International Society for Iranian Studies Arghun Aqa: Mongol Bureaucrat Author(s): George Lane Reviewed work(s): Source: Iranian Studies, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 459-482 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society for Iranian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4311297 . Accessed: 16/11/2011 06:15 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. International Society for Iranian Studies and Taylor & Francis, Ltd. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Iranian Studies. http://www.jstor.org  Iranian Studies, volume 32, number4, Fall 1999 George Lane Arghun Aqa: Mongol Bureaucrat THE QUESTION OF WHO RAN THE MONGOL EMPIRE HAS LONG CHALLENGED his- torians, and various theories have emergedand retreatedin answer to this proW lem.' As far as the question of who ran the Persianpartof the empire the answer has been made more elusive by the natureof the sources. Though excellent pri- mary source materialfor this period abounds, for the most part it is written by the bureaucratsof the Il-Khanatethemselves, most of whom were Persian. Very little Mongol material survives. It is this lack of Mongolian material that has promptedhistoriansto speculatethatperhapsnone ever existed and thus that "the Mongols were happy to leave the tedious minutiae of government to those best qualifiedto cope with them."2In the case of Persia "those best qualifiedto cope" meantthe traditionalbureaucraticclasses, and such individualluminaries as CAta Malik Juvainiand Rashid al-Din and families such as the Qazvinis and Simnanis spring to mind. However, as David Morgan has pointedly noted, Mongolian material does exist for the period up to around 1240, including the reign of Ogedei. The anonymous Secret History of the Mongols is a uniquely importantdocument which accuratelyreflects the natureof Mongol preoccupationsand concerns dur- ing the earlier half of the thirteenthcentury. The text reveals a great interest in the machinationsand "domestic'controversiesof the Mongols but most signifi- cantly it dwells at great length on the minutiae of administration.Morgan cites as an example the detail given to the quriltai of 1206. In Onon's English trans- lation3twenty-twopages are devoted to the, at times tedious, particularsof such items as the successive shifts of the night-guards,and lists of military com- manders.If a demandfor such information existed and the Mongols possessed administratorsso early in their rise to power capable of such carefulitemisation, it is surely reasonableto assume that this traditioncontinued as their empire expanded. Such a traditionis not obvious from the available Persian sources. The Per- sian bureaucratswho left recordswould perhapshave been eager to overstatetheir own role in the unfolding history while minimizing that of their Mongol col- leagues. But despite the apparentunder-emphasisof Mongol bureaucraticskills George Lane is currently teaching at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 1. See David Morgan, 'Mongol or Persian: The Government of I1-KhanidIran," HarvardMiddle-Eastern and Islamic Review 3 (1996): 1-2, 62-76; see also Jean Aubin, "Emirs, Mongols et Viziers Persans dans les Remous de l'Acculturation", Stu- dia Iranica. 15 (1995). 2. Morgan, "Mongol or Persian", 64. 3. Urgunge Onon, The History and Life of Chinggis Khan (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990). 460 Lane in the Persian sources, the administrativerole of the Mongols in running the state cannot be ignored. In Bertold Spuler's list of senior administratorsin the I1- Khanidstate Mongols appearalongside the better-knownPersian administrators.4 One name which does not appearin this list however is that of Arghun Aqa who, nonetheless, it could be argued is a prime example of a Mongol administrator.Though he also appearsin military roles, Arghun Aqa is chiefly rememberedfor his work as a bureaucratestablishinga Mongol fiscal administra- tion in pre-II-KhanidIran. The purposehere is to examine the administrativecareerof Arghun Aqa and attemptto account in some fashion for its extraordinarylongevity. Arghun's Career: From Slave to Il-Khanid Commander The story of ArghunAqa's origins has two striking and apparentlyincompatible variants. Accordingto one of his factotums, the chroniclerAta Malik Juvaini, himself a memberof the scribalclass, ArghunAqa was the son of a commander of 1,000 and thus fairly high-born.5Rashid al-Din, on the other hand, writing a quartercenturyor so afterArghunAqa's deathsays thatArgunAqa was sold into slavery by his parentsin a time of famine for a "leg of beef."6From the family of Qadanof the Jalayirtribe(to whom he was reportedlysold) he entered into the Qa'an Ogodei's service with his master'sson, Iluge. Therehe learnedthe Uyghur script and was enrolled in the royal secretariat.His first assignment was to Khurasanwhere he was sent to investigate charges against its governor, Korguz.7He resolved the matter with the charges against Korguz dismissed as groundlessand he was then retainedas Korguz's nbker or colleague with the position of basqaq8 or overseer. But Korguz pointedly ignored him.9 However aboutl242 due to accusations against Korguz arising from his conductbefore a tribunal,'the wives and sons of Chaghatai"?sent ArghunAqa with the governor of Khurasanto the Ulugh-Ef(the "GreatHouse"of the Chaghataiordu) where he was condemnedto death. 4. Bertold Spuler, Die Mongolen in Iran (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1985), 238-40. 5. 'Ata-Malik Juvaini, Genghis Khan: The History of the World-Conquerortrans. J. A. Boyle (Manchester, 1997) (henceforth Juvaini/Boyle), 505. 6. Rashid al-Din Fazl Allah Hamadani,Jdmic al-tavartkh, ed. MuhammadRawshan and Mustafa Musavi, eds. (Tehran, 1373/1994) (henceforth Rashid al-Din), 103, 607. 7. On Korguz's career see Juvaini/Boyle, 489-505 and CAta Malik Juvaini, Thrtkh- i jahian-gushd,ed. M. Qazvini, 2 vols. (London, 1916) (henceforth Juvaini/Qazvini), 2, 225-242. 8. For a discussion of the differences in meaning of basqaq, shahna, etc. see Donald Ostrowski, "The tamma and the dual-administrativestructureof the Mongol Empire," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 61/2 (1998): 262-77. 9. See Jean Aubin, "EmirsMongols ", 14-15 and Sayf ibn Muhammadibn Ya'qub al-Harawi,) Tdrtkh-nuimah-iHardt, ed. MuhammdZubayral-Siddiqi (Calcutta, 1944), 128. 10. Juvaini/Boyle, 502-3; Rashid al-Din, 682, claims that Chaghatai's widow complained to Ogedei, who he states was still alive, who then ordered Korkuz's execu- tion: "The Qa'an ordered that they should arresthim and fill his mouth with dirt until he should die."  ArghunAqa 461 The rise of Arghun Aqa After Korguz's death, Toregene Khatunplaced all the territoriespreviously held by him from the Oxus to Fars, as well as Georgia, Rum and Mosul," underthe commandof ArghunAqa with the title 'ulughmanqul ulus bek' or "Governorof the Empireof the Great Mongols."'2 She also named the despisedSharaf al-Din Khwarazmi("thisvile wretch"13) as his ulugh-bitikchi (chief secretary).Arghun Aqa appears to have initially held Sharaf al-Din, who Juvaini caustically explains should more correctlybe referredto by his "true"name Sharr fi-Din (Evil in the Faith),'4 in some favor. He not only extricatedhim from some financial and political intrigues'5but allowed him free rein over tax collection in the area. Aubin refers to Sharafal-Din as Batu's "eye" in Khurasan.'6Juvaini makes it abundantlyclear that responsibility for the gross abuses in collecting taxes in the 1240s was to be laid at the door of "devil in human form," and "swine in the garbof mankind"whose "arrivalamongst the people of Khurasan resembledthe preliminariesto the arrivalof Dajjal."'7 After Sharafal-Din "haddepartedin haste unto the fire of God and His hell"the amir Arghunwas quick to abolish all the taxes he had imposed, to free all those wrongly imprisoned,and to cancel the many illegal confiscation orders issued by this "viper-face."However, it is significant that Juvaini did observe that there was no attempt to return any of the illegally seized levies and that "suchtaxes as were alreadycollected [ArghunI dispatched[to the treasury]."'8 At this same time, which coincided with the election of Guyuk Khan in 1246, Arghun Aqa made a collection of all the paizas'9 and yarlighs20 issued following the death of the Qa'an in 1241 by the Mongol princes of the region. In orderto ingratiatehimself with Guyuk, Arghunlaid these paizas and yarlighs before the new GreatKhanwhen he arrivedat his court.It was primarilyfor this service that Guyuk looked with favor upon the amir and as well as confirming 11. Juvaini/Boyle, 507. 