Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/142)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

—he dispatched an envoy to Aleppo, who announced: “The Sultan of Sultans conveys his salutations to you and reproaches you for failing to congratulate him on the conquest of Iraq and Azerbaijan. He also lets it be known that his army numbers seven hundred thousand.”

The same envoy then proceeded to al-ʿĀdil in Damascus, proclaiming: “Come to render service, for we have approved you to be master of the stirrup!” The people could do nothing but laugh at him.

We have also heard that he appointed the ruler of Rūm to carry his standard and made the caliph his court preacher!

He had four sons: Jalāl al-Dīn, who took power after him; Ghiyāth al-Dīn Tatarshāh; Quṭb al-Dīn Azlāgh; and Rukn al-Dīn Gūrshāh Yaḥyā—the handsomest of them all.

By his order the royal band (nawba) was beaten for them at the times of the five daily prayers, following Seljuk custom. As for himself, he alone was honored with “Alexander’s nawba,” which was struck at sunrise and sunset; it consisted of twenty-seven gilded kettledrums set with precious stones.

The kings who served under him he humbled and degraded, compelling them to beat golden drums for him (1).

He encamped at Hamadan, but his troops scattered, and the territories beyond the Oxus slipped from his control. He returned only after the snows had devastated them. When he had wiped out the nations of the Khita and the Tatars—those of Turkistan, Jand, and Tankut—another people arose, likewise called Tatars, comprising two divisions, and they coveted the lands. He gathered his forces and resolved to meet them, but Genghis Khan, chief of the Tumāghājīyah, caught him in an ambush and smashed him. His son Jalāl al-Dīn fled to him, and—misled by ill fortune—he imagined that some of his commanders were disloyal, so he clapped them in irons. He then fought battle after battle with the Tatars, was battered, and fell back upon Bukhara in defeat.

From Bukhara he set out for Nishapur to raise more troops, but the Tatars seized Bukhara and overran Khurasan, so he fled. He had scarcely reached Rayy before their vanguard was upon him. He retreated to the fortress of Barjīn with three hundred naked, hunger-stricken horsemen; they begged food from some Kurds, but…

(1) Golden drums.

(1) Tarikh al-Islam gives a clearer wording: “He would hang golden kettledrums from the kings’ necks while they stood, and would beat them.”

رَسُوْله إِلَى حَلَب، فَقَالَ: سُلْطَانُ السَّلاَطِيْن يُسلِّم عَلَيْكُم، وَيَعتب إِذْ لَمْ تُهنِّئوهُ بِفَتح العِرَاق وَأَذْرَبِيْجَان، وَإِنَّ عدد جَيْشه سَبْعُ مائَةِ أَلْفٍ. ثُمَّ تَوجّه رَسُوْله إِلَى العَادل بِدِمَشْقَ يَقُوْلُ: تعَالَ إِلَى الخدمَة، فَقَدِ ارْتضينَاك أَنْ تَكُوْن مُقَدَّم الرّكَاب! فَبقِي النَّاس يهزؤون مِنْهُ. وَسَمِعنَا أَنَّهُ جَعَلَ صَاحِب الرُّوْم أَمِيْر عَلَم لَهُ وَالخَلِيْفَة خَطِيْباً لَهُ! وَكَانَ لَهُ أَرْبَعَة أَوْلاَد: جَلاَل الدِّيْنِ الَّذِي قَامَ بَعْدَهُ، وَغِيَاث الدِّيْنِ تترشَاه، وَقُطْب الدِّيْنِ أَزلاغ، وَرُكْن الدِّيْنِ غُورشَاه يَحْيَى، وَكَانَ أَحْسَنهُم، وَضُربت النَّوبَة بِأَمره لَهُم فِي أَوقَات الصَّلَوَات الخَمْس، عَلَى عَادَة المُلُوْك السَّلْجُوْقيَّة، وَانْفَرَدَ هُوَ بنَوْبَة الإِسْكَنْدَر، فَيَضرب وَقت المَطْلع وَالمَغِيب، وَكَانَتْ سَبْعاً وَعِشْرِيْنَ دبدبَة مِنَ الذّهب الْمُرَصَّع بِالجَوْهَر. وَأَمَّا المُلُوْك الَّذِيْنَ كَانُوا فِي خِدْمَته، فَكَانَ يُذلهم وَيُهينهُم، وَجَعَلهُم يَضربُوْنَ لَهُ طبُول الذَّهَب (١) ، ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ نَزل بِهَمَذَانَ، وَانتشرت جُمُوْعه، فَاختلت عَلَيْهِ بلاَد مَا وَرَاء النَّهْر، فَرَجَعَ بَعْدَ أَنْ أَهْلكهُم الثَّلج، وَلَمَّا أَبَاد أُمَّتَيّ الخَطَا وَالتَّتَر وَهُم أَصْحَاب تُركستَان وَجَنْد وَتَنْكُت ظَهرت أُمَّة يُسَمَّوْنَ التّتر أَيْضاً، وَهُم صنفَان، وَطمعُوا فِي البِلاَد، فَجمعَ، وَعَزَمَ عَلَى لِقَائِهِم، فَوَقَعَ جِنْكِزْ خَان رَأْس الطمغَاجيَّة عَلَى كَمِينه، فَطَحنوهُ، وَانْهَزَم جَلاَل الدِّيْنِ ابْنه إِلَيْهِ، وَخيل إِلَيْهِ تَعس الجدّ أَنَّ فِي أُمَرَائِهِ مُخَامِرِيْنَ، فَمسَّكهُم، وَضربَ مَعَ التَّتَار مَصَافّاً بَعْد آخر، فَتطحطح، وَردّ إِلَى بُخَارَى مُنْهَزِماً. ثُمَّ جَاءَ مِنْ بُخَارَى ليجْمَع العَسَاكِر بِنَيْسَابُوْرَ، فَأَخَذت التَّتَار بُخَارَى، وَهجمُوا خُرَاسَان، فَفَرَّ، فَمَا وَصلَ إِلَى الرَّيِّ إِلاَّ وَطلاَئِعُهُم عَلَى رَأْسه، فَانْهَزَم إِلَى قَلْعَة بَرَجِيْنَ، وَمَعَهُ ثَلاَث مائَة فَارِس عُرَاة مَضَّهُم الْجُوع، فَاسْتطعمُوا مِنْ أَكرَادٍ، فَلَمْ

(١) في تاريخ الإسلام أوضح مما هنا وهو: " يجعل طبول الذهب في أعناق الملوك وهم قيام يضربون ".