Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/55)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

in Ṣafar 576 AH,¹ and his brother, King ʿIzz al-Dīn Masʿūd, assumed control of Mosul.

12 – The Khwārazmshāh Arslān ibn Atsiz ibn Muḥammad ibn Nushtekin

Sultan Arslān, son of the Khwārazmshāh (2) Atsiz (3), son of the amir Muḥammad ibn Nushtekin (4), inherited the throne after his father.

Their grandfather Nushtekin had been a mamluk in a private household until he was purchased by a Seljuk emir named Bilqā Beg. Nushtekin grew into an upright and intelligent man. A son, Muḥammad, was born to him; he devoted the boy to scholarship and literature, and Muḥammad matured into a complete and distinguished nobleman. He rose to prominence, assumed command, and, sometime around 500 AH, served as governor in Khwārazm. There he received the title Khwārazmshāh. He ruled justly, administered affairs with skill, honoured the scholars, and gained great standing with his liege lord, Sultan Sanjar. When he died, his son Atsiz Khwārazmshāh succeeded him; after Atsiz came his sons, until this Arslān took power, ranking among the great monarchs just as his father had.

Arslān returned from campaigning against the Khitā gravely ill and died in 568 AH. He was succeeded by his son Sulṭān Shāh Maḥmūd. Another son, Tekish, was then residing in the city of Jand; when news reached him, he bristled at the enthronement of his younger brother and marched to claim the kingdom.

(1) Ibn al-Athir remarks that, although he was stingy and timid, he disliked injustice. Al-Dhahabi, in Tarikh al-Islam, adds that he lived for about thirty years and, after the death of Nur al-Din, took to wine and adultery, causing the pious to despise him (MS Ahmed III 2917/14, fol. 67). (*) His career is reported in the major chronicles of his period, above all Ibn al-Athir’s al-Kamil. Al-Dhahabi covers him in the annalistic section of Tarikh al-Islam (MS Ahmed III 2917/15) and devotes a separate biography to him in the biographical section, fol. 18 (MS Ahmed III 2917/14). (2) The name appears sometimes as a single word and at other times split into two. (3) It is also written “Atsiz,” a Turkish term meaning “nameless,” as will be mentioned shortly. (4) Some sources spell it “Nashtakin,” omitting the waw.

مائَة (١) ، وَتَملّك المَوْصِل أَخُوْهُ الْملك عِزّ الدِّيْنِ مَسْعُوْد. ١٢ - خُوَارِزمْشَاه أَرْسَلاَنُ بنُ آتسز بن مُحَمَّدِ بنِ نُوشْتِكِيْنَ * السُّلْطَان أَرْسَلاَن بنُ خُوَارِزْم شَاه (٢) آتسز (٣) ابْنِ الأَمِيْر مُحَمَّدِ بنِ نُوشْتِكِيْن (٤) . تَمَلَّكَ بَعْدَ أَبِيْهِ. كَانَ جَدّهُم نُوشْتِكِيْن مَمْلُوْكاً لِرَجُلٍ، فَاشترَاهُ أَمِيْر مِنَ السُّلْجُوْقِيَّة اسْمه بلكَا بِك فَكَبِرَ نُوشْتِكِيْن، وَنَشَأَ نَجيباً عَاقِلاً، فَوُلد لَهُ مُحَمَّد، فَأَشغله فِي العِلْمِ وَالأَدب، وَطلع نبيلاً كَامِلاً، وَسَاد، وَتَأَمّر، وَنَاب فِي حُدُوْدِ الخَمْس مائَة بِخُوَارِزْمَ، وَلقّبوهُ خُوَارِزْمشَاه، فَعَدَلَ، وَأَحْسَن السيَاسَة، وَقرّب العُلَمَاء، وَعظم شَأْنه عِنْد مَخْدُومه السُّلْطَان سَنْجَر، ثُمَّ تُوُفِّيَ، فَقَامَ فِي وِلاَيته ابْنه آطسز خُوَارِزْمشَاه، ثُمَّ بَنُوْهُ، فَوَلِيَ أَرْسَلاَن هَذَا، فَكَانَ مِنْ كِبَارِ المُلُوْك كَأَبِيْهِ. رَجَعَ مِنْ مُحَارِبَة الخَطَا مَرِيْضاً، فَمَاتَ فِي سَنَةِ ثَمَانٍ وَسِتِّيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ، فَتَمَلَّكَ بَعْدَهُ ابْنه سُلْطَان شَاه مَحْمُوْد، وَكَانَ ابْنه الآخر تَكِشّ مقيماً عَلَى مدينَة جَنْد، فَلَمَّا سَمِعَ، تَنمَّر وَأَنِف مِنْ سَلْطَنَة أَخِيْهِ الصَّغِيْر، وَسَارَ إِلَى ملك

(١) وقد ذكر ابن الأثير أنه كان لا يحب الظلم على شح فيه وجبن، وذكر الذهبي في (تاريخ الإسلام) أنه عاش نحوا من ثلاثين سنة، وأنه تعاطى الخمر والزنى بعد موت نور الدين فمقته أهل الخير (الورقة ٦٧ احمد الثالث ٢٩١٧ / ١٤) . (*) أخباره في التواريخ المستوعبة لعصره ولا سيما ابن الأثير في الكامل. وتناول الذهبي أخباره في قسم الحوادث من تاريخ الإسلام (أحمد الثالث ٢٩١٧ / ١٥) وترجم له في تاريخ الإسلام، الورقة ١٨ (أحمد الثالث ٢٩١٧ / ١٤) . (٢) هكذا ترد متصلة تارة ومنفصلة أخرى. (٣) وتكتب أيضا: (آطسز) ومعناها بالتركية: بغير اسم، كما سترد بعد قليل. (٤) وترد في بعض الكتب (نشتكين) بغير واو.