12. See T. T. Allsen, Mongol Imperialism: The Policies of the Great Qan Mongke in China, Russia, and the Islamic Lands (Berkeley, 1987), 176-77. This conclusion is based on silver coins struck c1244-5 in Transcaucasia with the quoted Turkic inscription, without reference to a qa'an written in Arabic script and stamped on the reverse side from the Muslim formula. 13. Ibid., 545, 280. 14. Juvaini/Boyle, 526. 15. See Peter Jackson, "The Dissolution of the Mongol Empire," Central Asiatic Journal 32 (1978): 216 16. Aubin, "Emirs Mongol", 15. 17. Juvaini/Boyle, 529, 530. 18. Ibid., 508. Boyle in Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 4, 337 assumes that Ju- vaini exaggerates Sharaf al-Din's evil nature. 19. paiza, p'ai-tse = tablet of authority in wood, silver or gold sometimes bearing a tiger or gerfalcon depending on rank. See David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford, 1986), 105-7. 20. Yarligh = royal order or licence. 462 Lane him in his administrativeposition in the territorieshe alreadyheld, he bestowed a tiger-headedpaiza on him and transferredauthorityover the affairs of all the maliks and governorsof the west to him. To replace Sharaf al-Din as ulugh bitikchT, Guyuk appointed another Khwarazmian,KhwajaFakhral-Din Bihishti whom Juvaini describedas "a good and kind-heartedman."2'Even though Juvaini, who worked as Arghun Aqa's privatesecretaryfrom 1243-56, would appearto absolve his master Arghun for the sins of his departedunderling,Sharaf al-Din, it is interestingto note that in Juvaini's summation of the careerof Sharaf al-Din his attitude is strangely ambiguous.After having made it clear thatArghun Aqa had been fully responsi- ble for Sharafal-Din's continuedemployment as a tax enforcerin the west and that "thathyena"had been able to enjoy more freedom to indulge "his doltish ambitionand uncleanpurpose"22 underArghunAqa thanhe had underKorguz, he cites the hand of God at work in the affairsof men and divine will in the alloca- tion of their positions. To counterthe embodimentof evil such as was manifest in the person of Sharafal-Din, the model of God's blessing was not, as might have been expected, Juvaini's master Arghun Aqa but instead the long-serving functionary,MahmudYalavachof Transoxiana:23 On the one hand He brings into existence a person such as this [Sharaf al-Din] and makes him the targetof men's curses, and on the other hand He makes a man like the Minister YalavachMahmudthe centre point of men's hopes and ambitions; and some He afflicts with the former calamity whilst to others He grantsthe latterblessings.24 If this is a disguised rebukeof Arghun Aqa, Juvaini subsequentlymakes it clear that other irregularitiesafter Sharafal-Din's demise were certainly beyond the control of his master. He cites the alleged conspiracyhatchedin Tabriz by Mengu-Bolad,the basqaq over the artisansof the region. The basqaq had sought the protectionof the powerfulfellow-Naimanand formeratabegof Guyuk Qa'an, QadaqNoyen, and was now (c. 1247) seeking to advancehis interests at the expense of ArghunAqa.25 Hoping to preemptthis particularintrigue Arghun Aqa left for the qa'an's court accompaniedby Juvaini,his father, Baha al-Din Juvaini, and Fakhr al-Din Bihishti, but the news of Guyuk's death and the arrival of Eljigitei and his 21. Juvaini/Boyle, 509. 22. Ibid., 539. 23. See "In the Service of the Khan," ed. Igor de Rachewiltz et al. (Wiesbaden, 1993), 122-7. Mahmud Yalavach and his descendants were among the most prominent of the non-Mongol functionaries governing the sedentary sections of the Mongol Empire. He was a Turkish-speaking Khwarazmian and was a merchant employed by Chingiz Khan as an intermediate with the Khwarazmshah.He is held to have been the architectof the qobchur tax system which eventually became the model for Arghun Aqa's regime in the west. 24. Juvaini/Boyle, 544. 25. Ibid., 511.  ArghunAqa 463 army26forestalledhis plans. He was preventedfrom presenting his petition and refutingany accusationsin person. At Eljigitai's commandArghunAqa began to organise the provisioning of the main army while Eljigitai took control of the western provinces. Juvaini refersto this chaotic period as particularlydamaging for the economic and administrativehealthof the westerly regions: . . .pnnces everywheredispatchedmessengers and sent draftsin every direction so that the revenue for several years ahead was exhausted by these assignments, the great numberof which together with the con- stant relay of Mongol tax-collectors and the levies and demands of Eljigitaireducedthe people to indigence and the amirs, maliks and sec- retariesto impotence.27 Duringthe period 1243-56 ArghunAqa made four or five journeys from the lands in the west to Qaraqorumwhere he was requiredeither to provide details of his service and activities or to defend himself against various charges and accusa- tions. This journeying from west to east coupled with the need for continuous travelwithin Iranin orderto administerthe vast areaplaced under his jurisdiction makes the referencesin the Yuan Shih to Arghun Aqa's "mobile secretariat" particularlyapt.21 Juvaini's depiction of ArghunAqa The picturepaintedof the Mongol amir in the Ttartkh-iJahMn-gush/u dates from this period. The young cAta Malik accompanied him on most of these long anid gruellingjourneys29which, Juvainicomplained, allowed him to snatch only "an hour or so when the caravanhalts [to write] down these histories."30Because the historian began his Tirikh-i Jahan Gushci with two long eulogistic chapters devoted to ArghunAqa while still in the amir's service, one modem scholar has describedJuvaini's account as nearly an autobiographyof the Mongol amir.3' This might explain why in Juvaini's account of his origins Arghun's father is portrayedas a commanderof a thousand ratherthan as an impoverished Oirat tribesmanforced into selling his son. It is clear that ArghunAqa held his faithful servant in high esteem. In Feb- ruary 1256 on the plains of Shafurqannear Balkh on his way again to Qaraqorum he appointedhis own son Kiray Malik, the amir Ahmad Bitikchi, and the young 26. Eljigitei had been dispatched by Guyuk to subdue the west. See Jackson, Disso- lution, 200, 215. 27. Juvaini/Boyle 512. 28. Cited in Allsen, Mongol Imperialism, 107. Yuan Shih, the official history of the Yuan dynasty, was compiled in 1369 on the orders of newly founded Ming dynas- ty. See Allsen, 11-12. 29. Juvaini/Boyle, 9- 1i. 30. Ibid., 152. 3 1. James J. Reid, "The Je'un-i Qurban Oirat Clan in the Fourteenth Century," Journal of Asian History (1984): 191. 464 Lane Juvaini, still only thirty, to serve Hulegu32and to administerIrq, Mazandaran and Khurasan.Juvaini's fatherBaha' al-Din had alreadyserved the amir and in 1246 had actedon his behalf. Juvaini must then have felt that any criticism of his masterwould surely also reflect on himself and his family. Yet Juvaini was not, it can be argued,uncriticalof Arghun Aqa. But Wherehe assigns blame or offers criticism he is circumspect,though sometimes sarcastic. The amir himself, however, was readyto admit his own short-comings ancl the chaotic state of the lands under his control when he appearedat Mongke Qa'an's election in 1251 and it was probablyhis honesty and sincerityas well as the implied censure of the lieutenantsof the previous regime which found favor with the new qa'an: The Amir Arghun Aqa made an oral reporton the chaotic condition of financesand the deficit in tax-paymentoccasionedby the constant suc- cession of unlawful assignments and a stream of harsh elchis and tax- gatherers; and acknowledgedand admitted the shortcomings arising from the disorderedstate of affairs, which in turn was producedby the conditions of the time. Since his admission of negligence in the administrationof affairsand his excuses thereforewere reinforcedwith plain and evident proofs, the World-Emperorexpressed his approval, being not unmindfulof the services the Amir Arghun had renderedin the past.33 As a result of a writtenreporton the economic state of the lands and admin- istration underArghun Aqa's control which concluded"that the various levies and miscellaneous exactments from the people were [too] numerous,"34it was decided at the quriltaiof 1252 thatthe system of taxationemployed by Mahmud Yalavachin Transoxianaby which a graduatedlevy was imposed on the basis of wealth, should be applied in the west as well. The so-called qobchu-35deter- mined a person's annual contributionaccordingto his wealth and ability to pay and stipulatedthatduringthe same year that this qobchur was assessed no other levies or demandscould be made on the person. Mongke Qa'an orderedthat a wealthy man should be liable to a payment of ten dinarsand that others should be gradedaccordingto their wealth down to a poor man who would be expected to contributeone dinar. The monies collected from this levy would be expected to cover the costs of the yam (the postal relay system), ambassadors,paiza-hold- ers, and tax assessors. "Beyondthis the people were not to be interferedwith and nothing was to be taken from them by unlawful requisitions, nor were bribes to be taken."36 Mongke Qa'an issued far-reachingyasas aimed at curbing the wide- spreadabuses of the yam system, exempting clerics and scholars from taxes, 32. Rashid al-Din, 980; Juvaini/lBoyle 522, 614-5. 