Монголоведение (Aug 2022)
Once Again about the Kara Khitai in Pre-Mongol Muslim Sources: One Anonymous Persian Essay of 1133 Revisited
Abstract
Introduction. The article deals with the concept ‘Kara Khitai’ in Muslim historical writings. In particular, the paper examines a relatively well-known anonymous Persian-language text of 1133 containing valuable messages on the Kara Khitai invasion of East Turkestan. Goals. The study aims to analyze information about the Kara Khitai from the specified text and correlate the data with those traced in other 12th–13th century Muslim historical compositions. Materials and methods. The work considers a wide range of Muslim historical texts of both the pre-Mongol period and that of the Mongol invasion proper comprising data on the mentioned issues. And again, the anonymous Persian text of 1133 is integral to the collection of letters and documents first partially published by V. V. Bartold with the title ‘Insha’. This text narrates, in particular, that after the victorious campaign of Khwarazmshah Atsiz deep into Turkestan the latter would send fath-namehs — to receive a response from the ruler of Kashgar who was announcing his own victory over the ‘infidels’ led by a nameless leader referred to none other than ‘the One-Eyed’. A comparison of this message to later ones in Ibn al-Athir’s Al-Kāmil fī al-tārīkh (The Complete History) results in a convincing conclusion there is a connection between the two texts. As for the victory of Kashgar’s ruler over the Kara Khitai, that was rather a local success since those invaders were not only able to eventually conquer the region but also extended their power to the adjacent lands. Conclusions. A comparative analysis of the anonymous work included in the Insha collection and Ibn al-Athir’s text may suggest a preliminary implication the Arab historian had been familiar with the former narrative and, apparently, that was where he borrowed the image of ‘the One-Eyed’ ruler of the Kara Khitai. No other 12th century Muslim texts (synchronous with the Insha) mention the latter, nor historical works from the first quarter of the 13th century — which Ibn al-Athir could have turned to — contain anything of the kind.
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