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

BEGINNING OF THE HISTORY OF MONGKE QA'AN
the subjugation of the farthest East and West of the world. And first,
because a number of persons seeking justice against the Heretics had
been brought to his most noble notice, he dispatched against them
into the land of the Tajiks in the Year of the Ox84 his youngest brother
Hulegii Khan, upon whose forehead he had observed the signs of
conquest, sovereignty, royal majesty, and fortune. And his middle
brother, Qubilai Qa'an, he appointed and dispatched in the Year of the
Panther85 to defend and conquer the eastern countries, sending
Muqali Guyang86 of the Jalayir people to accompany him. (The
details [of these campaigns] will be given in the histories of both princes
when they became rulers.)87 When Qubilai had already set out, he
sent a messenger back from the road to say that no provisions were to
be found along that route and it was impossible to travel by it. If the
command was given, they could proceed to the province of Qara-
Jang.88 Permission was given and Qubilai Qa'an attacked and plundered
that province, which is known as Qandahar,89 and then returned
to Mongke Qa'an. Thereafter, Mongke Qa'an held a quriltai in a
place called Qorqonaq Jubur,90 which lies in the middle of Mongolia.
It was in this place that Qutula Qa'an, when he had gained a victory,
danced under a tree with his nokers until the ground fell into a ditch.51
When the quriltai was over, and the great crowd of people had dispersed,
and each of the emirs and princes was uttering a bilig, in the
midst of all this Derekei92 Kiiregen of the Ikires93 people, who was a
son-in-law of Chingiz-Khan, said: "The kingdom of Nangiyas is so
near and they are hostile to us. How can we neglect and delay [our
84 1253. 8s 1254.
86 On Muqali Guyang (guyang is the Chinese title kuo-wang, "prince of the kingdom ")
the famous general whom Genghis Khan left in command in China during his absence
in western Asia, see Campagnes, pp. 360—73.
87 For Qubilai's campaign in China, see below, pp. 246ff.; for Hiilegii's campaign in
the West, see Arends, pp. 20-47, and CHI, pp. 340 ff.
88 Marco Polo's Caragian, the Mongol name for Yunnan. See Polo I, pp. 169-81.
89 See below, p. 247 and note 23.
90 Unidentified. A wooded region on the banks of the Onon. See SH, §§57, 115—17,
201, and 206. The quriltai here was held in the autumn of 1257.
91 On the victory dance of Qutula, a great uncle of Genghis Khan, see SH, §57,
Arends, p. 197 (where his name is wrongly given as Qubilai Qa'an), and CHI, p. 392,
92 Or Dayirkei. He was a kiiregen ("imperial son-in-law"), being the husband of
Genghis Khan's daughter Tumeliin. See Khetagurov, p. 164.
93 The Ikires were a branch of the Qpnqirat. There is still an " Ikirat" clan amongst
the Buryat Mongols. SeeCampagnes, pp. 31—32.
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