Travel customs of the Tatar King of Iraq

The author joins the Tatar King of Iraq's court while departing from Baghdad and recounts the Tatars' travel customs, which include musical performances. Tatar was a general term used to refer to Mongols. A "monster kettledrum" is mentioned, "known to the Mug̲h̲als as the kūrgā (ii, 126 tr. Gibb, ii, 342-3). The kūrgā was the personal musical emblem of the Il-Ḵh̲ān and at his death it was destroyed" (see Ṭabl-K̲h̲āna, EI-2).

وعادتهم أنهم يرحلون عند طلوع الفجر وينزلون عند الضحى، وترتيبهم أن يأتي كل أمير من الأمراء بعسكره وطبوله وأعلامه، فيقف في موضع لا يتعداه قد عُيِّنَ له إما في الميمنة أو الميسرة، فإذا توافَوا جميعًا وتكامَلَتْ صفوفهم رَكِبَ الملك وضُرِبَتْ طبول الرحيل وبُوقاته وأنفاره، وأتى كل أمير منهم فسَلّمَ على الملك وعاد إلى موقفه، ثم يتقدم أمام الملك الحُجّاب والنقباء، ثم يليهم أهل الطرب وهم نحو مائة رجل عليهم الثياب الحسنة وتحتهم مراكب السلطان، وأمام أهل الطرب عشرة من الفرسان قد تقلدوا عشرة من الطبول وخمسة من الفرسان لديهم خمس صرنايات وهي تسمى عندنا بالغيطات، فيضربون تلك الأطبال والصرنايات ثم يمسكون ويغني عشرة من أهل الطرب نوبتهم، فإذا قَضَوْها ضُرِبَتْ تلك الأطبال والصرنايات ثم أمسكوا وغنى عشرة آخرون نوبتهم … هكذا إلى أن تتم عشر نوبات، فعند ذلك يكون النزول، ويكون عن يمين السلطان وشماله حين سيره كبار الأمراء وهم نحو خمسين ومن ورائه أصحاب الأعلام والأطبال والأنفار والبوقات ثم مماليك السلطان ثم الأمراء على مراتبهم وكل أمير له أعلام وطبول وبوقات، ويتولى ترتيب ذلك كله أمير جندر وله جماعة كبيرة [...] فإذا كان الرحيل ضُرِبَ الطبل الكبير ثم يُضْرَب طبل الخاتون الكبرى التي هي الملكة، ثم أطبال سائر الخواتين ثم طبل الوزير ثم أطبال الوزراء دفعة واحدة، ثم يركب أمير المقدمة في عسكره ثم يتبعه الخواتين ثم أثقال السلطان وزاملته وأثقال الخواتين، ثم أمير ثانٍ في عسكر له يمنع الناس من الدخول فيما بين الأثقال والخواتين ثم سائر الناس [ص. ١٦٤-١٦٥]

It is their custom to set out with the rising of the dawn and to encamp in the late forenoon. Their ceremonial [on setting out] is as follows: each of the amīrs comes up with his troops, his drums [ṭubūl] and his standards, and halts in a position that has been assigned to him, not a step further, either on the right wing or the left wing. When they have all taken up their positions and their ranks are set in perfect order, the king mounts, and the drums [ṭubūl], coiled trumpets [būqāt] and straight trumpets [anfār] are sounded for the departure. Each of the amīrs advances, salutes the king, and returns to his place; then the chamberlains and the marshals move forward ahead of the king, and are followed by the musicians [ahl al-ṭarab]. These number about a hundred men, wearing handsome robes, and behind them comes the sultan's cavalcade. Ahead of the musicians [ahl al-ṭarab] there are ten horsemen, with ten drums [ṭubūl] carried on slings round their necks, and five [other] horsemen carrying five zurnas [ṣurnāyāt], which are called in our country ghaiṭas [ġayṭa]. They make music with these drums [aṭbāl] and zurnas [ṣurnāyāt] and then stop, and ten of the musicians sing their piece [nawba]; when they finish it those drums [aṭbāl] and zurnas [ṣurnāyāt] play [again], and when they stop, ten others sing their piece [nawba], and so on until ten pieces [nawbāt] are completed, whereupon the encampment takes place. On the sultan's right and left during his march are the great amīrs, who number about fifty, and behind him are the standard-bearers, drums [aṭbāl], straight and coiled trumptes [anfār, būqāt] and after them the amīrs according to their ranks. Each amīr has his own standards, drums [ṭubūl] and coiled trumpets [būqāt]. The organization of all this is supervised by the amīr jandar, who has a large corps [under his command]. [...] When the hour of departure comes, the monster kettledrum [al-ṭabl al-kabīr] is beaten, followed by the beating in succession of the drums [aṭbāl] of the chief khātūn, who is the queen, then of the other khātūns, then of the vizier, then of those of the amīrs all at once. Then the amīr of the advance guard rides off with his troops, followed by the khātūns, then the sultan's baggage and baggage animals and the baggage of the khātūns, then another amīr with a troop under his command to prevent persons from intruding in between the baggage and the khātūns, and finally the rest of the army.

342-344

1327 circa