[Translator's note: For a scholarly commentary on this chapter see J. A.Boyle, "The Journey of Het'um I, King of Little Armenia, to the Court of the Great Khan Mongke", Central Asiatic Journal 9(1964) pp. 175-89.]
The devout, Christ-loving king of the
Armenians in the Cilicia area had his seat in the city of Sis.
He previously had sent his brother Smbat, who was his general,
to Guyuk-Khan with presents and gifts and [Smbat] returned thence
with honor and edicts of acceptance. Now when Mongke-Khan ruled,
Batu the great "king's father" and general sent to king
Het'um so that he would come to see him and Mongke-Khan. [Batu]
dwelled in the northern regions with a numberless multitude [of
troops] under him by the shore of the great, fathomless river
Et'il [Volga] which runs into the Caspian Sea. [Het'um] who feared
the sultan of Rum whose named was 'Izz al-Din [Kaykaus II (Azadin)]
travelled [through Rum] secretly and in disguise since he feared
the Turks who were his neighbors. Now [the Turks] had an inveterate
hatred [for Het'um] for allying with the T'at'ars. [Het'um] speedily
traversed ['Izz al-Din's] territory in twelve days and arrived
at the city of Kars. He visited Baiju-noyin, the commander
of the T'at'ar army in the East, as well as other grandees, and
he was honored by them. Then he stayed in the village of Vardenis
at the foot of mount Aragats, opposite [g364] [302] Aray mountain,
in the home of a prince of Armenian nationality named K'urd. [This
prince] was a Christian [and lived in the village with] his sons
Vach'e and Hasan, and his wife Xorishah. [Xorishah] was of the
Mamikonean line, a daughter of Marzban, and sister to Aslan-bek
and Grigor. [Het'um] stayed there until goods from his house,
useful presents and gifts were brought to him from his father,
the prince of princes Kostand. At this time [Kostand] was old
and had left his sons Lewon and T'oros as his substitute. His
own pious queen [Zapel] already had passed to Christ. Zapel translates
Elisabeth, the "seventh day of God", and her name suited
her for she was at rest in the will of God: benevolent, merciful
and a lover of the poor. [Zapel] was the daughter of the great
king Lewon, the first to wear the crown [in Cilician Armenia].
As soon as the great kat'oghikos
Kostand learned that [Het'um] had travelled safely and now had
stopped in Greater Armenia, he sent to him the great vardapet
Yakob, a wise and learned man. [The kat'oghikos] previously
had sent this same man to the Byzantine king John (who was ruling
in Asia and who had grown strong) and to their patriarch to achieve
friendship and unity. [Yakob] went there armed with the prudent
words of Scripture and, in the Greek council of inquiry, repudiated
the Byzantines who accused us of being Eutychians for saying [303]
that there is one nature in Christ. [Yakob] [g365] rationally
demonstrated through Scripture that the two [natures] are united
in Christ, completely divine and completely human two [natures]
in ineffable unity, not losing divinity, not confusing the humanity,
glorified in one nature working divinely and humanly. Similarly
concerning [the hymn] Holy God (Surb Astuats) there are
words which we say about the Son, according to the witness of
the evangelist John. [Yakob] refuted theologically and on the
testimony of Scripture other similar slanders which [the Greeks]
had regarding our doctrine. He turned their minds toward friendship
and unity with our people, and departed from them in honor. Lord
Step'anos the bishop came [to Het'um]; vardapet Mxit'ar
who was at Skewrha where he had travelled from the Eastern areas
came as did the priest Barsegh who was an emissary to Batu. With
him came the celibate priest T'oros as well as Karapet who was
the king's court priest, a man of mild and scholarly manner; and
many princes also came.
The king took all these men with him
to the land of the Aghbanians and through the Darband gate (which
is the Chora pass) [g366] to Batu and his son Sartakh who was
a Christian. [Het'um] was honored by them with many privileges.
Then they sent him to Mongke-Khan on a long journey on the other
side of the [304] Caspian Sea.
Those who departed [from Batu] left
on the sixth of the month of Marer, and on the thirteenth of May
crossed the Ayex [Ural] river and came to Or which is midway between
Batu and Mongke-Khan. Then crossing the Ert'ich [Irtysh] river
they entered the Nayiman [Naiman] country. They came to Xaraxeta
[Khara-Khita] and crossed into T'at'arstan on the fourth of the
month of Horhi, the thirteenth of September on the celebration
of the feast of the Cross, and they saw Mongke-Khan seated in
venerable glory. [Het'um] gave the Khan gifts and was honored
by him according to his dignity. He remained at the urdo
for fifty days and [Mongke-Khan] gave him a noteworthy edict that
no one dare harass him or his country. He also gave him a document
proclaiming freedom for the Church everywhere.