33. Juvaini/Boyle, 516. 34. Ibid., 517. 35. See David Morgan, "Kubdiir",Encyclopedia of Islam 5, 299-300 and Ann Lambton, Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia (London: I. B. Tauris, 1988), 199-202. 36. Juvaini/lBoyle, 517.  ArghunAqa 465 outlawing bribes, and tighteningcentralcontrol over the bureaucracy."7 He abol- ished the inheritancetax of which Chingiz Khan had so disapproved,and which the Mongols perceived as inauspicious.Apparently,Juvainidid too for his relish is obvious as he recounts his own part as governor in "(sweeping) away that system [in Baghdad]."38 To serve under Arghun Aqa, Mongke Qa'an appointedamirs representing each of his brothers,local maliks, and other notables each to administerthe vari- ous regions of Arghun Aqa's western domains. The idea was that Arghun Aqa should representthe Chingizids ratherthan solely the qa'an and that his admini- stration should be collegiate in nature, a feature borne out in Rashid al-Din's Shu'ab-i panjgianah which lists Arghun Aqa as answerableto both Mongke Qa'an and his brotherHulegu.39Arghun Aqa's diwan was staffedby native offi- cials, especially at lower levels, because of their specialist knowledge of local conditions. Many of them were of course Muslims. Most notable were the Juvainis, both fatherand son. The KhwarazmianFakr al-Din Bihishti, a long- serving chief scribe, remainedchief secretary(ulugh bitikchi), a position which was inheritedby his son Husam al-Din who was literate in Uighur. Batu had an official to oversee his interests, the bitikchi, Najm al-Din, as did Sorqaghtani,4 the royal mother,representedby Siraj al-Din, and the qa'anhimself who retained two close associates, Turumtaiand Naimadai,at the Khurasanidiwan. In addition to these officials, centrally appointedfunctionariessuch as Amir Bulghai, later to be installed as one of the "Pillarsof the State," were assigned to audit all the recordsof the regional administration.41 When an actual census was undertaken the makeupof the staff was equally diverse. In the census taken in the Caucasus in 1254, Kirakos claims that not only was Arghun Aqa there to represent Mongke, but the Jochids' representative,Najm al-Din cAli of Jilabad,42was present, later to be joined by T'ora-agha,both officials were accompaniedby "manyothersundertheirsway."43In addition,Muslim Iranianscribes," there to collect the personal details to be "inscribedon books,"45were numerous and 37. Ibid., 598-602; Rashid al-Din, 842-4; J. A. Boyle, trans., The Successors of Genghis Khan (New York & London, 1971), 218-20. 38. Juvaini/Boyle, 34; See also Vladimir Minorsky, "Nasir al-Din Tusi on Finance" in idem, Iranica: Twenty Articles (Tehran: University of Tehran, 1964), 72-3, where Chingiz Khan's dislike for certain kinds of taxes is cited. (The text of Tusi's treatise was published by M. Radawi, ed., Majmiucah-yirasiVil-i KhwaijahNasfr al-Dtn Tuisi[Tehran:University of Tehran], 1957). 39. Cited in Allsen, 104, n. 91. 40. Juvaini/Boyle, 108, n. 31. 41. Ibid., 515-16, 605. 42. Ibid., 514, 521. 43. Kirakos, Kirakos Ganjakets'i's History of Armenia, trans. Robert Bedrosian (New York, 1986) (henceforth Kirakos), 299. 44. See Sayfi, 175. 45. Grigor of Akanc, History of the Nations of Archers, trans. Robert P. Blake and Richard N. Frye (Cambridge, Mass.: HarvardUniversity Press, 1954) (henceforth Grigor), 325. 466 Lane "furthermorethe princes, lords of the districts, became their co-workers in harassingand demandingtaxes for theirown profit."' Elsewhere,other appointees along with representativesof the "Blood,"that is agents from the houses of the royal princes, assisted by their staffs of Turks, Mongols, Iranians,and Caucasianswere enumeratingthe rest of Arghun Aqa's territorysection by section. Thomas Allsen has pointed out that this apparently bloated, probably inefficient and potentially adversarial,administrativesystem which encouragedrivalry, intrigue, and disputes over areas of jurisdiction, was quite likely deliberatelyimplemented.Such a system in fact allowed the central authoritya greaterdegree of overall controlof operations,in that the duplication of responsibilities and the multiple chains of commanddiscouragedcircumven- tion of the qa'an's commands.This consequentlyincreasedthe numberof discrete avenues for news and reportsto reachthe centralMongol court.47 It was from the datapainstakingly collected over two years48that registers (qanun) were drawnup and the various taxes estimatedand assessed. Each prov- ince would retainthese registers recordingdetails of land ownership, boundaries, and value of real property in the district. The cadastrewas designed to reflect local conditions and according to Nasir al-Din Tusi, in his treatise on the finances of the new state, composed on Hulegu's orders,"these taxes (mil) are considered(as destined) for the welfare of the kingdom (jihat-i masalih-i padshahr."49 Such was the ideal towardwhich some were working but the reality of the administrativepractices under the amir's directives developed along different lines. As ArghunAqa's trainmade its way across Khurasanafter having departed the quriltai,the Amir extolled the virtuesof the new decrees and explainedto his new appointeesandrevenueofficials the need for implementing Mongke Qa'an's new yasais.At the same time he receivedwritten pledges from these administra- tors binding them to decreesrecently issued in the capital. "Whoeveracted con- trary thereto and committed an act of oppression against the people would therebyincriminatehimself and lay himself open to punishment."50 He himself may not have been so constrained,however. Juvaini recordsthat after Arghun Aqa had consulted with various concemed officials a fixed rather than variableamountof tax was agreedupon, "70 ruknrdinarsper ten persons to be paid annually"5'which would appear to be in contradictionto the qa'an's edicts. Whetherthis is what Juvaini was referringto when he later states that ArghunAqa dealt with matters"inaccordancewith Mongke Qa'an's edict and his own improvisation"52is not clear but the consequencesof these "improvisa- tions" is made obvious some time later when Arghun Aqa was forcedto review 46. Kirakos, 299. 47. Allsen, Mongol Imperialism, 112-3. 48. For an explanation of the apparent discrepancies in dating the censuses between the various sources see Allsen, 132-3. 49. Minorsky, "Nasir al-Din Tusi on Finance" 70, 77-8. 50. Juvaini/Boyle, 519. 51. Ibid. 52. Ibid., 521.  ArghunAqa 467 these initial financial dictates. It is also no doubt these "improvisations"which caused the Armenianand Georgianchroniclersso much anguish. Censuses, cadastral surveys and taxes In additionto the survey of the civilian population mentioned above, Rashid al- Din claims that ArghunAqa was entrustedwith the task of carrying out a census of the army, though he does not elaborate what exactly this entailed. Allsen opines that this check on the military "refersto some kind of muster to deter- mine if units on active duty were at their authorisedstrengths, that is, to see if militaryhouseholdswere providingthe recruitsdemandedof them.""3 The efficiency and scale of Arghun Aqa's census caused much early resent- ment, in particularin the Caucasus. "They have establisheda census after their accustomedfashion and classified everyone into tens, hundreds,and thousands."54 It was hardlysurprisingthat many attemptedto evade the count since once on the books the individualbecame liable for taxes and for military duties and for other obligations. Penalties for evasion were, accordingto the Nation of Arch- ers, cruelly harsh. Though his stories are often highly exaggerated,even fanci- ful,55 and often unsubstantiatedby other sources, the monk Grigor gives an explicit accountof the hardshipsenduredby his community when Arghun Aqa's regime was first instituted: From this time on [from ArghunAqa's appointment]they were wont to tax accordingto the numberof heads of the people, as many as were inscribedon the books, but still more they plunderedthe country of the east. In one small village they counted from thirtyto fifty men all from fifteen to sixty years of age. They took sixty aspers from each person who was counted. When they capturedone who had fled or hid, they cruelly tied his hands to his feet behind and beat him with green rods until his body was all cut and caked with blood. Then they pitilessly let loose their ferocious dogs, which they had trainedto eat human flesh, and they let them devourthe miserableand impoverishedChristians.56 That the initially imposed system would have been both crudeand open to widespreadabuse, as well as being mercilessly effected, can hardly be deemed surprisinggiven that no structuredadministrationwas in place at the time. Fur- ther, the fact that ArghunAqa later saw fit to reform and improve his tax-gather- ing operationsstronglysuggests thathe recognised the need for change after hav- ing witnessed the shortcomingsand failings of his initial system. 