The Nāṣirī Generations 96: II. MALIK TAJ-UD-DIN, ABU-L-FATH, SON OF TAHIR.

96

Taj-ud-Din was a great and a just monarch, and, when his father departed this life, in conformity with the mandate of Sultan Sanjar, Saljuki, he assumed authority over the territory of Nimroz, and brought it under his sway. He spread the carpet of justice, and the people became obedient to his authority; and, both in the city and round about Sijistan, numerous monuments of his goodness remained.
He accompanied Sultan Sanjar in the campaign against Khita, and took along with him the troops of Sijistan; and, when Sultan Sanjar’s army was defeated, Malik Taj-ud-Din, Abu-l-Fath, was taken prisoner. When they had taken him to the place where the camp of the Khita-is was situated, his feet were confined in a pair of wooden stocks and secured with a heavy chain, and he was kept in imprisonment.
A number of trustworthy persons have related, that one of the ladies of the Great Khan [of Khita] got a sight of Malik Taj-ud-Din, and, secretly, used to entertain great affection for him, and to have all his wants, and even more, liberally supplied, and have great care and attention paid to him. That lady left not the least thing undone, or a moment to be lost, until, by her endeavours also, Malik Taj-ud-Din was suddenly set at liberty, and was enabled to fly from the camp of the Khita-is; and he brought back his chain and the stocks along with him to Sistan.
The territory of Nimroz, which, during his captivity, had been deprived of his comeliness and munificence, now began to acquire fresh grace and elegance. The stocks and chain, which he had brought away with him [when he escaped], were, by his orders, hung up in the most sacred place in the great mosque [where the Imam stands during the prayers] ; and Minhaj-i-Saraj, the writer of this Tabakat, in the year 613 H., arrived in the city of Sistan, and, in the great mosque there, saw that chain and stocks; and whoever may have reached that great city, will also have seen them.
Malik Taj-ud-Din, Abu-l-Fath, was a learned and enlightened sovereign; and they relate that, sometimes, he would himself read the Friday’s Khutbah; and this fact is an indication of the extent of his wisdom and knowledge. He reigned for a considerable time, and died; and his mausoleum is at Sistan.