The Annals of the Saljuq Turks

Selections from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh of Ibn al-Athir

D.S. Richards

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9780700715763
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317832546
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Asian History
• Index: History

Ibn al-Athir, who died in the 13th century, is one of the most important historians of Islam. His major chronicle, the Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh, is one of the greatest achievements of Muslim historiography for the range and comprehensiveness of the sources it assembled and for its narrative, covering the whole sweep of Islamic history up to his own lifetime. This volume of D.S. Richards' translation covers the early years of conquest and the period of the 'great sultanate'. With its copious annotations, the translation will open a direct window into this period of history for non-Arabic readers and will be an invaluable aid and resource for students and scholars.

The Annals

[Vol. 9]

The Year 420 [1029]

[377]

ACCOUNT OF HOW YAMIN AL-DAWLA AND THEN HIS SON AFTER HIM TREATED THE OGHUZ

In this year Yamin al-Dawla¹ dealt severely with the Oghuz Turks and scattered them throughout his lands, because they had caused trouble there. These were the followers of Arslan ibn Saljuq the Turk,² who had been in the desert around Bukhara. When Yamin al-Dawla crossed the river [Oxus] to march on Bukhara, Alitegin,³ lord of that place, fled, as we shall relate, and Arslan ibn Saljuq presented himself before Yamin al-Dawla who arrested and imprisoned him in the land of India. He made a night attack on Arslan’s tents and slew many of his followers, but a large number of them survived and fled from him, coming to Khurasan, where this year they caused disturbances and indulged in pillage. Yamin al-Dawla sent against them [378] an army which took them captive or expelled them from Khurasan. The tribesmen of two thousand tents departed and went off to Isfahan.

Yamin al-Dawla wrote to Ala al-Dawla,⁴ instructing him to send back either them or their heads. The latter ordered his deputy to prepare a feast and invite them, then kill them. He duly sent to inform them that he wished to record their names so that he could enlist them, but he positioned his Daylamis in ambush in the gardens. They attended in great numbers, but a Turkish mamluke of Ala al-Dawla met them and apprised them of the situation, so they withdrew. The deputy of Ala al-Dawla tried to prevent their withdrawal, but they would have none of that. A commander of the Daylamis, himself a Daylami, attacked one of them, so this Turk shot him dead with an arrow. This caused a great commotion. The Daylamis turned out and were joined by the townsfolk. In the ensuing battle, they drove off the Turks, who struck their tents and departed, plundering every village they passed, until they eventually came to Wahsudan⁵ in Azerbayjan. He received them obligingly and saw to their wants.

More remained in Khurasan than had gone to Isfahan. These moved to Mount Balkhan,⁶ near which is ancient Khwarizm. Many of them came down from the mountain into the [neighbouring] regions, where they plundered and wreaked havoc and murder. Then Mahmud ibn Sabuktegin despatched Arslan the Chamberlain,⁷ the emir of Tus, against them. He marched to meet them and then for about two years was in continuous pursuit of them with large bodies of troops. On account of them Mahmud was compelled to make an expedition to Khurasan. He chased them from Nishapur to Dihistan, but when they went to Jurjan, he broke off his pursuit and placed his son, Masʾud, in Rayy, as we have mentioned,⁸ where the latter took some of them, led by Yaghmur, into his service.

When Mahmud ibn Sabuktegin died,⁹ his son Masʾud went to Khurasan, accompanied by these men. After he had gained control of Ghazna, they asked him about their fellows who had remained in Mount Balkhan, and he allowed them to return on [379] condition that they were loyal and behaved well.

Later when Masʾud marched to India at the time of Ahmad Yinaltegin’s rebellion,¹⁰ they resumed their trouble-making. Masʾud sent Tash Farrash with a large force to Rayy to take it from Ala al-Dawla. When he reached Nishapur and saw the evil conduct of the Oghuz, he summoned their leaders and put some fifty or more of them to death, including Yaghmur, but they did not change their ways and moved to Rayy. Masʾud heard of their wickedness and their depredations, and took their encampments and moved them to India. He cut off the hands and feet of many whom he then gibbeted.¹¹

This is the history of Arslan ibn Saljuq’s tribal following. As for the history of Tughril Beg and Daʾud¹² and their brother Payghu,¹³ who were in Transoxania, we shall relate in due course what became of them, God willing, for they became princes, whose history will be told in subsequent years of this chronicle.

