XI-
In the days when HULABO the IL-KHAN departed from this temporary life, the sons of the kings and the MONGOLS agreed together that his eldest son should sit upon the throne of his father, because they saw that God had adorned him with understanding, and wisdom, and a good disposition, and mercifulness. And when the kingdom was established for him, he showed himself triumphant in his wars, and the conqueror of all his enemies, and he was beloved by all the peoples who were under his dominion. And in this year, which is the year [fifteen hundred] and seventy-six [of the GREEKS], EPHTHIMIUS (EUTHYMIUS), [522] Patriarch of ANTIOCH of the GREEKS, came, and he brought the daughter of MICHAEL PALAEOLOGOS to ‘ABAKA, King of Kings. For his father had long before sent an ambassador asking for her; and in the year in which she was given, before they arrived in CAESAREA, then they were informed of the departure of the King of Kings, HULABO, and they could not return.
And in this year ‘IZZ AD-DIN Sultan fled from the country of CONSTANTINOPLE. And he sent and informed those of the house of BARAKATH, for they were neighbours of that country, and they sent and seized him and departed, and behold he is there to this day.
And in this year, in the days of summer, a Pukdana came to ‘ALA AD-DIN, the Master of the DiWAN, ordering that he should have a general Pukdana over BAGHDAD. And after a little time a stupefying report came to him that his brother SHAMS AD-DIN, the Master of the DIWAN, was held prisoner in the Camp. Straightway KARA BOGHA, the governor of BAGHDAD, laid his hand on ‘ALA AD-DIN, and shut him up in his palace on the twentieth day of the month of ‘AB (AUGUST), and he sent and informed his brother. And the Pukdana came that ‘ALA AD-DIN should go with honour and be escorted, and also ISAAC, the Armenian youth, the scribe of KARA BOGHA, and with him a man of the MA’DAYE, [who said], ‘I have come to make ‘ALA AD-DIN to flee’. And when they arrived at the Camp that man of the MA’DAYE was beaten, and he confessed, saying, ‘ISAAC taught me to lie’. And they killed ISAAC and the man of the MA’DAYE. And from this time the affairs of the Christians became confounded.
And in the year fifteen hundred and seventy-seven [of the GREEKS] (A.D. 1266), BUNDUKDAR, the lord of EGYPT, sent to king HAITUM of CILICIA, and he said unto him, ‘Let us submit to him and pay a capitation tax, and we will open the road of SYRIA, and transport food from his country’. And the king, through fear of the TATARS, was unable to reply to him with words of peaceful agreement, and because of this he made ready to come to CILICIA without delay. And the king hastened to BETH RHOMAYE, to the chief of the TATARS, whose name was ‘NAPHSHI’, so that he might come to his help. And he replied, ‘Without the Pukdana of the King of Kings I am unable to come’. And during the time when, having sent the ambassador, and he was awaiting the reply, the troops of the EGYPTIANS burst into CILICIA, the king being outside (or, absent). Then the CONSTABLE, his brother, and two [523] sons of the king, and his nobles made haste and went to meet the EGYPTIANS, and they met them in battle by the side of the ROCK OF SERWAND. And the ARMENIANS were broken, and LION, the lord of the district, the eldest son of the king, was made prisoner, on the third day [of the week], on the twenty-fourth day of the month of ‘AB (AUGUST) of this year. And BARON TOROS, the younger son of the king, was killed, and the rest of his nobles fled.
And the EGYPTIANS went in and spread themselves over the whole country of CILICIA, and they wrought great destruction therein, [ committing] murder and [leading the people into] captivity. And they set fire to SIS, and they pulled down the great church, nay, more than this, all the churches. Only two of our churches escaped, viz. the church of the Mother of God, and that of MAR BAR SAWMA, because there was no wood in the structures. And they spoiled MOPSUESTIA, and ‘AYAS,and ‘ADANA, and they took into captivity sons and daughters without end. Now they did not come to TARSOS. They set fire to the Monastery of PAKSEMAT, but they did not harm that of GWIKHATH, because there was found in it a monk who could speak ARABIC, and he humbled himself before them, and they did no harm either to himself or to his monastery. And they remained in the country, looting and burning twenty days, and then they went forth.
