Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/239)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

until the year 620 AH.

As for Genghis Khan, he dispatched one detachment to Termez and another to Kalatha on the bank of the Jayḥun (Oxus). They plundered the town and then returned to him while he was in Samarqand. He thereupon equipped a massive army together with his son to fight Jalal al-Din, the son of Khwarazm Shah. They besieged Khwarazm for three months and captured it under the command of Ogedei, who later succeeded Genghis Khan. Multitudes were slain there—but only after the defenders had themselves cut down large numbers of Tatars. The conquerors then took Merv, Balkh, Nishapur, Tus, Sarakhs, and Herat by the sword; those who fell beneath the blade are beyond reckoning.

Al-Muwafaq ʿAbd al-Latif relates: “One division marched against Azerbaijan, Arran, and the Georgians; another headed for Hamadan and Isfahan. They passed through Hulwan intent on Baghdad, and they swept through the world spreading ruin, biting their own fingertips in fury at anyone who offered them peace….”

He continues: “They then crossed over to the peoples of the Qipchaqs and the Alans and washed them with the sword, while great numbers of Turkish slaves poured forth until they flooded the lands.”

As for the Caliph, he mustered the multitudes, mobilised the armies, and issued a general call to arms; levies flocked to him from every height. When the Tatar envoy arrived, the army staged an elaborate display, exaggerating its strength until the envoy’s heart filled with terror and his head with fearful imaginings, so he returned to report what he had seen.

The people of Isfahan opened their gates; the Tatars entered, but the townsfolk turned upon them with slaughter, and scarcely a single Tatar escaped.

King al-Ashraf was asked about them and said, “What can I say of a people from whom not a single man has ever been taken captive?”

A man of Nishapur reported: “When the dead were counted in Nishapur, they numbered more than five hundred thousand.” Among the lands they annihilated was Farghana, made up of seven principalities. Whenever anyone sought their mercy, they grew only more insolent, and when they gathered to drink wine they would bring

According to Tarikh al-Islam, folio 244 (Aya Sofya MS 3011), the town served as the merchants’ port from which they travelled to the Gulf of Constantinople; cf. Abu al-Fida, Taqwim al-Buldan, pp. 214-215.

مائَةٍ. وَأَمَّا جِنْكِزْ خَان فَجَهَّزَ فِرقَةً إِلَى تِرْمِذَ، وَطَائِفَةً إِلَى كلاَثَةَ عَلَى جَانبِ جَيْحُونَ، فَاسْتبَاحُوهَا، ثُمَّ عَادُوا إِلَيْهِ، وَهُوَ بِسَمَرْقَنْدَ، فَجَهَّزَ جَيْشاً كَثِيفاً مَعَ وَلدِهِ لِحَرْبِ جَلاَلِ الدِّيْنِ ابْنِ خُوَارِزْم شَاه، وَحَاصرُوا خُوَارِزْم ثَلاَثَةَ أَشْهُرٍ، وَأَخَذوهَا وَعَلَيْهِم أوكتَاي الَّذِي تَمَلَّكَ بَعْدَ جِنْكِزْ خَان، وَقُتِلَ بِهَا أُمَمٌ لَكِنْ بَعْدَ أَنْ قَتَلُوا خَلاَئِقَ مِنَ التَّتَارِ، وَأَخَذُوا بِالسَّيْفِ مَرْوَ وَبلْخَ وَنَيْسَابُوْرَ وَطُوسَ وَسَرْخَسَ وَهرَاةَ، فَلاَ يُحصَى مَنْ رَاحَ تَحْتَ السَّيْفِ. وَقَالَ المُوَفَّقُ عَبْدُ اللَّطِيْفِ: قصدَتْ فِرقَةٌ أَذْرَبِيْجَانَ وَأَرَّانَ وَالكُرْجَ، وَفِرقَةٌ هَمَذَانَ وَأَصْبَهَانَ، وَخَالطَتْ حُلْوَانَ قَاصدَةً بَغْدَادَ، وَمَاجُوا فِي الدُّنْيَا بِالإِفسَادِ يَعضُّونَ عَلَى مَنْ سَلَّمَ الأَنَاملَ مِنَ الغِيظِ ... إِلَى أَنْ قَالَ: وَعَبرُوا إِلَى أُمَمِ القَفْجَاقِ وَاللاَنِ، فَغسلُوهُم بِالسَّيْفِ، وَخَرَجَ مِنْ رَقِيْقِ التُّرْكِ خلقٌ حَتَّى فَاضُوا عَلَى البِلاَدِ. وَأَمَّا الخَلِيْفَةُ فَإِنَّهُ جَمعَ الجُمُوْعَ، وَجَيَّشَ الجُيُوْشَ، وَحشرَ فَنَادَى، وَأَتتْهُ البُعُوثُ مِنْ كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنسِلُوْنَ، وَلَمَّا جَاءَ رَسُوْلُ التَّتَارِ، احْتَفَلَ الجَيْشُ وَبَالغُوا، حَتَّى امتلأَ قَلْبُهُ رُعْباً، وَدِمَاغُهُ خيَالاً، فَرَجَعَ مُخَبِّراً. وَأَمَّا أَهْلُ أَصْبَهَانَ فَفَتَحُوا، وَدَخَلَتِ التَّتَارُ، فَمَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ النَّاسُ قتلاً، فَقَلَّ مَنْ نَجَا مِنَ التَّتَارِ. سُئِلَ عَنْهُمُ الملكُ الأَشْرَفُ، فَقَالَ: مَا أَقُوْلُ فِي قَوْمٍ لَمْ يُؤسَرْ أَحَدٌ مِنْهُم قَطُّ. وَعَنْ نَيْسَابُوْرِيٍّ قَالَ: أُحْصِيَ مَنْ قُتِلَ بِنَيْسَابُوْرَ، فَبلَغُوا أَزْيَدَ مِنْ خَمْسِ مائَةِ أَلْفٍ، وَمِمَّا أَبَادُوْهُ بلاَدَ فَرغَانَةَ، وَهِيَ سَبْعُ مَمَالِكَ، وَمتَى التَمَسَ الشَّخْصُ رَحمتَهُم ازدَادُوا عُتُوّاً، وَإِذَا اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى خَمْرٍ، أَحضرُوا

= في تاريخ الإسلام، الورقة: ٢٤٤ أيا صوفيا ٣٠١١، وكانت هذه البلدة فرضة التجار يسافرون منها إلى خليج القسطنطينية (وانظر تقويم البلدان لأبي الفدا: ٢١٤ - ٢١٥) .