[Het'um] left [Mongke-Khan] on the fifthieth
day, on the twenty-third of the month of Sahmi, on November first.
In thirty days [the party] reached Ghumsghur. And they came to
Perpalex and Peshpalex and to the sandy country where [g367] there
are naked wild men with hair on their heads only. The women there
have very large and long breasts and the people are mute. In that
land are found wild horses of black and yellow colors, and mules
of white and black colors, larger than horses or [305] asses,
as well as wild camels with two humps.
From there they came to Arhlex, to K'ulluk
and Enkax, to Chanpalex, Xut'ap'ay and Ankipalex.
They then entered T'urk'astan. Thence
to Ekop'ruk, Dinkapalex and P'ulat. They crossed Sut-k'oln and
K'atntsov (Milk Sea) and came to Alualex and Ilanpalex. Then they
crossed the Ilansu river and over a branch of the Taurus mountains
to Dalas and came to Hulegu who was Mongke-Khan's brother and
who had taken the Eastern regions as his portion.
[The party] then turned from a westerly
direction northward and reached Xut'uxch'i, Perk'ant', Sughulghan,
Urosoghan, [g368] K'ayik'ant', Xuzax (K'amots'), to Xndaxoyr and
to Sghnax (Xarchux mountain) where the Saljuqs (Salch'uk'ik')
are from; [Xarch'ux] begins at the Taurus mountain and goes as
far as P'arch'in where it ends.
They travelled from there to Sartakh,
the son of Batu, who was travelling to Mongke-Khan. Then [they
went] to Sghnax and Sawran (which is extremely large) to Xarach'ux,
Ason, Sawri, Ot'rar, Zurhnux, and Dizak and then after thirty
days [came] to Samarqand, Sarhip'ul, K'rman and Bukhara. Then
they crossed the great Jehun river [Amu-Darya; Oxus], and [306]
arrived at Mrmen, Saraxs, and Tus which is opposite Khurasan (which
is called Rhoghastan). They entered Mazandaran and [travelled]
thence to Pstan, then to the land of Iraq which is in the borders
of the Assassins (mulhed). Then [they travelled] to Tamgha
and the great city of Ray (Rhe) and to Qazvin (Xzuin) to Awahr,
to Zangian, to Miana, thence to Tabriz after twelve days. After
twenty-six days they crossed the Erasx river to Sisian to the
chief of the [g369] T'at'ar army, Baiju-noyin. Now [Baiju]
sent [Het'um] to Xocha-noyin, a man he had left as his
substitute as head of the forces. Meanwhile he himself took the
chiefs of the army and went before Mongke-Khan's brother Hulegu,
who was coming to the East.
The pious king Het'um came to the home
of prince K'urd in Vardenis village where he had left his goods
and baggage, and awaited the return of the priest Barsegh whom
he had sent to Batu once more to show him the documents and orders
of Mongke-Khan so that [Batu] also would write orders of the same
sort.
Then there came to Het'um his vardapets:
Yakob whom he had left [in Greater Armenia] for church work, and
Mxit'ar (who had returned from Batu before [the latter] travelled
to Mongke-Khan); and other bishops and vardapets and priests
and Christian princes. [Het'um] received them all with affection
for he was an agreeable man, wise and literate. He gave gifts
[307] as he could and sent them all off happy. He gave priestly
garments to adorn the Church, for [Het'um] greatly loved mass
and the Church. He received all the Christian peoples and [g370]
beseeched them to deal with one another affectionately as brothers
and members of Christ, as the Lord commanded: "By this you
shall be recognized as my pupils, that you love one another"
[John 13, 35].
[King Het'um] told us many marvellous
and unknown things about the barbarian peoples, things he had
seen and heard about. He said: `''There is a land beyond Ghatayik'
[Cathay, China] where women have the forms of natural women, while
the men have the forms of dogs. They are mute, large, and hairy.
The dogs let no one enter their land and the dogs hunt from which
prey they and the women eat. From the comingling of dogs and women,
the males are born in the shape of dogs, the females in the shape
of women.
"There is, too, a sandy island
where a type of bone (which is prized) grows like a tree. It is
called Dzknatam (Fish Tooth) and when one is cut, another grows
in its place, like horns.
"There is, too, a land of many
idol-worshippers who [308] worship extremely large clay idols
named Shakmonia [Shakiamuni] and say that he is god for 3040 years.
Then another thirty-five duman years [elapse] (one duman
being 10,000) after which [g371] [Shakiamuni] is removed from
godship. Then there is another one named Madri [Matreya] of whom
they also made a clay image of unbelievable size in a beautiful
temple.