Now after they had gone forth king HAITUM came, and with him was all army [composed] of TATARS and men of BETH RHOMAYE, and these instead of rendering help did wanton damage, and the things which remained from the EGYPTIANS they looted. Then after these things king HAITUM began to be anxious about the deliverance of his son. And having promised to giye gold and fortresses to the EGYPTIANS as the ransom of his son, the EGYPTIANS replied, ‘ I ask nothing from thee except one friend, who is now in the hands of the TATARS, and whose name is SENKUR ‘ASHKAR, that is a red-haired man ; save this man and send [him] to me, and take thy son ‘.
And at this time RUKN AD-DIN, the lord of BETH RHOMAYE, wished to destroy PARWANA, the man whom he had seated firmly on the throne of the kingdom, and his actions with the benefits of his government were spread abroad. Therefore when PARWANA knew this he informed the nobles of the MONGOLS when RUKN AD-DIN was with them. He persuaded a certain man, and he went into the tent in which he was lying down, and he threw a cord round his neck [524] and strangled him, and they carried him [out] and buried him. And they set up in his place his son GHAYATH AD-DIN when he was a child about four years old. In this year NASIR (RADI ?) AD- DIN PAPA (BABA) brought a Pukdana from the Camp, and he killed ZAKI the ARBELITE, and reigned in MAWSIL.
And in the year fifteen hundred and seventy-eight of the GREEKS (A.D. 1267), king HAITUM came to MAWSIL, and from there he went to do fealty to the King of Kings, ‘ABAKA. And he went before him because of his son who was a prisoner in EGYPT, and he begged for SENKUR, the red-haired man, that he might give [him] as a substitute and take his son. And ‘ABAKA had compassion on him, and he said unto him, ‘At present he is not near, but do thou go to thy country, and I will have him brought and will send him to thee’. And HAITUM left the king and went back.
At this time PARWANA, the administrator of the kingdom of BETH RHOMAYE, desired to contract affinity with king HAITUM through his daughter. And he discussed the matter with PARSIGH, an Armenian monk, an ambassador of the king to the TATARS, and he, the fool, counselled him, saying, ‘When the king is ready to cross over into thy country, come to him, and pay him honour, and ask him, and he will not prevent thee’. Therefore when the king came back from the Camp, and arrived at the inn of KARATAI, and tarried the night there, PARWANA came to him, and with him were all the nobles of BETH RHOMAYE, and he offered to the king very valuable gifts, and asked for his daughter. And because the king was afraid lest he might ambush him on the road and do him harm, he did not offend him [by refusing], but gave him his word and his right hand, and went to his own country. And when PARWANA began to ask for her, the king replied, ‘It would not be seemly for us to make her a wedding feast with her brother in prison’. And when PARWANA had waited until her brother came, and there remained no longer any reason for keeping her [from him], it happened that the daughter died, and PARSIGH the monk perished through anger.
And in this year, which is the year fifteen hundred and seventy-eight [of the GREEKS (A.D. 1267)], ALAM AR-RIASAH, the Egyptian lawyer in MAWSIL, was seized and put to death in prison, on the second day [of the week], on the twenty-ninth day of the month of ILUL (SEPTEMBER).
And in the year which is the year fifteen hundred and seventy-nine of the GREEKS (A.D. 1268}, SENKUR ‘ASHKAR was brought from the country of SAMARKAND, and was sent to king HAITUM, and he sent him to EGYPT. And in this year, [525] in the days of the Fast of Forty Days, MAR DENHA, the Catholicus of the NESTORIANS, took a certain native of TAGRITH who many years before had become a Muslim, and wished to baptize him in the TIGRIS. And the people of BAGHDAD heard [of it]. And they made a great tumult against ‘ALA AD-DIN, the Master of the DIWAN. And he sent nobles to the Catholicus several times and demanded that person. And when the Catholicus did not wish to give him up, the people became wild with rage, and they set fire to the wooden framework of the gates of the Cell (i.e. the house of the Catholicus), and they climbed up the walls to kill the Catholicus. And the Master of the DIWAN heard [of it], and he sent and took him to his palace from the side of the waters secretly, and saved him. And the Catholicus sent and complained to the Camp, and messengers came and took him and he went [there]. And when he had made his complaint no man hearkened to his voice, and he left and came to ‘ARBIL; and he began to build a church in the Citadel thereof, and he lived therein.