al-Musta‘sim, the last of their caliphs, at their hands in 656 AH. Thereafter, their remnants continued wreaking destruction until the last of them, (al-Lank), whose name means “the lame.” His name was (Tamur), pronounced with a short a after the t and a u after the m, the latter sometimes being lengthened. He descended upon the lands of Syria and lived there, and he burned Damascus until it collapsed upon its roofs. He invaded the Byzantine lands, India, and everything between them. His career lasted a long time until Allah took him, and his sons dispersed throughout the lands.

All that I have related confirms the truth of the Prophet’s saying (peace and blessings be upon him): ‘The descendants of Qanturā were the first to wrest sovereignty from my nation.’ … He apparently meant by ‘my nation’ those connected to him by lineage, rather than those addressed by his call—that is, the Arabs. And Allah knows best.” (1)

Accordingly, the Tatars who emerged in the seventh century AH were Turks, for the descriptions given of the Turks apply to the Tatars (Mongols). They emerged during the lifetime of Imam al-Nawawi—may Allah have mercy on him—(2), who said of them: “These Turks have indeed been fought, and they possess all the characteristics mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): small eyes, ruddy faces, short, flat noses, and broad faces, as though their faces were leather-covered shields; they wear footwear made of hair. They have been found to possess all these traits in our time. The Muslims have fought them several times and are fighting them at present.” (3)