"An entire people, women and children
included, are priests. They are called Toyink', and have their
heads and beards shaven. They wear cloaks like Christian [priests]
but [fastened] at the breast, not at the shoulder. They are moderate
in eating and marriage. [Men] marry at twenty years of age and
until age thirty approach their wives three times a week. From
age thrity to age forty they approach them three times a month;
from forty to fifty, three times a year; and after fifty, not
at all".
The wise king related much else about
the barbarian peoples which we omit, lest it seem extraneous to
anyone.
Eight months after leaving Mongke-Khan Het'um reached Armenia. This was in 704 A.E. [1255].
Sartakh arrived in his principality
with venerable glory. But his Muslim relatives, Barak'a and Barkach'ay,
gave [310] [Sartakh] poison and killed him. Then there was great
sorrow among all the Christians. Even Mongke-Khan mourned as did
his brother Hulegu who ruled over all parts of the East.
However, before these events had occurred,
the great general, the khan-like Hulegu, gave an order to all
the T'at'ar troops in the East whose chief was Baiju-noyin
that [g373] they leave the land of their residence and dominion,
Mughan, and the lands of the Aghbanians, Armenians and Georgians
and go with all their bags and baggage to the land of the Romans
[Rum] so that he [Hulegu] occupy their place in the good land.
[Hulegu] had come with such a vast multitude that it was said
one month was scarcely sufficient time for his troops to ford
the great Jehun river [Amu-Darya]. Now some of his relatives from
the area of Batu and Sartakh had crossed through the Darband Gate
to this side with many, countless troops, great men, chiefs with
authority whose names were Balaxa, Tuthar, and Ghuli whom we even
saw, grandsons of Chingiz-Khan whom they call the sons of God.
They levelled and made easy [for travel] all the passes on the
route they travelled, for they were coming by cart.
They brought many misfortunes to all
lands through tax-collecting [311] and plundering, eating and
drinking insatiably and bringing everyone to death's door. In
addition to the numerous [taxes], the mal and qubchur
(xap'ch'ur) [Translators's note: mal is believed
to have been a tax on large animals with horns; qubchur
was a tax on sheep.] which Arghun had levied, Hulegu commanded
that the tax called t'aghar be collected from each individual
listed in the royal register. From such they demanded one hundred
litrs of grain, fifty litrs of wine, two litrs
of rice and husks, three sacks one spitak [silver coin],
one arrow, [g374] to say nothing of the bribes; and of twenty
animals they demanded one, plus twenty spitaks. From those
who could not pay they took their sons and daughters [as payment].
And thus they harassed and overturned the entire country.
Now the T'at'ar army, though it was
angry at having to leave the land of its dominion, nevertheless
did depart, reluctantly, out of dread [of Hulegu], for they feared
him exceedingly, as though he were Khan. So they went to the land
of the Romans. The sultan of Rum offered war against them, but
was unable to resist. Instead he fled to the island of Alayia.
[The Mongols] put to the sword districts of the sultan's realm
to [312] the Ocean and Pontus, killing and ravishing. They destroyed
the cities of Karin [Erzerum], Eznka [Erzinjan] Sewast [Sebastia],
Caesarea and Konya and the surrounding districts. Then, sending
their goods back to their lodgings at Hulegu's order, they spread
out in various directions raiding.
The king of the Armenians, Het'um, went
along with them. He had come from Mongke-Khan, Batu, Sartakh and
Hulegu and was with Baiju-noyin who sent [Het'um] with
many soldiers to his country, Cilicia, to the city of Sis. [Het'um]
had [g375] attended Baiju-noyin and the troops with him
with numerous gifts and performed military service, so much so
that a letter expressing satisfaction and praising him was written
to Hulegu. Now the great Hulegu, since he was a military man,
assembled the entire multitude of troops and went to the country
of the Assassins (Mulheds), Alamut, and seized it. For royal troops
had besieged it for many months, since the sons of 'Ala-al-Din
[(Aladin) of Alamut] had slain their father and gone over to Hulegu.
[Hulegu] commanded that all the secure fortresses in Alamut be
pulled down. Then he ordered all his soldiers and all subject
to them to assemble against the great city of the Tachik realm
called Baghdad, which is located between Iran and Syria. For they
had not yet taken it.
[313] The caliph who sat in Baghdad was of the line of Mahmet (for caliph means descendant), and all the Muslim sultans obeyed him, be they Turks, Kurds, Iranians, Elamites or of other nationalities. [The caliph] was the chief commander of their dominions, and they submlted to him by treaty and honored him as a descendant and relative of their lawgiver, their first deceiver. To this fortress [g376] (ghalan) went the very greatest chiefs of Batu's [northern] region: Qul (Ghul), Balagha, Tuthar, Ghataghan, for everyone honored Hulegu like a khan; they obeyed him and they feared him.
