In this year: a letter arrived from King Tughril Beg to Jalal al-Dawlah, instructing him to treat the subjects kindly and to look after their welfare—before anything that might displease him should befall.

Account of Abū Kalijār’s seizure of Baghdad after the death of his brother Jalal al-Dawlah ibn Bahāʾ al-Dawlah

In this year: Jalal al-Dawlah Abū Ṭāhir ibn Bahāʾ al-Dawlah died, whereupon his brother, Sulṭān al-Dawlah Abū Kalijār ibn Bahāʾ al-Dawlah, took possession of Baghdad. The Friday sermon (khuṭbah) was proclaimed in his name there with the backing of its amirs. They expelled al-Malik al-ʿAzīz Abū Manṣūr ibn Jalal al-Dawlah; he roamed from country to country, dispossessed of his kingdom, until he died in 441 AH. His body was carried to the Quraysh cemetery and buried beside his father.

In this year: King Mawdūd ibn Masʿūd dispatched a great army to Khurāsān, and Alp Arslan ibn Dāwud ibn Mikāʾīl ibn Saljūq marched out against them with another force; a fierce battle was fought between the two sides.

In this year: In the month of Ṣafar, some of the Turks who had been troubling the Muslims—about ten thousand kharkahs (tents, i.e., households)—embraced Islam. On the Day of ʿId al-Aḍḥā they sacrificed twenty thousand sheep, then dispersed throughout the lands. None of the Khata (Khitan) or the Tatars accepted Islam; they remain in the regions near China.

In this year: the Byzantine emperor expelled from Constantinople every foreigner who had resided there for less than twenty years.

In this year: al-Muʿizz Abū Tamīm ibn Bādis, ruler of Ifrīqiya, caused the Friday sermon in his domains to be delivered for the Abbasid caliph, ending the Fatimid khutbah, burning their banners, and renouncing their cause. The caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh sent him robes of honour, a standard, and an official diploma filled with praise and commendation.

In this year: the caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allāh dispatched the Chief Judge Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb al-Māwardī—before the death of Jalal al-Dawlah—to the victorious King Tughril Beg, in order to reconcile him with Jalal al-Dawlah and Abū Kalijār. Al-Māwardī travelled to meet him and encountered him at Gurgān; the king came out four parasangs to receive him, honouring him and the one who had sent him. He remained with Tughril until the following year; on returning to the caliph he reported the king’s obedience, generosity, and respect for the caliph’s envoy.

Among the notable figures who died this year: al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿUthmān ibn Sahl ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Dulaf al-ʿIjlī (1), Abū Saʿd—one of the indefatigable travellers in quest of hadith, who ventured to the remotest lands. He later lived for a time in Baghdad and taught there; scholars narrated from him