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EVER YlVI AN'S LIBRARY
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TRA VEL AN ()
TOPOGRAP flY
MARCO POLO'S TRi\ VELS
\VITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
JOHN MASEFIELD
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THE PUBLISHERS OF ê f/ ê CZ\.. r (jl/f eÆ:J'.CS
LIB'l.{eI/'l.{r WILL BE PLEASED TO SEND
FREELY TO ALL APPLICANTS A LIS1
OF THE PUBLISHED AND PROJEC'rED
VOLUME
'1'0 BE C01\iPRISED UNDER
TIlE FOLLOWING THIR'fEEN HEA.UINGS:
-
TRA VEL
SCIENCE
FIC'fION
1'HEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY
HISTORY
CLASSICAL
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
ESSAYS.. ORATORY
POETR Y & DRAMA
BIOGRAPHY
REFERENCE
ROMANCE
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FIRST ISSUE OF THIS EDITION
REPRINTED
19 08
19 11 , 19 1 4
INTRODUCTION
l\tlARco POLO, the subject of this memoir, was born at Venice
in the year 1254. He was the son of Nicolo Polo, a Venetian
of noble family, who was one of the partners in a trading
house, engaged in business \vith Constantinople. In the year
1260, this Nicolo Polo, in company with his junior partner,
his brother Maffeo, set out across the Euxine on a trading
venture to the Crimea. They prospered in their business,
but were unable to return to their base, owing to the break-
ing out of a Tartar war on the road by which they had come.
As they could not go back, they went forward, crossing the
desert to Bokhara, where they stayed for three years. At
the end of the third year (the fifth of their journey) they were
advised to visit the Great Khan Kublai, the (( Kubla Khan"
of Coleridge's poem. A party of the Great Khan's envoys
were about to return to Cathay, and the two brothers there-
fore joined the party, travelling forward, (( northward and
northeastward," for a \vhole year, before they reached the
Khan's Court in Cathay. The Khan received them kindly,
and asked them many questions about life in Europe, especi-
ally about the emperors, the Pope, the Church, and It all
that is done at Rome." He then sent them back to Europe
on an embassy to the Pope, to ask His Holiness to send a
hundred missionaries to convert the Cathaians to the Chris-
tian faith. He also asked for some of the holy oil from the
lamp of the Holy Sepulchre. The return journey of the
brothers (from Cathay to Acre) took three years. On their
arrival at Acre the travellers discovered that the Pope was
dead. They therefore decided to return home to Venice to
wait until the new Pope should be elected. . They arrived at
Venice in 1269, to find that Nicolo's \vife had died during her
husband's absence. His son Marco, our traveller, was then
fifteen years old. He had probably passed his childhood in
the house of one of his uncles a t Venice.
Nicolo and Maffeo Polo remained at Venice for a couple of
years, waiting for a Pope to be elected, but as there seelned to
vü
VIII
Introduction
be no prospect of this happening, they determined to return
to the Great Khan, to tell him how their mission had failed.
They therefore set out again (in 127 I) and Marco, now seven-
teen years old, went \vith them. At Acre they obtained a
letter from a Papal Legate, stating how it came about that
the message had not been delivered. They had already
obtained some of the holy oil, so that they were free to pro-
ceed. They had not gone very far upon their journey \vhen
they were recalled to Acre by the above-mentioned Syrian
Legate, who had just heard that he had been elected Pope.
The new Pope did not send a hundred missionaries, as
Kublai had asked, but he appointed instead two preaching
friars, who accolnpanied the Polos as far as Armenia, where
rumours of war frightened them into returning. The Polos
journeyed on for three years and a half, and arrived at
the Khan's court (at Shangtu, not far from Pekin) in the
Iniddle of 1275. The Khan received them "honourably and
graciously," making much of 1\farco, " who was then a young
gallant." In a little while, \vhen Marco had learned the
speech and customs of the" Tartars," the Khan employed
him in public business, sending him as a visiting adminis-
trator to several wild and distant provinces. Marco noted
carefully the strange customs of these provinces, and de-
lighted the Khan with his account of them. On one of these
journeys Marco probably visited the southern states of India.
After some seventeen years of honourable service \vith
Kublai, the three Venetians became eager to return to Venice.
They were rich men, and Kublai was gro\ving old, and they
knew that Kublai's death "might deprive them of that
pu blic assistance by which alone they could expect to sur-
mount the innumerable difficulties of so long a journey."
But Kublai refused to al1O"w them to leave the Court, and
even" appeared hurt at the application." It chanced, ho,v-
ever, that at this time, Arghun, Khan of Persia, had sent
ambassadors to Kub]ai to obtain the hand of a maiden "frou1
among the relatives of his deceased wife." The maiden,
aged seventeen, and very beautiful, was about to accompany
the ambassadors to Persia; but the ordinary overland routes
to Persia were unsafe, owing to wars among the Tartars. It
was necessary for her to travel to Persia by ship, The
envoys begged Kublai that the three Venetians might come
\vith them in the ships" as baing pef'sons well skilled in
the practice of navigation." Kublai granted their request,
Introduction
.
IX
though not very gladly. He fitted out a. :;plendid squadron
of ships, and despatched the three Venetians with the Per-
sians, first granting then1 the golden tablet or safe-conduct,
,vhich would enable them to obtain supplies on the way.
They sailed from a Chinese port about the beginning of 1292.
The voyage to Persia occupied about two years, during
which time the expedition lost six hundred men. The Khan
of Persia was dead when they arrived; so the beautiful
maiden was handed over to his son, who received her kindly.
He gave the Venetians safe-conduct through Persia; indeed
he sent them forward with troops of horse, without which,
in those troublous days, they could never have crossed the
country. As they rode on their way they heard that the
great I(han Kublai, their old master, had died. They arrived
safely at Venice some time in the year 1295.
There are some curious tales of their arrival at home. It
is said that they were not recognised by their relatives, and
this is not strange, for they returned in shabby Tartar
clothes, almost unable to speak their native tongue. It was
not until they had ripped the seams of the shabby clothes,
producing stores of jewels from the lining, that the relatives
decided to acknowledge them. (This tale may be read as
allegory by those who doubt its truth as history.) 1\1arco
Polo did not stay long among his relatives. Venice was at
war with Genoa, and the Polo family, being rich, had been
called upon to equip a galley, even before the travellers
returned from Asia. Marco Polo sailed in command of this
galley, in the fleet under Andrea Dalldolo, which \vas de-
feated by the Genoese off Curzola on the 7th September
1296. 1\1arco Polo was carried as a prisoner to Genoa., \vhere
he remained, in spite of efforts lnade to ransom him, for about
three years, during which time he probably dictated his book
in very bad French to one Rustician of Pisa, a felJow-prisoner.
II e returned to Venice during the year 1299, and probably
n1arried shortly after\vards.
I...ittle is known of his life after his return from prison.
We know that he was nickllalned H II Milione " on account
of his wonderful stories of Kublai's splendour; but as he was
rich and famous the slighting nickname was probably partly
a compliment. Colonel Yule, the great editor of Marco Polo,
has discovered that he stood surety for a wine-smuggler,
that he gave a copy of his book to a French noble, and that
he sued a commission agent for the half profits on the sa](
of
x
Introduction
some musIc It was at one time thought that he \vas the
l\larco Polo who failed (in r 302) to have his water-pipe in-
spected by the town plumber. This sin has now been laid
upon another man of the same name, who II was ignorant
of the order on that subject." On the 9th of January, 1324,
feeling himself to be growing daily feebler, he made his will,
which is still preserved. He named as his trustees his wife
Donata and his three daughters, to whom the bulk of his
estate was left. He died soon after the execution of this will.
He was buried in Venice without the door of the Church of
San Lorenzo; but the exact site of the grave is unknown.
No known authentic portrait of the man exists; but as in
the case of Columbus, there are several fanciful portraits, of
\vhich the best dates from the seventeenth century.
Marco Polo's book was not received with faith by his con-
ten1poraries. Travellers who see marvellous things, even in our
own day (the name of Bruce will occur to everyone) are seldon1
believed by those who, having stayed at home, have all the
consequences of their virtue.
hen Marco Polo came back
from the East, a misty, unknown country, full of splendour
and terrors, he could not tell the whole truth. He ha d to
leav e his t ale half told lest he should lack believers. HÌs
book was less popular in the late; Middle Ages than the
fictions and plagiarisms of Sir John Mandeville. !VIarco
Polo tells of what he saw; the compiler of Mandeville, \vhen
he does not steal openly from Pliny, Friar Odoric, and others,
tells of what an ignorant person might expect to see, and
\vould, in any case, like to read about,. since it is always
blessed to be confirnled in an opinion, however ill-grounded
it may be. How little lVlarco Polo \vas credited may be
judged from the fact that the map of Asia was not modified
by his discoveries till fifty years after his death.
His book is one of the great books of travel. Even now,
after the lapse of six centuries, it remains the chief authority
for parts of Central Asia, and of the vast Chinese Empire.
Some of his wanderings are hard to follow; some of the
places which he visited are hard to identify; but the labour
of Colonel Yule has cleared up most of the difficulties, and
confirmed most of the strange statements. To the geo-
grapher, to the historian, and to the student of Asiatic Hfe,
the book of Marco Polo will always be most valuable. To
the general reader,. the great charm of the book is its
romance.
Introduction
.
Xl
It is accounted a romantic thing to wander among
strangers and to eat their bread by the camp-fires of the
other half of the world. There is romance in doing thus,
though the romance has been over-estimated by those whose
sedentary lives have created in them a false taste for action.
Marco Polo \vandered among strangers; but it is open to
anyone (with courage and the power of nlotion) to do the
same. Wandering in itself is merely a form of self-indul-
gence. If it adds not to the stock of human knowledge, or
if it gives not to others the imaginative possession of some
part of the \vorld, it is a pernicious habit. Th
aC<ß1 ìsition
o f knowle dg e, the accumulation of fa ct, is noble only in those
fevl who have that alc hem y which tran
tes such clay
to heavenly eternal gold. It may be thought that many
träVêllers have given their readers great imaginative posses-
sions; but the imaginative possession is not measured in
miles and parasangs, nor do the people of that country write
accounts of birds and beasts. It is only the \vonderful
traveller who sees a wonder, and only five travellers in the
world's history have seen wonders. The others have seen
birds and beasts, rivers and \vastes, the earth and the (local)
fulness thereof. The five travellers are Herodotus, Gaspar,
Melchior, Baltha7ar, and Marco Polo himself. T e wonder
of Marco Polo is this-that he ere tAd Asia for the European
mind.
When Marco Polo went to the East, the whole of Central
Asia, so full of splendour and magnificence, so noisy with
nations and kings, was like a dream in men's minds. Euro-
peans touched only the fringe of the East. At Acre, at
Byzantium, at the busy cities on the Euxine, the nlerchants
of Europe bartered with the stranger for silks, and jewels and
precious balms, brought over the desert at great cost, in
caravans from the unknown. The popular conception of
the East was taken from the Bible, from the tales of old
Crusaders, and from the books of the nlerchants. All that
men knew of the East was that it was mysterious, and that
our Lord was born there. rvlarco Polo, almost the first
European to see the East, saw her in all her \vonder, more
fully than any man has seen her since. His picture of the
East is the picture vvhich we all make in our minds when we
repeat to ourselves those t\VO strange \vords, "the East,"
and give ourselves up to the itnage which that sYlnbol evokes.
It may be that the \Vestern mind will turn to l\1arco Polo for
.......
-
XII
Introduction
J
3
....
a conception of Asia long after If Cathay" has become an
American colony.
I t is difficult to read Marco Polo as one reads historical
facts. One reads him as one reads romance; as one would
read, for instance, the If Eve of St. Mark," or the If Well at
the World's End." The East of which he writes is the East
of romance, not the East of the Anglo-Indian, with his Simla,
his missions to Tibet, and Reuter telegrams. In the East of
romance there grows If the tree of the sun, or dry tree " (by
which Marco Polo passed), a sort of landmark or milestone,
at the end of the great desert. The apples of the sun and
moon gro\v upon that tree. Darius and Alexander fought
in its shade. Those are the significant facts about the tree
according to Marco Polo. We moderns, who care little for
any tree so soon as we can murmur its Latin name, have lost
wonder in losing faith.
The Middle Age, even as our own age is, was full of talk of
the Earthly Paradise. It may be that we have progressed,
in learning to talk of it as a social po
ibility, instead of as a
geographical fact. We like to think that the old Venetians
,vent eastward, on their famous journey, half believing that
they would arrive there, just as Columbus (two centuries
later) half expected to sight land If where the golden blossoms
burn upon the trees forever." They did not find the Earthly
Paradise; but they saw the splendours of Kublai, one of the
mightiest of earthly kings. One feels the presence of
Kqblai an through the narrative, as the red wine, dropped
into the water-cup, suffuses all, or as the striI\g supports the
jewels on a trinket. The imagination is only healthy when
it broods upon the kingly and the saintly. In Kublai, the
reader will find enough images of splendour to n1ake glorious
the temple of his mind. When we think of Marco Polo, it
is of Kublai that we think; and, apart from the romantic
wonder which surrounds hitn, he is a noble person, worth our
contemplation. I-Ie is Hke a king in a romance. It \vas the
task of a kingly nature to have created him as he appears in
the book here. It makes us proud and reverent of the poetic
gift, to reflect tl1at this king, If the lord of lords," ruler of so
many cities, so many gardens, so many fishpools, would be
but a name, an image covered by the sands, had he not wel-
comed tvV"o dusty travel1ers, who came to him one n10rning
from out of the unknown, after long wandering over the
world. Perhaps \vhen he bade them farewel1 the thought
...
