Ata-Malik Juvaini (1226-1283) came from a family of Persian administrators and served the Mongols. He travelled twice to Mongolia and the court at Karakorum around 1249 to 1253, began his Tarikh-i Jahangushay there, and later governed Baghdad for Hülegü's dynasty. Volume I covers the Mongols before Chinggis Khan, the Yasa (law code), Chinggis's sons, the Uighurs, the conquest of Transoxiana and Khorasan (Bukhara, Samarkand, Merv, Nishapur) and Ögedei's court. The Boyle translation named in the catalogue is not in the corpus. This copy is the Persian text edited by Mirza Muhammad Qazvini (Gibb Memorial Series, volume I, 1912). The translations below are our own working versions.
How they knew
Part eyewitness
Who “Tartar” means here
Juvaini usually says 'Mongol' (مغول), but he uses 'Tatar' (تاتار, تتار) as a plain synonym for the Mongols and their armies: 'the Tatar army', 'the hoof of the Tatar horse', 'the Tatars had no script'.
Why read it
The inside view from a Muslim bureaucrat who worked for the conquerors: how poor the Mongols had been, how they borrowed writing from the Uighurs, how they built Karakorum with Chinese and Muslim craftsmen, and the famous one-line report of Bukhara's fall.
Watch out
Juvaini praises his Mongol masters while mourning the ruin of Muslim cities, and his figures are often inflated. The Persian OCR is noisy; quotes are lightly normalized and the printed page numbers are uncertain, so only scan pages are given. The translations are working translations, not Boyle's.
Bukhara: 'They came, they dug, they burned, they killed, they plundered, they left'
Editorial contextAfter telling how Bukhara's citadel was stormed and its walls levelled, Juvaini says a man who escaped reached Khorasan and was asked what had happened. His answer was six verbs. The clever men who heard it agreed that nothing more concise could be said in Persian, and Juvaini says his whole chapter is only a commentary on those few words.
He said: 'They came, they dug, they burned, they killed, they plundered, and they left.' The shrewd people who heard this account agreed that nothing could be said more concisely in Persian.
Working translation
Original wording
گفت آمدند و کندند و سوختند و کشتند و بردند و رفتند جماعت زیرکان که این تقریر شنیدند اتفاق کردند که در پارسی موجزتر ازین سخن نتواند بود
Ata-Malik Juvaini (Persian text, ed. Mirza Muhammad Qazvini, 1912)
Karakorum built on an old ruin, with craftsmen from China and Islam
Editorial contextJuvaini says Ögedei chose the Orkhon valley and the Qaraqorum mountains for his throne, though there was no town or village there, only the trace of a wall of the old Uighur city of Ordu-Baliq. An inscribed stone found there named its founder, Buqu Khan. On top of the ruin Ögedei ordered a new city built, 'known as the city of Qaraqorum', and craftsmen of every kind were brought from Khitai and from the Islamic lands, along with farmers.
In that place there had been neither town nor village, only the trace of a wall, which had been Ordu-Baliq … and on top of it he ordered that a city be built, and [it was] named Ordu-Baliq … known as the city of Qaraqorum. And from Khitai they brought [workers] of every kind, and likewise from the lands of Islam craftsmen and farmers.
Working translation
Original wording
در آن موضع شهری و دیهی نبودست مگر رسم دیواری که آن اردو بالیغ بودست … و بر بالای آن فرمود تا شهری بنا نهادند و اردو بالیغ نام … معروف بشهر قراقورم است و از ختای از هر نوع … آوردند و از بلاد اسلام همچنان صناع و زراع
Ata-Malik Juvaini (Persian text, ed. Mirza Muhammad Qazvini, 1912)
About Ögedei Khan's Mongols; Chinese and Muslim craftsmen
Keep in mind
Juvaini visited Karakorum around 1250, but the founding story comes from court tradition. Garbled words in the OCR are marked with ellipses, including the word for the people brought from Khitai.
A pavilion raised by Muslim architects to outdo the Chinese
Editorial contextJuvaini follows Ögedei's yearly round of residences near Karakorum. In spring the khan moved to a palace called Qarshi Suri, which 'Muslim architects' had put up in rivalry with the Khitayans (Chinese builders): a lofty pavilion decorated with paintings and many-coloured carpets, with a throne and jewelled vessels. The Mongol khan's buildings are credited to foreign craftsmen competing for his favour.
which Muslim architects had raised in rivalry with the Khitayans, and which is called Qarshi Suri: a very lofty pavilion, adorned with all kinds of paintings and many-coloured carpets.
