeful, and had no pity for criminals. Both
died in the year 692, during the reign of Gaikhatu Khan. Each of them
left a son, but by orders of the Ilkhan the province was intrusted to Jemal
ud din Khizi, son of Taj ud din Shah. He was opposed by a considerable
party of his relatives. They surprised him at a hunting party, and slew
him and his family, so that the stock of Hosam ud din Khalil was
exterminated. The leader of the rebels, Hosam ud din Omar, the son of
* D'Ohsson, iv. 172-174. Ilkhans, ii. 36-37. t Ilkhans, ii. 38. I Ante, 140.

GHAZAN KHAN. 407
Shems ud din, succeeded to the throne, but the usurper was in turn
opposed by several princes, who declared he had no right to it, not
being of royal blood, but that the kingdom really belonged to Samsan
ud din Mahmud, son of Bedr ud din Muhammed, son of Iz ud din
Gurshasp, the predecessor of Khalil, above named. He was a soldierly
man, and brought an army from Khuzistan to Khoramabad. It seems
that Hosam ud din only controlled part of the country, Shihab ud din
Elias, one of his co-conspirators, and apparently of the royal stock, having
also a large authority. Hosam ud din was persuaded to resign. Shihab
ud din fought for his position, but was defeated, and fled to a snowy
mountain, whence he was brought down after some trouble and was slain.
Samsan ud din was now acknowledged as ruler of the Lesser Luristan.
Meanwhile, a grandson of the Sheikh Kamuyah Buzurg reported to
Ghazan the recent revolutions. Samsan ud din and Hosam ud din
were summoned to the Court to answer for the deaths of Khizr and Elias.
They were both executed, and Iz ud din Mahmud, son of the amir
Iz ud din Husein, was appointed atabeg of the Lesser Lur. This little
dynasty survived till the sixteenth century.*
On the 1 8th of September Ghazan set out from the neighbourhood of
Meragha by way of Hamadan, to his winter quarters at Baghdad. He
halted at Rek, near Hamadan, for a month, and displaced Jemal ud din,
of Destajerd (who had been appointed vizier under the auspices of
Nuruz), by Sherif ud din, of Semnan. At this time Afrasiab, the Prince
of the Greater Lur, went to him to obtain confirmation of his position
as atabeg of Great Luristan. Unfortunately for him, as he was returning
home after a successful visit, he was met by the General Hirkudak,
who was on his way from Fars, and who compelled him to return
with him to the ordu. He complained to Ghazan that when he passed
through Afrasiab's territory, while on his way to Fars, he had not supplied
him with a measure of barley or a bundle of hay, that his officers had
treated the tax collector whom he had sent into the mountains of Kiluyeh
with incivility, and refused to allow him to collect the taxes there, saying
they belonged to their master. He also recalled the troubles the atabeg
had formerly caused, and expressed his astonishment that he should be
allowed to return home. Ghazan ordered his execution, which took place
before the Royal tent. This was in the year 669 hej. The principality
was given to his brother, Nasir ud din Ahmed, who restored prosperity to
the province, and, we are told, made it the envy of paradise. Ahmed
reigned for 38 years.t
Two days later, Jemal ud din of Destajerd, the former vizier, was put
to death. His fall made the fortune of Jemal ud din of Shiraz, whose
financial skill is described by Wassaf in hyperbolic terms, and who at this
* Hamdullah passim. Ilkhans, ii. 37-38. D'Ohsson, iv. 171.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 169-170. Ilkhans, ii. 38-39-

408 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
time went to the Court to vindicate his conduct of the finances and to
silence his accusers. The latter charged that he had levied 200 gold
tumans, or more, in taxes on land and sea, and had similarly levied a sum
of 1,500 tumans from the pearl fishery. During the six years he had had
the farming of the taxes he had received by order of Arghun forty-two
tumans, and in addition had arbitrarily taken thirty-three tumans, making
altogether seventy-five tumans. Jemal ud din replied that in the best
years the pearl fishery only supplied 750 pearls, in ordinary years 450,
and in the worst ones only 250. Ghazan and the judges of the court* the
amirs Nurin and Satilmish, as well as the inaks Sutai and Taremtas,
were convinced of his innocence, and the diploma he had received from
Arghun was renewed. One hundred tumans of the revenue were to be
forthcoming at the new year, and Jemal ud din was made controller of all
the taxes in Irak for three years, as well as of those of Shebankyareh and
Shiraz. He was given a robe of golden tissue, five round golden paizahs
of the first order, marked with the lion's head, three of the finest sonkors
or falcons, together with a golden tent, and his reward was proclaimed
three times at Baghdad, Shiraz, Kaiz, and Bahrein. While Ghazan was
at Hamadan he sent his brother Khodabendeh as his deputy to Khorasan.
At Baghdad he alighted at the palace Mobni, and hunted for four-and-
twenty days in the neighbourhood of Naamaniyeh and Hilleh, whence he
returned again to Maasaniyeh. He visited the tomb of the Imaum Abu
Hanifeh, and was present at the Friday prayer in the mosque. At this
time, viz., on the 14th of March, 1297, his son Oljai Kutlugh was born at
Shehraban* The enemies of Nuruz continued their intrigues against him. When
Jemal ud din of Destajerd was tried, it came out that at the time Nuruz
was very zealously working for the conversion of Ghazan, and to secure
him the throne, he had sent as his agent a Baghdad trader, called Alem
ud din Kaissar, who often went to and fro between Syria and Egypt, to
invite the co-operation of the Egyptian Sultan, as a good Mussulman, on
behalf of his protdgd. When the messenger returned, Baidu had been
deposed, and Ghazan was on the throne. The answer of the Sultan was
apparently not quite what Nuruz expected, and he determined not to
show it to his master, but persuaded Jemal ud din to compose another
answer in the Sultan's name. This having been transcribed by a clever
writer, was duly presented to Ghazan. The enemies of Nuruz having
heard of the deception, and of the journey of Kaissar, accused Nuruz of
having had secret intrigues with the Sultan. Nuruz had noticed when
last at the ordu that he was not in favour, and when he got to Khorasan
he sent one of his confidante's, named Sadr ud din, son of the mufti of
Herat, to be his agent at the Court. Ghazan determined to employ him
to counteract the supposed plot of Nuruz. He first sent him to Baghdad,
* Ilkhans, ii. 39-40.

GHAZAN KHAN. 409
where he invited Kaissar to a banquet, and having mixed some soporific
with his food, he fell into a profound sleep, and he and his suite were
bound with cords.
Sadr ud din, of Zenjan, the vizier who had replaced Jemal ud din, and
who was among Nuruz's bitter enemies, now in concert with his brother,
Kutb ud din, forged letters addressed to the Egyptian amirs, stating that
although Ghazan was a Mussulman, his officers were not, and thwarted
the faith in every way, and inviting the Egyptians to march and put down
the infidels, and to seize upon Iran. He promised his assistance and that
of his brothers Haji and Legsi, and said he sent some robes as a present.
These letters, with seventeen complete sets of robes, were furtively
concealed among Kaissar's effects, and were found among them when he
was arrested. Sadr ud din also forged a letter from Nuruz to his brother,
Haji Narin, and concealed it among the latter's things when he paid him
a visit. When the presumed plot was divulged to Ghazan, he at once
returned from near Hamadan to Shehraban, covering a distance of
thirteen parasangs in one day. He arrived there on the 17th of March,
1297. There Kaissar arrived, guarded by Sheikh Mahmud and Kutb ud
din. His effects were examined, and the letters and robes were duly
found; the former it was declared were in the handwriting of Haji,
the brother and secretary of Nuruz. Ghazan, in a great rage, ordered
Kaissar and his three companions to be pounded to death with maces,
while Nurin and Tainchar were ordered to put to death all the relatives
of Nuruz and their dependants. As Von Hammer says, this was a very
strong step, for the family of Nuruz comprised the most powerful amirs in
Persia. His father, Arghun Aka, the famous governor of Khorasan, left
nine sons, who were naturally very influential people. Two of them had
married royal princesses, viz., Nuruz, whose wife, as we have seen, was
Ghazan's aunt, and Lekesi (or Legsi), who married Baba, the seventh
daughter of Khulagu. The other seven were Satilmish, Haji Narin,
Barghun Haji, Bulduk, Kerrai, Erdhaighan, and Mengb Baba. The
execution began with those about the Court. Satilmish, who represented
Nuruz there, was put to death, with his son Kutlugh Timur and
Ordubuka, the son of Nuruz. Haji Narin was arrested at Khanikin, and was
at once compromised by the forged letter found in his portfolio ; he was
paraded naked about the royal ordu, and then put to death, his goods
being pillaged. His young son, Taghai, fled to the amir of the camp of
Bulughan, Ghazan's wife, who was a granddaughter of Arghun Aka.
There he was concealed until Ghazan's revenge had been satiated by
the slaughter of his relatives. Legsi was executed in the square of
Mardesht ; Keshlik and Yul Kutlugh, nephews of Nuruz, were killed in
the square which was afterwards called after Kutlugh, and the amirs
Shidun and Ilbuka were executed near Kasr Shirin.*
* Ilkhans, ii. 41-42. D'Ohsson, iv. 174-177.

4IO HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Ghazan now summoned several of the amirs. His brother Khodabendeh
went to Bisutun from Khorasan. Kutlugh Shah joined him at Esedabad
from Mughan, and the amirs Choban and Pulad Kia from Rai. Kutlugh
Shah was dispatched from Esedabad with an army to arrest Nuruz ;
his subordinates, Sunatai and Hirkudak, each with a tuman,
marching in advance. When he reached Damaghan he learnt that the
generals just named had already put to death the commanders who
had been left at Rai, Veramin, Khawar, Semnan, and Bostam, by Nuruz.
At Izferain he was met by the sons of Buka Timur and Alghui, who
demanded the vendetta for their father's blood, whom Nuruz had slain.
His troops were conducted by Danishmend, a deserter from Nuruz's
service. The latter having been defeated in a struggle near Ispahan, in
which his two sons, Ahmed and Ali, were taken and killed, his camp and
treasures fell into the hands of his pursuers. Pursued by Hirkudak, he
arrived at night at Jam, where his horse-herds were. Having put his
people in ambuscade behind some high walls, he awaited the approach
of his pursuers, and when they rushed at the horses he fell upon them
with his people and killed many of them, after which he again took flight
towards Herat, where the Malik Fakhr ud din Kert offered him an
asylum.* It will be well here to make a short retrospect, and to see what had
taken place recently at Herat. We have seen how Abaka having got rid
of the famous Malik Shems ud din, nominated the latter's son, Rokn ud
din, in his place. After Abaka's death Rokn ud din withdrew to his
stronghold of Khaisar, appointing his son Alai ud din (D'Ohsson says
Ghiath ud din) as his deputy at Herat, with the title of naib. The
following year the young prince was visited by Arghun Khan. An
important occurrence presently again created ill blood. Hindu Noyan,
one of Arghun's principal generals, having revolted, sought shelter at
Khaisar. Ordered to surrender him, Rokn ud din did so, and was
rewarded with a khilat, a drum, and standards, the insignia of royalty.
The relatives of Hindu Noyan did not forgive him, and knowing they
were intriguing against him he determined not to leave his fortress, and
also withdrew his son from Herat. Abandoned in this way, the town was
given up to disorder, the richer inhabitants migrated, while a leader of
the Nigudars, named Amaji, at the head of a number of his truculent
people, fell upon the place, pillaged and virtually ruined it. Quarters
where previously there had been 100 ketkh6das remained with only two
or three.
When Ghazan received Khorasan as an appanage, in 1 291, he sent
Nuruz with 5,000 men to restore order there. He took a quantity of
cattle which he had captured in the neighbourhood of Dereguez thither,
* D'Ohsson, iv. 178. Ilkhans, ii. 42-43.

GHAZAN KHAN. 41 1
and sent orders to Esfizar, Ferrah, and Seistan, to recall those who had
migrated, and exempted the place from the payment of taxes for two
years. Nuruz having thus somewhat restored prosperity to the place,
sent to Rokn ud din to come down from Khaisar and take charge once
more of the city. He excused himself on the ground that he had quite
determined to withdraw from the world* Rokn ud din's eldest son,
Fakhr ud din, had been a turbulent person, and had in consequence been
imprisoned at Khaisar for seven years. He had then broken his chains,
killed his guards, and fled to the mountain which dominated Khaisar,
saying he meant no longer to obey his father. Nuruz having heard of
this, and of the vigorous qualities of the young man, sent his brother, the
amir Haji, with a letter to the malik, to ask him to forgive his son. Rokn
ud din replied that his son was very foolish, and that if he was set at
liberty he would cause great trouble. Haji, notwithstanding, went to the
young prince and informed him of the good offices of Nuruz. He would
not leave his retreat, however, until he was assured that he would not be
seized by his father. The malik only consented to give him permission
to go to Nuruz on receiving an undertaking that he would not be held
responsible for anything the young prince might afterwards do. Nuruz
replied that he himself undertook to be responsible for Fakhr ud din's
behaviour. Fakhr ud din now went to Herat, where Nuruz received him
with open arms, and gave him proofs of his goodwill in the presence
of the military chiefs and the grandees of Khorasan. Rokn ud din
continued to live at Khaisar until September, 1305. The young prince
soon gave proof of his capacity. Muhammed Jeji having revolted in the
district of Khaf and ravaged it, Fakhr ud din joined the amir Dendai,
brother of Nuruz, who marched against the rebel with 5,000 men.
Muhammed thereupon withdrew to his fort of Jejd, where he was attacked
for four months. Fakhr ud din proved himself very energetic in this
campaign, and restored the district of Khaf to obedience. In reward for
his services he was nominated ruler of Herat, and Nuruz gave him his
niece, the daughter of his brother Tergan Haji (the Barghun Haji of
Von Hammer), in marriage.f At this time malik Inaltekin, wishing
to revenge his brother, Jemal ud din, who was kept prisoner by
Nuruz in a fortress of Gharjistan, left Irak with a large army, and
appropriated several of his towns and killed a great number of his
partisans. He then fortified himself at Ferrah, but dreading a struggle
in which -he would be opposed by Fakhr ud din, he undertook to
submit if the latter would in turn undertake to obtain the release
of Jemal ud din, which was secured without difficulty.^ We now
hear of an inroad made upon Khorasan by Dua, the chief of the ulus of
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 455-456- D'Ohsson, iv. 183-184.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 184-186. Joum. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 473-474-
I Journ. Asiat, 5th ser., xvii. 473-474-

412 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Jagatai, who sent his relative, BeYeTcet, to get the submission of Fakhr ud
din in Gharjistan. Bereket, with a number of his officers, was seized and
taken to Nuruz, who was at Tus, and who conducted them to Ghazan's
camp in Irak. Fakhr ud din was also presented to the Ilkhan. He was
rewarded with a splendid royal robe, a diploma confirming him as Lord
of Herat, a drum and banner, a tent, a special pavilion for his harem, a
Mongol regiment of 1,000 men, and ten tumans in money, while Nuruz
was ordered to show him every attention.*
This digression will show that Fakhr ud din was under deep obligations
to Nuruz, and it is not strange that he should have sided with the latter
when he revolted. He was captured in a struggle by Ghazan's general
Sunatai (a name otherwise given as Sutai and Sukai), but managed to
escape, and made his way to Herat, where he offered Nuruz shelter, as we
have seen. The latter's officers tried to dissuade him from trusting
himself with the malik, but he replied that it was three days since he had
said the " namaz," and that he could not put it off any longer. Thereupon
several of his adherents left him, and he entered Herat with 400 men.
The malik took him to the citadel, which was called Ikhtiar ud din.J
Four days after his arrival at Herat there appeared before the town the
amir Kutlugh Shah, with 70,000 horsemen. On his way thither he had
visited the famous tomb of Ali Riza, the eighth imaum of the family of
Ali, near Tus, and said a namaz of two rek'ats,t praying God to let his
enemy fall into his hands. He invested Herat, but the town was so well
fortified and presented such a bold front, while the heat was so excessive,
that some of his chiefs advised him to withdraw. But he was not made
of yielding material. He caused a letter to be written to Fakhr ud din
by the latter's father-in-law, the mufti of Jam, and sealed with his seal,
summoning the malik to surrender Nuruz if he wished to prevent the
destruction of Herat, and sent it by a spy. Fakhr ud din at once showed
the letter to his guest, who was thus convinced of his good faith. Haji,
the secretary of Nuruz, nevertheless urged his master to seize the
malik and to make sure of him, and although Nuruz refused, their
conversation was overheard and reported to Fakhr ud din, who took alarm
and advised with his ministers and the chief people in the town. However
this was, feeling that sooner or later the place must fall and their wives
and children be carried off captive, and that Nuruz had broken his solemn
promise never to take up arms against his master, the malik determined
to surrender him to his enemies. He told Nuruz that the garrison was
discouraged, and that he had better distribute his men in different parts
of the town, so as to encourage the citizens. He fell into the trap, and
distributed two of them among each ten men of Fakhr ud din, remaining
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., 475. D'Ohsson, iv. 186-187. t D'Ohsson, iv. 178-179.
I D'Ohsson explains this. He says the five namaz, or daily prayers, consist of from four to
eight rek'ats or attitudes, but travellers or soldiers on the march need only say a namaz of two
rek'ats.

GHAZAN KHAN. 413
almost alone in the citadel. His guards were suddenly arrested, and he
himself was bound with cords. "What harm have I done you," said
Nuruz to his host, " that you desire my life ? At least leave me my horse
and my sword. I will rush naked among my enemies and perish sword
in hand." " Henceforth," said the treacherous and ungrateful malik, " you
will only see a sword in the hands of other people." He then sent
the head of Haji to Kutlugh Shah, with the news of the arrest of
Nuruz and his people, and demanded in return, by the oath which Ghazan
had sworn to him, that Herat should be spared. This assurance was
sent to him by the amir Fulad Kia, the khoja Alai ud din, and the
mufti of Jam. Thereupon Nuruz was sent bound, with an escort of
Ghurian troops, to the camp of Kutlugh Shah. The latter put some
questions to his prisoner, who replied haughtily, " It is Ghazan, and not
you, who have the right to question me." He was thrown on the ground
and cut in two. Fulad Kia set out at once to take his head to Ghazan,
whom he found at Baghdad. The head of the brave and turbulent
chief, to whom Ghazan was so much indebted, was suspended for some
years in front of the prison in that town. His brothers Arghun Haji and
Kulduk were also executed. Three days after the death of Nuruz
Kutlugh Shah raised his camp and returned to Irak. This is the account
given by Rashid ud din*
Mirkhond has a somewhat different version of the concluding
episodes of the life of Nuruz. According to this author, Fakhr ud din
having determined to surrender Nuruz, told him that the garrison was
composed of such a mixed body of troops that any one of them might
treacherously give up one of the gates of the place, and to be secure in
that respect he urged Nuruz that his people should be employed in the work.
Accepting this as a fresh proof of the malik's friendship, Nuruz sent his
people as desired, and remained almost alone. Thereupon the malik
charged four of his officers, viz., Taj ud din Ilduz, Jemal ud din Muhammed
Sain, Saraj ud din Omar Harun, and Muhammed Na'man, to take a
body of Ghurians and arrest him. They approached the citadel by a
covered way, each one with a cord in his hand. The amir, having only
four companions with him, was engaged in firing some arrows at the
besiegers, but his bowstring broke, and he threw it down angrily. Seeing
his four assailants, he addressed them, saying, " Pehluvans, what are you
come to do, and why these cords?" Ilduz replied that the malik had
sent them to build a shelter, behind which he might be safer from the
enemy's weapons. Nuruz pointed out to them where he would like it to
be, and proceeded to mend his bow. Ilduz now advanced, and struck him
on the head with his mace. Muhammed and Omar then bound him and
conveyed him to a house. The malik, who was at this time hiding close
* D'Ohsson, iv. 187-192. Ilkhans, ii. 42-44.

414 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
by with 200 horsemen, sent word to Nuruz's men that their master
wanted them. They went accordingly to the citadel, and were forthwith
killed by the Ghurians.*
Fakhr ud din was liberally rewarded by Ghazan for his recent services.
He sent him one of his own robes, and again confirmed him as
malik of Herat and its dependencies, and granted him, at his request, the
privilege of omitting to pay the usual visits to the ordu, on his promising to
remain a faithful vassal and to furnish his quota of troops when the Ilkhan
should be at war. But presently he conceived the notion of breaking the
Mongol yoke. Trusting in the fortifications of Herat, which he had
strengthened, and in his forces, which reached the number of 60,000 men,
he began by evading the payment of his annual tribute, and excused
himself on various pleas from furnishing the requisitions demanded by
the troops of Kutlugh Shah. A more daring act of rebellion at length
brought him under the scourge of the Mongols. Ghazan had assigned
the famous Nigudarian bands, whom we have described, summer quarters
in Seistan and winter quarters in Irak Ajem, and exacted from these
robbers an undertaking to cease their raids, and declaring themselves
worthy of death if they violated it. They were nevertheless accused of
the various outrages that took place in Irak, and harassed by the charges
and fear of punishment, they moved without leave into Kuhistan, and
then asked Fakhr ud din to give them shelter within his principality. He
acceded to this, gave them horses, arms, and clothes, and employed them
in his service, and sent them to make raids into the districts he meant to
appropriate, where they killed many people. Deputations from the
sufferers went to Ghazan, who ordered his brother Khodabendeh to take
with him the troops of Mazanderan and Khorasan, and to demand the
extradition of the Nigudars. If the malik refused to comply he was to
attack Herat, put the turbulent Nigudars and Ghurians to the sword, but
to spare the innocent inhabitants. Khodabendeh having reached Nishapur
duly demanded the surrender of the Nigudarian chiefs. Fakhr ud din had
exacted a promise from them — solemnly made, according to their custom,
upon their swords — that they would not leave him without permission
He then presented Khodabendeh's messenger with one of his robes and
thirty prisoners, and told him to tell his master that Buka and the other
leaders of the Nigudars had set out on an expedition, but that on their
return they would be surrendered. Khodabendeh having received this
answer from a prince whose resolute character he well knew, resolved to
march at once upon Herat. This was in the summer of 1299. He
pitched his camp on the river, close by the walls, and had begun the
siege, when he learnt that the malik had left for the fortress of Amankuh,
now called Ishkdl^ji, and he proceeded to invest it. Having postponed
* D'Ohsson, iv. 191.192. Notes.

GHAZAN KHAN. 415
his attack for four days, in the hope that the malik would submit, he
ordered an assault to be made, which cost him many men. The following
night Fakhr ud din made a sortie and traversed the Mongol lines,
re-entering Herat. Having confided its defence to the amirs of the
Ghurians and Khallajes, he himself set out for Ghur with 100 horsemen.
The next day Khodabendeh renewed his assault, but again unsuccessfully.
Hearing that the malik had left the fort, he returned to Herat, and began
to besiege that town. Under him were the generals Reis Kutlugh, Hulaju,
Hirkudak, Mulai, and Danishmend Behadur. The malik's chief officers,
Iftikhar ud din, Muhammed Haruni, Jemal ud din Muhammed Sam,
Ilchi Khoja, Omar Shah Khuarezmi, Pehluvan Yar Ahmed, and others,
left the place with a large force, and fought a terrible battle outside. The
struggle was more or less continuous for seventeen days, and several
thousand men perished on each side. Eventually, the Sheikh ul Islam
Shihab ud din Jam went to Khodabendeh's camp and told him, after
much peaceful entreaty, that there were 50,000 men capable of bearing
arms in the place, who had decided to resist to the death ; that it was
probable the town could not be captured, which would be a disgrace to
the royal forces, and that it would be better to make some arrangement.
His proposal having been accepted, he sent to tell the chiefs that the
prince was ready to pardon them, and they must send him 100,000 dinars.
The town duly sent 30,000, and undertook that the remainder should be
forwarded when Khodabendeh had raised the siege. Fakhr ud din
returned to Herat, and proceeded to repair and increase its fortifications.*
In the year 1 301 Fakhr ud din put down the revolt of Hosam ud din, the
governor of Esfizar. That chief died just as he was going to be attacked,
and his son Rokn ud din concentrated his forces in the citadel of Dubah.
The malik summoned some Mongol mercenaries and 3,000 Ghurians, and
captured Esfizar, and those of its inhabitants who escaped death were
removed to Herat.t
Fakhr ud din, inter alia, built two great bastions at Herat of the height
of fourteen guez, separated by a slope of six guez wide, and also laid out a
vast open space, surrounded by a circular wall, outside the city walls, where
popular fetes, &c., could be held. He also built a monastery in the royal
square, and repaired the mosque of Abd Allah, son of Amir, as well as
that called Tereh Farushi, on the Amankuh, and also founded the famous
market-place, afterwards known as the royal market. Every month 1,000
dinars were distributed to the poor and the dervishes, and 1,000 blankets
were given them at the beginning of winter ; 10,000 menn of bread and
ten sheep were also divided daily among the indigent. These measures
made the malik very popular. In the year 700 hej. (i.e., 1300) he forbade
women to appear in public under the penalty of being promenaded about
* P'Ohsson, iv. 193-196. Ilkhans, ii. 73-75. t Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 480, &c.

416 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the streets and markets in black veils. He also forbade the use of
wailers and chaunters at funerals, as prescribed by the Koran. Those
who engaged in gambling were led through the streets with their beards
and hair shaven. Drunkards, besides suffering the penalty ordered by
the religious law, were to have their feet manacled, and to be made to
work in the tile works at Herat. Poets and learned men were patronised,
and Seifi Heravi, who composed 80 odes and 150 rubais or quatrains in
his honour, says in his chronicle that forty poets lived at his Court.*
Among all these poets the only name which has reached us is that of
Mola Sadr ud din, of Fushenj, surnamed Rebii, whose career is a
curious instance of the Bohemian lives which men lived at the Courts of
the great Mongol vassals in the 13th century. He filled the post of pulpit
orator or preacher at Fushenj, when he was summoned to Herat by Fakhr
ud din, and commissioned to write the Kert nameh, on the plan and in
the metre of the Shah nameh of Firdusi, in which he sang of the doings
of the malik and his grandfather. He received a salary of 1,000 pieces
of gold (Von Hammer says of silver) as Court poet, but, like many other
poets, he was given to intemperate habits, and his orgies scandalised
Fakhr ud din. To avoid punishment, he sought refuge in Kuhistan with
Shah Ali, son of Nasr ud din Seistani. There he one day allowed
himself to abuse the malik so violently that Shah Ali gave him 200 dinars
and, telling him he was not his man, ordered him to take his departure at
once, and when the courtiers expressed surprise at this treatment of the
first poet of Khorasan, he replied, " Rebii has all the gifts of intelligence,
but he lacks a heart. If he now abuses one who has for ten years covered
him with favours, do you think he will in the future spare my name?" The
poet now went to Nishapur, where he led a precarious life for a while,
and then went to Irak. Afraid that he might use his talents to discredit
him with the Ilkhan, Fakhr ud din sent him an invitation to return, and
having obtained a safe conduct, signed with the malik's own hand, he did
so. The latter was not given to forgiving injuries, and having heard of
the poet's biting sarcasms, which were in everybody's mouth, sought an
opportunity to destroy him. One day the poet, who gave himself up
more than ever to debauchery, invited some of his young friends to a
feast. Here many indiscreet things were said. Among others, Rebii
declared that if they would support him he would in a few days become
the ruler of Herat. This statement was applauded, a mock coronation
was gone through, and the hero of the evening distributed dignities and
ranks among his companions. This performance having been reported
to Fakhr ud din, the culprits were summoned to his presence. They all
pleaded guilty, but urged that they had been drunk. The malik, however,
was inexorable. Some of them were flayed alive. Others had their
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 478-479.

GHAZAN KHAN. 41 7
tongues and ears cut off. Rebii himself was thrown into a dungeon.
During his long captivity he composed many odes and mesnevis in honour
of the king, but without moving him. We do not read what became of
him, but it is probable that he died in prison. Von Hammer has
translated a number of his verses. They depend, like most Persian
poetry, upon assonance and other graces, almost impossible to translate,
and sound very vapid, stilted, and invertebrate in another language.*
We have seenf how the Padishah Khatun, the wife of Abaka and
Gaikhatu successively, was made ruler of Kerman by the latter, and how
she put to death her brother Siyurghatmish. He left but one daughter,
Ismet ud din Aalemshah, who married Baidu Khan, and who, with her
mother, Kurdujin, determined upon the overthrow of their strong-minded
and truculent relative. On Baidu's accession they accordingly marched
an army to Fars, and put Padishah Khatun to death. This was in
694 hej. (i.e., 1295). Hamdullah philosophises in verse on this event —
If thy cross be thoms, verily thou hast sown them ;
If it be China silk, verily thou thyself hast spun it.
Next year Ghazan nominated Muhammed Shah, the son of Hijaj, brother
of Siyurghatmish, who was then fifteen years old, as her successor. The
young prince lived at Ghazan's Court, while the country was administered
by the judge Fakhr ud din of Herat. He treated the young prince's
brothers, Mahmud and Hasan Shah, with scant courtesy, and reduced
their allowances tenfold, whereupon they rose against and killed him.
Ghazan then sent Timur Buka as governor of Kerman, who summoned
troops from Irak and Fars. The siege lasted for a year and a half, and
famine began to press the garrison. But as it held out bravely the
amirs sent to Ghazan to beg him to send Muhammed Shah, to whom
they thought the citizens would give it up. Meanwhile the town
surrendered. The Khoja Sadr ud din of Abher was now given charge of
Kerman. He sent one of the rebel princes, Mahmud Shah, to the
Court. As he was going there he met Muhammed Shah at Ispahan, and
as the latter refused to see him, he took poison. When Muhammed
reached the city he put to death all those he could lay his hands upon
who had fomented the outbreak. He also seized his brother, Siyuk Shah,
whom he sent to Tebriz, where he was put to death with torture. Sadr
ud din of Abher, Muhammed Shah's atabeg or guardian, began to grow
suspicious of him, and taking advantage of his absence on a hunting
excursion he fled to Shirkhan, whose governor assisted him, and he thus
reached Fars. Muhammed sent the vizier Bahai ul Mulk to persuade him
to return, and he did so and was well treated, but he still felt uncomfortable,
and presently secured an appointment as Muhammed's deputy at Ghazan's
Court, where he closely watched his master's interests. Muhammed Shah

» Id., 479 and 480. Notes. Ilkhans, ii. 75-78. t Ante, 365.

4l8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
died of excessive drinking, in the year 703 hej. (i.e., 1304, the same year
as Ghazan), after a reign of eight years.*
We will now turn to the affairs of Fars, which are omitted by D'Ohsson,
while Von Hammer's account in the " Ilkhans " is fitly described by
Colonel Yule as frightfully confused. During the supremacy of the
Salghurid atabegs of Fars, Hormuz formed one of their subordinate
governments. When that dynasty came to an end, Mahmud Kalhati,
who had been governor of the island, established himself as prince of
Hormuz. He is called Rukn ud din Mahmud in Tei'xeira's extracts from
the chronicle of Turan Shah. He is said to have reigned from 1246 to
1277, and to have been succeeded by his son Saif ud din Nazrat, who
reigned apparently till the year 1290, when he was put to death, with his
wife, by his brother Rokn ud din Masaud (called Amir Masaud by Teixeira),
Thereupon Bahai ud din Ayaz, a Mamluk in Nazrat's service, who had been
appointed vizier of Kalhat on the Arabian coast by his master, took up arms
to avenge him, assisted by Siyurghatmish, the ruler of Kerman ; while the
Mufti, who had had to seek temporary shelter in the island of Kish, was
similarly helped by Jemal ud din, the governor of Fars, who assigned
him 12,000 gold pieces annually out of the revenues of the province for
the furnishing of his army. Having driven out Masaud, and secured a
treasure of 200 tumans, in gold, silver, and rich stuffs, he had Fakhr ud
din Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al Thaibi (apparently a relative of Jemal ud din
of Fars, already named) proclaimed as ruler of Hormuz. A MS. history,
quoted by Ouseley, assigns to this Fakhr ud din the foundation of New
Hormuz, on the island of Jerun, the old one having been deserted in
consequence of the attacks of predatory neighbours.! In regard to the
Arab family of Al Thaibi, of which Fakhr ud din was a scion, Colonel Yule
remarks that they seem to have been powerful at this time on the shores
of the Indian Ocean. One of them, Jemal ud din Ibrahim, was farmer-
general of the taxes of Fars, and quasi-independent prince of Kais and
other islands in the Persian Gulf. We shall have more to say about
him. Fakhr ud din above named, as he is called ibn Ibrahim, was no
doubt his son. His brother Taki ud din Abdur Rahman was vizier at
Marzban, in Maabar.f Von Hammer says that Jemal ud din went to
Hormuz, and that a quarrel arose between him and his son, Fakhr ud din.
A struggle ensued, in which Bahai ud din Ayaz took the part of his former
patron, Jemal ud din, and Fakhr ud din was driven from the island. He
was sent in 1297 as his envoy to the Great Khan at Khanbaligh by the
Ilkhan, and died on his return voyage, on the Coromandel coast, in 1305. §
Bahai ud din now seems to have occupied Hormuz, whence Jemal ud din
tried to drive him out, but the latter was defeated, and his opponent, who
* Hamdullah. Ilkhans, ii. 49.
t Yule's Marco Polo, i. 124-125. Pauthier, id., i. 86. Note. Ilkhans, ii. 50.
I Yule s Marco Polo, ii. 316. Note. Elliott, Hist, of India, iii. 32.
$ Yule, op. cit., i. 125. Ilkhans, ii. 50.

GHAZAN KHAN. 419
seems to have been more or less of a piratical chief, landed upon and
plundered the island of Kais. This defeat, and the fact that the season
was approaching when the trading vessels would return from Maabar,
induced Jemal ud din to make advances to Bahai ud din, and an
accommodation was the result. We are told that Jemal ud din, the tax
farmer of Fars, carried on an active trade with the district of Maabar.
Fourteen hundred horses (Von Hammer says 400) were by agreement
sent annually from the island of Kish or Kais. Horses were similarly
exported from the other islands, viz., Hormuz, Bahrein, Khatif, and
Lahsa. The price of each horse was fixed from old times at 220 dinars of
red gold, and those which died en route had their value paid out of the
treasury. In the reign of the Salghur atabeg, Abu Bekr, 10,000 horses
were so sent to Maabar, Kambayat, and other ports, and their value,
which amounted to 2,200,000 dinars, was paid for out of the funds belonging
to the Hindu temples and the tax upon courtesans attached to them
Wassaf says, instead of being fed On raw barley, these horses were given
roasted barley and grain dressed with butter, and boiled cow's milk to
drink, and he adds his appropriate commentary in verse —
Who gives sugar to an owl or a crow ?
Or who feeds a parrot with a carcase ?
A crow should be fed with a dead body,
And a parrot with candy and sugar.
Who loads jewels on the back of an ass ?
Or who would approve of giving dressed almonds to a cow ?
The Indian climate was very fatal to these horses, which became
rapidly weak and worn out from the heat, &c. "Their loss," says
the chronicler, " is not without its attendant advantage, for it is a
providential ordinance of God that the West should continue in want
of Eastern products and the Eastern world of Western products, and that
the North should with labour procure the goods of the South and the
South be furnished in like manner with commodities brought in ships
from the North. Consequently, the means ot easy communication are
kept up between these different quarters, as the social nature of human
beings necessarily requires and profits by : —
" Thou wert called a man because thou wert endowed with love."*
Jemal ud din made a treaty with the Diwar of Maabar, which secured
him trading rights there. When he was intrusted with, the govern
ment of Irak and Fars, the messenger who took the news was sent
to the Diwar with a present of a falcon. Wassaf has preserved the
letter written on this occasion, which has been translated by Von
Hammer, and is a good specimen of the hyperbole then fashionable in
diplomatic correspondence. The Diwar sent a still more elaborate and
pompously phrased reply, and with it some singers and musicians. This
reply was written in Shaaban, in the year 700 hej. (i.e., 1300), and was
* Elliot, Historians of India, iii. 33-34- Ilkhans, ii. 51-52.

420 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
duly acknowledged by an answer written in October of the same year.
The letters are a mere farrago of stilted phrases, and absolutely wanting
in historical details.* " Notwithstanding the immense wealth he (i.e., Jemal
ud din) acquired by trade," says Wassaf, " he gave orders that when
commodities and goods were imported from the remotest parts of China
and Hind into Maabar, his agents and factors should be allowed the
first selection, until which no one else was allowed to purchase. When
he had selected his goods he dispatched them on his own ships,
or delivered them to merchants and shipowners to carry to the island of
Kais. Even then it was not permitted to any merchant to contract a
bargain until the factors of Malik ul Islam had selected what they
required. Then the merchants were allowed to buy whatever was
suited to the wants of Maabar. The remnants were exported on ships
and beasts of burden to the isles of the sea and the countries of the East
and West, and with the money obtained by their sale such goods were
purchased as were suitable for the home market. The trade was so
managed that the produce of the remotest China was consumed in the
furthest West. No one has seen the like of it in the world."f
Jemal ud din, the Mufti of Shiraz, to whom we have so frequently
referred, was styled Sheikh ul Islam (i.e., the Sheikh of Islam), and also
Melikol Islam (i.e., the farmer-general of Islam), because he had the
farming of the various taxes in Irak and Fars. Through the favour of the
Vizier, Sadr ud din, he was two years behind in his payment, but in
November, 1298, when the Court was at Jukin, he was summoned there
and ordered to pay up the arrears immediately. This he did to the
amount of 45 tumans, each consisting of 10,000 dinars. The taxes of the
province were now arranged on a more equitable basis. The whole
province was divided into sixteen parts, and was assigned a tribute of
1,000 tumans, of which 10,800,000 dinars were set aside for the costs of
collection, &c. Orders were sent to Fars that 20,000 portions of land
(fedan), as Crown lands, had been exempted from taxes. Of these 3,000
were to be assigned to the governor and 3,000 more to the tax farmer, who
were to pay to the treasury 61 gold pieces and 4 daniks (?) for each estate
or portion. Whenever the taxes were put up for sale, these lands, with
their appurtenances of seed and agricultural implements, were to be
surrendered by the previous farmers, who were to be paid 85 dinars for
each plough ox, and the seed which was reckoned with it. Th*e rate at
which exchange was to be valued in collecting taxes was that the gold
miskal was to be counted at four dinars and the silver miskal at one
dinar. The gold and silver money in the provinces was to be accepted
at the same value as in the capital, and the payment of earnest money
for difference of exchange was forbidden. The farmers-general were to
produce the wealthiest and most considerable amirs as bail. The
* Ilkhans, ii. 52-63. t Elliot, iii. 35.

GHAZAN KHAN. 42 1
amirship and government of the land was confirmed to the Terkhan
Sadak. Sherif ud din, of Semnan, was made supreme director of the
taxes. He was to hear the complaints of the people, and to see that the
tax collectors did their duty honestly. These reforms were due to the
vizier, Sadr ud din .*
Let us now return again to Ghazan. His reign was marked by a
terrible roll of executions, and, as D'Ohsson says, there is hardly a page
of Rashid ud din at this time without a notice of the execution of
some public functionary. In August, 1297, the rebel governor of Rum,
Baku, who had fled, was captured by the generals Sulamish and A'rab,
who took him to Tebriz, where he was executed on the public square, on
the 14th of September, the day after Ghazan's return to his capital, after
spending the spring and summer at Alatagh. Having been told that
some person had predicted that Prince Taichu, son of Mangu Timur,
would be on the throne before forty days were over, he had him, together
with the prophet and all those who were present when he made the
prophecy, put to death.t On the 5th of October, 1297, Ghazan laid the
foundations of the famous tomb in the garden Aadiliyeh, in the suburb of
Shem, whose ruins still form the most precious monument at Tebriz. He
superintended the workmen himself, and as the base rose above the ground,
the architect questioned him about where he should put the windows so
as to light up the cool room or cellar (serdat), which was under the
ground. On the 2nd of November, 1297, Ghazan and his Court formally adopted
the Muhammedan head-dress (i.e., the turban), which, according to
Mussulman tradition, was the head covering of Abraham, who is accounted
a Hanefi (i.e., one acquainted with the true faith). This ceremony was
followed by a feast. On the 7th of the same month the Ilkhan set out for
his winter quarters in Arran. En route he heard that an outbreak had
taken place in Georgia.:): We have seen how David, the sixth son of
Dimitri 1 1., obtained the throne of Karthli from Gaikhatu Khan, and how
he was patronised by the officers of Baidu. Although he had sent back
Tukal and his son at the bidding of Ghazan, he did not like to venture
himself in person to his Court. He had been restrained by his fear of
Nuruz, who was such an aggressive enemy of the Christians. The
" History of Georgia" tells us that Nuruz seized the aged Nestorian bishop
of Meragha and had him beaten and cruelly tormented, in order to make
him abjure his faith, and when he found this was unavailing he exiled
him, notwithstanding his great age. He also sent one of his relatives to
lay waste all the churches of Georgia, including the church of the Virgin
at Vardzia, and to carry off the rich plate, &c, belonging to them. He
went to Nakhchivan, but was miraculously struck by lightning and
consumed, even to his bones, as he was about to lay his hands on the
* Ilkhans, ii. 65-68. f D'Ohsson, iv. 196-197. I Id., 197.

422 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
cross in the church of Vardzia, just named* Stephen Orpelian says that
through the efforts of Nuruz many churches were ruined, priests killed,
and Christians put to death, and those who escaped death were robbed of
their goods, while their wives and children were sold into slavery. At
Baghdad, Mosul, Hamian (? Hims), Thavrej (? Tebriz), and Meragha, and
in the countries of Rum and Mesopotamia, the persecution caused great
troubles. The churches of Nakhchivan were sacked and the priests sold
into slavery, the doors of the sanctuaries were demolished and the holy tables
overturned, but the buildings themselves were spared out of consideration
for the Georgian troops, who were held in high honour by the Mongol
chiefs. At Noravank, the capital oi Siunia, they would have overturned
the churches, but were appeased by presents, &c, while that part of
Armenia beyond the Araxes was entirely spared. The Syrian Catholicos
at Meragha (i.e., the Nestorian dignitary before named) was captured
and reduced to great stress by the cruelty of the Mongols, while Ter
Tiratsu, bishop of the Church of the Apostles, was put to outrageous
tortures and pillaged of his goods, and his monastery (i.e., that of Dadi
Vank), where the apostle Thaddeus was buried, had its walls completely
overturned and destroyed. Haithon, King of Little Armenia, having gone
to complain to Ghazan, the latter said all this had been done without
his orders, and he took measures to stop the devastations. This author
also states that Ghazan married the daughter of the King, but according
to Langlois he really married the niece of Haithon, daughter of his
brother Sempad.t The " History of Georgia " tells us that the King of
Georgia, having received a fresh summons to go to the ordu, set out as far as
Hereth and Kakheth, where the didebuls and aznaurs met him, and among
others the famous warrior, the eristhaf Samadaula. He consulted with
them as to whether he should go on or no. They advised him to do so,
but he was afraid, and went to Mthiuleth, and established an entrenched
camp at Jinwan, whence he sent his young brother Wakhtang as his
envoy to the Khan, Othakha, grandson of Batu (i.e., Toktogu, Khan of
the Golden Horde), and offered to open him a road by way of Derbend if
he would attack Ghazan. He was well received, and promised troops,
lands, and riches. Having heard of David's defection, the Ilkhan sent
his general or beglarbeg, Kutlugh Shah, with a considerable army against
him. He went to Tiflis, whence he dispatched messengers to David, to
urge him to send some responsible people with his submission and a
promise to be faithful. The king accordingly sent the Catholicos,
Abraham, Joane Bursel, and the Kadhi of Tiflis, who in turn asked for
hostages. The Mongols, we are told, not only gave an oath according to
their faith, but also sent the son of Kutlugh Shah, named Sibuchi ; Arpa,
brother of Kurumshi, and some other sons of noyans, and also offered
Ghazan's ring as a gage for the King's safety. Thereupon David went to
* Hist, de la Georgie, 616-617. t Hist, de Ia Siounie, 261-262.

GHAZAN KHAN. 423
them and promised to repair to the ordu. Kutlugh Shah received him
honourably, and on his return he released the hostages, to whom he had
given great presents .* Stephen Orpelian, in relating these events, says
that David, when summoned by the Ilkhan, fled with all his nobles to
Mthiuleth, and entered the impregnable fortress of Maslenakhe" (Modan-
akhe, i.e., " come and see me.") He also seized the gate of the Alans,
formerly called Dariala, and now, says our author, Jasanin Cap, whence
he expelled the Tartar garrison. It then belonged to the successors of
Bereke. Stephen says their chiefs at this time were Thutha Mangu
and Nukha (i.e., Tuda Mangu and Nogai), grandsons of Batu and
Sartakh. They sent him several envoys, and made protests, but he refused
to leave. Thereupon Kutlugh Shah entered the country with a numerous
army, and posted himself in the plain of Mukhran, near the impregnable
citadel, where the King had retired to. It was only when he sent his
own son Shipauchi (the Sibuchi above named) and three other considerable
personages as hostages, that the King, when he had put them under a
strong guard, ventured to go to his camp with rich presents, which were
reciprocated. The Georgian patriarch acted throughout as mediator.
After the King's return home, and the release of the hostages, Kutlugh
Shah went to his winter quarters in the plain of Ran (i.e., Arran).t
On the approach of spring, Ghazan again summoned David to the
ordu, but being still afraid, he re-opened negotiations with the Khan
Othaka (i.e., Toktogu), through his brother Baadur. When Ghazan
heard of this he once more sent Kutlugh Shah, who went to Somketh
and again urged the King to go, sending him rich presents. He sent the
Catholicos Abraham, the Kadhi of Tiflis, and Joand Bursel, and promised
to go himself. Seeing he made these constant excuses, the Tartars put
Bursel to death, letting his two companions go free. They then marched
to Mthiuleth, and ravaged Somkheth, Karthli, Thrialeth, and Ertso, and
planted themselves successively at Mukhnar, Kherk, Bazaleth, Ertso, and
Thrialeth. They made so many prisoners that their number was unknown,
and they committed great slaughter and devastation. This year (i.e.,
1298) there appeared a great comet, in the shape of a lance, in the north,
where it was visible for four months — a presage, says the chronicler, that
the Georgians would perish by a weapon of this shape. The Tartars now
offered terms on condition that the King would not offer a passage through
his territory to the ruler of the Golden Horde. After solemn reciprocal
promises, David sent the Queen (his mother), his young brother Manuel,
the Catholicos Abraham, and his wife Oljath,! who were received with
honour by Kutlugh Shah ; and having made over Georgia and its capital)
Tiflis, to the King, he set out for the ordu with Oljath. In the
spring of 1299 a messenger or spy was sent by the Mongols to see if
* Hist, de la Georgie,6i8-6i9. t Hist, de la Siounie, 263-264.
J We have seen that the Persian authors make her the wife of Kutlugh Shah.

424 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
David was keeping his word. He reported the overtures the King had
made to the Khan of the Golden -Horde, through his brother Baadur,
offering him a passage through Georgia. Ghazan was naturally enraged,
and dispatched Kurumshi and Alinji, one of his favourites, together with
Shahinshah Mkhragrdzel. Their mission was to depose the King, and to
set up his young brother Giorgi, who we are told was like the unicorn, the
only son of his mother. She was the daughter of the Beka already named.
Beka had become a very powerful person, and ruled over the country
from Tasis-Sar to Sper, and as far as the sea, including Samtzkhe',
Adshara, Khavkheth, Klafjeth, and the valley of Nigal. Alexis IL,
Comnenus Emperor of Trebizond, who mounted the throne in 1297,
had apparently married his daughter,* and had made over to him
all Janeth. He thus possessed the greater part of Tao, Artan, Kola,
Karndphora, Kars, and all the surrounding land and fortresses, including
Artanuj and the hermitages of Klarjeth. All the diddbuls, arznaurs, and
monasteries were dependent on him. He paid tribute to the Mongols,
and furnished them with a contingent of auxiliary troops. His grandson
Giorgi, David's half brother, was living with him. The Khan's messengers
asked that he might be sent with them to be installed as King of Karthli.
He was accordingly sent, escorted by a large army, and notwithstanding
his youth was duly crowned at Tiflis.f
These events took place in 1299. In the following spring Ghazan again
sent Kutlugh Shah with several noyans and a large army, who once more
ravaged Karthli. David had taken refuge at Khada. His dependant,
Chalwa Kw6niphn6v/6\i,l eristhaf of Ksan, submitted to the invaders, and
in fact acted as their guide through the valleys of Tzkhrazma or Lomisa,
and the mountains of Tzkhavat. Informed of his treason, David withdrew
to the impregnable fort of Tzikare". Kutlugh Shah went successively to
Khada, Khevi, and Gwe'leth (or Gdlath), where he expected to find David,
and laid siege to the town of Stephan Tsmida, where David was supposed
to be. Having failed to capture this place, they agreed to descend again
to Khada on being supplied with some provisions. Meanwhile David, in
his safe retreat, was supported by Ahmada Suramel (the first chamberlain),
J ila Abazas-Dze, and the aznaurs of Karthli and Somkheth. Kutlugh
Shah determined to overwhelm the rebel King. He sent two divisions to
attack Tzikare". Five hundred Tartars were waylaid in a defile, and
either killed or captured. A struggle now ensued close to Khada. The
Tartars again suffered severely, since it was not possible in this hilly
ground to fight on horseback. They were assisted by Shahin Shah, son
of Ivand, by two troops of Meskhes sent by Beka and other Georgians,
The difficulty of the ground prevented either side from properly assailing
* The Georgian Chronicle wrongly calls the emperor Kir Michael.
t Hist, de la Georgie, i. 620-622. Lebeau, xix. 86. Note.
X .?.> The master Of Lower Iphnev, a place on the left bank of the Upper Ksan.

GHAZAN KHAN. 425
the other, and the Tartars withdrew to Khada. Seeing it was not possible
to penetrate to Tzikare", Kutlugh Shah returned once more to Karthli,
and killed or made prisoners all whom he found there, after which he
rejoined his master, Ghazan. The spring following (i.e., in 1301) he
again invaded Georgia. He went to Tiflis, intending to march upon
Mthiuleth. The didebuls of the country wishing to preserve what still
remained undevastated, urged David to repair to the ordu after receiving
proper hostages. Kutlugh Shah undertook that he should return safe and
sound if he would only go and visit his master ; but although the people of
Karthli, of Hereth, and Kakheth urged him strongly that he would be
well treated, he dared not trust himself there, but remained at Gwe'leth.
His chief didebuls, however, went with his consent. They were well
received by Kutlugh Shah, who, having again harried the land, except
Mthiuleth, returned once more to the ordu.
David now determined to revenge himself upon the traitor Chalwa,
marched into the valley of Tzkhrazma, and devastated it. Chalwa, driven
to straits, asked Ahmada Suramel, the head of the eristhavs of Karthli, to
intercede with the King for him, who pardoned him, but made over his
appanage to Ahmada. At this time David's brother, Wakhtang, became
troublesome. He had married the daughter of Shabur, and chafed at
having no heritage of his own. He accordingly went to Ghazan's ordu,
who conferred the Georgian kingdom upon him, and had him escorted to
Tiflis by Kutlugh Shah with a considerable force. On arriving there he
was supported by all the Tartars and Georgians, the General Sargis, son
of Beka, Prince of Samtzkhe' ; and the people of Tao, Thor, Thmogwi, and
Somkheth, as Well as by Shahin Shah, so that there were now three kings
of Georgia: David VI., son of Dimitri II. ; George V., whose name
seems to disappear after his accession till the year 1318 ; and
Wakhtang III., who now (i.e., in 1301) mounted the throne.* On learning
of the patronage the Tartars had extended to his brother, David again
offered, through Joan^ Bursel, to go in person to the ordu if he received
proper assurances as to his safety and hostages. These were promised
by Kutlugh Shah, and he thereupon sent his queen, Oljath, who was
met at Bazaleth by Kutlugh Shah, and treated with special honour, she
being a Mongol princess. She was given the most solemn assurances for
the king's safety, as well as the ring and the napkin, the latter being, as
we are told, a gage of pardon, while Sibuchi, son of Kutlugh Shah, was
offered as a hostage. The Queen, however, was detained, and the
Catholicos, the Kadhi, and Bursel were sent back to bring the King. He
refused to go with them, and on their return without him Kutlugh Shah
was so enraged that he put Bursel to death.f Shahin Shah buried him
in his own sepulchre. Wakhtang was duly confirmed, and the Queen was
sent to the ordu. * Hist, de la Georgie, 622-625.
t The same authority, as w» have seen, makes him be put to death some time before.

426 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
The Tartars now made an invasion into the difficult country of Gwdleth,
but were constrained to retire, after suffering considerable losses by its
impregnable position, and the bad weather having proved too much for
them. They withdrew again to Karthli. As we have seen, the Queen Oljath
had been sent to the ordu. The Mongols determined that she should not
again return to her husband. When he learnt this, he, in 1302, married the
daughter of Ahmada, eristhaf of Karthli, who was very beautiful. The
recent devastations caused great suffering in Georgia, and a terrible
famine ensued. The Georgian chronicler attributes the ills which over
whelmed his country to the vices of the people, which he compares,
apparently literally, with those of Sodom. A crowd of people from
Karthli passed into Samtzkhe', where Beka ruled, and the latter's wife
distributed charity widely among the fugitives. Meanwhile Wakhtang
continued to rule at Tiflis over Somkheth, Dmanis, and Samshwilde.*
Beka had a considerable struggle at this time with the Turks of Asia
Minor, which is detailed in the Georgian history, but which forms no part
of our subject.
We must now revert again to Ghazan himself. In January, 1298, as
the Court was on its way towards Tebriz, and had reached Dalan Naur,
his youngest brother, Khatui Oghul, died, while a month later his second
son Alju was born. Another of his great officials was now going to be
displaced, viz., Sadr ud din of Zenjan, who held the post of vizier, and against
whom charges of treason had been laid by Kutb ud din of Shiraz and Moin
ud din, who had returned from Khorasan. Rashid ud din, the historian, who
was one of his subordinates, reports that he and the Vizier had been on
good terms, but some officers of the Divan tried to sow disunion between
them. Rashid paid no heed to them, but the Vizier was disposed to
believe them, and complained to Ghazan, who told him Rashid had not
spoken a word against him, and he further urged the latter not to defile his
tongue by answering the slanders, but to go on his way as before.
Presently, while the Court was at Dalan Naur, beyond the Kur, fresh
charges against the Vizier were made by Kutlugh Shah, who was returning
from Georgia, where he commanded, and complained of the financial
position of the province. Sadr ud din, in reply, declared that the amir's
troops had ruined it. Kutlugh Shah having accused the Vizier of speaking
ill of him to the Khan, the latter said it was Rashid. " Kutlugh Shah,"
says the historian, " coming out from an audience with Ghazan, asked
me how, after we had been friends so long, I could thus slander him. I
denied the charge, and asked him who had made it, and as he refused
to tell me, I said that I would speak to the Khan, I spoke to Ghazan
about it during a hunt. Ghazan thereupon sent for the amir, and said to
him, ' My son, tell me who spoke to you thus.' He thereupon named
Sadr ud din. ' I can never cure this man's untruthfulness, for it is
* Hist, de la Georgie, 625-626.

GHAZAN KHAN. 427
ingrained in him.'" He accordingly ordered his arrest, together with that
of his brother, Kutb ud din. This was on the 30th of April. When
brought before the Court he answered his interrogators with skill, and if
time had been allowed him would probably have escaped his fate, but he
was handed over to Kutlugh Shah for punishment, who cut him in two
while two officers held his hands. This was on the 4th of May, 1298.
" Such was the end of this vizier, who, after employing so many means and
causing so much trouble to secure his fortune, enjoyed it only for an
instant."* On the 4th of June the Kadhi Kutb ud din, brother of Sadr ud
din, and their nephew Kavam ul Mulk, were executed at Tebriz. Their
relative, Zain ud din, escaped to Ghilan, and only suffered the same fate
two years later, when he ventured to return home.
Ghazan now appointed the Khoja Said ud din of Saveh as vizier,t and
Rashid was apparently nominated as his colleague. This took place in
the year 697 HEJ., according to Hamdullah, but Wassaf and Mirkhond
date it in 698. Ghazan, as we said, had at his accession ordered many
churches, synagogues, and Buddhist temples to be converted into
mosques. His acceptance of the turban was the signal for another
outbreak of fanaticism, and the Christians who, during the previous
reigns, had often found protection under the patronage of the Christian
wives of the khans, suffered a great decline of fortune. t The Court
duly set out in the autumn of 1298 for its winter quarters in Irak Arab.
It halted, en route, at Murghsarek, on the borders of Hamadan, and
at Burejerd, where Abubekr, of Dadukabad, was put to death for
embezzlement ; then crossed the Kurdish mountains, near Wasith, to
the plain of Jukin, where Jemal ud din, the farmer-general of taxes,
was summoned to account for the taxes overdue. Here news first
arrived of the outbreak of Sulamish in Rum. After the execution
of Baku, Ghazan had made over the army in that province to Buchkur,
Kiur Timur, and Tainjar, under the general supervision of Sulamish,
who was the son of Afak, son of the amir Baichu. At the same time
he deposed the puppet Seljukian Sultan, Masud, the second son of
Iz ud din Kaikavus IL, who had been placed on the throne, as we have
seen, by the Ilkhan Ahmed, and who was now accused of complicity with
Baku. This deposition took place in 1295. Masud was confined in a
fortress, and Rum was divided into four prefectures, respectively controlled
by the Pervaneji, Muhammed Bey ; the grand vizier, Jemal ud din ; his
lieutenant or ketkhuda, Kemal ud din, of Tiflis ; and the Defterdar, or
Finance Minister, Sherif ud din, who were jointly to account to the
Treasury for a revenue of sixty tumans. They committed considerable
exactions, and two years later (i.e., in 1297) Ghazan raised Masud's nephew,
Alai ud din III. Kaikobad Firamurz, to the throne.§ He set out for his
* Rashid ud din, in D'Ohsson, iv. 198-199. Ilkhans, ii. 69-70.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 199-200. X Ilkhans, ii, 70-71. § Ilkhans, ii. 72-73. D'Ohsson iv. 204.

428 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
appanage, accompanied by the generals above-named. The next winter
was very severe, and a heavy snow fell. Sulamish took advantage of the
difficulty caused by this bad weather, spread a report that Ghazan had
been deposed by a party of rebels, and himself revolted. He surprised Kiur
Timur and Tainjar, raised a body of 10,000 men, was joined by Mahmud
Bey, prince of Karamania, with 10,000 Turkomans ; by the troops cantoned
in the plain of Ak Sheher, in the district occupied by the Danishmendi
Turkomans, and by the various vagabonds in the country. He thus collected
an army of 50,000 men, among whom he liberally divided the revenues
of Rum, appointed officers, and distributed standards and drums, while
the Egyptian Sultan, to whom he wrote, also promised to help him.
The town of Sivas having declared against him, he laid siege to it.
In March, 1299, Ghazan sent Kutlugh Shah against him. His army
marched in three bodies : the advance guard commanded by Choban, the
centre by Kutlugh Shah himself, and the rear guard by Sutai Aktaji
(i.e., the equerry). Makrizi says the Mongols numbered 35,000, and were
commanded by Bulai. They met the enemy in the plain of Aksheher,
in Erzenjan, on the 25th of April. The rebel was deserted by his
Mongol troops, as well as by the contingent from Rum and the
Karamanian Turkomans, who returned to their mountains, so that he
was left with only about 500 followers, and accordingly fled to
Behesna, on the frontier of Syria, then in the hands of the Egyptians.
He had sent one of his officers, named Mokhlis ud din Rumi, to press the
Egyptian Sultan to send him help, and the latter accordingly sent orders
to Damascus that 5,000 men from Hims, 5,000 from Hamath, and as
many from Aleppo should at once march ; but as they were starting
news reached Damascus of the flight of Sulamish, who shortly after
appeared there in person, accompanied by the amir Iz ud din El
Zurdkash, governor of Behesna, and a suite of twenty persons. The
garrison of Damascus and the principal citizens, with the naib or governor
at their head, went out to meet them. They were treated with unusual
pomp, and Sulamish was assigned quarters on the Meidan, and he was
invited to go on the night of the mid-month to see a grand illumination
in the great mosque of the Ommiades. He presently set out on post-
horses, with Katkatu and Mokhlis ud din Rumi, for Cairo. Katkatu was
granted an ikta (i.e., appanage), while a salary was assigned to Mokhlis ud
din. Sulamish determined to return home, and asked that the amir
Bek Timur might accompany him. He marched by way of Aleppo, whence
he took a contingent of troops with him, and went towards Sis.
En route, he was attacked by the Tartars. The amir Bek Timur was
killed, and he himself escaped to a fortress, where he was shortly after
captured, and sent to Ghazan by order of the King of Armenia. He was
thereupon put to death*
* Makrizi, vol. ii., part ii. 130.133. Ilkhans, ii. 72-73. D'Ohsson, iv. 200-203. Abulfeda, v. 143-144.

GHAZAN KHAN. 429
Alai ud din, the sovereign of Rum above named, was deposed in 1300,
and Masud was reinstated. He died four years later, and with him passed
away the last scion of the famous stock of the Seljukians of Rum, and thus
was another famous monarchy put an end to by the ceaseless appetite for
aggrandisement of the Mongols. The influence of the conquerors was as
pernicious in Asia Minor, where culture had greatly flourished under the
Seljukian princes, as it was elsewhere. Anarchy and ruin seemed to
follow their footsteps. Each year the subsidies from the province
demanded by the Imperial treasury increased, while it was also charged
with payments and assignations to the princesses, the grand officers, &c.
Whoever wanted a fief in Rum paid liberally for it, and if a fresh bidder
came forward it was made over to him, with the consequence of intro
ducing terrible feuds and quarrels. Offices were sold to the highest
bidder, the wretched people having to furnish the price in the taxes
squeezed out of them by the fortunate purchaser. Rich people were
falsely accused of crimes to extort money from them, and commissaries
were sent to press for arrears which might be overdue, and which were
ground out of the poor cultivators without mercy.* In consequence of
the turbulent condition which was thus induced, and of the frequent
revolutions at the Mongol head-quarters, the leaders of the various
Turkoman hordes of Asia Minor seized first upon the remoter districts,
and presently of the districts in the interior of the peninsula, and founded
each a separate petty dynasty. One of these, which swallowed up the
rest, gradually grew into the famous Ottoman Empire.
Ghazan now began to have intercourse of a more hostile character with
Egypt. He meditated an invasion of Syria, in Moharrem, 698 hej., and
the naib of Damascus and other amirs made preparations to resist, but
according to Novairi the Mongol troops which were collected for the
purpose of the invasion were struck by lightning, many of them being
killed and the others dispersed.!
Before we describe Ghazan's campaign it will be well to take a short
retrospect of the last few years of Egyptian history. We saw how
Kelavun died in 1290, and was succeeded by Malik Ashraf, who had a
considerable struggle with the Ilkhan Gaikhatu.j: Ashraf himself was
assassinated on the 13th of December, 1293, while hunting, by a party of
thirteen amirs, at whose head were Lachin (i.e., the hawk), Kara Sonkor,
who had been deprived of the government of Damascus, the deposed
governor of Aleppo, and Baidara, who called the Sultan uncle and was
his viceroy. Baidara was put to death by Ketboga, who, in concert with
the amir Sinjar Es Shujayi, now placed Ashraf 's brother, Malik Nasir ud din
Muhammed, who was only nine years old, on the throne. Ketboga reigned
in his name as viceroy, and presently put Sinjar, who meditated deposing
him, to death. The principal chiefs, resenting being ruled by a child, raised
* D'Ohsson iv. 204-205. t Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 83. J Ante, 362-363.

430 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Ketboga himself to the throne, and Nasir was remitted to a residence in the
castle. Ketboga's elevation is a good instance of the extremely democratic
tendencies of the Egyptian polity during the supremacy of the Mamluks.
Born a Mongol, he had been captured by the Egyptians in the first battle
of Hims, in 1261. He was then an infant. Sultan Kelavun took charge
of his education, gave him his freedom, and enlisted him among his
Mamluks. He reigned for two years (during which Egypt was visited by
a famine), and was then deposed. His viceroy, the amir Lachin, with
some others, tried to assassinate him. He escaped and reached Damascus,
but lost his throne, which was now (i.e., on the 13th of November, 1296),
occupied by Malik Mansur Lachin, who had formerly been a slave, or
Mamluk, of the Sultan Al Mansur, son of Eibeg. Ketboga presently
swore allegiance to him, and retired to the castle of Sarkhad, which was
appointed his residence. Lachin appointed his slave and favourite,
Mangu Timur, his viceroy. In the early spring of 1298 an expedition
was sent against Cilicia, which was commanded by Bedr ud din Bektash,
chief of the Sultan's Silahdars. The army comprised troops from Egypt,
Damascus, Aleppo, Tripoli, and Hamath, the last under their prince
Mozaffer. Haithon II. had ceased to reign in Cilicia. On his return from visiting
Ghazan in 1295, he went to Constantinople with his brother Thoros to see
his sister Maria, who had married the Emperor Michael. He left another
brother, Sempad, behind him as regent, who gained over the grandees,
seized the throne, and was duly consecrated at Sis by the Patriarch
Gregory in 1297. Ghazan not only confirmed him in the possession ot
Cilicia, but also gave him one of his relatives in marriage. Sempad sent
a notification to the Pope of the change of ruler, and, with the concurrence
of the Patriarch, placed himself and his kingdom under the protection of
the Roman See. When Haithon and Thoros returned home in 1298 he
drove them out again. They returned to Constantinople for help, but
only received some money. They then proposed to go to Ghazan's
Court, but were arrested at Caesarea, and imprisoned at Barzberd, where
a few days after, by Ghazan's orders, Thoras was put to death and
Haithon blinded. This last operation was only partially effective, and
Haithon recovered the sight of one eye. These acts were supposed to
have been incited by Sempad. In 1298 Sempad fled to Constantinople.*
It was against him that, according to Abulfeda, the Egyptians marched.
D'Ohsson, following Chamich, makes them march against his successor.
They invaded Cilicia in two divisions, one marching through the pass
of Izkanderun, and the other through the pass of Merii. The two
divisions united again on the Jihan, and laid waste the open
country. The towns were not attacked, a policy which created a feud
between Alai ud din Sinjar (the devatdar) and Bektash, the two Egyptian
* D'Ohsson, iv. 212-213.

GHAZAN KHAN. 43 1
commanders, the latter of whom was in favour of attacking them, and
reported in this sense to the Sultan, who supported him, and while the
army, having retreated for some distance, was encamped at Ruj, orders
arrived that it was not to return until Tel Hamdun had been captured.
The troops accordingly retraced their steps, and again crossed the Bagras
mountains. Tel Hamdun had been deserted by the Armenians, and
was duly occupied on the 18th of June. Another body of troops took
possession of Merash. The Egyptians now forced their way into a valley
defended by the strong fortresses of Nejimet and Hamus, and where a
large number of Armenians had sought refuge. Many of these fled for
protection to the two fortresses ; of the rest the men were killed and the
women made prisoners. Nejimet was now attacked, and after a siege of
forty-one days, during which many assaults were repulsed, the garrison
was compelled by want of water to drive out the fugitives who had sought
shelter there. The men who thus went out were mercilessly killed to the
number of several hundreds by the Egyptians, who divided the women
and children among them. Water became so scarce in the fort that the
garrison fought for it sword in hand. This scarcity at length forced it to
capitulate, the defenders securing their lives. Serfenkiar, Hims (? Hamus),
Shoghlaa, a Tesiru, and Anawer (Ainsarba), according to Wassaf, also
succumbed to the Egyptians in this campaign. Abulfeda says the
Armenians attributed their disasters to Sempad, who was of a proud
disposition, and would not conciliate the Egyptians. They accordingly
appealed to his brother Constantine, who marched upon Sis, and drove
him out. He fled to Constantinople. Constantine now mounted the
throne. These events took place in 1298.* Constantine, we are told by
Abulfeda, made overtures to the Egyptians, offering to consider himself as
their vassal, and to cede to them all the country south of the river Jihan,
or Pyramus. Among the towns thus surrendered were Hamus, Tel
Hamdun, Kubar, Nakir, Hagr, Shoglaa, Serfendkiar, and Merash.
D'Ohsson says the Egyptian army received the keys of eleven strong
fortresses. Bektash appointed the Georgian, Seif ud din Asan Timur,
their commander. He made Tel Hamdun his head-quarters. Seif ud din
Asan Timur retained his post as commandant till the Mongol invasion,
when he sold the stores in the towns, and abandoned them, whereupon
they were re-occupied by the Armenians.!
The real cause of this war was the anxiety ot the Sultan Lachin to find
employment for some of his amirs, who were jealous of the rising fortunes
of his favourite mamluk, Mangu Timur. That ambitious person persuaded
him to arrest the amirs who commanded the troops in Egypt. There
remained those in Syria. On the 9th of October, 1298, news was published
at Cairo that the Mongols were preparing to enter Syria. Orders were at
* Id. Weil, iv. 211-212. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 385. Abulfeda, v. 139.
t Abulfeda, v. 138-141. D'Ohsson, iv. 213-217. Ilkhans, ii. 82-83.

432 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
once dispatched to Kipchak, the governor of Damascus, to march on
Aleppo. This was merely an artifice to get him out of the Syrian capital.
He speedily discovered that no Mongol invasion was threatened, and the
amir Chaghan, who had meanwhile occupied Damascus, having been so
ordered, refused to allow him to re-enter. Orders were also sent to the
governor of Aleppo to arrest the amirs Begtimur, Elbegui, Bezlar, and
A'zaz, and to poison those whom he could not seize. They were duly
warned, however, and proved too vigilant to be captured. Inter alia, we
are told how, it being customary when a royal order was read for the
amirs to assemble at the foot of the citadel, and to dismount and prostrate
themselves, it had been arranged to secure them on such an occasion ;
but they held their bridles, and went through the process so quickly,
surrounded by their Mamluks, that it was not deemed prudent to attack
them. The governor then summoned them to an extraordinary council,
to deliberate on the news which had come by pigeon post from Biret, that
the Mongols were ravaging the environs of that town. They promised to
go, but instead, mounted their horses, and fled to Hamath, to join
Kipchak. The fugitives were the amir Seif ud din Beg Timur, one of the
Egyptian generals ; the amir Faris ud din El Begui, governor of the
province of Safad, and the amir Saif ud din A'zaz. Kipchak sent a
messenger to Cairo to secure pardon for the fugitives, and also sent to
Chaghan at Damascus for money and clothes for them. This was refused.
Chaghan, on the contrary, received repeated orders to arrest them, and was
threatened with punishment if he failed to do so. He was not furnished
with money to pay the troops, who began to desert him and return to
Damascus, and he was presently left with but few men and little money,
and determined to seek shelter with the other amirs among the Mongols in
Persia. He accordingly left his camp at Hims on the night of the 14th
January, 1299, with Beg Timur, El Begui, and A'zaz, and went towards the
Euphrates, by way of Salamiyet, followed by more than 300 horsemen, and
taking with him as far as Kari&din the governor of Hims. On reaching
that place he released him, after depriving him of his horse.* When it was
ascertained at Aleppo that the amirs had fled, it was felt to involve very
serious consequences. Two armies were sent in pursuit, one towards the
Euphrates and the other towards Hamath, but they did not overtake the
fugitives. Their property was duly plundered, however, and Kipchak's
house at Damascus was sequestered. Meanwhile, Mangu Timur's
enemies, feeling that his position was secure so long as the Sultan lived,
formed a plot against the latter, who was assassinated on the 15th of
January, 1299, by Gurji, the captain of his guards. Mangu Timur shared
his fate. Gurji insisted on the amir Tugji, one of the chief conspirators,
being raised to the throne, he himself retaining the post of lieutenant-
general. His reign was very short, for having gone out to meet the
* D'Ohsson, iv. 217-221,

GHAZAN KHAN. 433
general Bektash, who was returning with his victorious army from the
Cilician campaign, he was put to death with Gurji. This was on the
19th of January, but four days after the death of Lachin.
The Mamluks were divided into several bodies. One of these,
constituted by Sultan Kelavun, consisting of 3,700 Circassians and
Ossethi, had its quarters in the famous " Castle of the Mountain," and
was called Burjiyan, from the Arab word "burj," meaning a tower.
Another body was styled Ashrafian, from Ashraf, Kelavun's son ; a third
was called Mansurian, and was Kelavun's special body, he having
styled himself Malik Mansur ; a fourth body was called Salihiyan,
probably from the Ayubit Sultan Salih. On the murder of Tugji, the
Burjiyan Mamluks wished to put the amir Bibars, the cupbearer, on the
throne, while the Salihiyans and Mansurians wished to appoint the amir
Salar. Both parties eventually united in choosing the young prince
Nasir, son of Kelavun, who had already, as we have seen, had one
ephemeral reign. Couriers on swift dromedaries were sent to fetch him,
and meanwhile a council of regency was appointed, composed of eight
amirs, who signed all official documents. Nasir soon after reached
Cairo, and once more mounted the throne. He was now fourteen years
old, and Salar was appointed viceroy.* Orders were sent to Syria
to arrest Aidogdi, Chaghan, Hamdan, and the other amirs who had
supported Lachin, and also to inform Kipchak of the recent revolutions.
The messengers reached the latter and his companions at Reesain, or
Reisolain (i.e., the fountain head), which is mentioned by Ammianus
Marcellinus under the name of Resania. It was subsequently called
Theodosiopolis. Its site is still marked by the ruins of a fine temple.f
The fugitives repented their flight, but had gone too far to turn back.
They were received with honour on the Mongol frontier by Jenkli, son of
Albaba, governor of Diarbekr, and by the governor of Mardin. They
were taken by way of Mosul to Baghdad, whose garrison went out to meet
them. One of the Ilkhan's officers was sent to conduct them to his
camp at Es Sib, in the district of Vasith. Ghazan went in person to
meet them with a great cortige. They were supplied with tents and all
they needed, Ghazan invited them to a feast, and he sent Kipchak
and Begtimur each a present of 10,000 dinars, each dinar of the
value of 210 dirhems. A'zaz and El Begui received 6,000 dinars,
while every Mamluk, down even to the palfreymen, received 100.
Ghazan also sent them horses and other presents. He ordered that
his great officers should each give them a feast, so that a round of
rejoicing should go through the Ordu. Kipchak was of course
delighted with his entertainment, and was joined by some of his family.
Begtimur, on the contrary, was not very comfortable among his new
friends. Ghazan offered him the town and district of Hamadan as an
* D'Ohsson, iv. 221-224. t Ilkhans, ii. 84. Note 2.
E*

434 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
appanage, but this he refused, saying he had merely gone to pay his
respects to the Khan. Wassaf says the fugitives promised to assist
Ghazan if he made an attack upon Egypt and Syria, and that the ruler of
Mardin, who also had grievances to revenge, would' do the same, and he .
pointed out how the campaign was to be fought.* On the 24th of March,
while Ghazan was at Baghdad, Bular joined him with a number of
Egyptian dependants. Here news also reached him of the defeat of the
rebel Sulamish, in Rum, by the amirs Choban and Bashgerd, as we
mentioned. The Ilkhan's head-quarters were now moved to Kujin-
biisiirg, near Sughurluk, and thence moved on again to the neighbour
hood of Aujan, where he was met by his brother Khodabendeh, who
came to see him from Khorasan. A kuriltai was held, and there was also
feasting. On the 25th of June (Von Hammer says the 31st of May)
Gtirseh, Cherkes, and Isen, supporters of Sulamish, were put to
death. A few weeks later, viz., on the 17th of July, Ghazan married
Keramun, daughter of Kutlugh Timur, son of Abatai Noyan, who received
a dowry, or marriage portion (mahr), of sixty tumans from her father ; she
succeeded to the establishment which had successively belonged to Dokuz
Khatun, wife of Khulagu ; to her aunt, Tukini ; and to Kukaji, who, like
Keramun, was a relative of the powerful Princess Bulughan. Khoda
bendeh having set out again for Khorasan, Ghazan went to Tebriz, and
while he was there the rebel, Sulamish, was brought from Rum and
executed. This was on the 27th of September, 1299. Ghazan here had
an affection of the eyes, to cure which rosemary was burnt, and public
prayers were ordered. News now arrived that a body of 4,000 Syrians
had invaded the province of Diarbekr. They captured Mardin, where
they are said to have violated young girls and drunk wine in the mosques
in the holy fast of Ramazan. They also made an attack on Reesain, or
Reesolain, but failed to take it. They, however, carried off many
captives which they made during the raid. The invasion is not
mentioned by the Egyptian historians, but Abulfeda denounces it bitterly
as an infamous act to have been committed by a Mussulman, and as the
cause of Ghazan's terrible invasion. The leader of the freebooters he
calls Bilban Attabbashi, governor of Aleppo.
Ghazan had other wrongs to avenge — the attacks made by the Egyptians
on Cilicia, their capture of Kalat er Rum, and the welcome they gave to the
fugitive Uirads and to Sulamish. His ambition was further supplemented
by the advice of the Egyptian fugitives, and by the distracted state of
affairs in Egypt, where the usual anarchy incident to a government by a
military aristocracy prevailed, and also by the zeal of a recent convert to
Islam at the outrage above mentioned.t Wassaf tells us that when he was
converted Ghazan sent word to the Egyptians as follows : " If my good
* Makrizi, ii. 124-125. D'Ohsson, iv. 224-226.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 206-208. Ilkhans, ii. 84-85. Abulfeda, v. 161.

GHAZAN KHAN. 435
fathers were the enemies of your country, it was because of the difference of
faith. Do not entertain for the future any fear that you will be attacked
by our victorious troops. May the merchants of both countries freely
traverse each. Contrary to what has been hitherto, consider peace with
us as the principle of your eternal prosperity. Be assured that all
countries now owe us obedience, and particularly Egypt, where the
throne has passed from kings to slaves, and where there is no longer any
difference between masters and servants."* The last sentence of this
message contains, in fact, the main justification of the new war. To put
down the turbulent Mamluk dynasty might well be deemed worthy of a
Mussulman prince, and having called together the imaums and ulemas,
all of them declared in their fethvas that it was the duty of such a prince
to repress violence exercised against the Faithful by truculent oppressors.
Ghazan issued orders for an army to assemble in Diarbekr, and his
generals dispersed in various directions to make preparations. Five
of every ten men in the army were to march. Each man was to have five
horses, to be fully equipped, and to take six months' provisions with him.
Five thousand camels were set aside for carrying provisions. Ghazan
fixed a safe place where his wives were to plant their ordus. The noyan
Nurin was appointed to guard the frontier of Derbend and Mughan.
Sadak Terkhan, the bravest officer in the army, was given charge of the
frontiers of Fars and Kerman, as far as Ghazni and Seistan, while Rum
and the troops there were committed to Apishka.t Wakhtang, King of
Georgia, was called upon to march with his troops, while Beka furnished
a contingent of cavalry.} Kutlugh Shah commanded the advance guard,
and Ghazan himself marched with the main body called Sieg, consisting
of three tumans, or 30,000 men. The Georgian history says of thirteen
myriads. He set out from Tebriz in the autumn. Rashid says on the
16th of October, 1299, and Wassaf on the 22nd of November.§ He .
marched by the fort of Alinji to Meragha, and thence through Kurdistan
to Irbil and Kieshaf, where the Arran-rud was crossed. At Diarbekr
he was joined by the contingent from Rum under Bashgerd Behadur
and Kierbuka, or Kertua Behadur. His wives accompanied him as far
as Mosul. He reviewed his troops near Nisibin, and was there feted by
Nejm ud din, Sultan of Mardin, who did homage to him and supplied the
army with provisions on the route to Reesain and the fort of Jaahuzad,
where he crossed the Euphrates. Rashid says this took place on the
7th December. There he left a body of 10,000 men under Prince
Balarghu, Mamai, and the Sultan of Mardin. He foresaw that the army
* D'Ohsson, iv. 227. Note. t Id., 228-229. Ilkhans, ii. 85-86.
X Hist, de la Georgie, i. 630.
§ Wassaf thus enumerates his chief officers : Kur Timur, Teremtar, Nakuldar, Habak,
Doladai, Aktaji, Fenjaghatai, Taghar (son of Sutai), Badrangirai, Kutlughia, Belarghi, Yemish,
YuBuf Buka, and the amirs Satilmish, Mirsadeh, Melai, Walid Dostai, Sultan Wejilar, Toka
Tjmur, Kurmishi (son of Alinak), Tebbak, Ilbasmish, Chichak, Toghrulji, Beitas, and Yeman.
Ilkhans, ii. 86. Note.

43° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
on its return would have some difficulty in recrossing the river, which
would be swollen with the rains, and a great raft, supported by inflated
skins and fastened to each bank by chains, was ordered to be made, the
Sultan of Mardin taking charge of its construction. Having crossed the
Euphrates, Ghazan reviewed his army, which was 90,000 strong. Kutlugh
Shall and the amir Mulai set out with the advance guard, and three days
later Ghazan himself arrived at Jil, near Aleppo, where a halt of two days
took place. The people of Ram, Aintab, and Aleppo had largely
deserted those towns on the news of the Mongol approach. It was
determined not to stop to attack the citadel of Aleppo, but to pass it by
and march on. Another parade of the troops was held. Ghazan
inspected the ranks on foot, and noticing that he especially regarded the
horses, the amir Choban suggested to his companions that each of them
should present him with his best horse, which they accordingly did. The
march now continued through a very fertile district, and the soldiers
would have allowed their horses to feed on the corn, but Ghazan forbade
it on pain of death, saying it was not right for horses to eat man's food.
On reaching Jebles Sumak, a fortress of the Ismaelites situated near
Harim, they captured a spy, who informed them that Bilban Tabbakhi,
governor of Aleppo, with Kara Sonkor, governor of Hamath, had retreated
and gone to join the Egyptian army at Hims. On reaching Zermin, a
day's journey south of Aleppo, and famous for its olives, Mogoltai Ajaji,
with a body of Kipchak's dependants, deserted. Maaret Naaman was
found abandoned by its people. The citadel at Hamath, like that at
Aleppo, was passed by, and they reached Salamiyet, east of the
Orontes, a day's journey from Hamath. Here they met the first patrols
of the enemy, who were posted in force at Hims (the ancient Emessa).
The Sultan had sent Kertai, Kadlubek and other amirs to Syria, to make
head against the invaders, and had himself set out from Cairo on the
22nd of September.* His turbulent amirs were at issue with one, another,
and when he reached Tel-el-Aajul, north of Gaza, disturbances broke out.
The Uirats who had sought shelter in Egypt, as I described, aggrieved
by the execution of some of their chiefs in the reign of Lachin, by the
deposition and exile of Ketboga, their protector, and jealous of the
supremacy of the Burji Mamluks, made a plot to murder the Sultan and
his chief amirs, Bibars and Salar, who were leaders of the Burjis, and to
restore Ketboga. The plot failed, but not till the conspirators had actually
penetrated into the Sultan's tent. The Uirats were arrested, and fifty of
them were strangled. They were led to execution in their turbans and
dresses, a crier proclaiming in front of them : " See the just punishment
of those who cause troubles among the Mussulmans, and who dare to
attack their ruler." Four days later their corpses were taken down from
* D'Ohsson, iv. 229-230. Ilkhans, ii. 86-89.

GHAZAN KHAN. 437
the gibbets where they were exposed* The Sultan now set out, by way
of Ascalon and Karita, towards Damascus. While the army was
encamped at the former place, a terrible flood of water destroyed the
baggage, and reduced many of the troops to destitution. This calamity
was followed by the appearance of great flights of locusts, and both were
deemed evil portents for the coming struggle. The Sultan entered
Damascus on the 3rd of December, where soon after the fugitives arrived
from Aleppo, and the news also came that Ghazan was encamped on the
Euphrates with a large army. Largess was distributed to the troops,
each soldier receiving from thirty to forty dinars, but presage of defeat
caused a general discouragement. The Sultan was joined by Asen Timur
Karji, who governed the districts recently conquered from the Armenians,
and who took the Armenian king and the taxes he had collected at Tel
Hamdun with him. The army now set out for Hims, whence a number
of Bedouin scouts were sent. The soldiers remained under arms for
three days, and provisions began to fail.t
Let us now return again to Ghazan. We are told he made a special
prayer of two rek'ats with his army to implore divine aid. Many of the
horses had been disabled by their long march, a fact which, according to
Haithon, had been communicated to the Sultan by the fugitive Kipchak.}
The dismounted troopers called the Ilkhan's attention to their forlorn
condition on the very eve of battle. He thereupon gave orders that
they were all to fight on foot, urging that they could in this way by
flights of arrows best meet the furious charges of the Mamluks, whose
policy was to break their enemy's ranks mace and scimiter in hand. He
set out from Salamiyet, and advanced to within a day's journey of the
Egyptian army. Orders were issued to the troops to make ready, but as
the Ilkhan did not wish to engage on a Thursday, which is an unlucky
day, especially when, as on this occasion, the last Thursday in the month,
it was determined to halt for a day near a stream that flowed by, and
the troops dismounted and lay under their armour. Suddenly the scouts
reported the approach of the enemy. Ghazan had only the centre with
him, consisting of 9,000 men. He ranged it in order of battle, and
called up the two wings which had remained behind, as the battle was
not expected to take place so soon.§ The Egyptians were posted near
the mausoleum of Khalid, son of Velid, at the foot of a hill which was
known as the Hill of Victory, and where the Mongols had, on a former
occasion, suffered a severe reverse at the hands of the Egyptians.
Ghazan's commander, Kutlugh Shah, on the present occasion, boasted
that they intended to convert the hill of victory for the enemy into one
of defeat. || The centre of the Mongol army was commanded by
Ghazan himself, with whom were the amirs Choban and Zerban ; the
* Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 141-144. t Id,, 144-146. X Op. cit., ch. xii.
$ D'Ohsson, iv. 233-234. II Ilkhans, ii. 91.

438 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
right wing consisted of the tumans commanded by the amirs Mulai,
Satilmish, and Kutlugh Shah ; and the left those of the amirs Toghrilji,
Ilbasmish, Chichek, Kurmishi (son of Alinak), and Kurbuka Behadur.
Each of their divisions was posted one behind the other. Ghazan
detached Sultan Yassaul with a tuman to turn the enemy's right wing,
and make him abandon the Hill of Victory. The struggle then began.
The battle-field was called Mojma ul Muruj (z>., junction of the meadows),
now known as Wadi al Khazinadar (i.e., valley of the treasures), and it
lay between the Hill of Victory and a stream called Ab Barikh by the
Persians and Narin su by the Mongols. Abulfeda says it was half
a day's journey from Hims* Wassaf says the Egyptians numbered
about 40,000. Makrizi says twenty odd thousands. Novairi says 25,000,
while he gives the Mongols 100,000. The amir Isa ibn Muhanna,
wkh his Arabs, and Bilban Tabbakhi, naib of Aleppo, with the troops
of that town and of Hamath, composed the right wing. The amir
Bedr ud din Bektash, with a number of amirs, was on the right ; while
the centre was commanded by Bibars, Salar, and other chiefs, the
Sultan's own Mamluks forming one of its wings. The young Sultan
himself, with Hosam ud din Lachin, the ostadar, were posted some
distance off in a place of safety. Five hundred picked Mamluks formed
the advance guard. On the eve of the struggle the amir Bibars had a
violent attack of diarrhcea, and left the battle-field in a litter. The amir
Salar, with the hajib, the amirs, and the fakih inspected the men, the
hajibs exhorting them to be firm, and causing many of them to weep.
Meanwhile Ghazan's men stood still, he having ordered them not to move
until he himself advanced, and then to charge altogether. The attack
was begun by a body of Mamluks armed with javelins, whose heads
contained naphtha (? stink pots). This was doubtless to throw the enemy's
horse into confusion, but as he retained his ranks, and the intervening
distance was considerable, the naphtha was extinguished. The Mamluks
charged before Ghazan's men were fairly in order. As we have seen, he
had ordered them to dismount, and forming a rampart with their horses,
they threw a great flight of arrows into the advancing Egyptians.
Suddenly there was heard the noise of the great Mongol war cymbals,
which came from the right wing under Kutlugh Shah. Fancying this
was the advance of the main army under Ghazan himself, the Egyptians
turned thither, and charged with all their force. Kutlugh Shah's men,
who were caught while re-mounting their horses, were overthrown, and
5,000 of them were put hors de combat. Kutlugh Shah himself, with some
of his people, now joined Ghazan. The latter had caused the centre and
left wing to advance, 10,000 archers on foot being in front. Their
arrows caused great havoc among the Arab auxiliaries, who fled, and were
* Op- cit., v. 165.

GHAZAN KHAN. 439
followed by the men of Aleppo and Hamath. Eventually the whole of
the Egyptian right wing was routed. The left wing, as we have seen, had
been more fortunate. Ghazan was about to flee, but his courage was
revived by the naib Kipchak, and having gathered his men around him,
he charged the Egyptian centre, which broke. Salar, Bek Timur, the
jukendar, Borloghi, and the other Burji amirs fled, and the Mongols
pursued so closely that their arrows struck fire on the helmets of
the fugitives. The young Sultan, who, as we have seen, had taken
up his quarters a little distance off, wept, and addressed prayers to
heaven. He had only a handful of Mamluks with him. Meanwhile, the
Egyptian left wing, which had been successful, returned from its pursuit,
and found the rest of the army broken. According to Novairi, the
Egyptians had then only lost 1,000, while the Mongols had lost 14,000, which
made Ghazan fear that the flight was a ruse, and he halted his people.
Makrizi says this was a divine mercy, for if he had continued his
pursuit the Egyptians would have perished to the last man. The battle
had lasted from nine in the morning to two in the afternoon.*
Ghazan greatly distinguished himself in this battle, charging the enemy
lance in rest, until his officers had to restrain him. The Georgian
Chronicle tells us the struggle was so vigorous that Kutlugh Shah, seeing
a great body of men attacking the Khan, planted himself before him with
1,000 horsemen, of whom 600 perished, and there only escaped 400, who
beat off the Egyptians. He was supported by Choban (called Chophon
Suldur by the chronicler) with 500 cavalry. Wakhtang and his Georgians
also fought very bravely.} Abulfeda says the Sultan took refuge at Hims,
but towards night his followers fled towards Egypt. They were pursued as
far as Gaza, Kodsa, and Karak, and the Mongols captured great spoil.}
Wassaf says Ghazan used his victory with moderation. He advanced slowly
as far as a fersenkh from Hims, and at nightfall ordered the carnage to
cease. The ground was covered with weapons, armour, &c. The
Egyptians retired by way of Baalbek to Damascus. The Sultan himself
went to Cairo. During the height of the struggle a body of 5,000
Bedouins appeared from the direction of the desert, and tried to take the
Mongols in rear, but Ghazan, afraid that the same manoeuvre might be
practised upon him that overwhelmed Mangu Timur, had ordered Kur
Buka with the rear guard to keep watch in that direction. When he saw
the Arabs approaching, he charged and broke them.
After the battle Apishka arrived from Rum with the King of Cilicia, who
brought 5,000 troops. This king was Haithon II. I have described how
he had been blinded by order of Ghazan, and how his brother Constantine
mounted the throne. The blinding was apparently very clumsily done,

* Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 147-149. Haithon, 62-63. D'Ohsson, 236-237. Ilkhans, ii. 92-93.
Weil, iv. 228-229. t Op. cit., 631. X Op. cit., v.. 165.

440 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
for we are told Haithon recovered his sight, and was replaced on the
throne for the third time by the Armenian barons. Constantine, whom
this movement dispossessed, proposed releasing his other brother and
predecessor, Sempad, from prison, and creating troubles, but they were
both seized and sent to Constantinople, where they remained till their
death* Abulfeda says it was Constantine who released Haithon from
prison, and describes the latter's conduct as ungrateful.t
The Egyptian fugitives fled to Damascus, where the citizens were more
or less panic-stricken and joined them in their flight, and many of them
were plundered by the predatory Ashir and the Arabs. Makrizi tells us
among those who perished were the amir Kert, naib of Tarabolos, or
Tripoli ; the amir Nasir ud din Muhammed, son of the amir Ai-Timur
Halebi ; Malian Takwi, one of the amirs of Tripoli ; Bibars Gatmi, naib
of the citadel of Markab ; Uzbek, naib of Balatonos ; Bilik Taiar, one of
the amirs of Damascus, and about 1,000 Mamluks. The chief judge,
Kadhi Alkodat, Hosam ud din Hasan, Kadhi of the Hanefis of Damascus ;
and the secretary (muwakhi), Imad ud din Ismael. According to the
Egyptian authorities, the Tartars lost 14,000 men in the battle.} The
Georgian Chronicle says the fugitives were pursued as far as the holy city
of Jerusalem, where many Christians and Persians were killed.§
Ghazan having pitched his camp near Hims (" in quodam loco, qui
vocatur Cametum," says Haithon||), received the congratulations of his
generals, and distributed rewards amongst those who had distinguished
themselves. Wassaf himself wrote the letter in which the victory was
announced to the principal places in the empire. His own inflated
statement is that Wassaf " decorated the robe of this royal letter with the
border of good deeds and acts which form the subject matter of this
fortunate news."!" The governor of Hims presented Ghazan with the keys
of that town, where the Sultan had deposited his treasure, and where the
baggage of his army was stored. Ghazan distributed these among his
officers, dressing several of them in the robes of the Sultan Nasir. The
chronicler Haithon, who praises Ghazan, hyperbolically tells us he was an
eye witness of his generosity on this occasion, and that the Ilkhan only
reserved to himself a sword, and a sack containing all the title deeds of
the kingdom of Egypt, and the muster roll of its armies.**
The news of the Sultan's defeat caused great excitement at Damascus.
Women went about the streets unveiled, with children in their arms ; men
abandoned their shops and goods to escape from the place, and the crush
was so great that many were smothered at the gates. Some fled to the
mountains and villages, but the greater number went to Egypt. People
became more reassured when it was known that the Khan was a

* D'Ohsson, iv. 238-239. t Abulfeda, v. 173.
I Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 149-150. D'Ohsson, iv. 239. $ Op. cit., 631. || Op. cit., 63.
«fl D'Ohsson, iv. 240. Note. ** Haithon, 6, D'Ohsson, iv. 241. Note.

GHAZAN KHAN. 441
Mussulman, and that the greater part of his troops professed the same faith ;
that they had treated the fugitives kindly and had not put them to death,
but had been content to deprive them of their horses and weapons, and
then let them go free. Presently the fugitive soldiers began to arrive, and
changed their costume to avoid being insulted by the people. Some of
them went to the length of cutting off their hair, and only remained long
enough at Damascus to secure their wives and such property as they
could hastily move, and then went on towards Egypt, many of them being
pillaged en route by the Bedouins. There were no longer any police in
the place, and one night the prisoners set fire to a door of the prison,
and escaped, to the number of 1 50 ; and bands of robbers pillaged the
houses. The people who remained in the place collected before the
great mosque, and agreed to send a deputation to Ghazan. The
chief judges of the sects, Shafiyi and Maliki, the prefect of the town and
the district, the prefect of police, and a great number of notables, doctors
of the law, and readers of the Koran accordingly set out as a deputation
to Ghazan to a place named En Nebek (Makrizi says Nebl). They
encountered him while on the march, and dismounted, and many of them
kissed the ground. Ghazan halted, his Mongols dismounted, and mean
while the interpreter, Fakhr ud din ibn Es Shirji, arrived. They asked
his clemency for the people of Damascus. He replied, " What you
have come to ask has already been granted," but he would not accept
the food which they offered. Ghazan had already granted protection
to the citizens on the request of one called El Sherif el Gate"mi, who
had gone to him with three other inhabitants of Damascus before the
grand deputation. El Gatdmi arrived there on the 31st of December
armed with the Khan's orders, and accompanied by four Mongols.
The grand deputation did not return till later. They arrived on
the Friday afternoon after the hour of prayer, and, we are told, on
this Friday there was no prayer made for the Sovereign. On the
2nd of January, 1300, an officer named Ismail entered the city with a
detachment of Mongols, went to the mosque of the Ommiades, where the
people had been convoked, and had the following edict read from the
pulpit by one of his companions : —
" By the power of God. Let it be known to the chiefs of tumans, of
thousands, of hundreds, and to all our victorious troops, Mongols, Tajiks,
Armenians, Georgians, and others subject to our rule, that God when he
enlightened our hearts with the light of Islam, and guided us towards the
religion of the Prophet (on whom rest the most excellent blessings of
God and of peace), it was in these celestial words : He whose heart
God has opened to the light of Islamism follows the light of the Lord.
Cicrsed are those whose hearts are hardened against the divine will. They
are in manifest error.* When we learnt that those who ruled over Egypt
* Koran.

442 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
and Syria had abandoned the path of religion, that they did not obey the
precepts of Islam, that they broke their promises, were perjured, without
faith and law. That there was no order among them, and that each of
them on attaining power sought only how to satisfy his evil desires,
destroying the seed (of plants) and the fertility of animals. God loves not
disorder* That their acts spread terror among the people, that they laid
hostile hands on the women and property of their subjects, that they
abandoned the path of justice and equity to follow that of violence and
oppression. Therefore we were compelled by our zeal for the Faith
to march against these countries with a numerous army in order to
put a stop to these evils. And we have vowed if God enables us to
conquer these lands to stop such misdeeds, and to spread over all the
blessings of justice and benevolence, conformably to the divine commands
which declare that God enjoins justice, kindness, and liberality towards
one's relatives. He forbids crimes and ill-deeds. He exhorts you in order
that you may take good heed.\ In accordance with the announcement
of the Prophet (may God be propitious to him and grant him peace),
The just shall sit on thrones of light on the right hand of God, and his
two hands will aid those who follow justice in their dealings with their
relatives and subjects. %
" As it is our intention to attain this laudable aim and to accomplish
our vow, God has granted us a signal victory, and has heaped his
benevolence upon us. We have defeated an audacious enemy and unjust
legions. We have dispersed them as error vanishes before the truth, for
error must needs perish. Our heart has consequently been still more
opened to receive the Faith, fortified by the truth of the precepts given to
those to whom God has granted the love of the Faith, whose hearts he has
i?isftired with its charms, in whom he has inculcated a horror for unbeliefs
wickedness, and rebellion. Such march in the right way by the grace of
God.% " Under an obligation to observe these firm resolves and this sacred
vow we have forbidden everyone in our army, to whatever class he may
belong, to do any harm to the city or territory of Damascus, or to the
towns of Syria subject to Islam ; to refrain from touching the persons,
harems or goods of the inhabitants, and from prowling about their
houses so that they may in perfect security follow their employments of
merchants, agriculturists, &c. Among the crowds of our warriors, some
havin^ been found who, notwithstanding our prohibition, have dared to
pillage and to reduce the people to slavery, we have had them put to death
as an example to the rest of what they may expect ; and as a proof that we
mean this to be carried out rigidly, we also forbid them to molest those of
other faiths— Jews, Christian, or Sabseans, For they pay tribute, so that
their goods may be as our goods, their blood like our bloody
* Koran, c. ii. t Koran, c. xvi. ». 92. I Koran. $ Koran, c. xliv. v. 7. || Koran.

GHAZAN KHAN. 443
"Rulers owe protection to their tributaries as they do to their
Mussulman subjects, as the Prophet says. The Imam placed over men
is in the position of a shepherd ; and a shepherd has to give account for
his sheep. The kadhis, khatibs (preachers), sheikhs, doctors of the law,
sherifs, lords, notables, and all our subjects in general are invited to
rejoice in our glorious victory, and to address their prayers to God with
cheerfulness for the strengthening of our power."
The document is dated the 30th of December, 1299.* The proclama
tion somewhat calmed the people in the town. Meanwhile, however,
Alem ud din Sinjar Arjevash, who commanded the citadel, closed its
gates and determined to defend it. On the 5th of January the amir
Ismail, who had taken command of the place, ordered the ulemas, sheikhs,
and magistrates to press him to surrender it, as the Mongols would
otherwise sack the town. His reply was to cover them with imprecations,
and to tell them that he had received news by pigeon-post that the Sultan
had defeated his pursuers, had rallied his men at Gaza, and would speedily
arrive at the head of the army. The amirs Kipchak, Beg Timur, Elbegui,
and Azis, who had accompanied Ghazan and assisted at the battle of Hims,
entered the city the following day, and also pressed their old companion
to surrender, but it was without effect ; as was a summons signed by
the chief of the sheikhs, by a Mongol general, who styled himself Ghazan's
foster brother, and by Kipchak.} The same day Ghazan himself encamped
at Merj Rakith, the eastern part of the district of Guttat, often cited by
Orientalists as a second paradise, from its wonderful trees, gardens, vine
yards, &c. The principal people of Damascus went there to do him
homage. Ghazan was never weary of expressing his contempt for the
parvenu ruler of Egypt. He now asked his visitors who he himself was.
They replied, " Shah Ghazan Khan, son of Arghun Khan, son of Abaka
Khan, son of Khulagu Khan, son of Tului Khan, son of Jingis Khan."
He asked who then was the father of Nasir, the Egyptian Sultan. They
replied, " Kelavun, son of Elfi." " And who was Elfi.? " They confessed
he had been a slave, bought with a thousand ducats, whose father was
unknown. " Your living ones are good for nothing,'' was the reply, " but
your dead (i.e., the famous and holy men buried at Damascus) are indeed
worthy, and for their sakes I granted you pardon." Ghazan now entered
the city, and went to visit the Meidan ul hassa. He was charmed with
the place, and to preserve it from harm he closed seven of its gates and
placed a guard at the eighth, viz., the Gate of Baghdad. Jemchi and
Tulka Bakhshi were given charge of it, but having failed in their duty
they were bastinadoed, and replaced by Jihurgutai. Ghazan forbade the
troops to enter the gardens in the environs. On Friday, the 8th of
January, the khutbeh was said in Ghazan's name. In it he was styled
* Novairi, &c, Quatremere's notes to Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 151-154. D'Ohsson, iv. 245-249.
t Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 155. D'Ohsson, iv. 249-250.

444 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
" Our Lord, the Great Sultan, the Sultan of Islam and of the Mussulmans,
the victorious Mahmud Ghazan." After the divine service, Kipchak
and Ismail mounted the gallery, whence the muezzin was sounded, and
an ordinance was publicly read, constituting Kipchak governor of Syria
and authorising him to appoint prefects, judicial and ecclesiastical
officers. The text of this proclamation is extant, and after reciting the
usual pious and other phrases, goes on to say that Ghazan, after mature
consideration, had appointed, as most fit for the post, the naib Saif ud
din Kipchak, distinguished by his noble qualities, and uniting in his
person every excellent title, who had been driven into exile and had sought
shelter at his stirrup. He had conferred on him the august rank of Naib
Assallanah (viceroy), and put under his authority the provinces of
Damascus, Aleppo, Hamath, Shaizar, Antioch, and Bagras, with all the
fortresses, the province adjoining the Euphrates, Kalaat ur Rum, Behesna,
as well as all their dependencies, where he was to have absolute authority,
taking counsel in his appointments and acts with the king of amirs and
of viziers, Nasir ud din. He had conferred on the Naib a sword, an
august standard, a drum, and a paizah marked with a lion's head ; and
all the amirs, commandants, the amirs of the Arabs, Turkomans, and
Kurds, the officers of the chancellery, the sadrs, and all others were to
take heed of the power thus conferred on him, and to be subordinate to
him, their fortune depending on gaining his goodwill and approval,
and paying him all due respect and honour. He, on the other hand,
was to have the fear of God before him in his decisions ; to hold a
strong hand over his subordinates, so that they might duly fulfil
their duties ; was to see the decisions of the judges carried out, to
strengthen the hand of justice, and punish the evil-doers, &c* This
appointment was a very popular one. The proclamation was accompanied
by the usual shower of dinars and dirhems over the crowd. The finance
officers and other civil officials were for the most part retained in their
posts. Ghazan's generals demanded to be allowed to pillage the place,
on the ground that the citadel had not surrendered. He peremptorily
refused, and forbade any soldier to enter the town unless armed with
a proper passport issued by the Divan ; but the inhabitants were called
upon to pay a sum of 100 gold tumans, or a million of dinars. One MS.
says 3,600,000 dinars, besides all the sumpter beasts in the city, weapons,
and many costly stuffs, &c.t
Notwithstanding Ghazan's orders, his troops could not be restrained,
especially the Armenians and Georgians, and we are told how they
pillaged Salihiyat, at the foot of Mount Kassiun, an hour's journey from
Damascus, whose environs were famous for their gardens and
country houses. They plundered even the carpets and the lamps in the
* Quatremere's notes to Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 156-159. Notes. Ilkhans, ii. 94.
t Weil, iv. 233. Note.

GHAZAN KHAN. 445
mosques, the sepulchral chapels, and colleges. They burnt some of the
buildings, and dug up corpses in search of treasure, and many of the
inhabitants were killed or reduced to slavery, numbering, it was said, as
many as 9,900. The town was thus ruined. This devastation was
attributed to the King of Cilicia, who thus sought to avenge the cruel raids
of the Egyptians upon his country. He intended laying waste Damascus,
but Kipchak opposed, and gave up to him instead Salihiyat. The towns
of Mezzat and Daria were also laid waste. The Sheikh Taki ud din, son
of Timiah, went to complain to Ghazan, who was then at Tel Rahet, but
he could not get an audience, as he was drunk. Another account says he
was dissuaded from speaking to the Ilkhan himself, since the latter would
certainly order some of the evil-doers to be put to death, and thus arouse
the animosity of the chiefs against the people of Damascus. He
accordingly appealed to the Vizier, Said ud din, and to his colleague, the
historian, Rashid ud din, who replied that as some of the Mongol generals
had not shared in the prize money it was necessary they should be
rewarded in some way, and ordered a further contribution and the release
of the prisoners. This fresh tax was distributed among the various
corporations or guilds of citizens, each class being placed under a Mongol
officer, who, to exact payment, did not scruple to torture and maltreat the
people. The price of everything rose very greatly ; wheat was sold at
360 dirhems the ghirarah, and barley at 180. A rotl of bread cost 2
dirhems, of meat 12, of cheese 12, of oil 9 ; four eggs cost a dirhem. The
girdle makers' bazaar had to pay 130,000 dirhems, the lace makers
100,000, and the copper smiths 60,000. The principal inhabitants had to
pay 400,000 dirhems. Massacre and pillage prevailed throughout the
city, and the number of soldiers and civilians who perished js said to have
reached 100,000. Kemal ud din ibn Kemal ud din ibn Kadhi Shohbah
wrote on this occasion : " The vicissitudes of fortune have let loose seven
scourges upon us, and no one can protect us from their assaults — famine,
Ghazan, war, pillage, perfidy, apathy, and a continual grief."*
Such was the terrible penalty of being defeated by the Mongols, even
after they had become Mussulmans. We are told that the result was
that 3,600,000 dirhems were poured into Ghazan's treasury, exclusive of
the arms, rich stuffs, sumpter beasts, and grain, and of all which the
Tartars had pillaged. Every day 400 ghirarahs were sent to them by the
eastern gate. Ghazan had ordered that the horses and camels were to
be impounded. More than 20,000 were accordingly seized. Istabal, son
of the famous astronomer, Nasir ud din of Tus, who was inspector of the
wakfs, or charitable foundations, appropriated 200,000 dirhems. Kipchak
and the other amirs were also liberally rewarded, while a daily
contribution was exacted for Ghazan's own expenses.} Ghazan had

Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 160-161. t Id., 162.

44° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
vowed before the battle to present golden lamps, turbans, and carpets to
the mausoleum of Seif ud din Khalid, son of Velid, the famous Arab
general who gained a signal victory over the Emperor Heraclius. This
vow he fulfilled. He assigned the revenues of several villages near
Damascus to the support of Abraham's tomb at Hebron. The Egyptian
Sultans had employed the revenues of the wakfs, consecrated to the two
holy cities of Mecca and Medina, in paying the escort of the pilgrims'
caravan to Mecca, authorising this mode of spending the money by a
special fethva. Ghazan deemed this assignation illegal, and devoted it to
its primitive purpose. This statement of Rashid's probably explains what
Makrizi says about Istabal appropriating 200,000 of the revenues of the
wakfs at Damascus* After the battle of Hims the King of Cilicia and the
amir Molai were sent in pursuit of the Egyptian Sultan, who fled along the
coast road. The former was recalled to Damascus by Ghazan, but Molai
continued his pursuit with 15,000 horsemen, or, as Haithon says, with
40,000. He had advanced as far as Gaza, killing the Egyptian soldiers
he met en route, and ravaging the country. Many of the fugitives, we
are told by Haithon, who found their way to Tripoli in Mount Lebanon,
which was inhabited by Christians, were cruelly put to death there.
Having heard that he had entered the desert with 2,000 or 3,000 horsemen
(Haithon says he reached Babylon escorted by Bedouins), he retraced
his steps.t
Ghazan now determined to retire. According to the more unprejudiced
testimony of Haithon, his retreat was caused by the invasion of his
eastern borders by the Jagatai Mongols, to which we shall presently refer.
His own historians attribute his withdrawal to the approaching heats of
summer, which is rather ridiculous, as it was only February.} Before
setting out he nominated Kutlugh Shah commander-in-chief in Syria.
Molai, with a tuman, was appointed governor of Gaza, and subordinated
to Kutlugh Shah. Kipchak, as we have 'Seen, was appointed naib of
Damascus, a province which extended as far as Hims ; Bektimur Shami,
naib of northern Syria, i.e., of Aleppo, Hamath, Aintab, and the mountains
of Sumak, Biret, and Rahbet. Albegui was set over middle Syria, which
included Tripoli and Akka, Salamiyat and Maaret naaman. Each
of these officers had a contingent of Mongol troops with him. Malik
Nasir ud din Yahya, son of Jelal ud din Toridi, was appointed head of the
finances.§ Haithon says that Ghazan, before leaving Syria, summoned
the King of Armenia and told him he would make over the places he had
conquered to the Christians if they would come and occupy them (i.e., to the
Crusaders), and he ordered Kutlugh Shah to supply them with funds to
rebuild them.|| Ghazan raised his camp on the 4th of February, and
* D'Ohsson, iv. 255. t t Haithon, ch. xiii. D'Ohsson, iv. 257-258.
X Haithon, ch. xliii. D'Ohsson, iv. 256.
$ Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 162. Ilkhans, ii. 95. D'Ohsson, iv. 256. Note 1. || Op. cit., ch. xliii.

GHAZAN KHAN. 447
recrossed the Euphrates on the 16th, at the fortress of Jaaber, by a
floating raft made of bark, fastened with ropes, which was his own
invention.* Before we follow him we will conclude the adventures
of his officers in Syria, which ended by no means so fortunately as they
had begun.
Soon after he retired, the Mongols ordered the inmates to leave the
college Adeliah, at Damascus. They stripped each one as he came out,
and then entered the place, broke open the doors, pillaged it, and pro
ceeded with their robberies in other parts of the city. Many houses and
colleges were burnt, among which were the Dar alhadith (house of
traditions) Ashrafiah, and all its appurtenances ; the Dar alhadith Nuriah,
the little college of Adeliah and all about it, the college Kameriah and its
environs, as far as the Dar assaat (house of happiness) and the Maristan
(hospital) Nuri, and from Dimaghaat to the gate of Ferej.t We have
seen how the citadel at Damascus held out under Arjevash. (Abulfeda
calls the governor Saif ud din Argovani Mansuria.}) The Mongols
ordered the quarters of the city nearest to the citadel to be evacuated, and
used the roofs of the houses as a vantage whence to shoot their arrows.
Thereupon Arjevash set fire to them, and the conflagration consumed
many public buildings, colleges, &c, including, according to Abulfeda,
the Dar as Sadaat, where the sultans of Egypt were accustomed to lodge
when in Syria. A skilled engineer, named Hazrawi, was employed to
make catapults, a large one being erected on the roof of the Great Mosque
of the Ommiades. Arjevash saw that he would have to converge his
weapons upon this structure, and that the famous mosque might in
consequence be destroyed. He accordingly sent some of his people,
whose religious zeal made them face any danger, and who went and sawed
in pieces the beams which had been got together for the catapult. The
engineer re-commenced his work protected by a guard of Mongol soldiers,
who were posted in the mosque and committed all kinds of debauchery
there, so that the evening prayer was omitted on several days. They
also pillaged the bazaar close by. Arjevash having set a price of 1,000
ducats on the engineer's head, a Shia penetrated into the mosque, struck
him with his sword, and killed him. He had some companions with
him who were prepared to fall upon the Mongol guard, but it dispersed,
and the bold author of the deed succeeded in escaping with his victim's
head to the citadel. §
When Ghazan left Damascus, Kipchak was left behind as nominal
ruler, but the real one was KutlugS Shah, who was in command of the
Mongol contingent, and we are told how the very day the Ilkhan left the
place the Mongols plundered the citizens of a larger sum than the
ransom they had recently paid. Ten days later Kutlugh Shah withdrew
* D'Ohsson, iv. 257. t Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 163. I Op. cit., v. 165.
$ Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 160. Ilkhans, ii. 95-96. D'Ohsson, iv. 258-259.

44§ HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
from Damascus, and Kipchak drew from the inhabitants a considerable
sum as a parting gift. Haithon says he was recalled by Ghazan ;
Makrizi that he was persuaded by Kipchak and Bektimur to take up
his residence at Aleppo. He left Molai in charge of the Mongols in
Syria. Kipchak now took up his residence in the Kasr Ablak (i.e., the
White Castle), and sent criers round inviting people to return to their
homes. The bazaars and gates were again thrown open, and to inspire
confidence he ordered a number of soldiers to promenade the town with
an itinerant wine shop, and the consequence was that drunkenness and
indecency greatly prevailed. Meanwhile the Mongols ravaged the
districts of Gaur, and penetrated as far as Jerusalem in one direction and
beyond Gaza in another. They killed fifteen people in the great mosque
of the latter town. They also visited Baalbek and Al Bakaa, whence,
on hearing that the Sultan Nasir was about to march from Egypt at the
head of a fresh army, they withdrew again towards Persia,* and Syria was
once more free from the Mongols.
After his defeat, the Sultan had retired, as we have seen, with but two
amirs and a few followers. He re-entered Cairo on the 12th of January.
Fugitives from the battle came thither in small parties, and in great
distress, some of them having not only lost their weapons and uniforms,
but also shaved their hair and beards. They were insulted by the people,
who jeered at them for having fled before the Tartars. A funeral service
for those who had perished was performed, and preparations were
immediately begun to avenge them. Artisans were collected from all
sides to manufacture arms. The Vizier made a requisition of money to
pay the expenses of a new campaign. Orders were sent to the various
provinces to send horses, dromedaries, lances, and swords. Horses and
mules which were working the mills were impounded, a handsome price
being paid for them. A horse worth 300 dirhems in ordinary times now
rose to a thousand. The price of arms rose seventy or even a hundred
fold. Soldiers were ordered to rejoin their ranks, and the pay of those
who had perished was duly paid. Each commander of 1,000 men was
assigned ten licensed soldiers (soldats licencidst), for whom he was
to provide ; each amir of tabl khanah was to furnish five, and each
amir of ten two. Many of the amirs raised bodies of volunteers. Mejd
ud din Isa ibn Alhabbab, naib (substitute) of the Mohtesib, was told
to obtain from the fakihs a fethva, or order, authorising an extraordinary
levy of money. A canonical decision of the Sheikh Iz ud din abd
Esselam was produced, imposing a tax of a dinar on each individual. The
Sheikh Taki ud din refused to concur in the fethva, and declared that the
decision of Iz ud din had only been given after the military chiefs had
surrendered all they possessed in gold and silver, the jewels of their wives
* Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 163-164. Haithon, ch. xliii. D'Ohsson, iv. 260. Weil, iv. 234.

GHAZAN KHAN. 449
and children, and when each one had sworn that he had nothing more,
and that the sum collected was still insufficient. " But we know," said
the exacting sheikh, " that now the amirs have plenty of money, that they
can give their daughters strings of pearls and jewels, that the shoes of
their wives are garnished with gems, while their wash-hand basins are
made of silver." As the obdurate authority refused to concur, a requisition
was made on the merchants and traders, and by these exertions a fresh
army was on foot in the beginning of February. The various towns of
Egypt were crowded with soldiers who came from different parts of Syria.
The houses were too small to hold them. They encamped in the Karafah,
about the mosque of Ibn Tulun, and at the extremity of the quarter
Hosainiah. Meanwhile the price of provisions remained very moderate.*
The Sultan dispatched express posts to the governors of the various
fortresses of Syria announcing to them his speedy march, and bidding
them hold on bravely. Ghazan had summoned them to surrender by
special firmans, headed " By the divine power, and under the auspices of
the Muhammedan faith," but his acts were contrary to his words, says
Novairi, for he permitted the excesses of the Armenians and others.t
News now reached Egypt that Ghazan had retired, and that Kipchak
had been left in charge there. This news was very welcome. The
Sultan wrote to Kipchak, to Bek Timur, to El Begui, and other officers who
had joined the enemy, asking them to return to their allegiance. They
replied that they were prepared to do so, and Kipchak, with all the people
of his suite, accordingly set out for Cairo. This was in the middle of April.
The Tartars were naturally greatly alarmed, for the hot season was close
at hand when they could neither fight nor expect succour. We have seen
how Molai withdrew with his men beyond the Euphrates. Arjevash, who
had held the citadel of Damascus so bravely, came out and occupied the
town itself on the 8th of April, the name of the Sultan was again
inserted in the public prayer, after having been erased from it for 100
days, and the wine shops, &c, were again repressed. An order had
been issued at Cairo that the army was about to march, and that whoever
remained behind would be strangled. The price of the dinar, which had
formerly been 25^ dirhems, and in the recent cheapness of money had
fallen to 17, was fixed at 20.
LThe Sultan set out on the 31st of March, and halted at Salihiyet,
whence his lieutenant Salar and some other grandees set out for
Damascus. Between Gaza and Askalon they met Kipchak and his
cortege, a meeting which must have been singularly embarrassing.
Makrizi says both parties dismounted and shed tears, and that the visitors
were received with every attention, and sent on to the Sultan. Ibn Tagri
Berdi, on the other hand, says they were received with bitter reproaches,

* Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 165-167. D'Ohsson, iv. 260-262.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 259-260 and 262-263.
F*

45° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS,
for the ills they had brought on their country. They pleaded that they
were obliged to fly from the destruction which awaited them at the hands
of Lachin and his Mamluk, Mangu Timur, and that when they heard of
Lachin's death they would have returned, but were unable to do so.
They went on to Salihiyet, where the Sultan heaped fresh reproaches
upon them and then pardoned them. The army went to Damascus,
where Arjevash had taken charge of the treasury on behalf of the Sultan,
and closed the wine shops which Kipchak had opened and farmed out
for I, ooo dirhems daily. Akhush al Afram, who was appointed governor
of the city, laid a heavy hand on those who had acted as Mongol agents.
Some were crucified, others hanged, others again had their hands, feet,
or tongues cut off, or were deprived of their eyes. A special civic guard
was organised for the protection of the city, from which no one could
claim exemption. The sheikhs of the Druse tribes from the mountains
Kesrovan, who had plundered the fugitive Egyptians, were sent for, and
compelled to make restitution. A division was sent to occupy Aleppo,
and put to the sword the Mongols who were found there. Kara Sonkor
was nominated governor of that town, and replaced at Hamath by the
ci devant Sultan Ketboga. Tripoli was made over to Kadlubeg Almansuri,
Safed to Saif ud din, Kerai and Karak to Jemal ud din Akush Alashrafi.
Kipchak was made commandant of El Shaubek, Arjevash was rewarded
with a robe of honour and a present of 6,000 dirhems, Bek Timur was
given 100 Mamluks and set over a regiment of 1,000 men, and El Begui
was given 100 Mamluks. The Mongols had been altogether masters of
Syria for 100 days, and during that time the khutbeh, or Friday prayer,
had been said in the name of Ghazan there. Damascus was ruined. A
large part of its wealth passed into Egypt, but that country was already
so prosperous that it was hardly affected by this accession.* Abulfeda
tells us that one effect of the campaign was that the Egyptians lost
a number of towns which they had conquered some years before from
the Armenians. Among these were Hamus, Tel Hamdun, Kubara,
Saifandkar, and the various towns south of the Jihan, except Hagr
Shaglan.} While Ghazan was invading Syria, Fars was devastated by an incursion
made by the Mongols of Jagatai from beyond the Oxus, which I shall
describe in a later chapter. We are told that the year 698 of the hejira
(i.e., 1299) was a particularly unlucky year, and had been foretold to be
so by the astrologers, since the two stars of ill omen, Mars and Saturn,
were in very unfortunate conjunction. Wassaf, who explains this
conjunction at some length, points out, first, the dearth of water, and
then the famine which prevailed widely over the country, the Oxus, Tigris,
Euphrates, and Nile all running short in their supply of water. This was

* D'Ohsson, iv. 263-267. Weil, iv. 236. t V. 173.

GHAZAN KHAN. 45 1
followed by the black and the red death, from which more than 50,000
died at Shiraz alone. Many learned men fell victims to the pestilence,
the most celebrated among them being Ahmed ibn Abi Ghazan, and the
father of Wassaf. The following year was just as fortunate, so that the
corn which the year before cost thirty gold pieces fell to six. This was
counterbalanced at Shiraz, however, by the exactions of the officials,
which now passed all bounds. First came commissaries to inquire into
and punish the conduct of the controllers of the granaries ; next, overseers
of the coin, to fix the correct standard ; then the publishers of the tax
papers in the mosques and baths ; then those who were sent to call in
the weapons of all kinds from those who were not Mongols, so that the
craft of armourer, for which Fars was anciently and still is famous, was
almost suppressed ; and, lastly, the exactors of the arrears of taxes.
Some of the grandees of Shiraz went to the Court. The general overseer
of the taxes of Islam, Jemal ud din, had guaranteed taxes to the amount
of 283 tumans during the years 697 and 698. They offered to increase it
by 22 tumans, and in addition to pay 17 tumans of the arrears of the year
696. Said ud din, the Negro or the Moor, received the commission of
the tax collector in Fars, and was given a golden paizah, while Jelal ud
din Kurdestani was ordered to make a new survey of the land and a new
distribution of the taxes. The grossest tyranny and oppression prevailed,
and Wassaf has piled up the rhetoric of which he is a master in
denouncing the evils of the times.*
On his return from Syria, Ghazan devoted himself for a while to the
arts of peace. Having arrived at Meragha early in June he paid a
visit to the famous observatory there, where he examined the instruments
and had their use explained to him. He expressed his intention of
building a fresh observatory near Tebriz, and described the instruments
he wished to put in it, several of which we are told were of his own
design. From Meragha he went to Aujan, where he summoned a kuriltai.
It lasted for five weeks, on the conclusion of which his son Alju
died, and was taken for burial to Tebriz.t Ghazan himself repaired to
Tebriz, where he superintended the erection of the various buildings
which he had ordered, among which the principal one was his own
tomb. These will be described in a subsequent note. He made over
considerable charitable foundations (wakfs) to supply these institutions
with furniture, such as carpets, perfumes, lights, wood, &c, and also the
various expenses necessary for conducting them. There were also special
endowments, one for an entertainment to be given on the anniversary of
the founder's death, to the employe's, as well as to the Imaums and other
considerable people who went there from Tebriz, and who in return
undertook to read the Koran there. Other sums of money were dis-
* Ilkhans, ii. 101-104. f D'Ohsson, iv. 271. Ilkhans, ii. 98.