60. Concerning the destruction of Baghdad.
In the year 707 of the Armenian Era
[1258], Mongke-Khan, the great king of the kings of the earth,
conqueror of the universe, mustered a countless host and went
to a distant land in the southeast against a people called the
Nayngas. For this people had rebelled from him and did not pay
him taxes like the other lands. The Nayngas were warlike men,
fortified by their land; and they were idol-worshippers. Furthermore
they devoured their old men and women. The whole clan of sons,
grandsons and great grandsons would assemble [314] and would skin
their aged parents through the mouth. They would remove the flesh
and bones, cooking and eating them, leaving no left-overs. Out
of the skin they make a bag which they fill with wine and from
which all of them drink using the [deceased's] male member. However,
only relatives do this, and none other, since they alone were
sired [g377] by the deceased and it is theirs alone to eat and
drink of him. The skull they encase in gold and drink from it
for an entire year.
Mongke-Khan went against them in battle,
crushed and forcibly subjugated them. But on the way home, death
pangs gripped him and he died. His brother Arigh Boke (Arik' Bugha)
seized the throne.
Now Hulegu (who was his brother and
had been appointed head of the troops in the East by him) commanded
all those subject to him to go against the Tachik capital Baghdad,
which was the seat of the Tachik dominion.
The king who sat in Baghdad was not
called sultan or melik as the Turkish, Iranian or Kurdish autocrats
customarily are, but caliph, that is, a descendant of Mahmet.
The great Hulegu went against the caliph with a countless multitude
[composed] of all the peoples subject to him. This [315] was done
in the autumn and winter seasons because of the severe hotness
of that country. Prior to his departure [g378] he ordered Baiju-noyin
and the troops with him in the land of [the sultan of] Rum to
go and surround the great Tigris River on which the city of Baghdad
was built, so that no one flee by boat from the city to Ctesiphon
or to the more secure Basra. They immediately obeyed the command,
tying pontoon bridges across the great river and sinking between
[the surface of the] river and its bed sturdy fences with iron
hooks and pipes so that no one depart the city swimming without
them knowing about it.
Now the caliph Must'asar [translator's
note: in fact, the last caliph was al-Musta'sim], who resided
in the city proudly and presumptuously sent many troops against
those guarding the river. [The caliph's men] were under the command
of a chief named Dawdar [davat-dar, "vice-chancellor"]
ostikan of his house. Dawdar went and first triumphed,
killing some three thousand T'at'ars. When evening fell he sat
eating and drinking without a care. And he sent messengers to
caliph Must'asar saying: "I defeated all of them, and tomorrow
I will do away with the few survivors".
Now the crafty and ingenious T'at'ar
army spent the entire [g379] night arming and organizing. They
surrounded the Tachik army. [316] Among the T'at'ars was prince
Zak'are, son of Shahnshah. At daybreak they put their swords to
work, destroying the entire group and throwing them into the river.
Only a few men escaped.
That same morning the great Hulegu surrounded
the city of Baghdad, stationing everyone an arm's length from
the wall [and telling them] to demolish it and guard well that
none escape. He sent the valiant Prhosh [Xaghbakean] and others
as emissaries to the caliph, so that he would come out obediently
and pay taxes to the Khan. [The caliph] gave a stern reply full
of insults, claiming to be lord of sea and land, and boasting
about the [magical] banner of Mahmet, saying: "It is here
and if I touch it you and the entire universe will be destroyed.
You are a dog, a Turk. Why should I pay taxes to you or obey you"?
However, Hulegu did not become aggrevated
because of the insults nor did he write any boasts. He merely
said: "God knows what He does". Then he ordered the
wall demolished; and they demolished it. He said to rebuild it
again and guard it carefully. And they did so. [g380]
[317] The city was full of soldiers
and people. For seven days they stood on the walls but no one
shot arrows at them nor were swords used, either by the citizens
or by the T'at'ar soldiers. But after seven days the citizens
began to request peace and to come [to Hulegu] with affection
and submission.
And Hulegu ordered that this be done
[that peace be made]. Then countless multitudes came through the
city gates, climbing over each other to see who would reach him
first. [Hulegu] divided up among the soldiers those who came out
and ordered [the soldiers] to take them far from the city and
to kill them secretly so that the others would not know. They
killed all of them.