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...
....
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"
Introduction
XIII
occurred to him (as it occurred to that other king in the
poem) that he might come to be remembered U but by this
one thing," when all his glories were fallen from him. and he
lay silent, the gold mask upon his face, in the drowsy tomb,
where the lamp. long kept alight, at last guttered. and died.
and fell to d list.
December 1907.
JOHN MASEFIELD.
ITINERAR Y
THE elder Polos, ,vhen they left Constantinople in the year
1260, had not planned to go far beyond the northern
borders of the Euxine. 1"'hcy first landed at Soldaia, in the
Crimea, then an iInportant trading city. From Soldaia they
journeyed in a northerly and east-northeasterly direction to
Sara, or Sarra, a vast city on the Volga, where King Cam-
busca.n lived, and to Bolgara, or Bolghar, ,vhere they stayed
for a year. Going sou th a short distance to U caca, another
city on the Volga, they journeyed direct to the south-east,
across the northern head of the Caspian, on the sixty days'
march to Bokhara, where they stayed for three years. From
Bokhara they ,vent with the Great Khan's people north-
ward to Otrar, and thence in a north-easterly direction to the
Court of the Khan near Pekin. On their return journey,
they arrived at the sea-coast at Layas, in Armenia. From
Layas they ,vent to Acre, and from .Acre to Ncgropont in
Roulnania, and from Negropont to Venice, where they stayed
for about t,vo years.
On the second journey to the East, with the young Marco
Polo, they sailed direct from Venice to Acre towards the end
of the year Í27I. They made a short journey southward to
Jerusalem, for the hoJy oil, and then rei. urned to Acre for
letters fronl the Papal Legate. Leaving Acre, they got as
far as Layas, in .l\rnlenia, before they ,vere recalled by the ·
newly elected Pope. On setting out again, they returned to
Layas, at that time a great city, where spices and cloth of
.gold 'v ere sold, and from \vhich Inerchants journeying to the
East generally started. From Layas they pushed north-
ward into '1'urcomania, past Casaria and Sivas, to Arzingan,
where the people wove II good buckra.ms." Passing l\10unt
Ararat, where Noah's Ark was supposed to rest, they heard
stories of the Baku oil-fields. From here they went to the
south-eastward, following the course of the Tigris to Bandas.
From Bandas they seem to have made an unnecessary
journey to the Persian Gulf. The book leads one to suppose
xiv
Itinerary
xv
that they travelled by way of Tauriz (in Persian lrak) ì"'czd,
and I{erman, to the port of Orlnuz, as though they intended
to take ship there. 1
hey could, ho\vever, have progressed
nlore s\viftly had they followed t.he Tigris to Busrah, there
taken ship upon the Gulf, and sailed by \vay of Keis or !{isi to
Ormuz. After visiting Orllluz, they returned to !{erman by
another road, and then pushed on, over the horrible salt
desert of Kerman, through I(horassan to Balakshan. It is
possib]e that their journey was broken at Balakshan, o\ving
to the illness of Marco, who speaks of having at some time
stayed nearly a year here to recover his health. On leaving
Ba1akshan they proceeded through the high Pamirs to Ka.sh-
gar, thence south-eastward by ,yay of Khotan, not yet buried
under the sands, to the Gobi de jcrt. 1"'he Gobi desert, like
an deserts, had a bad name as being U the abode of many
evil spirits, which amuse travellers to their destruction."
The Polos crossed the Gobi in the usual thirty days, halting
each night by the brackish ponds which make the passage
possible. After crossing the desert, they soon entered China.
At Ran Chau, one of the first Chinese cities which they
visited, they may have stayed for nearly a year, on account
of "the state of their concerns," but this stay probably took
place later, when they were in Kublai's service. 1
hey then
crossed the province of Shen-si, into that of Shan-si, finally
arriving at Kai-ping-fu, where J(ublai had built his summer
pleasure garden.
On the return journey, the Polos set sail from the port of
Zaitum, in the province of Fo-I{ien. They hugged the
Chinese coast (in orùer to avoid the Pratas and Pracel Reefs)
and crossed the Gulf of 'fong King to Champa in the south-
east of Cambodia. Leaving Champa, they may have made
some stay at Borneo, but more probably they sailed direct to
the island of Bintang, at the nlouth of the Straits of Malacca,
and to Sumatra, where the fleet was delayed for five months
by the blo\ving of the contrary monsoon. 1
he ships seem
to have waited for the monsoon to change in a harbour on the
north-east coast, in the kingdom of Sumatra. On getting.
a fair \vind, they passed by the Nicobar and Andaman Islands,
and then shaped a course for Ceylon. They put across to
the coast of Coromandel, and may perhaps have coasted as
far to the north\vard upon the l\ladras coast as Masulipatam.
On the Bombay side, they would seen1 to have hugged the
coast as far as they could, as far perhaps as Surat, in the
.
XVI
111 tinerary
Gulf of Canlbay; but it is just possible that the descriptions
of these places \vere taken from the tales of pilots, and that
his fleet put boldly out to avoid the coast pirates. l\larco
Polo tells us much about Aden, and about to,vns on the
Arabian coasts; but the fleet probably never touched at
them. All that is certainly known is that they arrived at
Ormuz, in the Persian Gulf, and passed inland to Khorassan.
On leaving Khorassan they journeyed overland, through
Persia and Greater Armenia, until they came to Trebizonda
on the Euxine Sea. Here they took ship, and sailed home
to Venice, first touching at Constantinople and at Negro-
pon t. "And this was in the year 1295 of Christ's Incarna,
tion."
J. M.
CONTENTS
BOOK I
PAGE
PROLOGUE
.
.
.
.
o
.
.
9
CHAPTER
I. 10
II. Of Armenia Minor-Of the Port of Laiassus-And of
the Boundaries of the Province 30
III. Of the Province called Turkomania, \vhere are the
Cities of Kogni, Kaisariah, and Sevasta, and of its
Commerce 32
IV. Of Armenia Major, in which are the Cities of Arzingan,
Argiron, and Darziz-Of the Castle of Paipurth-
Of th
Mountain where the Ark of Noah rested-Of
the Boundaries of the Province-And of a remark-
able Fountain of Oil 34
V. Of the Province of Zorzania and its Boundaries-Of the
Pass where Alexander the Great constructed the
Gate of Iron-And of the miraculous Circum-
stances attending a Fom1tain at Teflis 37
VI. Of the Province of Mosul and its different lnhabit"ants
-Of the People named Kurds-And of the Trade
of this Country 41
VII. Of the great City of Baldach or Bagadet, ancientlv
called Babylon-Of the Navigation from thence to
Balsara, situated in what is termed the Sea of India,
but properly the Persian Gulf-And of the various
Sciences studied in that City 42
VIII. Concerning the Capture and Death of the I{haHf of
Baldach, and the miraculous Removal of a
Mountain 44
IX. Of the noble City of Tauris, in Irak, and of its Com-
mercial and other Inhabitants 47
X. Of the Monastery of Saint Barsamo, in the Neighbour-
hood of Tauris 49
XI. Of the Province of Persia 50
XII. Of the Names of the Eight Kingdoms that constitute
the Province of Persia, and of the Breed of Horses
and of Asses found therein 5 I
XIII. Of the City of Yasdi and its Manufactures, and of the
Anin1als found in the Country between that place
and Kierm an 55
XIV. Of the I{ingdom of Kierman, by the Ancients named
Kannania-Of its Fossil and :Mineral Productions
-Its Manufactures-Its Falcons-And of a great
Descent observed upon passing out of that
Country 5 ö
I
A
2
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
XV. Of the City of Kamandu, and District of Reobarle-.Of
certain Birds found there-Of a peculiar kind of
Oxen-And of the Karaunas, a Tribe of Robbers 58
XVI. Of the City of arm us, situated on an Island not far
from the :l\1ain, in the Sea of India-Of its Com-
m
rcial Importance-And of the hot Wind that
blows there
XVII. Of the Shipping employed at Ormus-Of the Season
in which the Fruits are produced-And of the
Manner of Living and Customs of the Inhabitants 67
XVIII. Of the Country travelled over upon leaving Ormus,
and returning to Kierman by a different Route;
and of a Bitterness in the Bread occasioned by the
Quality of the Water . . . . .
XIX. Of the desert Country between Kierman and Kobiam,
and of the bitter Quality of the \Vater
XX. Of the Town of Kobiam, and its lVlanufactures .
XXI. Of the J oUIney from Kobiam to the Province of Timo-
chain on the Northern Confines of Persia-And of
a particular Species of Tree
XXII. Of the Old Man of the Mountain-Of his Palace and
Gardens-Of his Capture and his Death. .
XXIII. Of a fertile Plain of six Days' Journey, succeeded by a
Desert of eigh t, to be passed in the \Vay to the City
of Sapurgan-Of the excellent l\1elons produced
there-And of the City of Balach
XXIV. Of the Castle named Thaikan-Of the Manners of the
Inhabitants-And of Salt-Hills
XXV. Of the Town of Scassem, and of the Porcupines found
there
XXVI. Of the Province of Balashan-Of the Precious Stones
found there and which become the Property of
the King-Of the Horses and the Falcons of the
Country-Of the salubrious Air of the Ivlountains
-And of the Dress with which the Women adorn
their Persons
XXVII. Of the Province of Bascià lying South of the former-
. Of the golden Ornaments worn by the Inhabitants
in their Ears-And of their l\1anners .
XXVIII. Of the Province of Kesnulr situated towards the south-
east-Of its Inhabitants who are skilled in l\Iagic-
01 their Communication with the Indian Sea-
And of a Class of Hern1its, their Mode of Life and
extraordinary Abstinence. . . .' . 87
XXIX. Of the Province of Vokhan-Of an Ascent for three
Days, lead
ng to the SUIDrnit of a high l\lountain-
Of a peculIar Breed of Sheep found there-Of the
Effect of the great Elevation upon Fires-And of
the Savage Life of the Inhabitants. . . 90
XXX. Of the City of Kashcar, and of the Commerce of its
Inhabitants. . . . . . .
XXXI. Of the City of Sanlarcan, and of the 1\Iiraculous Colunul
in the Church of St. John the Baptist
XXXII. Of the Province of Karkan, the Inhabitants of which
are troubled with swollen Legs and with Goitres 95
XXXIII. Of th
City of K9tan, w.hich is abundantly supplied
WI tb all the NecessarIes of Life . . .
