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

THE SUCCESSORS OF GENGHIS KHAN
thee, Hiilegii; from the Altai on the far side to the Oxus el and ulus
must be administered and maintained by Alghu; and from the Altai
on this side to the shores of the Ocean-Sea [all lands] will be maintained
by me." And Berke kept sending messengers to both sides and sought to
reconcile them.
As for Ari'q Boke, when he had fattened his horses in the summer and
autumn, he did not keep his word but broke his promise and again
went to war against the Qa'an. When he came to Yesiingge, who was
stationed on the frontier of the region, he sent a messenger to say that
he was coming to surrender. Having thus rendered him careless he
fell upon him, routed and scattered him and his army, and restored
the ordos of Chaghatai Khan and Kolgen as well as his own. Meanwhile,
Yesiingge crossed the desert and made his way to the Qa'an, to whom
he reported that a rebel was approaching. The Qa'an sent a messenger
to Taghachar and gathered cherigs. He himself, Taghachar, Hulaqur,
the son of Elchitei, and Narin-Qadan, with the armies they commanded,
were the first [to be ready]. Hulaqur, Nachin Kiiregen, Derekei
Kiiregen of the Ikires people, Oradai, and Qadan, each with his
own tiimen, proceeded in the van and fought well. As for Yesiingge,
because his troops had been dispersed, he did not take part in this
battle. The Qa'an, with the aforementioned armies, encountered
Ariq Boke on the edge of the desert. They joined battle in a place
called Abjiya-Koteger,49 in front of a hill called Khucha-Boldaq50
anda/wz'ttr called Shimultai.51 Ariq Boke's army was defeated, and many
of the Oirat tribesmen were killed. And when Ariq Boke was defeated
with his army and fled, the Qa'an said: "Do not pursue them, for they
are ignorant children. They must realize what they have done and
repent." (The picture of the battle is as shown.) Ten days later Asutai,
the son of Mongke Qa'an, who led Ariq Boke's rearguard, came to
49 The Abji'a-Koteger ofSH, §§187 and 191. It was here that Genghis Khan passed
the winter following his destruction of the Kereit. This mountainous area is located
by Pelliot and Hambis (Campagnes, p. 409) somewhere near the sources of the Khalkha,
in the Great Khingan.
s» "RamHillock:" unidentified.
51 Mo. shimughultai, "having midges." In the letter referred to in note 47, Dr. de
Rachewiltz writes: "Although several identifications of this lake have been proposed
(by Hung Chun, T'u Chi a. o.), none of them seems very convincing to me. It certainly
is one of the small lakes of the Eastern Gobi—the region of the Upper Khalkha
River—but at present I cannot offer a more definite identification."
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