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LIBRARY  OF 
WELLESLEY  COLLEGE 


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XLbc  IbaMu^t  Society 


CATHAY  AND  THE  WAY  THITHER 

VOL.   I 


SECOND  SERIES 
No.   XXXVIII 


ISSUED    FOR    1915 


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COUNCIL 

OF 

THE   HAKLUYT   SOCIETY. 


Albert  Gray,  Esq.,  K.C.,  President. 

The  Right  Hon.  The  Lord  Belhaven  and  Stenton,  Vice- 
President. 

Sir  Clements  Robert  MARKHAM,K.C.B.,F.R.S.,Ex-Pres.R.G.S., 
Vice-President. 

The  Right  Hon.  The  Lord  Peckover  of  Wisbech,  Vice- 
President. 

Admiral  Sir  Lewis  Beaumont,  G.C.B.,   K.C.M.G. 

Sir  Thomas  Bowring. 

Bolton  Glanvill  Corney,  Esq.,  I.S.O. 

William  Foster,  Esq.,  CLE. 

F.    H.    H.    GUILLEMARD,    M.D. 

Edward  Heawood,  Esq.,  Treasurer. 

Sir  Everard  im  Thurn,  K.C.M.G.,  C.B. 

John  Scott  Keltie,  LL.D. 

Sir  Frederic  G.  Kenyon,  K.C.B.,  F.B.A.,  Litt.D. 

Sir  Charles  Lucas,  K.C.B.,  K.C.M.G. 

Admiral  Sir  Albert  Hastings  Markham,  K.C.B. 

Alfred  P.  Maudslay,  Esq. 

Lieut. -Colonel  Sir  Matthew  Nathan,  G.C.M.G.,  R.E. 

Admiral  of  the  Fleet  The  Right  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Hobart 

Seymour,  G.C.B.,  O.M.,  G.C.V.O..  LL.D. 
H.  R.  Tedder,  Esq. 

Lieut. -Colonel  Sir  Richard  Carnac  Temple,  Bart.,  CLE. 
Basil  Home  Thomson,  Esq. 

J.  A.  J.  DE  ViLLiERS,  Esq.,  Hon.  Secretary. 


Series   II      Vol.   38.      19  15. 


Sir  Hhnky  Yulh. 


I'roin  the  l/iird  edilioii  of  Ids  "Marco  Polo  "  by  ttennissioii  of  Miss  A.  F.  Yiilc 


Reproduced  for  Die  IlakluyL  Society  by  DonoUl  Macbeth,  l.oiulvn. 


Frontispiece. 


.CATHAY 
AND  THE  WAY  THITHER./ 

BEING  A  COLLECTION   OF 
MEDIEVAL   NOTICES   OF   CHINA 

TRANSLATED    AND    EDITED 
BY 

COLONEL  SIR  HENRY  YULE,  R.E.,  C.B.,  K.C.S.L 

CORR.    INST.    FRANCE 


NEW   EDITION,   REVISED   THROUGHOUT   IN    THE   LIGHT 
OF   RECENT   DISCOVERIES 

BY 

HENRI   CORDIER,  D.Litt.,   Hon.  M.R.A.S., 
Hon.  Cor.  M.R.G.S.,    Hon.  F.R.S.L. 

MEMBER   OF   THE    INSTITUT   DE    FRANCE 
PROFESSOR   AT   THE    ECOLE    DES    LANGUES   ORIENTALES    VIVANTES,    PARIS 


VOL.   I 

PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

ON    THE   INTERCOURSE    BETWEEN    CHINA   AND    THE   WESTERN 
nations  PREVIOUS  TO  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  CAPE  ROUTE 


LONDON : 

PRINTED    FOR   THE    HAKLUYT   SOCIETY 
MDCCCCXV 


wa 


"  Sed  si  aliqua  scribimus  propter  noticiam  legentium  quae  in  partibus 
vestris  nesciuntur,  non  debetis  propter  hoc  nos  appellare  mendaces, 
qui  vobis  referimus  ilia  quae  ipsi  vidimus  vel  ab  aliis  pro  certo  audivimus 
quos  esse  credimus  fide  dignos.  Imo  est  valde  crudele  ut  homo  propter 
bonum  quod  facit  ab  aliis  infametur." — Joannis  de  Piano  Carpini 
Prologus. 

"Such  also  is  the  case  with  Geography.     For  the  experience 

of  ages  confesses  that  many  of  the  outlying  tracts  of  the  earth  remain 
excluded  from  the  bounds  of  accurate  knowledge,  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  penetrating  regions  of  such  vast  extent;  whilst  some  countries  are 
very  different  from  the  descriptions  that  have  been  given  of  them  on 
the  faith  of  travellers'  tales  too  uncritically  accepted,  and  others, 
through  the  partial  operation  of  revolutions  and  catastrophes,  are  no 
longer  what  they  used  to  be.  Hence  it  is  needful,  as  a  general  rule, 
to  abide  by  the  most  recent  accounts  that  we  possess,  keeping  an  eye, 
however,  all  the  while,  upon  the  statements  of  older  authors,  and  on 
what  can  be  critically  educed  from  their  narratives,  so  as  to  form 
some  judgment  as  to  what  is  worthy  of  credit  and  what  is  not." — The 
Geography  of  Claudius  Ptolemy,  i,  5. 


"Wherefore  the  task  we  have  undertaken  is  a  double  one:  first, 
to  preserve  the  opinions  of  our  author  in  their  integrity,  so  far  as  they 
call  for  no  correction;  secondly,  where  he  has  failed  in  making  things 
clear,  to  set  forth  the  correct  view  to  the  best  of  our  ability  from  the 
narratives  that  are  accessible  to  us,  and  from  the  data  afforded  by 
more  accurate  maps." — Id.,   i,  19. 


'  VELLERAQUE  VT  FOLIIS  DEPECTANT  TENVIA  SERES 
In  >7erg?I:  $or  from  .^foliops  of  oliic  Crabrlls 
?]?£  ^rrgbf  f)is  slrntrer  (fffjina  Ijianirs  unrabrlls 
anO  tuDcIie  tocbetfj  tftcm  tottfj  flotrs  anO  Oufrtps." 

Anon. 

GIFT    DF 
INSTITUTE  DN  the  FAR  EASf 


(9 
%32 


DEDICATION  AND   PREFACE. 

TO 

SIR  RODERICK    IMPEY    MURCHISON,   Bart.,   K.C.B., 

ETC.  ETC.  ETC. 

PRESIDENT   OF  THE   HAKLUYT  SOCIETY. 

Dear  Sir  Roderick, 

I  am  happy  to  be  allowed  to  inscribe  to  you, 
from  whom  I  have  experienced  no  little  kindness,  this 
book,  which  endeavours  to  throw  some  light  on  the 
medieval  geography  of  Asia.  The  subject,  at  least,  needs 
no  apology  to  one  who  is  the  honoured  President  of  the 
Geographical  as  well  as  of  the  Hakluyt  Society;  for  he 
has  the  best  right  of  any  man  to  say,  "nihil  geographicum 
a  me  alienum  puto." 

The  work  was  originally  designed  to  embrace  only  the 
story  of  Friar  Odorig,  and  perhaps  of  one  more  traveller ; 
but  seeing  how  much  light  the  various  fragments  of  minor 
medieval  writers  concerning  China  threw  upon  one  another 
and  upon  Marco  Polo,  and  how  little  known  several  of 
them  were  to  English  readers,  it  seemed  desirable  to 
gather  all  into  one  collection,  edited  as  thoroughly  as 
my  capacities  admitted.  I  never  ventured  to  think  of 
introducing  Marco  himself  into  the  group.  There  is 
room  enough,  probably,  for  a  new  English  edition  of  that 
prince  of  medieval  travellers ;  but  he  claims  an  orbit  for 
himself,  and  has  no  place  among  these  asteroids.     What 


Vlll  DEDICATION   AND   PREFACE 

is  aimed  at  in  these  volumes  is  a  work  that  shall  bear 
some  such  relation  to  Polo  as  the  collections  of  the  lesser 
Greek  geographers  bear  to  Ptolemy. 

When  this  task  was  entered  on,  I  was  more  within 
reach  of  necessary  aids  than  circumstances  known  to  you 
have  of  late  permitted,  or  it  would  scarcely  have  been 
attempted.  All  the  reading  accessible  to  me  has,  indeed, 
been  directed  to  the  illustration  of  my  authors;  but 
Palermo  is  not  London  or  Paris ;  and  the  absence  of  some 
capital  authority  has  often  stopped  me  short  in  the 
investigation  of  a  difficulty,  just  as  a  traveller,  in  pro- 
jecting a  complex  journey,  is  stopped  short  by  a  black 
bar  in  the  columns  of  his  railway-guide. 

I  am  painfully  sensible  also,  that,  in  regard  to  many 
subjects  dealt  with  in  the  following  pages,  nothing  can 
make  up  for  the  want  of  genuine  oriental  learning.  A  fair 
familiarity  with  Hindustani  for  many  years,  and  some 
reminiscences  of  elementary  Persian,  have  been  useful  in 
their  degree ;  but  it  is  probable  that  they  may  some- 
times also  have  led  me  astray,  as  such  slender  lights  are 
apt  to  do. 

Of  the  authors  dealt  with,  Odoric,  Ibn  Batuta,  and 
Goes  are,  already  more  or  less  accessible  to  English 
readers ;  the  first  from  old  Hakluyt's  version,  the  second 
from  Lee's  translation  of  an  Arabic  abridgment,  and  the 
third  from  the  narrative  in  Astley's  collection. 

Since  the  last  work  was  published,  however,  a  hundred 
and  twenty  years  have  past,  and  our  knowledge  of  the 
regions  traversed  by  the  gallant  Jesuit,  though  still  ex- 
hibiting considerable  gaps,  has  been  greatly  extended; 
whilst  the  other  two  travellers  have  never,  so  far  as 
I  know,  been  systematically  edited;  i.e.,  with  some  en- 
deavour to  accompany  their  narratives  with  a  commentary 
which  should  aim  at  identifying  the  places  visited  by 


DEDICATION  AND   PREFACE  IX 

them,  and  at  the  elucidation  or  condemnation  of  their 
statements. 

