The Rashīdī History 8.4.1

8.4.1

Again, Major Raverty, in his translation of the Tabakat-i-Nasiri, notes the headings of the first four sections of Rashid-ud-Din's history, the second, third, and fourth of which contain the following: — "2nd Section, Account of the Turk tribes whom they designate by the name of Mughals, but every one of which, in ancient times, bore distinct and particular surnames. . . . 3rd Section. Account of the Turk tribes, every one of which have had Badshahs and chiefs, but who bore no relationship to the tribes mentioned in the preceding sections. . . . 4th Section. Account of the tribes of Turks, whose surname, from time immemorial, was Mughal. . . ." These brief extracts are sufficient to show the sense in which Rashid-ud-Din, one of the best of the Musulman authors of the Mongol period, used the word Turk, and how, though he was able to distinguish specifically between real Turks and other tribes, when ethnological considerations were in question, still used the word in a non-ethnic sense, to denote a group of tribes who had to be distinguished from the Tajiks.