Working translation
Original wording
که آنرا مهندسان مسلمان بر رغم ختائیان افراشته بودند و آنرا قرشی سوری نام است کوشکی نیک عالی بانواع نقوش و فرشهای متلوّن حالی
Ata-Malik Juvaini (Persian text, ed. Mirza Muhammad Qazvini, 1912)
The Sira Ordu: a Chinese pavilion with latticed wooden walls
Editorial contextIn summer Ögedei went up into the mountains, where his people set up a great pavilion brought from Khitai (north China), its walls made of latticed wood, with rich cloth above. It was called the Sira Ordu (Yellow Horde or Yellow Palace). The khan's summer 'palace' was a portable structure, not a stone building.
and they would raise a pavilion from Khitai whose walls were made of latticed wood … and it is called Sir[a] Ordu.
Working translation
Original wording
و از ختای بارگاهی که دیوارهای آن از چوب مشبك ساخته بودند … بر افراشتندی و آنرا سیر اردو نام است
Ata-Malik Juvaini (Persian text, ed. Mirza Muhammad Qazvini, 1912)
Editorial contextJuvaini describes the Mongols' homeland as a barren land bordered by Khitai (north China), the Uighurs, the Kirghiz and Tangut. Before Chinggis Khan, he says, they had no ruler, fought and stole from each other, and paid tribute to the Khan of Khitai. The page also says (in badly garbled OCR) that a chief was marked out only by stirrups of iron. Then comes the twist: now they wear silk and brocade and jewels pour into their tents.
Their clothing was of the skins of dogs and mice, their food the flesh of those animals and of other dead things, their wine the milk of beasts, and their dessert the fruit of a tree shaped like the pine, which they call qusuq.
Working translation
Original wording
و پوشش از جلود کلاب و فارات و خورش از لحوم آن و میتهای دیگر و شراب از البان بهایم و نقل از بار درختی بشکل ناژ که فسوق گویند
Ata-Malik Juvaini (Persian text, ed. Mirza Muhammad Qazvini, 1912)
The Tatars had no writing, so they learned it from the Uighurs
Editorial contextExplaining Chinggis Khan's laws, Juvaini says that since the Tatars had no script, Mongol children were taught to write by the Uighurs. The laws were then written on rolls called the Great Book of the Yasa, kept in the treasuries of the leading princes. This is also a clear case of Juvaini using 'Tatar' for the Mongols.
And since the Tatars had no script, he ordered that the children of the Mongols should learn writing from the Uighurs; and those yasas and ordinances were written down on rolls, which they call the Great Book of Yasas, and it is kept in the treasury of the chief princes.
Working translation
Original wording
و چون … تاتاررا خطی نبوده است بفرمود تا از ایغوران کودکان مغولان خط درآموختند و آن یاساها و احکام بر طوامیر ثبت کردند و آنرا یاسا نامه بزرگ خوانند و در خزانه معتبران پادشاه زادگان باشد
Ata-Malik Juvaini (Persian text, ed. Mirza Muhammad Qazvini, 1912)
Jochi's share: 'as far as the hoof of the Tatar horse has reached'
Editorial contextDescribing how Chinggis Khan divided his realm among his sons, Juvaini says the eldest, Jochi, received everything from Qayaligh and Khwarazm to the far edge of Saqsin and Bulghar on the Volga, and westward 'as far as the hoof of the Tatar horse has reached'. This is the land that became the Golden Horde. Here 'Tatar' is simply another word for the Mongol cavalry.
And to his elder son Tushi he gave the lands from the region of Qayaligh and Khwarazm to the farthest parts of Saqsin and Bulghar, and in that direction as far as the hoof of the Tatar horse has reached.
Working translation
Original wording
و پسر بزرگتر توشی‌را از حدود قیالیغ و خوارزم تا اقصای سقسین و بلغار و از ان جانب تا انجا که سم اسب تاتار رسیدست بدو داد
Ata-Malik Juvaini (Persian text, ed. Mirza Muhammad Qazvini, 1912)
Editorial contextJuvaini retells the Uighurs' own origin story. Between two rivers near Karakorum grew two trees; a light from heaven came down on a hill between them, the hill grew day by day, and the Uighurs heard sweet music coming from it. At last, like a woman giving birth, it opened a door, and inside were five chambers. At the head of the Uighur chapter he says he writes down their beliefs to arouse wonder, not because he accepts them.
until, as happens to women with child when the time of delivery comes, a door opened, and inside there were five chambers.
Working translation
Original wording
تا چنانك حاملات‌را وقت وضع حمل … باشد دری گشاده شد اندرون آن پنج خانه بود
A legend from Uighur books, which Juvaini says he writes down 'for wonder, not for belief'. The OCR is heavily garbled: 'five' restores a broken word, and one unclear word is marked with an ellipsis.
The scan is too rough to double-check this quote by machine. Compare it with the page.
The fine print
How we know
firsthand The author saw the places or people described.
Mongol-service administrator; history with personal experience
Research notes
1958 J. A. Boyle translation, volume I verified; not the complete two-volume translation.
Why it matters
A Persian perspective close to Mongol administration.