When Tash Farrash, Sultan Masʾud’s chamberlain, had punished the Oghuz severely, they moved to Rayy, claiming that Azerbayjan was their destination and that they wished to join up with their fellows who had gone there earlier. They were dubbed ‘the Iraqis’, and the names of the leaders of this group were Goktash, Buqa, Qizil, Yaghmur and Nasoghlu. When they reached Damghan, the local garrison and the populace came out to deny them the town, but they were unable to manage this, so they climbed the hill to defend themselves there. The Oghuz entered the town and, having plundered it, moved on to Simnan, where they did the same. They entered Khwar Rayy¹⁴ and again did the same, and they also plundered Ishaqabad and the neighbouring villages. Then they went to Mushkuwaih in the district of Rayy, which they plundered.

Abu Sahl al-Hamduni¹⁵ and Tash Farrash made their military preparations and wrote to King Masʾud and the ruler of Jurjan and Tabaristan, reporting the situation and asking for reinforcements. Tash Farrash took 3,000 horsemen and such elephants and armaments as he had, and moved to attack the Oghuz. They received intelligence of his move, [380] left their womenfolk, their treasure, and the booty they had gained from Khurasan and the towns mentioned above, and took the field unencumbered by any baggage train. The two sides met, Tash mounted his elephant and battle commenced between them. At first it was in Tash’s favour, but then the Oghuz captured the chief of the Kurds who were with Tash. They were about to kill him, when he said to them, ‘Spare me, so I can order the Kurds with Tash to give up the fight.’ So they let him live and undertook to release him. He then sent to the Kurds, saying, ‘If you go on fighting, I shall be killed’. They then had no stomach for the fight.

The Oghuz, who were 5,000 strong, charged Tash Farrash and his troops. The Kurds fled, but Tash and his men held firm. The Oghuz killed the elephant that was carrying Tash, who fell and was killed, cut to pieces by the Oghuz in revenge for their comrades he had slain. Along with him were killed a large number of Khurasanians and senior commanders. The Oghuz seized the remaining elephants and the army’s baggage as booty. They went to Rayy, where they fought Abu Sahl al-Hamduni and the troops and townspeople who were with him. He and his men went up into the citadel of Tabarak,¹⁶ while the Oghuz entered the town and sacked a number of quarters in a way that was very destructive of property. The Oghuz and Abu Sahl met in battle again, and a nephew of Yaghmur, the Oghuz emir, and also one of their great chiefs were taken prisoner. In return for the two of them they offered to restore what they had taken from Tash’s army, to free their prisoners and to pay 30,000 dinars. Abu Sahl replied, ‘I can only do what the sultan commands.’

After the Oghuz had left the town, a force arrived from Jurjan. As they drew near Rayy the Oghuz went to meet them and caught them in an ambush. They captured the commander and also made prisoners of about 2,000 men. The rest withdrew, routed. This occurred in the year 427 [November 1035–October 1036].

[381]

ACCOUNT OF ALA AL-DAWLA’S COMING TO RAYY, HIS AGREEMENT WITH THE OGHUZ, AND THEIR RENEWAL OF HOSTILITY TOWARDS HIM

When the Oghuz left Rayy for Azerbayjan, Ala al-Dawla, apprised of that, went there and entered the city, putting out that he was subject to Sultan Masʾud [ibn Mahmud] ibn Sabuktegin. He sent to Abu Sahl al-Hamduni asking him to recognize his position by paying tribute, but the latter refused to agree, because he feared Ala al-Dawla who then sent to the Oghuz inviting them to come so that he could give them grants of land and use their support against al-Hamduni. About 1,500 of them returned, led by Qizil, but the rest went to Azerbayjan.

