The Successors of Genghis Khan - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...

HISTORY OF GUYUK KHAN
That year he wintered in that place, and when the new year came
around he said: "The air of the Emil is agreeable to my constitution
and the water of that region is beneficial to my ailment." And setting
out from thence he proceeded, with the greatest possible awesomeness
and majesty, toward the countries of the West. And whenever he came
to cultivated land or saw people in the roadway, he would command
them to be given enough bdlish and clothes to free them from the
humiliation of poverty. Now Sorqoqtani Beki, being an intelligent
woman and extremely shrewd, realized that his haste in that journey
was not devoid of guile. She secretly dispatched a courier to Batu
to say: "Be prepared, for Guyiik Khan has set out for those regions
at the head of a large army." Batu was grateful and made ready for
battle with him. However, when [Giiyiik Khan] reached the confines
of Samarqand,27 a week's journey from Besh-Baliiq, the predestined
hour arrived and did not grant him respite to advance one step beyond
that place, and he passed away ,28 The length of his reign
had been one year. May the Lord of Islam enjoy many years of life,
youth, and fortune!
After the death of Giiyiik Khan, the roads were closed and a yasaq
was issued to the effect that everyone should halt in whatever place he
had reached, whether it was inhabited or desert.29 And at Oghul-
Qaimish's command, Giiyuk Khan's tomb was transferred to the
Emil, where his ordo was. Sorqoqtani Beki, as is the custom, offered
her words of advice and consolation and sent her clothing and a
boqtaq.30 And Batu consoled and comforted her in the like manner and
said: " Let Oghul-Qaimish continue, as heretofore, to administer affairs
in consultation with Ghinqai and the [other] ministers, and let her
neglect nothing, for on account of old age, weakness, and gout I am
27 See above, Section 2, p. i a i, note 95.
28 Blank in Blochet's MS. Giiyiik died, according to the Yuan shih, in the third month
(ayth March-24th April) of 1248. SeePapaute,pp. [i95]-['96].
25 JuvainI (HWC, p. 262) adds "as is their custom and wont whenever a king dies."
Rashid al-Din (Arends, p. 66) records the observance of this practice upon the death
of the Il-Khan Htilegii.
30 The boghtaq was the headdress of ladies of rank. It was "extremely tall" and
"usually of dark silk, extended on a frame, sewn with pearls and precious stones, with
a square top bearing a stone and/or small feathers." The hennin worn by noblewomen
in medieval Europe is thought to have been derived from travelers' accounts of it.
See Cammann, pp. 161-62.