In  regard  to  Ibn  Batuta,  "mine  Arabike,"  as  John 
BuNYAN  says  of  his  Latin,  "I  borrowe";  not,  however, 
from  Lee,  but  from  the  unabridged  travels  as  rendered 
into  French  by  MM.  Defremery  and  Sanguinetti. 
Though  the  version  is  thus  borrowed,  the  commentary  is 
not ;  and  it  is  certainly  my  belief  that  by  it  some  new 
light  is  thrown  on  this  curious  traveller. 

Of  the  other  authors  here  laid  under  contribution  the 
vain  and  garrulous  but  truthful  John  de'  Marignolli 
is  the  most  conspicuous.  He  has  been  incidentally  cited 
by  Sir  Emerson  Tennent,  whom  little  escapes;  but 
otherwise  he  is,  I  believe,  almost  unknown  in  England. 

Each  of  the  authors,  however,  will  present  his  cre- 
dentials in  the  proper  place,  before  telling  his  story; 
and  it  is  not  needful  to  say  more  here  regarding  them 
individually. 

For  repetitions  occurring  in  the  text,  I  need  not 
apologise;  they  are  inevitable  in  what  is  a  collection, 
not  a  selection.  But  it  is  to  be  feared  that  repetitions 
occur  also  sometimes  in  the  notes,  and  for  these  I  beg 
indulgence.  In  addition  to  my  great  distance  from  the 
printer,  circumstances  rendered  it  necessary  to  send  the 
first  sheets  to  the  press  many  months  before  the  later 
sections  were  ready;  and  thus  it  has  been  impossible  to 
give  the  whole  work  a  consistent  revision. 

Several  kind  friends  have  taken  trouble  in  making 
references  for  me,  or  in  answering  questions  bearing  on 
the  work.  I  beg  all  to  accept  my  warm  thanks;  but 
I  will  only  name  here  Mr.  Major  and  Mr.  Markham,  who 
have  also  in  turn  been  good  enough  to  see  the  revised 
proofs  through  the  press. 

I  trust  that  my  own  labour,   which  has  been  con- 

c.  Y.  c.  I.  b 


X  DEDICATION   AND   PREFACE 

siderable,  may  not  have  been  in  vain.  I  have  tried  to 
present  pretty  fully  one  special  aspect  of  a  great  subject 
which  in  all  ages  has  had  a  peculiar  fascination.  We  can 
see  that  the  ancients  felt  something  of  this  charm  at- 
taching to  the  dim  legends  which  reached  them  across 
the  length  of  Asia  about  the  Seres  dwelling  in  secluded 
peace  and  plenty  on  the  shores  of  the  Eastern  Ocean. 
The  vast  multiplication  of  manuscripts  and  transla- 
tions of  Polo  and  Odoric,  and  of  Odoric's  plunderer 
Mandeville,  shows  how  medieval  Christendom  ex- 
perienced the  same  attraction  in  the  tales  which  those 
travellers  related  of  the  vast  population,  riches,  arts,  and 
orderly  civilisation  of  Cathay.  The  charm  rekindled 
when  the  Portuguese  discoveries  revealed  China,  and  many 
marvelled  with  an  eccentric  Jesuit  why  God  had  bestowed 
such  bounties  on  a  hive  of  pagans^;  a  charm  which 
nearly  three  centuries  of  partial  knowledge  scarcely 
quenched.  Familiarity  of  late  years  has  had  something 
of  its  proverbial  result;  and  closer  examination  of  a 
civilisation  in  decay  has  discerned  how  much  rottenness 
now  exists  at  the  core  of  the  vast  and  fantastic  structure. 
When  we  see  communities  that  have  long  passed 
the  zenith  of  their  civilisation  and  genius  going  down 
simultaneously  in  population  and  in  moral  power,  there 
seems  little  of  mystery  in  their  future.  But  in  regarding 
a  country  like  China,  in  which  moral  and  intellectual 
decay  and  disorganization  have  been  accompanied  by  an 
increase  of  population  so  vast  as  to  amount  to  nearly 
a  third  of  the  world's  inhabitants,  the  field  of  speculation 
as  to  its  destiny  is  dark  indeed.  Though  under  forms 
sometimes  doubtless  most  imperfect,  the  influences  of 
Christianity,  the  Divine  Regenerator  of  the  nations,  have 

^   "Cur   Deus   tot   bonis    infidelem   sibi    Chinam    beaverit?  " 
Kircher,  China  Illustrata,  p.   165. 


DEDICATION  AND   PREFACE  XI 

entered  China  on  at  least  three  several  occasions.  Twice 
they  appear  to  have  been  choked  and  extinguished;  on 
another  occasion  we  have  seen  them  perverted  to  the 
purposes  of  a  vast  imposture.  The  future  is  with  God. 
Of  the  clouds  that  are  gathering  round  the  world's  horizon 
China  has  its  share.  The  empire  which  has  a  history 
coeval  with  the  oldest  of  Chaldaea  seems  to  be  breaking 
up.  It  has  often  broken  up  before  and  been  recon- 
solidated;  it  has  often  been  conquered,  and  has  either 
thrown  off  the  yoke  or  absorbed  its  conquerors.  But 
they  derived  what  civilisation  they  possessed  from  the 
land  which  they  invaded.  The  internal  combustions  that 
are  now  heaving  the  soil  come  in  contact  with  new  and 
alien  elements  of  Western  origin.  Who  can  guess  what 
shall  come  of  that  chemistry? 

I  am, 

Dear  Sir  Roderick, 

Yours  with  much  regard, 

H.   YULE. 


Palermo, 

July  T.-^vd,  1866. 


6—2 


PREFACE   TO   SECOND   EDITION 

Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither  issued  in  1866  in  two 
volumes  was  the  second  work  edited  by  Sir  Henry  Yule 
for  the  Hakluyt  Society.  A  few  years  before  (1863) 
Yule  had  given  an  annotated  translation  of  the  Mirabilia 
Descripta  by  Friar  Jordanus.  Both  works  have  been 
for  a  long  time  out  of  print  and  Cathay  commands  ex- 
orbitant prices  when  copies  rarely  appear  in  a  bookseller's 
catalogue.  I  have  not  to  praise  a  work  which  has  been 
for  a  long  time  the  vade-mecum  of  all  those  engaged  in 
the  study  of  the  Far  East  in  Ancient  and  Middle  Ages. 
All  agree  in  considering  it  as  the  indispensable  guide  of 
all  those  interested  in  the  historical  geography  not  only 
of  China,  not  only  of  Central  Asia,  but  also  of  Asia  at 
large.  At  the  time  of  its  appearance,  it  included  well 
nigh  all  that  was  then  known  regarding  the  history  of 
the  East,  notwithstanding  the  title  showing  the  modesty 
of  the  learned  editor :  A  Collection  of  Medieval  Notices 
of  China.  Since  1866,  Science,  especially  geography, 
owing  to  discovery  of  new  lands  and  travel  in  hitherto 
insufficiently  studied  countries,  has  rapidly  progressed; 
Yule  himself  in  his  great  work  on  Marco  Polo  first  printed 
in  1871  had  brought  a  great  deal  of  fresh  material  in 
this  new  work,  leaving  Cathay  far  behind.  It  was  there- 
fore necessary  to  give  a  new  edition  of  Cathay  embodying 
all  the  more  recent  information.  As  the  editor  of  the 
third  edition  of   the   Book   of  Ser  Marco  Polo,    I   was 


PREFACE   TO   SECOND   EDITION  Xlll 

supposed  to  possess  special  qualifications  for  performing 
this  new  task.  My  old  and  learned  friend,  Sir  Clements  R. 
Markham,  President  of  the  Hakluyt  Society,  asked  me 
to  undertake  this  edition  of  Cathay.  I  gladly  accepted 
the  offer  as  an  opportunity  of  marking  my  deep  esteem 
for  the  man,  and  of  my  admiration  for  the  geographer 
whom  I  had  known  in  the  person  of  Yule. 

I  might  repeat  here  what  I  said  in  the  Preface  of  the 
third  edition  of  the  Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo:  "I  have 
suppressed  hardly  any  of  Sir  Henry  Yule's  notes  and 
altered  but  few,  doing  so  only  when  the  light  of  recent 
information  has  proved  him  to  be  in  error,  but  I  have 
supplemented  them  by  what  I  hope  will  be  found  useful, 
new  information."  As  far  as  possible,  I  have  adhered  to 
these  principles  in  this  edition  of  Cathay,  but,  besides 
numerous  additional  notes,  it  has  been  found  necessary 
to  add  in  the  Preliminary  Essay  a  new  chapter  on  Central 
Asia  founded  on  recent  researches  and  also  a  few  Sup- 
plementary Notes;  the  beginning  of  the  chapter  on  the 
Chinese  Knowledge  of  the  Roman  Empire  has  been 
entirely  recast.  Indeed  the  new  information  has  increased 
the  bulk  of  the  work  to  such  an  extent  that  it  has  been 
found  necessary  to  print  four  volumes  instead  of  two^. 

To  the  works  mentioned  in  the  Preface  of  the  Book 
of  Ser  Marco  Polo  should  be  added  the  narrative  of  the 
Travels  and  Discoveries  of  Sir  Aurel  Stein  in  Central 
Asia,  the  learned  book  on  the  Western  Turks  by  my 
colleague  and  friend.  Prof.  Ed.  Chavannes,  the  numerous 
and  valuable  notes  given  to  me  by  that  young  and 
brilliant  scholar.  Prof.  Paul  Pelliot,  I  might  name  a 
good  many  other  works  but  they  will  be  found  indicated 
in  the  foot-notes  or  in  the  list  appended  to  the  fourth 
volume. 

1  My  own  additions  are  placed  between  brackets  [    ]. 


XIV  PREFACE   TO    SECOND   EDITION 

My  thanks  are  due  not  only  to  the  Council  and  the 
Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Hakluyt  Society,  who  have 
done  me  the  great  honour  of  selecting  me  to  supervise 
this  new  edition  of  Cathay,  but  also  to  Miss  Amy  Frances 
Yule  for  the  authorization  to  reproduce  her  father's 
portrait  from  the  third  edition  of  the  Book  of  Ser  Marco 
Polo,  and  to  the  Cambridge  University  Press  for  the 
care  taken  in  the  printing  of  the  work. 