452 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
tributed in alms. Moneys were assigned for buying sweets for the officials
of the mosque, the monastery, and the colleges ; for the keep of 100
young boys, who were to be circumcised, and were to learn the Koran by
heart ; they were committed to five tutors, five guardians, and five women ;
others again for the care of foundlings, and the expense of bringing them
up to manhood ; others for the burial of strangers who died at Tebriz
without leaving anything to pay for their funerals ; to buy corn and millet
to place on the roofs during the six months of winter for the birds to eat,
and the founder cursed anyone who should hurt these birds or take them.
Money was also left to supply 500 poor widows with cotton to spin, and
to replace the vessels which the slaves of either sex should have the
misfortune to break when carrying water ; a trusty man was appointed at
Tebriz to superintend this last curious charity. Money was also left for
clearing the roads of stones and for making bridges over the brooks for
eight fersenkhs round the capital. Ghazan set aside a portion of the royal
domain for the endowment of these charities, after it had been declared
legitimate to do so by a judicial decision of the muftis, the kadhis, and the
chief ulemas. Seven copies of the deed of gift, all attested by the judge,
were made. One was intrusted to the general administrator of the
establishments, another was deposited in the Kaaba (i.e., the famous holy
temple at Mekka), a third in the archives at Tebriz, a fourth in the
tribunal at Baghdad, &c. Every kadhi, on entering office, was to confirm
this document, and to attach his seal to it. Ghazan appointed the Khoja
Rashid ud din, the famous historian, whom he raised to the rank of vizier,
to superintend these charities, which, according to Wassaf, had a revenue
of more than 100 tumans (i.e., of a million gold pieces). About these
pious foundations, which were surrounded by gardens, there presently
arose a town even larger than Tebriz, which was called Ghazania. Near
each of the gates of this town there was built, by order of the Ilkhan, a
caravanserai, a market, and baths. Thus merchants, from whatever
quarter they came, found their conveniences ready before entering the
town, and the Customs officers inspected their goods there. Ghazan had
brought to Tebriz various kinds of fruit trees which had not hitherto been
seen there. The old wall of the town was small, and was girt about
outside with houses and gardens. It was now inclosed with a new wall,
four fersenkhs and a-half in circuit and ten guez (cubits) in thickness. This
was paid for out of his own privy purse, so that the people's attention
should not be diverted from the benefits that would accrue to them by
contemplating merely the cost. Ghazan's views in the matter were
enlightened, and his motive in the change was largely to make the place
more healthy, for, as he said, nothing is more unhealthy than narrow
streets and high houses. Rashid tells us the town increased, by taking in
the environs, from 6,000 to 25,000 kulajis in circuit, and the new wall
enclosed the two hills known as Valian and Sinjan. The quarter of the

GHAZAN KHAN. 453
Mount Valian (Valian kuh) was built by the Vizier Rashid ud din, and
was called Raba Rashidi* Ghazan also built markets and baths at
Aujan, which was eight fersenkhs from Tebriz, where he passed the
spring. There also arose summer-houses, gardens, &c. He surrounded
Shiraz with a high wall and a deep ditch. In the district of Halla
he constructed a canal to convey water from the Euphrates to the
tomb of Hussein, and to irrigate the dry and desert plain of Kerbela.
The environs of the tomb now became very fertile, and produced more
than 100,000 tughars of grain, better than that of the province of
Baghdad. Orders were given to distribute annually a certain quantity
of corn to the poor Seyids who lived about the tomb. The canal there
was known as the higher canal of Ghazan, to distinguish it from another
which irrigated the neighbourhood of the tomb of the Seyid Abul
VeTa. Hunting one day near the latter tomb, he could find no water for
his horses, and remarked that the wild asses and deer were thin in
consequence of the want of water and pasture. He ordered a canal to
be made, therefore, which was known as the lower canal of Ghazan. A
third was made on the eastern verge of the desert, and was called simply
the canal of Ghazan. The product of the land fertilised by these canals
was devoted partly to keeping up the tomb of Abul VeTa, and partly to the
endowment of the foundations at Shenb. To protect the environs of the
tomb of Abul Vefa from pillage, he had them surrounded by a wall.
Baths and other buildings were also erected there, and there arose in the
midst of the desert a town surrounded by gardens and cultivated fields.
The example of Ghazan was followed by his Mongol subjects — by those,
says Rashid, who formerly were wont to destroy and not to build, so that
the price of houses and gardens increased tenfold. There were many
villages in the empire in which there were neither mosques nor baths, so
that the people could neither worship properly nor perform the prescribed
ablutions. An edict was issued ordering this need to be supplied, which
was carried out in the course of two years. The receipts of the baths
were devoted to the service of the mosques and the relief of the local
rates. Mirkhavend reports that the commissioners who were intrusted
with supplying them caused fresh exactions, especially in the province
of Fars.
Ghazan wished that in all the large towns, such as Tebriz, Ispahan,
Shiraz, Baghdad, &c, houses should be built for the accommodation of
the descendants of Ali, under the name of Dar us Siyadet, and he also
assigned endowments for their entertainment. It was reported that
Muhammed had twice appeared to him in dreams, accompanied by -Ali
and his two sons Hasan and Husein, whom he presented to him, telling
him to treat them as his brothers, and ordered him to embrace them.
* D'Ohsson, iv. 272-277. Quatremere, xvii.

4S4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
This caused him to have a special liking for the descendants of Ali
(ie.. the Seyids). It thus appears he was a Shia, and D'Ohsson suggests
he invented these dreams to justify himself with the Sunnis.*
When Ghazan, at his accession, destroyed the idol temples which had
been patronised by his predecessors, he wished the Bakhshis to follow his
example and become Muhammedans. This they pretended to do.
Seeing it was only a pretence, however, he gave permission to those who
wished to retain their old faith to return to Mongolia, and insisted that
those who remained should conform to Islam, threatening to put to
death those who built funeral pyres or idol temples. " My father," he
said, " built a temple and endowed it richly. I have destroyed it like the
rest, but you may go and live on the land attached to it." On this
occasion the Khatuns and Amirs said to him, " Your father had himself
painted on the walls of this temple. Now that it is in ruins his
portraits are exposed to the rain and snow. Since he was an idolater
you ought, for the repose of his soul, to restore what he founded."
To this he would not consent. They suggested that he might convert it
into a palace, but he would not have a palace built on such a site. " There
still remain some of these Bakhshis in Persia," says Rashid, " but they dare
no longer openly avow themselves, but, like the Mulahids (i.e., the
Ismaelites or Assassins), they are obliged to practise their religion
secretly."} In the autumn of the year 1300, Ghazan determined upon another
campaign in Syria. He doubtless chose the winter season as less trying
to his own men as well as to his Armenian and Georgian allies, and sent
Kutlugh Shah forward with the advance guard. The latter set out on the
1 6th of September. Ghazan was at Tebriz. He first went to Mosul,
where his wife Tughanshah, the daughter of Mubarek Shah, died. This
was on the 17th of December. On the 3rd of January, 1301, he crossed
the Euphrates at Jaaber, and encamped at Ziffein, renowned for the
famous battle fought there between Ali and Moawiyeh. When he reached
Jebul, or Habul, near Aleppo, he was joined by Kabartu Behadur with
some Syrian prisoners. Kara Sonkor, the governor of Aleppo, fled to
Hamath, where Ketboga held his ground, and where some contingents
of troops gathered. We are told the population of the province of Aleppo
abandoned it at the enemy's approach. From the 17th to the 19th of
January Ghazan encamped at Kinesrin, situated a day's journey south of
Aleppo, on the lake into which the Koweik, or River of Hamath, flows, and
which was a famous place in the struggles of the Crusaders. Thence he
sent troops into the mountains of Antioch and Sumak. As these
districts had escaped attack the year before, a crowd of people fancying
this would again be the case had sought refuge there. The troops of
* D'Ohsson, iv. 277-281. t Id., 281-282.

GHAZAN KHAN. 455
Ghazan secured a great number of prisoners, men, women, and children,
and also carried off many horses, cattle, and sheep. The captives were
so numerous that a man or woman only sold for ten dirhems. We are
told the Armenians bought many of them and transported them to the
neighbouring islands, which were held by the Franks. Abulfeda says the
invaders laid waste Saruima, Maarah, Taizma, Amka, and other places,
and for three months did their worst upon the country round Aleppo.
When the Sultan of Egypt heard of the Mongol attack he ordered a
contribution of money to be levied, and 100,000 dinars were raised, causing
much discontent among the people, who denounced the soldiery.
" Yesterday you were in full flight ; to-day you rob us of our goods," was
the cry, and if answer was made, a jeering reply was sent back in regard
to the want of courage that had been shown in the face of the
enemy ; to put a stop to these insults an order was issued decreeing
confiscation of goods against anyone who spoke to a soldier. A
similar contribution was levied at Damascus, and there also it proved
a terrible hardship to the poor, who had even to cut down their finest
trees and sell the wood to raise the money. The valley of Gutah
was depopulated, and a large part of the inhabitants fled to Egypt.
The money was devoted to enrolling troops. Eight hundred Kurd
muleteers were enrolled, each receiving 600 dirhems, but they for the
most part deserted. At Fostat a large number of artizans and others
were enrolled. A general levy of the citizens of Damascus took place,
and the amirs pitched their tents in the Maidan Alkabak, where an
inspection of the troops, their horses and lances, was held. This was
on October 28th, 1300. Novairi says they went to Bedrish, near Gaza ;
Abulfeda and Makrizi to Al-Auja. A great number of fugitives crowded
into Egypt. At length the Sultan set out from Cairo. The troops suffered
terribly on the march ; the rains were so excessive that it was most
difficult to provision the army. Straw and barley rose excessively in
price, and we are told three round loaves cost a dirhem, while meat
was three dirhems the rotl. The rain was followed by a great inundation,
which swept away the baggage, while the roads were covered with thick
mud. This bad weather was equally fatal to the Mongols. A section of them,
under the amir Sutai, and a part of the troops of the amir Sheibawaji,
who had come from Rum and were encamped on low ground, would
have been swept away by the flood if the amir Mulai had not rescued
them. A great mortality began among their horses and camels.
Ghazan's special horses, which numbered 12,000, were reduced to 2,000.
A large part of his army marched on foot, and a general retreat
was ordered, many of the troopers having to sit behind their companions
on the saddles. Ghazan recrossed the Euphrates at Rakka on the
3rd of February, and having visited the martyrs' graves at Siffein

45^ HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
reached his harem at Chehartak, near Sinjar, on the 23rd of the same
month, when he was greatly troubled to hear of the death of Satilmish,
the son of Buralighi, a relative of Altaju aka.* Rashid ud din
diplomatically covers his master's forced retreat by the excuse that
he did not wish to shed the blood of true believers, and we should
not have known the real cause but for the Egyptian chroniclers,
who do not fail to point out what a terrible visitation such raids as the
present were, not only on account of the exactions made upon the people,
but of the panic which caused a general flight and shaking of the community,
disturbing trade, the price of commodities, &c. Haithon, the Armenian,
in describing this war, tells us that Ghazan in this campaign sent
Cotulossa (Kutlugh Shah) with 30,000 Tartar cavalry, and told him when
he arrived in the district of Antioch he was to inform the King of
Armenia and the other Christians of the East and of Cyprus that they
were to go and join him. He accordingly did so, and the King of
Armenia joined him, while the Christians from Cyprus went as far as
the island of Antarados. There was the King of Tyre, brother of
the King of Cyprus, who was generalissimo of the army, as well as the
commanders of the Templars and the Hospitallers. These were all ready
to join, when news arrived that Ghazan was ill, and that the doctors
despaired of his life, whereupon Kutlugh Shah withdrew, and the King
of Armenia and the other Christian princes returned home again, and
thus the expedition to the Holy Land (which was looked upon doubtless
as a new Crusade by the Christians) was abandoned.}
On his return home, Ghazan spent some days in the favourite Mongol
amusement of hunting. On this occasion he gave a signal proof of his
skill as an archer. We are told he shot at a doe with a three-pointed
arrow, called tuin by the Mongols. Although he seemed to have missed
his aim, the quarry fell to the ground in a heap. He had shot it while
springing in the air, with its four feet together, all of which were
wounded. Wounds had also been made in its flank, belly, breast,
neck, and throat, making altogether nine wounds. This wonderful shot
was witnessed by more than 2,000 people, and was deemed to have
excelled the famous shot of Bahramgur, who was reported to have
hit a wild ass when in the air with his arrow, and to have pinned
its hoof to its ear.} On the 29th of April there arrived at Ghazan's
Court an embassy from Toktu, the Khan of Kipchak, which was well
received, and returned again.§ Ghazan now crossed the Tigris, and
having punished some bands of Kurds who infested the roads, returned
again to Aujan on the 1st of June. There, on the 13th of July, the Khoja
Said ud din, who had hitherto shared with Rashid ud din the supreme
control of affairs, was appointed vizier. Three weeks later the general
* D'Ohsson, iv. 282-285. Ilkhans, ii. 106-108. Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 174-176. Abulfeda, v. 175.
t Op. cit., xliii. X Ilkhans, ii. 108. \ id., 108.

ghazan Khan. 457
Kutlugh Shah married Ilkotluk, the daughter of the Ilkhan Gaikhatu.
During the summer a conspiracy was formed against the Vizier and his
colleague, Rashid, by Sain of Semnan, and the Sheikh of Sheikhs,
Mahmud. With them were also joined Said Kutb ud din, of Shiraz, who
was chief secretary of state, and Moin ud din, of Khorasan, the head of the
Exchequer. Rumours which reached him aroused Ghazan's suspicion that
the plot was meant against himself as well as his ministers. He summoned
Said Kutb ud din, who was the administrator of the revenues of Shiraz,
and who was in league with the conspirators, plied him with wine,
and presently got some disclosures from him. The conspirators were
arrested, and some of them were put to death. Mahmud obtained his
life at the intercession of the Princess Bulughan, but only on condition of
not again appearing at the Court.* The tale of victims continued to
grow, and meanwhile Ghazan professed to be so humane that he would
not kill a fly, but would take it out of his food and let it rest on his hand
till it had strength to escape. To kill a fly cost him more pain, he said,
than to put to death a guilty man.t This morbid mixture of sentiment
and cruelty reminds one of Robespierre and others of the same kidney.
In September Ghazan went to Alatagh, and Kutlugh Shah went with the
army to Diarbekr. In November he went into winter quarters in Arran.}
Three months after his return from Syria, Ghazan sent Kemal ud din
Musa, the chief judge of Mosul, and Nasir ud din Ali Khoja, of Tebriz,
on an embassy to Egypt. When the Egyptians heard that they had
crossed the Euphrates, they sent the amir Seif ud din Kerai to meet them.
When they arrived at Damascus they were lodged in the citadel, and the
two envoys, with a Turkish attendant, went on to Cairo, where they
arrived on the 22nd of August, and were received in audience on the
following day, after the last prayer. The amirs and the troops assembled
in the " Castle of the Mountain." The Mamluks were dressed in their
richest clothes ; their caps and the borders of their coats were made of
gold brocade. The Sultan was seated on his throne, while a thousand
lighted torches were held in front of him. The Mamluks were ranged in
a double row, from the gate of the fortress to that of the Iran. The
envoys were now presented, the Kadhi of Mosul wearing one of the
turbans worn by men of the law, called tarhah, which differed from the
others in that one of the ends of the muslin scarf fell over the shoulders.
He spoke tersely and eloquently, expressed a desire for peace, and
addressed prayers to heaven for the Sultan, for Ghazan, and the amirs.
He also presented a letter in the name of Ghazan, which was sealed. The
envoys now returned to their lodgings, where they remained till Monday.
The letter was then opened. It was written in Mongol characters, on a
half-sheet of Baghdad paper. When it had been translated into Arabic
* Ilkhans, ii. 109. Quatremere, xi. and xii. t Ilkhans, ii. ioo-iio. X Id., no.

458 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
it was read aloud in the presence of the government officials.* The text
of the letter has been preserved in two versions, which differ considerably,
by Novairi and Ibn Tagri berdi. The former version has been translated
by D'Ohsson. Beginning with the usual pious phrases, it goes on to
complain that the year before the troops of the Sultan had invaded his
(Ghazan's) borders, and had ill-used his subjects, the people of Mardin.
Irritated by these evil acts, out of his zeal for Islam he had set out to
punish this conduct, but in accordance with the divine precepts he had
sent Yakub the Sikurji,} with kadhis and imaums worthy of trust. To
this the Sultan had replied by obstinacy, and had drawn upon himself
and the Mussulmans all kinds of evils. He had treated his envoys with
ignominy and put them in prison, and had forgotten the true path of
kings, which was to follow the ways of rectitude. God had presently
given him (Ghazan) the victory, and he had hoped that when the Sultan
came to consider how matters stood, he would have tried to undo the
past, and that on his return to Egypt he would have sent envoys to him
to treat for peace. He had consequently delayed at Damascus, like a man
who is master of the situation and all-powerful, but the Sultan was steeped
in indolence and did nothing. On returning home Ghazan said he had
been informed that he had been boasting that he would march to meet
him with his troops at Aleppo, or on the Euphrates. He had accordingly
set out again and gone as far as Aleppo, and was surprised at his delay.
He then learnt that he (the Sultan) had retired, and it was clear that he
had evaded an encounter with him. Having considered that if he
continued his advance further the country would be devastated, and the
people would suffer, he had withdrawn, in order to prevent such an end.
Now he was busy assembling his men, and preparing his catapults and
other war engines, and he would march after sending warning. " For
we do not punish until we have sent an apostle." He had accordingly
sent the two envoys, Nasir ud din and Kemal ud din, and charged them
to deliver an oral message. He bade the Sultan heed their words,
prepare presents, and come to terms, or the blood of Mussulmans would
be shed and their property be destroyed by his fault, and he would be
responsible before God. The letter was dotted with quotations from the
Koran, and was dated between the ioth and 20th of Ramazan, 700 (i.e.,
between the 19th and 28th of May, 1301), from the Kurdish mountains.}
Some days after the reading of the letter the amirs who were at the
head of the administration summoned the Kadhi of Mosul and said to
him : " You are one of the chiefs of the ulemas, the dlite of the Mussul-
* Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 182,
t Shikur means umbrella in Mongol, and it would appear that Sikurji means umbrella-bearer.
The Egyptian author, Soyuti, tells us that at the end of the 15th century, when he wrote, the
Sultan of Egypt, when he rode out on horseback in state, had an umbrella shaped like a vault,
covered with yeilow silk, embroidered with gold, and on the summit of which was a bird made of
silver gilt. It was borne by one of the amirs commanding a hundred men, who rode beside the
Sultan. D'Ohsson, iv. 289. Note.
I Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 295-298. D'Ohsson, iv. 288-293.

GHAZAN KHAN. 459
mans, and you know the duties which the Faith imposes upon you. Tell
us plainly if this be only a ruse, and we will swear not to betray your
answer." He declared that so far as he knew Ghazan desired peace, and
that commerce should again flourish between the two countries. " You
have only to keep on your guard, and march to the frontier with a con
siderable force, as you do every year. You will then see if it be a ruse,
or if the proposition is honestly made, and be able in either case to act
prudently".* On the 24th of September the Sultan went hunting with all the amirs,
and after some time went to Salihiyet, whither Ghazan's envoys had been
conducted to receive their congd. They were admitted into the Sultan's
tent at night. It was brilliantly lighted, and there were assembled there
420 officers of all ranks, dressed in splendid state robes which the Sultan
had given them. The envoys were given robes of honour and a present
of 10,000 dirhems, and other gifts. They were also intrusted with the
Sultan's answer.} This letter has also been preserved, and is phrased in
the pompous language, much imbued with religious aphorisms drawn
from the Koran, that then prevailed. I shall condense and paraphrase it.
The Sultan said he had received Ghazan's letter with the reverence due
to him, and had read it with attention, and found that it thrust the blame
for his own acts on the shoulders of others, and that it tried to excuse his
misdeeds by imputing them to others. He protested that it was not his
fault if marauders on either side made incursions across the frontier in
spite of their treaty. That the chief of Mardin had protected some of
these plunderers. If he (Ghazan) was moved to punish these doings, he
ought to have attacked their real authors, and not to have marched a
mixed body of various faiths into a Muhammedan country, nor allowed
the worshippers of the Cross to enter and profane the holy temple of
Jerusalem, which was second in sacredness only to the Mosque of the
Prophet. " If you charge us with being the authors of these ills, we can
easily reply that it is the want of a treaty of peace between us that
compels us to follow such a way. You claim to follow the example of the
Prophet in sending envoys before fighting. We would answer by
remarking that these messengers were not sent until tent was pitched
against tent, until arrows were flying against arrows, and only a few hours
intervened before the struggle. We are not of those who avoid the
fight, nor again of those who reply to friendly overtures by violent hatred.
The high God has said, ' If they incline towards peace, do thou incline
also, like a rolled manuscript inclines towards its title.' If your envoys
had arrived before the swords were unsheathed, while the lances were not
in rest, the arrows were not already on the string, and the bridles loose,
they would have been listened to, and their message would have been
* D'Ohsson, iv. 293-294. t Id., 294.

460 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
answered." In regard to Ghazan's insulting phrase, "We have tolerated
patiently your attachment to obstinacy and rebellion," he asked what kind
of patience was that which invaded an enemy's country before sending
messengers of peace. As to the vaunts about his victory, he would
remind him that if the Egyptians could have assembled all their forces not
a vestige of his army would have remained. He reminded him also of the .
exploits of the beginning of his reign, and bade him ask his own soldiers
what had happened. Ghazan had no doubt been successful now, but in
the various struggles of kings defeat, by divine decree, had been followed by
victory ; the victor ought not, therefore, to be too exultant, nor the defeated
too depressed. As to your complaints that we sent you no envoys when
you awaited us at Damascus, we reply that we devoted our time to
collecting our forces, and distributing largess among them. " Those who
give their goods for the service of Islam, are like a grain which produces
sevenfold." When we marched we found that you had withdrawn
against your will, and we halted as a man halts who finds that fear
of him dispenses with a hasty march. We sent on a division to fight with
those of your troops who still remained in the country. Our people
captured those who had incautiously delayed, but they found no trace of
your army, although they advanced as far as the Euphrates. As to the
boast that you again advanced as far as Aleppo, and there awaited our
arrival, we, when we heard of your coming, set out, accompanied by the
Prince of the Faithful, Hakim bi amir Allah. We arrived in Syria,
crossed plain and mountain, and went as far as Hamath, where we
awaited your coming, but you came not, and when you withdrew we
returned to get our forces ready. You say you advanced no further
because you did not wish the country to be ravaged and its people
injured. When have you by your acts shown such solicitude? The
Prophet says : " The Mussulman is he whose hand and tongue men need
not fear." Mussulmans are kept in chains by you, and have been handed
over to the Armenians and to the Takfur,* facts which contradict your
humane sentiments. When the Mussulmans defeated Abaka and killed
a great number of Tartars, and conquered the kingdom of the Seljuks,
neither in advancing nor retreating did they ill-use the inhabitants of the
country. They paid for what they needed. Such is the way of good
Mussulmans, and of him who desires to perpetuate his power. As to your
menaces and your boasts of preparation, we reply, " God is enough for
us ; he is the best of protectors." You say that if you had not acted thus
the blood of Mussulmans would have been shed. How can you, without
invoking divine vengeance, use such words ? " The intention of a man,"
says the Prophet, " is better than his acts ; " and again, " He who wilfully
kills a single Mussulman will go to hell, which will be his eternal home ;
* Takfur is Armenian for king, and the Armenian kings are frequently so styled by Eastern
writers.

GHAZAN KHAN. 46 1
the anger of God and his most terrible punishments will fall upon him."
Things being so, we have announced to our people that we are using all
our efforts to make ready and to collect our forces, who will, if it pleases
God, have the august angels as allies. Has not the Apostle of God said :
"My people shall never cease to triumph over its enemies until the Day
of Resurrection." As to your ambassadors, we have received them with
honour, and have replied to them. We know that they are humble
people, and that they would not have been chosen for such a risky
mission if they had not committed grave crimes. They are not the kind
of people who ought to have been sent by one like yourself to a sovereign
like us. Such matters of importance ought to have been confided to those
who combine eloquent speech with eminent merit. As to the presents
you demand, if you had sent us presents we should have returned you
presents of greater value. When your uncle Ahmed sent an embassy to
our father, the martyred Sultan, he sent him presents from a distant
country and a message couched in gracious phrases, and they were
accordingly received with the greatest regard. In conclusion, we say if
the King inclines towards peace we incline also. If he has really adopted
the Mussulman faith, is obedient to God's command, abstains from what
he forbids, is ready to fulfil the obligations of religion not as a merit, but
because he feels honoured by doing so. (" Do not attribute your
conversion to Islam to me. It is God who has given you grace to lead
you towards the true faith.") * If the King's acts are consistent with his
professions, if he separates himself from the infidels with whom he ought
no longer to consort, if he will send us an envoy stating the conditions of
peace, and to say plainly what he wishes, then we will act in concert
against those who oppose us, and our alliance shall crush the polytheists of
all countries, and those who see our friendship will contemplate these
words : " Remember the blessings which God has granted you. You
were enemies. He has reconciled your hearts, and now you are
brothers."t And if it pleases God the most stable peace shall be created
between us. The 28th Moharrem, 701 (i.e., 3rd October, 1301). This
letter was written by the hand of the Mollah and Kadhi, Ala ud din Ali,
son of the deceased Mollah Mohai ud din Abdallah ibn Abd Eldaher.}
The envoys duly arrived in Arran, where Ghazan was passing the
winter, on the 19th of December, 1301. The Ilkhan was engaged in
hunting in the mountains of Shirvan and Lesghistan. He chased wild
swans at Kiavbari, and then went to Khalise, whose name by his orders
was changed to Kush Koyun. There, on the borders of the lake, he
shot cranes and other wild fowl. At this time, Toktu, the ruler of
Kipchak, defeated his rivals, who retired towards the Eastern Caucasus,
as they expected that Ghazan was going to Derbend. As he did not do so

* Koran, ch. xlix., verse 17. \ Id., ch. iii., verse c
t Makrizi, op. cit, 298-306. D'Ohsson, iv. 295-309.

462 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the commercial intercourse, which had been for some time suspended,
was again resumed between the peoples of the two khanates. Ghazan
took the opportunity while in their quarters to punish the Lesghian chiefs
who had been rebellious, and also to seize and put to death a number of
brigands from Azerbaijan, who had taken up their quarters there, and
infested the neighbouring districts. He now returned to Pilsuvar, and
then went towards Talishan and Ispehbed. Here he held a grand
battue. The game was driven into a triangular inclosure made of
palisades. The entrance to the park so formed was a day's journey
across, while the other sides of the triangle converged to an apex.
Into this were driven the various wild animals, aurochs, buffaloes,
bears, wild asses, wolves, foxes, shakals, deer, &c. Ghazan and his
wife, Bulughan, sat in the midst of the inclosure, in a lofty kiosk or
summer-house, whence they watched the hunt for some time, and then gave
orders for the release of the animals that remained. He returned by
various stages, hunting en route, to Tebriz, whence the citizens came out
to welcome him with banners flying, and he in return promised various
remissions of taxes. In July, 1302, he went to Aujan, where in the
midst of well-watered meadows, at the intersection of two avenues
of willows and alders, was built a beautiful summer palace, with baths,
kiosks, towers, and other buildings. The whole were inclosed by a
square boundary, containing various entrances for the various classes of
people who had access to it. The summer palace itself was a movable
tent, made of golden tissue, at the making of which the best artists had
worked for three years. It took more than a month to erect, with its
hall of audience and appendages, so large was it. In it was placed the
royal throne, which glittered with precious stones. To its inauguration
the imaums, sheikhs, &c, of the Muhammedan faith, and also the ministers
of other religions, were invited. Ghazan addressed them, saying : " I do
not wish to enter here with feelings of pride. Ask God to pardon our
sins, yours and mine, and to incline our hearts to humility. We will
commence by reading the Koran, we will pray to God, and afterwards
give ourselves up to pleasure." He pronounced the name of God and the
Prophet as he alighted, and then seated himself on the throne and
addressed them as follows : " I am a feeble servant ot God, who
confess my many sins, and declare myself unworthy of his goodness.
The pity, grace, and favours with which the Almighty covers his servants
are beyond all their gratitude. I cannot too highly recognise his favour
towards me in committing to me the sacred trust of governing all the
peoples of Iran. I must not let pride overtake me in regard to a power
which has come to me after so many princes. Of all God's favours to me
there is one which he did not grant to any other sovereign, and which
was longed for by my predecessors. He has permitted me to see my
subjects happy, content with my rule, and friendly towards me. I cannot

GHAZAN KHAN. 463
be sufficiently grateful." After having given the assembly a feast, Ghazan
distributed robes and gold to those present. The Muhammedan clergy
spent three days and nights in reading the Koran. The ministers of other
religions also devoted themselves to religious exercises. After these
services to God began the general festivities. On the ffite day Ghazan
appeared with a jewelled crown (turban) on his head, and dressed in a
robe of gold tissue, bound by a magnificent girdle. In imitation of him,
the khatuns, princes, and grandees dressed themselves in their best robes,
and, mounted on splendidly caparisoned horses, followed their master.
Ghazan now held a kuriltai, where it was decided that his brother Khoda
bendeh should retain command of the eastern provinces, with his summer
quarters at Tus, Abiverd, Merv, Sarakhs, and Badghiz, and his winter
quarters in Mazanderan. The amir Nurin Aka was to control the frontier
of Derbend. The amir Kutlugh was to go to Georgia, and having been
joined by the Georgian army was to march to Diarbekr, on his way to
Syria. Hulaju, with his tuman, was to post himself on the borders of
Fars and Kerman, and when necessary to unite with the amir Sadik and
the Saltan of Kerman ; and Mulai was to hold himself in readiness to
march again into Syria. A fresh envoy was sent to Cairo.*
On die 26th cf August, 1303, Ghazan set out from Aujan, by way of
H~~- afer. towards Syria. At Heshtrud the amir Nurin went and
pa^d his rsspetts to him before setting out for his command
in Arrar. Eers also he was visited by the sons of Sherif ud din
Abderr," ,-- tie fanner commander of Tebriz, who had also been
employed 2= iz. ar^cy in Egypt. They approached the Ilkhan, dressed
in black, azc itinriained to him that Nisam ud din, the son of Wejih
Khoja, had pz: ieririer to death. He was accordingly executed on
the fees: of AaiZxn. between Yusagaj and Heshtrud, and with him Devlet
Shah, the arc -± Ainhekr, of Dakukaba, and Arabshah, the grandson of
Hijaji, Satan, af Eerztan. This was on the 4th of September. At
Hamadan Ghazan stayed in the monastery of Businjerd, which he had
hn^: aza ~-±lj endowed. Thence he went to Navur Ferhan and Bisutun,
where three Syrian amirs did homage to him. Here he paid a visit to
the spot, arhere. seven years before, during the revolt of Nuruz, and when
the .atter = brother Legsi was still at large, he had rested under a tree in
considerable distress. He visited this place with his wives and amirs, and
shed tears when he remembered the miserable night he had spent there ;
ane. in thankfulness to heaven for having listened to his prayers he said a
nama7 of two rek'ats, and then prostrating himself with his head to the
ground, prayed God to help him always, and addressed a suitable homily
to his followers, bidding them obey God and never despair of his good
ness, nor to trust in their own strength. He also prayed the Almighty to
* D'Ohsson, iv. 310^13. TTlrhsns, E. 114-115.

464 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
grant that he himself might always be just. Those who were present
fastened various ribbons to the tree, around which the amirs danced
to music, a curious Shaman rite that it is certainly interesting
to find practised by good Mussulmans. Pulad Chingsang told Ghazan
that on one occasion Jingis Khan's predecessor, Khubilai Khakan,
whose bravery had become proverbial, on his way to attack the Merkits
dismounted before a tree on his route, and prayed God fervently,
undertaking if he were victorious to return and deck the tree with
beautiful pieces of cloth. He did so return, and decked out the tree,
while he and his troops danced around it, after returning thanks to the
Eternal. This story delighted Ghazan, who said that if his ancestors had
not been pious people they would not have become great kings, and he
himself joined in the dance.*
When Ghazan arrived at Bendlejin, or Bendinjin, a small town near
Beiat, there came to him envoys from the Greek Emperor Andronius,
soliciting his help against the Turks, who were pressing the Empire very
hard, and offered him in marriage the hand of a young princess who
passed at Constantinople as his natural daughter.t Ghazan received
them well, and promised to repress the Turks. This alliance seems to
have had a restraining influence on the latter.} Rashid ud din reports
the same event, but hardly in courtly language. He says : " The
ambassadors of Fasilius, Emperor of Istambul, sent presents to Ghazan
on the part of their Sovereign, who offered to send him his own daughter
as a concubine."§ Ghazan now spent some days hunting in the districts
of Sab, Vasith, Meshed, and Sidi Abulwefa. At Meshed he ordered a
canal to be dug to convey water from the Euphrates. He then went on
to Hillah, where he was joined by Nasir ud din, of Tebriz, and Kemal ud
din, the judge of Mosul, whom he had sent to Egypt as his envoys. This
Hillah, situated between Baghdad and Kufa, was known as Hillah of the
Beni Masid, to distinguish it from others of the same name. It was once
famous for its stuffs and for its porcelain, which was like that of China. ||
Mirkhavend tells us that Ghazan had insisted by his envoys that the only
condition of peace was that the Egyptian Sultan should acknowledge his
suzerainty by the payment of an annual tribute, the insertion of his name
in the khutbeh, or Friday prayer, and that the coinage should on one side
bear the name of Sultan Mahmud Ghazan below that of the Khalif, and on
the other that of the Egyptian ruler under the profession of the Mussulman
faith. His envoys on their return were accompanied by Hussam ud din
Azdemir, the Kadhi A'mad ud din, and Shems ud din Muhammed on
behalf of Nasir, the Egyptian Sultan. According to Mirkhavend, they
said their master could not accept these terms. That as to tribute, the
revenues of Egypt were already completely assigned, and devoted either
* D'Ohsson, iv. 313-3^. Ilkhans, ii. 116-117. t Pachymeres, Stritter, iii. 1086.
J Id., 1087, $ D'Ohsson, iv. 315. Note 1. || Ilkhans, ii. 117.

GHAZAN KHAN. 465
to the purpose of the holy wars, the protection of the frontiers of Islam,
Or the payment of troops employed for the defence of the faith, to whom
assignations of fiefs were made ; that there was no spare money, therefore,
in the treasury, and if demands were made upon it these sacred needs would
suffer. When they had delivered their message, the envoys presented
Ghazan with a box locked and sealed. He asked them what it contained. •
They replied on their knees that they did not know. On opening it, it
was found to be filled with all kinds of arms. Ghazan was greatly
enraged on seeing this, but repressed his anger, which had been
previously aroused by some informality in the Egyptian letter, and by the
fact that Nasir's name was written in it in golden letters. After the New
Year's festivities, which followed closely upon the arrival of the Egyptian
envoys, Ghazan had them conducted to Hamadan, where they were to
remain until his return from the campaign he meditated making in Syria.
Rashid says they were sent to Tebriz, where they were detained prisoners
on parole.* About this time an embassy also arrived at the Court from
Toktu, the Khan of the Golden Horde, which I have already described.}
The festival of the New Year was celebrated this year with special pomp,
probably in honour of the Kipchak and Egyptian envoys, and lasted from
the 17th to the 30th of January, 1303.
Ghazan determined to have another campaign in Syria. When his
preparations were made, he crossed the Euphrates at Hillah on the 30th
January, 1303, and on the 8th of February went to visit the tomb of the
Imaum Hussein, son of Ali. It was a famous place of pilgrimage for the
Shias, situated on the plain of Kerbela, a day's journey west of Hillah, where
Hussein was killed by the partisans of the Ommiade Khalif Yezid. There
he hung up the carpets, or veils, which he had promised to present, and
distributed alms, and assigned 3,000 menns of bread daily of the product
of the lands fertilised by the water of the Upper Canal of Ghazan, which
flowed from the Euphrates to Hillah, for the sustenance of the Imaums
and Seyids who lived there.} Ermenibuka arrived from Khorasan with
the news that 3,000 rebels had been defeated in Khorasan, news which was
followed by that of the death of Nurin Aka in the winter quarters in
Arran.§ Ghazan now followed the river northwards to Haditse, situated
at the distance of a fersenkh from Anbar, where he issued orders for his
harems and oghruks to go to Sinjar, and there await his return. He then
went on with his army to Aana, as far as which he was accompanied by
his favourite wife, Bulughan, and some others of his wives. Aana, the
ancient Anelhot, the reputed birthplace of Jeremiah, is situated on a head
land jutting out into the Euphrates in the midst of woods and olive-yards ;
thence a space of 90 fersenkhs from Feluje (near Anbar), and as far as Saruj
(Von Hammer says Harran), was strewn with marble fountains, summer-
* D'Ohsson, iv. 314.317. t Ante, ii. 145-146. I D'Ohsson, iv. 324-325- Ilkhans, ii. 119.
$ Ilkhans, ii. 119-120.

4^6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
houses, and villages, palm groves, and cornfields. While at Aana the
historian Wassaf presented Ghazan with the first three books of his history
of the Mongols from the death of Jingis Khan to the accession of Ghazan
himself. His talents had been noticed by the two viziers, Said ud din
and Rashid ud din, and at the instance of the Ilkhan some tumans of gold
pieces had been given him to pay the cost of his pilgrimage. Wassaf was
then forty years old. He now had the honour of presenting the first three
books of his work, as I have said, to Ghazan, who greatly encouraged
him, and deputed him also to write an account of the two Syrian
campaigns, of which he was an eye-witness, and also to add an account
of Jingis Khan*
After a stay of ten days at Aana, Ghazan's wife, Bulughan, left him and
went to Sinjar, and we are told that, in accordance with Mongol
etiquette, the drums were for three days after her departure beaten with
especial loudness. The head-quarters of the army now advanced to
Rahbat, a fortress situated on a mountain on the right bank of the
Euphrates, between Aana and Rakka (Nicephorium). It was a halting
place of the Syrian caravans. It had been put in a state of defence,
and catapults, &c, had been planted on its walls. The amirs Sutai
and Sultan, the vizier Said ud din, and the famous doctor and
historian, Rashid, were sent to summon the place to surrender.} The
commandant, Alem ud din Sinjar Al Gatmi, had withdrawn with the
inhabitants into the citadel. The letter summoning him recalled the
provocation which the Mongols had suffered in their envoys being sent
back with unfriendly answers, how they had borne with these things
patiently for a while, attributing them to ignorance and want of experience,
but that matters having passed all bounds, they had been forced to march
to exact vengeance. " We have been compelled to traverse Syria," con
cluded the note, " but we wish to do you Syrians no harm. Consult your
own interests therefore, submit speedily, and as it is clear that justice is
on our side, do not by a vain resistance throw yourselves into the abyss
of death." This letter, with the royal tamgha attached, was taken into
the citadel by a herald. Those to whom it was addressed remarked that
the style was very lofty, and asked for a night's consideration in order to
understand it, promising to reply on the following day. After deliberation
they sent two deputies with their submission. Presently, the commandant
himself, with his son and the leading citizens, went in person to Ghazan,
who distributed letters patent freeing them from payment of taxes, among
the military and civil officers in the place, and took the territory under his
protection. Novairi, who has to diplomatically cover a reverse, says the
* Ilkhans, ii. 122-123.
t Rashid on this occasion writes : " The author of this work accompanied the Khan as secretary,
to write his orders in the Arab tongue Everything he needed was suppliedfrom the treasury, by
order of the sovereign, who also deigned to present him with a mule from his stables, and ceased
not to cover him with proofs of his goodwill in a way to excite the envy of all the world.'
D'Ohsson, iv. 326. Note.

GHAZAN KHAN. 467
Egyptian commander went with presents to Ghazan's camp, and under
took to surrender the place as soon as his army had conquered Syria.
Ghazan consented, took his son as a hostage, and repassed the
Euphrates* While Ghazan was at Rahbat, news reached him that
Kaidu, the famous ruler of the Khanate of Ogotai, and the rival of the
Khakan Khubilai, had died, and that Dua, the chief of the Ulus of
Jagatai, had been wounded. The amirs Kutlugh Shah, Choban, and
Mulai, who had crossed the Euphrates at Rakka, were encamped at
Deirgesir (the ancient Thapsacus). The Mongols now advanced towards
Aleppo, the governor of which, Kara Sonkor, submitted, and thus
avoided the occupation of the town by the enemy. The summer heats
being now at hand, Ghazan, having held a grand feast, ordered the amirs
Sutai, Alghui, and Naghuldar to join Kutlugh Shah with their troops, and
himself recrossed the Euphrates, and having rewarded the messengers
who brought him news about the death of Kaidu, he advanced hunting
towards Sinjar, whence his wives went to meet him. He made over
Diarbekr and Diar rabia to the Sultan Nejm ud din, of Mardin, with the
title of Malik al Mansur, and ordered him to go to Mosul and inquire
into the complaints made by the Mussulmans there against their Christian
governor, Fakhr Isa El Ghiath. Having crossed the Tigris, he awaited
at Keshf the issue of the Syrian campaign, in which his generals were
engaged.} Keshf is a strong fortress two days' journey west of Ardebil,
near the confluence of the Zab and the Tigris.} Haithon explains Ghazan's
long delay on the Euphrates on account of the Syrians having burnt up
the fodder, &c, on thp route he would have to march, which made him,
he says, postpone his attack till the spring, when the young grass had
grown. " For," he adds, " the Tartars take much more care of their
horses than they do of themselves, and are content themselves to eat the
vilest food." While he was waiting there Ghazan summoned the King of
Armenia. We are further told his army was so large that it stretched
over a journey of three days, from a certain fortress called Kakkabe, to
another named Labire,§ which De Guignes interprets as meaning from
RakkatoBiret.|| When news reached Egypt that the Tartars meditated another invasion
a small contingent of troops was dispatched under the amir Bibars, the
jashenkir, to strengthen the Syrian garrisons. Kutlugh Shah, according
to the Egyptian historians, commanded 80,000 men. Haithon says
40,000. He sent to summon Iz ud din Aibek Alafram, the naib of
Damascus, to submit. Meanwhile Bibars, in April, 1303, arrived there,
and wrote to press the Sultan to march in person. Fugitives from Aleppo
and Hamath, who were in dread of the Mongols, also reached Damascus,
where preparations were made for a vigorous defence, and where it was
* D'Ohsson, iv. 325.327^ Ilkhans, ii. 124-125. t Ilkhans, ii. 126. D'Ohsson, iv. 327-328.
X D'Ohsson, iv. 338. Note. § Haithon, 69. II Op. cit., iii. 274.

4°8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
proclaimed that if anyone left the place his life and goods were to be at the
mercy of those who chose to take them. The amirs Behaduras and
Katlubek, and the jemdar Anes, at the head of a division, went towards
Hamath, and were joined by the troops of Tarabolas (or Tripoli) and
Hims. Together they reached Hamath, where the malik Adel Ketboga
was encamped. Meanwhile the Mongols detached about 4,000 men,
which waylaid a body of Turkomans, near Kariatain. Asandemur, the
Georgian naib of Tarabolas, with some of the chiefs, and about 1,500
men, surprised the Mongols in the camp of Ord (or Aradh), pressed them
hard as far as Asr (or Arz), cut them to pieces, and released the
Turkomans, with their wives and children, who numbered 6,000. The
Egyptian loss was only fifty-six men, with the amir Anes, the jemdar
Mansuri, and Muhammed ibn Bashkird Nasiri. The Mongols left 180
prisoners in the hands of the enemy. News of this skirmish, which took
place on the 30th of March, 1303, was sent to the Sultan, and the drums
at Damascus were beaten to announce the good news.*
Abulfeda tells us how the Mongols advanced with about 10,000 men as
far as Kariatain, intending to plunder its neighbourhood. At this time
the Egyptians, who were encamped at Hamath under Ketboga, who was
not well, sent Asandemur, the Georgian, the Prefect of Tarabolos or
Tripoli, with a portion of the troops of Aleppo and Hamath, among whom
was Abulfeda himself, who was a prince of Hamath. They attacked the
invaders at Koron, near Arud. This was in April, 1303. A sharp
struggle ensued, in which the Mongols were defeated. A section of them
who were dismounted were offered their lives if they surrendered, but this
they refused, and poured a volley of weapons into the Egyptians, who
outnumbered them, and used the saddles of their horses as shields. The
struggle continued until the Mongols were all killed. After this successful
skirmish, which was the precursor of a more important victory, the
Egyptians retired upon Hamath. Thither they were followed by the
invaders under Kutlugh Shah, who was eager to wipe out the disgrace of
the recent defeat. The governor deemed it prudent to withdraw towards
Damascus. Abulfeda himself was left at Hamath in the hopes that he
would restrain the fury of the Tartars, but, as he tells us frankly, when they
drew near and pitched their camp by the city, at the sight of their
enormous numbers it was not deemed prudent that he should remain, and
therefore, abandoning his camp at Aliliat, he joined Ketboga at Kotaif, to
whom he reported their movements. They then retired together to
Damascus. The Sultan left Cairo on the 23rd of March, accompanied by the Khalif
Mustakfi-billah-AbuVebi Suliman, with a large army, leaving as his
deputy in Egypt Iz ud din Aibek Baghdadi. Meanwhile his* deputy,
* Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 197-199. D'Ohsson, iv. 328-329. Ilkhans, ii 127.

GHAZAN KHAN. 469
Adel Ketboga, who was ill, was carried in a litter. A discussion arose at
Damascus whether they should make a sortie or await the Sultan's
arrival, and it was eventually decided to retire further. The citizens
were naturally much disconcerted, and the price of conveyances went up
accordingly. An ass sold for 600 dirhems, and a horse for a thousand.
Many of the men abandoned their wives and children, and withdrew to
the citadel. Hardly had night arrived when the Tartar vedettes
appeared in the environs of the town. The Great Mosque was crowded
with people praying for victory to the Egyptian arms. The Mongols
made no direct attack upon the place, but passed it by and encamped in
the valley of Gutah. D'Ohsson says they marched on Kesvet.
Meanwhile the streets and mosques of Damascus resounded with prayers,
and we are told women mounted the flat roofs of their houses with their
children, and with their heads uncovered implored the divine aid* The
Mongols were posted at the foot of a mountain called Kenef ul Mizri
(i.e, the side of Egypt). Abulfeda says at Shakhab, near Marj us Safar.
Quatremere says at Shakhab, at the foot of the mountain Ghabaghib.
Their army was 50,000 strong, comprising two contingents of Georgians
and Armenians, and was under the supreme command of Kutlugh Shah,
under whom were the chiefs of tumans Mulai, Choban, Tittak, Kurmishi,
Sunatai, Tugan, Apisha, Ajai, and many others. The Sultan ranged his
men in order of battle in the green plain of Marj us Safar (or the yellow
plain), famous for the terrible defeat inflicted by the Arabs on the Greeks
in the year 634 A.D. According to Makrizi, he planted himself in the
centre, having by him the Khalif, the khazindar or treasurer, Seif ud din-
Bektimur, the silahdar, Jemal ud din-Akush-Alafram, who was the naib
or viceroy of Syria, Bulurghi, Aibek-Hamavi, Bektimur-Bubekri-Katlubek-
Nugai, the silahdar ; and Aghirlu Zein. In the right wing were Hosam
ud din Lajin, the ostadar; Mubariz ud din Siwar,the amir-shikar (i.e., grand
huntsman), Yakuba Shehrizuri, Mubariz ud din Ulea ibn Karaman, and
also the amir Kipchak with the troops of Hamath and with the Arabs.
In the left wing were the amir Bedr ud din Bektash Fakhri, amir-silah,
the amir Kara Sonkor, with the troops of Aleppo ; the amir Bedkhas, naib
of Safad, Togril-Igani, Bektimur, the silahdar, and Bibars, the devatdar.}
D'Ohsson, apparently following Novairi, distributes these chiefs somewhat
differently. The Sultan advanced on foot, having the Khalif beside him,
who bade them take no heed of their ruler, but fight for their wives, for
the defence of religion, and for the Prophet. They were accompanied by
readers, who recited the Koran, and incited the soldiery to fight bravely
for the rewards of Paradise. Many of the soldiers broke into tears at
these exhortations. Bibars, the Grand Marshal, and Salar, the viceroy
of Egypt, made mutual promises to stand firm ; while Nasir, addressing
* Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 199. D'Ohsson, iv. 328. t Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 199-200.

47° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the Mamluks behind him, told them to kill anyone who fled, and to
appropriate his arms and goods. The camels with the baggage formed a
barrier behind the army.
The battle began when the Egyptian lines were hardly in order, with a
charge by Kutlugh Shah on the enemy's right, in which eight Egyptian
officers and 1,000 of their men perished, but several bodies from the
centre and left went to support them. Salar cried out, " Great God !
Islam is going to perish." He summoned Bibars and the borji Mamluks,
who collected round him. Kutlugh Shah now turned upon them. Salar
and Bibars behaved with great heroism, and inspired their companions,
and presently Kutlugh Shah was hurled back. Choban and Karmeji, two
commanders of tumans among the Mongols, had marched to help Mulai,
who had pierced the Egyptian ranks, and was now posted behind them.
Noticing the repulse of Kutlugh Shah, they rushed to his help, and faced
Salar and Bibars, who were in turn reinforced by Asandemur, Katlubek,
and Kipchak, with the Sultan's Mamluks, and the enemy was driven back,
and threw himself upon Burlughi. Meanwhile the Egyptian right wing
had been broken, and was being hotly pursued, and a panic began to
spread among the non-combatants behind. The Sultan's treasure-chest
was broken open and robbed. The women and children who had come
from Damascus after the departure of the troops, added to the confusion ;
the former unveiled themselves, dishevelled their hair, and cried to
heaven for succour. Meanwhile the struggle had been suspended.
Kutlugh Shah, whose division had been severely handled, withdrew to
re-form to a neighbouring mountain. There he was joined by the other
divisions. He fancied that victory was in his hands, but on surveying the
plain found it still occupied by the Egyptians, whose left wing had stood
firm, and whose standards were unfurled. He waited until his people
had joined him, including those of Mulai, who had been in pursuit, and
who returned with a crowd of prisoners, among whom was Iz ud din
Aidemur, nakib of the Sultan's Mamluks, who informed his captors of the
presence of the Sultan himself. A council of war was summoned, but
was interrupted by the drums and cymbals of the Egyptians sounding the
advance. Mulai, called Bulai by Abulfeda, deeming the issue too
uncertain, or perhaps afraid of being caught in a trap, waited till sunset,
and then withdrew. The Sultan and his people passed the night on
horseback, while the drums were beaten and the cymbals sounded to
direct the fugitives to the rallying place, and the mountain on" which the
Mongols had taken refuge was speedily blockaded. Salar, Kipchak, and
the other amirs spent the night in going round the ranks encouraging the
men. At sunrise the Egyptian army was seen ranged in order, the
baggage being some distance away. The whole presented an imposing
spectacle. Presently the Mongols descended to meet them, and a
vigorous struggle recommenced, several of the Sultan'? Mamluks having

GHAZAN KHAN. 47 1
three horses shot under them. This combat lasted till noon, when
Kutlugh Shah withdrew again to the mountain, after losing eighty killed
and many wounded. His people suffered greatly from thirst. The
Sultan now determined to open a passage through which they might
march, and then to fall upon them. The Georgian Asandemur, with his
division, therefore stood aside. The Mongols marched through; first a
division under Choban, then the centre under Kutlugh Shah, and lastly a
third division under Taitak, and went down towards the river, into which
they plunged. Many of the horses were bogged in the morasses, and
they lost a great number of men in the pursuit.* Wassaf says that in the
previous struggle the amirs Choban, Taitak, Ebrenjin, Kineshin, and
Tersa were separated from Kutlugh Shah, and, unaware of his withdrawal
to the mountain, continued to struggle desperately, and that Taitak,
covered with wounds, together with Irinjin (? Ebrenjin), Kineshin, and
Tersa, were all made prisoners.}
The account of the struggle here given is that followed by D'Ohsson
and Von Hammer, and is based chiefly on the reports of the Egyptian
historians ; but we have an independent notice by Haithon, who claims to
have been present, and to have been, therefore, an eye-witness. According
to him, Kutlugh Shah, after entering Syria, marched with the King
of Armenia upon Hims, where he believed the Egyptian army to be
posted. There he learnt that it had not, in fact, left the neighbourhood
of Gaza. Having captured Hims, and put all the Mussulmans there to
death, and secured much treasure and a store of arms, the Mongols
advanced towards Damascus, where the people sent out to ask for a
three days' truce, which was granted them. The Tartar advance posts,
which had proceeded a day's journey beyond Damascus, having captured
some of the enemy, learnt that a small body of them, 1,200 strong, were
posted not far off (? the Turkomans of the other notice). Determined to
surprise them, Kutlugh Shah and the Armenian king advanced, and
arrived near there at nightfall, but they found the Sultan with the main
army had also come up. A council was called,, when it was advised to
wait till the morrow, but Kutlugh Shah, who despised the enemy,
determined to attack at once. The Egyptians were posted in a position
where they were protected on one side by a lake and on the other by a
mountain. In front of them was a river, only fordable in certain places.
This delayed the Mongol advance, and as the Egyptians would not leave
their vantage, the fight was, in fact, postponed until the next day, the
Mongols encamping on a mountain close by. The next day they again
tried to draw the Sultan from his position, but failed, and as they were
greatly in need of water and much wearied, they began to withdraw in
small parties towards the plain of Damascus, where pasture and water
abounded, and where they determined to recruit before again attacking
* Makrizi, ii, (part ii.) 200-202. D'Ohsson, iv. 332-334- t Ilkhans, ii, 129.

472 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
the Sultan. Thereupon, the citizens of Damascus cut the dykes of the
river and flooded the country, thus compelling the enemy to withdraw,
but a great number of men and cattle were lost, while the quivers and
bows of the Mongols, with which they chiefly fought, and their other
arms, were rendered useless. They were naturally much distressed,
inasmuch as if they had been pursued they must in this condition have been
overwhelmed. They withdrew gradually towards the Euphrates, which
was much flooded, and as they crossed it on horseback, numbers of them
and their horses perished, including many men belonging to the King
of Armenia, Georgians, and others ; " and thus it happened," says our
diplomatic witness, " that not by the strength of the enemy, but by
accident and bad judgment, the ill-chance befell them, for Kutlugh Shah
would not take anyone's advice," a conclusion which enables the chronicler
to moralise on his own report of these events, whose length he excuses on
the ground that the experience might not be lost. His notice, it will be
seen, glosses over the real defeat sustained by the Mongols, which he, in
fact, does not mention ; while he actually goes on to say that the enemy
dared not pursue them.
The Georgian Chronicle says the Tartars, after the first day's fight,
which was indecisive, retired to a hill, under Kutlugh Shah and Hussein
Sevinj, while Sibuchi, son of Kutlugh Shah, planted himself in the plain
with the people of Beka. Each one held his horse's bridle. The Sultan
determined to make a stream flow behind the Tartars (? by opening some
dykes). During the night a fog arose, so that men and beasts were
completely enveloped. At daybreak, seeing this fog behind them and the
Egyptians in front, the Tartars were much embarrassed. They, however,
found a small space uncovered by the fog, which was speedily crowded
with corpses, but through which they managed to escape, although after
a terrible slaughter. Wakhtang and the Noyan (i.e., Kutlugh) both
escaped.* Abulfeda tells us a division was sent in pursuit of the Mongols,
under Salar, which followed the fugitives as far as Kariatain, and that
many of those who survived the dangers of this flight were overwhelmed
by the Euphrates in trying to cross it on horseback when it was flooded.
Many others, he says, were waylaid and put to death by the Arabs,
" and thus," he adds, " did God avenge the wrongs we had suffered, and
repaid them the injury they did us in the year 699, at Mojma ul Muruj,
in the district of Hims."}
The Egyptians are said by Wassaf to have captured ro,ooo prisoners,
and 20,000 cattle, among whom were Taitak, Sunatai, and Kinju, and
many superior officers. The Turkish prisoners were incorporated in the
frontier garrisons and the Arab cavalry. The strict discipline of their
enemies very much surprised the Egyptians. Having heard of the
bravery of Taitak, who had received four wounds, Nasir summoned him,
* pp. cit., 63^... .. } Op., cit.,. 187...

GHAZAN KHAN. 473
and asked him how much Ghazan gave him a-year as a reward for his
devotion. " The Mongol," was the reply, " is the slave of his sovereign.
He is never free. His sovereign is his benefactor ; he does not serve him
for money. Although I was the last of Ghazan's servants, I never needed
anything." On being asked how much each soldier received annually, he
replied, from two to five tugars. " But," adds Mirkhavend, " what is
most to be admired is that although 5,000 horsemen in the late war had
lost their horses, they cheerfully shouldered arms and articles for a two
months' march ;" and he further relates that after such a march, if,
when they arrived at home, and even before they had unloosened their
mantles, they were ordered upon a distant campaign, they at once set out
without demur."* No wonder the historian, whose experience of
discipline had been gathered among Arab mercenaries, &c, was much
surprised. Notwithstanding this discipline the retreat was very disastrous.
The amir Salar was sent in pursuit, and followed the retreating Mongols
as far as Kariatain. The Mongol horses were worn out with fatigue. The
soldiers lost heart, and hardly offered resistance, and many of them were
killed by the camp followers, who secured a large booty, and in some
cases we are told as many as twenty Tartars fell to one of these creatures.
The Arabs who offered themselves as guides led them astray into desert
places, &c, where they perished of thirst. Others were conducted to
Gutah, near Damascus, where the people set upon and killed them.
Wassaf says many of them, to avoid dying of hunger, sold themselves as
slaves. Others exchanged their own slave girls for mares. Nasir
ordered the bodies of all Mussulmans who had perished in the struggle to
be buried together, without being washed, and without shrouds, and a
circular tomb was erected over them.}
The victory was naturally the subject of great rejoicing. Pigeons
conveyed the news to Gaza, and also an order that the runaways from
the army were not to be allowed to enter Egypt, while those who had
plundered the Sultan's treasure were to be sought out and detained.
The amir Bedr ud din Bektut-Fattah was selected to take details of the good
news of the success to Egypt, and left immediately. News was also sent
to Damascus and other fortresses. The Sultan entered Damascus on the
23rd of April, and was received with the greatest rejoicings as a deliverer,
the whole place being splendidly decorated. He rewarded his generals
with robes of honour and other gifts. He refused at first to see the amir
Burlughi, one of those who had fled, and only did so under the solicitation
of his other officers, when he was admitted and pardoned. One of the
amirs of Aleppo, who had been corrupted by the Mongols, and had acted
as their guide, was nailed to a camel and perambulated about the town.
The naib of Gaza arrested and searched the runaways, and discovered on
-* D'Ohsson, iv. 334-335. Note.
t Makrizi, op. cit., ii, (part ii.) 203. D'Ohsson, iv. 335-336.

474 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
them many bags of gold and silver which had been appropriated, and
which were still sealed. The amir Alem ud din Sanjar Jauli went
towards Damascus with the officials of the treasury, and recovered from
the camp followers a large quantity of purloined treasure. The guilty
were imprisoned, nor did the search cease till a large part of what had
been lost was recovered. When Bektut Fattah reached Cairo, he gave
orders that the city was to be decorated from the gate of Nasr to that of
the Chain, and he summoned Arab musicians from the various towns of
Egypt. The news of the victory had already reached them by pigeon
post from Katia, but as Bektut was delayed en route by an affection of his
hand the people began to be uneasy. The markets were closed, and
bread sold at a dirhem for four rotl, while a skin of water cost four
dirhems. On his arrival everybody went out to meet him. It was a
regular fete, and each one rivalled his neighbour in decorating the place.
Balconies with seats were raised, the ostadars of the amirs divided the
chief street of Cairo among them, each taking a certain length to
decorate, the crier went round the town to proclaim that anyone
employing an artisan for another purpose than that of erecting balconies
was to be deemed to have committed an offence against the Sultan ; and
the price of wood, reeds, and joiners' tools rose very greatly. The country
people came into the town, and jewels, precious stones, pearls, and silks
were used to ornament the houses. Nasir ud din Muhammed Ibn
Alshaikhi, the vali, made a balcony at the gate of Nasr, which contained
all kinds of rare objects. By his orders basins were filled with sugar and
citrons, and about these were ranged Mamluks, holding glasses of
lemonade in their hands to give drink to the soldiers. The Sultan
presently arrived, and we are told that fifty or even a hundred dirhems
were paid for the hire of a house whence the triumphant procession could
be seen. The various amirs met him at the gate. The aged Bektash
relieved him of his arms, and notwithstanding his great age and the
entreaties of the Sultan, insisted on carrying them on foot ; the amir-
shikar, or chief huntsman, carried the umbrella and the falcon, the amir-
jandar the sceptre, and the amir-bajmakdar the mace. Carpets were
spread from each house to the next one, over which the Sultan marched
his horse, and the procession stopped at each to examine the beautiful
things. The Mongol prisoners marched in front in chains, bearing
about their necks the heads of their companions who had fallen in
the battle. In addition, 1,000 heads were held aloft on lances. The
prisoners were 1,600 in number, who had a similar number of heads tied
about their necks. Before them were carried their drums, which were
broken. The Sultan rode over silk carpets all the way to the citadel,
where he presented the amir Burlughi with 30,000 dirhems, and
nominated him amir of the caravans.*
* Makrizi, op. cit., 203-213. D'Ohsson, iv. 336-337,

GHAZAN KHAN. 475
Kutlugh Shah recrossed the Euphrates with only a small portion of his
army, and there was great grief in the cities of Hamadan, Tebriz, &c,
when the sad news arrived. Makrizi says Ghazan was so affected by it
that blood flowed from his nose. He was on the point of dying, and
secluded himself. Only one man in ten had returned. Abulfeda attributes
his death, which occurred shortly after, to chagrin at his defeat. The
Persian historians tell us Kutlugh Shah arrived at Keshf, where Ghazan
awaited his return, on the 7th of May, and the day following he left
for Ardebil, where on the 4th of June he received Choban, and praised him
greatly, inasmuch as he had remained behind to rally the dismounted
troopers, and to conduct the dehris of the army to Baghdad, sustaining
their courage during their long march. After spending a month in the
mountains of Sehend, he arrived at Aujan on the 26th of June, having
been preceded thither by his wives and oghruks. The following day
began the trial of the officers who had commanded in the Syrian
campaign. Choban accused Kutlugh Shah of not having supported him
when he broke the Egyptian right, and was charged by him in turn with
having been too rash. The trial of the officers lasted till the 17th of
July, and according to Rashid, two of them, Agathai Takhan and Tughan
Timur, were put to death* The Egyptian historians say that Ghazan was
so irritated at the disaster, that he had Kutlugh Shah, Choban, Sunatai,
and other officers arrested. He condemned Kutlugh Shah to death, but
spared his life on the entreaty of the other officers. "He, however,
subjected him to great indignity. He was held by some ushers at a
distance from the throne,' while all those present came forward and spat
in his face. He was then exiled to Ghilan. Mulai was bastinadoed, and
treated most ignominiously. Mirkhavend says all Kutlugh Shah's officers
received a certain number of blows with a stick, and they were forbidden
access to the Ordu for several days, and we are told that Choban, although
he had been so signally praised by Ghazan, and had been presented with
one of his own robes, was beaten like the rest, so that there might be no
exception.} The King of Armenia, before returning home to his own country, also
went to see Ghazan, who received him well and consoled him for the loss
of so many of his men, and even made over to him a guard of 1,000
Mongols, who were to be maintained at his own expense, and assigned
him a portion of the revenue of the kingdom of Turkey to keep another
body of 1,000 horsemen. He then returned again to Armenia.} Chamitch
says that Pilarghu (i.e., the Barlogi of Abulfeda and the Barlagu of
Sanutius) was the commander of the contingent assigned to the Armenian
king. He died in I307.§ * D'Ohsson, iv. 338. Ilkhans, ii. 131.
\ D'Ohsson, iv. 337-340. Note. Makrizi, op. cit., 204-205. X Haithon, 72-73.
% Georgian Chron., 631. Note.

476 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
The bitterest pang of all to the vanquished Mongol chief was doubtless
the scornful letter which the Sultan wrote him : —
" Praised be God, who has renewed his goodness towards us, and has
given us his grace in full measure ; who has again illumined the moon
with his light, and granted us unmeasured joy ; who by his rich gifts has
stilled the longing of the soul and given repose to the heart ; who has
lighted up brightly the sun of wisdom, and has caused its moon to rise
with renewed fortune ; who has wiped out the mishaps of Time and
scared away hard Fate, so that our eyes are radiant with delight at the
sight of all our hopes and wishes fulfilled. May the Lord be praised,
so long as the lightning flashes and the stars wander through the
night. The exalted king, the assembler of armies, knows that he
paraded as the patron of Islam, yet he enveloped himself in fraud and
forgot the right. He accordingly accomplished what God's will deter
mined, and has courted the fate which no mortal can escape. Only the
other day he sent messages of peace, inviting concord in the name of
Islam, and declaring he would cause no harm to the land, nay, that
he wished to fill up the gap separating us, as the holy law requires.
We knew his real object, yet at the very prospect of peace, which shone
upon us like the full moon, our suspicion was dissipated, we received
his envoys with honour, as it became us, listened to their message, and
gave our reply to the demands which we could not accede to. We then
sent them back again, and left it to him to develop the evil intentions
which he concealed in his breast. We also sent him an embassy, as he
demanded, although we knew his designs, and thus gave him an
opportunity to commit his shameful outrage. For hardly had our envoys
reached him when he threw off the mask, marched his troops, and
commenced the war which became his ruin. They crossed the
Euphrates, while he, trusting to his heels for safety, prudently returned
home again. His army invaded our land, and did there what he had
ordered it — cut down the trees and destroyed the seed, planted itself by
Aleppo, and thence made raids.
" Meanwhile our troops were ambushed in Syria. They advanced with
God in their hearts, as to a holy war, and our brave divisions marched
against the enemy, who through our weakness had entered the land. Two
thousand of them attacked two divisions of the foe near Alurdh, where
they had plundered the Turkomans. After a short struggle their corpses
were strewn about ; God sent their souls to hell, and none of them
remained, while Armenians, Georgians, and others were made prisoners.
The rest of the hostile army went towards Damascus, not anticipating
that they would soon be girdled about with lances, that our horses would
be planted around, while our troops would be so near them as to be able
to watch them every hour. When they came in view of Damascus they
contemplated entering it victoriously, and did not know that they would

GHAZAN KHAN. 477
find a road to hell near that city. They went over the hill of Mani, but
when they saw our army fear possessed their hearts, and they then
realised that destruction is the sequel of faithlessness, and ruin of violence.
They then sought safety in flight, but before sunset we had spread them
on the ground like carpets. Many withdrew to the mountain and sought
shelter there from death, and spent the night there till Sunday. They
feared none of them would escape, and they had to seek comfort in
repentance. They were hopeless unless they could secure our pardon, and
it was in despair they appealed : ' Spare us, merciful king, and pardon us
at this holy season; we are true believers.' We thereupon ordered our
troops to let them pass through. They fled amazed, like a sheep before
wolves. The father did not look back for his sons. If you, O King, had
seen this day of battle, you would not have slept peaceably for a long
time, for your friends were killed or enslaved. It was a bad day for
the unbelievers — a day on which the wolves and the vultures went out
together for rapine. If you had seen how your comrades were eaten by
the wolves you would have exclaimed, ' O, that I were changed into
dust.' Thank God you did not see these things with your eyes, and only
learnt them through your ears. If you had been witness of the evil that
overwhelmed your friends you would not have survived the horrors, for it
was a doom of which the angels were witness.
" I gave you candid advice, but you paid no heed. You would not
refrain from your violent purpose, and the result is the destruction of
your army. We told you, ' Whoever uses the sword of wrong commits
suicide.' But you imprudently despised my words, and the reward of
your ill-doing is that God has made yourself and your army a by-word till
the day of resurrection. Turn again to the true faith, and do not let
Satan deceive you any more into vile courses that bear ill fruit. If you
are a Mussulman, act as such. Let us both, conformably to the holy
script, which deems violence a sin, renounce all pretensions to Baghdad
and to Irak, restore them again to the Khalif, and obey his commands.
Thus shall we bend the bow of our faith. If this be not done, you will
secure God's curse till the day of doom. If you act otherwise, then is
your ruin inevitable, and Persia as well as Irak will be lost to you, when
you sink into nothing.. We have now pointed out to you what is right ;
deviate not from it. Receive our envoy kindly, and see him escorted
safely back to Syria. Then take the rest of your troops to Khorasan, and
heed not the suggestions of Satan. A man once told us that your horse
men and your foot soldiers would come to Egypt. This prophecy has
now been fulfilled, but in another sense. The riders are sitting sideways,
and the foot soldiers are assembled with drums about their necks, and
revolving banners in their hands. Make haste, therefore ; retire from
Asia Minor, and from Irak, and go to Khorasan. We shall soon follow
you with our troops, who will speedily scatter your people in terror, and

478 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
before us you will tremble and quake. He who gives warning must
not afterwards be blamed. Hail to him who follows advice."*
After the guilty chiefs had been punished, Ghazan held a kuriltai,
where he distributed liberal largess. At his accession to the throne he
had found the treasury empty and the country ruined, the revenues were
absorbed by his officers, and the taxes were obtained with difficulty.
The treasures which Khulagu captured at Baghdad, in Syria, and in the
country of the Ismaelites, and which by his orders had been deposited in
the strong fort of Tela, had been plundered by its successive guardians,
who sold the golden balishes and precious stones to merchants. As they
were all guilty the secret was well kept. One tower of the castle situated
on the borders of the Lake of Urmia having fallen, the guards seized the
opportunity to appropriate still more treasures, which they declared had
fallen into the water with the tower. What remained, and it was valued
at only 150 tumans, was distributed among the troops by Ahmed when he
wished to march against Arghun. The treasure amassed by Arghun
disappeared after his death. When the military chiefs, who rebelled
during his illness, put his ministers and courtiers to death, they
appropriated a portion of the treasure, and divided a portion of it among
the soldiers. Gaikhatu neither saved anything nor left anything.
Accordingly, on Ghazan's accession, he had nothing to give the troops
whom he had brought with him from Khorasan, and whose tents and
cattle had been appropriated by the invaders from Transoxiana. Hardly
anything reached the treasury. Nuruz, Sherif ud din of Simnan, and
Sadr ud din all tried in vain to restore the finances. Not only was there
not money enough to pay the troops, but not even sufficient for a present
to an envoy. No one could understand how this was, and Ghazan was
accused of avarice and carelessness. One day he said to his officers,
" You fancy that these mules which follow the camp are laden with gold.
You are mistaken ; they only carry wooden instruments and various tools
which I like to use, as you know, and you can test it for yourselves.
When I have nothing I can give nothing. My predecessors have left me
nothing. I inherited a ruined country, and have not received the
revenue." But in the course of two years, after he had . organised the army,
protected the frontiers, and cleared the kingdom of the robbers who
infested it, he devoted himself to regulating the finances and to reforming
the administration, as we shall presently describe. Only trustworthy
people were given charge of the provinces, and they held their posts for
at least three years if they behaved well. Order being thus restored, the
treasury began once more to fill. He distributed the first two or three
hundred tumans which were received among the officers, fixing how much
* Weil, iv. 260-263.

ghAzan khan. 479
each corps was to receive, but at the kuriltai held at Aujan, which we
mentioned just now, he distributed largess with his own hand. Seated in
a large tent, where were collected the revenues of various provinces, and
surrounded by his principal officers, he distributed robes, rolls of gold
and silver of different sizes, inscribed with their contents and with the
corps for which they were destined, calling out each corps himself by its
name. This distribution lasted for fifteen days, during which time there
were distributed 300 tumans of gold in coin, 20,000 sets of robes, 50 girdles
decorated with precious stones, and 300 golden girdles. Rashid tells us
Ghazan had the art of rewarding his followers according to their merit
without arousing jealousies. There never passed a day on which he did
not give away from ten to a hundred thousand pieces of money, and from
a hundred to three hundred robes. Notwithstanding this generosity, such
was the order in the administration that the treasury was not emptied,
and none of his predecessors distributed so much as he.*
From Aujan, he set out for Tebriz, where he arrived on the 8th of
September, and began preparations for another campaign in Syria, but he
was suddenly attacked with ophthalmia, which lasted some time. Mean
while, on the 1 ith, there arrived at his ordu the dowager Princess Ilturmish,
daughter of Kutlugh Gurkan and widow of Gaikhatu, who had afterwards
married Ghazan's brother, Khodabendah. She took her two sons, Bestam
and Abuyezid, with her. Ghazan betrothed his daughter Oljai Kutlugh,
who was only six years old, to Bestam. In order to cure his eyes, the
Chinese doctors had made scarifications or wounds in two parts of his
body. In the end of October he left Tebriz riding on an Indian elephant,
which had been sent him as a present by the Sultan of Delhi. The sight
was a new one for the people of Tebriz, who came from all sides to see it,
and he amused himself on the animal during the whole day in the public
square. On the 31st of October he set out again for Aujan. The pain
which his recent operation caused him, prevented him riding on
horseback, and he travelled by short stages in a palanquin. From the
station of Yusagaj he sent Kutlugh Shah to take command of the troops
in Arran, a command which had become vacant the year before by the
death of Nurin Aka. On the 13th of November he arrived at the palace
of Jome Gurkan. Jome Gurkan, who was by origin a Tartar, had married
two daughters of Khulagu in succession, namely, Bulughan and Jome.
Abaka married Jome's aunt Nukdan, while his mother was Chichegan, the
daughter of Ochigin, Jingis Khan's youngest brother. This shows how
curiously involved the marriage relations of the Mongol prince were. From
the palace of Jome Gurkan Ghazan went to Sughurluk. He intended going to
Baghdad, but the heavy snow made the roads impracticable, and decided
him to pass the winter on the banks of the Hulan muran, where he spent the
* D'Ohsson, iv. 339-344.

480 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
time in feasting and dispensing charity. He allowed the poor to feed in
his presence and distributed clothes among them. On one occasion there
came ten dervishes. Ghazan ordered ten sets of robes to be given them.
Nejm ud din, the mehter or upholsterer, who had the distribution of these
things, declared that two of the dervishes were not Mussulmans at all,
but were Christians, and it turned out that in the hope of getting food and
clothing they had feigned to be so. Ghazan ordered that they were,
nevertheless, to have the robes, since the Padishah of Islam could
not break his word .* While in winter quarters, Ghazan went into
seclusion for forty days, during which he took little food, gave himself up
to meditation, and was waited upon by the dervishes. His residence was
inclosed by a palisade, and no one except the khoja of the serai or palace
had access to him. While he was going through these penitential
exercises the dervishes of Tebriz, headed by the Pir (i.e., the master of
contemplative life), Yakub Baghban, formed a conspiracy to depose him
and put on the throne his cousin Alafrenk, the eldest son of Gaikhatu.
One of them, named Mahmud, went to the camp and reported that a
gigantic figure, forty ells high and with a breast five ells broad, had
come down as a messenger from heaven, and had alighted on the
mountain Merend, and declared it to be the will of heaven that Alafrenk
should mount the throne. When the vizier, Said ud din, heard of this
he had him seized, and sent the akhtaji (equerry) Khani to Tebriz to
seize the envoy of the Khakan Khubilai, Nasir ud din, together with
the heads of the conspiracy, Pir Yakub, Seyid Kemal ud din, and the
sheikhs, Rashid and Sadr ud din. When they were brought before
Ghazan he remembered that they were partisans of the deposed vizier,
Sadr ud din, of Zenjan, whom they doubtless wished to avenge by
his own deposition. They were questioned by him in person, and it
was proved they were adherents of the doctrines of Mezdek, who lived
during the reign of Kobad, father of Nushirvan, king of Persia, and
who were attached to a form of Manicheism. Pir Yakub was thrown
down from the summit of a neighbouring mountain, and his accomplices
were executed. Alafrenk was pardoned, and ordered to go to Khorasan
to join Khodabendah. Touched by this clemency, he confessed that he
had been induced to go to Tebriz on pretence of a hunting expedition,
and having joined with Yakub and his companions in their pious exercises,
was persuaded by them that he should mount the throne. Yetmish, the
deputy of Taitak, who had been captured in the Egyptian war, was
implicated in the conspiracy, and was put to death. Taitak's son,
Akbuka, who was also a party to it, was pardoned on account of his
youth and of his father's services.}
The new year's feast was held on January the ioth, 1304, in the ordu 01
* Ilkhans, ii. 131-133. D'Ohsson, iv. 346-347. t Ilkhans, ii. 133-135. D'Ohsson, iv. 347-349.

GHAZAN KHAN. 48 1
the Princess Ilturmish. This was spent with especial festivities, in
consequence of the recent escape from the conspiracy, and we are told
Ghazan specially honoured the vizier Said ud din, and the historian
Rashid, on the occasion. To the former he appointed a command of
1,000 life-guards, with horsetail standards and kettledrums, and ordered the
various amirs to wait upon him with their congratulations. Eight days
after the new year Keramun, Ghazan's wife, died. She was buried at
Tebriz. Her death greatly affected him, since she was in the bloom of
youth, and he often wept for her. One day he asked his amirs what was
the most grievous thing in life. Some said a defeat, others imprisonment,
others poverty, or sickness, or death. Ghazan replied : " The most grievous
is to be born at all, for life is but a string of misfortunes, closed by death."
" When two are on a journey," he asked, " one on foot, the other sitting
down, which is the more tranquil ? " " He who sits," they replied. " And
when one is sitting and the other lying down ? " " The one who is lying
down." " If one is awake and the other asleep, which is the more
tranquil ?" " The one who sleeps," they said. " Quite true," he said,
" and the only real peace is in death. True is the Prophet's word : ' The
world is the prison of the faithful, and the paradise of unbelievers.' " *
Before we conclude the personal history of Ghazan we will devote a few
words to the two remote provinces of Fars and Kerman, at this time
about which Von Hammer collected some interesting details. The
province of Fars was divided in very early times into five districts,
Ardeshir, with Shiraz as its capital ; Istakhr, with Persepolis as its chief
town ; Shabur, with its chief town of the same name ; Kobad, with Aujan
as its chief town ; and Darabsherd. The last of these was situated in its
eastern parts, and was in later times called Shebankiareh. Its capital
Darab, so named, says Von Hammer, from its founder Darius, was
situated on a number of hills, surrounded by a wall a parasang in circuit.
The district round was famous for gold, silver, markesite, fluospath,
iron, salt of seven colours, quicksilver, and the famous resin, mumia,
used in bone-setting. The district contained some other famous towns,
which are enumerated and described by Von Hammer. It was
governed from early times by the family of Fasluyeh, whose importance
dated back to the time of the early struggles of the Arabs and the
Sassanians. At the time of Khulagu's campaign in the West, the head
of the house was Mozaffer ud din, son of Nizam ud din. He was the
contemporary and rival in power of the Salghurid chief, Mozaffer ud din
Abubekr, and his authority extended from Khasuyeh Runis and Khair as
far as the villages of Mishkusabad, Lur, Sanik, and Guristan, the last
of which was only seven parasangs distant from Hormuz. Khulagu
in 1259 sent Tekyujin with a tuman of Jelairs to attack Darabsherd.

* Ilkhans, ii. 135-136.
H*

482 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS. "
Mozaffer ud din was killed by an arrow during the attack, and the town
was taken and destroyed ; 17,000 houses which surrounded the citadel
like a girdle were levelled with the ground. Tekyujin then appointed
Mozaffer ud din's son, Kutb ud din, to govern the district of Darabsherd,
under the control of a Mongol commissary. Eleven months later, viz.,
on the 5th of November, 1261, Kutb ud din was murdered by his
brothers. Two of them, Nisam ud din and Nasir ud din, succeeded him
quickly. The former was killed at Kiarsun by Seljuk Shah in February,
1 264. The latter died on his wedding-day, when he married Seljuk Shah's
daughter. He was succeeded by Jelal ud din Taibshah, who reigned for
seventeen years, when he was put to death by order of the Ilkhan Ahmed.
His brother Behai ud din reigned for seven years, and then sickened and
died. These two brothers were succeeded by their sons, Malik Ghayas
ud din and Nisam ud din III. They were succeeded by Ardeshir, under
whom the dynasty of the Shebankyarehs was swallowed up and succeeded
by that of the Beni Mozaffer (i.e., by the dynasty so called in Fars). The
long lease of virtual independence from Mongol control enjoyed by this
district now came to an end. On the return of Ghazan from his Syrian
campaign, an impost of twenty tumans was laid upon the province of
Fars. The amir Mingkutluk and the great sahib Iz ud din Al Kohedi
were sent to Shiraz to regulate the taxes there, and each ten dinars of
the land tax had an additional dinar added to it. The additional sum
was called tebghur. This was found so onerous that the vizier ordered
it to be cut down to one-half, and we are told that, taking advantage
of an ambiguity in the phrase in which the order was embodied, the
lucky inhabitants managed to retain the tax at the old amount.*
Let us now turn shortly to the affairs of Kerman. We have seen
how, on the murder of Padishah Khatun, Ghazan nominated her nephew
Mozaffer ud din Muhammed Shah, son of Hijaj, as her successor ; after
doing homage, he remained at Ghazan's Court. The disorders which
had arisen in Kerman during the commotions following the death of
Padishah Khatun were set right by the judge Fakhr ud din, of Herat, who
went to Kerman as the young Sultan's representative. He treated the
royal princes there with haughtiness, and cut down their allowances,
whereupon Mahmud and Hasan Shah rose in rebellion and killed him.
Ghazan now sent Timur Buka as governor of Kerman, with an army
which beleaguered the town for a year and a-half. The princes submitted,
and Sadr ud din Khoja, the successor of Fakhr ud din as vizier, sent
Mahmud to the Court. He arrived at Ispahan when his brother
Muhammed was on his way to his appanage, but as the latter did not
send for him as he expected, he poisoned himself. When Muhammed
arrived at Kerman he had his other brother, Sujukshah, sent to
* Ilkhans, ii. 136.140.

GHAZAN KHAN. 483
Ghazan, who had him put to death* This is one account. Another
is so entirely different that it is difficult to find any common features.
According to this other account, as Muhammed spent most of his time at
the Court, a capable Sahib and Pishaver was sent to take charge of the
province. The most learned man of his time in Kerman, Abdallah ibn
Muhammed el Beyari, was chosen for the post. Mahmud, Muhammed's
brother, and several grandees, with a body of Turkomans, fell upon and
killed him and his two sons, and plundered the archives and library.
Mahmud Shah did not stop here, but proceeded to raise an army, seize
fortresses, establish magazines, and levy taxes. Seyid Moaasem Jelal ud
din, Beyari's son, called in the Mongol general Sadakbeg to avenge his
father and brothers. Ghazan, who was meditating his Syrian invasion
ordered the amir Juyurghatai and Khirmenju, the governor of Ispahan, to
march with the forces bordering on Kerman, and also ordered the
malik Nisam ud din Hasan, brother of malik Ghayas ud din Shebankyareh,
and the great atabeg Nusret ud din Pir Ahmed, with the amirs of
Luristan and Fars, to march. A struggle followed, in which Mahmud,
at the head of the Turkomans and Kermanians, resisted bravely the
attacks of the Lurs and Afghans. The next day the town was
blockaded. The siege lasted for many months, the garrison holding
out bravely, notwithstanding the want of food and firewood, and to supply
the latter the most beautiful palaces were dismantled, and the wainscoting
burnt. Sujuk Shah, the instigator of the revolt, thought to save himself
when things were at the worst by deserting to the Mongols, but Mahmud,
having heard of this, had him arrested and sent off to them as the author
of the troubles. Sadak sent him to Tebriz, where he was put to death.
The siege dragged on ten months, during which five-and-thirty combats
took place, which lasted from dawn till sunset, and famous builders of siege
machinery had to be summoned from Mosul and Shiraz. At length the
town was stormed from all four sides. Mahmud Shah and his Turkomans
were taken bound into Sadak's camp. A yarligh was issued by the
Ilkhan ordering that all who had taken part in the murder of Beyari and
his sons should be put to death. Ten great amirs and eight-and-twenty
of their associates were executed, otherwise the town was spared, and
the terrible ravage of a ten months' siege was not augmented by a general
sack. Sadak was granted the amirship, with command of the armies of
Irak, Great and Little Luristan, and Kerman, with a special diploma
sealed with a lion's head, with one of the Ilkhan's robes and a sword, and
with the hand of Tulan Khatun, the widow of Prince Yesen Timur. These
events took place in the year 1300.} Which of these accounts is correct, who
can say ? The latter, which is that given by Wassaf, from its circum
stantial detail, would seem to be the more trustworthy. Muhammed was
* Iikhans, ii. 49. t Id., ii. 140-142.

484 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
now duly installed at Kerman. Differences arose between him and his
vizier, Sadr ud din, which ended in the latter taking up his residence at
Tebriz, where he looked after his interests faithfully. The Sultan died of
hard drinking, according to Hamdullah, in the year 703 HEJ., after a
reign of eight years. We are told, his brother Hasan Shah was installed
in his place, but he died a month later at Hadisi. There only remained
one prince of the royal family, viz., Kutb ud din Shah Jihan, the son of
Siyurghatmish, who was now appointed ruler of Kerman, and duly given
a diploma, state robe, &c*
In March or April, 1305, Ghazan set out from the yurt of Hulan Muran,
meaning the Red River in Mongol, a name which the Turks write Kizil
Ussun. This river rises in Mount Elvend, north of Hamadan, and falls
into the Caspian. In Persian it is called Sipid Rud, or the White River.
On it was a yurt or camp of the Mongols, which Uljaitu named
Boinuk or Yamuk. Leaving his harem and baggage near the castle of
Juk, which was only one stage distant from the palace of Jome, Ghazan
set out with the jeride, or light baggage, and his head-quarters, for Merak.
He hunted for some days in the mountains of Kharkan and Masdekan,
and eventually reached Sava. Here the Vizier gave a grand feast, and
offered the cup to all the princes and princesses, and was treated by the
Ilkhan with marked honour. The Home Secretary, Khoja Shihab ud
din Mubarek Shah, who had a house at Sava, and whose father, Khoja
Sherif ud din Saadan, one of the chief people of Irak, was still living, also
gave a similar feast, and distributed presents among the princes,
princesses, and high officials. Ghazan had largely recovered from his
illness, and could again mount on horseback and eat in public. On
leaving Sava, and on the way to Rai, he had a relapse. His sight and
appetite were again affected, notwithstanding which he continued to ride
on horseback. He stayed some days at Rai. When he arrived at Khial-
buzurk his illness became more critical, and he went on by short stages
to Pishkaleh, near Kazvin (called Yeskele rud by D'Ohsson), whence he
sent messengers to summon his favourite wife, Bulughan. After her
arrival he summoned all the grandees of the empire, among whom are
specially named Kutlugh Shah noyan, who had held the post of first of
the amirs and commander-in-chief since his accession; Choban, Baidu,
Bilar, Ostai, Molai, Ramazan, Ilghu, Kur Timur, and Taremtan ; the two
viziers, Said ud din and Rashid ud din, and various officers whose names
are given by Von Hammer, and included the pages, the master of the
horse, the commanders of the life-guards Biludai, the quartermaster-
general Masuk, the amirs of the life-guards, the secretaries, silentiars,
head cooks, falconers, treasurers, treasury clerks, &c. He addressed an
exhortation to them, bidding them do justice and right. He appointed
* Id., ii. 142.

GHAZAN KHAN. 485
his brother Khodabendeh, whom he had already, four years before, nomi
nated for that post, to succeed him, and conjured his friends to see to
the carrying out of his will in its integrity. After having performed this
duty, he passed the greater part of his time in retirement. Although so
much weakened by disease, he preserved his faculties and natural
eloquence until the moment of death, which happened on Sunday, the
17th of May, 1304. He was but thirty-three years old, and had reigned
nine years.*
An author, quoted by De Guignes, calls the place where he died Sham
Ghazan (i.e., the Damascus of Ghazan). It was a town he had himself
built, and to which he had united his name, as he did to others, which he
called Cairo and Aleppo.} His corpse was taken on horseback to Tebriz,
and was followed by his khatuns and amirs. The people of the towns
and villages en route came out of their houses with bare heads and feet,
clad in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. The minarets throughout
the kingdom were covered with sackcloth, and straw was strewn in the
streets, bazaars, and public squares. The people of all classes for seven
days dressed themselves in tattered clothes or in sackcloth. They
of Tebriz wore mourning of deep blue, and went out to meet the cortege j
soldiers and citizens walked beside the bier uttering groans. The body
was at length deposited in the mausoleum which he had built for
himself near Tebriz.}
Ghazan is described by Haithon, who must have frequently seen him,
as of small stature, to which he refers, and also to his ungainly looks, in
the quaint sentence : " Et hoc precipue erat admirandum qualiter in tantillo
corpusculo tanta virtutum copia invenire poterat. Nam inter xx mille
milites vix potuisset statural minoris aliquis reperiri, neque turpioris
aspectus ; omnes tamen alias in probitate & virtutibus excedebat."§ The
Georgian Chronicle says Ghazan died deplored by all on account of his
justice, which was such that his kingdom was free from robbery, rapine,
and injustice, and he was generally regretted. || Pachymeres says he
enjoined his brother not to alter anything which he had settled for at
least three years, after which he was free to do as he pleased.H
Ghazan had seven wives : 1. Kurtika, daughter of Mangu Timur
Gurkan the Suldus. 2. Bulughan, the daughter of the amir Tesu. 3.
Eshel, daughter of Toka Timur, son of the chief judge Buka. 4. Kokaji,
who was a dependant of the great Princess Bulughan. 5. The latter
princess married in turn three of the Ilkhans — first, Ghazan's father,
Arghun, by whom she had a daughter, Dilanji ; secondly, Arghun's
brother, Gaikhatu, by whom she had a son, Jing pulad ; and, thirdly,
Ghazan himself, by whom she had a son, Alju. Alju therefore stood in
the double relationship of brother and nephew to Dilanji. Besides Alju,
* Ilkhans, ii. 145-147. t De Guignes, iii. 276. J D'Ohsson, iv. 349-350.
$ Haithon, 65. II Op. cit., 635. % Stritter, iii. 1094.

486 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Ghazan also had by her a daughter, Oljai Kutlugh. 6. Tundi, daughter of
Akbuka, the Jelair. 7. Keramun, daughter of Kutlugh Timur, son of
Abatai Noyan.*
Stritter quotes a curious story about Ghazan, which was derived
from the report of a certain Florentine, who lived at this time in
Persia, viz., that he married a daughter of the King of Armenia, by
whom he bore a son, who was so deformed that there was scarcely
anything human about him, and as it was said she must have had some
unclean connection, it was decided that she with the child should be
thrown into the fire. She begged that before this was done she might
make confession and take the sacrament from some priest, and that the
child should be baptised ; and it happened that directly he was touched
by the sacred water his looks changed, and he became very fair to look at,
upon which Ghazan revoked his order, and the Christian faith was greatly
benefited.t When Ghazan became a Muhammedan he definitely broke off his
allegiance to the Supreme Khan in the furthest East. Hitherto the
Ilkhans had been merely feudatories of the Khakan of Mongolia and
China. They were now to become quite independent, and it is natural that
the formulae on the coins should accordingly be changed. On Ghazan's
coins we find in Mongol characters the words, "Tegrini Kuchundur
Ghasanu deledkeguluksen." (By God's power Ghazan's coinage.) In
addition to this inscription there occur three characters, which M. Terrien
de la Couperie has shown to be in the Bashpa character, the first native
form of character introduced among the Mongols, which was the
invention of the Lama Bashpa, or Pakba, and was first introduced by
Khubilai Khan in 1269.} The three characters represent the words,
" Ma Kha san," the first being a contraction for Mahmud, and the second
and third forming the nearest approximation to Ghazan which the
characters were capable of representing. § When the name occurs in
Arabic letters it is written "Ghazan Mahmud." Pachymeres extols
the beauty and purity of his coins. In the collection of the British
Museum are coins of Ghazan struck at Tebriz, Shiraz, Baghdad,
Kemnaz'ar, B'ar'an, Sinj'ar, Mosul, Hamadan, Armiiah, Kashan, Tiflis,
Berdaa, Jezireh, Sultania, Lulueh, and others doubtfully attributed to
Kerm'an, Arzenjan, and Erzerum.|| Fraehn, in his " Recensio," published a
coin of Ghazan's struck at Basrah and another at Damaghan ;T and De
Saulcy one struck at Nakhchivan.** Another coin, published by De
Saulcy, is dated, not in the year of the hejira, but in the second year of the
Ilkhanian era (i.e., the new era founded by Ghazan Khan). This year
would answer to 602 hej.}}
* Ilkhans, ii. 8-10. t Stritter, ii. 1093. Note z. T Ante, i. 223.
§ De la Couperie, in Poole's Catalogue Oriental Coins, vi. l.-lii. |] Poole, op. cit., 34-43.
% Op. cit., 639. ** Journ. Asiat, 3rd ser., xiii. 136. tt Id., 134.

CHAPTER IX.
GHAZAN KHAN .—Continued.
GHAZAN, considering his years and the short time that he reigned,
was certainly one of the most remarkable sovereigns that the
East has produced. He was no doubt fortunate in having as
his special biographer the great historian, Rashid ud din, but he was well
deserving of having his deeds described by such a pen. Pachymeres, the
Byzantine historian, speaks of him with no stinted praise. " With him,"
says he, " departed the flattering hope of seeing tranquillity restored to
the Roman Empire, and when he was taken — (he who alone, not only
had the power, but also the will, as he had begun to prove by his acts, to
prevent the barbarians, his subjects, from devastating our provinces) —
evils greater than had ever befallen fell upon us, and particularly upon
Philadelphia, which the Karamanians proceeded to assail."* In recount
ing his many virtues this historian becomes quite hyperbolical. He tells
us that he made Cyrus and Darius, and especially Alexander, his
patterns, and delighted to read their lives, &c, &c. His reign was
famous as the acme of the literary culture of the Persian Mongols.
He himself, we are told, beside his mother tongue, Mongol, understood a
little Arabic and Persian, and something also of the language of Kashmir,
Tibet, and China, and even, as it seems, of Latin also, which is apparently
what Rashid ud din means by the language of the Franks ; and the best
proof of the attainments of some of his people is to be found in the pages
of Rashid ud din and his epitomiser, Binaketi, in which a certain
familiarity is shown, not only with the history of Byzantium, but also with
that of Germany, France, and Sicily. This knowledge was doubtless
derived from the envoys from the various sovereigns who visited his
Court. These embassies prove to us what a centre for the meeting of all
the nations Tebriz was. We will now describe some of them.
In the year 1298 Ghazan sent the malik Moazzam Fakhr ud din Ahmed
and Bokai Ilchi with magnificent presents — great pearls, precious stones,
and cheetahs, or hunting leopards — as envoys to his suzerain, Timur
Khakan, the ruler of China. The malik took from his own stores rich
jewels to give away, and we are told he was intrusted with ten tumans of
gold pieces to purchase Chinese products for Ghazan. The expenses of
* Stritter, iii. 1087-1092. Marco Polo, ii. 477.

488 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
this embassy, from the Chinese frontier (i.e., the mountains of Kanghai)
as far as the Imperial residence, were entirely defrayed by the Imperial
exchequer. When he was admitted to an audience at Taidu (i.e., the
capital), the malik Fakhr ud din, after presenting his sovereign's presents,
offered his own. The Khakan offered him a cup of wine with his own
hand, and orders were issued to supply the envoys during their stay with
provisions, robes, servants, and forty-five horses. The Khakan's answer
to Ghazan's letter was full of friendly expressions. It seems that when
Khulagu went to the West he had a joint share in certain Imperial
manufactories in China, and we are told that the produce of this share .
had been carefully set aside and was now sent to his great-grandson. It
consisted chiefly of beautiful silk brocades, and was taken by a Chinese
officer who accompanied the embassy. Fakhr ud din, the chief ambassa
dor, died on the way home again.* The " Yuan shi ". refers to an
embassy as having gone from Ghazan to Timur Khakan with tribute, but
dates it in 1304. In this notice he is called the Chu wang (prince)
Hadsan.t We have already mentioned the embassy from the Sultan of
Delhi, which brought Ghazan a present of elephants. Envoys also went
to him from the rulers of Kipchak and of Egypt, from the Greek Emperor,
and the King of the Armenians.}
His conquest of Syria brought him a letter of congratulation from
James II., King of Aragon, which was taken by a citizen of Barcelona,
named Peter Solivero. The letter was dated in May, 1300, from Lerida.
It was addressed to "the very great and powerful King of the
Mongols, Ghazan, King of Kings of all the East." In it the King informs
Ghazan how he had heard with pleasure of his successes against the
enemies of God, and offered him aid in the shape of ships, galleys, men-
at-arms, hbrses, and all kinds of provisions which could be of use to the
Tartar army, and bade the Mongol prince inform him by his messengers
what he wished in this respect. " We have ordered," he said, " that all
our subjects who wish to go to these countries in honour of God, and to
reinforce your army, shall do so without hindrance." The King went on
to ask that Ghazan would make over to him one-fifth of the Holy Land
recently conquered by him, as well as of the lands he should presently con
quer, and also asked that his Aragonese subjects might have the privilege
of visiting the Holy Sepulchre and other places without paying tribute.§
The " Chronicle of St. Denis " expressly says that the Mongols occupied
Jerusalem, which must have been a very welcome fact for the Christians,
inasmuch as Ghazan, according to Haithon, had promised to make over
to them such lands as he conquered in Palestine.|| He also sent envoys to
the sovereigns of Western Europe, and renewed his ancient offers of alliance

* D'Ohsson, iv. 320-321. t Bretschneider, Notices, &c, 104. X Ilkhans, ii. 148.
$ Remusat, Memoires de I'Academie des Inscriptions, &c, vii. 386-387. D'Ohsson, iv. 321-323.
II Haithon, xliii.

GHAZAN KHAN. 489
and also stated his willingness to embrace Christianity.* These envoys
also passed over into England, as we learn from the letters written in reply
by Edward I. — one in answer to Ghazan's letter and the other addressed
to the Patriarch of the Eastern Christians. Ghazan's principal ambassador
was the same Buscarel who had been sent by Arghun, as we have described,
and who on this occasion is called Buscarellus de Guissurfo. In his letter
Edward (probably in answer to the Ilkhan's complaints of delay) justifies
himself for not having engaged in a crusade by the wars which were then
raging in Western Europe. The envoy of the English king, who was
named Geoffrey de Langley, was attended by two esquires, one of whom
was Nicholas de Chartres. They joined Buscarel at Genoa, and travelled
from thence to the Persian Court with him, his nephew Conrad, and
Percival de Gisolfi. The original roll of their itinerary is extant, and has
been abstracted by Mr. T. Hudson Turner. The Mongol Court was
constantly on the move, so that the route of the envoys had to be
frequently changed. When the embassy started the Court was supposed
to be at Cassaria (the ancient Caasarea, in Armenia). The envoys are
found successively at Sebaste, Tebriz, Mardin, Erzerum, Coya (?),
Papertum (i.e., Baiburt in Armenia), and Sarakhana. It is curious to
read of the outfit they provided themselves with at Genoa, which
included furs, cloths, armour, carpets, silver plate, and fur pelisses. The
silver plate they bought cost, we are told, the large sum of ,£193. 12s. 7d.
currency (English) of that time. Their carpets, fifteen in number, which
would have to serve as beds, cost ,£15. 15s. 6d. The armour, including
seven iron plates, eleven basinets, &c, cost ,£44. 5s. On their journey
through Asia Minor, the Saracens (i.e., Muhammedans) acted as their
porters and servants. At Trebizond, Buscarel provided himself with a
parasole (sic). As the weather grew warmer a second one was bought at
Tebriz. These, says Mr. Turner, with two shillings worth of paper,
were their most remarkable purchases. On returning home to England
they brought with them a leopard in a gabea, or cage, which was fed on
sheep throughout the journey, several being put on board for its use at
Constantinople.t Ghazan's will was worded as follows : " Khatuns, princes of the blood,
generals, leaders of thousands, and soldiers of all ranks ; sultans, courtiers,
(inakan), governors (muluks), kadhis, imaums, sheikhs, prefects, receivers
of taxes, and in general the inhabitants of our hereditary dominions from
the river Amuye" as far as the western frontier, know that God, who, by
his grace, has illumined our heart with the light of Islam, and has by his
favour seconded the efforts which we have not ceased to make during our
reign to maintain the precepts of the faith, to exalt the divine word, to
govern the people well, and to cause justice to reign everywhere,
* Remusat, op. cit., 588. t Archaeological Journal, viii. 49-5°-

49° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
having decreed that we should be struck with sickness, and the time
approaching when we must pass from this perishable world to the eternal
home, it has been our wish in our love for our subjects, among whom the
weak are particularly committed to our charge, to remove entirely the
wounds of oppression, to strengthen the bases of justice, and to cause
the revival of the neglected precepts of Islam, but it has not been
permitted us to complete this noble purpose to which we have devoted all
our efforts. We entreat all to take care that after our departure troubles do
not arise ; that our dear brother (whom we nominated four years ago as
our heir and successor, convinced that he was worthy, an appointment
which we have on several occasions confirmed) be promptly installed on
the throne, and that all our subjects do him obeisance. Our successor
will not act contrary to the decrees which we have issued after mature
deliberation. He will exert himself to make Islam prosper, and to protect
the Mussulmans. He will cause whatever is commanded or forbidden by
the religion of Muhammed to be scrupulously observed, and will not
allow any enemy of the Faith to do it injury. He will follow our example
and maintain peace and security among the people, a trust which God has
for a while confided to his feeble servant. He will not exact from them
taxes in excess of those we have fixed, levy fresh taxes, or re-impose those
we have remitted. He will not divert from their objects the funds we
have devoted to alms nor the revenues of our pious foundations. He
will continue to pay the pensions which we have awarded, and which the
officers of the treasury must not appropriate. He will not neglect
benevolence, for our destiny is to do good. He will punish the evil doers,
and when our decease shall be announced in all the provinces he will
cause a funeral namaz to be said, and that the faithful shall aid us with
their prayers."*
The character of Ghazan has been described for us in detail by his
great minister and historian, Rashid ud din, whose narrative has been
translated by D'Ohsson. " He observed," says Rashid ud din, " during
all his reign the precepts of Islam with fervour, whence it is clear he
had adopted the faith from conviction. This explains why the descendant
of a line of Pagan sovereigns, who had conquered the world, and who had
no other motive, should have changed his faith. He caused his army,
composed partly of Mongols, who," says Rashid, " were Unitarians, and
partly of other races of Northern Asia, who were polytheists, idolators,
Buddhists, &c, to do the same. Whenever the kadhis, sheikhs, devotees,
&c, appeared before him he gave them some advice. On one occasion,
when he had summoned the chiefs of the Muhammedan clergy, he
addressed them thus : ' You are robed in the religious dress, and seek no
doubt to appear perfect in the eyes of God rather than in the eyes of men.
* D'Ohsson, iv. 351-353-

GHAZAN KHAN. 49 1
They may be deceived by appearances, but God sees the core of the heart.
He hates what is false, and will punish it in this world and the next. He
unveils the hypocrites, tears off their cloak and reputation, giving them up
to the contempt and amusement of the world. Your costume shows that
while you are otherwise like other men, you have, in virtue of your
dress, a reputation for virtue not shared by them. You have also
established this reputation by your speech and your austerity. Search
yourselves well to see if you strictly carry out the duties this dress imposes
upon you. If you do so carry them out, you will be, in the eyes of God
and men, superior beings. If otherwise, you will deservedly incur shame.
Be sure that God has elevated me to be a ruler, and has confided his
people to me in order that I may rule them with equity. He has imposed
on me the duty of doing justice, of punishing the guilty according to their
crimes. He would have me be most severe with those who hold the
highest rank. A ruler ought especially to punish the faults of those most
highly placed, in order to strike the multitude by example. I ought,
therefore, most closely to watch your faults. Do not think I will pay
attention to your dress. Let all your actions conform to the law and to
the precepts of the Prophet. Mind that everyone does his duty and leads
others in the path of safety. You ought not to expect support from each
other by a mere appeal to esprit de corps, nor should you exact from other
men what God does not command, for it is not seemly that you should
torment your neighbour in order to gain repute for yourself, nor yet that
you should be more zealous than God himself and his Prophet in the
causes of humanity. Warn me if I do anything contrary to the law and
to religion, and be sure that when your heart is the true reflex of your
profession, your words will persuade me, for they will be dictated by
sincerity, true zeal, and courage, and will have corresponding weight ;
if otherwise, they will only arouse my anger. I might add much to
what I have said, but I limit myself to these general rules. If you approve
of my words, they will be profitable to us both ; but if they wound you,
hatred will fill your hearts, and I shall conceive an aversion for you, much
to the harm of religion as well as of the things of this world.' "*
Rashid describes his hero as very courageous and firm, and as having
been trained well in his youth from his having command of Khorasan,
which was incessantly exposed to attack from the Mongols of Trans
oxiana, and against whom there was a campaign or two every year. He
often exercised his troops, and used to address them in stirring words.
" Death," he said, " attends us at home and while travelling, in the hunt
as in the battle. Why then fear the enemy ? Fear will only deprive
us of resources. It may be useful to lose some blood, lest it should
fester and produce fever. Blood, again, is the paint of man. No one
* D'Ohsson, iv. 354-357-

492 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
may remain in this world. He who dies in his bed grieves by his
sickness his wife and children, and inspires his friends only with pity ;
but the warrior who dies fighting is honoured, while the prince looks after
his family." He often, like Jingis Khan, his great ancestor, gave special
instructions to his officers. "When you make an incursion," he said,
"take care the enemy is not informed beforehand. Advance with all
speed, night and day, so that you may arrive unexpectedly, and withdraw
again before the enemy has time to assemble his troops. If you make
incursions annually, make them at different seasons, so that your
opponents may not be expecting you and be on their guard. It is well
also to use different routes, and above all things to secure good guides.
If, instead of a mere incursion, you advance with a great army, the wider
you spread the news of your approach and the better, for it is not possible
in such a case to keep the enemy ignorant, while such news often dis
courages him and gives rise to disunion. It is important that the source
of supplies should not be cut off, and consequently you ought to know
before advancing where game, water, and forage are to be found, and to
halt in such places, so as to save your provisions for more desolate spots.
Always learn the situation of the enemy well by means of spies, for to act
without knowledge is to strike with your fist against a shadow. But the
chief importance of such knowledge is that you are always free to accept
or refuse a combat, as you deem best. Exact rigid discipline ; do not
allow an individual to leave his standard to take the smallest thing. You
can do nothing with an army habituated to licence, for at the moment of
battle it amuses itself with plundering, and nothing will prevent it. This
is the cause of the greater part of defeats. When the enemy is destroyed,
then appropriate his wealth. Do no hurt to your own country, for the
prayers of the people will bring you good fortune. Do not despise the
enemy ; do not exaggerate your strength, and above all things avoid
boasting."* He knew the history, character, and habits of other sovereigns, both
ancient and modern, but especially of his contemporaries. He spoke to
individuals of other nations in a way which surprised them, but what he
was chiefly attached to, like his countrymen, was the history of the
Mongols. He knew by heart better than any Mongol, except Pulad Aka,
the names of hio ancestors of both sexes, the names of Mongol leaders,
ancient and recent, and their genealogies. "It was from this ruler,"
adds Rashid, " that I learnt in great part what I have related in this work,
but he knew of many Mongol amirs and historical facts unnamed here.
There was no art or handicraft, such as those of the smith, carpenter,
painter, founder, turner, and others, at which he did not work with his
own hands better than the artisans themselves, and he often directed
* D'Ohsson, iv. 357-359.

GHAZAN KHAN. 493
them himself." This somewhat hyperbolic sentence of the great vizier is
to some extent confirmed by Pachymeres, who says : " I have omitted to
add in praise of this great man the attention he paid to the least details
of various handicrafts, at which, all-powerful monarch as he was, he liked
to work with his own hands. His philosophical spirit judged it praise
worthy to know how to do everything, and to excel in every calling, so no
one could manufacture more elegantly than himself saddles, stirrups,
bridles, boots, sabres, and helmets ; he could hammer, stitch, and polish,
and he was accustomed to devote his leisure when he was not occupied
with his military duties to these mechanical works."*
To return to Rashid ud din. He says : " He acquired in a short time a
knowledge of chemistry, of all arts the most difficult, and brought about
him those who were proficient in it, but instead of wasting huge sums
like his predecessors in the search for the philosopher's stone, &c, he
rather devoted himself to the more practical part of making enamel,
dissolving talc, melting crystal, making condensations and sublimations,
and producing substances like gold and silver, and said his object was not
to learn how to make these latter metals, which was a most difficult art,
but to learn how to make, and to make himself, various chemical
experiments. He was also acquainted with medicine, knew plants and
their properties, and instead of studying them like the doctors did in the
shops of the herbalists, he found them for himself in the fields. He found
many in Persia which were thought peculiar to Turkestan, India, and
China, and which merchants brought from those countries and sold at
great prices. He summoned to his Court several famous botanists, Turks
and Tajiks. He took them with him on his walks and hunting excursions,
and it was with their aid he acquired his knowledge of plants. He added
to the Pharmacopoeia twenty-four simple drugs, each one of which was
a capital remedy. He was also well versed in the natural history of
animals. He knew enough of mineralogy to distinguish minerals, and
knew the operations of mining and of extracting metal from the ore, and
himself worked at these occupations. He knew the charms and magical
formulae proper for all ills. He often foretold the future, announcing that
an envoy would arrive from such a place with such an appearance, or that
he would receive good news ; and although most of the princes styled
Sahib Kuran (i.e., favoured by heaven) have this faculty, one never saw one
endowed to the same degree. Greedy of knowledge, he had learnt the art
of taking auguries by means of geomancy (ramel), by the shoulder blades
of sheep, by the teeth of horses, and other methods employed by different
nations to foretell the future. He knew the planets and constellations, the
times of their rising and setting, as well as their various astrological
properties. As he often visited the observatory at Meragha, and had the
* Stritter, ii. 1091".

494 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
instruments there explained to him, he had learnt a good deal of
astronomy, and gave orders for the foundation of another observatory near
Tebriz, and designed a cupola for observing the sun's disc, which he
described to the astronomers. They told him they had never seen such
an instrument, and that it was very ingenious. In building the observatory
of Shenb, near Tebriz, which was built in the form of a cupola, this idea
was carried out."*
" Before the reign of Ghazan," says Rashid, " it was the amirs and
viziers who ruled. The sovereign passed most of his time in hunting and
other amusements. We can understand what measures were in conse
quence passed by A divided ministry. It was they who negotiated with
foreign envoys. With Ghazan things were very different. He ruled
himself, and established order in the administration, which for years had
been in confusion. . He listened to the advice of no one, but gave his own
orders. Young and old, superior and inferior officers, all obeyed him
cheerfully. Recognising his superiority and wisdom, they felt humbled
before his genius. When a foreign envoy arrived, he received him himself,
instead of remitting him to one of his ministers. This was an advantage,
for only men of merit, experience, and knowledge were then selected
as ambassadors. All the envoys and learned men who went to his
Court were astonished at his eloquence and the grace of his conversa
tion. He quoted incidents from their own history ; spoke to them of the
character of their masters and the customs of each nation. He greatly
delighted in the society of learned men and philosophers, and was a good
judge of them ; nor did he see them again if their behaviour belied their
conversation. In the great assemblies he astonished people of all classes
by the questions he put to the different philosophers and learned men.
At parties of pleasure, when he had drunk a little too much, instead of
saying and doing foolish things like other young people, he dived into
subtle and profound questions. He knew the dogmas of other religions,
and discussed them with their professors, but of ten questions which he put
they could not answer more than one. He completely nonplussed them.
He had great discernment of character, and used to note those who made
perfidious and malignant insinuations, and watch until they had declared
themselves more openly, when he had them punished. When he dis
covered good men, he gave them his confidence, and was then deaf to the
calumnies of hate and envy. He augmented their power and supported
them, so that they might carry out their plans. On the other hand,
he was very severe with wrong doers." Rashid adds that those engaged
in affairs declared on oath that he had never put anyone to death who
did not deserve it, and whose existence was not hurtful to society. He
recommended his ministers and yargujis to beware of listening to the
* D'Ohsson, iv. 359-563.

GHAZAN KHAN. 495
accusations brought against any governor or public officer. " For it is
possible," he said, " that those complaining have been made to pay taxes
which were not exacted previously, that they have lost some post, or
have some other private grudge. In such cases it is better to consult
public opinion, which is the best judge. Do the people like him or no?
There are few functionaries who know how to conciliate the affections
of the people, and who are inclined to justice. If an official has many
good qualities and only a few faults — if, above all, he be not avaricious —
if he be firm and loyal, it is not necessary to displace him." When
hunting, if he needed provisions he ordered that twice their value should
be paid for what were obtained. If he heard that the troops had com
mitted disorders in some district, he summoned the subordinate officers
and had them bastinadoed, and severely reprimanded the generals.
" You wish," he one day said to his officers, " that I should let you pillage
the Tajiks, but what will you do after you have destroyed the cattle and
seed of the labourer ? If in such a case you should come to me asking for
food, I would punish you. Remember, when you would strike or maltreat
their women and children, how dear our own are to us, and that they are
men like ourselves." He was generous in rewarding his servants, and in
distributing to the poor. Finally, his morals were pure. No one accused
him of adultery, and if by chance he looked at a woman lecherously, he
did not go beyond looking at her. In time of war, when he was far from
his harem, his amirs used to offer him the most beautiful damsels they
had secured, but he would never accept them. " He never committed,"
says Rashid ud din, " any of the sins which in our law are styled fornica
tion, adultery, unnatural crimes, &c, and was as severe in this matter
towards others as he was himself strict. He issued stringent regulations
about these offences, and punished those who were guilty of them with
death."* We will now turn to the various reforms, &c, which were introduced by
Ghazan, and which are described for us by the great Vizier, who took
such an active part in their introduction. Before the reforms introduced
by him, the hakims (intendants or governors) were charged with the
levying and collection of the taxes. The amount each had to account
for was fixed for him, as were the charges upon this sum. But these
hakims were most extortionate. They made as many as ten and in some
cases twenty levies (coichur) during the year. They began by putting
aside the amount which was needed to make up what they had to account
for. Then every time a commissary (ilchi) arrived to demand money, or
for some other reason, they levied a fresh coichur ; and the more of these
officials (whose exigencies were very great) arrived the better pleased was
the hakim, for while he levied a contribution for their lodgings and enter-
* Id., 363-368.

496 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
tainment, for their food, or for the presents they demanded, he took care
that a large portion of the levy was retained for himself, while he gave
the rest to the shahneh or commandant, and to the bitikchis or treasury
clerks, to secure that these malpractices should not be entered in the
official accounts. The revenues of the provinces were largely absorbed
by the current expenses, and by a quantity of assignations. In Khorasan
four-fifths of these assignations were unpaid. Those to whom they had
been made, together with the commissaries, returned to the Divan with
their bdrats or treasury orders in their hands. They were told that the
province still owed a part of its contribution, which must be paid. A
severe ordinance (al-tamghd) was issued, ordering it to be paid at once.
They accordingly returned to the province, and the hakim, on their report,
immediately made a fresh levy, telling those who had to pay : " You see
that many commissaries (ilchis) are waiting here. We must supply their
needs and expenses until we have time to arrange the matters they have
come about." And no one dare tell him that he ought to pay these out
of the levies he had already received during the year, which greatly
exceeded the proper quota. Two-thirds of the new contribution were
appropriated by the hakim and his creatures, and those whose assignations
were unpaid, and for whom the levy had been made, had to be content
with a third portion, which barely went to cover the expenses of their
continual journeyings to and fro. The officials of the Divan did not
make inquiries as to the receipts of each province, but granted assignations
of revenue indiscriminately, which were not paid, but which temporarily
satisfied the importunate. The Vizier and the hakims of the provinces
had a secret understanding, and if some secret marks were not attached
to the bdrats or orders of the treasury, money was not forthcoming when
they were presented. The public treasury did not, in fact, receive a
farthing from the provinces, while they were only charged with one-
fifth of the usual payments. Neither pensions nor salaries, nor the
expenses of the local administration, were paid by them, although these
last were made the first charge on their revenues by the special instructions
of the hakims. In the spring they put off those who asked to be paid
with the excuse that the treasury must first be satisfied, and promised to
pay them at harvest time, and then they were told they must stand aside
until the crowd of ilchis and other similar claimants had been paid. Those
whose salaries were due waited, hungry and naked, from year's end to
year's end for them. The more adroit among them managed to get half
of what was due to them from the hakim's officers, by giving receipts for
the full amount, and then they had to accept in payment articles at double
their real value. Those who in this way secured a fourth of what was
due to them deemed themselves fortunate, since so many got nothing at
all. If one of these unfortunates went to the Ordu, after a harassing
journey, and laid his case before the Divan, and if in consequence inquiry

GHAZAN KHAN. 497
was made from the governor how such a claim was not discharged out of
the first receipts, as it ought to be, the latter laid the blame on his not
having been able to get in the whole of the levy, and then gave an order
of payment upon the arrears, which in fact were merely arrears of illegal
exactions, for he had already received many times his real due.
The unfortunate people who would not meet the repeated demands for
dues abandoned their villages and families. If in consequence the last
levy or one-half of it was remitted, the bitikchis, or secretaries, nevertheless
entered in their books that the money was still owing. The heads of the
treasury knew well what took place, but they were bribed by the hakims
with a large proportion of the ill-gotten money to say nothing. " All the
viziers who have held authority to this time," says Rashid, " have shared
in this guilt ; but it was chiefly Sadr ud din Chaoyi who carried this
iniquitous system to its further limits. During his sway assignations of
revenue, pensions, &c, were mere mockeries." Often, we are told, a
dervish, a sheikh, or some other deserving poor person would be given an
assignation of 500 dinars by him. Overjoyed with his fortune, he would
devote 100 dinars to securing a good mount and the expenses of his
journey, and hasten to secure the charge which had been assigned him
upon the revenues of some province. In his eagerness he would forget
his office of sheikh and adopt the rdle of a courier or a tax gatherer. But
his energy was of no avail, and he ended by taking flight to escape his
creditors. The overtaxed people were obliged to emigrate ; towns and
villages were deserted. Commissaries were sent after the fugitives, but
neither menaces nor ill-usage, nor yet further exactions, would prevail
upon the runaways to return. Those who remained in the towns blocked
their doors with stones and entered their houses by the roof. When the
tax collectors visited a certain quarter they employed as guide some
vagabond who knew the district, and enabled them to ferret out the
unfortunates who had sought refuge in the sewers, where they were
hidden ; and if they could not find them they took their wives and drove
them from quarter to quarter like flocks of sheep. They were hung up
by the feet with cords and beaten, and the air resounded with their
lamentations. " We have more than once seen a person," says Rashid,
" who, on seeing a tax gatherer on his roof, would run and jump into the
street, breaking his legs." In the province of Yezd things were so bad
that you could go through villages without meeting anyone. The few
people who remained employed vedettes, and on a signal from these that
some one was coming they hid themselves underground. It is said that
in the year 691 (i.e., 1292) a proprietor from the province of Yezd went to
Firuz Abad, one of the large villages of that province, to see if he could
obtain any rent for the lands he owned there. Notwithstanding all his
efforts, he could not for two or three days meet with any of the husband
men, but he saw a tax collector seated in the midst of the village,
1*

498 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
with a bdrat or order in his hand, and before him were three peasants.
They were hung up by their feet, and were being bastinadoed to compel
them to supply some food, for these exacting officials insisted upon being
furnished with food, forage, wine, and boys and girls. In some districts
they were so numerous that they were said to outnumber their victims
two to one. While the hakims and their subordinates plundered the
provinces in this fashion, nothing found its way to the treasury, which
was empty, and when means were urgently needed for the army, the
defence of the frontiers, or the necessities of the State, there was no other
resource than another set of violent exactions.*
Ghazan felt how difficult it was to alter practices which had taken root
so firmly, and which had outlived the various edicts of his predecessors.
"How are we," he said, "to bring into the path of honesty these
governors and tax collectors, who have become habituated to exact more
than is due, and to pay nothing into the treasury ; who are habitually
tried and habitually secure exemption from punishment by a distribution
of money ; and when one of their colleagues is put to death, attribute it
rather to his evil star, or to some one's malice, for if it were not so many
others would suffer the same fate ? We must devise some plan by which
the provincial governors shall be prevented from handling the public
moneys, and the best way will be to take away their power of levying a
single farthing." He accordingly ordered a bitikchi to be sent to each
province, who was charged to draw up a report on all its communes, to
re-adjust the taxes according to the last census, taking care that the
imposts should be moderate. He was to draw up an account of the ingu,
or private domain, and of the vakfs or charitable funds, as well as to
make out a list of the persons who had enjoyed for thirty years uncontested
these funds.
The bitikchis went to the several provinces, to make a survey of the
communes and to fix the taxes. As it was impossible in such a great
work to have perfect exactitude, when their reports had been sent in to
Ghazan permission was given in cases where considerable errors were
alleged to appeal to the Divan. From the various registers they prepared
a general summary (kanun), which was deposited in the Divan, and from
which at the beginning of the year the amount of the taxation of each
commune was drawn up, which was sealed with the seal of the high
officials of the Divan and the golden tamgha. The taxes were to be paid
in two ways, first to those who had assignations upon them, certified with
golden tamghas, and the balance to the treasury. Everything was to be
discharged in cash, and not in kind. Each person learnt from the official
tax-paper issued by the Divan how much he had to pay, and knew
accordingly to a farthing how much could be exacted from him. The
* D'Ohsson, iv. 370-379.

