Before overthrowing the Ghaznavid dynasty and ascending the throne of Ghazni, the local rulers of Ghor were naturally referred to by the titles “Malik” and “Amir”. The history and original roots of this family, also known as Al-e Shansab and the Shansabanids after their grandfather Shansab, are neither very clear nor well documented. Juzjani, who is in a sense regarded as the official historian of this dynasty, traces the family’s origin in two ways. According to the versified genealogy of Fakhr al-Din Mubarak Shah Marwazi, the family descends from Arvand Asp, son of Hushang and father of the mythical Zahhak (Azhi Dahaka). According to the Muntakhab-i Nasiri, which was written for Sultan Shihab al-Din Ghori in Ghazni, it descends from two brothers named Sur and Sam, sons of Bastam, who lived in the time of Faridun, Salm, Tur and Iraj.
Juzjani writes that, according to one account, Bastam, the great ancestor of the Ghurid dynasty, used to come to Ghor from the mountains of Shughnan, Badakhshan, Tokharistan and Bamiyan to hunt. He liked the place and eventually settled there. According to another account, however, they came to Ghor from the Nahavand region and settled in a place that was later named Mandesh (Juzjani: 1963: 320-23). All of these accounts are legendary, contain many contradictions, and are not supported by historical documentation.
In any case, figures such as Muhammad Suri and Amir Abbas Suri are among the members of the Ghurid family mentioned in sources from the Ghaznavid period. According to Juzjani, Malik Izz al-Din Hussain, one of the amirs of Ghor, had seven sons. One of them, Malik al-Jibal Qutb al-Din Muhammad, the founder of the city of Firuzkoh, fell into dispute with his brothers and took refuge at the Ghaznavid court. For whatever reason, he was killed by Bahram Shah Ghaznavi. Qutb al-Din Muhammad’s brother, Sayf al-Din Suri, marched an army to Ghazni to avenge his brother, captured the city, set foot on the throne of Ghazni, and was called by the title “Sultan”. In the winter of that same year, when the road from Ghor was blocked by heavy snow, Sayf al-Din Suri was captured by Bahram Shah and killed together with the notables of his state. Baha al-Din Sam, father of Sultan Ghiyath al-Din and Sultan Shihab al-Din (Muizz al-Din) Ghori, set out from Ghor to avenge his brother, but died on the way before reaching Ghazni, and the rule of Ghor passed to Sultan Ala al-Din Hussain.
Jahansuz and the March to Ghazni
Ala al-Din Hussain, whose three brothers had lost their lives over Ghazni, set out for Ghazni in 544 AH (1149 to 1150 CE) with the armies of Ghor and Gharjistan to, in his own words, “avenge” his brothers. Juzjani says that Ala al-Din had reached the land of Zamindawar when Bahram Shah Ghaznavi sent him a message and threatened: “Do not come toward me, for in battle with you I will bring elephants to the field.” Ala al-Din replied: “If you bring elephants, I will bring Kharmil.” Kharmil was the name of two Ghurid champions, and this rhymed reply is itself a sign of Ala al-Din’s literary talent and taste.
Three battles took place between Ala al-Din and Bahram Shah at three locations. The latter was defeated all three times, and Ghazni finally fell to the former. Juzjani says: “Ala al-Din seized the city of Ghazni and set Ghazni ablaze for seven days and nights, and it burned… for during these seven days, by day, because of the thickness of the smoke, the air grew so dark that it resembled night, and by night, because of the flames of the fire burning in the city of Ghazni, the air was so bright that it resembled day (Juzjani: 344).” Juzjani writes that after the victory, Ala al-Din spent a whole week in wine, revelry, and victory celebrations. When seven days and nights had passed, on the eighth night Ala al-Din composed a few verses in praise of himself and ordered the musicians to play the harp and percussion in his presence:
The world knows that I am the Sultan of the world,
The lamp of the Abbasid lineage.
When I mount the rose-colored steed of fortune,
Earth and heaven become one to me.
Hope recites verses amid the dust of my army,
Death is a trickster on the tip of my lance.
I shall seize the whole world like Alexander,
And set up another king in every city.
Then, at the end, he speaks of pardon and mercy toward the people of Ghazni and composes:
I granted them their lives,
May their lives be bound to my own.
Juzjani explicitly describes how Ala al-Din ordered the singers and musicians to turn his poem into a song and composition and to play it with instruments. Beyond his knowledge of music and love for it, the fluency and smoothness of these verses are truly rare and memorable. Interestingly, after seven days and nights of revelry, wine-drinking and music, the sultan proclaims seven more days and nights of general mourning. He wears black, recites condolences at the graves of his brothers, completes readings of the Quran, and gives alms.