HENRI   CORDIER. 


Paris,  8  rue  de  Siam, 
December,  19 14. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

Dedication  and  Preface. 

Preface  to  Second  Edition. 

Table  of  Contents. 

Preliminary  Essay  on  the  Intercourse  of  China  and  the 
Western  Nations  previous  to  the  Discovery  of  the 
Sea-Route  by  the  Cape. 

I.     earliest  traces  of  intercourse,     greek  and 

ROMAN    knowledge    OF    CHINA. 

1.  Double  names  applied  to  China  at  different  eras,  as 
approached  by  land  or  by  sea. 

2.  Origin  usually  ascribed  to  the  name  China.  But  both 
people  and  name  seem  to  have  been  known  to  the  Hindus  from 
an  antiquity  inconsistent  with  that  origin. 

3.  Most  ancient  Chinese  notice  of  intercourse  with  western 
nations ;   notice  of  envoys  supposed  to  have  come  from  Chaldaea. 

4.  Coincident  traditions  of  China  and  Persia  regarding 
ancient  intercourse.  Less  valuable  Persian  legends  regarding 
China. 

5.  Chinese  record  of  a  party  from  a  distant  kingdom,  which 
has  been  supposed  Egypt.  The  alleged  discovery  of  Chinese 
porcelain  phials  in  ancient  Egyptian  tombs. 

6.  The  Sinim  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah. 

7.  The  name  Chin  or  China  reaches  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
late,  and  then  in  the  forms  Thin,  Thinae,  Sinae. 

8.  These  names  certainly  indicated  China. 

9.  Ancient  authors  by  whom  they  are  used.  Discrepancy 
of  Ptolemy  and  the  author  of  the  Periplus  in  position  assigned 
to  the  country. 

10.  Marcianus  of  Heraclea;  only  an  abstracter  of  Ptolemy; 
but  so  showing  that  geographer's  views  more  compactly. 

11.  The  Seres,  more  frequently  named  than  Sinae;  at  first 
by  poets  and  in  a  vague  way ;  more  precisely  by  Mela  and  Pliny 
whose  words  point  to  China. 

12.  Ptolemy;  his  Sera  and  Serice.  Precise  in  definition,  far 
in  excess  of  his  knowledge;    yet  even  his  view  consistent  with 


XVI  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS 

the  indication  of  the  Chinese  empire  from  the  landward.     Inferior 
to  his  predecessors  in  not  recognizing  the  Eastern  Ocean. 

13.  Ammianus  MarcelHnus ;  his  geography  of  the  Seres  only 
a  paraphrase  of  Ptolemy's.  A  mistake  to  suppose  that  he  refers 
to  the  Great  Wall. 

14.  General  result  of  a  fusion  of  the  ancient  notices  of  the 
Seres.  The  characteristics  have  nearly  all  foundation  in  the 
character  and  circumstances  of  the  Chinese.  The  Seric  iron 
which  Pliny  lauds. 

15.  Sole  record  of  direct  political  intercourse  with  the  Seres 
in  Roman  history. 

16.  We  are  not  to  look  for  accuracy  in  the  ancient  views  of 
such  remote  regions.  Real  vagueness  of  Ptolemy's  data.  Con- 
fusions that  were  natural. 

17.  Curious  analogy  in  the  views  and  mistakes  of  Chinese 
and  Romans  with  respect  to  each  other. 

18.  Association  of  the  name  Seres  with  silk.  Etymologies. 
Long  prevalence  of  error  as  to  the  nature  of  silk.  Yet  some  had 
exceptional  knowledge ;  account  given  by  Pausanias.  Fluctua- 
tion of  geographical  knowledge  in  ancient  times;  and  paralleled 
among  the  Arabs. 

19.  Chinese  notices  of  the  ancient  silk  trade  with  Europe. 
Consistent  with  the  circumstances  related  by  Byzantine  writers 
in  reference  to  the  introduction  of  the  silkworm.  The  country 
indicated  in  that  narrative  uncertain. 

20.  Curious  links  between  Greek  and  Chinese  history  in  the 
fragments  of  Greek  writers  touching  the  Turkish  tribes  of  Central 
Asia.  Two  remarkable  notices  of  China  itself  in  Greek  authors 
of  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries. 

21.  The  first  of  these,  Cosmas:  some  account  of  him  and 
his  book. 

22.  His  correct  view  of  the  position  of  China. 

23.  The  name  which  he  gives  it.  Knows  the  general  position 
of  the  clove  country. 

24.  The  other  Greek  writer,  Theophylactus  Simocatta :  his 
notice  of  China  under  the  name  of  Taugas. 

25.  Extract  from  Theophylactus  with  notes  showing  ap- 
plication to  China. 

26.  Remarks  on  the  passage;  name  probably  indicated  in 
Taugas. 

27.  Geographical  darkness  of  the  later  Byzantines  exemplified 
in  Chalcondylas's  mention  of  China. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  XVll 

II.       CHINESE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE. 

28.  First  historical  relations  of  the  Chinese  with  Western 
Asia.  The  expedition  of  Chang  K'ien  (b.c.  135).  Chinese 
authority  established  over  Eastern  Turkestan,  and  recognized 
west  of  the  Bolor. 

29.  Decay  and  revival  of  the  Chinese  domination  in  first 
century  a.d.  Conquests  of  Pan  Ch'ao.  An  officer  despatched  to 
reconnoitre  Ta  Ts'in  or  the  Roman  empire. 

30.  Notices  of  Ta  Ts'in  in  Chinese  geographical  works  of  the 
early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.     Meaning  of  the  name. 

31.  Particulars  from  those  notices  of  Ta  Ts'in. 

32.  In  the  later  notices  the  title  is  changed  for  Fu  lin; 
Greek  origin  of  this  name.  Things  ascribed  by  China  to  Europe 
which  Europe  has   ascribed   to   China. 

33.  Some  of  the  more  accurate  particulars  which  show  some 
basis  of  real  information  in  the  notices  of  Ta  Ts'in. 

34.  They  contain  a  correct  statement  of  an  obscure  passage 
in  Byzantine  history. 

35.  Much  that  is  analogous  in  the  glimpses  caught  of  the 
Far  West  from  the  East,  and  of  the  Far  East  from  the  West. 

36.  Return  to  the  intended  reconnaissance  of  Ta  Ts'in  (§  29) ; 
It  miscarries. 

36  bis.  Consequences  of  Chang  K'ien's  voyage.  Conquest  of 
Tong  King. 

37.  Chinese  record  of  a  Roman  embassy  in  a.d.  166. 

38.  Further  intercourse ;  Roman  embassy  in  284.  Apparent 
suspension  of  intercourse  till  643,  when  another  embassy  arrived. 

39.  Further  intercourse  during  the  eighth  century. 

40.  Missions  from  Constantinople  in  the  eleventh  century. 
Last  recorded  communication  before  the  fall  of  that  city. 

II*.       COMMUNICATION    WITH    CENTRAL   ASIA. 

Decline  of  the  Chinese  Power.  The  Western  Turks.  The 
Karluk.  The  Boghra  Khans.  Kao  Sien-chi.  The  Tibetans. 
The  Uighiirs.     Manichaeism. 

III.      COMMUNICATION   WITH    INDIA. 

41.  First  historical  particulars  about  India  brought  by 
Chang  K'ien  (see  §  28).     Consequent  attempts  at  intercourse. 

42.  Introduction  of  Buddhism  from  India.  Commencement 
of  Embassies  from  Indian  princes. 


XVlll  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS 

43.  Sea  trade  to  India  in  fourth  century.  First  intercourse 
^vith  Ceylon.     Frequent  missions  from  that  island. 

44.  Communication  with  India  in  fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 

45.  Chinese  intercourse  with  Indian  kingdom  of  Magadha  in 
the  reign  of  T'ai  Tsung;  leads  eventually  to  the  invasion  of 
Northern  India  by  a  Chinese  army. 

46.  Communication  with  Kashmir.  Other  Indian  intercourse 
in  the  eighth  century. 

47.  Political  intercourse  more  rare  after  this  date;  some 
notices  however. 

48.  Religious  (Buddhist)  visitors  from  India  to  China. 

49.  Pilgrimages  of  Chinese  Buddhists  to  India,  and  their 
literary  works. 

50.  Revival  of  communication  with  Ceylon  in  thirteenth 
century. 

51.  Last  attempt  of  Chinese  to  recover  influence  in  maritime 
countries  of  the  West  (1405).  Resulting  relations  with  Ceylon, 
which  continued  for  many  years. 

52.  Mongol  Invasion  of  Bengal,  from  the  side  of  China, 
about  1244.  Previous  attempt  of  Bakhtiyar  Khilji  to  make  the 
converse  expedition,  and  subsequent  enterprises  of  Malik  Yuzbek 
and  Mahomed  Tughlak. 

53.  Chinese  embassy  to  court  of  Mahomed  Tughlak,  and  the 
return  embassy  under  Ibn  Batuta.     Later  missions  from  India. 

54.  Sea  trade  between  China  and  Malabar;  traces,  real  or 
supposed,  of  the  Chinese  in  the  Peninsula. 

55.  Endeavours  of  Kiiblai  to  establish  intercourse  with 
certain  kingdoms  of  India. 

IV.       INTERCOURSE    WITH    THE    ARABS. 

56.  Babylonia  alleged  to  have  been  frequented  by  Chinese 
ships  in  the  fifth  century.  The  terminus  of  the  trade  with  the 
Gulf  successively  receded  from  Hira  to  Hormuz. 

57.  Account  of  the  voyage  from  China  to  the  Persian  Gulf, 
from  the  annals  of  the  T'ang  dynasty.  Aden  frequented  by 
China  trade ;  Baroch  and  Suhar.  Latest  appearance  of  Chinese 
ships  in  the  Gulf. 

57  his.  The  Arabs  {Ta  shi).  Entrance  into  China.  Arabic 
inscriptions. 