GHAZAN KHAN. 499
maliks or prefects, bashkaks or commandants, and bitikchis or secretaries
were forbidden, on pain of death, to grant any assignations, and the
person who should draw up such a document of assignation was to have
his hand cut off. Hitherto, whenever the ruler granted a village or an
estate, either as a reward, a fief, or otherwise, or whenever he made the
same over to a charitable purpose ; each time, again, that a district
obtained exemption from paying taxes from a khatun, a prince of the
blood, or a Mongol grandee ; or when, again, some village became
deserted, it had been customary for the receiver of taxes to deduct from
his account a much larger sum than the quota paid by the place, and as
the treasury officials had no means of checking his statement they were
obliged to accept what he and his friends said. After the reforms, the
amount to be received from each province was as well known as the
amount of money issued by the mint. Henceforth there was no demand
made by the central authority upon any province for corn, straw, wine,
animals, &c, upon the treasury, in the shape of taxes, and all that went to
furnish the army, or was given by the State to private individuals, was
paid in specie by the treasury. Nevertheless, the magazines were
continually full, and by a comparison of former registers it was seen that
in no former reign had as many presents of gold and robes been made in
any five years as were made by Ghazan in one year ; and while formerly
the ungathered harvest was always hypothecated, "now," says Rashid,
" there is always a year's supply of grain in the magazines in advance."
Looking into the future, Ghazan wished to secure that his reforms
should outlive his own days, and survive the disturbances that might
follow on his death. To secure matters against a collapse or laxity at
head quarters, a special edict was issued, which was to be enrolled in
each commune, forbidding anyone to be taxed beyond the amount fixed
by the Divan, and forbidding also the local authorities levying the smallest
sum at their own instance. The authorities were ordered to give the
widest publicity to the new regulations. The various local returns were
deposited in the State paper office which Ghazan built near Tebriz. They
were given in charge to several archivists or official guardians, and a sum
was set apart for their care. An edict cursing anyone who destroyed
these returns was issued, while counterparts of the more important of
them were preserved in the offices of the Grand Divan. Ghazan ordered
further that the list of expenses of the local treasury of each commune, as
contained in the kanun or general official summary, and in the orders
signed with the golden tamgha, was to be handed by the governor of the
province, in the presence of the kadhis, seyids, imaums, and notables of
the town, to the various communal authorities, who were within twenty
days to have it inscribed on wood, stone, copper, iron, or plaster, as they
preferred, and to see that it did not get obliterated. These inscriptions
were to be put up at the entrance of the villages, before the mosques, &c.

500 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
This publicity, this letting in of the bright sunlight of public criticism
upon financial corruptions, was assuredly a most enlightened and brilliant
idea to have been formulated in Persia in the fourteenth century. Those
places which had hitherto paid their taxes in coin were to continue to do
so, and those which had paid them in kind were to continue as they had
been accustomed. On the inscribed tables were also to be entered the
customs-charges, and alongside of each list of charges was to be written a
copy of the order empowering it, so that each one should know what was
taxed, and when and how it was to be paid. The payments in kind were
to be paid in either by the mayor or by those who contributed them, in a tent
set out in the public square, and the receiver was to forward the amount
received five times a day to the treasurer of the province. The receivers
of taxes were forbidden to accept presents under any pretence. Those
who had not paid what was due at the end of the specified time were to
be fined a certain sum, and those who did not pay at all were to receive
seventy strokes of the bastinado. The country people were to pay the
koijur and other taxes during two seasons of twenty days each, the first
after the nevruz jelali (i.e., the vernal equinox), and the other after the
autumnal equinox. The nomades were to pay theirs all at once, at the
new year. The kharaj, or capitation tax, was generally to be paid once
a-year, within twenty days after the spring equinox. At some places, as
at Baghdad, it was to be paid at harvest time. Twenty days were also
allowed there. The taxes paid in grain were to be taken to the magazines
which were placed in the various cantons ; forty days were allowed during
which to pay them. The customs-dues and the tolls were classed under
the title tamga; the cattle tax was called koijur. All four taxes, according
to Von Hammer, still survive under different names among the Osmanli
Turks. In every canton given as an appanage to the khatuns, princes
of the blood, or Mongol grandees, or given as a military fief, or made over
to some private individual as a reward or otherwise, or classed as a vakf
(i.e., as a pious trust), a table inscribed with the dues which according
to the kanun it had to pay was to be drawn up, so that in such cases also
there should be no illegal exactions. The edict by which Ghazan regulated
these various fiscal matters is given by Rashid ud din in extenso, and
dated the 22nd of February, 1304, at his palace of Uljaitu-imuk, near the
Hulan muran or Red River.*
Rashid tells us that during the reign of Abaka Khan, when he says
peace, order, and security prevailed, who was a just prince, and who
was essentially a sahib kuran, some merchants (ortaks) went to his Court
with arms, armour, and good horses, which they had bought with their
own moneys and sold again to the kurujis and atajis (knights and squires)
at a price which brought them considerable profit. This induced others

* D'Ohsson, op. cit., 370-387. Ilkhans, ii. 172.

GHAZAN KHAN. 50 1
to follow their example, and those who had not money borrowed it,
intending to repay it out of the profit which they made, securing the
capital for themselves. They went to the Divan with the receipts of the
kurujis and aktajis, and duly obtained upon them assignations upon the
revenue. This brought large gains to many who hitherto had nothing,
and they were suddenly to be seen mounted on Arab horses or beautiful
mules, dressed like princes, and surrounded with handsome slaves and a
great number of muleteers (serhenks), &c, who led the mules and laden
camels. When it was discovered how this surprising change of fortune
had come about others were eager to imitate them. Thousands of
Mussulmans and Jews who followed the occupation of vagabonds, or
carried sacks of vegetables suspended from their necks, or wretched
weavers and others who never possessed a dank of gold and had scarcely
bread to live upon, began to borrow money, but instead of buying horses
and arms they spent what they borrowed on rich clothes, &c. ; and although
the officers of the Divan knew what was taking place, they gave them
assignations on the revenue on receiving hush money. Those who had
already made money began to lend it, and so the custom of lending, not
only money, but also furniture, clothes, &c, at interest began to prevail,
and was accompanied by a free forging of assignations. They even
bribed the bitikchis to grant them real assignations on agreeing to pay
them in return so much per cent, on the amount so granted, with which
they boldly faced the officers of the Divan, and we are told that in this
way receipts were current for larger sums of gold and silver than existed
anywhere, even counting what was in the bowels of the earth. In effect
to translate the naive language of Rashid into that of the nineteenth
century, a vast system of most dishonest credit had suddenly sprung up.
The treasury officials were no doubt embarrassed when receipts were
presented to them for many times the number of articles which had really
been supplied. Abaka might well ask where these things had been
delivered, in what arsenal these arms were preserved, and in what fields
all these horses were being pastured. The officers who should have
checked such public robbery had their mouths closed, while each of the
ill-doers obtained the protection of an amir or a khatun by the gift of
some petty present — a sheep or a skin of wine. On the other hand the
governors of provinces, eager to pay the assignations presented to them,
passed off upon their holders things worth one-third of the sum asked,
which were gladly taken in payment, for if they had not taken in payment
these precious stones and pottery they would probably have obtained
nothing. Having obtained these things, they sold them again at a low
price, or raised money upon them, thus reducing the value of fine stones.
But this state of things had its natural Nemesis. Presently, the profits
on such transactions became nothing at all, and the merchants found
themselves without either food or clothes. The money-lenders were

502 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
chiefly Mongols and Uighurs, and their debtors who were unable to pay
their debts ended by becoming, with their wives and children, the slaves
of the usurers. The worst result of all (says Rashid) was that men of
birth and consideration, who were the proper people to be superintendents
of finances (muluks) and farmers of the taxes (motassarifan), avoided such
employments, while those who had spent their lives in poverty, and hoped
to become rich in a few days, undertook to farm the finances under
onerous conditions, and in order to supply themselves with slaves, horses,
clothes, and also to meet their expenses at the ordu, they were obliged to
misappropriate money. Increased risks naturally led to enhanced interest;
300 and 400 per cent, was offered for money by these new taxing-officers,
and it was natural that all the revenues of the provinces upon which they
had a lien did not suffice to meet their debts. They were obliged,
therefore, to have recourse to extortion of various kinds. The officials of
the Divan were kept quiet by a liberal flow of presents, and the treasury
hardly ever received a fourth of what ought to have gone there. The
army was in need of necessaries. Honourable people among the higher
classes shunned these public employments, and referring to this Rashid
says, " Wise men have declared that a State falls into decrepitude when
those most worthy of fulfilling public duties avoid them." Surely we
could point this moral in the nineteenth century, by some conspicuous
examples in more western and self-sufficient latitudes.
Under Sadr ud din Chaoyi, the employe's of the treasury were the
vilest of men, says Rashid (who, it must be remembered, however, was a
Muhammedan vizier criticising afewish predecessor), and as they knew
his habit of selling a cow for its ear, when they had borrowed a large
sum of money they made him a present of it. They took what was
worth 10 dinars and gave 20 for it, and then presented it to him again at
the value of 30. Sadr accepted the present, and then said to the tax-
farmer, "The treasury needs money." He replied he had had the
greatest difficulty to raise enough to pay the present which he had made
to him. " Very well," he replied, " in order that you may not be a loser,
you must set off the value of what you have given me at the price which
it cost you." They accordingly, in paying the amount they owed to the
treasury, the price in fact they had paid for their office, set off the value
of the presents they made the Vizier at the valuation they themselves put
upon them, and thus things which were really worth but 10 dinars were
palmed off upon the treasury at 40. On the other hand, when Sadr ud
din was pressed for money, his own subordinates cheated the public
purse in another way by declaring that such objects, although valued at
10 dinars, would not really fetch more than 6, and thus pocketed 4, so
that of 40 dinars which were professed to be paid into the treasury, it
really received 4. Rashid quotes an actual example of what happened.
He had ordered some thousands of sheep to be bought at 5 dinars each,

GHAZAN KHAN. 503
payable in two months. When the money became due, there was none
forthcoming. Many of the sheep had meanwhile become very thin, while
others were dead. He had them all sold at a low price to pay the
interest which had accrued due during the two months, and the obligation
was renewed for another two months.
Things grew so bad that during Gaikhatu's reign neither assignations on
the revenue, salaries, nor expenses, &c, were paid, which was the chief
cause of the discontent in the army. Sadr ud din never had any money,
and the worst feature of the case was that the worthless people who had
got the taxes into their own hands, as farmers, &c, were protected and
patronised by the princes of the blood, khatuns, amirs, viziers, bitikchis,
&c. Some of them owed money to these people, others were partners in
their gains, others again had received presents to keep them quiet, and
it naturally required great firmness and prudence to combat such a
deeply-rooted dishonesty.
Ghazan, by an edict dated in May, 1299, prohibited the charging of
interest. Those who had been in the habit of practising usury, and their
patrons, complained loudly, saying that all commercial transactions
would be stopped. Ghazan replied that his only object was to put a stop
to illicit transactions ; others said that the treasury was constantly in
need of money, and that if the farmers of the revenue were not to be
allowed to borrow they could not supply it with funds. Ghazan and his
viziers replied that they did not expect the farmers to pay in advance,
and an ordinance forbade the farmers of the tax making up either
capital or interest due by borrowing. He more than once advised
the khatuns, princes of the blood, and amirs not to lend these people
any money, and had the following notice proclaimed by criers, " As
we do not allow one who has lent money to a tax-farmer to recover
it, neither during the life nor after the death of the debtor, so we do
not demand payment in advance from the tax-farmers, and if they
squander the revenue, their goods, movable and immovable, will be
answerable for it." As these patrons of the old state of things raised
various other excuses, Ghazan asked them if God and his Prophet
knew more of worldly affairs than we ourselves do. On their saying
"Yes," he said, "Then God and his apostle have so ordered it, and
we will listen to nothing against their commandment." From that
time the taking of interest was forbidden. Some tried to evade
this by charging an excessive rent for furniture, pretending that this
was only a bargain. Ghazan in a rage declared that if these artifices
were not given up he should forbid the repayment of capital as well as
interest. He asked why those who had money did not buy articles with
it, or employ it in cultivating the soil, or in legitimate commerce.
" Now," says Rashid, " Good faith and justice have returned. The
greater part of men's wealth is honestly acquired, abundance reigns, and

5°4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
industrious people engage in agriculture, commerce, and other useful
occupations."* We will now turn to another abuse which had grown up, and to
whose remedy Ghazan applied himself. This was the great number of
messengers and couriers who were constantly going about, and who
were a great source of harass to the people. They traversed the country
with large suites, and lived at the expense of the much-enduring
inhabitants. It had become customary (says Rashid) for the khatuns, the
princes of the blood, the commanders of tumans (or 10,000 men),
commanders of 1,000 and of 100 men, the shahnahs, or governors of
districts, officers of the Court, and even equerries and hunters to send
couriers on the smallest pretext. If a dispute arose between two
individuals, the party won it who could secure the services of some
powerful man's courier to go to headquarters on his behalf, and it came
to be a custom for people in such cases to give their sons up to slavery to
the khatuns, princes of the blood, or amirs for the smallest gift in order
to get their patronage. The person who lost the case, if he had to save
himself from ruin, had to secure the services of a courier, who speedily
returned from headquarters with the means of revenge. This move had
to be met by the sending of another courier. Thus a number of agents
were kept going to and fro on these trivial errands, for the protectors of
each side made it a point of honour to secure the triumph of their clients.
People who wished a favour from the mayor of a village, dispatched
couriers, others were sent merely to receive presents. The idajis, or
officers of the table, sent so many couriers for provisions, that the halls
where the divans in the large towns met could not always hold them, and
things became so bad that more couriers were met on the great roads
than other travellers, and a thousand horses at each posting station did
not suffice for their needs. They even began to employ the horses of the
Mongol soldiery encamped in the district. If they met caravans coming
from abroad, or public officers or private people travelling on their own
business to the capital, they took their horses, and left them unmounted
with their baggage, sometimes in dangerous places. Not content with
being fed, they even forced quarrels on their hosts in order to extort
money, while their muleteers appropriated what they could lay hands
upon — dresses, turbans, &c. They took more horses than they had need
of. In the villages and the cantonments of troops they extorted more
provisions than the law permitted, and more than they could consume,
making merchandise of the rest. It is indeed wonderful, as our author
says, that the miserable inhabitants could support existence under the
constant attacks of these myriads of gadflies.
The couriers generally styled themselves brothers or sons of this or that
* D'Ohsson, iv. 387-397.

GHAZAN KHAN. 505
great amir, and declared that they were sent on most urgent business, but
no one believed them. Their calling had become contemptible, and when
an officer of mark, really commissioned with some important duty,happened
to come, the chances were that the people on the route who should
furnish the horses had withdrawn for safety to the mountains, or else he
was supplied only with poor horses, so that his journey took two or three
times the proper time to accomplish. Of 500 horses at each post station
not more than two were really efficient. The money set aside for meeting
the expenses of posting and the couriers was largely appropriated by the
prefects to their own use, and although all the customs receipts, which
were the most satisfactory part of the revenue, were appropriated to the
expenses of posting stations, they did not suffice. The customs officers,
afraid of the unruly couriers, often fled, leaving them to fight for the
money. Thus it became the custom for them to have a party of their
friends, relatives, or clients with them. It seems hardly credible to read
that the less important couriers had a suite of two or three hundred men,
while those of greater distinction had as many as 500 or 1,000. Often
when several of these couriers met in a town, the prefect asked them in a
loud voice, " Whose business is the most pressing ? I will begin with
him." And they would then fight with one another for precedence, and
he who won was first served. Meanwhile the highwaymen profited largely,
as it became the custom for one courier to stop and take the horses of
another, whom he declared to be of lower rank, so the highwaymen,
pretending to be couriers, did the same, and not only took horses, but
stripped those whom they met of everything, including yarlighs or
diplomas, and paizahs or tablets, which were equivalent to passports.
Armed with these official documents, they proceeded to plunder the
caravans, being mistaken for official persons.
Ghazan felt he could not stop these abuses all at once. He began by
founding a special post service for his own private couriers. Stations for
these were placed at intervals of three parasangs apart. Those on the
most frequented routes were to have fifteen horses, and on the other roads
fewer. These horses were only to be forthcoming when the person
asking for them could produce an order with his own golden tamgha
attached. He appointed officers to supervise specially these relays, who
were themselves closely watched, and he devoted large sums to making
the service efficient. In order that the frontier commanders might send
immediate news of .importance, Ghazan confided to them a number of
these special orders for two, three, or four horses, and forbade the
use of more than four horses to a courier, even when he was the son
of a noyan. In pressing cases the same courier was not to take the
message all the way himself, but the dispatch was to be sent from one
station to another, and in this way sixty parasangs could be covered
within the twenty-four hours, and a message sent from Khorasan

506 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to Tebriz in three or four days, which it would take a courier six to
compass. Some time after this he ordered that his officers and the
public functionaries should travel with their own horses, and at their
own cost. Then the public posts (Yamha-i-Tuman) were suppressed.
Lastly, he forbade anyone except the sovereign sending couriers, and
ordered the governors of provinces to arrest and imprison all whom they
met with. This put an end to the custom of private people sending
couriers. Another order assigned definite pay to the Government
couriers, and forbade them exacting anything en route. In this way, in
the course of two years the people were delivered from the scourge of
having to find horses and provisions for a host of men. " At present,"
says Rashid, "they are not more than a thirtieth of what they were, and
as they cannot make exactions on the people as they travel, they cannot
be distinguished from ordinary travellers."* Wassaf says that the
mounted couriers were expected to travel continuously for twenty-four
hours and to cover sixty parasangs at a stretch ; unmounted ones forty.
They were to carry passports, describing themselves and stating the time
of their starting, which was to be checked by the recorders of the post
stations.} There were always in each town (says Rashid) one or two hundred
messengers (ilchis), who were billeted on the citizens. There were also
many others, friends of the prefect, &c, who were similarly privileged.
" Valets de place," in numbers, gained their livelihood in finding lodgings
for these people, taking them from house to house and receiving black
mail to persuade them to go on a little further, and eventually dropping
their .charge where most convenient to themselves. They appropriated
beds and other furniture for these messengers in various houses, which
seldom returned to their owners, the excuse being that the travellers had
taken them with them ; or if they were returned at all it was generally in
very bad condition. Every commandant (bashkak) going to his post
generally took with him more than a hundred families, who were billeted as
above described. Rashid says that to his own knowledge, when Toghai,
son of Yasudar, was deprived of the government of Yezd his suite occupied
700 houses. It was of course natural that both ilchis and bashkaks should
choose the best houses for their lodgings. Building ceased, or if it went
on a person would call his house a college or a hospice. Nor did this
even avail ; the doors were blockaded and narrow underground entrances
made to the houses. The ingenious travellers thereupon did not scruple
to break holes in the walls, while they forced the inclosing boundaries of
the gardens and pastured their horses there, and a garden which had
taken ten years to beautify was desolated in a single day. If one of the
horses so pastured fell into a hole or a ditch, or escaped, the host was
* D'Ohsson, iv. 397-404. t Ilkhans, ii. 168-169.

GHAZAN KHAN. 507
made to pay its value. In winter the trees and even the doors of the
houses were burnt for fire. We have heard it said (again reports Rashid)
that one of the Imaums of Yezd having, in 1296, received at his house
Sultan Shah, son of Nuruz, with his mother, they stayed four months,
and on leaving left behind none of the furniture they found there. He
had the damage which he had sustained valued by experts, and it was
found that, besides other mischief, they had burnt the outer door of the
house, which might have cost 5,000 dinars, as well as many of the internal
doors of exquisite workmanship. When such things could happen to the
mufti of the town, it may be imagined what befell ordinary individuals.
In addition to this, many thousands of coverlets and mattresses, with
furniture and house gear, were annually taken from the houses, on
the plea that the newly-arrived ilchis needed them. The day one
messenger left a house another one entered it, and his arrival caused
desolation to all the neighbourhood, for his people made their way by the
door or the roof into the neighbouring houses, killed the fowls and pigeons
with their arrows, and often wounded the children. They also carried
off all the eatables and forage they could find, and it was no use com
plaining, for the complaints were not listened to.
One day a good old man, father of a. family, went to the Divan, and
said, " My lords, can you approve what has happened to me. I am old,
and have a young wife. My sons, who are away, have left their wives
with me. I also have daughters. Several young and handsome ilchis
have come to my house. They have been for some time with me,
and have been seen by these women, who are no longer content with me
and my sons, who are absent, and I cannot guard them night and day.
The greater part of the fathers of families are in the same difficulty. If
this continues there will not presently be any more legitimate children.
They will all be bastards, half-breeds, and sons of Turks." The old man
then told Ghazan the following story : " In the days of the Seljuki, in the
royal capital of Nishapur, the Turkish officers were billeted on the
inhabitants as is the case now. A Turk was billeted in a house whose
mistress, young and beautiful, had just been married. He wished to
compel the husband to go out of the house, which the latter, knowing his
motive, refused. The Turk struck him, and ordered him to go and
water his horse. Thereupon his wife seized the bridle, and herself went
with the horse to the brook. At that moment the Sultan was passing,
and seeing such an unusual thing as a bride in her bridal costume
watering a horse, asked her for an explanation. ' It is because of your
tyranny,' she replied, and on her telling her story at length, the Sultan
was so touched that he forbade the Turks in future billeting in Nishapur,
and ordered that they should build houses for themselves outside the
town, which was the foundation of Shadiak." The old man ended his
story in tears, but they did not touch the amirs or viziers.

5°8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Ghazan had already limited this abuse by reducing the number of
couriers, who were only now dispatched on urgent business, and
were obliged to Use diligence on their journey, only stopping to change
horses or to hastily take some food. Nevertheless, as commissaries had
still to be dispatched occasionally to look after the finances, he ordered
that in each town a special residence should be built for these officers (Ilchi
Khaneh), furnished with proper furniture. Von Hammer says that the
Elchikhan at Constantinople, where envoys were formerly entertained,
was an imitation of this.* The citizens, freed from their tormentors,
proceeded to decorate their houses and plant gardens, and many who had
left their native towns and become vagabonds, returned home again.t
Ghazan forbade people to speak to him on business matters when his
reason was in any way obscured by wine, nor would he allow them at
such times to press insidious and malicious insinuations against others,
nor would he do things in a hurry. In order that he might not be thus
induced to sign orders whose contents had escaped his memory, and to
prevent plausible people from obtaining orders on the treasury by
surprise, he himself kept the key of the casket where the great seal
(tamgha) was preserved. Formerly it had been in the custody of the
bitikchis. When he had a certain number of assignations (bdrats) and
orders to seal, the secretaries, viziers, and other officers of the Divan
asked for the key, and returned it again after affixing the tamgha in his
presence to the various documents. These documents were then
countersigned on the back with the black tamgha of the four heads of the
four kiziks (i.e., body guards). They were then looked over by the
officials of the Divan, who appended the tamgha of the Divan. No royal
ordinance was valid which had not passed through these formalities. A
special secretary registered every yarligh, word for word, with its date, the
name of the writer and the reporter, so as to guard on the one hand
against any alteration, and on the other against its being disavowed by
the officials who had drawn it up. There was a register for each year,
which was kept in the casket with the great tamgha. The aljis, or officers
of the seal, were not permitted to receive anything from individuals.
Formerly they had been most exacting. There were different seals. The
grand tamgha was made of jade (yeshim). It was used for the letters of
investiture of sovereigns, the diplomas of general officers and of civil
governors (inuluks). Another seal, also of jade, but a little smaller, was
used by the kadhis, the imaums, and sheikhs. A great gold tamgha was
used in matters of smaller importance. Another gold tamgha, with the
same inscription as the preceding ones, but around which were engraved
a bow, a mace, and a sword, was used by the generals, and the troops
were not to obey anyone who was not possessed of such a tamgha. A
* Ilkhans, ii. 168. t D'Ohsson, iv. 404-409.

GHAZAN KHAN. 509
smaller tamgha was employed for sealing assignations upon the treasury
and other treasury documents issued in conformity with the orders
(pervaneh) of the sovereign.* As it was not possible for Ghazan to read
all the documents issued in his name, he had forms drawn up very
carefully upon each subject, and also forms of answers to the various
questions that might be sent to the authorities. By this means
documents were simplified, and as they were all more or less of one type,
it reduced litigation and disputes. When these various forms had been
drafted, Ghazan summoned the grand officers and said to them, " We are
about to read them through very carefully, and each one who has
corrections to suggest must point them out. When they are entirely
approved by you and me, they will serve as models for all my decrees,
and there will be greater uniformity in business matters." All these
forms were transcribed into a register, which was entitled " The Canon
of Business." If a new case occurred a new formula was prepared, which
was submitted for the prince's approval. It only needed a few alterations
to adapt it to various persons, places, or circumstances.t
In regard to paizahs, or tablets of office, whose use we described in a
former volume, Ghazan ordered that the large ones, with a lion's head
upon them, were to be given to sultans, military governors, and prefects.
These were to bear their names, and were to be cancelled when their
commission ceased. There was one assigned to each province, which
might not be taken to another. Formerly, if twenty governors succeeded
each other during twenty years, each one received a paizah, which he
retained after he lost his office, and continued to use. The paizahs issued
to commandants and prefects of the second order were smaller, and bore
particular marks. It was forbidden'to make these paizahs in the pro
vinces, and when one was conferred the goldsmith who made it engraved
on it a special mark, difficult to counterfeit, with a steel punch. There
were special tablets used by couriers and messengers. Five in copper
were sent to governors of the first class, and three to those of the second,
for the couriers whom they might have occasion to employ. The princes
of the blood and military chiefs no longer employed their paizahs, which
were formerly employed by them in covering the land with their couriers.}
It was the custom for each sovereign on mounting the throne to send
round a commissary to collect the yarlighs and paizahs issued by his
predecessor, and those who had them were. bound to give them up on
pain of punishment. But these commissaries were generally bribed, as
we have seen, and did not return with more than one in a hundred of the
various yarlighs which had been issued. It often happened that fresh
yarlighs were issued contradicting previous ones, which caused endless
litigation, especially as these yarlighs were passed on from father to son.
* D'Ohsson, iv. 409-411. t Id., 411-412. X D'Ohsson, iv. 412-413.

5IO HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Often, too, the secretary whose duty it was to draw up the yarligh was
bribed to insert some words extending its authority, or especially favouring
the person to whom it was given. So many contradictory yarlighs and
paizahs were current that the Mongol judges (yargujis) and administrative
authorities (hakims) found matters too complicated for them to decide.
Thus people took the law into their own hands, and murders increased
greatly. Ghazan, by a special order, annulled all yarlighs and paizahs
which were current, ordered the governors of the provinces to dis
regard them when presented, and cancelled all those issued in the
first three years of his reign ; for at first, in order to conciliate a
certain number of friends, he was obliged to confirm the former
yarlighs, while afterwards, Nuruz, the vizier Sadr ud din, and other
ministers, abused their power and issued a multitude of these docu
ments. None were in future to be regarded which were issued before
the order above named. Thus only those who had a good title to these
documents, and who therefore had no difficulty in getting them renewed,
retained them*
Persia had been terribly devastated by the invasions of Jingis Khan
and those who came after him. The borders of the Euphrates and Tigris
were similarly laid waste. From the Oxus to the Syrian borders were
almost continuous ruins, and lands lying fallow. If rulers like Khulagu,
Abaka, Arghun, and Gaikhatu (says Rashid) had the desire to build, and
did in fact proceed to build, palaces at Alatagh, Arminiya, Sukurluk,
Nejas, Khojan, Zindan, and Mansuriah (in Arran), or if they wished to
build a bazaar, to found a town, or open a canal, they merely ruined the
country in doing so. They spent immense sums without carrying out
their object, and thus we are told that barely one house in ten was
inhabited in a large number of towns. The land was largely uncultivated,
whether belonging to the public domain or in private hands ; no one dared
cultivate it, for fear he should be dispossessed of the product of his labour
after devoting his money and energies to it. Ghazan felt the necessity of
encouraging this kind of enterprise, and issued an edict assuring to those
who should cultivate the land the fruits of their toil. The public domains
which had been waste so long were given to anyone who would undertake
to till them, without charging any dues for the first year, and in the second
only a third, one-half, or two-thirds of the ordinary charges, according as
the state of canals which irrigated them rendered them more or less easy
to cultivate, and in view of this the domains were divided into three
classes. A special divan was appointed to lease out these crown lands
and look after the taxes which they were to pay. In regard to lands in
private hands, it was decreed that those which had been deserted for a
certain number of years might be cultivated by anyone, and if the real
* D'Ohsson, iv. 414-416.

GHAZAN KHAN. 511
owner came and proved his ownership, the treasury was to surrender to
him one-half of the taxes-and to retain only the other half, the cultivator
taking the produce of the land for himself. The treasury officials made
repeated reports that the land was untilled and the people reduced to
misery because they had neither the necessary bullocks nor seed. These
reports had hitherto been neglected, but Ghazan ordered that a certain
proportion of the money paid by each farmer of taxes, &c, was to be
devoted to buying bullocks, seed, and other necessities for agriculture, and
each one was to give a written assurance that the bullocks so bought
should be used in his own province, and to encourage agriculture.. At
the same time it was forbidden to use the people's donkeys for posting.
Before this they had been arbitrarily seized and used, and they were
seldom recovered. Ghazan forbade his falconers to take the pigeons and
fowls of his subjects, saying it was necessary to exact compliance in small
matters if bigger ones were to be carried out. If it was not forbidden
to take pigeons, why forbid the taking of sheep and oxen ? In
accordance with this, sportsmen were forbidden to spread their
nets in any place where there was a dovecote. Many of the lands
thus restored to cultivation were portioned out as military fiefs, thus
enabling the army to be rewarded, while a large margin remained over,
with the income of which the treasury was replenished.* In regard to
these military fiefs, Ghazan introduced important reforms. Before his
reign the Mongol soldier had received neither pay nor clothes, nor land nor
food. On the contrary (says Rashid), as among all the nomadic nations,
a contribution (coichur) of horses, sheep, cattle, pieces of felt, skins, &c,
had been made from the whole army, the proceeds of which were made
over to the ordus, and the tribes reduced to indigence. Ghazan began
by giving a small quantity of wheat to the troops who were habitually
cantoned about his residence, which he afterwards increased ; but the
State farmers, who were to furnish this grain, were loth to comply, and
frequent messengers had to be sent to urge the matter forward, causing
great harass to the cultivators. All this cost much money, without
benefit to the troops. The various officials, farmers, bukauls, high
stewards (or commissaries of food), bitikchis, and idajis (or commissariat
officers) were all more or less corrupt, and although the soldiers had the
berats or orders for food in their hand, they could not obtain it, and there
were constant disputes with the idajis. At length, after four or five
years, weary of the complaints he received from all sides, Ghazan issued
a special order on the subject, which also extended the privilege to the
whole army. The order issued on this occasion was as follows : —
" Let it be known to the Seyids, khatuns, princes and princesses of the
blood, relatives, chiefs of tumans, millenarians, centurions and decurions,
* Id., 417-420.

512 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
sultans, maliks, bitikchis, and all others our subjects, from the banks of
the Jihun to the frontiers of Egypt,* that our great ancestor, Jingis Khan,
assisted and guided by the Divine power, caused his smallest wish to be
carried out, without allowing a step to be taken away from the path of
obedience. This was why, at the head of his Mongol armies, he
conquered the whole earth, from the East to the West, and filled the page
of history with his great deeds. He left his empire to his sons, of whom
those who governed wisely acquired a great renown, and as this is the sole
advantage we can secure from our transitory voyage of life, we deem it
well to try and secure it in the few years that we shall occupy the throne,
by working for the happiness of the ulusses which have passed under our
rule, so that we may engrave on the leaves of time merits of which an
eternal memory shall be the reward, and to perpetuate the renown of our
justice. It is well kown that in the days of our ancestors the ulusses were
weighed down with taxes and imposts which we have totally abolished,
while the troops used to receive for the most part no gifts of food.
Nevertheless, satisfied with their condition, they served faithfully and
supported patiently the fatigues of distant campaigns. Since God gave
us the kingdom of our fathers we have paid every attention to improving
the condition of the army, and assuring its comfort now and in the future.
It is well known that only a section of the troops have hitherto received
small grants of food, while the greater part of the army has received
nothing from the State. We wish it all to share equally in our munifi
cence, so that it may all show equal zeal and valour in the defence of the
State, of which it is the support. We therefore order that the land
belonging both to our private and to the public domain, both cultivated
and uncultivated, shall be distributed to each soldier in the form of fiefs
(aktd), under the following conditions : —
" I. The peasants on the lands belonging to the private or the public
domain shall continue to cultivate it, and shall pay to the soldiers all the
contributions in coin (mal), in cattle (coichur), and otherwise, which they
have hitherto paid to the treasury.
" 2. The soldiers are not to appropriate either the land or water belonging
to private people, nor to the vakfs or pious foundations.
" 3. In regard to the ruined villages and untitled lands belonging to the
public domain which are comprised within their territory or yurt, and the
soil of which has become grass-grown, they are to cultivate a portion of
it themselves, and to cause the rest to be cultivated by their slaves and
servants. They are to employ their own bullocks and seed, and to claim
what produce the land may give.
* D'Ohsson remarks, in reference to this enumeration, that formerly the khatuns were named
first, but Ghazan, as a good Muhammedan, gave the preference to the Seyids, or descendants of
the Prophet. The Arabic title of malik, which originally meant prince, was employed during the
Mongol domination to designate the heads of tire civil administration. Bitikchi, a Turkish title,
meaning originally a scribe, was used for subordinate officials. It will be seen that the sultans
and maliks are named after the lowest Mongol officers.

GHAZAN KHAN. 513
" 4. Those people who have been absent from ruined villages, or
villages. given to the soldiery, for a less time than thirty years, and who
have not been enrolled in some other district, are to return home, no
matter with whom they are living, and if the soldiers find men on their
fiefs belonging to some other district they are to send them home. They
are not to give asylum on any pretext to those of other districts ; they are
not to transport the people from one village to another, on the plea that all
are their vassals, but, on the contrary, the people of each district are to
cultivate that district. The soldiers must not consider that the peasants
have been made over to them with their fiefs as if they were serfs. They
have no other rights over the peasants than to see that they cultivate their
lands, and to receive the quit-rent and other dues which they have to pay.
Nothing more is to be exacted from them, while as to others who are
not cultivators, if they pay the soldiers the imposition fixed by the Divan,
they are not to be made to work on the land, nor to be treated harshly.
" 5. The sold;ers are not to usurp the villages neighbouring upon their
fiefs on pretence of obtaining water there, and they are to leave them
enough pasture for their cattle, donkeys, and sheep.
"6. Having granted these favours to our troops, with the intention
of securing the well-being of our subjects, of making them love our
memory, and establishing order and justice, and the commanders of
tumans, millenarians, centurions, and decurions having in writing
(mojelga) given us their assurance that they will use all their power to
cause justice and good faith to prevail, that they will no longer commit
acts of oppression and iniquity as they have done hitherto, they ought
to keep their promise, and to extort nothing on any pretence.
" 7. The treasury is never to grant assignations on military fiefs, but
they are to pay into the treasury a tax of fifty menns, according to the
standard of Tebriz, for each military colonist.
" 8. When the fiefs in gross, comprising cultivated land, land lying
fallow, and running streams, are assigned to the various regiments of
1,000 men, the notables of each canton are to meet the official bitikchi.
Thereupon lots are to be drawn, and the whole distributed in this way
among the companies of 100 men each, and these again among sets often
men. The bitikchi, or registrar, is to inscribe separately on the
registers the portions assigned to each decuriate and company. A copy
of this register is to be deposited at the treasury, and another handed
over to each commander of a regiment. Similar registers of smaller
portions are to be assigned for custody to the centurions. The registrar is
to make an annual inspection, and those soldiers who have neglected to
cultivate their lands are to be punished. The fiefs are not to be sold
or given away, nor assigned to a sworn friend (anda kuda), to an older or
younger brother (aka or ini), or other relative, nor granted by way of
jointure or otherwise, on pain of death,
K*

514 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
" 9. On the death of a military man, his fief is to pass to one of his
sons ; if he have none, to one of his old slaves (gulam), and, in default of
slaves, to a man chosen from his company. A fief forfeited for
misconduct is to be made over by the officers to a person competent to
serve, and who is to be inscribed on the register in his place. The
registers are to be examined annually. The inspector is not to allow
a military man to exact anything beyond the quit-rent, the coichur, and
the other payments which are assigned him in the register, and he is
to report the cases of extortion he meets with."*
It would seem from clause 8 of these regulations that the military fiefs
were granted out to small colonies of soldiers, who tilled and worked them
in common, and were not individual holdings.
Ghazan felt the necessity of increasing the army, so that the frontiers
when attacked might be more easily defended, and in order that the
troops of one frontier should not be marched away to another, thus leaving
it unprotected, he formed a kind of special active division, recruited
from the territorial army, each hut or tent of several men furnishing
a quota of one or two soldiers. He also ordered, that when a frontier
was menaced the force nearest to it should at once march to the rescue.
In regard to the frontiers where there were mountains and defiles, as
these could be guarded by infantry he placed there the Tajiks or
Persians, who received pay and also fiefs. Hitherto a grant had been
made regularly for a body of Persian soldiers, but as they had until now
been only men in buckram this had merely profited the officers, who
bravely drew the money. Ghazan ordered this to be remedied, and the
Persian soldiers in future were organised in bodies of a thousand and a
hundred, and were inspected every three months.} Ghazan also increased
his own guards (kul). Hitherto his kul, or regiment of body guards, had
numbered only a thousand men, but in future it was raised to two or
three thousand. They were reviewed by the Khan annually. He gave
them presents, pay, and fiefs. During the wars with the princes of the
houses of Juchi and Jagatai many Mongol children were captured, and
were sold as slaves by the victors. Ghazan was outraged that the
descendants of officers who had served under Jingis Khan in his conquests
should be sold as slaves to Persians, and determined to upset this
practice, which destroyed the respect formerly entertained for the name
Mongol, and humiliated the race in the eyes of strangers. He ordered
that all Mongol children offered for sale within his kingdom should be
purchased on his own account, and in the course of two or three years a
body of nearly 10,000 of these young people was formed, for whose
sustenance the district of Meragha was assigned. Ghazan nominated
officers over them from the officials of his Court, and made Pulad Ching

* D'Ohsson, iv. 420-429. t Id., 429-430,

GHAZAN KHAN. 515
Sang general superintendent of them, with the rank of commander of a
tuman. This body, which was daily augmented, was attached to the
royal guard.*
There were in each province and town many armourers (ozan), both
Persians and Mongols, who made bows, arrows, quivers, swords, &c, who
received annually a salary from the State, and were in return to furnish a
certain number of arms. In addition, there were in certain towns regular
manufacturers of arms, under the control of officers appointed by the
kurujis, and to whom were assigned large grants from the revenues of the
province ; but these moneys had, as in so many other cases, been grossly
misappropriated and embezzled by the various officials. Ghazan ordered
that in future the manufacturers of each article should form a separate
company or guild in every town; and that they were to receive no fixed salary,
but should be bound to supply a certain number of articles at a fixed
price. He said that, although they were his slaves, he wished them to be
paid the value of their productions, just as private and independent
artisans were who sold theirs in the bazaar. He placed a governor over
each of these guilds. The money necessary to pay them all was made
a charge on the revenue of a single province, so that it should no longer
be needful to send messengers at great cost in all directions, to secure
payment for what was supplied. Every year 10,000 complete suits of
armour were to be supplied. Hitherto not more than 2,000 had been
annually furnished. Ghazan ordered that fifty were to be supplied for his
own special use, while he stored his arsenals with many thousands of bows,
arrows, and coats of mail. The same system was adopted in regard to
saddle and bridle makers, as well as those who made the necessary
equipments of the sekurjis (halbardiers or lance-bearers) and idajis.
Previously, instead of having them in store, if an article of 50 or 100
dinars value was needed a messenger had to be sent for it.}
Hitherto there had been no regular account kept of the receipts and
outgoings of the royal treasury of the Mongol sovereigns. There were
a number of treasurers whose duty it was to receive what was paid
into the treasury, and to pay it out collectively. The articles in the
treasury were so badly taken care of that they were not even put
under tents, but exposed to the air, or merely covered with felt.
From this mode of guarding them the general method of administration
may be guessed. Every time money was paid into the treasury it
was customary to give the employe's of the treasury who asked
for them presents according to their rank. When the cupbearers
or butlers, the housekeepers or grooms, brought any food or something
to drink, the treasurers, after a consultation, gave them what they
asked. Whoever, in fact, went and begged the custodians of the
* ld„ 430-431. t Id., 431-433-

5l6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
magazines to give him something was pretty sure to get it. These
custodians were also in the habit of making mutual presents, and thus
every year four-fifths of the contents of the treasury were dissipated.
Knowing of this dishonesty, the governors of the provinces, when they
sent their contributions to the treasury, used to obtain by the payment of
a small bribe a receipt for twice the amount they really contributed ; and
although the ushers (tangauls) had strict orders to arrest all plunderers,
they were so lax that a culprit was hardly ever seized, and if he was it
was some one against whom they had a spite.
Ghazan began by ordering the various classes of objects in the treasury
to be separately classed. He caused the Vizier to draw up an inventory
of his precious stones, which he locked up himself in a special case, sealed
it with his own seal, and gave it in charge to the double custody of a
treasurer and of a major domo (khoja serai). Gold coin and the precious
stuffs which had been made in the royal manufactories, or sent as presents
from distant countries, were also confided to the same individuals, after a
list had been made of them by the Vizier, and it was forbidden to dispose
of any of them except under authority of a special order (fiervaneh) of the
Ilkhan himself.' Another treasurer, with a major domo, was intrusted
with the silver coin, and with the robes destined for ordinary gifts. These
were not to be disposed of except under a pervaneh of the Vizier, counter
signed with the signature (nishan) of the Prince, written with his own
hand, which was to be registered by the Vizier's substitute, and they were
forbidden to take notice of a pervaneh which was not countersigned in this
way. The former section of the treasury was styled narin (i.e., small, fine),
the latter bidun (i.e., great, thick). The former distinguished what was
reserved for the Prince, the latter what was destined for the public. An
inspection was to be made by the Vizier every six months, or every year,
to see that the treasury contained what it ought to do. Formerly, the
treasurers used to lend money to the grandees, or their own friends. It
was now forbidden to lend anything without a royal ordinance (pervaneh).
All the fabrics deposited in the treasury were marked with a special
mark, so that they could not be changed for others. It was ordered that
the various housekeepers employed in the treasury should in future
limit themselves to their proper duties, and should not meddle with
the disposition of the objects, which duty was to be performed by the four
officials just named, and by them alone. They were to be paid 2 per
cent, on the revenues sent in from the provinces, and were to exact
nothing more from anyone. Ghazan also instituted a third department,
under a major domo (khoja serai), who was to receive a tithe of all the
gold and the fabrics sent in to the treasury, which he was to distribute in
charity. When the Prince changed his residence, at the approach of
summer or winter, he went himself to the treasury to order what things
were to be transported with him. The Vizier drew up a list of the trunks

GHAZAN KHAN. 5 17
which remained at Tebriz, and the magazine was then sealed. Rashid
adds that no prince made so many presents of gold and robes as
Ghazan.* Formerly, the expenditure of the moneys devoted to providing the
Ilkhan's table was a perpetual subject of contest among the officials
charged with this duty (Bitikjian Idaji), who were always making
mutual accusations. As in other cases, the moneys allotted for this
purpose were appropriated by various officers, and otherwise dissipated,
and consequently those whose duty it was to supply the table had to
borrow money at heavy interest, and to pay exorbitantly for what they
purchased ; so that, for instance, wine whose normal price was fixed at
ten dinars for every hundred menns, and which under a better adminis
tration ought not to have cost more than five, was bought sometimes at
twenty and even forty dinars, and often the royal table was largely in
debt to the various dealers, who begged in vain for the payment of their
accounts. Ghazan ordered that in future the moneys necessary to supply
his table were to be furnished by the treasury six months in advance, so
that things might be bought with ready money, and in this way order was
restored in the kitchens and other domestic offices.t
The camels and sheep which belonged to the royal domain were
formerly under the inspection of certain officers called kanjis, who were
uncontrolled, and although the pastures were abundant, and the herdsmen
numerous and exempted from the payment of all public taxes in view of
their occupation, instead of the flocks having increased a hundred-fold, it
was found that they had diminished almost to nothing. Ghazan fixed the
number of sheep which the kanjis were bound to provide annually. The
baggage camels were confided to special officials, and this part of the
public service was so well organised (says Rashid) that no sovereign
either Mongol or Mussulman, ever had so many beautiful camels to
transport his baggage, while their pack saddles and equipment were
extremely elegant.} The Ilkhan's herds of sheep had a particular
name.§ Formerly, orders were issued annually to the falconers (kushjis,
i.e., birdcatchers), and those who had to procure hunting leopards
(barsjis or parsjis), when they were to capture the falcons and
leopards, which they were to hand over to the officials of the
hunt. They were paid by assignations from the revenue, which
they exacted from the most fruitful sources, and by liberal blows if
necessary, making also outrageous levies for food and forage ; and when
en route for the capital with the animals they had m charge, they
requisitioned post horses liberally for themselves and their baggage from
the various towns, post stations, and cantonments of troops on the way.
* D'OhssOn, iv. 433-437. t Id,, 437-439. X Id-, 439-440. § Ilkhans, ii. 157.

5l8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
They freely gave away many of the animals they had charge of, and the
few leopards and falcons they eventually accounted for cost the public
revenue a very large sum, besides the private rapine we have mentioned.
A person who succeeded in securing an animal useful for the chase, either
by trapping it or otherwise, demanded a patent as terkhan (i.e., one
exempting him from all taxes), armed with which he proceeded to
persecute the much-enduring people. There were many such patents
issued, and each holder had an entourage of a crowd of dependants. The
falconers and officials of the hunt, who lived at the Court, had in their
wake a number of palfreymen (kuteljis), muleteers, cameleers, &c, all of
whom had their girdles ornamented with feathers, bunches of feathers on
their heads, and carried poles, professedly for the birds of prey to perch
upon, with which they belaboured those whom they met before addressing
them. If they met anyone who wore owls' feathers in his turban or cap
they took them from him, on the pretence that everybody was not allowed
to wear them, and those who had to pass the tents or huts where the
huntsmen lived were generally plundered. They appropriated sheep and
fowls for their own food and that of their charges from the various villages,
and straw and barley for their horses, &c. They seized on post horses,
which they sold, and if they saw good asses, kept them for themselves,
and to create terror they sometimes seized a proprietor and cut off his
beard, while on every side vagabonds and ne'er-do-weels attached them
selves to them. They were, in fact, organised brigands.
Ghazan set to work to reform these abuses. He ordered that no more
than 1,000 falcons and 300 leopards should be annually supplied to the
Court, that a list of the authorised falconers and hunting-leopard men
should be prepared, with the name of the province where they were to
live, and that no one else was to be considered as of their craft. The
price to be paid for hunting animals, trained or untrained, was fixed, and
also the pay of the huntsmen, which was to be according to the number
of animals of which they had charge. They were each given yarlighs, with
a golden seal (altun tamgha) attached, and were given proper salaries on
condition that in travelling they made no exactions of post horses, pro
visions, &c. This regulation was ordered to be published by proclamation
in the various provinces. When a calculation was made of the cost of
this part of the public service it was found that although three times the
number of animals were now supplied, it was at half the cost, not counting
the exactions which had been made from individuals, which were of course
incalculable. In regard to the falconers who lived at the Court, it was
ordered that their wages, and what was needed for the food, &c, of the
animals in their charge, was to be paid in advance, so that there was no
pretext for their making exactions. It was ordered that whenever they
were sent to a distance to exercise their animals they were to be supplied
with post horses (ulagh), and were to be granted assignations, sealed with

GHAZAN KHAN. 519
a golden seal, upon the revenues of the province to which they were sent,
greater or smaller, according to the distance or the season. To prevent
all wrongdoing, fowls and pigeons, kept in cages, were provided for the
food of the royal falcons. It having come to his ears that some of the
huntsmen had made exactions in excess of the sum permitted by their
berats, Ghazan sent a special commissioner to make inquiries, and those
who had been guilty received seventy-seven strokes with the bastinado.
" Frightened by this example," says Rashid, " their companions ceased
their ill deeds. It is rare now that a falconer or a huntsman gives rise to
just complaints, and although the wolf never becomes a sheep, abuses
have considerably diminished."*
The Mussulman kadhis were all subject to the chief judge, and the
Mongol judges to the great yarghuji.} Ghazan issued instructions to his
judges in the following edict : —
" In the name of the most clement and merciful God.
"By the divine power and under the auspices of the Muhammedan
religion. " Ordinance of Mahmud Ghazan.
" Let it be known to the commandant (bashkak), the prefect (malik),
and the other functionaries who exercise authority in our name in such a
province, that we have conferred upon X the office of judge in such a
place, with its dependencies, so that he may judge and decide causes in
his jurisdiction according to the law of religion, and that he may
carefully protect the property of orphans and those who are absent. With
these duties no one else has any right to interfere, nor yet to release from
prison whoever has been legally condemned. The grand yarligh having
laid it down that the kadhis, doctors of the law, and the descendants of
Ali should pay neither kolan nor koichur (i.e., taxes and tithes), we order
that they be exempt, and that in future they are not to be called upon to
furnish post horses (ulagh) or food (sussun). That neither Turks
(couriers) nor ilchis (envoys) are to be billeted upon them, and that
the full amount of their salaries is to be punctually paid them every year.
Anyone failing either in word or action to pay proper respect to the
kadhi is to be punished according to his fault ; while, on the other hand,
we enjoin the kadhi, according to his written engagement (mojelga), to
refrain from receiving anything from anybody for the exercise of his
functions. When a new contract is made the old one must be produced in
court and put into the thas (basin) of justice, so that the water may
efface the writing. Pretensions which have not been urged for thirty
years, and contracts thirty years old, are not to be admitted, but to be
remitted to the basin (i.e., washed out).} Anyone convicted of having
used violence to another in order to compel him to do an illegal act, is to
* D'Ohsson, iv. 440-445. t Ilkhans, ii. 163.
X This is surely a very extraordinary anticipation of our statutes of limitation.

52° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
have his beard cut, to be promenaded about the town on a cow, and to be
severely chastised. Attestations in common, i.e., made collectively
(mahzars), are abolished, and if any exist they must be washed out. If
parties to a suit appear in court with people whose aid and protection
they have invoked, their case is not to be heard until these patrons have
withdrawn — the cause is in no case to be commenced in their presence.
" In causes between two Mongols, between a Mongol and a Mussulman,
and others difficult to decide, we order that a council of justice (divan id
mozalim = the divan of grievances) comprising the commandants, prefects,
treasury officers, kadhis, doctors of laws, and descendants of Ali shall
meet two days in each month in the great mosque, decide the matters
together, judging offences according to the Muhammedan law, and
signing the sentence jointly, so that no one in future shall be able to
disturb the decision.
" When a piece of land is in dispute, neither the mother nor grand
mother (of the Ilkhan) nor his sons — nor the khatuns, the princes,
princesses, the relatives of the ruler, the chiefs of tumans, millenarians,
centurions or decurions, nor the ordinary Mongols, nor the officers of the
Great Divan, nor the kadhis, descendants of Ali, doctors of the law,
sheikhs, nor mayors are to purchase it. The kadhis are to take care to
prepare no contracts transferring to any of these persons the land in
dispute, and if they learn that others have done so they are to exert
themselves to get it annulled.
" The seal of the kadhi is to be charged at nineteen dinars and a
half and no more.
" If the districts belonging to the jurisdiction of X are too far away
from his head-quarters, and he deems it well to place deputies there, he
is to take care to select magistrates worthy of confidence, and to impose
upon them the prescribed obligation. He must look over all they do
monthly to secure that justice is being done according to our wishes. He
may authorise them to draw up contracts and to decide causes, and each
month they are to send him a report of what they have done."
The edict seems then to say that the deputy kadhis placed in the rural
communes were not to try causes, give judgment, or prepare contracts of
sale, but were to confine themselves to reciting the Friday prayer or
khutbeh, preparing deeds of partition on succession to property, and deeds
securing dowry (sadak nameh) ; while if difficult cases came before them
they were to remit them for trial to the kadhi of the principal town.
Perhaps this means that unless specially authorised, the deputies were
only to try the limited cases, and do the less important work just
mentioned. The kadhi was to have a person worthy of confidence to date
contracts and to keep an exact register, so that if anyone sold or
mortgaged a property, and wished to sell or mortgage it again, the first
transaction might be easily verified. Any person guilty of fraud in these

GHAZAN KHAN. 52 1
transactions was to have his beard cut off, and to be promenaded about the
town, while a registrar found guilty of abetting him was to be punished
with death.
In this edict Ghazan warns the judges against the practice which had
grown up of setting up false titles to property. These false titles were
thus obtained : The original person who first tilled the land, or who
inherited it after it had been cultivated, obtained from the proper
authorities a number of documents of title. He then made over his
property to some one else, who sold it to a third, and so on ; but the
original documents were meanwhile retained by the first owner ; and when
presently, in many cases through carelessness, or the troubled times, or
other causes, it was thought that the person in possession had no
documents to show his title, these original deeds were produced, and
with them a number of suborned witnesses, and the kadhi having nothing
brought before him on the other side to weigh against these official
documents, declared them genuine, and, thus armed, their possessor pro
ceeded to oust the real proprietor. Similar practices had long before
attracted the notice of the famous Seljuk sultan, Malik Shah, and his
vizier, Nizam ul Mulk, and he had in consequence issued an order by
which documents of title which had been in abeyance for more than
thirty years were not to be received in evidence. This order had been
sent to all the muftis in Khorasan, Irak, and the district of Baghdad, in
order that they might give their fethva, or judicial decision, about it, which
was sent to the Khalif for his imprimatur. If such things took place
(says Rashid) in the days when magistrates were just and enlightened
men, how much more during the domination of the grandsons of Jingis
Khan ? In Persia the Mongols only recognised those who followed the
profession of the law by their turbans and costume, and they had no
knowledge of jurisprudence or equity. It was natural, therefore, that
ignorant men should usurp the distinctive insignia of the magistrature,
and by presents, &c, secure the patronage of some Mongol grandee, and
thus obtain judicial offices, which led to the greater part of the more
worthy magistrates resigning their posts, as they could not bear to have
these men their equals. Presently, the evil deeds and injustices of these
parvenus brought the whole profession of the law into contempt, and with
it the Muhammedan faith also suffered. The Mongol commanders
became the patrons of these judges, and presented or deprived them at
their pleasure, and in some cases received money for them. It was
chiefly during the reign of Gaikhatu and his minister, Sadr ud din, that
these things happened* Sadr ud din nominated his own brother to the
office of chief judge (Kadhi ul Kodhat). Sheikh Mahmud was at that
time head of the sheikhs (Sheikh ul Moshaikh). They sold the judicial
* We must always remember that Sadr ud din was a Jew, and therefore especially hateful to
our authority, Rashid ud din, who had been accused of being a Jew himself.

522 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
offices. In consequence of fraudulent documents, those who had estates
were in greater danger than if they had a hundred enemies, for dishonest
men, dying of hunger, would not scruple, when armed with obsolete titles
and false witnesses, to attack the most respectable people. When
judicial offices were objects of traffic these same unworthy processes were
much encouraged by the judges, who stimulated the aggressors, and
delayed judgment for months and even years. Meanwhile they appro
priated the income of the estate, and made both sides pay black mail.
Many estates were thus for a long time the subject matter of litigation,
and the unfortunate proprietor spent in law more annually than his income
from his property ; while those who attacked the judges received presents
and made themselves feared, and a regular system of levying black mail
on the proprietors, with the alternative of being dragged into the courts,
became the custom. These pestilent people sought out others who
happened to hold any old title deeds, or in other cases, fabricated them.
Ordinances of former sovereigns were produced — titles dating 150 years
back — and although these required to be attested by witnesses, the
claimant nevertheless proceeded, having first secured a powerful Mongol
as a patron. The threatened proprietor was obliged to find a protector
too, and thus the area of litigation and of dispute widened. Every
proprietor, we are told, was threatened either in his estate or his
honour. The Tajik viziers of Khulagu had brought the order of Malik Shah
before his attention, and he had issued a corresponding edict forbidding
the production of deeds more than thirty years old in evidence, which
edict had been renewed by Abaka, Arghun, Ahmed, and Gaikhatu ; but
these edicts were not obeyed, the interest of the officials, whose object
was to obtain the properties of the proprietors at a low price for them
selves, being to throw obstacles in the way of carrying it out. When
Ghazan issued his edict, he had it specially drawn up with the help of the
most learned kadhis, with full explanations of the principles upon which
it professed to proceed, and also the various regulations and laws which
had been passed on the subject.
This edict, prohibiting the reception in evidence of documents dated
more than thirty years before, is dated from Keshaf, near Mosul, the 29th
of March, 1300. It concludes with these words: "If a powerful man
urges a kadhi to act in opposition to this edict, and if the kadhi sends me
his name, I will see that he is punished in such a manner as will serve as
an example." This edict also contains the formula which each kadhi
was to si^n. It enjoins the magistrates to decide cases according to the
law, and with strict equity. They were to examine most critically old
contracts and deeds, and to verify the witnesses, so that false documents
might not be palmed upon them, and the kadhi bound himself to perform
his duties strictly, on pain of being punished or deposed.

GHAZAN KHAN. 523
Another edict provided that before the sale of immovable property, &c,
the right of the vendor should be properly made out. It ran thus : —
" In the name of God, &c. By the divine power, &c.
"Order of the Sultan Mahmud Khan.
" Let it be known to the commanders, prefects, judges, officers of the
treasury, governors, notables, proprietors, and to all our subjects in
general that according to the word of David ' we have appointed you our
lieutenant upon earth. Judge between men with equity,' and according to
the sentence of the Prophet ' An hour of justice is worth more than seventy
years of prayer.' We exert all our care to secure the wellbeing of our
people, and desire that the shadow of our justice may be generally spread
everywhere, so that the powerful may not be able to oppress the feeble,
that right may not be undone by wrong, and that the greater part of the
differences among private individuals may disappear. Among the evils
which afflict our kingdom are the numerous disputes between our subjects
about old titles and based upon old contracts. In some cases the vendor
who has more than one title deed retains a portion, and after selling his
property has the dishonesty to produce these documents, and to lay claim
to what he has already been paid for, and succeeds in getting witnesses
who have been won over by his solemn declaration, or are prepared to
suborn themselves. If the vendor does not do this his descendants
sometimes do it, and produce this really false evidence either knowingly
or innocently. It is natural that when these old documents are brought
before the kadhi duly attested, that he should pronounce them genuine.
How is he to know that the rights claimed under them have been already
legally parted with. In order therefore to prevent these miscarriages, it
is decreed that on a sale of land the vendor and the purchaser are to
appear before the kadhi. The vendor is then to produce his title, and
witnesses to swear that they have never known anyone raise a legal claim
to the estate. The titles thus produced are then to be washed in water
and cancelled. If the vendor has no documents, the witnesses must
attest that he has been since such a date in possession of the property,
while he is to declare that he has no title deeds, and that if any are
afterwards found they will be considered as null and void. A document is
then to be drawn up affirming his right to the property. The witnesses
are to attest it, and the kadhi is also to add his attestation. Below this is
to be written the contract of sale. If in future any other title deeds
relating to this property are produced by the vendor or his heir, or anyone
else, the kadhi is not to admit them, but he is to take possession of them,
and immerse them in water. If the owner of the document refuses to give
it up to the kadhi, he is to report the matter to the commandant of the
town, who is to take it and wash it in the court. The contracts for the
sale of immovable property are to be prepared by the registrar of the
court. The kadhi is to have beside him a basin of water on a stool. This

524 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
basin is to be styled the basin of justice (tass-i-adl). When a dispute of
the nature above-mentioned has been decided, the old titles produced and
rendered obsolete by the decision are to be washed.*
" If a witness to a contract of sale or mortgage eventually raises
pretensions to the thing sold or hypothecated, or if a person tries to sell a
part o/"what he has already sold or mortgaged to another, he is to have his
beard cut, and to be promenaded about the town on a donkey ; while a
person who tries to sell a property which he has already sold or
mortgaged, is to be put to death."
The kadhis were not to accept anything for settling contracts or
deciding causes, but were to be content with the salaries they received.
The registrar was to receive a dirhem for each document (heujet) which
he prepared, if the matter it referred to was of the value of loo dinars,
and one dinar if it exceeded 100 dinars, and was to take nothing more.
Every police officer (vakil) who took money from both sides was to be
scourged, deprived of his post, and to have his beard cut, and for a second
offence was to be ridden through the town on a donkey, with his beard
cut off. " We desire," says Ghazan, " that the commandant, or the
prefect, in each town is to inform the kadhis that they are to enter into a
written undertaking in regard to performing their duties." Ghazan
appointed special commissaries, who were to search out and report to
him the names of those who had made a trade of attacking the titles of
proprietors by means of false documents, and to take care that they did
not shield themselves from public justice. All those who were thus
pointed out to him were sent to the capital, and were put to death.
Ghazan introduced fresh regulations in regard to the coinage. Up to
this time several types of coins had been current in Persia. " It is not
long ago," says Rashid ud din, " that the princes of Rum, Fars, Kerman,
Georgia, and Mardin still enjoyed the right of coinage, and coined money
of various standards." Again, although according to the edicts of Arghun
and Gaikhatu the silver coins were to contain nine-tenths of silver, there
was really only a proportion of four-fifths. Outside the Mongol world
things were very bad. The coins of Rum, which were of higher value
than those of other countries, were so reduced that where there ought to
have been ten dinars worth of silver there was only two, that is, one-fifth ;
all the rest was copper, besides which they were clipped. This difference
of intrinsic value in the coins of the two countries had to be taken into
account in various trade transactions. He who bought merchandise lost
10 or even 20 per cent, upon the transaction, while there was some
difficulty in passing off the money in the villages and the military canton
ments where the very ignorance of the people as to the amount of alloy
in the coins made them more suspicious. 
* D'Ohsson explains this reference to washing by saying that the soluble ink used by Orientals
is removed from the polished cotton paper used by Orientals when a document is dipped in
water.

GHAZAN KHAN. 525
Ghazan had a new die (sikkeh) made, with a mark (nishan) which
could not be easily counterfeited. The gold and silver coin was re-struck,
so that in future they might bear the name of God and of the Prophet.
They also bore the name of Ghazan. In Georgia the names of God and
the Prophet had never been placed on the coins ; they were now to
appear there also, according to Rashid ud din, since no other coins than
those so stamped had currency in Persia. In regard to the standard,
Ghazan said that if he permitted any alloy to be mixed with the gold and
silver in the coins, as it was in those of the Khalifs of Egypt and of
Africa, it would speedily happen that more and more would be so mixed
with it, and his inspectors would either not notice the bad practice, or
would be bribed to keep their eyes shut. It was much better that the
coin should be struck without alloy, so that when the gold coin was tested
with borax, and the silver was either tried with mercury or in the fire, the
sophistication might be easily detected. He ordered that the gold pieces
of Hormuz, which were not of greater value than those of Africa, and other
baser gold coins, were to pass current at a lower value, so that the
bankers might be induced to buy and melt them down into ingots,
and it followed that in the course of a twelvemonth there was not a
miskal of base gold coin to be found in the country. Formerly gold and
silver were rare in the market place, and when a little was forthcoming
there was a rush for it. The quantity had diminished in consequence of
the increase in the use of gold tissues, &c, during the Mongol domination,
as well as in consequence of the exportation of gold to India ; but now
(says Rashid) it circulates abundantly in the bazaars, even in the hands of
the peasants. Ghazan wished the silver dinar to weigh three miskals.
Pieces of gold (durusthai thila) were struck of the weight of a hundred
miskals, upon which his name was engraved in the letters of different
countries, so that it might be known everywhere that he had struck
these coins. They bore, in addition, verses from the Koran and the
names of the twelve imaums. The coins were so beautiful that those
who obtained one had not the heart to part with it. Ghazan liked to give
these medallions — for so they really were — as presents, so that they
might be known to foreigners. Pachymeres speaks of the gold coins of
Ghazan as having been of exquisite purity. This kind of money, he adds,
was called kazaneos*
There were formerly a great number of weights and measures current ;
they differed even in the various districts of the same province.
Commerce was neglected in favour of the mere transporting of objects
from one district to another, the difference of weight in the two districts
affording a profit in itself. From this cause some materials became very
scarce, and even unprocurable in certain countries. There were two or
* Stritter, iii. 1092.

526 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
three kinds of measure (kufiz) current in each village. The villagers
employed the longest one among themselves, but in trading with strangers
they used the shortest, and whether the latter knew the fact or no they had
small redress, since the natives swore boldly together that this was the
legal standard. The provisions, which ought to have been supplied to
the troops by the kuban of joo menns, were really weighed to them by the
kuban of 70, or 60, and even of fewer menns, while powerful people
exacted the full measure by the liberal use of the bastinado. This variety
of weights was a constant subject of disputes.
Ghazan issued an order on the subject, which, after the usual initiatory
formula, went on to say that in the markets of the Ordu and of the towns
each one used at his pleasure weights made of stone, bone, iron, &c, and
increased or diminished them arbitrarily. "We order that in all our
kingdom, from the River Amu (i.e., the Oxus) to the frontier of Egypt, the
weights and measures shall be tested and verified ; that they be made of
iron, and be properly marked."
1. The weights of gold and silver coins were to be according to the
standard of Tebriz, so that money should not in future be transferred
from place to place to make a profit out of the mere difference of
weight. In future it was to be everywhere of the same weight, as it was
of the same value. Fakhr ud din and Behai ud din, of Khorasan, were
charged to make special weights for the gold and silver coins, which were
to be of an octagon shape. They were to appoint two of their people for
each province to revise the weights there, who were to be assisted by an
expert (amin), and to carry out their work in the presence of the inspector
of the markets (mohtesib). In consequence of this order various private
individuals were to have iron weights, made similar to the patterns
furnished by Fakhr ud din and Behai ud din, which were to be taken to
the experts in each province, just mentioned, so that they might be
verified, and that they might attach their marks to them. The counter
feiting of these marks was punishable with death.
2. All who were provided with these stamped weights were to be
r< gistered, and the weights were to be verified monthly. Anyone who
had unjust weights, or counterfeited the official mark, or who in buying or
selling used weights which were not marked, were to be brought before
the commandant (shahneh), who was to have him punished as ordered by
the Khan's ordinance.
3. The weights used for selling merchandise were also to be fashioned
after a type of an octagon shape, in iron, and were to be duly marked and
verified by the same experts. These weights were to consist of a series
of eleven, from 10 menns down to a drachma, in this order : 10
menns, 5, 2, 1, Yz,%,yi; 10 drachmas, 5, 2, 1. For objects weighing
more than 10 menns the tamgajis were to make kubans, or hundred
weights, weighing 100 menns.

GHAZAN KHAN. 527
4. As there was in each province a variety of measures under the names
of Ml, kofiz,jerib, tugar, &c, and each one in fact used his own measure,
and as the Mongol soldiers, merchants, and strangers who went to receive
the provisions which had been apportioned them by the treasury, or to
buy things, had constant quarrels with the inhabitants, the consequence
being that might generally prevailed, it was accordingly decreed that
there should be a uniform standard of weights (kileh), viz., that of Tebriz,
of which the unit weighed ten menns, each menn being of 260 drachmas.
Ten of these kilehs were to go to a tugar. Different kinds of grain, such as
wheat, barley, rice, sesame1, and millet were each to be measured by a
separate measure, which was in every case, however, to be based on a
standard quantity of grain weighing ten menns of Tebriz. Each of these
measures was to be marked as the kileh of such a grain, and the experts
already mentioned were to attach their marks to them in the presence of
the inspector of markets (mohtesib). They were to be inspected every
month in the town and country districts ; anyone found with an unmarked
measure was to be taken before the commandant, and, if found guilty, was
to have his hand cut off or to pay a penalty.
The measure of liquids used for the ordus, and for distributing in
presents, was to contain five p&manes, weighing fifty menns, while that
used for feasts (thui) was to be of the capacity of four p^iman^s, weighing
forty menns. All the ell measures (guez) used in measuring cloth for sale
were to be of the length of the guez of Tebriz, excepting, however, the
measure used in Rum, which was very different. The two sides of the
ell measures were to be marked with a mark composed by the two
officials, Fakhr ud din and Behai ud din. These measures were also to
be periodically inspected by the experts already mentioned.
The kingdom, through the recent ill-government, was overrun with
highway robbers, Mongols, Tajiks (Persians), Kurds, and Shuls, who
were joined by runaway slaves and other Bohemians. The peasants, as
in Southern Italy and in Ireland, acting as their guides and their spies,
informed them of the route taken by travellers. If a brigand fell into the
hands of justice he easily found powerful friends, as he does still in
Calabria, and these friends urged that it was not right to put to death
a man who was so brave. By an old decree those who travelled together
were to make a joint defence against any robber band which attacked
them ; but the brigands, who knew their victims well, used to shout, like
the chivalrous Jack Sheppard, that they did not want to molest those who
had nothing, who consequently withdrew, leaving their richer brethren in
difficulties. The robbers became so bold that they attacked travellers
close to the military cantonments, the towns, and villages. They had
friends among the peasants and the nomades, and those who denounced
them were visited with vengeance. The peasants, and even the village
mayors, were so closely bound up with the robbers that they supplied

528 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
them with everything they needed, and. gave them asylum in their houses.
Their friends in the towns disposed of the stolen booty for them, and they
sometimes spent a month or two in the towns with their accomplices, thus
enjoying the fruits of their rapine. The Tangauls (Tetkauls of Von
Hammer), whose duty it was to protect the great routes, only aggravated
the evils. They stopped caravans on pretence of searching for thieves,
and thus gave the latter timely warning to escape or plant ambuscades.
Instead of pursuing the robbers they levied black mail themselves on
travellers, who feared their protectors more than, the thieves, since the
latter were only encountered occasionally and at haphazard ; while the
Tangauls were sure to be met with at every station, and many caravans,
rather than run the risk of being plundered by them, adopted unfrequented
and difficult roads.
To remedy these matters Ghazan ordered, first, that anyone abandoning
his companions when attacked by robbers was to be pursued, and to
forfeit his goods and life. The cantonment or village near which a
robbery occurred was to be made answerable, especially if it had been
warned. Anyone convicted of connivance with the robbers was to be
put to death. Ghazan ordered Inkuli, one of the officers of his household,
known for his integrity, to carry out this scheme. Many robbers were
captured and punished, and the few who escaped, forsook their
occupation. Those who denounced them were created terhhans, and
Inkuli was rewarded for his zeal with all that was recovered from the
robbers. Ghazan ordered that the Tangauls should only be posted in
dangerous places, or where the caravans needed instructions as to the
route they ought to take. They were to be paid a stated fee of half an
akchi for every four mules or pair of laden camels, and no more.
Nothing was to be paid for animals without burdens, or carrying only
provisions. The places where Tangauls were to be stationed were marked
with stone columns, on which were inscribed the number of the guards,
the duties of their chief (bashkak), and the dues to be paid by travellers.
These small monuments were called tables of justice. They prevented
the exercise of the office of Tangaul by unauthorised persons,, which had
hitherto prevailed. The guards who failed to arrest the robbers after a
robbery committed near their post, had to make good the property
stolen. They entered into written engagements to fulfil these conditions.
If a caravan wished to halt near a village or military cantonment, it was
to make inquiry if there were robbers in the neighbourhood. If the answer
was yes, the caravan was to be permitted to enter the village for safety,
and no one was to prevent it. If the answer was no, and in consequence
the caravan stopped in the open country, and robbery ensued, they were
to answer for it. This order was not made applicable to towns, because
of the great difficulties in such cases. The amir Buralghi was appointed
head of the Tangauls. When he inspected the rolls he found that nearly

GHAZAN KHAN. 529
10,000 men with their officers were engaged in protecting the lives and
goods of travellers.*
As drunkenness and consequent quarrels and murders prevailed largely,
Ghazan issued an order, in which he said : " Our legislator and other
heavenly, messengers have forbidden the use of wine, nevertheless the
prohibition does not prevent its use. An absolute interdiction on our
own part would have no better result. We merely order, therefore, that
anyone found drunk on a public road is to be stripped naked, and tied to
a tree in the midst of the public square, as an example." But he forbade
private houses being entered for the purpose of looking for drunkards, on
account of the abuses which his officials might be tempted to make.} In
the great towns houses for prostitution had grown up close to the mosques,
monasteries, and private dwellings, and as those who kept them paid a
higher price for young slave girls than private individuals, and therefore
commanded the market, much to the horror of such of these girls as had
any feelings of chastity and self-respect, Ghazan said that all such
establishments ought to be closed, as contrary to religion and morals ; but
as they had been tolerated for a long time it was not possible to abolish
them suddenly. He, however, forbade any girls who objected to this
mode of life being sold to the keepers of such houses. Those who had
objection and were nevertheless in houses of ill-fame were to be liberated,
the State paying their ransom, and they were then to be married to
whoever wished to marry them.}
Formerly, a well-dressed man (says Rashid) could not traverse the
bazaars without a crowd of muleteers, cameleers, or servants pressing
him for money for their needs or pleasures, and if this were refused he
was insulted, and sometimes even struck. These people collected in
groups in the streets and markets, and scarcely was a traveller free from
one gang than he encountered another. They were generally in
the service of the khatuns, princes of the blood, and amirs. On solemn
days, as those of Bairam and Nevruz, they decked out their mules and
camels, and took them to the doors of people of mark. If the
person in charge were at home they extorted money from him by
repeated and energetic solicitation. If he were away they seized
what they could and pawned it, and when the proprietor tried to
recover his own he had to redeem it at a large price, and to listen
to much insulting language. These scenes were renewed annually
during the five days preceding and succeeding the festivals, and
it became the fashion for officials and others to imitate the custom,
and to pass for the nonce as muleteers, cameleers, &c, and to go
about with animals dressed out, levying their contributions, until decent
people avoided the streets and bazaars, while shopkeepers were made
* D'Ohsson, iv. 470-474. t Id., 474. I Id., 474-475.
L*

53° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
victims of the same artful system of compulsory almsgiving. Ghazan
forbade such exactions on pain of death, and the guards were ordered to
strike with their maces any camels and mules on the head and legs, when
on feast days they heard the sound of their bells, and also to punish their
conductors. This order caused the nuisance to cease.*
Ghazan's financial reforms enabled him to distribute alms generously.
Twenty tumans (i.e., 200,000 dinars) were distributed in this way annually,
of which Shiraz furnished 40,000. Funds were set apart for the pilgrims
to Mecca, and by a yarligh issued in 1300 the Seyids, sheikhs, imaums,
and sacristans at Mecca were secured all their privileges. The young
amir Kotlokia was appointed general conductor of the pilgrim caravans,
and for their safety a guard of a thousand horsemen, with officers, drums,
kettle-drums, and standards, was set apart. Ghazan sent thither himself
a cover for the Kaaba, embroidered with all the titles of the Ilkhan,
and an imperial camel-sedan, in describing which Wassaf has an oppor
tunity for pouring out his hyperbolic phrases with gusto. Twelve gold
tumans were set apart for the pensions of the Arab sheikhs at Mecca
and Medina. The camel-sedan still sent annually by the Turkish Sultan
seems, like a good many other Turkish institutions, to be derived from
Ghazan's example, which itself was doubtless an imitation of older
Mussulman sovereigns, like the Sultans of Egypt.}
Von Hammer remarks that one of the great causes of corruption and
of confusion in the finances was the double year, founded respectively on
a lunar and a solar basis. The difference between the two became so
great that at the end of the seventh century of the hejira there was a gap
of nine years between the two reckonings, causing constant strife between
the tax collectors and their victims. Ghazan therefore determined to
rectify the calendar and to fix a new era, which commenced on the 13th
Rejeb 701 (i.e., 14th March, 1302),} and was known as the Ilkhanian or
Ghazanian era. We shall have more to say about it in the accompanying
note. Ghazan left no son, but had three daughters— Otoghloghshah,
Aljui, and Oljai, who married Bestam.

Note j, — Ghazan was a great builder, and a large number of his foundations
are recorded. Hitherto the Mongol sovereigns had been buried in the manner
prescribed by old custom, in a retired place which was kept secret from the
people, was planted over with a wood and access forbidden, Ghazan,
who had become a faithful Mussulman, followed the practice of Mussulman
sovereigns. He had visited many tombs of saints in various parts of Persia,
and is said to have declared that a man who died in a state of grace, and
whose tomb was thus revered, was happier, though dead, than living men.
'' That I may have some part with these holy men I will plant some pious
* D'Ohsson, iv. 475-477. t Ilkhans, ii. 172-173. X Id., 174-175-

GHAZAN KHAN. 53 1
foundations about my own tomb, which will perhaps secure me the divine pity."
He accordingly laid the foundations of some of these establishments at Shenb,
two miles to the south of Tebriz, which was thenceforward known as Sham
Ghazan or Shenb Ghazan. They were completed in the course of a few
years. These buildings, which were on a greater scale than the famous
cupola of Sultan Sanjar, the Seljuk, at Merv, which passed among the
Mussulmans as the largest of their buildings, consisted of (i) a mausoleum.
The foundations of this were laid in the third year of his reign. Its walls were
of the thickness of thirty-three bricks, each brick weighing ten menns.
Fourteen thousand four hundred workmen were engaged upon its construction,
of whom 13,000 were continually employed, and 1,400 assisted. The height of
the building, as far as the vault of the cupola, was 130 ells. Within three years it
rose to a height of 80 ells. The pediment was 10 ells high, and the cornice
also 10 ells. The perpendicular measure of the cupola was 40 ells, its
circumference 1,530 ells. It formed a dodecagon, and on it was represented
the signs of the zodiac* The mausoleum was girdled about with a golden
inscription, composed by Wassaf in his usual exaggerated language. It
terminated with these phrases: " Thanks be to God that he has permitted him
(i.e„ Ghazan) to build these beneficent buildings, and to found these all-
embracing charities, and to cover over the traces of decay with these high-
reaching and deep-sinking gardens, stretching widely like heaven's blue
vault, before which the pyramids must hide away, before which the two
eagles of heaven, the rising and setting one (i.e., the zodiacal signs of the
swan and of lyra) must writhe like the crab and scorpion. Whose battle
ments, like those of heaven, rise stage upon stage, whose lamps shed their
light like the sun and moon, whose summit is high as Arcturos, whose diameter
is like that of the Pole of Heaven, which runs like an Eden balcony from the
Garden of Paradise, where dwell pity and kindness and Rizwan, the guardian
of Paradise.'' Among the many objects of gold which it contained was a
great lamp, which weighed 1,000 miskals. For the decorating of its walls with
lapiz lazuli, not less than 300 menns of that substance were used.
In addition to his tomb, a number of Ghazan's other foundations are enume
rated, as (2) a monastery for dervishes, (3) a college where the doctrines of the
Shafi sect were taught, (4) a similar one devoted to the Hanefi sect, (5) a
hospital, (6) a palace for the administrator of the various establishments, (7) a
library, (8) an observatory, (9) a philosophical academy, (10) a noble fountain
(n) a house of residence for the Seyids, or descendants of the Prophet. The
majority of the carpets for the rooms in these buildings were made at Shiraz. (12)
The garden and kiosk or summer-house of Aardiliya (i.e., of Justice), in compari
son with which, says Wassaf, " the palace of Khosroes was only rubbish, the
Khavrnak a mere bagatelle, and the Ledir a wilderness." The cost of keeping
up the mausoleum and its dependent buildings was over a hundred tumans
(i.e., a million) annually, and a special divan was appointed to superintend
them, presided over by the great amirs Kur Timur and Terentai. In addition
to the buildings here named the whole town of Aujan was rebuilt, and
* Id; 153-

532 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
supplied with markets and baths. Tebriz was surrounded with a wall, which
inclosed within it the suburbs of Jerendab, Surkhab, and Beilankuh. This wall
was 10 ells wide and 54,000 paces in circuit, with five gates, compared by
Wassaf with the five senses of the body. Shiraz was also surrounded with a
wall, while a monastery was built at Hamadan.*
Chardin, in describing Tebriz, tells us that when he wrote, the mosque built
there by Ghazan's first vizier, Khoja Ali Shah, had been almost entirely
destroyed. The base had been repaired, and thither people went to pray. The
minaret, also, which was very lofty, had been similarly repaired. Of Ghazan's
tomb there only remained a large ruined tower, which was still called Minar
Khan Ghazan.t Ker Porter thus refers to these ruins: "To the south-west of
the new walls of the city, but far within the remnants of the old boundaries,
stand the magnificent remains of the sepulchre of Sultan Kazan. It is situated
about two miles from the town, the whole way being marked with shapeless
ruins, even stretching beyond the sepulchre to a great extent ; but the tomb
itself is an object too pre-eminent in desolated grandeur to descry without
approaching. Its appearance now is that of a huge mound of mingled lime-
dust, tiles, and bricks, but surrounded with spacious arches of stone and other
vestiges of departed majesty. {
Note 2. — The era of Ghazan. Among Eastern peoples there were two ways
of calculating the year, one based on the sun's motion, the other on the moon's.
The former commenced with the entrance of the sun into Aries, when day and
night are exactly equal, and terminated when it reached the same point again,
and was reckoned by Wassaf 365J days. The lunar year, based on the
reciprocal positions of the sun and moon, was calculated on the basis of twelve
lunar revolutions. This year numbered only 354 days and a fraction. It is
very clear that these two years speedily fell asunder, and left a considerable
gap between tliem. To rectify the lunar year, and make it consonant with the
solar one, various devices were at different times adopted. The Persians,
whose era, says Wassaf, commenced with the reign of Yezdejird, the son of
Sherujar, calculated their year on a basis of twelve months of thirty days,
adding five days to the end of February (Izfendiarmed), which they named the
five added. In the course of 120 years this reckoning was a month wrong.
The Romans, who were well skilled in science, says the same writer, and made
observations in their observatories, included thirty days in November, April,
June, and September ; twenty-eight in February, and thirty-one in the other
months, but every fourth year counted twenty-nine days in February. That is,
their calendar was the same as ours, and they thus made their lunar year
commence with their solar one. The sixteenth Abbasidan Khalif El
Motedhadbillah Ahmed founded an era based on a calculation of thirteen lunar
months to the year. This era began on the nth of June in the year 1207 of the
Alexandrian era, the 218th year of the hejira, the sun being then in the zenith,
The solar and lunar years had since the commencement of the hejira
accumulated a gap of nine years between them. This was now rectified, and
* Ilkhans ii. 153-155. t Chardin Voyages, ed. Langles, ii. 323.
I Ker Porter's Travels, i. 223.

GHAZAN KHAN. 533
they were brought together again. Seventy years later the secretary of state,
Iz ed daulet Bakhtiar, of the Buweyid dynasty, wrote a treatise on this era.
From its commencement to the year 702 of the hejira, when Ghazan's era
commenced, the differences between the solar and lunar years had accumulated
to 13 years. Ghazan's new era, which began on the 14th of March, 1302,
rectified this, and again brought the solar and lunar years into unison. It was
known as the Ilkhanian era.*
Note 3.— John of Montecorvino in a letter dated at Cambalec, on Quin-
quagesima Sunday, in the month of February, 1306, written to the Vicar-
General of the Franciscans, to the Master of the Order of Preachers, and to the
Friars of either order abiding in the province of the Persians, mentions
how, in the January of the previous year, he sent a letter to the father vicars
and friars of Gazaria, by a friend of his attached to the Court of the Lord
Kathan Khan, and he had since learnt from some messengers of the same
Kathan Khan to the " Cham " (i.e., to the Emperor of China) that his letter
had reached its destination, its bearer having gone on to Tebriz from Serai
This Kathan Khan, as Colonel Yule urges, can be no other than Ghazan Khan,
who, however, died in 1304, which makes the chronology hard to reconcile.t

* Ilkhans, ii. 175-177 and 357-365. t Cathay and the Way Thither, 204.

CHAPTER X.
ULJAITU KHAN.
WITH the death of Ghazan we lose the assistance of the great
historiographer, Rashid ud din, whose work concludes at that
point. It was continued by Masud, son of Abdullah (at the
instance of Shah Rukh, the successor of Timur), who wrote an account of
the reigns of his two successors.
On Ghazan's death his brother Khodabendeh, whom he had nominated
to succeed him, was in his appanage of Khorasan. General Mulai
advised him to keep the news secret, and to take measures for preventing
troubles, especially on the part of Alafrenk, son of Gaikhatu, who raised
claims to the throne, and was supported by Hirkudak, whose wife was
the daughter of Kutlugh Shah and of a sister of Alafrenk, and who had
recently been appointed commander-in-chief in Khorasan. It was
determined at a council that before publishing the news of Ghazan's
death these dangerous people should be removed. Three distinguished
amirs, Isenbuka, Gurji, and Kartokabuka, were told off for the work.
When they arrived at the ordu of Alafrenk that prince was not aware of
Ghazan's death. They sought a secret interview with him, during which
Gurji killed him with his sword. Hirkudak apparently fled, but was
pursued. A vigorous struggle ensued, during which Gurji fell, but at
length Hirkudak and his people were captured and taken before Khoda
bendeh. Ismail Tarkan was ordered to put him to death. His head
fell off at the second blow. This was on the great military road, and the
troops were marched over his body. His two brothers, Toghuz and Ala
Timur, and his three sons, Malik, Arab, and Ramazan, were likewise put
to death. Hirkudak's widow, Shahaalem, the daughter of Siurghutmish,
sent her son Jihangir, who was a minor, to Khodabendeh, to ask his
mercy. He granted him his life, and spared her house from being
plundered, as was customary in the case of executed criminals. Alafrenk's
troops swore allegiance to Khodabendeh, who appointed Musasadeh
Beiktuk the son of Aladai Noyan, as his deputy, and also as commander-
in-chief and made over the viziership of Khorasan to Alai ud din, the son
of Said Weji ud din. He then set out for Tebriz with his most faithful
noyans, Husinbeg, Sevinj, Isen Kutlugh (called Uveis Kutluk by D'Ohsson),
and by the amirs Mulai (the Melaidu of Von Hammer), Jelair, Yas the son

ULJAITU KHAN. 535
of Juchi, Alikushji, and a large contingent of troops.* At each station
he was met by amirs and troops who went to do homage, and in six
weeks, on the ioth of July, 1304, he arrived at Aujan, where he per
formed the ceremonies usual after the death of a Muhammedan ruler, and
distributed funeral meats to the officers, soldiers, and public. Ten days
after his arrival was fixed upon as a fortunate day by the astrologers for
his enthroning, which was carried out with the usual ceremonies. The
princes Kutlugh Shah, Choban, Pulad, Sevinj, and Isen Kutlugh stood on
the right of the throne, with their girdles bound round them, while the
princesses stood on the left, and in front were the amirs. Outside the
tent the troops were ranged in ranks, the military music played, while the
various grandees in order offered the cup and did homage.}
Khodabendeh adopted the style of Sultan Uljaitu (i.e., the fortunate or
rich Sultan).} He was the third son of the Ilkhan Arghun, and was now
twenty-three years old, having been born in 680 HEJ. His mother, Uruk
Khatun, the daughter of Prince Sarije", brother of Dokuz Khatun,
gave birth to him in the midst of the desert separating Merv and
Sarakhs. There had been a great scarcity of water, and her suite were
troubled how to procure it, but directly the prince was born an abundant
rain fell, whence they called the newly-born infant Uljai-buka. Presently
the name Tamudar was substituted for this, according to a Mongol
custom. They believe that a change in the name of their children protects
them from the evil eye. When, in more modern times, Shah Sefi fell
into a state of languor, and it was suggested that it was due to the
witchcraft of the Jews, he was recommended to change his name to
undo the effects of this sorcery.§ Uljaitu was a Shia, and was surnamed
Khodabendeh (i.e., servant of God) by his co-religionists, while the Sunnis
played on the word and called him Kharbendeh (i.e., servant of the ass),
a name corrupted by Pachymeres into Karmpantes. On most of the State
documents he was called Uljaitu Muhammed Khodabendeh. Makrizi
says he was called Ghiath ud din Muhammed. || In his infancy he had
been married to Kunjuskat Khatun, daughter of Shadi Gurkan, with
whom he was brought up. She persuaded him to become a Mussulman
after the death of his mother, the Kerait Uruk Khatun, who, according
to Haithon, had taught him the Christian faith, and had had him baptised
with the name Nicholas.
Three days of feasting followed the enthronement, after which an order
was issued strictly enjoining the observance of the commandments of
religion and the precepts of Muhammedanism, while an adherence to the
yassa of Ghazan was also required. Robes of honour were distributed
among the principal officers. Kutlugh Shah was appointed commander-
in-chief of the army and given the first position at Court as Beglerbeg,
* D'Ohsson, iv. 478-480. Ilkhans, ii. 178-180. t Ilkhans, ii. 180.
} Remusat, Mems. Acad. Inst, vii. 302. § Quatremere, 31. Note. 1 Op. cit., ii. part 2, 233.

536 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
and his tamgha or mark in red was attached to all orders. The noyans
Choban, Pulad, Husein, Sevinj, and Inskutluk were put under him. Khoja
Said Rashid ud din, the historian, was appointed first vizier, and Khoja
Said ud din of Saveh his coadjutor. They had control of the finances,
and authority over the Tajiks (i.e., native Persians). The administration
of the vakhfs was assigned to Kutlugh Kaya and Behai ud din Yakub.
They were enjoined to distribute these funds according to the will of the
founders, and not to take a tenth for themselves, as their predecessors
had done, contrary to the religious law. A considerable largess was
distributed, by which the treasury was emptied.* Directly after the
festivities- were over Khodabendeh released the Egyptian envoy Hosam
ud din Mojiri and the judge Imad ud din Ali, who had been placed in
confinement in the latter years of Ghazan's reign.
On the 8th of August he set out from Aujan for Tebriz, where he visited
his brother's grave, and prayed, shed tears, and distributed alms. On the
19th of September he received in audience the envoys of Timur Khakan,
the Emperor of China, and nominally, at least, his suzerain, as he was of
all the Mongol world. They took presents and congratulations. He also
received envoys from Chapar and Dua, the heads of the ulusses of
Ogotai and Jagatai, who went to report the treaty by which the long feuds
between the rival princes of the house of Jingis had been terminated,}
and offering their friendship. The Khakan's envoy presented a yarligh,
in which he expressed the hope that thenceforth there might be concord
and good understanding among the princes of the house of Jingis, &c.
A great feast was given. In front of the throne were placed the golden
sideboards, shaped like lions, and decked with cups and beakers. On
the right sat the princes ; on the left the royal princesses and their
daughters. The tent was encompassed by a tuman of troops.
Immediately before it were the Sikurjis or lancebearers, the masters
of the horse, and riding masters (akhtajis), with led horses in rich
bearings ; the fowlers (kushjis) with their falcons ; the four amirs
commanding the four sections of the lifeguards. Sentinels with cudgels
were employed in keeping back the pressing crowd, and in maintaining
order. Kumiz and kara kumiz flowed freely, amidst singing and music.
The reunion of the Mongol world was made the subject of congratulations.
The Khakan's envoys were treated with the greatest honour, and presented
with rich gifts, and Yaghmish, who had been governor of Ispahan during
Ghazan's reign, was commissioned to take the Ilkhan's homage, or,
perhaps, rather congratulations, to China.} Uljaitu now set out for
Meragha to inspect Khulagu's observatory. There he installed the
Khoja Assil ud din, son of the great astronomer, Nasir ud din, as director.
Returning once more to Tebriz, he set out for Mughan to pass the
* D'Ohsson, 481-483. Ilkhans, ii. 180-182. t Ante, i. 288-280. I Ilkhans, ii. 183-184.

ULJAITU KHAN. 537
winter. There he, on the 9th of December, received envoys from Toktu,
the ruler of Kipchak ; and on the 7th of January dispatched an embassy
to Egypt, with which were sent the two envoys recently released from
prison, with the request that Irinchin, brother of Sevinj, whom the
Egyptians had captured in the recent campaign and detained, might be
released. A friendly message was also sent by the Ilkhan. Uljaitu had
asked for the hand of Irinchin's daughter, Kutlugh Shah, in marriage.
The contract was signed on the 23rd of March, Pulad Ching Sang
representing the Ilkhan and Rashid ud din the princess, and the marriage
was celebrated on the 29th of the same month. On the 20th June the
bakhtak (the word means a helmet in Persian) was placed on Kutlugh
Shah's head, and she was installed in the grand ordu of Dokuz Khatun.
At this marriage Rashid acted as vakil to the princess. Three days later
Uljaitu married Bulughan Khatun Khorasani, widow of Ghazan, to
whom he gave a marriage gift of 90 menns of silk.*
We have seen how Shah Jihan was nominated ruler of Kerman by
Ghazan. He was summoned to his presence by Uljaitu, was reproached
with his want of courtesy to the representatives of his suzerain, his care
lessness in paying tribute, and his cruelty towards the grandees of the
country. The Ilkhan, touched by his youth and beauty, spared his life,
but he would not allow him to return to Kerman, which was thenceforth
governed in the name of the Mongol divan. Shah Jihan reconciled
himself to his fate, and withdrew to Shiraz, where he amassed great
wealth and acquired great influence. With him ended the dynasty of the
Karakhitais of Kerman, which had reigned there since the year 1223.T
Uljaitu allowed the great sheikh Safi ud din of Ardebil to sit on his
right at table, and on his left the great sheikh Alai ud daulet of Semnan.
One of these ate while the other touched nothing. When the tables
were removed, Uljaitu said, " The piety of the two great sheikhs is
pre-eminent, but why did one eat of all meats while the other ate not at
all ? If it was lawful, why did they differ ? If unlawful, why did one of
them not refrain like the other?" Safi ud din replied, "His eminence
the Sheikh Alai ud daulet is a sea, which nothing can soil," and Alai ud
daulet replied, " His eminence the Sheikh Safi ud din is a royal falcon,
which soars over everything." The Ilkhan was much pleased with these
reciprocal compliments of the holy men, and commended and rewarded
them accordingly.} At this time, we are told, several Jewish physicians
embraced Muhammedanism. In order to test the sincerity of their con
version the Vizier, Rashid ud din, urged that they should be asked to eat
some mule's flesh (Quatremere says camel's flesh), boiled in sour milk,
the Mosaic law having prohibited both the eating of mule's flesh and the
cooking of flesh in sour milk. This test was accordingly applied to them.
* D'Ohsson, iv. 484-485. Ilkhans, ii. 184. Quatremere (Rashid), xiii.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 485. ilkhans, ii. 142. I Ilkhans, ii. 185-186.

538 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
As Von Hammer says, it may have been suggested by Rashid ud din to
prove his own faithfulness to Islam, some having accused him of being
a Jew by origin* Wassaf reports an intrigue which now arose against
Rashid ud din and his colleague, Said ud din, who were accused by
Kursirh, the former secretary of Hirkudak, and others, of some
malpractices. Kutlugh Noyan was deputed to inquire into the matter,
and the accusations having proved groundless, some of the accusers were
put to death and others bastinadoed.t On the 8th of March, 1306, fresh
envoys came from the Khakan Timur with a present of gerfalcons.} This
was apparently followed some time after by another embassy, headed by
Uljaitu Buktimur, who escorted a princess of the imperial house as a wife
for the Ilkhan, and also took a present of 1,500 horses. This envoy, on
his return home, was detained by Isenbuka,the Khan of Jagatai.§ Rashid
says when envoys arrived from the Khakan's Court they became Mussul
mans, and submitted to circumcision, though they would have to bear
severe reproaches on their return. ||
In the second year of Uljaitu (i.e., 1306) a struggle broke out in the
further East between the houses of Ogotai and Jagatai, which will be
described in detail in the next volume. One of the consequences was
that Sarban, son of Chapar, who was at the head of the ulus of Ogotai,
with a number of princes and other supporters, fled to Persia, and sought
shelter at the Court of Uljaitu. Among the fugitives were two whose
relatives had filled a notable rble in the history of the earlier Ilkhans,
named Behadur Kazan, son of Kurkuz, and Ordu Kazan, the brother of
Nuruz. They sent word to the frontier to explain the reason of their flight.
The noyan Yasaul, commanding the frontier, to guard against surprise
first sent forward a regiment of karauls, or frontier guards, and followed
himself with his amirs, fully armed. When they drew near Konduz-
baghlan, in the neighbourhood of the Oxus, there was some misunder
standing between their outposts, which led to a momentary struggle, but
the real state of things having been disclosed, there was a speedy peace
making and feasting. When Uljaitu heard of their arrival, he summoned
them to the Court. Sarban, who was the most important among them,
died in passing through Khorasan ; but Timur Oghul, a descendant of
Juchi Khasar, with his son Minkian, and Sarban's two sons, Buruntai and
Bojir, with the amirs Behadur Kazan and Ordu Kazan, leaving a portion
of their forces in their yurts, repaired with the rest, and the amirs of
the hazarehs (i.e., the commanders of regiments) to the Court, where they
were royally entertained. Prince Buruntai was, with the concurrence of
the Grand Prince Suntai, who was master of the horse, appointed
governor of Georgia. His brothers, Bojir and Hirkodak, were given a body
of 500 Karaunas, at the request of the vizier Rashid ud din. Timur Oghul
* D'Ohsson, iv. 487-488. Ilkhans, ii. 186. Quatremere, xiv. t Ilkhans, ii. 186-187.
j D'Ohsson, 487-488. $ Quatremere, 13-14. Note. || Id,

ULJAITU KHAN. 539
died about this time. Lastly, the amirs Behadur Kazan and Ordu
Kazan, were given suitable yurts, forces, and pensions.*
We described in a previous chapter the earlier doings of the famous
farmer-general of the taxes of Fars, the Seyid Jemal ud din, who lived in
regal splendour in the island of Kish in the Persian Gulf.} On Uljaitu's
accession he went to do homage to him, and was offered the government
of Fars; but he declined it, and returned to his principality of Kish. His
son, Fakhr ud din, had been sent, as we have seen, by Ghazan to China
to look after his share of the imperial revenues there, and also to buy
silk, and died, on his return home, on the coast of Coromandel, where a
tomb was erected over him near that of his uncle. This uncle, who
died early in the year 1303, was Taki ud din Abdur Rahman Al Thaibi,
who was the chief minister of the Diro, or ruler of that coast — a man of
sound judgment, to whom Fitan, Mali Fitan, and Kabil were made over.
On his death his master would have confiscated his property, but his son,
the Malik Muazzain Siraj ud din, having secured his goodwill by the
payment of 200,000 dinars, obtained his father's post as Vizier, and also
his property.} In 1305 Jemal ud din was summoned to Shiraz, the
government of which was conferred on him in order that he might restore
order to its finances ; but he was ill at the time, and died the following
year (i.e., 1306), to the great regret of the people of Shiraz, who raised a
handsome tomb over his remains, and composed an elegy on his death.
Wassaf himself, who had known him, composed another.§ On the 14th of
April, 1306, Rashid ud din presented Uljaitu with his famous work,
entitled "Jami ut Tevarikh" (or Collection of Annals), and was duly
praised.|| Uljaitu now turned his attention to the strip of mountain country lying
north of his favourite residence, Sultania, called Ghilan, which, thanks to
the difficult passes and forests which it contained, had hitherto maintained
its independence against the Mongols. This district, lying between the
Caspian and the high mountains of Dilem, although only thirty parasangs
in length, was divided into twelve districts, subject to as many princes.
Ardai Kazan, son of Arghun Aka, Khulagu's famous minister, who
arrived at the Ilkhan's Court on the 25th of December, 1306, with the
news of the death of Dua Khan, the chief of the ulus of Jagatai, told
Uljaitu that Dua and his officers used to speak scornfully of the fact
that the ruler of Persia could not conquer such a small district as Ghilan,
inclosed as it was in his dominions. Piqued at this remark, he deter
mined to subdue it, and consulted with K^rai, the governor of Tharem,
who knew the country. Four divisions were accordingly ordered to
march. Choban commanded one which went by way of Ardebil,
Kutlugh Shah by Khalkhal, Tugan and Mumin by Kazvin, and Uljaitu
* Ilkhans, ii. 189-190. t Ante, 418-421. I Elliot, iii. 45.
$ Elliot, iii. 47. Ilkhans, ii. 197-198. || D'Ohsson, iv. 488.

54° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
in person by way of Lahejan. At Share" Choban was met by Rokn ud din
Ahmed, prince of the district, who had prepared provisions for his troops,
and took him presents. He was ordered to guide the Mongol forces by
the easiest route, and was promised that he would be confirmed in his
principality when the country was conquered. The Mongols then
marched on Kesker, or Kierkier, ravaging, making prisoners, and killing
those they found in arms. When Choban arrived near Kesker, the amir
Sherif ud daulet went to him with presents. This part of Ghilan having
thus been conquered without resistance, Choban took the two princes
with him, and joined Uljaitu on the road to Lahejan. Kutlugh Shah had
received the submission of the prince of Khalkhal, named Sherif ud din.
Having asked him for information on the country he was going to march
through, and which he proclaimed he intended desolating with fire and
sword and conquering, Sherif ud din recommended him to be prudent,
as the country was difficult and the people not easily frightened ; but
Kutlugh Shah, who was of a reckless disposition, took no heed, and sent
Pulad Kaya in advance. The Ghilanians defended their passes bravely,
and after three encounters, in all of which they were beaten, they sent to
offer their submission to Pulad Kaya, who sent on the news to Kutlugh
Shah. He would have assented, but his son Sipauji dissuaded him,
saying that having entered the country it was better now to conquer it,
and to exterminate the inhabitants, and that if Pulad Kaya's advice were
followed they would lose the glory of the campaign. The latter was
therefore recalled, and Sipauji given command of his detachment. He
continued the , advance, putting everyone he met to the sword, and
arrived at Tumin after slaughtering a great number of people. Reduced
to despair, the Ghilanians concentrated between Tulem and Resht, and
marched against him. Sipauji was encamped on marshy ground. After
a stubborn fight the Mongols were defeated, and their horses being bogged,
most of them perished. Kutlugh Shah wished to advance with his division
to avenge this disaster, but his men refused to obey, and retreated in
disorder, nor could he stop them, although he put several of them to
death. Although he had but forty companions left he would not retire,
but continued to fight on bravely. He at length fell from his horse,
struck by an arrow, whereupon a Ghilanian officer ran up to him, and
said " Nuruz did not find an avenger in Persia ; God has sent you here
to receive punishment at my hands." He thereupon killed him. The
immense booty which the Mongols had made in the district of Dibaj fell
into the hands of the Ghilanians.
Meanwhile, Togan and Mumin, who had advanced by way of Kazvin,
received the submission of Prince Hindushah, whom they took with them
to Uljaitu's camp, promising to secure his confirmation on the throne.
Uljaitu himself left Sultania in May, 1307, leaving Pulad Ching Sang in
command of his oghruks, or domestic establishment. He traversed

ULJAITU KHAN. 541
Tarem, and entered Dilem on the 21st of May by the route of
Kurandesht and the village of Lussan, and pitched his camp on the
Sipid rud. His troops pillaged Khashjan, although that town had
submitted. On the 29th Talish had the same fate. Many of the people
of Dilem who had withdrawn to the woods were killed, and their wives
and children carried off. On the 2nd of June the royal head-quarters
were moved to the banks of the river Deil^man. On the 6th Uljaitu
broke through the pass of Ghilan, and entered the country of Nu-
Padishah by Russita, which is on the main road to Kazvin. The troops
could only traverse the defiles in small parties, and suffered considerably.
Near Shiruyei-Talish, which was situated amidst forests and mountains,
the inhabitants fell on the baggage train, and captured many arms.
When he arrived near Lahejan, Uljaitu summoned the Padishah to
submit, so as to spare the blood of his people. "Trust not in the
height of your mountains nor the denseness of your forests, for my army
can fill up the sea and overturn the mountains." The Ghilanian prince
went with his sword and a sheet to implore the clemency of Uljaitu, who,
at the instance of the general Isen Kutluk and the vizier Rashid ud
din, received him well. When he entered Lahejan the Padishah gave
him a feast. He stayed four days there, and left again on the 13th of
June. Having crossed the Sipid rud, he encamped at Kerjian, whose
environs were laid waste. The following day he received the submission
of Prince Soluk, and after sending a body of troops into the district of
Temijan, he withdrew again by way of Kutem and the Sipid rud.
When he heard of the fate of Kutlugh Shah he was much distressed,
and sent a picked body of 3,000 men under Sondave" Behadur, Behlul,
and Abubekr to revenge him. They found the people'of Tumen, Resht,
and Tulem had assembled to resist them. A battle ensued on the 18th, in
which both sides fought desperately. Sondarve and Abubekr, the latter
of whom commanded the men of Khorasan, both fell. Sheikh Behlul was
wounded. The Mongols, weakened by their losses, withdrew from the
battle-field, and entrenched themselves to await reinforcements, which
duly arrived under Hussein and Sevinj. A second struggle, more bloody
than the previous one, now ensued. This time the Ghilanians, having
lost half their men, fled to the woods and mountains. Tumen, Resht, and
Tulem were sacked, the men there killed, the women and children carried
off into slavery, and the whole district ravaged. Another body of Mongols
marched on Temijan, whose prince, Amir Muhammed, offered tribute.
The Mongol chiefs would have granted him peace, but were dissuaded
by a certain Mamshaki, who urged them to plunder the town, which was
believed to be very rich. Muhammed's envoy was sent back with a
negative answer. Driven to bay, he met the invaders on favourable
ground, and won such a complete victory that few of them were able
to regain Kazvin. Muhammed now sent to explain the circumstances to

542 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Uljaitu, and offered to go to the Court. Uljaitu accepted his statement,
blaming those who had refused to accept his advances.
Having conquered Ghilan, he set out again on his return on the 29th of
June, taking with him the Ghilanian princes who had submitted, among
whom the Padishah was the most powerful, and also Soluk, who was
renowned for his bravery, and Jelal ud din, brother of Dibaj. They
offered to pay an annual tribute of silk, and also redeemed the prisoners
who had been carried off, and who were sent back to Ghilan. The
Padishah was given a robe of honour and special diploma, and also a
royal princess in marriage, and with Soluk and the other chiefs was
allowed to return home. Dibaj, who was descended from the Sassanian
princes, on whose territory Kutlugh Shah had perished, feared to meet
Uljaitu, but sent his submission. He afterwards went, however, and
subsequently paid several visits to his suzerain, who always treated him
with distinction. Uljaitu, on reaching Sultania, issued a commission to
inquire as to who had been to blame for the deaths of so many brave
officers. After strict inquiries the yargujis pointed out Sipauji, Mamishki,
and several other amirs. They were condemned to death, but the Sultan
remitted the punishment in the case of Sipauji, on account of his father,
in favour of 120 strokes of the bastinado, while his father's tuman, or
division, was made over to Choban. Other officers received 120 strokes
of the baton on their back and chest.*
The " History of Georgia " describes the events of this campaign in
some detail. It tells us the Georgian king Wakhtang was attached to
Uljaitu's army corps. That Kutlugh Shah was accompanied by the
people of Beka ; that Usen, the Jalair (i.e., Hussein), marched with the
Osses or Ossetes, living at Gori ; and that Choban, the Sulduz, went with a
fourth army. Among the Ghilanians there were four princes — Erkabazn,
Ubash, Rostan, and Asan, the last of whom occupied the most inaccessible
defiles. Erkabazn opposed the Khan's army. A sharp fight took place,
in which Wakhtang commanded the advance guard. The Mongol
advance was much impeded by woods and marshes. A hand-to-hand
fight ensued under the Khan's eyes, and the carnage was great, only one-
fifth of the Mongols escaping. All those of Somkheth perished close to
the king, many aznaurs leaving no heirs, since fathers, sons, and brothers
were all killed. The king himself, who fought very valiantly, was
wounded in the thigh. The Khan, seeing how desperately the country
was defended, determined to retire. He was pursued, and again lost
many men. Ushish, prince of the Ghilanians, closed one of the defiles
with a gate, and thus cut off Kutlugh Shah's retreat. He thereupon
dismounted, and ordered his people to do the same. Presently he was
shot by an arrow while sitting on a bench. His son Sibuchi (i.e., Sipauchi)

* D'Ohsson, iv. 488-497.

ULJAITU KHAN. 543
thereupon fled, but the greater part of his people were killed, many of them
being bogged in an inundated rice field; and slaughtered. Meanwhile
Choban defeated the Ghilan chief, Rostan Malik, who retired to a secure
vantage, where Choban did not pursue him, but retired slowly. Gamresel
Javakhis Shiwili fought bravely in this struggle. The Tartars succeeded
in withdrawing without any inconvenience. Usen, with the Osses, fought
an indecisive battle, after which both parties withdrew. When the troops
reunited again at Aujan, Uljaitu appointed Choban generalissimo in the
place of Kutlugh Shah. Wakhtang, the Georgian king, and all his
didebuls, were handsomely rewarded for their brave conduct in the
campaign, and were then sent home again .*
When Wakhtang returned, the people of Khodris, who were Mussulmans,
incited the Khan against the Christians. Uljaitu, seduced by their advice,
sent a noyan to Georgia to cause the King and his people to apostatize,
and to destroy the churches. He arrived at Nakhchivan, as the King
was leaving there. Instead of ceding to his menace, he appealed to his
companions to remember the faith of their ancestors and the glorious end
of the Holy Martyrs, and bade them accompany him to the Khan, where
they might sacrifice their heads for him who had laid down his life for
them. His soldiers gladly obeyed, and Uljaitu was astonished to see the
King's return. Kneeling down, Wakhtang said, " High and powerful
Khan, you know that all the Christian chiefs have been ordered to
abandon their faith. Listen, now, to me. My father and grandfather
served thy grandfather and father while they professed this faith, yet no
one said to them, ' The Georgians hold a wicked creed,' and we Georgians
are distinguished among all. The religion of the Persians, on the other
hand, was regarded as abominable by preceding Khans, who exterminated
those professing it, because they were poisoners, pe'de'rasts, and homicides.
If you listen to them, O, Khan, I, the King of the Kharthlis, and all the
Georgian mthawars are ready to be executed." He then presented his
neck. At these words the Khan treated the King honourably, raised him
up, and addressed him some sweet words, and repenting of what he had
done, blamed his counsellors. The Georgian history says that while
the Christian churches were being dismantled four of Uljaitu's sons
died on four successive days. The King now returned to Nakhchivan,
where he fell ill and died. This is the account in the Georgian history.
Wakhusht, on the other hand, says he was actually put to death by the
Khan with cruel tortures.} Wakhtang was taken and buried at Dmanis,
and left two sons, Dimitri and Giorgi, the former of whom possessed
Dmanis, and the latter Samshwilde'.
When Choban succeeded Kutlugh Shah (also called Kutlugh Buka) he
marched with a large army to Kola, thence to Artan, and as far as Arsian.
* Hist, de la G&rgie, 635-638. t Id., 638-639, and notes.

544 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
He summoned Beka to go and see him or the Khan. The latter, instead of
going, sent his young son Shalwa, whom the Mongol commander took
with him when he traversed Somkheth, not molesting BeTta's country*
B&ta died in i3o8,t and his son David VI., brother of Wakhtang III., in
1 310. The latter left a young son Giorgi, known as Mtzire", or the Little,
and who is referred to as Giorgi VI. He was only two years old on his
father's -death. The boy was summoned to the Ordu, and was nominated
ruler of Tiflis by the Khan. He was placed under the tutelage of his uncle
Giorgi, called Brtsqinwaleh, or the Brilliant, son of Dimitri the Devoted,
who was brother of David VI. and Wakhtang III. When Giorgi VI.
was sent to Tiflis, Uljaitu sent with him a certain Zaal Malik, a Persian,
of Khorasan, and also Akhrunchi, brother of Choban's father, who had
orders to bring all the Georgians under his rule.}
When Uljaitu set out for his campaign in Ghilan he left his harem at
Konkurolang (i.e., the place where Sultania was afterwards built). His
favourite wife, Iltermish, was left in charge of Rashid ud din, who had
orders to remain with her till her recovery. Meanwhile Taifur, a son of
Uljaitu, who was a child, had a narrow escape of being burnt to death.
Some one having planted a torch near his tent, it was upset, and the tent
got on fire, and had it not been for the devotion of two attendants, who
threw themselves on the burning tent cover, which they clasped, and at
great risk to themselves, put out the flames, he would have perished.
Iltermish thereupon distributed alms among the poor.
Let us now turn our view further East. We have seen how Fakhr ud
din, the Malik of Herat, had proved rebellious, and had supported the
turbulent Nigudarians during the reign of Ghazan, and how Uljaitu, who
was then governor of Khorasan, was sent against him. When the latter
mounted the throne, he summoned the malik, like the other great vassals,
to go and do homage, an invitation which he evaded. Presently the
Ilkhan dispatched Danishmend Behadur at the head of 10,000 men to
bring him to his senses. On arriving at Herat he sent Tutak bela and
Hindujak into the place with the Sultan's orders, which were that he
must surrender the Nigudarians and send home again the people of
Merv, Abiverd, Sarakhs, Jam, and Khavaf, who had rebelled at Herat,
and remit to Danishmend's agents the produce of the three previous
years' customs and the profits of the mints. The " Chronicle of
Herat " says the demand also included that the Ilkhan's name should
appear on his seal and coins. In case of refusal he threatened to besiege
the place. " Tell Danishmend," said the malik, " that if he wishes for
presents due to my generosity I am willing to satisfy him, but if he has
come here sword in hand to acquire renown, and to subject me to his
authority, he has come with a vain hope." Danishmend thereupon
* Hist, de la Georgie, 640. t Id., 641. Note 1. X Id,, 642.

ULJAITU KHAN. 545
summoned the great feudal chiefs of Khorasan with their troops, and
there speedily arrived the lords of Ferah, Derdi, Izfdzar, Tulek, andAzab,
each with some cavalry and infantry. The mollah Vejih ud din Nessdfi,
grand judge of Herat, having left that town with Fakhr ud din's consent,
met Danishmend at Nishapur, attached himself to his person, and
urged him strongly to attack Herat, which he told him he would capture
ifhecutoffits supplies. A close blockade was accordingly instituted.
Fakhr ud din prepared for a vigorous resistance. He opened the
magazines which his predecessor had stored, and distributed largess
among his troops, who, thus encouraged, made some vigorous sorties and
killed many of the besiegers. In the course of ten days Danishmend, who
was somewhat discouraged by these reverses, sent the Sheikh ul Islam, or
mufti, Kutb ud din, of Jesht, or Chesht (now called Khajeh Chisht), a place
near Herat, to say that he had no personal animosity against him, nor did
he wish to ruin the country or shed Mussulman blood ; but that he had
received orders, and that if he did not execute them he would be held
responsible. " I suggest to you, therefore," he continued, " whom I look
upon as my son, to defer to the royal wishes, and to retire for a few days
to one of your fortresses, while one of my sons occupies Herat ; and rest
assured this proposal has no other motive than to secure peace between
us." Fakhr ud din said he was willing to do anything which the Sheikh
ul Islam suggested. The latter therefore advised him to drive out the
pestilent Nigudars, and to withdraw himself to the fortress of Amankuh,
whence he could return when the Mongol troops had withdrawn. When
the malik suggested that Danishmend meant to deceive him, and to
waylay him en route, the sheikh urged that he should ask for hostages.
He therefore asked that Danishmend's son Togai should remain in the
city, while his other son Laghiri accompanied him to Amankuh, saying he
would send him back on his return. Danishmend, on the return of Kutb
ud din, called a council of the maliks and amirs, and in spite of their
advice he ordered Vejih ud din to draw up the formula of his oath. It
ran thus in Persian : " By the God, before whose majesty the powerful and
the weak, the king and the pauper, are prostrate. By the Almighty
Being and the All-powerful. By the God of heaven and earth. . By the
God who knows what is hidden, and knows one secret from another, and
by his Apostle. When the Malik Fakhr ud din shall have departed for
Amankuh, I, Danishmend Bahadur, will not do, nor attempt, nor order to
be done, any harm to his ministers nor his officers. I will, on the
contrary, be kind to the people of Herat ; nor will I attempt to capture
its citadel." The sons and relations of Danishmend, the maliks, and
amirs became guarantees of this promise, and signed it with their
signatures. Kutb ud din took the document to the malik, who sent him
a corresponding engagement in these terms : " By the substance of God
and the soul of Muhammed. By the high veneration due to Islam and the
M*

546 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
glory of the Holy Faith. By the purity of every precept of the divine law,
By the interpretation of every letter of the Koran. I, Malik Fakhr ud din,
will do no hurt to the amir Danishmend, and when I arrive safe and
sound at Amankuh I will send back the amir Laghiri, and so long as the
amir Danishmend remains faithful to his promises, and treats me as a
father, I will not oppose him, and if I violate this engagement may I be
abandoned by God and become the object of the severest punishment
of the Most High" Danishmend now sent Laghiri, with ten of his chief
officers, to accompany the Malik to Amankuh, and Togai with others to
enter the town, and ordered the latter to act prudently, to win over the
maliks and officers, and to secure the goodwill of the inhabitants by his
affability, and to hold out hopes until the town was fairly in his possession,
when he might proceed to punish the guilty.
On the arrival of Togai the Malik confided the command of the town
and citadel to Jemal ud din Muhammed Sam, one of his old officers,
whom he instructed to carefully guard the citadel, known as the Castle of
Ikhtiar ud din, and beware of any stratagem on the part of Danishmend ;
that he was not to allow any of the garrison to go, nor to go himself to him,
but to plead that the Malik had made him swear not to leave the citadel
without his permission. If Danishmend asked for presents he was to
send him 10,000 dinars, fifty sets of robes, some loads of provisions, an
Arab horse, and a Turkish slave, whom he pointed out. Having given
these orders, he summoned the Heratian, Seistanian, and Ghurian
officers in his service, distributed robes among them, and made them
promise to be united, and to strictly obey the orders of Muhammed Sam,
to whom he gave his sword, saying, " If anyone disobeys you, cut off his
head." He also handed over to him the arsenal of the citadel, which was
well supplied with swords, cuirasses, coats of mail, bucklers, and bows and
arrows, and left at nightfall, with his coat of mail and' helmet on, and
escorted by two hundred horsemen and three hundred foot soldiers. He
arrived at Amankuh at night, and the following day sent Laghiri back to
his father, begging him to keep his word, and to treat the people of Herat
well. The following day Danishmend entered Herat at the head of his troops,
with trumpets and cymbals playing, and with a standard representing a
dragon. He was astonished when he saw the fortifications there,
which Fakhr ud din had recently augmented. The Molla Nesseff urged
upon him that it was these fortifications which made the people of Herat
so hard to manage, and that it would be well to destroy them. Danish
mend caused the gate of Khosh, by which he had entered, to be dis
mantled, drove away with blows of maces those who were guarding
it, and posted a detachment of his troops there. A proclamation was
issued, stating that the city belonged to the Sultan Uljaitu, that Danish
mend governed it in his name, and that the inhabitants could count on

ULJAITU KHAN. 547
his goodwill and should peacefully continue their occupations. The
following day he sent Tutak Bela to summon Muhammed Sam to his
presence, and receiving an insolent answer he swore in his rage that he
would make a terrible example of him, and told his officers and the Persian
grandees that the citadel must be assailed that very day. "General,"
replied the Molla Nesse'fi, "it would be better to take it without a
struggle." "Without doubt," said Danishmend, "if it be possible."
" Send word, then, to the Malik, by Kutb ud din Cheshti, that you are
going to send your son Laghiri to the Sultan to announce to him that the
Prince of Herat has submitted to his orders and surrendered the town,
and to beg that he will deign to confer on the Malik the grand diploma
and robes from the royal wardrobe, and that the country of Herat cannot
be better governed than by this Ghurian prince ; but do not fail to add to
Fakhr ud din, ' The citadel of Herat has become so famous since the
catastrophe that overwhelmed Nuruz, that the Sultan will not fail to ask
if it has been surrendered. I beg of you to order Muhammed Sam to
allow my son Laghiri to enter it with twenty men, so that he may truly
say that he has been received within the citadel.'" Danishmend readily
adopted this advice, and ordered Kutb ud din Cheshti, Tutak Bela, and
one of his relatives to set out. When Fakhr ud din heard the proposal
he at once replied, " I always said that this cursed Turk was not to be
trusted, and would not keep his word." Tutak Bela assured him that his
master meant no deception, and swore that it was in the interest of both
parties. " That may be," he said, " but the demon of pride may overcome
him, and he may try to secure the garrison, which will cause great
trouble, for they are all determined men, especially Muhammed Sam, the
bravest of the Ghurians." He ended, however, by giving his consent, and
wrote a letter to Muhammed Sam, which he intrusted to them, stating
that his father, Danishmend Behadur, was coming to see the citadel, and
that he must show him the greatest honour. It is said that by another
letter, which he dispatched secretly to him, he told him to be on his
guard against any artifice that Danishmend might contemplate.
Muhammed having received these orders, planted three hundred men
in ambuscade in various parts of the citadel, and made preparations for a
feast he was going to give to Danishmend. Presently Kutb ud din
Cheshti arrived with the announcement that the general was coming.
The commander replied that he was ready to obey the malik's order, and
would open the gates of the citadel whenever Danishmend wished. The
latter's officers were greatly elated, and fancied themselves already
masters of the place. Danishmend asked Kutb ud din how many men
there were inside. He replied there might be 250 Seistanis and 50
Ghurians, who in a struggle would fly before ten men. Vejih ud din said
that there were not so many as this, and that his spies informed him there
were not more than thirty armed men, the others being merely servants or

548 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
custodians of the magazines. Thereupon Kutb ud din said to the
general, " If the amir is going to the citadel with sinister views, he may
repent of it. I know Muhammed Sam and his companions Ilduz, Lokman,
Ferrukhsad, and Abul Feth. They are resolute men. God grant that
no harm comes to you, and that you lose not in one moment the whole
fruit of your negotiations." " Rest assured," said Danishmend, laughing ;
and taking his sons apart, he said to them, " Keep your eyes always on
me. When I ask for my bow from my squire seize Muhammed Sam and
his men." He then went to the bath of Chehar Su, whither he summoned
a Hindu geomancer, and asked him whether he should or should not go
to the citadel. The Hindu having gone through his calculations, said
neither the aspect of the stars nor the lines of the rend were favourable,
and tried to dissuade him. Danishmend, affected by his reply, was about
to return to his quarters when he met Vejih ud din, who said to him, " Pay
no heed to the words of the geomancer. He professes to know the
future, which is known to God alone. Remember this divine sentence :
'Whoever believes in the influence of the stars is an infidel.' Very
often there _ happens the exact reverse of what these people predict."
Danishmend being reassured by these words, first sent his son Laghiri
with twenty picked men to the citadel. They were followed by Kajui
with ten other men, while Minkui, one of his relatives, conducted a third
body. Muhammed Sam received the amir's son with marks of respect
and conducted him to the malik's tent. In the course of an hour, the
other two detachments having arrived, there were collected some eighty
of Danishmend's men inside. Dinner was served to them, and
Muhammed Sam did the honours, presented the cup, and received the
congratulations of his guests. Meanwhile Kajui, who was half drunk,
having left the room, noticed four armed Ghurians hiding in ambush
among the fortifications. Entering the room again, he said to
Muhammed Sam, " My brave friend, I have seen some armed men
behind a wall. Have you put them there to arrest us ? " " God preserve
me," he said, " from having any ill designs against you," and seizing a
mace he drove the men outside the citadel with great blows. Danish
mend, having heard of this incident, had his confidence increased, and
arrived at the citadel with 180 picked horsemen. The governor went out
to meet him with every token of respect, holding his stirrup while he
dismounted. But Danishmend, who had his previous uncivil answer still
on his mind, addressed him, saying, " Insolent Tajik, how did you dare to
refuse to come to me ? Your prince did not disobey my orders, while a
dog like you, who have sheltered yourself behind four walls, proud of a
few Tajiks whom you command, dare to place yourself among the
enemies of the ruler of the world. I will have you cut in pieces, and
your castle razed to the ground." "Servants ought to faithfully obey
their masters," said Muhammed, " and I did not come because Fakhr ud

ULJAITU KHAN. 549
din ordered me to stay in the citadel." Professing to be satisfied with
this reply, Danishmend embraced him, said he pardoned his temerity,
and received in return assurances of his devotion. Danishmend alighted
in the square in front of the citadel, and advanced towards the door of
the grand saloon, having beside him the Molla Vejih ud din and the amir
Kirai, who had arrived the same clay from the Court with the appointment
of governor of Herat. Danishmend's officers wore coats of mail under
their cloaks, and as they could not openly wear arms they had secreted
daggers in their girdles, and other weapons in their boots, and followed
their commander. The road leading up to the citadel was carpeted with
costly stuffs. Muhammed Sam had ordered his people to kill Danishmend
when he arrived at the foot of the staircase leading up to the grand
saloon. When he reached the fatal place, Taj ud din Ilduz came to meet
him, and having kissed his hand, let him pass in front of him. He then
seized him by the collar with one hand, and struck him on the head
with his mace. At the same moment Abubekr Sddid, another of the
malik's officers, came out from behind a parapet and struck off Danish-
mend's head with his sabre. Thereupon the Molla Vejih ud din,
Hindujak, Kirai, the Indian astrologer, and the rest rushed for the gate,
but it had been closed. Men who lay in ambush rushed out from all
sides. Terrible cries filled the air, and they were all speedily over
whelmed by the Ghurians. Meanwhile Kutb ud din Cheshti, who had
remained between two gates, cried out " Fear the anger of God. Do not
act against the malik's orders, and bring misfortune on the town."
Laghiri and his companions, who were still in the room where they had
been feasting, barricaded the doors, but the windows were speedily
broken, and they were killed with volleys of stones and other missiles,
Laghiri having rushed out, sword in hand, was slaughtered ; others tried
to escape by the walls, and were broken to pieces, Shirin Khatun,
Danishmend's wife, with his daughters, and the wives of his sons and
brothers, who had gone to the fete, and were witnesses of the tragedy,
raised terrible cries. Muhammed Sam abandoned them to his officers.
Outside, people were ignorant of what had taken place. Inaltikin, Prince
of Ferah, and Tutak Bela, with a group of officers, were assembled before
the gate of the citadel. The " Herat Chronicle " says at the reservoir
called Filbend. A Seistanian, who was a friend of Inaltikin, having
passed out, as if with a message from Muhammed Sam, was asked by the
Prince of Fdrah if Danishmend had finished his meal. He replied in the
language of his country that they had given Danishmend the same
feast as Nuruz. At these words Inaltikin and Tutak, who were
naturally greatly agitated, withdrew hastily to regain their quarters.
They found the gate of Firuz Abad closed, but they broke the chain and
lock with hatchets, and left the town with one hundred horsemen.*
* D'Ohsson, iv. 497-513. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 481-485.

55° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Hardly had they escaped when the Ghurians cried out from the walls of the
citadel to close the city gates and announce to the inhabitants the death
of Danishmend and his companions. They lit a great fire as a signal to
Fakhr ud din at Amankuh. Muhammed Sam descended at the head of
his warriors, and put to the sword all the Mongols he could meet with,
and a terrible massacre was the result.
Delighted as Fakhr ud din was with what had occurred, he was too
prudent to show any exuberant feeling ; but while he professed in the
presence of his followers to be displeased with Muhammed Sam, he wrote
to him, saying, " It would have been better not to have done this, but now
it is done you will defend the city at all hazards, and say that Danishmend
entered the citadel with the intention of killing you, and that you only
acted in self-defence." At the same time he sent ioo well-armed men
from Amankuh to reinforce the garrison of Herat. These events took
place in September, 1306. When Uljaitu heard of them he dispatched
Yassaul to take the command of the troops of Khorasan, with orders to
establish his head-quarters on the Jihun or Oxus, and ordered Bujai, son
of Danishmend, who was then in Rum on the Greek frontier, to go and
avenge the slaughter of his relatives. Another of Danishmend's sons,
Togai, who was encamped at Tus, marched with his men upon Herat,
took command of the troops in its neighbourhood, and blockaded it,
pending the arrival of reinforcements. By the influence of the Sheikh
Kutb ud din Cheshti, and after long negotiations, an order was issued by
the Malik Fakhr ud din for the release of Shirin Khatun, Danishmend's
widow. On leaving the citadel she had 200 people of Herat killed, and
further ordered everybody within forty parasangs of the city to be put
to death. While the Mongols were investing it they were attacked several
times from Amankuh, and many of them killed. Bujai arrived before
Herat in the beginning of February, 1307, five months after his father's
death. In conjunction with his brother Togai, the funeral ceremonies
were renewed, and according to the Mongol custom nine days were spent
in lamentations and mourning. On the ioth Bujai wrote to Fakhr ud din
at Amankuh, saying : " Jemal ud din Muhammed Sam has killed my
father and three hundred of his people. Let me know if it was done
by your orders. If not, write to the officials at Herat that in order to
avoid great troubles they must surrender Sam and the other enemies of
my blood, and restore the money, goods, horses, and arms which they
have taken from us. If not, all this country shall be wasted with fire and
sword." " I declare," said Fakhr ud din in reply, " that I never ordered
Jemal ud din or any other person to kill your father, and that I have
never approved this act. Sam did it at his own instance to protect his
own life, but he is at the head of 2,000 well-armed men. How can
the people of Herat execute any order I may give them for his surrender.
It is a matter for arrangement between you and me." Irritated by this

ULJAITU KHAN. 55 1
answer, Bujai sent out couriers in various directions to summon the great
vassals. He had brought with him men from the country of the Franks,
skilled in using the balista. In the course of forty days he assembled an
army of 30,000 men, who were brought to him by the princes and lords of
Esfizar, Aazab, Herat rud, Kussuye', Bakharz, Jam, Khavaf, Sarakhs,
and other districts of Khorasan. The attack on the town began in the
early days of March. Muhammed Sam commanded its garrison of
2,000 men, who were clad in mail, and to whom he had distributed gifts
according to their rank. For three days a fight took place under the
walls of the bastion Khak ber ser (afterwards called Khakister), when
Bujai, seeing he had lost many men, withdrew to a distance and converted
the siege into a blockade, determining to take the place by starving it
out, for it was so well fortified that he despaired of its capture. The
various approaches were closely guarded, but we are told Muhammed
Sam made nightly sorties, and carried off many hundred horses. During
these events Fakhr ud din died at Amankuh. Muhammed Sam tried to
keep the news secret, and even produced a fabricated letter from the
Malik, stating that he had been ill, but thanks to God he had recovered, and
hoped the people of Herat would second all the efforts of Muhammed
Sam. This letter was read to the magistrates and people, but the very
night of the Malik's death one of his squires, Mozaffer of Esfizar, left
Amankuh and repaired to inform Bujai, who was so pleased that he
took off his robe and cap and gave them to his guest. He was also
invited to a feast, attended by the maliks and other officers, who in their
delight at the news spent the night drinking. The following day Bujai's
camp resounded with the noise of musical instruments calling the troops
to the assault. The defence was obstinate. During the fight Mozaffer
of Esfizar cried out to the townsfolk, " Do not sacrifice yourselves ; Fakhr
ud din died yesterday morning. I have come from Amankuh." Seeing
the impression this news produced upon his people, Lakman the Ghurian
shouted out from the top of a tower, " Miserable impostor, we received
last night a letter written in Fakhr ud din's own hand." He then poured
out invectives upon Bujai and the officers of his army, so that he
began to doubt of the Malik's death, and Mozaffer had to confirm his
statement on oath.* After an attack lasting for five days Bujai, again
despairing of capturing the city by force, determined to sow discord
among its defenders. He wrote a letter in his own hand to a Seistanian
chieftain, named Shah Ismail, in these terms : "You promised some days
since that you would arrest Muhammed Sam. If you were serious in
making this promise, it should be fulfilled this week. Promise the
inhabitants that I will show them pity, so that they will unite with you."
Bujai then sent for one of his Herat prisoners, and said, " I intended
* D'Ohsson, iv. 513-518. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 486-487.

552 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
putting you to death, but I grant you life for the prolongation of that
of our sovereign. You must go this very day into Herat. Say you have
escaped, and let this letter drop on the threshold of the door of Shah
Ismail." Bujai wrote another letter in the name of the people of Herat
who were in his camp, informing Muhammed Sam that Shah Ismail was
in correspondence with himself, and that he had better be on his guard.
This letter was fastened to an arrow and shot into the town, and was
taken to Muhammed. The next day Bujai's own messenger appeared at
the gate of Herat. He was taken before the commander, and said he had
escaped ; but on being pressed about the reason why Bujai had let him go
he produced the letter. Muhammed Sam at once deemed the whole
thing an artifice, summoned Shah Ismail, showed him the letter, and
said, " He wishes to create a difference between us by means of this."
The two chiefs renewed their mutual promises to remain united, and
following Bujai's example wrote a letter to a Heratee in his camp, named
Fakhr ud din Zengui, saying, " It is a long time since you left us with
the intention of killing Bujai. Why do you delay?" They wrote in
a similar way to other people of Herat who had withdrawn to the
Mongol camp. These letters showed Bujai that his ruse had been seen
through. There was in Herat an officer named Yar Ahmed, whose great bravery
had gained him the favour of the Malik Fakhr ud din. He commanded
200 warriors. Envious of Muhammed Sam, he formed a plot with two
other officers, Mahmud Fdhad and Nikpei, to kill him and seize the
citadel. To them he said that Bujai had offered, if he would betray
Muhammed, to make him governor of Herat, to get the appointment
confirmed by the Sultan, and to make over to him 10,000 dinars for
distribution among his companions. The plot was to have been carried
out on the morrow, but it was disclosed by Nikpei. Muhammed Sam
informed his other officers of what he had heard, and they said it was
necessary to arrest the conspirators. On the following day, as appointed,
Yar Ahmed, with his sword by his side and his khanjar in his girdle,
went up to salute Muhammed Sam, who sat in his hall of audience, with
his guards ranged in ranks on either side. He had five companions with
him. Muhammed received him in a friendly way, and told him laughingly
to sit down. Yar Ahmed gave his sword to one of his followers, and
seated himself on the sofa beside him. Directly after, Muhammed said
to him, " Pehluvan, take out your khanjar." Ahmed did so, and gave it
to his follower. The former then continued, " Pehluvan, is it thus that
brave men act ?" " What have I done to displease you ? " said Yar Ahmed.
" Have you not formed such a plot ? " He denied it, but was arrested
with Mahmud Fdhad, and the next day they were executed on the public
square. The same day 200 of his people left the town and went
over to Bujai. . Khuandemir tells us, on the contrary, that these 200 men

ULJAITU KHAN. 553
were decapitated, and that their heads thrown over the ramparts informed
Bujai that the plot had been discovered .*
Meanwhile Yassaul, the commander-in-chief, had arrived in Khorasan,
and had sent several thousand men, under the orders of Muhammed
Duldai, to reinforce Bujai. Duldai sent to Muhammed Sam a message
from his leader, saying he would place him and the people of Herat under
his own protection if they submitted. Muhammed Sam declared he had
merely acted in self-defence in his attack on Danishmend, and was ready
to submit to the general. Hearing of these negotiations, Bujai feared he
might lose the fruit of his exertions if the town submitted to Muhammed
Duldai, and after a consultation with his officers and the Malik's he sent
word to Muhammed Sam that if he would send him Kutb ud din of Tulek,
who had been captured by the garrison, and would promise to surrender
the town and citadel to him, and not to Duldai, he would pardon the
shedding of the blood of his father and brothers, and would bind himself
by a most solemn oath to do him no hurt, nor to any of the people of
Herat. Muhammed destroyed Bujai's letter publicly, heaped insults on
his messenger, and declared only that he would fight. Bujai's answer to
this truculence was to press the siege. Famine now began to be felt, and
was so severe that we are told a load of wheat cost eighty dinars, and
6,000 people perished of hunger. A crowd of starving people went to the
gate of the citadel to implore the pity of Muhammed Sam. Another
account says they entered the Great Mosque and cursed him, and asked
in loud voices that the gates of the city might be thrown open. The
commander allowed those to march out who had no food, and we are told
that 5,000 thus left ; but they were driven back again with swords and
sticks by Bujai's people, and the greater part of them perished on the
banks of the Kartehar, on the roads, and along the walls. The next day
Muhammed Sam removed the manacles from the feet of the Malik Kutb
ud din Tulek, dressed him in a robe of honour, and sent him to Bujai
with an offer of capitulation. Bujai gave his promise in writing to spare
Muhammed's life, and the maliks, as well as his principal officers, also
signed the document. On the following day Bujai's brother Togan had
an interview with Muhammed on the banks of the Kartehar, and assured
him that the engagements entered into with him would be faithfully
carried out. The next day the city gates were thrown open, and the
Mongols marched in. The inhabitants were told to march out, and
orders were given to demolish the ramparts, towers, and walls. On
Sunday, the 23rd of June, the people left the town and scattered them
selves on the banks of the Kartdbar. Muhammed Sam still held the
citadel with 200 men. He now went in person to Bujai, who embraced
him, seated him beside him, called him his son, and said to him, " I
* D'Ohsson, iv. 518-522. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 487. Note.

554 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
forgive you the blood of my father and all your crimes. Rest assured,
and open the gates of the citadel, so that I may send some of my men in."
" All that you command shall be done," was the reply. Bujai gave him
his own robe, and ordered his officers to offer him the cup, and afterwards
gave him a feast in his tent. When Muhammed saw that Bujai was
overcome with wine he withdrew under some pretext, and said to his people,
" Bujai is drunk ; he has but a handful of men with him in the tent ; let us
go in and kill them." They dissuaded him, on the ground that vengeance
would be exacted from the people of Herat, and that they were too few to
escape easily from the camp. Towards evening Muhammed Sam returned
to the citadel. The next day Shah Ismail was well received by Bujai.
Each day a fresh officer paid him a visit, and returned well satisfied with
presents of horses and robes of honour. Bujai wished all the garrison to
come out together and surrender, but Muhammed objected, and his small
following daily diminished by desertion until he only had ioo men with
him. Muhammed had sent word to Yassaul that if he would come the
citadel and city should both be given up to him, and that he would place
himself at his orders. Yassaul reached Herat with 5,000 men, four or
five days after Bujai had taken possession of it. He sent word to
Muhammed to go to his camp, promising to protect him from the resent
ment of Bujai. Trusting in this promise, he went with all his garrison.
Yassaul had him and his people arrested, and handed them over to Bujai,
in spite of his promise, telling him to execute them according to the
Sultan's orders, and then to leave Herat, since he was merely to punish
the assassins of his father and brothers, but not to exercise authority in
the place. He put Taj ud din Yilduz, Lokman the Ghurian, and twenty
other brave warriors, to death, near the Puleh Malan, and then raised his
camp. Yassaul issued a proclamation to the inhabitants, bidding them
return to the town and resume their ordinary occupations. They found
it much dilapidated. Bujai took Muhammed Sam with him in chains,
and ordered one of his relatives to conduct him to Uljaitu's Court, certain
that Muhammed would lay the blame of the death of Danishmend upon
Fakhr ud din, and thus obtain for him (Bujai) the Malik's inheritance.
But Yassaul, afraid that Muhammed might charge him with betraying
him after receiving splendid presents from him, was determined to prevent
him reaching the Ordu. He accordingly sent a body of 100 horsemen
after him, who overtook him near Tus, and conducted him to Bdshuran,
where Yassaul was. The same day Bujai arrived there from the Murghab,
and demanded that he would surrender his prisoner, but Yassaul, feigning
that he had an order from the Court, put him to death.*
Fakhr ud din was hardly dead when his brother Alai ud din seized his
treasure, and began to behave in a sinister way towards his other brother,
* D'Ohsson, iv. 522-527. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 487-488. Note.

ULJAITU KHAN. 555
Ghiath ud din, who repaired to Uljaitu, by whom he was well received,
and invested with the territory from Khorasan as far as India. This was
a safe gift, much of it being altogether beyond the power of the Ilkhan to
give away, being now in the hands of the Jagatai princes. But perhaps
we must merely understand by the phrase the principality of Herat.
Presently, Uljaitu, moved by some intrigues, put him in prison. After
Bujai's capture of Herat, and revenge on the murderers of Danishmend,
the Ilkhan's irritation was appeased, and Ghiath ud din was authorised
to return to Herat as Malik. This was in the year 717 (i.e., 1308).*
Let us now return to Uljaitu. In the beginning of 1307 an envoy came
from the ruler of Kipchak, or the Golden Horde, to ask for the return of
a beautiful maiden who had been captured in the war between Toktu and
Nogai, and been sold into slavery in Persia. She was sent back again,
and at the same time an order was issued that in future no Mongol
maidens were to be sold as slaves within the Ilkhan's dominions, and that
loose houses and wine shops were to be put down, one only being allowed
in each district for the use of strangers.} On his return from Ghilan,
Uljaitu spent some days feasting at his new capital of Sultania, and left
there on the 7th of September for Hamadan, for hunting. On the 30th was
celebrated the wedding of his daughter Dulendi with the amir Choban.
The succeeding month he passed at Gaubari.} The festivities this autumn
were enlivened by the dancing and singing of a famous performer named
Rebiiol-Kolub (i.e., the Spring of Life), who belonged to the tribe Ikdish,
and was born at Baghdad. The Sahib Taj ud din Ali Shah Tarkhani,
who afterwards became vizier, married this singer. He also presented
Uljaitu with a splendidly equipped ship to navigate the Tigris, whose sails
were decorated with stars, with white curtains and a canopy. This ship
was fitted up with various luxuries, including fountains and a dancing-
stage.J) A Kurd named Musa at this time gave himself out to be the
Mahdi, the Messiah of the Shias. He drew a large number of Kurds
after him, and the matter might have been serious but for the activity of
the Mongol officials stationed in the country, who captured the false
prophet and some of his followers, and sent their heads to the Royal Ordu.
We must now revert a little to bring up the history of the Armenian
kingdom of Cilicia to this date. We have seen how the partially blinded
Haithon II. was replaced on the throne by the Armenian barons. He
almost immediately, however, probably owing to his infirmity of vision,
abdicated in favour of his nephew, Leo IV., the son of his murdered
brother Thoros, retaining the position of atabeg or governor of the young
prince. 1 1 The little principality of Armenia had been, as we have seen,
greatly cherished by the Mongols, to whom it formed a kind of advanced
post towards their mortal enemies the Egyptians. This alliance naturally
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 487-489. t Ilkhans, ii. 198. \ D'Ohsson, iv. 529-530.
$ Ilkhans, ii. 198. |l Abulfeda, v. 173. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 385.

55° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
brought upon it the bitter hatred of the latter, and whenever an
opportunity arose it was cruelly punished. Two months before
Ghazan's death the Egyptian Sultan sent an expedition to Cilicia, under
pretence of avenging a body of troops which had attacked that district
from Aleppo, and had been in turn assailed by the Mongols. The amir
Bedr ud din Bektash was appointed commander of this expedition. He
left Egypt in March, 1304, and was joined en route by contingents from
Damascus, Hims, Hamath, Tripoli, and Aleppo. Bektash was delayed
in the last of these cities by illness, but his troops marched on under his
son. They were divided into two bodies. One advanced by way of
Kalat ur Rum and Malattiya, and the other by Derbend. After laying
waste the country, and killing and making prisoners many of the
inhabitants, these two divisions united under the walls of Tel Hamdun,
which capitulated on the 17th of June. After this the Egyptian army
retired.* The following year (i.e., in July, 1305), Shems ud din Kara
Sonkor, the governor of Aleppo, under pretence that the Cilician king
had failed to send the usual tribute, sent a body of 2,000 men under Kush
Timur, one of his Mamluks, again to invade Cilicia. The King offered
him a considerable sum of money if he would retire.} The Egyptians
continued their course of rapine and destruction, burning a number of
villages, until threatened by a body of 6,000 Armenians, Mongols, and
Franks. A struggle ensued at Arasa, in which they were defeated, and
were pursued by the Mongols and Armenians. Only a few returned
home again with Kush Timur, and Marino Sanuto says that of 7,000 who
reached Tarsus only 300 escaped.} The regent or atabeg, Haithon, now
wrote to Kara Sonkor to say that it was the Mongols, and not his people,
who had attacked the Egyptians. He promised to ask Uljaitu to release
four Egyptian officers who had been captured and taken off to the Ordu.
He also sent rich presents, and promised to pay his tribute regularly.
Kara Sonkor sent word on to the Sultan, who accepted the presents and
excuses. § The same year the historian Haithon, who was a grandee
of Corhicos, retired to Cyprus, with the permission of his namesake,
the King of Armenia, and joined the order of the Premonstantensians.
Having gone to Rome in 1306, he thence went on to Poictiers, in France,
where he dictated in French his Oriental history, which we have so
much quoted. This was translated into Latin by Nicholas Salcon, by
order of Clement V. ||
Bilarghu, a relative of the noyan Togachar, was the commander of a
small body of troops under Irenchin, who in 1306 was appointed governor
of Rum. He was encamped in Cilicia, and being a fanatical Mussulman
persecuted the Armenian king bitterly. In the spring of 1308 he went
* D'Ohsson, iv. 530-531. t Makrizi, ii. (part ii.) 254.
I Abulfeda, v. 197, and note 121. D'Ohsson, iv. 532. $ D'Ohsson, iv. 532.
\ Hist, de la Georgie, 631. Note 1.

ULJAITU KHAN. 557
with his patron Irenchin to the Ilkhan's Court, where their conduct was
approved, and whence they returned with their authority more firmly
established. Bilarghu had heard that Leo had complained of him at
Court, and resolved to ruin him. He entered the district of Sis with 500
men, and asked that twenty-five of his men might be allowed access to
the strong fortress of Anazarba. This the King was obliged to grant.
Leo, who paid tribute both to the Mongol ruler and also to the Sultan of
Egypt, sent word secretly to the latter that Bilarghu, who disposed of the
revenues of the kingdom as he pleased, prevented him from paying his
tribute. The Sultan sent an officer to inquire into this, who informed
Bilarghu of Leo's message to his master. The Mongol commander sent
for him to have a conference with them. The King accordingly went,
accompanied by his uncle, the late king, Haithon II. (who acted, as we
have seen, as his atabeg or tutor), by the generalissimo Oshin, Haithon's
brother, and some forty barons. He was introduced to Bilarghu alone.
The latter, after a few minutes, rose as if he was going to make his
namaz, when, drawing his sabre, he decapitated the King while he was
himself saying the tekbir. When his people heard him invoking God
they proceeded to slaughter Leo's attendants. The atabeg Haithon,
Leo's uncle and predecessor, was also put to death. This was on
November the 17th, 1307. At the news of this treachery the governor of
Anazarba put Bilarghu's soldiers to death, while he ordered watch fires
to be lighted as a signal to the other strong fortresses. Bilarghu now
went to Anazarba, hoping his soldiers would open the gates to him, but
he was received with a shower of stones and other missiles. He
was allowed to withdraw, we are told, because the Armenian troops
did not wish to harm the troops of their suzerain. Meanwhile Oshin,
Leo's uncle, set out for the Ordu, but was arrested at Sivas by order
of Bilarghu. Irenchin, who was on his way from the Court, set him
at liberty, and reported to his master how matters stood. Both parties
were cited to appear. They pleaded their cause before Uljaitu, who
pardoned Bilarghu, but shortly after was prejudiced against him, and
had him put to death. Oshin, the youngest of the five brothers of
Haithon II., was now raised to the throne of Cilicia, and was duly
consecrated at Tarsus.* Abulfeda says he was nominated king by
Bilarghu, and that it was his brother Alinak who went to complain to
Uljaitu of the murder of his relatives.t
Uljaitu, as we have seen, was in his young days a Christian, and
had been baptised with the name Nicholas. On his conversion to
Muhammedanism by his wife he attached himself to the Handfi sect, by
the Imaums of which he had been surrounded in Khorasan. He naturally
favoured this sect, and had the names of the first four Khalifs inscribed
* D'Ohsson, iv, 532-536. t Op. cit., v. 205.

55^ HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
on his coins. Under this patronage the sect grew insolent, and attracted
the hatred of several powerful people, notably of the vizier, Rashid ud
din, who was attached to the Shafiyi rite, and patronised and protected
its professors. He, however, concealed his resentment in consideration
for his master. Notwithstanding his preference for the Haneffs, Uljaitu
appointed Nizam ud din Abd ul malik, of Meragha, who was a learned
Shafiyi doctor, to be chief judge of Iran, thus raising him above all the
Haneh magistracy. Nizam ud din seems to have owed this appointment
to the skill he showed in his polemics with the doctors of the rival sect.
In 1309 the son of Sadr Jihan of Bokhara, who was a devoted Han^fi,
having visited the Ordu, determined to undermine the position of Nizam
ud din, and one day, in the presence of Uljaitu, pressed him with a
question.relative to marriage with a woman who had been born in adultery.
The judge repudiated the interpretation put upon the opinions of his sect,
and in turn assailed his opponents with the charge that they permitted a
man to marry his mother or his uterine sister, and further cited against
them the axiom of the " Manzumdh," a Hanefi treatise : " Pederastry is not
forbidden ; if you marry your sister, do not consummate it." This discussion
was much to the distaste of Uljaitu and his officers, who said : " What
have we been doing to abandon the religion of our ancestors, the faith of
Jingis Khan, for this Arab religion, which is divided into so many sects,
and which permits a man to cohabit with his mother, sister, or daughter ?
Let us return to our ancient religion." Although such marriages were
really forbidden by the Muhammedan law, an opinion spread among the
Mongols that it was not so, and the princesses were especially outraged.
They began to despise those bearing a doctor's turban, and the Mongols
in general took a dislike to Muhammedanism. While this feeling was
still warm, Uljaitu, on his return from Arran, stopped at Gulistan, in a
summer-house built by his predecessor, and witnessed a terrible storm
during which several people who sat about him drinking were killed by
lightning. Frightened at this, he set out hastily for Sultania. After this
he always carried eagles' feathers, jade, and other stones, which were
supposed to protect people from lightning. The Mongol grandees declared
that, according to the national practice and the yasa of Jingis Khan, the
Sultan should pass between two fires, and they summoned some Bakhshis
or Shamans to preside at the ceremony. The Lamaist priests declared
that misfortune had overtaken him because he had become a Mussulman,
and entreated him to abjure it. Uljaitu spent three months in hesitation,
saying to those who urged him to recant his new opinions, " How can I
abandon the Muhammedan faith, which I have professed with so much
zeal?" The amir Taremtaz replied that Ghazan, the ablest man of his
time, had embraced the religion of the Shias, and that the Sultan would
do well to imitate him. " How, wretched creature," said the prince, " do
you wish me to be a raftzi (heretic)?" Taremtaz, who was a ready

ULJAITU KHAN. 559
person, made a judicious reply, and contrived to exalt the Shias at the
expense of the Sunnis. " See," he concluded finally, " in what they
differ. It is as if the Shias were to maintain that the succession belonged
of right to the descendants of Jingis Khan, while the Sunnis pretended
that it also belonged to his generals, the karajus (i.e., to his subjects)." This
neat and judicious speech made an impression on the Sultan. He was
also moved by the declamation of several Al^vi Imaums at the Ordu, who
continually attacked the Sunnis, but they were powerfully answered by
the Mollah Nizam ud din. During the latter's absence on a journey to
regulate the vakhfs of Azerbaijan, in 1310, Uljaitu visited the tomb of Ali.
There he had a dream, after which he determined to embrace the doctrine
of the Shias, and desired his generals and courtiers to follow his example.
They obeyed, except Choban and Issen Kutlugh, zealous Sunnis. They
resisted all the importunities of the Shia Imaums and Seyids, who feared
these powerful grandees, to convert them.
The conversion of Uljaitu was followed by a change in the formula of
the khutbeh, or Friday prayer, in which the names of the three first khalifs
were suppressed, and those of Ali and his two sons, Hassan and Hussein,
and that of Ali Muhammed, the Mahdi, alone retained. The type of the
coins was also changed. The principal doctors of the Aldvi sect were
summoned to the Court, where the Ilkhan liked to discuss the dogmas of
the faith. Wishing to encourage learning, he founded a kind of nomadic
college, which was held under tents in his ordu. He attached to it as
professors five of the most learned men in Persia. Their disciples, to the
number of one hundred, were entertained at the cost of the Ilkhan, who
was followed about the country by this movable college, for which special
horses were supplied. He had already founded near his tomb at Sultania
a college with sixteen professors and assistants, which could accommodate
two hundred students.* In regard to his change of religion, the author
of the " Shajrat ul Atrak" tells us that Uljaitu was reputed to be the
most just of the descendants of Jingis Khan, and a great protector of
.seyids and learned men ; but in the year 709, at the instigation of some
persons of the Imaumia sect, as Sheikh Jemal ud din Hussein, the son of
Seyid Bedr ud din Muthuhur Hulubi, &c, who was making proselytes
for the Imaumia religion, he was induced to add to the profession of the
faith inscribed on the coinage from the time of Sultan Ghazan, the words,
"Ali wuli Allah" — "Ali the friend of God." He also expunged the
names of the three khalifs from the khutbeh, and after the name of Ali, the
fourth khalif, he inserted those of Hassan, Hussein, and Ali Muhammed,
the Mahdi. He also inserted in his sekka the names of the leaders of the
twelve sects, and for this the Sunnis called him in disgust Sultan
Muhammed Kharbundeh, or "the slave of an ass," but the Shias
Khodabendeh, or " the slave of God."
* D'Ohsson, iv 536-542. Ilkhans, ii 216-219. Quatremere, 437.

560 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
We now read of Uljaitu quarrelling with his principal vizier, Said ud
din Sauji, or Savaji (i.e., a native of Sava). He had forbidden him giving
assignations on the revenue, or granting pensions and salaries, and wished
that the revenue should be handed over to him intact, so that he himself
might dispose of it. The Vizier had also drawn upon himself the hatred
of several powerful chiefs, notably of Tokmak, who was a favourite of the
Sultan ; Ali Shah, who was also a protdgd of the Ilkhan ; and of
Rashid ud din, formerly a friend of Said ud din. The Vizier had, in fact,
courted this feeling by his arrogant behaviour. His employe's were so
numerous that anyone wishing to see him had to see successively some
thirty-five officials, to whom it was necessary to make presents by way of
blackmail. This bureaucracy absorbed the revenue, which amounted to
30,000,000 drachmas. The Sultan's anger at getting so little of the
revenue received an impulse when two employes of the Vizier, having
quarrelled at Sultania, accused each other of having taken a considerable
sum from the treasury. Said ud din, alarmed at the consequences that
such imprudence might bring, ordered the Seyid Taj ud din Uj to
summon them before him in order that they might be reconciled, and to
inform them they must not in future let a word drop about the revenue.
Shortly after the Vizier met two others doing the same thing, and ordered
them to go to Taj ud din, and to hear his admonition as if it had been
made by himself. They accordingly went, and had the same homily
preached to them ; but on going out they went and reported the whole
matter to Rashid ud din, who informed the Ilkhan that several of the
employe's of the Divan had sworn to make no disclosures about the affairs
of the treasury. Uljaitu sent from Baghdad an order for the apprehension
of Said ud din, and to try his dependants. Five of the latter were
condemned to death, and Said ud din himself was executed the same day
(i.e., the 19th of February, 1312), Their goods were all confiscated, and
large sums were extorted from their subordinates by torture* Wassaf
says that with the Vizier, the Great Khoja Bedr ud din Luli and seven
great amirs named Kairbuka, Urba Kerim, Khuljin, Daujah, Sain ud din
Museri, Shiab ud din Mubarek, and Nasir ud din Yahyah were put to
death, their houses plundered, and their estates confiscated.!
About this time Uljaitu laid the foundations of a new town, in the
fimhal (i.e., the defile), on the way from Baghdad to Sultania.} He
called it Sultan Abad. Choban, the greatest of the amirs, was sent
to Sultania, armed with a golden bull, to superintend the dedication
of the high school, called Seyar, there. Four thousand workmen were
employed in making a huge bazaar, 300 ells in diameter and 100 ells
wide, which was supplied with sweet water, and became the residence
and rendezvous of the dealers in cloth. At this time also an order was
* D'Ohsson, iv. 542-544, t Ilkhans, ii. 219-220. X Id., 220. D'Ohsson, iv. 544-545.

ULJAITU KHAN. 561
given that the various works of Rashid ud din, including not only his
history, but also his exegetical and juridical works, the description of
the seven climates, genealogical tables, &c, were to be transcribed in ten
volumes, consisting of 3,000 leaves. The writing out, gilding, and binding
of the work cost more than 600,000 dinars. Quatremere says 60,000
dinars (i.e., 900,000 francs). These famous works were ordered to be
deposited in the newly-founded mosque .* Rashid ud din's income at
this time must have been enormous, and Uljaitu lavished great sums
upon him. The author of the " Mesalek Alabsar" cites the Sheikh
Mahmud, a native of Ispahan, for the following story : One day Rashid
presented his master with one of his works, and said to him, " Aristotle
having offered Alexander a work he had written, received from him a
present of 1,000 gold pieces ; a prince as magnificent as yourself should
deem it unworthy not to equal the liberality of Alexander." The Sultan
answered this challenge by making over to him a domain worth three
times the amount of Alexander's gift.t
Ali Shah had been a jewel merchant and dealer in precious stuffs
and other things, and he had been brought into commercial relations
with the amir Hussein Gurkan and the Prince Oljitai, who introduced
him to the Ilkhan. He was adroit, insinuating, and witty. The vizier,
Said ud din, who was jealous of him, sent him to take charge of the
royal manufactory at Baghdad, where he introduced many improvements.
When the Ilkhan went there Ali Shah gave him a splendid feast, and,
among" other presents, he offered his master fourteen rotl of the richest
jewels and pearls, a richly embroidered cap, decked with stones, and
having on its summit a ruby of four-and-twenty miskals in weight ; nine
beautiful boys, with girdles made of chrysoliths, in robes of moghribin ;
and gold-harnessed horses. Quatremere also mentions a splendid ship.
We are told that the Baghdad singer previously named, who was
probably a gipsy, whom he married, contributed to his rise by the
admiration she inspired the Sultan with. Ali Shah erected a splendid
bazaar and other buildings at Sultania, which pleased Uljaitu very much.
The late vizier, Said ud din, had treated the favourite with scant courtesy,
refusing to rise and meet him when he entered the room, &c, while
his colleague, Rashid ud din, on the other hand, had showed him
marked attention. On one occasion, Ali Shah, having given the Sultan
and his grandees a splendid feast, offered Rashid ud din three pieces of
rich stuff, and afterwards a similar present to Said ud din. The latter,
who had taken too much wine, professed to consider it a slight that his
colleague should have been first considered, and abused him in an
unbecoming manner. Rashid ud din kept a discreet silence, which won
him the good opinion of his master, who was indignant at the Vizier's

* Ilkhans, ii. 220-221. Quatremere, xix. t Quatremere, xviii.-xix.
N*

562 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
conduct. The latter, as we have seen, presently fell a victim to his two
rivals .* When he was beheaded, Ali was, at the instance of Rashid,
given his post.}
Soon after this, a Jew named Nejib el devlah, who was in the
service of the Amir Togmak, concerted with another Jew a plot
against the Vizier. A letter was written in Jewish characters, in
Rashid's name, and addressed to a jeweller, who was a confidante of
one of the chief amirs. In this letter Rashid urged his correspondent to
poison the Sultan. The letter was allowed to fall into the hands of the
amir Lulu, who passed it on to Uljaitu. The latter, in a violent rage,
summoned Rashid, whom he sharply attacked. He asked for a delay of
three days in which to discover the authors of the plot. This was
disclosed by the amir Muhammed, who had been devatdar of Said ud din,
and who confessed that the note had been written by a Jew at the instance
of Said to undo Rashid. The Jew was summoned to the Royal presence,
and having been duly examined, confessed. He was executed. Some
time after Muhammed Zerker, nephew of Said ud din, Taj ud din Uj, the
leader of the Shias, the amir Muhammed Seyar, and several other
amirs, who, according to the Jew, had been accomplices in the plot, were
also put to death. This was on the 10th of April, 1312.} The Seyid
Ainad ud din had his eyes seared, but did not lose his sight.
Another tragical event which occurred at this time, if it took place
as reported by one historian, a descendant of Ali, reflects considerable
discredit upon Rashid. There lived at Baghdad a Seyid or descendant of
Ali, named Taj ud din Abu fazl Muhammed, who had formerly been a
vaiz, or preacher, and having secured the good opinion of Uljaitu was by
him promoted to the post of Nakib, i.e., head of all the descendants of
Ali, who were scattered in Irak, Rai, Khorasan, Persia, and generally in
the Ilkhan's empire. The historian above referred to, Omdat Altalibj
reports that not far from the Euphrates, between Hillah and Rufah, is a
town where, according to tradition, was buried the body of the prophet
Ezekiel. The Jews had a great reverence for this place, often went there
on a pilgrimage, and gave large alms there. The Nakib forbade them
access to this town, and having put a pulpit within the sacred structure
had the Friday prayer said there. Rashid, according to this author, was
much grieved at this prohibition, and was jealous of the Seyid and the
favour Uljaitu showed him. He determined therefore to ruin him and
his son Shems ud din Hussain, who was head of the Seyids of Irak. He had
by his tyranny and ill-conduct disgusted many of them, and through them
Rashid succeeded in poisoning the Sultan against Taj ud din and his
children. Uljaitu having appealed to the Vizier as to what should be
done, he, to avoid all controversy, suggested that Taj ud din should be
* D'Ohsson, iv. 545-546, t Quatremere, xxiii. J Id., xxiii-xxiy.

ULJAITU KHAN. 563
tried by the Seyids themselves. Meanwhile, he incited a violent and
sanguinary person to kill his rival and his two sons, promising him the
posts of nakib, kadhi, and sadr of Irak. He recoiled, however, from such
a crime, and said he would never assassinate a descendant of Ali, and the
same night fled towards Hillah. Rashid then tried another Seyid, but
equally in vain. Eventually a third, also of the sacred caste, descended
from Ali, Taj ud din bin Mokhtar, who was in Rashid's service, and
completely devoted to him, having secured Taj ud din and his two sons,
Shems ud din Hussein and Sharf ud din Ali, conducted them to the borders
of the Tigris, and there had them put to death by his satellites. By the
Vizier's suggestion the two sons were killed before their father's eyes. The
people of Baghdad and the Hanbalis wreaked their vengeance on the body
of the Seyid, which was cut in pieces, and the pieces themselves were
eaten. His hair was pulled out, and each hair in his beard was sold for a
golden piece. To appease Uljaitu, who was much grieved at these events,
Rashid declared that it had come about with the assent of all the Seyids
of Irak. The Sultan wished to suspend the Kadhi of the Hanbalis from
a gibbet, but spared his life on the representation of several eminent
persons. He nevertheless had him mounted on a blind ass, with his head
turned towards its tail, and promenaded about the town, and ordered
that in future the Hanbalis should have no kadhi. Quatremere urges
strongly that this story has many incredible features, and argues that it is
incredible that Rashid, who was of a tender disposition, should have
outraged all decency. It is more probable that Taj ud din had committed
some grave offences and been duly found guilty, and that the details of the
story as it affects Rashid were made up by the descendants of Ali, who
were enraged at the violent end of their chief. Wassaf certainly supports
this view. He tells us how in the year 711 (131 1) the principal amirs and
viziers, in the presence of the kadhi of the kadhis and of a large number
of Imaums and Seyids, formed a court to try Taj ud din, who was accused
of many crimes : inter alia of having appropriated a sum of 300,000 gold
pieces belonging to the Seyids and others, of having continually tried to
seduce the wives of the descendants of Ali, of having committed several
murders, &c. Having been duly convicted, he was handed over with his
two sons to the inhabitants of Meshed Ali, who were charged with his
punishment. These Seyids accordingly took him to the borders of the
Tigris, and beat him till he died. His sons shared his fate. The crowd
pressed so much to take part in the execution that two or three people
were seriously injured. Wassaf says that all present — Mussulman men
and women, Jews, Christians, and men of all classes — filled the air with
acclamation, and regarded the deajh of Taj ud din as assuring the triumph
and the stability of religion and the empire. As Quatremere says, the
fact that he was a descendant of the Prophet, and yet convicted by a
court comprising the heads of religion, and that there was general joy on

564 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
his execution, certainly seems to point to Rashid having been guiltless of
mere personal vengeance in this matter. Soon after these events, Jelal ud
din, son of Rashid, was appointed governor of Ispahan .* On Friday, the
24th of Moharrem, 712, Wassaf was presented to Uljaitu by Rashid,
who greatly praised him and his work, of which Uljaitu consented to hear
him read a chapter. This was done in the presence of the two viziers and
the various grandees of the Court, who duly applauded him.t The
obligations Wassaf was under to the great Vizier must always, however,
be remembered when he is quoted in his praise.
In August, 1312, there arrived at Sultania several Egyptian officers, who
sought asylum there from Sultan Nasir. Nasir had grown weary of the
condition of tutelage in which he was held by the amirs Salar and Bibars,
who had acquired great renown in the Mongol wars, and who exercised
authority in his name, and he had abdicated in 1309 and retired to his
principality of Al Karak. Thereupon Bibars, styled the cupbearer, a
Circassian by birth, became Sultan of Egypt, with the title of Malik
Mozaffer. A year later Nasir, recalled by a party opposed to Bibars,
mounted the throne for the third time, and had Bibars strangled in his
presence. Salar died the next year.} Among Nasir's supporters the
most powerful was probably Kara Sonkor, who had had a strangely
turbulent life. A slave of Sultan Kelavun, he was a party to the murder
of his son Ashraf, and afterwards, with Lachin, made an attempt to kill
Ketboga. During Lachin's reign he was appointed viceroy of Egypt. He
then fell into disgrace. He was governor of Aleppo during the reign of
Kelavun, and of Hamath during Nasir's second reign, after which he
again became governor of Aleppo, and soon, as a reward for his services,
was appointed governor of Damascus. Nasir, notwithstanding this, did
not trust him. At his own request he transferred him again to Aleppo, and
sent an officer named Arghun el Devatdar to invest him with the post, but
bearing secret letters to the various chiefs at Damascus to arrest him.
He suspected that something was wrong, and kept a close watch upon
Arghun, and cleverly succeeded in getting a promise from him, in the
presence of his chief supporters, that he had no sinister intentions, and
had only come to invest him. Thereupon, having distributed whatever
money and precious things he had among his Mamluks, so that they
might carry them in their girdles, he set out, accompanied by Arghun and
surrounded by 600 Mamluks. He entered Aleppo on the 8th of June,
and thence sent Arghun home again after giving him 1,000 dinars, a state
robe, a horse, and other gifts. Kara Sonkor was by no means reassured,
and determined to secure some friends. He made overtures to Hosam
ud din Mohanna, prince of the Bedouins of Syria, and his son Musa,
having first persuaded the former that he had received orders to arrest him

Qustfremsre, xxiv..xxxi. t Id., xxxi. J D'Ohsson, iv. 547.

ULJAITU KHAN. 565
which he did not mean to carry out. Having got Nasir's permission, he
set out on a pilgrimage to Mekka; but hearing that the Sultan had
posted some Mamluks on the road to waylay him, he determined to return.
Meanwhile the gates of Aleppo had been closed against him, and it
was only when Mohanna threatened to attack the place that he was
allowed to take away his property. He then went towards the desert.
Kara Sonkor, after a while, went to Rahbet with Mohanna, Mogoltai,
three amirs from Damascus, and a party of Mamluks, whither they were
pursued by the Sultan's troops. From Rahbet he sent his wives, his son
Ferej, and horses to Egypt. Akush el Afrem, the governor of Tripoli, who
had joined him, also sent his son Musa. These people were ordered to
prostrate themselves before the Sultan, and to assure him that it was only
the fear of his displeasure that had made their masters pass into the
enemy's country. Having obtained Uljaitu's permission they set out for
Sultania, and were treated with great honour en route and supplied with
every necessary, the amirs Kutlugh, Kiaf, and Uji receiving orders to go to
Diarbekr to welcome them. They arrived at Sultania in August, 1312,
with an escort of 1,000 horsemen, the heads of the administration, and
the Muhammedan clergy having gone by the Sultan's orders to meet them.
Uljaitu presented them with splendid khilats, comprising a robe, cap,
and girdle, ornamented with precious stones. He also distributed
appanages among them. Kara Sonkor was given Meragha ; Akush el
Afrem, Hamadan ; Serdkesh, Nehavend ; and Sonkor Afrem, Asadabad.
The name of Kara Sonkor (i.e., black falcon), who was an old man, was
changed to Ak Sonkor (i.e., white falcon), a change aptly compared
by Von Hammer with the change of the name Thunichtsgut into Thugut
by Maria Theresa. The Bedouin chief Hosam ud din Mohanna was
presented with Arab horses and falcons, and Uljaitu gave him one
of his own robes, and an assignation of 3,000 loads of corn, which were
to be supplied by Irak Arab and Diarbekr. Later, when Mohanna's
son, the amir Suliman, submitted to the Ilkhan, at Mosul, he was rewarded
with robes, &c, and a tuman of gold. Hilleh, Kufa, Shifateh, and their
revenues, which amounted to forty tumans, were also made over to
Mohanna* In 131 5 Suliman, with a body of Tartars and Arabs, made
an attack on the Arabs and Turkomans near Tadmor, and retired again
behind the Euphrates with an immense booty.t
Uljaitu now determined to invade Syria, and preparations were made
on a great scale. Timber and inflated skins, for making bridges or rafts,
were brought together at Sinjar and Mardin, at a cost of 50,000 dinars ;
siege machinery was sent from Baghdad, 1,500 suits of armour and
helmets were bought from European merchants ; 260 of the most beautiful
Arab horses, from Nejd, were secured as led horses for the Ilkhan's
* D'Ohsson, 547-555. Ilkhans, ii. 223-227. t Abulfeda, v. 299.

566

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

riding, and 2,400 camels as sumpter beasts ; 90 catapults or mangonels,
70 grappling machines, filled with iron hooks, for attacking the towers,
100 bottles of naphtha, 100 kettle-drums, 100 banners, 360 sappers,
and 15,000 hides as covers for the baggage. Uljaitu set out on the 15th
of December, 1312, accompanied, inter alios, by the viziers and the three
noyans Choban, Sevinj, and Isenkutlugh, and ten tumans (i.e., 100,000 men),
and also by the Georgian king with his men. At Mosul, where they
arrived in the middle of December, the armour was distributed. At the
end of the month they reached the Euphrates, which was crossed at
Kirkesia (the ancient Kirkessium), where the Khabur (the Khaboras, or
Mygdonius) falls into the main river. They then proceeded to attack
Rahbet or Diar Rahbeh, a fortress situated on a hill. The place
was summoned by the amirs Ali Kushdji, Jemal ud din Afrem, and
Haji Dilkandi; but its commander, Bedr ud din Musa ibn Uskeshi,
refused to open its gates, and trusted to the strength of its twelve
bastions, the height of its walls, and its ditch, 30 ells deep and 15 wide,
with its scarp lined with stone. The army was ordered to cut
down wood with which to fill this ditch. The wood was carried
on a kind of carts called tewareh, and in three days the ditch was
filled up to the height of the walls. Nejm ud din, the judge of the place,
now came out, with three companions, to treat. He was presented with
a kaftan, and negotiations were begun for the withdrawal of the garrison
and the surrender of the town ; but meanwhile weapons continued to be
fired from the walls, which the sappers were mining. Uljaitu having
ridden round the town, and deeming it hopeless to capture the place,
fearing also a want of provisions, offered to allow the garrison to go out,
with its property, on the condition that seventy-one Egyptian amirs in the
fortress would give a written undertaking not to take up arms against the
Padishah in future, but would be friends of his friends and enemies of his
enemies. He also offered to give 5,000 dinars towards the completion of
the mosque there. According to Wassaf, who was a poet and had
a poet's licence, the negotiations were on the point of succeeding when a
Mongol applied fire to the piled-up wood, which burnt up as high as the
top of the towers, whereupon the army withdrew. Von Hammer says it
is more probable that Uljaitu, seeing that it was inevitable the siege must
be raised, had the wood fired before his withdrawal.* Novairi, who cites
the report of the commandant of Rahbet to the Sultan, says the siege was
begun on the 23rd of December, and continued till the 25th of January,
when the Mongols retired (as they were just going to capture the
place), leaving all their siege machinery, baggage, and horses behind
them,t which is no doubt an exaggeration. Abulfeda says a pestilence
broke out among the besiegers, and that the machines they left behind
* Ilkhans, ii. 229-230. f D'Ohsson, iv. 5551

ULJAITU KHAN. 567
were dragged into the town by the citizens* The writer of the con
tinuation of Rashid ud din says the siege was commenced on the 4th of
January, 1313. Its commander, Bedr ud din Kurd, at first wished to
surrender, but the next day changed his mind and made a vigorous defence.
The Mongols proceeded to batter the walls with their catapults, and at
last the garrison offered to give in, and in fact capitulated on the 13th of
February. Uljaitu allowed it to remain in the place.} Nasir, with his
Egyptians, was already en route for Syria when he heard, on the 6th of
January, of the retreat of the Mongols. He disbanded his men, but went
on himself to Damascus, whence he sent orders to Cairo to sequester
Kara Sonkor"s house, and to take anything precious there to the treasury.
This comprised a considerable sum in gold and silver, and other objects
of great value.} He then went on to Mekka on a pilgrimage.§ The
retreat from Rahbet was evidently not treated by the Mongols as a serious
reverse. Six days after crossing the Euphrates a feast was held, at which
Wassaf was openly congratulated by the Ilkhan on the sensation which
his history had created, and was presented with a cup of unfermented
wine by him in person. ||
In 1312, Kurmishi, son of Konghuratai, revolted in Rum. He was
captured by the general Taremtaz, who was sent against him, and was
put to death with his four sons. Uljaitu having heard in June, 1314, that
the Karamanian prince, Mahmud bey, had captured the city of Conia, or
Iconium, sent the amir Choban to Rum at the head of three tumans. The
revolt of these Turkomans was attributed to the tyrannical conduct of
Uljaitu's uncle, Irenchin, who governed that province, and who now
repaired to the Ilkhan's Court. Choban went to invest Conia, where the
rebel prince had shut himself up, and was accompanied by Georgi, the
Regent of Georgia, and his troops. Rum was at this time devastated by
famine, caused by a swarm of locusts, and as his provisions began to fail,
Choban had recourse to negotiation. Mahmud bey offered to capitulate.
He asked only for a delay of a few days, and to prepare his presents, but
on the night of the last day of the truce he escaped by way of Larenda.
Pursued, and unable to escape, he went with a shroud about his neck and
a sword in his hand to ask Choban's pardon. He granted him his life,
and after occupying Conia, returned to Persia by order of the Ilkhan.1T
The "History of Georgia" calls the rebels the sons of Phariman, or
Pharwana (i.e., makes them sons of the Pervaneh, whose career occupied
us in the chapter on Abaka Khan), and says Choban was accompanied
by the Georgians, and by Georgi (i.e., probably, by Georgi V., son of
Dimitri). The partisans of Pharman only resisted for a year. All
the Georgians who were found there were made over to King Giorgi,
who, with his people, had behaved very valiantly in the struggle.**
* Op.. cit., v. 269. t Id., Note 2. X Id., 556. $ Weil, iv. 309
II Ilkhans, ii. 230. ^f D'Ohsson, iv. 576-577. ** Op. cit, 642.

5°8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
In 1313 Uljaitu nominated his son Abusaid, who was only nine years
old, governor of Khorasan, which was a kind of Dauphiny of the empire.
The young prince was accompanied by the amir Sevinj, who had brought
him up, and the amir Algu, two experienced and skilful generals, who
were to act as his atabegs or governors. The grandees of the Court, on
Uljaitu's order, attached one of their relatives to the suite of the young
prince, and Abd ul Latif, son of Rashid ud din, was appointed his vizier.
The two Grand Viziers were ordered to supply him with money, precious
stones, and stuffs. He was given drums and cymbals, the Al&n and
Sanjak (i.e., banners), arms, and armour, Arab horses, with harness
decorated with stones, and everything necessary for his equipment. This
is D'Ohsson's account, based apparently on that of the continuator of
Rashid* Wassaf reports, according to Von Hammer, that Abusaid was
accompanied by Sevinj Noyan as beglerbeg, Selasun as atabeg, and
Abdulla as administrator of the Divan. Sitai Kutlugh, son of Kutlugh
Shah, who was killed in Ghilan, was commander of the right wing,
and Nuvinsadeh Hassan of the left wing. Tokal, son of Istan
Kutlugh, and Rustem, son of Melai, had charge of his administration.
There were also falconers (kushji), cooks (andaji), taxing masters
(khasanji), standard bearers (aalemdar), chief marshals (yesaul)
waiting men (odabashi), masters of the horse (akhlaji), and confidential
servants (inak). The several names are given by Wassaf. The vizier,
Khoja Taj ud din Ali Shah, had charge of the general administration and
the equipment of the army.T Uljaitu accompanied his son as far as
Abher, where he gave him a parting feast and addressed some compli
mentary phrases to the amirs, especially Sevinj : " It is because I know
your ancient services and I count entirely on your fidelity that I confide
my son to you and the relatives of my amirs and ministers. You will treat
them wdth paternal care, and they will be duly submissive, but beware
lest you be overcome with pride at having brought up a sovereign and
at being the guardian of his son, and that this thought, which is enough to
excite ambition, do not lead you into enterprises which may trouble the
State, and that I have to punish you severely." Sevinj bent his knees
and protested his zeal and goodwill.} In the very beginning of his rule
in Khorasan there was an invasion on the part of the Jagatai princes,
which will be described under that Khanate. The Ilkhan's generals,
Yesaul and Ali Kushji, who were defeated, joined Abusaid at Yulak
Koshuk Murad.§ After the withdrawal of the Jagatai troops one of the
princes of Jagatai, named Yassaur, having quarrelled with the Khan,
appealed to Uljaitu for help. The latter sent an army to his assistance,
under the command of Yassaul, which overran Mavera un Nehr. Yassaul
was accompanied on this expedition by the Prince of Herat, Ghiath uddin.

* D'Ohsson, iv. 565-566. t Ilkhans, ii. 232-233. X D'Ohsson, iv. 566.
§ Shajrat ul Atrak, 290.

ULJAITU KHAN. 569
We will now bring up the history of Herat to this date. We are told
that in 1310 Ghiath ud din received at Herat several of the Ilkhan's
officers — Yassaul, Tukal, Khajeh Alai ud din Hindu, Jemal ud din, Shah
Muhammed, &c. — whose friendship he tried to secure ; but Alai ud din
Hindu, who was of a jealous disposition, profiting by the absence of his
colleagues, wrote a letter in concert with Dildai and Bujai, sons of
Danishmend, denouncing Ghiath ud din as a traitor who meditated revolt,
for which he was preparing, and intended eventually to shut himself up
in the fortress of Khaisar. This letter, with others written by the Hindu
to his friends, was laid before Uljaitu when under the influence of drink.
The latter ordered one of his chamberlains, called Eutek, to go and
summon him. The Prince of Herat at once obeyed, leaving the place in
charge of his uncle, Shems ud din Omar Shah Khonduri. The King left
Herat in August, 131 1. Uljaitu would not receive him, and deputed
several of his officers to try him. He answered frankly that he had always
been faithful, that in increasing his army it was only to strengthen the
frontiers, and that the best proof of his innocence was his coming in
person. Uljaitu was pacified, but he had Ghiath ud din put under
surveillance, pending his being confronted with his accusers, and he was
thus detained for a long time. Meanwhile, the sons of Danishmend, who
remained at Herat, committed great disorders there. At this time the
Malik's brother, Alai ud din, who was one of his greatest foes, died, and
the princes of Jagatai having crossed the Oxus with 50,000 men, marched
upon Fariab, and encamped at Murghab. Yassaul, with the two sons of
Danishmend, marched against him with 80,000 men; but when within five
parasangs of their enemy they fled. This released Ghiath ud din from his
most dangerous enemies. Meanwhile, the Sheikh Nur ud din Abd ur
Rahman Ezferain urged upon the two viziers, Rashid ud din and Taj ud din
Ali Shah, the necessity of a reconciliation between the Sultan and Ghiath
ud din, and an exposure of the misrepresentations of the latter's enemies.
This led to an ordinance by which all Khorasan, from the Oxus to the
borders of Afghanistan, was made over to him.* This appanage comprised
the districts of Fushenj, Jezeh, Kussuyat, Aazab, Tulek, Herat Rud, Firuz
kuh, Gharchestan, Ferah, Ghur, and Guermsir, most of which had their
own princes, who were feudally subject to the Malik of Herat. Uljaitu
presented him with one of his own robes, some Arab horses, precious
tunics, mantles of gold tissue, a cap decked with precious stones, golden
girdles, Egyptian arms, tents from Rum, five golden paizahs, seven banners
with figures of a dragon on them, seven pairs of cymbals, and three great
drums (kurga), with other instruments completing the royal orchestra ;
also a royal seal (tamgha) of white onyx (i.e., of jade), a present which no
feudatory prince of Persia had received. The Malik returned to Herat
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 489-402.

57° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
in October, 131 5, where all the maliks and prefects of Khorasan went to
greet him* Before leaving he obtained the deposition of the amir Ali
Mustapha, grand judge of Herat, whose incapacity was notorious, and
nominated Nasr ud din of Khaisar in his place. Next year (i.e., in 1316)
the Malik marched against a Nigudarian chief named Avjibela, who
invaded Guermsir from Kuhistan, and easily defeated him.} We read at
this time of an invasion of Khuarezm, which was subject to Uzbeg Khan
of the Golden Horde, by Baba, a prince of that horde, who had sought
refuge in Persia. This invasion we have already described, as also the
messages that passed between Uzbeg and Uljaitu.}
In April, 1315, the Egyptians under Seif ud din Tenker (or Tenkiz),
Governor of Damascus, entered Cilicia by way of Aintab, and marched
on Malattiya, whose governor surrendered it. Nevertheless a terrible
massacre ensued. The town was fired, and many captives carried off;
among others were a large number of woollen weavers, who were
transported to Aleppo. Three days after the Egyptians left the place the
Armenians and others who had escaped slavery and massacre came out
of their hiding places, when the neighbouring garrisons of Kakhta and
Karkar attacked them, killed 300 Armenians, captured 100, and made a
considerable booty. Soon after this Choban, who had received the
town of Malattiya as an appanage, arrived there, put a garrison of 1,000
men in the place, and ordered it to be rebuilt. This expedition of the
Egyptians against Malattiya was followed by others, in one of which, in
February, 1316, they captured the fort of Derendeh, near Malattiya, where
they slaughtered about 1,000 Armenians, who formed its garrison, and
carried off the women and children.§ They also captured Arfekin, in the
province of Amid. Berzali says Malattiya was captured in consequence
of an understanding between the Egyptians and the Mussulmans who
were inside. Makrizi has a more definite story. He says that the Sultan
having dispatched some assassins to kill Kara Sonkor, a collector of taxes,
a Kurd named Mendu discovered and had them arrested. Nasir was so
annoyed at this that he aroused the jealousy of Bedr ud din, the Governor
of Malattiya, against Mendu, whom he charged with wanting to supplant
him. This began a correspondence, which ended in the surrender of the
town and Mendu.||
Prince Abusaid was continually sending to the Court for means with
which to meet the expenditure of his army. Uljaitu remitted the requests
to his two Viziers. Rashid ud din declared he had never had the manage
ment of the finances, and had never affixed his seal to the assignations
made upon the revenue, and was not therefore responsible. " I only
possess the robe that covers me, and have not a single coin, and inasmuch
as we govern the empire together," replied Ali Shah, "why should we

* D'Ohsson, iv. 571. t Journ. Asiat., xvii. 492. T Ante, ii. 149-
% D'Ohsson, iv. 577-579- || Weil, iv. 311. Note.

ULJAITU KHAN. 57 1
separate from one another when it is a question of paying ? " " Because you
have undertaken that responsibility yourself," said Rashid. " You are the
guardian of the Great Seal, and are charged with the carrying out of the
Sultan's orders." "Why then not affix your seal after mine?" was the
reply. " I do not want to join myself with you who profess poverty
when asked for money, while each of your employes has made a hundred
tumans and become a Carun (i.e., a Koran, the type of wealth among the
Arabs, as Croesus is with us)." When Uljaitu had heard them dispute
in this fashion for some time he ordered the empire to be divided into two
separate administrative districts. Rashid took Irak Ajem, Khuzistan, the
two Lurs,Fars, and Kerman, and Ali Shah Azerbaijan, Irak Arab, Diarbekr,
Arran, and Rum. Each of them had a deputy assigned him. Alai ud
din was Rashid's and Iz ud din Kuhedi Ali Shah's. Ali Shah again
insisted that they should jointly seal all assignations, but Rashid refused,
saying he should constantly have to be answering for his colleague, who,
whenever money was demanded from him, pretended to have none. The
fact was that Ali Shah, who was a good-natured and well-meaning man,
was dominated by others who were self-seeking and avaricious. He
speedily quarrelled with the amir Togmak, who accused him and his
creatures of having plundered the treasury even more than Said ud din
and his clients. His complaints were seconded by those of Jevheri, Ali
Shah's deputy, who coveted the post of Vizier for himself. Meanwhile
couriers kept coming from Khorasan, asking for money, to whom Ali Shah
replied that he had not a dirhem in the treasury. " What has become of
the money?" said Uljaitu. "Rashid has appropriated it," was the reply.
The latter was confined at home by an attack of gout, which prevented
him from going out for four months. The Ilkhan ordered Choban
and the two deputies above-named to examine into Ali Shah's accounts.
They demanded 300 tumans (i.e., three million gold pieces) from
his subordinates, Dahir ud din Savaji, Fakhr ud din Ahmed, and
Imad ud din Foleki, who during the three previous years had managed
the finances, and who now implored Ali Shah to save them from utter
destruction. He accordingly repaired to the Sultan that very night, and
laid his case before him amidst tears, and with the most touching appeals,
which won his master's heart as he was about to carry out the finding
of the court. " This poor Ali Shah," he said to the amir Irenchin the
next day, " knows neither how to write nor keep accounts. He has
employed this money in the service of the State, but has forgotten how.
He has promised to explain, and it will be all right." Irenchin reported
this conversation to Choban, and said to him, " In the days of Khulagu
and Abaka a Tajik could not speak to the sovereign except through the
intervention of the amirs, and now it has come about that a Tajik has a
midnight interview with the Sultan and puts an end to all our projects."
Choban was in a great rage, but was appeased by a large present which

Si2 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Ali Shah gave him. The latter was no longer molested with inquiries.
He therefore turned his animosity against Rashid ud din. He first
assailed Jelal ud din, Rashid's son, whom he accused of appropriating the
revenues of the young prince, his protdgd, Uljai Kutlugh, and this charge
having been disproved, he charged Rashid himself with feigning sickness
and taking a fourth of the revenue, and with monopolising the income of
the princesses, and even the money devoted to pious uses. These
repeated and insidious attacks began to have effect, and Ali Shah
gradually superseded his rival in the Sultan's confidence. Rashid had to
secure the patronage of Togmak, Uljaitu's favourite, by a large bribe.
The two Viziers now received orders to make friends, which, we are told,
they obeyed.*
In 1 316 Homaiza, prince of Mekka, sought refuge with Uljaitu. Since
the year 1202 the district of Mekka had been governed by princes of the
dynasty Kattada, who were styled Sherifs. They were descended from
Hassan, son of Ali. Iz ud din Homaiza and Asd ud din Rimaitha
(called Remisha by Von Hammer), sons of the Sherif Abu Noma,
were ruling jointly, when the complaints of the people of Mekka
induced Nasir, the Egyptian Sultan, who was their suzerain, to send
their brother Abulgaith with some troops to displace them. This
was in January, 1314. On his approach Homaiza left Mekka. When
he was established Abulgaith sent home the Egyptian troops, and
was soon after driven out by Homaiza. The latter sent an envoy to
Nasir, who, however, imprisoned him. Two years later (i.e., in September,
1315), Rimaitha went to Cairo, submitted, and asked for aid against
his brother Homaiza. The Sultan gave him some troops, with whose
assistance he drove out the latter, who thereupon fled to Irak, to Uljaitu,
as we have mentioned. He offered to consider himself his vassal, and
was given a body of 1,000 cavalry, under Haji Dilkandi (called Darkandi
by Abulfeda), who had orders to reinstate him. On passing Bassora,
whence he took 100 tumans, according to orders, for the expenses of the
expedition, he was attacked at night by Muhammed, son of Issa, brother
of the Prince of the Bedouins of Syria (Mohanna), who had 4,000 men
with him. The greater part of Homaiza's escort was killed. That prince
and Haji Dilkandi managed to escape on swift horses, leaving their
treasure and baggage in the hands of the Bedouins. It had been
reported that the Ilkhan had given orders to Dilkandi for the exhumation
of the bodies of Abubekr and Omar, who had been buried near Muham
med, and who were deemed unworthy of such a sepulture by a zealous
Shia like Uljaitu.}
Towards the end of 13 16 Uljaitu was attacked near Sultania, when out
hunting, with violent pains in his joints, the result of sexual excesses. He
* D'Ohsson, iv. 579-583. Ilkhans, ii. 337-339. Quatremere, xxxii.-xxxiv.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 583-585.

ULJAITU KHAN. 573
was already convalescent, after having practised a restraint on his diet,
when one day, after visiting his harem, he remained a long time in his
bath, and afterwards ate some indigestible food. His doctors disagreed
as to the remedy. The majority recommended a slight purgative, but an
old one, who was very obstinate, insisted on plying him with numerous
tonics, and the illness proved mortal. During his last illness he issued
two ordinances. In one of these the names of the four Khalifs were
replaced in the khutbeh or Friday prayer, whence they had been excluded
in favour of that of Ali alone when he became a Shia. By the second
ordinance one-half of the confiscated property of the late vizier, Said ud
din, was returned to his sons.* By his will he appointed his son Abusaid
his successor, and nominated the vizier, Rashid ud din, to superintend
the empire. He then detached his two ear-rings, lustrous with diamonds,
and his signet ring, and rolling them with the title deeds of his estates in
his turban, gave them, with his will and the insignia of office, to the amir
Issen Kutluk, whom he made his executor. To the amir Choban he
said : "As you have supported so faithfully the empire of my father and
brother, you have earned thanks and gratitude. Continue to protect the
realm and the army during the reign of my son and successor." He then
said the profession of faith, and died on the 16th of December, 1316.
Wassaf says the 15th. The "Shajrat ul Atrak" says on the ist Shevval
(i.e., the 17th of September). He was in the thirty-sixth year of his age.
The Georgian history and Chamich both say Uljaitu was blind of one
eye. The continuer of Rashid's history tells us he was good, liberal, and
seldom accessible to calumny ; but, like all the Mongol princes, he drank
spirits to excess, and spent his time chiefly in pleasure. His coffin, made
of pure gold and silver, garnished with stones, was placed on the throne,
and there received the last homage of the officers of the palace and of the
army. His subjects wore mourning for eight days. They sat on the
ground, dressed in deep blue, giving forth loud lamentations. The
minarets and pulpits of the mosques were robed in frieze, or crape.} This
blue mourning and these lamentations have parallels elsewhere. In the
Shah-nameh, blue is described as that of mourning among the ancient
Persians. Violet was the colour used for mourning at the Court of
Byzantium. The same colour was that appointed by the regulations of
Napoleon for the mourning of the emperor and princes of the blood. The
Jews still sit on the ground wailing for the dead.}
Uljaitu, like more than one of his predecessors, had intercourse with
the sovereigns of Western Europe, and an interesting proof of it is
preserved in a letter contained in the French archives. This document
consists of a roll of cotton paper, nine feet long and eighteen inches wide,
containing forty-two lines of Mongol writing in Uighur characters, like
* Ilkhans, ii. 240. t D'Ohsson, iv. 583-587. Ilkhans, ii. I Ilkhans, ii. 240-241.

574 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
those in which Arghun's letter, previously cited, were written. On it are
impressed five square seals in red ink. On the reverse and on one of its
sides there is an Italian translation in a very small hand. Remusat, in
describing the document, says Orientals attribute importance in these
letters to the size of the paper, the length of the lines, and the width of the
margins and intervals. Arghun's letter contained hardly any margins or
blank spaces, and was only six and a-half feet long, and was only marked
with a seal three times. The more important names in these letters,
including the Khan's own, are raised above the general level of the lines,
while that of the prince to whom it is addressed is somewhat below the
line. The tamgha or seal on Uljaitu's letter, as on that of Arghun,
shows he acknowledged the supremacy of the Khakan at Peking. This
seal was engraved with Chinese characters of the ancient form known as
shang fang tu chuan, and the inscription may be translated, "By a
supreme decree, seal of the descendant of the emperor, charged with
reducing to obedience the 10,000 barbarians."* From this it would seem
that the suzerainty of the Khakan, which had been repudiated, at least as
far as his coins went, by Ghazan, was re-asserted by Uljaitu. The letter
we are now describing is headed : " My words, Uljaitu Sultan. ' To
Iridfarans (i.e., Re de France) Sultan, and to the other Sultans of
the Firankut peoples.'} In former times all of you Sultans of the
Firankut were in alliance with our good great-grandfather, our good
grandfather, our good father, and our good elder brother, and notwith
standing the distance which separated you, you regarded each other as
neighbours, and interchanged messages, embassies, and presents. You
cannot have forgotten it. Now that, by the power of God, we are seated
on the Great Throne, we shall not depart from the commands of our
predecessors— our good grandfather, our good father, and our good elder
brother. We shall follow their precepts, and what these good ancestors
have promised you we will keep it as if it were our own oaths. We will
unite in friendship with you even more than in the past. We will send
you envoys. We, older and younger brothers, have been at issue,
disunited by the intrigues of wicked vassals (karajus). Now, however,
Timur Khakan, Tuktukha, Chapar, Tugha (i.e., Dua), and ourselves, who
have been at issue for forty-five years, are reconciled by the inspiration
and with the aid of God, so that from the land of the Nankiyas or Angkias
(China) in the east, as far as the setting sun and the ulus of Kundalan on
the lake of Talu (i.e., the camping ground of the ulus of Khulagu on the
plain of Mughan), our people are united and our roads are open. We
have agreed to fall jointly upon any of us who proves aggressive.} Unable
to forget the bonds which tied you to our good grandfather, our good father,
and our good elder brother, we have sent you two envoys, Mamlakh and

Mems. Acad, des Inscrip., &c, vii. 39°-39=- . f V*
X Id; 395-39°- D Ohsson, iv. 588.

t Vt is the Mongol plural only.

ULJAITU KHAN. 575
Tuman, who will explain our intentions viva voce" Uljaitu went on to
say he had heard with pleasure of the termination of the strife among the
sultans of the Firankut or Franks (i.e., the war of Guienne). " Peace is a
good thing," he said, adding that, thanks to their proposed alliance,
they might, with the power of heaven, unite against those who would not
join them, and would thus fulfil the will of heaven (in which expression
the Khan probably hinted at the war with the Egyptian Sultan, upon
which the envoys were, no doubt, to enlarge). " My letter (is written) in
the year 704, the year of the serpent, the 8th of the first month summer
(i.e., the 13th or 14th of May, 1305), in our residence of Alijan."* In the
Italian translation the envoy named Tuman is styled Tomaso, and is
designated as an ilduchi (i.e., a swordbearer). These are not the only
points in which the Italian translation differs from the Mongol text.
We don't know (says Remusat) what kind of reception Uljaitu's envoys
had, and this letter is the only evidence of their presence in France. No
historian mentions them, nor is any answer of the French king recorded.
The envoys, however, passed into England, where they arrived after the
death of Edward I. (i.e., after the 7th July, 1307), nearly two years after
the letter was written. The answer Edward II. made to the ambassadors
is still extant, and shows they must have brought a similar letter with
them to the one that they took to Philippe-le-Bel. This letter of the
English king is dated at Northampton, October 16th, 1307. It is headed,
"To the most excellent Lord Prince Dolgieto, illustrious King of the
Tartars," and addressed to the " Pacificator of the ten thousand
barbarians," as he is styled on the seal. It recites that he (Edward) had
admitted to audience the messengers which the Khan had sent with
letters " to the lord Edward, of glorious memory, late king of England,
our father, who before their arrival had ended his days. We have noted
your letters, and also the message which your envoys have brought us.
We thank your royal Magnificence for the goodness and friendship which
you and your ancestors have shown towards our father, and that you now
show towards us, for the sending of your envoys, for the hope you express
of seeing union and affection grow between us, and especially for the
memory which you preserve of the friendship which existed between your
noble predecessors and our father, as well as other facts which you name.
We rejoice in the peace wrought between you by the grace of God from
the bounds, of the East as far as the. sea. In regard to the wish you
express that on this side of the sea peace and concord should reign
among us who have been disunited, we wish it to be known to your royal
Excellency that we believe and hope firmly that concord and peace will
shortly, by the help of God, succeed all the quarrels and divisions which
have arisen among us."}
* Remusat, op. cit., 396-397. D'Ohsson, iv. 588-589.
t Rymer, Foedera, ed. 1818, vol. 2, part 1. 8. Vide Remusat, op. cit., 400 and Note. D'Ohsson,
>"• 591-593-

57° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
In a second letter, dated the last day of November, 1307, and written at
Langley, Edward writes to the King of the Tartars to say that he would
employ all his efforts to extirpate the abominable sect of Mahomet if the
distance and other difficulties did not prevent him, for the time was
favourable for such an enterprise. " If we are well informed," he says,
" the books of this abominable sect predict its approaching destruction.
Pursue then your laudable design, and may you succeed in your intention
of exterminating this villainous sect. Some religious, good, and learned
men are on their way to your Court with the intention of converting, by
the help of God, your people to the Catholic faith, outside which no one
may be saved ; to instruct them in this religion, and to exhort them to
make war on the detestable sect of Mahomet. These are the venerable
brother William, of the order of preachers, bishop of Lidd, with his
venerable suite. We commend them to you, and pray you to receive
them well."* Rymer also prints two letters of the same date, commending
the same missionaries to the Pope and the King of Armenia.} The letter
of the English king, as D'Ohsson says, shows the Khan's envoy had not
only concealed the fact that Uljaitu was a Mussulman, but had even
imposed on him so far as to persuade him he would aid in extirpating
the abominable sect of Mahomet.
Pope Clement V. was similarly deceived by the same envoy, as we
gather from his letter addressed to Uljaitu, and dated from Poictiers, the
1st of March, 1308. " We have received in audience," he said, " with the
habitual kindness of the apostolical see, your envoy, Thomas Ilduchi,
and the letters he has brought from you, and we have carefully noted
their contents, and have also taken note of what this your messenger has
said on your behalf. We have noticed with pleasure, from these letters
and communications, that appealing to our solicitude on behalf of the Holy
Land, you have offered us 200,000 horses and 200,000 loads of corn, which
will be in Armenia when the army of the Christians arrives there, and in
addition to march in person with 100,000 horsemen to support the efforts
of the Christians to expel the Saracens from that Holy Land. We have
received this offer with satisfaction. It has strengthened us like
spiritual food. We are assured this angel has come from the same
whose angel sent Abakuk to furnish Daniel with strengthening nourish
ment when in the lions' den. You have indeed given us sweet
nourishment in offering us the hope of such a magnificient aid.
Havino- duly deliberated with our brothers on this offer of succour,
and about the desired recovery of the Holy Land; among our most
cherished wishes this is the one which exercises us continually, to
see by the grace of God, the land once trodden by the feet of the
Saviour restored to the Christian faith, and we have always felt it most
important to examine by what means such a pious design could be

* Rymer, id., 18. t Id, 17-18.

ULJAITU KHAN. 577
accomplished. This is why I and my brothers have deliberated
seriously about the matter, and hoping in the justice of the Most High,
who strengthens his servants, we will execute so far as we can what God
has inspired us to do, and when a favourable season for crossing the sea
shall come we will advise you by letters and messengers, so that you may
accomplish what your magnificence has promised. But do you in faith and
works turn to Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. To serve
him is to rule. Persevere in your laudable intention in regard to this
Holy Land, and secure on earth by this and other means the approbation
of Christ the Redeemer, so that you may deserve to obtain from him an
ample share of his delights in heaven and of glory in this present world.
We and the Apostolical See shall rejoice in your success and glory*
D'Ohsson suggests that Thomas Ilduchi, who misled the Pope and the
Christian princes in this fashion as to the real sympathies of Uljaitu, was
probably inspired by the Eastern Christians, and especially the Armenians,
who no doubt desired at all costs that another Crusade should be
organised to aid them against their mortal enemy, the Egyptian Sultan.
The same motive probably moved the King of Aragon, James II., to send
his envoy, Peter Desportes, to Uljaitu. His letter was addressed:
" Illustri et magnifico Olvecacu, Dei gratia regi dels Mogols, &c." He
asked that all his subjects might have the privilege of buying and selling
arms, horses, provisions, and other things which were necessary for the
Aragon army when it should have passed the sea, and also that any
Armenian, Greek, or other Christian who wished to visit the army might
do so without hindrance. The letter, in the published copy as given by
Martin Fernandez de Navaretto, is dated in 1293 ; but this is clearly a
mistake, for Uljaitu had not then mounted the throne, and Remusat is
disposed to assign it to the year 1307.}
One can see (says Remusat), in comparing the evidence, that Uljaitu
had long before the defection of the Egyptian amirs, in 131 2, made up
his mind to attack Egypt, and had sought allies in the West. This
Western assistance was no doubt especially pressed by the Christians
of Cyprus and Armenia, who were closely interested in the revival
of the Crusades and of the European settlements in Palestine and its
borders. Haithon, the Armenian author whom we have often quoted,
was directed by the Pope to draw up a memoir on the subject, and from
his account we can gather what the basis of Eastern politics then was.
Having defended the policy of the Crusades, and given a rapid survey of
the revolutions which had occurred in Egypt and Syria, he goes on to
show how opportune the time was for giving the Sultan a final blow,
especially as Karbanda (i.e., Uljaitu), the ruler of the Tartars, was ready
to help them, and had sent envoys to say he would employ all his forces
* D'Ohsson, iv. 594-597. t Remusat, Op. cit., 402-403. Note.

578 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to overwhelm the enemies of the Christian faith. It was necessary to
meet this offer quickly, and it would be well to send him envoys to ask
two things especially. First, that he would publish a prohibition to the
supplying of food or other merchandise to the enemy, and, secondly, that
he should be asked to send a force to devastate the district of Aleppo;
while the Christians, in conjunction with their allies from Armenia and
Cyprus, assailed the land of the Saracens by sea and land. Haithon
enters at some length into the strategy of the campaign, and advises, inter
alia, that an advanced expedition should first set out and try and seize
on the district of Tripoli, in which they might count on the assistance of
the Christians of Mount Lebanon, who could raise a contingent of 40,000
archers. Having seized on this district, they would do well to rebuild
the city and to make it their base, and thus be ready when the Tartars
had completed their conquest of the Holy Land to take over from them
the towns there, which he was confident they would make over to the
Christians for custody, because they could not endure the heat of the
summer in those parts ; nor did they fight with the Sultan to conquer
more lands, for they were masters of all Asia, but because the Sultan was
very unfriendly to them and always doing them some injury, especially
when they were at war with the neighbouring Tartars (i.e., those of
Kipchak and Jagatai). He urged that letters should be sent to the
Christian kings of Georgia and Armenia.
Haithon says there were three routes to the Holy Land. One by way
of Barbary, in regard to which he left others to advise who knew it ; the
second by way of Constantinople, the same followed by Godfrey of
Boulogne, which was safe and feasible as far as Constantinople, but
beyond this, through Turkey (i.e., Asia Minor) to Armenia (i.e., Little
Armenia, or Cilicia), it was not free from danger because of the Turks ;
but the Tartars would secure a safe transit across it, and also
abundance of provisions, horses, and other necessaries. The third
route was by sea, through Cyprus. In regard to their proceedings,
if they adopted the last of these routes, he enters into considerable details.
He suggests that an auxiliary army of 10,000 Tartars would be as large
as would be required, since the very fear of the Tartars would prevent the
Bedouins and Turks from attacking them. They would supply them with
provisions and other necessaries, and act as spies for them, for which they
were specially adapted from the agility of their horses. They were also
well skilled in attacking fortresses. Haithon then supplies his patron
with some touches of worldly wisdom. In urging that too great a body
of Tartars should not be employed, he says, " If Karbanda, or some one
sent by him, should invade Egypt with a very large army, it would be well
to avoid him, for the Lord of the Tartars would deem it derogatory to
follow the counsel of the Christians, and would insist on their following
his commands. Besides which, the Tartars were all mounted and marched

ULJAITU KHAN. 579
rapidly, and a Christian army, much of which marched on foot, could
not keep up with them. The Tartars, again, when in small numbers
were humble and obsequious, but when in large numbers were overbearing
and arrogant, insulting to their allies who were weaker than themselves,
and would be found unbearable by the Christians." As Remusat says, it
is clear Haithon understood well the advantages and drawbacks of an
alliance with the Tartars, and he suggested that the campaign should be
a double one — the Tartars should advance, according to their usual plan,
by way of Damascus, and occupy the country there, while the Christians
advanced on Jerusalem. He adds a singular phrase, in which he
describes one advantage which the Egyptians had over the Tartars, in
that they kept their own counsel, while their foes decided at a public
gathering, in the first month of the year, what their plans for the ensuing
season were, and thus gave their enemies warning.* Sanuto also speaks
of the advantages of an alliance between the Christians and the Tartars.
" The King of Armenia," he says, " is under the fangs of four ferocious
beasts — the lion, or the Tartars, to whom he pays a heavy tribute ; the
leopard, or the Sultan, who daily ravages his frontiers ; the wolf, or the
Turks, who destroy his power; and the serpent, or the pirates of our
seas, who worry the very bones of the Christians of Armenia." He
attributes the war which the Tartars waged upon Egypt at the request of
the most Christian King of Armenia, to the vengeance of God for the
cruelties exercised upon the Christians of Acre and of Syria.}
The Western princes of Europe were not the only Christians who found
it convenient to cultivate a close friendship with the Tartars. Pachymeres
tells us that the Emperor Andronicus, to protect himself from the assaults
of the Turkomans of Asia Minor, made an alliance with Uljaitu, whom he
calls Kharmpanta, and gave him his sister Maria in marriage. She was
known as " the Lady of the Muguls," and was conducted to Mecca by a
suitable escort, where she seems to have taken up her residence for a
while, and sent a complaint to Uljaitu of the doings of Othman (called
Atman by Pachymeres). The Ilkhan thereupon dispatched an army of
30,000 men from the interior of Persia towards the eastern borders of
Rum, to repress him ; but it only gained the empire a temporary respite,
and Othman gradually extended his borders.}
Maria was known as Despina Khatun to the Mongols, and she was
given the yurt or appanage which had belonged to the Great Despina, the
wife of Abaka.§ Another foreign wife of Uljaitu was Dunya, the daughter
of Malik Al Mansur Gazi, son of Kara Arslan, Lord of Mardin, whom he
married at the Ordu in the year 1309. Her brother, Malik es Salih,
succeeded his father as ruler of Mardin.|| When Uljaitu was quite a boy
* Haithon, op. cit., 99-107. Remusat, Mems. de I'Academie, vii. 403-406.
t Remusat, op. cit., 406-407. I Stritter, ii. 1101-1102. § D'Ohsson, iv. 536.
il Abulfeda, v. 227.

580 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
he was married to Kunjuskab, the daughter of Shadi Gurkan. It was
through her influence that he became a Mussulman, having first, as we
saw, been baptised a Christian. A year after his enthronement he married
Kutlugh Shah, the daughter of Irenchin, who was given the yurt of the
great Dokuz Khatun. A month later he married Bulughan, his father's
widow, who, to distinguish her from the two other princesses of the same
name, was called Bulughan the Khorasani* In addition to these,
Uljaitu had several other wives, as Terjughan, the daughter of Legsi
Gurkan, whose mother was a daughter of Khulagu ; Iltirmish, daughter
of Kutlugh Timur Gurkan ; Haji Khatun, daughter of Sulamish, who was
the mother of his successor, Abusaid ; Oljai, sister of the previous
princess ; Siyurghatmish, daughter of the amir Hussein ; and Kutuktai.
Uljaitu had seven sons — Abusaid, Bestam, Bayezid (Abu Yezid), Taifur,
Sulimanshah, Aadilshah, and a second Abusaid, who, with four of his
brothers, died when young. He also had four daughters — Satibeg, who
herself occupied the throne, Dulendi or Devletmendi, Fatima, and
Mihrkutlugh. The coins of Uljaitu occur in considerable variety. In the British
Museum are gold coins struck by him at Basrah and Sultania ; silver
ones struck at Vasith, Samsun, Irbil, Mardin, Mosul, Shiraz, Tebriz,
Hillah, Kashan, Kara Ghaj, and Damaghan ; and copper ones struck at
Baghdad, Hillah, Sultania, Saweh, Erzenjan, and Shiraz ; and they occur
of various dates, from the year 704 HEJ. to 714 HEJ.} The only Mongol
words on his coins reads Uljitu Sultan. The Arabic inscriptions on
his coins present considerable variety. As he became a very devoted
Shia, we accordingly find the formulas of this sect, and find them also
amplified in the most unusual fashion, but this is only on coins struck
after the year 707. Before that date the names of the four khalifs,
treated as usurpers by the Shias, are found on his coins, together with the
Sunni symbol.} One of these earlier coins in the British Museum
Poole calls a most remarkable piece. It bears (he says) two Koran
inscriptions (ch. xlviii. 29 and ch. xxiv. 54) which are not found on any
other coins, together with the formula of the four orthodox khalifs. § On
the later coins we find not only the phrase about Ali, but also the names
of the twelve imaums. One of these coins is described by Fraehn. On
the obverse we read : " Struck under the Lord Supreme Sultan, defender
of the Faith, Ghiath ud dunya w'eddin Uljaitu Sultan Muhammed, whose
reign may God perpetuate," with the date ; and on the reverse : " There
is no God but God. Muhammed the Apostle of God. Ali is the Vicar
of God., O God, bless Muhammed and Ali and Hasan and Hussein and
Ali and Muhammed and Jafar and Musa and Ali and Muhammed and
Ali and Hasan and Muhammed." ||
* Ilkhans, ii. 182-183. t Poole's Catalogue, vi. 44-61.
X De Saulcy, Journ. Asiat.. 3rd ser.. xiii. 139. % Poole, op. cit., lvi.
fi Fraehn, Resensio, 181.

ULJAITU KHAN. 581
Note 1. — The following notice in Ibn Batuta I overlooked when writing the
previous chapter. He tells us Uljaitu had with him a jurisconsult of the sect of
the Rafidhites (i.e., the Shias), named Jemal ud din, son of Mothahher. He it
was who persuaded Uljaitu to attach himself to the Shias, and thereupon the
Ilkhan sent messengers to various towns to press the inhabitants to follow his
example. The first places where this order arrived were Baghdad, Shiraz, and
Ispahan. At Baghdad, the people of the Gate of the Dome (Bab Alazaj), who
were the most notable among its garrison, who were Sunnis, and for the most part
followed the doctrines of the Imaum Ahmed, son of Hanbal, refused to obey.
They took up arms, and went on the Friday to the great mosque, where the
Ilkhan's messenger was, and when the Khatib mounted the pulpit they, to the
number of 12,000, pressed round him, all armed, and swore to the Khatib that
if he altered the khutbeh in any way from what he had been wont to say it they
would kill him, as well as the Khan's deputy, and would then submit to the
will of God. Although Uljaitu had ordered the suppression of the names of
the four khalifs, and that only Ali and his people should be named, the preacher
was afraid, and the khutbeh was said as usual. The people of Shiraz and
Ispahan behaved in the same way, and when the matter was reported to Uljaitu
he ordered the Kadhis of the three towns to be summoned. The first to arrive
was Medjd ud din, of Shiraz. The Ilkhan was staying at the time at Karabagh,
where he generally spent the summer, and he ordered them to throw the Kadhi
to the dogs which were about the palace. These animals were very big, and
had chains about their necks, and were trained to devour men. When some
one was brought in and given to the dogs, the unfortunate person was put on
a wide plain, where he was set free. The dogs were then let loose upon him,
and soon tore him in pieces. In this case they merely fondled him and wagged
their tails. When Uljaitu learnt this he set out barefoot from the palace and
prostrated himself before the Kadhi, kissed his hand, and gave him the robes
which he was wearing, which was the greatest honour he could do him. He
then took him by the hand and conducted him into the palace, and ordered
his women to treat him with respect, and to look upon his presence as a
blessing. The Sultan, we are further told, renounced the doctrines of the
Rafidhites, and joined the Sunnis. He gave the Kadhi splendid presents, and
sent him home again with great honours.*
Note 2. — On the 24th of July, 1305, Uljaitu began to build the famous town
of Sultania, whose foundations had been already laid by his father Arghun. It
was situated in the beautiful meadows of Kongoralank (or Kunkur ulong. as
D'Ohsson calls them). It contained several mosques, the principal one of
which, built at the Sultan's expense, was richly ornamented with marble and
porcelain. He [also founded a hospital, duly supplied with a dispensary and
all other necessaries, and to which he attached several doctors. Also a college,
on the plan of that of Mostansir at Baghdad. The grandees rivalled each
other in building beautiful houses at this place. One whole quarter, containing
l,ooo houses, was built at the cost of the vizier, Rashid ud din, who, in
addition, put up a great building flanked by two minarets, comprising a college,
* Ibn Batuta, ii. 57-61.

582

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

a hospital, and a monastery, all richly endowed. The citadel was surrounded
by a square wall, flanked with towers. Each side was 500 guez in length. It
was made of dressed stone, and the wall was so thick that four horsemen could
easily ride abreast upon it. Uljaitu also built himself a mausoleum in the
fortress. It was of an octagonal shape, each side being 60 guez in length, and
was covered with a cupola 120 guez in height. It was pierced with a large
number of windows, with rich iron grilles in front of them. One of them was
30 arishes in height and 15 in breadth* According to De Guignes, the mauso
leum had three splendid doors, made of polished and damascened steel. The
grille or trellis surrounding the actual tomb was made of the same metal, and
so skilfully that, although the network was made of bars as thick as a man's
arm, no joints could be found in it, and the Persians said it was made in one
piece, which took seven years to complete, and was brought whole from
India.t Near this tomb was built a hospice and a house for the Seyids,
which he endowed handsomely. The royal palace consisted of a high
pavilion or kiosk, surrounded at a certain distance by twelve smaller ones,
having each a window looking into the court, which was paved with
marble; a chancellary sufficiently large to accommodate 2,000 people, and
many other buildings. During all his reign Uljaitu devoted fifty tumans every
year towards the building of Sultania, which, if he had lived long enough,
would have become one of the most beautiful cities in Asia. Novairi says in
regard to it : " We learnt in the year 713 (i.e., 1313) that it was finished and
inhabited. The Ilkhan transferred thither from Tebriz a great number of
merchants, weavers, and other artisans, who were forced to go there whether
they liked it or no. Eventually the greater part of these artisans returned to
Tebriz."} To the consecration of the mausoleum Seyids, sheikhs, and imaums
were summoned from all parts of Persia.!) Hamdulla tells us that the walls of
the city as originally planned by Arghun were twelve miles in circuit. This
was enlarged by 3,000 paces by Uljaitu. Within these walls was a citadel
made of dressed stones, which was two miles round, and where Uljaitu lived.
There were also other buildings. The district was cold, and well watered by
canals, &c, with abundant pasture and plenty of game, and people of all
nations and religions were to be found there. The town contained finer
buildings than any other, except Tebriz. The contribution to the taxes of the
place was not more than twenty or thirty tumans. It was ravaged and virtually
destroyed by Timur. Besides Sultania, Uljaitu also built the town of Jem-
jalabad, also called Sultania Jarmejan, at the foot of the mountain Bisutum,
referred to by the Persian geographer Mestufi, and also by Rich in his first
journey.|| Speaking of Sultania, Ker Porter says in his travels : " An hour's
ride brought us into the midst of the ruins, amongst whose broken arches and
mouldering remains of all sorts of superb Asiatic architecture I discovered the
most wretched hovels of any I had seen in Persia."lf He says that Uljaitu
built it as a sacred shrine for the remains of the Khalif Ali and the no less holy
martyr Hussein, intending when it was finished to translate the bodies, with
* D'Ohsson says that the gitez and arisk were Persian measures, equivalent to a cubit or eli.
Id., 487. Note 1. t De Guignes, iii, 279.
X D'Ohsson, iv. 485-487. $ Ilkhans, ii. 185. I| Id., 187. If Travels, i. 276.

ULJAITU KHAN. 583
all religious pomp, from Meshed Ali and Kerbela to their new tomb. But the
pious Sultan did not live to complete his object, and instead of the venerated
relics his own ashes occupied the place, which he had hoped, when tenanted
according to his intentions, would cause Sultania to be a point of future
pilgrimage as revered by the faithful of his own empire as Medina had hereto
fore been to Mussulmans in general. Porter says of the building: "The
height of the dome certainly exceeds 130 feet ; the diameter of the circle below
is 33 paces. The whole interior of the building presents one uninterrupted
space ; but to the south is a large distinct chamber, choked up with rubbish,
under the floor of which, I was told, are three immense vaulted rooms. The
entrance to them is now lost under the ruins above, but in one stands the tomb
of the Sultan Mahomed Khodabund, raised from the earth. The inside of the
whole mosque which covers these royal remains is beautifully painted, and tiled
with varied porcelain. Much gilding is yet to be seen upon the upright and
transverse lines of decoration, amongst which it is said the whole Koran is
written in ornamented characters. It required a Mussulman's eye to find them
in the varied labyrinth of arabesque patterns with which they were surrounded.
Formerly, the whole building was inclosed within a square of 300 yards. Its
ditch is still visible to a great depth, and at the north-west angle stands part
of a large tower, and a wall 40 feet in height, built of fine large square masses
of hewn stone, excellently cemented together, the thickness of the wall being
12 feet. On the top still remain a number of the pedestals, belonging to the
machicolated parapet. Two Arabic inscriptions are yet distinct on the wall
and the tower, but I could not find any person to translate them. The late
mollah of the place, who might have been the interpreter, had recently paid the
debt of nature; but one of the natives told me, from memory, that the purport
of the inscription was merely to say that the mosque had been built 575 years
ago. All the proportions and decorations of this vast structure are in the most
splendid Asiatic taste; but the blue, green, and golden tiles with which it has
been coated are rapidly disappearing; yet enough remains to give an idea of
the original beauty of the whole. The ruins of other superb mosques are still
conspicuous in many parts of the city, and all seem to be on so extensive a
scale that we can only stand in amazement at the former magnitude of a place
which at present scarcely numbers 300 families. When the Holstein ambas
sadors were in Persia (a.d. 1637), even then the waning city contained 6,000
people. How has it been reduced since, in little more than a century and
a half! The walls of its ancient houses, and spacious gardens, cover a great
stretch of the plain, and in some places we find large black mounds of earth,
where I imagine the public baths stood."*
Fergusson says of Uljaitu's tomb at Sultania : " Its general plan is an octagon,
with a small chapel added opposite the entrance, in which the body lies. The
front has also been brought out to a square, not only to admit of two staircases
in the angles, but also to serve as a backing to the porch which once adorned
this side, but which has now entirely disappeared. Internally the dome is
81 feet in diameter by 150 feet in height, the octagon being worked into a circle
* i 277-280. t Fergusson's Hist, of Architecture, ii, 438-439.

584 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
by as elegant a series of brackets as were perhaps ever employed for this
purpose. The form of the dome, too, is singularly graceful and elegant, and
much preferable to the bulb-shaped domes subsequently common in Persian
architecture. The whole is covered with glazed tiles, rivalling in richness
those of the mosque at Tebriz, and with its general beauty of outline this
building affords one of the best specimens of this style to be found either in
Persia or any other country.''! Fergusson gives pictures of the exterior and
interior of the building, which quite bear out his eulogium. I may add here
what I overlooked before, viz., the same author's notice of the remains of Ghazan
Khan's mosque at Tebriz. " In plan it is not large," he says, " being only about
150 feet by 120, exclusive of the tomb in the rear, which as a Tartar it was
impossible he could dispense with. In plan it also differs considerably from
those previously illustrated, being in reality a copy of a Byzantine church,
carried out with the details of the thirteenth century — a fact which confirms the
belief that the Persians before this age were not a mosque-building people. In
this mosque the mode of decoration is what principally deserves attention, the
whole building, both externally and internally, being covered with a perfect
mosaic of glazed bricks of very brilliant colours, and wrought into the most
intricate patterns, with all the elegance for which the Persians were in all
ages remarkable. Europe possesses no specimen of any style of architecture
at all comparable with this. The painted plaster of the Alhambra is infinitely
inferior, and even the mosaic painted glass of our cathedrals is a very partial
and incomplete ornament, compared with the brilliancy of a design pervading
lhe whole building, and entirely carrried out in the same style. . . . The
entrance door is small, but covered by a semi-dome of considerable magnitude,
giving it all the grandeur of a portal as large as the main aisle of the building.
After the date of this building this mode of building portals became nearly
universal in the East. The mosque was destroyed by an earthquake at the
beginning of the present century, but it seems to have been deserted long before
that, owing to its having belonged to the Sunnis, while the Persians for five
centuries have been Shias."*

Fergusson's Hist, of Architecture, ii. 436-437.

CHAPTER XI.
ABUSAID KHAN.
ABUSAID was the seventh of the Ilkhans, and seven being a
fortunate number in the East, a prosperous reign was foretold
for him. The event proved clearly enough the vanity of such
predictions, for his reign virtually saw the collapse of the power of the
Ilkhans in Persia. He was but twelve years old when he succeeded his
father, and among the turbulent communities of the East minorities are
generally periods of special trial. Troubles began early in the jealousies
of the amirs Sevinj (or Sunej) and Choban, the former of whom was his
governor, while the latter had acquired great influence through his fifty
years' service, and through marrying Abusaid's sister Dulendi. Directly
the amirs and viziers were satisfied that Uljaitu's illness was mortal, they
sent a message to Abusaid to go in all haste to the Court, hoping he
would go without his governor, who, they were afraid, would try to
monopolise power, and use it to favour his private ends Summons after
summons was sent to the young prince, who was in Mazanderan ; but the
officers of his household, who were devoted to Sevinj, would not set out
without his permission, and sent him word to Radegan of Tus that the
Sultan had. sent for his son. Suspecting the motives of the amirs, he
professed not to believe the bad news, and joined his charge in
Mazanderan, and when he heard the Sultan had actually died he did
not hasten his steps, hoping to secure a more stable authority for himself,
So that he might have the amirs under control. The amirs having duly
performed the funeral ceremonies for the dead Khan, each sent a relative
to meet the young prince. They encountered him near Bostam. The
amirs relied on Choban to counterbalance the influence of Sevinj.
That general, on hearing of Uljaitu's death, set out from Bailekan
in Arran with his troops, and duly reached Sultania, where the amirs
gave him the title of Amir ul umera, or generalissimo. Meanwhile
Sevinj dispatched an officer named Zanburi from the neighbourhood of
Rai to inquire what was going on, and to sound Choban. He was well
received by the latter, by the amirs and khatuns. Having received a
reassuring message from his agent, Sevinj went on to the capital with the
young prince. Those who were about Abusaid wished Sevinj to be Amir
ul umera, but he declined the honour, saying he must devote himself to
assure the tranquillity of the empire until the prince was grown up, and

586 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
that if he began to dispute about this dignity with Choban, their quarrel
would end in civil war. He said he wished rather to remain near the
person of the ruler, while if he became commander of the troops he must
be away, and lastly that his health was too feeble to enable him to support
the fatigue of war. He then went to Abusaid, and told him that though
his long services might command that he should be appointed over all
the other amirs, he wished to sacrifice his right for the good of the State
and the young prince, and he therefore urged the confirmation of Choban
in the post. This was before they reached Sultania. Choban met the
cortege at the head of the amirs, and having dismounted, saluted Abusaid,
who came out of his tent to meet him, with several genuflexions, and
kissed his hand. They then all mounted on horseback and rode into the
city, where the young prince went to see his father's corpse, and gave the
funeral feast. After the usual days of mourning, the ceremony of
enthronisation was proceeded with* This took place on the 4th of
May, 1317. The ceremony was the same as that gone through at the
installation of the Grand Khan. The seven senior princes of the blood
seated him on the throne, a form which, according to Von Hammer, was
borrowed by the Emperor Charles IV. when in his golden bull he
prescribed the ceremonial for the election of an emperor, in which the same
rdle was assigned to the seven electors, and he suggests that the ceremony
may in the latter case have been directly borrowed from the Mongols
through the missionaries. Of the seven princes, four held the corners of
the felt on which the Khan was lifted up, two held his arms, and the
seventh offered him the cup.} Such ceremonials are generally very
conservative in their surroundings. We accordingly read that the two
noyans, Sevinj and Choban, conducted the Khan to his throne, while gold
and precious stones were strewn over his head. This was a very early
custom, and still survives in the East in marriage ceremonies, where
money is sprinkled over the head of the bride. The various grandees
kissed the ground in front of the throne nine times, with their girdles
loosened and put about their necks, and their caps in the air to signify
that their lives were at the Khan's service. Abusaid adopted the title of
Alai ud dunia ved din (i.e., the sublimity of the world and of the faith)
Abusaid Sultan.}
Abusaid was born at Berkui on the night of the 2nd of June, 1304,
and was confided to the tutelage of the amir Sevinj and his wife
Ogul Kandi. When he was five his father ordered that he should learn
to ride, so the khatuns, amirs, &c, assembled before the khaneh or quarter
of Sevinj to assist at the ceremony, and to pay honour to the young prince.
He mounted at the time fixed by the astrologers, the horse's head was
turned towards the East, and a bowl of kumiz was duly poured over its
* D'Ohsson, iv. 599-603. Ilkhans, ii. 252-255. t Ilkhans, ii. 255.
X Id., 256. D'Ohsson, iv. 603.

ABUSAID KHAN. 587
neck and croup. When he was nine, as we have seen, his father nomi
nated him governor of Khorasan. There he continued his studies. He used
to go on foot from his ordu to the school, and forbade his masters to rise
on his approach. After six months' lessons in writing he wrote, in the
year 1314, a letter to his father in his own handwriting, which was taken
round to the ordus and the houses of the various amirs and ministers.
As we have seen, on his accession he confirmed Choban as generalissimo,
and gave the command of the troops in Rum to his son Timurtash, who
took with him to superintend the finances the Khoja Jelal ud din, eldest
son of the vizier Rashid. Diarbekr he confided to the amir Irenchin,
Armenia to Sunatai, while the amir Isenkutlugh was sent to Khorasan to
replace Yassaul, who had been killed before Abusaid's accession, as I
shall describe in giving an account of the khanate of Jagatai. Ali Shah
was nominated as first Vizier, and he was given charge, not only of the
grand treasury, but also of the public buildings, the palaces, royal stables,
and arsenals. This meant the virtual displacement of Rashid ud din
from the supreme control which he had hitherto held.*
The " History of Georgia " tells us that as soon as Giorgi, the King of
Georgia, heard of Abusaid's installation he went to the Ordu, where his
arrival greatly pleased Choban, who treated him with all the affection of
a father for a son. He made all Georgia over to him, with all its
mthawars, the sons of King David (i.e., David VI.), the Meskhes, and the
sons of Beka. This took place in the year 131 8. The Georgi here named
was George, the son of Dimitri, known as George V., and he succeeded
George the son of David VI., called the Little, whose death is nowhere
mentioned, and whose disappearance we only learn from this installation
of his successor, George V., styled Brtsqinwale, or the Brilliant.} The
Georgian history describes how he repressed the Ossetes and attacked
the tribes of the Caucasus.}
One of the first acts of the new reign was the arrest of the amir
Togmak, who was accused of an intrigue with Kutlugh Shah Khatun
Uljaitu's favourite wife. He was presently liberated, however, and
Choban made him his lieutenant.§ We have described the rivalry that
existed between Rashid ud din and his colleague, Ali Shah. The latter,
afraid of Rashid's influence with the mighty amir Choban, tried various
plans to discredit him. Their quarrels made the lives of their subordi
nates embarrassing, since they could not serve one master without
offending the other. Three of their leaders, Daial Mulk, Iz ud din
Kuhedi, and Alai ud din, asked Rashid's permission to formulate an
accusation against his rival, who they offered to show had been guilty
of great malversation As he would not consent, and afraid that he would
inform Ali Shah against them, they went to the latter and sided with

* D'Ohsson, iv. 603-605. Ilkhans, ii. 256. t Hist, de la Georgie, 643, and Note 3.
X Id., 645-646. § Hamdullah, notice of Abusaid Khan.

588 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him against Rashid. Ali Shah distributed money freely among the
followers of the greater chiefs, in order that they might poison their
master's minds against his rival, and one of these, Abubekr Aka, the
deputy of Choban, served him so well that Rashid was actually deposed
in October, 1317, and left Sultania and went to Tebriz. Sevinj,. who
disapproved of this, was ill, and he gave it out that when he recovered
Rashid should be reinstated ; but having followed the Sultan in a litter to
Baghdad, he died near that town in January, 1318, lamented by his young
charge Abusaid. He was taken to Sultania for burial. In the spring the
Court set out for Sultania, and when it arrived near Tebriz Choban
summoned Rashid, who had retired to that town, and wished to replace
him at the head of affairs, saying that his talents were as indispensable to
the State as salt was to meat. Rashid excused himself. " My career has
been a long one," he said, " and I have been Vizier longer than anyone. I
have thirteen sons in the public service. I wish to devote the few days that
remain to me to my eternal salvation." Choban would not be persuaded by
these excuses. He said he intended to speak to the Sultan, and that he
was going to get his diploma as Vizier prepared. Pressed in this way,
Rashid ud din consented to be again reinstated. Ali Shah and his
creatures, the members of the Divan, no sooner heard of this than they
recommenced their intrigues, and began to bribe the officers of the great
amirs, and notably Abubekr aka, the confidante of Choban, who promised
to work his ruin with his master. The conspirators now accused Rashid
ud din of having administered a draught to Uljaitu which had caused his
death, and it was further said that the cup with the potion had been
administered by Rashid's son, Sultan Ibrahim, who was cupbearer. This
is the story told by Mirkhavend. Sakkai gives us some details which
show what foundation there was for it. He says that being summoned
for trial before Choban, Jelal ud din, son of Harran, a doctor who had
attended Uljaitu, was accused of poisoning the late Sultan. He said that
Uljaitu suffered from a violent indigestion, accompanied by great diarrhoea
and frequent vomiting. In concert with the other doctors he had pre
scribed an astringent medicine for this complaint. Rashid was of a
different opinion, and urged that the complaint was really due to gluttony,
and he prescribed a laxative, which increased the diarrhcea, and thus the
Sultan died* At this trial the accusers were Togmak and the amir
Iz ud din Talib, surnamed Dilkandi, who accused both father and son.
They were condemned to death by the Sultan. Juskeder, a small town
near Tebriz, was fixed as the place of execution. Khoja Ibrahim, a youth
of beautiful figure and an amiable disposition, was executed before his
father's eyes. Rashid himself was then put to death, saying before he
died : " Tell Ali Shah that he sheds the blood of a man who has never
*" Quatremere, op. cit., xxxvi. -xliii.

ABUSAID KHAN. 589
done him any harm, but that I shall be avenged." Hardly had he spoken
these words when Dilkandi cut him in two. Dilkandi, who was a relative
of Ali, gladly accepted, we are told, the office of executioner, in order to
avenge the death of Taj ud din. The quarter of Tebriz built by Rashid,
named Raba Rashidi, including his house, was given up to pillage, and his
family were seized as slaves by the first comers. All his lands and goods,
and those of his sons, were confiscated, even those he had devoted to
pious uses. His head was taken to Tebriz, and carried about the town
for several days amidst cries of " This is the head of the Jew who has
dishonoured the word of God ; may God's curse be upon him." One
account says that he was dismembered, and that his limbs were exposed
in various places, while his body was burnt ; but it would seem that he
was buried at Tebriz, near the mosque which he had built there, for we
are told how, a century later, Miran Shah Mirza, Timur's grandson, when
governor of Tebriz, and after he had become partially demented, had his
bones exhumed and buried in the Jewish cemetery* Quatremere has
examined the story of his having been a Jew, which is reported by Sakkai
and others, and was evidently widely believed, and has shown that it is in
all probability baseless, and due to his having, among his other researches,
interested himself in Jewish history, &c. Rashid tells us himself that his
father was a zealous Mussulman, while his grandfather was a friend of
Nasir ud din, of Tus, which would be incredible if he had been a Jew.}
Thus, on the 17th of Jamada the First, 718, terminated, at the age
of y^, the career of Fazlallah, son of Abulkhair, son of Ali, the
physician, philosopher, historian, the author of Ghazan's famous code
of laws (kanun), the greatest vizier of the Ilkhan dynasty, and
one of the greatest men the East has produced, to whom the
students of Eastern history are under immeasurable obligations. The
famous college which he built, and which was known as the Rashidia,
bore this enigmatical inscription : " It is more difficult to destroy
this beautiful building than to build another." Besides his famous history,
he was also the author of exegetical, geographical, and mathematical
works. These he wrote, as he tells us, during the two earliest hours,
from the morning prayer till sunrise — the only two hours he could
spare in the morning from his exacting duties to the State.} A few days
after Rashid's execution, the amir Isen Kutlugh arrived from Khorasan,
and reproached the amirs warmly, and asked them how they hoped to
benefit by putting to death an old man so near his grave. Isen Kutlugh
died almost directly after, which, like the death of Sevinj, seems
suspicious. The chief instruments in Rashid's downfall speedily met
with retribution. Dilkandi having plotted with Zenburi and some others
to assassinate the amir Choban at the gate of the palace, was seized and
* Quatremere's Rashid, xliv. t Id., v.-viii.
X Ilkhans, ii. 259-261. D'Ohsson, iv. 608-612,

59° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
executed, and Zenburi was sent to Asia Minor to Timurtash. The vizier
Ali Shah was naturally exultant, and we are told by an historian of
Mekka, Taki ud din Fasi, that among the treasures of the Kaaba were
two gold rings, each weighing 100 miskals, and enriched with six great
pearls and six rubies. These were offered by Haji Bulavaj in the name
of Ali Shah in the year 718 of the hej. He had vowed to suspend them
at the door of the Kaaba in case he overthrew Rashid.*
News arrived at this time that Uzbeg, Khan of Kipchak, was marching
towards Derbend at the head of a numerous army, and that an Egyptian
army had entered Diarbekr. This action, which was doubtless concerted,
was probably induced by Abusaid's youth. It was decided in a grand
council that the amir Irenchin should defend the last province, that the
Sultan in person should oppose Uzbeg, while the amir Hussein was sent
against Yassaur, who had revolted in Khorasan. Hussein halted at Rai
to await reinforcements, since Yassaur had twice as many men with him
in Mazanderan. On the arrival of reinforcements, he continued his
advance in spite of the snow and severe cold, but learnt at Damaghan
that Yassaur had retired. The latter's forces had been exaggerated, and
had caused some alarm at the Court, and Choban himself had determined
to advance into Khorasan. Having reviewed his army near Bailekan, he
was about to move on when he heard that Uzbeg Khan had already
arrived at Derbend, and that the amir Taremtaz, who had gone to oppose
him, had returned again to the Ordu. The Sultan had only a thousand
men-at-arms with him, and an equal number of servants, muleteers, and
cameleers. He advanced, notwithstanding, to the Kur, where he ranged
all his tents in a line to make believe to the enemy encamped on the other
bank that his forces were much larger. As soon as Choban heard of his
master's danger he hastened with 20,000 men from Khorasan. Before his
arrival Uzbeg's army had withdrawn. He pursued it and captured many
prisoners. On his return he was much praised by the Sultan, but the
officers who had withdrawn before the enemy was in sight were severely
punished. Some were bastinadoed and others degraded by order of
Choban, who afterwards, as we shall see, suffered from the effects of their
revenge.t Soon after the accession of Abusaid there was a succession of serious
troubles in Khorasan, caused by the ambition of the Jagatai prince, Yassaur,
above named, who had been granted an important appanage by Uljaitu,
and who now aspired to a much more important position. I have postponed
a notice of these matters till the next volume, when the history of the
Jagatai princes at this time is related. Here it will suffice to say that
Yassaur, after a protracted struggle, in which Ghiath ud din, the ruler of
Herat, bore a prominent part as an ally of the Ilkhan, was compelled to
* Quatremere, op. cit., xlv.-.\lvi. t D'Ohsson, iv. 613-614.

ABUSAID KHAN. 591
withdraw to his appanage, and eventually killed there by his relative,
Kepek Khan, of Jagatai, who had an old grudge against him. On the
retreat of Yassaur from the neighbourhood of Herat, Ghiath ud din sent a
mollah to the Court, which was then in Arran, to report what had
happened. Choban ordered 50,000 dinars to be sent to the malik as a
mark of the royal munificence, and issued an edict excepting Herat from
the payment of all taxes for three years, and made over to Ghiath ud din
all the domains of the maliks of Khavaf, Esfizar, Tulek, and other chiefs
who had sided with Yassaur ; made over to him also all the free people
and slaves he had captured from the son of Bujai, placed the amirs of the
Nigudarians under his authority, and attached to his Court the archers
(charkh endazan) of Khorasan* We read in the history of Herat that
the malik Kutb ud din Esfizari was on very bad terms with Ghiath ud
din. He had tried to bribe the officers of Abusaid to invest him with the
district of Esfizar, and not having succeeded, had obtained from
Ghiath ud din the title of commissary (mubashir) in that country. When
Yassaur occupied that district with 5,000 men he broke out into open
rebellion against the ruler of Herat, shut himself, his family, and partisans
in the citadel, and tried to surprise the fortress of Abkal. In this he
failed. Meanwhile the amir Ali Khototai, who governed Esfizar on
behalf of Ghiath ud din, besieged him in the citadel. He now appealed
to Inaltekin, chief of Ferrah, who promised to send 10,000 men to his
assistance. Thereupon the ruler of Herat arrived within a parasang of
Esfizar with a large army, and proceeded to invest it. Inaltekin arrived
about the same time, but deemed it prudent to withdraw again, leaving
only 4,000 men behind. Without leaders, they were attacked by Ghiath
ud din. They were dispersed ; many of them fled to the mountains, and
2,000 of them, perishing with hunger and fatigue, were made prisoners.
Ghiath ud din ordered them to be exposed in chains under the walls of
the citadel in order to intimidate the rebels. It did in fact discourage
them, disunion broke out among them, and they agreed to surrender at
discretion. Kutb ud din was duly tried and condemned to the bastinado,
which he underwent in the middle of the Cheharsu. Many of his
accomplices were put to death with torments. The rest were amnestied
at the prayer of some venerable sheikhs, and some of them were sent to
the tile works in Herat. Ghiath ud din appointed his nephew Muhammed,
son of Alai ud din, governor of Esfizar, making Khototai his naib, or
lieutenant.t Notwithstanding his ruinous wars and other occupations,
Ghiath ud din greatly beautified Herat, which had been much neglected
since the reign of Muhammed, son of Sam, and had become in parts
ruinous. Able architects were employed to restore it, and it soon became
finer than before. A medresseh (or college) was built to the north of the
* D'Ohsson, iv. 629-630. t Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 499-501.

592 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
great mosque, which was called Ghiathiah. A hall of reception (bargulah)
was also built north of the citadel, and some skilful painters were
employed in decorating it. On its western wall they represented the
victorious army of Abusaid, and on the other Yassaur fallen and in the
midst of a crowd of corpses, a scene which was not long in being realised.
Ghiath ud din also erected beautiful baths near the ditch of the citadel.
Two caravanserais and a bazaar, which extended from the citadel, reached
to the Chehar Su ; a cistern and a caravanserai not far from the mosque
of Tereh Furushi. He also caused many towns and fortresses to be
renovated* Let us now turn again to Abusaid. His youth encouraged insubordina
tion among his officers, who showed their temper during the campaign
against Uzbeg. The Ilkhan complained to his old friend and supporter,
Choban, who had a grudge against one of the most important of them,
viz., Kurmishi. He ordered him and others to be bastinadoed. It
would seem that the amirs who had charge of this punishment contented
themselves with inflicting a few light blows only. Choban, having heard
of this, had him stripped, and the punishment repeated more seriously.
At a feast which took place some time after, when the amirs drank to one
another, Kurmishi offered the cup kneeling to Nejm ud din Abubekr, one
of Choban's chief nawabs, who excused himself from kneeling in return
on account of his age, which added to Kurmishi's irritation.} The latter
now formed a plot with Ghazan and Buka Ilduzdi, who had also suffered
corporal punishment. "He wishes to dominate over us. Our fathers
never marched under the banners of his ; they were, on the contrary,
their superiors in rank. Rather death than have him for our master."
They accordingly determined to assassinate him. When Abusaid
returned to Sultania, Choban, having dismissed his troops, went to his
summer quarters in Georgia. Leaving his oghruks in command of his
son Hussein, he set out for Gukche Tenguiz. (Wassaf says for his
summer quarters of Akseran.) The conspirators, deeming the opportunity
favourable, pursued him with a troop of picked cavalry. One of them,
Kara Toghai, however, informed him of what was taking place. He was
taken aback, and sent some officers to make inquiry. They were seized
and put to death. He was for waiting quietly until their return, but was
persuaded to leave at nightfall with two amirs. He intrusted his camp to
Togmak, but scarcely had he left when his troops began to plunder it,
and were joined by Togmak, who had been offended because the daughter
of the amir Irenchin, whom he had courted, had been by Uljaitu's orders
married to Dimashk Khoja, the son of Choban. Several of Choban's
officers were killed in the melde. Hasan, another son of Choban, had
gone to his father's rescue with 500 horsemen. They were pursued by
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., 501-502. t Ilkhans, ii. 274.