Four days later the caliph Must'asar
[i.e., al-Musta'sim] also emerged with his two sons, with all
the grandees and much gold, silver, and precious stones as fitting
gifts for Hulegu and his nobles. At first [Hulegu] honored him,
reproaching him for dallying and not coming to him quickly. But
then he asked the caliph: "What are you, God or man"?
And the caliph responded: "I am a man, and the servant of
God". Hulegu asked: "Well, did God tell you to insult
me and to call me a dog and not to give food and drink to God's
dog? Now in hunger the dog of God shall devour you". And
he [318] killed him with his own hands. "That", he said,
"is an honor for you, because I killed you myself and did
not give you to another for killing". He ordered his son
[g381] to slay one of the caliph's sons while he gave the other
son as a sacrifice to the Tigris river, saying: "It did not
harm us but was our collaborator in killing the senseless ones".
And he said: "This man caused much blood to flow through
pride. Let him go and answer to God and may we be innocent".
He also killed other grandees.
[Hulegu] then ordered the troops guarding
the walls to descend and kill the inhabitants of the city, great
and small. [The Mongols] organized as though harvesting a field
and cut down countless, numberless multitudes of men, women, and
children. For forty days they did not stop. Then they grew weary
and stopped killing. Their hands grew tired; they took the others
for sale. They destroyed mercilessly.
However, Hulegu's wife, the senior Khatun,
named Doquz Khatun (Toghuz xat'un) was a Christian. She
spared the Christians of Baghdad, Nestorians and other denominations
and beseeched her husband not to kill them. And he spared them
with their goods and property.
[319] [Hulegu] ordered all his soldiers
to take the goods and property of the city. They all loaded up
with gold, [g382] silver, precious stones, pearls, and costly
garments, for it was an extremely rich city, unequalled on earth.
[Hulegu] himself took as his share the
caliph's treasures--three thousand camel loads; and there was
no counting the horses, mules and asses. Other houses, full of
treasure, he sealed with his ring and left guards. For he was
unable to take everything, since there was so much. Five hundred
fifteen years had elapsed since that city was built by the Ishmaelite
Jap'r in 194 A.E. [A.D. 745] on the Tigris river above Ctesiphon
(Katisbon), about five day's journey above Babylon, and it had
taken everything into its kingdom like an insatiable blood-sucker,
swallowing up the entire world. It was destroyed in 707 A.E. [1258]
paying the blood price for the blood it caused to flow and for
the evil it wrought. When its measure of sin was filled up before
the Omniscient God, He repaid it justly strictly, and truthfully.
And the [g383]arrogant and fanatical kingdom of the Tachiks ended
after a duration of six hundred and forty seven years. Baghdad
was taken on the first day of Lent, on Monday of the month of
Nawasard, the twentieth of the month by the moveable [calendrical
system].
[320] All of this was narrated to us by prince Hasan called Prosh, son of the pious Vasak son of Haghbak, brother of Papak' and Mkdem, father of Mkdem, Papak', Hasan and Vasak who was an eyewitness to the events and also heard about events with his own ears, [a man] enjoying great honor in the Khan's eyes.
61. Concerning the destruction of the
city of Martyropolis.
Upon the arrival of spring in the same
year that Baghdad was destroyed, the great Hulegu mustered troops
and entrusted them to his younger son named Jiasmut' and he sent
the great overseer of his house, Iligia-noyin along with
him to the area around the Euphrates river for diversion, to loot,
and to subjugate those regions. [g384] While they were passing
the city of Martyropolis, called Mufarghin, they summoned the
people to submission, to provide troops, pay taxes and live free
from care. But the sultan in the city who was of the line of the
Edleants' [note: the Ayyubids] did not accept this. Instead he
assembled soldiers, pursued them, killed some of them, returned
to the city and fortified himself against the T'at'ar army. [Jiasmut'
and Iligia-noyin] left troops around the city and [321]
went as far as the great Euphrates river and to the area of Mesopotamia,
took whatever they found as booty and returned again to the troops
besieging Martyropolis. Then they went to Hulegu and told him
what they had done and about the city's rebelliousness.
[Hulegu] sent many soldiers against
the city appointing as their head one Chaghatai a general from
the T'at'ar army, and from the Christians, prince Prhosh called
Hasan, brave and distinguished men. They went and besieged the
city on all sides preventing entrance or exit.
[Chaghatai and Prhosh] went and battled
forcefully, installing balisters and catapults. They also cut
off the water which entered the city. The citizens likewise fought
them forcefully, killing many T'at'ars and many of the Christians
with them.
