Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (17/496)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and released the vizier Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Mimandi, reinstating him to the ministry (1).

Then the city of Rayy was taken from Masʿūd, so he mustered an army that stormed it and committed outrages there (2). Battles flared for him across the realm. The envoy of the Dīwān arrived, and Masʿūd held elaborate ceremonies for his coming; Khurasan was decorated throughout, and the day he entered Balkh was as celebrated as the arrival of a sultan.

Two hundred elephants marched in the royal procession, and the troops were arrayed in full regalia.

A plague broke out in the year 423 AH (3) in India, Ghazna, and the outskirts of Khurasan, to the point that in a short span some forty thousand funerals were conducted in Isfahan. Its ruler at the time was Abū Jaʿfar ibn Kākuya; the caliph was al-Qāʾim; the sultan of Iraq, Jalāl al-Dawla; Abū Kālijār governed Fars; and Masʿūd ibn Muḥammad held Khurasan, the Jibāl, Ghur, and India.

In that same year Qadr Khān the Turk, lord of Transoxiana, died. Masʿūd prepared for a campaign and gathered his forces to march on Iraq, but an urgent matter diverted him: his deputy in India had revolted. He therefore set out against him and equipped the expedition, entrusting it to Emir Ahmad ibn Yanal Takin (4).

Soon after, the Ghuzz Turks began ravaging Transoxiana, so Masʿūd advanced against them, struck them hard, and inflicted heavy losses. He then wheeled toward Tabaristan because its governor had broken allegiance, and there he faced serious troubles (5).

Masʿūd’s own army then fell into disorder and grew bold against him. The Ghuzz seized the moment, captured Naysabur, and wrought havoc. Masʿūd sought help from the kings beyond the Oxus, but they proved of no benefit. The Ghuzz advanced to fight him under the leadership of Tughril Beg and his brother Dāwud,

(1) See Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 9, pp. 398-400. (2) See Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 9, pp. 402-403. (3) See Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, vol. 8, p. 69; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 9, p. 426; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, vol. 12, p. 34. (4) See Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 9, p. 428; Ibn Khaldun, Tarikh, vol. 4, p. 380. (5) See Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 9, pp. 441-442; Ibn Khaldun, Tarikh, vol. 4, p. 381.

أَطلق الوَزِيْرَ أَحْمَدَ بن الحَسَنِ المِيمندِي، وَاسْتوزَرَه (١) ، ثُمَّ أُخذت الرَّيُّ مِنْ مَسْعُوْد، فَجَهَّزَ جَيْشاً اسْتبَاحوهَا، وَعملُوا قبَائِح (٢) ، وَجرت لَهُ حُرُوبٌ عَلَى الدُّنْيَا، وَقَدِمَ عَلَيْهِ رَسُوْلُ الدِّيْوَان، فَاحتفل لقُدُومه، وَزُيِّنَت خُرَاسَان، وَكَانَ يَوْمُ قُدُومه بَلْخ يَوْماً مَشْهُوداً كدُخُول السُّلْطَان. وَكَانَ فِي المَوْكِب مئتَا فيلٍ وَالجَيْش ملبس. وَوَقع الوبَاءُ فِي عَام ثَلاَثَة وَعِشْرِيْنَ وَأَرْبَعِ مائَةٍ (٣) بِالهِنْد وَغَزْنَة وَأَطرَاف خُرَاسَان، حَتَّى إِنَّهُ خَرَجَ مِنْ أَصْبَهَان فِي مُدَّةٍ قَرِيْبَة أَرْبَعُوْنَ أَلف جِنَازَة، وَكَانَ مَلِكُهَا أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ بنُ كَاكويه وَالخَلِيْفَةُ القَائِمُ وَسُلْطَانُ العِرَاق جَلاَلُ الدَّوْلَة، وَأَبُو كَاليجَارَ عَلَى فَارس، وَمَسْعُوْد بن مُحَمَّد عَلَى خُرَاسَان وَالجِبَال وَالغُور وَالهِنْد. وَتُوُفِّيَ قدرخَانُ التُّرْكِيُّ؛ صَاحِب مَا وَرَاء النَّهر فِي هَذَا العَام، وَتَأَهَّب مَسْعُوْدٌ، وَحشد يقصِدُ العِرَاقَ، فَجَاءهُ أَمرٌ شغلَه؛ وَهُوَ عصيَانُ نَائِبه عَلَى الهِنْد، فَسَارَ لقَصده، وَجهّزه مَسْعُوْد؛ وَهُوَ الأَمِيْر أَحْمَدُ بنُ يَنَال تكين (٤) ، ثُمَّ عَاثت التُّركُ الغُزِّيَّةُ بِمَا وَرَاء النَّهر، فَقصدَهُم مَسْعُوْدٌ، وَأَوقع بِهِم، وَأَثْخَنَ فِيْهِم، ثُمَّ كرَّ إِلَى طَبَرِسْتَان، لأَنَّ نَائِبهَا فَارقَ الطَّاعَةَ، وَجرتْ لَهُ خُطُوب (٥) . ثُمَّ اضْطربَ جندُ مَسْعُوْد، وَتجرَّؤُوا عَلَيْهِ، وَبَادرت الغُزُّ، فَأخذُوا نَيْسَابُوْرَ وَبدّعُوا، فَاسْتنجد مَسْعُوْدٌ بِمُلُوْك مَا وَرَاءِ النَّهْرِ فَمَا نفعُوا، ثُمَّ سَارَتِ الغُزُّ لِحَرْبِهِ، وَعَلَيْهِم طُغْرُلْبَك، وَأَخُوْهُ دَاوُد،

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