63
69
69
71
72
73
77
80
8J
82
86
9 2
93
7 6
Contents 3
CHAPTER PAGE
XXXIV. Of the Province of Peyn-Of the Chalcedonies and
Jasper found in its River-And of a peculiar
Custom with regard to Marriages 97
XXXV. Of the Province of Charchan-Of the kinds of Stone
found in its Rivers-And of the Necessity the
Inhabitants are under, of fiying to the Desert on
the approach of the Armies of the Tartars . 9 8
XXXVI. Of the Town of Lop-Of the Desert in its Vicinity-
And of the strange Noises heard by those who pass
over the latter 99
XXXVII. Of the Province of Tanguth-Of the City of Sachion-
Of the Custom observed there upon the Birth of a
Male Child-And of the Ceremony of burning the
Bodies of the Dead. 101
XXVIII. Of the District of Kamul, and of some peculiar Customs
respecting the Entertainment of Strangers 106
XXXIX Of the City of Chinchitalas 108
XL. Of the District of Succuir, where the Rhubarb is pro-
duced, and from whence it is carried to all parts of
the World 110
XLI. Of the City of Kampion, the principal one of the Pro-
vince of Tanguth-Of the nature of their Idols, and
of the l\.iode of Life of those amongst the Idolaters
who are devoted to the services of Religion-Of
the Almanac they make use of-And the Cu,;toms
of the other Inhabitants with regard to Marriage I I 1
XLII. Of the City of Ezina-Of the kinds of Cattle and Birds
found there-And of a Desert extending forty
Days' Journey towards the North. . . 114
XLIII. Of tbe City of Karakoran, the first in which the
Tartars fixed their Residence I IS
XLIV. Of the Origin of the Kingdom of the Tartars-Of the
Quarter from whence they came-And of their
former Subjection to Un-khan, a Prince of the
North, called also Prester John I 16
XLV. Concerning Chingis- Khan, first Emperor of the Tartars,
and his Warfare with Un-khan, whom he over-
threw, and of whose Kingdom he possessed
himself . . . . . . . I I 8
XLVI. Of six successive Emperors of the Tartars, and of the
Ceremonies that take place when they are carried
for Interment to the Mountain of Altai 120
XLVII. Of the \Vandering Life of the Tartars-Of their
Domestic Manners, their Food, and the Virtue and
useful Qualities of their Women 123
XLVIII. Of the Celestial and Terrestrial Deities of the Tartars,
and of their Modes of Worship-Of their Dress,
Arms, Courage in Battle, Patience under Priva-
tions, and Obedience to their Leaders . . 126
XLIX. Of the Tartar Armies, and the manner in which they
are constituted-Of their Order of Marching-Of
their Provisions-And of their Mode of attacking
the Enen1Y 128
L. Of the Rules of Justice observed by these People-And
of all Ünaginary I{ind of rvrarriage contracted
between tbe deceased Children of different
F anlÌlies 13 J
4
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
LI. Of the Plain of Bargu near Kara - koran - Of the
Customs of its Inhabitants-Of the Ocean, at the
Distance of forty Days' Journey from thence-
Of the Falcons produced in the Country on its
Borders-And of the Bearings of the Northern
Constellation to an Observer in those Parts 133
LII. Of the Kingdom of Erginul, adjoining to that of Kam-
pion, and of the City of Singui-Of a Species of
Oxen covered with extremely fine Hair-Of the
Fonn of the Animal that yields the Musk, and the
Mode of taking it-And of the Customs of the
Inhabitants of that Country, and the Beauty of
the Women 135
LIII. Of the Province of Egrigaia, and of the City of Kalacha
-Of the l\fanners of its Inhabitants-And of the
Camelots manufactured there 139
LIV. Of the Province of Tenduk, governed by Princes of the
Race of Prester John, and chiefly inhabited by
Christians-Of the Ordination of their Priests-
And of a Tribe of People called Argon, the most
personable and the best-informed of any in these
Countries 14 0
LV. Of the Seat of Governlnent of the Princes of the Family
of Prester John, called Gog and lYlagog-Of the
l\lanners of its Inhabitants-Of their Manufacture
of Silk-And of the Mines of Silver worked there 141
LVI. Of the City of Changanor-Of different Species of
Cranes-And of Partridges and Quails bred in
that Part by the Orders of the Grand Khan . 143
LVII. Of the Grand Khan's beautiful Palace in the City of
Shandu-Of his Stud of \Vhite Brood-Mares,
with whose l\1ilk he performs an Annual Sacrifice
-Of the wonderful Operations of the Astrologers
on occasions of Bad 'Veather-Of the Ceremonies
practised by them in the Hall of the Royal Palace
-.A..nd of two Descriptions of Religious Mendi-
cants, with their Þ..fodes of Living 145
BOOK II
I. Of the admirable Deeds of Kublai-Kaan, the Emperor
now reigning- Of the Battle he fought with
Nayan, his Uncle, and of the Victory he obtained 152
11. Of the Return of the Grand Khan to the City of Kan-
balu after his Victorv-Of the Honour he confers
on the Christians, thë Jews, the Mahometans, and
the Idolaters, at their respective Festivals-And
the. R.eason he assigns for his not becolning a
ChnstIan . . . . . . . 158
IlL Of the kind of Rewards granted to those who conduct
themselves well in Fight, and of the Golden
Tablets which they receive . . . . r61
IV. Of the Figure and Stature of the Grand Khan-Of
his four principal 'Vives-And of the annual
Selection of Young \\7 omen for him in the Pro-
vince of Ungut 162
Contents
5
CHAPTER PAGE
V. Of the number of the Grand Khan's Sons by his four
Wives, whom he Inakes Kings of different Pro-
vinces, and of Chingis his First- born-Also of the
Sons by his Concubines, whom he creates Lords
VI. Of the great and admirable Palace of the Grand Khan,
near to the City of Kanbalu . . . . 166
VII. Of the new City of Tai-du, built near to that of Kanbalu
-Of a Rule observed respecting the Entertain-
ment of Ambassadors-And of the nightly Police
of the City . . . . . . . 171
VIII. Of the treasonable Practices employed to cause the
City of Kanbalu to rebel, and of the Apprehension
and Punishment of those concerned
IX. Of the Personal Guard of the Grand Khan
X. Of the Style in which the Grand Khan holds bis Public
Courts, and sits at Table with all his Nobles-Of
the Manner in which the Drinking Vessels of Gold
and Silver, filled with the Milk of Mares and
Camels, are disposed in the Hall-And of the
Ceremony that takes place when he drinks
XI. Of the Festival that is kept throughout the Dominions
of the Grand Khan on tbe Twenty-eighth of
September, being the Anniversary of his Nativity 186
XII. Of the White Feast, held on the First Day of the
Month of February, being the Commencelnent of
their Year-Of the Number of Presents then
brought-And of the Ceremonies that take place
at a Table whereon is inscribed the Name of the
Grand Khan. . . . . . . 188
XIII. Of the Quantity of Game taken and sent to the
Court, during the Winter Months
XIV. Of Leopards and Lynxes used for hunting Deer-Of
Lions habituated to the Chase of various Animals
-And of Eagles taught to seize Wolves. . 193
XV. Of two Brothers who are principal Officers of the
Chase to the Grand Khan . . . . 194
XVI. Of the Grand I{han's proceeding to the Chase, with
his Gerfalcons and Hawks-Of his Falconers-
And of his Ten ts . . . . . . 195
XVII. Of the Multitude of Persons who continually resort to
and depart from the City of I{anbalu-And of
the Commerce of the Place . . . . 20 I
XVIII. Of the kind of Paper Money issued by the Grand Khan,
and made to pass current throughout his
Dominions . . . . . . . 202
XIX. Of the Council of Twelve great Officers appointed for
the Affairs of the Army, and of Twelve others for
the general Concerns of the Empire '. 205
XX. Of the Places established on all the great Roads for
supplying Post-Horses-Of the Couriers on Foot
-And of the l\1ode in which the Expense is
defrayed . . . . . . . 207
XXI. Of the Relief afforded by the Grand I{han to all the
Provinces of his Empire, in Times of Dearth or
Mortality of Cattle . . 212
XXII. Of the Trees which he causes to be planted at the
Sides of the Roads, and of the Order in which they
are ke{>t .
165
176
ISI
182
193
21 4
6
COl1tents
CHAPTER P
GE
XXIII. Of the kind of 'Vine made in the Province of Cathay--
And of the Stones used there for burning in the
manner of Charcoal . . . . . 2 I 4
XXIV. Of the great and admirable Liberality exercised by the
Grand Khan towards the Poor of Kanbalu, and
other Persons who apply for Relief at his Court 215
XXV. Of the Astrologers of the City of Kanbalu . . 217
XXVI. Of the Religion of the Tartars-Of the Opinions they
hold respecting the Soul-And of some of their
Customs . . . . . . . 219
XXVII. Of the River named Pulisangan, and of the Bridge over
it .
. . . . . . .
Of the City of Gouza .
Of the Kingdom of Ta-in-fu
Of the City of Pi-an-fu . .
Of the Fortress of Thaigin or Tai-gin . . .
Of the very large and noble River called the Kara-
moran .. 230
XXXIII. Of the City of Ka-chan-fu 23 I
XXXIV. Of the City of Ken-zan-fu . . 231
XXXV. Of the Boundaries of Cathay and lVlanji " 233
XXXVI. Of the Province of Sin-din-fu, and of the great River
Kian . . . 234
XXXVII. Of the Province of Thebeth 236
XXXVIII. Of the Province of I{ain-du. . . . . 24 0
XXXIX. Of the great Province of Karaian J and of Yachi its
principal City . . 243
XL, Of the Province named Karazan . . . . 24 6
XLI. Of the Province of Kardandan and the City of V ochang 249
XLII. Of the Manner in which the Grand Khan effected the
Conquest of the Kingdom of Mien and Bangala 252
XLIII. Of an uninhabited Region, and of the Kingd')ffi of Mien 257
XLIV. Of the City of l\iIien, and of a grand Sepulchre of its
King . . . 25 8
XLV. Of the Province of Bangala 260
XLVI. Of the Province of Kangigu 26 I
XLVII. Of the Province of Amu . 262
XLVIII. Of Tholóman . . . . . . . 263
XLIX. Of the Cities of Chintigui, Sidin-fu, Gin-gui, and Pazan-fu 264
L. Of the City of Chan-glu 267
LI. Of the City of Chan-gli . 268
LII. Of the City of Tudin-fu 268
LIII. Of the City of Singui-matu . . . . . 270
LIV. Of the great River called the Kara-rnoran, and of the
Cities of Koi-gan-zu and Kuan-zu . . . 272
LV. Of the most noble Province of Manji, and of the l\Ianner
in which it was subdued by the Grand Khan
Of the City of Koi-gan-zu
Of the Town of Pau-ghin
Of the City of Kain . . .
Of the Cities of Tin-gui and Chin-gui . . .
Of the City of Yan-gui, of which l\Iarco Polo held the
Government. . . 279
LX I. Of the Province of N an-ghin. . . . . 280
LXII. Of the City of Sa-yan-fu, that was takeu by the Ineans
of Nicolo and l\Iaffeo Polo . . . . 280
LXIII. Of the City of Sin-gui and of the very great River
Kiang. . 28 3
LXIV, Of the City of J{ayn-gui 285
LXV, Of the City of Chan-ghian-fu 2
()
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXI.
XXXII.
222
224
226
227
227
LVI.
LVII.
LVIII.
LIX.
LX,
273
277
277
278
278
Contents
/
PAGE
287
288
29 0
3 10
3 11
3 12
3 1 2
CHAPTER
LXVI. Of the City of Tin-gui-gui . .
LXVII. Of the Cities of Sin-gui and Va-giu .
LXVIII. Of the noble and magnificent City of Kin-sai
LXIX. Of the Revenues of the Grand I{han
LXX. Of the City of Ta-pin-zu
LXXI. Of the City of Uguiu . . . . .
LXXII. Of the Cities of Gen-gui, Zen-gian, and Gie-za. .
LXXIII. Of the Kingdom or Viceroyalty of Kon-cha, and its
capital City named Fu-giu
LXXIV. Of the City of Rue-lin-fu .
LXXV. Of the City of Un-guen .
LXXVI. Of the City of Ran-giu. . . . . .
LXXVII. Of the City and Port of Zai-tun, and the City of Tin-gui
I. Of India, distinguished into the Greater, Lesser, and
Middle-Of the Manners and Customs of its
Inhabitants-Of many remarkable and extra-
ordinary Things to be observed there; and, in the
first place, of the kind of Vessels employed in
Navigation . . 3 21
II. Of the Island of Zipangu . . . . . 3 2 3
III. Of the nature of the Idols \vorshipped in Zipangu, and
of the People being addicted to eating Human
Flesh . . . . . . . . 3 2 7
IV. Of the Sea of Chin, between this Island and the Pro-
vince of Manji · · . 329
V. Of the Gulf of Keinan, and of its Rivers . . 330
VI. Of the Country of Ziamba, of the I{ing of that Country,
and of his becoming tributary to the Grand Khan 33 1
VII. Of the Island of Java. . . . . . 334
VIII. Of the Islands of Sondur and Kondur, and of the
Country of Lochac · · .. 335
IX. Of the Island of Pentan, and of the Kingdom of
Malaiur · . 336
Of the Island of Java l\Hnor. . . . . 337
Of the Kingdom of F elech, in the Island of Java Minor 33 8
Of the Second Kingdom, named Basman · . 339
Of the Third Kingdom, named Samara 34 1
Of the Fourth I{ingdom, named Dragoian 343
Of the Fifth Kingdom, named Lambri . . . 344
Of the Sixth Kingdom, named Fanfnr, where l\tleal is
procured from a certain Tree
Of the Island of N ocueran
Of the Island of Angaman
Of the Island of Zeilan .
Of the Province of Maabar .
Of the Kingdom of l\lurphili or l\1onsul
Of the Province of Lac, Loac, or Lar
Of the Island of ZeÏlan .
Of the City of Kael .
Of the I{ingdoln of l{oulam
Of Komari .
Of the Kingdom of Dely
Of Malabar . .
Of the I{ingdom of Guzzerat
Of the Kingdom of Kanan
(
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
3 1 3
3 1 4
3 1 5
3 Ib
3 1 7
BOOK III
.
345
347
347
34 8
350
366
3 6 8
372
375
376
379
380
3 8 1
3 8 3
3 8 5
.
CHAPTER
XXXI. Of the Kingdom of Kambaia
X X X I I. Of the I{ingdom of Servena th
XXXIII. Of the Kingdom of Kesmacoran .
XXXIV. Of the Islands of Males and of Females
XXXV. Of the Island of Soccotera . .
XXXVI. Of the great Island of Madagascar .
X X X VI I. Of the Island of Zenzibar . . .
XXXVIII. Of the multitude of Islands in the Indian Sea .
XXXIX. Of the Second or l\'Iiddle India, named Abascia (or
Abyssinia) .
Of the Province of Aden
Of the City of Escier
Of th
City of Dulfar
Of the City of I{alayati
Of Ormus . . . . . . . .
Of those Countries which are termed the Region of
Darkness . .
XLVI. Of the Province of Russia
XLVII. Of Great Turkey. . . . . . .
XLVIII. What the Grand Khan said of the Injuries done to him
by Kaidu . . . . . . .
XLIX. Of the Daughter of King Kaidu, how strong and valiant
she was . . . . .