ABUSAID KHAN. 593
Kurmishi, Mama Khoja, Sati son of Timur, Kia, &c, with 20,000 men.
A terrible struggle ensued on the Blue Lake, near Nakhchivan, in which
Mama Khoja was killed, and Aghrukji and Kurmishi were wounded and
had to retire. On the other hand, Choban himself was wounded, and fled,
accompanied by only fifty horsemen. He was pursued by Hali Uruz (called
Aras, Togmak's brother, by Hamdullah), with 300 men, but he was not over
taken* This is Wassaf's account. The continuator of Rashid says that
Choban and his small escort passed by a party of people roasting a sheep
in the midst of a meadow, and were asked to partake, but they sped on.
Togmak, an officer of Kurmishi, who was following the fugitives with
fifty men, having arrived at the same place, accepted the invitation. This
gave time to Choban to escape. When he reached Nakhchivan Choban
asked help from the malik Ziai ul Mulk, who excused himself and merely
gave him some provisions, conduct for which he was afterwards severely
reprimanded, and he would have been put to death if he had not bought
off the penalty by a payment of 100,000 dinars. The vizier, Ali Shah,
who was at Tebriz superintending the building of a mosque, behaved
very differently. No sooner did he hear of Choban's danger than he
went to rescue him with a body of well-armed horsemen. He met him at
Merend, and escorted him to Tebriz, where the people declared for him ;
but he did not delay there more than a day, and hastened on to Sultania.
In passing Aujan he ordered Siyurghatmish and Kublai to defend this
post, and to send daily intelligence of the movements of the enemy.}
We read how at this time the Princess Kordojin, who held the govern
ment of Fars, sent a present of standards, drums, led horses, tents, and
armour to the Sultan, who rewarded her by giving her the title of
Terkhan, which exempted her from the payment of all taxes.}
Meanwhile Kurmishi and his companions persuaded the amir Irenchin,
who was a Kerait, like Kurmishi himself, to join them. He had become an
enemy of Choban's since the latter had deprived him of the government
of Diarbekr and given it to Sunatai. Wanting to have it believed that
they were acting in the name of Abusaid, they showed everywhere a false
order of that prince commanding Irenchin and Kurmishi to kill Choban
and those whom they found with him. Many distinguished people,
deceived by this artifice, joined them. From their camp between
Nakhchivan and Tebriz, they sent word to Abusaid that Choban had
revolted, and that they were obliged to march against him. Their
messenger arrived at Sultania before Choban, and put up with Sheikh
Ali, son of Irenchin, who was a great favourite of Abusaid. Sheikh Ali
at the first impulse was for killing Dimashk' Khoja, son of Choban, but
postponed his purpose until he could make fresh inquiries. Ali Shah
arrived the following morning, and had an interview with Abusaid, whom
* D'Ohsson, iv, 630-632. Ilkhans, ii. 274-275. t Id., D'Ohsson, iv. 632-633.
I Ilkhans, ii. 275-276.
P*

594 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
he informed of the falseness of the report, and praised the great services
of Choban, who himself speedily arrived at Sultania and exposed the
designs of his enemies. The rebel amirs had arrived near Tebriz,
intending to plunder that city to satisfy their troops ; but after second
thoughts deemed it better not to begin by irritating the people, so they
passed it by. On approaching Aujan, Siyurghatmish, feeling unable to resist
them, retired upon Sultania, where he gave the alarm. Abusaid marched
against them. He commanded the centre of his little army, Choban
commanded the right wing, and Yassaur, with the grand amirs, Kerenj,
Alghui, Satai, Sheikh Ali Behadur, and Siyurghatmish, the left, where
was also Kara Sonkor with a body of Egyptians. On the side of the
enemy were Kunjuk, the daughter of the Ilkhan Sultan Ahmed, with her
husband Irenchin, who commanded the centre ; on the right were
Kurmishi and his sons, and on the left Togmak, Uruz, and other leaders.
When the Sultan was a day's march from the rebel army, Kutlugh Shah
Khatun, daughter of Irenchin, begged him to halt while she sent some
officers to persuade her father to submit. The Sultan accordingly halted
at Zenjan ; but on the return of the officers with the report that they had
not been able to persuade Irenchin, he continued his march. The next
day the enemy was seen in the distance, near the village of Minare'dar.
Wassaf says in the place called Miane, near the village of Minareh. The
troops on each side passed the night on horseback. Kutlugh Shah Khatun
now made another attempt to persuade her father to submit, promising
that he would obtain mercy. " In that case," said Irenchin, " the Sultan
has only to unfurl his white standards ; this shall be the signal for peace
and pardon." The princess told Abusaid, who the next day ordered the
white banners to be unfurled. On seeing this, Irenchin, inflated with
arrogance, thought Abusaid was afraid. Summoning Kurmishi, he told
him the imperial troops could not resist their first charge, and they
advanced, deeming themselves certain of victory and of empire.
Thereupon Abusaid caused Sheikh Ali, Irenchin's son, a young man of
very prepossessing appearance, to be beheaded, and ordered his head to
be exposed on the end of a lance, crying out, " Thus perishes whoever is
the Sultan's enemy." Irenchin, on seeing this head, rushed upon the
.foe, regardless of his great age. Several warriors fell under his blows
and those of his wife Kichik (or Kunjuk, as Von Hammer calls her), who
followed him, sword in hand, excelling the bravest warriors in valour.
The two armies joined issue — father fought against son, brother against
brother. Abusaid's men began to give way, when he charged in person,
and his officers followed his example, and the enemy was routed. The
amirs Uruz, Hasan, Hussein, Tamuk, Sighaneh, Seli, Begtimur, and
Karauna were killed in the fight. Irenchin himself was captured in the
village of Kiaghidkunan, and was put to death by the guards ; so were
Kurmishi and Togmak. One of Kurmishi's sons fell with his father, the

ABUSAID KHAN. 595
other fled to Uzbeg, the Khan of Kipchak. Wusdadar, son of Irenchin,
a giant in size and courage, was put to death with the sons of Togmak
and other amirs. Some were cleft in four, others placed in pans of
burning naphtha. The princess Kunjuk, in accordance with the yasa of
Jingis Khan, was stoned to death. Her naked body was then thrown
out on the road, and was trodden under by horses and cattle.* This is
apparently the account given by Wassaf. In the continuation of Rashid
we are told that only four amirs escaped from the fight — Kurmishi, his son
Abd ur Rahman, Buka Ilduzji, and Choban Karaunas. All the rest were
either captured or killed. A tent was" pitched on the field of battle, and
when the Sultan had returned thanks for his victory the prisoners were
brought in. Aras and his relatives were put to death at once, but
Irenchin, Togmak, and Issenbuka were reserved for a more ignominious
end. They were conducted to Sultania, and hung up to hooks, and wood
fires were lighted below them. Their relatives, friends, and clients were
also put to death, as were other people who lived far away, and were
accused of being their partisans. The four amirs above-named were
arrested by Sunatai, who had set out, on hearing of the outbreak, from
Diarbekr for the royal ordu. He killed three of them at once, and sent
Kurmishi to Sultania, where he shared the same fate.t
The Egyptian historian Novairi has another story. Under the year
719 HEJ. he reports how the vizier Taj ud din Ali Shah, having preceded
Choban to the Court, vaunted his excellences, and said that his enemies
were moved only by envy and ambition, and that they wanted to destroy
him merely to reign in his stead, and that the amir Irenchin thought he
had a claim to the throne, as he belonged to the Imperial stock. Abusaid
thereupon allowed Choban to return, and he went to him in sackcloth and
tears, saying, " They have killed my principal officers, men whom I have
selected for your service ; they have appropriated the moneys I have
amassed by your bounty. I have lost the consideration which your favour
had surrounded me with. If you wish for my death, I am here ; I am only
one of your slaves." Abusaid said he was far from wishing him any
harm, and knew the motives which had impelled the rebels to rise both
against himself and him. Choban then asked for troops with which to
fight the rebels, and 10,000 men, commanded by the amir Taz, son of
the noyan Kitubuka, who had perished at Ain Jalut, were confided to him,
while the Egyptian Kara Sonkor presented himself with 300 horsemen,
armed cap-a-pie, in the Egyptian fashion. Abusaid marched in person
at the head of his military household, so that Choban might be assured
that he was fighting for him and not for his enemies. Meanwhile
Kurmishi, Irenchin, and Togmak had pursued Choban to Tebriz, whose
gates were closed by the citizens ; but its commander, El Haji, went out
* Ilkhans, ii. 276-277. t D'Ohsson, iv. 636-637.

590 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to meet them with an offering of meat and drink, and provisions for their
men. They demanded 70,000 dinars from him on account of the gates
having been closed, and also of its people having, at the instance of the
vizier, Ali Shah, gone out to welcome Choban. They left the same day
and went towards Miane"t, passed Zenjan, and met the Imperial forces
near a village called Minare\ Irenchin, at the sight of the Imperial
standard, was taken aback ; but Kurmishi urged that they must fight, as
Abusaid was really their friend. The two armies being ranged opposite
one another, Kurmishi shouted out to Choban to show himself, as he
wished to go and make his submission to him. Having unfurled his
standard, Choban took the precaution to withdraw. Kurmishi made a
terrible charge, expecting to find the general near those defending the
standard. The struggle was very fierce. The amir Taz and Kara
Sonkor both showed great bravery. At length Irenchin and his people
took to flight, and the greater part of the rebels passed over to the other
side. Irenchin, Kurmishi, Togmak, his brother, and other officers were
captured and taken to Sultania. Taken before a military council (yargu)
and interrogated about their revolt, they replied unanimously that they
had acted by order of Abusaid. Kurmishi said to Choban, " Yusuf Beka
and Muhammed Herzeh came to me from Abusaid to engage me to attack
and kill you." Choban summoned the two men just cited, who confirmed
the statement. Abusaid denied it and said that they lied, and ordered that
they were to be treated as men who had calumniated their sovereign. All
were condemned to death according to the yasa of Jingis Khan. There
upon Irenchin drew a paper from his portfolio, and said to Abusaid, " See
the order you gave me to kill Choban." He then cast reproaches upon
him, presuming on the fact that he was uncle to the Sultan's mother. The
Sultan denied the accusation, and said to Choban, " Act towards them in
accordance with the yasa ; they have rebelled against me and you."
Choban had them accordingly executed. He began with Irenchin,
whom he hung by his sides to iron hooks. While in this position he
cursed Abusaid with terrible imprecations. They tried to cut out his
tongue, but as they could not seize it they thrust an iron spear under his
chin, which traversed his palate. His body was exposed naked for two
days. Eventually his head was cut off and promenaded about Khorasan,
Azerbaijan, the two Iraks, Rum, and Diarbekr. Kurmishi and Togmak
were hung from hooks.
Novairi reports these facts from the history of the Sheikh Alem ud din
el Berzali, who heard them from the Sheikh Muhammed, son of Abubekr
el Kattan, of Irbil, who came from Damascus. He adds others from the
statements of a merchant named Alai ud din Ali, who was at Sultania
when the tragedy occurred. The latter said that about thirty-six amirs were
put to death, and their goods appropriated by Choban, who thus recouped
his losses. The body of Irenchin was, according to him, exposed for

ABUSAID KHAN. 597
three days, and with him were hooked Togmak and his brother Ersemeh,
as well as the amir Bektut. The next day Yusuf Buka, Bektut's brother,
and the amir Yumai, suffered the same fate. Two sons of Togmak, only
seven years old, were put to death on the third day. On the fourth,
Vefadar, son of Irenchin, who was only fifteen. Ali, another of his sons,
had perished in the battle. His head was thrown to his mother, Kichik,
daughter of Sultan Ahmed, son of Abaka, who took part in the fight, and was
captured and trodden under horses' feet, by order of Abusaid. Kurmishi
was put to death on the seventh day. His chin was first shaved, and a
painted cap, called turtu, was put on his head. He was promenaded
with nails inserted in his body through the town of Sultania, and conducted
before Choban, who had him killed with volleys of arrows. Kutlugh Shah,
son of Irenchin, and one of the widows of Uljaitu were condemned to
death by Abusaid, on the charge of having poisoned his father. Her life
was spared at the intercession of the vizier Ali Shah, who married her to
Khoja Damashk, son of Choban. The amir Taz married the widow of
Togmak, and succeeded Kurmishi in command of Taberistan. The
bodies of those put to death were all burnt.* The report of the Egyptian
historian that Abusaid had something to do with the revolt was perhaps
not altogether an invention, and it may well be that, wanting to rid himself
of the patronage of Choban, he incited what he was afterwards afraid to
support. Von Hammer, apparently following Wassaf, tells us how the vizier,
Taj ud din Ali Shah, having been the first to break through the enemy's
ranks in the late fight, was given the juldu, which in the Mongol hunters'
phrase was the best portion of the quarry, viz., the back, head, fore and
hind feet, and the skin, and which was given to the one who first wounded
the game. In his case this was the harem of Irenchin. Kutlugh Shah,
the latter's daughter, the widow of Uljaitu and stepmother of Abusaid, he
made over to the amir Pulad Kia. Ilghi, the widow of Togmak, was first
given to a man of middle-class station. She redeemed herself from this
disgrace by a payment of 5,000 gold pieces, and then married the amir
Siyurghatmish. In consequence of Abusaid's conspicuous bravery in the
battle, the title of Behadur was added to his name in public documents.
Wassaf, the historian, wrote a kassidet on the victory.t It would seem
that the rebels had sympathisers elsewhere, and especially in Rum, where
several amirs, viz., Kurbuka, the brother of Issen Kutlugh ; Berbai,
brother of Sai Noyan ; Muhammed, son of Budin Noyan, and others,
broke out in rebellion, and committed various depredations for eighteen
days, until the news of the Sultan's victory arrived, when they quarrelled
with one another. Those who were not killed in this struggle were put
to the sword by Timurtash, son of Choban, who then governed Rum.}
* D'Ohsson, iv, 637-642. Note. t Ilkhans, ii. 277-278. I id., 277.

598 . HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
After the events above described Abusaid set out for his country
quarters at Karabagh, in Arran, and Choban received a new proof of his
favour. His wife Dulendi, sister to Abusaid, whom he had married in
1304, had died, and he begged Abusaid to give him the hand of his other
sister, Sati beg, which was accorded to him, and the marriage took place
on the 6th of September, 1306* The following year Abusaid was
delivered from a turbulent neighbour, the Prince Yassaur, at the hands of
the Khan of Jagatai, as I shall describe in a later volume. At this period
there was great suffering in the southern provinces of the empire.
Diarbekr, Mesopotamia, and Kurdistan were, during the year 1318,
ravaged by famine. Many of their inhabitants emigrated, and others
perished of hunger and disease. Dead bodies were eaten ; people sold
their children, the price of boys varying from five to fifty dirhems. They
were for the most part purchased by the Mongols, and as it was forbidden
for Mussulmans to sell their children, the mothers declared that they
were Christians. The towns of Mardin, Jeziret ul Omar, Mayafarikin,
Mosul, and Irbil, were largely depopulated. Irak Arab also suffered.
The first cause of the misfortune, which began in Diarbekr and Sinjar,
was the passage of a flight of locusts. The drought in the spring of 13 18
aggravated the evil, which went on increasing till the spring of 1319, when
it was at its height. In August, 1320, there was a hailstorm at Sultania,
in which the hail was of exceptional size, one piece weighing eighteen
dirhems. This hailstorm killed many cattle. It was followed by a great
inundation in the town. The panic was general, and the divine pity was
invoked. The doctors of the law, on being consulted as to the cause of
the visitation, attributed it to the oppression and tyranny that prevailed,
and especially to the existence of wineshops and houses of ill fame near
the mosques, colleges, and monasteries. Abusaid accordingly ordered
taverns to be suppressed in the kingdom, and the tavern keepers had to
take all their wine in hogsheads to the foot of the castle, and we are told
more than 10,000 of these casks were collected there. Thereupon the vizier,
Ali Shah, came with his employe's, and the barrels were duly emptied
into the ditch, which was certainly a large experiment in enforced total
abstinence. The casks were burnt, and the fire lasted two days. Novairi
says he took the story from the history of Alem ud din el Berzali,
surnamed EI Moctafi, who related it on the authority of a merchant of
Mosul, who was at Sultania, and passed on to Tebriz, where he tells us
the streets ran with wine, as they did at Mosul, to which he afterwards
repaired. At this time Abusaid also abolished the tax on grain.} About
the year 1320 a prince of the Golden Horde, named the amir Asghir
Oghlan, who was brother of Uzbeg Khan, seized and fortified himself in
a strong position in Karabagh, a northern province of Persia, bordering
* D'Ohsson, iv. 641-642. t Id., iv. 644-646.

ABUSAID KHAN. 599
on the Caspian. Abusaid sent the amir Pulad Kia against him with
10,000 men, who speedily killed the intruder.*
On his accession, Abusaid informed the Egyptian Sultan of his desire
to see a firm peace established with that country, and received assurances
of a similar kind in reply ; but the welcome continually offered in Persia to
Egyptian refugees, greatly irritated the Egyptian Court. The amir Hosam
ud din Mohanna, who, on the death of his father, Sherif ud dia Yasa, in
1284, had been invested by Kelavun with the government of the Syrian
Bedouins, had not dared to pay his respects to Nasir after having assisted
the rebel amir, Kara Sonkor ; and, although the Sultan had shown him
every consideration, and sent him letters and presents, given him new
fiefs, and distributed largess to his sons and relatives, he was not more
submissive. Nasir accordingly, in May, 1316, conferred the command
of the Syrian Bedouins on Shuja ud din Fazl, brother of Hosam ud din,
and decked him, as was customary, with a robe made of satin of
Mardin, embroidered with fur. Hosam ud din then went to Irak Arab,
to the ordu of Uljaitu at Baghdad, who rewarded him handsomely,
granted him an appanage, and gave him permission either to settle in his
dominions or to leave. He preferred to return to Syria to reconcile
himself with the Sultan, who, in May, 13 17, re-established him by letters
patent. Nasir asked him to pay him a visit, but he feared to go. He
also suspected the largess which Nasir had caused to be distributed
among the Bedouins, his subjects. Abulfeda tells us that in the year
1319, Fazl, son of Mohanna, son of Isa, went with a present "of Arab
horses to Abusaid and his patron Choban, by whom he was invested
with the fief of Bassora in addition to the fiefs he held in Syria.} We
saw how Homaiza, Prince of Mekka, was frustrated in trying to recover
his patrimony, and was obliged to escape to the Bedouins.} He
remained for some time in the Hijaz. Presently the Egyptian Sultan
sent two officers to summon him to his presence. He asked for money
to defray the journey, which they gave him. Thereupon, however, he
fled. A year later (i.e., in the spring of 131 8) he surprised Mekka, whence
he drove his brother Abulgaith, and substituted the name of Abusaid for
that of Nasir in the Friday Prayer. Homaiza was assassinated by one
of his own slaves in l32o.§
When Nasir, in 1320, ordered an invasion of Cilicia, Hosam ud din
thought the expedition was directed against himself, and migrated a
second time. He again went to Irak Arab with his relations and their
clients of the tribe Al Fazl. The Sultan thereupon ordered the sequestra
tion of the fiefs belonging to the fugitives, and nominated the amir
Shems ud din Muhammed, son of Abubekr, chief of the Bedouins, and
ordered all the family of Mohanna to be driven out of Syria.|| Nasir
* Ilkhans, ii. 284. t Op. cit., v. 323. X Ante, 572. $ D'Ohsson, iv. 585-586.
|| Id., iv. 646-648.

60O HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
retained a violent hatred for Kara Sonkor, and tried to have him
assassinated. He sent thirty Ismaelites, or "Assassins," to Tebriz in
1320 upon this errand. They were put at his service by the head of the
Ismaelites of Syria, who lived at Massiat. One of them having betrayed
the rest, several of them were seized and put to death. This did not prevent
one of the survivors, however, from attempting Kara Sonkor's life when
he was one day riding in the neighbourhood of his camp. At the news
of this attempt there was a general alarm, and it was feared the Ismaelites
intended killing, not only Kara Sonkor, but also the Sultan, Choban,
Ali Shah, and the principal Mongol officers, and Abusaid secluded
himself for eleven days. Choban summoned El Majd Ismael es Selami,
agent of the Egyptian Sultan, and said to him : " At one time and another
you have brought us presents, and you hope that we shall live at peace
with the ruler of Egypt. This is that he may more easily put an end to
us by means of the Ismaelites." He had him seized and threatened to
put him to death, but he was released by the vizier, Ali Shah. News
now came that an Ismaelite had tried to poniard the governor of
Baghdad, but had failed, and having been pursued had committed suicide.
This had such an effect upon Choban that he determined to propose a
treaty of peace with Egypt. An envoy was nominated to go and treat,
and Majd es Selami was sent in advance to announce the fact. Orders
were issued to the governors of Damascus and Aleppo to go and meet
this envoy, and to treat him with the honours due to his position. The
conditions which he offered for a treaty of peace were that the Egyptian
Government should employ no more assassins (fidaviyet) in the Mongol
territory ; that it should not demand the extradition of fugitives who had
gone to settle in the dominions of Abusaid, who in return was not to ask
for the extradition of his own subjects similarly placed ; that the Arabs
and Turkomans should not be encouraged to invade the Mongol territory ;
that there should be free intercourse between the two kingdoms, so that
traders might pass freely from one to the other ; that the pilgrim caravan
should be allowed to go freely every year from Irak to Mekka, bearing a
standard with the name of the Egyptian Sultan upon it, and another with
that of the Sultan Abusaid ; and that the extradition of Kara Sonkor
was not to be asked for. Nasir having summoned his council, it was
decided to agree to a peace on the terms proposed, and presents were
ordered to be prepared for Abusaid. The fact of his having prohibited
the use of strong drink, and ordering the drink to be poured out on the
ground, and that those who evaded the order were to be put to death ;
that houses of ill fame were closed, and singers and dancers expelled,
that the taxes levied on foreign merchants were suppressed, the churches
near Tebriz destroyed, and the mosques restored, all made the Egyptians
more favourable to this pact. Nasir was not to be outdone in rigour by the
M ongol chief. He also forbade the sale of fermented liquors, and ordered

ABUSAID KHAN. 601
them to be poured away, closed taverns, and redeemed those whose
lives had been devoted to prostitution*
Abulfeda has preserved some special details of these negotiations, and
names several embassies as having passed between Abusaid and the
Sultan. The first was led by Maj ud din Ismal Salameti. It took
splendid presents, mamluks, girls, &c.} In 1321 a second embassy went
from Timurtash, son of Choban, who was then governor of Rum.} The
next year the Sultan sent a return embassy under Atamish Nasir. § Fresh
envoys went on behalf of the Mongols in 1323.H In December of the
same year, Abulfeda himself was in Egypt when the more famous
embassy above referred to arrived there. He tells us it had two
leaders — Tughan on behalf of Abusaid, and Hamza on behalf of Choban —
and Tavashi Rihan, the kharendar (i.e., the treasurer), was charged with
the imperial gifts. They were all present at a grand feast, at which the
amirs and mamluks were dressed in magnificently decorated robes and
caps, among whom the Sultan was conspicuous by his simple costume.
Abulfeda says he saw the presents they brought, which consisted of three
noble chargers of the cross between Arab mares and Persian stallions
called ikdish, whose saddles were decorated with Egyptian gold plate,
inlaid with precious stones ; three saddle girths made of gold tissue,
inlaid with gems, and a sword with a sheath made of the same costly
materials ; also striped cloth, with golden threads interwoven ; a splendid
girdle similarly embroidered ; and eleven sumpter camels bearing chests
covered with Persian cloth. There were also 700 pieces of cloth with the
name and titles of the Sultan interwoven. The Sultan accepted the gifts,
and conferred robes and other marks of his favour on the envoys, who
two days later were invited to take part in the famous feast held on the
day of the great Mekka sacrifice, and which was celebrated with great
pomp. The envoys were then decorated with golden girdles, and we are
assured that altogether the Sultan spent upon their entertainment more
than 100,000 dirhems. The envoys were then sent home again.H
In 1322, Timurtash, the son of Choban, who was governor of Rum,
revolted, coined money, had the Khutbeh recited in his own name,
and gave himself out as the Mahdi, who was to appear at the end of the
world. He sent envoys to inform the Egyptian Sultan that he intended
to conquer Persia, and asking for his help. Choban, when he heard the
news, was naturally taken aback, and asked to be allowed to march
against his son, whom he promised to bring to the foot of the throne if he
should freely submit, and if not, undertook to bring his head. Although
it was winter, and Choban was suffering from gout, he set out. Timurtash
prepared to resist his father, but was urged by the magistrates and clergy
to submit. He accordingly did so. Choban had him bound, and took

* D'Ohsson, 648-652. t Op. cit., v. 345. I Id.. 347.
II Id., 355. H Id., 357-359- Ilkhans, ii. 285-286.

5 Id., 351.

602 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him with him to the Sultan, who pardoned him for the sake of his father,
and reinstated him in his command. Several of the counsellors of
Timurtash, however, were put to death* About this time we read that
Kutlugh, the daughter of Abaka Khan, made a pilgrimage to Mekka, and
was treated with great honour en route by the Egyptian officials.t The
negotiations with Egypt, above-mentioned, led to a peace, which was
duly ratified in 1323 by Abusaid, and published from the pulpit at Tebriz.
The Egyptian amir Itmish returned to Cairo with the treaty, which was
ratified by the oath of the Sultan and of the vizier Ali Shah, while an
envoy of Abusaid went to Cairo to receive Nasir's oath, and from this
time frequent embassies passed between the two rulers. In making peace
with Egypt, Abusaid interposed his good offices on behalf of the
Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, which had been terribly ravaged by the
Egyptians.} We have seen how, on the murder of Leo IV. and his uncle Haithon,
in 1308, Oshin, Haithon's brother, was appointed king of Little Armenia.
He was duly consecrated at Tarsus, and reigned till the year 1320, and
was succeeded by his son Leo V.§ As he was only ten years old he was
under the tutelage of the Bailiff Oshin, who married his mother, Joan of
Sicily, and who caused him to marry his daughter. The treaty with
Egypt having nearly expired, the Armenian King asked for its renewal
on the same terms ; but Nasir insisted on the restitution by the Armenians
of several places they had appropriated under their strong ruler, Lachin,
and as they would only surrender one of these fortresses the Egyptians
entered Cilicia under the amir Shihab ud din Karttai, governor of the
province of Tripoli. After crossing the Jihan, in which about 1,000
horsemen were drowned, these troops divided themselves into several
bodies, which ravaged the country for some days, and retired with
their booty. This was in June, 1320. The King and the Bailiff Oshin
wrote to the Pope to implore the aid of Christendom. John XXII., who
was then Pope, replied that the sovereigns of Europe were at war
with one another, and could not therefore help him, but that he would
himself send some troops to their aid. But before their arrival Nasir,
who had heard that Leo proposed to arm Europe against Egypt, took a
cruel vengeance. At his instigation Timurtash entered Cilicia, when an
attack from the Mongols was unexpected, took Sis, the capital, and
advanced as far as the maritime stronghold of Aras, ravaged the country,
killed many people, and carried off a number of prisoners. After which a
Turkish amir named Omar pillaged the unfortunate land, opening the
tombs to find treasure, and throwing the bones found in them into the fire.
He burnt the standing corn and that in the magazines, carried off the
cattle, and retired, after a raid lasting for twenty-five days, with the

* D'Ohsson, iv. 658-659. Ilkhans, ii. 288-289. Abulfeda, 355-357.
Abulfeda, v. 355. I D'Ohsson, iv. 659. § Journ. Asiat,, 5th ser.,

xvii. 385.

ABUSAID KHAN. 603
spoils of Little Armenia, which was then again invaded by the Egyptians.
They captured several towns, burnt Adana, razed its citadel, captured a
rich booty there, and carried off" 20,000 prisoners. Meanwhile the various
Armenian grandees, instead of uniting together, were engaged in mutual
quarrels. On hearing of these terrible events, the Pope addressed a general brief
to the Faithful, exhorting them to aid the Armenians with men and
money, ordered solemn prayers in all the churches, and collections for
those who would take the cross. He sent Leo a sum of money with
which to raise troops, and sent a letter to Abusaid, dated from Avignon
on the 13th July, 1322, in which he told him how his ancestors, who had
been friendly to the Christians, had always been the allies of the
Armenian kings, and had supported them against the Turks and other
enemies, and begged him to do the same and to aid the king of Armenia,
whose enemies had invaded a portion of his kingdom and appropriated
the rest. The Pope went on to exhort the Ilkhan to embrace Christianity,
on which subject he wrote him a special letter, dated on July the 12th.
In this he recalled the ancient friendly relations which had existed
between Abusaid's predecessors and other Christian rulers. " We
remember having been often told that your ancestors, illustrious by their
magnanimity, have sent envoys at various times to show their veneration
for the Roman Pontiffs and the Apostolic See, and that they were on
friendly terms also with the kings of the Franks and other Christian
rulers, who had received these envoys in a friendly fashion. These kings
and your ancestors mutually honoured each other with gifts and presents.
You will complete your meritorious qualities if you also will send envoys
to us and the Holy See, and if you will renew the friendly intercourse
with our dear son in Jesus Christ, the illustrious king of the Franks. We
rejoice in God, and desire you may always do what shall be pleasing to
the Lord." These letters are both subscribed with the name Boyssethan, a
corruption of Bu Said Khan* The Pope, by a Bull dated the ist of
May, 1318, had founded an archbishopric at Sultania, to which he
appointed Francis of Perusia, a Dominican who had already preached
the faith in the East. He confided to the new archbishop the charge
of all the subjects of Abusaid who were Catholics, as well as those
inhabiting the country ruled by Kaidu, and the Kings or Princes of
Ethiopia and India. He appointed six Dominicans to be his suffragans,
and they received orders to proceed at once to Persia. Francis of
Perusia resigned his archbishopric in 1323, and was succeeded by William
of Ada; but the Christians in Persia had latterly, and since the
conversion of the Mongols to Muhammedanism, greatly fallen from the
state of prosperity in which they were during the reigns of Khulagu,
Abaka, and Arghun.}
* D'Ohsson, iv. 660-663. Abulfeda, v. 349. t D'Ohsson, iv. 663-664.

604 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Leo, the Armenian king, had himself asked the aid of Abusaid, who sent
20,000 men to his help, and also begged Nasir to make peace with him; but
before the arrival of the Mongol troops a band of plunderers entered Cilicia
from Asia Minor, pillaged and burnt the town of Ayas, and committed
great ravages in the country. Shortly after, Constantine, the patriarch of
the Armenians, went to Egypt, and obtained from Nasir a treaty of peace
for fifteen years. It had been concluded when the Mongol troops reached
Cilicia.* In the year 1 328-29, Leo rid himself of his patron, Oshin, who is
called the Lord of Kurk by Abulfeda, and was duly installed as King of
Armenia. It was certainly a sad spectacle to the eyes of Christendom
when the young king was constrained to accept investiture from the
Egyptian Sultan, who sent him a royal robe, a sword, and a charger.
Having kissed the ground in honour of his Muhammedan protector, who
sent the amir Shahib ud din Ahmed to invest him, he sent presents back
by him to Egypt.t
We will now revert more immediately to the Ilkhan and his people.
Choban, his famous general, who had occupied such a prominent position
for so long, was now at the height of his prosperity. We read how at this
time his wealth was greatly increased by a curious means. It seems that
when the Mongols overran Kurdistan under Khulagu, Choban's father
secured as a prize Naz Khatun, the daughter of the ruler of that country.
The judge of Hamadan, in order to please Choban, now produced a
number of grants of land, &c, which professed to have been made by this
princess, and urged that as she had become his father's slave, this
property, or the reversion in it, belonged to him. He thus secured a
large property in the neighbourhood of Kazvin, Kharkan, and Hamadan ;
and it also came about that people who were displeased with their
landlords, professed that they had formerly occupied under the Khatun
Naz. This was deemed a sufficient title, and thus properties worth
thousands of golden pieces were disposed of for quite a few, for fear that
some claim might be set up to them on behalf of the Khatun Naz. The
vizier Ali Shah tried to stop these iniquities, and claimed on behalf of the
Treasury to have the real title to these reversions. To settle matters, he
offered Choban 200,000 gold pieces for all his claims.} Meanwhile,
however, the Vizier died. This was in the beginning of 1224. He was
the first Vizier of the Ilkhans who had ended his life by a natural death.
He was buried in the Great Mosque at Tebriz, which he had founded,
and which is still the largest and finest in the city. Abulfeda says he
bound together the Tartars and Mussulmans (i.e., the Mongols and
Egyptians) by numerous embassies. Abusaid was greatly attached to
him, and went to see him when he was ill, and the ablest doctors were
summoned to attend him. His authority was divided between his two
* D'Ohsson, iv. 664-665. t Abulfeda, v. 381-383. X Ilkhans, ii. 289-290.

ABUSAID KHAN. 605
sons, Ghiath ud din Muhammed and Khalifeh, who speedily quarrelled.
The officers of the Divan took sides with one or the other, and their
quarrels became so violent that they were both dismissed, and only saved
their heads by the sacrifice of the great fortune which their father and
they had accumulated through many years. The post of Vizier was then
conferred on Rokn ud din Sain (Hamdullah calls him Malik Nuzrat ud
din Adil Nessavi, and says he took the title of Sain Vizier), whose grand
father had been inspector-general of the forces of Muhammed Khuarezm
Shah. Rokn ud din himself was a protdgd of the amir Choban. Having
gained over the latter's officers, he persuaded them to urge on Choban
that it had always been the custom for the most powerful amirs to secure
the viziership for one of their clients. Thus, in the reign of Arghun,
Ordukia had secured the post for Said ud devlet ; under Gaikhatu,
Toghachar for his protdgd, Sadr ud din ; under Ghazan, Nurin Aka for
Said ud din Sanji ; and under Uljaitu, Hussain Gurkan for Ali Shah.
" As our master is not inferior to these amirs, it is seemly that he appoint
Rokn ud din Sain." Choban accordingly nominated him, but he was not
long in proving his incapacity.*
Choban had long determined to revenge the invasion which Uzbeg, the
Khan of the Golden Horde, had made some time before. He accordingly
in 1325 broke through the pass of Derbend, and advanced as far as the
Terek, whence he returned with many captives and much booty.} He
was now going to feel the usual reverse of fortune that overtakes rapid
promotion in the East. His position to the outside world must have
seemed almost unassailable. He had successively married two of
Abusaid's sisters, was everywhere acknowledged as the head of the amirs,
while his own protdgd was Vizier ; but " the night," as the Arab proverb
says, " is pregnant, and brings forth many things ere dawn." Abusaid,
who now was twenty years old, had conceived a great passion for his
beautiful niece Baghdad Khatun, the daughter of Choban, who was the
wife of one of the greatest amirs in the country, viz., Sheikh Hassan.
According to the yasa of Jingis'Khan, the sovereign could always claim
the wife of any of his subjects if she took his fancy, and Abusaid would
have been well within the law in claiming Baghdad Khatun for himself ;
but Choban, relying on his great power and authority, and forgetting how
entirely beyond control and direction such passions are, fancied that
absence and time would cure Abusaid's fancy. He professed to take no
notice of what he had heard, and persuaded Abusaid to go and pass the
winter at Baghdad, while Sheikh Hassan and his wife were sent to
Karabagh. When the young prince reached Baghdad his passion seemed
to grow upon him. He seldom left his tent, and saw hardly anyone.
Choban in vain tried to distract his attention by hunting parties. Abusaid
* Id., 290. D'Ohsson, iv. 665-666. Abulfeda, 359-361. t D'Ohsson, iv. 666-667.

6o6

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

took no pleasure in them. One day Choban took the liberty of asking
him the cause of his depression. Abusaid turned his complaints upon
his son Dimashk Khoja, who was very extravagant and dissolute.
Choban summoned and reprimanded him for his ill behaviour. Dimashk
replied that he was well aware the prince's sentiments towards himself
were changed, and he attributed it to the intrigues of the Vizier. " I have
learnt from an undoubted authority," he said, " that this ungrateful man,
who owes his fortune to us, has urged upon the Sultan that the amir
Choban and his family dispose of the kingdom as they please, and that
no one else has any power." As a matter of fact, the Vizier, who had
been given the title of Nuzret ud din, and who was incapable of managing
his department, was jealous of the authority of the family of Choban, and
seized every opportunity to vilify them to the Sultan. He told him they
absorbed all the revenue, and that even what little money came to the
Treasury could not be spent without their interference. That he (the
Vizier) had not power to dispose of a single dinar, and that the Sultan
had better put a stop to these usurpations before it was too late. These
repeated attacks aroused Abusaid's jealousy, and as, whenever he went
out on horseback, he was followed by a crowd of suppliants demanding
justice, he imputed the public distress to the ill-conduct of the
Chobanians.* It was feared that in the spring the Jagatai Mongols would renew their
invasions of Khorasan, which was bare of troops. Towards the end of
winter Choban set out for that province, accompanied by the Vizier and
by the generals Ekrenj (or Okrunj), Issen Kutlugh (Von Hammer says
Mahmud, son of Issen Kutlugh), Muhammed (brother of Ali Padishah,
uncle of Abusaid), and others, leaving the control of the Court in his absence
to his son Dimashk Khoja. Choban was met en route by the kielenters
(or calendars) and the kiotvals (i.e., the governors of the towns and
fortresses) bearing presents, and went on to Herat, where he was met by
an officer sent by the Great Khakan in China bearing a robe of honour for
him and the title of Amir ul Omera of Iran and Turan, and a letter full of
praise of his administration. Choban sent this envoy back again with
magnificent presents for the Khakan. Terme'sherin, the Khan of Jagatai,
now crossed the Oxus, but was defeated near Ghazni by the amir Hussein,
son of Choban, as I shall describe in a later chapter. After plundering
Ghazni, Hussein rejoined his father at Herat. This campaign took place
in the autumn of 1326.T
Meanwhile, as we have said, Dimashk Khoja remained in charge of
affairs at the Court. He allowed himself to be controlled by four dissolute
favourites, and during the winter of 1326, while the Court was at Baghdad,
committed all kinds of excesses, appropriating the wives and children
"¦ D'Ohsson, 667-669. Ilkhans, ii. 292-293. t D'Ohsson, iv. 669-670. Ilkhans, ii. 293-294.

ABUSAID KHAN. 607
as well as the property of the citizens. In the spring of 1327 the Court
returned to Sultania, where his excesses continued. The famous traveller,
Ibn Batuta, who was then travelling in Persia, has preserved us an
interesting account of what followed. He tells us that the Sultan was
much galled at the tutelage in which he was held by Choban and his
family. One day one of his father's widows, Dunia Khatun, said to him :
" If we were men we would not allow Choban and his sons to occupy the
positions they do." Abusaid asked what she meant to convey by these
words. Upon which she replied that the assurance of Dimashk had
reached the point when he even dared to have connection with the
Sultan's stepmothers. The very night before, he had passed with Thaghy
or Taki Khatun, and had sent word to herself, " I will spend to-morrow
night with you." " Collect the amirs and troops, and when he goes up to
the citadel secretly to pass the night you can have him arrested." Abusaid
was much enraged, and followed this advice. The citadel was duly
surrounded, and the next morning Dimashk was leaving it, accompanied
by a soldier named Alhaj al Misri (i.e., the Egyptian pilgrim), when he
found that the door was blocked by a chain, which stopped his horse.
His attendant struck the chain with his sword and broke it. The two
then went out together. One of the Sultan's amirs, named Misr Khoja,
and a eunuch named Aka Lulu, killed him, and took his head to the Sultan,
who trampled it under the hoofs of his horse, and orders were given to
pillage his house.*
Other authorities give more details. Thus we read that the intrigue
which Dimashk carried on was in the harem of Taki Khatun, with
Kunkutai, one of the concubines of Uljaitu, Abusaid's father. Abusaid
took counsel with the amir Gunjuskat (his maternal uncle), Narin Togai,
and Tash Timur. Dimashk was duly watched by spies and was seen to go
to visit Kunkutai, and orders were given to kill him. Knowing this, he
remained in the palace where she lived, and tried to persuade the military
chiefs to side with him, but none of them would do so, and the next day
siege was laid to the citadel. Meanwhile the heads of a number of
highwaymen who had been caught and decapitated were brought into
Sultania. The Sultan had it declared that those were the heads of
Choban and his clients, who had been killed at Herat. (Von Hammer
says of the murderers of Choban.) This rumour having reached Dimashk,
he left the citadel with ten followers, cut his way through the troops, and
fled on a swift horse he had reserved for such an occasion; but Lulu Aka,
who went in pursuit of him, overtook him at the village of Virdgan.
Misr Khoja, who followed him, arrived with orders to put him to death.
Lulu Aka was loth to do this, as Dimashk was a person of such
importance, whereupon Misr made a journey to the Sultan and speedily
* Ibn Batuta, ed. Defremery, &c, ii. 117-119. Ilkhans, ii. 295.

608 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
returned with his ring, which was accepted as ample authority. Dimashk
Khoja was now decapitated, and his head exposed on one of the gates of
Sultania. This was on the 25th of August, 1327. His four favourites
were treated in the same fashion, and his goods were given up to pillage.
Dimashk left four daughters : 1. Dilshad Khatun, who married Abusaid
and afterwards Sheikh Hassan, by whom she had two sons, Kematdin
Todan and Sultan Uveis. 2. Sultan bakht, who married the amir Ilkan,
son of Sheikh Hassan, and afterwards Masud Shah Inju. 3. Dendi Shah,
who married the Sheikh Ali Kushji, and became the mother of the amir
Missir Malik. The fourth was called Alem Shah .*
Abusaid now felt the necessity of crushing Choban before he had time
to take revenge. It was decided at a council that letters should be
written to the amirs Ekrenj, Issenkutlugh, Nuruz, and others, on whose
fidelity he could rely, to announce the punishment of Dimashk, and
ordering them to put Choban to death before he heard of it, and to inform
them that an army was on the march against Choban's sons, Timurtash
and Sheikh Mahmud, who commanded the troops in Rum and Georgia
respectively, and that orders had been issued to put the Chobanians to
death wherever found. This letter was sent by a trustworthy person.
On his arrival at the head-quarters in Khorasan the generals held a
council. Accustomed to look upon Choban as their absolute master, and
intimidated by his authority, they determined to go to Badghiz, and to
inform him of what had occurred. They showed him the Sultan's order,
with which they professed to be indignant, and promised to be faithful to
him and to assist him in revenging himself. When they had withdrawn,
Choban summoned his son Hassan and others to a consultation.
" Inasmuch as Abusaid has become our enemy," said Hassan, " we have
no other appeal than that to arms. But let us be on our guard against
these amirs who now promise us their devotion. It would be better, in
order to save our lives, that they should be executed. Khorasan is in
our hands, and we dispose of the revenues of Kerman and Fars. Let us
march against Abusaid. Timurtash is master of Rum, Mahmud of
Georgia ; we will surround him with our armies." Choban disapproved
of this advice. He thought he had nothing to fear from the amirs or
anyone else in the kingdom. He had taken the Vizier with him, so that
he should no longer poison the mind of the Sultan against Dimashk
Khoja, and remembering all at once the conduct of that minister, he had
him summoned and put him to death, thus avenging his son.t When
his forces were united, he found himself at the head of 70,000 men, with
whom he marched upon Irak. Abusaid also assembled an army.
Directly they heard of the death of Dimashk, Sunatai, governor of
Diarbekr, Devlet Shah, Ali Padishah, and other frontier commanders,
* D'Ohsson, iv. 671-672. Ilkhans, ii. 294-295. t D'Ohsson, iv. 672-675.

ABUSAID KHAN. 609
made for the Royal Ordu with their forces. Abusaid set out from
Sultania, and encamped on the plain of Kazvin. When Choban reached
the holy city of Meshed he made the generals renew their oath of fidelity
to himself. He advanced thence as far as Simnan, his troops committing
terrible ravages on the way without his interfering. At Simnan he went
to pay a visit to the Great Sheikh Alai ud devlet (the " Shajrat ul Atrak "
calls him the Sheikh Rokn ud din Simnani), and again assembled his
officers in the presence of that holy prelate, and bound them by a fresh
oath. He took the Sheikh with him, and charged him to negotiate peace
for him with the Sultan. He was to tell the Sultan that he had grown
old in his service, and could not remember having committed any crime
which should bring upon him the Sultan's anger. If Dimashk deserved
death, the Sultan was too just to include his innocent father and brothers
in his punishment ; but he had been told that Dimashk had been put to
death by some officers without the Sultan's consent. If it were so, he
begged him to send him these officers that he might have them tried, and
then treated as the Sultan should himself desire. He told the Sheikh, in
addition, to see each one of the amirs and viziers, except two or three
whom he regarded as the authors of his son's death, and try and gain
them over. The Sheikh, having received these instructions, set out.
Abusaid received him with great honour, rose at his approach, and gave
him a seat beside himself. After a pious exhortation, he opened
his commission, and pressed the Sultan, for the sake of peace, to hand
over to Choban the authors of the recent troubles, and to pardon him.
The Sultan replied, in the presence of all the officers summoned to the
audience : " The arrogance of Dimashk Khoja, the ambition and power
of Choban and his sons, exceed all measure. I have for a long time borne
the authority which they arrogate to themselves, in the hope that they
would behave differently and remember what my ancestors did for them ;
but the more patience I have shown, the greater has been their audacity.
They have illtreated my principal servants ; they have dealt with the
revenue as they liked. These are the reasons that have moved me, but
if Choban wishes sincerely to regain my goodwill, if he will come to me
alone I will assign him a retreat where he may pass the rest of his life in
works of piety. If not, the sword shall decide between us." The Sheikh
renewed his exhortations in an eloquent speech, filled with citations from
the Koran and Mongol aphorisms. He answered the amirs who argued
against him, and tried to pacify them with the charm of his words. At
length these officers said to him, " If the Sultan forgives Choban he must
send us all, with our heads and beards shaven, into a country where he
cannot follow us, for if he comes back here he will make an end of us."
The Sheikh, seeing that argument was useless, now left.
Choban continued his march, and his troops behaved worse than an
enemy's army would have done, and reached Kuhar, or Kurha. Abulfeda
9*

6lO HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
calls the place Sari Kemash. Hamdullah says it was at Ibrahim Abad, on
the confines of Rai. The place was only a day's march from the Sultan's
camp. Several of the amirs, such as Chichek (the maternal uncle of
Abusaid), Muhammed beg, Niknuruz, and others, seeing they were
going to fight on behalf of a karaju, or subject, against a sovereign
prince — a serious breach of all good citizenship, according to Mongol
morals — abandoned Choban in the middle of the night with 30,000 men,
and went over to Abusaid. In the morning, when he discovered this
desertion, feeling he could not rely on his other officers, he regretted
bitterly not having followed his son's counsel, and determined to retire at
once towards Khorasan with his wives and relatives. He accordingly
set out by way of the desert, abandoning his rich baggage, which was
pillaged by his people. The amirs Ekrenj and Mahmud Issenkutlugh, who
had been so much compromised, remained faithful to him, but the greater
part of their troops went over to the Sultan. Truly, as De Guignes says,
a man in disgrace has few friends. After a flight of three days he
reached Saveh, and seeing that his wife Satibeg, the sister of Abusaid,
with another of his distinguished wives, Kordojin, could not go with
him, he told them to go to Abusaid. Satibeg took with her her son
Shiburgan Shireh, who was named after the Sulduz who had saved the
life of Jingis on one occasion, and from whom Choban claimed to
be descended. Choban took with him his other son, Jelaukhan, whom
he had by Dulendi Khatun, also a sister of Abusaid, and went towards
Tabs with some horses and dromedaries laden with boxes filled with
jewels. At each station he lost some of his following, and presently had
only seventeen persons with him. He intended passing into Turkestan,
but when he reached the Murghab he changed his mind, and determined
to go to Herat to the Malik Ghiath ud din, with whom he had long been
on friendly terms. In vain it was pointed out to him that Herat had
already proved fatal to Nuruz and Danishmend Behadur, who were both
similarly circumstanced to himself, and that it would be better to go to
China, India, or Rum. He persisted in his resolution, and sent one of his
officers, named Dulkandi, to have an interview with the malik, and
followed himself. Ghiath ud din received him kindly, but presently
received a letter from Abusaid, ordering him to put his guest to
death, and promising to reward him with the hand of the Princess
Kordjin and with the domains of the atabegs of Fars. On learning
Choban's plight, Abusaid had dispatched Togai, the son of Sunatai, in
pursuit of him with 2,000 men. He went as far as Saveh, when he turned
back on hearing that Choban had fled into the desert. He returned with
the two princesses above-named. Meanwhile the two generals, Ekrenj
and Mahmud Issenkutlugh, had deemed it wise to send in their submission
to the Sultan, who deprived them of their commands, but restored them
to them some time later, His letter to the malik of Herat had put that

ABUSAID KHAN. 6ll
prince in a great difficulty. He, on the one hand, was unwilling to break
the laws of hospitality, and, on the other, was afraid of disobeying his
suzerain. After long deliberations with his counsellors, his personal
interests carried the day. He sent Choban the order he had received, and
had him arrested. Choban reproached him with ingratitude, and begged
him to postpone his death for a while, but to send word to the Ilkhan that
his order had been executed. Fearing, however, he had already done too
much to escape Choban's revenge if the latter escaped, he remained firm.
He also refused his request to give him an interview so that he might commit
his last wishes to him, and ordered the executioners to proceed with their
work. Choban now summoned his son Jelaukhan, whom he embraced
closely, amid tears. He then sent his last wishes to the malik : First,
that he would not have his head sundered from his body, since he had
been guilty of no crime ; but had, on the contrary, rendered the State
great service. If proof of his death was needed, he asked that one of his
fingers, the nail of which was very long, should be sent. Secondly, he
asked that Jelaukhan should be conducted to the Sultan, who would, no
doubt, have compassion on his youth and innocence. Lastly, he desired
that his body might be laid in the tomb which he had built for himself at
Medina. He then said a namaz of two rek'ats, and having repeated the
profession of the Faith, gave himself up to his executioners, who strangled
him. The officers of his suite were also put to death.
During these events, which had caused Abusaid great anxiety, he
retained his passion for Baghdad Khatun, and now deputed the Grand
Judge, Mobarek Shah, to demand her from her husband, Sheikh Hassan,
who was constrained to surrender her, and having waited the time
prescribed by law, which was three months, under the direction of the
Kadhi, he gave a magnificent feast to his new bride. The finger of
Choban was taken to him in November, 1327, when he was at Karabagh,
and was suspended by his order in the market-place of the Royal Ordu.
Shortly after, Ghiath ud din, the malik of Herat, set out for the Court.
He learnt at Rai that Baghdad Khatun, Choban's daughter, had become
the Sultan's wife, which news fell upon him like a thunderbolt. He sent
word back to Herat to have Jelaukhan, who was a youth of rare beauty,
put to death* When he reached Karabagh he was admitted to
prostrate himself before the Sultan. Baghdad. Khatun — who was
surnamed Khudavendigar in Persian (i.e. sovereign)— had already
gained great ascendancy over Abusaid, and she would not permit
him to carry out his promises to the Malik until the latter had
brought the corpses of her father and of Jelaukhan from Herat. After
having again washed and laid out the bodies, and said the funeral
prayer for the repose of their souls, she had them sent by the caravan
* Poth Ibn Bati(ta and the author of the Shajrat ul Atrak say his mother was Satibeg.

6l2 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
which went to the Hijaz. The Sultan set aside 40,000 dinars for their
transport. The two bodies made the usual circuit about Mekka with the
pilgrims, and accompanied them in the other prescribed processions. On
the great day of sacrifice, after the divine service, all who had repaired to
the Kaaba from the various countries of Islam, made a common prayer
for the soul of the amir Choban, imploring God's pardon for his sins, and
especially since he had made an aqueduct to convey water to Mekka ;
while they heaped curses on his murderer. The bodies were then
conveyed to Medina, and buried near the tombs of the khalifs Osman and
Hassan. This is one account. Ibn Batuta says he was not buried in the
mausoleum he had built himself near the mosque of the Prophet, but in
the Baki cemetery at Medina.
Choban was a pious and courageous man, and had shown great fidelity
to his sovereigns, the Ilkhans. Among other monuments of his goodness
are quoted the inns he had built on the route to Syria, which, we are
told, surpassed everything of the kind which had ever been made by the
Caesars and the Chosroes (i.e., the rulers of old Rome and Persia).
Raynald quotes a brief addressed by Pope John XXII. to the noble
Zoban Begilay, by which name, as D'Ohsson says, it is probable that
Choban Beilerbeg is meant. It is dated from Avignon, the 22nd of
November, 1321. In it he says that he had learnt from the Minorite friars,
James and Peter, who had taken him presents, that Choban had treated
the Christians living in Persia well, which gave him hopes that his eyes
would be opened to the light, and that he would be delivered from the
error of his former life to the knowledge of God. He begged "His
Prudence " to continue to protect the Christians, and recommended the
two friars, who were on their way to the Khan's dominions, to work for
Choban and the people subject to the Khan*
Choban had nine sons. The eldest, Hassan, was governor of Khorasan
and Mazanderan. Hassan's eldest son, Talish, had charge of the
provinces of Ispahan, Kerman, and Fars. When Choban fled from Rai,
Hassan and Talish went to Mazanderan, where they would have been
captured by the troops but for the generosity of a friendly grandee, who
supplied them with horses and provisions, a generosity which cost him
his life. The two fugitives reached Khuarezm by way of Dahistan.
Closely pursued, they had lost a portion of their escort every day, and
were reduced to five individuals when they were overtaken by seven
horsemen, of whom they wounded three with their arrows. Eventually
they reached Khuarezm, and were well received there by Kutlugh Timur,
who governed the province on behalf of Uzbeg, Khan of the Golden
Horde. Uzbeg himself invited them to his Court, and treated them with
honour, and they marched some time after with an army supplied them
* R'QlBsen, iv. 675-685;. Ilkhans, ii. 295-300. Abulfeda, 369-371. Ibn Batuta, ii. i?i.

ABUSAID KHAtf. 613
by that prince against Majar and the Circassians, where they gained
much renown. Hassan, however, was wounded in the campaign, and
died shortly after his return to Uzbeg's Court, leaving, besides Talish, two
other sons, Haji Bey and Kuch Hussein. Talish died a natural death ;
the other two came to violent ends. Haji Bey was poisoned by his
cousin, the Little Hassan ; while Kuch Hussein was killed by Suliman
Khan* Timurtash, the second son of Choban, was governor of Rum, where he
attacked the Karamanians, and pushed his conquests as far as the
Mediterranean, which the Mongol arms had never previously reached, and
fought by turns with the Greeks and the rebellious Turks. He had set
out from Egerdiir, or Egridur, on the 22nd of August, 1327, leaving his
family and baggage there, while he had dispatched a body of 5,000 men
under Eritai, to attack Kara Hissar. Meanwhile, a courier arrived at
Egridur from Diarbekr with the news of Dimashk's death. He was sent
on to Eritai, who left at once to rejoin Timurtash and to convey the news
to him. He found him attacking the town of Bugurlu. Timurtash kept the
news secret, but left in the course of three days, and arrived on the 1 3th
of October at Egridur. There he disbanded his army, keeping only
5,000 men with him, with whom he went to Caesarea, where he waited
some days impatiently expecting news of his father (Von Hammer says
five days, D'Ohsson says fifty) ; but all the routes to Persia were closed,
and strange rumours were abroad. He presently left for Sivas. At
Nigdur or Nigdui, situated seven parasangs from Sivas, where he spent
the night, he received a message from Timurbuka, his agent, who was at
the Court on business, telling him of his father's flight, which frightened
him. He returned at once to Csesarea, uncertain what he ought to do.
Several of his officers suggested he should shut himself up in a strong
fortress until he could appease the Sultan's anger, and regain his good
opinion by promises of fidelity. Timurtash was for following this advice,
and selected some rich articles to present to Abusaid. Then, reflecting
that he had small hopes of reconciling a prince who had put his brother
to death and driven away his father, he sent a messenger to the Egyptian
Sultan to ask him if he would give him shelter. Meanwhile, he distributed
his officers among the fortresses of Rum, and selected that of Kuh
Larenda for himself. The Sultan Nasir received his messenger
courteously, and told him his armies, treasure, and country were at the
service of Timurtash. The latter, after some indecision, selected some
rich presents, levied a heavy contribution from the people of Rum, and
left Caesarea on the 22nd of December, 1327, with his treasure and 700
picked young horsemen. In seven days he reached the fortress of
Larenda on the Syrian frontier, where he would have delayed for further
* D'Ohsson, iv. 685-686. Ilkhans, ii. 300-301.

014 itlSTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
news, but was obliged to move on by lack of provisions and forage.
When he reached Behesna, the first town in Syria, the commandant and
magistrates went out to meet him, and pigeons were sent to Cairo to
announce his arrival, and thenceforward he received a maintenance of
1,500 dinars daily. The governor of Aleppo went out a league from that
town to welcome him, and supplied him with twenty post-horses, and told
him the Sultan was so anxious to see him that he wished him to hasten
on. At Damascus, the generalissimo of Syria went out to the Grand
Square to meet him, and they embraced each other on horseback. The
Sultan sent his cupbearer as far as Ghazzat with a mihmandar, some
tents, &c, and when he neared Cairo the amirs went out to meet him.
He reached that city on the 21st of January, and an amir duly conducted
him to the Sultan, who was at Jizet, on the other side of the Nile.
Timurtash kissed the ground three times before the Sultan, who made
him seat himself beside him, addressed him some friendly words, and
asked him about matters. He clothed him in a splendid state robe
embroidered with gold, and gave him also five Bedouin horses, with
saddles and bridles decorated with gold and silver. He then took him
out hunting. They crossed the Nile together, and Timurtash was lodged
in the palace of Chaoli in the fortress of Cairo. The next day he was
presented with fresh robes, a turban, a golden girdle, and a sword, His
establishment was maintained on a splendid footing at the expense of the
Sultan. Timurtash's presents arrived three days after himself, and
consisted of one hundred saddled horses, eighty Bactrian camels, five
mamluks, and five parcels of beautiful robes, one of which inclosed a
splendid satin dress, decorated with superb stones. The Sultan would
only accept this dress, a horse, and a string of camels. He ordered his
chamberlain to seat Timurtash on the right of the throne below the amir
Seif ud din el Malik, and, hearing that he was discontented with this
position, he told one of his officers to make his excuses, and to say that the
Sultan did not know his exact rank, but he had seated him amongst his
father's old friends, to whom he owed his own elevation, which satisfied
him. Some days later the Sultan reviewed the suite of Timurtash,
consisting of 700 horsemen, whom he distributed among his amirs,
permitting ninety of them, at the request of his guest, to return again to
their own country. Timurtash himself was given the command of the
Mamluks, who had formerly been led by Sinjar el Chomakdar. His
family had been left behind in a strong fort in Rum. Nasir wrote to his
vassal, the prince of Karamania, to have them sent on to Egypt. On this
message being sent to them, they replied they had no wish to go to
Egypt, and the Karamanian chief's son declared that this reply had been
secretly dictated by Timurtash himself, who, he added, had shed much
innocent blood and put many Mussulmans to death ; and that, judging
from his audacious character, he could have no other motive in going to

ABUSAID RHAN. 615
Egypt than to seize its throne. This letter was sent to Egypt by Nejm
ud din Ishak, the Rumian Lord of Antakka, a fortress which Timurtash
had captured. Nejm ud din accused that amir of having killed his father,
and demanded vengeance upon him. This message and these reports
aroused the Sultan's suspicions. He informed Timurtash of them, and
ordered both parties to clear themselves in the presence of the amirs. At
this trial it was decided that the father of Nejm ud din had been killed in
a fight. Nejm ud din himself was sent back with Nasir's answer to the
Prince of Karamania, but the Egyptian ruler retained a suspicion that
his guest had some sinister design against him.
A month after Timurtash reached Cairo, a letter arrived there from
Abusaid, which contained friendly sentiments, explained how Choban had
been put to death on account of the design he had formed against himself,
and of his unbridled assumption of authority. The Sultan questioned
the messengers who brought this note about Timurtash. They said they
had not heard anything about him until they arrived at Damascus. Nasir
sent them to see him, but he did not wish to see them. Nasir himself
had meanwhile sent a friendly note to Abusaid, informing him of the
arrival of Timurtash, and that he had given him asylum, since he
thought it better for the interests of the Ilkhan that he should be a guest
at a friendly Court ; to which Abusaid replied that he hoped he would no
longer give him shelter, that it was very inconvenient for criminals to
find protection from one country in another, and that it encouraged
desertion, and he begged him to surrender him. Meanwhile, Nasir had
sent him two embassies, one openly, through which he asked Abusaid to
send the family of Timurtash to Egypt, while the other asked for a secret
interview, and explained that the other embassy was merely formal, that
he had no other wish than to satisfy Abusaid, even against his own
interests, and that Timurtash was at his disposal. Abusaid replied that
he had already sent Abaji as his envoy to demand the extradition of the
fugitive, which would alone satisfy him. Nasir accordingly summoned
Timurtash to his presence on the 5th of July. On his arrival at the
palace he was deprived of his sword, which had not been done before.
The Sultan said to him, " You have asked us to send for your family,
while you have secretly instructed them not to leave the territory of
Abusaid. This proves you are not sincerely attached to us." Timurtash
seeing the Sultan meant him no good, remained silent. He was taken to
prison and put in chains. His chief officers were arrested, and his
mamluks distributed among the amirs. Abaji, or Ayaji, Abusaid's envoy,
offered to see him conducted to Persia if he were supplied with an
escort ; but Nasir, thinking that Timurtash would perhaps secure pardon,
through the intervention of Baghdad Khatun and the vizier, Ghiath ud
din Muhammed, who was an old friend of his, and would not fail to
try and revenge himself upon him for the affront he had put upon

6l6 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him, said that as the Kurds infested the roads on the way to Persia
it was better he should put him to death, and that Abaji should take
his head with him. " The Sultan ordered me to bring him alive," was
the reply. " What I wish to do is in the interest of Abusaid as it is of
my own, for I have taken a careful gauge of my prisoner." He accordingly
sent some of his people at night with Abaji to put Timurtash to death.
Abaji presented himself respectfully before the son of Choban, and
seeing he remained silent he said to him, " Amir, you are a man, and
liable to human vicissitudes ; resign yourself to the will of God." " I am
a man," said Timurtash, " and I believe I have proved it. I know the
decrees of the Eternal are irrevocable, a good reason why we should
submit without grief. But why have you come? Is it to conduct me
alive before my sovereign, or to see me put to death here?-" Abaji
replied that he had been ordered to take him to Persia. " I suffer terribly
from the weight of my chains," said Timurtash, " cannot you relieve me
a little ? O, Abaji, I committed a grave fault in coming here. I ought
to have gone to my sovereign, and if he had condemned me to death I
should at least have died at the feet of his charger." Abaji then withdrew,
and Nasir's men completed their work. This was on the 22nd of August,
1328. His head, stuffed with straw, was put into a box and confided to
the son of Abaji, who reached Aujan on the 13th of September, and
who conveyed a letter from Nasir in these terms : " Having observed the
conduct of Timurtash, and having penetrated the secrets of his heart, I
was convinced that his existence would prove pernicious to you and me.
I have exposed myself to universal blame to prove my attachment and
friendship, for they will not fail to accuse me of having neither generosity
nor humanity ; but when the evil doers in both countries see the perfect
agreement between us our Courts will not serve as asylums for them, and
they will be less disposed to foment troubles between us." Timurtash
left four sons, Sheikh Hassan Kuchuk (i.e., the Little), Malik Asraf, Malik
Ashar, and Misser Malik.* In reference to this tragedy Hamdullah
quotes the apposite lines : —
He who seeks shelter with Amr in his distress
Is like one who seeks shelter from the fire in the burning sands.
Nasir, in promising to surrender Timurtash, had asked in return for
the extradition of Kara Sonkor, which Abusaid refused, notwithstanding
the counsel of his advisers ; but he was relieved from embarrassment by
the death of that turbulent Egyptian at Meragha a few days before the
arrival of the head of Timurtash, whereupon he thanked heaven that
he had abstained from the ungenerous action which had been pressed
upon him. On hearing of the death of Kara Sonkor, Nasir said, " I had
hoped that he would have fallen by my own sword." During the rest of
his reign, Abusaid remained on good terms with Nasir. They styled each
* D'Ohsson, iv. 686-697. Abulfeda, v. 379-380.

AUUSAID KHAtf. " 6l7
other brother, and frequent embassies passed between them. Those of
Nasir's traversed the country of Abusaid with their escorts, and with
music playing and banners flying. One of these envoys named Timurbuka
went to Cairo in 1328 to ask for one of the Sultan's daughters for his
master, Abusaid. The envoy took with him a large sum of money to pay
for the usual feasts given at betrothals, so sure was he of the success of
his plans ; but the Sultan excused himself on the ground of his daughter's
youth, and said when she was grown up the request should be granted.
The envoy did not return home by the way he went, but passed through
Hamath. Abulfeda was then prince of Hamath, and this account forms
the penultimate paragraph of his famous annals.*
As a proof that this friendship was genuine on the part of the Sultan,
may be quoted a truculent act committed by him in the year 734 hej.
Yasaur, a Mongol chief, of whom Abusaid was jealous, went on a
pilgrimage to Mekka, and the Ilkhan urged Nasir to put him to death, as
he might drive him from the throne, and thus put an end to the good
understanding between Persia and Egypt. Nasir hoped, in the first
instance, to persuade the sherif Rumeitha to put him away ; but, as he
would not, he urged Bursbogha, the leader of the Egyptian caravans, to
carry out this purpose. He bribed a Bedouin to do the deed, which was
duly carried out on the second feast day, outside Mekka, during the
ceremony of the casting of the stone. To remove suspicion from himself
when the murderer fled to the mountains, he had him pursued by his
mamluks and cut in pieces.}
When Dimashk Khoja, Choban's third son, was killed, Abusaid sent
an army against another of his sons, Sheikh Mahmud, who was the
governor of Armenia and Georgia. He was seized and put to death at
Tebriz, and left four sons— Pir Hussein and Shirun, who were poisoned by
Sheikh Hassan Kuchuk ; and Chamarganand Dua Khan, who were killed
by the amir Ilkan, son of Sheikh Hassan Buzurg. The amir Hassan,
Timurtash, Dimashk Khoja, and Sheikh Mahmud, were all own brothers
of Baghdad Khatun, the favourite wife of Abusaid, by the same mother.
Jelaukhan, killed at Herat, and Shiburgan were sons of Choban by
Dulendi Khatun and Satibeg respectively, who were both daughters of
Uljaitu. Besides these, Choban had three sons, whose mother is
unknown, viz., Siukshah, Yaghibasty, and Nuruz.}
After the death of Dimashk Khoja, who had been intrusted with the
vizierate in the absence of Nusret ud din, who had gone to Khorasan with
Choban, as we have mentioned, his post as Vizier was jointly held by the
Khoja Ghiath ud din Muhammed, son of the great vizier Rashid ud din,
and a grandee of Khorasan, named Alai ud din Muhammed ; but the
latter was displaced in the course of eight months, in May, 1328, and
* Vide op. cit., v. 383-385. t Weil, iv. 379-380. I D'Ohsson, iv. 699-700.

6l8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
appointed controller-general of the finances. Ghiath ud din, who was a
man of great ability and a zealous Mussulman, devoted himself to his
duties with zeal, put the finances, which since his father's death had been
in great disorder, straight again, and greatly encouraged agriculture. We
are told he made himself loved even by the enemies of Rashid ud din,
who, instead of being punished as they expected, received only kindnesses
from him ; and several learned men dedicated their works to him.*
Hamdullah, who praises him in hyperbolic terms, says he refrains from
giving his titles —
For of what use is moonshine on the night of the Epiphany.
Among the works dedicated to the Vizier just named in the reign of
Abusaid, which was marked as a flourishing literary period, was the
" Mevakif," of Adhad ud din Iji, which is one of the most important
metaphysical works that has been reprinted at Constantinople in recent
times. Ibnol Hajib similarly dedicated his compendium, and Kutb
ud din Razi his commentary on the logical treatise, " Shemsiyet." The
"Fevaidi Ghiathideh" embodied his name in its title. Ewhadi, one of
the greatest mystical poets of the East, dedicated to the same Vizier his
poem, "Jems," while the Khoja Kermani Muhammed Ibn Ali Morshidi,
surnamed the Palm Branch, similarly dedicated to him his romantic
poem, " Humayi and Humayun " (i.e., Augustus and Augusta), which in
later days was translated or imitated by the Ottoman poets Shemali and
Moeiyed.t To these we must add the " Tarikhi Guzideh " of Hamdullah,
and the " Kusideh " of Suliman.
News kept coming to the Court that the Khan of Jagatai was meditating
an attack upon Khorasan, and towards the end of May it was said that
he was on the march, and prompt reinforcements were asked for ; but while
measures were being taken in regard to this invasion, Narin Togai, who
commanded in Khorasan, quarrelled with Ghiath ud din, the malik of
Herat, over whose province he endeavoured to extend his jurisdiction,
which had hitherto been independent of the governor of Khorasan.
Ghiath ud din, who happened to be at the Court, reporting the services
he had recently rendered the Sultan, obtained an order forbidding Narin
Togai to exercise any jurisdiction in the principality of Herat ; but Narin
paid no heed to this order, which only exasperated him against the malik.
The latter, who was afraid of him, dared not return to his own country ;
and as Abusaid and his council desired to do him a favour, as they
considered him the bulwark of their Eastern dominions, who had always
been zealous and faithful, it was decided to send an officer to Khorasan
with a military rank superior to that of Narin Togai, and that the malik
should return with him. The choice fell on Ali Padishah, the maternal
uncle of the Sultan, who left the environs of Irbil on the ioth of June
* D'Ohsson, iv. 699-701. Ilkhans, ii. 295-296. t Ilkhans, ii. 296.

ABUSAID fcHAlSf. 619
with Muhammed Bey and Tash Timur, each one at the head of some
troops. On hearing of their approach, Narin Togai, who felt he was
about to be superseded, sent courier after courier to say that he had been
misled, and that there was no real danger of an invasion of Khorasan.
At this news the generals halted at Sultania, intending to return ; but
Abusaid sent Turjan to order them to continue their march. Ali Padishah
evidently did not care to go, and sent some excuses, urging that after
Narin Togai's message their presence in Khorasan would probably only
lead to trouble. Abusaid told Turjan to return with peremptory orders,
and reproached the generals for their disobedience ; but Ali Shah,
fancying that it was the policy of the courtiers to get him and others as
far away as possible from the Court in order to push themselves, conspired
with the other generals, and marched with them towards Aujan, whither
Abusaid had transferred his residence. The Ilkhan, irritated at this, sent
Sheikh Ali to order them to retrace their steps, while Haji Khatun, mother
of the Sultan, sent to tell Ali Padishah he had better not advance if he
wished to avoid the Sultan's anger Sheikh Ali met the generals at
Heshtrud, and showed them the royal command. They said that as they
were so near the Court, they desired once more to kiss the Sultan's feet,
and to explain their purpose to him, after which they were ready to go
wherever he ordered them. Khoja Lulu was now sent with 5,000 men to
bar the route to the rebel generals ; but meanwhile several of their
subordinates, afraid of being implicated with them, went over to the
Sultan, and disclosed their plans to him. He said, " Inasmuch as they
are unwilling to go to Khorasan and to supersede its governor, and are
oblivious of the fate of Choban, who was the most powerful amir there
has been since the foundation of our dynasty, I deprive them of the
command of all their tumans, and they shall go and serve in Khorasan
under the orders of Narin Togai." Haji Khatun interceded for her
brother, who, she urged, had been led astray by evil counsels, and begged
the Sultan to content himself with exiling him to his own yurt.
Abusaid conceded this. " Ali Padishah," he said, " is still young and
without experience — I told him, when I first appointed him to the
command of a tuman, ' I raise you to a higher rank, but do not presume
on our relationship, for it counts for nothing when the interests of the
State are at stake.' If he had listened to this advice he would not have
incurred this disgrace. Muhammed Bey is also a frank, hasty-tempered
man. I expected more from Tashtimur, who has a sounder judgment,
and has experience, and lived a long time at my father's Court. I told
him when he left, ' Although several of you are charged with this com
mission, it is you to whom I look ; I rely on your zeal and fidelity.' And
it is he who has led the others astray. I consent, out of regard for my
mother, that Ali Padishah shall go and pass the winter at his yurt, near
Baghdad. Muhammed Bey must go to Khorasan, while Tashtimur must

620 HISTORY OP THE MONGOLS.
come here to be punished." The two former chiefs went as they were
commanded. Tashtimur was examined by a commission composed of
the great amirs and the Vizier. He denied having made a pact with his
colleagues, and was then brought face to face with the young officers who
had denounced him. He still persisted in his denial. The amirs did not
wish to push matters to extremity, being of opinion that the catastrophe
that had overwhelmed the family of Choban had already cost too much
blood, while the Vizier, who felt the conspiracy was really directed against
himself, faithful to his policy of doing good to his enemies, obtained from
the Sultan a pardon for Tashtimur, who received orders to go to Khorasan.
Other officers implicated in the conspiracy, as Ibrahim Shah, grandson
of the amir Sunatai, who was a great favourite of the Sultan, and Haji
Togai, son of Sunatai, were pardoned in consideration of the long services
devoted by that general to the empire ; but they were ordered to go to
Diarbekr, and to reside there with their father, who was governor of
that province.*
Tashtimur, en route for his place of exile, met, near Ebher, Narin Togai,
who was on his way to Sultania without leave. They were both discontented,
and exchanged views and discussed plans for overthrowing their enemies,
especially the vizier, Ghiath ud din. Narin Togai was the son of Guch-
buka, and grandson of the great noyan Kitubuka, who had been killed in
Syria, as we described, and had been attached to Abusaid's household when
the latter was a child and living in Khorasan. His ambitious and restless
character had given umbrage to Dimashk Khoja, who had accordingly sent
him to live away, and forbidden him to stay in the ordu. He turned to
Choban, who patronised him and reproved his son. Under Choban's aegis
he secured a ready access, as before, to the young prince. He soon found
how the latter disliked Dimashk, and proposed a plan by which he might
rid himself of the favourite, which he was prepared himself to carry
out ; and notwithstanding the obligations he was under to Choban, he was
one of the chief instruments in overthrowing his family, and shared in
the plunder of their property. He thus acquired great wealth and
became very powerful. His arrogance was correspondingly augmented,
and the Sultan, feeling this, got rid of him by appointing him governor of
Khorasan. Foiled in his purpose, which was to secure the post of Amir
ul Umera, he found vent for his ambition in trying to enlarge the limits of
his government, and thus fell out, as we have seen, with the Malik of
Herat. When he heard how the Malik had complained against him, he
summoned his son, Shems ud din, and when he refused to go sent troops
to Herat to seize him. The young prince fought bravely, and after some
sharp combats Narin's troops were obliged to withdraw, and when he
marched in person he was not more successful. He revenged himself on
* D'Ohsson, iv. 701.706. Ilkhans, ii. 307-308.

ABUSAID KHAN. 621
his retreat by plundering the baggage of the Malik, which was en route
from the ordu, and learning that that chief, when he heard of this, had set
out in all haste from Sultania, he posted troops to waylay him, but the
Malik gave them the slip by passing through the desert of Tabs.
Meanwhile, Narin Togai was ruining Khorasan by his exactions and
tyrannical conduct, and aroused the anger of the Sultan and his council,
and it was to try and calm the storm which his conduct had created that
he was on the way to the Court, after levying a heavy contribution on the
unfortunate province, when he was met by Tashtimur. After consulting
with the latter, he sent a secret embassy to Ali Padishah, who was also
discontented with his exile and joined in their scheme, as did some other
officers. It was decided that Narin Togai should try and seduce the
Ilkhan into putting away his present courtiers, and if he failed his
supporters were to collect together and seize the reins of authority by
main force, after which they could easily obtain Abusaid's sanction.
Having formed this plan, the conspirators separated. Tashtimur con
tinued his journey leisurely, awaiting the course of events, and delayed at
Kazvin under some pretence. But Narin, when he arrived at Sultania,
could not obtain an audience. The Sultan was too irritated at his acts of
violence and injustice in Khorasan, while Baghdad Khatun inflamed him
further against one whom she deemed the author of the deaths of her
father and brothers. Narin then tried to win over some of the officers of
the Court, and addressed himself specially to one of his relatives, named
Turt, who informed the Vizier. The latter would not credit it. Seeing
he made no way, Narin determined to attempt a more daring policy. He
went to Ghiath ud din's palace, under pretence of paying him a visit, and
accompanied by a number of men-at-arms, whom he planted at the gate of
a medresseh or college, past which he expected the Vizier would have to
walk. The latter gave him a private audience, but his brother, the amir
Ahmed, arrived just at the moment when Narin appeared, followed by
some of his people, and told him he had orders to admit no one armed.
Having taken Narin's arms off, he passed him in, and stood himself at
the door to prevent his suite from following. Narin, seeing that his plan
had failed, began to flatter the Vizier, and begged him to speak to the
Sultan on his behalf. Ghiath ud din promised to do this, and said further
he would go at once and see his master. Narin then posted himself at
the gate of the medresseh to await the passage of his enemy, but the
Vizier left his palace by another door, and went to the Sultan, to whom
he reported that Narin desired to do obeisance to him, and went on to
speak on his behalf with his usual kindness. Abusaid, who had already
been warned by his confidential people of the designs of the general,
demanded from the Vizier with surprise if he was aware what Narin's
real intentions were towards him, and at the same time gave orders for
his arrest, One of his people having overheard this order, duly warned

622 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him, whereupon he returned to his lodgings by a tortuous road, took a
horse, arms, and some servants, and withdrew with haste. Khoja Lulu
was sent in pursuit on the Khorasan road, but Narin changed his
direction, and went towards the mountains, and passing by Ebher reached
Rai in four-and-twenty hours, whence he again reached the road to
Khorasan, and went to join his military household and his troops. Khoja
Lulu having lost trace of him, returned again. Couriers were thereupon
dispatched in various directions with orders to arrest Narin.* With his
horses worn out, and himself exhausted with hunger and fatigue, he
hid away in a little valley near Rai, and sent one of his followers to a
neighbouring village for provisions. A Uighur officer, named Haji
Uyunmas, who had his yurt in this district, noticing the terrified look of
the man, had him arrested and interrogated. He was confused in
his answers, and was bastinadoed until he confessed. Thereupon the
Uighur chief went with a party of horsemen, using him as his guide, and
arrested Narin, who was presently sent in chains to Sultania.
The very day of his flight, Abusaid had sent orders to Tashtimur, who
was at Kazvin, to return at once. He was constrained to go, and was
also put in chains. Both he and Narin were condemned to death
through the influence of Baghdad Khatun, in revenge for the death of her
father and brothers. They were executed on the 5th of October, 1327, on
the holy day of Kurban Bairam, before the palace of the generalissimo,
Sheikh Hassan. Their heads were hung from the walls of Sultania,
whence that of Dimashk Khoja was removed. Their houses were
pillaged, and commissaries were sent into the provinces to appropriate
their property there. Alai ud din Muhammed, who had been implicated
in their treachery, was pardoned through the Vizier's influence. Ali
Padishah, out of regard for his sister, the Sultan's mother, was merely
disgraced. Sheikh Ali, son of Ali Kushji, was appointed governor of
Khorasan, with the Khoja Alai ud din Muhammed as vizier ; and they
were forbidden to exact from its inhabitants more than the ordinary taxes,
for it had been ruined, first by the exactions of Choban, then by those
of Narin Togai, and the inhabitants, driven by desperation, had begun
to emigrate.t
Ghiath ud din, the Malik of Herat, died there in October, 1329, and
was succeeded by his eldest son, Shems ud din, who was handsome,
brave, and intelligent, but addicted to wine ; and after the death of his
father, who had kept him in restraint, it was said he was only sober for
ten days during ten months. He died in 1330, and was succeeded by his
brother Hafiz, a timid young man, handsome, and skilled in caligraphy,
who was in the hands of some of the grandees. Notwithstanding which,
they assassinated him in 1332, and proclaimed Moiz ud din Hussein, who

* D'Ohsson, iv. 701-712, Ilkhans, ii. 307.309. t D'Ohsson, iv. 712-713,

ABUSAID KHAN. 623
was still an infant. His nomination was approved by Abusaid, who sent
the young prince a robe and a diploma.*
In 1332, Sheikh Hassan was accused of carrying on a secret corre
spondence with his former wife, Baghdad Khatun, and with having
arranged with her a plot to murder the Sultan. Abusaid had him arrested
and condemned to death, but he pardoned him at the request of his aunt,
who was Sheikh Hassan's mother, but issued orders that he was never
again to come into his presence. He was sent to the strong fort of
Kemakh, where his mother was also sent. These rumours weakened
Abusaid's regard for Baghdad Khatun, but having learnt that the
accusation was false, he had those who reported it put to death, and
restored her to favour. The following year the government of Rum
became vacant by the death of Devlet Shah. It was given to Sheikh
Hassan ; and about the same time the Sultan married Dilshad Khatun,
daughter of Dimashk Khoja, for whom he conceived a great attachment,
and promoted her above his other wives. In 1333-4, Abusaid conferred
the government of Fars upon the amir Muzaffer Inak, thus supplanting
Mahmud Shah Inju, who had held this post for a long time. The latter was
very rich, and his domains in Fars produced him a revenue of 100 tumans.
He conceived a violent hatred for his supplanter, and formed a league
with other amirs, such as Mahmud Issenkutlugh, Sultan Shah (son of
Nikruz), Muhammed Bey, Muhammed Pelten, and Muhammed Kushji,
who were all jealous of Muzaffer. They went with a party of followers, and
made an attack on his palace. Muzaffer got on to the roof, and jumping
from one house to another, eventually reached the royal palace, where they
followed him as far even as the Sultan's vestibule, whose walls were
presently studded with their arrows. They demanded that Muzaffer
should be given up to them, and the Sultan, alarmed for his own safety,
was about to comply, when Shiburgan, son of Choban (called Siyurgan
by Von Hammer), and Khoja Lulu arrived with some troops and drove
the rebels away. They were condemned to death, but this sentence
was commuted to imprisonment at the request of the benevolent vizier,
Ghiath ud din. They were, except Muhammed Shah, imprisoned in various
fortresses : Issenkutlugh in Khorasan, Sultan Shah (son of Nikruz) in
the castle of Sirjan, Muhammed Pelten at Bum, Muhammed Kushji in
the castle of Nasir ; Mahmud Shah Inju at Taberek, a fortress of Ispahan ;
while Masud Shah, son of Mahmud (D'Ohsson says it was Mahmud
himself), was sent to Rum. Except the last-named, they were all confined
until Abusaid's death.
In August, 1334, Uzbeg, the Khan of the Golden Horde, was meditating
another invasion by way of Derbend. Abusaid made preparations to
meet him, but was attacked with illness, and died at Karabagh, in Arran,
* Id., 713-714. Jourp. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 505,

624 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
on the 30th of November, 1334. There are strong grounds for believing
he died by poison. The Persian writers, such as Mirkhond, suggest it ;
but it is expressly stated by the traveller, Ibn Batuta, who tells us he
was the victim of Baghdad Khatun, who was jealous of the promotion
of the beautiful Dilshad, the daughter of Dimashk Khoja, for whom he
had conceived a great passion. She also naturally did not forgive the
murder of her father and brothers, and is said to have put some poison
into his bath towel. The same author goes on to. say that when the
amirs were assured of his death, the Greek eunuch Khoja Lulu went
and found Baghdad Khatun in her bath, and killed her with a blow of
his mace, and her body was exposed for several days- with a mere
rag over it.* It must be remembered that she had many enemies,
since she had caused several grandees to be put to death. The author
of the " Shajrat ul Atrak" says that, having stayed at Shirvan for nearly
three months, Abusaid was attacked by a fatal disease, due to the heat
of the weather and the noxious air there. On the fifteenth day after
the attack he went to his bath, and grew so much worse that he died.
He adds that it was reported that Baghdad Khatun had poisoned him
from jealousy of Dilshad Khatun.}
The same work tells us Abusaid was fond of the society of men of
learning, and that he wrote a good hand, for which accomplishment he
was indebted to his tutor, Khoja Abdulla Syrufi.} Ibn Tagri Birdi
describes him as an illustrious and brave prince, with an imposing aspect,
generous and gay. He says he wrote well, played the lute, and composed
songs. He had amiable manners, suppressed several taxes, proscribed
strong drinks, demolished churches, and belonged to the Han^fi sect.§
Ibn Batuta describes him as an excellent and generous ruler, and as
good-looking, without any down on his cheeks. Our traveller says
he once saw him in a boat (harr&kah) on the Tigris, with Dimashk
Khoja. On either side were two other boats filled with musicians and
singers. He also tells us that he was witness of an act of generosity
on his part when he presented a number of old men with a robe
each, and also appointed each of them a guide.|| He left Baghdad
with Abusaid's suite, and was thus a witness of the mode in which he
marched and encamped. He tells us the Mongols were in the habit of
starting early in the morning and of halting an hour before the sun
reached his greatest altitude. Each amir arrived with his soldiers, his
kettledrums, and standards, and halted in a certain place which had been
previously assigned him. When all had arrived, and the ranks were
made up, the Sultan mounted his horse, the drums, trumpets, &c,
sounded, the amirs advanced and saluted their sovereign, and then
returned to their posts. The chamberlains and nakibs then presented
" Op. cit., 122-123. t Op.cit., 309. _ I Id., 308. $ D'Ohsson, iv. 717.
|| Op. cit., ii. Z16-117.

ABUSAID KHAN. 625
themselves. They were followed by the musicians, to the number of about
a hundred, dressed in splendid robes, and mounted. In front of the
musicians went ten horsemen carrying kettledrums hanging from their
necks, and five horsemen bearing flutes. They played the drums and
flutes and then stopped, and were followed by ten musicians singing.
The music having played again, another set of musicians sang, and this
was repeated ten times, the ceremony preceding the pitching of the camp.
While on the march, the chief amirs, to the number of about fifty, rode
on the Sultan's right and left. The standard bearers, kettledrum beaters
the trumpeters, &c., followed the prince; then came the Sultan's slaves,
then the other amirs according to their rank. Each amir had his own
kettledrums and standards. The amir janda'r was intrusted with these
arrangements, and was accompanied by a numerous detachment. If any
man lagged behind, his shoe was taken off, filled with sand, and hung
from his neck, and he had to walk to the next station, where he was taken
before the amir, made to lie down on the ground, and had twenty-five
blows of the bastinado on his back, whatever his rank might be. In the
camp the Sultan and his mamluks, or slaves, had a separate quarter.
Each one of the Sultan's khatuns, or wives, also lodged apart, and she
had her special imaum and mueddhins, her Koran readers, and a special
place to do the marketing. The viziers, the katibs, and employes also
encamped apart, as did each amir. They attended the Sultan's audience
after " the Asr," and returned after the last evening prayer, lanterns being
carried in front of them. When the march began the great kettle was
first sounded, then that of the principal khatun, then that of the Vizier,
and lastly those of the amirs altogether. Thereupon the amir commanding
the advance guard mounted with his men, and was followed by the
khatuns ; then the Sultan's baggage and that of the khatuns ; then
came another amir, with his men, to prevent intruders from approach
ing the khatuns or the baggage ; then came the rest of the army. Ibn
Batuta says he accompanied the royal cortege for ten days, and then
set out for Tebriz with the amir Alai ud din Muhammed. He tells us he
stayed outside the town, in a place called Sham, where was Ghazan's
tomb, and near it a fine medresseh or college and a hermitage, where
travellers received refreshments, consisting of bread, meat, rice and
butter, and sweetmeats. He stayed there himself. The next day he
entered the city, and describes the market-place, called after Ghazan,
as very fine, each trade having its own quarter. The jewels were sold
by beautiful slaves, dressed in splendid costumes, and wearing silken
handkerchiefs for girdles. They sat in front of their masters, the
merchants, and sold the jewels to the wives of the Turks (i.e., of the
Mongols), who rivalled each other in extravagance. He also visited the
quarter where ambergris and musk were sold, and then visited the Jami
mosque, built by the vizier, Ali Shah, and known as Jilan. He tells us
R*

626 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
its court was paved with marble, and its walls covered with tiles. It was
traversed by a river, and there grew on its banks trees, such as jasmines,
vines, &c. In the court of this mosque it was customary to read daily, after
the prayer of Asr, the surat y a sin (i.e., the 36th chapter of the Koran),
that named Victory (i.e., the 48th), and that called al-naba (i.e., the 78th),
Our traveller spent only a night at Tebriz, and then returned with Alai
ud din to Abusaid, to whom he was presented. The Sultan asked him
about his country, and gave him a robe. Hearing that he intended
going to the Hijaz, he assigned him a camel, a litter, and provisions, and
had letters written for him to the amir of Baghdad*
Ibn Batuta tells an anecdote of Abusaid. He says that the atabeg
Ahmed, of Luristan, went to pay him a visit. Some of his courtiers said
to him, " The atabeg came into your presence dressed in a cuirass" (for
they fancied the horsehair shirt that Ahmed wore was a cuirass). Abusaid
told his courtiers to get to know the fact, whereupon, when the atabeg
presented himself one day, Choban, Sunatai, and Sheikh Hassan
approached him and felt him with their hands, as if playing with him,
and in this way found that he was wearing a horsehair shirt. Thereupon
Abusaid bade him sit close by him, and said to him in Turkish, Sen alayim
(i.e., "Thou art my father"), gave him a present much more valuable
than the one he had received, and also a yarligh or diploma exempting
him and his family in future from having to give presents to himself or
his successors.} The " Yuan shi " records an embassy sent in 1332 by
Busai yin, Prince of the Si yu (i.e., western regions), to the Emperor
Wen tsung (Tob Timur). The name of the ambassador is given as
Ho dji k'ie ma ding, and he took as tribute seven precious stones and
other articles. By Busai yin was no doubt meant Abusaid Khan}.
Abusaid's reign was a very active period of literary culture. Two
famous historians flourished at this time, viz., Binaketi and Hamdullah.
Ibn Suliman Daud, styled Fakhr Binaketi (i.e., the Glory of Binaket,
the place now called Shash, or Tashkend), had already been nominated
king of the poets by Ghazan Khan. He composed a poem on the
occasion of the marriage of Prince Bestam with Oljai Kutlugh. He also
wrote a compendium of universal history, ending in the third year of
Abusaid, and which is largely founded on that of Rashid. Hamdullah
Mustaufi, of Kazvin, was the author both of a history of the world,
entitled " Tarikhi Guzideh," and also of a geographical work, entitled
" Nuzhetol Kolub." The former is a famous repository of facts. In the
part dealing with the Mongols it is also largely founded on Rashid ud
din's great work, but it becomes an independent authority as it nears
its own time. I am indebted to Mr. Guy L'Estrange for a MS. translation
of the work, which has been of great service to me. Besides these two
* Ibn Batuta, ii. 125-131. t Op. cit., ii. 33-34. X Bretschneider, Notices, &c, 104.

ABUSAID KHAN. 627
historians, there also lived at Abusaid's Court the famous jurist, Nisam
ud din, of Herat, and the two sheikhs, Rokn ud din, of Semnan, and
Abderrezak, of Kiash, the dervish poet Nasir, of Bukhara, and two other
poets, named Khoju Kermani and Mir Kermani, the former the author
of the romantic poem " Huma and Humayun."* I may add here some
other writers who lived in the previous reigns, and whom I overlooked
naming. The great mystical poet of Uljaitu's reign was Iraki ibn Shehriar,
of Hamadan, a disciple of the famous mystic Sheikh Shihab ud din
Suhrwerdi, who died in 1309, at the age of 82. Two other mystical
poets of the time, also scholars of the same master, were Awhad ud din,
of Meragha, and Hussein. The former wrote the poem called " Jami
Jem," and died at Ispahan in the time of Ghazan. Hussein, of Herat,
was the author of over thirty mystical works in prose and verse. These
three Sofi poets met together, after travelling in many lands, in the
monastery of Ewhadi, and after a quarantine of forty days of fasting
and contemplation, reported to their master their experiences in their
several journeys. Their tombs at Damascus, Ispahan, and Herat are
still the goal of pilgrimage to the professors of Sofiism. The so-called
king of the poets (which does not mean, any more than Laureate with
us necessarily means, the best poet) in the earlier part of Abusaid's
reign was Ibn Nesuh, the author of the " Deh nameh," which was
dedicated to Ghiath ud din, the son of the vizier Rashid ud din. After
him Seraj ud din Kumri occupied this post. He is less famous in the
history of Persian poetry (says Von Hammer) for his emulation with
Obeid Zakyani and Selman Saveji, than for the box on the ears he received
for a bad joke from Konkurat, the wife of Abusaid. The pious female
hermit Safiyeh, of Abher, who was much esteemed by Abusaid and the
ladies of his Court, was one day having a meal with Konkurat when
Kumri was also present. Konkurat said, " Give me what is left of what
the holy woman has eaten, that I may take it with me into the house."
"All that I have eaten, most noble lady, is at your service," said the
saucy poet. She thereupon struck him several blows, which made him
black and blue, in which state he presented himself before Abusaid, and
on his asking the cause, replied, " Formerly a king of the poets was
rewarded with a thousand gold pieces. Your wife Konkurat has rewarded
me with ten boxes on the ear," at which Abusaid was greatly amused.
The most famous poets of this time were Zakyani, Selman, and Hafiz,
who, however, flourished somewhat later, and I shall speak of them
further on. To revert to Abusaid's own reign, we read of some other
poets, as Said Behai Jami, Iz ud din Hamadani, who, like Julahi
Abheri, wrote in Pehlevi ; two poets named from the town of
Feryumed, in Khorasan, where they were born ; and Yamin ud din
* Ilkhans, ii. 267-270.

628 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Toghrayi, whose letters, written from Rum to his son Mahmud in
Khorasan, are good examples of condensed style in Persian. More
famous are the ethical and philosophical verses of the son just named
(i.e., of Mahmud ibn Yamin), and known as " Makataati Yamin," and
Osman Moti, of Kazvin, who dedicated a collection of satires, under the
title of " Razi nameh," to the judge Kazi ud din Razi, who, either from
fear of his satirical power, or from regard for his fame, rewarded him
with an honorarium of from thirty to forty thousand dinars, which he
spent as quickly as he acquired it.*
Coins of Abusaid occur in the British Museum collection representing
every year from 717 to 734 HEJ., except the year 718, and one, doubtless a
posthumous coin, in the year 737. On one of his gold and fifteen of his
silver coins the date, instead of being given in the year of the Hejira, is
given in " the Khanian era " (i.e., the era established by Ghazan). These
are all of the year 33 (i.e., 733 HEJ. — 1332-3). The coins of Abusaid
occur in gold, silver, and copper, and the mints on the fine series in the
British Museum comprise Jorjan, Erzenjan, Jajerm, Sultania, Kerman,
Kazerun, Sivas, Tebriz, Saweh, Shuster, Shiraz, Kashan, Mosul, Tokat,
Yezd, Basrah, Baghdad, Hamadan, Baran, Wasith, Baiburt, Sinjar, Irbil,
Arivend (i.e., Elvend), Akhlatt, Kaisaryah, Bekkar, Gulistan, Samsun,
Meragha, Berdaa, Ispahan, Erivan, Sebzevar, Hisn-Kaifa, Bekbek,
Karmin, Hillah, Abusaidin, Mardin, Walashjerd, and Khelat. In the
museum are also two coins of Abusaid struck at Halab, or Aleppo, in 732
and 733. Frashn, in his memoir on the coinage of the Ilkhans, adds a
number of other mints — Sheristan Rashidi, Keliber (in Azerbaijan), Arran
(i.e., another name for Berdaa), Nakhchivan, Erzerum, Tiflis, Terjan (a
town near Erzerum), El Bazar, Aujan, Selivas, Tesui (a town north of Lake
Urmia), and a name doubtfully read Hausem. He also says that the
style of Alai ud din, given to Abusaid by Khuandemir, nowhere occurs
on his coins.} In his supplement Frashn gives the additional mints of
Abiverd and Arran (i.e., Berdaa). De Saulcy publishes a coin struck at
Irbil, and another apparently struck at Khotan.} On the coins bearing
a bilingual inscription the Khan's name is written Bu Said, in Mongol
characters.§ Abusaid having made a public profession of the Sunni
faith, the names of the orthodox khalifs occur on his coins ; yet, strangely
enough, two coins at least are extant in which the imaums venerated by
the Shias are specially named.||

Note I. — It was during the reign of Abusaid that Friar Odoric of Pordenone
traversed Persia, passing on from one Franciscan house to another until he
reached India and China. His travels apparently began between 13 16 and
* Ilkhans, ii. 262-267. . t Op. cit., 518-532. J Journ. Asiat., 3rd ser., xiv. 142 and 145.
% FrEehn, op. cit., 631. || De Saulcy, op. cit., J. A., 3rd ser., xiv. 149.

ABUSAID KHAN. 629
1318, and he died in 1331.* He went by way of Trebizond to Erzerum, which
he calls Arzeron, and which he says in time long past had been a fine and most
wealthy city, " and it would have been so unto this day but for the Tartars and
Saracens, who have done it much damage. It aboundeth greatly in bread and
flesh, and many other kinds of victual, but not in wine or fruits. For the city
is mighty cold, and folk say that it is the highest city that is at this day
inhabited on the whole face of the earth, but it hath most excellent water." 1
Tebriz, where the Franciscans had two convents, Odoric describes as " a nobler
city, and better for merchandise than any other which at this day existeth in
the world," containing great store of all kinds of provisions and goods, well
situated, and very rich, the whole world having dealings there. The Christians
there declared the Emperor (i.e., Abusaid) had more revenue from it than the
King of France from all his kingdom. Near the city was a great mountain of
salt, whence anyone might take what he wanted. There were many
Christians there.} Thence Odoric went to Sultania, which, he tells us, was
the Emperor's summer residence, a great and cool city, with good water,
and well supplied with costly wares. Dominicans and Franciscans each had a
house there. Our traveller passed thence to Kashan, a royal city of great
repute which the Tartars had greatly destroyed. It abounded in bread and
wine and many other good things.§ Then he went to Yezd, rich in victuals, but
especially in figs and green raisins. It was the third city, he tells us, in the realm
of the Emperor of the Persians, and the Saracens said no Christian was ever able
to live there more than a year.| He then went to Comerum (the Camara of
Barbaro, and probably the Kinara of Rich), on the site of the ancient Persepolis.
He speaks of its walls as fifty miles in circuit; that it contained palaces
yet entire, but without inhabitants. Thence he went to Huz, which Colonel
Yule identifies with the Hazah of Eastern writers, said by Assemanni to be the
same as Adiabena. He speaks of it as beautifully situated and abounding in
victuals, with fine mountain pastures all round. Manna was common there, and
four partridges could be bought for a Venetian groat. Men were accustomed
to knit and spin there, and not women.*[ He then went to Baghdad, which he
calls Chaldcea, where the men were comely but the women ill-favoured, the
former having rich robes on, and golden fillets with beads on their heads ; while
the women had only a miserable shift, reaching to the knees, and with sleeves
so long and wide that they swept the ground. They had drawers reaching to
their feet, which were bare, and their hair was neither plaited nor braided, but
dishevelled. It was the custom for women to go first, and not men, as in
Europe. He describes seeing a young man who was taking a beautiful
woman to be married. She was accompanied by a number of young women,
wailing, while he, dressed in handsome clothes, hung his head down. By and
bye, the young man mounted his ass, and the bride followed him, barefoot and
wretchedly clad, and ho'.ding by the ass, and her father went behind, blessing
them, until they reached the husband's house. From Baghdad, Odoric went
to the district on the Persian Gulf which he calls inland India, and which he

Cathay, and the Way Thither, 6. t Id., 46. I Id., 48-49. S Id., 50-51.
|| Id., 51-52. IF Id., 52-53.

630 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
says the Tartars had greatly wasted. The people there lived mainly on dates,
forty-two pounds of which you could buy for a groat. He then went on to
Hormuz, a well-fenced city, abounding in costly wares. It was situated on a
barren island, without tree or fresh water, but with plenty of fish, flesh, and
bread. It was unhealthy, and incredibly hot. The people were tall. When
he passed one was just dead, and they got together all the players in the place,
and set the dead man on his bed in the middle of the house, while two women
danced round him, and the players played on their cymbals and other instru
ments of music. Then two of the women took hold of the dead man, embraced
him, and chanted his praises, and the other women stood up one after another,
and took a pipe and piped on it awhile, and when one had done piping she sat
down ; and so they went on all night, and in the morning they carried him to
the tomb.* Thence Odoric set sail for India.
In a tract written about 1330 by the Archbishop of Sultania (probably John
of Cora), setting out the estate of the Great Khan, Abusaid is called Boussay,
and we are told that, like the ruler of Armalech («>., of the Jagatai Khanate)
and Uzbeg Khan, he sent yearly live leopards, camels, and gerfalcons, and
great store of precious jewels to the Great Khan of Cathay, whom they
acknowledged as their lord and suzerain ; and to show the power of these
chiefs he says that when Uzbeg was at war with Boussaye he brought 707,000
horsemen into the field, without pressing hard on his empire, t
Peg'ollotti, in his " Notices of the Land Route to Cathay," calls Abusaid
Bousaet. His list of the payments exacted upon merchandise from the frontiers
of Armenia to Tebriz, shows what a gauntlet of black mail merchants had to
traverse. I will quote it here from Colonel Yule's edition. Aspers.
At Gandon, where you enter upon the lands of Bousaet,
on every load  20
At the same place, for watching  3
At Casena  7
At the Caravanserai of the Admiral (? Karavansarai ul amir) 3
At Gadue  3
At the Caravanserai of Casa Jacomi  3
At the entrance to Saivastro (Sebasti or Sivas) from Aiazzo I
Inside the city  7
Leaving the city for Tauris  1
At Dudriaga (? Divrik)  3
At Greboco  4
At Mughisar  2^
At ditto as tantaullagio for the watch (i.e., for the
Tangauls)  ^
At Arzinga (Erzingan), at the entrance to the town  5
Ditto inside the city  g
Ditto for the watchmen, on leaving  3
At the Caravanserai on the Hill  3
» Cathay and the Way Thither, 54.57. t Id, 238.

ABUSAID KHAN. 63 1
Aspers.
At Ligurti  2
At ditto, at the bridge, for tantaullagio  £
At the Caravanserai outside Arzerone (Erzerum)  2
At Arzerone, at the baths  1
Ditto inside the city  g
Ditto as a present to the lord  2
Ditto at the baths towards Tauris  1
At Polorbech  3
At ditto  1
At Sermessacalo (p Hassan Kala), for tantaullagio  £
At Aggia, for the whole journey  J
At the middle of the plain of Aggia, for duty  3
At ditto, for tant  1
At Calacresti (Karakalisa)  £
At the Three Churches (Uchkilesi), for tant  i
Under Noah's Ark (probably Bayezid), for duty  3
Ditto for tant  i
At Scaracanti, ditto  ^
At Locche ditto  \
At the plain of the Falconers, for tant (twice altogether)  1
Ditto ditto for a ticket or permit from the
]°rd  i
At the Camuzoni, for tant  j
At the plains of the Red River (? the Aras), for tant  £
At Condro, for tant  %
At Sandoddi ditto  £
At Tauris ditto  £
And you may reckon that the exactions of the Moccols, or Tartar troopers,
along the road, will amount to something like 50 aspers a load, So that the
cost on account of a load of merchandise going from Aiazzo of Armenia to
Tauris, in Cataria (? Tartaria), will be, as appears by the above details, 209
aspers* a load, and the same back again.t
Note 2. — Heyd has described some traces of the intercourse between the
Venetians and the Mongols. The first evidence of dealings between the
Republic and the Ilkhans is a document which once existed both in a Tartar
original and a Latin translation, but the former recension is lost. This is
dated in the beginning of November, 1306 (a mistake for 1305), and begins
with the words, " Verbum Zuci Soldani duci Venetiarum," which Heyd has
ingeniously explained as the order of the Sultan's yulduchi (or sword bearer)
to the Doge of Venice. The Sultan was Uljaitu ; the yulduchi was Tomazo
Ugi, of Sienna, whose mission to the Pope, &c, we described in a former
chapter. The document conferred certain privileges on Venetian traders, and
stated that the traders who had frequented the Persian realm for a long time
past had had no reason to complain of ill usage.} Tomazo also took with him
* Really 203 (i.e., about £2. 8s.) t Id., 299.301. I Op. cit., ii. 123-125.

632 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
a letter from a certain Khoja Abdallah, in which he assured a Venetian named
Pietro Rudolfo that he would not exact any further satisfaction for some injury
he had done him, nor revenge himself for it upon any other Venetian. This
promise he confirmed by the signature of two witnesses, viz., Tomazo himself
and Balduccio Buffeto (?Buffero). A few years later we find the Venetian
Senate sendingan embassy to Persia, to Abusaid Khan, who is cal'ed " Imperator
Monsait " in the record of the event. Tbe leader of the embassy was Michele
Dolfino, and it went in 1320. He received en route a sum of money from the
Venetian bailo at Trebizond, Giovanni Sanuto. Inter alia, he asked for the
restoration of the goods of a Venetian called Francesco de Canale, v/ho
had died at Erzenjan, and which had been seized by a certain Badradin Lulu.
This embassy secured a diploma from Abusaid, allowing the Venetians free
ingress to Persia, and to stay where they liked, and to be allowed to feed their
horses for three days at the post stations. No tribute was to be taken from
them, except the ordinary dues and the payment for the guards. Nor were
these dues to be enlarged or to be charged at other than the recognised stations,
The guards were to convoy them when requested, and if anyone refused he
was to be imprisoned for any damage that followed. If a Venetian was robbed,
the plundered goods were to be made good by the magistrates, watchmen, and
inhabitants of the district. The head man in a district was, on the requi
sition of the Venetian consul, to afford assistance to the Venetians or their
caravans. Neither their couriers nor sumpter cattle were to be delayed on any
pretence. No Venetian was to be imprisoned on account of the crime or
default of a countryman ; each was to be responsible for his own faults only. The
magistrates were to be helpful to Venetians in disposing of their wares, and to
aid them in recovering their debts. No one was to touch the goods of dead
Venetians except their consul. If a Venetian invoked the aid of a Court, the
highest judge was to pass sentence on him. If disputes arose between Franks
(i.e., Venetians) their consul should decide matters. Lastly, the Latin monks,
who had the cure of souls of the Venetian mercantile community, were given
the valuable privilege of founding places of devotion in any part of the empire,
at their pleasure.*
The Venetians had a consul, probably in several of the larger towns of the
empire. He was styled Major. The first of their consuls at Tebriz whose
name is known was Marco de Molino, who, on the 6th of June, 1324, wrote to
the Doge a letter which does not put the Venetian mercantile body in a very
favourable light. He had forbidden the Venetians, in their own interest, having
dealings with a certain Saracen. Notwithstanding this, Francesco Quirini,
with two other Venetians, went to him to buy some spices. This having been
noised abroad in the caravanserai known as Delle Telle, Quirini was set upon
by four other Venetians and badly beaten. He complained to the Khan's
mother, and succeeded in having his assailants seized and imprisoned, and the
consul had to pay 270 bezants to have them released. The commonwealth was
at the same time threatened with a penalty of 5,000 bezants, in consequence of
the ill behaviour of another Venetian, named Marco Davanzo. All this filled
* Op. cit., 127-128.

ABUSAID KHAN. 633
the consul with forebodings for the future. He described Tebriz as a dangtrous
station, which they would have to give up if the Doge did not see his way to
some course by which these occurrences could be prevented in future. It was
probably in answer to this letter that, in 1329, Marco Cornaro was sent to
Tebriz. We are not told what the result of his mission was. In 1332 we
have a further notice of the Venetian colony at Tebriz, when we read of a
heavy burden being put upon it, Haji Suliman Taibi, of that city, asserted
a claim of indemnity for 4,000 bezants, and he was allowed to impose upon all
Venetians who went to Tebriz, or left it, a sum of four bezants for each load,
until his claim was discharged. The Tebriz merchants had, in addition, to pay
three aspers to two Venetians of the house of Sanuto, without any apparent
reason. About the same time, the Venetian Senate empowered the bailo of
Trebizond to exact an asper for each load of Venetian merchandise, which was
to be paid to a dragoman, called Avachi, who was to see after the interests of
Venice in that district.*
Note 3. — The author of the work entitled " Divan Alinsha " gives us some
curious information about the common form used in writing letters to the
Mongol sovereigns of Persia by the Egyptian rulers. He says : " In the letters
addressed to the great Khans of the Mongols in the land of Iran, it is
customary, according to the author of the 'Tarif,' to write on Baghdad paper
after the formula in the name of God and a line of the khutbeh (introduction).
Then follows the togra, which is drawn in embossed gold, and which, like all
the togras, contains the titles of our sultan. The introduction is then completed ;
then follows the titles of the prince to whom the letter is addressed, viz. :
1 His noble, lofty majesty, the august Sultan, the king of kings, unique brother
like a kan.' The term 'royal' is excluded, since it is not valued among the
Mongols. Then follow some pompous phrases invoking glory for the Sultan
and victory for his allies. Good wishes are expressed for the prince, such as
length of days, a free display of his banners, a strong army, numerous subjects,
&c. Then follow phrases expressing very strongly a constant friendship and
sincere veneration, &c, and the motives which have led to the letter being
written. The conclusion contains several good wishes in pompous terms, and
the good intentions of the sender. In such a letter the introduction, the togra,
and the title are written in raised gold. The same kind of material is used
in writing important names, such as that of God, of the Prophet, or of other
prophets or angels, the nance of Islam, those of the Sultans who send and
receive the letter, and pronouns referring to either. The rest is written in
black ink. Minute instructions on small points are given by the author of
the ' Tarif,' and duly set out in Quatremere's translation." Inter alia, we are
told that the style of the Ilkhan was Abusaid Behadur Khan, and he adds that
when peace was made between Sultan Kelavun and Abusaid, the Kadhi Alai
ud din Ibn Alathir reflected for a month on the form which the correspondence
should take. The titles of "brother'' and of " the Mamluk" were both
discarded, and it was eventually determined to use the same style as was
used in speaking of the Sultan himself.t
* Id., 128-129. t Makrizi, ii. (part 2), 307-315.

CHAPTER XII.
THE LATER ILKHANS AND THE JELAIRIDS.
ARPAGAUN KHAN.
ABUSAID was virtually the last of the Ilkhans. After his death
the dynasty collapsed with almost incredible rapidity, and the
empire so carefully got together by Khulagu and his successors
broke into fragments, which eventually became the prey of the great
Timur. It is a curious fact that the year of Abusaid's death was the
birth-year of Timur himself, and the Arabs have formed a chronogram
from the numerical value represented by the letters corresponding to the
figures in this fateful year, 736 hej., which well represents its character.
The letters so read form the word Laudh, meaning refuge, and it was said
that men had need of an asylum under such great calamities.* Ghazan
had decimated the royal family so persistently that when Abusaid died
without male issue nearly all the princes directly descended from Khulagu
were living in greater or less obscurity. The turbulence of the great
amirs during Abusaid's minority had also loosened the bonds of authority
all over the empire, and on his sudden death, to prevent immediate
anarchy from supervening, it was necessary to select some one to fill the
throne at once — some one, too, who had not aroused jealousies, and was
not too vigorous to frighten the late Khan's immediate friends. The
vizier, Ghiath ud din Muhammed, accordingly assembled the khatuns,
the amirs, and other grandees, and their suffrages fell upon Arpagaun,
sometimes corrupted into Arpa Khan, the son of Susu, son of Sinkian, son
of Malik Timur, son of Arikbuka, who was the brother of Khulagu, and
who had been pointed out by Abusaid as the fittest person to succeed
him. He was proclaimed before Abusaid's funeral, after which the body
of the latter was duly conveyed to Sultania for burial. We are told that
at his inauguration Arpagaun addressed the assembled notables, and
said, " I do not, like other Padishahs, need pomp and luxury. Instead of
golden girdles woollen ones will suffice for me, and instead of a jewelled
crown a cap of felt. From the army I expect obedience, and promise to
treat it with kindness." In the Friday prayer he took the title of Muiz
ud dunia ved din. Baghdad Khatun did not approve of his election, and
was speedily charged, as we have seen, with having poisoned Abusaid,
* De Guignes, iii. 285.

ARPAGAUN KHAN. 635
and with having secret communications with Uzbeg Khan of the Golden
Horde, who was then threatening an invasion, and was put to death. Her
niece, and partially her rival, Dilshad Khatun, who was enceinte, deemed
it prudent to fly, and went and sought refuge with Abusaid's maternal
uncle, Ali Padishalri^the governor of Irak Arab. Arpagaun strengthened
his position by marrying Satibeg, the widow of Choban and sister of
Abusaid, by which he hoped to secure the allegiance of those devoted to
Khulagu's family. He then marched against Uzbeg, the Khan of the
Golden Horde, who had invaded his borders. This was in the middle of.
winter. He cleverly planted a force behind the enemy's camp, so as to
place him between two fires, a manoeuvre which led to Uzbeg's retreat,
and also gained for Arpagaun the confidence of his troops. On his return
from this expedition he put several chiefs, dangerous from their high
birth, rank, or fortune, to death— among others, Sherif ud din Mahmud
Shah Inju, the Croesus of his time, who had administered the finances of
Fars, as we have mentioned. He was killed on the pretext that he had
secretly nominated a boy of the family of Khulagu to occupy the throne.
Inju's sons fled from Tebriz ; Masud Shah went to Asia Minor, to Amir
Sheikh Hassan, known afterwards as Sheikh Hassan the Greater, the first
husband of Baghdad Khatun, who was then governor of Rum. Prince
Tukel Kutlugh, of the house of Ogotai, who had sought refuge in Persia,
was put to death with his two sons, on the plea that he wished to interfere
in the administration of the State. Arpagaun would also have put
to death Mahmud Issen Kutlugh, Sultanshah, son of Nikruz, and
Muhammed Pilten, who had been imprisoned in various castles by
Abusaid, as we have seen, and had been released on his death. Their
lives were spared at the solicitation of the vizier, Ghiath ud din.
The Amir Ali Padishah, who was the maternal uncle of Abusaid, and
was descended from Tengiz Gurkan, the Uirad, who had been sent by
Khubilai against his rebel brother Arikbuka, disapproved of the election
of Arpagaun. We are told he assembled the Uirads, and told them
Arpagaun had always ' been the enemy of their tribe. He had been
lately joined, as we have seen, by Abusaid's widow, Dilshad. Having
assembled the amirs of the Uirads and Arabs, they proceeded to
elect a rival Khan, in the person of Musa, the son of Ali, son of Baidu
Khan, son of Tarakai, son of Khulagu, and then marched against
Arpagaun, after sending seductive messages to his generals whom
he knew to be unfavourably disposed towards him and to his vizier,
Ghiath ud din. Arpagaun collected forces from various quarters
to surround the army of Ali Padishah, but their commanders loitered
in the hope that some accommodation would be arrived at. Ali
Padishah offered to submit if he were appointed Amir ul Umera. Ghiath
ud din advised that this should not be conceded, and also persuaded
Arpagaun not to put to death several officers of whose loyalty he was

636 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
suspicious. A struggle now ensued between the two chiefs at Bagatu
(the " Shajrat ul Atrak " says at Chagatu, otherwise Yughtu), not far from
Meragha. This was on the 29th of April, 1336. In the midst of the
action, the amirs Issen Kutlugh and Sultanshah, who had a violent
dislike for the Vizier, deserted, and Arpagaun, notwithstanding his
superior force, was obliged to fly. The Vizier and his brother, Pir Sultan,
who stood firm for some time, were caught near Meragha and taken before
the victor. Ali Padishah wished to spare Ghiath ud din, who was so
distinguished for his learning, wit, and generosity, but the other generals
insisted on his death, which took place on the nth Ramazan, 736, and
was followed shortly after by that of his brother. His goods and those
of his clients at Tebriz were plundered, and the people went so far as to
pillage the quarter of the town known by the name of Raba Rashidi, and
to carry off an immense booty in coin, objects decorated with precious
stones, gold and silver bowls, and precious books. The houses of many
people unconnected with the Vizier were plundered at the same time.*
The poets and other learned men, whom the Vizier had liberally
patronised, naturally felt his death keenly, and one of the former
commemorated it in plaintive verses. An example of his munificence is
given by Khuandemir. One day, Sheikh Abu Ishak, who was then
Governor of Shiraz, was having a controversy with the Kadhi Alai ud din,
and put him the question, whether in the time of Abusaid merit was more
rewarded than it was during his own reign. The Kadhi replied, laughing,
" See what happened to myself. One day I was seated with Ghiath ud
din, who beckoned me to him three times with his hand, and followed
this up by a gift of money and lands so extensive that the tithes annually
made upon their revenue amounted to 30,000 dinars." Abu Ishak having
asked how this came about, Alai ud din replied that every Friday Ghiath
ud din used to gather round him a number of doctors and wise men to
discuss science and literature. All seated themselves according to their
rank. When anyone made a remarkable observation the Vizier used to
beckon with his hand for him to approach him. Alai ud din then
explained how he had been fortunate enough to signalise himself three
times successively at one of these meetings, whereupon Ghiath ud din
made him rich presents, as did the Vizier's friends. On hearing this,
Abu Ishak released Alai ud din from the annual payment of 30,000 dinars
which he had to make to the Treasury.t Alai ud din lived habitually with
Ghiath ud din, and the prefaces to his works are filled with the Vizier's
praise. He gave one the title of Favaid ghiathiah (i.e., useful observa
tions dedicated to Ghiath ud din). A poet named Ibn Nasuh composed
ten pieces addressed to him ; and Devlet Shah has preserved a long
poem, in which Selman Savaji sang his praises. The famous author of
* D'Ohsson, iv. 719-723. Ilkhans, ii. 312-315. Shajrat ul Atrak, 310-311.
t Quatremere, Rashid ud din, Hi. -liii.

MUSA KHAN. 637
the "Tarikhi Guzideh" was secretary to Rashid ud din and Ghiath ud
din, and that work was dedicated to the latter* In tracing the end of
the Vizier, we had almost overlooked his master Arpagaun. He was
speedily captured in the district of Sijas after his defeat, and was taken to
Aujan, and handed over to the heirs of Sherif ud din Mahmud Shah
Inju, by whom he was put to death.t
Fraehn, in his memoir on the coins of the Ilkhans, describes one of
Arpagaun struck at Tiflis in 736 (i.e., 1335-6). Another of his coins has
been recently added to the British Museum collection. It was struck in
the same year at Shirvan.
MUSA KHAN.
Ali Padishah was now the virtual ruler of the kingdom, the Khan
Musa, who mounted the throne at Aujan, being his protdgd and nominee.
He appointed Jemal ud din, the son of Taj ud din Ali, of Shirvan, as
Vizier, who exerted himself to fulfil its duties with vigilance. But the
calm was of very short duration. The fact was, the empire was breaking
asunder, and the amirs in the various districts were becoming more and
more independent. Among these, the most important in the West
were Sheikh Hassan, the Jelair, the son of Amir Hussein Gurkan by a
daughter of Arghun Khan, who had control of Rum ; and Haji Toghai,
who was the son of the powerful Amir Sunatai, or Suntai. Sunatai
had been appointed governor of Armenia, and also of Diarbekr, at the
accession of Abusaid. In this he was apparently succeeded by his son,
Haji Toghai, in the year 732 HEJ. The latter was at enmity with Ali
Padishah and his people, the Uirads, and he accordingly sent to his
neighbour Sheikh Hassan, urging him to seize the reins of power. Sheikh
Hassan thereupon nominated a Khan of his own, viz., Muhammed Shah,
son of Yul Kutlugh, son of Kuiji, or Kushji (called Ans Timur in the
"Shajrat ul Atrak"), son of Anbarji (called Itiarchi in the "Shajrat ul
Atrak"), son of Mangu Timur, son of Khulagu. So that there were now
two rivals for the throne, both descended from Khulagu — one supported by
Ali Padishah, the other by Sheikh Hassan. The latter nominated Shems
ud din Muhammed Zakaria, son of Rashid's daughter, as Vizier.J Sheikh
Hassan left the Amir Irshad, or Yeshed, in charge of Rum, and marched
against Ali Padishah, who was at Tebriz with an army composed of the
troops of Rum (i.e., of the Turkomans and Georgians). Before coming
to arms he proposed to Ali Padishah that they should agree upon some
candidate worthy of the throne, and should then withdraw each to his
own province. Ali Padishah was willing to do this, but his generals
would not consent to abandon the provinces they had so lately won. He
accordingly sent word to Sheikh Hassan that they must fight it out, and
* Quatremere, liii.-liv. t D'Ohsson, iv. 723.
X Quatremere, lv. Ilkhans, ii. 315. D'Ohsson, iv. 723.

638 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
that the fight should take place at Alatagh. The " Shajrat ul Atrak" says
the two amirs came together near the town of Naushehr. Before the
fight Ali Padishah sent his opponent a message to this effect : " We are
both Mussulmans. The princes are about to fight for empire. What
need have we to take part in the struggle, and to answer in the next
world for the blood about to'be shed ?" Sheikh Hassan accepted the
proposition, and each one of them planted himself on a neighbouring
height, Sheikh Hassan having 2,000 men with him. The struggle took
place on the 24th of July, 1336, and a plentiful harvest of infidels was
reaped, says the " Shajrat ul Atrak." Musa won the battle, and went in
pursuit of the fugitives. Meanwhile Ali Padishah descended from his
vantage in high glee, and went down towards a fountain to bathe, before
returning thanks for the victory in a namaz of two re'kats ; but he was
suddenly attacked, when he and his men had discarded their armour, by
Sheikh Hassan, who killed him and slaughtered his people. Musa upon
this withdrew towards Baghdad. Sheikh Hassan sent Kara Hussein, his
naib, and the Amir Akurpukh, the Uighur, in pursuit. "After killing
many people, he returned to Tebriz with his nominee, Sultan Muhammed,
who took up his residence there, and married Dilshad Khatun, the
widow of Abusaid. He treated the family of the vizier, Ghiath ud din
Muhammed, with great consideration, and divided the vizierate between
Masud Shah, son of Mahmud Shah Inju, and Shems ud din Zakaria,
nephew of Ghiath ud din, above named. Sultanshah, son of Nikruz,
was executed for having caused the death of Baghdad Khatun. He also
sent Satibeg, the widow of Choban and of Arpagaun, with her son
Siurgan, or Shiburgan, to Mughan.
Amir Akurpukh Uighur, who was sent in pursuit of Musa Khan,
quarrelled with Kara Hussein, and went to Sultania to Amir Pir
Hussein, the grandson of Choban, who had married his niece, Oghlan
Khatun. When he arrived there and related what had happened, they
together marched to Khorasan, and in concert with the amirs of that
country, and by the united exertions of Amir Sheikh Ali, son of Ali Kushji
(who was governor of some cities in Khorasan), Amir Ali Jaafer, Amir
Arghun Shah (son of Amir Nuruz, son of the famous Amir Arghun Aka),
and the amirs who had fled from Amir Sheikh Hassan, brought Toghai
Timur from Mazanderan and installed him as Khan in Khorasan, and read
the khutbeh and struck money in his name. The " Shajrat ul Atrak" tell
us the grandfather of Toghai Timur Khan, Baba Behadur, had migrated in
the year 705 HEJ. with 10,000 families, dependants of Kaidu Khan, into
Khorasan, where he entered the service of Uljaitu Khan, and was after
wards put to death. His descendants lived in the district of Jorjan,
where Toghai Timur was also brought up. This authority calls Baba
Behadur the son of Abukan, son of Alkan, son of Turi, son of Juchi, son
of Kibad, son of Yissougai (i.e., it makes him descend from Juchi Khazar,

MUSA KHAN. 639
the brother of Jingis Khan). The father of Toghai Timur was called
Surikuri. He himself lived, according to the same author, in Mazanderan
(doubtless Jorjan is meant). Toghai Timur having been proclaimed
Khan, marched towards Tebriz, and on reaching the borders of
Azerbaijan, was joined by the fugitive Musa Khan, who was living
with the Uirads. An agreement was made that if successful Toghai
Timur should retain Khorasan, while Musa should take Irak and
Azerbaijan. They met Sheikh Hassan, his nominee, the Khan Muham
med, and his army at Meragha. The " Shajrat ul Atrak " says at
Germrud. This was in June, 1337. Toghai Timur Khan fled. Musa
Khan held his ground with his Uirads and a body of Khorasan
troops, but they were eventually defeated. Musa was captured during
the fight and taken to Sheikh Hassan, who had him put to death on the
ioth of July, 1337.*
Fraehn mentions a copper coin of Musa Khan, with the names of the
four orthodox khalifs on it as struck at Tebriz in 736.! There are also
two copper coins of his in the British Museum, but apparently without
the names of mints on them.
We will now make a short digression to bring up the story of the
intercourse of the Persian Mongols with Egypt. In the year 732
Darenda, a town situated some distance west of Malattiya, was
surrendered by its Persian governor to the Egyptians, and the traitor was
thereupon made an amir by the Sultan Nasir. Abusaid, who had been
on friendly terms with the Sultan as we saw, asked for its restitution, as
it lay in the midst of his territory. Nasir granted the request, and it
again became part of the government of Rum. J We must always
remember that the Mongol domination over the greater part of Asia
Minor was rather in the form of suzerainty than of direct control. It
had been so in the days of the Seljuks, and it was still more so now.
The greater part of the country west of the salt steppes that stretch from
Conia to Angora, was occupied by several Turkoman principalities, which
no doubt owed only a slight allegiance to the Mongol governor of Rum.
That official held court at Sivas, and, in addition, according to Ibn
Batuta, controlled directly the towns of Ak Serai, Nigdeh (or Nicdeh),
Caesarea, Sivas, Amasia, Sunisa, and Kumish Khana. His government
bordered immediately on the territory of Armenia, controlled by Haji
Toghai. At that time the Mongol governor of Rum was called Alai ud din
Artena, who had married Taghy Khatun, a royal princess. She was styled
Agha (i.e., great), by which name the relatives of the Ilkhan were known.
Ibn Batuta tells us he paid her a visit at Caesarea. She rose on his arrival,
saluted him graciously, and gave him refreshments, and afterwards sent
him a horse saddled and bridled, a robe of honour, and money. At Sivas
* D'Ohsson, iv. 723-726. Ilkhans, ii. 315-317. Shajrat ul Atrak, 311-317.
t FrEehn, de Ilchanorum, &c, numis 534. I Weil, iv. 347. Note.

