Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/243)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and he had also lost the sight of one eye (1); he then died, and his son al-Ẓāhir was invested with the caliphate.

132 – Genghis Khan *
The king of the Tatars and their first sovereign—the man who laid waste to lands, annihilated peoples, and seized kingdoms. Before his time the Tatars were unknown: they were but nomadic Mongol clans roaming the borderlands of China. They raised him to leadership, whereupon he routed the Khitā army and took their dominions, then Turkestan, Transoxiana, Khurasan, the mountain provinces, and other territories besides. All the Tatars submitted to him and obeyed his every command. He bound himself to neither Islam nor any other faith; killing a Muslim was to him easier than crushing a flea. Yet he possessed extraordinary bravery, abundant intellect, and consummate cunning. His first emergence was in 599 AH.

He died in Ramadan 624 AH, already an old man. His given name was Tūrmujīn (Temüjin). Kingship has remained in his line to this very day, the throne of his empire being at Khan Bālīq, the capital of Cathay. He left six sons. After him his son Ögedei reigned, then Möngke, the brother of the tyrant Hülegü; after him came their brother Qubilai, who held power until 695 AH. All three were sons of Tolui ibn Genghis Khan, and Tolui himself was killed in a great battle.

(1) Al-Kamil reports: “He had lost one eye, and with the other he could see only weakly.” (*) His exploits are widely known. Ata-Malik al-Juwayni devoted to him his celebrated Persian chronicle Jahan-kushay (“Conqueror of the World”), an indispensable history of this period. See also: Yaqut, Mu jam al-buldan, 4/858; Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Dhayl Mir at al-zaman, 1/86; Ibn al-Futi, Talkhis, 314/556; al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, fol. 40 (Aya Sofya 3012); idem, al-Ibar, 5/98; al-Safadi, al-Wafi bi-l-wafayat, 11/197–199; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, 13/117; Ibn Taghri, al-Nujum al-zahira, 6/268; Ibn al-Imad, Shadharat al-dhahab, 5/113; and other sources.

وَقَدْ ذَهَبَتْ عينُهُ (١) ﵀ ثُمَّ مَاتَ، وَبُوْيِعَ الظَّاهِرُ ابْنُهُ. ١٣٢ - جِنْكِزْ خَان * ملكُ التَّتَارِ وَسُلْطَانُهُم الأَوّلُ الَّذِي خَرَّبَ البِلاَدَ، وَأَفنَى العِبَادَ، وَاسْتَوْلَى عَلَى المَمَالِكِ، وَلَيْسَ لِلتَّتَارِ ذِكرٌ قَبْلَهُ، إِنَّمَا كَانَتْ طَوَائِفُ المغولِ بَادِيَةً بِأَرَاضِي الصِّينِ، فَقَدَّمُوْهُ عَلَيْهِم، فَهَزمَ جَيْشَ الخَطَا، وَاسْتَوْلَى عَلَى مَمَالِكِهِم، ثُمَّ عَلَى تركستَانَ، وَإِقْلِيْمِ مَا وَرَاءِ النَّهْرِ، ثُمَّ إِقْلِيْمِ خُرَاسَانَ وَبلاَدِ الجبلِ، وَغَيْرِ ذَلِكَ، وَأَذعَنَتْ بطَاعتِهِ جَمِيْعُ التَّتَارِ، وَأَطَاعُوْهُ فِي كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ يَتقيَّدُ بدينِ الإِسْلاَمِ وَلاَ بِغَيْرِهِ، وَقَتْلُ المُسْلِمِ أَهوَنُ عِنْدَهُ مِنْ قَتْلِ البُرْغُوثِ، وَلَهُ شَجَاعَةٌ مُفْرِطَةٌ، وَعَقلٌ وَافرٌ، وَدَهَاءٌ وَمَكرٌ، وَأَوَّلُ مَظْهْرِهِ كَانَ فِي سَنَةِ تِسْعٍ وَتِسْعِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ. وَمَاتَ فِي رَمَضَانَ، سَنَةَ أَرْبَعٍ وَعِشْرِيْنَ وَسِتِّ مائَةٍ، وَقَدْ شَاخَ، وَاسْمُهُ تُمرجين، وَالملكُ فِي عَقِبِهِ إِلَى اليَوْمِ، وَكُرْسِيُّ مَمْلَكتِهِ خَان بِالق قَاعِدَةُ الخَطَا، وَخلَّفَ سِتَّةَ بَنِيْنَ، تَملَّكَ بَعْدَهُ ابْنُهُ أوكتَاي، ثُمَّ بَعْدَهُ مونكوقَا أَخُو هُولاَكو الطَّاغِيَة، ثُمَّ وَلِي قُبلاَي أَخُوْهُم، فَبقِي قُبلاَي إِلَى سَنَةِ خَمْسٍ وَتِسْعِيْنَ وَسِتِّ مائَةٍ، وَثَلاَثتُهُم بَنُوْ تُولِّي بنِ جِنْكِزْ خَان، وَقُتِلَ تُولِّي فِي مَلحَمَةٍ

(١) الذي في الكامل: " وقد ذهبت إحدى عينيه والاخرى يبصر بها ابصارا ضعيفا ". (*) اخباره مشهورة وقد كتب فيه عطا ملك الجويني كتابه المشهور " جهان كشاي " أي " غازي العالم " بالفارسية، وما أغلفه كتاب تاريخ استوعب هذه الحقبة، وانظر: معجم البلدان: ٤ / ٨٥٨، وذيل مرآة الزمان: ١ / ٨٦، وتلخيص ابن الفوطي: ٣١٤ / ٥٥٦، وتاريخ الإسلام للذهبي، الورقة ٤٠ (أيا صوفيا ٣٠١٢) ، والعبر: ٥ / ٩٨، والوافي بالوفيات: ١١ / ١٩٧ - ١٩٩، والبداية: ١٣ / ١١٧، والنجوم الزاهرة: ٦ / ٢٦٨، وشذرات الذهب: ٥ / ١١٣ وغيرها.