Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/236)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and two hundred ardabs of barley. They even sold their weapons for a loaf of bread. The Sultan had meanwhile founded a city there which he named al-Mansurah; he encamped in it with his army and fortified it with a wall.

In the year 617 AH Muzaffar al-Din, lord of Irbil, met Badr al-Din Luʾluʾ, the deputy of Mosul. Luʾluʾ was routed, whereupon Muzaffar al-Din besieged Mosul; al-Ashraf hurried to the city’s aid and the two sides made peace.

In Rajab the battle of al-Barallus (1) took place between al-Kamil and the Franks. Allah granted victory: ten thousand Franks were killed, the rest fled and regrouped in Damietta.

That same year the Tatars captured Bukhara and Samarqand by the sword and crossed the Jayhun (Oxus) River.

Ibn al-Athir (2) wrote: “If someone were to say that since the world was created humankind has never been tested with anything like the calamity of the Tatars, he would be speaking the truth, for the historical records contain nothing that approaches it. A people emerged from the fringes of China, advanced into the lands of Turkestan, then to Bukhara and Samarqand and seized them. A contingent of them then crossed into Khurasan, leaving it in ruins and soaked with blood all the way to Rayy and Hamadhan. Next they headed for Azerbaijan and its surroundings, plundering them in less than a year—something the like of which we have never heard. From there they marched to Darband Shirwan, captured its towns, crossed into the lands of the Alans and the Laks (3), killing and taking captives. They then moved on to the country of Qipchaq, killing whoever stood his ground, while the rest fled to the marshes (4) and the mountains, and the Tatars seized their territory. Another column struck Ghazna, Sijistan and Kirman, behaving there the same way—or worse.

Such devastation had never…"

(1) A small town on the Nile’s bank, close to the Mediterranean in the direction of Alexandria. (2) Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 12, p. 358 ff. (3) The manuscript reads “al-Dakz”; we follow the reading found in Ibn al-Athir’s al-Kamil and al-Dhahabi’s Tarikh al-Islam, the latter in the author’s own hand. (4) Al-Kamil has “ila al-ghiyad” (toward the woods); al-Dhahabi keeps only the sense.

أَردب شعير، وَكَانُوا يَبيعُوْنَ سِلاَحَهُم بِالخبزِ، وَكَانَ السُّلْطَانُ قَدْ أَنشَأَ هُنَاكَ مدينَةً سَمَّاهَا المَنْصُوْرَةَ، نَزلَهَا بِجَيْشِهِ وَسَوَّرَهَا. وَفِي سَنَةِ ٦١٧: التقَى مُظَفَّرُ الدِّيْنِ صَاحِبُ إِرْبِلَ وَبدرُ الدِّينِ لُؤْلُؤ نَائِبُ المَوْصِلِ، فَانْهَزَمَ لُؤْلُؤٌ، وَنَازَلَ مُظَفَّرُ الدِّيْنِ المَوْصِلَ، فَنجَدَهَا الأَشْرَفُ وَاصطلحُوا. وَفِي رَجَبٍ وَقْعَةُ البَرَلُّسِ (١) بَيْنَ الكَامِلِ وَالفِرَنْجِ، فَنَصَرَ اللهُ، وَقُتِلَ مِنَ الفِرَنْجِ عَشْرَةُ آلاَفٍ، وَانْهَزَمُوا، فَاجْتَمَعُوا بِدِمْيَاطَ. وَفِيْهَا أَخذَتِ التَّتَارُ بُخَارَى وَسَمَرْقَنْدَ بِالسَّيْفِ، وَعَدَوا جَيْحُونَ. قَالَ ابْنُ الأَثِيْرِ (٢) : لَوْ قِيْلَ: إِنَّ العَالِمَ مُنْذُ خُلِقَ إِلَى الآنَ لَمْ يُبْتَلَوا بِمِثْلِ كَائِنَةِ التَّتَارِ، لَكَانَ صَادِقاً، فَإِنَّ التَّوَارِيخَ لَمْ تَتضمَّنْ مَا يُقَارِبُهَا، قَوْمٌ خَرَجُوا مِنْ أَطرَافِ الصِّينِ، فَقصدُوا بِلاَدَ تركستَانَ، ثُمَّ إِلَى بُخَارَى وَسَمَرْقَنْدَ، فَتملَّكُوهَا، ثُمَّ تَعبُرُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُم إِلَى خُرَاسَانَ فَيَفْرَغُونَ مِنْهَا تَخرِيباً وَقَتلاً إِلَى الرَّيِّ وَهَمَذَانَ، ثُمَّ يَقصدُوْنَ أَذْرَبِيْجَانَ وَنوَاحيهَا، وَيستبيحونَهَا فِي أَقلَّ مِنْ سَنَةٍ، أَمرٌ لَمْ نَسْمَعْ بِمِثْلِهِ، ثُمَّ سَارُوا إِلَى دَرْبَند شِرْوِينَ، فَملَكُوا مُدنَهُ، وَعبرُوا إِلَى بلاَدِ اللاَنِ وَاللّكز (٣) قتلاً وَأَسراً، ثُمَّ قصدُوا بلاَدَ قَفْجَاقَ، فَقتلُوا مَنْ وَقَفَ، وَهَرَبَ مَنْ بَقِيَ إِلَى الشُّعَرَاءِ (٤) وَالجِبَالِ، وَاسْتولَتِ التَّتَارُ عَلَى بِلاَدِهِم، وَمَضتْ فِرقَةٌ أُخْرَى إِلَى غَزْنَةَ وَسِجِسْتَان وَكِرمَانَ، فَفَعلُوا كَذَلِكَ وَأَشَدَّ. هَذَا مَا لَمْ يَطرقِ

(١) بليدة على شاطئ النيل قرب البحر من جهة الإسكندرية. (٢) الكامل: ١٢ / ٣٥٨ فما بعدها. (٣) في الأصل: " الدكز " وما أثبتناه من " كامل " ابن الأثير، و" تاريخ الإسلام " للذهبي، وهو بخطه. (٤) في الكامل: " إلى الغياض " وأخذ الذهبي المعنى.