Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (15/160)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

Many (1) of Uzbek Khan’s own men began to defect to him, coming to his court, where he honored them and lavished gifts upon them, until his power became firmly established and his troops multiplied (2). He then fought Uzbek Khan, defeated him, killed him, and took possession of his kingdom and dominion; the slain ruler’s manpower and equipment were added to his own. Genghis Khan’s stature grew, his fame spread far and wide, and all the Turkic tribes of the land of Tamghāj submitted to him, so that he could ride forth with nearly eight hundred thousand fighting men. The largest (3) of these tribes was his own clan, called Qiyān (4); next in closeness to him were two great and numerous tribes, Azān and Qanqūrān (5). He devoted three (6) months of every year to hunting, and the remainder to war and administration.

Al-Juwaynī says: He would arrange a vast encirclement, such that the distance between its two ends was [afterwards] three months’ journey; when it tightened, such an immense variety of animals was driven into it that their number could not be reckoned. War then erupted between him and King Jalal (7) al-Din Khwārazm-Shāh, lord of Khurasan, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and other provinces and dominions (8). Genghis Khan subdued him, broke his power, overran him, and plundered him, seizing all his territories with the help of his sons in the briefest span, as we have mentioned in the annals. Genghis Khan’s reign began in 599 AH; his battle with Khwārazm-Shāh took place around 616 AH; and Khwārazm-Shāh died in 617 AH, as noted above. Thereafter Genghis Khan possessed the realms without rival or resistance. He himself died in 624 AH; his body was placed in an iron coffin, bound with chains, and suspended between two mountains in that region.

As for his yasa (9), it is written in two volumes in a bold script and is carried on a camel held in great veneration among them. Some (10) have reported that he would climb a mountain, then descend, then ascend and descend repeatedly until he was exhausted and fell unconscious; he would order those with him to record whatever was uttered upon his tongue at that moment. If this account is true, it is evident that Satan was speaking through him when its rulings were dictated.

Al-Juwaynī also relates that one of their ascetics would climb the mountains in intense cold for worship and heard a voice saying to him, “We have—”

(1) MS A reads: kabīran (“great”). (2) MS B reads: juyūshuh (“his armies”). (3) MS A and B read: wa-akbar (“and greater”). (4) MS A reads: min aslihim yuqāl lahum qubāb (“from their origin they are called qubāb”). (5) MS A reads: awzāt wa-qinqurāt; MS B reads: awbirāt wa-fīfūzān. (6) MS A and B read: sittah (“six”). (7) Ed. T reads: ‘Ala’ al-Dīn; MS A reads: Jamāl al-Dīn. The term “Arab” does not occur here, which seems the more plausible reading. (8) Ed. T reads: wa-ghayru dhālika wa-al-aqālīm wa-al-mulk (“and other things, and the provinces, and the kingdom”). (9) MS A reads: al-yāsāq (“yasaq”). (10) MS A reads: dhakara ba‘ḍuhum ‘anhu (“some of them mentioned him”).

وصار كثير (١) من أصحاب أزبك خان ينفرون إِليه ويفدون عليه فيكرمهم ويعطيهم حتى قويت شوكته وكثرت جنوده (٢) ، ثم حارب بعد ذلك أزبك خان فظفر به وقتله واستحوذ على مملكته وملكه، وانضاف إِليه عَدده وعُدده، وعظم أمره وبَعُدَ صيتُه وخضعت له قبائل الترك ببلاد طمغاج كلها حتى صار يركب في نحو ثمانمئة ألف مقاتل، وأكثر (٣) القبائل قبيلته التي هو منها يقال لهم قيان (٤) ، ثم أقربُ القبائل إِليه بعدهم قبيلتان كبيرتا العدد وهما أزان وقنقوران (٥) وكان يصطاد من السنة ثلاثة (٦) أشهر والباقي للحرب والحكم. قال الجويني: وكان يضرب الحلقة يكون [بعد] ما بين طرفيها ثلاثة أشهر ثم تتضايق فيجتمع فيها من أنواع الحيوانات شيء كثير لا يحد كثرة، ثم نشبت الحرب بينه وبين الملك جلال (٧) الدين خوارزم شاه صاحب بلاد خراسان والعراق وأذربيجان وغير ذلك من الأقاليم والممالك (٨) ، فقهره جنكيز خان وكسره وغلبه وسلبه، واستحوذ على سائر بلاده بنفسه وبأولاده في أيسر مدة كما ذكرنا ذلك في الحوادث، وكان ابتداء ملك جنكيز خان سنة تسع وتسعين وخمسمئة، وكان قتاله لخوارزم شاه في حدود سنة ست عشرة وستمئة، ومات خوارزم شاه في سنة سبع عشرة كما ذكرنا، فاستحوذ حينئذ على الممالك بلا منازع ولا ممانع، وكانت وفاته في سنة أربع وعشرين وستمئة فجعلوه في تابوت من حديد وربطوه بسلاسل وعلقوه بين جبلين هنالك. وأما كتابه الياسا (٩) فإنه يكتب في مجلدين بخط غليظ، ويحمل على بعير [معظّم] عندهم، وقد ذكر بعضهم (١٠) أنه كان يصعد جبلًا ثم ينزل ثم يصعد ثم ينزل مرارًا حتى يعيى ويقع مغشيًا عليه، ويأمر من عنده أن يكتب ما يلقى على لسانه حينئذٍ، فإِن كان هذا هكذا فالظاهر أن الشيطان كان ينطق على لسانه بما فيها. وذكر الجويني أن بعض عُبّادهم كان يصعد الجبال في البرد الشديد للعبادة فسمع قائلًا يقول له إِنا قد

(١) أ: كبيرًا. (٢) ب: جيوشه. (٣) أ، ب: وأكبر. (٤) أ: من أصلهم يقال لهم قباب. (٥) أ: اوزت وقنقورات، وب: اوبرات وفيفوزان. (٦) أ، ب: ستة (٧) ط: علاء الدين، وأ: جمال الدين. وما هنا عرب. وهو الأشبه. (٨) ط: وغير ذلك والأقاليم والملك. (٩) أ: الياساق. (١٠) أ: ذكر بعضهم عنه.