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

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THE SUCCESSORS OF GENGHIS KHAN<br />

when Mongke Qa'an set out for Nangiyas,43 and Qubilai Qa'an<br />

joined him, he did not trust Shiremun and ordered him to be thrown<br />

in the river.<br />

Fourth son—Qarachar<br />

It is said that this Qarachar had one son, whose name was Totaq,<br />

and theirywrt was in ,44<br />

Fifth son—Qashi<br />

Inasmuch as at the time he was born Chingiz-<strong>Khan</strong> had conquered<br />

the country <strong>of</strong> Qashi,45 which is now called Tangqut, he was named<br />

Qashi. Being a heavy and confirmed drinker, he died in his youth <strong>of</strong><br />

the deterioration brought on by excessive inebriety, his death occurring<br />

during his father's lifetime. <strong>The</strong> name Qashi was banned and<br />

thereafter the country was called Tangqut.46 He had a son called<br />

Qaidu by Sebkine Khatun <strong>of</strong> the 47 people. [This son] lived to a<br />

great age and died only last year.48 This Qaidu was brought up in the<br />

ordo*9 <strong>of</strong> Chingiz-<strong>Khan</strong> and after Ogetei's death was in attendance<br />

upon Mongke Qa'an, upon whose death he joined Ariq Boke and<br />

supported and worked for his elevation to the <strong>Khan</strong>ate. When Ariiq<br />

Boke went to Qubilai Qa'an and made his submission, Qaidu was<br />

filled with fear <strong>of</strong> Qubilai Qa'an; and since it was not the yasas°<br />

that anyone should disobey the command and order <strong>of</strong> the Qa'an,<br />

and whoever did so was a wrongdoer, he transgressed the yasa, committed<br />

acts <strong>of</strong> resistance, and became a rebel. From that time until<br />

43 (<strong>The</strong> country <strong>of</strong>) the Southern Chinese, from Chinese Nan-Chia, that is "people<br />

<strong>of</strong> the South."<br />

44 Blank in the MSS.<br />

45 From Ho-hsi, then the common Chinese name for the country. See Polo I, p. 125.<br />

46 On the Mongol taboo on the names <strong>of</strong> the dead, see Boyle 1956.<br />

47 Blank in the MSS. Elsewhere (Khetagurov, pp. 149-50) Rashid al-Din says that<br />

Qaidu's mother belonged to the Bekrin, a tribe <strong>of</strong> mountaineers who were "neither<br />

Mongols nor Uighur."<br />

48 That is, in 1301. He was born, according to Jamal Q,arshi (Four Studies, I, p. 124)<br />

about 1235. <strong>The</strong> statement that he took part in the invasion <strong>of</strong> Hungary in 1241,<br />

<strong>of</strong>ten repeated, most recently by Dawson (p. xxxi, note I), is due to a mistake <strong>of</strong><br />

Wolff (Geschichte der Mongolen, Breslau, 1872, pp. 154 and 159). See Polo I, p. 125.<br />

49 See Glossary. so gee Glossary.<br />

22

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