honoured, during
which period of fasting a city of Islam could not be pillaged. This argument won the day, but Tchagri was not disarmed and
he resigned himself to waiting until the population was no longer in a state of grace.
When the citizens got wind of the dispute between the two brothers and realized that at the beginning of the coming month
they would be handed over to be pillaged, raped and massacred, that was start of the Great Fear. Worse than rape is the announcement
of impending rape, combined with a passive and humiliating wait for the unavoidable. The stalls emptied, men went to ground
and their wives and daughters saw them bewail their impotence. What could they do, how could they flee, by what route? The
occupier was everywhere. Soldiers with braided hair lurked in the bazaar of the Grand Square, the various districts of the
city and its suburbs, the area around the Burnt Gate. They were constantly drunk and on the lookout for ransom or plunder,
and their disorderly hordes infested the neighbouring countryside.
Does one not usually desire the fast to come to an end and the feast day to arrive? That year they wanted the fast to go on
forever and hoped that the Feast of Breaking would never come. When thecrescent moon of the new month was spotted, no one thought to rejoice or to slit the throat of a lamb. The whole city felt
like a gigantic lamb fattened for slaughter.
The night before the feast, this night when every wish is granted, was a night of agony, tears and prayers spent by thousands
of families in the precarious shelter of mosques, and the mausoleums of saints.
In the citadel, there was now a stormy discussion raging between the Seljuk brothers. Tchagri shouted that his men had not
been paid for months, and that they had only agreed to fight because they had been promised a free hand in this opulent city,
that they were on the verge of revolt and that he, Tchagri, could no longer hold them back.
Tughrul spoke another language:
‘We are only at the start of our conquests. There are so many cities to take, Isfahjan, Shiraz, Ray, Tabriz and others further
on. If we pillage Nishapur after it has surrendered, after all our promises, no other gate will open for us, no other garrison
will show any weakness.’
‘How will we be able to conquer all those cities of which you are dreaming if we lose our army and our men abandon us? The
most loyal are already complaining and threatening.’
The two brothers were surrounded by their lieutenants and the elders of the clan who unanimously confirmed Tchagri’s words.
Encouraged by this, he rose and decided to bring things to a conclusion:
‘We have spoken too much. I am going to tell my men to do as they wish with the city. If you wish to restrain your men, do
so. To each of us his own troops.’
Caught on the horns of a dilemma, he did not move. Suddenly he sprang away from them and grabbed a dagger.
Tchagri, for his part, had also unsheathed his sword. No one knew whether to intervene or, as was the custom, let the Seljuk
brothers settle their difference with blood, when Tughrul called out:
‘Brother, I cannot force you to obey me. I cannot restrain yourmen, but if you set them on the city I will plant this dagger in my heart.’
As he said that he clutched the handle of the dagger with both hands and pointed the blade down toward his chest. His brother
hesitated little, but walked toward him with his arms open and gave him a long embrace, promising not to go against his will.
Nishapur was saved, but it would never forget the Great Fear of Ramadan.
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
which period of fasting a city of Islam could not be pillaged. This argument won the day, but Tchagri was not disarmed and
he resigned himself to waiting until the population was no longer in a state of grace.
When the citizens got wind of the dispute between the two brothers and realized that at the beginning of the coming month
they would be handed over to be pillaged, raped and massacred, that was start of the Great Fear. Worse than rape is the announcement
of impending rape, combined with a passive and humiliating wait for the unavoidable. The stalls emptied, men went to ground
and their wives and daughters saw them bewail their impotence. What could they do, how could they flee, by what route? The
occupier was everywhere. Soldiers with braided hair lurked in the bazaar of the Grand Square, the various districts of the
city and its suburbs, the area around the Burnt Gate. They were constantly drunk and on the lookout for ransom or plunder,
and their disorderly hordes infested the neighbouring countryside.
Does one not usually desire the fast to come to an end and the feast day to arrive? That year they wanted the fast to go on
forever and hoped that the Feast of Breaking would never come. When thecrescent moon of the new month was spotted, no one thought to rejoice or to slit the throat of a lamb. The whole city felt
like a gigantic lamb fattened for slaughter.
The night before the feast, this night when every wish is granted, was a night of agony, tears and prayers spent by thousands
of families in the precarious shelter of mosques, and the mausoleums of saints.
In the citadel, there was now a stormy discussion raging between the Seljuk brothers. Tchagri shouted that his men had not
been paid for months, and that they had only agreed to fight because they had been promised a free hand in this opulent city,
that they were on the verge of revolt and that he, Tchagri, could no longer hold them back.
Tughrul spoke another language:
‘We are only at the start of our conquests. There are so many cities to take, Isfahjan, Shiraz, Ray, Tabriz and others further
on. If we pillage Nishapur after it has surrendered, after all our promises, no other gate will open for us, no other garrison
will show any weakness.’
‘How will we be able to conquer all those cities of which you are dreaming if we lose our army and our men abandon us? The
most loyal are already complaining and threatening.’
The two brothers were surrounded by their lieutenants and the elders of the clan who unanimously confirmed Tchagri’s words.
Encouraged by this, he rose and decided to bring things to a conclusion:
‘We have spoken too much. I am going to tell my men to do as they wish with the city. If you wish to restrain your men, do
so. To each of us his own troops.’
Caught on the horns of a dilemma, he did not move. Suddenly he sprang away from them and grabbed a dagger.
Tchagri, for his part, had also unsheathed his sword. No one knew whether to intervene or, as was the custom, let the Seljuk
brothers settle their difference with blood, when Tughrul called out:
‘Brother, I cannot force you to obey me. I cannot restrain yourmen, but if you set them on the city I will plant this dagger in my heart.’
As he said that he clutched the handle of the dagger with both hands and pointed the blade down toward his chest. His brother
hesitated little, but walked toward him with his arms open and gave him a long embrace, promising not to go against his will.
Nishapur was saved, but it would never forget the Great Fear of Ramadan.
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
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