L. How Abaga sent Argon his Son with an Army .
LI. How Argon succeeded his Father in the Sovereignty
LII. How Acomat went with his Host to fight Argon .
LIII. How Argon held Council with his Barons before en-
countering Acomat .
How the Barons replied to Argon. .
How Argon sent his Messengers to Acomat
Acomat's Reply to the l\lessage of Argon
The Battle between Argon and Acomat
How Argon was liberated . .
How Argon recovered the Sovereignty . .
How Argon caused his Uncle Acolnat to be put to
death. .
LXI. The Death of Argon . . . . . .
LXII. How Quiacatu seized upon the Sovereignty after the
Death of Argon . . . . . .
LXIII. How Baidu seized upon the Sovereignty after the
Death of Quiacatu. . . .
LXIV. Of the Lords of the Tartars of the 'Vest. . .
LXV. Of the War between Alau and Berea, and the Battle
they fought. . . . .
How Berca and his Host went to meet Alan
Alau's Address to his
'Íen . . . .
Of the great Battle between Alau and Berca. .
How Totamangu was Lord of the Tartars of the 'Vest
How Toctai sent for Nogai to Court
How Toctai proceeded against N0gai
8
XL.
XLI.
XLII.
XLIII.
XLIV.
XLV.
LIV.
LV.
LVI.
LVII.
LVIII.
LIX.
LX.
LXVI.
LXVII.
LXVIII.
LXIX.
LXX.
LXXI.
.\PPENDIX
[NDEX
COIl tents
t.
PAGE
3 8 6
3 86
3 8 7
3 8 8
3 8 9
39 1
395
397
39 8
401
402
4 0 4
4 0 5
406
4 11
4 1 3
4 1 4
4 1 7
4 1 7
4 1 9
4 20
4 20
.
421
4 22
4 2 3
4 2 3
4 2 4
4 2 5
4 2 5
4 26
427
427
428
4 28
4 2 9
4 2 9
430
431
432
433
434
435
439
r
..
.
.
,
THE
TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO
BOOK I
PROLOGUEl
YE emperors, kings, dukes, marquises, earls, and knights, and
all other people desirous of kno,ving the diversities of the races
of mankind, as well as the diversities of kingdoms, provinces,
and regions of all parts of the East, read through this book, and
ye will find in it the greatest and most marvellous charac-
teristics of the peoples especially of Armenia, Persia, India, and
Tartary, as they are severally related in the present work by
Marco Polo, a wise and learned citizen of Venice, who states
distinctly what things he saw and what things he heard from
others. For this book will be a truthful one. It must be
known, then, that from the creation of Adam to the present
day, no man, whether Pagan, or Saracen, or Christian, or
other, of whatever progeny or generation he may have been,
ever saw or inquired into so many and such great things as
Marco Polo above n1entioned. Who, wishing in his secret
thoughts that the things he had seen and heard should be made
public by the present work, for the benefit of those who could
not see them with their own eyes, he himself being in the year
of our Lord 12952 in prison at Genoa, caused the things which
are contained in the present work to be written by master
Rustigielo, a citizen of Pisa, who was with him in the same
prison at Genoa; and he divided it into three parts.
1 This prologue, omitted by Marsden, is here translated from the Latin
text published by the French Geographical Society. It is found in the
early French version published by the same society, and in SOlne of the
I talian manuscripts; but is only given in an abridged form in Boni's
Italian text.
2 The early French translation gives the date 1298, with which the
I talian prologues seem to agree.
9
10
Travels of Marco Polo
CHAPTER I
I. It should be known to the reader that, at the time when
Baldwin II. was emperor of Constantinople, 1 where a Inagis-
trate representing the doge of Venice then resided,2 and in
the year of our Lord 1250,3 Nicolo Polo, the father of the said
Marco, and Maffeo, the brother of Nicolo, respectable and well-
1 Baldwin II. count of Flanders, and cousin of Louis IX. king of France,
who reigned from 1237 to 1261, was the last of the Latin emperors of
Constantinople.
2 The passage which in Ramusio's text is, cc dove all' hora soleva stare
un podestà di Venetia, per nome di nlesser 10 Dose:" and upon which he
has written a particular dissertation, has nothing corresponding to it in
the LatLl or French versions, or in the Italian text published by Boni.
The city of Constantinople and the Greek provinces had been conquered,
in 1204, by the joint arms of the French and the Venetians, the latter of
whom were commanded by their doge, the illustrious Henry Dandolo, in
person. Upon the division of the territory and the immense spoil that
fell into their possession, a larger share (including the celebrated bronze
horses of Lysippus) was assigned to the republic than to the emperor
elected on the occasion, and the aged doge, who had himself declined the
imperial title, but accepted that of Prince of Romania, maintained an
independent jurisdiction over three parts out of eight of the city, with a
separate tribunal of justice, and ended his days at the head of an army
that besieged Adrianople. It is doubtful whether any of his successors
in the high office of chief of the republic made the imperial city their
;>lace of residence. "The doge, a slave of state," says Gibbon, "was
seldom permitted to depart from the helm of the republic; but his place
was supplied by the bail, or regent, who exercised a supreme jurisdiction
over the colony of Venetians." Such was the podestà, somethnes termed
bailo, and sometimes despoto, whose cotemporary government is here
spoken of, and whose political importance in tht1' then degraded state of
the empire was little inferior to that of Baldwin; whilst in the eyes of
the Polo family, as Venetian citizens, it was probably much greater. The
name of the person who exercised the functions at the time of their arrival,
is said, in the Sorenzo manuscript, to have been Misier Ponte de Veniexia,
and, in 1261, when the empire, or rather the city, was reconquered from
the Latins, the podestà was Marco Gradenigo.
3 There are strong grounds, :Marsden says, for believing that this date
of 1250, although found in all the editions, is incorrect. In the manu-
script, of which there are copies in the British Museum and Berlin
libraries, the commenCeInent of the voyage is placed in 1252, and some
of the events related in the sequel render it evident that the departure,
at least, of our travellers fronl Constantinople, must have been some
years later than the middle of the century, and probably not sooner than
1255. How long they were detained in that city is not stated; but,
upon any calculation of the p
riod of their arrival or d
par
ll!e, it is sur-
prising that Grynæus, the edJtor of the Basle and Pans editIon of 1532,
and after him the learned l\lül1er and Bergeron, should, notwithstanding
the anachronism, introduce into their texts the date of 1269, which was
eight years after the expulsion of the e
pe
or .Baldwin,. and was, in f9;ct,
the year in which they returned to Syna trom therr first Tartanan
journey.
The Brothers Polo
I I
informed men, embarked in a ship of their own, \vith a rich
and varied cargo of merchandise, and reached Constantinople
in safety. After mature deliberation on the subject of their
proceedings, it was determined, as the measure most likely to
improve their trading capital, that they should prosecute their
voyage into the Euxine or Black Sea. l With this view they
made purchases of many fine and costly jewels, and taking
their departure from Constantinople, navigated that sea to a
port named Soldaia,2 from \vhence they travelled on horse-
back many days until they reached the court of a po\verful
chief of the Western Tartars, named Barka, 3 who dwelt in "-
the cities of Bolgara and Assara,'l and had the reputation of
being one of the most liberal and civilized princes hitherto
kno\vn amongst the tribes of Tartary. fIe expressed much
satisfaction at the arrival of these travellers, and received
them with marks of distinction. In return for which courtesy,
when they had laid before him the je\vels they brought with
them, and perceived that their beauty pleased him, they pre-
sented them for his acceptance. The liberality of this conduct
1 Tbe prosperity, ricbes, and political importance of the state of Venice
having arisen entirely from its commerce, the profession of a merchant
was there held in the highest degree of estimation, and its nobles were
amongst the most enterprising of its adventurers in foreign trade. To "
this illustrious state lnight have been applied the proud character drawn
by Isaiah of ancient Tyre, which he describes as " the crowning city,
whose Inerchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of
the earth."" ............
2 Soldaia was the name given in the middle ages to tne place (the
Tauro-Scythian port of the ancients) now called Sudak, situated near
the southern extremity of the Crimea or Tauric Chersonesus. It is de- "
scribed in these words: "About tbe midst of the said province towards '
the soutb, as it were upon a sharp angle or point, standeth a city called "
Soldaia, directly against Synopolis. And there doe all the Turkie
merchants, which traffique into the north countries, in their journey
outward, arrive, and as they return homeward also fronl Russia, and
the said northern regions, into Turkie."-Purchas, vol. iii. p. 2.
3 This Tartar prince is usually named Bereké, the successor, and said
to be the brother, of Batu, the son of Tushi, eldest son of J engiz-khan;
who inherited, as his portion of the dominions of his grandfather (ai-
though not in full sovereignty), the western countries of Kapchak or
Kipchak, Allân, Russ, and Bulgar, and died in 1256.
4 The Bolgar, Bulgar, or Bulghar, here spoken of, is the name of a
town and an extensive district in Tartary, lying to the eastward of the
Wolga, and now inhabited by the Bashkirs, sOInetÏInes distinguished
from the Bulgaria on the Danube, by the appellation of the Greater
Bulgaria. Assara is the city of Sarai (with the definitive article pre-
fixed), situated on the ea5tern arm of the Wolga, or Achtuba. "The
Astrachan mentioned by Balducci Pegoletti WRi) not on the same spot
where that town stands no\v, but the ancient Astrachan was demolished,
together with Saray, by the emperor Timur, in the winter of 1395. The
old town of Saray was pretty near the ancient Astrachan."-Forster.
12
"fravels ot Marco Polo
on the part of the t,vo brother3 struck him with admiration;
and being unwilling that they should surpass him in generosity,
he not only directed double the value of the je,vels to be paid
to them, but made them in addition several rich presents.
The brothers having resided a year in the dominions of this
prince, they became desirous of revisiting their native country,
but ,vere impeded by the sudden breaking out of a ,var be-
tween him and another chief, named Alaù, who ruled over the
Eastern Tartars. 1 In a fierce and very sanguinary battle
that ensued between their respective armies, Alaù was
victorious, in consequence of which, the roads being rendered
unsafe for travellers, the brothers could not attempt to return
by the ,yay they came; and it was recommended to them, as
the only practicable mode of reaching Constantinople, to pro-
ceed in an easterly direction, by an unfrequented route, so as
to skirt the limits of Barka's territories. Accordingly they
made their ,yay to a town named Oukaka,2 situated on the
confines of the kingdom of the vVestern Tartars. Leaving
that place, and advancing still further, they crossed the Tigris,3
one of the four rivers of Paradise, and can1e to a desert, the
extent of which ,vas seventeen days' journey, wherein they
1 These Eastern Tartars, as they are relatively termed, but whose
country extended no further to the east than the provinces of Persia and
Khorasan, were so named to distinguish them from the Western (or
more properly, North- """estern) Tartars mentioned in the preceding
note, who occupied the countries in the neighbourhood of the \Volga,
and from thence to the confines, or beyond the confines, of Europe.
Their chief, here named Ala-ù or Hala-ù, is the celebrated Hulagu, thE
son of Tuli or Tuhvi, and equally with Datu, Mangu, and Kublaï (the
latter of whom were his brothers), the grandson of J engiz-kban. Being
appointed by his elder brother Mangu, to comrnand in the southern pro-
vinces of the empire, he left Kara-korum, a short time before the visit of
Rubruquis to that Tartar capital, and in the year 1255 ('rossed the J ihun
or Oxus, with a large anny. In the fúllowing year, he destroyed the
race or sect of the Ismaelians, called also Malahidet, of whon1 a parti-
cular account will be given hereafter, and then turned his arms against
the city of Baghdâd, which he sacked in 125 8 ; putting to death !\los-
tasem Billah the last of the Abbassite khalifs. Upon the death of
Ivlangu, in 1259, Hulagu becaI
le effectively the sovereigl! of Per.sian and
Babylonian Irak, together wIth Khorasan; yet he stIll contInued to
profess a nOlninal and respectful allegiance to his brother Kublai, who
was acknowledged as the head of the Moghul family, and reigned in
China. His death took place In 1265, at Tauris or Tabriz, his ca!Jital.
2 There can be little doubt of this beiúg the Okak of Abulfeda; from
hence the route of our travellers may be presumed to have lain towards
the town of J aik, on the river of that name, and afterwards, in a south-
easterly direction, to the Sihun.
I The great river .crossed. by our travellers, and \vhic
from its Ina&ni-
tude they might thI?k entItled t? rank as one o
the nvers of ParadIse,
was evidently the Sihun, otherWIse naILed the SJIr.
The Brothers at Bokhara
13
found neither town, castle, nor any substantial building, but
only Tartars with their herds, dwelling in tents on the plain. 1
Having passed this tract they arrived at length at a ,veIl-built
ci ty called Bokhara, 2 in a province of that name, belonging to
the dominions of Persia, and the noblest city of that kingdom,
but governed by a prince "\vhose name \vas Barak. 3 Here,
from inability to proceed further, they remained three years.
