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

BEGINNING OF THE HISTORY OF OGETEI £A AN
present or may come to hand we shall give it all to our subjects and
to petitioners so that we may store up a good name."
To confirm these statements that have been made in brief regarding
his deeds and words, a few anecdotes will be recounted in detail,
being one out of a thousand and little out of much.371
[i] It is thejwa andyosun372 of the Mongols that in spring and summer
no one may sit in water by day, nor wash his hands in a stream,
nor draw water in gold and silver vessels, nor lay out washed garments
upon the plain; it being their belief that such actions increase the
thunder and lightning, which they greatly dread and shun. One day
Qa'an had been hunting with Chaghatai, and as they were returning
they beheld a Muslim sitting in midstream washing himself. Chaghatai,
who was extremely precise in the enforcement of the yasa, wished to
put the man to death. But Qa'an said: "Today it is late and we are
tired. Let him be held in custody tonight, and tomorrow he can be
tried and punished." He handed the man over to Danishmand
Hajib, telling him in secret to have a silver balish thrown in the water
where the man had been washing and to have him instructed to say,
at the time of the trial, that he was a poor man, that all the capital
he possessed had fallen into the water, and that he had plunged in in
order to pull it out. On the next day, at the time of the examination,
the man had recourse to this excuse, and some persons were sent to the
place and found the balish in the water. Then Qa'an said: "Who
would dare to contravene the Great Yasa? But this poor man, because
of his great distress and helplessness, has sacrificed himself for
this wretched amount." He pardoned him and commanded that
he should be given 10 more balish from the treasure; and a written
statement was taken from him that he would not commit a similar
action again. On this account the freemen of the world became the
slaves of his nature, which is better than much treasure. Praise be to
God, Lord of the worlds!
[ii] When they first rose to power they made a yasa that no one
*
should cut the throats of sheep and other animals slaughtered for food
371 The above is abridged from Juvaini (HWC, pp. 201-204). The anecdotes that
follow are also reproduced from Juvaini, for the most part in a somewhat abridged
form. Four however (nos. [xxiv], [xxvi], [xxxiv], and [xliv] in HWC) are omitted.
"2 See Glossary.
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