53. Allsen, Mongol Imperialism, 123. 54. Juvaini/Boyle, 33-4. 55. Grigor, 75. 56. Ibid, 57. 468 Lane Taxes and coinage After the strategically important battle of Kose Dagh in eastern Anatolia in 1243, the natureof the Tatar presence in the west change radically. Georgian copper coins minted at Dmanisi, a tradingcentre 100 kilometers southwest of Tulips, appearedat this time underArghunAqa's authority.The obverse had the hijra date and the inscription in Persian and Arabic, "the city of Dmanisi, may God make it prosperous"while the reversehad the Persian inscription, "the ser- vant of the Lord of the World"along with the Georgiandate and the new King David's royal monogram. However, the main coinage in use between 1244 and 1248 was the "silverhorseman"type with a single denominationand a weight of two-thirds of a mithqal.S7Details of the earlier equally resented tax system imposed by the incoming Mongols in the early 1240s-for which Arghun Aqa must also hold at least some responsibility despite the pleadings of his some- time apologist, Juvaini-have been recordedin the Caucasian chronicles. It is noteworthy that after the secure establishment of the ll-Khanatetheir tone changes, often dramatically.Kirakostypifies earlier Mongol administrative-fiscal practicesand Armenianattitudeswhen he describesthe battle for some eastern Armenianfortresses: The army of foreignersbattledwith the fortresses. Those inside them unwillingly providedthe Mongols with horses, livestock, and whatever else they demanded.The Mongols placed taxes over them and left them in their name.... From outside the enemy shouted "Why do you want to die? Come out to us, we shall give you overseersand leave you in your places."They repeatedthis a second and thirdtime, with pledges.58 Once pacified, the towns and villages were generally left alone with over- seers to ensure that a tributewas paid. But with the accession of Guyuk Khan in 1246 much more severe taxes were imposed. SoldiersunderMongol commandas well as the local inhabitantsbecame liable for tax assessment.Levies of between 1/30th and 1/10th ad valorem on any vaguely taxable item, in additionto a hefty 60-silver-drampoll-tax were payable. It was Arghun Aqa who was identi- fied along with Buqa59as being the chief tax collectors: As soon as KhanGuyuk took control of the great kingdom of the Tatar army in their own land, he forthwith sent out tax collectors to his troops in various lands and regions which they had subdued,to take 1/10th of all the propertyof the troops as well as taxes from the dis- tricts and kingdoms conqueredby them: from the Iranians, Tajiks, Turks,Armenians, Georgians, Aghbanians, and from all peoples under 57. Judith Kolbas, Mongol Money: The role of Tabrizfrom Chingiz Khan to Uljaytu (PhD diss., New York University, 1992), 194-95. 58. Kirakos, 205. 59. According to Juvaini, Buqa was appointed basq&qalong with Juvaini's father as sdhib-diwan by Arghun Aqa over the lands of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Rum etc. Juvaini/Boyle, 508, Qazvini, ii, 245.  ArghunAqa 469 them. The chiefs of the tax collectors were severe and rapacious men. One was named Arghun and was leaderof all the rest, while the other [chief] was Bugha who was yet more wicked than that [other]Bugha . . . [Theirtargetsincluded the Mongol nobility in the region] . . . no one daredsay anythingto [the tax collector], for he had assembledbrigands from among the Persiansand Tajikswho mercilesslyperformeddeeds of crueltyand were especially inimical towardthe Christians.!0 These two Mongol tax collectors even "inspired"poets and the words of one thirteenthcentury Armenianpoet, V. Frik, have survived the centuries. In his poem "On Arghun and Bugha"Frik describesthe aftertasteof the Tatar visita- tions: There is no longer spring nor river unfilled by our tears. No longer mountainnor field untrampledby the Tatars. We barelybreathebut within us our senses and feelings are dead.6' So harshwas this tax regime that it triggered an abortive revolt by some of the Caucasiannobility and landownersin 1248/9. Kirakos blames the ill-con- ceived revolt on the arroganceof the Georgians, who he claims were also adding to the misery of the poor with their own excesses: While the land was recovering a little from the raids and plundering stirredup by the earth-consumingfire [i.e. the Tatars]. . . The [Geor- gian] princesdeprivedand robbedthe poor, and from this extortion they bought expensive clothing and they dressed, ate, drank, and boasted greatly as is the arrogantcustom of the Georgians. God made them fall from their lofty elevation and recognise the measureof their weakness, those who were not taught by their past. Satan arousedthem, Satan in whom they had placedtheir hopes. . . . And while they were drinking wine, their spirits rose and an immatureman among them said, "Hav- ing such a multitudeof troops, why do we serve [the Mongols]? Come, let us fall upon them suddenly,destroy and exterminatethem, and we shall have our lands.62 Like the other Armenian and Georgian chroniclers,Kirakos is a very parti- san observer63and this must always be borne in mind when evaluating his mate- 60. Kirakos, 260-1. 61. V. Frik, V, Collection of Verses, (Yerevan, 1937), 165, cited in A.G. Gaistyan, "The Conquest of Armenia by the Mongol Armies," The Armenian Review, 23/4 (1975): 108; cf. Srbouhi Hairapetian, A History of Armenian Literature (New York: Caravan Books, 1995) 373-383. 62. Kirakos, 267. 63. See the Syrian historian and cleric Bar Hebraeus, The Chronography of Greg- ory AbuI'l-Faraj,ed. and trans., E.A.W. Budge (London, 1932); also George Lane, "An account of Bar Hebraeus Abu al-Faraj and his relations with the Mongols of Persia," Hugoye: Jounal of Syriac Studies, 2/2 available on the World Wide Web at <<http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/Vol2No2HV2N2Glane.html>>. 470 Lane rial. According to Kirakos, the prince, Amir-SpasalariAwag Mkhargrdzeli,4 dissuadedhis own nobles from participatingin the rebellion and informeda sen- ior Mongol commander,ChaghataiNoyan, head of the entire army and a frend of Awag65about it, thus ensuring that the massacrethat followed did not include those faithful taxpayerswhom Awag represented."We have no orderfrom the Khan to kill those who are obedient to us, stand in service to us, and pay taxes to the Khan."' The bloody reprisalsof the doomedrevolt are attestedto in both Vardan'sandGrigor'saccounts: This same woe67was repeatedin 698 [1249]. For Bac'u and the other nobles suspected the rebellious arroganceof the king and princes of Georgia. Subduing King Dawit and the other magnates, they impris- oned them and sentencedthem to death.But by supernalprovidencethey deliveredthem fromdeath.However, they slaughtereda countless num- ber, took captive villages and estates, and maltreatedwomen in Arme- nia, and even more so in Georgia.68 Grigor'saccountis more detailed but it is likely that he used Kirakos him- self as a source. However, he does not referto Awag by name but rathermakes mention of "a certainone of those present [at the drunkenfeast where rebellion was jestfully mentioned], like the traitor Judas, [who] went and informed the Tatars."69 Grigorcites the reason for the idle talk and "vain and boastful words" as being resentmentat the Tatars' habit at that time of "exacting from them [gold cloth, falcons, well-breddogs and horses] in such wise, over and above the mal (land tax), t'ayar (levy for soldiers on frontier service), and xalan (corvee)."70 Though Arghun Aqa would have been awareof the state of affairs at this time and his name was known and associatedwith the military governmentby the subjectpeople, he was not directly responsiblefor any of these activities and much of his time was taken up with court intriguesand travelling back and forth to Qaraqorum.Juvaini's overly rosy picture of Arghun Aqa's earlier arrivalin Tabrizbefore the Georgianrevolt and his efforts to restrainand put to right the activities of the Mongol generals and amirs in Azerbaijanis not supportedby the 64. See Allen, History of the Georgian People (London, 1932), 104, 115. Awag was of the family of Sargis Mkhargrdzeli, an aznauri (honoured and decoratedmerce- nary) of Kurdish origin, who was raised by the Georgian King Giorgi. The three princes of this house had been the first to make accommodation with the Mongols to safeguard their vast landholdings which stretched from Ani to Somkheti. The family of Mkhargrdzeliswere Armenian by religion; Allen, History, 115. 