to the point that they even burst in upon the women’s bathhouses, and only after tremendous effort did the common people manage to rescue the women.
Ṭughril Beg’s Visit to the Caliph’s Daughter
Once Sultan Ṭughril Beg had taken up residence in Baghdad, he dispatched his vizier ʿAmīd al-Mulk to the caliph, demanding that the Lady be moved from the dār al-ʿAzīza al-Nabawiyya (the venerated Prophetic House) to the Royal Residence. The caliph refused, saying, “All you asked for was the conclusion of the marriage contract in order to gain the honor, and you pledged that you would not press a further claim to her.” People wavered between the caliph and the sultan over the matter. The sultan thereupon sent, in addition to the cash already offered, one hundred thousand dinars and fifty thousand dirhams (1), together with other gifts and delicate curiosities.
On the night of Monday, the fifteenth of Ṣafar of this year, the Lady—the caliph’s daughter—was escorted to the Royal Residence. Pavilions were pitched for her from the Tigris all the way to the palace, and drums and trumpets sounded at her entrance; it was a momentous occasion. When she entered, she sat upon a throne encrusted with gold, her face veiled. Sultan Ṭughril Beg came in, stood before her, and kissed the ground. She neither rose for him nor saw him, and he did not sit; he withdrew to the courtyard while the chamberlains and Turkish guards danced in joy and celebration.
Through the khātūn Arslān—his niece and the caliph’s wife—he sent her two magnificent necklaces and an enormous piece of red ruby. The next day he entered, kissed the ground, and sat for a while on a silver-adorned throne opposite her, then departed, sending her many precious jewels and a farjiyya (2)—a robe of woven fabric studded with pearls. Day after day for a full week he continued thus: entering, kissing the ground, sitting on the throne across from her, and on leaving dispatching gifts and presents. Nothing more passed between them. Each day a sumptuous banquet was laid out, and on the seventh day he bestowed robes of honor upon all the amirs.
A journey then presented itself, and he was overtaken by illness. He asked the caliph’s leave to depart, taking the Lady with him to those lands for a short time, promising to return her. After great reluctance and profound grief the caliph consented. The sultan set out with her, accompanied from the caliphal palace by only three women assigned to serve her. Her mother suffered indescribable anguish at her departure. The sultan left gravely ill—so weakened that no recovery was expected.
On the night of Sunday, the twenty-fourth of Ramadan, news reached Baghdad that Sultan Ṭughril Beg had died on the eighth of that month—may Allah Most High have mercy on him. The ʿayyārūn in Hamadhan then rose in revolt: they killed ʿAmīd al-Mulk, the shihna, and seven hundred of his men, plundered the wealth, and spent the days eating and drinking over the corpses until the month’s end—may Allah curse and disgrace them.
Afterwards, allegiance was sworn to his nephew Sulayman ibn Dawud, whom Ṭughril Beg had designated and appointed as heir, for he had married the boy’s mother after his brother’s death. Consensus formed around him; money and robes of honor were lavished on the amirs and the Turks, and they had no remaining fear except from