Ala al-Din brought his brothers’ bodies from Ghazni to Ghor and buried them beside his ancestors. Then, when he returned to Firuzkoh and sat on the throne, he once again held a gathering of pleasure and merriment, music and poetry. He “wished to engage in pleasure and joy, and gathered the musicians and companions and turned to merriment. He composed this piece and ordered the musicians to bring it into the work of the wind instruments, to set it and to sing it:
I am he for whose justice the age takes pride,
I am he through whose generosity the treasury suffers hardship.
The enemy will bite his own finger,
When I place the thumb-ring on the bowstring.
When my bay horse leapt from square to square amid the ranks,
The enemy could no longer tell his house from the lane.
Bahram Shah, when he drew the bow in hatred of me,
I tore the quiver from his waist with a spear.
Though the enemy’s backing was all Rai and Rana,
I smashed the heads of Rai and Rana with my mace.
Now I have taught how vengeance is taken with the sword
To the kings of the age and the lords of the time.
O wondrous minstrel, when you are done with the harp,
Recite the song and play this melody.
When fortune has raised you high, it is not fitting to let go
Of the minstrel’s song and the clear wine of the Magians.”
This poem too, like another boast-poem of Ala al-Din, is truly beautiful, and its fluency, literary devices, tone and expression most remind one of the master of the ghazal, Saadi of Shiraz.
Besides the melodious meter he has chosen, the sultan uses the device of repetition from the very beginning of the ghazal with the phrase “I am he who…”. Alongside the rhyming words, he also brings in the words “justice” and “generosity” in the same meter to strengthen the musical quality of the verse, and he creates a contrast with the words “tyranny”, “justice”, “generosity” and “treasury”.
In “The enemy will bite his own finger”, he brings a proverb and popular expression into the poem on the one hand. On the other hand, with the word “kanad” he creates an ambiguity and double meaning: does the enemy put (kunad) his finger to his teeth, or tear (kanad) it out with his teeth?
In another verse, “When my bay horse leapt from square to square amid the ranks”, he recalls the game of chess, its squares, and the leaping of the horse. Besides revealing his mastery of chess, he also reminds us that the battle line was like a game and a pastime for him.
The next verse, with its repetition of the letters “k” and “n”, is truly the best verse of the poem:
Bahram Shah, when he drew the bow in hatred of me,
I tore the quiver from his waist with a spear.
Using the device of alliteration, or sound repetition, the sultan has played beautifully with the letters “k” and “n” in the words “hatred” (kina), “bow” (kaman), “tore” (kandam), “waist” (kamar), “quiver” (kinana), and “drew” (keshid). The meaning of the verse is that when Bahram Shah drew his bow toward me, I tore his kinana, or quiver, from his waist with a spear and threw it away.
Though the enemy’s backing was all Rai and Rana,
I smashed the heads of Rai and Rana with my mace.
Now I have taught how vengeance is taken with the sword
To the kings of the age and the lords of the time.
“Rai and Rana” again contains sound repetition, and refers to the Indian princes, rais, ranas, and rajas who were allies and supporters in Bahram Shah’s army. Likewise, the “t” sound in the words “tukhtan” (to take), “tigh” (sword), and “amukhtan” (to teach) creates assonance and makes the tone of the poem more beautiful.
At the end of the ghazal, the sultan addresses the minstrel, the musician and the artist directly: “O wondrous minstrel”, meaning O inventive singer, O talented singer and musician, when you have put down the harp, play and sing this other song. Sing and say that “when fortune has raised you high”, meaning that when luck, fortune and victory are with you, it is not fitting to abandon wine and music and set them aside. “Recite the song and play this melody. / I am he for whose justice the age takes pride.”
Source
- Juzjani, Minhaj al-Siraj (1963). Tabaqat-i Nasiri, edited by Abdul Hai Habibi, Kabul: Kabul Press.
Original Poems
آنم که هست فخر ز عدلم زمانه را
آنم که هست جور ز بذلم خزانه را
انگشت دست خویش به دندان کند عدو
چون بر زه کمان نهم انگشتوانه را
چون جست خانه خانه کمیتم میان صف
دشمن ز کوی باز ندانست خانه را
بهرامشه، به کینه من چون کمان کشید
کندم به نیزه از کمر او کنانه را
پُشتیِ خصم گرچه همه رای و رانه بود
کردم به گُرز خُرد، سرِ رای و رانه را
کینتوختن به تیغ در آموختم کنون
شاهان روزگار و ملوک زمانه را
***
ای مطرب بدیع، چو فارغ شدی ز چنگ
بر گوی قول را و بزن این ترانه را
دولت چو برکشید نشاید فرو گذاشت
قول مغنی و می صافِ مغانه را
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