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CHAPTER 7
‘That is how the Seljuks are,’ Khayyam observed. ‘Uneducated looters and
enlightened sovereigns who are capable of great meanness and sublime gestures.
Tughrul Beg above all had the temperament of an empire builder. I was three
years old when he took Isfahan and ten years old when he conquered Baghdad,
imposing himself as the protector of the Caliph and wheedling out of him the
title of ‘Sultan, King of the East and West’ and at seventy marrying the Prince of
the Believers’ very own daughter.’
Omar recounted in a tone of admiration, perhaps with even a touch of
solemnity, but Jahan let out a very irreverent laugh. He was offended and gave
her a sharp look, unable to understand this sudden hilarity. She excused herself
and explained:
‘When you mentioned the marriage, I remembered what they told me in the
harem.’
Omar vaguely remembered the episode whose every detail Jahan had
greedily retained.
When he received the message from Tughrul demanding the hand of his
daughter Sayyida, the Caliph had become wild with rage. The emissary of the
Sultan had hardly withdrawn before he exploded:
‘This Turk who has just stepped out from his yurt! This Turk whose fathers
in the very recent past were still worshipping some idol or another and who
painted pigs’ snouts on their standards! How dare he demand in marriage the
daughter of the Prince of the Believers, descendant of the most noble lineage?’
If he was trembling so violently in all his august limbs it was because he
knew that he could not deflect the claim. After months of hesitation and two
messages of appeal, he ended up by formulating a reply. One of his old
counsellors was charged with conveying it and he left for the city of Ray, whose
ruins are still visible in the area of Teheran. Tughrul’s court was there.
The Caliph’s emissary was first of all received by the Vizir who confronted
him with these words:
‘The Sultan’s patience is running out and he is harassing me. I am happy that
you at last have arrived with a reply.’
‘You will be less happy when you hear it: the Prince of Believers begs you to
excuse him for not being able to accede to the demand which has been put to
him.’
The Vizir did not seem particularly concerned. He continued to finger his
jade worry-beads.
‘And so,’ he said, ‘you are going to walk down this corridor and go through
that tall doorway and announce to the master of Iraq, Fars, Khorassan and
Azerbaijan, to the conqueror of Asia, the sword who defends the true Religion,
to the protector of the Abbassid throne: “No, the Caliph will not give you his
daughter!” Very well. This guard will show you the way.’
The latter presented himself and the emissary arose to follow him, when the
Vizir added innocuously:
‘I assume, wise man that you are, that you have paid your debts, shared out
your fortune among your sons and married off all your daughters!’
The emissary sat back down, suddenly exhausted.
‘What do you advise me to do?’
‘Did the Caliph give you no other directive, no other way of settling affairs?’
‘He told me that if there was really no way of escaping from this marriage, he
wished for three hundred thousand gold dinars as compensation.’
‘There we have already a better way of proceeding. However, I do not think
it is reasonable for him to ask for compensation after all that the Sultan has done
for the Caliph, after he had brought him back to the city whence the Shiites had
chased him, after he had restored to him his wealth and his territory. We could
reach the same result without offending Tughrul Beg. You will tell him that the
Caliph offers him his daughter’s hand, and I, for my part, will make use of the
moment of intense satisfaction to suggest that he gives a gift of dinars
commensurate to such a personage.’
That was what happened. The Sultan, in a state of excitement, put together a
great convoy comprising the Vizir, several princes, dozens of officers and
dignitaries, and aged female relatives with hundreds of guards and slaves who
carried to Baghdad for him presents of great value – camphor, myrrh, brocade
and boxes full of gems as well as a hundred thousand pieces of gold.
The Caliph held an audience for the principal members of the delegation and
exchanged polite but amorphous greetings. Then, during his talk with the
Sultan’s Vizir, he told him bluntly that the marriage did not have his consent and
that if they tried to coerce him he would leave Baghdad.
‘If that is the stance of the Prince of Believers, why did he propose an
arrangement in dinars?’
‘I could not simply turn him down with a single “no”. I hoped that the Sultan
would understand by my attitude that he could not obtain such a sacrifice from
me. I can tell you that no other Sultans, be they Turks or Persians, have ever
demanded such a thing from a Caliph. I must defend my honour!’
‘Several months ago, when I felt that your response might be negative, I tried
to prepare the Sultan. I explained to him that no one before him had ever dared
to formulate such a request, that it was untraditional and that people would be
surprised. I could never dare to repeat what he replied to me.’
‘Speak. Fear not!’
‘May the Prince of Believers excuse me, for those words can never cross my
lips.’
The Caliph lost his patience.
‘Speak, I order you. Hide nothing!’
‘The Sultan started by insulting me and accusing me of siding with the Prince
of Believers against him … He threatened to have me put in irons …’
The Vizir stuttered deliberately.
‘Get to the point. Tell me what Tughrul Beg said?’
‘The Sultan yelled: “What a strange clan those Abbassids are! Their
ancestors conquered the best half of the world, they built the most flourishing
cities and just look at them today! I take their empire and they put up with that. I
take their capital and they are happy, they shower me with presents and the
Prince of Believers says to me, ‘I give you all the lands which God has given to
me and I place in your hands all the believers whose fate He has entrusted to
me.’ He begs me to put his palace, his person and his harem under my
protection. However, if I ask for his daughter, he rises up and wishes to defend
his honour. Is the only territory for which the Sultan is ready to fight the thighs
of a virgin?”’
The Caliph choked and could not utter a word. The Vizir made the most of
this to conclude the message.
‘The Sultan added, “Go and tell them that I will take that girl the way I took
this empire, the way I took Baghdad!”’
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