The Successors of Genghis Khan - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...
The Successors of Genghis Khan - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...
The Successors of Genghis Khan - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...
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THE SUCCESSORS OF GENGHIS KHAN<br />
<strong>The</strong>reafter the princes held a council, and each with his army set<br />
out in an encircling movement and attacked and conquered the<br />
countries which lay across their path. Mongke Qa'an moved in such<br />
a circle upon the left along the bank <strong>of</strong> the river229 and captured both<br />
Bachman, who was one <strong>of</strong> the chief emirs <strong>of</strong> those parts, <strong>of</strong> the *Ulirlik<br />
people in the *Qiipchaq federation,230 and Qachir-Ukula <strong>of</strong> the As<br />
people.231 This happened in the following manner. This Bachman,<br />
together with a number <strong>of</strong> other robbers, had escaped from the sword<br />
and a further group <strong>of</strong> fugitives had joined him. He would strike upon<br />
every side and carry something <strong>of</strong>f, and day by day the mischief he<br />
caused grew greater. He had no fixed place <strong>of</strong> abode, and the Mongol<br />
army could not lay hands on him. In the daytime he used to lie hidden<br />
in the forests on the banks <strong>of</strong> the Etil.232 Mongke Qa'an ordered two<br />
hundred boats to be constructed and one hundred fully armed Mongols<br />
to be set in each, while he and his brother formed a hunting ring and<br />
proceeded along the banks <strong>of</strong> the river. In one <strong>of</strong> the forests on the<br />
Etil they found some dung and other traces <strong>of</strong> an encampment that<br />
had been hurriedly abandoned. In the middle <strong>of</strong> this they found an<br />
old woman, from whom they learnt that Bachman had crossed on to an<br />
island and that all that he had acquired during that period by his<br />
wickedness and mischief was on that island. Because no boats were at<br />
hand, it was impossible to cross the Etil, but suddenly a strong wind<br />
arose, the water began to billow, and [it] receded from the passage<br />
leading from the island to the other side; and because <strong>of</strong> Mongke<br />
Qa'an's good fortune the bottom became visible. He ordered the troops<br />
to ride in. Bachman was seized and his army destroyed within an<br />
hour, some being flung into the river and some killed outright. <strong>The</strong><br />
Mongols bore <strong>of</strong>f their wives and children as prisoners, and they<br />
likewise carried <strong>of</strong>f much valuable booty. <strong>The</strong>n they returned. <strong>The</strong><br />
229 <strong>The</strong> Volga. This account <strong>of</strong> the operation against Bachman is reproduced from<br />
Juvaini (HWC, pp. 553-54).<br />
230 Jama'at. So Minorsky 1952, p. 225. Ulirlik (AWLYRLYK) probably represents<br />
the "Ilberi" clan <strong>of</strong> the Qipchaq, the conventional form <strong>of</strong> the name being "mal<br />
vocalise," according to Pelliot (Horde d'Or, p. 212, note 3 to p. 210). Verkhovsky<br />
(p. 38) has olburlik. <strong>The</strong> name does not occur in Juvaini's version.<br />
231 That is, the Ossetes. <strong>The</strong> name <strong>of</strong> the Ossete leader has evidently undergone<br />
the influence <strong>of</strong> popular etymology, the first element being assimilated to Mo. qachir<br />
" mule." He is not mentioned in Juvaini's account.<br />
232 That is, the Volga. On the name Etil, see Boyle 1964, p. 178, note 18.<br />
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