and so they were called Tanūkh. He was born in Basra in the year 365⦗1⦘ AH, heard ḥadith in 370, and while still a youth his testimony was accepted by the judges. He later served as qāḍī of al-Madāʾin and other districts. He was truthful and careful, though he inclined toward Muʿtazilism and Shiʿism.
Then came the year 448 AH.
On Thursday, the twenty-second of Muḥarram, the caliph’s marriage contract was concluded with Khadījah, the daughter of the sultan Ṭughril Beg’s brother—some said she was the widow of his brother Dāwūd—known by the honorific Arslān Khātūn. Her dower was set at one hundred thousand dinars. In attendance were ʿAmīd al-Mulk al-Kundurī, Ṭughril Beg’s vizier; the naqīb of the ʿAlids; the naqīb of the Hāshimites; the Chief Judge al-Dāmghānī; the dean of judges al-Māwardī; and the Head of the Heads, Ibn al-Muslima, who delivered the sermon. The caliph himself accepted the contract.
When Shaʿbān arrived, the Head of the Heads went to King Ṭughril Beg and said, “The Commander of the Faithful bids you remember Allah’s words: ‘Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to their rightful owners’ (Q. 4:58). He authorises the transfer of the noble trust to his exalted residence.” The sultan replied, “We hear and obey.” The caliph’s mother thereupon went to the royal palace to fetch the bride, who came accompanied by the vizier ʿAmīd al-Mulk. They entered the caliphal palace, and the vizier addressed the caliph on behalf of her uncle, asking that she be treated with kindness and benevolence.
When she entered, she kissed the ground before him several times. He brought her near, seated her beside him, clothed her in a splendid robe of honour and placed upon her a jewelled crown. The next day he presented her with one hundred brocade garments, bars of gold, and a gold basin inlaid with gems, rubies, and turquoise. He further assigned her an annual revenue of twelve thousand dinars from his estates on the Euphrates.
In the same year the sultan Ṭughril Beg ordered the construction of the ʿAḍudid Royal Residence. Many quarters were demolished for its building, and the common people plundered great quantities of timber from the houses of the Turks and the western district, selling it to bakers, cooks, and others.
That year also saw severe inflation, pervasive fear, and extensive looting in Baghdad. A catastrophic mortality followed, so that many were buried without washing or shrouding. Beverages and the supplies needed by the sick became exorbitantly expensive; death struck people in large numbers; the sky grew dusty, the air became foul, and flies multiplied. Ibn al-Jawzī states in his al-Muntaẓam⦗2⦘: “This plague and dearth spread to Mecca, the Ḥijāz, Diyār Bakr, Mosul, the lands of the Byzantines, Khurāsān, the Jibāl, and the whole world.” These are his exact words.