65. Kirakos, 268. 66. Ibid. 67. The same destructionas had occurredin 1243. 68. The Historical Compilation of VardanArewelc'i, (henceforth Vardan) trans. Robert Thomson, (Washington, D.C., 1989), DumbartonOaks Papers no. 43. 69. Grigor, 321. 70. Ibid.  ArghunAqa 471 Armeniansources, though that fact does not invalidateJuvaini's view of those events: Upon arrivingin Tabriz [c. 12441 he restoredto orderthe affairsof that region which had been disturbedby the proximity of the great amirs such as Chormaghun,Baichu and others, who regardedthat territoryas theirown property.He protectedthe revenue and causedthese people to withdrawtheir hands therefrom:he recoveredfrom the grasp of their control all the inhabitants,noble and base, both such as had resortedto the protectionof these men and such as had fled from their tyranny and oppression.7' Policies on Mongol settlement The principal encampment area at this time prior to Hulegu's arrival in the region was the area southeast of the inaccessible and ruggedCaucasianheights, in the plain of Mughan on the southern side of the Araxes River. The experiences of Mongol occupation of the peoples of the lower plains of Azerbaijan,Khurasan,Transoxiana,and even of the strategicallymore important Kurdishhighlandareas,would have been quite differentfrom that experiencedby the lords of Arrmeniaand Georgia and their hard-pressedpeasants. In these lands the Mongols had established concrete evidence of their intention to stay and settle and had established a closer working relationship with the region's population. Juvaini cites one example of Arghun Aqa's restorativework which he undertookin the environsof Merv around 1247:72 For several days they feasted in the royal palace, and he caused the palace to be rebuilt and the park restored,and each of the ministers at his instructionsbegan to lay out a parkand erect a mansion in Arzanqa- bad. From thence he set out for Tus, where he gave orders for the rebuildingof the Mansuriyaand the palaces, which had fallen into such complete ruin that all trace of any building had long since disappeared from the site.73 Shortly after this, Arghun Aqa is recordedas having graciously entertained Shams al-Din on his official appointmentas malik of Heratand its environs, and to have awardedhim at least fifty thousanddinarsin additionto the grantof sixty thousandthat Shams al-Din had alreadyreceivedfrom Mongke Qa'an.74Arghun Aqa expressed his goodwill with the prompt payment of another7550,000 dinars cash to one of Shams al-Din's lieutenants when the malik's party halted briefly in Tus after the Qa'an's investiture.Sayfi claims that ArghunAqa entertainedhis 71. Juvaini/Boyle, 507-8. 72. See Boyle's note concerning this date, ibid., 510, n. 10. 73. Ibid., 510. 74. Sayfi, 172 75. Ibid., 170. It is not clear if this first 50,000 dinars is the same gift as the one given during the visit to Tus or another. 472 Lane guest for seven days and it was on the eighth day that he made the donation and dressedShams al-Din in a robe of honour.76In Allsen's assessment of this unusually generous treatment,it was a case of the Mongols planting "seed money" in orderto assist their own creation, the Kart dynasty, in establishing firm roots.77 The qobchur tax and the census of 1254 ArghunAqa's name is most closely associatedwith the census of 1254 and the subsequentimposition of the qobchur,originally a pasturetax levied on nomads but later to become an all-purposepoll tax, which so upset the monk Grigor, as cited above. Kirakos also complainedbitterly against the new tax and made a harsh personal attack on Arghun Aqa, accusing him of blatant profiteering. Arghun Aqa, like the census-takers with their Muslim Persian attendants, "'profitedgreatlyfrom the merchantsand heapedup vast quantitiesof gold, silver, and precious stones."78Kirakos' account of the new regime was particularly harshand he did not fail to implicate his neighbours, the Muslims, for the suf- ferings of the Armenians: [Census-takers]also reachedthe lands of Armenia, Georgia, Albania, and the districts aroundthem, and began recordingall those from 11 years and up, excepting the women. And they demandedthe most severe taxes, more than a man could bear. And people became impoverished. They harassedthe people with unbelievablebeatings, torments, and tor- tures.Those who hid were seized and killed. Those who were unable to pay the rate had their childrentaken to pay their debt, for [the census- takers]circulatedaroundwith IranianMuslim attendants... all the arti- sans, whetherin the cities or in the villages were taxed. Furthermore, fishermen of the seas and lakes, miners and blacksmiths and paint- ers/plasterers[were taxed] ... Thus everythingbecame expensive and the lands became filled with lamentationand complaints.79 Not all the Caucasian sources were equally condemnatory.The Georgian History of Kart'li contains a strangely sympathetic picture of the amir's tax assessmentof the Caucasianpeople. ArghunAqa is portrayedas a just and hon- est tax adviser"a friendof impartiality, very truthfulin his words, a profound thinker and clever advisor."80Before coming to the Caucasus Arghun Aqa had 76. Ibid., 172; Mu'in al-Din MuhammadZamchi Isfazari, Rawzat aljanndt ft awsaf madrnat-iHaruzt(Tehran, 1338/1959), vol. 1, 411; Shihab al-Din CAbdAllah Sharaf Shirazi "Wassaf," Tajziyat al-amsar wa tazjiyat al-acsiar(Thrikh-i Wassaf), ed. M.M. Isfahani (henceforth Wassaf) (Tehran, 1338/1959), 81; for an abridged version see CA.M. Ayati, ed., Tahrfr-itirrkh-i Wassaf (Tehran, 1346/1967) (henceforth Ayati), 48. 77. Allsen, 71. 78. Kirakos, 300. 79. Ibid, 299-300, g 362-3 80. Histoire de la Georgie, 550.  ArghunAqa 473 traveledto Batu's domains,"to survey and recordthose soldiers and warriorswho had gone with the senior and junior noyans campaigning, and to stipulate accordingto their worth the ulaf, which is a gift for those who have taken to the roadand a recompensefor horseand saddle."'81 ArghunAqa's main purposein travelingnorthto Batu's ordu was in fact to continue to integratethe Jochid lands with the rest of the empire through ration- alizing their tax systems. One coinage was in operationnorth and south of the Caucasus and between one-fifth to one-third of tax revenue was payable to Batu.82 Laterhowever, when ArghunAqa descends on Georgia,his new assessments could not be evaded: When ArghunAqa reachedGeorgia,all the inhabitantsof David's king- dom were greatly menaced.They startedsurveying people and beasts, fields and plants, vineyards and vegetable gardens. From [each] nine land-owningpeasantsit was orderedthatone soldier should be provided. Thus David's kingdom providedby census to the Tatarsnine dumans, which is 9 x 10,000. [From each] village they stipulatedgifts: to the Thousanderone lamb and one drahkan [gold coin] (?); to the Ten Thousander,one sheep and two drahkan; for the horsemanthree tetris [silver coins] daily. He so stipulatedand then went to Rum, Baghdad, andeverywhere.83 Kirakosadds thatafterArghun Aqa had himself gone he left in his stead "a wicked governor (ostikan) who demandedthe same amount every year by list, and in writing."84Such attentionto detail was a clear indication of the long-term policies of Mongke Qa'an for these western provinces. His tax-collectors and administratorswere there to stay. One reason for the acrimony that the clerics of the Caucasus so readily express towards the Mongol tax gatherers and the amir Arghun is that the churches, clerics, and religious establishments themselves were being heavily taxed, unlike other religious institutions in other parts of the Empire. Smbat Orbelean,a noble of a great and influential Armenianland-owningfamily, com- plained bitterly on his visit to Mongke Qa'an in 1252-3 about the taxing and harassmentof his church and as a result he received a "decreefreeing all the churchesof Armeniaand the priests,"85an edict which was repeatedtwice. After 81. Ibid; see also Robert Bedrosian, trans., The Turco-Mongol Invasion and the Lords of Armenia in the 13th-14th Centuries (New York, 1985), 123. 