When the Oghuz came to Ala al-Dawla, he treated them well and placed his confidence in them, so they stayed with him. Later it emerged that one of the Khurasanian generals in his service had urged the Oghuz to conspire with him to rebel against Ala al-Dawla. The latter sent for him to be brought before him and, having arrested him, imprisoned him in the citadel of Tabarak. This alienated and estranged the Oghuz. Ala al-Dawla strove to placate them, but they would not comply. They resumed their evil ways of pillage and brigandage. Once again Ala al-Dawla made contact with Abu Sahl al-Hamduni, who was in Tabaristan, and settled the question of Rayy with him, on condition that he himself be subject to Masʾud. Abu Sahl accepted that and went to Nishapur, while Ala al-Dawla remained in Rayy.¹⁷

ACCOUNT OF WHAT THE OGHUZ IN AZERBAYJAN DID AND OF THEIR DEPARTURE FROM THERE

We have related¹⁸ that a group of the Oghuz came to Azerbayjan, where Wahsudan received them with honour and made marriage ties with them, in the hope of gaining their support and restraining their mischief. [382] The names of their leaders were Buqa, Goktash, Mansur and Dana. What he had hoped for was a remote chance, for they did not give up their mischief and trouble-making, their murdering and pillaging. They went to Maragha, which they entered in the year 429 [October 1037–October 1038], burnt the main mosque and slaughtered many of the ordinary inhabitants, and likewise many of the Hadhbani Kurds. The situation was terrible and there was great suffering.

When the Kurds saw what had befallen them and the local population, they began to patch up their differences and to come to an agreement to stop the Oghuz’s evil ways. Abuʾl-Hayja ibn Rabib al-Dawla¹⁹ and Wahsudan, the ruler of Azerbayjan, made peace and formed a united front, and the local population flocked to join them. They sought just revenge on the Oghuz who, when they saw that the populace had united to fight them, left Azerbayjan, it being impossible for them to remain there. They split up, some, under the leadership of Buqa, going to join those who were at Rayy, and others, led by Mansur and Goktash, going to Hamadhan which they beseiged. In Hamadhan was Abu Kalijar²⁰ ibn Ala al-Dawla ibn Kakuya. He and the townsfolk agreed to fight the Oghuz and to defend themselves and their city. A large number on both sides were killed, as the siege of Hamadhan lasted a long time. In these circumstances Abu Kalijar ibn Ala al-Dawla, realising he was too weak to withstand them, sent to Goktash, made peace with him and a marriage alliance.

Those who had made Rayy their destination besieged the city, which was held by Ala al-Dawla ibn Kakuya. Fanakhusro ibn Majd al-Dawla²¹ and Kamro al-Daylami, the lord of Saveh, joined with the Oghuz whose forces grew and whose military might greatly increased. It was clear to Ala al-Dawla that every time there was trouble with them they grew stronger and he weaker. He feared for his own life and so abandoned the city at night during Rajab [9 April-8 May 1035], fleeing to Isfahan. The population panicked and lost all cohesion. They abandoned resistance and made efforts to find a way to escape. The Oghuz renewed their attack on them the next day, and, as the defenders gave way, [383] they entered the city, sacked it foully, enslaved women and continued so for five days, so that the womenfolk took refuge in the main mosque. The populace scattered in every direction and to every bolt-hole. Fortunate was the man who escaped with his life! This disaster, coming after the one already mentioned, meant total ruination. It was even said that some Fridays there were only fifty souls in the main mosque.

When Ala al-Dawla abandoned Rayy, a body of Oghuz pursued but failed to catch him. They turned aside to Karaj which they sacked and perpetrated abominable deeds there. Another group, with Nasoghlu as their chief, went to Qazwin, the population of which resisted them but then came to terms on payment of 7,000 dinars and recognized Nasoghlu’s authority.

T...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• THE ANNALS
• Bibliographical References
• Index