Thus the city withstood the siege for
more than two years while hunger grew more acute within. They
ate clean and unclean animals and then started to eat people [g385]
when there was no more food. The strong ate the weak. When the
[supply of] poor people was exhausted they turned against one
another. Fathers ate sons, and women ate their daughters; and
they [322] did not spare the fruit of their wombs. Lovers renounced
their loved ones and friends, their acquaintances. And the food
supply had so diminished that one litr of human flesh sold
for seventy dahekans. Men and food were entirely exhausted,
and not just there [in the city], but danger threatened many other
districts for those who were besieging the city harassed the land
already subjugated by the T'at'ars with tax collecting and with
conveying food and drink for them. Many people died from the extreme
cold of the snow which covered the mountains in wintertime.
Then the secure land of Sasun came out
in service to the T'at'ars, placing their hopes on prince Sadun,
son of Sherbarok' and grandson of Sadun [Artsruni/Mahkanaberdeli]
a Christian and greatly esteemed by Hulegu. For he was a personable
man and a valiant fighter whom Hulegu appointed among the foremost
champions. The district of Sasun was given to him, but later they
broke the oath and killed many of them.
Now when the city was emptied of people
because of [g386] severe hunger, [the Mongols] took it and killed
those survivors they found, faint from hunger. However they sent
alive to Hulegu the sultan and his brother. [Hulegu] [323] ordered
them killed by the sword as beings undeserving of life and guilty
of the bloodshed of the entire multitude killed on their account.
But they did not pull down the churches
or [disturb] the countless relics of the saints which saint Marut'a
had gathered from all peoples and deposited there. For the Christians
in the army told the T'at'ars about their venerability. And they
themselves even related many visions of saints, bright light rising
over the walls, and luminous men appearing.
The city was taken in 709 A.E. [1260] during the great forty day feast of Lent.
62. Concerning what was done in Mesopotamia
and Lower Syria.
Once again the great Hulegu assembled
the multitude of his forces and went to Syria, to Aleppo, Damascus
and Harran, to Edessa, Amida and other districts, raiding in various
directions. He himself besieged Aleppo, to fight with the city.
The sultan in Aleppo, Yusuf (who was of the line of Saladin, who
destroyed Jerusalem) resisted [Hulegu] [324] and did not submit;
rather he closed the city's gates [g387] against him and battled
forcefully. The great Hulegu besieged the city on all sides, captured
it after many days, and then commenced destroying it.
Then the sultan and his grandees who
had secured themselves in the fortress began to plead with him
and come out in submission. [Hulegu] accepted this and ordered
the destruction of the city halted, that they submit to him and
pay taxes.
He went also to Damascus where [the
citizens] came before him with many gifts and great sums of money.
He received them affectionately and then captured in his name
Hems, Hama, and many other cities. He sent many troops against
the secure city of Mardin which they were barely able to capture
after many days. He also killed many brigands, who were a danger
to all peoples and travelers. [Such were the brigands] called
Ghacharik' [who were] of Turkish nationality [and lived] fortified
in dense forests and in fastnesses difficult of access. They were
a countless multitude, not subject to anyone, an assemblage gathered
from all regions, rascals and corrupters especially of Christians.
He killed many of them and enslaved even more, [325] and, leaving
some twenty thousand soldiers as guards, [Hulegu] returned to
the plain of Hemian to winter.
Now the sultan of Egypt gathered many troops and came against the guards of the T'at'ar army whose chief was a man named Ket-Bugha (K'it'bugha), a Christian and a Naiman by nationality, [g388] a man of great respect who warred valiantly against the sultan. But he was killed with his entire army because the Egyptians were very numerous. They battled in the plain of Mt. T'aborakan. Among Ket-Bugha's warriors were many Armenians and Georgians who were killed with him. This took place in 709 A.E. [1260].
63. Concerning the death of pious prince
Jalal.
Now the king of the Georgians, Dawit'
son of Lasha, who was subject to the T'at'ars was placed into
straits and [326] who had mortgaged cities and districts but were
still unable to satiate the evil, leech-like appetite [of the
Mongols]. So fraught, [Dawit'] fled, but was unable to take along
his wife, queen Gonts'a [Kaxiberidze-Awagean] and [g389] his newborn
son Demetre. He took along only his firstborn son Giorgi.
Now the great ostikan Arghun
mustered numerous troops and went after the fugitive king Dawit',
to catch him. Unable to reach him, [Arghun] destroyed and enslaved
many Georgian districts. Furthermore, he fiercely destroyed and
demolished the mausoleums of the Georgian kings at Gelat'i. Similarly,
he pitilessly destroyed the kat'oghikosate at Atsghor.
But suddenly a detachment of Georgian
cavalry appeared and exhibited great valor, for they killed many
of Arghun's soldiers--like fire burning through reeds--and then
departed safe and sound. There were about four hundred of them.