82. See Judith Kolbas, Mongol Money, 266; Jackson, "Dissolution", 212, 220; Minhaj al-Din Juzjani, Tabaqit-i Naisirt, ed. CAbd al-Hayy Habibi (Tehran, 1363/1984), 176; Tabaqdt-iNdsiri, ed. and trans., H.G. Raverty (London, 1881), 1172. 83. Histoire de la Georgie, 551-2 (Bedrosian trans., 124, n. 196). 84. Kirakos, 300. 85. Bedrosian, The Turco-Mongol Invasion, 285-6, citing Step'annos Orbelean,; Step'annos Orbelean, Histoire de la Siounie, trans. M. Brosset (St. Petersbourg, 1864), 230-31. 474 Lane this and similar reforms initiated by Arghun Aqa following another census in 1255 the attackson the amir suddenlycease and again the anonymous section of the History of Kart'li finds it possible to describethe Mongol tax collector in gentler terms: This [amir] Arghundesignatedwhat was proper[for tax collection] in all four khanates,for he was a just man. But as for monks, friars, and Churchfoundations,he did not place them undertaxation,nor the qalan either. The same went for sheikhs and dervishes. He fired [from taxa- tion] all those Believers called the Servantsof God.86 The Huleguid era With the arrivalof Hulegu, the confirmationof ArghunAqa's sole responsibility for cadastreand census-taking,and the impositionof a taxation system, many of the abuses of the system, an inevitable productof the lack of centralisedpower and the anarchyexisting during most of the pre-Huleguidperiod, appearedto have eased. The Armeniansourcescease to concentrateso much on the negative aspects of Mongol rule. But abuses still continued;Kirakosreportsthe case of the highly regardedcleric, Nerses, whose discomfort was such that the prince, Hasan Jalal, in 1257 took his complaint to Batu Khan's ordu. The Arnenian prince "receiveda documentguaranteeingfreedomfor Lord Nerses, kat'oghikos of the Aghbanians, for all his propertiesand goods, that he be free and untaxed and allowed to travel freely everywherein the dioceses underhis authority, and that no one disobey what he said."87However, Kirakoslater addsthat not only was Nerses furtherharassedbut Hasan Jalal himself had to travel to Qaraqorum in order to put a stop to "being harassed by tax-collectors and by [Amir] Arghun."88 Meanwhile the intriguesagainstthe amir continued. He was again forcedto leave the lands that had been committed to his authorityand to travel back to Qaraqorumto clear his name once more. It would be September 1258 before he was able to returnto the west, his name cleared,afterhaving undergoneintense interrogation. The Armenian historian, Step'annos Orbelean, whose family served Hulegu Khan,claimed thatArghun Aqa had been kept in chains while in Qaraqorumandit was only the intercession of Smpad Orbeleanthat securedhis release, a story not corroboratedelsewhere.89Smpad Orbelean was highly regardedin Qaraqorumand by the 1l-Khans.He was given inju (land grantedas appanagesto relativesof the GreatKhan) by Mongke Qa'an in 1252,9?and later appointedas Hulegu's overseerof construction for the new Il-Khanidsummer residencein Ala-Tagh. He was reputedlyheld in great affection and esteem by Hulegu.91The Orbeleanhistorian furtherclaims that such was his relative's 86. Bedrosian, The Turco-Mongol Invasion, 286; Histoire de la Georgie, 552. 87. Kirakos, 296. 88. Ibid. 89. Step'annos Orbelean, Histoire de la Sioune, 232. 90. Ibid., 230. 91. Ibid., 233.  ArghunAqa 475 status that "Hulegu so heededhis words that [Smpadl could have killed whom- ever he chose, or grantedlife to whomever he wanted. Consequently, everyone quakedwith fear because of him, and everyone's eyes were upon him."92 Once back in the lands under his administrativepurview, though now under the overall jurisdiction of Hulegu Khan, Arghun Aqa was confrontedwith the detrimentaleffects of his earlier tax policies. Juvaini seems to suggest that ArghunAqa had learnedsomething in Qaraqorumand this led him to conduct a full auditof the tax accounts: Having been witness of importantaffairs of Court, and experiencedthe subtletythereof, and learntthe methodof inquiryand investigation there practised,he carriedout a minuteexaminationof the accounts.93 He soon came to realise that the fixed qobehurof 70 dinarper ten men that he had previously imposed was quite inadequatefor supplying the needs of the post (yam), the ulagh (relay horses), and the levies of men, let alone the costs of supplying the army. Moreover, the fixed qobchur rate often proved an insup- portablefinancialburdento much of the peasantryand a drainon Church funds, whereasto many rich landholdersthe tax was a trifling sum. The new qobchur which ArghunAqa introducedwas designedto addressthis imbalance and also to increasethe government'srevenue: The orderwas given (by Hulegu) for the re-assessmentof the qobchur at 500 dinarsfor the wealthy descendingproportionatelyto one dinarfor the poor, in orderthat expenses might be met.94 If these new measures eased the heavy financial burdenon the peasants and freed the churchesfrom taxation,and the presenceof Arghun Aqa halted some of the more excessive abuses, not all were happy in the states of Armenia and Georgia. These new taxes began to impact heavily on the aristocracy, and pre- sumably the aristocracywould soon enough begin to pass the burdenon to their peasantry. In the Caucasusthe Mongols had long been practisinga policy of divide and rule while favoring"themaintenanceof coherent authority."95They had success- fully co-opted such greatfamilies as the Orbeleansand the Mkhargrdzeli.Kirakos mentions Awag, Shahnshah,son of Zak'are;Prince Vahramand his son, Albula; Sargis Jaqeli, the reputedsaviour of Hulegu's life; and Hasan Jalal, among others, all making the pilgrimage to Qaraqorumto be confirmedin their posi- tions. "[The Mongols] gave to each one control over his lands and, for the time being, a pardon."96 Honor, confirmationof their positions, protection and sup- port, and a share in the booty were all offeredas inducementsto serve their new mastersloyally. These not infrequenttrips to the east and the extendedsojourns 92 Ibid., 236. 93. Juvaini/Boyle, 523. 94. Ibid., 524. 95. Allen, History of the Georgian People, 115. 96. Kirakos 225-6. 476 Lane they were expectedto spend there were another ploy used by the Mongols to weaken any potentially threatening power bases in their conqueredterritory. Before settling a particularregion the Mongols would always divide the areaup between the variousnoyans, and henceforththose nobles within a particulararea would become clients of theirassigned general. The Georgian Rebellion of 1256 Priorto 1256, the Caucasushad been divided into five vilayats. Typical was the viliiyat of Gurjistan(Georgia)which was subdividedinto eight tumaInseach of which was liable for a levy of 10,000 men.97The notables headingthese tumians had directaccess to the GreatKhanat Qaraqorum.After the establishmentof the Il-Khanate,they became answerableto Hulegu throughArghunAqa. The rebellionwhich occurredin Georgiabetween 1259 and 1261 was blamed on heavy taxationand the increasinglyonerous burdenof military service and it was Arghun Aqa, who accordingto Armenian sources, mercilessly and vindic- tively crushedit. The Georgianshad greatlyresentedthe numberof men they had had to provide for the wars againstthe Isma'ilis: The Georgians were menacedbecause [the Mongols] were fighting a protractedanduninterrupted war against the Assassins, while the Geor- gians were fighting along with them, dividedinto two sections. Each [Georgian]rulerwas apportioned[to the service of] one noyen98 The honorthey earnedon the battlefieldfor their valor was poor compensa- tion for the fact that they had no choice but to show greatcourage in the face of death. Invariablyassigned to the forwardpositions, their options were certain deathin defeat or retreat,or alternativelyhonor and booty in victory. Caucasian troopswere placed in the forwardpositions not because of their great daringand militaryskill but simply because they were expendable. David Narin [the Clever], the younger of the two David cousins brought back fromQaraqorumto succeedQueen Rusudanwho died about 1247, declared his independencefrom his Tataroverlordsin the western province of Imereti, a thickly forestedregion. David Ulu [the Big] did not initially join this rebellion. Insteadlike the princes of the other great houses, the Mkhargrdzeli,the Orbe- leans, and the Bakurtzikheli,he continuedto find accommodationwith the Mon- gols. However by 1260 the demandson him for ever more troops for the nI- Khanid'sEgyptiancampaignfinally drove the elder David to rise up. He had led his troops against Baghdadand in the disasterat cAyn Jalut.But it was a particu- larly avid Persiantax-farmer,HajjiAziz, who was the last straw.9 Unfortunately the Caucasiannobility did not flock to David Ulu's banner and the Georgian king was forcedto take refuge in the mountains of Samtzkhe (rising from the southeasterncoast of the Black Sea behind the modernday port of Rize). There only Sargis Jaqeli with 8000 troops rallied to his support. Though the rebels 97. See Bedrosian, The Turco-Mongol Invasions, 197. 