It happened while these brothers were in Bokhara, that a
person of consequence and gifted with eminent talents made
his appearance there. He was proceeding as ambassador from
Alaù before mentioned, to the grand khan, supreme chief of
all the Tartars, named Kublaï,4 whose residence was at the
extremity of the continent, in a direction bet"\veen north-
east and east. 6 Not having ever before had an opportunity,
1 The desert here mentioned is that of Karak, in the vicinity of the
Sihun or Sirr, which travellers from the north must unavoidably pass,
in order to arrive at Bokhâra.
i This celebrated city, the name of which could not be easily mis-
taken, and has not been disguised by the transcribers, serves materially
to establish the general direction of their course; for, having proceeded
northwards from the Crirnea, they could not have reached Bokhâra
otherwise than by crossing the several rivers with discharge themselves
into the upper or northern part of the Caspian.
3 This appears to be the prince whom P6tis de- la Croix names Berrac
Can, and D' Herbelot Barak-khan, great-grandson of J agatai, the second
son of J engiz-khan, who inherited Transoxiana, or the region now pos-
sessed by the Usbek Tartars. Barak is said, by the latter, to have
._, attempted to wrest the kingdom of l{horasan from the dominion of
, Abaka the son of Hulagu; but this must be a rnistake, as the death of
Barak is placed by the generality of historians in 1260 (by D'Herbelot,
unaccountably, in 1240), and that of Hulagu in 1265.
· lVlangu appointed Kublaï his viceroy in China, and gave to Hulagu
the government of such of the
ou thern provinces of Asia as he could
reduce to obedience. Returning himself to China in 1258, he died at
the siege of Ho-cheu, in the province of Se-chuen, in the following year.
Kublai was at this titne in the province of Hu-kuang, and persevered in
his efforts to render himself master of Vu-chang-fu, its capital, until he
was called away to suppress a revolt excited by his younger brother
Artigùuga, whom Mangu had left as his lieutenant at Kara-korunl.
Contenting himself with exacting from the emperor of the Song, who
ruled over l\1anji, or southern China, the payrnent of an annual tribute
he retreated to the northward, and in 1260 was proclaimed grand khan'
at Shang-tu, which from that tinle becarne his summer residence. W
are told, however, that he had hesitated for some tinle to aSSUille the
title, and did not declare his acquiescence until the arrival of an envoy
sent by his brother Hulagu (by some supposed to have been the elder)
who urged him to accept the empire. This envoy we may reasonabiý
presume to have been the person who arrived at Bokhâra in his way
from Persia to Khatai, during the time that Nicolo and 'lVlaffeo Polo
were detained in that city; and the period is thereby ascertained to
have been about the year 1258.
Ii This vague designation of the place of residence of the grand khan
must be understood as applying to Khatai, or northern China, from
14
Travels of Marco Polo
although he wished it, of seeing any natives of Italy, he was
gratified in a high degree at meeting and conversing ,vith these
brothers, who had now become proficients in the Tartar lan-
guage; and after associating ,vith them for several days, and
finding their manners agreeable to him, he proposed to them
that they should accompany him to the presence of the great
khan, ,vho would be pleased by their appearance at his court,
which had not hitherto been visited by any person from their
country; adding assurances that they \vould be honourably
received, and recompensed with many gifts. Convinced as
they were that their endeavours to return homeward would
expose them to the most imminent risks, they agreed to this
proposal, and recommending themselves to the protection of
the .Almighty, they set out on their journey in the suite of the
ambassador, attended by several Christian servants \vhom they
had brought with thelll from Venice. The course they took
at first was between the north-east and north, and an entire
year was consumed before they were enabled to reach the
imperial residence, in consequence of the extraordinary delays
occasioned by the snows and the swelling of the rivers, which
obliged them to halt until the former had melted and the
floods had subsided. . Many things worthy of admiration were
observed by them in the progress of their journey, but ,vhich
are here omitted, as they will be described by Marco Polo, in
the sequel of the book.
2. Being introduced to the presence of the grand khan,
I<.ublai, the travellers were received by him ,vith the conde-
scension and affability that belonged to his character, and as
they \vere the first Latins who had made their appearance in
that country, they were entertained with feasts and honoured
with other marks of distinction. Entering graciously into
conversation with them, he made earnest inquiries on the
subject of the western parts of the world, of the emperor of
the Romans, l and of other Christian kings and princes. He
wished to be informed of their relative consequence, the extent
of their possessions, the manner in which justice was ad-
ministered in their several kingdoms and- principalities, how
which, or the adjoining district of !{archin, where Shang-tu was situated,
he was rarely absent.
1 By the emperor of the ROlnans is meant the emperor, whether Greek
or Roman, who reigned at Constantinople. Those. cou:1tries which now
form the dorninion of the Turks in Europe and ASIa !\hn
r, are vaguely
designated, amongst the more ^Ea
tern people, by the name of Rûm, and
their inhabitants by that of Rum!.
The Grand Khan Kublai
15
they conducted themselves in warfare, and above all he ques-
tioned them particularly respecting the pope, the affairs of the
church, and the religiou) "\vorship and do
trine of the Chris-
tians. Being ,veIl instructed and discreet men, they gave
appropriate answers upon all these points, and as they were
perfectly acquainted with the Tartar (Moghul) language, they
expressed themselves always in becoming terms; insomuch
that the grand khan, holding them in high estimation, fre-
quently commanded their attendance.
When he had obtained all the information that the two
brothers communicated with so much good sense, he expressed
himself well satisfied, and having formed in his mind the de-
sign of employing them as his an1bassadors to the pope, after
consulting with his ministers on the subject, he proposed to
them, with many kind entreaties, that they should accompany
one of his officers, named Khogatal, on a mission to the see of
Ron1e. His object, he told them, was to make a request to
his holiness that he would send to him a hundred men of
learning, thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the
Christian religion, as well as with the seven arts, and qualified
to prove to the learned of his dominions by just and fair argu-
Inent, that the faith professed by Christians is superior to,
and founded upon more evident truth than, any other; that
the gods of the Tartars and the idols worshipped in their
houses were only evil spirits, and that they and the people of
the East in general were under an error in reverencing them
as divinities. He moreover signified his pleasure that upon
their return they should bring with them, from Jerusalem,
SOine of the holy oil from the lamp which is kept burning over
the sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he professed to
hold in veneration and to consider as the true God. 1 Ha ving
1 We may reasonably suspect (without entertaining any doubt of the
elnbassy itself) that the expressions here put into the Inouth of the
emperor, both as they regard the worship of the Tartars and the divinity
of Christ, have been heightened by the zeal of Christian transcribers
The circumstance of Kublaï, who is known to have been of an active and
inquisitive mind, requesting to be furnished with a nunlber of mission-
aries from Europe, to instruct his ignorant Tartar subjects in religion
and more especially in the practice of useful arts, is no more than what
has been frequently done since, by the princes of half-barbarous nations
amongst whom the doctrine of the Koran had not already taken root:
With regard to the holy oil, we find its importance thus stated by
Chardin: "Ce qu'il (Ie clergé Arménien) vend Ie plus cher ce sont les
saintes huiles, que les Grecs appellent myrone. La plûpart des chrétiens
orientaux s'imaginent que c'est un baume physiquement salutaire contre
toutes les rnaladies de l'arne. Le patriarche a seul Ie droit de la con-
sacrer, Ii la vend aux évêques et aux prêtres. 11 y a quelques douze
16
Travels of Marco Polo
heard these commands addressed to them by the grand khan
they humbly prostrated themselves before him, declaring their
willingness and instant readiness to perform, to the utmost of
their ability, whatever might be the royal will. Upon which
he caused letters, in the Tartarian language, to be written in
his .name to the pope of Rome, and these he delivered into
their hands. He likewise gave orders that they should be
furnished with a golden tablet displaying the imperial cipher,1
according to the usage established by his majesty; in virtue
of which the person bearing it, together with his whole suite,
are safely conveyed and escorted from station to station by the
governors of all places within the imperial dominions, and are
entitled, during the time of their residing in any city, castle,
town, or village, to a supply of provisions and everything
necessary for their accommodation.
Being thus honourably commissioned they took their leave
of the grand khan, and set out on their journey, but had not
proceeded more than twenty days when the officer, named
Khogatal, their companion, fell dangerously ill, in the city
named Alau. 2 In this dilemma it was determined, upon con-
sulting all who were present, and with the approbation of the
man himself, that they should leave him behind. In the pro-
secution of their journey they derived essential benefit from
being provided with the royal tablet, which procured then1
attention in every place through which they passed. Their
expenses were defrayed, and escorts were furnished. But
not\vithstanding these advantages, so great \vere the natural
difficulties they had to encounter, from the extreme cold, the
snow, the ice, and the flooding of the rivers, that their pro-
gress was unavoidably tedious, and three years elapsed before
they were enabled to reach a sea-port town in the lesser
ans que celui de Perse se mit en tête d'empêcher les ecclésiastiques
Arméniens de tout l'orient, de se pourvoir des saintes huiles ailleurs que
chez luL Ceux de Turquie s'en fournissent depuis long-terns à J eru-
salem, auprès du patriarche Arménien qui y réside, et qui est Ie chef de
tous les Cbrétiens Arméniens de l'empire Ottoman."-Voy. en Perse,
tom. i. p. 170, 4tO.
1 Frequent mention is made in the Chinese ,vritings of the tchikouei,
or tablet of honour, delivered to great officers on their appointment;
upon which their titles are set forth in gold letters, and which entitles
them to considerable privileges in travelling. That which is here spoken
of may be supposed to have been of nearly the same kind. In the vulgar
European dialect of Canton, it is termed the emperor's grand chop, a
word used to express " seal, lnark, warrant, licence, or passport."
2 The name of the place where Khogatal was left is omitted in Marsden,
and in the French and some of the Italian texts.
Retllrn of the Brothers
17
Armenia, named Laiassus. 1 Departing from thence by sea,
they arrived at Acre 2 in the month of April, 1269, and there
learned, with extreme concern, that pope Clement the Fourth
was recently dead. 3 A legate \vhom he had appointed, named
M. Tebaldo de' Vesconti di Piacenza, was at this time resident
in Acre,4 and to him they gave an account of what they had in
command from the grand khan of Tartary. He advised them
by all means to wait the election of another pope, and when
that should take place, to proceed with the object of their
embassy. Approving of this counsel, they determined upon
employing the interval in a visit to their families in Venice.
rrhey accordingly embarked at Acre in a ship bound to Negro-
pont, and from thence went on to Venice, where Nicolo Polo
found that his wife, whom he had left with child at his de-
parture, was dead, after having been delivered of a son, who
received the name of l\1arco, and was no\v of the age of nineteen
years. s This is the Marco by whom the present work is com-
1 We have given the name Laiassus from the Latin text, instead of
Giazza, given in 1Vlarsden's text, which is an evident corruption. The
place meant is a port on the northern side of the gulf of Scandaroon, or
Issus, which in our modern maps and books of geography has the various
appellations of Lajazzo, Aiazzo, Aiasso, L' Aias, and Layassa.
I Acre, properly Akkâ, the ancient Ptolemais, a maritime city of Pales-
tine, was taken from the Saracens, in 1 I 10, by the Crusaders. In 1187
it fell into the hands of Saladin or Salah-eddîn; and in 1191 it was
wrested from him by the Chrisfian forces, under Philippe Auguste, king
of France, and Richard Cæur de Lion, king of England. In 1265, and
again in 1269 (about the period at which our travellers arrived there)
it "vas unsuccessfully attacked by Bibars, sultan of Egypt. In 1291 it
was finally conquered from the Christians, and in great part demolished
by Khalil, another Egyptian sultan, of the dynasty of l\fameluk Baha:
rites. In modern days, it suddenly arose froln the obscurity in which
it had lain for five centuries, and once more becarne celebrated Íor the
determined and triumphant resistance there made, in 179 8 and 1799 by
J ezzar Pasha, assisted by a small British squadron and the gallantry of
its distinguished commander, against the furious and sanguinary efforts
of the invader of Egypt.
3 Clement IV. died on the 29th of November, of. the year 1268. The
event "vas consequently a recent one when our travellers arrived at
Acre ,in April, 1269. It may be observed that the date of their arrival
is differently stated in the i\ISS., some reading 1260, the Latin text having
1270, and others 1272. Some MSS. specify the 30th of April as the day
of their arrival.
4 That Acre was the residence of a legate from the papal see about
this period is proved by other records.
ó The Basle, as well as the earlier Latin version, and the Italian
epitomes, state the age of l\tlarco, who was to become the historian of the
family, to have been then only fifteen years. If this reading be correct
as probably it is, the father, w
o arrived at Acre in 1269, and may b
presumed to have reached VenIce in 1270, must have left home about
the year 1255, (See Note a, on p. 10,) The age of nineteen seems to have
þeen assigned in order to Inake it consistent with the supposed departure
In I Z 5 0
18
Travels of Marco Polo
posed, and who will give therein a relation of all those matters
of which he has been an eye-witness.
3. In the meantime the election of a pope ,vas retarded by
so many obstacles, that they remained t,vo years in Venice
contin
ally expectin
its accomplishment; 1 \vhen at length:
becomIng apprehensIve that the grand khan might be dis-
pleased at their delay, or might suppose it was not their inten-
tion to revisit his. country, they judged it expedient to return
to Acre; and on this occasion they took with them young
Marco Polo. Under the sanction of the legate they made a
visit to Jerusalem, and there provided themselves with some
of the oil belonging to the lamp of the holy sepulchre, con-
forilla bI y to the directions of the grand khan. As soon as
they ,vere furnished with his letters addressed to that prince
bearing testimony to the fidelity with which they had en-
deavoured to execute his commission, and explaining to him
that the pope of the Christian church had not as yet been
chosen, they proceeded to the before-mentioned port of
Laiassus. Scarcely however had they taken their departure,
\vhen the legate received messengers from Italy, despatched
by the college of cardina1s, announcing his o,vn elevation to
the papal chair; and he thereupon assumed the name of
Gregory the Tenth. 2 Considering that he ,vas now in a situa-
tion that enabled him fully to satisfy the \vishes of the Tartar
sovereign, he hastened to transmit letters to the king of
Armenia,3 communicating to him the event of his election,
1 A vacancy in the papal see, for a period of nearly three years, occurred
on this occasion, in consequence of the cabals existing in the Sacred
College; when, at length, it was determined to refer the choice of a pope
to six of the cardinals, who elected Tebaldo of Piacenza, on the first day
of September, 1271. In order to prevent the inconvenience and scandal
of such delays for the future, the institution of the Conclave (upon a
principle that resenlbles the impanelling of our Engli
h juries) was
established.
2 In the list of sovereign pontiffs we fiud him styled" B. Gregorius X.
Placentinus." His election, as has been mentioned, took place on the
1st of September, 1271. He was then acting as legate in Syria; but,
having early notice of the event, he was enabled to take his departure
from thence so soon as the 18th November following, and landed at
Brindisi, near Otranto, in January, 1272.
3 At this tiIne Leon, or Livon 11., reigned in the lesser Annenia, the
capital of which was Sis, and Aïas, or Aïazzo, its chief port. His father,
whom we call Haiton, and the Arabian writers Hatem, had acted a con-
spicuous part in the late transactions, having accompanied H ulagu froIn
the court of Mangu-khan to Persia, and assisted in his wars with the
Mussulmans. In 1270 he had obtained the consent of Abaka the son of
H ulagu then his liege sovereign, for transferring the crown of Armenia,
on acc
unt of his age and infirn1Ìties, to his son Leon. The principal
actions of his life are recorded by his namesake, relation and coteln-
Election of Pope Gregory X. I 9
and requesting, in case the two ambassadors who were on their
way to the court of the grand khan should not have already
quitted his dominions, that he would give direc.ti
ns for th:ir
immediate return. These letters found them stlll1n ArmenIa,
and with great alacrity they obeyed the summons to repair
once more to Acre; for \vhich purpose the king furnished them
with an armed galley; sending at the same time an ambassador
fron1 himself, to offer his congratulations to the sovereign
pontiff. . . I hi h 1 . . d h 0 d o 0
Upon theIr arnva, s olness receIve t em In a IstIn-
O"uished manner, and immediately despatched them v{ith letters
papal, accompanied by t"\vo friars of the order of Preachers,
who happened to be on the spot; men of letters and of science,
as well as profound theologianso One of them was named Fra
Nicolo da Vicenza, and the other, Fra Guielmo da Tripoli.
To them he gave licence and authority to ordain priests, to
consecrate bishops, and to grant absolution as fully as he
could do in his own person. He also charged them with
valuable presents, and among these, several handsome vases
of crystal, to be delivered to the grand khan in his name, and
along with his benediction. Having taken leave, they again
steered their course to the port of Laiassus, l where they landed,
and from thence proceeded into the country of Armenia.
Here they received intelligence that the soldan of Babylonia,
named Bundokdari, had invaded the Armenian territory \vith
a numerous army, and had overrun and laid waste the country
to a great extent. 2 Terrified at these accounts, and appre-
porary, who, having long distinguished himself as a soldier, became an
ecclesiastic. His work was edited by Grynæus, at Basle and Paris, in
1532, under the title of " Haithonis Armeni de Tartaris liber," and again,
by Andreas l\Iüller, in 1671, under that of " Haithoni Armeni Historia
Orientalis: quæ eadem et de Tartaris inscribitur." See also Abul-
Pharajii Hist. pp. 328-357; and De Guignes, Hist. Gén. live xv. pp.
125-249.
1 As it m
y be presum
that our travellers commenced their journey
about the tIme of the sailIng of Pope Gregory from Acre, the period is
fixed by authority that win scarcely adl.ílit dispute, to the end of the
year 1271, or beginning of 1272.
2 This soldan was Bibars, surnalned Bundokdari, Mameluk sultan of
Egypt (which is meant by Babylonia), who had conquered the greater
part of Syria, and had already (in or about 1266) invaded Armenia,
and plundered the towns of Sis and Ais. In 1270 he Inade himself
master of Antioch, slew or made captives of all the Christian inhabitants
and demolished its churches, the most magnificent and celebrated in th
East, It must have been about the beginning of the year 1272 that ou.r
travellers .enten;d Armenia; and, although it is not
tate
specifì
ally
that any irrUptIon by the soldan took place at that tIme, It is evident
that he had Dot ceased to harass the neighbouring country of Syria; and,
20
Travels of Marco Polo
hensive for their lives, the two friars determined not to proceed
Íurther, and delivering over to the Venetians the letters and
presents entrusted to them by the pope, they placed themselves
under .the protection of
he master of the knights templars,l
and \X/lth hin1 returned dIrectly to the coast. Nicolo, Maffeo,
and Marco, however, undismayed by perils or difficulties (to
,vhich they had long been inured), passed the borders of
Armenia, and prosecuted their journey. After crossing
deserts of several days' march, and passing many dangerous
defiles, they advanced so far, in a direction between north-east
and north, that at length they gained information of the grand
khan, who then had his residence in a large and magnificent
city named Cle-men-fu. 2 Their whole journey to this place
occupied no less than three years and a half; but, during the
winter months, their progress had been inconsiderablc. 3 The
grand khan having notice of their approach whilst still remote,
l..nd being a\vare ho\v much they must have suffered from
fatigue, sent for\vard to meet them at the distance of forty
days' journey, and gave orders to prepare in every place
through which they were to pass, whatever might be requisite
to their comfort. By these means, and through the blessing
of God, they \vere conveyed in safety to the royal court.
notwithstanding the formidable combination just mentioned, we find
him again, in 1276, invading the province of Rûm, immediately border-
ing on the lesser Armenia to the northward. The alarms must have
been perpetual, and these alone may have been sufficient to deter the two
theologians froln proceeding with their more adventurous companions;
"tvho did not, however, meet with the enemy.
1 It is well known that the knights of the hospital of St. John of J eru-
salem, and the knights of the Temple, were two great monastic military
orders that arose from the fanaticism of the crusades, and becalne the
Inost regular and effective support of the Christian cause in Asia.... It is
not unlikely that a body of the latter may have been statiuned in this
part of Arnlenia (which we should term the pashalic of Marash), for its
defence, and the ecclesiastics would naturally seek the protection of its
cfJmmander, who may have been the nlaster, but was more probably
vnly a knight of the order.
2 The ordinary residence of Kublaï at this period must have been Yen-
king (near the spot \
here Pe
ing now
tands), whilst he 'yas emp
oyed
in laying the foundatIons of hIS new capItal of T
-tu, of WhICh partIcular
nlention will be made in the sequel. The operatIons of war, or the regu-
lations of newly-conquered provinces, might, however, occasion his visit-
ing other cities; and our travellers may have found him in the western
part of his dominions.. "Il établit sa. cour d'abord,': says Du. H
lde,
" à Tai-yuen-fou, capItale de la prOVInce de Chan-sl, et ensuJte 11 la
transporta à Peking."-Descript. de la Chine, tom. i. p. 49 6 .
3 When the Teshu Lama of Tibet visited (in 1779-80) the late emperor
of China at Peking, his journey (although from what we consider a
neighbo
ing country, and which .has since been. garrisoned by
hinesc
troops) occupied ten months, dunng four of WhICh he was detamed at
one place by the snow.
The Brothers Reach ChiI1a
21
4. Upon their arrival they were honourably and graciously
received by the grand khan, in a full assembly of his principal
officers. When they drew nigh to his person, they paid their
respects by prostrating themselves on the floor. He imme-
diately commanded them to rise, and to relate to him the
circumstances of their travels, with all that had taken place
in their negotiation with his holiness the pope. To their
narrative, which they gave in the regular order of events, and
delivered in perspicuous language, he listened with attentive
silence. The letters and the presents frorn pope Gregory
were then laid before him, and, upon hearing the former read,
he bestowed much commendation on the fidelity, the zeal,
and the diligence of his ambassadors; and recejving with due
reverence the oil from the holy sepulchre, he gave directions
that it should be preserved with religious care. Upon his
observing
Iarco Polo, and inquiring who he was, Nicolo made
answer, "This is your servant, and my son;" upon which the
grand khan replied, " He is welcome, and it pleases me much,"
and he caused him to be enrolled amongst his attendants of
honour. And on account of their return he made a great
feast and rejoicing; and as long as the said brothers and
Marco remained in the court of the grand khan, they \vere
honoured even above his o\vn courtiers. Marco was held in
high estimation and respect by all belonging to the court. He
learnt in a short time and adopted the manners of the Tartars,
and acquired a proficiency in four different languages, which
he became qualified to read and write.! Finding him thus
accomplished, his master ,vas desirous of pu tting his talents for
business to the proof, and sent him on an important concern of
state to a city named Karazan, 2 situated at the distance of six
1 Perhaps the Moghul or l\tlungal, Ighur, lVlanchu, and Chinese. The
last will be thought the least probable; but no inference should be
drawn from his orthography of Chinese names in European characters,
and particularly in the corrupted state of the text. The Latin text says
that Marco learnt" the Tartar and four other languages; " the French
text says, " their language and four different characters" of writing.
2 Having here the name rnerely, without any circumstance but that of
Its remoteness from the capital of China, we must presume it to be in-
tended for a city of Khorasan; to which there is no objection but the
probabiiity of his having passed through that province when he first
visited Tartary, and that it is not here spoken of as a place with which
he had been previously acquainted. It was then (together with Persia)
under the dOlninion of the second son of Hulagu, who succeeded his
brother Abaka, and took the nmne of Ahmed Khan, upon his embracing
the l\1aholüetan religion, It would, perhaps, be taking a liberty with
the orthography to suppose that the name might be intended for Khor.
asmia, the Kharism of modern geographers.
22
Travels of Marco Polo
months' journey from the imperial residence; on which occa-
sion he conducted himself with so much wisdom and prudence
in the management of the affairs entrusted to him) that his
services became highly acceptable. On his part) perceiving
that the grand khan took a pleasure in hearing accounts of
whatever was new to him respecting the customs and manners
of people) and the peculiar circumstances of distant countries)
he endeavoured) wherever he \vent) to obtain correct informa-
tion on these subjects) and made notes of all he saw and heard)
in order to gratify the curiosity of his master. In short)
during seventeen years 1 that he continued in his service, he
rendered himself so useful) that he was employed on confi-
dential missions to every part of the empire and its depen-
dencies; and sometimes also he travelled on his own private
account, but always with the consent) and sanctioned by the
authority) of the grand khan. Under such circumstances it
was that Marco Polo had the opportunity of acquiring a know-
ledge) either by his own observation) or what he collected from
others) of so many things) until his time unknown) respecting
the eastern parts of the world) and which he diligently and
regularly committed to writing) as in the sequel will appear.
And by this means he obtained so much honour) that he pro-
voked the jealousy of the other officers of the court.
5. Our Venetians having now resided many years at the
imperial court) and in that time having realized considerable
wealth) in jewels of value and in gold) felt a strong desire to
revisit their native country) and) however honoured and
caressed by the sovereign) this sentiment was ever predomi-
nant in their minds. It became the more decidedly their
object) when they reflected on the very advanced age of the
grand khan) whose death) if it should happen previously to
their departure, might deprive thern of that public assistance
by \vhich alone they could expect to surmount the innumerable
difficulties of so long a journey, and reach their homes in
1 In Rarnusio's text the period is said to be ventise
ann
, " twenty-six
years," and Purchas endeavours to explain in what sense this number
should be understood; but I prefer, in this instance, the reading of the
Latin version which has" xvii annas," as more consistent with the fact.
It is certain that the family did not leave Acre, on their return to China,
before the end of 1271; and as there is reason to believe that they did
not reach the enlperor's court before 1273 or 1274, nor remain there
beyond 12 9 1 , it follows that the period of Marco's service could not ha
e
exceeded seventeen years by more than a fe
v months. T
nty-sI.X
years include the whole of the period elapsed sInce the first VISIt of lus
father and uncle in 1264 or 1265.
Queen Bolgana
23
safety; which on the contrary, in his lifetime, and. throug
his
favour, they might reasonably hope. to accomplIsh. NIcolo
Polo accordingly took an opportunIty one day, when .he
observed him to be more than usually cheerful, of throwIng
himself at his feet, and soliciting on behalf of himself and his
family to be indulged with his majesty's gracious permission
for their departure. But far from showing himself disp
sed
to comply with the request, he appeared hurt at the apphca-
tion, and asked what motive they could have for wishing to
expose themselves to all the inconveniences and hazards of a
journey in which they might probably lose their lives. If gain,
he said, was their object, he was ready to give them the double
of whatever they possessed, and to gratify them with honours
to the extent of their desires; but that, from the regard he
bore to them, he must positively refuse their petition.
