The Nāṣirī Generations 66.11

66.11

After a great part of his reign had elapsed, a body of people from Kara-Khata-i, from Tamghaj, and the dependencies of Chin, entered the confines of Kara Kuram of Turkistan, and solicited Sultan Sanjar to assign them grazing-lands; and, with the Sultan’s permission, they took up their quarters on those confines, in Bilasaghun, Kabalik, and Almalik, and made those parts their grazing-grounds. When their progeny became very numerous, during the Sultan’s reign, they rebelled against his authority, and fought a battle against him. Taniko of Taraz, at the nomination of Sunkam and I-ma, was at the head of the Khata’is. The Sultan’s forces, from a long period of inaction, and enervated by protracted ease and luxury, were unable to cope with or stand before the enemy, and were overthrown; and they took Turkan Khatun, who was the Malikah-i-Jahan [Queen of the Universe], and consort of Sultan Sanjar, captive. This was the first reverse the Sultan had ever sustained; and, subsequently, he concluded a peace with them, and the pasture-lands of Turkistan and Bilasaghun, along with the cities and towns included in those frontier tracts, were left in the hands of the Khata-i invaders. After the peace was concluded they sent back Turkan Khatun to the Sultan again. The Hakim [philosopher] Koshaki has written much satire upon this unfortunate event, which is contained in Diwans and [other] books.