98. Ibid. 196; Histoire de la Georgie, 529-30. 99. Allen, 116-7. On Haji Aziz see Histoire de la Georgie, 561-65.  ArghunAqa 477 achieved an initial victory over a Mongol advance guard, possibly led by Arghun, they were later routedby a Georgiancontingent of the Mongol army. Arghun Aqa's part in this second rebellion by the lords of the Caucasus is recordedwith bitternessby Kirakos: Now the King of the Georgians, Dawit' son of Lasha, who was subject to the Tat'ars . .. had mortgagedcities and districts but was still unable to satiate the evil leech-like appetite [of the Mongols]. So fraught, Dawit' fled, but he was unable to take with him his wife Queen Gonc'a and his new-bornson Demetre. He took only his first-bornson Giorgi . . . [ArghunAqa pursuedhim, but was unable to catch up. He destroyed and enslaved many Georgian districts, destroying the mausolea, until suddenly400 Georgiancavalry appeared]and Arghun became frightened anddarednot so brazenlyenterand searchplaces. He returnedto Hulegu planning wickedness in his heart. He seized the queen Gonc'a, her daughterXoshak, the great prince Shahnshah, Hasan Jalal the Lord of Xachen and many others because of debts and taxes [owed]. These people gave much treasureand barely saved their lives . . . Now it happenedthat Zak'are [Shahnshah's son] was with Arghun and his many troops in Georgia. And Zak'arewent unbeknownstto Arghun and the other soldiers to see his wife who was with her fatherSargis, prince of Uxteac, one of the rebels with the Georgian King Dawit. When Arghunlearnedaboutthis, he notified Hulegu who himself orderedthat Zak'arebe takenshackled.He heaped other false accusations upon him, orderedhim killed, dismembered,and thrownto the dogs.'?? Vardanmentions that Zak'are "was murderedat the court of the Il-Khan Hulawu [after]they falsely accused him of holding back the due tax,"'O'that his fatherdied from grief, and that"the prince of princes, the noble ruler Jalal, with cruel tormentsshared in the death of Christ and his martyrsat the hands of the calumniatingTajiks, who falsely accusedhim and deliveredhim to Arghun."'02 But there is no mentionof the rebellion by the Davids in Vardan'saccount and it is interestingto note that he deflects the blame for the executions from Arghun Aqa and the Mongols to the Persians. "[The Tajiks] took [Jalal] to Qazvin in Tajkastan,where one night they tore him limb from limb and killed him, having merely his Christianity as cause."'03Hasan JaJal's cruel death was likewise blamed on the Muslims, but Kirakosalso implicates Arghun Aqa, whose behav- iour is explained by his supposed conversion to Islam: The pious and virtuous prince Jalal was molested by impossible tor- tures,as [Muslimtax enforcers]demandedmore taxes from him than he could pay. They put wood on his neck and irons on his feet. They dealt with him in this manner because of his strong Christianity, for all the 100. Kirakos, 325-30. 101. Vardan, 218. 102. Ibid. 103. Ibid. 478 Lane Muslims were inimical to him and urged Arghun Aqa to kill him, say- ing: "He more [than others] is hostile to our religion and laws." For Arghun Aqa also was Muslim. . . . When the impious ostikan [the govemor, Arghun] learnt this [of attempts to contact Dokuz Khatun, favourite wife of Hulegu, for clemency], he immediately sent execu- tionersand had the blessed andjust man killed duringthe night.'0" The two Davids were eventuallyrehabilitated,their supportneedednow that tensions were rising with the northernTatarneighbours;David Narin was recog- nised as sole king in Imeretiand David Ulu receivedthe territorieseast of the Likhi Mountainsand the rest of Kart'li.The tax assessor Hajji Aziz whose harsh tax enforcementhad been blamed for David Ulu's revolt, was decapitatedto pla- cate the GeorgianKing's outrageddignity.'05 ArghunAqa as yarghuamir and military commander. Arghun Aqa was eventually confirmed in his office as tax-farmergeneral (muqaUtic-i mamalik),a position he held into Abaqa'sreign.'" As governorof a very loosely definedKhurasanhe was also responsible for hearing the disputes and receiving the petitions of the people of the extendedprovince. Though his primarytask as the one "who superintendsthe tribute"'07was tax collection, as regional secretaryhe was also responsible for settling disputes between local officials and rulersand the convening of the yarghu tribunal. An incident that took place about 1263 and is reportedin the Thrikh-i Shiahr,illustrates the combination of caution and self-interest that govemed many of his actions. A petition presentedto Arghun Aqa had been drawnup by some notablesof Kirmanand was full of theirpreviously secret invective against TerkanKhatun.The governorconcludedthat the complaints were the work of envious and spitefulmen whose lies could not be credited.He decided to referthe matter back to Terkan Khatun herself and enclosed the petition of complaint along with his own letter declaring that Terkan's deputies (na'ibs) and the basqiaqs(Mongol overseers)of the province should summon the accusers, and that those complainantsshould be interrogatedbefore a yarghu (court of inqui- ry).'08Even though Terkanfavoredmercy the petitionerswere taken to an open space of sandy gravel where in accordancewith Mongol custom they spent a few days bound and naked. During this time they were interrogateduntil they con- fessed and signed confessions. Some of Terkan's accuserswere executed immedi- 104. Kirakos, 327. 105. Histoire de la Georgie, 563. 106. Rashid al-Din, 1061. 107. William of Rubruck's description of Arghun Aqa in idem, The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck,. eds., Peter Jackson and David Morgan (London, 1990), 263. 108. anon., Tarrkh-iShahi-i Qari Khita't, ed. M. Ibrahim Bastani Parizi (Tehran, 2535/1976-77), 156.  ArghunAqa 479 ately, while others were told that as a warningto the people they would be taken to the Il-Khan'sordu where the yasa would be carriedout." In his role as chief arbitratorof the yarghu courts Arghun Aqa was not afraidof passing down harshjudgementsin compliancewith Mongke's strictures even on other Mongols of high status. Rashid al-Din recordsthe case of Hindu Jaq, a long serving Sonid Mongol who was accused of murderingan Iranian noble. He was found guilty and executedbefore the gates of Tus. Though his brotherwas appointedto replacehim, HinduJaq's houses and propertywere con- fiscatedand awardedto the "fourgreatPrincesof the Age.""0 Arghun Aqa also took part in major military campaigns, notably with PrinceAbaqain Khurasan,where the two lent their support to the Chaghatayid prince Algu (son of Baidarand Baraq'suncle) in his conflict with the Golden Horde."'After Abaqa'ssuccession he also fought in a campaign to repel Baraq, the ruler of the Chagatai Khanate.The conflict arose when Baraqlaid claim to Abaqa's territorywith the tacit supportof his easternneighbor, Qaidu."2Assert- ing thatthe territoriesof Badghis and south to the banks of the Indusbelonged to his ulus, Baraqdemandedthe evacuationfrom all these lands of Abaqa'syounger brotherand commanderof the armies of Khurasanand Mazanderan,Tubshin.'"3 Tubshin,who was deputisedby ArghunAqa, repliedthatthese lands belonged to his agha, AbaqaKhan, who was the king of the lands of Iran and that Bara should look after his own lands. He immediately sent messengers to Abaqa to inform him of these developments. Both sides preparedfor war, and by the time Baraqhad sent his forces across the Oxus and on towardMaruchaq,Tubshin and Arghun Aqa were waiting for them. However, on the Chaghatais'approachthe Khurasaniforces decidedto withdrawto Mazandaranto awaitAbaqa and the main army."4 Leaving Azerbaijanon 27 April 1270, Abaqa Khan's progress across Iranis paintedin glowing terms with the new second Il-Khan of Persia "commanding from his perfectjustice and the righteousness of the Yasa that no one should molest [even] an ear of corn.""5Tubshin and Arghun Aqa met the king in Qumis and togetherthey traveledon to the meadows of Radkan. 