It happened, about this period, that a queen named Bolgana, l
the \vife of Arghun, 2 sovereign of India, died, and as her last
request (which she likewise left in a testamentary writing)
conjured her husband that no one might succeed to her place on
his throne and in his affections, who was not a descendant of her
own family, now settled under the dominion of the grand khan, 3
1 Although we do not find in the histories of this period that have
come to our hands, any mention of the consort of Arghun-khan, yet the
name that is here written Bolgana, and in the Latin of the Basle edition,
as well as that of the British Museum manuscript, Balgana occurs, with
little difference of orthography, amongst the females of the family. The
daughter of J agatai, son of J engiz-khan and uncle of Hulagu, was named
Bolghân-khâtûn, as appears from the " Rouzat alsafà" of !\1irkhond.
The Latin and French texts, and the Italian text in Boni's edition, call
the queen Bolgara.
2 Arghun-khan, the son of Abaka-khan, and gTandson of Hulagu-il-
khan, succeeded his uncle Ahmed-khan Nikodar on the throne of Persia,
I{horasan, and other neighbouring countries, in 1284; and his first act,
as we are infonned by De Guignes (Liv. xvii. p. 265) was to send to the
emperor I{ublaï, as the head of the family and his liege sovereign, to
demand the investiture of his estates. The death of his queen, here
spoken of, must, from the circumstances mentioned in the sequel, have
taken place about the year 1287, and he hinlself died in 1291. The
name in all the versions of the work is uniformly written Argon, which
approaches extremely near to the Persian orthography.
3 The grand khan, at whose court the family of this queen is said to
have resided in I{ataia, was the grand-uncle of Arghun, her husband,
and the queen herself was probably of the same royal lVloghul family,
from the common stock of J engiz-khan. Her anxiety therefore was,
that þ'er husband should not degrade himself and her memory, by con-
tr
ct
ng a marriage with any person of less noble lineage than their own.
VIewIng the circumstances therefore in their proper light, it will be found
that .what might at first be thought a romantic story, of a king of India
sen
lng an embassy to an emperor of China, for the purpose of obtaining
a wIfe, resolves itself into the simple and natural transaction, of one of
the younger members of a great family applying to the he3.d of the house
24
Travels of Marco Polo
in the country of Kathay.l Desirous of complying \vith
this solemn entreaty, Arghun deputed three of his nobles
discreet men, whose names were Ulatai, Apusca, and Goza,2
attended by a numerous retinue, as his ambassadors to the
grand khan, with a request that he might receive at his hands
a maiden to wife, from among the relatives of his deceased
queen. The application was taken in good part, and under
the directions of his ma j esty, choice was made of a damsel
aged seventeen, extremely handsome and accomplished, whose
name was Kogatin,3 and of whom the ambassadors, upon her
being shown to them, highly approved. When everything
was arranged for their departure, and a numerous suite of
attendants appointed, to do honour to the future consort of
king Arghun, they received from the grand khan a gracious
dismissal, and set out on their return by the way they came.
Having travelled for eight months, their further progress was
to be allowed to strengthen the connexion, by marrying from amongst
those who were probably his cousins in the second degree; for we may
presume that if this female had not been one of I{ublaï's own immediate
race, (a granddaughter, perhaps, as he was then advanced in years,)
there would not have existed a necessity for making so formal a demand.
In regard to the distance between Persia and China, which might be con-
sidered an objection to the probability of the fact, it is well known that
amongst all the branches of this Moghul family, however remote from
each other, a continual intercourse had, up to that period, been main-
tained, and Arghun himself had applied for and received his investiture
from the same monarch. In the event, however, it proved that the
difficulties attending the returning journey, over land, had become
insuperable.
1 The situation of Khatai, or Kataia, (or as it was usually called by the
medieval writers, Cathay,) has been a subject of much discussion amongst
the learned; but it cannot, I think, be doubted by those who consult
the eastern geographers and historians rather than the Greek, that they
apply the name to the northern provinces of what we call China, which
were conquered by J engiz-khan, and his son, Oktaï, not from a Chinese
governlnent, but frOITI a race of eastern Tartars, called Niu-che and l{in,
by whom they had been subdued about one hundred and twenty years
before. \Vhether they confine it strictly to these provinces, or include
some of the adjoining parts of Tartary, without-side the wall, it is not
easy to determine, as their accounts of these regions are far from being
precise; but the former I should judge to be the case.
2 These nalnes vary considerably in the different versions and editions,
where they appear in the forms of Ulatai and Gulatay, Apusca, Apusta,
and Ribusca, Goza, and Coyla; all of th{'m, probably, much disfigured
by transcribing from indistinct manuscripts. The Latin text calls them
Oulata, Alpusca, and Cor. They are not, however, of any historical
importance,
3 One of the wives of Hulagu, and mother of Ahmed-khan Nikodar
(the uncle of Arghun), was naiTIed Kutai-khatull, of which Roga.tin,
(otherwise written Gogatirn and Koganyn) may perhaps be a corruptIon.
The word khatun, which signifies" lady," is very frequently annexed
to, or fonns parts of proper naines, borne by Persian and Tartar WOlnen
of rank.
Return of the Brothers
25
obstructed and the roads shut up against them, by fresh wars
that had broken out amongst the Tartar princes. l Much
against their inclinations, therefore, they were constrained to
adopt the measure of returning to the court of the grand khan,
to whom they stated the interruption they had met with.
About the time of their reappearance, J\larco Polo happened
to arrive from a voyage he had made, vlith a few vessels under
his orders, to some parts of the East Indies,2 and reported to
the grand khan the intelligence he brought respecting the
countries he had visited, with the circumstances of his own
navigation, which, he said, was performed in those seas with
the utmost safety. This latter observation having reached
the ears of the three ambassadors, who were extremely anxious
to return to their o\vn country, from whence they had now
been absent three years, they presently sought a conference
with our Venetians, whom they found equally desirous of
revisiting their home; and it was settled betvveen them that
the former, accompanied by their young queen, should obtain
an audience of the grand khan, and represent to him with what
convenience and security they might effect their return by sea,
to the dominions of their master; whilst the voyage would be
attended with less expense than the journey by land,3 and be
performed in a shorter time; according to the experience of
Iarco Polo, who had lately sailed in those parts. Should his
majesty incline to give his consent to their adopting that mode
of conveyance, they were then to urge him to suffer the three
Europeans, as being persons well skilled in the practice of
navigation, to accompany them until they should reach the
1 These wars must have taken place about the year 1289, and pro.
bably in the country of IVlawara'lllahr, or Transoxiana, amongst the
descendan
s of J agataï or
agataï, whose history is particularly obscure;
but there IS reason to belIeve that they (or any of the l\Ioghul princes)
were seldom in a state of tranquillity. Troubles were also excited,
nearer to China, by a younger brother of Kublaï, who attempted to dis-
pute with him the right to the empire.
I What are here termed the East Indies lllUSt not be understood of the
continent of India, but of SOTne of the islands in the eastern archipelago
perþap
the Philippines, or possibly the coast of Tsian1pa, or Charnpa:
WhICh, ill another part. of the work, our author speaks of having visited.
The voyage here mentloned was subsequent to the grand and disastrous
expedition which the active genuis of l{ublaï led him to fit out against
the kingdom of Japan. It should be observed that the Latin and French
texts, and the I talian publishe
by Boni, say nothing of the ships, but
merely state that he was returnIng from an embassy to India.
3 The suggestion of this econornical motive may seem extraordinary
but attachment to money ,vas one of the weak parts of Kublaï's char
acter, and the practices he adopted, or cOJ1.Jllved at, for raising it. have
been the subject of much reprehension.
26
Travels of Marco Polo
territory of king Arghun. The grand khan upon receivinø
this application showed by his countenance that it was exceed
ingly ?ispleasing .to him, averse as he was to parting with the
VenetIans. FeelIng nevertheless that he could not with pro-
priety do otherwise than consent, he yielded to their entreaty.
I-Iad it not been that he found himself constrained by the im-
portance and urgency of this peculiar case, they would never
other\vise have obtained permission to withdra,,y themselves
from his service. He sent for them, however, and addressed
them with much kindness and condescension, assuring them of
his regard, and requiring from them a promise that when they
should have resided some time in Europe and with their own
family, they would return to him once more. With this object
in view he caused them to be furnished with the golden tablet
(or royal chop), which contained his order for their having free
and safe conduct through every part of his dominions, \vith
the needful supplies for themselves and their attendants. He
like\vise gave them authority to act in the capacity of his
ambassadors to the pope, the kings of France and Spain, and
the other Christian princes.!
At the same time preparations were made for the equipment
of fourteen ships, each having four masts, and capable of being
navigated with nine sails,2 the construction and rigging of
,,yhich "vould admit of ample description; but, to avoid pro-
lixi ty, it is for the presen t omitted. Among these vessels there
were at least four or five that had crews of two hundred and
fifty or two hundred and sixty men. On them were embarked
the ambassadors, having the queen under their protection,
1 In the Latin version it is said that he appointed ambassadors of his
own to these monarchs to accompany the expedition; but as no allusion
is afterwards lllade to such personages, although an obvious occasion
(that of the rnortality) presents itself, the Italian reading is considered
as preferable.
2 For the modern practice, in the northern part of China, and parti-
cularlyon the Pe-ho, of rigging vessels intended. to be employed in foreign
voyages with four rnasts, we have the authonty of Barrow, who says:
" It is i
possible not to consider the notices given by this early traveller
(
larco Polo) as curious, interesting, and valuable; and as far as they
regard the empire of China, they bear internal evidence of their being
generally correct. He sailed from Cbina in a fleet consisting of fourteen
ships each carrying four lnasts, and having their holds partitioned into
separ'ate chambers. . .. We observed many hundreds of a larger de-
scription, that
re employed in foreigl
voyag:es, all carrying fo
masts."
-Travels in Cluna, p. 45. In the LatIn versIon. t
e .words are, quan!lli
quælibet habebat quatuor maIos, et multæ ex IllIs Ibant cum duodec.un
velis "--" of which each had four masts, and Inany of them went wIth
twel
e sails." It is well known that now Chinese vessels do not carry
an y kind of topsail.
Return of the Brothers
27
together with Nicolo, Maffeo, and Marco Polo, when they had
first taken their leave of the grand khan, who presented them
with many rubies and other handsome jewels of great value.
Re also gave directions that the ships should be furnished with
stores and provisions for two years. 1
6. After a navigation of about three months, they arrived
at an island which lay in a southerly direction, named Java,2
where they saw various objects worthy of attention, of which
notice shaÍ1 be taken in the sequel of the work. Taking their
departure from thence, they employed eighteen months in the
Indian seas before they were enabled to reach the place of their
destination in the territory of king Arghun; 3 and during this
part of their voyage also they had an opportunity of observing
many things, which shall, in like manner, be related hereafter.
But here it may be proper to mention, that between the day of
their sailing and that of their arrival, they lost by deaths, of
the crews of the vessels and others who were embarked, about
six hundred persons; and of the three ambassadors, only one,
whose name was Goza, survived the voyage; whi]st of all the
ladies and female attendants one only died. 4
Upon landing they were informed that king Arghun had
died some time before,ó and that the government of the
country was then administered, on behaif of his son, who
Tas
still a youth, by a person of the name of Ki-akato. 6 ]'rom
1 The sailing of this remarkable expedition from the Pe-ho, or river of
Peking, we may infer, from circumstances mentioned in different parts
of the work, to have taken place about the beginning of 1291, three
years before the death of the emperor Kublaï, and four years previous
to the arrival of the Polo farnily at Venice, in 1295,
2 Some details of this part of the voyage are given in book iii. chap.
x" where the island here called J ava, is termed Java minor, and is evi
dently intended for Sumatra. It ,vill appear tbat they wanted the
change of the monsoon in a northern port of that island, near the western
entrance of the straits of lVlalacca.
3 The place where the expedition ultimately arrived is not directly
mentioned in any part of the work; but there are strong grounds for
inferring it to have been the celebrated port of Orrrluz. With respect
to the prince named Arghun-khan, see Note 2 , on p. 23.
· This mortality is no grea.ter than might be expected in vessels
crowded with men unaccustomed to voyages of snch duration, and who
had passed several months at an anchorage in the straits of Malacca;
and although it should have amounted to one-third of their whole
number, the proportion would not have exceeded what was suffered by
Lord Anson and other navigators of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.
. 51\rghun-k
an, according to the authorities followed by De Guignes,
dIed In the thIrd nlonth of the year 690 of the hejrah, answering to l\larch
in the year of our Lord 1291.
