The Nāṣirī Generations 287.5
Tabakat-i-Nasiri 287.5
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287.5.1
Hulaku perceived it was useless to send envoys again, and he therefore directed all the Mughal troops that were in ’Irak and other parts to advance, and close in upon the Mulahidah territory. Those on the right [Bustam being the centre], in Mazandaran, were under Buka Timur and the Nu-yin, Kuka I-yalka, while those on the left, under Nikudar Oghul and the Nu-yin, Kaibu, were to advance by way of Khwar—the name of a district or tract of country in the neighbourhood of Rai—which signifies low or sloping ground, but not necessarily "salt"—and Simnan, while Hulaku himself, with one toman of picked troops, advanced from Bustam on the 10th of Sha’ban, 654 H. Hulaku, notwithstanding he had said he would send no more envoys, again had recourse to negotiation, but, with the treachery inherent in the Mughal, and in some other northern barbarians, sent to Khur Shah saying: "Although our standards have advanced, and notwithstanding all the misdeeds he has been guilty of, if Khur Shah presents himself, he will be received; the past will be forgotten, and he will be exalted." After the Mughals had passed Firuz-koh, the envoys again returned, accompanied by Khur Shah's Wazir-i-Khas—Prime Minister—Kai-Kubad, to intimate that his master had agreed to demolish all the fortresses.
287.5.2
Khur Shah made, however, a special request, that Alamut and Lanbah-Sar should be left to his offspring, since they were the ancient homes of his family, and that he should be allowed a year's grace, to prepare certain presents and offerings worthy of the Mughal sovereign's acceptance, that the Muhtashims of Gird-Koh and the Kuhistan had been directed to present themselves, and that, in the mean time, all the other fortresses should be demolished. This temporizing was no match for the duplicity and wiles of the Mughal barbarian, who was aware what a difficult task he would have in order to capture the chief strongholds. Hulaku, still moving forward towards Lar and Damawand, passed, by the way, Shah-dujz, which was captured in two days; and, once more, he despatched his envoys. Khur Shah still refused to appear, but he notified that he would send his son, with a body of 300 militia [as a contingent ?] and demolish all the fortresses. His son came—a child of seven years old, whose mother was a concubine; but Hulaku, who waited at ’Abbas-abad of Rai to receive him, would not allow that the year 658 H. has drawn to its close, it will be a
287.5.3
an infant to remain in his camp, and sent him back. Then, to carry out his proposed treachery, Hulaku, in reply to Khur Shah, intimated that, in case there should be further delay in appearing himself, he had better send another of his brothers to relieve Shahan-Shah, who had been so long in the Mughal camp. Khur Shah then despatched another brother, Shahran-Shah—some call him Sherwan Shah—along with the Khwajah, Asil-ud-Din, the Zauzani, and 300 soldiers; and, on the 5th of Shawwal, 654 H., they reached his camp within the limits of Rai. On the 9th, they were sent back bearing a safe-conduct for Shah himself, with a message to the effect that, in consequence of the submission, and show of obedience of Khur Shah, the misdeeds of his father had been forgiven, and, as no improper conduct had been shown by himself, since he had succeeded his father, if he destroyed the fortresses as promised, he might expect the royal favour. After sending off this—the bearers filled with delight at the terms—Hulaku issued orders for the Mughal troops to form a cordon round about Maimun-dujz, the residence of Khur Shah, which was carried out, particularly on the part of Bulgha Timur and Kuka I-yalka, who approached it very closely, from the side of Astadar—or Astadarah—the same place as is mentioned in Jabah [Yamah] and Sahudah's [Swidae's] raid.
287.5.4
As soon as Khur Shah became cognizant of this suspicious proceeding, he sent a person to the Mughals, saying: "Since we have submitted, and are occupied in demolishing our fortresses, what is the object of your advancing into these parts?" By way of mockery they replied: "Because we are friends now, and there is no disagreement between us, we have come into your grazing lands, in order that our horses may enjoy a few days' rest, after which we again depart." On the 10th of Shawwal, the Mughals entered the Rud-barat or Rud-baran [a district and town, between Gilan and Kazwin: it is the plural of rud-bar, and signifies a tract of many streams] by the Yashkal or Bashgal Darah or Pass, on the road to Tal-kan, and commenced plundering and devastating the country round. On the 18th, the audience tent of Hulaku was pitched facing Maimun-dujz on the northern side; and, the next day, he reconnoitred the place preparatory to an attack; and, the following day, the troops completely encircled it, although the mountain, on which it is situated, is six farsakhs in circuit. Hulaku, however, when he beheld that impregnable fortress, saw that, to take it by storm, was utterly impossible, and that nothing else than reduction by famine was possible, and that that might not be effected for many years. He therefore held counsel with the Shah-zadahs and Amirs whether to invest it, or retire, and return next year, as the season was far advanced.
