The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality Iran Studies Editorial Board Ali Gheissari (University of San Diego, CA) Yann Richard (Sorbonne Nouvelle) Christoph Werner (University of Marburg) VOLUME 11 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/is The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality Studies in Anthropological History By Denise Aigle LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Genghis Khan’s quriltai of 1206, illustration from Rashīd al-Dīn, Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh, BNF Suppl. persan 1113, fol. 139v. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Aigle, Denise. The Mongol Empire between myth and reality : studies in anthropological history / by Denise Aigle. pages cm. — (Iran studies ; v. 11) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-27749-6 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-28064-9 (e-book : alk. paper) 1. Mongols—History—To 1500. 2. Ethnohistory—Asia. I. Title. DS19.A36 2014 950’.2—dc23 2014030153 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1569-7401 isbn 978-90-04-27749-6 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-28064-9 (e-book) Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Contents Acknowledgements vii List of Maps, Genealogical Tables and Illustrations viii List of Abbreviations ix Notes on Transliteration xiii Introduction 1 part 1 The Memoria of the Mongols in Historical and Literary Sources 1 Mythico-Legendary Figures and History between East and West 17 2 The Mongols and the Legend of Prester John 41 3 The Historiographical Works of Barhebraeus on the Mongol Period 66 4 The Historical taqwīm in Muslim East 89 part 2 Shamanism and Islam 5 Shamanism and Islam in Central Asia. Two Antinomic Religious Universes? 107 6 The Transformation of a Myth of Origins, Genghis Khan and Timur 121 7 Mongol Law versus Islamic Law. Myth and Reality 134 vi contents part 3 Conquering the World Protected by the Tenggeri 8 From ‘Non-Negotiation’ to an Abortive Alliance. Thoughts on the Diplomatic Exchanges between the Mongols and the Latin West 159 9 Hülegü’s Letters to the Last Ayyubid Ruler of Syria. The Construction of a Model 199 part 4 Mamluks and Ilkhans. The Quest of Legitimacy 10 Legitimizing a Low-Born, Regicide Monarch. Baybars and the Ilkhans 221 11 The Written and the Spoken Word. Baybars and the Caliphal Investiture Ceremonies in Cairo 244 12 Ghazan Khan’s Invasion of Syria. Polemics on his Conversion to Islam and the Christian Troops in His Army 255 13 A Religious Response to Ghazan Khan’s Invasions of Syria. The Three “Anti-Mongol” fatwās of Ibn Taymiyya 283 Epilogue. The Mongol Empire after Genghis Khan 306 Maps 323 Genealogical Tables 327 Bibliography 331 Illustrations 373 Index 383 Acknowledgements The studies in this volume are the result of a decade of research relating to the Mongols. My interest initially spurred with Ilkhanid Iran, and I later broadened the scope of my analysis in an attempt to understand the Mongol Empire as a point of cross-cultural contact. Iran remained the fulcrum, since at this time the Persian Ilkhanate was the centre of a great geopolitical space, linking China, Central Asia, Syria-Palestine and the Latin West. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to those who inspired this research. What I owe to Jean Aubin cannot readily be put into words. He infected me with his curiosity and his constant desire to broaden the field of investigation. Françoise Aubin did me the great favour of draw- ing my attention to the Mongols of China. Thanks to Roberte Hamayon, I became interested in shamanism. An understanding of this universe, so dif- ferent from Islam, is essential to make sense of the system of representations of the medieval Mongols. To Michel Tardieu I owe my interest in studying con- tacts between East and West, in particular through the myth of Prester John. Jean-Claude Garcin’s very constructive comments enabled me to sharpen my approach to the Mamluk sources. I had the opportunity to present elements of this research in a number of academic institutions, in particular during my period at the Institut Français du Proche-Orient in Damascus (2001–2005) and my seminars at the EPHE. I would like to thank my colleagues and students for their comments and encouragement. I am grateful to Michele Bernardini, Jean-Claude Garcin, Roberte Hamayon and Charles Melville who agreed to read some of the chap- ters that make up this volume. The studies presented here are that much bet- ter thanks to their comments. I wish to express my particular