640 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
our traveller visited Artena himself, who came out to meet him to the
door of his palace. The amir spoke Arabic well, and questioned his
visitor about the two Iraks, Ispahan, Shiraz, Kerman, the atabeg of Lur,
Syria, Egypt, and the Turcoman chiefs.*
To revert to Egypt. During the recent troubled times, Nasir, the
Egyptian Sultan, was naturally courted by the various aspirants to the
throne. Thus in June, 1336, directly after the death of Arpagaun, envoys
went to Cairo from Musa and Ali Padishah, conveying their good
wishes, which were reciprocated.t Makrizi seems to say that Arpagaun
himself sought Nasir's help, and promised him in return possession of
Baghdad.! In the beginning of 1337 envoys went to Egypt from Sheikh
Hassan and his protdgd, who were received equally heartily with those of
Musa. The Sultan had promised the latter his help, and had sent a
contingent of troops to the frontier. At the same time he informed
Sheikh Hassan the Great that these troops were ready to help him.
When the Sheikh defeated his rival he sent Nasir his thanks for this
proffered aid, and although he had been in allegiance with Musa, the
Sultan did not hesitate to send the victor his congratulations on his
victory, with costly gifts. Soon after, Nasir courted an alliance with
Artena, the Mongol governor of Asia Minor, already named, who was
threatened on one side by Sheikh Hassan, and on another by Karaja Ibn
Abi Dulkadr, who had appropriated certain districts near Ablestan.
Artena promised to acknowledge Nasir as his suzerain, and to strike coin
and have the Friday prayer said in his name. The Sultan was highly
pleased at this, and instructed the Sheikh Shihab ud din to draw up a
formal diploma, investing Artena as his deputy in Rum. On neither side,
however, was there any intention to keep these easy promises any longer
than was necessary for self-interest. Karaja surprised the fortress of
Darenda, in Asia Minor, which belonged to Artena's government, and
asked the governor of Aleppo to send an Egyptian governor and a
Mussulman garrison there. The treacherous Sultan thereupon,
disregarding his alliance with Artena, at once rewarded his more useful
friend. Artena, on his side, when he no longer feared Sheikh Hassan
the Great, refused to have the coin struck and the prayers said in Nasir's
name. He renewed his promise, however, when troops from Syria, in
aUiance with the Turkomans of Karaja, invaded his district.^
MUHAMMED KHAN.
The death of Musa still left two contending Khans, viz., Toghai Timur,
who, after the battle above-mentioned, withdrew to Bostam, and continued
to be obeyed in Khorasan and Jorjan ; and Muhammed, the protdgd of
Sheikh Hassan. I described how Timurtash, the son of Choban, who
had been governor of Rum, fled to Egypt, and was there killed. One of
* Op. cit., ii. 284-295. t Weil, iv. 345-346. X Id., 346. § Id., 346-347-

MUHAMMED KHAN. 641
his sons was also called Sheikh Hassan, and to distinguish him from the
chieftain of the same name, whom we have so often named, was called
Kuchuk, or the Little, the other being known as Buzurg, or the Great.
After the proscription of his family, he hid away. He now reappeared,
and began to collect his father's partisans, and produced a Turkish slave
named Karajar (perhaps the Karaja already named), who had been in the
service of Haji Hamza, an officer of Timurtash, whom he tried to pass off
as his father* He pretended that Timurtash, having escaped from the
prisons of Cairo, had been wandering for some years in distant countries.
He married the slave to his own mother, treated him publicly with
respect, walking beside his horse ; and many people, misled by this
conduct, ranged themselves under the banners of the pretender. His
patron, Sheikh Hassan the Little, now sent to announce to his name
sake the return of his father. Haji Hamza, who was there with the
latter, went to verify the fact, and having been gained over, attested that
the impostor was really Timurtash. The partisans of the family of
Choban and the Uirads, who did not willingly obey him, now abandoned
Sheikh Hassan the Great and went over to the camp of the false
Timurtash, to whom they remained faithful, even after his imposture
was discovered.
When Nasir, the Egyptian Sultan, heard of the outbreak of the Lesser
Hassan and of the reappearance of Timurtash, he was greatly embarrassed,
for those who had been commissioned to put the latter to death were all
dead, and he was afraid they might have deceived him, and that if
Timurtash succeeded in reinstating himself he would become his bitterest
enemy. He therefore sent Ahmed Assahbi, one of his most trusted amirs,
to Haji Toghai, the Prince of Diarbekr, to form a close alliance with him,
which was to be strengthened by the marriage of a son of Toghai with
one of his own daughters. Toghai received this envoy well, and sent
word back that he did not believe in the pretender, and that he had allied
himself with Hassan the Greater against him. The same night, however,
the troops of the Lesser Hassan drew near, and Toghai fled to Baghdad.
Ahmed, the Sultan's envoy, was plundered, and escaped with difficulty
to Aleppo, where he informed his master of what had occurred. Soon
after, news came from the Prince of Mardin that the Lesser Hassan had
won a victory over his enemy, and that he felt it necessary to submit to
him. Nasir again sent Ahmed to Toghai, and renewed his former
proposals. Toghai replied that this was not the time to think of
marriage. He hoped to be more successful in a second encounter with
their enemy; and he begged him to send a few thousand men to Aleppo,
who might assist him in case of necessity, and would in any case be a
* Shirgai does not call him a Turk, but says that Choban, having married a daughter of the
King of Georgia, had a son by her. When he subsequently married Abusaid's sister, he sent the
Georgian princess and her son back to her father. Shirgai says the pretender was this son.
Weil, iv. 343. Note 1.
S*

642 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
moral support to him. We don't know what was Nasir's answer to this,
but we know he exerted himself to oppose the Chobanians, and he also
succeeded in winning over Hafiz, a brother of Ali Padishah, who was
inclined towards them, to join the Greater Hassan, while he, on the other
hand, strengthened the alliance between the latter and Toghai, the chief
of Diarbekr.
The two Hassans, with their respective armies, at length encountered
each other on the ioth July, 1338, at Nakhchivan. Hassan the Great
suspected some of his generals, one of whom, Pir Hussein, went over to
the other side, while the two armies were ranged opposite to one another.
He thereupon fled hastily, and went to Tebriz, where he remained hid for
some days, but his protdgd, the Khan Muhammed, who was still a youth
under age, fought bravely with the troops of Khorasan. He, however,
fell into the hands of Sheikh Hassan the Little, who put him to death
immediately. This was in July, 1338* The "Shajrat ul Atrak" says
the poet Awhad ud din, of Ispahan, flourished during Muhammed's reign.
It also says Muhammed was buried at Meragha. In the British Museum
there are several coins of Muhammed Khan, both in silver and copper,
struck in the years 737-738 of the HEJ. Three of his mint towns were
Tebriz, Shiraz, and Hamadan. Mr. Stanley Poole also reads doubtfully
the names of Kebir-Sheikh, and Shakan.f Fraehn adds the mint town of
Kara Aghach.J
SATIBEG KHAN.
After the battle, one portion of the army of the victor went to Tebriz
and the other to Sultania, and both towns were plundered. The false
Timurtash now tried to rid himself of his probably too exacting patron, the
Lesser Hassan. He made an ineffectual attempt to assassinate him, and
stabbed him with a knife, but the wound was not mortal, and the wounded
Sheikh went to Georgia. The false Timurtash having made an attempt
to secure Tebriz, and been beaten by the elder Hassan, was joined by the
amirs of the Uirads, who had been driven from Irak Ajem, and marched
towards Baghdad. Hassan the Little denounced his protdgd, and went
and joined the Princess Satibeg, called Saki Begum in the " Shajrat ul
Atrak," the sister of Abusaid, and the widow of his grandfather Choban,
who, with her son, Shiburgan Shireh, whom she had had by Choban, had
refused to join Hassan the Great. With her he returned to Tebriz, and
we read that sixteen of the family of Choban (i.e., of his own relatives)
assembled before him and demanded a ruler of the race of Khulagu
Khan. The amirs of the Hazaras said that Satibeg, the daughter of
Uljaitu Sultan, and sister of Abusaid Khan, was entitled to the throne,
since no male of the family of Khulagu remained. She was thereupon
* D'Ohsson, iv. 726-728. Ilkhans, ii. 317. Weil, iv. 343. Shajrat ul Atrak, 315-318.
t Catalogue, &c, 94-97. X De Ilk, &c, numis 534-536.

SATIBEG KHAN. 643
seated on the throne. This was in 639 hej. Her name was inserted in
the khutbeh or public prayer, and also on the coins. Having assembled
an army, the Lesser Hassan marched with her to Sultania. The Greater
Hassan, on hearing of this, went to Kazvin, but presently again advanced
to oppose his rival. Some negotiations took place between them, and
eventually the latter paid a visit to the Princess Satibeg, acknowledged
her right to the throne, and the two Hassans embraced each other. It
was arranged that that winter the elder Hassan should remain at Sultania
and the Princess Satibeg at Karabagh, and that in the spring a kuriltai
should be called together to make arrangements for the future. The
princess, with the Lesser Hassan, thereupon went to Irak and Azerbaijan,
while the elder Hassan went to Sultania. The former put to death the
pretender, Timurtash, at Aujan. He had been seized and handed over
by the Uirads.
Although the Greater Hassan had outwardly made peace with Satibeg
and her patron, the Lesser Hassan, he apparently did not really mean all
he said, and invited Toghai Timur Khan to come from Khorasan. This
was in the year 739 HEJ. The Khan was accompanied by the Amir
Arghun Shah, and by his vizier, Khoja Alai ud din Muhammed. But
Hassan speedily repented his complacency, for Toghai Timur and the
amirs of Khorasan followed in everything the advice of the Vizier, who
adopted a parsimonious rdgime, and cut down the salaries, &c, while he
augmented the taxes. Meanwhile, negotiations were furtively opened
with the Lesser Hassan, to whom Toghai Timur sent Akurpukh, the
Uighur, who had been the atabeg of Abusaid Khan, to say that friendship
had existed between his father and Choban, Hassan's grandfather, and
when an order had been issued to put his father, Surikuri, to death, the
Amir Choban had resisted it, and that he could not forget such an act,
nor could he in consequence permit any injury to be done to any of the
Chobanians, and that it would be well to do away with all cause of
enmity that existed. Sheikh Hassan the Little was pleased with this
message, and readily said that whatever the Padishah proposed was
undoubtedly for the good of religion, the kingdom, and the people ; and
having made rich presents to Akurpukh and his companions, he
begged him in private to convey his assurance of devotion to Toghai
Timur, to urge upon him that he himself had no real authority in the
kingdom, and that he was suspicious of the motives of Sheikh Hassan the
Great, who was his father-in-law, whom it would be prudent to put aside,
after whose death he would give Dilshad Khatun and Satibeg to Toghai
Timur, and all his family would unite in his service. When Akurpukh
returned with this message, Toghai Timur, captivated by the hope of
securing Satibeg as his wife, returned a favourable answer, and
suggested that some agreement should be drawn up on these terms
Sheikh Hassan the Little said he was quite firm in his purpose, and that

644

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

the best solution would be for Toghai Timur himself to sign a document
embodying the agreement, and calling upon the Chobanians to put to
death Sheikh Hassan the Great and all his dependants, and to make over
the viceroyalty of the kingdom and the tribes to the Chobanians. Toghai
Timur unwittingly fell into the trap which the astute Hassan planted for
him, and duly signed a document embodying the provisions above
mentioned, which he sent to the deceitful Sheikh. The latter, with his
diabolical craft, at once set off, with Pir Hussein and Amir Ali Tulpin, to
the camp of Sheikh Hassan the Great. He summoned one of his
servants to tell him his namesake was waiting outside, and sent the
following message by him : Although Sheikh Hassan the Great had
separated from him, and introduced a stranger to rule the country who had
no claim to the succession, and who was besides the enemy of the house of
Khulagu ; although he had expended treasures on armies to support that
stranger and had hazarded his life and fortune in his defence, notwith
standing that same stranger had written the agreement he now sent him, in
his (Sheikh Hassan's) absence indulging himself in visionary projects, while
professing in public to be his friend. He went on to say that although
he, Sheikh Hassan the Great, deemed him (Sheikh Hassan the Little)
his enemy, yet he could not permit such treachery to be concerted against
him, nor that any hurt should befall him, and he therefore warned him to
take care of himself. Having delivered this artful message he returned
laughing to his camp and again prepared for war, although he told his
officers that all necessity for war was at an end, and that Toghai Timur's
sedition had been quelled, which they would shortly see. When Sheikh
Hassan the Great received the incriminating document, " awaking from
the slumber of negligence," he ordered his men to get under arms, and
then summoned Arghun Shah, who was Toghai Khan's deputy, before
whom he threw the paper, and asked him if it was in the Padishah's hand
writing. On his saying yes, he asked, " What evil have I done to him,
that he should have such treacherous intentions towards me and my
family ? " Arghun, being ignorant of the whole matter, fell on his knees,
and after praising the kindness and goodwill of Sheikh Hassan, said he
knew nothing of the agreement, but thought it might be traced to the
wiles and fraud of the Lesser Sheikh Hassan, for that Toghai Timur,
although a king, was yet a simple, plain Mongol, and not able to cope
with the insidious arts of the Chobanian ; that if he, Sheikh Hassan,
would grant permission, he and all the troops of Khorasan would either
devote themselves to death before him or root out the family of Choban.
When Sheikh Hassan heard these manly words he said, " May God
forgive the sins of your predecessors," and having embraced him said,
" You are the grandson of the Great Arghun, who by the authority of
Mangu Khakan was chief of all the tribes of Khulagu Khan. It is also
written in the regulations of Khulagu that he was always guided by the

SHAH JIHAN TIMUR KHAN. 645
advice of Amir Arghun, and as you also are faithful and trustworthy,
carry this writing to the traitor Toghai Timur, and ask why, without any
cause of enmity, he entertains such villainous designs against me." He
accordingly went to his master, who, " putting the finger of astonishment
between the teeth of thought," at last said, "I did not believe the
Chobanians capable of such exceeding fraud and villainy, but as it is,
having fallen to the ground between two horses, it is not wise to remain
here." He was, in fact, so ashamed of having been tricked in this way,
that he left the same night for Khorasan, and the various troops who had
collected under his banner dispersed. His ready credulity thus lost him
the empire.
Hassan the Great now again repaired to Satibeg. He kissed her
hand and made excuses for his conduct, dismissed his troops, and left
with her for Aujan. They rode side by side, while the Lesser Hassan
went on the flank or in front of the cavalcade to preserve order. When
they reached Aujan, Hassan the Great encamped two parasangs away,
while some of the amirs went to Tebriz. His namesake and rival now
became suspicious that he was going to be superseded, and rebelled. He
left the camp of Satibeg, which he plundered ; and professing that it was
indecent for the kingdom to be ruled by a woman, he caused several of
her officers and those of her son Shiburgan to be put to death, and set
up Suliman as Khan.*
Several of Satibeg's coins are extant. In the British Museum there
are eighteen in silver, struck during the years 739-741 at Khelat, Arbuk,
Hisn, Baghdad, and doubtfully at Arzen and Turkan.f Fraehn only
names two in his monograph on the coins of the dynasty, one struck at
Berdaa and the other at Tebriz, the former in 739.
SHAH JIHAN TIMUR KHAN.
When Hassan the Great heard how his rival had set up Suliman, he
also raised a puppet of his own to the throne in the person of Shah Jihan
Timur, surnamed Iz ud din, who was the son of Alafrenk, son of
Gaikhatu, son of Abaka, and appointed Shems ud din Zakaria as his vizier.
At the approach of winter he went to Baghdad, the capital of Irak Arab, of
which province he had control, as well as of Khuzistan and Diarbekr. In
1340 he determined to attack his rival and namesake, and advanced from
Baghdad with his nominee, Shah Jihan Khan, as far as the river
Baghatu (called Chagatu or Yughtu in the "Shajrat ul Atrak"), near
which they fought a battle, which he lost. On returning to Baghdad
after this reverse he deposed the Khan whom he had created, as an
ignorant man, unfit to reign. J
*_ Shajrat ul Atrak, 319-327. D'Ohsson, iv. 729-732. Ilkhans, ii. 318-319.
t Poole's Catalogue, 103-106. I Shajrat ul Atrak, 327-329. D'Ohsson, iv. 732.733.

646 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
There are two silver coins of Jihan Timur in the British Museum,
both struck in the year 740 HEJ., one at Arzenjan and the other at
Khelat*
SULIMAN KHAN.
Hassan the Less, as we have seen, had nominated Suliman as ruler of
the Khanate. He was the son of Muhammed (Abulghazi leaves out
Muhammed, and makes him son of Sanga), son of Sanga, son of
Yashmut, son of Khulagu. He married Satibeg, f and acquired authority
over Irak Ajem, Azerbaijan, Arran, Mughan, and Georgia. The rest of
the empire had been appropriated by different chiefs, who were virtually
independent, although all of them did not exercise, so far as we know,
the right of coinage. There were Satibeg and the Chobanians in Arran,
and Haji Toghai in Diarbekr. Rum, in so far as it was subject to the
Mongols, was shared between Artena and Ashraf, son of Timurtash.
The sons of Mahmud Shah Inju held Fars. The province of Ispahan
obeyed the Seyid Jelal ud din Mirmiran and A'mad ud din Lenbani.
Mubariz ud din Muhammed Mozaffer remained master of Yezd ; Malik
Kutb ud din Ghuri, of Kerman ; Malik Shuja ud din, of the district of
Kum (called Bam by D'Ohsson) ; and Malik Moiz ud din Hussein, of
Herat. Toghai Timur Khan reigned in Mazanderan and part of Khorasan.
Arghun Shah, son of Nuruz, held the district of Tus, and the Amir
Abdullah Mulai, Kuhistan.t
When, in 740, an embassy came from Sheikh Hassan the Great
asking Nasir, the Egyptian Sultan, to send one of his sons with
some troops to Irak, and offering to acknowledge him as his suzerain,
he replied that his sons were too young, but that he would himself
march to Irak with his men if Sheikh Hassan, Hafiz, and Toghai
would first swear allegiance to him. In the following year the
Chobanians again invaded Irak. Hassan sent once more to Egypt to
ask that an army might be sent to him under a competent general,
and offering to strike money and have the Friday prayer said in
the Sultan's name. The suspicious Sultan asked that these two
conditions should first be fulfilled, and then he would send an army. The
amir Ahmed was again sent, and Toghai at Diarbekr, and Sheikh Hassan
at Baghdad, swore allegiance to the Sultan ; while the latter, in the
presence of the envoy, in March and April, 1341, had both money struck
and the Friday prayer said in his suzerain's name. Ahmed took some of
this money with him back to Egypt, and also Ibrahim Shah, a nephew
of Sheikh Hassan, and Berheshin, a son of Toghai, as hostages, together
with several kadhis, who carried the documents in which the two chiefs
* Poole, op. cit., 102.
t The " Shajrat ul Atrak" says it was Hassan the Less who married the princess by force.
I D'Ohsson, 729-730. Ilkhans, ii. 318.

SULIMAN KHAN. 647
declared themselves Nasir's vassals. They reached Cairo on the 23rd
of May, 1341, whereupon the Sultan set about the equipment and
provisioning of the army. A few days before it was to march, however,
messengers came from the Prince of Mardin to say that the Lesser
Hassan, angry at the alliance of his rivals with the Egyptians, had sent
envoys to his namesake and rival, and that the latter had made peace
with him. Nasir now countermanded his orders to the army, and sent
messengers to make some fresh inquiries, but before their return he had
died.* This was in the summer of 1341. The same year Hassan the
Little defeated Toghai Timur Khan, who had made another attack upon
Irak, and drove him away. J He now marched against Haji Toghai, the
friend and ally of the Elder Hassan. Toghai sent his nephew and the
mollah Suti to take him a proposition for an accommodation, but he
himself fled in all haste to Mush in Armenia. He was killed by Ibrahim,
brother of Ali Padishah, in 743 or 744. t Hassan paid no heed to the
communications he had received, but ravaged the district of Mush
with fire and sword. The ruler of Mardin went to do homage to
him and his nominee Suliman, and was well received and given
presents. From Mardin Hassan marched with a large army against
his rival of many years' standing, Hassan the Great, who sent an
army against him under the amirs Ali Jaafer and Kara Hussein,
who defeated him. He thereupon turned his steps towards Rum,
plundering the properties of the grandees on the way. Erzerum
was laid under contribution, while the mihrab and minbar (i.e., the altar
and pulpit) in the mosque in that town, which had been recently rebuilt
by Haji Toghai, were burnt, and the grave of Toghai's son was opened
and despoiled. In the autumn he went to Tebriz, where Suliman, his
nominee, had taken up his residence. In the summer he sent the vizier,
Ghiath ud din Muhammed Ali Shahi, to Sultania, for his uncle Shiburgan
(called Siyurgan by Von Hammer). After detaining him some time at
Tebriz he sent him to Kara Hissar, in Asia Minor. He himself went to
Alatagh and Bulak to lay waste the yurt of Haji Toghai and the
possessions of the family of Sunatai, and having returned to Tebriz, built
a monastery, a medresseh or college, and a mosque surpassing all
others there in elegance. Meanwhile, his brother Ashraf had gone to
Shiraz to drive out Abu Ishak, who had set up authority there, but
returned unsuccessful. Ashraf then allied himself with his uncle Yaghi
Basti, the son of Choban, against his brother Hassan the Little, and they
went over to his rival, the Great Hassan, while several amirs of the
Uirads, who had quarrelled with the latter, followed their example.
Hassan Kuchuk thereupon killed the remaining amirs of the Uirads who
had not been lucky enough to escape. With his usual crafty power of
* Weil, op. cit., 348-349.
t D'Ohsson, iv. 732-734. Shajrat ul Atrak, 329-330. X Weil, iv. 344. Note.

648 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
aspersion, he succeeded in arousing his rival's suspicions against
Yaghi Basti and Shiburgan, who both fled. The Great Hassan
now went to Baghdad, while the Little Hassan repaired again to Tebriz.
Yaghi Basti and his nephew Ashraf having plundered the camp of Issen
Kutlugh, near Rai, marched against Fars, which was then the great
entrepot of Persian trade, and, naturally, well worth plundering. On the
way they were joined by Pir Hussein, son of Mahmud, son of Choban,
and, therefore, Ashraf 's cousin ; and they carried off from Ispahan what
they could in the shape of banners, drums, trumpets, standards, horses,
and camels. Ebrkiuh was burnt, and two thousand of its inhabitants,
who had sought shelter in a cave, were suffocated with smoke. The
Sheikh Abu Ishak Inju, the ruler of Shiraz, prepared once more to resist
them; but when they were within a day's journey of the place, Ashraf
heard that his brother Hassan had been assassinated, and accordingly
returned.* The "Shajrat ul Atrak" tells us that in the beginning of the year
744 HEJ. Hassan dispatched his protdgd Suliman Khan, with Yakub Shah
and other amirs, to Rum, but they were defeated and obliged to return.
He thereupon imprisoned Yakub for having misbehaved in the battle.
One of Yakub's friends, named Arab Mulk, afraid that he might be
executed, associated two or three women with him, and on the night of
the 27th Rajab of the same year got access to him and killed him, by
violently twisting his generative parts, as related in the lines of the poet
Khoja Selman Saveji. The next day they secretly left the palace,
and the murder was not discovered till the third day, whereupon a search
was made for Arab Mulk, who, with his confederates, was seized and put
to death.f Another account tells the story differently, viz., that Hassan's
wife, Izzet Malik, who had an intrigue with the Amir Hassan Yakub Shah,
whom Sheikh Hassan had imprisoned for some grave offence, fancying
that her intercourse with that chief was discovered, took advantage of an
occasion when Sheikh Hassan was very drunk, and killed him (lui oter
la vie, en lui pressant les testicules). This was in 1343. Inasmuch as
the strictness and severity of Sheikh Hassan were so well known, no one
dared go near the harem, and two days elapsed before his death was
known. Izzet Malik, with the women who were her accomplices, had
gone out under the pretence of bathing, and had hidden herself. On the
third day, the amirs, who had become nervous, sent a woman into the
harem, where she found only the corpse of the dead chief, who had
expiated a life of violence and chicanery by a corresponding end. Izzet
Malik was punished for her crime by a most ignominious death. Her
body was cut in pieces and given to the swine to be eaten, and there were
people who cut off portions of her flesh and ate them. Among others,
* Ilkhans, ii. 330-331. t Op. cit., 331-332.

SULIMAN KHAN. 649
the poet Selman, as I have said, the contemporary and rival of Hafiz,
wrote an epigram on this tragedy. Suliman Khan, having distributed the
considerable treasures of his dead patron among his generals, returned to
Karabagh, where he presently imprisoned Kadhi Hussein, the son of the
Amir Hassan, and released from prison the Amir Yakub Shah, who had
put the murderers of his late patron to death, and nominated him, as
the bravest and most prudent of all his amirs, to the post of Amir
ul Umera. He was so troubled by the ambitious pretensions of the
amirs that he summoned Ashraf and his uncle Yaghi Basti, who accordingly
went to Tebriz.
Meanwhile, Shiburgan, who as we have seen had been imprisoned at
Kara Hissar, in Asia Minor, killed the commander of that place, seized
the treasures which Sheikh Hassan had deposited there, and went and
joined Ashraf and Yaghi Basti at Maamurieh, whence they went to
Alatagh and the Blue Lake (i.e., that of Erivan), where Choban's
head-quarters had formerly been. Their forces rapidly augmented,
while those of the titular ruler, Suliman Shah, melted away, and he
thought it prudent to fly to Diarbekr. Several of his amirs, such as
Haji Hamza, Mulai and his son Muhammed Ali Shah, the vizier, and
Bestal the Georgian, joined the three Chobanian chiefs. His vizier,
Amad ud din Zeravi, tried to sow discord among the triumvirate, and
reported to Ashraf on the one side, and to Yaghi Basti and Shiburgan on
the other, that the other side meant that very night to strike a blow. Both
parties remained under arms during the night. In the morning messengers
passed between them, and the matter having been explained, Amad ud
din was put to death. The three Chobanian chiefs now repaired together
to Tebriz ; but as the citizens paid greater honour to Yaghi Basti and
Shiburgan than to Ashraf, the latter became jealous, and under pretence
that it was contrary to the yasa of Jingis Khan that Mongols should live
in towns, he pointed out to the two amirs that there was good pasturage
at the foot of the mountain Sehend. Meanwhile, he heard from the
Amir Jelal ud din Amir Kutlugh Shah Ghazani that they intended falling
upon him in the morning. Taking his brother, Malik Misr, with him, he
repaired to Tebriz, where he learnt that his two associates had gone in
the night to Khui. He followed them on foot, and overtook them at
Maamurieh. There a struggle took place, in which he won the day. This
was apparently in the year 745 HEJ. The " Shajrat ul Atrak " calls the
battlefield the field of Aghbabad, and says that after it Ashraf encamped
at the town of Babul. Von Hammer calls it Totil.* I do not know what
became of Suliman.
There are numerous silver coins of Suliman Khan in the British
Museum, struck in the years 740, 741, 742, 743, and 745, and one, possibly
* D'Ohsson, iv. 734-735. Ilkhans, ii. 319-320 & 329.333. Shajrat ul Atrak, 333.

650 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
a posthumous coin, struck in 751, at Sivas* The other mints on coins
in the Museum are Kashan, Baiburt, Hisn, Nakhchivan, Bar'an, Keek (?),
Erzenjan, Shirvan, Sivas, Kebir Sheikh, Tebriz, Yezd, Tus, Saveh, Sinjar,
and Nubenjan (?) General Houtum-Schindler has published the additional
mints of Kerman and Sirjan.f Fraehn also mentions Sultania, Erzerum,
and Kazvin as mints on his coins.
ANUSHIRVAN KHAN.
Suliman, shadow that he was, was not the last of the Ilkhans. We
must add a notice of another puppet who was set up by Ashraf. After
his victory over his relatives at Maamurieh, we are told by Mirkhavend
that he raised to the throne a Persian of an ancient stock claiming
descent from the famous smith, Giave or Gavian, who lived in the heroic
age of Persian history. Khuandemir and Jennaby call him a Kipchak,
while Abulghazi makes him descend from Khulagu.J Ashraf ordered him
to be styled Aadil (i.e., The Just), as his namesake, the Sassanian ruler,
had been.
After this, Ashraf went to Kuntsak, in Arran, where Mohai ud
din also arrived with propositions of peace from Yaghi Basti and
Shiburgan. Ashraf was willing to agree to this, but Shiburgan could
not trust him, and went to Diarbekr, where he was at first well received
by Ilkan, the son of Sheikh Hassan the Great, who governed there. It
was not long, however, before he lost confidence in him and killed him.
Yaghi Basti joined Ashraf, his nephew, with whom he went to Tebriz.
When they arrived there the Malik made away with his uncle in a
way that no one ever became acquainted with. After this he oppressed
the people so much that all who could fled from Iran and Azerbaijan to
other countries for safety. At Karabagh he received the allegiance of
Kaus or Kavus, the son of Kaikobad, the ruler of Shirvan, to whom he
presented a golden cap and jewelled girdle ; but the prince of Shirvan
was so affected by his truculence (he cut off an amir's head in his
presence) that he fled at night, and when Ashraf sent an apologetic
embassy with a request for the hand of Kaikobad's daughter in marriage,
Kaikobad refused, as he foresaw that this connection would speedily
bring him with an army to Shirvan. Having returned to Tebriz,
Ashraf shut his brother, Malik Misr, up in prison, and put several begs
to death. He imprisoned Ortok, son of the Khoja Jelal ud din, in the
Rashidian citadel at Tebriz, and when he left the city in the next winter
he intrusted it to the care of a Greek slave, named Muhammed, with a
guard of 2,000 men. This slave revolted in his master's absence, and set
the two State prisoners free. Ashraf set out in the middle of winter from
Karabagh to Tebriz, to put down the revolt. Famine and pestilence
* See Poole's Catalogue, p. 4. t Num. Chron., N.S., xx. 320-321.
X Frshn de Ilchanorum, &c, numis 541. Von Hammer, Ilkhans, ii. 333.

ANUSHIRVAN KHAN. 65 1
meanwhile prevailed, and the tyrant having returned to Karabagh, marched
with an army against Shirvan ; but while both armies faced one another
on each side of the frontier river, in full panoply, Ashraf and Kavus, the
Shirvan prince, were reconciled. He then, in the year 748 hej., turned
his arms against Sheikh Hassan the Great, at Baghdad, which he laid
siege to. Hassan wished to retire to Kumakh, but his wife, Dilshad,
begged him to stay, and presently Ashraf was constrained to retire by the
bold front of the besieged. Returning to Tebriz, he distributed among
his amirs the various commands of troops in Azerbaijan, Arran, Mughan,
Gurjistan (i.e., Georgia), and Kurdistan, and piled up immense treasures.
His right hand man was his vizier, the Khoja Abdulhaji, whom, however,
notwithstanding his great services, he shut up the next year (i.e., 1349) in
the fortress, with his son-in-law, Masud Dameghani, a famous caligraphist.
They were afterwards sent to Alamut, and intrusted to its guardian, Kia
Irmail, who received the Vizier with great honour, and gave him his
daughter in marriage. Abdulhaji kept up a correspondence with the
ruler of Ghilan, and Ashraf soon repented of having confided his custody
to the governor of Alamut. To make sure of the Vizier, he loaded his
relatives with gifts, and urged him with most flattering messages to
return. He accordingly did so, and his confidence was characteristically
rewarded by his being imprisoned in the castle of Alinju. His son-in-law,
Masud, of Dameghan, was made Vizier in his place. The next year (i.e.,
in 1350) the latter, together with the Khoja Muin the Serbedar, were
seized and immured in the castle of Ruyin. Ashraf now set out to attack
Ispahan. Although his army was 50,000 strong, he could only blockade
it on two sides. The siege was protracted for fifty days, and the struggle
was very fierce. At length the citizens sent him word that they were
prepared to resist to the last breath, if necessary, to defend the town ; but
that if all he wanted was an acknowledgment of his supremacy, they were
willing to have the khutbeh said and the coin struck in his name. Ashraf
consented, and thereupon sent the mollah Sherif ud din, of Nakhchivan,
into the place, to see these terms carried out, and the Friday prayer was
duly said in the name of Anushirvan, the titular ruler and protdgd of
Ashraf, while 2,000 dinars were also struck with his name. The town
also paid 100,000 dinars in value of linen and staple.*
Ashraf now raised the siege, and returned to Tebriz. Anushirvan was,
of course, a mere shadow, like the puppets set up by Timur, the real
authority being in the hands of Ashraf. He was of a very avaricious
disposition, and put to death wealthy men, and the governors whom he
himself appointed, in order to secure their wealth. At Aujan he put to
death the judge Shems ud din, the khoja Ghiath ud din Shekerleb
(i.e., Sugar Lips), and Sultan Shah Zeravi. The deposed vizier, Abdulhaji,
* Ilkhans, ii. 336-338. D'Ohsson, iv. 736-737. Shajrat ul Atrak, 334.

&52 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
he sent to a fortress in Kurdistan and placed him under the supervision
of the kiotval (i.e., castle governor) Musa, and as he treated him humanely
Ashraf sent him a sharp message to alter this. He was accordingly
immured in a dungeon, and fed on bread and water until he died.
Feeling that the people of Tebriz hated him, he summoned, the mollah
Nisam ud din Ghafiri to use him as a tool in securing their goodwill.
The latter came to the neighbourhood of Tebriz, and Ashraf went out
to meet him. The mollah told him to his face that no one any longer
believed his word, and Ashraf now went to Karabagh. When he had
crossed the Araxes he heard at Eskeshehr that Dali Bayezid, whom he
had sent away from Aujan with Abdulhaji, had revolted. In order to
allay this outbreak he delayed some five days near Mughan, and then
returned to Tebriz, whe're he distributed largess among the soldiers to make
sure of them. In the fight which followed, one of the bravest of the
enemy's amirs, Toka Timur, unhorsed Ashraf with a blow from a club,
and dragged him along for some time. He was only rescued with
difficulty, while his army was beaten. He now sent Alpi bey against
Dali Bayezid, but soon learnt he had made common cause with the rebel.
Once more did Ashraf open his treasures and distribute largess, and, in
order to save the trouble of counting, had it measured out in sacks.
Luckily for him, Alpi bey and Dali Bayezid disagreed ; the latter com
mitted suicide by running a sword into his own breast, while the former
fled, but was apparently overtaken and killed, for we read that their two
heads were sent to Ashraf, who set them up by the side of his throne, and
afterwards had them perambulated about the country. After this revenge
on two very dangerous enemies, he chiefly devoted himself to fortifying
Tebriz. He lived in the Rashidian quarter, around and through which he
cut ditches, in order to parcel it out into sections. He ordered all who
were able, to build themselves houses to live in. Those who could not
afford this were to find shelter in the mosques, medresshi, monasteries, or
hospitals. He himself (says Von Hammer) was like a bat in a dark
room, afraid of everybody. The birds and sheep which were dressed
for his meals were throttled and cooked in his presence. He saw the
water which he drank taken from the stream ; so greatly did he fear
assassination, and naturally, for there was no one about him who had
not lost some relative through his tyranny. Outside the door of his
palace was hung a chain, which those who had petitions to present
rattled, and then hung their requests, whence it was known as the Chain
of Justice. It was an imitation of a similar chain which Anushirvan the
Just had similarly used, truly a parody of justice at the very gate of tyranny.
Ashraf was engaged to be married to the daughter of the ruler of Mardin,
and a year later (in 1252) the wedding took place at Tebriz amidst great
rejoicings. To escape his tyranny many notable people migrated, among
whom was Mohai ud din, already named, who went to Janibeg, Khan of

ANUSHIRVAN KHAN. 653
the Golden Horde, whom he urged to march against the tyrant. " The
emperor," he said, " has it in his power to deliver the people from this
tyranny. If he will not do so he will answer for it in the next world."
He accordingly entered Azerbaijan, and speedily dispersed the few
troops which Ashraf sent against him. Ashraf himself fled, but was
captured between Merend and Khui. The " Habib Alsiiar" says he sent
his harem and treasures to the mountain of Muzid, situated where the
fountain of Rashid ud din springs. Janibeg wanted to take him with
him to Serai, but Kaus, the prince of Shirvan, and the Kadhi Mohai ud
din urged that so long as he remained alive, his old subjects would not
remain quiet. He was accordingly put to death, and his head was
suspended from the door of a mosque ; one account says at Meragha,
another at Tebriz. Janibeg took possession of Tebriz, and the Friday
after attended the public prayer at the mosque of Ali Shah, after which
he subdued Azerbaijan. As Janibeg ruled with justice, and was the patron
of literature, Molna Said ud din Tuftazani, in the year 756 hej., dedicated
the abridgment of the Tulkhiz to him. Having completed the subjugation
of the country, Janibeg withdrew again to his own dominions, taking with
him Timurtash, the son, and Sultan bakht, the daughter of Ashraf, and
leaving his own son Berdibeg as his deputy there. Janibeg died shortly
after, and was succeeded as Khan by Berdibeg, who, on leaving Tebriz
for the Kipchak, left his vizier Akhijuk there in charge, who followed the
oppressive policy of Ashraf.*
I do not know when Anushirvan died. His coins in the Museum are
dated in 747, 752, and 754, and doubtfully in 756, and were struck at
Berdaa, Nishapur, and Tebriz, and apparently at Shirvan.t One curiously
enough has a Chinese inscription in the seal character. Fraehn describes
coins of his struck in 743, 746, 747, and 749, and adds the mints of Ani,
Van (?), Bazar, Bailekan, and Kazvin.
The last Roman Emperor of the West was called Romulus Augustulus,
uniting in his own name those of the founders of the power and of the
empire of Rome. The commander of the Persians, in the fatal battle by
which the Arabs overthrew the Sassanian empire, bore the famous name
of Rustem. The Turkish dynasty of the Seljuks in Persia began and
ended with a Tughrul. The Byzantine empire was virtually founded by
one Constantine and perished under another. So did the last wearer of
the crown of the Ilkhans bear the great name of Anushirvan. Soon
after, strangely enough, the famous palace of the Sassanians, called Taki
Kezra, whose dome had cracked during the night when Muhammed was
born, fell into complete ruin. J

* Ilkhans, ii. 337-340. Shajrat ul Atrak, 233-234 & 333-335. D'Ohsson, iv. 735-737 & 740-742.
Howorth's Hist, of tne Mongols (part ii.), 178-179.
t Poole, Catalogue, 115-117, 1 D'Ohsson, iv, 735-736. Ilkhans, ii. 333-334.

654 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
THE ILKANIANS OR JELAIRIDS.
HASSAN BUZURG KHAN.
The most important of the various fragments into which the empire of
the Ilkhans broke in pieces, and the only one which the author of the
" Shajrat ul Atrak " deems worthy of recording the story of, was the line
of princes sprung from Hassan, who, to distinguish him from his rival of
the same name, is generally referred to as Hassan Buzurg, or the Great.
They were also known as the Jelairs, from the fact that they were
derived from the Jelair tribe ; and Ilkanians from Ilka Noyan, who came
into Persia with Khulagu, and held a prominent position in his army.
He left ten sons, of whom Akbuka was the ninth. He filled a famous
role in the history of Gaikhatu Khan, having, inter alia, been the cause
of the introduction of the famous paper money which distinguished it,
and was put to death in 1295, as we have seen. His eldest son was
Hussein Gurkan.* Hussein was styled Gurkan from the fact that he
married the daughter of Arghun Khan. He was an important personage
during the reign of Abusaid Khan, and was governor of Khorasan. He
was the father of the Amir Hassan, styled Hassan the Great, whose life
has occupied us so much already, and who as a grandson of the Ilkhan
Arghun had the blood of Jingis Khan in his veins. We have seen how,
when the various local commanders set up authority in various parts of
the empire, he, the son of an Imperial princess, and who married Dilshad
Khatun, the widow of Abusaid, got possession of the Arabian Irak, with
his capital at Baghdad, and set up one puppet after another. The last of
these apparently was Jihan Timur, whom he deposed in 1341, and then
put himself on the throne. We have traced his turbulent career in the
previous pages. He died at Baghdad in 757 HEJ. (i.e., 1356).! In the
British Museum is a silver coin struck by Hassan at Baghdad, in the
year 755 hej. (i.e., 1354). SULTAN OWEIS KHAN.
By his wife Dilshad Khatun, the daughter of Dimashk Khoja and
grand-daughter of the Amir Choban, Hassan had a son Oweis, who
succeeded him at Baghdad. In 759 HEJ. (i.e., in 1358) he marched upon
Tebriz, which was then in the hands of Akhijuk, who had been left in
charge of Azerbaijan by Berdibeg, the Khan of the Golden Horde, when
he withdrew from it as we have described. Akhijuk went to meet him as
far as the mountains Sanatai (called Meenai in the " Shajrat ul Atrak").
# Erdmann, Voll. Ueb., &c, 26-27. t D'Ohsson, iv. 742.

SULTAN OWEIS KHAN. 655
The battle was indecisive, and the two armies spent the night in presence
of one another. The following morning Akhijuk fled. Oweis pursued
him to Tebriz, into which he made a stately entry, while his enemy again
fled to Nakhchivan. Oweis, we are told, took possession of the Raba-
Rashidi, where he took up his residence, and in the month Ramazan of
the same year he put to death forty-seven rebellious chiefs (D'Herbelot
says forty) of the party of Malik Ashraf, and in consequence many other
amirs and chiefs went and joined Akhijuk at Karabagh. Oweis Sultan
sent the Amir Ali Tulpin to attack him, but the latter, on account of some
feud he had with the Sultan, allowed himself to be beaten, or rather
disgracefully fled to Akhijuk, and his army being dispersed, Oweis
returned to Baghdad in the depth of winter, causing much suffering
to his men.* The next year Amir Muhammed Muzaffert advanced
from Fars upon Tebriz, which he captured, but in the course of
two months, having heard that Sultan Oweis was on the march again
from Baghdad, he retired to his capital. When he arrived at Tebriz, the
Sultan summoned Akhijuk and treated him kindly, but presently the
latter was accused of some treachery, and was duly beheaded. Azerbaijan
and Arran were thereby added to the dominions of Sultan Oweis. X In
the year 765 hej. (i.e., 1363) Khoja Merjian, or Murjan, who was governor
of Baghdad, rebelled, and the Sultan marched against him. The Khoja
was defeated in a battle fought near the city, which was obliged to open
its gates. The rebel was pardoned. Having spent eleven months
enjoying himself at Baghdad, he went by way of Diarbekr to Mosul,
which he captured. He then marched upon Mardin, which he also
secured, and thence by way of the desert of Mush and Kara Kalisa to
Tebriz, where he spent the winter. He now paid another visit to
Baghdad, after which he again returned to Tebriz. §
In 767 an envoy went to Cairo from Murjan, stating that his master
had thrown off his allegiance to Oweis, and had acknowledged the Sultan
as his suzerain, had had the prayer said and the money coined at
Baghdad in his name, had induced the people there to swear allegiance
to him, and was ready to march against Oweis. If he won, then he
would deem himself as governing Baghdad on behalf of the Sultan, while
if he were defeated he would escape to Egypt. This embassy was well
received and richly rewarded, but instead of sending troops to help the
rebel the astute Egyptian ruler contented himself with providing him
merely with two banners, one with the Khalif's arms upon it and the other
with that of the Sultan, and sending him a diploma. Meanwhile, another
embassy arrived from Sultan Oweis to report Murjan's rebellion, that he
was preparing to repress him, and asking that no shelter should be offered
to him in Egypt or Syria. The Egyptians were relieved from this
* D'Ohsson, iv. 742-743. Shajrat ul Atrak, 335-336. t Vide next chapter.
X D'Ohsson, iv. 745. Shajrat ul Atrak, 336. § Shajrat ul Atrak, 336-337.

656 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
embarrassing position by the fact that the rebel was duly defeated,
blinded, and imprisoned, and Baghdad again acknowledged the supremacy
of Sultan Oweis.*
Oweis Khan now marched upon Mosul, then governed by the
Turkoman chief Bairam Khoja, and having secured it compelled the
Prince of Mardin to submit.f He also fought against the Prince
of Shirvan.J In the year 772 (i.e., 1370) he marched against Vali, the
ruler of Jorjan and Kumuz.§ He defeated him near Rai, and pursued
him to Simnan. This was apparently the last expedition of Sultan Oweis,
who ended his career in the year 776 (i.e., 1374), at Tebriz. Quatremere
tells us that Nejib ud din, brother of Shems ud din Zakaria, and grandson
of Rashid ud din, was his Vizier. || In 775 the amir Wajih ud din
Ismael, son of the Vizier Zakaria, was nominated governor of Irak Arab.
When Oweis was dying, we are told, his amirs and Kazi Sheikh Ali
Kumkhani gathered round him, and asked him to declare his last will,
and to nominate his successor, as he had four sons, viz., Hassan, Hussein,
Ahmed, and Bayezid. He replied, " Let the sovereignty remain with
Hussein, and the government of Baghdad with Sheikh Hassan." The
amirs said, " Sheikh Hassan is the elder brother, and will not submit
to this arrangement." The Sultan replied, " You know best," and the
amirs accepted this as a commission to do as they pleased. They
accordingly put Sheikh Hassan in confinement. After this the Sultan
lost the power of speech, and died on the night of Jumadi il avul, 776.
The same night the amirs put Sheikh Hassan to death in the Dimashk
palace, and the body of Oweis Sultan was taken to Shirvan (?) for burial.lf
In the narrative of Clavigo's embassy we read that on the left-hand side
of Tebriz is a high hill, " which they say was once bought by the Genoese
from a ruler named Sultan Oweis, for the purpose of building a castle
upon it. After it was sold he changed his mind, and when the Genoese
wished to build the castle he sent for them and told them that it was not
the custom for merchants to build castles in his country. He said they
might take their merchandise away, and that if they wanted to build a
castle they might move the hill out of his territory. When they answered
him, he ordered their heads to be cut off." We read in the same work**
that Sultan Oweis had a great house at Tebriz, surrounded by a wall,
very beautiful and rich, in which were 20,000 chambers and apartments.
This he built with the treasure paid him as tribute by the Sultan of
Babylon (i.e., by the Egyptian Sultan, who was generally so styled by
Western writers at this time). He called this house Tolbatgana (? Daulat
Khana), which means " the House of Fortune."tt There are two letters
extant, without date, one sent by Vayscham (i.e., Oweis Khan), the other
* Weil, iv. 526-527. t Id., 527. J Id., v. 15. § See next chapter. | Op. cit._, lvi.
^f Shajrat ul Atrak, 337-338. D'Herbelot, quoting Khuandemir, 139. D'Ohsson (who is here
much confused), iv. 746. ** Op. cit., ed. Hackluyt, 88-89. tt Id., 89.

SULTAN HUSSEIN KHAN. 657
by Sichuarscam, which Heyd treats as a corruption of Sich vais cam
(i.e., Shah Oweis Khan), and sent to the Bailo at Trebizond, and the
Venetians there. They contain a pressing invitation for the Venetians to
repair to Tebriz, as they had done in the days of Abusaid Khan ; stating
that the roads were safe, that it would be well to take advantage of them, and
that the merchants would meet with a good reception in Persia, and would
not have to pay higher dues than heretofore. In the reply to the first of
these letters it is stated that only two years before a large fleet of merchants
arrived, intending to open up trade again with Tebriz, but would not
undertake the risk until the large customary caravan had arrived from
Tebriz with the assurance that the road was safe, when they proposed to
return with it. Their fears were justified, for several Venetian merchants
who tried to traverse the old route were robbed, and although the Khan
punished the robbers and promised to indemnify the merchants, it proved
too clearly that the roads were unsafe, and that the strong hand of the
Ilkhanid rulers of Persia had become palsied.* The chief poet at the
Court of Oweis was Selman Saveji.t The British Museum contains
several Coins of Sheikh Oweis Khan, struck at Tebriz, Sultania, Baghdad,
Irbil, and Shiraz, the dates on which are all partially obliterated.!: A
late acquisition was struck at Halab (Aleppo) ; another one, undated, at
Ispahan. Fraehn, in his supplement, gives one struck at Hamadan, in
762 HEJ. He styled himself on his coins Sheikh Oweis Behadur Khan.Jj
SULTAN HUSSEIN KHAN.
At this time the Turkomans of Armenia were beginning to consolidate
a considerable power south of Lake Van. Their leaders were Bairam
Khoja and Kara Muhammed.|| Three years after his accession, viz., in
the year 779 hej. (i.e., 1377), Sultan Hussein marched with an army
against the fortress of Akhus, which was in the hands of Kara Muhammed.
A peace was arranged between them, and the Turkoman chief visited
Hussein, and was well received by him. Weil says he became tributary.
Next year some of his amirs, viz., Ismael, Abdul Kadir, Rehman
Shah, &c, were driven to rebellion by the tyranny of Adil Agha, and
advanced upon Baghdad. Adil Agha, by the Sultan's order, marched from
Sultania against them, and came up with them at Aub i Gurkan, and most
of the rebels were killed. The same year several amirs of Amir Israel
(Quatremere says Ismael), the son of Amir Zakaria, who was governor of
Baghdad on behalf of the Sultan, were put to death. Thereupon his
nephew, Sheikh Ali, the son of Sheikh Hassan,1T was raised to the
throne there. Ismael had incurred the hatred of Sheikh Ali, who was
then ruler of Baghdad, and he induced a number of low people, who
* Heyd, op cit., ii. 130-131. t Ilkhans, ii. 265. _ X Poole, Catalogue, 207-211.
§ Fraehn, Recensio, 647. 11 Weil, v. 16. If Weil, v. 17, calls him his brother.
T*

658 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
had received many benefits from Ismael, to ill use their benefactor,
and one Friday, in the year 780, one of them, named Mobarek Shah,
struck Ismael on the face with his sword, and cut him down. The
Amir Masud, brother of Zakaria, rushed to his nephew's succour,
but he too was killed. Sheikh Ali asked to see his enemy's head-
The assassins accordingly returned and cut it off, and it was hung
from a house he was building. It was reported that a few days before,
Ismael was watching the workmen busy upon this house, and a carpenter
wishing to cut off a projecting beam, Ismael told him he had better let it
remain, as it would do to hang a head from ; and, as fortune had it, his
own head was the very one with which the experiment was tried.*
Sultan Hussein did not fear any danger from the young pretender at
Baghdad. He wrote him a friendly letter, and consented to his being
considered as the governor of the city ; but the young prince sent for one
of his father's retainers, Pir Ali Baduk, who had transferred his services
to Shah Shuja, the ruler of Fars, and was then governing Shuster, and
who had apparently begun to encroach upon the Imperial authority,
to try and secure Irak Arab for himself. Thereupon Sultan Hussein,
with his general, Adil Agha, marched against them with a large army,
and not being strong enough to oppose them, Pir Ali returned to Shuster,
taking the young prince Sheikh Ali with him. Sultan Hussein then
entered Baghdad, and gave himself up to pleasure, and sent Adil Agha in
pursuit of Sheikh Ali. He besieged the latter at Shuster, and having got
a promise from him not to interfere with Baghdad, but to content himself
with his position at Shuster, he retired again to Baghdad, and thence
went to Sultania. The young prince and his patron were presently invited
to return by some of the Baghdad people, who were probably growing
weary of the debaucheries of the Sultan. The latter sent Mahmud Uka
and Omar Kipchak against them, but these officers were captured and
their army destroyed. Sultan Hussein thereupon fled to Tebriz, which
he reached with difficulty.t We also read that Shah Shuja, the ruler of
Fars, marched against him from Ispahan with 12,000 picked horsemen,
captured en route the town of Kazvin, and defeated the Sultan, who had
30,000 men, near Jerbadekan. He compelled him to take shelter in his
southern dominions, and occupied Tebriz for some months, after which he
retired.J This was probably a part of the same campaign. Meanwhile
Hussein ordered Adil Agha to attack Rai, and sent all his troops with him.
This opportunity was seized by his brother, Sultan Ahmed, who is
described as a most bloodthirsty person. He withdrew from Tebriz and
went to Irbil, and refused to return again when summoned, but proceeded
to collect an army, with which, on the nth Suffur, 784 (Ibn Arabshah
says in Jumadi-1-akhir, 783, i.e., August-September, 1 38 1 §), he fell upon
* Quatremere, lvi. and Ivii. 1 Shajrat ul Atrak, 338-340. X Weil, v. 16. § Id.. 18.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 659
Tebriz, " and like a sudden calamity entered the city." Sultan Hussein
tried to hide away, but was discovered and put to death. The author of
the " Shajrat ul Atrak " says it was reported he was a very handsome
man, but much given to debauchery* Shems ud din Zakaria, grandson
of the great Rashid ud din, was his vizier.t
In the British Museum there are silver coins of Hussein, struck at
Basrah, Baghdad, Wasith, Halab, Tebriz, Shamakhi, Hamadan, and Van. J
Fraehn, in his "Recensio," gives the additional mints of Meragha,
Bakuya, and Asterabad. § On his coins he styles himself Jelal ud din
Hussein Khan.
SULTAN AHMED KHAN.
Sultan Ahmed now had himself proclaimed. His brother Bayazid,
fearing he might have the same fate as Hussein, fled to Adil Agha, who
raised him to the throne. They marched against Ahmed, who fled
to Marvand (the " Shajrat ul Atrak " says to Muzid). Adil Agha
proceeded to Tebriz, but meanwhile several of his officers mutinied, and
he was obliged to return to Sultania. Ahmed now once more returned to
Tebriz, but was almost immediately attacked by his nephew, Sheikh Ali,
and his patron, Pir Ali Baduk. They met at Heft rud (i.e., the Seven
Rivers). Omar Kipchak, who commanded Sultan Ahmed's left wing,
deserted, which decided the battle, and the Sultan had to flee by way
of Khui to Nakhchivan, where he joined the Turkoman chief, Kara
Muhammed, who supplied him with 5,000 troops. In the battle which
followed, both Sheikh Ali and Pir Ali Baduk were killed, and the Turko
mans returned home with a great spoil. Sultan Ahmed now returned to
Tebriz, but Adil Agha, with Bayazid, retained possession of Sultania. ||
D'Ohsson says it was agreed that Ahmed should retain Azerbaijan, and
Bayazid Irak Ajem, while Adil Agha should control Baghdad conjointly
with an officer of Ahmed.1T
Sultan Ahmed, as we shall see, invited Shah Shuja, the Muzaffarian, to
suppress Agha Adil. He marched against him, and relieved Sultania for a
while, when his officers were again driven out, and it presently fell into
Sultan Ahmed's hands.
But these arrangements were only transitory, for we have reached the
time when the great Timur, with his heavy foot, was marching upon
Iran, and scattering the various small chiefs who had divided the Empire
of the Ilkhans. He had overrun Kumuz in the autumn of 1384, and
ordered the amirs Akbuka and Uchara Behadur to winter at Asterabad
with the heavy baggage, and having selected three men out of every ten
he marched upon Rai. Sultan Ahmed was then at Sultania, which was
*0p. cit., 340.341-. D'Ohsson, iv. 746-747. t Quatremere, lvi. I Poole, Catalogue, 213.216
S Op. cit., 185-186. || Shajrat ul Atrak, 341-342. D'Herbelot, 139. If Op. cit., iv. 747.

660 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
put in a state of defence by his orders, while its garrison was intrusted to
his son Akbuka and the Amir Sebtani. Sultan Ahmed himself withdrew
to Tebriz. Thereupon Omar Abbas marched, amidst deep snow, with
60,000 men upon Sultania. The garrison, intimidated by the approach
of this force, determined to abandon the city, and withdrew with the
young prince Akbuka. Omar Abbas, having occupied the place, sent
word by Irmakshi to Timur, who was at Rai.* Timur himself arrived at
Sultania in the spring of 1385, and summoned Adil Agha (also called Sarik
Adil), who had gone to live in the dominions of the rulers of Fars. He
set out at once from Shiraz, and was very well received by Timur, who
confided to him the government of the province of Sultania,' with its
dependent districts, after having ordered Muhammed, son of Sultan
Khan, to secure them.f Sultan Ahmed, we are told, was so angry with
Sebtani, who had commanded at Sultania, that he had him ignominiously
paraded about Baghdad.t After overrunning Mazanderan, Timur
returned once more to Samarkand. Meanwhile, during the winter of
1385, Toktamish advanced from Kipchak, with an army of 90,000 men,
upon Tebriz, which he captured and sacked, as we have described.§
Thomas of Medzoph says that Toktamish, whom he calls chief of the
Uluz and Azakh, and who dwelt at Serai, near the Krim, sent an envoy to
Ahmed, to propose an alliance. This envoy was treated with indignity,
and returning to his master, tore his collar in his presence, meaning that
he had been insulted, and that the insult called for vengeance. Toktamish
thereupon dispatched one of his officers, named Janibeg, with an army,
by way of Derbend. Ahmed, at its approach, fled to Osdan, and thence
to Baghdad. Toktamish captured Tebriz, after an attack of seven days,
killed and plundered many people, and laid waste the whole province.
Thence the invaders passed towards Nakhchivan and the district of
Siunia, where they committed similar ravages and devastated twelve
cantons. It was then winter, and a heavy snow having fallen, many of
the prisoners captured by the northern invaders escaped.||
The disaster which thus befell Tebriz and its neighbourhood seems to
have affected Timur, and to have induced him to once more march
westwards. His tavachis were duly sent out to summon the troops from
various directions, and having nominated the Amir Suliman Shah, son
of Daud, and the Amir Abbas with two others to rule Transoxiana in his
absence, he crossed the Oxus and arrived at Firuz Kuh, a fortress east of
Rai. This was in 1386. On his march he was joined by Seyid Kayas
ud din, son of Seyid Kemal ud din, Prince of Sari, who enrolled himself
among his officers.1T On the way Timur, detaching a flying column,
marched at its head against the Lurs, whose turbulence and various
robberies had recently culminated in the plunder of a pilgrim caravan on
* Sherif ud din, i. 397-398. t /''., i- 399-400. I De Guignes,-iii. 291.
§ Ante, ii. 235-236. ,| Op. cit , 30-31. ^T Sherif ud din, i. 405-406.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 66 1
its way to Mekka. The line of the Atabegs of Little Lur had survived
through the Mongol supremacy in Persia, and the present Atabeg was the
Malik Iz ud din. Timur captured Urudgurd, and also the famous
stronghold and seat of the robber tribe Kurramabad, and having
captured many of the Lurs and thrown them down from the rocks, he
returned and joined his army again at Nehavend.* Having heard that
Sultan Ahmed had hastily gone to Tebriz from Baghdad with his troops,
Timur determined to make a forced march, and to attack him at once, but
on hearing of his approach, Ahmed retired again to Baghdad. Thomas
of Medzoph says he withdrew by way of Osdan, a town in the district
of Reshduni, in the canton of Vasburgan, south of Lake Van, whence
he was conducted by the Kurdish chieftain Iz ud din to Baghdad. Seif
ud din was sent in pursuit of him, but Ahmed did not wait to meet him, and
fled, abandoning his baggage, horses, &c. ; and, says Sherif ud din,
" when our troops had pillaged his baggage, they raised the great cry,
' Surun,' and returned."! Meanwhile, Elias Khoja, son of Sheikh Ali
Behadur, having passed Nakhchivan with a small body of cavalry, found
himself in the salt marshes of Nemekzar, in the presence of Ahmed, who
had retired thither, and who had a larger force than his own. A struggle
ensued, in which Elias Khoja was wounded and doubtless defeated. Amidst
these events great disturbances broke out at Nakhchivan, and, inter alia,
we are told that Komari Inak, having a grudge against its governor, set
Are to the grand dome of the palace of Ziael mulk, and fifteen persons
were suffocated by the burning straw which he placed in it.
Having subdued Azerbaijan, Timur encamped at Shenob Gazani, where
Seyid Razi Khoja, Haji Muhammed Bendghir Kattat, Kadhi Kayas ud
din, Kadhi Abdul latif, and other grandees of the country, went and
offered their submission. A sum of money was also exacted from Tebriz,
as a ransom for its not being pillaged. Timur spent the summer at
Tebriz, and while there he had Adil Agha executed, and his house
pillaged. The most skilled artisans in various arts were now transported
to Samarkand.^ Timur now proceeded to overrun and lay waste the
mountain districts of Armenia, where the Turkomans and Kurds had
become practically independent, but he reserved his most cruel attacks
for the Christians of Georgia and the mountaineers of the Caucasus.
These campaigns form no part of our present subject, nor do his dealings
with Shirvan and Kipchak. They will be dealt with in the next volume.
At this time the Turkomans, as we have said, dominated over the
mountainous country of Armenia, as far as the Tigris, and began to
exercise considerable influence on the fortunes of Western Asia. They
were nominally subject to Ahmed Khan, and their redoubted chief
Kara Muhammed, who bore on his standards a black sheep, whence his
* Id., i., 405-407. t Id., 408-409. Thomas of Medzoph, 29. X Sherif ud din, i. 408-411.

662 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
followers were known as the Kara Koinlu, or Black Sheep Turkomans,
was, according to D'Herbelot, appointed the commander of Ahmed's
troops. Timur now turned his arms against these Turkomans, who were
charged with continually assailing the pilgrims on their way to Mekka.
This struggle will come more naturally in the next volume. The only
other incident, in fact, of the protracted campaign which is immediately
interesting to us, is the capture of the fort of Alenjik, which, we are told,
was held by one of Sultan Ahmed's lieutenants. This was apparently a
great stronghold. The lower citadel was captured, but the garrison
withdrew to the upper one. Want of water at length compelled it to
offer to surrender, and the besiegers accordingly retired a short distance.
Meanwhile a big cloud appeared, and the cisterns were speedily filled
again, whereupon the garrison refused to surrender. Timur ordered the
siege to re-commence.* At length, in the year 1387, he returned once
more to Samarkand. It was not for some years, nor till after he
had crushed almost every opponent within the old dominions of the
Ilkhans, that, in 1393, he again had intercourse with Sultan Ahmed.
We read that, having passed the sacred season of Bairam at Akbulakj
Timur two days after received the Grand Mufti, Nur ud din Abder-
rahman Esferaini, who was much renowned for his knowledge, and who
went to him from Baghdad as an envoy from Ahmed. He received
him with the honours he generally paid to learned men and famous
doctors. The Mufti reported that his master was willing to submit
himself, but that he was much disturbed at the vast armament which
Timur had with him, and which he knew he was powerless to resist, but
that he was not willing to go in person to him. The envoy presented the
customary gift of nine kinds of each object offered. Among the presents
were murkens (a large kind of deer), leopards, and Arab horses with
golden saddles. These presents were not what Timur wanted ; this was
that the Friday prayer should be made and the coin struck there in his
name. He therefore did not receive them cordially, although he treated
the Mufti himself with distinction, gave him a rich robe, a costly horse,
and some silver plate, and sent him back to his master without a definite
answer.t This is Sherif ud din's report. Ibn Arabshah says he sent him
the head of Shah Mansur, and demanded his submission. Makrizi says
the same, adding that to deceive Ahmed he sent him a robe of honour.
He also says that Timur expressly promised not to attack Baghdad.t
Timur had, however, made up his mind to conquer Irak Arab, and
having sent his heavy baggage and harems back to Sultania, in charge of
Mirza Pir Muhammed Jehanghir, he ordered each soldier to furnish
himself with two skins of water, and set out on the 1st of October, 1403,
for Baghdad. By forced marches he reached Yanbulak, near Irbil, and
* Sherif ud din, i. 430-431. t Id., ii. 219-221. t Weil, v. 41.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 663
Kura Kurgan, near Shehrezur, in Kurdistan, and defeated the Turkomans
under Kara Muhammed near the latter place, where he halted. Selecting
a number of picked men, he advanced by broken paths and defiles. He
was carried in a litter himself, while torches lighted the path, which was
traversed in all haste, and the main army had difficulty in following him.
Having reached Ibrahim Lik, a sacred site some 27 leagues north-east
from Baghdad, and asked the inhabitants if they had not informed the
people there by pigeon post of his approach, they could not deny that
on seeing the dust raised by his troops some pigeons, with notes tied to
their wings with silk, were sent to inform the citizens. Timur thereupon
obtained another pigeon, and caused the same people to write another
letter, stating that the dust was not due to his army, but to a body of
Turkomans, who had been mistaken for Timur's people. On the arrival
of this note Sultan Ahmed was reassured, but he had already taken the
precaution to place his more valuable property in safety on the other side
of the Tigris. Having paid his devotions and distributed alms at the
tomb of the saint at Ibrahim Lik, Timur set off again, and covered without
dismounting the twenty-seven leagues, each of 3,000 paces, separating it from
Baghdad, where he arrived on the morning of the 30th of August, 1393.*
The citizens, fearing a repetition of the horrors of Khulagu's campaign,
opened the gates of the town. Meanwhile Ahmed had withdrawn across the
Tigris. He had broken the bridge and sunk the boats there, or conveyed
them to the other side, where he intended to remain till Timur's with
drawal, or till he was discovered. Finding his whereabouts was known,
he retired towards Hillah. Timur's men, who extended for two leagues on
each side of the town, plunged into the river. Ahmed's royal galley,
which he had named Shams, or The Sun, was captured, and Timur
crossed the Tigris in it. Mirza Miranshah, with his men, swam over
opposite Kariatula Kab (i.e., the village of the eagle), situated below the
town, " They spread over the land," says Sherif ud din, " like ants or
locusts, and the people of Baghdad were as much surprised to see these
Jagataians swarming over the river, as their ancestors, the citizens of
Babylon, had been with the confusion of tongues, and bit their fingers in
wonder." Timur wished to go himself in pursuit of Ahmed, and
having passed Serser, three leagues from Baghdad, the first stage made
by the pilgrims en route thence to Mekka, went as far as Karbaru, where
he was entreated by Aibaj Oghlan and the noyans and other chiefs to
return to Baghdad and rest himself while they went in pursuit of his
enemy, whom they promised to bring back bound hand and foot. He
did so, and put up in Sultan Ahmed's palace, many of whose rare
treasures had fallen into his hands. His officers marched day and night, and
the day but one following reached the Euphrates, and learnt that Ahmed
J Sherif ud din, ii, 222-224. Weil, v. 41.

664 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
had already crossed it the night before, after breaking the bridge and
sinking the boats, and had gone on towards Damascus by way of Kerbela,
Osman Behadur was for crossing the river there and then in pursuit, but
the other chiefs advised that they should march along the bank until they
found a ford, where there would not be any risk. This advice was
followed, and presently four empty boats were found. The amirs got on
board, while their horses swam over beside the boats. The army imitated
their example, and having remounted on the further side, sped on again.
They overtook the Sultan's baggage and his tents, and secured all the
money and other valuables which he had carried off, and now deemed
it prudent to abandon. The Mirza Miranshah halted at Hillah, and sent
on Aibaj Oghlan (a descendant of Juchi, Khan of Kipchak), Jelalhamid,
Osman Behadur, Sheikh Arslan, Seyid Khoja (son of Sheikh Ali
Behadur), and other amirs — forty-five in number — in pursuit. They were
compelled to advance alone, since the horses of their troopers were
broken down with fatigue, and required rest. They came up with
Ahmed in the plain of Irbil. He had 2,000 men with him, of whom
200 turned to meet the pursuers. The amirs dismounted and fired
showers of arrows, and, having thus compelled them to retire, mounted
again, and again pursued them. Again the amirs were charged, and this
time sheltered under their horses, whence they poured in their arrows.
The third time the manoeuvre was tried the amirs had not time to
dismount, and a terrible hand-to-hand scuffle ensued, in which many on
both sides were killed. Osman Abbas fought very bravely, and had his
hand disabled with a sabre cut. Sherif ud din makes out that the
victory rested with the amirs, but tells us they ceased their pursuit. This
struggle, in which a small body of superior officers alone were engaged
on one side, if it really happened, as the panegyrist of Timur just quoted
relates, has a certain special interest, but it sounds like a great exaggeration.
The day of the struggle, he tells us, was very hot, and the plain of Kerbela
being destitute of water, the amirs were afraid of perishing from thirst.
Each one tried to find some. Aibaj Oghlan and Jelalhamid sent people
out, but they only found two pots of water, with which they returned.
The former emptied one without having his thirst quenched, and then
declared he should die of thirst if his companion did not give up his
portion (i.e., the other pot) to him. Jelal replied that a certain Persian
having on one occasion been travelling with an Arab, a similar mischance
befell them in a desert that had now occurred. The Arab still had a
little water, and the Persian said to him : " The generosity of the Arabs
is so famous that it has become proverbial everywhere. It would be a
great proof of this truth if, to save me from certain death, you were to
make over to me the water which you still have." The Arab having
thought a little, said : " If I give you the water it is certain I shall die of
thirst, nevertheless this dire necessity will not justify me in transgressing

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 665
the prerogative of the Arabs. I prefer a good reputation to this
perishable existence. I prefer to hazard my life, and to sacrifice my life,
by giving up this water which I have saved, so that the virtue of the
Arabs may still be universally renowned." The Arab accordingly gave
the Persian the water. Jelal having told the story, continued : " I wish
to imitate the Arab on this occasion, and will give you the water on
condition that you make known to the princes of the house of Juchi and
their subjects this sacrifice, so that the memory of this deed may always
redound to the credit of the descendants of Jagatai Khan, of whom I
have the honour to be one, and on condition also that you will tell it when
you reach the camp of his highness, so that the event may be recorded in
history and be cited as a proof of my courage to all our descendants."
Aibaj having consented to these conditions, Jelal took some bystanders to
witness, and surrendered the water, which his companion consumed. - He
did not die, however, but survived. The amirs having retraced their
steps, reached the Euphrates at Makad, where Hussein, son of Ali, was
killed. Each of them kissed the portal of the holy place, and went
through the ceremonies usual with pilgrims. They took back with them
Ala ud daulat, son of Sultan Ahmed, and others of his children, together
with his wives and servants. Aibaj and his companion, the amir Jelal,
related the story of the water, which pleased Timur greatly, and he poured
out his praises, not only on Jelal himself, but on his father Hamid.*
During this campaign the Mirza Muhammed Sultan had a savage
campaign among the Kurds, after which he joined Timur at Baghdad,
and was appointed governor of Wasith, a town on the Tigris, and of the
province dependent on it.t Timur gave' orders for the transport of the
wives of Sultan Ahmed and his son Ala ud daulat to Samarkand, with all
the learned men of Baghdad, and the other proficients in art and science
there. This order was duly executed, and the Khoja Abdul Kader,
author of a famous work on Oriental music, was among those thus trans
ported. Letters with the news of the capture of Baghdad were sent to
Samarkand, Kashgar, Khoten, Khuarezm, Azerbaijan, Persia, Irak,
Khorasan, Zabulestan, Mazanderan, Tabaristan, &c. Timur spent two
months at Baghdad in various festivities. As a rigid Mussulman he
ordered all the wine that could be found in the place to be poured into
the Tigris. The people of the city had to pay the usual ransom in
consideration of its having been spared from pillage.t He confided the city
of Baghdad to the Khoja Masaud Sebzevari.g Having secured Wasith
and Hillah, he ordered one of his sons (Sherif ud din says it was Miran
Shah) to march on Basrah. Its governor was Salih Ibn Julun. Makrizi
says a son of Timur was captured by the garrison, while Ibn Iyas says that
the titular Grand Khan of Jagatai, Mahmud Shah, was killed, and a son
* Sherif ud din, ii. 221-234. t Id., 235-236. I Id., 235-238. $ Id., 259.

666 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
of Timur was captured. The latter sent to demand the surrender of his
son. The governor replied that he would not release him until Timur had
released Ahmed's son. Timur thereupon sent fresh troops against the
place, which were again defeated, and he had to postpone its capture till
the winter.* He now proceeded to subdue a number of strong places
in Mesopotamia and Armenia, each governed by its petty ruler. The
details of this campaign, in which Tekrit, Irbil, Mosul, Mardin, Amid,
Mayafarkin, Belbis, &c, were subjected, will more fitly occupy us in the
next volume. He punished the Turkomans of Kara Yusuf for their
depredations, and captured their stronghold of Van.t
When Timur captured Baghdad he sent Sheikh Shah as his envoy to
the Egyptian Sultan, with some Mongol companions and a grand
equipage, reminding him of the long struggle which had been waged
between the Mongols and the Egyptians, which had terminated with the
peace made with Abusaid, and how, after the latter's death, all kinds of
misrule and usurpation had ensued in Persia, where there no longer
reigned a sovereign of the stock of Jingis Khan, but the various governors
had usurped authority, and caused great troubles. To put a stop to this
he had been permitted by Providence to conquer Iran, as far as the
limits of Irak Arab and the borders of Egypt, and in order to complete
the good work he asked that there might be friendly intercourse between
them, and that the merchants of each country might be allowed to
freely traffic in the other.t The Sultan put the envoys to death. He
was not wishful for intercourse with such a dangerously treacherous
neighbour, and was afraid they might be spies. He also gave orders to
the governor of Aleppo to welcome the fugitive successor of the Ilkhans,
Ahmed (who, as we have seen, had fled to Syria), as a prince, and to
supply all his needs. He also sent his chief cupbearer, Az Timur, to
conduct him to Egypt. As he approached Cairo the chief amirs went out
to meet him, and conducted him to the Sultan, who rose to receive him,
embraced him, and would not permit him to kiss his hand. He also gave
him some rich robes, and a choice horse with a golden saddle, and rode
by his side through the city. At the citadel he left him to be conducted
by the amirs to the palace set apart for him, where a lordly meal had
been prepared, and he afterwards sent him a costly present of horses,
richly caparisoned, Circassian mamluks and slave girls, costly stuffs, and
5,000 dinars. The Sultan also married his niece, daughter of Hussein
ibn Oweis, but presently put her away, as he heard that she had previously
been courted by her cousin, Jelal ud din Hasan ibn Oweis. These
civilities towards his enemies and truculence towards his envoys was not
likely to be forgiven by Timur, who had already placed his heavy foot on
the Prince of Mardin, and on hearing that his army was en route for

Weil, v. 42. Note 1. t Id., v. 42-46. X Sherif ud din, ii. 238-241.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 667
Rabah, the Egyptian Sultan in turn set out, and presently repulsed
some of Timur's people near Basrah ; while Ahmed, who had hitherto
accompanied the Sultan, invaded Mesopotamia with a suitable force,
in conjunction with the Bedouin chief Nuyir, in order to once more
occupy Baghdad on behalf of the Egyptian Sultan*
Meanwhile Timur had been prosecuting his campaign against Tok
tamish, who was in alliance with Barkuk, but, as usual, derived small
advantage from his Egyptian friend. In the spring of 1396 he returned
from this campaign by way of Derbend, Shirvan, Irbil, and Sultania,
and having reached Hamadan, he appointed the Mirza Miran Shah
prince of Azerbaijan, Kuhistan, and the Arabian Irak, including all the
country from Baku, on the Caspian, to Baghdad, and from Hamadan to
the Ottoman frontier, with his capital at Tebriz.t The Bedouin chief
Nuyir soon succeeded in occupying Baghdad, and the Friday prayer was
said there in the name of the Egyptian Sultan, who duly appointed
Ahmed as its governor ; but this arrangement lasted only a short time,
since Barkuk died on the 20th June, 1399, and in the confusion which
ensued in Egypt Ahmed secured his independence. On another side, the
Turkoman Kara Yusuf won several victories over the people of Timur,
re-occupied the town of Van, and captured Atilmish, who was a connection
of Timur's, having married his niece, and who was sent as a prisoner to
the Egyptian Sultan. Mosul, Sinjar, Yezd, and Neharvend also broke
away from their allegiance. Meanwhile Miran Shah, who had remained at
Tebriz during Timur's campaign in India, having had a serious accident,
became partially demented, and very tyrannical. We are told that for a
simple suspicion he would put a man to death, while he dissipated his
treasures, destroyed wantonly some of the most famous buildings
there, &c.t In the early summer of the year 802 (1399) he tried to
retake Baghdad. He marched day and night, and made two marches in
twenty-four hours, fancying the very mention of his name would strike
terror into the Sultan and cause him to abandon the place. When he
reached the Dome of Ibrahim Lik, situated twenty-seven leagues from
Baghdad, he heard that a conspiracy had broken out among the chief
people of Tebriz against him. He nevertheless continued his march.
Sultan Ahmed, who knew that the season was unfavourable for siege
operations, on account of the drought and extreme heat, resolved to
defend the place. Miran Shah had only been two days there when the
news from Tebriz became so threatening that he was, constrained to return
thither post haste, and put to death the principal conspirators, including
.the Kadhi. He now had to face a revolt of the Georgians. Sultan
Ahmed's son Tahir was in command of the fortress of Alenjik, which had
been besieged for a long time by Sultan Sanjar, son of Haji Seif ud
* Weil, v. 48-55. t Sherif ud din, ii. 390-391. Weil, v. 56. X Sherif ud din, iii. 190-191.

668 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
din, by order of Timur, who, to make the blockade more complete,
had girdled it round with a wall. The Georgians marched to make
a diversion in Tahir's favour, and laid waste Azerbaijan. This led
to the raising of the siege. They now advanced on Alenjik, and were
joined by Tahir, who left the place in charge of Haji Salih and three
famous Georgian oznaurs or princes.* These disorders compelled Timur,
on his return from his fatiguing campaign in India, to at once face
another expedition. He ordered Mirza Rustem, his grandson, with the
amirs Sevinjik, his nephew Hassan Jandar, and Hassan Yagadaul, who
were at Shiraz, to advance upon Baghdad. They ravaged Luristan en
route, and reached Mendeli in the month Yumazinlevel (802 hej).
Mendeli was governed by the Amir Ali Kalander, on behalf of Sultan
Ahmed. The place was taken and pillaged. t Mir Ali Kalander escaped,
and repaired to his master to report to him what had happened. The
latter closed the city gates and broke down the bridge. At this time
Shervan, who governed Kuristan on behalf of Timur, having misappro
priated its revenues and squeezed large sums of money out of the
principal inhabitants there, went to Baghdad with a thousand well-armed
followers. He was well received by Sultan Ahmed, but proceeded to
corrupt the Sultan's officers with various bribes, from 3,000 to 10,000
dinars of Baghdad. The receipts for some of these payments having
fallen into the hands of Kaureh Behadur, one of Ahmed's officers, he
reported the matter to his master. This was at the time when he had
closed the gates of the place, as we have mentioned. He was greatly
disturbed, and himself decapitated Rafeh, one of the men who had been
bribed. Shervan, with Kutub Haidari, Mansur, and other amirs, had
been dispatched to Uirad. He now sent Yadghiar Ektachi with
orders to the amirs to put Shervan away, which was accordingly done,
and his head was sent to Baghdad, where the suspicious Sultan in
less than eight days put nearly 2,000 of his officers to death. He sent
the Khatun Vefa, who had been his foster mother and had brought him
up from infancy, to Wasith, where he had her suffocated with a pillow.
Having killed with his own hands the other women and officers of the
household, and had them thrown into the Tigris, he closed himself within
the doors of the seraglio, and would allow no one to enter, and when the
bavarchis or butlers brought his food they shouted at the door, where
they deposited the plates, and withdrew without entering. Having
passed some days in this fashion, he ordered five or six of his most
devoted followers to provide six horses from the stable and to have them
conveyed across the Tigris. He himself crossed the river one night in a
boat, and having reached his faithful followers who had charge of the
horses, fled with them to the district dominated by the Turkoman chief
* Sherif ud din, iii. 191-194. t Id., 229-231.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 669
Kara Yusuf. The butlers continued to take the food as usual, and handed
it to an officer who was in the secret, without the people outside knowing
what had happened. Meanwhile he felt he could not rely on the citizens,
and sought out Kara Yusuf, and persuaded him to go and plunder
Baghdad, himself acting as guide. When the Turkomans neared the
city they were assigned quarters on the other side of the river. The
Sultan crossed the river in a boat and entered his palace, and lavishly
rewarded, them with presents of money, rich stuffs, arms, Arab horses,
golden girdles, &c. His real object was, no doubt, to secure protection,
and we are told he did not allow his guests to injure the place. At
this time Timur was advancing upon Sivas, and Sultan Ahmed, who
was well informed of his movements, fearing that if the great Conqueror
entered Anatolia and Syria he would cut off his own retreat, determined
to leave Baghdad in charge of Farruj, and taking with him his wives and
children, and all his treasures, he left Baghdad with Kara Yusuf. They
passed the Euphrates and went towards Aleppo. Its governor, Timur
tash, went out to oppose them, but he was defeated, and they thereupon
continued their march with their Turkoman followers, but having been
defeated by the Bedouin chief, Nuyir, and the governor of Behesna, they
turned aside towards Anatolia.* De Guignes reports from the " Tarikhi
Bedr ud din " that after defeating the governor of Aleppo they laid waste
all the district of Tel bashr and Aintab.t These events took place in the
summer of 802 HEJ. Timur being on the Georgian frontier, sent to
demand from the Georgian king the surrender of Tahir, son of the Sultan,
who, as we have seen, had been rescued by the Georgians at Alenjik. To
this message a defiant reply was apparently sent, and the consequence
was a cruel invasion of Georgia.t When Timur heard that the Sultan
and Kara Yusuf had gone to Anatolia he dispatched some cavalry after
them, which plundered their baggage and, inter alia, captured Sultan
Dilshadeh, the elder sister of Kara Yusuf, with his wives and daughter.
Kara Yusuf himself escaped, and joined the Ottoman chief Bayazid.§
In 803 HEJ. Timur, having laid waste a good deal of Syria and the
country by the Tigris, sent a fresh army to attack Baghdad, where
Farruj still commanded on behalf of Sultan Ahmed. The nominal
chief of the Jagatai dominions, Mahmud Khan, whom another account
makes to perish in an earlier campaign, the Mirza Rustem, and the
amir Suliman Shah were selected to lead it. They speedily reached the
city and encamped on its southern side. Farruj, inspired by the great
number of Turks and Arabs who garrisoned it, had the temerity to march
out and offer battle to the invaders. He was assisted by the amirs Ali
Kalander, of Mendeli, and Jian Ahmed, of Baku (both towns of Kuristan),
who crossed the Tigris at Medaineh. On another side, Farruk Shah, of
* Id., 233-238. Weil, v. 79. t Op. cit., iii. 296. X Sherif ud din, iii. 241. % Id., 268-269.

67° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Hillah, and Mikail, of Sib, set out on the same errand, and reached
Serfer with 3,000 well-armed men. These allies were sharply attacked
by the Timurid chiefs, and Jian Ahmed, with many of his men, perished
in a fight at a building known as that of the Amir Ahmed. Many threw
themselves into the water and were drowned, while others escaped with
difficulty. Farruj was not discouraged by this defeat. " Sultan Ahmed,
my master," he said, " made me swear that if Timur came in person I
was to surrender the town to save the people from misfortune ; but if he
does not come in person, however great an army assails it, I will defend
it courageously against everyone. I cannot disobey my master's orders."
He inspired the garrison with his own spirit, and they not only manned
the walls, but also poured a shower of weapons upon the enemy from
the boats in the river. When Timur learnt of the determination of
Farruj, and its pretext, he selected the bravest of his people, left the
Empress Chelpan Mulk Aga, with the rest of the army and the baggage,
in charge of Shah Rokh, and ordered him to go to Tebriz, while he
himself set out for Baghdad by way of Altun Kupruk, a bridge over the
river Altun Sui, near Mosul. Having reached the city, he posted his
camp opposite the gate of Kariet Ulakab, while his people surrounded
the place. He gave orders that the sappers were at once to begin.
Farruj, wishing to know if Timur was there in person, sent a confidential
person, who knew him, as his envoy. He was well received, and presented
with a robe, &c. On his return he reported faithfully what he had seen
and heard, but Farruj pretended not to believe him, ill-used him, and
for fear he should speak to others in the same strain, imprisoned him.
He persuaded the garrison that Timur was not present. Meanwhile the
Khojas Masaud Semnani and Mengheli, who were engaged in raising a
platf<5rm whence to command Baghdad, were both killed by weapons
from the place. Timur now sent word to Shah Rokh to join him at
Baghdad with the baggage, and on his arrival he held a grand review.
Although the city was more than two leagues in circumference, it was
beleaguered on all sides, a bridge was made over the Tigris below Kariet
Ulakab, while skilled archers were posted in ambush upon it to prevent
people escaping. So carefully was guard kept, that although the Tigris
flowed through the city and many ships were upon it, no one could escape.
At this time the fortress of Alenjik having been captured, its governor,
Ahmed Ogulshai, was taken to Timur, who had him put to death. The
garrison fought desperately. As soon as the invaders had breached the
wall and caused part of it to fall, it was repaired with lime and burnt
bricks, and an entrenchment made behind. It was summer, and the heat
was so great that the birds fell down dead, " and as the soldiers were
encased in their cuirasses," says Sherif ud din, " they might be said to have
melted like wax." Presently a great platform was raised, which commanded
the city, whence an incessant bombardment with great stones was kept

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 67 1
up. The mirzas and amirs several times asked permission to be allowed
to storm the walls sword in hand, but Timur refused, as he hoped the
garrison would repent and surrender, and thus save the place from
destruction. The siege had lasted forty days, and want began to be felt,
but this did not- constrain the defenders. On the 9th of July, 1401, when
the citizens had gone for shelter from the sun's rays into their houses, and
left the walls, having placed their helmets on rods which they had
erected, Timur deemed it a favourable opportunity for a general assault.
Scaling ladders were attached to the walls, and the Sheikh Nur ud din was
the first to mount, and planted there a horsetail standard, surmounted by
a crescent. The big trumpet was sounded and the drums and cymbals
beaten. A general rush was thereupon made, and the walls were pushed
over into the ditch. The troops entered the place sword in hand, while
Timur watched the proceedings from the bridge he had built over the
Tigris. All the means of exit had been closed. Many threw themselves
into the river ; others seized boats, but when they reached the bridge the
archers who were in ambush speedily destroyed them. Farruj and his
daughter managed, nevertheless, in spite of all Timur's efforts, to escape
in a boat. They were pursued along the banks by the soldiers, who
poured in upon them a shower of missiles, and he was at length forced
to throw himself into the water with his daughter, when both of them
were drowned and the boat was sunk. His body was fished up and
thrown on the bank. As the besiegers had lost so many men, each
soldier was ordered to bring the head of a citizen of Baghdad, and neither
the old people of eighty nor children of eight were spared ; quarter was
given neither to rich nor poor, and the slaughter was so great that no one
ever knew the number of victims, although the tavachis were ordered to
furnish an account. " Their heads," says the panegyrist of Timur, " were
built up into towers as a warning to posterity, and so that men should not
raise their feet higher than their capacity." Only a few learned men
secured pardon. They were given robes and escorted to a place of safety.
All the rest of the inhabitants were exterminated. Orders were given
that every house was to be destroyed, but (and it is a curious proof how
religious fanaticism in all climates discriminates on these occasions) the
mosques, colleges, and hospitals were to be spared. In consequence of
this order the markets, bezestins (?), caravanserais, hermitages, cells,
monasteries, palaces, and other buildings were laid low. " It is thus,"
says Sherif ud din, "according to the Koran that the houses of the
wicked are overturned."* It is appalling to think that such destruction
should have overwhelmed for a second time the old capital of the Khalifs,
and this time, not at the hands of an unbeliever, who had learnt his war
policy in the far-off steppes of Mongolia, but of a good Mussulman, who
* Op. cit., 361-371.

672 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
had been brought up amidst all the amenities of culture. "After the
Tigris was reddened with the blood of the inhabitants of Baghdad,"
says Sherif ud din ambiguously, " the air began to be tainted with their
corpses," and Timur moved away to pay his devotions at the tomb of the
Imaum Abu Hanifa, founder of one of the four orthodox Muhammedan
sects. He then ordered Sultan Muhammed Khan and Mirza Khalil
Sultan to ravage the district round, which they effectually did, including
Hillah and Wasith in their raid, and then rejoined him. He thereupon
withdrew again.
During this campaign Sultan Ahmed and the Turkoman chief Kara
Yusuf were living with the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid, with whom they had
found shelter, and whom they persuaded to attack Erzenjan, in revenge
for the reverse Bayazid had sustained at Sivas. He captured this
place, and brought upon himself ample revenge presently. When Sultan
Ahmed learnt that Timur's armies had withdrawn from Baghdad and
were being directed towards Turkey, he left Bayazid at Caesarea of
Cappadocia, and returned to Irak Arab by way of Kalat Errum, along
the Euphrates. He went to Hit, and thence to Baghdad, where he set
about rebuilding the place and collecting such of his people as he could
bring together. When Timur heard of this he determined to at once
stamp out the process, and ordered four divisions of cavalry to march
upon the city by four separate routes. The Mirza Pir Muhammed, with
one division, marched by way of Luristan, Kuzistan, and Wasith ;
the Mirza Abubekr advanced straight upon Baghdad ; the Mirzas
Sultan Hussein and Khalil Sultan were to occupy certain districts in
Chaldea ; while the Amir Berendah was told off to attack Jeziret ibn
Omar, a town on the Tigris. The troops set out with alacrity, although
it was mid-winter. The Mirza Abubekr, having with him the Amir Jihan
Shah as his lieutenant, arrived suddenly one evening before Baghdad.
Sultan Ahmed was so taken by surprise that he had only time to reach a
boat in his shirt, and thus crossed the river with his son, Sultan Tahir,
and the officers of his household, with whom he took horse and went
towards Hillah. Having rested his troops for the night, Abubekr the
following morning dispatched Jihan Shah in pursuit of the Sultan as far
as Hillah, where Ahmed broke the bridge and then sought shelter in
the islands of Khaled and Malek, on the Lower Euphrates, where Jihan
Shah did not care to follow him. Meanwhile, the Mirzas Sultan Hussein
and Khalil Sultan marched by way of Shepshemal, and pillaged Mendeli,
whence the Amir Ali Kalander, who governed it for Sultan Ahmed, fled,
crossed the Tigris with some troops, and made a stand on the other side.
Mirza Khalil Sultan dispatched a body of picked men to cross the river
by swimming at another point, and to attack Ali Kalander in rear, while
he traversed the river opposite to him, and thus attacked the enemy on
both sides. This was successfully accomplished. Most of them were

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 673
killed or captured ; among the latter was Ali Kalander, who was burnt
alive " for having had the audacity to defend himself."* Timur having
collected his forces for an attack upon Bayezid, Ahmed seized the
opportunity, re-occupied Baghdad, and drove out his deputies in Chaldaea.
The Turkoman Kara Yusuf also returned to Mesopotamia and collected
his friends.
We now read that Sultan Tahir, in conjunction with one of his officers,
Agha Firuz, formed a conspiracy against Sultan Ahmed, which included
Muhammed Bey, governor of Ormi, the Amir Ali Kalander (who is stated
elsewhere by Sherif ud din to have been previously burnt alive), Mikail, and
Farrak Shah. They crossed the river together by the bridge during the
night, and encamped on the further side. Sultan Ahmed broke the
bridge, and dispatched a messenger to summon Kara Yusuf to his assist
ance. The Turkoman chief accordingly went with some troops, and having
united them with those of the Sultan they attacked the rebels together.
Tahir was speedily defeated and fled, and in trying to jump his horse
across a ravine they fell together to the bottom and he was killed. His
people dispersed.t Sultan Ahmed soon quarrelled with his doubtless
exacting ally, Kara Yusuf, and repaired to Baghdad. Thither he was
pursued by the Turkoman chief, and was obliged to hide himself. Kara
Hassan, a faithful dependant, having found him, carried him off on his
shoulders, and conveyed him to a spot five leagues off. En route, they
found a man who had a cow, on which the Sultan mounted and went to
Tekrit with Kara Hassan. Sarik Omar Uirad made him a present of
forty horses, with all the money, arms, stuffs, and girdles he had. He
was then joined by several of his officers, as Sheikh Maksud, Dolat Yar,
Adil, and others. From Tekrit he went to Damascus, and Kara Yusuf,
his former dependant, became undisputed master of Irak Arab. This
was only for a short time, however, for Timur nominated the Mirza
Abubekr as governor of that province, as far as Vassit, Basra, Kurdistan,
Mardin, Diarbekr, Uirad, and their dependencies, with orders to rebuild
Baghdad.t In conjunction with the other Timurid princes, he attacked
Kara Yusuf on the River Nahreljanam, beyond Hillah (Weil says by Sib,
near Hillah), and completely defeated him. All his baggage and flocks
were pillaged, his chief wife and the other women of the harem were
captured, his brother killed, and he himself compelled to find shelter, like
Sultan Ahmed, in Syria, under the aegis of the Egyptian Sultan.§
Abubekr now set to work to rebuild Baghdad, and to restore prosperity
to the other towns of Irak Arab.|| This was during the year 806 hej.
Soon after, Mir Eluerd, a son of Sultan Ahmed, who was eighteen years
old, was removed from Irak Arab and taken to Samarkand.!" The Egyptian
Sultan, afraid to embroil himself with Timur, arrested the two fugitives,
* Sherif ud din, iii. 387-391. t Id., iv. 94-95. I Id., 93-96. § Id., 127-129.
|| Id., 129-130. f Id., 135.
U*

674 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
and sent to ask him what he should do with them. Timur replied in a
long letter, written in letters of gold by the Mulana Sheikh Muhammed,
famous as a scribe. In this note he asked that Sultan Ahmed might be
sent to him bound, while the head of Kara Yusuf should also be sent. With
this letter he also forwarded some rich presents.* The Sultan, unwilling
to break the laws of hospitality, and wishful at the same time to please
Timur, put them under arrest, but not so that they could not communicate
together. They thereupon formed a close alliance, promising each other
that on regaining their liberty they would help one another. This good
fortune came to them on Timur's death, on the 17th of February, 1405.
When news of it reached him, the Sultan paid the two some attention,
and gave them their liberty. Kara Yusuf having arrived at home, put
himself at the head of his Turkomans, and speedily secured the greater
part of Chaldaea and Mesopotamia, acting apparently on behalf of Sultan
Ahmed, against whom the Egyptian Sultan was much irritated, and to
whom he complained bitterly, having expected probably to be treated as
suzerain. Not receiving any satisfaction, he withdrew the protection
he had given him. Sultan Ahmed did not lose courage, but having
dressed a number of his supporters as beggars they entered Baghdad
quietly, and excited a seditious movement against the governor, who held
the town on behalf of Omar Mirza. He was eventually driven out, where
upon Ahmed was duly proclaimed Sultan by the people. In the latter
part of the year 808 HEJ., while Abubekr Mirza, grandson of Timur, was
engaged in the siege of Ispahan, the amir Ibrahim went from Shirvan
and occupied Tebriz.f Sultan Ahmed thereupon himself advanced
upon that city, where the citizens were growing tired of the turbulence
of the Timurids. Sheikh Ibrahim, hearing of Ahmed's approach,
said : " For a long time we were attached to this august family. As the
country was without a master, and the people were tormented by
the ambition of those who wished to attack it, we came to its succour ;
now that the real ruler is at hand we will return home." Sultan Ahmed
reached Tebriz in the middle of Moharram. The chief people of
Azerbaijan and the citizens of Tebriz were greatly delighted, and the
place was en fete. They renewed their oaths of allegiance. Sheikh Ali
Uirad and Muhammed Saru Turkoman made him a present of some
horses. Khoja Muhammed Kejeyi, the amir Jafar, Khoja Masud Shah,
and Zain ud din Kazvini, were appointed heads of the administration.
Meanwhile, the Timurid mirzas, Miran Shah and Abubekr, advanced
upon Tebriz. Sultan Ahmed, afraid to meet them, went to Aujan, and
having consulted with his amirs, determined to return to Baghdad. He
accordingly set out, and the troops of Azerbaijan dispersed. Mirza
Abubekr speedily reached the city, but would not enter it, as the plague
* Sherif ud din, iii. 202-203. t D'Herbelot, sub voce Avis.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 675
was then raging. He then went to Nakhchivan, and summoned Malik
Iz ud din from Kurdistan. They agreed to jointly attack the Turkoman
Kara Yusuf. In the fight which took place on the Aras or Araxes, the
allies were beaten. Abubekr retreated. On his way his demoralised
troops pillaged Tebriz. Abubekr continued his retreat to Sultania, where
he passed the winter.* Kara Yusuf now occupied Tebriz, and became
the undisputed master of Azerbaijan. Thence he marched on Sultania,
which he captured, and carried off its inhabitants to Tebriz, Meragha,
and Irbil. He thus added Irak Ajem to his rapidly growing dominions.
All this was doubtless very unwelcome to his former suzerain, Sultan
Ahmed. During the year 810 HEJ. Sultan Ahmed devoted himself with great
energy to fortifying Baghdad, building up its ramparts and deepening
its ditches. Towards the end of the year his son Ala ud daulat Sultan,
having been released from the prison where he had been confined at
Samarkand, arrived in the neighbourhood of Baghdad. When he saw
his son, who was so dear to him, approaching, he descended from his
horse, and they embraced. The two went into the city together and
spent some days in feasting. Some time after, Ahmed sent him to
Hillah, where he might enjoy himself to his heart's content, while he
gave himself up to wine and debauchery. On the last day of the month
Shaban, Ala ud daulat had a son, to whom he gave the name of Sheikh
Hasan. Ahmed went to Hillah to join in the rejoicings at this event, and
then returned to Baghdad, where he passed the winter. In the spring he
sent for his son, and the two re-commenced their pleasure making.f
We now read how the Timurid prince, Mirza Pir Muhammed, marched
to repress a revolt in Khuzistan, and afterwards invaded Beyat, which
belonged to Baghdad. He was obliged to withdraw from it on
account of the fevers prevailing there.J Sultan Ahmed, on hearing of
this, himself set out, and suddenly appeared before Havizah. The
garrison were stupefied, took to horse, and fled, but they were for the
most part overtaken and killed. Pir Haji Kukeltash, hearing of the fate
of Havizah, abandoned Dizful and retired towards Shuster, whose
governor was so afraid that he even doubted the resources of the citadel of
Selasil, and retired hastily upon Ramhormuz. Mirza Pir Muhammed,
having heard of this invasion, sent Tulek and Nushirvan Borlas to help
the amirs of Khuzistan. They went to the governor of Shuster, who
had fled to Ramhormuz. Meanwhile Ahmed, master of Khuzistan,
marched upon Ramhormuz. The place resisted for a while, when
the garrison fled, and he entered it, killed the Kadhi, Kotb ud
din, who had been the soul of the defence, and a great number of
foot soldiers, and carried off the rest of the inhabitants to Shuster,
* Abdur Rezak, Notices et Extraits, &c, xiv. 109-112. t Notices et Extraits., xiv. 136.
X Id., 149.

676 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
after razing the fortress of Ramhormuz. Meanwhile, he learnt that
his son, Sultan Ala ud daulat, had revolted, and had marched by way
of Hillah and Irbil towards Azerbaijan, which was subject, as we
have seen, to the Turkoman Kara Yusuf. When Kara Yusuf heard
that he had gone thither without his father's consent, he assigned him a
certain moderate sum for his daily expenses, and after the fast of Ramazan
ordered some of his people to re-conduct him home again. But when in
the neighbourhood of Khoi, the Kurds subject to Malik Iz ud din arrested
him, and took him to their master, who detained him for two months,
treating him with great consideration. Kara Yusuf wrote to complain of
this, and said that he himself having found that the young man was acting
without the approval of his father, had expelled him from his dcpninions,
and bade Iz ud din do the same if he did not wish to regret it. Unable
to resist, he was obliged to obey this notice, and said goodbye to his
guest, who, bereft of resources, went to Irbil, to pass some days with
the anchorite, Sherif ud din Ali Sefevi. When he arrived near Tebriz
some perverse people fell on him and put him in chains. Kara Yusuf
now had him sent to the fortress of Abd Eljuz.*
About the year 812 HEJ. Sultan Ahmed, after having conquered
Khuzistan, left Maksud Nizehdar in command there, and returned to
Baghdad. Having fallen ill towards the end of winter, he was recom
mended to remove to his summer quarters, and went on a pilgrimage to
the tomb of the Sheikh of Sheikhs, Oweis Kami. His health being com
pletely restored, his amirs pressed him to go to Sultania, urging that
Bestam Jaghir, who commanded there, had left the place for Ispahan,
leaving his young son Bayazid in charge of it, who would at once abandon
the fortress on his approach. Khurrem Shah Derguzmi specially urged
this policy. Ahmed accordingly set out. When he reached Hamadan
he learnt that Bestam had returned to Ispahan, where having heard of the
Sultan's plans, he had put his brother Masum at Sultania, while he himself
had gone to Irbil. The Sultan now took up his residence in the kuruk
of Sultania. The commanders of the neighbouring districts, and especially
Abder Rezak, who had forcibly seized upon Kazvin, submitted to him,
and he conferred honours on them worthy of a king. He then sent a
message to Masum, with fair promises, but they were not heeded.
Meanwhile, he heard that a man named Oweis, at Baghdad, professing to
be his son, had risen in revolt, having been encouraged to mount the
throne by those about him. He hastily returned thither. At his
approach the conspirators scattered. Oweis and his principal supporter,
Mani ibn Shoaib, were captured.
At this time the Turkoman chief, Kara Yusuf, had a successful campaign
against Kara Osman, during which he secured Mardin, and afterwards
* Notices et Extraits, xiv. 152-154.

SULTAN AHMED KHAN. 677
made a raid into Shirvan. Sultan Ahmed sent to ask if he would allow
him to have his summer quarters in the district of Hamadan, a request
which Kara Yusuf refused. This no doubt irritated Ahmed, who was the
heir to the Ilkhans and formerly suzerain of the Turkoman chief, and
soon after, while Kara Yusuf was engaged in an attack upon Erzenjan, he
determined to march upon his capital, Tebriz.* According to Ibn Hajr,
he was in alliance with the Timurid chief, Shah Rokh. These events all
happened in 813 hej. He left Baghdad on the 12th Moharrem, 813
(i.e., 17th May, 1410), en route for Azerbaijan, and having reached
Hamadan he subdued the Kurds there. Shah Muhammed, son of Kara
Yusuf, who was in his yilah or summer quarters at Aujan, set out for
Khoi. Ahmed reached Tebriz on the 26th of Rebi the first (29th July).
He sent troops in pursuit of Shah Muhammed, which overtook and
defeated him near Salmas.f At Tebriz Ahmed was visited by the
Armenian prince Sempad, son of Ivaneh, grandson of Purthel, to whom
he gave as an appanage the town of Arkeghaguth, whose position is
unknown.t When Kara Yusuf heard of the doings of his late ally he
was busy in settling the affairs of the province of Erzenjan. He set out
for Tebriz, and met the Sultan near the town of Asad, two parasangs
from Tebriz. In the battle which followed, and which was fought on the
30th of August, 1410, the Sultan fought bravely, but his men were
defeated, and he himself was wounded by an arrow in the arm. He
sought refuge in a neighbouring garden, but a native of Tebriz, Beha ud
din Julah, disclosed his hiding place to the Turkoman chief, who sent
some troops to arrest him. He was put in chains and taken before Kara
Yusuf, who upbraided him for having been treacherous towards him. He
did not deprive him of his life, or even of his title, at once, but appropriated
his kingdom, and enjoined him to do nothing against his authority ;
presently his courtiers suggested that he was a dangerous person, and by
their advice he was condemned to death, and strangled. His body was
allowed to lie in the dust for two or three days, to prevent turbulent
people from setting up a pretender on the ground that he was not
really dead. At the request of the people of Tebriz, and according to the
wish expressed in Ahmed's will, he was buried in a building called
Dimashkuh, near his father and mother. His son, Sultan Ala ud
daulat, who had been confined in the fortress of Abd Eljuz, was also
put to death and buried in the Dimashkuh. Kaiumars, son of Sheikh
Ibrahim, the ruler of Shirvan, arrived to help Ahmed the day after his
defeat. He was arrested and imprisoned in the fortress of Arjish, nor
would Kara Yusuf accept the money offered by his father for his release.
We are told that the Turkoman chief abstained from pillaging Tebriz,
although it had sided with his rival.§
* Id., 178-181. Weil, v. 141. t Abdur Rezak, Notices et Extraits, &c, xiv. 193-194.
} Thomas of Medzoph, 95. $ Notices et Extraits, &c, xiv. 193. D'Herbelot, sub voce Avis.

678 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Thus passed away a prince who had probably seen more changes of
fortune and more stirring adventures than any of his ancestors. Shah
Rokh, son of Timur, when he heard of Ahmed's death, asked Abdal
Kadir, a learned man, who was one of his intimate friends, if he had
composed nothing on such a tragical event. He thereupon recited four
lines with the following meaning : " Tears of blood were shed on this
occasion, and on asking wherefore from Fate the only answer was ' Kasd
Tebriz ' (the expedition to Tebriz)." The two latter words, which only
comprise eight letters in Arabic, make the chronogram 813, which was
the year of Ahmed's death. Ibn Arabshah cites a witty reply which
Ahmed sent to Timur when he was obliged to fly before him, referring
to the latter's lameness, &c. : " If I was maimed for the fight, I was not
lame for the flight," referring to Timur's double lameness in his leg and
hand.* In the British Museum there is a large and interesting series of
Ahmed's coins. There is a gold coin struck at Baghdad, and silver
ones struck at Irbil, Baghdad, Tebriz, Shamakhi, Hamadan, Halab,
Arminiyah (?), Vassit, and Mosul. Fraehn, in his supplement, gives
the additional mints of Van, Sultania, Khoi, Asterabad, Alemja, and
Gushtasf.
SHAH WALAD.
On Sultan Ahmed's death considerable confusion arose at Baghdad,
and the authorities differ. The Egyptian writers tell us that Kara Yusuf
sent his son, Shah Muhammed, to occupy Baghdad. Nakhsais, a
Mamluk of Ahmed's, was in authority there on behalf of one of the
latter's nephews, Shah Walad ibn Shahzadeh Sheikh Ali ibn Oweis.
Nakhsais defended the place with great bravery, but was killed in a
tumult, whereupon his place was taken by another Mamluk, Abdur
Rahman Ibn Mullah, who spread the report that Ahmed was still living,
and had the khutbeh said in his name. He also was killed in an outbreak,
and Shah Walad was again recognised as Sultan. Reports continued to
spread that Ahmed was still living, and a fresh conspiracy arose against
Sultan Walad, which ended in Baghdad being captured by Shah
Muhammed. This was in April, 141 1. Presently Walad was driven out by
the party which still professed to believe in Ahmed's survival. Kara
Yusuf thereupon sent him fresh troops, with which he recaptured the city
in August and September of the same year.f Other accounts make out
that Sultan Walad was put to death with his uncle, Shah Ahmed, and
buried in his grave, and Abdur Rezak attributes the events assigned by
the Egyptians to him, to his son Mahmud. He tells us how Shah
Muhammed, who was then at Irbil, having heard of the turbulence of
Baghdad, marched upon the place, and encamped before " the gate
* D'Herbelot, sub voce Avis. t Weil, v. 141-143.

SHAH MAHMUD, ETC. 679
of the Sultan's Market." Shah Mahmud had meanwhile secured the
supreme authority in the place, and Abd Ibrahim Mallah commanded
there in his name ; but the latter was murdered by some turbulent people
who, in Ahmed's reign, had filled the posts of shahnah and daruga.
Great disorders now broke out, and Shah Mahmud, with his brothers,
Sultan Muhammed and Sultan Oweis, together with Dendi or Tendu
Sultan, his stepmother, left it and fled towards Shuster. Shah Muhammed
occupied Baghdad, and also subjected Hibet and a part of Kurdistan,
and for some years exercised sovereign rule over those districts.*
SHAH MAHMUD.
After the capture of Baghdad, Tendu, a daughter of Hussein Ibn Oweis,
who had been to Cairo with Ahmed, and had married, first Sultan Barkuk,
and then her own cousin, Shah Walad, continued to rule at Vassit,
Basrah, and Shuster, in the name of her stepson, Mahmud, son of Walad. f
In 817 she sent messengers to Shah Rokh with her submission. Shortly
after, news arrived from Shuster that she was dead.t In the year 819
(i.e., 1416) she was, in fact, put to death, and Mahmud reigned himself.§
He reigned until his death, in 822, when he was followed by his brother,||
SULTAN OWEIS.
He would seem to have held some authority previously, for Abdur
Rezak tells us that in 818 Shah Rokh, who was then at Shiraz, sent a
courier to Shuster, to Sultan Oweis, with affectionate greeting. Shah
Rokh's envoy was received with honour, and Sultan Oweis sent one of his
own people back with him.1T Sultan Oweis was killed by the Turkoman
Shah Muhammed in the year 829 hej.**
SHAH MUHAMMED.
Sultan Oweis was succeeded at Shuster by his brother, Shah Muhammed,
and on his death there succeeded HUSSEIN,
son of Ala ud daulat, son of Ahmed Sultan, who conquered the whole of
the Arabian Irak, except the capital, Baghdad. Ispahan, the son of Kara
Yusuf, had a long struggle with him, and eventually beleagured him at
Hillah, which he captured on the 3rd Safai, 825, when Hussein was killed.
With him ended the rule of the Jelairids in Irak, which now fell completely
into the hands of the Turkomans.?!

* Notices et Extraits, xiv. 210-211. t Weil, v. 142. Note. T Notices et Extraits, xiv. 258-259.
§ Weil, v. 142. Note. II Id.
U Notices et Extraits, xiv. 285-286. ** Weil, v. 142. Note. tt Id.

Note i.— GENEALOGY OF THE ILKHANS.
Jingis Khan

Juchi Khan

Mangu Khakan

Jagatai Khan

Ogotai Khakan

Khubilai Khakan

i
I. Khulagu Khan

Tului I 

Arikbuka i

II. Abaka
Khan

I I I.I.
Jumkur Yashmut Tekshi Tarakai

i.

i

IY. Arghun Khan V. Gaikhatu Khan Sanga

I

I.I I I
Tuzin III. Ahmed Ajai Konghuratai Yesudar Mangu
Tagudar Khan Timur
[ I
VI. Baidu Khan Anbarji
j  Kushji

Hulaju Sherbaweji Toghai Temkian
Timur

"VII. Ghazan Khan VIII. Uljaitu Khan

IX. Abusaid Khan XIII. Satibeg Khan Alafrenk

Yusufshah
XV. Suliman Khan

Ali
XI. Musa Khan

Yul Kutlugh
XII. Muhammed Khan

XIV. Shah Jihan Timur Khan
GENEALOGY OF THE ILKANIDS OR JELAIRIDS.
Ilkan Noyan

Akbuka I
Hussein Gurkhan
I 

Hassan Buzurg
Sultan Oweis Khan
 I 

A daughter of Arghun Khan

Sheikh Hussein Khan

Sheikh Hassan Khan
Sheikh Ali Khan

Sultan Ahmed Khan
I
Ala ud daulat
l
Hussein

Sheikh Ali
I
Shah Walad I

Malik Timur
Sinkian Susu
X. Arpagaun Khan

H
O w<o >*>H aHo s:
o ot-

Shah Mahmud

Sultan Oweis Shah Muhammed

NOTES. 68 1
Note 2.— Little Armenia. The kingdom of Cilicia, or Little Armenia, was so
intimately connected in its history with that of the Ilkhans, that I have
incorporated short notices of it in my narrative. The last of these was on
page 604, where I described the investiture of Leo V. by the Egyptian Sultan.
According to Abulfeda, this was during the year 1328-9. M. Dulaurier dates
his accession in the year 770 of the Armenian era (i.e., in 1321). Leo reigned
till the year 1341, and was the last king of Armenia of the old royal stock of the
Rupenians. He was succeeded by John (Juan), son of Amaury de Lusignan,
Count of Tyre, brother of Henry III., King of Cyprus,* by Zablun, or Zabel,
daughter of Leo III., with the style of Constantine III. He was killed, after
reigning a year, by his grandees, and was succeeded in 1343 by his brother
Guy, who similarly perished after a reign of two years. He was succeeded in
'345 V Constantine IV., a descendant of Leo V. and son of the Baron Baldwin,
marshal of the kingdom. He died in 1362, when there was an interregnum of
two years, during which there were several competitors, amongst others, Peter I.
of Cyprus. In 1365 Leo VI., a supposed son of Constantine IV. by an
Armenian mother, mounted the throne. He married Maria, niece of Philip of
Tarentum, titular Emperor of Constantinople, and was made prisoner in 1375
by Malik ul Ashraf-Shaaban, Sultan of Egypt, when the kingdom came to an
end. Leo was released in 1378 at the request of the kings of Castile and
Arragon, and died at Paris on the 29th of November, I393.f
The following table shows the descent of the rulers of Little Armenia : —
1. Rupen, called the Great,
a relative of Kakeg II. ,
the last Bagratid ruler of Armenia
Established himself in the Taurus
! _
2. Constantine I.,
seized the fortress of Vahga and definitely began the Armenian
domination in Cilicia, died in 1100
styled Baron by the Crusaders

I I
Thoros I., Leo I.,
succeeded as Baron noo, succeeded in 1129,
died 1129 made prisoner and taken to Constantinople, 1136
1 i 1
5. Thoros. II., Sdephane, 7. MlehorMilo,
died in 1167 or 1168 killed in 1164 killed in 1175
6. Rupen II. , 1 j
died in 1170 8 Rupen III., 9. Leo II. succeeded as Baron, 1187,
died in 1x87 consecrated King, being the first
King of Little Armenia in 1198,
died in 1219
i
Zabel I
Philip,
son of Raymond, Prince of
Antioch, succeeded to
the throne in 1222, but deposed
within a year
On the death of Leo, Adam de Gastim became bailly of the kingdom for two
years, when he was killed by the Ismaelites, and was replaced by the Grand
Baion Constantine.

* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xviii. 293, t Id., xvii. 386.

682 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
10. The Grand Baron Constantine,
Constable and Bailly of Armenia, of the Family of the Lords of Lampron
it. Haithon I., died in 1270
12. Leo III., died in 1289
 ! 
13. Haithon II. , 14. Thoros III., 15. Sempad, 16 Constantine IL, 18. Oshin, Zabel,
killed in 1307 killed by his became King in became King became King married
brother Sempad 1297, and in 1299 in 1308, and Amaury
in 1299 married a Mongol died in de Lusignan
| Princess for his second 1320 son of
17. Leo IV., wife. His daughter | Henry III,,
killed in married Ghazan 10, LeoV., King of
1307 Khan Kmg in 1321, Cyprus
died in 1341  |

20. John, styled Constantine III,, 21. Guy, 1343-1345 Constantine IV,,
killed in 1 342, after reigning 1343-1362.
a few months I
Leo VI.,
1365-1375,
died at Pans, 1393
Note 3. — A second Christian kingdom, whose history was most closely
intertwined with that of the Persian Mongols, and which I have incorporated
largely in my narrative, was that of Georgia. As we have seen, it became
divided into two kingdoms, Karthli and Imerithi. I have carried down its history
to the installation of George V. (styled the Brilliant) as king of Karthli.* This
period of Georgian history, as Brosset says, is singularly obscure. During the
confusion following on the death of Abusaid Khan, Georgi drove out the
Mongols from his country. He then called together a solemn assembly of the
eristhafs and princes of Karthli at Mount Tziv in Hereth, and having put to
death those who would not obey him, set up eristhafs of his own in various
provinces, and was obeyed in all the country as far as Derbend, while the robber
Lesghs paid him tribute. He appointed Sargis Jakel atabeg and generalissimo,
and made a successful raid into Rum and Shirvan.
Meanwhile things had been going on badly in imerithi. David Narin, as we
have seen, left three sons.f Of these, Constantine, the eldest, died without
issue in 1327, whereupon his brother Michael succeeded to the throne. He
died in 1329, leaving a young son, Bagrat, who could not control the eristhafs,
some of whom would not acknowledge him. Taking advantage of this, George
the Brilliant of Karthli invaded the country and speedily subdued all Imerithi,
appointing governors in various districts, and nominating Bagrat as eristhaf of
Shorapan. This was in 1330. Thereupon the Dadian Mamia, the Guriel, the
Eristhaf of the Suans, and Sharwashidz6h, eristhaf of Abkhazia, acknowledged
George as king of Imerithi and of all Georgia, \
The noyan who occupied Azerbaijan (i.e., the Ilkhan for the time being) now
began to invade Somkheth, Ran (i.e., Arran), Mowakan (i.e., Mughan), and
advanced as far as Ganja, or Kantsak, intending to conquer him. He thereupon
fought with him, defeated him, and returned with much booty. He also defeated
the Ottoman Sultan, Orkhan. All Georgia, we are told, was subject to his laws,
and the Caucasians obeyed him from Nicophsia to Derbend, while Ran,
Mowakan, and Shirvan were tributary to him. Thus Georgia, which had been
* Ante, 544-587. t Ante, 357. I Hist, de la Gtogie, 646-647.

NOTES. Dg3
disunited for so long, was once more controlled by one hand. He died at Tiflis
in 1346* and was succeeded by his son, David VII., who had a peaceable and
prosperous reign, in which he employed himself in restoring the ruined churches,
fortresses, and other buildings in his kingdom. He died in 136a, and was
buried at Kelath.f
He was succeeded by his son Bagrat V, in whose reign Timur invaded
Georgia. I shall remit an account of him to the next volume, in which the
history of Timur will be related. The following table gives the descent of the
Georgian kings during the Mongol supremacy in Persia :—
Thamar, Queen of Georgia David, son of the King of
1184-1211 or 1212 the Ossetes
I  I

George IV., Lasha Rusudan, A son of the Seljuk Prince
1212-1223 1223-1247 Mojit ud din, son of
„.,„!, I Kilij Arslan III.
David V., 1243-1269 |
in Karthli  j 
 ! 
Dimitri II. , 1273-1289 t-, ., ,T . ' — . . „T m, I
' 1 " v David Nann, or David IV., Thamar
— —  1243-1289, in Imerithi

David VI., George V. Wakhtang III.,

^«..~ .*., v^w.6.. .. ri aiuuailg lil., .
1292-1310 the Brilliant, 1301-1307 ~ ., J TT ., I . „l , , _ I
| King of Karthli only, Wakhtang II. Alexander 3. Michael, 2. Constan-
George VI. 1299 &c, ' ' 1289-1292 1327-1329 tine,
the Little, and of _ I 1292-1327
1308-1318 Georgia, . _ Bagrat conquered
1318-1346 bV George 'he Brilliant, and made
| Eristhaf of Shorapan
David VIL, 1346-1360
Bagrat V., 1360-1395
Note 3.— Mardin. When the Mongols invaded Western Asia, Mardin was
governed by the Ortokid Turkoman dynasty. Its prince resisted them ; but
was undone by the treachery of his son, who thus acquired his father's throne,
and, as we have seen, it preserved its separate life during the domination of
the Ilkhanian dynasty. I have introduced what I could find of its history
during the progress of the previous narrative, and will bring together here what
is to be said of the later doings of its rulers.
The Malik Salih succeeded his father Mansur in the year 712 hej. Von
Hammer calls him Salah ud din Yusuf, son of Nejm ud din Mansur.t He was
the ruler of Mardin when Ibn Batuta visited the town. He tells us he was
'famous for his acts of generosity. Poets and fakirs visited him, and he gave
them splendid presents, thus following in his father's footsteps. He was
visited by Abu Abdallah Muhammed, son of Jabir Alandusi Almeruz,
surnamed Alkapf, who praised him greatly, and he gave him 20,000 dirhems.
He distributed much alms, and supported colleges and zainahs which supplied
strangers with refreshments. His vizier was Jemal ud din Arsinjary. He had
made profession at Tebriz, and was on familiar terms with the principal
ulemas. His chief kadhi was Borhan ud din Almansily, who was pious, modest,
and virtuous, and wore a rough woollen garment not worth ten dirhems. His
turban was equally homely. He generally pronounced his judgments in the
* Id., 648-649. t Id., 649-650. X Ilkhans, ii. 321.