58.  Early  Arab  establishments  at  Canton,  and  at  Khanfu 
or  Hang  chau. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  XIX 

59.  Arab  communication  with  China  by  land  from  Trans- 
oxiana.  Embassies.  The  Emperors  cautious  in  avoiding  col- 
lisions with  the  Arabs.  Arab  auxiliaries  in  China,  and  their 
misconduct.     The  Kotow. 


V.       INTERCOURSE    WITH    ARMENIA    AND    PERSIA,    ETC. 

60.  Early  knowledge  of  China  in  Armenian  literature. 
Account  by  Moses  of  Chorene.  Settlements  of  Chinese  in  Armenia. 
Lost  history  of  China  in  Greek. 

61.  Chinese  notices  of  Persia.  Embassy  from  Kobad  King 
of  Persia,  and  exchange  of  embassies  between  Khosru  Naoshirwan 
and  the  court  of  China.  The  last  Sassanian  King  seeks  aid  from 
China,  which  is  refused.  His  son  and  grandson  find  hospitality 
at  the  Chinese  court. 

62.  The  influence  which  China  had  regained  over  the  states 
of  Central  Asia  just  about  the  rise  of  the  Mahomedan  power. 
Organization  of  the  tributary  states  after  the  Chinese  manner. 
Countries  west  of  the  Bolor  which  were  included  in  this  organi- 
zation. Doubtful  how  far  it  can  have  been  carried  out.  Districts 
of  Persia  said  to  have  preserved  independence  of  the  Mahomedans 
to  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century  and  to  have  acknowledged 
allegiance  to  China. 

63.  Druzes'  tradition  of  their  Chinese  origin. 

VI.       NESTORIAN    CHRISTIANITY    IN    CHINA. 

64.  Legends  of  the  preaching  of  Apostles  in  China.  The 
actual  early  spread  of  the  Church  in  Persia  and  Khorasan. 

65.  The  Nestorian  Church,  under  the  Sassanidae;  under  the 
Khalifs. 

66.  Missionary  spirit  in  seventh  and  eighth  centuries. 
Metropolitans  of  China  mentioned  in  the  Syrian  records  from  the 
eighth  century.  Christianity  must  have  been  older  in  that 
country. 

67.  And  this  is  shown  by  Chinese  records :  first,  an  edict 
of  745- 

68.  Secondly,  the  monument  of  Si-ngan  fu.  Controversy  on 
that  subject. 

69.  Convincing  nature  of  the  argument  in  favour  of  genuine- 
ness.    Contents  of  the  inscriptions  on  it. 

70.  Supposed  occasion  of  the  concealment  of  the  monument. 

71.  Decay  of  Christianity  in  China. 


XX  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS 

72.  Relics  of  the  old  missions  to  China  found  by  Layard 
in  Kurdistan. 

73.  Partial  revival  of  Nestorian  Christianity  under  the 
Mongol  dynasty.  Its  previous  spread  among  Turkish  Mongolian 
tribes.  Notices  of  it  from  the  travellers  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries.     Two  Uighur  Nestorians. 

74.  Latest  vestiges. 

75.  Traces  of  the  Nestorian  Christians  met  with  by  the 
Jesuits. 

76.  Remarks.  Traces  of  the  existence  of  Christians  in  Further 
India. 

VII.       LITERARY    INFORMATION    REGARDING    CHINA    PREVIOUS 
TO    THE    MONGOL    ERA. 

77.  Nearly  all  from  Arabic  authors.  The  compilation 
{Anciennes  Relations,  6-c.)  of  the  ninth  century,  translated  by 
Renaudot  and  by  Reinaud. 

78.  General  description  and  date. 

79.  Topography  of  the  Voyage  from  Arabia  to  China,  in  the 
first  (or  anonymous)  part  of  the  work. 

80.  Particulars  regarding  China  which  it  offers. 

81.  The  second  part  of  the  work,  by  Abu  Zaid.  His  account 
of  the  Revolutions  in  China,  and  its  corroboration  by  the  Chinese 
annals. 

82.  Additional  particulars  afforded  by  Abu  Zaid. 

83.  The  Route-book  of  Ihn  Khurdddhhah. 
83*.     Mas'vidl's  "Meadows  of  Gold." 

84.  The  Travels  of  Ihn  Muhalhil. 
84  his.     Gardezi's  Itineraries. 

85.  China  as  represented  by  Edrisi. 

86.  Benjamin  of  Tudela. 

87.  Abulfeda;    properly  belongs  to  the  Mongol  era. 

VIII.       CHINA,    KNOWN    UNDER    THE    MONGOL    DYNASTY 
AS    CATHAY. 

88.  Opening  of  China  to  the  West.     Cathay. 

89.  Origin  of  that  name;    The  K'itans, 

90.  The  Kin,  or  Golden  Dynasty. 

91.  Rise  of  Chinghiz.  {Kdan,  Khdkdn,  and  Khan.)  His 
conquests  in  China. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  XXI 

92.  Prosecution  of  the  Conquest  of  China,  under  his  successor, 
Okkodai. 

93.  Western  Conquests.     Invasion  of  Europe. 

94.  Conquest  of  Persia  and  the  Khahfate.  Division  of  the 
Mongol  empire. 

95.  Commencement  of  missions  from  Europe  to  the  Mongol 
Sovereigns.  Reasons  why  partiality  to  Christianity  was  expected 
from  them.  Effect  of  the  Mongol  conquests  in  levelling  political 
barriers. 

96.  First  travellers  to  bring  news  to  Europe  of  Cathay. 
Piano  Carpini. 

97.  What  he  says  of  Cathay. 

98.  The  journey  of  Rubruquis. 

99.  What  he  tells  of  Cathay. 

100.  The  journeys  of  the  Armenian  Princes,  Sempad  and 
King  Hay  ton. 

lor.     The  Poli.     Pauthier's  edition  of  Marco  Polo. 

102.  Diplomatic  intercourse  between  the  Chinghizide  Khans 
of  Persia  and  European  Princes.  Vast  interfusion  of  nations, 
occasioned  by  the  Mongol  conquests. 

103.  The  work  of  Hay  ton,  Prince  of  Gorigos. 

104.  Catholic  missions  to  Cathay,  &c.,  John  of  Monte  Corvino  ; 
Andrew,  Bishop  of  Z  ay  tun  ;  John  de  Cora;  Odoric  of  Pordenone  ; 
Friar  Jordanus  ;   John  de'  Marignolli. 

105.  Frequency  of  commercial  intercourse  with  India  and 
Cathay  in  the  fourteenth  century. 

106.  The  commercial  hand-book  of  Francis  Baldticci  Pegolotti. 

107.  The  voyage  of  Ihn  Batuta  to  China.  The  cessation  of 
intercourse  on  the  fall  of  the  Mongols. 

IX.       CATHAY    PASSING    INTO    CHINA.       CONCLUSION. 

108.  Scanty  glimpses  of  China  in  the  century  and  a  half 
succeeding  the  fall  of  the  Mongols.  Hearsay  notices,  by  Clavijo 
and  Schiltberger. 

109.  Travels  of  Nicolo  Conti ;    he  probably  visited  China. 
no.     Use  made  of  Conti's  information  by  the  Cosmographers. 

Fra  Mauro ;    the  Palatine   Cosmographia. 

111.  Notice  by  Poggio  of  a  Christian  Envoy  from  the  borders 
of  Cathay  to  Pope  Eugenius  IV.     Toscanelli's  notice  of  the  same. 

112.  Notices  collected  by  Josafat  Barbaro. 

113.  Mission  sent  by  Shah  Rukh,  the  son  of  Timur,  to  Peking. 


XXll 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


114.  Cathay  sought  by  Columbus. 

115.  First  visit  of  the  Portuguese  ships  to  China. 

116.  Cathay  still  supposed  to  hold  an  independent  position. 
Northern  voyages  in  search  of  route  to  Cathay.  The  journey 
of  Anthony  Jenkinson. 

117.  Narratives  of  Asiatic  travel  to  Cathay  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  preserved  by  Ramusio  and  Busheck. 

118.  The  journey  of  Benedict  Goes  in  search  of  Cathay  finally 
establishes  its  identity  with  China,  and  closes  our  subject. 


I. 

I  bis. 
II. 
III. 

IV. 

IV  bis. 
v. 

VI. 
VII. 


IX. 

IX  bis. 

IX  ter. 

X. 

X  bis. 

XI. 


XII. 
XIII. 


Supplementary  Notes. 

Extract  from  the  Periplus  of  the  Erythrean  Sea. 
Extracts  from  the  Latin  poets. 
Extracts  from  the  Geography  of  Ptolemy. 
Extracts  from  Pomponius  Mela  De  Situ  Orbis. 
Extracts  from  the  Natural  History  of  Pliny. 
Extracts     from     Dionysius     Periergetes,     R.     F. 

AviENUs,  Priscianus. 
Extracts  from  the  Itinerary  of  Greece  of  Pausanias. 
Extracts  from  the  History  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus. 
Extracts  regarding  the  introduction  of  the  silkworm 

into  the  Roman  Empire. 
Extracts  regarding  intercourse  between  the  Turkish 

Khans     and     the     Byzantine    Emperors,     from 

Menander. 
Extracts  from  the  Christian  Topography  of  Cosmas, 

THE  Monk. 
Extracts  from  Theophylactus  Simocatta. 
Extracts  from  Chau  Ju-kwa. 

The  discovery  of  the  Syro-Chinese  Christian  monu- 
ment of  Si-ngan  fu  (from  Alvarez  Semedo,  and 

a  Chinese  author). 
The  same  from  the  Istoria  of  P.  D.  Bartoli. 
The    Kingdoms  of    India   in    the   ninth  century,  as 

spoken  of  by  the  Arab  Compilers  in  the  Ancien- 

nes  Relations,  etc. 
Abstract  of  the  travels  of  Ibn  Muhalhil. 
Extracts    regarding    China,    from    the   Geography   of 

Abulfeda. 
Extracts  from  the  History  of  Hayton,  the  Armenian. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


XXlll 


XIV bis.   Letter  of  Sempad  (1243). 

XIV  ter.    Extracts  regarding   Cathay,   from  the  narrative   of 
Ruy  Gonzalez  de  Clavijo. 
XIV  quater.  Extracts  from  the  Travels  of  Nicol6  Conti. 

