Īradam-cī Barlās was the upright son of Qācūlī Bahādur and was distinguished for his wisdom and military talent. On his father's death, the patent (ughrā) of the Commander-in-Chiefship was exalted by the entry of his name and he managed affairs according to the rules which his father had made illustrious. He was the first who bore the title of Barlās, the meaning of which fine word is brave and of noble lineage. The whole Barlās clan traces its origin* from him.
When Bartān Bahādur died, Yesugai* Bahādur, the third of his four sons, and father of Cingīz Khān, and who was adorned with the cuirass of wisdom and the helmet of courage, placed the crown of the Khānāte on his head and graced the throne of world-sway. At this time Īradam-cī Barlās died, leaving twenty-nine sons.
Sūghū Cīcan was distinguished among the noble sons of Īradam-cī Barlās for courage, wisdom and administrative ability. He was also the eldest son. He took the place of his honoured father; ostensibly he was Commander-in-Chief, in reality he was sovereign. Yesugai Bahādur, by the world-adorning advice of Sūghū Cīcan marched against the Tātārs and trod under foot their glory and their grandeur. When he had, by God's help and the might of good fortune, overcome the Tātārs, he set out for Dīlūn* Būldaq. When he arrived there, his chief wife (Khātūn) Ūlūn Anaga* whom he had left pregnant, gave birth to a noble son on 20th zī-l-qa‘da 549* (26th Jan., 1155), in the cycle-year of the Hog (Tankūz). Yesugai Bahādur called him Temūcīn.* Sūghū Cīcan, who possessed lofty intelligence and exalted understanding, told Yesugai Bahādur that by the secrets of calculation and the favourable aspects of the heavens, it was clear that this was the very star which had emerged the fourth time from Qabal Khān's breast.
Though in the noble line of his Majesty, the king of kings, which in this book of Divine praise is the starting-point* of utterance, it is unnecessary to mention Temūcīn who is a branch of the holy tree, yet as he was a ray of the divine light of Ālanquwā, a brief account of him is indispensable. The horoscope of Temūcīn was in Libra and the seven planets* were in it. The Dragon's
The Society's MS. No. D. 29, in Maulavī Ashraf ‘Alī's Catalogue, omits the wāw between zamān wa-zamānīyān of the printed editions, and this appears to me preferable. The passage accordingly runs thus:—
The Lord of Time is Akbar, or rather the Divine Light conceived by Alanquwā, which had to go through a successive course of births, before it appeared in its final perfection in the person of His Majesty, King Akbar. This was done by him for the benefit of men, for the purpose of improving their condition (parda-ārāī). To the act of child-bearing the word zaḥīr lit. “pains” directly refers. The pun hardly can be translated. It lies in the fact that Akbar “rends the curtain for the purpose of mending it,” both expressions being used in a metaphorical sense.
T. BLOCH,
Hon. Philol. Sec., A. S. B.
Head* was in the Third House and the Dragon's Tail* in the Ninth. But some say that in 581* (1185), when he became head of the Nairūn tribe and family, the seven planets were in conjunction in Libra.
Qarācār Nūyān was the noble son of Sūghū Cījan and was of kingly mind and princely* bearing. In the year of the Hog 562 (1167), Yesugai Bahādur died and in the same year, Temūcīn became thirteen and Sūghū Cījan, the centre of the sovereignty and administration and leader of the armies, marched nearly contemporaneously with this, to the camp of annihilation. Qarācār* Nūyān was then of tender age. The Nairūn tribe left Temūcīn and joined the Tāījīuts* so that Temūcīn was in difficulties and entangled in misfortunes. At length, by heaven's aid, he was rescued from these whirlpools and terrible dangers and waged war with the Jāmūqa, Tāījūt, Qanqarāt, Jalāīr and other tribes. When he was over thirty, he became head of his own clan and family (the Nairūn). On account of the opposition of various rulers of Turkistān, he went in his fortieth year, by the advice of Qarācār Nūyān to Āvang* Khān, the chief of the Kerāyat tribe and who had an old friendship with Yesugai Bahādur. Temūcīn did good service for him and displayed pre-eminent excellence. His favour and intimacy with him and the loftiness of his rank came to such a point that the sweet savour of his sincerity was made fragrant by the pastile of friendship* so that the great officers and relatives (of Āvang Khān) became jealous.
