In that same year, the people of al-Karkh put up a wall round their quarter, while the Sunnis built another round the Cap-makers’ Market (Sūq al-Qalāʾīn). Each faction then tore down the other’s work, hauling bricks to the sound of drums and reed-pipes. They traded boasts and engaged in endless, unrestrained foolishness; poems were declaimed that praised—and others that vilified—the Prophet’s Companions. Fresh disturbances followed whose details would take too long to relate (1), and a very large number of houses were set ablaze.

In the same year a rift opened between King Ṭughril Beg and his brother Ibrāhīm Ināl. Ṭughril ordered him beaten, had one of his eyes put out, and his lips cut. Ibrāhīm escaped, mustered a sizeable force, and fought his brother, but Ṭughril routed him. After a four-day siege of the fortress to which Ibrāhīm had fled, Ṭughril captured him and led him down in defeat, yet then treated him kindly, honored him, and kept him by his side.

The Byzantine emperor wrote to Ṭughril Beg seeking the release of one of their rulers whom Ibrāhīm Ināl had taken prisoner, offering an enormous ransom. Ṭughril freed the captive without accepting a single coin. In gratitude the emperor sent abundant gifts and valuable presents, ordered the mosque in Constantinople to be restored, and had the five daily prayers and the Friday congregation re-established there, with the khuṭbah delivered in Ṭughril Beg’s name. News of this extraordinary event reached other monarchs, who showed Ṭughril Beg even greater deference; Naṣr al-Dawlah b. Marwān in al-Jazīrah likewise had the khuṭbah read in his honor.

That year also saw Masʿūd b. Mawdūd b. Masʿūd b. Maḥmūd b. Subuktigīn ascend the throne on his father’s death, though he was still a minor. After only a few days the sultanate passed to his uncle ʿAlī b. Masʿūd; their uncle ʿAbd al-Rashīd b. Maḥmūd then contested the succession, secured the kingship for himself, and ʿAlī b. Masʿūd was deposed—an extremely unusual turn of events.

During the same year the Egyptians seized Aleppo and expelled its ruler, Thimāl b. Ṣāliḥ b. Mirdās.

That year, too, war flared between al-Basāsirī and the Banū ʿUqayl. Al-Basāsirī captured al-Anbār from Qirwāsh and set its affairs in order.

In Shaʿbān al-Basāsirī marched along the Khurāsān road, attacked the district of al-Dazzdār, took it, and carried off a large amount of wealth that had been stored there; Saʿdī b. Abī al-Shawk had earlier fortified the place.

Ibn al-Jawzī (2) reports: “In Dhū al-Ḥijjah a black cloud rose during the night, deepening the darkness; from various points in the sky appeared something like radiant fire. People were alarmed and afraid, and they turned to prayer and earnest supplication. After a good hour the phenomenon cleared for the rest of the night. A violent wind had blown beforehand and destroyed a great many trees.”