XV.  Extracts  from  a  letter  of  Paolo  dal  Pozzo  Tosca- 

NELLI. 

XVI.  Extracts   regarding  Cathay,   from  the  Narrative  of 

Signor  Josafa  Barbaro. 

XVII.  Notes  on  the  narrative  of  Shah  Rukh's  mission  to 

China. 

XVIII.  Hajji  Mahomed's  account  of  Cathay,  as  delivered 

to  Ramusio. 
XIX.      Account  of  Cathay,  by  a  Turkish  Dervish,  as  related 

to  Auger  Gislen  de  Busbeck. 
XX.      Note  on  the  maps  of  this  work. 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


VOL.    I. 

Portrait  of  Sir  Henry  Yule.  From  the  Painting  by 
Mr.  T.  B.  Wirgman,  in  the  Royal  Engineers'  Mess 
House  at  Chatham. — Reproduced  from  the  third 
edition  of  Yule's  Marco  Polo  by  permission  of  Miss 
A.  F.  Yule To  face  title. 

Two  sheets  of  the  Catalan  Map  (1375)  .... 


page 


300 


VOL.    II. 

Friar  Odoric  Preaching  to  the  Indians.     [From  a  photograph 
taken  for  the  present  Editor)  .         .         .      Frontispiece 

View  of  Pordenone.  {Drawn  by  the  Editor  from  a  Photo- 
graph) ........ 

Traditional  Birthplace  of  Odoric.  {Sketched  by  the  Editor 
on  the  spot)    ........ 

The  Sarcophagus  of  Odoric  as  it  stood  in  the  last  century 
{Compiled  by  the  Editor  from  an  engraving  in  Venni's 
Elogio  Storico)     ....... 

Altar  containing  Odoric's  remains.  {From  the  French 
Edition  of  Odoric)         ...... 

Domes  of  St.  Anthony's  at  Padua.     {From  a  Photograph) 

Map  of  Asia  in  the  First  Half  of  the  Fourteenth  Century,  to 
illustrate  Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither.    {By  the  Editor.) 

At  the  end 

Reduced  and  condensed  translation  of  the  Carta  Catalana 
of  1375 Ditto 

Sketch  Map  to  illustrate  Ibn  Batuta's  Travels  in  Bengal 
Ditto 


19 
33 


VOL.    III. 

Sketch  Map  showing  the  Metropolitan  Sees  of  the  Nestorian 

Church  in  the  Middle  Ages,  etc.     {By  the  Editor)      .         23 

How  Marco  Polo  drew  a  certain  star  under  the  Antarctic 
(Magellan's  Cloud?)  {By  the  Editor  from  a  cut  in  the 
Conciliator  of  Peter  of  Abano)     .         .         .         .         .195 

INIarignolli's  Notion  of  the  World.     {Slightly  modified  by  the 

Editor  from  Fra  Mauro)        ......       247 


Dog-mouthed  Islanders. 


VOL.    IV. 

{Sketched  from  life  by  the  Editor.) 
Ibn  Batuta. 


Map  of  the  Passes  of  the  Hindu  Kush  and  country  ad- 
joining to  illustrate  the  Journey  of  Goes 

In  pocket  at  end  of  volume. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY. 


NOTES  ON  THE  INTERCOURSE  OF  CHINA 
AND  THE  WESTERN  NATIONS  PREVIOUS 
TO  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  SEA-ROUTE 
BY    THE   CAPE. 


"  On  se  formeroit  des  notions  peu  exactes  sur  la  Chine,  et  Ton 
n'auroit  qu'une  idee  imparfaite  des  avantages  qu'on  pent  obtenir 
en  etudiant  I'histoire  de  ce  pays,  si  Ton  se  representoit  un  empire 
isole.  pour  ainsi  dire,  a  I'extremite  de  I'Asie,  separe  du  reste  du 
monde,  dont  I'entree  auroit  toujours  ete  interdite  aux  etrangers, 
et  dont  les  relations  au  dehors  se  seroient  bornees  a  quelques 
communications  passageres  avec  les  peuples  les  plus  voisins  de 
ses  frontieres." — Abel  Remusat. 

I.     EARLIEST  TRACES  OF  INTERCOURSE.     GREEK 
AND  ROMAN  KNOWLEDGE  OF  CHINA. 

I.  That  spacious  seat  of  ancient  civilisation  which 
we  call  China  has  loomed  always  so  large  to  western  eyes, 
and  has,  in  spite  of  its  distance,  subtended  so  great  an 
angle  of  vision,  that,  at  eras  far  apart,  we  find  it  to  have 
been  distinguished  by  different  appellations  according  as 
it  was  regarded  as  the  terminus  of  a  southern  sea-route 
coasting  the  great  peninsulas  and  islands  of  Asia,  or  as 
that  of  a  northern  land  route  traversing  the  longitude 
of  that  continent. 

In  the  former  aspect  the  name  apphed  has  nearly 
always  been  some  form  of  the  name  Sin,  Chin,  Sinae, 
China.  In  the  latter  point  of  view  the  region  in  question 
was  known  to  the  ancients  as  the  land  of  the  Seres  ;  to 
the  middle  ages  as  the  empire  of  Cathay. 

C.  Y.  C.    I  I 


2  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

2.  The  name  of  Chin  has  been  supposed,  like  many 
another  word  and  name  connected  with  the  trade  and 
geography  of  the  far  east,  to  have  come  to  us  through  the 
Malays,  and  to  have  been  applied  by  them  to  the  great 
eastern  monarchy  from  the  style  of  the  dynasty  of  Ts'in, 
which  a  little  more  than  two  centuries  before  our  era 
enjoyed  a  brief  but  very  vigorous  existence,  uniting  all 
the  Chinese  provinces  under  its  authority,  and  extending 
its  conquests  far  beyond  those  limits  to  the  south  and 
the  west. 

There  are  reasons  however  for  believing  that  the  name 
of  China  must  have  been  bestowed  at  a  much  earlier 
date,  for  it  occurs  in  the  laws  of  Manu,  which  assert  the 
Chinas  to  have  been  degenerate  Kshatriyas,  and  in  the 
Mahabharat,  compositions  many  centuries  older  than 
the  imperial  dynasty  of  Ts'in ^.  The  indications  of  the 
geographical  position  of  the  nation  so  called  are  indeed  far 
from  precise,  but  in  the  absence  of  positive  evidence  to 
the  contrary  it  seems  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  name 
China  meant  to  the  Hindus  then  what  it  means  still ; 
whilst  there  is  also  in  a  part  of  the  astronomical  systems 
of  the  two  nations  the  strongest  implication  of  very  ancient 
communication  between  them,  so  ancient  as  to  have  been 
forgotten  even  in  the  far-reaching  annals  of  China 2. 

Whether  the  Chinese  were  known  at  all  to  the  Hindus 


1  Lassen,  i,  857-8 ;  Pauthier,  M .  Polo,  p.  550.  The  latter 
author  says  :  "I  shall  take  another  occasion  to  establish  that 
the  statement  in  the  Laws  of  Manu  is  partially  true,  and  that 
people  from  India  passed  into  Shen  si,  the  westernmost  province 
of  China,  more  than  one  thousand  years  before  our  era,  and  at 
that  time  formed  a  state  named  Thsin,  the  same  word  as  China." 
It  is  remarkable  that,  as  the  same  scholar  notices,  the  name  of 
China  is  used  in  the  Japanese  maps  (lb.  449). 

^  See  Lassen,  i,  742  seqq.  ["  Ibn  al-Kalbi  says  after  A§-Sirki, 
that  China  is  called  Cin  because  Cin  and  Baghar  are  the  two 
sons  of  Baghbar  ibn  Kamad  ibn  Yafath  (Japhet)."  Yakut,  in 
Ferrand,  Textes,  p.  207.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  3 

in  remote  antiquity,  and  whether  they  were  known  by 
the  name  of  Chinese,  are  of  course  two  different  questions. 
But  if  it  be  estabUshed  that  they  must  have  known  one 
another,  the  probabihty  becomes  strong  that  the  name 
China  in  the  writings  of  the  one  people  indicated  the  other. 
And  this  name  may  have  yet  possibly  been  connected 
with  the  Ts'in,  or  some  monarchy  of  like  dynastic  title  ; 
for  that  dynasty  had  reigned  locally  in  Shen  si  from  the 
ninth  century  before  our  era  ;  and  when,  at  a  still  earlier 
date,  the  empire  was  partitioned  into  many  small  king- 
doms, we  find  among  them  the  dynasties  of  the  Tsin  and 
the  Ching^. 

[Sir  Henry  Yule  has  raised  again  the  question  of  the 
name  of  China  in  Hobson-Jobson,  pp.  196-7  : 

"The  European  knowledge  of  this  name  in  the 
forms  Thinae  and  Sinae  goes  back  nearly  to  the  Christian 
era.  The  famous  mention  of  the  Sinim  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah  would  carry  us  much  further  back,  but  we  fear 
the  possibility  of  that  referring  to  the  Chinese  must  be 
abandoned,  as  must  be  likewise,  perhaps,  the  similar 
application  of  the  name  Chinas  in  ancient  Sanskrit  works. 
The  most  probable  origin  of  the  name — which  is  essentially 
a  name  applied  by  foreigners  to  the  country — as  yet 
suggested,  is  that  put  forward  by  Baron  F.  von  Richthofen, 
that  it  comes  from  Jih-nan,  an  old  name  of  Tongking, 
seeing  that  in  Jih-nan  lay  the  only  port  which  was  open 
for  foreign  trade  with  China  at  the  beginning  of  our  era, 
and  that  that  province  was  then  included  administratively 
within  the  limits  of  China  Proper  (see  Richthofen,  China, 
i,  504-510  ;  the  same  author's  papers  in  the  Trans,  of 
the  Berlin  Geog.  Soc.  for  1876  ;    and  a  paper  by  one  of 

^  The  Tsin  reigning  at  Fung  chau  in  Shan  si,  endured  from 
B.C.  1 106  to  676  and  longer  under  other  titles;  the  Ching,  in 
Ho  nan,  from  B.C.  1122  to  b.c.  477  (see  Deguignes,  i,  88,  102,  105  ; 
also  Lassen,  i,  857  ;    St.  Martin,  Mem.  sur  I'Armenie,  ii,  51). 