6 Through emissaries Abaqa made generous peace offerings to his foe but these were rejected by Baraq and so the Il-Khan's army continued on into 109. Ibid., 156. I 10. Rashid al-Din, 74. 111. Peter Jackson, "ArgOnAqa," Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2, 402 citing Kirakos; see also Rashid al-Din, 879-80, 881-885 on the relationship between Hulegu, Algu, and Ariq Boke. 112. For a new interpretationof the role of Qaidusee Michal Biran, Qaiduand the Rise of the Independent Mongol State (London: Curzon, 1997). 1 13. Rashid al-Din, 1071-72. 114. Sayfi, 310; Rashid al-Din, 1072; Ghiyas al-Din Khwandamir,Habib al-siyar ft akhbarafrad al-bashar, ed. M. Dabir Siyaqi (Tehran, 1353/1974), vol. 3, 85; idem, Habibu's-Siyar trans., W. M. Thackston, Tome 3, (Cambridge, Mass.: HarvardUni- versity, 1994), 49; Wassaf, 71; Ayati, 41. 1 15. Rashid al-Din, 1078. 116. Ibid., 1079, 1101. 480 Lane Badghis. The decisive battlewas won after Abaqafirst confusedthe enemy with disinformationand then lured it into battle with the classic Mongol feigned retreat."'When Barq rushedafter Abaqa, whom he believed to have abandoned campandheadedwest to defendIl-Khanidlands from an attack from the Golden Horde, and first spied the hastily desertedplain, he is reportedto have declared, "Oh GreatGod, this which I see [before me], is it a dreamor is it real ?I1 8 When Abaqa'sruse eventually became clear, it took the ll-Khanid force some time to actually win the day. The left wing of the 1l-Khanidarmy underArghun Aqa, ShikturNoyen, Yusef Atai and Abdullah Aqa was at first tumed back with heavy casualties. The remnantsof this force were pursuedto Pushang (Ghurian) within fourfarsang of Heratby GeneralJala'irtai."9But the pursuerssoon fell into disarrayand salvationcame for Arghun Aqa's routedsoldiery when Abaqa's main forces struckgiving the Il-Khanidsthe final victory. Jala'irtairallied the remains of the Chaghataiarmy and fled into the Amu desert. Baraq,whose own steed had been killed, tradedsome arrows for another horse from one of his servants and fled across the Oxus, "his eyes streaming tears,overwhelmedwith grief."'20Meanwhile Abaqa"gallopedfrom left to right [of the field of battle]and killed everyone thathe found."'2 The "Battleof Herat" was fought on 22 July 1270. The poet Kamal Fushanji recordedBaraqKhan's defeatin these words: One without sword and one withoutshield, One without hat and one without belt, One withoutbridleand one withoutsaddle. It was such as these thattrailedfrom the armyof Baraq.'22 ArghunAqa, afterthe campaignwas over, remainedin Khurasan.Annenian sources, however, claim that his last official act was to conduct anothercensus in Georgia in 1273 two years before his deathin the pasturelands of Radkan.'23 Political Maneuverer As wily a political operative as any seasoned Persian wazir, the amir Arghun Aqa managedto ride the greatpolitical upheavalsof the Mongol courts and cen- ters of power which raged throughout his life and emerge comparatively unscathed.It is commonly agreed,indeedcorroboratedby the amir's own words 117. Ibid., 1083. Khwandamir,3, 85-86. I 18. Rashid al-Din, 1084. 119. Ibid., 1086-87; Wassaf, 74; Ayati, 42-43. 120. Wassaf, 75. 121. Rashid al-Din, 1088. 122. Cited in Sayfi, 330. Baraq is reportedas having returnedto Bukhara, where he converted to Islam and took the name Sultan Ghiyath al-Din before suffering a para- lysing stroke. In the Year of the Goat, 1270, he went to QaiduKhan where he was given a poisoned drink that killed him. See Khwandamir,3: 83, 87; Thackston trans- lation, 47, 49; Ayati, 44; Wassaf, 76. 123. Histoire de la Georgie, 591; Peter Jackson "ArghunAqa" citing A.G. Galstyn.  ArghunAqa 481 before Mongke Qa'an, thatthe various tax regimes implementedbefore the later 1250s were a disasterand an oppressiveburdenon the people. Arghun Aqa must bear responsibilityfor this as well as for the corruptofficials who executedhis policies in his absence. It could be claimed that the calamitous state of the I1- Khanate'sfinances at the time of Rashid al-Din's assumption of power was the resultof policies and practicesthatevolved afterthe amir's death and that he can- not be held responsiblefor any deteriorationin the imperial finances after 1275. The periodbetween the close of the 1250s and the mid-70s, though short, does not seem to have been characterisedby the abuses which certainly predatedbut also postdatedit. If Arghun Aqa had been genuinely contrite when he testified before Mongke it might be assumedthat he would have made an effort to put in place an effective, efficient, and "just" system of taxation which would bear comparison with that of the celebratedMinister, Yalavach Mahmud. Arghun Aqa's supportersmightjustly claim thatthe amir had presided over the affairs of state at a time when the prestige of the diwan of the Il-Khans was ascendantand when the "nationof archers"in Persia, i.e. the Mongols, was powerful and glo- rious, despite the troublescaused by the Mamluks in the west. There is a voice other than Rashid al-Din's that was raisedagainst Arghun Aqa's policies, however, and this was a poet's. Pur-i Baha of Jam was a contem- poraryof Abaqa Khan. His chief patrons were the Sahib Khwajah Izz al-Din Tahir Faryumadi, appointed wazir of Khurasanby Abaqa, the two Juvaini brothers,Nasir al-Din Tusi, and various other high court officials. While Pur-i Baha is suitably respectfulof his superiors in his writing, he is not afraidto indulge in a tiradeagainstthe tax policies of the time and to address his words to the highest officials. In an addressto cAta Malik Juvaini, then governor of Baghdad,he makes a satiricalattackon the excessive taxes paid to the Il-Khanate state.124He complains that: The census in thirtyyears was taken once, Now (the government)imposes qobchur twice at a time."125 Such is the zeal of the tax collectors that A chick has not yet put its head out of the shell, When qobchurhas been fixed both on the cock and the hen."'26 So great is the distress and lamentationsof the victims of Arghun Aqa's tax regime that the qobchur itself feels the affliction of the people. Because of the buming prayerof the oppressed, Qobchur itself is raising its sighs and cries to the (throne) of the Almighty."'27 Arghun Aqa's Legacy. ArghunAqa left four sons of whom the most famous was Nawruz, the man who reportedlyconvertedGhazanto Islam,'28and their prominence may account for 124. See Vladimir Minorsky, Iranica, Tehran, 1964, 299-305. 125. Ibid., 299, 303. 126. Ibid., 301, 304. 127. Ibid., 301, 305. 482 Lane the reverencein which Arghun Aqa continuedto be held. Recordingthe amir's death after the last prayersof the day on Sunday, 16 June 1275, Wassaf observed thatArghunAqa was indeed a fortunateman, a man who had "snatchedfortune's hat from the [very] head of Khusrawthe Just."'29Juvaini was the only historian of note who dwelt at any length on this persistent Mongol amir although he reserveshis greatestaccoladesfor MahmudYalavach. The name of ArghunAqa echoed in the pages of the historiesof lands as dis- tant as China, MamlukEgypt, and Europe,and today no modem analysis of the Mongol Empire is complete without mention of one of Mongol Iran's most widely known administrators.Whetherfrom the venomous pen of an Arnenian cleric or from the fulsome words of a Persianeulogist the name of this man has been indelibly imprintedon history. ArghunAqa was not a notably able administrator.Indeedhis policies often failed. Whateverthe success or lack thereof of his policies, he nonetheless man- aged to survive in a notablydangerousjob. His muted military careerwas simi- larly markedby lack of significant achievementif not by actual failure, though he was never brought to account for this. What Arghun Aqa did excel at was surviving. He would appearto have been a master at putting the right word in the right ear at the right time. He was able to presenthimself in a favorable light to a succession of ruthless and powerful rulers and to retain their approval.Per- haps the reason behind the longevity of his careerwas simply a thinning of the ranksof Mongol men of the pen with the passage of time. 128. See Jean Aubin, "Emirs, Mongol," 59. 129. Wassaf, 313; Ayati, 190.