Arghun became frightened and did not
dare to enter and search places so brazenly. He returned to Hulegu
planning wickedness in his heart. He seized the Georgian queen
Gonts'a, her daughter Xoshak', the great prince Shahnshah, [327]
Hasan Jalal, the lord of Xachen, and many others because of debts
and taxes [owed]. [These people] gave much treasure and barely
saved their lives.
But the pious and virtuous prince Jalal
was harassed by impossible tortures as they demanded more taxes
from him than he could pay. [g390] They put wood on his neck and
irons on his feet. They dealt with him in this manner because
of his strong Christianity, for all the Muslims were inimical
to him and urged Arghun to kill him, saying: "He more [than
others] is hostile to our religion and laws". For Arghun
also was Muslim. He took [Jalal] to Qazvin. Meanwhile [Jalal]
bore everything contentedly, for he was extremely well versed
in Scripture, fasting and praying, modest in food and drink, and
desirous of a martyr's death.
Now Jalal's daughter Rhuzuk'an, wife
of Bora-noyin (Charmaghun's son, foremost leader of the
T'at'ars) went to Hulegu's wife Doquz Khatun (Toghuz xat'un)
to free her father from Arghun's clutches. When the impious ostikan
leared this he immediately sent executioners and had the blessed
and just man killed during the night. The impious executioners
went and tore [Jalal's] body into pieces like the blessed martyr
Yakovk in whose torments [Jalal] shared. May he [328] achieve
his crown in Christ, our God. So perished the unblemished and
pious man, ending his life, keeping the [g391] faith, in 710 A.E.
[1261]. His son At'abek sent trusted men to go and steal his father's
remains for they had been thrown into a dry well. The Iranian
in whose home [Jalal] had been fettered had observed divine signs
over him, since as soon as they killed [Jalal] a dazzling light
descended protecting his remains (which were thrown into the well),
so that afterwards he be buried in honor. The Iranian showed the
body to those searching for it, and related to them the wondrous
apparition.
They joyously gathered the relics and
took [Jalal] to his home, burying him in his ancestral cemetary
at Gandzasar monastery. Furthermore, those bringing the relics
back also saw that same luminous vision above the relics as they
travelled.
[Jalal's] son At'abek occupied his father's
principality on the order of Hulegu and Arghun. [At'abek] was
a man raised in piety, modest, prudent, and prayerful, like a
holy hermit, for his parents had brought him up that way. Hulegu
killed prince Zak'are (son of Shahnshah), falsely accusing him.
[329] In this year [1261], lord Nerses the meek kat'oghikos of Aghbania passed to Christ, having occupied the kat'oghikosate for twenty-seven years. He was succeeded by lord Step'anos, a youth. [g392]
64. Concerning the death of prince Shahnshah
and his son Zak'are.
The great prince Shahnshah, son of Zak'are,
gave his authority/principality to his senior son Zak'are for
he had many sons: Zak'are, Awag, Sargis, Artashir and Iwane. He
himself looked after his home. Zak'are went to war among the T'at'ar
troops and displayed such brave manliness that he was honored
by the great Hulegu and by ostikan Arghun.
Now it happened that Zak'are was with
Arghun and his many troops in Georgia. Unbeknownst to Arghun and
the other soldiers, Zak'are went to see his wife, who was with
her father Sargis prince of Uxtik', one of the rebels with the
Georgian king Dawit'. When Arghun learned about this he notified
Hulegu who himself ordered that [Zak'are] be taken shackled. He
heaped other false accusations upon him, ordered [330] him killed,
dismembered and thrown to the dogs.
When [Zak'are's] father Shahnshah heard the bad news in the village of Odzun, he became heart-broken and died of sorrow. They took him and buried him in K'obayr, which his wife had bought from the Armenians. [g393]
65. Concerning the great war which occurred
between Hulegu and Berke.
The conquerors and great generals in
the East and the North were relations of Mongke-Khan who had died
after the Nengrana war. His two brothers contested with each other
concerning the kingdom; they were named Ar'igh Boke (Arik' Bugha)
and Qubilai (Ghopila). Qubilai triumphed, killing and threatening
the forces of Arigh Boke, and causing him to flee the land, while
he himself ruled.