4  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

the  present  writers  in  Proc.  R.  Geog.  Soc,  November, 
1882). 

"  Another  theory  has  been  suggested  by  our  friend 
M.  Terrien  de  Lacouperie  in  an  elaborate  note,  of  which 
we  can  but  state  the  general  gist.  Whilst  he  quite  accepts 
the  suggestion  that  Kiao-chi  or  Tongking,  anciently 
called  Kiao-ti,  was  the  Kattigara  of  Ptolemy's  authority, 
he  denies  that  Jih-nan  can  have  been  the  origin  of  Sinae. 
This  he  does  on  two  chief  grounds  :  (i)  That  Jih-nan  was 
not  Kiao-chi,  but  a  province  a  good  deal  further  south, 
corresponding  to  the  modern  province  of  An  {Nghe  Ane, 
in  the  map  of  M.  Dutreuil  de  Rhins,  the  capital  of  which 
is  about  2°  17'  in  lat.  S.  of  Hanoi).  This  is  distinctly 
stated  in  the  Official  Geography  of  Annam.  An  was  one 
of  the  twelve  provinces  of  Cochin  China  proper  till  1820- 
41,  when,  with  two  others,  it  was  transferred  to  Tong- 
king. Also,  in  the  Chinese  Historical  Atlas,  Jih-nan  lies 
in  Chen-Ching,  i.e.  Cochin-China.  (2)  That  the  ancient 
pronunciation  of  Jih-nan,  as  indicated  by  the  Chinese 
authorities  of  the  Han  period,  was  Nit-nam.  It  is  still 
pronounced  in  Sinico-Annamite  (the  most  archaic  of  the 
Chinese  dialects)  Nhut-nam,  and  in  Cantonese  Yat-nam. 
M.  Terrien  further  points  out  that  the  export  of  Chinese 
goods,  and  the  traffic  with  the  south  and  west,  were  for 
several  centuries  B.C.  monopolised  by  the  State  of  Tsen 
(now  pronounced  in  Sinico-Annamite  Chen,  and  in  Man- 
darin Tien),  which  corresponded  to  the  centre  and  west 
of  modern  Yun-nan.  The  She-ki  of  Sze-ma  Ts'ien 
(B.C.  91)  and  the  Annals  of  the  Han  Dynast}^  afford 
interesting  information  on  this  subject.  When  the 
Emperor  Wu-ti,  in  consequence  of  Chang-Kien's  in- 
formation brought  back  from  Bactria,  sent  envoys  to 
find  the  route  followed  by  the  traders  of  Shuh  {i.e.  Sze- 
chu'an)   to  India,  these  envoys  were  detained  by  Tang 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  5 

Kiang,  King  of  Tsen,  who  objected  to  their  exploring 
trade-routes  through  his  territory,  saying  haughtily : 
'  Has  the  Han  a  greater  dominion  than  ours  ?  ' 

"  M.  Terrien  conceives  that  as  the  only  communi- 
cation of  this  Tsen  State  with  the  Sea  would  be  by  the 
Song-Koi  R.,  the  emporium  of  sea-trade  with  that  State 
would  be  at  its  mouth,  viz.  at  Kiao-ti  or  Kattigara.  Thus, 
he  considers,  the  name  of  Tsen,  this  powerful  and  arrogant 
State,  the  monopoliser  of  trade-routes,  is  in  all  probability 
that  which  spread  far  and  wide  the  name  of  Chin,  Sin, 
Sinae,  Thinae,  and  preserved  its  predominance  in  the 
mouths  of  foreigners,  even  when,  as  in  the  2nd  century 
of  our  era,  the  great  Empire  of  the  Han  has  extended  over 
the  Delta  of  the  Song-Koi. 

"  This  theory  needs  more  consideration  than  we  can 
now  give  it.  But  it  will  doubtless  have  discussion  else- 
where, and  it  does  not  disturb  Richthofen's  identification 
of  Kattigara."] 

Mr  William  Crooke,  the  new  editor  of  Hobson-Jobson, 
has  added  the  following  note  : 

[Prof.  Giles  regards  the  suggestions  of  Richthofen  and 
T.  de  Lacouperie  as  mere  guesses.  From  a  recent  re- 
consideration of  the  subject  he  has  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  name  may  possibly  be  derived  from  the  name  of  a 
dynasty,  Ch'in  or  Ts'in,  which  flourished  B.C.  255-207, 
and  became  widely  known  in  India,  Persia,  and  other 
Asiatic  countries,  the  final  a  being  added  by  the  Portu- 
guese.] 

We  should  now  add  : 

[Professor  Paul  Pelliot  {BuL  Ecole  Frang.  Ext.  Orient., 
iv,  1904,  pp.  144  seq.)  does  not  accept  Richthofen's 
theory  ;  he  shows  that  Jih  nan  was  the  most  southern  of 
the  three  provinces  into  which  Tung  King  was  divided 
under  the  Han  dynasty  :  Kiao  chi,  Kiu  chen  and  Jih  nan  ; 


b  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

in  Kiao  chi,  i.e.  the  estuary  of  the  Red  River,  was  estab- 
lished the  chief  government  and  there  probably  landed 
the  envoys  of  Mark  Aurel ;  the  pronunciation  of  Jih  nan 
was  then  nit-nam,  in  which  it  is  impossible  to  find  the  Sinae 
of  Ptolemy  ;  the  Indian  Cina  or  Chinas  when  they  were 
exactly  known  were  no  doubt  regarded  as  Chinese.  With 
regard  to  Terrien's  theory,  Pelliot  says  that  there  is 
nothing  to  show  that  the  kingdom  of  Tien  was  in  com- 
munication by  sea  with  the  Red  River ;  he  thinks  that 
Padre  Martini's  theory  of  the  name  of  China  being  derived 
from  the  first  Ts'in  dynasty  (249-207  B.C.)  is  still  the  more 
probable  and  it  seems  to  agree  with  China's  own  tradition.] 
[Some  time  ago,  Prof.  Hermann  Jacobi  in  his  paper 
Kultur-,  Spy  ache-  und  Liter  arhistorisches  aus  dem  Kautiliya 
{Sitz.  K.  Preuss.  Akad.,  xliv,  1911,  p.  961)  came  to 
the  conclusion  that :  "  The  name  Cina  is  secured  as  a 
designation  for  China  in  B.C.  300,  so  that  the  derivation 
of  the  word  China  from  the  dynasty  of  the  Ts'in  (b.c.  247) 
is  definitely  exploded.  On  the  other  hand,  this  notice  is 
of  interest  also  as  proving  the  export  of  Chinese  silk  into 
India  in  the  4th  century  B.C."  This  conclusion  is  based 
upon  the  fact  that  in  the  Kautiliya,  Prof.  Jacobi  finds 
a  mention  of  China,  more  specifically  the  record  of  the  fact 
that  silken  ribbons  are  produced  in  the  country  of  China. 
As  the  author  of  this  work  was  the  famous  minister  of  King 
Candragupta  who  seized  the  reins  of  government  between 
B.C.  320  and  315,  the  composition  of  the  work  must  be 
dated  around  B.C.  300  and  several  years  earher  rather 
than  later  according  to  Prof.  Jacobi,  who  says  that  it 
affords  a  sure  chronological  basis.  Mr.  Berthold  Laufer, 
of  Chicago,  adopting  Prof.  Jacobi's  views,  has  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  "  it  may  not  be  impossible  that  Cina 
has  been  the  ancient  (perhaps  Malayan)  name  adhering 
to  the  coast  of  Kuang-tung  Province  and  the  coast-hne 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  7 

farther  to  the  south,  in  times  anterior  to  the  settlement  of 
the  Chinese  in  those  regions"  {T'oung  pao,  Dec.  1912). 
Prof.  Pelhot  shows  {Ibid.)  that  even  under  the  Han  Dynasty 
the  Hiung  Nu  called  the  Chinese  "  Men  of  Ts'in  "  ;  Ts'in 
was  the  name  given  to  China  by  the  people  west  of  the 
empire  in  ancient  time  ;  China  was  known  after  as  Tavydar 
(Theophylactus  Simocatta,  7th  cent.,  Tab7ac  of  the 
Turkish  Inscriptions  of  the  same  period),  and  at  the  time 
of  the  K'i  tan  or  Leao  (916-1125)  as  K'i  tai.  I  believe 
we  may,  till  further  evidence  is  produced,  adhere  to  the 
traditional  etymology  of  the  name  of  China  being  derived 
from  the  Ts'in  dynasty.] 

3,  Other  indications  of  ancient  communication  are 
found  in  the  annals  and  traditions  both  of  the  Chinese 
and  of  western  nations.  Thus  in  the  reign  of  T'ai  Wu 
or  T'ai  Mou  (b.c.  1634)  ambassadors  accompanied  by 
interpreters,  and  belonging  to  76  distinct  kingdoms,  are 
reported  to  have  arrived  from  remote  regions  at  the  court 
of  China  1. 

At  a  far  earlier  period,  under  the  reign  of  Hwang  Ti, 
the  [third  of  the  Five  Rulers  of  the  Legendary  Period] 
(B.C.  2697),  the  Chinese  historians  allege  that  the  inventors 
of  sundry  arts  and  sciences  arrived  from  the  western 
kingdoms  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Kwen  lun  moun- 
tains^. In  the  time  of  Yao  (b.c.  2356)  there  came  the 
envoys  of  a  race  called  Yue-shang  shi,  arriving  from  the 
south,  and  presented  to  the  emperor  "  a  divine  tortoise, 
one  thousand  years  old,"  having  on  its  back  inscriptions 
in  strange  characters  resembling  tadpoles,  in  which  was 


^  Chine  Ancienne,  p.  76.  [Terrien  has,  Chinese  Civilization, 
p.  383 :  "c.  1538  B.C.  In  Tai  Mou's  twenty-sixth  year  arrivals  from 
a  western  state  near  Karashar.  Wang-Meng  was  sent  there  with 
presents,  and  also  to  the  West  Wang-mus  to  get  some  of  their 
famous  balsam."] 

