“Their tale devours all other tales, their report effaces the chronicles, and the calamity they unleashed engulfs the earth. They are a people whose speech is mixed with the Indian tongue on account of their proximity to it. Broad-faced, wide-chested, light in the loins and small of limb, they are brown-skinned and swift of movement. News of other nations reaches them, yet their own news reaches no one, and rarely can a spy make his way among them, for a stranger bears no resemblance to them. When they aim for a destination, they hide their purpose and rise up in one rush; thus every stratagem is shut off, the paths of flight are narrowed, and they outstrip all preparations. Even their women fight; they kill women and children without exception, though they may spare a craftsman or a man of strength. The bow is their principal weapon, and they thrust with the sword more than they hack with it. Their cuirasses are of leather. Their horses subsist on grass and on whatever leaves or wood they can find, their saddles are small and of no worth, and they will eat whatever animal they encounter, letting the fire touch it only long enough to satisfy an oath. In their slaughter they make no exceptions; their purpose was the extermination of the race. None escaped them save Ghazna and Isfahan.”
I say: They later plundered Isfahan in the year 632 AH.
He continued: “This vile clan is known as the Tamurjiyy. They dwell in the steppes of Qatiʿ al-Sin and winter in Arghun. They are notorious for wickedness and treachery. China is vast, comprising six kingdoms, and their supreme qan resides in Tamghaj. The ruler of one of those six kingdoms was Dush Khan, the husband of Chinggis Khan’s aunt. Chinggis Khan visited his aunt after her husband’s death, accompanied by Kishlu Khan.
“She said, ‘My husband has left no son; I think you should take his place.’
“Chinggis Khan thereupon assumed the position and sent gifts to the Great Qan, who bristled and took offence at the enthronement of a Tatar (1). Thus Chinggis Khan and Kishlu Khan pledged mutual support, made their dissent public, and their following multiplied…"