Then the year 498 AH began. In it, Sultan Barkiyaruq died and entrusted power to his young son Malik Shah, who was four and a half years old. The Friday sermon (khuṭbah) was pronounced in his name in Baghdad, and he was given the honorific Jalāl al-Dawlah; dinars and dirhams were scattered at the mention of his name. (1)

The amir Ayaz was appointed his atabeg. Soon afterward Sultan Muḥammad ibn Malik Shah came to Baghdad; the state dignitaries went out to receive him and concluded peace with him. The one who took the oath of allegiance for this settlement was al-Kiyā al-Harrāsī, professor at the Niẓāmiyyah. The khuṭbah was delivered for Muḥammad on the western side of the city and for his nephew on the eastern side. Thereafter the amir Ayaz was killed.

Ibn Jahīr proceeded in the procession, bestowed robes of honor upon Sultan Muḥammad, then went to the house of the vizier Saʿd al-Mulk, carrying from the caliphal palace the ceremonial desk (dast), the inkwell, and the robes of investiture. (2)

The vizier Saʿd al-Mulk (3) attended al-Kiyā al-Harrāsī’s lecture at the Niẓāmiyyah to encourage the people to pursue knowledge. On the eighth of Rajab that year, the distinctive dress (ghiyār) imposed on the dhimmīs in 484 AH was abolished, though the reason is unknown. (4)

During the same year many battles were fought between the Egyptians and the Franks: the Egyptians killed a great number of Franks, but the Franks later regained the upper hand and likewise killed many of them. (5)

Among the notable people who died this year was Sultan Barkiyaruq (6), son of Malik Shah, Rukn al-Dīn (7) the Seljuq. (8) He endured long ordeals and tremendous wars; the khuṭbah was proclaimed for him in Baghdad six times, and he was deposed from it six times.