^  Ch.  Anc,  p.   29. 


8  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

related  the  history  of  the  world  from  its  beginning.  Yao 
caused  these  to  be  transcribed,  and  they  were  known 
thereafter  as  the  Annals  of  the  Tortoise.  The  same  nation 
sent  a  new  embassy  to  China  in  B.C.  mo  [under  the  reign 
of  Ch'eng  Wang]^.  As  Yue-shang-shi  signifies  "  a  people 
with  long  training  robes  "  (like  those  of  the  Assyrian 
monuments),  and  as  the  tadpole  form  ascribed  to  the 
characters  is  suggestive  of  the  cuneiform  writing ;  as 
the  commentators  likewise  say  that  the  country  of  these 
people  was  reached  in  a  year,  after  passing  by  Fu  nan^ 
and  Lin  Yi^  (or  the  modern  Siam),  Pauthier  has  conjec- 
tured that  the  envoys  came  from  Chaldaea*. 

4.  Absolute  tradition  in  countries  west  of  India 
however  is  found  of  an  exceedingly  early  communication 
with  China,  and  this  is  singularly  confirmed  by  the  annals 

^  [Neither  the  Shu  King  nor  Sze-ma  Ts'ien  mentions  this 
embassy  in  B.C.  mo  from  Kiao  chi  (Cochin-China)  ;  it  is 
mentioned  in  the  Ts'ien  Han  Shu  and  the  Han  Han  Shu  ;  the 
invention  of  the  compass  [south  pointing  chariot]  by  Chau 
Kung  is  connected  with  this  legendary  embassy.  Cf.  Legge, 
Chinese  Classics,  in,  ii,  pp.  536-7  ;  PeUiot,  Fou-nan,  pp. 
58-9.] 

2  [Fu  nan  was  in  the  Khmer  country  and  was  conquered 
by  Tchen  la  (Cambodia).  See  Pelliot,  Le  Founan  {Bui.  Ecole 
Ext.  Orient.,  April-June,   1903).] 

^  [Lin  Yi,  kingdom  of  Champa.] 

*  H.  des  Relations  Politiques  de  la  Chine,  etc.,  pp.  5-7.  [Ter- 
rien  de  Lacouperie  has  spent  a  great  deal  of  labour  and  ingenuity 
to  prove  that  the  Chinese  civilisation  had  its  origin  in  western 
Asia  and  more  particularly  from  Babylonia  and  Elam.  Sinolo- 
gists have  not  accepted  his  theories,  at  times  rather  wild,  though 
Terrien  has  thrown  light  on  some  particular  points.  He  has 
collected  a  number  of  his  papers  under  the  title  of  the  Western 
Origin  of  the  Early  Chinese  Civilization  from  2300  B.C.  to  200  a.d., 
Lond.,  1894.  Terrien  placed  the  arrival  from  the  west  of  Hwang- 
ti,  the  first  leader  of  the  civilised  Bak  Sings,  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Loh  where  he  sacrificed,  c.  2282  B.C.,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of 
his  reign.  L.c,  p.  381.  With  reference  to  the  so-called  Bak  see 
C.  De  Harlez,  T'oung  pao,  1895,  p.  369.]  If  I  remember  rightly, 
some  of  the  Chaldean  inscriptions  mentioned  in  Rawlinson's 
Ancient  Monarchies  are  considered  to  go  back  to  b.c.  2000  or  earlier, 
but  I  have  not  the  book  to  refer  to.  [New  researches  permit 
us  to  go  back  «/  least  3000  years  B.C.:  witness  the  inscription  of 
Naram  Sin.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  9 

of  the  latter  country.  Thus  the  legendary  history  of 
the  Persians  relates  that  their  ancient  king,  the  famous 
Jamshid,  had  two  daughters  by  a  daughter  of  Mahang 
or  Mahenk,  king  of  Machin  (or  Great  China)  i.  It  has 
been  suggested  [without  any  foundation]  that  his  name 
indicates  Mu  Wang,  of  the  Chau  dynasty,  who  reigned 
from  B.C.  looi  to  946,  dying  in  the  latter  year  in  the  104th 
year  of  his  age,  and  who  is  related  in  the  Chinese  annals 
to  have  made  in  the  year  985  a  journey  into  the  remote 
countries  of  the  west,  and  to  have  brought  back  with 
him  skilled  artizans  and  various  natural  curiosities  2. 

Indeed  China  is  often  mentioned  in  the  ancient  legends 
of  Persia,  but  as  these  seem  to  be  chiefly  known  through 
the  poetry  of  Ferdusi,  probably  little  stress  can  be  laid 
upon  such  allusions.  Thus  however  Jamshid  is  pursued 
through  India  and  China  by  the  agents  of  Zohak  ;  Feri- 
dun  bestows  upon  his  second  son,  Tur,  Tartary  and  part 
of  China ;  Siawush,  the  son  of  Kaikobad,  marrying 
[Feringees]  the  daughter  of  Afra9iab,  receives  in  dowry 
China  [Chinese  Tartary  ?]  and  Khotan ;  Kai  Khusru 
(Cyrus)  is  sent  in  his  youth  by  Afragiab  beyond  the  sea 
of  China,  and  Jiv  seeks  him  all  through  that  country 
amid  wonderful  adventures  ;    in  the  wars  of  Kai  Khusru 

^  [Jamshid  "eut  de  Peritchehreh,  fille  du  roi  du  Zaboulistan, 
un  fils  nomme  Tour;  et  de  Mahenk,  fille  du  roi  de  Madjin,  deux 
autres  appeles  Betoual  et  Humayoun."  (Jules  Mohl,  Modjmel 
al-Tewarikh,  Journ.  Asiat.,  fev.  1841,  p.  155.)  I  need  not  insist 
on  the  legendary  character  of  this  story.] 

2  Ih.  pp.  i^—i^,dL.-n.6.ChineAncienne,  pp.94  seqq.  [The legendary 
voyage  of  Mu  Wang  to  the  West  has  been  related  in  the 
Mu  T'ien  tze  chuen,  translated  by  Eitel  in  the  China  Review, 
xvii,  pp.  223-240,  247-258.  On  this  legend  of  Mu  and  of  Si  Wang 
Mu,  see  Chevannes,  Se-ma  Ts'ien,  ii,  pp.  6-8  note,  and  Terrien 
de  Lacouperie,  Chinese  Civilization,  pp.  35,  77,  384.  Terrien, 
under  the  date  of  c.  986  B.C.,  notes  the  "  Journey  of  Tchou  Muh 
Wang,  to  Turfan,  Karashar,  the  Yulduz  plateau  and  further  west, 
perhaps  as  far  as  Kashgar.  He  brought  back  with  him  several 
clever  artificers,  the  arts  of  inlaying  metal  and  of  making  paste- 
gems,  etc.,  some  jade  from  Khotan- Yarkand,  amber  through 
Wakhan,  etc.,  marionettes,  and  other  things."] 


10  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

and  Rustum  with  Afra9iab  Rustum  captures  the  Emperor 
of  China  on  his  white  elephant ;  Lohrasp,  the  successor 
of  Kai  Khusru,  exacts  homage  from  the  sovereigns  of 
Tartary  and  China  ;  Gushtasp  (Darius  Hystaspes)  makes 
war  on  Arjasp,  King  of  Tartary,  pursues  him  to  his  capital 
and  slays  him  there i. 

5.  Under  the  third  year  of  Ch'eng  wang  (b.c.  1113) 
there  is  a  curious  and  obscure  tradition  of  the  arrival  at 
the  court  of  men  from  the  kingdom  of  Nili,  who  had  come 
by  sea,  and  in  whom  Pauthier  again  suggests  that  we  have 
visitors  from  the  banks  of  the  Nile  2.  This  notion  might 
have  derived  some  corroboration  from  the  Chinese  porce- 
lain phials  alleged  to  have  been  found  in  Egyptian  tombs 
as  old  as  the  eighteenth  dynasty  ;  but  I  understand  that 
Dr.  Birch  has  demolished  their  claims  to  antiquity^. 

6.  Some  at  least  of  the  circumstances  which  have 
been  collected  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  may  render 
it  the  less  improbable  that  the  Sinim  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah, 
a  name  used,  as  the  context  shows,  to  indicate  some  nation 
of  the  extreme  east  or  south,  should  be  truly  interpreted 
as  indicating  the  Chinese*. 

1  Malcolm's  H.  of  Persia,  i,  1815,  pp.  21,  46  seq. 

^  Chine  Ancienne,  p.  85.  [Terrien  de  Lacouperie  remarks  that 
"  Stan.  Julien  proposed  afterwards  an  identification  [of  Nile] 
with  the  Indian  town  of  Nala,  but  this  town  was  founded  by 
Asoka,  thus  eight  centuries  after  the  event  reported  in  the  text, 
and  its  name  is  differently  transcribed  in  Chinese."  Terrien  has 
proposed  to  identify  Nili,  Nele  or  Nere  with  the  old  country  of 
Norai,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Irawadi,  between  Manipuri,  and 
Momien  of  S.W.  Yun  nan,  afterwards  the  Shan  state  of  Mogaung. 
{Early  Chinese  Civilization,  pp.   39-41.)] 

^  [It  has  been  proved  by  Stanislas  Julien  and  G.  Pauthier  in 
France,  W.  H.  Medhurst  Jr.  and  Harry  S.  Parkes  in  China 
{Trans.  China  Br.  R.  As.  Sac,  Pt.  Ill  and  IV)  that  the  inscriptions 
on  the  porcelain  bottles  found  in  Egyptian  tombs  in  1834  belong 
to  poems  of  the  T'ang  and  Sung  dynasties,  i.e.  to  a  period  of 
several  centuries  after  Christ.] 

