Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (23/181)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

In the year fifty-six, al-Nasir’s army—commanded by al-Mughith, son of the lord of Karak—advanced to seize Egypt. At Ramla they were met by al-Muzaffar Qutuz, then acting as deputy for al-Mansur ʿAli, son of al-Muʿizz; he routed them, captured a number of emirs, and had them beheaded.

Hulagu, meanwhile, set out for Baghdad. The city’s troops marched against him but were crushed. Luʾluʾ, lord of Mosul, and Ibn Salaya, governor of Irbil, secretly wrote to the Caliph to advise him, yet their counsel availed nothing—the matter was already decreed. Hulagu drew near with Mongols, Turks, Georgians, reinforcements from his cousin Baraka, and contingents supplied by Luʾluʾ led by his son al-Malik al-Salih. They camped on the western side of the city and built a rampart around themselves, though some say Hulagu actually approached from the east (1).

The vizier urged the Caliph to conciliate the Khan, saying, “I shall go out to him myself.” He went, secured guarantees for his own safety, and returned with this message: “The Khan wishes to marry his daughter to your son Abu Bakr and to leave you in your post, just as he has left the ruler of Rum in his kingdom under the Khan’s authority. Go out, therefore, to him.”

The Caliph went forth, accompanied by the grandees of his realm, ostensibly for the wedding. By this ruse all their heads were struck off, and al-Mustaʿṣim was trampled to death. The sword then raged in Baghdad for more than thirty days. The lowest estimate puts the dead at eight hundred thousand; the highest, at one million eight hundred thousand. Torrents of blood flowed—“Surely we belong to Allah, and to Him we shall return.”

When the city and almost all its people had perished, a proclamation of safety was issued. The vizier’s scheme recoiled upon him; he tasted humiliation and woe, and Allah did not grant him respite.

Among the slain were Mujahid al-Din al-Duwaydar, al-Sharabi, Ibn al-Jawzi—the master of ceremonies—and his sons. Bāyjū Nawin, Hulagu’s deputy, was likewise put to death; the Khan accused him of corresponding with the Caliph,

(1) Hulaghu advanced from the east, while his commander Baiju moved in from the west, so they surrounded the city from both sides. See al-Hawadith al-Jamiʿah, p. 323; al-Asjad al-Masbuk, p. 630.

وَدَخَلتْ سَنَةُ سِتٍّ: فَسَارَ عَسْكَرُ النَّاصِرِ وَعَلَيْهِم المُغِيْثُ ابْنُ صَاحِبِ الكَرَكِ لِيَأْخذُوا مِصْرَ، فَالتقَاهُمُ المُظَفَّرُ قُطُزُ، وَهُوَ نَائِبٌ لِلْمَنْصُوْرِ عَلِيٍّ وَلَدِ المُعِزّ بِالرَّملِ، فَكَسَرهُم، وَأَسَرَ جَمَاعَةَ أُمَرَاءَ، فَضَرَبَ أَعْنَاقَهُم. وَأَمَّا هُوْلاَكُو، فَقصدَ بَغْدَادَ، فَخَرَجَ عَسْكَرُهَا إِلَيْهِ، فَانكَسَرُوا، وَكَاتَبَ لُؤْلُؤٌ صَاحِبُ المَوْصِلِ وَابْنُ صلاَيَا مُتَوَلِّي إِرْبِلَ الخَلِيْفَةَ سِرّاً يَنْصَحَانِه، فَمَا أَفَادَ، وَقُضِيَ الأَمْرُ، وَأَقْبَلَ هُوْلاَكُو فِي المَغُوْلِ وَالتُّركِ وَالكُرْجِ وَمَددٍ مِنِ ابْنِ عَمِّهِ بَرَكَةَ وَمَددٍ مِنْ عَسْكَرِ لُؤْلُؤٍ عَلَيْهِم ابْنُه الملكُ الصَّالِحُ، فَنَزَلُوا بِالجَانبِ الغَربِيِّ، وَأَنشَأَوا عَلَيْهِم سُوراً، وَقِيْلَ: بَلْ أَتَى هُوْلاَكُو البلدَ مِنَ الجَانبِ الشَّرْقِيِّ (١) ، فَأَشَارَ الوَزِيْرُ عَلَى الخَلِيْفَةِ بِالمدَارَاةِ، وَقَالَ: أَخرُجُ إِلَيْهِ أَنَا. فَخَرَجَ، وَاسْتوثَقَ لِنَفْسِهِ، وَردَّ، فَقَالَ: القَانُ رَاغِبٌ فِي أَنْ يُزوِّج بِنْتَهُ بِابْنِكَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ، وَيُبْقَي لَكَ مَنصِبَك كَمَا أَبْقَى صَاحِبَ الرُّوْم فِي مَمْلَكتِه مِنْ تَحْتِ أَوَامرِ القَانِ، فَاخرُجْ إِلَيْهِ. فَخَرَجَ فِي كُبَرَاءِ دَوْلَتِه لِلنِّكَاحِ يَعْنِي، فَضَرَبَ أَعْنَاق الكُلِّ بِهَذِهِ الخَديعَةِ، وَرُفِسَ المُسْتَعْصِمُ حَتَّى تلف، وَبَقِيَ السَّيْفُ فِي بَغْدَادَ بَضْعَةً وَثَلاَثِيْنَ يَوْماً، فَأَقلُّ مَا قِيْلَ: قُتلَ بِهَا ثَمَانُ مائَةِ أَلْفِ نَفْسٍ، وَأَكْثَرُ مَا قِيْلَ: بَلَغُوا أَلفَ أَلفٍ وَثَمَانِ مائَةِ أَلْفٍ، وَجَرَتِ السُّيُولُ مِنَ الدِّمَاءِ - فَإِنَّا للهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُوْنَ -. ثُمَّ بَعْدَ ذَهَابِ البلدِ وَمَنْ فِيْهِ إِلاَّ اليَسِيْرَ، نُودِيَ بِالأَمَانِ، وَانعكسَ عَلَى الوَزِيْرِ مَرَامُه، وَذَاقَ ذُلاًّ وَوَيلاً، وَمَا أَمهلَهُ اللهُ. وَمِنَ القَتْلَى: مُجَاهِدُ الدِّيْنِ الدُّوَيْدَارُ، وَالشَّرَابِيُّ، وَابْنُ الجَوْزِيِّ أُسْتَاذُ الدَّارِ، وَبَنُوهُ، وَقُتِلَ بَايْجُو نَوِيْنَ نَائِبُ هُوْلاَكُو، اتَّهمَه بِمُكَاتِبَةِ الخَلِيْفَةِ،

(١) أتى هولاكو من الجانب الشرقي، وأتى قائده بايجو من الجانب الغربي، فأحاطوا بها من الجانبيين (انظر الحوادث الجامعة: ٣٢٣ والعسجد المسبوك: ٦٣٠) .