The Nāṣirī Generations 165: III. SULTAN BAHA-UD-DIN, SAM, SON OF SULTAN SHAMS-UD-DIN, MUHAMMAD.
Tabakat-i-Nasiri 165
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III. SULTAN BAHA-UD-DIN, SAM, SON OF SULTAN SHAMS-UD-DIN, MUHAMMAD.
165.1
Sultan Baha-ud-Din, Sam, was a very great and august monarch, and was just and enlightened. He was the patronizer of learned men, and the dispenser of equity; and, in his day, the whole of the learned ’Ulama were unanimous, that there was no Musalman sovereign who was a greater cherisher of learned men, for this reason, that his intercourse, his communion, and his converse, were exclusively with ’Ulama of judgment and discrimination. He was, on both sides, a Shansabani and his mother was the Hurrah-i-Jalali, the daughter of Sultan Baha-ud-Din, Sam, the sister of the two Sultans, and older than either of them. Kazi Taj-ud-Din, Zawzani, who was the most eloquent man of his day, [upon one occasion] was delivering a discourse within his [Baha-ud-Din’s] palace, and, during the invocation, the Sultan said: “What adornment can I give to the bride of the realm upon the face of whose empire two such moles exist, one Ghiyas-ud-Din and the other Mu’izz-ud-Din!” The Almighty’s mercy be upon them all!
165.2
In short, the admirable benevolence of that monarch towards the ’Ulama of Islam was more than can be contained within the compass of writing. That Miracle of the World, Fakhr-ud-Din, Muhammad, Razi composed the Risalah-i-Bahaiah in that Sultan's name; and for a considerable period he continued under the shadow of that sovereign’s favour and protection. That Chief of learned Doctors, Jalal-ud-Din, Warsak during the Sultan’s reign, attained the office of Shaikh-ul-Islam of the district of Balkh; and Maulana Saraj-i-Minhaj that Most Eloquent of ’Ajam, and the Wonder of his Age, was sent for, secretly, by Sultan Baha-ud-Din, Sam, from the Court of Firuz-koh, who despatched a seal-ring of turquoise stone with the name of Sam engraved upon it, and with great respect and reverence invited the Maulana to his Court. When this circumstance occurred, the writer of this History, Minhaj-i-Saraj, was in the third year of his age.
165.3
The requests and solicitations of Sultan Baha-ud-Din, Sam, were continuous and unremitting. The reason of this was, that, during the time of [his father] Malik Shams-ud-Din, Muhammad, the Maulana proceeded from Ghaznin towards Bamian, and, at that period, Baha-ud-Din, Sam, held charge of the district of Balarwan. He paid his respects to the Maulana, and sought to retain him, and showed him great respect and veneration ; and he had both seen and heard his soul-inspiring discourse, and his heart-expanding conversation, and the pleasure he had derived therefrom remained impressed upon his royal mind, and he was desirous of enjoying all the delicacies of the benefits of the Maulana’s conversation When Baha-ud-Din, Sam, reached the throne of sovereignty of Bamian, he sent for the Maulana repeatedly, and charged him with the administration of all the offices connected with the law, and sent him his private signet-ring.
165.4
The Maulana proceeded to the Court of Bamian from the Court of Firuz-koh without the permission of Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din ; and, when he arrived in that part, he was treated with great respect and honour, and the whole of the [legal] functions of that kingdom, such as the Chief Kazi-ship of the realm and other parts, the judicial administration of the triumphant forces, the chaplaincy of the State together with the office of censor with full power of the ecclesiastical law, the charge of two colleges, with assigned lands and benefactions abundant, all these offices the Maulana was entrusted with. The diploma conferring the whole of these offices, in the handwriting of the Sayb who was the Wazir of the kingdom of Bamian, up to the present time that this Tabakat was put in writing in the sublime name of the great Sultan, Nasir-ud-Dunya wa ud-Din, Abu-l-Muzaffar-i-Mahmud, son of Sultan I-yal-timish. Kasim-i-Amir-ul-Muminin — whose monarchy may the Almighty perpetuate ! — still exists in the Kharitah [a bag of embroidered silk] containing the author’s diplomas, along with his banner and his turban of honour. The mercy of the Almighty be upon them ! This fact is recorded in the narrative to show the admirable faith of that pious ruler.
165.5
In short, he was a great monarch ; and his dominions assumed great amplitude and expansion, and comprised the whole of the country of Tukharistan and its dependencies, together with other territories, namely, in the east as far as the frontier of Kashmir, and, in the west, as far as the boundary of Tirmid and Balkh ; north, as far as the bounds of Kashghar ; and south, as far as Ghur and Gharjistan, in the whole of which the Khutbah was read for him and the money impressed with his name. The whole of the Maliks and Amirs of each of the three kingdoms, namely, Ghur, Ghaznin, and Bamian, after [the decease of] both the Sultans [Ghiyas-ud-Din, and Mu’izz-ud-Din], turned their eyes on him ; and, when Sultan Mu’izz-ud-Din, Muhammad-i-Sam, was martyred, the Maliks and Amirs of Ghaznin, both Ghuris and Turks, with one consent, requested him to come [and assume the sovereignty]. Sultan Baha-ud-Din, Sam, accordingly, determined to proceed from Bamian to Ghaznin, and set out in that direction with a numerous army. When he reached the district of Kidan, he was attacked with diarrhoea, and, only nineteen days after the martyrdom of the victorious Sultan Mu'izz-ud-Din, Muhammad-i-Sam, Sultan Baha-ud-Din, Sam, died. His reign was fourteen years.