287.5.5
Most of them were for retiring, as winter was come—it was Shawwal, 654 H.—November, 1256 A. D.—the horses were emaciated, and forage was scarcely obtainable, and would have to be brought from the frontier districts of Kirman or Arman; but Buka-Timur, the Bitik-chi, Saif-ud-Din, and Amir Kaibuka, the Naeman, on the contrary, urged, that to retire now would be a show of weakness, and that, as a matter of necessity, they ought to remain until the affair assumed some tangible shape or other. So Hulaku again had recourse to duplicity, while traitors in the stronghold of the inexperienced Khur Shah helped its success: he despatched another envoy to Khur Shah, with a message tending to seduce him, by hopes of favour, to come down. The envoy said: "O Khur Shah! if, like a man, you come down and present yourself, you not only preserve your own life, but also the lives of all who are in this place with you. If, in the course of five days, you do not come, then make your fortress strong, and expect an assault ; for this is the last time that any one will come to you.” Rukn-ud-Din, Khur Shah, seeing the state of affairs, held counsel with his chief men; and no way appeared left open to him other than to surrender.
287.5.6
On the same day that this was determined on, he despatched, in advance of himself, another brother, Shah Kiya, along with the traitor— as I shall presently show— the Khwajah, Nasir-ud-Din, the Tusi, and other officials and leaders of his forces, to the presence of Hulaku, bearing presents and offerings befitting. On Friday, the 27th of Shawwal, they reached his camp ; and, on Sunday, 1st of Zi-l-Ka’dah, 654 H.— 12th November, 1256 A.D.— the Khudawand, Rukn-ud-Din, Khur Shah, having taken a last farewell of his ancestral home of two hundred years, accompanied by Asil-ud-Din, Zauzani, Mu’ayyid-ud-Din, the Wazir, and the sons of the Ra’is-ud-Daulah, and Muaffik-ud-Daulah, the same day presented himself in the camp of Hulaku, the Mughal. So, the strongly fortified town of Meimundiz” was neither besieged, nor was “the attack prosecuted with vigour,” because no attack was ever made, neither did “Rokn-ud-din propose terms to Khulagu,” as we are informed in the Mongols Proper, but quite the contrary. The traitor, Nasir-ud-Din, the Tusi, composed a verse on this event, the first half of which, not quite correctly rendered, is given by Von Hammer, who, in his account of the Isma’ilian, makes sad havoc among the names of persons and places. The verse is as follows, literally rendered ; —
287.5.7
“When the ’Arab year six hundred, fifty, and four, came round, On Sunday, the first of the month Zi-Ka’dah, at morning dawn, Khur Shah. Badshah of the Mulahidah, from his throne arose. And, in front of the throne of Hulaku [Khan], stood up.” When Khur Shah presented himself, Hulaku beheld a mere youth of inexperience and indiscretion, and, therefore, according to the pro-Mughal accounts, he treated him kindly, and gave him hopes of the Ka’an’s favour. Khur Shah, at Hulaku’s request, despatched one of his chief men, entitled Sadr-ud-Din, in order that all the fortresses which his father and forefathers had obtained possession of, in the Kuhistan, the Rud-barat, and Kumis— a district, or rather province, between Khurasan and ’Irak-i-’Ajam— full of military stores, magazines of provisions, and other valuable property, might be delivered up to the Mughal officials ; and, by Hulaku’s command, they are said to have been levelled with the ground— subsequently perhaps, as this would be a work of time only : Hafiz Abru says they amounted to some three hundred ; all but Lambah-Sar and Gird-Koh— but the number was only a little over a hundred— which the governors refused to give up, and which held out, particularly the latter, for twenty years after, as already mentioned. Pestilence at last broke out in Lambah-Sar, and most of its people perished. The rest abandoned it, and the Mughals destroyed it.
287.5.8
The day after Khur Shah reached the Mughal camp, he gave orders to his dependants to leave Maimun-dujz; and his ancestral treasures, other valuable property, and library, he presented [perforce] to Hulaku as a pesh-kash, the whole of which Hulaku is said to have distributed among his officers. After this the latter turned his face towards Alamut. On reaching the foot of the stronghold, Shah was sent forward to request the seneschal to come been going on. Within it about 100 or 200 men have taken refuge, but, up to this time, it has not fallen into the hands of the Mughals.