684 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
courtyard of the mosque outside the college, where he performed his devotions,
and anyone who did not know him thought him a servant. A woman once
passed close by him, when he was away from the mosque, and she did not
recognise him. " O, sheikh," she said, " where does the kadhi sit ? " " What
do you want with him ? " " My husband has beaten me," she said ; " besides, he
has another wife, and does not treat me equally with her in his attentions. I
have cited him before the kadhi, but he did not appear, and I am poor and
cannot pay the kadhi's people to bring him before the court." " Where does he
live?" said the judge. She replied, " In the sailors' village outside the town."
" I will go with you thither," he said. " But I have nothing to give you," said
the woman. " I would not take anything from you," he replied. He then
added, " Go towards the village, and wait for me outside. I will come to you,
there." Presently he went as he had promised, and all alone and together
they entered her husband's house. The latter said, " Who is this importunate
sheikh with you }" "I am what you describe," said the judge, " but you do
fairly by the woman." The interview was prolonged, and presently some people
came in who knew the judge, and saluted him. The husband was afraid
and covered with confusion; but the judge said, " Do not fear, but repair the
injustice you have done the woman." The kadhi, having paid what would
keep them during the day, left.*
Salih reigned for fifty-four years, and died upwards of seventy years old, in
the end of hfj. 763, or beginning of 766. Dr. Rieu has collected some
notices of his successors from the chronicles of Ibn Habib (a,h. 648-801) and
Ibn Hajar (a.h. 773-850) which he has kindly sent me.
Salih was succeeded by his son Mansur Ahmed, who died in in a.h. 769, at
the age of 60; and he by his son, Salih Mahmud, who was deposed, after a
reign of a few days, by his uncle, Muzaffer Daud, son of Salih, who succeeded
him, and died in a.h. 778, when his son Zahir Majd ud din Isa (Ibn Arabshah
calls him Al Malik Addahir) succeeded him.
He was ruler of Mardin when Timur invaded the West. When he was on
his march from Mosul to Roha or Edessa, Isa sent him his submission, and
accordingly at the end of the month Sefer, 796 (i.e., 1404), when the great
conqueror neared Mardin, he summoned him to bring his contingent and to
march with him against Syria, and then marched on.f Isa sent as his envoy
Alhaj Muhammed, son of Shasebeki, with presents and excuses for his not going
in person, whereupon Timur declared that it was not his policy to leave a rebel
behind him. He accordingly returned towards Mardin on the ioth of February,
1404. Isa now went to him with rich presents, horses, mules, &c, nine of each
kind, and was presented to Timur two days later. He humbly begged pardon
of the great chief, who gave him a robe.| Isa agreed to pay tribute, and to
have such taxes imposed as were customary in the case of captured towns.
Timur's commissaries went into the place to receive these taxes, and some of
his soldiers also trusted themselves carelessly, having gone to make some
purchases. They were attacked by a crowd, whereupon Timur summoned Isa

* Ibn Batuta, ii. 144-147. t Sherif ud din, ii. 263-264.
I Id., 266-268. Ibn Arabshah, ii. 153-155.

notes. 68;
once more, and made him kneel down. It then transpired that when he
left the city he had told his brother and his people not to part with their arms,
and under no circumstances to surrender the town, and that they must take no
heed of any letters he might write to them when under durance bidding them
receive a governor or otherwise, as he had determined to sacrifice his life for
them and his country. This having been proved against him, he was put in
chains; but Timur did not deem it prudent then to besiege Mardin, since the
country round was bare of forage.* He accordingly withdrew ; but returned
again on the 15th of April, and planted his camp about it, and the following
day stormed it, the garrison withdrawing to the citadel on the adjoining
mountain. Many of them were killed in the flight, while their pursuers
captured many youths and girls. They also secured a large booty in horses,
mules, and camels, and then proceeded to invest the mountain fortress, which
was approachable only by one path, and which was watered by a spring strong
enough to turn a mill. Several poets have praised its situation, among others,
Ibn Ferai, who called it Kala Shahba (i.e., the White Castle). The besiegers
attacked it, and, notwithstanding the stones rolled down upon them, forced
their way up to a level with the walls, capturing some prisoners who had not
sought shelter in time. According to Sherif ud din, the garrison were cowed
by the persistence of the attack, and approached Timur demanding quarter.
He thereupon withdrew from the walls into his camp again. The garrison
now came out, and gave him numerous presents, some very valuable
Turkoman horses, and large sums of money. They swore to be faithful,
and undertook to pay a heavy tribute. Timur's heart was softened at this
moment by the birth of his grandson, Shah Rukh, which happened just at
the time.t Ibn Arabshah makes out he was frustrated in his attack, and
revenged himself by destroying the chief buildings in the town.]; Sherif ud din
goes on to say that he pardoned the people of Mardin, and even remitted the
taxes he had already received. He gave the principality to Salih, brother of
Isa, and gave him patents of office sealed with his own hand.g Isa was taken
to Sultania.|| Presently, Timur having visited Sultania, took pity on him, after
he had been in prison for three years, with his hands and feet chained. He
consoled him, gave him a robe, pardoned him, and restored him the principality
of Mardin, giving him the necessary patents. He in return swore before
Timur's amirs that he would never fail in his obedience to his suzerain, would
accompany him in all his wars, &c, and he thereupon returned again to
Mardin.^f Turning once more to the authorities consulted for me by Dr. Rieu, we
read how in the year of the hej. 809, the amir Jekim, a mamluk of Al
Zahir (Barkuk) became Sultan of Aleppo, conquered the neighbouring district,
crossed the Euphrates, and marched against the Turkoman amir Muhammed
Ibn Karailik, Lord of Amid or Diarbekr. Isa, the chief of Mardin, joined him
en route. Their united forces were defeated by the Turkomans, and both
Jekim and Isa were killed. The battle was fought on the 15th Zulkadah,

* Sherif ud din, ii. 274-275. t Id., 280-283. X Op. cit., ii. 163.
% Id; 285. II Id., 312. U Id; 396.

686 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
a.h. 8og. Thereupon Salih, Isa's brother, who had been nominated chief of
Mardin for a short space by Timur, as we have seen, once more mounted the
throne ; but two years later, being hard pressed' by the Turkoman amir, Ibn
Karailik, he sought aid from Kara Yusuf, the famous chief of the Black Sheep
Turkomans, and proposed to him to give up Mardin to him in exchange for
Mosul. His offer was accepted, and he went to Mosul, but died a few days
later ; an;d thus ended the dynasty of the Ortokids of Mardin. I append its
genealogy as a probably useful table.
Kutb ud din, Ilghazi, II, ,
died in 580 hej.

Hosam ud din Yulok Arslan, Mansur Nasir ud din Ortok Arslan el Malik,
had ceased to reign in 599 hej. died in 637 hej.
Said Nejm ud din Ghazi,
died about 653 hej.
Mozaffer Fakhr ud din Kara Arslan,
died about 691 hej.

Daud Shems ud din, Mansur Nejm ud din Ghazi II. ,
reigned a year and nine months 693-712
I I
Imad ud dm Ah el Adil, Salih Shems ud din, called Salah ud din Yusuf,
died in 712 by Von Hammer, 712-765.

Mansur Ahmed, 765-769 Muzaffer Daud, 769-778
Salih Mahmud, 769 1 "j
Zabir Majd ud din Isa, Salih,
778-809. 809-811
This table is compiled from that given in the first volume of the Eastern
section of the work, entitled "Les Historiens des Croisades," xxiv., and from
notes supplied me by Dr. Rieu.
Note IV,— GENEALOGY OF THE SELJUKS OF RUM
DURING THE ILKHANIAN RULE.
Ghiath ud din Kai Khosru,
killed in 607 hej.

Iz ud din Kai Kavus, Alai ud din Kai Kobad,
607-616 616-634
Ghiath ud din Kai Khosru II.,
634-642
 j 
> L 1
Iz ud din Kai Kavus II., Rokn ud din Kilij Arslan IV., Alai ud din Kai Kobad
642-662 647-666
| [ Ghiath ud din Kai Khosru,
Masud II., Firamurz 666-675
675-694 _ |
Alai ud din Kai Kobad,
696-707.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE EASTERN FRAGMENTS OF THE ILKHANIAN
EMPIRE.
I.— THE SULTANS OF FARS.

THE PRINCESS KORDOJIN.
FARS had long been the seat of a famous line of princes, the
Salghurids. They managed to conciliate the Mongols, and
retained their power as subordinates of the Ilkhans until the
dynasty came to an end with the Princess Abish, daughter of the
last atabeg of Fars, of the Salghurid dynasty, who married Mangu
Timur, son of Khulagu* By Mangu Timur, Abish left a daughter
called Kordojin, or Kurdujin, who inarried Siyurghatmish, the ruler
of Kerman, by whom she had a son, Kutb ud din Shah Jihan, who
succeeded him, and a daughter, Ismet ud din Aalem Shah, who
married the Ilkhan Baidu.f On her husband's death she retained
control of Kerman by permission of Baidu Khan. Early in the reign
of Abusaid, the Princess Kordojin was nominated by him governor of
Fars,J and, pleased at her for having sent him a present of standards,
&c, on a certain occasion, he gave her the title of Terkhan, which
exempted her from the payment of taxes.§ It was probably at this time
she also acquired the privilege of coining money, for a coin with- her
name upon it is known. She was a great builder, and during her rule
Shiraz became a magnificent city, the resort of numbers of learned men.
Wassaf mentions among the finest buildings of his native city all due to
her, (i) the robath, or caravanserai of Sonkor ; (2) that of the Princess
Abish, (3) the new mosque, (4) the robath of Shehrolla, (5) the hospital
of Mozaffer, (6) the robath of Khair, (7) the robath of Sarbend, bearing
an inscription supplied by the Princess Abish, (8) the aqueduct of the
old mosque, (,9) the khan with two doors, (10) the robath Iddeti, (11) the
medresseh Adhadiyeh, which had a revenue of over 200,000 ducats ; (12)
the medresseh called after Kordojin herself, in the praise of which Wassaf
composed some verses, which were written in gold on a blue ground
above the entrance of the medresseh. About this medresseh was planted
a garden, traversed by an aqueduct borne on high pillars ; a bath, about
* Vide ante, 318-320. t Ilkhans, ii. 48. X Id., 270. % Id., 276. Ante, 593.

688 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
which Wassaf wrote some pretty verses, and a fountain, whose good
qualities were contrasted with those of the four rivers of Paradise. The
students and attendants at the medresseh were well paid, and alms were
also distributed there by the wish of the pious foundress, who, in the
words of Wassaf, combined the virtues of many famous women — the
Balki of Time, the Sarah of the World, the Asia of chastity, the Safura of
purity — nor could the three famous women of Islam — Khadisha, Fatima,
and Aisha — claim to rival her.* The princess apparently married the
great amir Choban.f I do not know when she died, the last reference to
her I can find being about the year 1327, when the Malik of Herat asked
for her as a reward for having undone Choban. J

SHARF UD DIN MAHMUD INJU.
Sharf ud din Mahmud ibn Muhammed, surnamed Inju (i.e., the tax-
gatherer)^ was, according to the " Jihanara" of Ahmed Ibn Muhammed
ibn Abulghaffar al Kazvini, descended from the Khoja Abdallah Ansari ;
others made him descend from Abu Aiyub Ansari. He was fortunate
enough to secure for himself the lucrative post of tax farmer of Fars,
whence he was promoted to the position of governor of that province by
the influence of Choban. The date of this I have not been able to trace.
He drew an immense income from the province, and was deemed the
Croesus of his time, and drew a revenue of 100 tumans from Shiraz and
Shibankareh, and was thus able to secure himself many powerful friends
among the amirs ; and when Abusaid deposed him in 736 HEJ. (D'Ohsson
says 734), and appointed Muzaffer Inak in his place, some of them, such as
Mahmud Issen Kutlugh, Sultan Shah (son of Nikruz), Muhammed Bey
Muhammed Pilten, and Muhammed Kushji, gathered round him, and he
tried to seize his rival at his own house. When he presently fled to the
royal palace, he was pursued thither, and it was only when Shiburgan, the
son of Choban, and the Khoja Lulu happened to come up with assistance,
that the rebels were driven back. The leaders were now captured, and
would have been put to death but for the intercession of the vizier, Ghiath
ud din. They were imprisoned in strong fortresses, and Mahmud himself
was locked up in Tabarek, the citadel of Ispahan. The amirs remained
in custody until Abusaid's death, but Mahmud was released.|| He
apparently went to live at Tebriz, and was put to death by Arpagaun,
Abusaid's successor, soon after his accession, on the charge that he had
secretly brought up a descendant of Khulagu in his house.l
* Ilkhans, ii. 270-272. # t Id., 298. J Id., 299.
§ " Jihanara " says the word had this meaning in Mongol. Wassaf says it was taken from the
Khuarezmian dialect. See Bergmann Munzen der Indschuiden, Numismatische Zeitschrift, iii.
146-147. Quatremere's Rashid ud din, 130. Note.
|| Bergmann, op. cit. T47-149. D'Ohsson, iv. 715-716.
% Mirkhond, in Bergmann, op. cit., 149-150.

MASUD SHAH INJU. 689
MASUD SHAH INJU.
On the murder of their father, Mahmud,* his sons fled— Masud, to Rum,
to Sheikh Hassan Buzurg, whose representative he became, and who
married him to Bakht, the daughter of Dimashk Khoja, son of Choban.
His two brothers, Mahmud Shah and Abu Ishak, fled to Ali Padishah,
Abusaid's maternal uncle,t at Diarbekr, who had set up Musa as a
rival khan to Arpagaun. In conjunction with his protdgd, he defeated
the latter in a battle at Karabagh, and Arpagaun having been captured,
was handed over to Mahmud's sons, who revenged their father's blood
upon him. Presently, Ali Padishah and Musa were driven out by
Hassan Buzurg, who set up Muhammed as Khan, and was assisted in his
campaign against Ali Padishah by Masud Shah Inju, who, as we have
seen, had sought refuge with him. Doubtless, as a reward for his
conduct, he was now sent with Pir Hussein, son of Mahmud, son of
Choban (the " Jihanara " says with Yaghi Basti, which is doubtless a
mistake), to take charge of Shiraz. 4"
Ibn Batuta makes out that Abusaid appointed Pir Hussein to succeed
Mahmud Shah Inju, that he lived for some time at Shiraz, and then
determined to pay a visit to his master in Irak ; but, before doing so,
arrested Abu Ishak, son of Mahmud, his two brothers, Rokn ud din and
Masud Bek, and his mother, Tash Khatun, under the pretence that he
intended to take them to Irak, and to make them disgorge what their
father had appropriated. When they arrived in the market-place of
Shiraz, Tash Khatun raised her veil, as she did not want them to see
her covered, " it not being the custom of the Turkish women to appear
veiled in this way." She appealed to the people of Shiraz to help her,
saying, " Is a woman such as I am to be carried off from your very midst
in this fashion?" Thereupon a carpenter named Pehluvan Mahmud rose
and said, "We will not let her leave the place." A tumult arose, several
of the soldiers were killed, the treasury was plundered, and the princess
and her sons were rescued. The amir Hussein and his adherents fled.
He repaired to Abusaid, who gave him an army, and ordered him to
occupy Shiraz again. The citizens, feeling that they were not strong
enough to resist, sought out the Kadhi Mejd ud din, and begged him to
prevent any bloodshed, and to arrange an accommodation. The Kadhi
accordingly went to meet Hussein, who dismounted as he approached,
and saluted him. Peace was arranged, and the amir encamped outside
Shiraz. Next day, the people went out to greet him. They decorated
the town and illuminated it with torches, and he entered it in triumph,
and behaved very cordially to its citizens.!; The same author says that
* Ibn Batuta mentions his tomb at Shiraz, and also a post station he built at Yezd Khast.
t Bergmann, op. cit., 150. J Bergmann, 151-152. D'Ohsson, iv. 743.
§ Ibn Batuta, ii. 65-67.
W*

69° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
on Abusaid's death, Hussein, afraid that the people of Shiraz would
destroy him, left the place*
Ibn Batuta's narrative is often somewhat suspicious, and these events
were probably the same as those elsewhere recorded, where we read that
Pir Hussein, in the year 740 (i.e., 1339-40), sought the alliance of Mubariz
ud din Muhammed, the governor of Yezd, and having united forces with
him at Istakhr, marched upon Shiraz. Masud Shah thereupon fled, and
Shiraz presently surrendered.!
Hamdullah Meztufi, writing in 741 hej., tells us that Fars and Sheban-
kareh were then subject to Masud.J The authorities agree that Masud
was put to death in 743 hej. (i.e., 1343). The "Jihanara," however,
attributes the deed to Yaghi Basti, while elsewhere we read, more
probably, that it was Pir Hussein who killed him, through jealousy.§
SHEIKH ABU ISHAK.
The contradictions in the story do not cease with the death of Masud.
One account says that Pir Hussein deprived Sultan Shah of the govern
ment of Ispahan, and conferred it on Abu Ishak, who was Masud's
brother, and that the same year the latter joined his forces with the amir
Ashraf, who had advanced into Irak against Pir Hussein. Pir Hussein,
not being able to resist the two allies, went to Tebriz, to Sheikh Hassan
the Lesser, who had him put to death, merely giving him the option
between poison and the sword. He chose poison.|| In the "Jihanara"
we read that Abu Ishak had been sent by Masud against the Sheban-
karehs. On hearing of his brother's death he returned to Shiraz, whence
he drove out Yaghi Basti (? Pir Hussein), and seated himself on the
throne, struck money, and had the Friday prayer said in his own name.
His power grew greatly, and Ibn Batuta, who visited Shiraz during his
reign, tells us his army consisted of 50,000 men (Persians and Turks) ;
that the people of Ispahan, who also obeyed him, were his most faithful
subjects, while those of Shiraz were unruly, and were forbidden carrying
weapons on pain of death. Our traveller himself saw a man dragged off
before the hakim, with a chain about his neck, for having been found with
a bow in his possession.1T
Soon after his accession, Abu Ishak had a struggle with Ashraf, the
brother of the Lesser Hassan. Ashraf withdrew to Irak, but presently
made another attempt, in conjunction with Yaghi Basti, to invade Fars,
and plundered and burnt Abrkuh. Abu Ishak marched against them.
The allies were only a march from Shiraz, when news arrived of the
murder of Hassan. This was in 745 hej. They thereupon returned
again.** Abu Ishak now began a series of attacks on Muhammed, son
* Ibn Batuta, ii. 68. t Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 101. J Ilkhans, ii. 321.
§ Bergmann, op. cit., 151-152. D'Ohsson, iv. 743. || Id., 743.744. T[ Op. cit., ii. 64.
** Mirkhond, in Bergmann, op. cit., 152-153,

SHEIKH ABU ISHAK. 69I
of Muzaffar, ruler of Yezd and Kerman. In one of these he captured
Yezd. Muhammed sought refuge at Mibud, a fortress six miles from
Yezd, surrounded on all sides by sands, where he defended himself
bravely, and made successful sorties, in one of which he killed ten of
Abu Ishak's horses. In another he was caught in an ambuscade, with only
a hundred followers, but cut his way out. At length his brave conduct
attracted the attention and regard of Abu Ishak, and he said : " I wish to
see him, and will then withdraw." He accordingly planted himself near
the fortress, and Muhammed went to the door of the citadel and saluted
him. The Sultan said : " Come down, and trust to my safe conduct."
Muhammed replied : " I have sworn before God not to come to you until
you have entered into the fortress." Abu Ishak consented to dp this, and
went with only ten companions. When he reached the gate, Muhammed
dismounted, kissed his stirrup, entered before him, and introduced him
to his house, where his guests took some food. After this, host and guest
returned together on horseback to Abu Ishak's camp. The latter seated
him beside him, gave him his own robes and a present of money, and
they agreed that Muhammed and his father should remain in possession
of the province, while the khutbeh or Friday prayer should be said in
Abu Ishak's name.*
In the year 1350 Abu Ishak again attacked Yezd, and again retired,
and two years later his general, Bikjar, with his nephew, the amir
Kaikobad, son of Kaikhosru, were defeated in the plain of Penj Angusht
(the five fingers), and lost considerable booty. Muhammed, pursuing his
success, laid siege to Shiraz, during which his eldest son, Sherif ud din,
died, which greatly discouraged him. He was helped, however, by the
imprudence of Abu Ishak, who, without cause, put to death the com
manders of the quarters of the city called the New Mosque and the New
Garden, while he gave himself up to wine and women. Eventually, the
commander of the quarter called Murdistan, whom he intended putting to
death, surrendered the gate in his charge to Shah Shuja, Muhammed's
son. Abu Ishak thereupon left Shiraz, and withdrew towards Shulistan,
and thence to Ispahan,t where he continued to rule.
During the year 1354 Muhammed attacked Ispahan. In the spring
the governor of that town, despairing of further resistance, agreed to pay
a sum of money to save the place from pillage, whereupon Shah Shuja
who had been left in command of the besieging army by his father,
returned to Shiraz. This was only a short respite, however, and presently
a fresh army from Shiraz beleaguered Ispahan, commanded by Shah
Sultan, nephew of Muhammed, which pressed Abu Ishak sharply. His
troops began to abandon him, and to join the besiegers. The governor
of the fort of Tabrek, close by, treacherously surrendered it, and the

' Ibn Batuta, ii. 68-70. t Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 106-107.

692 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Amir ul-Umera, having said good-bye to his children and servants, left
Ispahan with a single attendant. In his distress Abu Ishak took refuge
with the Maulana Asii ud din, who was Sheikh-ul-Islam of that district,
and who gave him up to Shah Sultan. The latter sent him to Muhammed,
who had just returned from pacifying Luristan. He was conducted to the
hippodrome of the gate of Istakhr, where Muhammed had assembled
the ulemas, the kadhis, and the notables of Fars. Convicted on his own
confession of having put to death the amir Haji Dharrah, he was handed
over to the younger son of his victim, who decapitated him with a single
stroke of his sabre. This happened on a Friday in May, 1357.* Yahia
Ibn Abdallatif says he was executed on the Maidan Saadet, which he had
himself made. The " Jihanara " speaks of his noble and upright character.
Ibn Batuta tells us he was named after the famous Sheikh Abu Ishak
al Kaziruni, that he was one of the best sultans of the time, with a good
figure and handsome presence. He had a generous soul, and was
humble.t He determined to build a splendid building in Shiraz. The
foundations were dug out, and the richer inhabitants joined in the
labourers' work with the rest, going so far as to make panniers of leather,
covered with gold brocaded silk, to carry the earth in, and showing the
same luxury in the housings of the beasts of burden they used. They
used picks made of silver, and burnt numerous candles during the work.
They dressed themselves for their work in their best clothes, and fastened
aprons of silk to their girdles. The Sultan watched the work from a
belvedere. Ibn Batuta tells us he himself saw the building, when it was
three cubits high. When the foundations were finished, the rest of the
work was left to the regular workmen, who were paid wages, and it was
said that the larger part of the revenues of the place were devoted to it.
Jelal ud din ibn Alfeleky Attawrizy superintended the work, and had
several thousand workmen under him.J
Many coins of Abu Ishak are extant. Some of them bearing his name
as early as 719 and 724 of the hej., are perhaps rather mementoes of his
godfather, the holy sheikh, Abu Ishak. Several undoubted coins of
his own are in the British Museum, only one, however, with a mint
mark, viz., Shiraz. Other mint places of his mentioned by Bergmann
are Abrkuh and Shebankareh.§ Abu Ishak does not style himself
Sultan on his coins, but simply gives his name. It must be remarked
also that while Ibn Batuta calls him Sultan, Mirkhond and the "Jihanara"
call him merely Sheikh Amir Abu Ishak.||

* Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 109. t Op. cit., ii. 64. I Ibn Batuta, ii. 71-72.
$ Op. cit., 162-163. I| Id., 162.

MUBARIZ UD DIN MUHAMMED. 693
THE MUZAFFAR IAN S.
MUZAFFAR.
When the Mongols invaded Khorasan, Ghiath ud din Haji Khorasani,
a native of Sejavend, in the district of Khaf, abandoned his country, and
removed to Yezd with his three sons, Abubekr, Muhammed, and Mansur.
The two former entered the service of Alai ud daulat, atabeg of Yezd,
who sent Abubekr with three hundred horsemen to help Khulagu when
marching on Baghdad. Abubekr was posted on the Egyptian frontier,
and fell in an encounter with the Khafajah Arabs. Mansur devoted
himself to his father, after whose death he continued to live near his
mausoleum. He left three sons, the amirs Muhammed, Ali, and
Muzaffar. Muzaffar was patronised by Yusuf, son of the atabeg Alai ud
daulat, and was given command of his troops. Eventually, he joined the
service of the Ilkhan Arghun, who appointed him a yassaul, or usher.
Ghazan gave him command of a thousand men, with the right to use
standards, drums, &c, and also gave him a paizah, or official tablet.
Uljaitu Khan gave him charge of the roads and the government of
Abrkuh, Luristan, and Mibud. In the year 712 HEJ., or beginning of the
next (1312-1313), he received orders to subdue the Shebankarehs, who
had revolted. He conquered the rebels, and soon after died. This was
in the year 713 (i.e., 1314). His body was transported to Mibud, and
there buried in a medresseh, or college, he had built. It is from him the
dynasty we are now interested in was named.*
MUBARIZ UD DIN MUHAMMED.
Mubariz ud din Muhammed, son of Muzaffar, was born at Mibud in
the year 700 HEJ. (i.e., 1301). On Muzaffar's death he repaired to the
court of Uljaitu Khan, who gave him the post held by his father. He
remained four years with Uljaitu, on whose death, and the accession of
Abusaid, he returned to Mibud. Soon after he allied himself with the
amir Kai Khosru, son of Mahmud Shah Inju, against Haji Shah, the
atabeg of Yezd, who had killed one of Kai Khosru's officers in order to
appropriate one of his slaves. They attacked Haji Shah in the bazaar of
Yezd, defeated him, and compelled him to fly with his slaves and wealth
This put an end to the dynasty of the atabegs of Yezd, who, according to
Mirkhond, had reigned for three centuries.t In 1319, Muhammed was
given the government of Yezd by Abusaid. At this time the Nigudarians
living in Seistan revolted against the Ilkhan, and commenced to plunder
the caravans on the roads. Muhammed, with only sixty men, attacked
the Nigudarian chief, named Nuruz, who was at the head of three
* Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 96-97. t Id., 97-98.

694 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
hundred. He received seventy arrows on his cuirass, was wounded in
two places, and had two horses shot under him ; but, some reinforcements
coming up, the Nigudarians were defeated, Nuruz was killed, and another
of their leaders was captured. Muhammed sent the latter to Uljaitu in
an iron cage, with the head of Nuruz fastened round his neck. The
Nigudars, determined to avenge their chief, advanced as far as Yezd.
Muhammed attacked them again with a smaller force, and again defeated
them. The feud continued for some time, and it is said he fought twenty
engagements with them in the course of four years. In the year
729 hej. (1328-9), he married Khan Kutlugh Makhdum-Shah, daughter
of Kutb ud din Shah Jihan, former Sultan of Kerman. In the year
734 hej. (1333-4) he went to the court of Abusaid, who gave him a royal
robe, a girdle enriched with stones, drums, and a standard, fixed his
salary at 100,000 kopeghi dinars, and ordered that in future he should be
styled " Amir Zadeh Muhammed."*
After the death of Abusaid, confusion arose in the Persian Irak
and Fars. The eldest of the sons of Mahmud Shah Inju, Masud
Shah, secured Shiraz and all Fars, and the younger one, Abu Isak,
tried to seize Yezd by a ruse ; but Muhammed compelled him to
fly, after an engagement which was put an end to by the mediation
of the Sheikh Ali Omran. In the year 740 hej. (i339"4°) the amir
Pir Hussein allied himself with Muhammed, as we have seen, and
marched upon Shiraz, from which Masud Shah withdrew. Pir Hussein,
to reward his ally, gave him the government of Kerman. Muhammed
arrived there in July, 1340, and finding great distress, dispersed
his soldiers in the different cantons. Malik Kutb ud din Nikruz,
who held Kerman for the Mongol rulers, fled to the Prince of Herat,
who gave him some troops under Malik Daud. At their approach
Muhammed retired, but returned again presently with his son, Shah
Sherif ud din Mozaffar. A sharp fight took place at the Gate of the Four
Vaults, which was followed by the siege of the town. Presently, the
Malik Kutb ud din, feeling discouraged, withdrew toward Khorasan, and
Malik Daud was obliged to surrender the town. The capture of Kerman
was followed by that of the very strong fort of Bern. Meanwhile, Abu
Ishak made himself master of Fars, and, elated by his successes, he, in the
spring of 1347, marched against Kerman with a considerable force ; but
when he arrived at Behramjerd, fifteen parasangs from that town, he
heard that the Afghans, Yermans,+ and the nomad Arabs had sided with
Muhammed, and he withdrew again to Shiraz. Presently, he again
marched on Kerman, ravaging the country en route. Muhammed met
and defeated him, and compelled him to withdraw. Muhammed now
* Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 98-100. ,
t These, we are told, were troops sent by the Ilkhan to protect the frontier, at the demand
of Jelal ud din Siyurghatmish.

MUBARIZ UD DIN MUHAMMED. 695
had to repress a revolt of the Yermans and Afghans. He pillaged their
homes, and killed seven of their chiefs. The rest fortified themselves in
the very strong fortress of Suliman, and presently dared to meet
him in the plain of Thavan. They defeated him, and killed 800 of his
men, while he received seven wounds, and had his horse killed under him.
Although he had previously made peace with Abu Ishak, the latter sent
the amir Sultan Shah Jandar, with 2,000 men, to help the rebels, while
he himself marched upon Yezd with a considerable army. Muhammed
took refuge at Mibud, where, as we have seen, he successfully resisted
Abu Ishak's attacks. I have already described the issue of the struggle,
which lasted some time.* It ended in Muhammed securing Shiraz and
becoming master of Fars. He still had to face some rebellious chiefs,
who possessed fortresses of their own. Inter alios, Malik Ardeshir,
belonging to the royal race of the Shebankarehs, who raised the standard
of revolt at Ij, the capital of that principality. Muhammed sent his son,
Shah Mahmud, against him, who speedily captured the fortress, and
compelled the rebel to fly.t
In 1354 Muhammed marched upon Ispahan, where his enemy, Abu Ishak,
still retained authority. He planted his camp at Mardanan, and there
he swore allegiance to the Abbasidan Khalif, Mutadhid Billah Abubekr
Mustasimi, who lived in Egypt,' and whose name was now inserted in
the Friday prayer and on the coins. His example in this respect was
presently followed by Abu Ishak himself, as we know from his coins, and
subsequently by Muhammed's successor, Shah Shuja. After attacking
Ispahan for some time, Muhammed left an army there, under his nephew,
Shah Sultan, to press the siege, while he himself marched to Luristan
with his two sons, Shah Shuja and Shah Mahmud, to punish Kaiumars,
chief of the Lurs, for his continued hostility against his family. On his
return from this expedition, he repaired to Shiraz, where he put Abu
Ishak to death, Ispahan having in the meantime fallen into his nephew's
hands, t
Master of Kerman, Fars, and Irak Ajem, Muhammed, in the year 1359,
determined to march upon Tebriz, the famous capital of the Ilkhans.
Ashraf Khan, who had reigned there for some time, had been killed, as
we have seen, by Janibeg, the ruler of the Golden Horde, who, claiming
the heritage of the Ilkhans, had sent an envoy to Muhammed, confirming
him in the humble position of yassaul held by his father. Muhammed sent
back the envoy with an equally insulting message. Presently, having heard
that Janibeg had withdrawn beyond the Caucasus and left his lieutenant,
Akhijuk, in charge at Tebriz, he set out against him with an army of
70,000 horsemen. Akhijuk met him with 30,000 men at Mianeh.
Muhammed won the battle, entered Tebriz, and on the Friday following
* Ante, 691. t Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 108. I .d., 108-109.

696 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
mounted the minber, recited the khutbeh, and swore allegiance to the
Abbasidan Khalif; then, coming down from the pulpit, he performed the
functions of an imaum. Two months later he heard that Sultan Oweis was
marching from Baghdad against him, and he speedily withdrew again to
Ispahan. Meanwhile, Muhammed had to face troubles in his own
family. The partiality he manifested for his grandson, Shah Yahia, son of
Shah Muzaffar, who had shown great bravery at Mianeh, aroused the
jealousy of his two sons, Shah Shuja and Shah Mahmud ; in addition to
which he used towards them very foul language, and threatened to blind
or put them to death. He also determined to displace them from the
throne in favour of their younger brother, Abu Yezid. In order to
forestall him, they allied themselves with their cousin, Shah Sultan, and
arrested their father in his palace, while engaged in reading the Koran,
and while he had no one with him except Maulana Rokn ud din Heravi,
afterwards known among the poets as Rokn Sain. Under cover of the
night Muhammed was taken to the fortress of Tabrek, and on the night of
Friday, the 19th of Ramazan, 759 HEJ., Shah Sultan, no doubt with the
concurrence of Shah Shuja, had him blinded with a red hot bodkin.
He was then sent to Kalahi Se"fid (the White Castle), in Fars. In the
course of two months, having won over his guardians, he captured
the fortress, and fortified himself there. Shah Shuja sent envoys to
him, and it was agreed that he should return to Shiraz, that his name
should be replaced in the khutbeh and on the coin, and that matters
of state should not be decided without his concurrence. Presently, a plot
having arisen, in which Muhammed was implicated, to put Shah Shuja
to death, and to replace him by Abu Yezid, he had the conspirators
executed. Muhammed was remitted to prison, and there died on Rebi
the 1st, 765 (December, 1363). D'Ohsson says it was in January, 1364.*
Muhammed was undoubtedly a brave prince, and secured a large
dominion for himself. He was zealous for religion, and a patron of
learned men ; but he was rude in manner, and of a hard disposition,
perfidious, and bloodthirsty. Maulana Said Lutfallah, who was his
constant companion, is reported to have said : " I often saw culprits
brought before Muhammed while he was reading the Koran. He used
to stop reading, kill them with his own hand, and then resume his pious
occupation." Imad ud din Sultan Ahmed said of him : " My elder
brother, Shah Shuja, one day asked him, ' Have you killed a thousand
men with your own hand?' ' No,' he replied ; ' but I think I may have
killed eight hundred.' "t He had five sons, Shah Sherif ud din Muzaffar,
born in 1325, who died during the siege of Shiraz, as we have seen, in
1353 ; Shah Shuja, born in 1332, whose mother was Khan Kutlugh
Makhdum Shah, daughter of the former Sultan of Kerman, Shah Jihan ;
* Journ. Asiat, 4th ser., iv. 109-113. D'Ohsson, iv. 146. t Journ Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 113-114.

JELAL UD DIN SHAH SHUJA. 697
Kutb Shah Mahmud, born in 1337; and two younger sons, named Sultan
Imad ud din Ahmed and Abu Yezid.*
Mirkhond tells us that Muhammed became so zealous and strict that
he even exceeded the letter of the law itself in his prohibitions, whence his
sons and the wits of Shiraz named him the Mohtesib (i.e., superintendent
of police) of Shiraz, and he cites a distich of Hafiz, ending with the words,
" Drink your wine in secret, or you will be accused of impiety." Shah
Shuja, Muhammed's son, also made verses on the same subject, ending
thus : " All the good-for-nothing people have renounced the use of wine,
save the mohtesib of the town (i.e., his father, Muhammed), who finds it
possible to get drunk without drinking wine."t
In the British Museum are several coins of Muhammed, chiefly with
date and mint obliterated. Two of them were struck at Kashan and
Yezd respectively.
JELAL UD DIN SHAH SHUJA.
After his father's arrest, Shah Shuja went from Ispahan to Shiraz. He
gave the government of Kerman to Sultan Ahmed, that of Abrkuh and
Ispahan to Shah Mahmud, and ordered Shah Yahia to be imprisoned at
Kohendiz. He soon had to put down a revolt of the Afghans. This was
in 1359. It was not long before he also quarrelled with his brother, Shah
Mahmud, in consequence of his claiming the revenues of Abrkuh for
himself. This was in the year 764 HEJ. (i.e., 1362-3). Shah Mahmud
invaded and occupied Yezd, and on his return to Ispahan he suppressed
the name of Shah Shuja in the khutbeh, and renounced his allegiance
to him. Thereupon the latter beleagured him at Ispahan, but having
fallen into an ambuscade, he was captured and condemned to the same
punishment he had inflicted on his father. Presently, peace was restored
between the two brothers, on condition of Shah Shuja's name being
replaced in the khutbeh and on the coins.
Shah Yahia, having gained over his keepers, fortified himself in the
fortress of Kohendiz. Feeling too weak to resist his uncle, he submitted,
and was pardoned. He was thereupon sent to Yezd with a considerable
army, and made his way into the place with a hundred determined
followers through a subterranean aqueduct. The commander of the town
for Shah Mahmud fled, and he remained master of Yezd, where he
rebelled. Shah Shuja sent the vizier Khoja Kavam ud din against him ;
but, at the humble solicitation of Shah Yahia and his partisans, he
withdrew him. In the year 765 HEJ (1363-4), Shah Mahmud, having
secured help from Sultan Oweis, the ruler of Baghdad and Tebriz,
marched upon Shiraz. He was joined by the chiefs of the Lesser Lur, of
Rum, and Kashan, and won over Shah Yahia by promising him the
* Id., 99-100. t Id., v. 445. Notes.

698 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
government of Abrkuh. Shah Shuja abandoned Shiraz and repaired to
Beidha, from whence he marched upon his enemies. He was abandoned
by Sultan Ahmed, who was angry at the little confidence he put in him.
Nevertheless, he joined battle in the plain of Khansar and Seh-Chah
(the Three Wells). The result was indecisive ; but, during the night, he
withdrew to Shiraz, where he fortified himself, and where he was besieged
by the army of Baghdad and Irak.
Meanwhile, Devlet Shah and Malik Muhammed, whom he had sent to
collect the tribute of Kerman, rose in revolt, and captured his son,
Muzaffar ud din Sh£b£li, and imprisoned him in the green kiosk. Devlet
Shah then recognised the authority of Shah Mahmud, and put his name
in the khutbeh and on the coin. The siege of Shiraz had lasted for eleven
months, and Shah Shuja was being hard pressed, when an accommodation
was arranged between the two brothers, by which he agreed to retire to
Abrkuh, and to remain there for a month, while Shah Mahmud under
took to send back the troops of Sultan Oweis, and to treat with his elder
brother; but, having got possession of Shiraz, he forgot his promise. Shah
Shuja, after staying a few days at Abrkuh, determined to punish Devlet
Shah, and in a battle in which the latter's force was four times as numerous
as his own, he defeated and compelled him to fly to Kerman. Devlet Shah
now submitted ; but, having begun to conspire again, he was put to death,
with his accomplices. The people of Shiraz, weary of the domination of
the troops of Tebriz and Ispahan, sent to invite Shah Shuja to return. He
accordingly did so, and encountered Shah Mahmud near Besa. The
latter was beaten, and withdrew to Shiraz, which he abandoned in three
or four days, and went to Ispahan. This was the 26th Dulkadeh,
767 (1366).*
In the year 770 (1368-9), Shah Shuja recognised the Khalif Khir
Billah Muhammed, son of Abubekr, and hearing that his brother Mahmud
was again intriguing at Baghdad, he sent an envoy to Sultan Oweis to
ask for the hand of a princess of his house. Shah Mahmud, hearing of
this, also sent an envoy asking for the hand of one of his daughters. The
embarrassed Sultan, on the advice of his amirs, preferred the alliance
with Mahmud. He sent his daughter to Ispahan, and also sent an army
to his assistance. On the arrival of these troops, Shah Mahmud again
advanced on Shiraz, and a battle was fought in the plain of Chasht Khar.
Shah Shuja's right wing defeated the left wing of Mahmud, while his left
wing was defeated by the enemy's right. The indecisive battle was
followed by the flight of a portion of Shah Mahmud's army to Ispahan,
and of that of Sultan Shuja to Shiraz. Ashamed of this flight, the
latter wished to march again against his brother, but was dissuaded
by his nephew, Shah Mansur, and soon after Shah Mahmud returned
again to Ispahan. * Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., v. 437-441.

JELAL UD DIN SHAH SHUJA. 699
Towards the end of Ramazan, 776 HEJ. (1375), a messenger arrived at
Shiraz with the news of the death of Sultan Oweis, which was followed
by that of the death of Shah Mahmud. This last happened on the 1 3th of
March, 1375. The people of Ispahan were not agreed about his successor.
The greater number favoured Shah Shuja, but others supported Kutb ud
din Oweis, his son. Eventually, the Khoja Bahai ud din Kurchi and
Salah ud din, the treasurer, sent people to Shiraz, to announce that the
greater part of the amirs, and the chiefs of Shah Mahmud's Court, had
recognised Kutb ud din as Sultan. The two chiefs just named had
transported Mahmud's treasureto the fortress of Tabrek, where they had
sustained two assaults. Thereupon Shah Shuja set out for Ispahan. The
chiefs of Irak came to him at each station to offer presents. When
Kutb ud din heard of this he took counsel with his partisans, and sent to
ask his father's pardon. This was granted, and he went to his camp,
where, shortly after, according to Mirkhond, he was poisoned, by his
order. When Shah Shuja reached Ispahan, the Malik Fakhr ud din,
ruler of Little Luristan, who had been a dependant of the Muzaffarians,
and had afterwards gone over to Sultan Oweis of Baghdad, sent him
envoys, with a present of racehorses and other precious things. He also
inserted his name in the khutbeh and on the coin. The amir Siyurghatmish
Arghani also joined him, with 2,000 horsemen. Meanwhile, he heard
that the chiefs of Azerbaijan were discontented with Sultan Hussein, son
of Sultan Oweis, who passed his time with musicians and singers, and he
accordingly determined to capture Tebriz. He therefore marched
thither with 12,000 of the men of Irak and Fars. On the way, the people
of Kazvin resisted, but the place was speedily captured ; he would not
allow it to be pillaged, however, and moved on. He met Sultan Hussein,
who was at the head of 30,000 men, at Jerbadekan, defeated him, and
captured Abd el Kadir and the Pehluvan Haji Kharbendeh, two of the
principal amirs of Azerbaijan, whom he sent in chains to Shiraz. Having
announced his victory in various directions, he now approached Tebriz,
whence the Seyids, the mollahs, and the grandees of Azerbaijan went to
meet him, and were allowed to kiss his hand. He passed the winter
there enjoying himself, sent his nephew, Shah Mansur, to Karabagh with
2,000 horsemen, dispatched Ferrukh Agha to Nakhchivan, and ordered
the amir Seljuk to occupy Aujan. The latter was not long left alone, but
having been joined by another amir named Isfahan Shah with some
troops, the two were attacked by two amirs of Azerbaijan, who lived on
the rivers Jaghatu and Baghatu. Isfahan Shah was made prisoner, while
Seljuk, in attempting to escape, fell from the roof of his house, and broke
both his legs. Their troops were either killed or dispersed. News also
arrived that Sultan Hussein was on the march. Thereupon Shah Shuja,
whose army was dispersed in various places, and who was suffering from
gout in the foot, had to retreat. It was the middle of winter, and he was

700 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
carried in a litter. When he arrived at Kazvin the people refused to
supply him with food and forage. According to one account he did not
punish them, but marched on. According to another, exasperated at
their having killed a messenger of peace sent to them by one of their own
people, the Khoja Mejd ud din Kakum, he ordered the town to be attacked.
It was captured and pillaged. Two months afterwards, Sultan Hussein
having re-entered Tebriz, sent a messenger to Shah Shuja, offering to
exchange Isfahan Shah for the two amirs captured at Jarbadekan. This
was arranged.*
Shah Shuja, having secured the hand of a daughter of Sultan Oweis
for his son, Zain al Abidin, gave the young prince the government of
Ispahan. He now discovered a plot, in which his nephew, Shah
Yahia, was in correspondence with the Pehluvan Akad, son of Toghan
Shah Khorasani, whom he had appointed governor of Kerman, and
was inciting him to rebel. He accordingly sent an army to attack
Yezd, which was Shah Yahia's appanage. The latter fought a fierce
battle outside the town, but was driven inside, and being hard pressed
there, had recourse, we are told, to his usual weapons — perfidy and
trickery. He sent a message out to the besiegers, begging them not to
attack him, as he was about to send Shah Shuja an envoy. Believing in
his word, the soldiers withdrew to their tents, where they were presently
attacked unawares and routed, and a large booty fell into Shah Yahia's
hands. When he heard of this, Shah Shuja determined to march in
person on Yezd. From this he was dissuaded by Shah Mansur, who
offered to go himself and capture the place. Shah Shuja gave him some
troops, with which he proceeded to attack his brother. Almost everyday
there was a struggle, in which the people of Yezd had the worst of it.
Eventually, Shah Yahia sent out their common mother to make terms
with his brother. Peace was arranged, and the besieging army returned
home, except Shah Mansur and a few of his friends, who wished to enter
the town. Shah Yahia replied that the place was too small for his needs,
and, in a characteristic way, suggested that Shah Mansur should go to
Asterabad to the amir Vali, and, having obtained an army from him, they
should make common cause against their uncle, Shah Shuja. Shah
Mansur delayed two or three days, but not being able to enter the town,
he set out for Asterabad, cursing in his heart his brother's treachery.
When Shah Shuja heard of all this, he marched himself upon Yezd. Shah
Yahia, thoroughly frightened, sent a deputation to appease his uncle,
which included the latter's son, Sultan Shah, his sister, Khan Zadeh, and
his own son, Sultan Jihanghir, with his other relations. Once more they
succeeded in reconciling Shah Shuja, who again returned to his capital.
Meanwhile, the Pehluvan Akad, of whom we have spoken, was besieged
* Journ. Asiat, 4th ser., v. 441-451.

JELAL UD DIN SHAH SHUJA. 70 1
in Kerman, first by Sultan Ahmed, and then by the Pehluvan Taj ud din
Khurrem. He was compelled to surrender, and was put to death, with his
principal wife. This was in Ramazan, 776 HEJ. (February, 1375.)*
In the year 781 hej. (1379-80), having learnt that Sarik Adil, one of
the amirs of Sultan Hussein, was collecting an army at Sultania, with the
intention of attacking him, he determined to forestall him, and marched
thither. He was sitting at table outside his tent, when a cloud of dust
announced the approach of Sarik Adil and his people. He speedily put
his men in order of battle, gave the command of the right wing to Sultan
Ahmed and Zain al Abidin ; the left wing to Sultan She'be'li and Shah
Hussein, brother of Shah Mansur ; and himself retained command of the
centre. The enemy numbered 24,000 horsemen, whose charge broke
Shah Shuja's ranks. He himself was dismounted and surrounded, and
defended himself bravely with his scimitar. Malik Baurji, one of his
bravest warriors, mounted him on his horse, on which he would have
fled ; but Akhi Kuchuk, one of his chief officers, said to him, " If you fly,
not one of these men will remain alive." While they were discussing,
ten or fifteen brave men rallied round them. A cloud of dust arose.
Some said, " It is the enemy." Akhi Kuchuk rode on to see, and when he
came near the dust he found it was some men of Shah Hussein, who were
fleeing with the standard and an assload of kettledrums. He ordered
them to sound an announcement of good news. When those who were
fleeing heard this, they rallied to the standard. They charged the
enemy, who were engaged in pillaging, and put them to flight. Shah
Shuja passed the night on the field of battle, and encamped the next day
at the gates of Sultania, where Sarik Adil and his amirs fortified
themselves. Presently they sued for peace (which was granted them),
and sent out some rich presents. Sarik Adil went, unaccompanied, and
kissed the hand of Shah Shuja, who presented him with a khelat from his
own wardrobe, and a girdle incrusted with precious stones, and then
returned home again.
Zain al Abidin, who was very young, misbehaved himself at Ispahan.
He was deprived of that government, and imprisoned for some days.
His place was given to the amir Pehluvan Khurrem, who kept it till his
death. Pir Ali Barik, one of the principal amirs of Azerbaijan, having
aroused the jealousy of the notables of that country, fled to Shah Shuja,
who presented him with several strings of horses, mules, and camels
loaded with rich objects — among other things, kettledrums and a standard.
He intrusted him with a considerable army, and ordered him to march
upon Shuster. He speedily captured this place, and leaving one of his
men, named Islam, took 5,000 men with him, with which he attacked
Baghdad. This he also captured, and placed Shah Shuja's name in the
* Id., 45'-454-

702 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Friday prayer and on the money. When Shah Shuja heard of these
successes, he sent Pir Ali a shoulder belt decorated with stones, and an
affectionate letter* From the account in the " Habib as siyer," it would
seem that Pir Ali was in league with Sheikh Ali, who was then governor
of Baghdad on behalf of Hussein.t Hussein, it would seem, marched
against Baghdad in 782 hej. with Sarik Adil, and drove out his brother
and Pir Ali, who retired again to Shuster ; but it was not long before an
outbreak of the people compelled him to retire, and the two allies again
entered the place.
In August or September, 1381, Hussein was murdered by his brother,
Sultan Ahmed, who occupied Tebriz.J Sheikh Ali, another brother, now
marched against him with Pir Ali. A violent struggle ensued, in which
they were both killed, and Baghdad thus fell into Sultan Ahmed's hands.
Meanwhile, Shah Mansur had been wandering for some time in the
district of Mazanderan, and had gone from there to Sultania, where he
was imprisoned and bound by Sarik Adil. Escaping, he fled to his
uncle, Sultan Ahmed, who received him well. Islam, who commanded
at Shuster, as we have seen, sent to inform Shah Shuja of Mansur's
return, and for fear of a surprise he sent Pehluvan Ali Shah Mezinani
to Islam's help. On his arrival, he tried to murder Islam, but was
himself killed in the attempt. After this murder, Shah Mansur occupied
Shuster. He made continual attacks upon Luristan, whereupon Shems
ud din Pe'sheng, prince of that country, implored the aid of Shah
Shuja, and offered, if assisted, to re-conquer Shuster. Shah Shuja
would have marched against Shuster, when he received a message
from Sultan Ahmed in these terms : " Sarik Adil has put my young
brother, Sultan Bayazid, on the throne of Sultania, and aroused
animosity between us. As his majesty Shah Shuja stands in the position
of father towards me, I trust he will try to restore peace between two
brothers." Shah Shuja sent a messenger back with a favourable reply,
while he sent word to Pe'sheng that he was about to set out for Sultania,
but that on his return they should meet at Shuster. The people about
Sultan Sh<§b£li incited him against his father, and also reported to Shah
Shuja the various bitter things which his son said against him, both in
private and public, and fearing that he might have to submit to the same
punishment he had inflicted on his own father, he, in July, 1383, ordered
Shdbfli to be arrested, and to be transported to Kalahi Sdfid, in Fars, and
thence to the castle of Aklid and Sarmak. Two or three days after, he,
when drunk, ordered the amir Ramadhan Akhtaji and the khoja Jauher
Kuchuk to blind his son. In vain, at the solicitation of the khoja
Turanshah, he tried to recall his order ; the courier he had dispatched
for the purpose arrived too late.j$
* Journ. Asiat, 4th ser., v. 454-457. t Weil, v. 17. J Id., 17-18.
§ Journ. Asiat, 4th ser., v. 459-461.

JELAL UD DIN SHAH SHUJA'. 703
When Shah Shuja reached Sultania, Sarik Adil, fearing his junction
with Sultan Ahmed, came out of the citadel with Bayazid and went to
meet him, and was received with every mark of honour and respect.
He then sent an envoy to Sultan Ahmed, and succeeded in making
peace between him . and Bayazid. After this he went to Shuster
by way of the Lesser Lur, and accompanied by Sarik Adil. It
was winter, and we are told that during their march it rained five days
and nights successively. According to his promise, the atabeg Pesheng
went to meet him. The river at Shuster proved impassable, and Shah
Mansur being posted on the further side with 7,000 well-armed men,
Shah Shuja deemed it prudent to withdraw ; but he promised the atabeg
to send an army under his brother Abu Yezid, to help him to conquer
the place. He returned to Shiraz by way of Kuhi Kiluieh. As he passed
through Shulistan, he was taken ill, and halted awhile till he had recovered.
When he reached Shiraz he abandoned himself to his love for wine, and
as he took little nourishment, he undermined his constitution and lost his
appetite. As he saw that he could not live long, he superintended the
preparations for his own funeral, and ordered ten hafiz to be continually
with him to read the Koran through, every day. The amirs were
meanwhile divided into two factions, one of which swore allegiance to
his son, Zain al Abidin, and the other to his brother, Imad ud din Ahmed.
Shah Shuja having heard of this, summoned his brother. The two when
together began to weep, and we are told that sobs stopped their conversa
tion. Ahmed went out, in order that his brother might recover his
self-possession. Thereupon, the latter summoned Pir Shah, Ahmed's
cpnfidential servant, and bade him tell his master these words : " The
world is like the shadow of a cloud, and like a dream ; like the former, it is
continually moving, and when a man awakes he merely possesses a faint
memory of the latter. I foresee much trouble in this town. Our first
residence was the city of Kerman. I have never had to complain of thee.
Now that I am going to set out on my journey to the other world, if thou
beginnest to create strife, God will be dissatisfied as well as I, and it will
be necessarily a subject of rejoicing ~for our enemies. Go at once to
Kerman, and leave this city full of trouble." Ahmed consented, and the
same day set off thither.*
Shah Shuja now wrote a letter to the Great Timur, who had then
advanced into Khorasan, and was menacing Mazanderan. He intrusted
this letter to Omar Shah, one of his principal amirs, and in it he
commended to the great conqueror his son, Zain al Abidin, as well as his
other sons, his brothers, and nephews. A similar letter was addressed to
Ahmed, the Sultan of Baghdad. This was in the year 784 hej. (1382).
Among the presents he sent to Timur are mentioned precious stones
* Id; 461-464.

7°4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
and pearls, gold rings and gold coins, rich stuffs, Arab horses, fast mules,
with golden saddles ; several teams of six mules each, richly harnessed ;
cuirasses decked with silk, rich furniture, a grand scarlet dai's, a royal
pavilion, a tent, and a grand umbrella. Omar Shah was duly presented,
and delivered the letter to Timur, and the presents to his officers. He was
well received, and Timur gave him gold coin, a khelat from his own
wardrobe, a girdle, a khanjar, a scimitar decorated with precious stones,
and some horses, and sent him back with a favourable answer, and
accompanied by one of his officers bearing rich presents for his master.
He also sent to ask for the hand of his daughter for his grandson, Mirza
Pir Muhammed. According to Mirkhond, the wife of Pir Muhammed
was a daughter of Sultan Oweis, son of Shah Shuja. According to Sherif
ud din, in the beginning of the year 783 HEJ., Timur sent Unkaitu and
Haji Khoja to Shiraz to bring home the princess. The Princess Serai
Mulk Khanum, Tuman Aga, and other great ladies went out to meet her,
and received her with great ceremony ; scattered precious stones, seed-
pearls, and gold dust over her, and prepared the marriage banquet, &c*
Shah Shuja continued his preparations for his funeral. He chose the
linen for his own shroud, and ordered the carpenters in his presence
to make the coffin which was to hold his corpse. He nominated a ulema,
distinguished for his piety, to wash his body ; and summoned the Amir
Ikhtiar ud din Kasam Kurji, from Kerman, in order that he might
transport his coffin to Medina. Nor did he forget to leave rich presents
for the pious people at Mekka and Medina. At length he died on the
22nd of Shaban, 786 HEJ. (the 9th of October, 1384), at the age of 53 years
and two months. The date 786, according to several writers, was
expressed by an Arab phrase, meaning, " It is a loss to Shah Shuja,"
which chronogram, according to Sherif ud din, was constructed by Hafiz.f
According to Mirkhond, Shah Shuja bore an excellent character. He
was learned, liberal, and brave. It is said that, when nine years old, he
knew the Koran off by heart, and his memory was so good that he could
remember seven or eight Arab verses after hearing them once. He
composed a large number of verses in Persian and Arabic, several of
which are preserved by Mirkhond, and in the Atesh Ke'deh of Lutf
Ali Beg. Mirkhond justifies his eulogy by quoting, inter alia, this
anecdote about him : One day he was returning to his palace from
the archery ground, when a woman put the following statement
in his hand : " I am a woman without means, and have lost my
husband ; my two daughters are in pledge to a Jew, who has recently
embraced Islam, for the sum of 400 dinars. ' If the Padishah would deign
to rescue these poor girls, God will remember the good act, and I shall
be grateful all my life." Shah Shuja, having learnt the contents of the
* Op. cit., i. 389-90. t Journ. Asiat, 4th ser., v. 465, and notes.

JELAL UD DIN SHAH SHUJA. 705
paper, replying, said : " At the day of resurrection, and when everyone
shall be rewarded according to his works, if I am asked how it came
about that during my reign two young girls, Muhammedans by birth, had
been pledged to a converted Mussulman, what shall I say?" Having
dismounted and sat down, he said : " Let each one that is devoted to me
bring me something, according to his means." The amirs, notables, and
even servants thereupon placed on the ground what they could spare in
money, precious things, &c, till the whole heap was of the value of
100,000 dinars. He then said to those about him, " Which of you would
become my relation ? " A young man, named Adineh, belonging to the
company of the amir Isfahan Shah, bending the knee, said : " I am the
first to claim this privilege." Shah Shuja asked him what was the value
of his annual income. He replied, " One thousand dinars." The king
ordered 19,000 dinars to be added to this. Khosru Shah, who served in
the company of the amir Alai ud din Inak, having next offered himself,
his pay was fixed at 20,000 dinars. Shah Shuja then ordered 400 dinars
to be paid to the man who had the two girls in pawn, to redeem
them. One of them was then taken to the household of the Princess
Durri Mulk, and the other to that of Muhab Shah Khatun, and he
sent 30,000 dinars to each princess to prepare a trousseau with. The
pile of wealth was made over to the widow ; and when the preparations
were ready, he went with all his amirs and the princesses to the
marriage of his two protdgds with the two young men whom he had
constituted his relations in this odd fashion.
As I have said, Shah Shuja was an accomplished literary man, and,
inter alia, wrote verses. It was possibly from a feeling of jealousy or
pique that he took a dislike to the famous poet Hafiz, the greatest
ornament of his kingdom. Khuandemir tells a singular story in regard
to this. It was the fashion in writing a gazel, love poem, &c, to limit it
to a single subject, and not to introduce parenthetical matter. Shah
Shuja said one day to Hafiz : " The verses of your gazels do not limit
themselves to one subject only. On the contrary, three or four verses
are devoted to a description of wine, two or three to the doctrine of the
Sufis, and one or two to a description of the object of love. This mixture
in one and the same gazel is contrary to the practice of the best authors."
The Khoja replied : " The sacred words of His Majesty the King are most
true ; but, nevertheless, the poems of Hafiz have acquired great fame
everywhere, while the verses of other poets are not known outside
Shiraz." This repartee was accepted as a personal affront by Shah
Shuja, who determined to be avenged. It happened that about this time
Hafiz wrote an ode, of which the last verse ran somewhat thus : " Alas,
Islamism is the creed of Hafiz, and is it true that a to-morrow (i.e., a day of
resurrection) follows upon to-day." Shah Shuja having read this, declared
that Hafiz did not believe in a resurrection, and some learned doctors who
x*

706 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
were envious of him determined to obtain a fetva, or judicial decision,
declaring anyone to be an infidel (Kaffir) who should deny the resurrection.
Hafiz, greatly troubled at this charge, repaired to the Sheikh Zain ud din
Abubekr Taiabady, who had made a pilgrimage to Mekka and returned
to Shiraz, and reported to him what had happened. The latter advised
him to interpolate a verse before the incriminated one, putting the latter
in some one else's mouth, when he would come under the rule expressed
in the proverb : " To quote the opinion of a heretic is not heresy." There
upon the Khoja composed the following verse : " How much I have been
troubled by these words spoken by a Christian one morning at the door
of a tavern, to the sound of the drum, flute," &c. Having duly interpolated
this, he escaped the penalty.
Khuandemir mentions among the contemporaries of Hafiz a poet named
Khoja Imad. He was a jurisconsult of Kerman, and head of a monastery ;
and Shah Shuja professed a great reverence for him. It was said that
whenever he prayed his cat imitated him, which the Sultan looked upon
as a miracle. Hafiz being jealous, composed the following gazel : " The
Sufi has hung up his nets and opened the cover of his box. He has
commenced to practise tricks towards heaven which are fertile in illusions ;
but the latter will break the eggs in his cap : for he has exhibited his
juggleries before those who are in the secret. Approach ! oh cupbearer !
for the elegant mistress of the Sufis has presented herself in all her
splendour, and commenced her coquetry. Whence comes this musician,
who, having commenced after the manner of Irak, has changed into that
of the Hijaz ? Come ! oh my heart ! let us seek refuge with God against
those who shorten their sleeves and lengthen their hands (i.e., against the
hypocritical Sufi who, with a pretence of austerity, allows injustice to be
done). Never employ artifice ; for whoever does not play the game of
love with sincerity, will close the gate of reality to himself. To-morrow
(i.e., in the day of resurrection), he who has been moved by human motives
only shall be covered with shame at the sight of the throne of spiritual
doctrine. Oh ! partridge with the graceful step, where goest thou ?
Stop ! Be not led away because the cat of this saint has been praying.
And you, Hafiz, do not blame the drunkard ; since, from all time, God
has permitted both devotion and hypocrisy." *
Shah Shuja left four sons, Zain al Abidin, Muzaffer ud din Sh&aiii,
Kutb ud din Oweis, and Moiz ud din Jihanghir. Shah Shuja's various
mint towns prove how widely his authority was obeyed. General A.
Houtum Schindler enumerates the following : Bender, Lurdejan, Rahin,
Kerman, Idej, Shiraz, Yezd, Bazuft, Marlahu, Shetankdreh, Kazirun,
Abrkuh, Sirjan, and Beljan (?)+ Mr. Poole, in his catalogue of the coins
in the British Museum, adds Kashan, Shabiran, and Lar.J
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 408-413. t Numismatic Chronicle, Ixxx. 324, &c.
I Op. cit., vi. 235-241,

2AIN AL ABIDIN, SHAH MANSUR, ETC. 707
General Houtum Schindler has some valuable notes on the more
obscure of these towns. Sirjan, he says, was formerly the capital of
Bardsir. It is now a district of the Kerman province, its principal place
being Saidabad, a large village in a fertile plain, five stages from Kerman
on the road to Shiraz. Bender, he suggests, was the principal port of
Kerman or Fars, perhaps Hormuz or Kish, adding, that the people of
Shiraz and Kerman now say shortly Bender, when they speak of the chief
ports of their province, Bushin and Bender Abbas.
Idij was the capital of Great Luristan, its ruins being still visible on the
Malamir plain, 121 miles from Shuster on the Ispahan road. Bazuft and
Liirdej£n were also towns of Luristan, about half-way between Shuster
and Ispahan. Two head streams of the river of Shuster have the same
names. Rahin was probably the modern Rayin, or Rahin, a large village sixty
miles south-east of Kerman on the road to Bam. In 1877 it had 2,546
inhabitants. Marlahu is probably the modern Maharlu, about twenty
miles south-east of Shiraz.
ZAIN AL ABIDIN, SHAH MANSUR, &C.
On Shah Shuja's death, his empire was divided among his relatives.
His eldest son, Zain al Abidin, took Fars, with its capital of Shiraz ; his
brother, Sultan Ahmed, became the ruler of Kerman ; his nephew, Shah
Yahia, took Yezd ; and another nephew, Shah Mansur, took Ispahan.
Zain al Abidin soon found himself at strife with his cousin Yahia and his
uncle Abusaid.
A little before Timur reached Ghilan, in his western progress, he sent
Merahem to Zain al Abidin to summon him to his presence, as he
wanted to show him the goodwill he bore him on account of his father,
from whom he had received the letter already referred to. Instead of
going he arrested Timur's envoy, and the latter thereupon determined to
invade Fars and Irak. He ordered some of his best troops to go on
ahead with the baggage by way of Rai, and to winter at Sarik Kamish.
With them went the Mirza Miran Shah, the Amir Seif ud din, and the
Sheikh Ali Behadur ; the rest of the army, with the imperial standard,
advanced by Hamadan and Jerbadeken upon Ispahan. Zain al Abidin's
maternal uncle, Sai Muzaffer Shashi, who then governed the town for his
nephew, went out to implore Timur's clemency, accompanied by the
Khoja Rokn ud din Said, and the grandees, Sherifs, doctors of the law,
&c. They were well received, and allowed to kiss the imperial carpet.
The troops having seized all the entrances into the town, Timur entered
it in triumph, and afterwards retired to the fort of Tabarek. He
nominated Aikutmur its governor, appointed guards for the gates, and
ordered that all the horses and arms in the town should be surrendered

708 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to him, an order which was obeyed. The grandees went to the imperial
camp, where the sum to be paid for the ransom of the inhabitants was
fixed. For the purpose of collecting this money, the place was divided
into different quarters, an amir being assigned to each, and the sum was
ordered to be paid to Nur Mulk Berlas and Muhammed Sultan Shah,
Timur meantime detaining the grandees as hostages. Unfortunately, a
reckless young blacksmith, named Ali Kuchapa, having beaten a drum in
the night in the town, this collected a number of vagabonds, who killed
all Timur's commissaries, except those who were protected by some of the
more prudent inhabitants. A large number of soldiers who had ventured
into the town were also murdered, among them being Muhammed, the
son of Katei Behadur. More than 3,000 men are thus said to have
perished. The mob then seized the gates, and proceeded to fortify them.
The next day, Timur having heard what had happened, was in a terrible
rage, and ordered the place to be stormed. It was speedily captured,
and a general massacre ensued, save of those who had protected the
commissaries, and in whose houses a certain number of fugitives found
safety. The quarter of the Sherifs, the street of the Turekes, where the
doctors of the law lived, and especially the house of the Khoja Imam ud
din, although that famous preacher had been dead a year, were also
spared. So great was Timur's rage, that he ordered each section of his
army to furnish a certain number of heads, and it is said, adds Sherif ud
din, that many soldiers, unwilling to slaughter Mussulmans, bought heads
from the police authorities. At first a head was sold for twenty dinars
kopeghi ; but presently, when each soldier had furnished his tale, the
price fell to half a dinar, and at last was unsaleable. The soldiers,
exasperated by the slaughter of their comrades, followed the wretched
victims by their footsteps in the snow. The smallest calculation, based
on the registers, puts the number of the slain at 70,000. The heads
were placed in heaps outside the walls of Ispahan, and eventually were
built up into pyramids. This slaughter took place on the 18th of
November, 1387, and Sherif ud din, moralising on the unaccountable ways
of the infinite providence of God, concludes that the tragedy was
connected with the unfortunate conjunction of the stars, when the two
ill-omened planets, Saturn and Mars, were in the sign of the Crab, and
the eleventh of the aerial triplets was in the sign of the Twins.*
Having named Haji Bey and Nunan Shah, governors of Ispahan for a
year, Timur marched upon Shiraz. Zain al Abidin, on hearing of this, fled
to his cousin, Shah Mansur, who was at Shuster, and with whom he was
not on good terms, thus imitating, says Timur's historian, the man who
threw himself into the fire to avoid the heat of the sun. When he reached
the River Dudankeh, Shah Mansur corrupted his troops, who nearly all
* Sherif ud din, i. 447-454.

ZAIN AL ABIDIN, SHAH MANSUR, ETC. 709
went over to him. Zain al Abidin was seized, put in irons, and taken to
the castle of Selaseh. Shah Mansur eventually imprisoned the soldiers
who had deserted their master, and confiscated their goods. Timur now
occupied Shiraz without resistance, and the imperial standard having
been planted at a place called Takt Karajeh, outside the town, the various
officials of the kingdom went to do homage, and agreed to pay a thousand
tumans into Timur's treasury. A grand f£te was also held, which was
honoured by the presence of Timur himself; the khutbeh was said in his
name, and, after prayer and sacrifice, he retired to his camp. In such a
case, the sacrifice consisted of a camel. Shah Yahia, prince of Yezd, with
his eldest son, Sultan Muhammed, Sultan Ahmed, prince of Kerman, Abu
Ishak, a nephew of Shah Shuja, lord of Sirjan, with all the neighbouring
rulers, including the atabegs of Lur and Gurghin Lar, said to have
been of the race of Gurghin Milad, all made their submission, and were
treated with great honour ; and letters were written, describing the recent
successes, which were sent in various directions.* Troubles in Trans
oxiana compelled Timur to return to Samarkand. Before doing so, he
gave the government of Shiraz to Shah Yahia, that of Ispahan to the
latter's eldest son, Muhammed ; Kerman to Sultan Ahmed, and Sirjan to
Abu Ishak. All these princes received letters patent, sealed with the
imperial seal, called " altamgha." The Sherif Gerjani, the Amir Aladin
Inak, and the principal amirs of Shah Shuja were sent to Samarkand,
together with the most skilled handicraftsmen, and set out for his capital.
This was Muharrem, 790. t En route he passed through Abrkuh, where
the Pehluvan Muhaddeb Khorasani, who had governed the town on
behalf of Shah Shuja for a long time, was very submissive, gave the great
conqueror a feast, and was duly confirmed in his government.
Of all the Muzaffarian princes, Shah Mansur alone had failed to send in
his submission to Timur, and on the latter's withdrawal, he left Shuster
and marched upon Shiraz. The Sherifs of the town, with their disciples,
opened the gate of Salem to him. As he entered, his brother, Shah
Yahia, left the place by the gate of Sadet, and went to Yezd. He thus
secured the capital of Fars. Meanwhile, Zain al Abidin, who had been
imprisoned, as we have seen, at Kerikerd, four leagues from Shuster,
escaped, and went to Malik Az ud din Kerit at Urudgerd. Together
they went to Ispahan, whence Sultan Muhammed withdrew into the
citadel, and a month later went to join his father at Yezd. Shah Mansur
having secured the fortresses of Bid, Sermak, Meruset, and Abrkuh, soon
after heard that Zain al Abidin, at the head of an army, was marching
against him. The two armies met at the foot of the fortress of Ishtakr, at
the end of the new bridge. Shah Mansur's troops swam the river, and
attacked their enemy so sharply that Zain al Abidin was compelled to
* Id., 454-462. t Id., 470-471.

7IO HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
retire to Ispahan. The Pehluvan Muhaddeb, fearing that Shah Mansur
would conquer the whole kingdom, having entered into a solemn alliance
with Shah Yahia, invited him to Abrkuh, and lodged him in a small
palace, which he had built and decorated for himself. The prince's
officers persuaded him to act treacherously towards his host, who was
seized, put in chains, sent to the castle of Melus, on the borders of Yezd,
and eventually put to death. Leaving the Amir Muhammed Kurchi with
a force to garrison Abrkuh, Shah Yahia returned to Yezd.
Shah Mansur speedily heard of these events, advanced upon Abrkuh,
and captured the town, its governor having withdrawn to the citadel.
This, however, he surrendered by order of his master, on condition that
Shah Mansur did not advance upon Yezd. The latter, therefore,
contented himself with ravaging the country on the way to Ispahan,
then returned to Shiraz. The next year he repeated his destructive
raid in the same district. Zain al Abidin, feeling himself thus hard
pressed, appealed to his relatives for help. The princes of Kerman and
Sirjan, at the head of their troops, with some other chiefs of the house of
Muzaffar, went to his aid, and they advanced upon Shiraz, wasting the
country, especially the country of Kerbal. Shah Mansur encountered
them at a place called Yuruz, and defeated the allies, who each fled to his
own appanage. In the spring of the following year, Shah Mansur again
advanced upon Ispahan, which was surrendered to him apparently
through the treachery of the Khoja Az ud din. Zain al Abidin fled,
apparently intending to join Timur ; but he was captured near Rai,
between Veramin and Shehriar, by Musa Shuker, who sent him to Shah
Mansur. He was now blinded with a hot iron. Mansur now made two
attempts upon Yezd. On the second occasion, Shah Yahia's mother, who
was also his mother, came out of the town, and said to him : "Your elder
brother, with his children, contenting himself with the town of Yezd, has
given up to you the kingdoms of Fars and Irak. If you molest him
there, you will be much blamed." She persuaded him to withdraw from
Yezd, and to return to Shiraz.
Timur's historian proceeds to say that " during these years there were
other struggles between the princes of the house of Muzaffar, whose
nature it was to make war upon one another, which caused great disorder
in the empire of Iran. The kingdom of Persia was only one, and ten
kings claimed to rule it ; but they were, so to say, so many plagues, who
maltreated the people and desolated the country."* These events made
Shah Mansur master of Fars, Khuzistan, and a part of Irak Ajem. They
doubtless also tempted Timur to make another attack upon Persia. He
reached Urudgerd on the 26th of February, 1393, a few days later captured
Kurram Abad, in Luristan, severely punished the predatory Lurs,
* Sherif ud din, i. 173-183.

ZAIN AL ABIDIN, SHAH MANSUR, ETC. 711
and dispatched an army under the Mirza Miran Shah against Kashan,
which was surrendered by Meluk Serbedal, who commanded there on
behalf of Shah Mansur. Timur himself crossed the River Zal, a tributary
of the Kerkhan, which falls into the Tigris, near Kurneh, by a famous
bridge, said to have been built by order of the ancient Persian king,
Sapor Julektaf. It was made of dressed stone and brick, and consisted
of twenty-eight great arches and twenty-seven small ones. He then
advanced, by way of Dezful, upon Shuster, and halted by the River Karun,
which flows past the town. Ali Kutual and Izfandiar Nami, who
commanded there for Shah Mansur, had fled, and the grandees and
Sherifs thereupon surrendered it. The surrounding country was, however,
pillaged, and a large number of horses and mules were captured and
distributed among the soidiers.*
Early in March, Timur crossed the River Karun, and encamped in a
grove of palms outside the town. There he was joined by the Mirzas
Muhammed Sultan and Pir Muhammed, who had been traversing
Kurdistan and Luristan, and punishing their unruly inhabitants.t He
also summoned the Mirza Omar Sheikh, and having left the Khoja Masud
Sebzevari with the troops of Sebzevar (which he commanded) in charge
of Shuster, he set out for Shiraz, crossing the rivers Dudankeh and
Shurukan Kendeh. On the 15th of March, 1393, he reached Ram
Hormuz, where Pir Muhammed, the prince of Great Luristan, did
homage, offered presents, and joined his army. On the 25th of the same
" month he reached the famous fortress of Kalaa Sefid, where Zain al
Abidin was then imprisoned. It was situated on a mountain with scarped
sides, and approached only by one small pathway. The top of the
mountain was a plateau, a league square, well watered, and well
cultivated. It was deemed impregnable, and had never been stormed,
and many of the princes had built country houses there. Sherif ud din
says that the approach to it was so difficult, that three men could defend
the path against 100,000. Its natural defences were supplemented by
walls built of great stones, cemented by lime, and as its pastures could
support large herds of cattle and much game, it was deemed useless to try
and starve the garrison out. Sadet commanded it on behalf of Shah
Mansur. Timur having arrived there, and closely inspected the place,
determined to try and capture it. Divided into several sections, his
soldiers clambered up the rocks, pick in hand, amidst showers of arrows
and stones. One of the officers, named Akbugha, scrambled on to a
scarped point, deemed unapproachable, and, under cover of his shield,
pressed the enemy there so hard that they were discouraged, and
ceased fighting. Others followed him, others again made their way up
by similar routes, while the Mirza Muhammed Sultan with his men

* Id., 167-172. Weil, v. 37. Note. t Sherif ud din, ii. 172-173.

712 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
reached the gate of the fortress, raised their horsetail standards, and
cried, " Victory ! " The fort was stormed, and its garrison thrown over
the precipices. The governor Sadet was executed, as a punishment
for holding out so stubbornly. Zain al Abidin was captured, and taken
before Timur, who gave him a robe, consoled him, and promised to punish
Shah Mansur. Timur also released all the women whom the soldiers had
captured. Akbugha was rewarded for his bravery, and loaded with
money, tents, horses, camels, and mules, and also young girls ; " and this
officer, who the previous day had no other property than his horse, could
hardly realise that it was not a dream." Leaving Malik Muhammed-
Aoubehi in charge of the fortress, he set out for Shiraz through the valley
of Shaabbevan.
On reaching the gardens outside Shiraz, the amir Osman noticed a
party of Shah Mansur's scouts planting some men in ambush. He
allowed the scouts to pass, then fell on them from behind, and captured
one, who was cross-examined as to the position of the enemy.
Continuing his march, he encountered three or four thousand of Shah
Mansur's horsemen, dressed in mail, with helmets and corslets of velvet,
covered with iron, and their horses protected by a kind of cuirass made
of quilted silk, with their banners flying. " Shah Mansur advanced at the
head of these his picked troops," says Sherif ud din, " like a furious lion,"
and encountered at a place called Patila 20,000 of Timur's veteran
horsemen, overthrew their ranks, cut his way right through them, and
reached a most important vantage behind them. Turning round, he
charged again, utterly reckless of his life. Timur, seeing him rushing
straight at him, wished to seize his lance to oppose him, but found his
lance-bearer had been thrust aside in the struggle. Although he had
only fourteen or fifteen men about him, he did not move, and Shah
Mansur struck two heavy blows with his scimitar on the Emperor's well-
tempered helmet. They did him no hurt, as the scimitar slipped along
his arms. Adel Aktashi held a buckler over his head, and Komari
Yasaul advanced in front of him. Timur was wounded in the hand
during the fight. Eventually, Shah Mansur was driven away from the
neighbourhood of the Emperor, and joined his own infantry. The right
wing of this body was broken by the Mirza Muhammed Sultan, with
terrible slaughter. The Mirza Pir Muhammed similarly broke the left
wing, killing some, and putting the others to flight. Meanwhile,- the
centre of Timur's army, which had been disintegrated by Shah Mansur's
brave charge, was rallied by Shah Rokh, who was then only seventeen
years old. Shah Mansur was surrounded, and the young prince cut off
his head. Throwing it at the feet of his father, he said : " May the heads
of all thine enemies be cast at thy feet like that of the proud Mansur."*

* Sherif ud din, ii. 192-197. Weil, v. 39-40.

ZAIN AL ABIDIN, SHAH MANSUR, ETC. 713
According to Ibn Arabshah, the head was afterwards sent as a warning
to Ahmed, the ruler of Baghdad* The death of their leader discouraged
his men, and " the leopards were changed into deer." Those who escaped
the sword, fled. Timur mounted a hill, where he embraced his sons and
the noyans, and thanked heaven for his victory on his knees. The amirs
went to congratulate him, and offered him the golden cup on their knees
in the Mongol fashion. Meanwhile, a division of the enemy, well armed,
and in battle array, suddenly appeared. Timur and Shah Rokh turned
quickly upon them, and routed and drove them as far the mountain of
Kalatsurk (i.e., the red fort). The next day, Timur entered Shiraz in
triumph, and the imperial standard was unfurled over the gate of Selm,
where he lodged. This gate was alone opened, the others being closed ;
thereupon his great officers entered the place, and obtained inventories of
the treasures, furniture, horses, and mules of Shah Mansur and of his
courtiers, from the magistrates, &c. These were conveyed outside the
town and presented to Timur, who distributed them among his amirs. A
sum was also paid as ransom by the citizens. Mirza Muhammed Sultan
was sent to Ispahan with orders to establish a garrison there, and to
exact a similar ransom. The Mirza Omar Sheikh, who had remained
behind in charge of the baggage, had devoted himself to following and
punishing the fugitives from Shah Mansur's army, together with the robber
tribes of Luristan, the Shuls, and Kurds. He passed by Nubenjian,
and having reached Kazirun, he received orders to plant garrisons and
appoint officers in the Mongol fashion over that part of the country. He
then went to Shiraz to congratulate his father, t
The power of the house of Muzaffar was now broken, and the remaining
princes determined to submit. Shah Yahia set out from Yezd, with his
sons and Sultan Ahmed, of Kerman. They offered Timur presents
of precious stones, horses, mules, tents, &c. Sultan Mehdi, son of Shah
Shuja, and Sultan Gadanfer, son of Shah Mansur, were already at Shiraz.
Timur spent a month there, feasting. They played there, says Sherif ud
din, on the organ and the harp, and the good red wine of Shiraz was
presented in golden cups by the most beautiful maidens of the city.
Sultan Abu Ishak, grandson of Shah Shuja, also arrived from Sirjan
with presents. The great conqueror now proceeded to regulate the
affairs of Fars, to remit taxes, and to restore order ; and he appointed
Mirza Omar Sheikh governor of that province, which, says Sherif ud din,
is the heart of the empire, and most full of cities, towns, and villages of
any in Asia. The Mirza prepared a grand feast for his father, offered
him presents on his knees, and assured him of undying fidelity to him.J
Timur's historian enlarges on the troubles brought upon Fars by the
conflicts of the various members of the family of Muzaffar, each of whom
* Weil, v. 41. Note. t Sherif ud din, ii. 197-201, I Id., 197-201.

714 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
claimed to be sovereign and to strike money in his own name, and among
whom father did not spare son, nor son, father. We are told the sheikhs,
doctors, imaums, and the people of Fars and Irak presented petitions to
Timur in reference to the changes necessary to restore prosperity to
the country, which was almost ruined. He determined upon a crucial
remedy, and ordered that all the Muzaffarian princes should be seized,
put in chains, and that their houses should be pillaged. The amir Osman
sent people to Kerman to fetch the treasures of Sultan Ahmed. Mirza
Omar Sheikh was, as we have seen, appointed governor of Fars. He
was given some trusty amirs as counsellors, and some troops to maintain
his authority. Ideku, son of Kaias ud din Berlas, was given the govern
ment of Kerman, Temukeh Kuchin that of Yezd, and Lalam Kuchin that
of Abrkuh. Guderz, who had governed Sirjan on behalf of Abu Ishak,
thinking himself strong enough in that fortress to resist attack, set up as
sovereign there.
Zain al Abidin, who had been blinded by Shah Mansur, and Shibdli,
who had been similarly blinded by Shah Shuja, were sent to Samarkand,
and Timur assigned for their subsistence some of the best property in
that town, so that they might spend, says Sherif ud din, the rest of their
lives in some comfort under the shadow of his clemency. In the
simplicity of their retreat, he continues, they enjoyed many pleasures
unknown to the ambitious. The men of letters and the best artisans
of Fars and of Irak abandoned their country, and went to live at
Samarkand* Leaving Shiraz, Timur went towards Ispahan, enjoying his favourite
sport of hunting on the way. At Kumsha he issued, says his historian,
the famous order so much desired by the people, and so remarkable in
history, for the execution of the princes of the house of Muzaffar. All the
males of that house, who were at Yezd and Kerman, were put to death by
the governors of those provinces.t Ibn Haji says the number so executed
was seventeen. Ibn Arabshah says they were put to death because some
of them had 'determined to kill Timur when with him in a tent.t Sirjan
was attacked by Timur. It held out for three years, and when it
eventually surrendered, we are told that only the usurper Guderz and
six other people remained alive out of its garrison and inhabitants.
He was put to death. §
I don't know when Zain ud din or Shibeli died. Of Shah Mansur
there are three coins in the British Museum, struck respectively at Shiraz,
Kazirun, and a place read doubtfully as Suk.||

* Sherif uddin, ii. 203-206. t Id., 207-208. I Weil, v. 40. Note 1. $ Sherif ud din, ii. 392.
|| Poole Catalogue, vi, 241-242.

SULTAN MOTASSEM. 71 5
SULTAN MOTASSEM.
When the Muzaffarian princes were put to death, as above described,
one of them, at least, escaped— a son of Zain al Abidin, by a sister of
Sultan Oweis. When his father was taken to Samarkand, he fled to
Syria. After the death of Timur, he returned to Irak and Azerbaijan.
He was well received by the Turkoman chief, Kara Yusuf, who sent him
to Hamadan and Luristan, whence he went to Tebriz. There he spent
some days feasting, when, by the advice of the Amir Bestam-Jaghir and
the Kadhi Ahmed Saidi, he went to Ispahan, where the Timurid prince
Mirza Omar Sheikh was governor. The latter withdrew towards Yezd.
The Mirza Izkander, who was then at Koshk-zer, having heard of this,
advanced against Sultan Motassem. The two armies met near Atesh-gah.
The chief people of Fars deserted, and joined Sultan Motassem. Mirza
Izkander, undaunted by this defection, fought bravely, and compelled the
enemy to fly. The chief warriors of Irak and Azerbaijan were captured.
Sultan Motassem having reached the gates of Ispahan, tried to swim his
horse across the river, but being a stout and heavy man, he fell off his
horse, and a soldier, who was pursuing him, cut off his head. The
Malik Fakhr ud din Muzaffari was also killed in this action*
Thus ended the dynasty of Muzaffar. During its rule at Shiraz, there
dwelt there Hafiz, who, with Saadi and Jami, were the most famous
Persian poets. Muhammed Shems ud din, otherwise known as Hafiz
(i.e., one who knows the Koran off by heart), was born at Shiraz at the
beginning of the fourteenth century, and died, according to some, in 791
HEJ. (1389 A.D.), or, according to others, the year following. It would
seem from his writings that he was attached to a monastic life, and was
perhaps at the head of a monastery. It is certain that he studied
jurisprudence and theology in a college founded by Haji-kivam ud din,
whose munificence he often praises, and that eventually he became a
professor there. His verses were recited to his scholars, and were
collected by them after his death. We have seen that he did not get on
very well with Shah Shuja ; but while his own Sovereign neglected him,
his fame induced the neighbouring princes to make him very tempting
offers to go to their Courts. The poet, however, like Victor Hugo in our
own day, was too much attached to his own country to be thus tempted.
" The perfume exhaled by the soil of the Mosalla," he says, " will not
permit me to travel." " O, cupbearer," he says, in another song, " pour
me out the rest of this wine, for you will not see in Paradise the banks
of the River Roknabad, nor the rose gardens of the Mosalla." After
refusing an invitation from Ahmed, the ruler of Baghdad, he accepted
one from Yahia, the Muzaffarian prince of Yezd, whom, however, he did
not flatter. In comparing his avarice with the generosity of the King
* Abdur Rezak, Notices et Extraits, xiv., part i. 133-174.

716 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
of Hormuz, he said : " The King of Hormuz has never seen me, and yet
he has granted me a hundred favours ; the King of Yezd has seen me, I
have sounded his praises, yet he has given me nothing. Such is the way
of kings. As to you, O Hafiz, do not trouble yourself ; the Supreme
Judge, who supplies the daily needs of all, will help and assist you."
Hafiz was also invited by Mir Faiz Allah Inju, a judicial officer of
Mahmud Shah Behmeny, the ruler of the Deccan, to go to him, and he
sent him a sum of money to pay his expenses on the way. The poet
divided a portion of this money among his sister's children and some
unmarried women, paid his debts with the rest, and then set out. On
arriving at Lur, he met one of his friends, who had been plundered by
robbers, and gave him all he had. On reaching Hormuz, he went on board
a ship there, but before it started a tremendous storm came on, which
disgusted him so much that he landed under pretence of saying farewell to
his friend, and did not go on board again, but sent Faiz Allah his excuses
in these words : " Even to secure the whole world, it is not worth while to
pass a single moment in misery. Sell your coat for a glass of wine, for it
is not worth more than that. The wine merchants will not accept it for a
cup. O, strange prayer-mat which is not worth even a cup. . . . The
sickness caused by the sea seemed formerly a small matter in the presence
of the perfume of gold ; but I made a mistake, for a hundred pounds of
gold is not sufficient solace for one of these waves. The splendour of the
imperial crown is very fascinating, but it is not worth losing your life for
it. . . . Hafiz, force yourself to be moderate in your desires, and
renounce contemptible riches ; not for the whole world put yourself under
obligation to anyone." Faiz Allah, having received this poem, read
it to his master, who was much pleased with it, and in consideration of
Hafiz having set out to visit him, he ordered a thousand gold pieces to be
spent in presents to send to the poet.
When Timur conquered Shiraz the first time, Hafiz composed an ode,
in which he said : " If this Turk of Shiraz would accept the homage of <
my heart, I will give him Samarkand and Bokhara for his black ephelis."
Timur being nettled at this, summoned him, and said : " By the blows
of my well-tempered sword I have conquered the greater part of the
world, and have desolated a thousand places in order to enlarge Samar
kand and Bokhara, my capitals and residences, and you, pitiful creature,
would sell me both Samarkand and Bokhara for one black ephelis."
Hafiz was not disconcerted, but replied : " O ! Sovereign of the world, it
is by a similar liberality that I have been reduced to my present
condition,'' a happy repartee which secured the conqueror's favour.
Hafiz was buried in the Mosalla of Shiraz, which he so often praised, and
a tomb was afterwards built over it by Muhammed Mo'ammaiy, the tutor
of the famous Baber, when that prince captured Shiraz in 145 1.*
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xi. 406-425.

TOGHAI TIMUR KHAN. 717
THE PRINCES OF JORJAN.
TOGHAI TIMUR KHAN.
In an earlier page * I have described the origin of Toghai Timur Khan.
I ought to add here that his grandfather Baba Baghatur (or Behadur), who
migrated westward with his ulus, consisting of 10,000 families, in 705, as
I there mentioned, is no doubt the same Baba Behadur who had a
struggle with Uzbeg Khan, and who ravaged Khuarezm in 1315^ He
was put to death, together with his son, by Uljaitu Khan.} I have
described how Toghai Timur was first proclaimed Khan in 1337 A.D.§
How, after a defeat by Sheikh Hassan, he withdrew to Khorasan and
Jorjan, where he continued to rule, while Muhammed, the protdgd of
Sheikh Hassan, controlled the other dominions of the Ilkhans.|| Some
time afterwards, during the struggle for supremacy between the two
Hassans, Toghai Timur was again invited to occupy the Ilkhanian
throne. I have related the unfortunate result of his accepting this
invitation and his return to Khorasan in an earlier page.1T This was in
the year 739 HEJ. (i.e., 1346 A.D.) Next year, Toghai Timur made
another invasion of Irak. This was at the instigation of his brother, Ali
Kaun (called Amir Sheikh Ali Kowun, or Gawan, in the " Shajrat ul
Atrak "), to whom he intrusted the command of his army, and who was
assisted by Shiburgan, the son of Choban, and by the Princess Satibeg,
who then governed Irak ; but Hassan the Lesser sent his brother Ashraf
against him, who defeated him near Abher, and drove him out of Irak
Ajem, while his supporter Shiburgan retired into Dilem.**
Shortly after this, the Serbedarians, a fanatical religious community,
overran Khorasan, as I shall presently describe, with their emissaries, and
speedily ousted the authority of Arghun Shah, Toghai Timur Khan's
deputy there. The Khan marched against them. The army of the Khan
(called the army of Jorjan by Khuandemir) took to flight, and was
pursued by the Serbedarians, and Toghai Timur himself fled to Lar i
Kafran. Thenceforward he entirely lost any control in Khorasan. A
few years later, when the truculent Khoja Yahia was the ruler of the
Serbedarians, Toghai Timur sent him a summons to go and submit to
him. This was written in verse, and in not very courteous terms. It was
replied to by the Khoja Yahia, also in verse. The latter then repaired to
the camp of Toghai Timur, professedly to submit to him. This visit was
in answer to the summons to go and acknowledge his suzerainty. There
were no precautionary guards about, neither were there gatekeepers nor
tent openers in front of the royal tent of Toghai Timur, who only had
* Vide Ante, 638. t Ante, vol. ii. p. 149. X D'Ohsson, iv. 575. $ Ante, 639.
] Ante, 640. K Ante, 643-645.
** D'Ohsson, iv. 733-734- Shajrat ul Atrak, 329.330.

7l8 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
with him Khoja Muhammed Bahrabady and two students. A feast,
lasting for three days, was held. At the end of the third day, Hafiz
Shekhani, Muhammed Habish (i.e., the Abyssinian), and other Serbe
darians, consulted together, saying : " We have so far made no
treaty, nor have we pledged our word. We can make away with
the chief (i.e., Toghai Timur) during the banquet." The latter, it
would seem, had also formed the plan of arresting the Serbedarians
after the feast. An opportunity offering, the Khoja Kerrair and
Hafiz Shekhani pressed forward close to the Khan, and while they
were discussing the affairs of Khorasan, Shekhani struck him on the
head with a battle-axe, and he was then killed by the Khoja, while all
his companions were also put to death. The Khan's treasury was now
plundered by the Serbedars. His territory had for some years been
limited to the district generally known as Jorjan.
Toghai Timur Khan was assassinated in 1353.* Frashn published one
of his coins, struck in 738, with the mint mark obliterated,! and others
struck at Meshed and Amol. In the British Museum there are coins
struck by him at Amol, Zeidan, Keez (?), Kazvin, Kushan, Basrah,
Baghdad, and Jajerm, in the years 738, 739, 740, and 741. They prove
what a wide area obeyed his nominal rule. The coins struck at Basrah
(in 742) and Baghdad are especially interesting" in this view. One coin
published by Fraehn in his posthumous work, has the inscription in
Mongol characters, the name reading Toghan Timur.t
AMIR VALI.
The father of Amir Vali, called Sheikh Ali Hindu,§ was one of the
grand amirs of Toghai Timur Khan. When the Khan was killed by the
Serbedarians, as we have described, Amir Vali repaired to Nisa with
some of his attendants. This is Mirkhavend's statement, and also that
of Sherif ud din. Khuandemir makes him go to Nishapur, which is
improbable. The governor of that district, Amir Shibly Jany-Kurbany,
married his sister, and presently Amir Vali set out, as Khuandemir says,
with great hopes and little power, for Jorjan. On his arrival in Dahistan,
he was joined by two hundred horsemen and foot soldiers, dependents of
his father, Ali Hindu. He was speedily attacked by the Serbedarian who
had been nominated governor of Asterabad, Hasan Dameghani, who
rushed upon him with great energy at the head of five hundred horse
men. Vali stood firm and defeated his aggressor, killed most of his men,
and captured a large number of horses, weapons, &c. When the news of
the defeat of the Serbedarians was spread about the district, many of
Toghai Timur's former supporters, who had been hiding away, gathered
* D'Ohsson, iv. 738. t Recensio, 645. t Poole Catalogue, vi. 98-101.
$ Sherif ud din calls him Sheikh Ali Bisud. Op. cit., i. 396.

AMIR VALI. 719
round. Thereupon Abubekr, who was governor of Shasman, or
Shemasan, on behalf of Hasan Dameghany, attacked Vali with a force
of 2,000 men, but was also beaten, and retired to Khorasan. Hasan now
gave him 5,000 brave men, and ordered him to return, as he was encamped
at Sultan Dowin. Meanwhile, Vali had got together a body of brave
people from the district of Jorjan, and in order to make his army look
more numerous and imposing, had dressed some women as soldiers, and
mounted them on horseback. The Serbedarians were frightened, and
began to break. Their opponents shouted out, " Tat Kashti " (i.e., the
Tajiks have fled). They pursued them. Abubekr, their commander,
jumped into the River Gurgan, but was caught and beheaded. Many
of his people were killed, while those who escaped fled to Khorasan.
Amir Vali now repaired to Asterabad, whither he summoned Lokman,
the son of Toghai Timur Khan, with the intention of putting him on the
throne ; but, says the Eastern rhetorician, who has recorded the fact, " the
sweets of power overcame the obligations of gratitude for former favours,"
and he thereupon sent him word before he arrived that he must go
elsewhere, and ordered that no one who had been in close relations with
Toghai Timur was to live in his neighbourhood. He was acknowledged
as master at Asterabad, Bostam, Dameghan, Semnan, and Firuzkuh, and
ruled there until the arrival of the great Timur* In 1370, Vali sustained
a defeat near Rai at the hands of Oweis, the ruler of Baghdad, and was
pursued as far as Semnan.f
It would seem that when the empire of Abusaid broke to pieces,
a small fragment became subject to Arghun Shah, who was the chief of
the district of Yun Garbani (called the province of Yuin by Abulfeda).
He encamped about Kelat, north-west of Sarrakhs, and was probably
partially dependent on Vali. His son Ali Bey submitted to Timur about
the year 1379, and the latter married his grandson, Mirza Muhammed
Sultan, to his daughter, elsewhere called his sister. Splendid feasts were
held to celebrate the betrothal ; and, we are told, Timur consulted Ali
Bey on his proposed campaign against Herat, and it was arranged
that when he marched against that city in the spring, Ali Bey should
march to his help4 When the latter heard that he was actually setting
out, he dispatched a courier to beg to be allowed to take part in
the campaign.§ Timur accordingly sent a messenger to tell him to
assemble his people and march; but he not only refused to do so, but even
imprisoned Timur's envoy.|| After the capture of Herat, Timur, troubled
by the contumacy of Ali Bey, marched in person towards Kelat and Tus,
and when he reached the tomb of Abu Muslem Meruzi, the famous
general of the founder of the Abassadan line of khalifs, he dismounted

Dom, Mem. on the Serbedarians, 180-182. t D'Herbelot quoting Khuandemir, i. 138.
I Sherif ud din, i. 310. § Id., 314. II Id., 317.

720 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
and paid it a visit, asking God to aid him. The news of the Emperor's
advance naturally troubled Ali Bey, and he determined to submit, and
accordingly hastened to the camp and did so.*
Timur now marched westwards, secured Nishapur and Sebzevar, and
then advanced upon Isferain, which was subject to Vali. He ordered the
place to be stormed at once. The town was speedily captured, and a
terrible slaughter ensued. " The captors destroyed the place so," says
Sherif ud din, " that only its name now remains." Timur then sent an
envoy to the Amir Vali, promising to reward him if he came at once and
offered his submission ; otherwise, he threatened him with the conse
quences. Vali kissed Timur's letter on receiving it, and placed it on his
head as a proof of his submission, and promised to go to him shortly,
whereupon Timur returned to Samarkand.t Not long after this, Ali Bey
made a league with Vali, and persuaded him to march upon Sebzevar, where
the Serbedarian, Ali Muayid, was governor. Timur at this time lost his
daughter Akia Beghi, and was greatly depressed in consequence. His
sister, Kutlugh Turkan Aga, in order to rouse him, urged him to march
against Vali and his ally, and to punish the insolent rebels. These words
had their effect on him, and he prepared to set out again westwards.}
He was joined en route by the Malik of Herat and by Miran Shah from
Sarrakhs. On his approach to Kelat, Ali Bey shut himself up with his
people in the fortress. Timur sent a messenger to inquire what was the
cause of his fear, bidding him come to him, and assuring him that no harm
would befall him. He preferred to trust in the strength of his strong
hold, which he deemed impregnable. Timur thereupon had recourse to
a ruse. He left the neighbourhood, and set out in the direction of Koran,
a dependency of Abiverd, and gave out that he was going to attack
Mazanderan ; but he merely made a detour. Ali Bey was misled on
hearing that the imperial army had left. He brought his horses, sheep,
&c, out of the fortress, and let them graze in the fields around. Timur
now returned, ravaged the whole district, and built a mound opposite the
gate of Kelat, on which he unfurled the imperial standard. The place
was now closely beleaguered. Miran Shah posted himself opposite the gate
of Jia ; Mirza Ali, son of the Amir Muayid Orlat, near that of Lobra ; Haji
Seif ud din at that of Arghun Shah, and Omar Sheikh before another
gate. Ali Bey now sent a supplicating letter, asking pardon for what he
had done, and offering, if Timur would go to the gate of the town with
only a small escort, that he would go like his slave and throw himself at
his feet. Timur accordingly went, accompanied by only five horsemen.
The walls of Kelat were built on the slope of a high mountain, and a small
path led alongside of the wall among the rocks. This path, which was
closed by a gate of its own, led to the town. Ali Bey noticing that Timur
* Sherif ud din, i. 329-330. t Id., 331-332. I Id., 331-337.

AMIR VALI. 721
was ill-attended, planted an ambush, and ordered his men to kill him,
whatever the consequences ; but the plan failed, and he returned to his
camp to receive the congratulations of his generals on his escape. He
then ordered the place to be stormed, and the men of Mekrit and
Badakhshan, who were skilled crags-men, made their way over the rocks
in the night, and reached the gates of the town amidst the clash of
cymbals and the bray of trumpets. The enemy was speedily defeated in
a struggle outside, and demanded quarter. Ali Bey sent to beg that the
conqueror would order the carnage to cease, and promised in a solemn
writing to go himself and submit the next day, and as a gage of his
sincerity, sent Nikruz and Muhammed Sheikh Haji, the principal amirs
of the tribe, Yun Garbani, and also Kand Sultan, who had been betrothed,
as we have seen, to Mirza Muhammed Sultan. These people begged
him to forgive Ali Bey, which he consented to do. He ordered the
slaughter to cease, while Nikruz and Muhammed were told to go to his
camp. Next morning at sunrise Timur mounted on horseback and went
to the gate of the town, where he was met by the recalcitrant chief, who
confessed his faults, and begged that his life might be spared, and that
he might have one day's grace only, after which he would go to his camp.
He was still treacherous, and devoted the night to fortifying the road of
Lohra and other routes by which Timur's people had scaled the mountain,
and then sought safety among the crags. Here he for a time escaped.
Timur left in a fortnight, and went to the fortress of Kahkaha, between
Abiverd and Kelat (still called Kaka), and gave orders that it was to be
rebuilt, which his eager soldiers accomplished in two days and two
nights. He planted a garrison there under Haji Khoja, and then sent his
nominal suzerain, Siyurghatmish Khan, with Mirza Ali and Sheikh Ali,
and their division, to blockade the mountain of Kelat, which was most
effectually done.*
Timur now proceeded to secure Tershiz, a fortress which was held by
some Ghurian dependants of the Malik of Herat, and had refused to
submit. Having captured it, he marched onwards against Jorjan. He
went by way of Rughi, and passed Kebud Yaemeh and Shamsan. Vali,
on hearing of this, sent the Amir Haji with presents of strings of horses,
each consisting of nine, with other curiosities, and a humble letter, begging
Timur to excuse his going to him on this occasion, asking him to turn
his army aside, and offering his submission. Timur reciprocated these
messages, and marched upon Kelat. From there news arrived that Sheikh
Ali Behadur had secretly during the night clambered up to the fortress
with a few followers ; that he had been seen by, and had a struggle with
some of the garrison ; but after fighting for some time, some religious
people brought about an interview between him and Ali Bey, and that they
* id., 338-347-
Y*

722 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
had embraced mutually. The sheikh spent some days with Ali Bey,
who tried to secure his good offices with Timur. Meanwhile, the latter
returned home by way of Shamlagan and Charmagan, and pitched his
camp in the pleasant meadows of Radikan. There he was joined by
Sheikh Behadur, who presented Ali Bey, holding a sword, and a winding
sheet in his hand, and begged the emperor to pardon him. Timur
conferred Radikan upon the sheikh as an hereditary fee. He also gave
Sebzevar to Ali Muayid, while the Malik of Herat, with Ali Bey and his
people, were conveyed to Samarkand. He then distributed the district of
Yun Garbanian among his amirs, but ordered that its inhabitants should
be carried off to Transoxiana* Ali Bey, with the son and brother of the
Malik of Herat, were now arrested and sent to Andikan, where they were
put in charge of the Mirza Omar Sheikh, while the tribe of Yun Garbanian
was planted in the district of Tashkend.t It was not long before an
outbreak took place at Herat, and Timur, to remove all danger, had the
malik put to death, and with him Ali Bey. This took place in 13824
The following year apparently he again marched westwards, intending to
attack Mazanderan. He went by way of Termed, and having crossed
the Murghab, pitched his camp there, and received information of two
outbreaks, one at Sebzevar (i.e., the Sebzevar south of Herat) and the
other in Seistan, and he dispatched Sheik Ali Behadur and Uchara
Behadur with a large force to ravage the frontiers of the Amir Vali.§
Having overrun Seistan and Kabulistan, he returned to Samarkand,
where he only stayed three months, when he again set out for Jorjan.
He crossed the Oxus at Termed, halted some days at Balkh, so that
his troops could gather round from various sides, and was speedily
joined by 100,000 horsemen in armour. Having reviewed these troops,
he crossed the Murghab, took the road to Burkei Tash, and descending
to Sarrakhs, he went on to Abiverd and Nissa, where he learnt that the
Amir Vali had fortified the citadel of Durun, and had shut himself up
there with a body of troops. Sheikh Ali Behadur, Sevinjik Behadur,
Mubasher, and other amirs, who commanded the advance guard, had an
engagement with the army of the Amir Vali in a place called Ghiaukarsh.
The struggle was well maintained. Mubasher was struck by an arrow in
the mouth, which came out at his neck ; but he rushed, notwithstanding,
upon his opponent, and cut off his head with his sabre. Timur, in
consequence of this heroic act, gave him Ghiaukarsh and Hurberi
as an hereditary fee. The enemy having been beaten, the victors
advanced upon Durun, which was captured, its governor and garrison
being put to the sword. They then entered the district of Chilaun, which
was full of villages, and having crossed the river at Jorjan, went on to
Shasuman. There they proceeded to build bridges over the rivulets, to
* Sherif uddin, i. 353-356. t Id., 357-358. J Id., 359-362. $ Id., 367.

lokman Padishah. 723
cut down trees, make roads, and other useful works. The advance
guards of either army had a series of sharp encounters during twenty
days, and when on the twentieth Timur crossed the bridge of Dervish,
Vali advanced against him with the utmost bravery, but was beaten, and
many of his people were pursued and killed. To avoid the danger ot
surprises, each regiment was ordered to entrench itself, then to make a
kind of rampart of its shields, and in front of these to plant stakes. All
this seems to show either that Vali was a more powerful prince than we
suppose, and that Timur was, in fact, hard pressed, or else that the
district was a singularly difficult one to fight in. Timur also planted an
ambuscade. At length, in the night, Vali with a large force came out of
his fortress to attack the camp. They raised a great shout on the right
of the army where Miran Shah commanded, and cut down with their
swords the palisades and shields which we have mentioned, many falling
victims to their courage. Miran Shah now ordered a volley of arrows to
be fired, and at the same time the force which had been put in ambush
rushed out, sword in hand, and defeated their assailants. Vali had, inter
alia, dug a number of pitfalls, into which many of his own men fell and
perished. The enemy was pursued as far as Asterabad, the neighbour
hood of which was laid waste, neither age nor sex being spared. This
struggle took place in Shaval, 786 hej. (i.e., 1384). Vali fled, with his
wives and children and a few soldiers, towards Dameghan, by way of
Langaru, and having left his family in the fortress of Girdkuh, famous, as
we have seen, as the old stronghold of the Assassins, he went himself
towards Rai. Timur sent Khodaidad Husseini, Sheik Ali Behadur, Omar
Abbas, Komari Inak, and other chiefs in pursuit of him, and they almost
caught him at Rai. He, however, escaped to the forests of Rustemdar,
amidst whose recesses and rocks he eventually baffled his pursuers.

LOKMAN PADISHAH.
We have seen how Vali was a usurper, and how he refused to instal
Lokman, the son of Toghai Timur, on his father's throne. That young
prince, we are told by Sherif ud din, became a wanderer from one land
to another until Timur conquered Asterabad, which he made over to
him.* In the spring of 1385, Timur again advanced westwards, and
secured the district of Kumuz. He then crossed the mountains into
Mazanderan proper, when the princes of Rustemdar fled, and his
troops overran the country and secured a vast booty. The Amir Vali,
who had retired to a place named Yalus, was so terrified that he also
took flight, and Timur then marched towards Amol and Sari. Seyid
* Op. cit., i. 388-397.

724 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Kemal ud din and Seyid Razi ud din, who were the princes of this part of
the country, sent their naibs, or lieutenants, with precious stones and gold
dust " to scatter over the Emperor's feet," with a considerable tribute.
They also struck gold coins with the name and surname of the invincible
Timur upon them, and had the khutbeh said in all the mosques of their
country, and Timur ended by ordering them to follow the commands of
Lokman Padishah, to whom he had given the principality of Asterabad,
" hoping thus to restrain them from doing anything but what that prince
thought best."* The Amir Vali fled with Mahmud Kalkali to Tebriz,
where he helped to defend the place against the attack of Tokhtamish,
Khan of Kipchak. When the town was captured by the latter, he, with
Mahmud, withdrew to the district of Kalkal.t Presently Vali was seized
by his treacherous host, Mahmud Kalkali, and handed over to Komari
Inak, who put him to death, and sent his head to Timur.J: This was
apparently in 1386. I don't know when Lokman died, but it was before
August, 1402. PIR PADISHAH.
In August, 1402, Pir Padishah, son of Lokman, on whom Timur had
conferred his father's government, feasted the great conqueror at
Asterabad.§ A few months later he took part in Timur's campaign in
Mazanderan. |] In the summer of 807 HEJ., Timur being near Bostam,
was visited by Pir Padishah, who offered him presents, including nine
strings of horses, each consisting of nine animals. Timur gave him a
robe, and sent him home again.1T About the year 807 HEJ., a revolt broke
out in the district of Sebzevar, headed by Sultan Ali, who was supported
by a number of Serbedarians. The rebel marched against Seyid Khoja,
who commanded in that district on behalf of Timur Sultan Ali, and who
was being hard pressed when Pir Padishah, who is here called Perek, king
of Mazanderan, went to his assistance. Thereupon a struggle ensued
outside Sebzevar.** It ended in the defeat of the allies, and Perek, after
showing great gallantry, was compelled to retire.tt Some time after, the
Mirza Miran Shah having arrived at Kalpush, the late rebel Sultan Ali
Sebzevari went to meet him there, and was apparently accompanied by
Sultan Hussein, son of Pir Padishah. They were both arrested at the
instance of the Mirza's officers, and were sent in chains to Herat.}}
Seyid Khoja defeated Perek Padishah, and captured his son,§§ who was
called Sultan Ali, like the Serbedarian chief. We next read that
Sultan Ali, son of Pir Padishah, fled from Samarkand, where he had
been detained, and went to Asterabad. He was, however, arrested by
Seyid Khoja, and sent to Shah Rokh, who treated him kindly and sent
* Sherif ud din, i. 400-401. t Id., 403. T Id., 411. % Id., ii. 143. | Id., 149.
H Id., iv. 170-171. ** Vide infra, sub voce Serbedarians.
tt Abdur Rezak, Notices et Extraits, xiv. 30. XX Id,, 54. $§ Id., 81.

PIR PADISHAH. 725
him to his father, together with the latter's wife. He, however, detained
Sultan Hassan* brother of Sultan Ali. Notwithstanding his rebellion,
sent word to Pir Padishah that he should retain the government he held
in the time of Timur, and bade him have no hesitation therefore in going
to him, as he would be received with the greatest affection.f
We now read of one of those numerous revolts which shattered the
power of the Timurids. Seyid Khoja, already named, one of Shah Rokh's
most distinguished commanders, rebelled, and eventually sought shelter
with Pir Padishah in Mazanderan. Shah Rokh sent Mengli Timur
Naiman to the latter, to tell him how the rebel, whom he had raised
from being a slave to be one of his generals, had revolted, and pillaged
his towns and killed their inhabitants, while as soon as he marched
against him he had fled like a fox before a lion. He reminded him how
able he was to recompense him, and urged that he should surrender the
fugitive.} Pir Padishah, in reply, sent Mengli Timur and Khoja Mekki
from Asterabad, offering, if the province of Asterabad was secured to him,
and if some fugitives who had sought shelter with him were pardoned by
Shah Rokh, and allowed to return to Herat, he would take care to send
the rebels back, together with his son. This letter was deemed imperti
nent, and Shah Rokh' set out for Asterabad, but he could only advance
slowly, on account of the heat. He reached Tenaseman, which was held
for Pir Padishah by Bayazid Jupan ; but as the city of Asterabad was the
real key to the position, he did not deign to attack the smaller place ; "just
as falcons," says our author, " deem it a dishonour to kill sparrows, and
lions to capture jackals." He accordingly advanced upon Asterabad. A
skirmish took place at Feraskhaneh, in which some of Pir Padishah's
behadurs were captured and put to death. The imperial army having
reached the plain of Asterabad, was engaged in digging a ditch to protect
itself from attack, when Pir Padishah, with his forces, emerged from a
forest. He commanded the centre ; Shems ud din Uj Kara, Shir Ali, and
Jafar Sahib the left wing, and Seyid Khoja the right. After a severe
engagement, the imperial forces were successful. Pir Padishah, much
dejected, fled towards the desert, and thence to Khuarezm.§ Mazan
deran, Jorjan, Dahistan, Asterabad, and Dameghan were now confided
to the Mirza Omar Behadur.||
On Xhtfite day following the month of Ramazan in the year 808 HEJ.
some people of Irak deserted the Timurid chief, Mirza Khalil Sultan
left Samarkand, and went towards Khuarezm. Having arrived there
they revolted in favour of Pir Padishah, who had been defeated by
Shah Rokh in Mazanderan, as we have seen, and had sought refuge
there. They scattered the gold over him which they had received
from Mirza Khalil Sultan. He now proposed to himself to conquer
* (?) The same person previously called Sultan Hussein.
t Abdur Rezak, Notices et Extraits, 80. I Id., 91-93. § Id., 96-99. B Id., 100.

726 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Mazanderan* Elsewhere the same writer tells us that, having collected
together the partisans of Jaun Korban and Tavakkul, he entered the
province of Mazanderan (really Jorjan) and attacked the fortress of
Asterabad, and that Shems ud din Ali and Jemjed Karen, who were its
governors on behalf of the Timurid ruler, were in great danger. Shah
Rokh having heard of this, set out to repress the revolt. He duly arrived
at Shebertu and the town of Kusuiaah, and arranged to attack the enemy
by more than one route. While he himself advanced by way of Jam and
Meshed, the Amirs Hasan Jandar Firuz Shah, Sheikh Ali Hasanek, and
Ajeb Shir went by way of Zavah and Mahulat. When Shah Rokh
reached Tarak, he heard that Pir Padishah had been abandoned by the
troops of Khorasan, and had fled towards Rustemdar. He thereupon
advanced into the plain of Asterabad, and Mazanderan was once more
at peace.t Sultan Ali, son of Pir Padishah, now went with his
submission, and presented himself to Shah Rokh, at Mehneh Mubarak.
He was well received, and Shah Rokh took him with him to Seistan ;
but after the capture of the fortress of Fdrah, he suddenly fled, and
repaired to Rustemdar, where his father had died.}

SULTAN ALI.
Sultan Ali received the support of the Amir Kaiumars Rustemdari,
while his father's dependants and the people of the surrounding districts
joined him. He then determined to attack Asterabad, where Abulleith
was governor on behalf of the Timurids. The two came speedily to
blows, each at the head of a considerable force. In the struggle,
Sultan Ali was so badly wounded that he died. His head was sent to
Herat, and the victors secured a large booty.§

THE SERBEDARIANS.
ABDUR REZAK.
The history of this dynasty has been abstracted from Mirkhavend's
and Khuandemir's narrations, by Dom and Von Hammer. They tell us
how there lived at the village of Pashtin, or Bashtin, in the district of
Baihak, in Khorasan, a man named Shihab ud din Fazlullah, who was
descended, on the father's side, from Hussein, the son of Ali, and on the
mother's, from the Barmekid Yanhia ibn Khalid. He had five sons,
Amir Amin ud din, Amir Abdur Rezak, Amir Wejih ud din Masud, Amir
Nasrulla, and Amir Shems ud din. At this time, there was at Abusaid's
* Abdur Rezak, Notices et Extraits, xiv. 226. t Id., 121-122.
I Id., 163-164. § Id., 164.

ABDUR REZAK. 727
Court, a certain Ali Surkh Khuaji, or Surkh juni, surnamed Abu Muslim,
who had a great reputation as an athlete and archer. One day, the Sultan
remarked, " Is there no one to be found in our empire who can compete
with Abu Muslim?" Amin ud din, who was at the head of the Pehluvans,
replied that he had a brother in Khorasan, named Abdur Rezak, who was
equal to this challenge. Abusaid thereupon sent a messenger to bring
him, and in two months he arrived at Sultania, where his appearance and
qualities made a great impression on the Sultan. Two or three days
later, Abdur Rezak, passing through the market-place of Sultania,
noticed that some one had hung up a bow and a bag of gold coin,
in an archway, with a notice that anyone who could bend the bow
might have the money. He took the bow and bent it, and then
distributed the coin. When Abusaid heard of this his interest was
still further aroused, and he ordered him to have a trial of skill
in archery with Abu Muslim. They accordingly had a struggle,
and, as Abdur Rezak's arrow overshot that of his opponent ten paces,
the Sultan told the Vizier to give him a profitable post. He was
accordingly assigned the collectorship of taxes in Kerman. These
amounted to 120,000 gold kopeghi, of which 20,000 was assigned to his
own use, and he had to account for the rest. He, however, squandered
the whole sum ; and, when the troubles which succeeded the death of
Abusaid came, he was in great embarrassment, and returned to Bashtin,
where there was a great excitement on account of a demand which had
been made upon the brothers Hasan Hamsa and Hussein Hamsa (with
whom he lodged, and who were both pious men), not only for men, but
also for some boys or maidens on behalf of the government (i.e., the
government of Toghai Timur Khan). The brothers said they were
prepared to supply the first, but not the second — " On this we stake our
heads" (serbedarim). They thereupon killed the messengers. Abdur
Rezak, who arrived at this time, strengthened their resolution to resist ;
and expelled the fifty men who had been sent by Khoja Alai ud din
Muhammed, the Vizier of Khorasan, and who lived at Feryumed, to seize
the brothers, and aroused the whole village to resist the scandalous
tyranny. "A thousand times better," he said, " that our heads should go
to the gibbet rather than suffer such gross tyranny. We lay our heads on
that." From this phrase they derived their name of Serbedars (i.e., those
who hazard their heads). This took place in the year 737 hej. (i.e., 1336).*
The " Chronicle of Herat," which writes in a very hostile spirit to Abdur
Rezak, says that, having murdered a distinguished reis, he had surrounded
himself with a body of abandoned people and criminals, who had sworn
to put away all the agents of the government, or to take their own heads
to the gibbet (ser be dar).t Abdur Rezak's repute now grew daily. He
* Dom Mems. St. Peter's Acad., 6th ser., viii. 161.163. Ilkhans, ii. 324-326.
t Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 506.

728 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
attacked and defeated the Vizier, who withdrew from Feryumed to
Asterabad, where he was pursued and overtaken by Wejih ud din, Abdur
Rezak's brother, and was killed at the village of Valayed, near that town.
Khuandemir calls the place Sherek i nau. The Vizier's son fled to Sari,
while Abdur Rezak returned to Bashtin with the booty he had secured.
He now found himself at the head of 700 brave men, and proceeded to
occupy Sebzevar, where there was no one to oppose him, and which he
now made his head-quarters. The Amir Abdulla Mulai, the ruler of
Kuhistan, wished to marry the daughter of the late Vizier, and sent some
splendid presents as a marriage gift. Having heard of this, Abdur Rezak
sent Muhammed Aitimur to waylay the treasure. The Kuhistanis,
however, who had 700 well-armed men, defeated him. Thereupon,
Wejih ud din Masud, his brother, came up with 300 men, dispersed
the mountaineers, and carried off the presents. Abdur Rezak now
determined to secure the Vizier's daughter for himself, but suspecting
that he merely wanted to make use of her for a base intrigue with
her brother, who was very beautifuL she fled from Sebzevar towards
Nishapur* Von Hammer makes out it was the Vizier's widow whom
the Serbedarian chief proposed to marry, and she thought he wanted by
this means to secure her beautiful daughter. Abdur Rezak, on hearing
of her flight, sent his brother Masud in pursuit, who overtook her at
Sengkinder, but allowed her to escape on her urging upon him that, as a
good Mussulman, he ought not to take part in such a violation of the law".
On his return without her, Abdur Rezak, who was indignant, declared he
was no man. He replied sharply, and from a strife of tongues, it came to
one of swords. Abdur Rezak sprang through the window, broke his foot,
and was put to death by his brother, who succeeded to his authority.
This took place, according to the " Chronicle of Herat," 12th Zilhidjeh,
738 (i.e., July, 1338)4
WEJIH UD DIN MASUD.
During the reign of Abusaid, there flourished at Sebzevar a sheikh
known as the Sheikh Khalifa, the founder of the order of Dervishes.
Sebzevar had already distinguished itself as an abode of heresy. He
was apparently a heretic, and aroused great animosity and feeling. He
was at first a pupil of the Sheikh Balu Amoly, in Mazanderan ; but,
some time after that sheikh's doctrines being deemed deficient, he went
to Semnan, where he joined the Sheikh Rukn ud din Alai ud daulat
Semnany, and spent some time in his monastery, which was a famous
seat of learning. He then went to Bahrabad, where he sought out the
Khoja Ghiath ud din Hibet ulla Hamevy, and ended by settling at
* Dom, op. cit., 163.164.
T Ilkhans, ii. 324-326. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 506. Dom, op. cit., 164-165.

WEJIH UD DIN MASUD. 729
Sebzevar, where he entered a monastery, and devoted himself to a close
study of the Koran, and to the inculcation of various austerities to a
large number of scholars. He seems to have acquired a reputation for
working miracles, but his teaching was disapproved of by the ulemas or
professors of the law, who forbade him access to the ruler's house. He
did not heed them, however. Thereupon his enemies prepared a case
for judicial decision, viz., " If a man who establishes himself in a
mosque, and discourses on worldly matters, and not only pays no heed
to the directions of the learned, but even becomes more stubborn, is it
lawful to put him to death ?" The greater part of the authorities decided
in writing that it was lawful, and sent the decision on to the Court.
Abusaid gave the judicious reply that he did not wish to shed the blood
of the dervish, and that the officers of the law in Khorasan were to deal
with him in the way prescribed by the law. This answer caused the
greatest discord among the authorities in such matters at Sebzevar, who
had tried so hard to ruin the sheikh ; and the discord was at its height
when the Sheikh Hasan Juri, a native of Jur, came to Sebzevar, and
proclaimed himself a disciple of the unpopular and probably heretical
sheikh. This greatly increased his reputation ; but his enemies were
determined to undo him, and he was found one morning hanging from
one of the pillars of the mosque, while a number of stones were at his
feet, as if he had hanged himself. His scholars thereupon chose Sheikh
Hasan as their leader, and left Sebzevar. He went to Nishapur, Abiverd,
Khabushan, and Meshed, spreading the doctrines of his dead master, and
when anyone declared himself his scholar he took his name down, but
bade him stay at home for the present, and to hold himself in readiness
in case he were wanted, when he would be duly summoned. His manner
was very persuasive, and he speedily secured an immense following, and
the authorities began to be afraid*
To stop this dangerous excitement the Amir Arghun Shah Juni
Kurbani, who commanded in Khorasan on behalf of Toghai Timur
Khan, had the sheikh imprisoned in the castle of Tak, or Takh,
in the district of Yazer, or Yaser. Thereupon, the Serbedarian chief,
Wejid ud din Masud, who doubtless saw in the whole matter a
chance of furthering his ambitious schemes, declared himself an
adherent of the imprisoned sheikh. Amir Arghun marched against
Nishapur with three armies, numbering altogether some 70,000
men. Masud defeated two of these armies, led respectively by the
Amir Mahmud of Izferain and Tukal, and compelled them to retreat ;
and as the third army, under Arghun, arrived too late, and the latter
found his other contingents defeated, he withdrew. This religious strife
naturally led to the great increase in power of the leader of the Serbedars,
* Dom, op. cit., 166-167.