Hulegu, who was their brother and Mongke-Khan's
brother, aided Qubilai, while Berke, who was in the north, aided
Ar'igh Boke. There was yet another relation, a commander named
Alghu, who was the son of Chaghatai-Khan (eldest son of [331]
Chingiz-Khan). Alghu fought with Berke, for at their urging Mongke-Khan
had killed his family. [Alghu] sent to Hulegu saying that he would
aid him on this side of the Darband Gates. Now great Hulegu arose,
taking the grandee and most glorious princes like himself who
were with him from Batu's and Berke's area: Qul (Ghul), Balaghai
(Balaxa), Tutar [g394] (Tut'ar), Meghan, the son of Ghul, Chaghatai
(Ghataghan) and many others with their troops and mercilessly
cut them down, old and young and eliminated them with the sword,
since they were with him and meddled in the authority with one
another. A few of them escaped by a hairsbreadth (without their
women, children or goods) and went as fugitives to Berke and other
relatives.
When Berke heard about this, he assembled
countless troops and came to exact blood-vengeance from Hulegu
for his relations. Now the great Hulegu similarly assembled a
powerful army, dividing it into three fronts. One was entrusted
to the son of Abaqa-Khan. He gathered with him ostikan
Arghun and sent them through Khurasan to help Alghu from that
direction. He assembled one detachment at the Alan Gate [Darial
Pass], and he took the other with him and entered south of the
Darband Gate; for these are the two entrances--the Alan and the
Darband Gates. He destroyed part of Berke's area reaching as far
as [332] the great and fathomless river called T'erk'n Et'il,
a reservoir of many rivers which courses like a sea and enters
the Caspian Sea.
Berke came against him with a mighty
force and they joined battle by the great river. Many fell on
both sides but more on Hulegu's side, since they chilled from
the cold- ness of the snow, and froze to death. Many fell into
the river. [g395]
Then Hulegu departed passing through
the Darband Gate. One of Hulegu's commanders, a brave and warlike
man named Siraman (son of Chormaghun, the first T'at'ar general)
remained after the retreat with his troops and battled Berke's
forces. The fugitives took refuge with him and survived. Resisting
mildly, [Siraman] too went out through the Darband Gate. They
left guards at Darband and went to their winter quarters in the
Mughan plain.
Thus they warred against each other
for five years, from 710-715 of the Armenian Era [1261-66], mustering
troops each year and clashing but only in the wintertime, since
they were unable to fight in the summer due to the [333] heat
and the overflowing of the river.
In these days the great Hulegu commenced
building an extensive and populous city in the Darhni plain. And
he levied taxes on all his subjects to bring wood from all parts
for building the homes and mansions of this city, which he constructed
in a cool place as his summer residence.
Men and animals were oppressed by the
severe and harsh [g396] overseers, who were harsher yet than Pharaoh
over the sons of Israel. For they would yoke one hundred oxen
on all sides of a log and still were unable to move it because
of its size and thickness. Men and animals died from being mercilessly
forced over long and difficult roads over rivers and mountains.
He also built huge homes for the idols,
assembling there all craftsmen of stone, wood, and pictures. For
there is a people called toyink' who are sorcerers and
witches who, by magical means, make horses, camels, the dead and
felt pictures speak. They are all priests with shaven heads and
beards and wear yellow cloaks on the breast. They worship everything,
especially Shakmonia and Madri.
They deceived [Hulegu] and said that
they would make [334] him immortal; and he lived, moved, and mounted
according to their words and thoroughly gave himself over to their
will. Many times during the day he bowed to the ground to their
leader, and ate from the dedicatory altar in the house of idols
and esteemed it more than any of them. Therefore he especially
adorned their temple of idols. [g397]
Now [Hulegu's] senior wife Doquz Khatun
was a Christian and although she frequently reproached him, she
was unable to free him from the sorcerers. However, she herself
lived piously, aiding and supportirig the Christians.
In 714 A.E. [1265] a great sign appeared
in the sky, a star moving from the north to the east and south.
Long column-like rays of light appeared in front of it, but the
star was dim and moved rapidly. It appeared for one full month,
and then no more, like a comet which appears from time to time
moving west to north. But this star had very long rays which grew
daily until the star was lost.
In the same year Hulegu and his wife
Doquz Khatun died. [Hulegu's] son Abaqa-Khan took his place in
714 A.E. [1265] and married the daughter of the Byzantine king
[Michael Palaeologus]. [g398] Her name was Despoina (Tespina)
Khatun, and she [335] went [to Abaqa] in venerable magnificence;
the patriarch of Antioch and other bishops travelled with her.
The bishop of Erznka, lord Sargis, and vardapet Bener brought
[the groups]. Having baptised Abaqa-Khan, they gave the girl to
him as a wife.
[Abaqa] mustered an extremely large
force and went to fight the army of Berke which had crossed through
the Darband Gate and encamped by the shore of the Kur river. They
were positioned on one bank and the others were on the other bank,
fortifying the shore of the river with barricades and very deep
ditches. [g399]
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