'Of the Tatar race': a poem about Turkish slave soldiers
Editorial contextListing places in the East, Mustawfi quotes a mocking poem about the Turkish pages of the Seljuk Sultan Sanjar, who fled before the Qara Khitay cavalry. The poet calls them swordsmen 'of the Tatar race'. Le Strange adds that Tatar is not a place-name but the name of a people. It is a glimpse of the word in Persian a century before the Mongol conquests.
Other places are Kasan, Tatar and Fay which a poet has mentioned in his verses on the Ghulams (Pages) of Sultan Sanjar, who had showed lack of bravery in their attack on the cavalry of the infidel Qara Khitay. He says: Bravo! O ye strong hearted Turkish swordsmen Of the Tatar race from Fay and Kasan
About Turkish ghulams (slave soldiers) of Sultan Sanjar, called Tatars
Keep in mind
The poem is satire; Le Strange identifies the poet as Sharaf al-Din Kushkaki in his footnote.