730 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
who now became master of Nishapur and Sebzevar. A disciple of the
Sheikh Hasan Juri, called Khoja Asad, now set to work, with seventy
companions (Von Hammer says seven), to obtain the release of his
master, which he succeeded in doing with the help of the Serbedarian
chief, who surprised the citadel of Yazer, released the sheikh, and carried
him off in triumph. Meanwhile, Amir Mahmud, the son of Arghun
Shah, who, in the absence of his father (who had gone to Irak with
Toghai Timur), held his authority, wrote a letter to the sheikh, dissuading
him from causing confusion throughout the land by his opinions. The
sheikh replied in a long letter (preserved by Mirkhavend), in which he
pictured his whole life, and his alliance with Wejih ud din, in the fairest
light, and stating that he only aimed at furthering the interests of the
Faith. Wejih ud din now marched upon Herat, which he hoped to conquer.
That town and province had recently begun to prosper again, under the
beneficent rule of Moiz ud din Hussein Kert, who had succeeded Malik
Hafiz about the year 1332. He naturally dreaded the approach of the
fanatical Serbedarians, and brought together the contingents of Ghur,
Khaisar, the Sinjars from Seistan, and the Nigudars, left Herat, and
advanced as far as the neighbourhood of Savah, near Nishapur. There
a bloody struggle ensued. It seemed as if the Serbedarians would win
the day, for the bravest officers in the Herat army were killed, and their
men began to disband, when the Malik, who had planted himself with his
guards on an eminence, ordered the charge to be sounded, and the great
standard to be unfurled, and putting himself at the head of his wavering
men, restored the fight. The struggle began again with terrible energy,
but meanwhile Sheikh Hasan was stabbed by one of his own disciples.
This news having spread among the Serbedarians, they were seized with
sudden panic, and dispersed. Khuandemir says Sheikh Hasan had told
his friend that, if he should fall, Masud must withdraw at once, and
return to Sebzevar. The Serbedarians were closely pursued, and "a great
number of these infidels," says the chronicler, " were killed or made
prisoners." Among the latter was the Amir Ibn Yemin, whose life was
spared on account of his skill as a poet. After this victory Moiz ud din
returned to Herat with a rich booty.*
After his defeat, Wejih ud din Masud returned to Sebzevar, where his
fanatical followers do not seem to have lost faith in him ; for he was able
to make head against Toghai Timur, who was dejure ruler of Khorasan,
and who, no doubt, deemed it quite time that the turbulent Serbedarians
were put down. We have seen how he marched against their chief, and
how he was defeated by him. Toghai Timur, by his defeat, lost hold
entirely of Khorasan, and his dominions were restricted to Jorjan.
* Chronicle of Herat, Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 506-507.

WEJIH UD DIN MASUD. 73 1
After his victory, Masud went to Asterabad, and issued a decree to the
people of Mazanderan, in which he summoned them to submit to him.
This district had retained a quasi-independence, under its own princes,
during all the Mongol domination. Kia Jemal ud din Ahmed Jelal, an old
man of experience, " who," says Khuandemir, " had already tested the heat
and cold of time," had recently usurped authority in that province, and
recognised no one as his superior. Fearing an invasion by the Serbe
darian chief and its probable consequences, he arranged with his two
nephews, Kia Tash ud din and Kia Jelal, to pay Masud a visit. They were
received with honour. This strengthened Masud's intention to proceed ;
and he set out, in a peaceful humour apparently, accompanied by these
chiefs. Presently, he sent word to Jelal ud daula Izkander, the governor of
the town of Rustemdar, to fix a place of meeting. The latter consulted with
his brother, Fakhr ud daula Shah Ghazi. They agreed that some sacrifice
must be made, and that it would be well to surrender some districts to the
Serbedarians ; but if the summons meant they were going to enter by
force into Rustemdar and occupy, they must be opposed by arms. Masud
set out in 1342, and went to Amol, pitching his camp, which he inclosed
with palisades, in the district of Buran. The troops of Izkander and Shah
Ghazi mounted, during the night, their Arab horses, made a raid on the
outskirts of this camp, and succeeded in securing some plunder ; their
motive probably being that the erection of the palisading looked like a
permanent occupation of the country. This attack was repeated ; and,
we are told, Kia Jemal ud din sent to tell the inhabitants there and the
other people of Mazanderan that, notwithstanding his being in the
company of Masud, they were to spare no efforts to drive the Serbedarians
out. The Mazanderan people, therefore, collected in considerable
numbers, made night attacks on the camp, and cried out : "O, men of
Khorasan ! Mazanderan is a wood full of fierce lions. You have with your
own hands opened the gates of misfortune for yourselves, and planted your
feet in the net of calamity and woe. You have fallen together into the
decoy of destruction, and none of you will escape from this dangerous
place." " Masud," says the chronicler, " felt like a fish in a net, in view of
these unseen enemies and unseen threats — hardly knowing which way to
turn." At length, after waiting for nine days, he determined to go on to
Rustemdar. When he reached the village of Yasminelateh, he found
the men of Mazanderan barring his path in hostile array. He thereupon
put to death Kia Jemal ud din and his nephews, and then set out on his
retreat by the route of Lavij. He and his men were vigorously pressed,
and some were killed and others captured at almost every step. He
reached the Irlu river with a few followers, but found that his retreat
was cut off in that direction by a force under Sherif ud daula Gustehem
ibn Taj ud daula Siar, and turned aside ; but the troops of that commander
followed him, and captured him in the village of Bandis. They carried

732 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
him off to Izkander. For two days he was kept in custody, and on the
third day was put to death.* Mirkhavend says the people of Rustemdar
did not want to kill him, but the son of the vizier, Khoja Alai ud din,
whom he had put to death, demanded his blood. Masud's vizier, the Seyid
Sehir ud din, was also captured, and, when questioned, said that forage
had to be provided every night for 14,000 horses, 600 mules, and 400
camels ; whence the number of the invading force may be guessed.t
Masud was put to death in 1344, and had reigned seven years.

MUHAMMED AI TIMUR.
When Wejih ud din Masud marched against Sheikh Ali Kavan, he
left Muhammed Ai Timur, also called Aka Muhammed Timur, one of his
father's servants, and distinguished for his courage and liberality, as his
substitute in Sebzevar. When he heard of Masud's death, he took upon
himself the government. We have seen how important the dervishes
and religious devotees were in that town. Muhammed seems to have
neglected them. When he had reigned for two years, the Khoja Shems
ud din Ali, who was distinguished alike by his birth and his other good
qualities, gathered round him a body of dervishes and scholars of Sheikh
Hasan, entered Muhammed's room unexpectedly, and addressed him in
the following words : " It is a strange thing that the dervishes have no
longer any power or consideration, although your fortunes and those of your
master were really made by this venerable brotherhood. You treat them
as if they were mere ragamuffins and a thievish rabble." As the Khoja's
companions used similar language, Muhammed was confounded. Being
alone, and having no weapons by him, he addressed them in a kindly
speech. " Hitherto," he said, " I have not injured a single dervish. I
have taken the greatest pains and solicitude in the affairs of the state.
Meanwhile, I am ready to do what you think advisable." Thereupon
they replied, " Get up and enter this room, for we no longer desire
your government." He now entered the room named, whereupon the
mutineers closed the door behind him, and begged the Khoja to seat
himself on the throne, promising to support him. Although he
apparently coveted the position, he did not wish to make it appear as if
he had personally profited by Ai Timur's death, so he refused the post for
himself, and suggested that Kalu Izfendiar should be raised to the throne,
while Ai Timur should be put to death as a punishment for his evil
doings. His death is variously dated in 1346 and 1347. His reign lasted
two years and a few months.}

* Dom, op. cit., 170-171. t Id., 171. Ilkhans, ii. 329.
I Dom, op. cit., 171-172. Ilkhans, ii 340.

KALU IZFENDIAR, SHEMS UD DIN FADL ALLAH, ETC. 733
KALU IZFENDIAR.
Shems ud din, as we have seen, raised Kalu Izfendiar, who was
favourably disposed" towards him, to the throne. He was not long,
however, in falling out with the dervishes, and was accused of tyranny
and ill conduct, and was put away, as Ai Timur had been, after reigning
only a few months. This is the account given by Khuandemir. Fasih
says that Muhammed was immediately succeeded by Lutf Ulla, the son
of Masud, who was deposed in ten days, on account of his youth and
incapacity. Mirkhavend says Lutf Ulla was merely proposed, but never
acknowledged. Jennabi says he was actually acknowledged, but Shems
ud din nominated him as regent.

SHEMS UD DIN FADL ALLAH.
The dervishes once more' took counsel with their guide, Shems ud din,
as to who should be placed on the throne. Some were in favour of
Masud's son, but he was deemed too young, and eventually his nephew,
Shems ud din Fadl Allah, the son of Abdur Rezak (Fasih calls him
Shems ud din, son of Fazl Ulla, brother of Masud), was fixed upon.
Devoted to luxury, he neglected taking precautions against the aggression
which threatened him from Jorjan, whither Toghai Timur had retired,
and left the control of matters in the hands of the Khoja Shems ud din
Ali, and in the course of seven months he was pointedly urged to resign
his position, which he accordingly did. One of his couplets is preserved
by Khuandemir : —
The kingdom of poverty and a life of hardship are better than to be a ruler ;
A breath of tranquillity of mind is better than anything a man can wish for.t

SHEMS UD DIN ALI.
The Khoja Shems ud din Ali, who had hitherto been a kingmaker, now
accepted the responsibility of government himself. We are told he ruled
with the greatest severity, to restrain on the one hand the turbulence of
the dervishes, and on the other the licentiousness of the Serbedarians.
He banished the use of wine from his dominions, and five hundred
prostitutes were on one occasion put to death ; Fasih says they were
burnt. He used to perambulate the streets at night, to see for
himself how order was kept. Meanwhile, his valour, determination, and
continual state of preparation for war, deterred his neighbours— Toghai
Timur, in Jorjan, and Hussein, the Malik of Herat— from attacking
him. He suppressed the outbreaks which took place at Tus and
* Dom, op, cit., 172. t Id., 171-172. Ilkhans, ii. 340.

734 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Dameghan, but was eventually assassinated by Haidar Kassab, after he
had reigned four years and nine months. This Hassan had charge of the
Customs. His accounts having been overhauled, he was found to be a
considerable sum in arrear. The Khoja thereupon gave orders that what
property Haidar had appropriated should be confiscated. As he had
nothing left, and the demands kept accumulating upon him, he seized an
opportunity and laid his distressed condition before his master. Shems
ud din, who was a harsh man, impervious to shame, replied : " Let thy
wife enter a brothel, and in this way cancel thy debt to the Divan.'
Affronted by this brutal answer, he determined upon revenge, and confided
his purpose to the Khoja Yahia Kieravi. At the time of evening prayer,
he went up to the fortress when Yahia was in Shems ud din's assembly-
room, and, having demanded his compassion for his misfortune, sprang
forward and thrust a dagger through him. Hasan Dameghani
would have killed the murderer, but was stopped by Khoja Yahia.
He replied that he did not wish the deed to appear as if it had Yahia's
approval. The date of these events is variously given. Khuandemir
apparently puts it in 753 HEJ. (i.e., 1352), Fasih in 755 (i.e., 1354),
Mirkhond in 753, and Jennabi in 756 (i.e., 1355), adding that Shems ud
din had reigned five and a half years, and was 65 when he died.*

YAHIA KIERAVI.
The Khoja Yahia Kieravi, who was privy to the murder of Ali, now
became chief of the Serbedarians. He also maintained stringent
discipline and strict manners, and devoted the greater portion of his
time to profound disputations with the learned. His whole Court was
dressed in woollen garments, and only the most learned men were
appointed to public offices. In consequence of this he was held in the
highest respect by his neighbours. Ghazan Khan, the ruler of Mavera
un Nehr, sent him splendid presents, and Toghai Timur, whose realm
was now reduced to the district of Jorjan, made a treaty of peace, and
interchanged verses with him. Toghai Timur having summoned him to
go to him with his submission, he duly went, but took advantage of his
visit to assassinate him, as I have described. The Serbedarians now
occupied Asterabad, Bostam, Dameghan, Khuar, Semnan, and Taberan,
and withdrew to Sebzevar with their booty. When Yahia had reigned
four years and eight months, his brother-in-law, Alai ud din (Fasih
calls him Alai ud daula, while Mirkhond says it was Yahia's brother
Iz ud din), sprang on to the saddle behind him when entering
the courtyard of his house (Khuandemir says on his horse, Mirkhavend
on his mule), and thrust a dagger into his side. The Khoja himself
*Dom, op. cit., 173-174. Ilkhans, ii., 340-341.

KHOJA DHAHIR UD DIN KERIAVY, ETC. 735
seized him. Both fell from the horse together, and as they struggled,
the wounded chief gave his antagonist a mortal blow, so that both
perished together. Haidar Kassab was at this time at Asterabad with
Sultan Maidan. As soon as he heard the news, he went to Sebzevar.
Those who had concurred in the murder of Yahia withdrew to the
fortress of Shekkan, to which Haidar applied fire for sixteen days, so that
it was burnt, together with all who had sought refuge in it. These events,
according to Khuandemir, took place in the year 756 HEJ. (i.e., 1355).
Fasih and Jennabi say in 759 (i.e., 1357).*

KHOJA DHAHIR UD DIN KERIAVY.
Khuandemir says that, according to the Matla el Sadain, the prince
who now succeeded was a nephew of the Khoja Yahia Keriavy, while
the author of the "History of the Serbedarians" says he was his
brother, as does Fasih. He was appointed chief of the Serbedars, with
the concurrence of Haidar Kassab. He was liberal, good natured, and
steadfast, and fond of playing at dice and cards. Haidar Kassab had
charge of the administration. He deposed the Khoja, according to
Mirkhavend and Khuandemir, after a reign of forty days ; Fasih says in
the year 760 (i.e., 1359), after a reign of eleven months ; while Jennabi says
after a year and a month.t

HAIDAR KASSAB.
After Haidar had reigned for four months, he was assassinated by the
Pehluvan Hasan Dameghani, named Kutluk Bugha, at the instigation of
his master. Fasih calls the murderer Kutluk Aga, and says it was in 762
(i.e., 1360). Mirkhavend says Haidar had previously expressed his
intention of marching against the Amir Vali in Asterabad, but gave up
his plan after he had advanced a day's march. He then went to Izferain.}
LUTF ULLA.
The Amir Lutf Ulla, son of the Amir Wejih ud din Masud, now
succeeded to the chieftainship of the Serbedars, under the tutelage of
Hasan Dameghani. After a reign of a year and three months at
Sebzevar, discord broke out between him and Hasan, in consequence of
which the latter had him imprisoned in the fort of Destjerdan, and
gave orders that he was to be put to death. The Serbedars styled him
Mirza.§ * Dom, op. cit., 174-177. Ilkhans, ii. 340-342. t Dom, op. cit., 177-178.
J Id., 178. $ Id., 178.

73° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

HASAN DAMEGHANI.

The Pehluvan Hasan Dameghani now reigned (i.e., in 1361). During
his rule the dervish Azis, a disciple of Sheikh Hasan Juri, acquired great
fame for his pious observances in the holy city of Meshed, and collected
many people about him. With their aid he acquired some power, and
captured the fort of Tus. Hasan, on hearing of this, marched to Tus,
which he re-captured, gave the dervish some loads of silk, and bade him
not remain long in this district. He accordingly went away to Ispahan,
and settled there. Hasan seems at this time, according to Mirkhavend,
to have marched against the Amir Vali, at Asterabad, whence, having
been defeated, he returned again. Some time after, Khoja Ali Muayid
Sebzevary revolted in Dameghan, drove out Nasr Ulla, who commanded
there on behalf of Hasan, and ordered Mahmud Riza to go to
Ispahan to fetch the dervish Azis. He said he would do so on
condition that, if the Khoja became the chief of the Serbedarians, he
would nominate him his vizier. He agreed to this, and Mahmud duly
brought the dervish, known as " the father of excellence," to Dameghan.
Khoja Ali enlisted himself among the disciples of the dervish, an example
which was followed by many inhabitants of the place. Presently, a
conspiracy broke out in the fortress of Shekkan, or Shegghan, against
Hasan. He accordingly left Sebzevar, and marched against and attacked
the rebels. When news reached the Khoja Ali and his protdgd, the dervish
Azis, that Hasan had left Sebzevar, they marched thither, occupied it
without any trouble, and speedily secured the place and the control of
the army. They seized the vizier, Khoja Yunis Semnani, and put him to
death, in revenge for that of Amir Lutf Ulla. Hasan saw there was no
other course than to submit, and set out for Sebzevar with the intention
of becoming a disciple of the dervish Azis, and a subject of the Khoja Ali ;
but the latter had issued orders that he was to be put to death. A
number of people therefore went out to meet him, held the reins of his
horse, and assisted him to dismount, and one of them cut off his head,
which they sent to Khoja Ali. According to Fasih, this occurred in the
year 763 (i.e., 1362).* Hasan had reigned four years and four months.

KHOJA ALI MUAYID
Jennabi gives Ali Muayid the surname of Nasr Ulla ; while Fraehn, who
has published some of his coins, gives his name, in full, as Nasr Allah
Nejm ud din Ali ibn el Muayid. As he attained his position through
his devotion to religion, he continued to be very attentive to its calls, and
spared no pains to give honour to the great Seyids ; while, in the

Dom, op. cit., 178-179.

KHOJA ALI MUAYID. 737
expectation of the coming of the Lord of Time, he had a horse prepared
for him each night and morning. He abstained from the use of wine and
hemp juice (? bang).* We are told in the " Chronicle of Herat " that he
gave a great impetus to the spread of the Shia doctrines, and had the names
of the twelve imaums placed on the coins.f When he had been on the
throne nine months, he gave the Dervish Azis the command of an army,
and sent him against the Malik of Herat, Moiz ud din Hussein Kert.
When the dervish reached Nishapur, the Khoja, who had apparently
changed his mind, sent word to the commanders of the army that they
were to abandon Azis and return to him. They viewed this as a piece of
good fortune, and duly returned to Sebzevar ; but the dervish, with a body
. of his scholars, set out for Irak. Thereupon the Khoja sent some people
in pursuit, who put them all to the sword. This he followed up by
ruining the tombs of the dervish Khalifah and of Sheikh Hasan Juri in the
market-place of Sebzevar, and making them over to the market people as a
latrine. All this was done probably in the interests of orthodoxy. In 777
(i.e., 1375), Ghiath ud din, the Malik of Herat, captured Nishapur, which
was one of the Khoja's possessions, and appointed Izkander Sheikhy, son of
Afrasiab Chelabi, as its amir. In 778 hej. (i.e., 1376), the dervish Rukn
ud din, a disciple of Sheikh Hasan Juri and the dervish Azis, went to
Fars, and asked for a contingent of troops from Shah Shuja. When he
presently arrived in Khorasan at the head of this army, Izkander Sheikhy
acknowledged himself as his disciple, and both went together to Sebzevar.
Khoja Ali was not in a position to resist them, so he withdrew towards
Jorjan ; while the dervish Rukn ud din planted himself at Sebzevar, and,
in 779 (i.e., 1377), had the khutbeh said and money struck in his own name.
In 780 (i.e., 1378), however, Amir Vali, who, on the death of the Khan
Toghai Timur, had become the ruler of Jorjan, offered the Khoja Ali his
assistance, and they marched together on Sebzevar. Rukn ud din now
fled, and the Khoja once more mounted the throne. In 781 (i.e., 1379),
he visited Asterabad and asked assistance from the amir (i.e., the Amir
Vali) against the great Timur, who was now pursuing his victorious
career; but finding that he could not.'get any substantial help from him,
he determined to submit, and handed the great conqueror the keys of
his towns. He visited him at Nishapur, and there offered his submission,
was well received by him, and lived peaceably under his protection for the
rest of his life.} Sherif ud din says Timur conferred Sebzevar on him.§
He died in 1386, apparently of a wound received in the campaign of
Timur against Luristan. [| Fraehn has published three of his coins, struck
in the years 772, 777, and 780 hej., at Sebzevar, Dameghan, and Lais
Abad (? Asterabad) respectively. IT A coin of his in the British Museum
was struck in 775 HEJ. at Asterabad.
* Id,, ijg. t Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii, 515. X Dorn, op. cit., 179-180.
$ Op. cit., i. 356. || Id., 407. % Recensio, 632-633.

738 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
On the death of Ali Muayid, Timur seems to have nominated one of
his own people governor of Sebzevar. About the year 791, while he was
encamped at Alkushun, news arrived that the Serbedarian princes and
Hajibey Yun Garbani had revolted, and had been joined by the garrisons
of Kelat and Tus. Timur sent the Mirza Miran Shah against them. He
encountered the rebels near Behrabad, a town not far from Tus. They
charged with their usual brave recklessness, " but," says Sherif ud din,
" they were inclosed by the right and left wings of the Mirza's army like
birds in a net." They were cut in pieces. Prince Meluk, half dead,
escaped to Persia, with two or three companions. Meanwhile, the Amir
Akbuka had marched upon Tus from Herat. He captured that town
after Hajibey, who was a younger brother of Ali Bey Yun Garbani, had
managed to escape ; but he was captured at Semnan by the Sherifs of
Hezaregheri, and sent to the Mirza, who had him put to death.*

SULTAN ALI.
About the year 807 hej., Sultan Ali, son of the Khoja Masud, forgetting
the benefits he had received from Timur, rebelled against his son, Shah
Rokh. He put himself at the head of a body of Serbedarians and
others, and occupied the districts about Sebzevar. Seyid Khoja sent a
body of 600 picked men to attack him, while he opposed them with
200 well-armed horsemen, who made a vigorous charge, and as they
consisted of old, well-seasoned men, they cut in pieces a large number
of their opponents. Seyid Khoja was much disturbed by this defeat, and
went hastily to retrieve it with 2,000 men. On reaching the battle-field,
however, he only saw a number of mutilated corpses. Going on to
Jajerm, he overtook a party of the rebels, who retained the martial
virtues for which the dervishes had been famous. The place was
taken, and the people in it slaughtered, but it cost him dear, he
himself having been wounded. Seyid Khoja then went on to Firumed,
whence the people went for shelter into the citadel. He accordingly
proceeded to destroy the gardens and orchards in the vicinity. The
Seyids and learned men of the place entreated his clemency, and he
agreed to spare it on the payment of a ransom. He then went on to
Mezman, which he captured. Thence he passed to Sebzevar, which he
ordered to be girdled round with a deep ditch. After an attack of ten
days, news arrived that Pir Padishah (or Perek), the king of Mazanderan,
was marching to the rescue. Thereupon the siege was raised, and Seyid
Khoja went to meet the latter. Meanwhile, Sultan Ali left the town and
joined Perek. The two armies met. As is so often the case, the
* Sherif ud din, ii. 31-34.

MOIZ UD DIN HUSSEIN KERT. 739
right wing of each broke the opposing left wing ; but eventually Perek,
who commanded the centre, was obliged to give way. Sultan Ali, who
was in charge of the right, hearing of this, went after him. A cruel
slaughter of the fugitives followed, and Seyid Khoja returned towards
Sebzevar with a great booty.*
After his defeat, Khoja Sultan Ali Sebzevari repaired to Asterabad.
When he heard that the Mirza Miran Shah had arrived at Kalpush, he
went to meet him there. The Mirza's officers, Seyid Khoja and Midrab,
urged that his recent rebellion should be duly punished. He was
accordingly arrested and sent in chains to Herat, together with Sultan
Hasan, son of Perek Padishah, while the rest of the conspirators at
Sebzevar were put to death.t Seyid Khoja afterwards defeated Perek
Padishah a second time, captured his son, crushed the power of the
Serbedars, and re-organised the province of Khorasan.}
Thus closes the history of a singular episode in Eastern history, in
which, we have a number of religious devotees and fanatics virtually
controlling, for a considerable period, the fortunes of such an important
province as Khorasan.

THE MALIKS OF HERAT.
MOIZ UD DIN HUSSEIN KERT.
The history of the Ghurian chiefs descended from Shems ud din Kert,
who had authority at Herat from the days of Khulagu to the death of
Abusaid, has been incorporated in the previous pages with that of the
several Ilkhans, their contemporaries, to whom they were in fact
subject and subordinate. When the power of the Ilkhans broke to
pieces, like other dependent chiefs elsewhere, the maliks of Herat, who
had a more established position than any of them, naturally followed
their example, and became independent. We have seen how, in the
year 732 HEJ. (i.e., 1331-32), Malik Hafiz was murdered by a number
of turbulent chiefs.§ He was succeeded by his brother, Moiz ud din
Hussein, thanks to whose vigour the rebels who had caused confusion
during the previous two reigns were subdued, and the people who had
been driven from Herat by the civil commotions there, returned to
their hearths. This tranquillity was broken by the attack of the
Serbedars, which we have described. || The result of the war was not
only the defeat of the Serbedars, but the Malik of Herat was
acknowledged as master in Kuhistan. He then proceeded to subdue
the districts of Shiburghan and Andkhud, and surprised the tribes of
* Abdur Rezak, Notices et Extraits, &c, xiv. 26-30. Ante, 724-725. t Id., 53-54.
X Id., 81. § Ante, 622-623. || Ante, 730.

74° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Arlat and Eperdi (Aibirdi) in Badghiz, dispersed them, and built two
columns out of the heads of the prisoners whom he had caused to be
decapitated. These two columns were placed one on each side of the
Khiaban, near the tomb of Fakhr ud din Razi. "They are still in
existence," says the chronicler of Herat.* At this time there was a
struggle going on in Transoxiana between the Amir Kazghan and
his master, the Jagatai Khan, Kazan Khan, which we shall describe later
on, and Moiz ud din deemed the time favourable to declare himself
independent. He accordingly did so, and adopted the various signs of
royal prerogative, including the five flourishes of trumpets (noobet), &c.f
His enemies, including the chiefs whom he had vanquished at Badghiz,
together with the sheikhs of Jani, denounced him to Kazghan, who, in
a rage, demanded if the stock of Jingis Khan was extinct, that no account
seemed to be made of the royal majesty. " Does not this Ghurian
plebeian any longer recognise it? Does he think there is no one
greater than he?" Kazghan declared he would ruin his towns and
fortresses, and make a river wider than the Oxus out of the blood of
his most valiant soldiers.} He consequently assembled at Balkh all his
forces from Andkhud as far as Kashgar, and was joined by the Khan and
the other princes, and marched upon Herat. When the Malik heard of
this, he sent an amir with 300 men as far as the Murghab to explore,
who speedily returned with the news that Kazghan was on the march,
and that the dust raised by the tramp of his men and war machines rose
up to heaven, &c. The Malik now summoned his council, and said to
them : " An army, so large that the dust it raises obscures the sun, has
invaded Persia from Tartary, composed of men who in the assault are as
firm as a mountain, and when charging with their heads low are as
impetuous as torrents rushing down from the rocks. These heroes only
put on their helmets when they have resolved to sacrifice their lives for
the sake of victory." Each one present then said his say, and notwith
standing that the invaders were more numerous and more skilled in
fighting a pitched battle — the Malik Hussein's forces amounting only to
4,000 cavalry and 1 5,000 foot soldiers — he determined not to stay in the
town, nor the citadel, nor in the gardens and streets of the environs, in
order not to create alarm, and so that the enemy might be the more easily
surprised. It was determined to go out and meet the foe, and also to
make an intrenched camp to the east of the town, and extending from
Kehdistan as far as the village of Bui Murgh. The Malik addressed his
men, and bade them fight bravely, saying that it was not the strong
battalions that always won, but that victory depended more on courage and
skill, and if they showed these, the enemy would find the world too small
as a place of refuge.§
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser,, xvii. 505.508. t Id., 508-509. X Sherif ud din, i. 5-9.
§ Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 509.

MOIZ UD DIN HUSSEIN KERT. 74 1
Meanwhile, Kazghan passed Pashnan, and advanced upon Kehdistan,
and the next day he mounted on horseback with the Khan Bian Kuli and
the Princes Sitilmish, Uljaitu, and 30,000 troops, who occupied the heights
surrounding Kazurgah. Kazghan surveyed the Herat army, and
remarked that the Malik was ignorant of the art of war, and that the
place where he had planted his camp would secure his defeat on two
grounds— first, because his people would have to charge uphill to reach
their enemy, while the latter would be able to charge down upon them ;
and, secondly, that when the sun rose, its light would be in their faces,
and they could not see who was approaching. The Amir Kazghan and
his companions descended from their vantage already assured of victory.
The next day their army was ranged in the form of a crescent, and
advanced after the usual patriotic address. Kazghan mounted a height,
and ordered the attack to begin. The battle was hotly fought, and the
cry of " Sela " arose from both hosts. The word meant that no quarter
was to be given ; and soon the ground was strewn with blood, bucklers,
cuirasses, and lances, mingled with corpses. Hussein's men were at
length defeated, and as he had opened some dykes behind him to prevent
the fugitives from retreating, a portion of them perished in the morass
thus created, while the rest were pursued by the Mongols, who made a
terrible carnage. Hussein retired to Herat with difficulty, accompanied
only by his guards, who occupied the gardens and crooked streets in the
environs, while Kazghan returned to his camp. The next day he began
the siege, and his men fought night and day, at night by the light of
fires which were made for the purpose. The siege lasted for forty days,
when terms were proposed. Sherif ud din and the chronicler of Herat
are at issue as to which side proposed them, but it would seem probable
that they came from Hussein, who sent his enemy a present of some
splendidly caparisoned horses, curious stuffs, and rich carpets, together
with a large sum of money, and promised that if Kazghan would
withdraw, he would go the next year in person and make his submission
to him. This promise was, as usual, accompanied by a solemn oath.
Kazghan, who was of an amiable and generous disposition, readily
assented, as he saw the country would be utterly ruined if the war
continued, and set out again for Transoxiana, accompanied by the Khan.
This was in the year 752 HEJ. (i.e., 1351 a.d.)*
The reverse which he had sustained aroused the animosity of his
subjects against the Malik, especially of the turbulent Ghurian chiefs
in his service, and his brother, Malik Bakir, was set up as a rival by the
rebels. Seeing himself surrounded by a number of Ghurians, whose
conduct was menacing, he had the presence of mind to point out some
Mongols to them who had come from Badghiz with horses for sale
* Id., 509-510. Sherif ud din, i. 12-15.

742 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
as proper subjects for pillage, and profiting by the disorder which
followed, he fled from Herat to Amankuh. There he learnt that his
brother was being proclaimed, and determined accordingly to go to
Transoxiana, and in effect to keep the promise he had made the year
before. When he arrived on the borders of Transoxiana, he met
Kazghan with a party of people hunting. He thereupon dismounted
and approached him with only two servants, and with every confidence.
Kazghan embraced him, saying : " Friend or enemy, you are always
a man of spirit." The Malik having told him of what had happened
at Herat, he promised to reinstate him there ; but the Mongol chiefs
were envious of these attentions, and they asked Kazghan to arrest
him. As he refused to do this, they formed a plot to put him to
death. Kazghan thereupon summoned him, and told him what was
going on, adding that it was not in his power to save him, and
begging him accordingly to escape on a fleet horse. He did so,
and re-entered Herat without being recognised, made his way to the
citadel, where his partisans gathered round him, and gave orders for
the arrest of his brother. That young prince, who had been a mere
plaything in the hands of his officers, was exiled to Fars, and lived there
till his death. Directly Moiz ud din re-mounted the throne, he invaded
Kuhistan, whose chief, Sitilmish Bey, asked assistance from Muhammed
Khajeh, who ruled at Andkhud, Shiburghan, and the country as far as the
Oxus. The latter marched with his army to Badghiz, and there joined
Sitilmish. The Malik met the confederates at Firamurzan on the route
to Sarrakhs. The two allies rushed with impetuous bravery on the troops
of Herat, and were both killed. Their men then fled in disorder. After
this victory, which was won on the 25th of February, 1358, the Malik
returned to Herat, where he had an interview with the Amir Chaku, who
had been sent to him as an envoy by the Great Timur, and whom he
received with due honour. He promised to go to Sarrakhs to meet
Timur, and there make a treaty of peace with him. The latter, who was
well aware of the way in which the Kert princes had murdered Nuruz,
Danishmend, and Choban, did not place much confidence in these promises;
but he deferred any hostile intentions he might have, and sent his son
Jihanghir, under the care of Mubarek Shah Sinjari, to Herat. Shortly
after, in the year 1369, when Timur's position was more assured by the
death of his rival Hussein, Moiz ud din was taken ill with a dangerous
sickness. Seeing his end was approaching, he summoned his chief
dependants, and made them swear allegiance to his son, Ghiath ud din
Pir Ali, whom he nominated his successor. His other son, Malik
Muhammed, whose mother belonged to the Arlat tribe, received Sarrakhs
as an appanage. The dying chief made Ghiath ud din promise not to
molest his brother's possessions, and gave him some wise counsel,
reminding him that God and the Prophet had never permitted an unjust

GHIATH UD DIN PIR ALI. 743
and wicked ruler to hold dominion long at Herat. Moiz ud din died in
June, 1370, and was buried under the northern dome of the Great
Mosque, near the tombs of his father, Ghiath ud din Muhammed, and
of Muhammed, son of Sam.*
GHIATH UD DIN PIR ALI.
The new ruler, faithful to his father's advice, used every effort to live at
peace with his brother, Malik Muhammed ; but the latter was led astray
by perfidious counsels. He suppressed his brother's name from the
khutbeh, and put his own on the coins. Thereupon Ghiath ud din
marched against Sarrakhs in person ; but the severity of the winter caused
an interruption of operations, and he consented to enter into an arrangement.
The two brothers had an interview, and parted apparently reconciled.t
In the spring of 773 (i.e., 1371), Ghiath ud din sent Haji Vizier, as his
envoy, to Timur, who was then hunting near Karshi, with presents of
Arab horses, sumpter mules, mules to be used as palfreys, and a quantity
of rich stuffs, girdles, and robes. He was presented to Timur at Kabamiten.
Among his presents, we are told, was a famous piebald horse, named
Konk Oghlan, bearing a golden saddle. Timur received the envoy
courteously, and gave him a robe and other presents ; and then wrote
the Malik a letter full of friendly phrases, which he sent him, together
with a present of a state robe.}
Meanwhile, Khoja Ali Muayid, the ruler of the Serbedarians, profited
by the power he had acquired in the district of Sebzevar, gave an
impetus to the spread of Shia doctrines and caused the twelve imaums
to appear on the coins. At the instigation of several ulemas of the Hanefi
sect, who represented to him that it was his duty to oppose the progress
of this sect, Ghiath ud din made several invasions of the Nishapur district
in successive years. That district was governed by the deputies of
Muayid. The third of these campaigns was marked by a cruel devastation
of the country, in which the canals were laid dry, and the trees uprooted.
The chronicler of Herat quotes the following story from the " Matla es
Saadin " : " One day, a peasant from the neighbourhood of Nishapur was
captured and taken before the Malik, who, wishing to learn his religious
views, said : ' Good man, how many fundamental dogmas are there in
Islamism ? ' The peasant replied, without hesitation, ' Sire, according to
your sect, Islamism reposes upon three dogmas— destroy the crops of the
Mussulmans, fill up their canals, and tear up their trees.' " This answer
had such an effect on Pir Ali that he returned, with his army, to Herat.
But the following year (i.e., 1375), he renewed his invasion, and captured
Nishapur, of which he nominated Izkander Sheikhy, son of Afrasiab
* Joum. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 510-515. t Id., 515. I Sherif ud din, i. 229-231.

744 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Jelali, governor. The next year, Timur sent an envoy to Herat to conclude
a treaty of peace. The Malik was much pleased at this, and ordered
his son, Pir Muhammed, to repair to his camp ; that young prince
accordingly set out for Mavera un Nehr. This was in 1377. Timur
received him kindly, and affianced him to his niece, Sevend Kutluk Agha,
daughter of Shirin Beg ; and, having given him many presents, sent him
back again, and a few days after the princess was sent after him. Pir Ali
prepared a splendid reception for her, and several triumphal arches,
richly decorated, were raised between the Jui nu and the round space
of the great bazaar. The nuptial festivities lasted several days, and the
Malik, to show how much honoured he felt by the alliance, heaped
presents upon amir Daud and Muayid Arias, who had conducted the
princess.* The good feeling between the two rulers did not, however,
last long. Timur, in 1378, sent an envoy to the Malik to inform him that
he proposed holding a kuriltai, or diet, in the spring, where the various
princes of the empire would assemble, and that he hoped he would attend
it. The Malik replied that if his friend the amir Haji Seif ud din Berks
was sent to escort him — he had much faith in him — that he would at once
set out to pay his respects. Timur assented, and the following day sent
Seif ud din to Herat. The Malik delayed setting out for a long time,
under various pretences — his real object being to provision the town, to
supply it well with weapons of defence, and to perfect its fortifications.
Only the previous year he had surrounded the place with a new wall two
leagues in circuit, which inclosed the faubourgs and gardens outside the
old town. The amir having noticed what was going on, returned alone
to his master, and reported what he had seen.f
This was a sufficient excuse for Timur to prepare his sword. In the
autumn of 1380 he nominated his son, Mirza Miran Shah, governor of
Khorasan, although he was only fourteen years old, and appointed as his
assistants the amir Jehanghir, brother of the amir Haji Berlas, together
with the amirs Haji Seif ud din, Akbuka Osman Abbas, Muhammed
Sultan Shah, Komare' (brother of Temuke'), Taban Behadur, Uruz Buka
(brother of Sarbuka), Pir Hussein Berlas, Hamza (son of the amir Musa),
Muhammed Kazghan, Sarik Etekeh, Muzaffar (son of Ushkara), and
others. He also gave him fifty companies (? hazarahs) of cavalry. They
crossed the Oxus by an admirable bridge of boats, and spent the greater
part of the ensuing autumn and winter at Balkh and Shiburghan. Towards
the end of the winter they occupied Badghiz, where they secured a large
booty of horses and other valuables. In the spring, Timur himself
collected his forces, and prepared to advance. He crossed the Oxus and
proceeded to Andkhud, where he paid a visit to the devotee, Babasenku,
one of the class of dervishes who are either half-witted or profess so to
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 515-517. t Sherif ud din, i. 308-310.

GHIATH UD DIN PIR ALL 745
be. When Timur approached him, the dervish sent a sheep's breast at
his head. Timur accepted this as a good omen, saying, " I am assured
that God has granted me the conquest of Khorasan, for this kingdom
has always- been called the breast, or the middle, of the habitable world."*
Meanwhile, Malik Muhammed, the brother of the ruler of Herat, who,
as we have seen, held the appanage of Sarrakhs, went to offer his
submission. He was well received, and given some presents. Timur
now advanced across the Murghab, and determined to cut the
communication between Herat and Nishapur. When he reached
Kusuyeh, called Kusupa by Sherif ud din, its governor, Pehluvan
Mehdi, submitted, whence the inhabitants of that district were not
molested. Timur turned aside to Taibad, and visited the learned doctor,
Zain ud din Abubekr Taibadi, who was greatly renowned for his piety and
austerities, and with whom he had a long conversation.t Rejoining his
army, he went to Fushenj, which threatened resistance. It was duly
environed, and four days after an assault was ordered. Timur, we are
told, dispensed with his cuirass in order to encourage his men ; and a
heavy storm of weapons fell on either side, Timur himself being struck by
two arrows. Mirza Shah, son of the amir Muayid Arias, who resembled
Timur, Aiku Timur Belkut, Omar, son of Abbas Mubasher, and others,
scaled the ramparts. The Sheikh Ali Behadur and his younger brother,
Khosru Buket, with Mirek, son of Elchi, and other warriors traversed the
ditch and reached the city gate, which they burst open. Meanwhile,
breaches were made in various places, and, after desperate fighting, the
fortifications were captured, the garrison was put to the sword, and the
town pillaged, while the walls of the citadel were razed. This being
the first town of Iran which had fallen, the capture was the subject of great
rejoicings. The town of Fushenj, we are told, was famed for its strength,
being surrounded by high walls and an excellent rampart. Its citadel was
deemed one of the strongest in the world, and was girdled by a deep ditch
filled with water. It was also well provisioned, and otherwise supplied.}
Timur now proceeded to attack Herat. The army laid waste the gardens
in the environs, and destroyed their walls ; and then built lines of
contravallation about it. Meanwhile, Talek, with a body of Ghurians,
deemed the bravest people of Iran, made a sortie, but were repulsed.
Sherif ud din says " that the citizens, who knew little of what had passed,
preferred the repose of their houses, decorated with the beautiful porcelain
of Kashan— a town four days' journey north of Ispahan— to the troubles
of war, and thought only of their own safety." Talek determined to arouse
them, and sent public criers round, ordering them to repair to the walls
and to share their defence among them. A deaf ear was turned to these
appeals.§ * Id; 3I4-3I6. t Id; 316-318. J Id; W^M. § Id., 323-324.

74° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
The " Chronicle of Herat" says that Timur's people made no progress
for four days, when some intrepid soldiers advanced towards Kiushk
Murghani, and discovered a subterranean conduit, which conveyed water
into the city. This they seemed to have followed, and a combat ensued.
Pir Ali, who was posted with the elite of his men at the gate near Pul
Enjil, could not drive them back, and withdrew to the citadel. Khalil
Yasaul now stormed the walls, and drove out the defenders. Two
thousand Ghurians were made prisoners, and taken before Timur,
who greatly praised their prowess, presented each of them with a tunic,
gave them their liberty, and bade them tell the citizens that no harm
would come to them if they remained quietly in their houses.* Seeing
that resistance was hopeless, the Malik determined to send his mother,
Sultan Khatun, daughter of Toghai Timur Khan, with his eldest son, Pir
Muhammed, accompanied by Izkander Sheikhi, who was said to be of
the race of Bijen (a famous princely stock of ancient Persia), to offer his
submission. Timur presented the young prince with a magnificent robe,
and then sent him back with his mother to bid him come to him in person,
while he retained Izkander Sheikhi to inform himself of the affairs of the
country, and of what had passed in the town. He then went to a kiosk
in the garden of Baghe' Zaghan (i.e., the garden of the ravens). The
Malik spent the next day in preparations. " The day following," says
Sherif ud din, " abandoning his pride, he quitted the city, and went to
find Timur, whose carpet he kissed while on his knees, and asked pardon
for his fault." He was presented with a robe of honour and a jewelled
girdle. The following day the Sherifs, mollahs, imaums, and grandees of
the town also went to kiss the conqueror's carpet, and to greet him in the
accustomed fashion. The conquest of Herat took place in the month of
Moharrem of the year 783 (i.e., March, 1381). Timur now moved his
camp to Kehdistan, east of the city, while the treasures amassed by the
Ghurian princes were carried away. Among these were money, uncut
stones, very rich thrones, crowns of gold, silver bowls, gold and silver
brocades, &c.f The old walls of Herat, as well as those recently built,
were razed. An impost was levied on the town in lieu of its being
pillaged, which was paid in four days. Molla Kutb ud din, son of Molla
Nizam ud din, who was the chief imaum and doctor in the country, with
200 old men of consequence, were ordered to go to Shehr i Sebz as
hostages, and Timur Tash, nephew of Akbuka, governor of Termed, was
ordered to escort them. The gates of the town, which had iron bands of
chiselled work upon them containing various inscriptions (the " Chronicle
of Herat " says they were inscribed with the names and titles of the
various Maliks), were transported to Kesh, " where," says Sherif ud din,
" they remain to this day."
* Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 518. t Id., 519. Sherif ud din, 322-326.

GHIATH UD DIN PIR ALI. 747
Pir Ali had another strong fortress, named Izkelejeh or Amankuh,
which he had intrusted to his younger son, Amir Ghuri, who determined
to resist. Timur accordingly sent the Malik, his father, to Izkelejeh, to
persuade him to surrender, forbidding him, under grave penalties, at
the same time to enter the citadel. Pir Ali went to the foot of the
walls, and after a parley with his son, persuaded him to be prudent,
and returned with him to Timur,* who forgave him, and gave him a royal
robe. Timur now sent Jihanshah Yaku to secure Nishapur and Sebzevar,
and seems, after making a detour towards Kelat, to have gone in person
to Nishapur, and then to have received the submission of the Serbedarian
chief of Sebzevar. His troops then captured Izferain, which belonged to
Vali, the ruler of Mazanderan. Having wintered at a country house,
called Oghul Yatu Yailak, he made several regulations for the govern
ment of Khorasan. He sent Ghiath ud din back to Herat, and the other
princes and governors to their several posts, and sent his son, Miran
Shah, to Sarrakhs, who arrested Muhammed, brother of Ghiath ud din,
and sent him to Samarkand.-!
The next year Timur once more crossed the Oxus, and marched
westwards. Near Kelat he was joined by Ghiath ud din, with the troops
of Herat, while Miran Shah similarly came from Sarrakhs. He first
attacked the rebellious ruler of Kelat, and, having left a force to
blockade that place, marched upon Tershiz, where Ali Sedid Ghuri held
command on behalf of the Malik of Herat. Timur passed by way of
Yassi Dapan, and reached Kabushan, whence he sent the princess
Dilshadaga, who was not well, back to Samarkand. Tershiz was situated
among mountains, and had the reputation of being impregnable, on
account of the exceptional height of its walls and the depth and width of
its ditches. It was garrisoned by Ghurians, who were a race famous for
their prowess, and was well supplied with provisions and munitions of
war. Timur complained to Ghiath ud din that these people, who were
his subjects, should resist him so stoutly. He said it was due to their
ignorance, and he volunteered to go and speak to them. He did so, but
they would not heed his orders, and the siege accordingly proceeded.
The walls were sapped, and endeavours were made to draw the ditch.
The resistance was bravely sustained, but at length the walls and parapets
were almost ruined by the stones fired from the catapults, and the
garrison, worn out, asked for quarter. Timur treated them well, praised
them for their bravery, took them into his service, and appointed their
commander governor of the frontier between Turkestan and Kashgar.
Tershiz itself was confided to the care of Sarik Etekeh.} Timur now
marched against Mazanderan, whose ruler submitted to him. He
thereupon returned to Samarkand, taking the Malik Ghiath ud din and
* Sherif ud din, i. 327-328. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 519. t Sherif ud din, i. 332-334-
J Id., 347-350. Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 520.

748 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
his children with him* The Malik's grandson, Amir Ghuri, and his
brother, Malik Muhammed, were arrested and placed in confinement at
Andikan. He himself, with his eldest son, Pir Muhammed, were also
imprisoned.T Herat was confided to Amirgah, son of Timurgah.
Meanwhile, a serious outbreak took place in the recently conquered
district of Khorasan. Malik Muhammed and Abusaid his brother, the sons
of Fakhr ud din, formerly ruler of Herat, had led a life of great poverty
during the reigns of the two last maliks. When Timur conquered Herat
they represented to him how they had been robbed of their fortunes by
Malik Hussein and his son. Timur pitied and released them. He
intrusted the government of Ghur to the elder of them, Malik Muhammed,
and a famous Ghurian chief, Abusaid Espahbed, who had been kept in
prison for ten years by Ghiath ud din, was released.
Meanwhile, the Mirza Miran Shah, with the troops of Herat, had gone
in the autumn of 1 381, to encamp on the Murghab, in a place called
Yendi, which the Persians called Penchdeh (i.e., the five villages). Malik
Muhammed deemed it a good opportunity to surprise Herat. He advanced
against it with a body of people, and was joined en route by Abusaid
"Espahbed, with a party of vagabonds. The governor and garrison were
obliged to withdraw to the fortress of Ikhtiar ud din, where the governor
died. Its gate was burnt by the rebels ; whereupon the Turkish garrison,
to escape the flames, tried to escape over the walls, but were cut to pieces.
Mirza Miran Shah having heard of this, at once sent the amirs Seif ud din
and Akbuka towards Herat, and followed with the bulk of his army. The
Ghurians marched against them, and a struggle took place in the
promenade of Khiaban, in which they were defeated. A terrible massacre
of the inhabitants now followed, and a very high tower was built up of
their heads. Herat itself was largely reduced to ruins. Ezfizar, whose
governor, Ali Daud Khototai, had also rebelled, suffered the same fate.
Ali Daud himself was burnt in his house ; and two thousand of the
citizens were buried alive in holes filled with mud. " It was thus," says the
chronicler of Herat, "that an outbreak, fomented by miserable adventurers,
spread over Khorasan, and devastated its two most beautiful districts ;
and the ambition of two fools cost the lives of many innocent people,
and converted a land, which was the image of paradise, into an arid
desert. We belong to God, and we supplicate Him to prevent the return
of such terrible calamities."}
When Timur heard of the outbreak, he gave orders that the Malik
Ghiath ud din, his brother Malik Muhammed, his grandson Amir Ghuri,
and Ali Bey Yan Garbani " were to say their prayers and prepare for
death " (i.e., he had them executed).^ In the year 791 hej. the garrisons
of Kelat and Tus having revolted, Timur returned hastily to Samarkand,
* Sherif ud din, i. 356. X Id., 357-358.
X Journ. Asiat., 5th ser., xvii. 520-522. Sherif ud din, i. 358-360. $ Sherif ud din, i. 361 .

BURHAN UD DIN— SEINOL AABIDIN. 749
and put to death Pir Muhammed, son of the Malik Ghiath ud din, and
his two sons, Zain al Abidin and Mahmud, and thus put an end to the
royal stock of Herat.*

SIVAS.
BURHAN UD DIN.
I must conclude my notice of the fragments into which the Ilkhanian
Empire broke with a few words about a small and short-lived principality
at its western extremity. When the general break up of authority took
place in the latter years of the Khanate, which led to the supremacy of
the Turkomans in Armenia, we are told that Ahmed Kadhi Burhan ud din,
who had been a judge in the service of the Prince of Kaiseriyah, and
who combined literary and political abilities, secured the allegiance of
various Tartar tribes, which had obeyed the Ilkhans, and which were
encamped in the district between Sivas and Kaiseriyah. Elsewhere we
read that on the death of the Prince of Kaiseriyah, Ahmed Burhan ud
din, with his amirs, divided that principality among them, Haji Geldi took
Tokat, Sheikh Mejik took Amasia, and Burhan ud din himself Sivas.
Burhan ud din was doubtless supreme, and was able to put 20,000 or
30,000 armed followers in the field. His turbulent followers speedily
made attacks on the borders of the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid's territory,
and having determined to prevent this new enemy from acquiring too
great an authority, he marched against him. Burhan ud din was too
prudent to face the Sultan, and retired towards Diarbekr to the mountains
of Kharpurt. There he was eventually attacked by Osman beg of the
tribe Bayanlu, who then ruled at Diarbekr, and was killed with the greater
part of his following. Sherif ud din says it was Bayazid who put him to
death, and who also captured his son, Kara Osman. t Another son, Abed
Abbas Burhan ud din, we read, attacked his father-in-law, the Prince of
Erzenjan, and appropriated his principality, and was afterwards defeated
and killed by Kara Yuluk, the Turkoman chief.}
SEINOL AAB I D I N.
On his death, Burhan ud din's people were divided as to what should
be done. The greater part of them wished to transfer their allegiance to
his son Seinol Aabidin, but a minority deemed it more prudent that their
country should accept the powerful Ottoman ruler as its master, and Seinol
Aabidin, who was apparently a boy only, was sent to his relative Nasir
ud din beg. The Prince of Sulkadr and Bayazid appropriated his
dominions, which included the towns of Sivas, Tokat, and Kaiseriyah. §
These events took place in 1392.
* Id., ii. 32. t Op. cit., iii. 256. I Von Hammer, Osm. Reiches, i. 153.
§ Zinkeisen Gesch Osm. Reiches, i. 351-352. Von Hammer Gesch des Osm. Reiches, i. 189.

750

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

GENEALOGY OF THE MUZAFFARIANS.

Ghiath ud din Khorasani.
 I 

Abubekr.

Muhammed.

I

Mansur.

Muhammed.
Bedr ud din Abubekr,
who married a
daughter of Muzaffar.

I
AH.

Muzaffar. J
Mubariz ud din
Muhammed.

Shah
Sultan.

I
Shah
Suliman.

Shah
Muzaffar,

i

I I

Shah Shah Sultan Abu
Shuja. Mahmud. Ahmed. Yezid.

Ahu Ishak.

Nusret Shah
ud din Mansur.
Yahia.

Shah
Hussein.

Shah Ali.

Sultan
Jehangir.

I II I
Zain Muzaffar Kutb Moiz
Al Abidin. ud din ud din ud din
j Shebeli. Oweis. Jehanghir.
Sultan
Motassem.

This table is copied from Defremery, Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 95.

GENEALOGY OF THE MALIKS OF HERAT.
Taj ud din Osman Merghani,
Malik Rokn ud din Abubekr.
Shems ud din (first Malik),
1243-1283.
Rokn ud din (Shems ud din II.),
1278-1283.

Fakhr ud din,
1285-1307.

Ghiath ud din,
1308-1328.

Shems ud din II.,

Malik Hafiz,
1329-1331.

I

Moiz ud din,
1333-137°-
Ghiath ud din Pir Ali,
1370-1373.

Note 1 — Hosn Kaifa. — A small principality which survived, as a vassal state,
throughout the Mongol domination in Persia, was Hosn Kaifa, or Hosnkeif.
Quatremere has given a detailed account of it.* I have described its
capture by Khulagu Khan.t The place was ruled by princes of the Ayubit
family ; and I owe to Dr. Rieu some notices of them which may be welcome
to some of my readers. It was in the year 629 hej. that the Ortokids were
dispossessed of Amid and Hosn Kaifa by the Ayubit chief, Malik al Kamil,
son of Malik al Adil, who was Sultan of Egypt. Kamil, who died in 635 hej.,
was succeeded as ruler of the Ayubit dominions by his son, Abubekr, surnamed
Malik al Adil, and he by his brother, Malik al Salih. During Salih's reign, his
son, Moassem Turan Shah, was in possession of Hosn Kaifa. He went to

* Hist, des Mongols, 333, &c. Notes.

t Ante, 161.

NOTES. 751
Egypt on his father's desth in 647 hej., and the next year was assassinated.
Turan Shah was the last Ayubit Sultan of Egypt. His son, Muayid, succeeded
him at Hosn Kaifa, and, as we have seen,* was ruler there when that place was
captured by the Mongols, who put him to death. His full name was Al Muayid
Abdallah. His son was called Kamil Abubekr Shadi, and his son Salih
Yusuf. Salih Yusuf paid his respects to the Sultan of Egypt, Malik al Nasir,
son of Kelavun, in Ramazan, 726, and was dismissed with marks of favour, and
a recommendation addressed to the amir Choban. On his return to Hosn
Kaifa, he was put to death by his brother, Adil Mujir ud din Muhammed, who
reigned after him.f He was succeeded by his son, Adil Shihab ud din Ghazi,
who left two sons, viz., Salih Saif ud din Abubekr and Adil Fakhr ud din
Suliman. The first of these succeeded him, and set out, in the year 776 hej.,
for Mekka, with the intention of abdicating. He was, however, persuaded to
return again ; but was soon after superseded by his brother, Suliman, who, in
783, fought with Gharz ud din, chief of the Sulimanis, and the amirs of Bedliz
and Diarbekr,} In the year 803, he went to Timur, when he was on the way
to Mardin, to whom he gave presents and did homage. Timur gave him a robe
of gold tissue, a girdle of precious stones, and a sword with a golden scabbard.§
Suliman died in the year 827 hej., and was succeeded by his son, Ashraf
Ahmed, who was a poet and a patron of learned men. Having encountered
the Sultan Barsabai before Amid, he was slain by a body of Turkomans, and
was succeeded by his son, Malik Khalil, who compelled Karailik — who had
made an inroad into his territory — to come to terms. || He died in 832 hej ,
according to the "Sherif Nameh," which says his nephew, Khala ibn Suliman,
defeated Hasan beg Ak Kuyunli. He was murdered in his bath by his cousin,
and Hosn Kaifa then fell into the hands of the Turkomans.
Note 2 — Great Luristan. — I carried the story of this principality down to the
death of Afrasiab and the succession of his brother, Nusrat ud din Ahmed, in
696 HEj.^f Hamdullah speaks of the latter as an excellent ruler, who made the
province rich and prosperous. He made Malik Kutb ud din, son of Imad ud
din Pehluvan, lieutenant, and nominated him his successor; and gave the
command of the army to Khosru Shah, son of Hosam ud din, who joined their
efforts to make the country prosper. Ibn Batuta speaks of the atabeg in the
same terms. He says that he built 460 hermitages in his kingdom, of which
there were 44 at Idhej, his capital. He divided the taxes of the kingdom into
three equal parts. The first was devoted to supporting the hermitages and
schools, the second to paying his troops, and the third to the maintenance of
his family and servants. He sent a present annually to the King of Irak
(i.e., Abusaid Khan), and often paid him a visit. The greater part of his pious
foundations were on high mountains (i.e., the Kurdish mountains), through
which the roads had to be cut through the solid rock, which was very hard, and
yet were so well made that sumpter beasts could traverse them with their loads.

* Ante, 161. t Abulfeda, v. 364. Tarikh al Aim, add. 22,360 f. 176.
I Inba al Ghumr, add. 7,321 ff. 14-272' Shifa al Kulub, add. 7,311 ff. 126-127.
^ Sherif uddin, iii. 3S5-357- II Inba, f. 307. Suluk,i64. .
H Ante, 407. I have erroneously called the latter Nasir ud din, as Von Hammer in one place
does. Ilkhans, ii. 321.

752 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Oaks grew there, with the acorns of which they made bread. At each station
was a hermitage, at which food for the traveller and forage for his beast were
provided, whether he asked for it or no; each person receiving two round
loaves, some meat, and sweets made of grape juice mixed with flour and butter,
which were duly provided from the legacy left by the atabeg. At each hermitage
there was a sheikh, an imaum, a mueddhin, a servant to assist the poor, and
servants of both sexes to cook the food. Ahmed was an ascetic, and wore a
horsehair shirt close to his skin, which, as we have seen, attracted the attention
of Abusaid* According to Defremery, he died in the year 1332.! The
"Habib Ussiyer" says he died in 733 hej. He was succeeded by his son,
Yusuf, who, Ibn Batuta says, reigned for ten years ; but Defremery makes his
successor mount the throne in 13394 The " Habib Ussiyer " says he died
in 740 hej. Hamdullah says he followed in his father's footsteps. In the
history of Mirza Izkander, abstracted for me by Dr. Rieu, we read that
he captured Shuster, Huwaizah, and Basrah, and that he reigned for
five years and nine months. Yusuf was succeeded by his brother, Afrasiab,
who was reigning when Ibn Batuta visited Idhej, which, with Shuster, were
then the chief towns of Great Luristan. He describes Shuster as a
beautiful city, with fertile surroundings, and girded about by a river, on
which were water wheels. There was living there a famous preacher named
Sherif ud din Musa, whose preaching was unapproached elsewhere. He tells
us that, after he had finished his discourse, a number of people sent him pieces
of paper with critical questions upon them, which he took up and answered
in the most finished style. He surrounded himself with learned men and with
disciples. The town of Idhej, he tells us, was the residence of the atabeg.
Ibn Batuta failed to see him for some time, as he only went out on a Friday,
being an habitual drunkard. He had an only son, who fell ill. The authorities
fancied that our traveller was a leader of a body of fakirs. They sent him some
refreshments and money, and some musicians, with a request that he and his
fakirs would dance and pray for the young ' prince. He protested that he and
his companions knew nothing of music or dancing : they offered prayers for
the Sultan. The same night, however, the young prince died. The next day,
the sheikh bade him accompany the grandees of the town, khadis, fakirs,
sherifs, and amirs to present their condolences. He went, and found the hall
of audience filled with men, children, slaves, soldiers, &c. They were dressed
in rough carpets and horse covers, and had their heads covered with dust and
straw ; some had also cut off the hair from the front of their heads. They were
divided into two bodies, planted at either end of the audience chamber, and
advanced towards one another, striking their breasts, and saying Khoudsarima
(i.e., " My Lord "). The spectacle disgusted Ibn Batuta. The khadis, khalifs,
sherifs, &c, in the audience chamber had covered their ordinary dress with
dirty cotton cloths, &c, roughly made, and some of them having pieces of
dervishes' habits or black veils on their heads. They leaned against the walls and
wept, or pretended to do so, or looked down at the ground. This mourning lasted
forty days, and the Sultan sent each of the mourners a robe after it was over.
* Ante, 626. t Ibn Batuta, ii. 31. X Id., ii. 31-34.

NOTES. 753
Ibn Batuta, looking round and not seeing a place to sit, noticed a raised platform,
on one corner of which, apart from other people, sat a man, dressed in a woollen
garment made of felt, such as was worn by travellers in rainy or snowy weather
To the astonishment of everybody, our traveller went up to this man, mounted
the platform, and saluted him. He returned the salute, half rising in order to
do so. Ibn Batuta then sat down at the opposite angle, while the audience
stared. One of the khadis beckoned him to descend, but he sat on, and
he then realised that it was the atabeg himself. Presently, the bier was
brought in ; orange trees, lemons, and citrons, bearing fruit, were carried on
either hand — lanterns, fixed on lances, going in front. A prayer having
been said over it, it was conveyed to a place called H61&fihftn, four miles
from the town. There was a large college there, traversed by a river,
and inclosing a mosque ; outside was a bath and a large orchard, where
refreshments were given to travellers. Some days after, the atabeg summoned
Ibn Batuta. He found him seated on a cushion in a room in which there was
no carpet, on account of the mourning, and before him were a pair of covered
bowls, one of gold and the other of silver. There was a small green prayer
carpet in the room, which was spread for the traveller near the prince. There
was no one else present except his chamberlain, the fakir Mahmud, and an
attendant. The atabeg inquired from him about the Sultan of Egypt, and
about the province of Hijaz. He noticed that the prince was rather drunk;
and on his telling him, in Arabic, to speak, he ventured to say : " You are one
of the children of the atabeg Ahmed, celebrated for his piety and devotion.
There is nothing to reproach you for in your government save that," and he
pointed with his finger to the two vessels. He was ashamed at these words,
and presently said, " It is a mark of the Divine pity to be allowed to consort
with such as you." Presently, seeing that his host was nodding from side to
side, and wished to go to sleep, he rose and left. He had left his sandals at
the door, but did not find them on leaving. Two fakirs went up and down stairs
to find them, and, when found, one of them kissed the sandals and put them on
his head in sign of respect, saying, " God bless you; what you have said to our
Sultan no one else could say. I hope it will have made an impression on him."
On his way from Idhej, Ibn Batuta stayed some days at the place of royal
sepulture previously named. The atabeg sent him and his companions a present
of coin. On leaving there, he travelled for ten days through the mountains,
staying nightly at one of the hospices already named. On the tenth day he
reached a station called Giurisva's rokh, which marked the boundary of
the atabeg's dominion.* According to the historian of Mirza Izkander, already
mentioned, Afrasiab reigned eleven years, when he was succeeded by his
son, Nur al Ward, who spent the treasures accumulated by his forefathers
in pleasure and in pious foundations, and reigned for thirty-nine years. " The
Jihanara " says he was taken and blinded by Muhammed, the Muzaffarian, a.h.
756, and that he was succeeded by his nephew, Pesheng. Mirkhond tells us
how, when the Muzaffarian princes, Shah Shuja and Shah Mansur, were at
strife, tbe atabeg Shems ud din Pesheng, who was being hard pressed by the
* Ibn Batuta, ii. 30-42.
A 2*

754 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
latter, sent to ask the aid of the former, promising to conquer Shuster for him.
• They eventually attacked Shuster together, and captured it, after which
. Pesheng set out for Idhej* Pesheng, according to the " Jihanara," was
succeeded by his son, Ahmed. The historian of Izkander says Nur al Ward
was succeeded by his son, Ahmed, who alienated all by his suspicious
disposition, and killed his brother, Hosheng, doubtless the Pesheng of the
other story. He paid homage to Timur, when the great conqueror attacked
Fars in 789 HEj.f The same writer tells us that on his return to Fars, in the
spring of 795 hej., the Atabeg of G reat Luristan, whom he calls Pir Muhammed,
went to do him homage at Ram Hormuz, and made him presents, and
was well received. £ This interview was at the instance of some of Timur's
grandees. In the history of Izkander, we read that on Timur's return to
Samarkand from this campaign (i.e., in the year 798 hej.), he brought Ahmed's
two brothers, Afrasiab and Masud Shah, as hostages. He subsequently
released Afrasiab, and divided the country between him and Ahmed. After
Timur's death, Mirza Pir Muhammed seized upon the latter, who remained
four years confined at Kuhendiz. He was released and restored in the year
811 hej., and was eventually slain by his own people. His son, Abusaid
after being kept for one or two years by Izkander at his court, was sent to
Luristan as his father's successor. He was still living in 815 hej., when the
biographer of Izkander wrote. "The Jihanara" tells us he was succeeded by
his son, Shah Hussein, who was, some time after, killed by his relative, Ghiath
ud din ibn Kavus ibn Hosheng. This was in 827 hej. Ghiath ud din,
who was the last of his line, was expelled by the Mirza Ibrahim, son of
Shah Rukh.
Note 3— Little Luristan. — I have already related the earlier history of Little
Luristan during the Mongol domination. § I brought it down to the accession
of Iz ud din Mahmund in 6g5 hej. He is called Iz ud din Amir Muhammed
in Mr. L'Estrange's MS. translation of Hamdullah, which is before me. That
author tells us he was very beautiful when a child. Bedr ud din Masud, the
son of his uncle Hasan, who was his senior, opposed him. In the reign of
Uljaitu orders came that Bedr ud din Masud should be governor of one section
of the country, and take the title of atabeg, and that Iz ud din should be governor
of another. || But presently both provinces came into the hands of Iz ud din again,
and he reigned over them until his death, whereupon Daulat Khan became queen
of the country. During her reign various governors were appointed by
the Mongol divan, which, says Hamdullah, is the case to the present day.
Dr. Rieu has abstracted some later notices of Lesser Luristan for me from
a general history written in a.h. 815 for Timur's grandson, Mirza
Izkander. We read there that Iz ud din Hussein, brother of Daulat Khatun,
who had married Yusuf Shah, the ruler of Great Luristan, was appointed
atabeg of Little Lur by Abusaid at the beginning of his reign, and that
he reigned fourteen years. He was succeeded by his son, Shuja ud din
Mahmud, who disgusted his subjects by his tyranny, and became the victim of
* Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 458-462. t Sherif ud din, i. 459. X Id., ii. 184-
§ Ante, 140 and 406-407. || Illegible in the MS.

NOTES. 7;-

a Ho ZT7- ,S S°n' IZ Ud di"' SUCC6eded him at the *& °f ^elve,
A.H. 750, and had a long and prosperous reign. He gave a daughter in
marnage to Ahmed ibn Oweis Ilkani, and another to Shah Shuja, the
Muzaffarian. Defremery calls him Fakhr ud din, and tells us how, after having
been a dependant of Shah Shuja, he afterwards sought refuge with Sultan
?uWTu , u the" S6nt Sh3h ShUJa a pr6Sent 0f horses and Precious objects, had
the khutbeh Sa,d in his name, and also put his name on the coins.* Sherif
ud dm tells us that in the year 788 hej , Timur determined to prosecute a
campaign m Iran, and, having crossed the Jihun and reached Firoz Kuh, he
made inquiries about the behaviour of various rulers in the West, and learnt
of the actions of Malik Iz ud din, prince of Lesser Lur, and of the crimes
continually perpetrated by his people, who were great robbers, and had recently
Plundered a caravan on its, way to Mekka. He determined to punish the
ireebooters, and, having selected two men from every ten, he put himself at the
head of a flying column of picked troops and invaded Luristan. He ravaged
Urudgurd and its environs, and eventually captured Kurrambad, an almost
impregnable fortress, which he razed to the ground, and put to death the greater
part of its defenders, who were thrown down from the rocks. Having thus
subdued Little Luristan, Timur returned to his camp in the plain of Nehavend.t
It is necessary to remember that at this time there was a second prince of the
same name, and who is qualified as Iz ud din Shirin, who ruled over Van and
Vastan, and who also felt the weight of Timur's arms.}: After his various
victories, Timur held a reception at Shiraz, which was attended inter alios by
the princes of Luristan. The biographer of Izkander tells us that Iz ud din fell
into Timur's hands, a.h. 790, at the capture of Kalah Rumiyan, and was sent
with his son, Sayyidi Ahmed, to Andijan. After three years of captivity,
he was restored to his government. During the interval between 790 and 795
we find him assisting the Muzaffarian prince, Zain al Abidin, to escape from
confinement, and conducting him to Ispahan, which was soon besieged by Shah
Mansur, whereupon Iz ud din visited the latter's camp, and soon after the place
surrendered.! He must afterwards have proved insubordinate,forwe read in Sherif
ud din how, in the year 795, Timur sent troops to ravage Luristan ; while Iz
ud din, who was then at Kurrambad, fled, and was pursued by the Mirza Omar
Sheikh as far as the fortress of Munkereh, not far from Vasith, on the Tigris,
reducing the country en route.\\ In this campaign other districts of Kurdistan
and Luristan were overrun by the Mirzas, Muhammed Sultan, and Pir
Muhammed.^" The same year Timur made over Little Luristan to Pir
Ahmed, the ruler of Great Luristan.** The biographer of Mirza Izkander
tells us that Iz ud din accompanied Timur in his Syrian campaign. I
am not sure that he has not confused him with a third prince of the same
name, who was then ruler of Jeziret. He goes on to say that his son Sayyidi,
having failed to pay the tribute, Iz ud din was accused of treachery and
flayed alive after a reign of fifty-four years. " The Jihanara," which also
mentions this fact, dates it in hej. 804. Sherif ud din tells us how, in the year
» *Joum. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 447. t Sherif ud din, i. 406-7. X Id- 437-440.
" Sherif ud din, ii. 174-181. || Op. cit., iii. 167-168. If Id. 172. ** Id. 206.

756 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
806, there arrived at the Imperial camp a Circassian officer, who had with him
the head of Malik Iz ud din of Little Lur, who had revolted. The officer said
that he had flayed his victim, stuffed his skin with straw, and exposed it to
public view as a terror to marauders.* His son, Sayyidi Ahmed, called Pir
Muhammed and Pir Ahmed by Sherif ud din, succeeded him. The latter author
tells us how he did homage to Timur in the year 795 hej,, and, the same year,
was confirmed in his principality by the great conqueror, and we are told he
returned to his ancient appanage with 2,000 families whom Shah Mansur had
pillaged.t The "Jihanara," also abstracted for me by Dr. Rieu, tells us he
reigned till 815 hej., and was then succeeded by Shah Hussein Abbasi. He
captured Hamadan in the time of the Timurid Abusaid ; and was surprised and
killed by a Baharlu chief, Kur Pir Ali, in A.H. 871. Our notices are now very
broken. We read in the same author of Shah Rustem attending upon Shah
Ismail Safavi; then of Aghur, son of Shah Rustem, accompanying Shah
Tahmasp in his campaign in Khorasan in the year 940 hej. During his
absence the throne was seized by his younger brother, Jehanghir, who slew
him on his return. Jehanghir was in turn put to death, by order of Tahmasp,
in a.h, 949. He was succeeded by his son, Shah Rustem, who is the last
prince of this line of whom I have any notice.
Note 4 — Yezd. — The first atabegs of Yezd, according to the "Jihan numa," as
reported by Von Hammer, sprang from the Dilemite, Abu Jaafer Muhammed
Kakuyeh, which last name the Arabs corrupted into Kakeweih. His son, Abu
Mansur Firamur, was appointed governor of Yezd by the Seljuk ruler, Tughrul,
in the year 443 hej., and was succeeded by his son, the Amir Ali Ibn Firamur,
who fell fighting against the Karakhitai, 536 hej. Sultan Sinjar gave the
government of Yezd to Sain ibn Wirdan, whose mother was a daughter of the
amir Ali just named. He built a great mosque at Yezd, and surrounded the
grave of Ali at Meshed with a wall ; and was succeeded by his brother, Iz ud
din Beshker in 590 hej. He was a brave prince, and was intrusted with Shiraz
and Ispahan by the Seljuk rulers. He was succeeded in 604 hej. by his brother,
Wirdansor, and he by his brother, Abu Mansur, surnamed Kutb ud din, the
Khaljeh, who died in 616 hej., and was succeeded by his son, Mahmud.
Mahmud died in 621 hej., and was followed by Salghur Shah, the builder of
Salghurabad ; and he by Toghan Shah, who was a contemporary of Khulagu
Khan.J whom he conciliated, and was permitted to continue in his principality.
He was apparently the father of Alai ud daulat, whose sister, Turkan Khatun,
married the ruler of Fars, and came to a very tragic end, as I have described.g
When Khulagu marched against Baghdad, Alai ud daulat sent the amir Abubekr,
with 300 horsemen, to his assistance.! He was succeeded by his son, Yusuf
Shah, who, in the year I29r, and during the reign of Gaikhatu, the ruler of
Yezd, rebelled, and the Ilkhan sent Yisudar with a force to punish him.*l[
Ghazan, it would seem, attacked Yezd, and incorporated its revenues in the

'' Op. cit., vol. 4, 130. t Op. cit., iii. 184 and 206. I Ilkhans, i. 68-69.
$ Ante, 202-203. II Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 96. U Ilkhans, i. 40 492-3.

notes. 757
imperial treasury (i.e., displaced its ruling family).* In 1294, the Ilkhan
Baidu appointed Sultan Shah, son of the great amir Nuruz, amir of Yezd, with
a diploma for 10,000 dinars. f About the year 713 hej. (1314), the Muzaffarian
prince, Mubariz ud-din Muhammed, attacked Haji Shah, the atabeg of Yezd,
fought with him in the bazaar at Yezd, and compelled him to fly with his
servants and riches, thus putting an end to the dynasty which, according to
Mirkhond, had lasted 300 years.}:
Note 5 — Shebankareh. — I have already given a short account of the earlier
history of this Kurdish principality.g Jelal ud din Taib Shah, who mounted the
throne there, as I mentioned, in the year 664 hej., was put to death, by order
of Sultan Ahmed Khan, in the year 681 hej. He was succeeded by his brother,
Bahai ud din, who reigned prosperously till the j'ear 688 hej. Ghiath ud din
and Nizam ud din, the sons of one of these brothers, were reigning at
Shebankareh when Wassaf wrote his history in 706 hej. About 755 hej., their
successor, Ardeshir, was attacked at Ij, or Idhej, his capital, by Shah Mahmud,
son of the Muzaffarian ruler, Mubariz ud din Muhammed. The place was
captured, and Ardeshir fled by a road behind the citadel. The principality
was then appropriated by the Muzaffarians.||

*Id., i. 60. Xld., ii. 27. I Journ. Asiat., 4th ser., iv. 98. i Ante, 204.205. _
I The "Jihan numa" quoted by Von Hammer, Ilkhans, 11. 139. Joum. Asiat., 4th ser, iv. 108.

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS.

Page I line 13— Insert " boundary of" before Mongol.
„ 2 „ 1. — I have overlooked describing the end of Roknud din. When
Muhammed Khuarezm Shah fled from Kazvin to the Caspian
his second son went to Kerman, where, reinforced by the
troops of Zuzan, the governor of that province, he secured the
capital and the treasure, which he distributed among the
troops. After a stay of seven months he returned to Irak
and prepared to attack Jemal ud din Muhammed, who had
seized it. When he neared Rai he heard of the approach
of a Mongol force under Taimaz and Tainal, and
accordingly shut himself up in the fort of Sutun Abend,
near Rai, which was situated on a scarped rock, and
deemed impregnable. The Mongols assailed it, and after
an attack of six months captured it, and Rokn ud din
refusing to do homage was put to death with his people.
This apparently happened in the year 619 hej. (1222).
Zakaria of Kazvin, in his geographical work entitled " Assar-
ul-Bilad," under the heading Demavend, states that it was
in the latter fortress, situated near Rai, that Rokn ud din
Gursaiji locked himself in the year 618, i.e., 1221. Rashid
ud din says it was at Firuzkuh. (D'Ohsson, i. 347-48).
Jemal ud din having heard of the death of the prince
offered his submission to the Mongols, hoping thus to retain
the district of Hamadan. The Mongol generals sent him a
robe of honour and invited him to their camp, where they
killed him, with his suite. (D'Ohsson, i. 348-49.)
„ 2 „ 13— For " Hasan Karak," read " Hasan the Karluk.'' (See Note *
to page 43.) Hasan the Karluk has left coins struck in
633 and 634 hej,, but without mint names. His full name
was Saifud din al Hasan Karluk. (See Thomas' "Chronicles
of the Pathan Kings," g2-g8.) Uzbeg also struck coins, on
which he styles himself Uzbeg Pai, and minted at Multan.
(Id., 98-99.)
„ 3 lines 10 and 11 — The names "Salgar and Salgarids" are sometimes
written " Salghur and Salghurids," and I have spelt them
both ways.

notes, corrections, and additions. 759
Page 8 line 33— Taimaz was probably the Aitmas of Abulghazi. That author
says that Ogotai sent Charmaghan and Aitmas with
30,000 men, and that Charmaghan dispatched Aitmas
ahead with an advance guard. (Op. cit. 5.)
» 8 » 34 — Tainal was doubtless the Tainal or Ainal who is named as
a noyan in the service of Juchi Khan. (D'Ohsson, i. 223 ;
Erdmann, 374.) One of Jingis Khan's cousins, the son of
his uncle Daritai, was called Tainal Ineh. (Id., 252.)
„ n „ 12— For '"L6r<3," read "L6rheV'
o " » 17 — By " Serirs," the well-known "Sirhghers" or " Kubachi," a
tribe of armour-makers in the Caucasus, are meant.
» '5 » 9— For " the latter," read " Chin Timur."
„ 17 „ 16— For " they," read " the Mongols."
„ 18 and 20 lines 2 and 4 — Or Khan, Uz Khan, and Otuz Khan are doubtless
three forms of one name. He is called Azar Khan in the
" Shajrat ul Atrak," which says he was one of Jelal ud din's
confidential servants. When he heard of the advance of
the Mongols he went to the bedside of the Sultan, who
was asleep, and awoke him. The Sultan being confused
from drink, had some cold water thrown on his head,
mounted his horse and fled, leaving Azar Khan to resist
the enemy, which he did for some time to allow his
master to escape. He then followed him. The Mongols
mistook him for the Sultan, and pursued him to Rai, but,
finding out their mistake, they went after the latter and
massacred every follower of his they met. (Op. cit., 185.)
i> '8 „ 30 — The " Shajrat ul Atrak " says that Ogotai when he dispatched
Taimaz with Charmaghan prophesied that Jelal ud din
would fall by his hand, which actually came to pass.
(Op. cit., 206-77.)
>> 2I » 4 — As I have described this campaign in so much greater detail in
these pages, I think it well to repeat the anecdotes here
referred to, which I have already quoted in the first volume.
The princes of Diarbekr, Mesopotamia, &c, hid away, and
the people were stupefied. " I have been told," says the
historian Ibn al Athir, " things which are almost incredible,
So great was the terror which seized upon everyone. I
heard, for example, of a single Tartar horseman entering a
populous village and proceeding to kill the inhabitants one
after another, without resistance. I heard of a Tartar who,
having no arms with him, and wishing to kill a person
whom he had made prisoner, ordered him to lie still till he
went to find a sword, which the man actually did, and was
put to death accordingly. One person told me : ' I was
going along with seventeen people. We met a Tartar, who
ordered us to tie ourselves together, with our hands behind

76o

HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.

us. My companions began to do so, when I said, " This
man is alone ; let us kill him, and escape." " We are too
much afraid," they replied. " But this man will kill you,"
I answered.' None of them would, however, help, and he
had to kill him himself, and they all then escaped."
(D'Ohsson, iii. 69 and 70.)
Page 39 line 6— Isferain I have elsewhere written Ezferain.
» » » 13— Nussal was a Kerait of the tribe Tubaut, Erdmann calls him
Bisel (Erdmann, 243).
» » » 19 — Erdmann says Chin Timur was an Ongut. (Op. cit., 243.)
» „ >, 32— Ungu Timur is called Atgu Timur by Erdmann. (Op, cit., 243.)
„ 40 „ 1— Instead of" Bahu ud din," read "Bahai ud din."
„ 40 „ 12— On reaching the Imperial Court we are told that Ogotai wished
to dine in the tent where Ongu Timur had done homage to
him. After the banquet he went out for a short time, when
a gust of wind came and blew down the tent. The Em
peror ordered it to be cut in pieces. A few days later
Kurguz entertained Ogotai in a tent in which all kinds of
precious objects, which he thought would please him, were
set out, among them a girdle made of certain stones called
yarkand (i.e., doubtless of jade). The Emperor was in a
good humour, and drank freely. He eventually decided
in favour of Kurguz. When the latter's rival, Ongu Timur,
was ordered to be handed over to Batu, Chinkai went to
Ogotai with a message from him : " The Khakan is Batu's
superior. Does it seem right that a dog like I am should
cause two such sovereigns to deliberate? The Khakan
should decide himself." " You say well," said Ogotai, " for
Batu would not in such a case have pardoned his own
son.'' (D'Ohsson, iii, 114.)
„ 40 , 42 — Instead of "Ante 134," read "Ante i., 134."
)> 41 » 35 — After " there," insert " called Sertak Gajan."
„ 42 „ 1 — After " Rogdi," read " he was arrested by Tubedai, son of Bisel
Noyan (i.e., Nussal)."
„ 43 „ 12 — In regard to this obscure campaign, Rashid ud din mentions
a General Hukatu who was sent by Ogotai to conquer
Kashmir and Hindustan. Stephen the Orpelian calls him
Hogata, and says he advanced towards Heutgasdan, by
which India is doubtless meant. (St. Martin Memoirs ii„
121 and 26g.) Bar Hebraeus in his Syriac Chronicle (page
503) says this expedition went towards India, while in his
Arab Chronicle (page 306) he says it went towards Tibet,
In the " Yuanchao pi shi," published by the Archimandrite
Palladius, Ogotai is made to say of the Khalif of Baghdad :
" Chormakhan has already been sent against him ; I shall
now send thither Okhotur with Munggtu to reinforce him."
(Mems. Peking Mission, iv. 152,)

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS. 761
Page 59 line 16 — This name, Ilchikidai, I have elsewhere also written Ilchikadai.
„ 59 „ 25— Vide ante, page 42.
„ 60 „ 23— He is called Kara Buga by Chamchean, see Avdall's tr., p. 241.
„ 62 „ 42 — After "Albania," insert " i.e., Arran."
„ 72 „ 36 — Instead of " their," read " his."
» 76 » 37 — After "Vastak," insert " i.e., Vataces."
1. 80 „ 37 — Erase the note of interrogation after Ammorico,
,, 81 „ 32 — For " dogs," read " a dog."
„ 84 „ 36 — On this city of Kurman, now called Kirman, situated about 82
miles from Ghazni, in Afghanistan, see Thomas' '' Coins of
the Pathan Sultans," p. 26, note 2.
„ 85 „ 21 — The British Museum has recently acquired some silver coins
with the name of Mangu upon them struck at Herat and
Nimruz. David the Georgian king struck coins with the
name of Mangu upon them. One of them has on one side
the inscription, " King David son of George by the aid of
God," struck at Tiflis ; on the other, " By the power of God
and the good pleasure of the padishah Mangu Kaan in the
year 650" (i.e., 1252). On a bilingual coin of the same
prince we read, " King David the slave of the padishah of
the world, of Mangu Kaan." (Melanges Asiatiques,
St. Pet. Acad, ii., 105.)
„ 92 lines 29, 32, &c. — Orkhan is otherwise called Uzkhan.
„ 96 line 27— For " Yushmut," read " Yashmut."
„ 97 „ 2—" Tokuz " is also written "Dokuz."
„ 98 „ 14— Erase the words " set out in February, 1254, and "
,i 99 „ 37— After "Journal Asiatique " read " 5th series."
„ 100 „ 25— For "Sigistan," read" Sijistan, or Seistan."
„ 101 „ 6— Insert " in the ' Herat Chronicle '" after " event."
„ 102 „ 19— For " Hadari " read " Haidari."
,, 103 „ 34— For " they " read " he."
„ no „ 6— For " those," read " their."
„ no „ 10— For "Arkauns," read "Arkhauns."
„ 116 „ 41— For" Jehangir" read "Jehanghir."
Pages 132 and 133 lines 37 and 29— For "Arbil," read " Erbil or Irbil."
Page 135 line 7— Instead of" asking that," read " but asked for."
„ 140 „ 16— " Sidak " ought perhaps to be read " Susak."
„ 140 lines 17 and 24— For "Arslan," read "Arghun."
143 line 42—" Maghreb" really means " the West."
„ 153 „ i-For "Gazan," read "Ghazan."
„ 160 „ 32— For " Lor<5," read " LorhS."
„ 161 „ 4— For " Mowahid," read " Muayid."
„ 162 „ 23— For " Gazan," read " Ghazan."
,. 165 „ 3— Insert " were," after " orders."
„ 170, 172 and 176, lines 15, 29 and 2-For " Ain Julat," read " Ain Jalut."
„ 183 line 29— For " Pershwa," read " Peishwa."

762 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Page 184 line 8— For " Siraj," read " Saraj."
<< 185 „ 30— For " Kurt," read " Kert."
,. 190 „ 21— For "Ain," read "Ani."
„ 192 „ 8— For " he," read " she."
„ 203 „ 10 — " Hasneviyeh " is otherwise written " Hasuieh " and
"Hasnuieh" (See the two next pages. Von Hammer
writes it " Fashiyeh." Ilkhans, ii. 139).
,, 203 „ 24 — Coins of this princess, who is also called Ayish — one in gold,
struck at Shiraz in a.h. 679, and the other in silver, in 684 —
are in the British Museum,
„ 204 „ 24 — "Almarz " is called " Mobariz ud din " by Von Hammer.
(Ilkhans, i. 69.)
„ 204 „ 43 — For " Mirkhoud," read " Mirkhond."
„ 203 „ 9 — Von Hammer calls " Nusret ud din " " Nasir ud din."
(Ilkhans, ii. 139.)
„ 207 ,,35 — For "Khurestan," read "Khuzistan."
„ 208 „ 1 and 4 — For " Gazan," read " Ghazan."
„ 209 „ 14 — Khanikof says he found Khulagu's grave on the right bank of
the Jaghatu or Chagatu, not far from its outfall into Lake
Urmia. The Nomades call the place Kizil Kurujan, and it
seems some remains of the mausoleum erected over him by
his sons still exist. (Melanges Asiatiques, St. Pet. Acad.,
ii. 508.)
„ 213 „ 13 — " Kunkurtai " I have elsewhere written " Konghuratai,"
following Von Hammer.
„ 213 „ 40 — The British Museum has recently secured a gold coin of
Khulagu.
„ 215 „ 29 — Aujan is mentioned by Clavigo under the name of Hujan or
Hugan.
„ 219 ,,26 — Mirkhond calls Tudan the son of Sugunjak. (See D'Ohsson,
iii., Corrections et Additions.)
„ 220 „ 19 — For " Yesd," read " Yezd."
„ 221 „ 37 For "Sheikh of Islam," read " Sheikh ul Islam."
„ 224 „ 1 — After " and " insert " he."
„ 225 ,,19 — For "Ablastan" read "Ablestin."
„ 225 ,, 18, 30, and 226, line 6— For " Toros," read " Thoros."
,, 225 „ 30— In the " Mesalek Alabsar Ji memalek alamsar" of Shihab
ud din Abul abbas Ahmed we read that, in regard to the
pretensions set up by the princes of Kipchak to the towns
of Tebriz and Meragha, our author was told by the Mollah
Nidam ud din Abul Fazl Yahia Taiari that Khulagu, after
making his conquests, assigned to the contingent sent by
the Khan of Kipchak and Khuarezm to help him, Tebriz
and Meragha and their revenues. On the death of Khulagu
the soldiers of Kipchak assured his son and successor,
Abaka, that Bereke wished to build a mosque at Tebriz.
They obtained permission to build one, and put Bereke's

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS. 763
name on it, They then obtained permission to set up a
manufactory there, where stuffs were made for their own
use and that of Bereke. When the war broke out between
Abaka and Bereke the former destroyed this manufactory.
On the restoration of peace it was rebuilt, and it was agreed
that the subjects of Bereke should continue to receive the
dues from their appanage as before, and also should manu
facture what they wished. Presently, the princes of
Kipchak set up claims to the possession of Tebriz and
Meragha, on the ground that Bereke had built the mosque
and manufactory, and sent envoys to Ghazan to assert
their claims, declaring that it was their forefathers who
had conquered these places, and that they consequently
belonged to them by way of inheritance. Ghazan replied
that it was to his sword, and not to inheritance, that he
owed his possessions, among which were Tebriz and
Meragha, which he meant to keep, and the sword should
decide between them. Uzbek, Khan of Kipchak, continually
reasserted these claims. (Notices et Extraits, &c, xiii.
283-284.)
Page 240 line g — For " him " read " them.'-
<> 253 „ 7— For " Soukor " read " Sonkor."
„ 255 „ 20 — For " was," read " had been."
„ 255 „ 28— For " Kai Kobad," read " Kai Kavus."
11 25* 11 37 — For " now," read " then."
„ 258 „ 32, and 267, line 24— For " Kongurtai " read " Konghuratai."
11 259 .1 41— For " Musud," read " Masud."
„ 260 „ 19— The Ering here named is called "Irenchin "by Eastern writers.
„ 260 „ 30— For " Ibek," read " Eibeg."
„ 266 „ 22— For "they," read "the Egyptians."
„ 269 „ 43— For " Armeine," read " Armenie."
„ 270 „ 5— Abulfaraj says that Jelal ud din was the patron of the Papa
previously named, and had been put to death with him, and
that Masud's death was brought about on the accusation of
Jelal ud din's sons.
„ 272 „ 6—1 owe to the courtesy of Sir Charles Wilson a reference to the
following translation of a letter written by a crusader, Sir
Joseph de Cancy, a Knight Hospitaller, to King Edward
the First of England, giving him an account of these events.
This document, as the handiwork of a contemporary who
actually shared in the struggle, is most valuable. With
the king's answer it is preserved among the Royal Letters
in the Record Office, and the translation is from the accom
plished pen of Mr. VV. B. Sanders. It will be seen that
the letter somewhat mitigates the accounts of the disastrous
rout of the Mongols given by other writers.

7^4 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
NEWS FROM SYRIA.
" To the Most High and Puissant Lord, my lord Edward, by the Grace
of God, most worthy King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine,
the least and lowest of his servants, Joseph de Cancy, humble brother of the
Holy House of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, dwelling at Acre,
kneeling in the service of your Highness, sendeth greeting.
" Forasmuch as your worthy lordship commanded us to continue sending you
news of events as they befell in the Holy Land, know ye, sire, that after our Master
was come to Tripoli in the close of the month of October, as we have already
informed you by our letter written during the passage of the Holy Cross, the
hosts of the Tartars and Saracens drew so near as to place the Saracens
between our men and the Tartars, so that neither we nor the Prince [of
Antioch, Bo^mond VII.] — the King of Cyprus [Hugh III.] not being yet come
up — could join the Tartars, nor they send to us as they had settled to do. Upon
this the armies advanced to the close. The Soldan divided his army, which
consisted of 50,000 horsemen, into three battalions, and he himself was with
that of the centre, which they call the " Heart," after their custom. Sangar
Layfscar, Lord of Saone and our marches of Margat, was captain of the left,
and the right was commanded by a valiant Turk named Heysedin Laffrain.
The Tartars, seeing the array of the Saracens, also formed their people, who
numbered 40,000 horsemen, into three battalions, for their Chief had sent the
rest of his men to his eldest brother Abagua, who was marching through La
Berrie, imagining that Abagua would reach Damascus before him. In one of
these three battalions was the King of Armenia with his power and 2,000
Tartars and 1,000 Georgians ; and a Turk named Samagar, who had become
Tartar, was also in his company with 3,000 of his countrymen whom he had
brought from Turkey, and who called themselves Tartars. The King of
Armenia, thus arrayed, threw himself upon the Saracens' left, and so broke and
discomfited it that few escaped being put to the sword, and of this left
battalion none would have escaped but for the disloyalty of Samagar, who fled
with most of his people without either striking or receiving a blow. The right
battalion, commanded by Manguodamor, closed with the Soldan's right, in
which he had 10,000 Tartars without counting their allies, and put them to
rout, but their discomfiture was not nearly so complete as that which had been
inflicted upon their comrades in the left. Manguodamor, who is a valiant,
bold, and trusty knight, with the remnant of his people, threw himself upon the
division in which was the Soldan, and then ensued a great carnage, and the
battle raged from before the hour of tierce until sunset. And now, had it not
been for the Soldan's gallant bearing, and his prudence and valour, the fate of
the left wing would have befallen himself also ; but in the midst of the disasters
which surrounded him, seeing his men so evil-handled and killed and some
turning in flight, he commanded his trumpets and nakirs to sound, and rally
round his person those who survived; without which all would have been
destroyed, for of his entire host 600 men alone obeyed the call. The Tartars,
imagining that the Saracens were completely defeated, rushed to the pillage,
and entirely took the tents of the Soldan and other Saracens, with so great a

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS. 765
spoil that no one could with certainty tell us the value thereof. And of the
rabble who followed the camp, who made it like a city full of people, so many
were slain that the number could not be known. With which said spoil most
of the Tartars returned to their fastnesses, as men who are very covetous,
riding on the horses of the dead Saracens, which were better than their own,
and leaving their sorry beasts behind them. And know ye this, sire, which is
considered a great marvel, never was booty taken from one side or the other
that could be reckoned, nor could anyone say that anyone had been wounded
or afterwards hurt to the death [onqes piles niot trait d'une part ni d'autre qui
aconter face ni qe nul puisse dire qe nul fust feri ni nafre de pues a la mort].
" The Soldan, seeing the great cloud of dust raised by those who were thus
departing with the spoil, and fancying it was caused by the Tartars, marched
towards it. Manguodamor, who was at hand, and had got together a few men
amounting to no more than sixty horsemen, advanced to meet him, thinking
they were his own people : for the Kings of Armenia and Georgia had gone
forward with their following into the country of the Saracens. Now when the
Soldan and his people saw Manguodamor, and recognised his companies by
their ensigns, they suspected that an ambush was laid for them, and that the
display of so small a force was intended to betray them into it. Manguodamor
on the other hand, seeing the weakness of his own hand, and the danger of
awaiting an attack by the Soldan, fell back and went his way. The Soldan
saw this, and imagining him to have done so for the purpose of hastening up
his whole army, retired in haste. And so night parted them. So neither the
one nor the other held the field ; but because the Soldan was the last to retreat
men thought the victory ought to belong to him. But well may one say with
truth that never since the first conquest of their country have the Saracens
received so great a check or been so completely cowed as they were then and
are still,
" The King of Armenia, with a great portion of his host, returned to the battle
field, and finding it unoccupied thought to pitch his tents and remain there
till the morrow, which, as he was preparing to do, came the traitor Samagar
with a part of his men, saying, " Sir King, why dost thou this ? Our lord Man
guodamor is gone." The King answered that he wished to encamp there for
the night, for his men were worn out with fatigue ; but Samagar maintained
that it would be great treason and disloyalty to do so after their chief had
left. So, after many words, the King believed him, and ordering his troops to
horse, rode all night till he had passed the place from which the tents had been
moved, but found not Manguodamor. The King halted for a short time to rest
his horses, but Samagar went his way. Then the King turned towards his own
country and passed through the Dry Lands, where there is neither water nor
grass, insomuch that many of his horses and companions died of thirst upon the
road or perished through the toil they underwent, till he reached his kingdom
at last safe and sound, but in evil plight, while many of his followers who had
tarried behind came as they best could : for Samagar's people had robbed them
by the way, stripping them to the skin and leaving them no horses to ride. The
Soldan took counsel with his people by which road he might safest return to

766 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
his dominions. Some advised that he should go by the sea-coast into the
country of the Christians, with whom he had truce ; others by La Berrie,
where the Tartars should not find him ; while others again advised him to
choose the shortest and straightest path. With these he agreed, and so came
to a town which is called Le Lagon, where he had formerly camped on his
advance against the Tartars. The Count of St. Sevrin, bailiff of Acre, sent
messengers and presents to him in order that he might see and ascertain his
condition, which they found poor and little enough and his attendance scanty.
The Soldan, because he would not that the Franks should know his poverty
and misfortune, making courteous reply to the Count, departed by night, and
marched into Babylon. There he tarried some days, and caused a tax to be
levied on all his subjects, taking a third upon those who had 10,000 bezants,
and so from each, rich and poor, according to his condition, whereby his sub
jects are much discouraged with him, and think themselves doomed to death or
ruin. Then he caused to be proclaimed throughout the land of Egypt that all
those who wished to receive their pay to go to Margath and into Armenia
should come and take it and make ready for the journey. And he caused this
proclamation to be cried once in each week for one month, in spite of which
that most persons say he will not quit Babylon because of his great losses in
men and horses.
" On the other hand, sire, he has put to death fifteen Emirs, as well of those
who deserted him in the Geld, as of those whom he had left behind in Babylon,
and those whom he had cast into prison, by reason of which things his subjects
are much disheartened and filled with hatred against him. None of his people
for all these threats which he has made, are as yet come to Babylon or Damascus
at the time of writing these present letters, yet it is true that the Chastelain of
Saphet and his other bailiff on our Marches have made the Bedouins, who were
in the pasturage near us, retire into the mountains, because they say that the
herbage must be kept for the coming of the Soldan. And we suspect them to
give out this that they may make us wish to enter into some evil truce with
them, which may God forbid we should do ! Moreover, sire, we understand by
the mouths of good and trustworthy persons lately come from the parts about
Hamous (i.e., Hims) that there is so great a panic there, and in Hallamp and
La Chamelle, that each day men fear a surprise by the Tartars, who have sworn
to come without fail ; but this we think cannot be till the setting in of winter.
Wherefore the Soldan of Hamous seeing these things, has sent his wife and
children and most of the treasure of the city into Babylon. On the other side
the men of Baudac understanding by the Soldan's letter that the Tartars had
been defeated, rose in revolt against the rulers whom the Tartars had set over
them. Abagua being then near at hand in La Berrie, hearing this rode thither
and took the city of Baudac, which was subject to him at the time of the
revolt, putting all the men-at-arms to the sword and cutting off the thumbs of
the footmen and .... for you know, sire, that they draw with the thumb.
" Other news have we none, at the time of writing these presents to send to
your Highness, save that we have garrisoned our castle with brethren and
men-at-arms, as it behoved us, promptly. Our Master, at the prayer of the

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS. 767
King of Armenia, and considering the evil plight he was in and the ravages
committed by the Turcomans in his kingdom since his return by burning and
laying waste the city of Lays and other of his towns and villages, has sent him
100 horsemen, 50 brethren Well appointed, and 50 Turcoples. But know ye,
sire, that never in our remembrance was the Holy Land in such poor estate as
it is at this day, wasted by lack of rain, divers pestilences, and the paynim —
the greater part of Babylon left unsown for fear of war, and the reason above
mentioned ; and not only this country but Cyprus and Armenia are in the same
condition .... the King of Sicily will suffer no provisions to be sent out of
his dominions into Syria because of his war with the Greeks, as we understand.
Therefore, sire, as we have already written to your Highness, if any of the great
lords of your country should come to these parts he would do well to advise
the King of Sicily to permit provisions to be carried into Syria as in former times
they were wont to be.
"And know, sire, the Holy Land was never so easy of conquest as now, with
able generals and store of food; yet never have we seen so few soldiers or so
little good counsel in it. May your worthy and royal Majesty flourish for all
time by increase of good for better. And would to God, sire, that this might
be done by yourself, for it would be accomplished without fail if God would
give you the desire of coming here. And this is the belief of all dwellers in
the Holy Land, both great and small, that by you with the help of God shall
the Holy Land be conquered and brought into the hands of Holy Christendom.
These news, sire, are .... those which you may believe in spite of any other
things that may be told to you. And pardon us, sire, that our letter is so long,
for we could not more briefly inform you of these things, the certainty of which
your Majesty has left me here to record.
" Written on the last day of May.
" To the most noble, excellent, and puissant King of England."
It was probably Sir Joseph de Cancy's account of Sultan Kelavun's victory
that occasioned thefollowing letter from King Edward, the draft of which is
still preserved among the Royal Letters in the Record Office, though a good
deal damaged by damp and time.
" Edward, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and
Duke of Aquitaine, to his dearest in Christ and faithful secretary, brother
Joseph de Chauncy, greeting : For the accounts which you have sent us in your
letters from the Holy Land we give you great thanks, because we are made
the more joyful the oftener we hear good news of that land and its condition,
the which we vehemently wish and desire to hear more frequently. And
whereas you desire to hear prosperous reports of our state, we signify unto you,
in order to the increase of your comfort, that on the day of the making of these
presents, we and our Queen and our children are — blessed be the Most High-
flourishing in full health of body ; which we would rather know of yourself by
true relation than hearsay. For the rest we have received, with cheerful
hand, your New Year's gift of jewels which you have sent to us— to wit— two
Circassian saddles and two saddle-cloths ; and two Gerfalcon's hoods and four
Falcon's hoods, for which we return you our abundant thanks. Wishing you

768 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
to know that we have not considered these presents as small, because we have
weighed the goodwill of the giver more than the gifts themselves in this case.
Nor indeed do we at present want any more hoods, as by reason of arduous
matters of our kingdom which intimately concern us, and do not as yet wish to
keep more falcons than we already have. But as regards those stones of rubies
which you have sent us  And because we much wish that you
should be near us, for our solace and convenience we will and require you
that you hasten your arrival in England by the best and quickest means
you can — and this as we entirely trust in you — you shall in no case omit 
of the Hospital in England or the possessions of the same we will have in
commendation and uphold them as far as we can by law, as you have requested.
Concerning your own estate, which may the Most High prosper, we desire that
you certify us thereof by frequent notification. Given at Worcester on the 20th
day of May, in the tenth year of our reign." [1282].
Page 278 line 24 — The rulers of Hosn Keif were "Ayubits," and not " Ortokids."
,, 283 „ 3— For " Safr," read " Safi."
„ 283 „ 4— For " Urmeir," read " Urmevi."
11 283 » 32 — Among the recent acquisitions of the British Museum is a
gold coin of Abaka, struck at Baghdad, and a silver coin
struck at Tebriz. Others struck in the same town are in
the Hermitage collection at St. Petersburg. On the word
read " darugha " by Schmidt, see page 355.
„ 290 „ 2 — Von Hammer calls him Bulghuvan in the citation given, but
on page 368 of his work he names him " Bulughan."
„ 290 „ 3— For " Toghajar," read " Togachar,"
„ 298 „ 19 — For " ask," read " urge upon."
„ 2g8 „ 20 — Erase " to state."
„ 298 „ 40— For " Sengi," read " Zengi."
„ 300 „ 11— For "Bekhr," read "Bekr."
., 3°o ,,30 — For " 80 tumans," read " 8 tumans."
11 3°4 1. 33 — For "Abugan," read "Abukian."
11 3°7 11 J9 — For " Mosellemin," read " Mosellemi."
ii 3 to 11 33 — Mr. S. Poole refers me to a coin in one of the Russian collec
tions, on which is inscribed " Sultan Ahmed," in Mongol
characters.
i> 315 11*7 — For " famous," read " also noted."
„ 326 „ 5— For " Bekhr, ' read " Bekr."
„ 328 „ 18— Insert " and " before " had."
„ 332 „ 41 — For " they," read " the Mongols."
11 335 » 3° — This Choban Sulduz became very famous, and was the
founder of the later dynasty of the Chobanids.
11 338 „ 39— For "while," read "for."
„ 342 „ 14 — Transfer the words "put to death" to the end of the sentence.
„ 344 „ 44-For"5-8,"read"58."
., 347 » 36— Erase " and."

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS. 769
Page 352 lines 7 and 8, (&c— Instead of the sentence " having heard of it he
had" read "having heard that some of the principal
Saracens had greatly rejoiced," &c.
,, 352 line 9— Erase " and that."
11 355 >> 21— In his posthumous essays, Fraehn publishes a coin of
Arghun struck at Izferain, and Mr. Stanley Poole writes
me that there is one in the Hermitage collection struck at
Meragha.
» 357 ,< 27— For " Imeuthi," read " Imerithi."
" 365 11 42— For " Kabushane," read " Kabushan."
» 377 11 34 — Fraehn, in his posthumous essays, publishes a coin of
Gaikhatu, struck at Hamadan. There is another in the
British Museum.
11 392 11 45 — The Japanese first used paper money, which they called
kami zeni, in the years 1319-1331, but in Japan the issue
was never so excessive, nor did the value depreciate in the
same way. (Klaproth Mems. Relatifs a I'Asie, 388.) In
regard to the Persian experiment, Colonel Yule says aptly
that block printing was practised, at least for this one
purpose, at Tebriz in 1294. (Marco Polo, i. 416.)
11 394 1110 — For " in charge of," read " in charge to."
„ 400 „ 27 — For "Erzenrum," read " Erzerum."
11 4°7 11 36 — For " 669 hej," read " 6g6 hej."
11 4°7 „ 39— For "Nasir ud din," read "Nuzrat ud din." (See D'Ohsson,
iv. 170. Ilkhans, ii. 3g. Ibn Batuta, ii. 31.) In Von
Hammer's Ilkhans, ii. 321, he is called Nasir ud din.
„ 416 „ 2— For " Chaunters at funerals, as. prescribed by the Koran,"
read " Chaunters of the Koran at funerals."
„ 427 „ 42— Insert " ibn " between Kaikobad and Firamurz.
ii 43° 11 33— For " Thoras," read " Thoros."
11 435 n 14 — Insert " for " after " and."
1. 435 11 25— In the " Chronicle of Cyprus," by Florio Bustron, published
in the collection of " Documents Inedits etc.," we read that
Ghazan sent a messenger to Henry, King of Cyprus, and
to the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic knights there,
asking them to join in the campaign, promising to make
Egypt (here called Babilonia) over to them ; saying that he
had sent Rabanata as his envoy to " Franza," and now sent
Cariedin to the kings of Armenia and Cyprus to bid
them march with all their men, and that he himself was
setting out with one hundred tumans. The letter was written
from Averel on the 21st October, in the year of the pig.
The envoy duly arrived at Cyprus on the 3rd of November
and was received with honour, and was followed by a
second messenger, who arrived on the last day of Novem
ber. (Op. cit., 129-130.) The King of Cyprus sent two
galleys and two frigates to Butron under the command of
B2*

77° HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Polo del Anecto, with orders not to advance beyond that
place. He was tempted, however, by the statements of the
Christian fugitives who went to him there to make an
attempt to capture Tripolis, and set out with a small force,
but was attacked about a league from Butron by the
Egyptians, who compelled him to retire. He barely escaped
with his life, and his companions returned to Cyprus
with the galley. (Id., 130-131.) Thereupon the King con
sulted with the master of the Templars, the " Comen-
dator" of the Hospitallers, and " Signior Chiol," ambassador
of Ghazan, and dispatched fifteen galleys under the
Captain Bennondo Visconte and the Admiral Baduin de
Pinquani, and made a. descent upon a place called Rasni,
situated on one of the mouths of the Nile. We are told
that in the skirmish which ensued Chiol carried a banner
of Ghazan. The fleet made descents upon Alexandria,
Acre (where the Cypriots landed and defeated the garrison),
Tortosa, Maraclea, and returned again to Cyprus by way
of Little Armenia. (Id., 131-132.)
Page 440 line 32— Transfer the comma from after Ghazan, to after hyperbolically.
„ 442 „ 42— For " Christian," read " Christians."
„ 446 „ 20— For " he," read " the Sultan."
„ 446 „ 41— The "Chronicle of Cyprus," which calls Kutlugh Shah
Catholesso, says it was he who sent on the King of Armenia,
and with him Giudo de Iblia, Count of Zaffo, and
Geormane, Lord of Siblet, to have an interview with
Ghazan. (Op. cit., 132-133.)
11 450 „ 36— For " chapter," read " volume."
» 458 11 5— Insert a comma after " before."
.. 477 .. 25— For " my," read " our."
„ 481 „ 21— Erase the words "at this time."
i> 486 „ 36— For " Armuah," read " Arminiyah."
11 486 „ 43 — In his posthumous essays Fraehn publishes Amid and Mosul
as mint towns of Ghazan. In the Hermitage collection at
St. Petersburg, as Mr. S. Poole tells me, there occur the
additional mint towns of Khelat and Khartapirt ; in Major
Trotter's collection is a coin struck at Amasiya (Numis.
Chron. for 1887, page 334) ; while among the recent additions
to the British Museum are coins of Ghazan struck at
Jajerm, Nishapur, Yezd, Erzenjan, Samsun, and Wasith.
.. 5'3 ., 6— For " they," read " and."
„ 530 „ 20— Insert "that of" before "older."
11 543 ii 4°— In 'he 55th chapter of the book of the Histories of Johannes
of Dzar there is inserted a notice about Uljaitu, which is
apparently taken from some unknown contemporary docu
ment. In this we read that during the year 1306 " Karbanda
Khan, autocrat of the nation of the Archers, a wicked man,

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS. 771
who hated the Christians, led away by sorcerers and
heretical sheikhs, and inspired by the wicked counsels of
their assistant, Satan, began the struggle against the
invincible rock of Christ. A decree was published in all
the universe, referring to the Christians under his domina
tion, that they should adopt the stupid religion of Mahomet,
or that each person should pay a kharaj tax of eight
dahecans ; that they should be smitten in the face, their
beards plucked out, and should have on their right shoulders
a black mark— all on account of his hatred to Christ. The
wicked ones thereupon spread themselves over the towns
and villages, and convents, sowing terror everywhere ; for
the fatal decree forbade the performing of mass, the entering
of a church, and the baptism of infants. It was determined
to overwhelm the Christian religion by one blow. Mean
while, the Christians remained faithful. They paid the
exactions, and bore the torments joyfully. Karbanda Khan,
seeing that these means were insufficient, ordeied them all
to be made eunuchs, and to be deprived of an eye, unless
they became Muhammedans. Many perished in this
persecution," (Brosset, Collection d'Historiens Armeniens,
;. 568-569.)
Page 557 line 37 — The " Chronicle of Cyprus " in relating these events calls the
town here named " Anazarba," " Navarsan." It says that
Bilarghu demanded that it should be made over to him in
order that he might defend it against the Saracens. Haithon
replied it was not in his power to make it over, saying
he was merely governing the country on behalf of his
nephew Leon, who had been crowned when a child, and
was still an infant, and that he could not dispose of any
part of the kingdom without the consent of the Holy See.
Bilarghu said he did not want the town making over to
him, but only to be allowed to put a garrison there. Haithon
thereupon consulted with his barons, and as the result sent
to his friend Almeric Signor de Sur, governor of Cyprus,
asking him to send him some help, who sent him 300 horse
and 1,000 foot soldiers. Bilarghu having heard of this sent
to the king bidding him and his chief men go to the court
to have a conference. He set out, according to this
account, with his nephew, with the Constable and Marshal
of Armenia and others. When they arrived they were all
1 decapitated. Haithon, according to this authority, left two
brothers', Chwysin (i.e., Oshin) and Alinach, who were
twins, but as Chwysin had first seen the light, his brother
ceded the throne to him, and he was duly crowned. On
the withdrawal of Bilarghu the Cypriots returned home
again. (Op. cit., 156-157.) The "Chronicle of Cyprus"

772 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
agrees with Abulfeda in making Alinach go to the royal
ordu to complain of this murder of his relatives (Id. 161).
Page 55o line 38— For " bull," read " paizah."
„ 562 „ 1 — For " the latter," read " Said," and transfer this and the two
following lines to the end of the next paragraph.
„ 566 „ 2— For " filled," read " fitted."
„ 568 „ 31 — For " art now," read " at now being."
11 568 „ 37— For "Yesaul," read "Yassaul."
.. 569 „ 13— For " King," read " Malik."
„ 570 „ 8 — Baba was not a prince of the Golden Horde, but a descendant
of Juchi Khasar, and grandfather of Toghai Timur, whose
history occupies a later chapter.
„ 580 „ 22 — In his posthumous essays, Fraehn adds the mints of Ferusan
and Hamadan, while among the recent additions to the
British Museum are coins of Uljaitu struck at Izferain,
Asterabad, Jajerm, Nishapur, Amid, Erzerum, El Bazar
Ordu, Kaiseriyah, Kerman, and Med Meruyeh (Isfahan).
In the Hermitage collection Mr. Poole tells me are coins
struck at Tiflis, Baran, Jezair el ma'mur, and one with the
double mint of Sultania and Tiflis, while in the Asiatic
Museum at Moscow there is a coin of Uljaitu struck at
Amol.
„ 5go ,,40 — For "is," read "will be."
„ 592 „ 10 — In the year 1318, Jiamaluk, the turbulent chief of the Arab
tribe Kafaja, having encamped between Shiraz and Yezd,
molested the caravans there. He was attacked by Muzaffer,
and his head was taken to the Ilkhan Abusaid. (Journ.
Asiat., 3rd ser., xi. 306-307.)
,1 597 11 10— For " turtu," read " turtur."
„ 601 „ 5 — For " Ismal," read " Ismail."
„ 628 „ 9 — M. Khanikof found on the walls of a mosque at Ani an
inscription containing a yarligh or order of Abusaid Khan,
which reads thus : " God, who embraces in his immensity
all his slaves. Abu Said Behadur Khan, who is at this
time the ornament of the capital of the sovereignty of the
world, the grandeur of the earth, and of religion. May his
reign be eternal. Yarligh : As everything from the East to
the West is under the shadow of his clemency and his
justice, may God, the all-powerful, exalt his might and
commandments. His command to us is that the people who
are subject to his orders, or group themselves about the
tribunal of his victorious name, must do neither little nor
much to any of his creatures. They must not receive any
dues, in the form of tamghas, and of Customs, and may not
demand from any creature anything else under the form of
kalan or of wine cup, inasmuch as formerly in this town
of Ani, and in other parts of Gurjistan (Georgia), under

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS. 773
pretext of kalan, of wine cup tax, and other illegal taxes,
great iniquities have been committed. And inasmuch as,
on account of the oppression, the place has begun to be
ruined, and its people to disperse, and the assemblies of the
people in the town and country are abandoning it because
of the kalan ; and they have appealed to me in regard to
their movable and immovable goods and their houses ; in
order that the Almighty may not remove his shadow from
over our heads . . ." The inscription is here broken
off, but doubtless continued with the statement of the
privileges conferred. Abusaid, as we have seen, took the
title of Behadur in the year 719 hej. (i.e., 1319-1320^
(Melanges Asiatiques, St. Pet. Acad., ii., 63-68.)
Page 628 line 32— In the Melanges Asiatiques of the St. Petersburg Academy,
vol. viii., p. 443, etc., is the description of a very fine
medallion of Abusaid, struck at Tebriz, in the year 724 hej.,
and found in the bed of the river Ijim, an affluent of the
Ausa, in the district of Minussinsk, on the Chinese frontier.
It is made of silver, and of the value of 4 roubles 87
kopeks. It contains, inter alia, the names of the four
orthodox Khalifs. Mr, Lane Poole tells me that in the
Hermitage collection at St. Petersburg are coins of Abusaid
struck at Izferain, Kalensuwar, Berdaa, Abulshak, Astera
bad, and Jeziret. In Mr. Leggett's collection is a coin of
Abusaid, struck at Arjish, near Khelat. (Numis. Chron.,
1886, 230.)
,, 629 „ 23 — Dr. Rieu suggests that " Comerum " may be " Kerman."
„ 629 „ 25 — He also suggests that Huz is the modern Khuzistan.
„ 639 „ 18 — There is a copper coin of Musa struck at Tebriz in 736 hej.
at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.
11 639 „ 38 — The amir called Artena by Ibn Batuta is apparently the same
person who is called Irshad or Yeshed by other authorities.
(See page 637.)
„ 642 „ 22 — At the Hermitage there is a coin of Muhammed's struck at
Arrachin (?) in 738, and at the Oriental Institute at St.
Petersburg is one struck at Sultania in the same year. In
Mr. Calvert's collection is a coin of Muhammed, struck at
Baghdad in 738 hej., and another at Erzenjan in 739.
(Numis. Chron., 1885, 235.) Major Trotter has one of his
coins struck apparently at Kaiseriya in 728. (Id., 1887,
334-)
645 „ 27 — At the Hermitage there is a coin of Satibeg struck at Sultania
in 739 hej.
653 „ 29 — At the Hermitage is a coin of Anushirvan struck at Ganja,
i.e., Kentsak, while at the Asiatic Museum, also at St.
Petersburg, is one struck at El Kab,

774 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
Page 653 line 40— Ibn Batuta tells us the dominions of the Ilkhans were
divided among eleven princes : (1) Sheikh Hassan, son of
the Sultan's maternal aunt. (2) Ibrahim Shah (really Haji
Toghai), son of the Amir Sunitai, who took Mosul and
Diar Bekr. (3) The Amir Artena took Rum. (4) Hassan
Khoja, son of Timurtash, took Tebriz, Sultania, Hamadan,
Kom, Kashan, Rai, Weramin, Farghan (Werkan), and
Karaj. (5) Toghai Timur took a part of Khorasan.
(6) The Amir Hussein, son of Ghiath ud din, took
Herat and the greater part of Khorasan. (7) Malik Dinar
took Mekran and Kij. (8) Muhammed Shah, son of
Mozaffer, took Yezd, Kerman, and Warku. (9) Malik
Kotb ud din Tehemten, took Ormuz, Kish, Kathf, Bahrain,
and Kalhat. (10) Abu Ishak took Shiraz, Fars, and
Ispahan. (n) Afrasiab the Atabeg took possession of
Idhej and other lands. (Op. cit., ii. 124-125.)
„ 654 „ 29 — After the death of Abusaid, the town of Hillah was con
quered by the Amir Ahmed, son of Romaitha, Prince of
Mekka, who held it several years, and was praised by the
people of Irak. Eventually he was vanquished by Hassan,
ruler of Irak, who put him to the torture, killed him, and
secured his treasures, &c. (Ibn Batuta, ii. 99.)
11 657 „ 9— Insert "had" before " arrived."
11 657 11 36 — Shems ud din Zakaria was Hussein's vizier. (Quatremere,
Hist, des Mongols, lvi.)
„ 664 „ 38— For " that," read " to that which."
11 667 „ 37— For " there," read " at Baghdad."
„ 672 „ 40 — Insert " he " before " crossed."
„ 673 „ 40 — For " Mir," read " Nur."
,, 678 „ 25 — Erase the comma before " Sheikh."
„ 682 „ 23— For " Imirethi," read " Imerithi."
11 6g2 „ 29— It was Abu Ishak s ambition to rival the generosity of the
Sultan of Delhi, says Ibn Batuta, " but what distance
separates the Pleiads from the Earth." The most
generous act recorded of Abu Ishak was when he gave
the Sheikh Zadeh al Khorasani, who came to him as
envoy from the Malik of Herat, 70,000 dinars, while
the ruler of India had repeated such a gift many times.
(Ibn Batuta, ii. 71-73.) Tash Khatun, wife of Abu Ishak,
built a great medresseh and hermitage, where travellers
found refreshment, and where the Koran was continually
read, at Shiraz, near the sacred tomb of Ahmed Ibn Musa,
descended from Abu Thatel. The Khatun used to go to
this sepulchral chapel on the Sunday night, where the
khalifs, fakirs, and sherifs also met. The Koran was then
recited antiphonally, refreshments were brought, and
then the preacher preached. Meanwhile the Khatun

NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND ADDITIONS. 775
occupied an elevated chamber protected from the public
gaze by lattice work. Then cymbals were beaten and
trumpets were sounded, as was customary at the gates of
royal residences. On Thursday and Friday nights she
visited the tomb of the saint Abu Abdallah, son of Khafif,
when similar services took place. Near this last chapel
was the mausoleum of the Amir Muhammed Shah Inju,
father of Abu Ishak. (Id., 77-79.) In one of the mosques at
Shiraz, Ibn Batuta saw a number of Korans in their silken
cases on a kind of stand. On the north side was a hermitage
with a lattice opening on to the market place. There sat
a sheikh who was well dressed, and was reading the Koran.
He told one traveller that he had built and endowed the
mosque, while the hermitage was intended for his tomb.
He lifted up a carpet and disclosed a grave covered with
planks, and close by showed a box containing money which
was to be devoted to his funeral expenses and to alms for
the poor. (Id., 85-87.) This is very like a picture of a
Christian anchorite. At Kazirun, two days' journey from
Shiraz, and situated in a district inhabited by Shuls, Ibn
Batuta went to see the tomb of the Sheikh Abu Ishak
Kaziruni, after whom the Sultan had been named. The
Saint was specially venerated by the navigators in the
Indian seas, who addressed their prayers to him when bad
weather or pirates threatened, and who devoted large sums
in offerings. (Id., 89-go.)
Page 692 line 38 — Three of his coins have the name of Muhammed Khan upon
them, whom he probably recognised as his suzerain. A
coin in Mr. Kay's collection, struck in 719, was minted at
Kazirun, the birthplace of the saint, his namesake.
11 695 „ 17 — M. Khanikof describes a mosque he saw at Kerman with an
inscription saying it was built by order of Muhammed the
Muzaffarian in the year 750. (Memoire sur la partie
meridionale de I'Asie Centrale, 195.)
„ 699 „ 6— For "his," read " Shah Shuja's."
„ 712 „ 42 — Ibn Arabshah attributes the victory in a considerable measure
to the defection of one of Mansur's officers, a native of
Khorasan, named Muhammed Ibn Zain ud din. He went
over to Timur at the beginning of the fight, and Shah
Mansur was left with barely 1,000 men. He also gives a
different account of the hero's death, and tells us that when
his men were defeated, and he could hardly hold his sword
from exhaustion, he buried himself under the slain and
wounded, while he discarded his armour, in the hope that
he would not be recognised, and might thus escape. Timur,
however, had the battle-field searched, and a Mongol
stumbled upon him. He disclosed who he was to him, and

776 HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS.
offered him many precious stones he had with him if he
assisted him to escape ; but he beheaded him, and took his
head to Timur. (Weil v., 39 and 40, notes.) Thomas of
Medzoph tells us a curious anecdote about this struggle.
He says that Shah Mansur had sent an envoy to Timur
with considerable presents, on whose arrival the latter
feigned to be ill. A lamb was killed, of which he drank
the blood ; and at the audience with the envoy, his face
seemed like that of a. corpse, while he had an iron bowl
brought in, into which he spat out the blood he had taken,
The envoy was delighted at the spectacle, declaring his
end would come that day or the day following. He
mounted a fast horse, and sped to his master. When he
reported the news, general rejoicings broke out throughout
Fars, and those who were reduced to misery set about
providing themselves with arms. Timur now set out by
forced marches towards Shiraz. (Op. cit., 14.)
Page 718 line 23 — Major Trotter has a coin of Toghai Timur, struck at Amasiya
in 737 hej, (Numis. Chron., 1887, 334.)
„ 723 lines 8 and 9 — For " we suppose," read " is generally supposed."
„ 725 line 3 — Insert "he " before " sent."
11 734 11 2— For " Hassan," read " Haidar."

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