8 The person here named Ki-akato, or Chiacato in t1w Italian (\rth0-
graphy, and described as the ruler of the country in tnp. n
lJnc of the late
28
Travels of Marco Polo
him they desired to receive instructions as to the manner in
which they were to dispose of the princess, WhOll1 , by the
orders of the late king, they had conducted thither. His
answer was, that they ought to present the lady to Kasan,!
the son of Arghun, who was then at a place on the borders of
Persia, wl1ich has its denomination from the Arbor secco 2
where an army of sixty thousand men was assembled for the
purpose of guarding certain passes against the irruption of
the enemy.3 This they proceeded to carry into execution,
and having effected it, they returned to the residence of Ki-
akato, because the road they were afterwards to take lay in
that direction. 4 Here, however, they reposed themselves for
king's son, was Kai-khatu, the second son of Abaka-khan, and conse-
quently the brother of Arghun, upon whose death he is said to have
seized the throne (although perhaps only as regent or protector), to the
prejudice of his nephew, then a minor,
I The prince whose name is here written Kasan, or Casan, and by De
Guignes Cazan, was Chazan-khan, the eldest son of Arghun. He did not
succeed to the throne of Persia until the end of the year 1295, nearly
five years after the death of his father, who had sent him to reside ill
Khorasan, under the tutelage of an atabeg, or governor, named Nu-
roz, by whose persuasion he afterwards embraced the Mussulman faith,
and took the name of Mahmûd. It does not appear that he was molested
in that province by his uncle Kai-khatu, and this recommendation, that
the princess should be conveyed to him as the representative of his
father, serves to show that they were not upon terms of actual hostility.
It is further proved by the circumstance, that when, upon the murder
of Kai-khatu, the governInent fell into the hands of Baidu (a grandson
of Hulagu in a different line), and Ghazan marched with an army to
Rey (Rages) to assert his hereditary claims, the first demand he made
was, that the assassins of his uncle should be delivered up to him. After
a doubtful struggle maintained during a period of eight months, the
defection of his principal officers led to the destruction of the usurper,
and Ghazan ascended the throne of Persia, about two years subsequently
to the arrival of the princess, of whom nothing further is recorded. _
:I More circumstantial mention is made of this district, and of the tree
from whence it is said to derive its appellation, in chap. xx. of this book.
a This is the important pass known to the ancients by the appellation
of Portæ Caspiæ or Caspian Straits (to be distinguished from those of
Derbend, as well as of Rudbar), and termed by Eastern geographers
the Straits of Khowar, or Khawr, from a Persian word, signifying a
valley between two mountains, or from a small town near the eastern
entrance which bears the same name. "This remarkable chasm," says
Rennell, "is now called the strait or passage of I{howar (Chora of the
ancients), from a town or district in the neighbourhood. It is situated
at the termination of the great Salt Desert, almost due north from
Ispahan, and about fifty miles to the eastward of the ruins of Rey (or
Rôges). Alexander passed through it in his way froIn Rages towards
Aria and Bactria. Della Valle and Herbert amongst the moderns, and
Pliny amongst the ancients, have described. it particul
ly. It is eiþ"ht
tniles through, and generally forty yards In breadth. -GeographIcal
System of Herodotus exalnined and explained, p. 174, note.
, From the preceding part of the narrative we n1Ïght be led to suppose
the residence of Kai-khatu to have been in one of the southern provinces
The Brothers in Persia
29
the space of nine months.! When they took their leave he
furnished them with four golden tablets, each of them a cubit
in length, five inches ,vide, and weighing three or four marks of
gold. 2 Their inscription began with invoking the blessing of
the Almighty upon the grand khan,3 that his t;ame migh
be
held in reverence for many years, and denouncIng the punIsh-
ment of death and confiscation of goods to all who should
refuse obedience to the mandate. It then proceeded to direct
that the three ambassadors, as his representatives, should be
treated throughout his dominions with due honour, that their
expenses should be defrayed, and that they should be pro-
vided with the necessary escorts. All this was fully complied
,vith, and from many places they were protected by bodies of
two hundred horse; nor could this have been dispensed with
as the government of Ki-akato was unpopular, and the people
were disposed to commit insults and proceed to outrages,
which they would not have dared to attempt under the rule
of their proper sovereign. 4 In the course of their journey our
of Persia; but here, on the contrary, we find, that, conformably with
the histories of the times, it lay in the route between the place where
Ghazan was encamped, on the eastern side of the Caspian straits, and
the country of Armenia, towards which our traveHers were advancing
By D'Herbelot, De Guignes, and others, we are accordingly told that
the capital of the princes of this dynasty ,vas the city of Tauris or Tabriz,
in Aderbijan, but that they frequently resided (especially in summer) at
Hamadan, in Aljebal, in order to be nearer to the Syrian frontier.
1 From what has been said in the preceding note, we may presume
this place to have been Tabriz. .
2 The mark being eight ounces, the tablets must have been unneces-
sarily expensive and inconveniently ponderous. The other versions do
not specify either weight or size, and some state them to be only two
additional tablets.
3 This shows that the sovereignty of the head of the family was still
acknowledged by these branches, and I{ai-khatu might have particular
motives for courting its sanction. Ghazan is said to have been the first
who renounced this slight species of vassalage, and probably did not
send an ambassador to China to demand the investiture.
, In the conduct here described we have a proof of the general doubt
en tertained respecting his right to the throne, although the Mogh ul
chiefs affected to consider it as dependent upon their election. The
historians all agree in reprobating his habits as debauched and infamous,
and these chiefs, indignant at being governed by a prince so corrupt,
" equally hated by his subjects and despised by foreigners," resolved to
remove him, and made an offer of the cro,vn, not to Ghazan, whom
they might think still too young, or too feeble in bodily frame, for their
purrose, but to Baidu, a grandson of Hulagu, and cousin of the late
king, who was then governor of Baghdad. A battle was fought, In
which Kai-khatu, personally brave, found himself deserted by a principal
officer who commanded a wing of his arrny, was defeated, and subse-
quently strangled. For a circumstantial detail of these transactions on
the authority of Khondernir, see the Bibliothèque Orientale, under the
article Baidu. See also the article Gangiatu, "que l'on trouve auss1
3 0
Travels of Marco Polo
travellers received intelligence of the grand khan (Kublaï)
having departed this life; 1 which entirely put an end to all
pro
p
ct of their revisiting those regions. Pursuing, therefore,
theIr Intended route, they at length reached the city of Trebi-
zond, from whence they proceeded to Constantinople, then to
egropont,2 and finally to Venice, at vvhich place, in the en-
Joyment of health and abundant riches, they safely arrived in
the year 1295. On this occasion they offered up their thanks
to God, who had now been pleased to relieve them from such
great fatigues, after having preserved them from innumerable
perils. The foregoing narrative may be considered as a pre-
liminary chapter, the object of which is to make the reader
acquainted with the opportunities J\:larco Polo had of acquiring
a knowledge of the things he describes, during a residence of so
many years in the eastern parts of the ,vorld.
CHAPTER II
OF ARMENIA MINOR-OF THE PORT OF LAIASSUS-AND OF THE
BOUNDARIES OF THE PROVINCE.
IN cOlnmencing the ðescription of the countri2s which Marco
Polo visited in Asia, and of things worthy of notice which he
nommé Caictu, et Caicatu." "Khondemir remarque que Ie véritable nom
de ce prince stoit Aicatu, ou Gaicatu." We should learn from hence to
hesitate before we condelnn the orthography of our author, 'whose lllode of
writing this uncouth nalue differs so little, if at all, from some of thege
high authorities. It is a circumstance extreluely remarkable, that one of
the principal motives assigned for the revolt of the l\loghul chiefs against
this prince, was his having attempted to establish ill his dominions a
system of paper-money, like that of China.-De Guignes, Hist. des Huns,
Liv. xvii. p. 267.
1 Kublaï, whose name the Chinese pronounce Hupili or Hupilé, whilst
in their annals they bestow on him that of Chi-tsu, was proclaimed grand
khan in the year 1260, became emperor of China upon the destruction of
the dynasty of the Song, who reigned ill Manji or the provinces south
of the great river Kiang, in 1280, and died in the beginning of 12 94, at
the age of eighty years. It is not surprising that the news of an event
so important to all the tribes of Moghuls or Tartars should have found
its way to the court of Persia, and consequenily to our travellers, with
extraordinary expedition. .
2 Their most direct route from Tabriz would have lain through Bedhs
in Kurdistan to Aleppo, but at this time the sultans of Egypt, with whom
the kings of Persia were continually at war, had possession of all the
seaports of Syria, and would pay little respect to their passports. By
the \,\ray of Georgia to Trebisond, on the Euxine, their land-journey was
shorter and Inore secure, and when at that place they were under the
prot6.ction of the Christian prince, whose farnily reigned in the small
independent kingdom of Trebisond, from 12 0 4 to 14 6 2.
Account of Armenia
. 3 I
observed therein, it is proper to mention that we are to dis-
tinguish t\VO Armenias, t
e Lesser. and
he Great
r.l rrhe
king of the Lesser Armenta dwells In a CIty caned Sebastoz, 2
and rules his dominions \vith strict regard to justice. The
towns fortified places, and castles are numerous. There is
ablmdance of all necessaries of life, as ,veIl as of those things
which contribute to its comfort. Game, both of beasts and
J
birds is in plenty. It must be said, however, t h at the aÎ rof the
è oun t ry is not remarkably healthy. In former times its gentry
'\vere esteemed expert and brave soldiers; but at the pres en t
day they are great drinkers, pusillanimous, and \vorthless.
On the sea-coast there is a city named Laiassus,3 a place of
considerable traffic. Its port is frequented by merchants from,
Venice, Genoa, and many other places, who trade in spi
eries
and drugs of different sorts, manufactures of silk and of wool,
and - other rich comm odities. Those persons who design to
- -- ----
1 This distinction of the Arn1enias into the Greater and the Lesser, is
conformable to what we find in Ptolemy and the geographers of the
middle ages; although other divisions have taken place since that
part of Asia has been subject to the Ottoman empire. The Lesser
AL\.rmenia is defined by Büsching as comprehending that part of Cap-
padocia and Cilicia which lies along the western side of the Greater
Armenia, and also on the western side of the Euphrates. That in the
days of Haiton it extended south of Taurus, and included Cilicia (cam-
pestris), which was not the case in more ancient times, we have the
unexceptionable authority of that historian.
2 As it appears from the passage quoted in the preceding note, as well
as from other authorities, that Sîs was the capital of the Lesser Armenia
during the reigns of the Leans and I-Iaitons, we are led to suppose the
Sebastoz here mentioned to have been the ancient name of that city, or
of one that stood on the same site. It is obvious, indeed, from the geo-
graphy of Ptolemy, that there were many places in Asia Minor that bore
the names of Sebastia, Sebaste, and Sebastopolis (besides one in Syria)
and in his enumeration of the towns of Cilicia, we find a Sebaste, to which'
in the Latin translation, published at Venice in 1562, the epithet of
" augusta" is annexed. Upon the foundations of this, Leon I. (from
whom the country is called by the Arabians, Belan Leon, as well as Belad
Sîs), may have built the modern city, and the Greek nan1e may have been
still prevalent. We are told, however, that the city which preceded Sîs
as the capital of Armenia Minor, was named ì\lessis, l\:1assis, or l\1assissa'
the ancient Mopsuestia, and it must be confessed that if authority wa
not in opposition to conjecture, the sound of these names might lead us
to suppose that the modern name was only an abbreviation of Mes-sis
and Sebastoz a
ubstitution for l\Iopsueste. In a subsequent part of
the chapter the CIty of Sevasta or Sevaste, the modern Siwas or Sivas is
spoken of under circumstances that appear to distinguish it entirely frbm
the Armenian capital; having been recently conquered by the i\loghuls
from the Seljuk princes.
3 Lajazzo, or Aias, is situated in a low, morassy country, formed by
the alluvion of the two rivers Sihon and Jihon (of Cilicia) and (as
observed to me by Major Rennell) at the present mouth of the latter.
I ts trade has been transferred to Alexandretta or Scanderoon on the
opposite or Syrian side of the gulf. J
3 2 .
Travels of Marco Polo
travel into the interior of the Levant,! usually proceed in the
first instance to this port of Laiassus. The bou:ïdaries of the
Lesser Armenia are, on the south, the Land of Promisè, no\v
occ
pied by the Saracens; 2 on the north, Karamania, in-
hablted by Turkomans; towards the north-east lie the cities
of Kaisariah, Sevasta,3 and many others subject to the Tar-
tars; and on the western side it is bounded by the sea, which
extends to the shores of Christendom.
CHAPTER III
OF THE PROVINCE CALLED TURKO MANIA, WHERE ARE THE
CITIES OF KOGNI, KAISARIAH, AND SEVASTA, AND OF ITS
COMMERCE.
THE inhabitants of Turkon1ania 4 may be distinguished into
three classes. The Turkomans, who reverence lVlahomet and
follow his la\v, are a rude people, and dull of intellect. They
1 Levant is a translation of the word AnatolÏa or Anadoli, from the
Greek åvaroÀ'Ì] " artus, oriens," signifying the country that lies eostward
from Greece. As the name of a region therefore it should be equivalent
to N atolia, in its n10re extensive acceptation; and it is evident that our
author employs it to denote Asia Minor. Sn1yrna is at present estee"11ed
the principal port in the Levant, and the term seems to be now confined
to the sea-coast, and to mercantile usage.
2 For the Land of Promise, or Palestine, which extends no further to the
north than Tyre, is here to be understood Syria, or that part of it called 