Jāmūqa, chief of the Jājarāt tribe, joined with Sankū,* the son of Āvang Khān, to speak evil of him and they devised falsehoods against him whereby the heart of Āvang Khān was drawn away from the right path and he began to entertain evil thoughts. Temūcīn became alarmed and escaped from that danger by the counsels and assistance of Qarācār Nūyān. Twice were great battles fought between them in which Temūcīn was victorious.
When in his 49th, or as some say, his 50th year, he, in Ramaẓān 599 (May-June 1203), attained the rank of a sovereign and ruler of the world. When three years of his reign and rule had passed But Tengri,* a seer of the invisible world and herald of the Divine Court, was inspired to give Temūcīn the title of Cingīz Khān or king of kings. Day by day, the star of his fortune rose higher and higher and year by year, the lightning of his majesty became more vivid. He acquired sway over all Cathay, Khotan, Northern and Southern China (Cīn ū Mācīn), the desert of Qibcāq, Saqsīn,* Bulgaria,* Ās,* Russia, Ālān,* etc. He had four sons, Jūjī, Caghatāī, Ōkadāī, Tūlī. He placed with Jūjī the management of feasts and hunting. Judiciary matters (yārghū) and the carrying out of punishment, in which administrative government is involved, were committed to the wisdom of Caghatāī. Government and political matters were assigned to Ōkadāī. The management of military affairs and the protection of the camp were made over to Tūlī.
In the months of 615 (1218), he marched to Transoxiana against Sulān Muhammad, king of Khwārizm* and the people of that country received the chastisement of capital punishment.
When he had finished the affairs of Transoxiana, he crossed the Amu (Oxus) and turned his world-opening reins towards Bālkh. He despatched Tūlī Khān with a large army to Khurāsān and after conquering Īrān and Tūrān, he came from Bālkh to āliqān.* From thence he went off to put an end to Jalālu-d-dīn Mangbarnī* and in Ramaẓān* 624 (Aug. 1227), defeated him up to the banks of the Indus. From thence he went to Transoxiana towards his permanent encampment (Karakoram). He died in the year of the Hog which was also that of his birth and accession, on 4th Ṣafar* 624, in the borders of the country of Tangūt.*
Before his death, he directed that when the inevitable event occurred, they should keep it secret until the affair of the people of Tangūt was completed and that there might be no commotion in distant countries. His sons and officers carried out his instructions and took steps to conceal the event till the people of Tangūt had come out* and been made the forage of the sword. Then they marched off bearing the body (of Cingīz) in a chest, putting to death everybody whom they met, so that the news might not be quickly conveyed to the different countries. On 14th Ramaẓān of the same year, they brought the body to the great camp and proclaimed the death. They buried Cingīz at the foot of a tree which he had, one day when hunting, approved as a site for his grave. In a short space of time, the branches became so thick that the tomb was hidden by them and no one could ascertain the spot. There is a strange mystery in this which cannot be understood, except by the wisdom of the wise and far-seeing, to wit, that as in life he was under God's protection, so also in death did he come under God's supervision, in order that the short-sighted might not put forth hands of disrespect against the place. Though to take much thought about a tomb is to make one self ridiculous to mankind, yet as rulers have to deal chiefly with the superficial-minded, this providential guarding (of Cingīz' tomb) is a great blessing. And why should not the Divine protection watch over one who was so great that an universe abode in the shade of his guardianship?
Though this great man be in the eyes of the vulgar and even to the élite,* at first glance, a leading exponent of Divine wrath, yet to the far-reading view of the wise, élite of the élite, he is an emanation of Divine blessings. For in the kingdom of Divine justice of which human government is a ray, there can be no injustice or oppression, and everything which comes into existence in the world of evil is based on certain spiritual principles, the real nature of which the superficial cannot perceive and which cannot be comprehended save by the intellects of the far-seeing and awakened-hearted.
His years were seventy-two complete and most of the seventy-third had also elapsed. Of them, twenty-five were spent in reigning and conquering. If we look to the dates* of his birth and his death, as stated in histories, his age comes to seventy-four years and three months. Apparently the discrepancy is due to the difference between lunar and solar months and years, or it may be owing to some cause other than the ostensible one. During this period, the high matters of government and administration were made illustrious by the world-adorning counsels of Qarācār Nūyān. Why should not a potentate who hath such a kinsman (birādar) in blood and in spirit by his side as his director to dominion and fortune, brush with the head of majesty the highest zenith of conquest and rule?