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A HISTORY OF INNER ASIA

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60 A history of Inner Asia<br />

man among us who did not hang up a head known by name.We took as plunder<br />

excellent weapons, fine goods, and brisk riding beasts, and Qutaybah let us have<br />

all that as personal booty.<br />

The victory broke the Sogdians’ capability of facing the Arabs in the<br />

open field, and the rest of the campaign consisted of the siege of the city.<br />

Qutayba was unstintingly assisted and advised by Bukharan and<br />

Khwarazmian auxiliaries, which provoked a taunt from Ghurak that<br />

touched the Arab commander’s raw nerve:<br />

Ghurak sent [word] to [Qutayba]: “You are fighting me with my brothers and<br />

family from [among] the non-Arabs.Send Arabs out to me!” Qutayba became<br />

angry, summoned al-Jadali, and said: “Review the [army] and pick out the<br />

bravest people!” [al-Jadali did so, and] Qutayba took them forward and fought<br />

[the enemy] with them, [using both] cavalry and infantrymen.He bombarded<br />

the city with mangonels, and made a breach which [the defenders] blocked with<br />

sacks of millet.There emerged a man who stood on top of the rampart [lit.<br />

breach] and shouted abuse at Qutaybah.The latter said to the archers who<br />

were with him: “Choose two of your number!” and they did so.Qutayba said:<br />

“Whichever of the two of you will shoot at this man, if he hits him, he will<br />

receive ten thousand [dirhams], but if he misses, his hand will be cut off.” One<br />

of the two held back, but the other came forward and shot [the man on the<br />

rampart], right in the eye.Qutayba ordered that he be given ten thousand<br />

dirhams.<br />

Tabari then relates how the Arabs pressed on, expanding the breach,<br />

and finally the infidels sued for peace.Qutayba made peace with them<br />

the next day, on the condition of delivery of the following assets: (1) a<br />

sum of 2,200,000 dirhams; (2) 30,000 slaves free of defect and including<br />

neither young boys nor old men; (3) they would clear the city for<br />

Qutayba, and would not have in it any fighting men; and (4) a mosque<br />

would be built in Samarkand for Qutayba, for him to enter and pray,<br />

and a pulpit (minbar) would be set up there, from which he might preach<br />

a sermon.The peace treaty was implicitly made with Ghurak, who even<br />

kept an undefined role in the resulting arrangement.The transformation<br />

of the idolatrous Sogdian city into an Islamic stronghold was,<br />

however, emphatic.This is how Tabari narrates it:<br />

[Qutayba] was brought the idols, which were despoiled and then placed before<br />

him; amassed, they were like an enormous edifice.He ordered that they be<br />

burned, and the non-Arabs said to him: “Among them are idols the burner of<br />

which will be destroyed!” Qutayba said: “I shall burn them with my own hand!”<br />

Ghurak came, knelt before him, and said: “Devotion to you is a duty incumbent<br />

upon me.Do not harm these idols!” Qutayba called for fire, took a brand in his

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