thanks to Yann Richard, to whom is owed the appearance of this volume, for proposing the publication of these studies in Brill’s “Iranian Studies” series. The chapters of the present volume consist of a number of previously pub- lished papers which have been completely revised and reconsidered, as well as some new studies. The original essays were published in various North American and European journals and volumes. It gives me great pleasure to thank the editors (and former editors) for permission to use this material here: Ali Amir-Moezzi, Michele Bernardini, Isabelle Charleux, Sylvie Denoix, Roberte Hamayon, Pierre Lory and Marlis J. Saleh. The English translation of this volume was prepared by Pól Ó Grádaigh. I thank him warmly for his patience and attention to detail. I would like also to thank Damien Simon for the revision of the translation. List of Maps, Genealogical Tables and Illustrations map Caption 1 Eastern Asia 323 2 Central Asia in Mongolian period 324 3 Great Iran 325 4 The Fertile Crescent 326 5 Damascus 326 Table Caption 1 The Great Khans 327 2 The Ilkhanids 328 3 The Khans of the Golden Horde 329 4 The Mamluks Sultans 330 FIGURE Caption 1 Kamāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn, Makhsan al-inshāʾ, BNF Persan 73, fol. 6v. 373 2 Kamāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn, Makhsan al-inshāʾ, BNF Persan 73, fol. 7v. 374 3 Muʿizz al-ansāb, BNF Persan 67, fol. 13r. 375 4 Muʿīn al-Dīn Naṭanzī, Muntakhab al-tawārīkh, BNF Suppl. persan 1651, fol. 12r. 376 5 Rashīd al-Dīn, Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh, BNF Suppl. persan 1113, fol. 139v. 377 6 Kātib Chelebi, Taqwīm al-tawārīkh, BNF Supp. persan 1739, fol. 16r. 378 7 Taqwīm, BNF Suppl. turc 1149, fol. 6v. 379 8 Gospel, Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Ms 251, fol. 15v. 380 9 The white standards, insignia of the power. Inaugural ceremony of the memorial dedicated to Genghis Khan (Photo by Isabelle Bianquis in 2006). 381 List of Abbreviations Sources Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Chronicon Ecclesiasticum. Ed. and trans. J.B. Ecclesiasticum Abbeloos and Th. Lamy. Paris-Leuven, 1872–1877, 3 vols. Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Chronicon Syriacum. Ed. P. Bedjan. Paris-Leipzig, Syriacum 1890. Bar Hebraeus/Budge The Chronography of Gregory Abû’l-Faraj (1225– 1286). Ed. and trans. E. Wallis Budge. London, 1932, 2 vols. Beiträge Taʾrīkh salāṭīn al-mamālik or Beiträge zur Geschischite der Mamlukensultanat in den Jahren 690–721 der higra nach arabischen Handschriften. Ed. K.V. Zetterstéen. Leiden: Brill, 1919. al-Dhahabī, Taʾrīkh Taʾrīkh al-islām. Ed. ʿUmar Tadmurī. Beirut: Dār al-islām al-kutub al-ʿarabī, 1421/2000, 11 vols. Durar Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad. al-Durar al-kāmina fī aʿyān al-miʾa al-thāmania. Heyderabad, 1929–1930, 4 vols. Guillemus de Rubruc, Itinerarium. In Sinica Franciscana. Ed. P. Anastasius Itinerarium Van den Wyngaert. Quarrachi-Firenze, 1929, 164–332. Ḥusn Shāfiʿ b. ʿAlī al-Kātib. Ḥusn al-manāqib al-sirriyya al-muntazaʿa min sīrat al-ẓāhiriyya. Ed. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Khuwayṭir. Riyāḍ, 1976. Ibn Abī l-Faḍāʾil al-Nahj al-sadīd wa-l-durr al-farīd fī mā baʿd taʾrīkh Ibn al-ʿAmīd. Ed. and trans. E. Blochet. Paris: Firmin Didot (Patrologia Orientalis, vols. XII, XIV, XX), 1919–1928. [Barhebraeus =] Ibn Taʾrīkh mukhtaṣar al-duwal. Ed. Anton Ṣalaḥānī. al-ʿIbrī, Mukhtaṣar Beirut: Dār al-Mashriq, 19923. Ibn al-Nafīs Theologus autodidactus of Ibn Nafīs (al-Risāla al-kāmiliyya fī sīrat al-nabawiyya). Eds. Max Meyerhof and Joseph Schacht. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968. Jean de Joinville Vie de saint Louis. Ed. Jacques Monfrin. Paris: Garnier, 1995. x list of abbreviations Juwaynī, Taʾrīkh-i ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAṭāʾ Malik. Taʾrīkh-i jahāngushā. Ed. jahāngushā M. Qazwīnī. Leiden and London, 1912–1937, 3 vols. Juwaynī/Boyle The History of the World Conqueror. Trans. J. Andrew Boyle. Manchester, 1958, 2 vols. Kanz Ibn al-Dawādarī, Abū Bakr. Kanz al-durar wa jāmiʿ al-ghurar. Vol. VIII. Ed. Ulrich Haarmann, Freiburg- Cairo, 1971. Vol. IX. Ed. Hans Robert Roemer. Freiburg-Cairo, 1960. Lettres de Jacques de Vitry Lettres de Jacques de Vitry (1160/1170–1240), évêque de Saint-Jean dʾAcre. Ed. R.B.C. Huygens. Leiden: Brill, 1960. Lupprian Die Beziehungen der Päpste zu islamischen und mongolischen Herrschen im 13. Jahrhundert. Rome (Studi et Testi, 291), 1981. Majmūʿ fatāwā Ibn Taymiyya, Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad.