Reign of Fakhr al-Dīn Kart

We are back in Herat again, where Nawrūz’s protégé, Fakhr al-Dīn Kart, was trying to repulse Nawrūz’s erstwhile Ögödeid-Chaghataid allies. Fakhr al-Dīn battled the invaders, secured Ghāzān’s support, and placed Herat on the road to social and economic renewal. The Kartid-Nawruzid union was working—until the arrangement no longer suited Fakhr al-Dīn and had to be dissolved.

Dissolving the Kartid-Nawruzid Union

Fakhr al-Dīn Kart was to draw Herat to a fuller recovery from the despoilments of 687/1288 and 688/1289, but had to contend with the fallout from his decisions. In 696/1297, Nawrūz’s uneasy alliance with Ghāzān sundered. Nawrūz fled to Herat with an Ilkhanid army in pursuit. He was given refuge by Fakhr al-Dīn, which initiated the Kartid’s first clash with Ghāzān. Fakhr al-Dīn was indebted to Nawrūz (he had extricated him from his father’s jail). Moreover, he was Nawrūz’s brother’s son-in-law, and possibly experienced pressure from the harem to grant Nawrūz sanctuary. Meanwhile, the Ilkhanid expedition besieged Herat. As the days passed, tensions flared between Kartid hosts and Nawruzid guests. Fakhr al-Dīn had second thoughts. An intervention by a distinguished Sufi shaykh afforded him an honorable way out of a perilous situation.

The commander of the Ilkhanid expeditionary force, Qutlugh-Shāh, enlisted the Shaykh al-Islam of Jām, Shihāb al-Dīn Ismāʿīl Jāmī (d.c. 738/1338), to mediate. Jāmī had helped secure Fakhr al-Dīn’s release; he was trusted—and the Kartid’s in-law by c. 1300, possibly even by 1297. He wrote to the malik, “[y]ou must do something to remedy this situation; otherwise Herat and the whole realm of Khurasan will be lost over this affair.” The letter was smuggled into Herat. Nawrūz and his retinue were seized and delivered to Qutlugh-Shāh. Nawrūz was executed on 23 Shawwāl 696/14 August 1297.

Since Fakhr al-Dīn had delivered Nawrūz to Qutlugh-Shāh, his “sin” of sheltering the fugitive was evidently forgiven by Ghāzān. The malik received a new yarlīgh confirming his status, and sumptuous (fākhir) gifts that included a pāʾīza and Āl tamghā. Nawrūz’s execution instilled fear (khaʾif ) in Ilkhanid/Kartid bandagān (mulūk wa umarā-yi Khurāsān).