*  "  Behold,  these  shall  come  from  far  ;  and,  lo,  these  from 
the  north  and  from  the  west ;  and  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim  " 
(xlix,  ver.  12).     See  article  Sinim,  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  II 

7.  The  name  of  China  in  this  form  was  late  in  reaching 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  to  them  it  probably  came 
through  people  of  Arabian  speech,  as  the  Arabs,  being 
without  the  sound  of  ch^,  made  the  China  of  the  Hindus 
and  Malays  into  Sin,  and  perhaps  sometimes  into  Thin. 
Hence  the  Thin  of  the  author  of  the  Periplus  of  the  Ery- 
thraean Sea,  who  appears  to  be  the  first  extant  author  to 
employ  the  name  in  this  form^  ;  hence  also  the  Sinae 
and  Thinae  of  Ptolemy,  who  doubtless  derived  them  from 
his  predecessor  Marinus  of  Tyre,  the  loss  of  whose  work, 
with  the  details  into  which  it  seems  to  have  entered  to 
a  much  greater  extent  than  Ptolemy's,  is  so  much  to  be 
regretted^. 

[The  question  of  Sinim  is  still  opened.  See  H.  Cordier,  Biblio- 
theca  Sinica,  col.  1919. — Terrien  de  Lacouperie  writes  :  "  There 
is  no  probability  of  doubt  that  these  Shinas  of  ancient  and  modern 
times  on  the  slopes  of  the  Hindu-Kush,  were  the  remote  populations 
referred  to  in  the  expression  land  of  Sinim  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah. 
Such  will  be  the  conclusion  of  my  enquiry."  {Babylonian  Record, 
Jan.  7,  1887.)  I  should  say  that  there  is  probability  of  doubt 
in  Lacouperie's  theory.] 

^  [This  is  not  exact  for  the  ancient  Arabic  pronunciation.  See 
G.  Ferrand,  Textes  relatifs  d  I'Extreme  Orient,  i,  p.  9.] 

2  That  is  if  Miiller's  view  be  right  in  ascribing  the  work  to  the 
first  century. 

^  Though  the  latest  scholars  have  abandoned  that  reading  of 
Strabo  which  ascribed  the  use  of  the  name  Thinae  to  Eratosthenes 
(the  passages  which  speak  of  the  parallel  passing  through  Thinae 
— Sta  Qtvuiv — being  shown  to  read  correctly  bC  'Adrjvwv,  see  Miiller's 
Edition,  p.  945  and  the  various  passages  referred  to  there)  ;  it  is 
rather  singular  that  the  name  should  not  have  been  known  before 
the  end  of  the  first  century,  supposing  such  to  be  the  fact.  For 
Shi  Hwang-ti  the  great  Emperor  of  the  Ts'in  is  said  to  have  sent 
an  army  of  three  hundred  thousand  men  into  Tartary,  whilst 
Ptolemy  Euergetes  about  the  same  time  carried  his  conquests 
to  Bactria.  The  expedition  of  the  latter  may  probably,  however, 
have  preceded  that  of  the  Chinese  prince.  Ptolemy  reigned 
B.C.  247-222,  Shi  Hwang-ti  from  246  as  king  of  Ts'in,  but  only 
from  221  as  sovereign  of  the  whole  empire.  M.  Reinaud,  in  his 
Relations  Politiques  et  Commerciales  de  I'Empive  Romain  avec 
I'Asie  Orientate,  a  book  which  contains  some  ingenious  suggestions 
and  useful  references  to  which  I  am  indebted,  but  which  is  in  the 
main  an  example  of  building  pyramids  on  the  apex,  says  that 
Ptolemy  used  the  term  Sinae  "pour  se  donner  itn  air  d' erudition  "  ; 
but  why  he  should  say  so  it  is  hard  to  perceive,  even  if  it  be  an 
error  to  date  the  Periplus  before  Ptolemy. 


12  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

8.  Since  the  reaction  from  the  sentiment  of  those 
days  succeeding  the  revival  of  hterature  which  ascribed 
all  knowledge  to  the  Greeks,  it  has  often  been  doubted 
and  denied  that  the  Sinae  of  Ptolemy  indeed  represented 
the  Chinese.  But  compare  the  statement  of  Marcianus 
of  Heraclea  (who  is  in  this  as  in  most  other  parts  of  his 
work,  merely  condensing  and  popularising  the  results  of 
Ptolemy's  definitions),  when  he  tells  us  that  the  "  nations 
of  the  Sinae  lie  at  the  extremity  of  the  habitable  world, 
and  adjoin  the  eastern  Terra  Incognita,"  with  that  of 
Cosmas  a  century  or  two  later  in  speaking  of  Tzinista, 
a  name  which  no  one  [save  Baron  Walckenaer,  who 
maintained  it  to  be  Tenasserim  (see  N.  Ann.  des  Voyages, 
vol.  53,  1832,  p.  5),  and  Mr  Beazley^]  has  questioned  to 
indicate  China,  that  "  beyond  this  there  is  neither  habita- 
tion nor  navigation."  Who  can  doubt  that  the  same 
region  is  meant  by  these  two  authors  ?  The  fundamental 
error  of  Ptolemy's  Indian  geography,  I  mean  his  notion 
that  the  Indian  Sea  was  entirely  encompassed  by  the  land, 
rendered  it  impossible  that  he  should  do  other  than  mis- 
place the  Chinese  coast,  and  thus  no  doubt  it  is  easy  to 
perplex  the  question  to  any  extent  over  his  latitudes  and 
longitudes.  But  considering  that  the  name  in  the  same 
shape  has  come  down  among  the  Arabs  as  applied  to  the 
Chinese  from  time  immemorial ;  considering  that  in  the 
works  of  Ptolemy  and  his  successors  whatever  else  may 
be  said  about  the  name  it  certainly  represented  the  furthest 
east  of  which  they  had  any  cognisance  ;  and  considering 
how  inaccurate  are  Ptolemy's  configurations  and  longi- 
tudes in  a  region  so  much  further  within  his  horizon  as  the 
peninsula  of  Hither  India,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean,   it    seems    almost    as    reasonable    to    deny    that 

1  [Tzinista  "is  probably  only  a  dim  notion  of  Malaya  or  Cochin- 
China."     (C.  R.  Beazley,  Dawn  of  Modern  Geog.,  1897,  p.  197  n.)] 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  I3 

Ptolemy's  India  contained  Hindus  as  to  deny  that  his 
Sinae  were  Chinese. 

9.  As  far  as  I  can  collect,  the  names  Sinae  or  Thinae 
are  mentioned  by  only  two  ancient  authors  besides 
Ptolemy,  viz.,  by  the  author  of  the  Periplus  of  the  Ery- 
thraean Sea,  who,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,  uses 
the  term  %\v,  keeping  still  closer  to  the  original  form, 
and  b}^  Marcianus,  whom  we  have  just  quoted.  Whilst 
Ptolemy  assigns  to  the  nation  in  question  a  position  so 
far  to  the  south  ^,  the  author  of  the  Periplus  places  them 
beyond  Transgangetic  India  indeed,  but  far  to  the  north, 
under  the  very  Ursa  Minor,  and  touching  on  the  frontiers 
of  the  further  regions  of  Pontus  and  the  Caspian^. 

10.  Marcianus  is  lauded  by  Lassen  for  his  superior 
knowledge  of  South  Eastern  Asia,  but  it  is  by  no  means 
clear  that  the  praise  is  well  deserved^.  His  statements 
with  regard  to  that  quarter  of  the  earth  appear  to  be 
merely  an  abstract  and  popularisation  of  those  of  Ptolemy, 
of  whom  he  speaks  as  the  most  godlike  and  wisest  of  men. 
He  brings  out  in  his  compacter  statements  still  more 
distinctly  the  erroneous  notion  that  the  Indian  Sea  was 
an  enclosed  basin  terminating  beyond  the  Gulf  of  the 
Sinae.  Here  the  Terra  Incognita  that  lay  east  of  the 
Sinae,  and  the  Terra  Incognita  that  ran  south  of  the  Indian 
Sea  in  prolongation  of  Ethiopia,  met  and  formed  an  angle. 
But  the  Sinae  themselves  were  the  remotest  denizens 
of  the  habitable  world.     Above  them  to  the  north  and 


^  The  Metropolis  Thinae  is  placed  by  him  in  long.  180°,  lat. 
3°  south. 

2  The  passage  of  the  Periplus  regarding  Thin  and  Thinae,  and 
those  of  Ptolemy  regarding  Sinae  and  Serice,  will  be  found  in 
Supplementary  Notes  I  and  II  at  the  end  of  this  essay. 

^  See  Lassen,  iii,  287  seqq.,  and  especially  290.  Miiller  treats 
the  pretensions  of  Marcianus  in  a  very  different  fashion,  and  with 
more  justice.  (See  his  Prolegomena  to  Geog.  Grcsci  Minores. 
pp.  cxxix  seqq.) 


14  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

north-west  lay  the  Seres  and  their  metropoHs  ;  all  east 
of  these  two  nations  was  unknown  land  full  of  reedy  and 
impenetrable  swamps^, 

II.  If  we  now  turn  to  the  Seres  we  find  this  name 
mentioned  by  classic  authors  much  more  frequently  and 
at  an  earlier  date  by  at  least  a  century^.  The  name 
indeed  is  familiar  enough  to  the  Latin  poets  of  the  Augustan 
age^,  but  always  in  a  vague  way,  and  usually  with  a 
general  reference  to  Central  Asia  and  the  farther  east*. 


1  All  this  is  merely  abstracted  from  Ptolemy.  See  the 
passages  of  the  latter  in  Note  II. 

2  There  are  two  mentions  of  the  Seres  which  may  be  much 
earlier.  One  is  in  a  passage  ascribed  to  Ctesias,  which  speaks  of 
the  Seres  as  people  of  portentous  stature  and  longevity.  The 
passage,  however,  is  found  in  only  one  MS.  (of  the  Bibliotheca 
of  Photius),  and  is  attended  by  other  circumstances  which  cause 
doubt  whether  it  is  really  from  Ctesias  (see  Miiller's  Ctesias, 
pp.  86  seq.,  and  his  Geog.  Gr.  Minores,  ii,  152).  ["It  is  said  that 
the  Seres  and  the  Northern  Indians  are  so  tall,  that  one  meets 
men  13  cubits  high  ;  they  live  more  than  two  hundred  years. 
In  a  certain  part  of  the  river  Gaitros  {ratrpov),  there  are  men  like 
beasts,  having  a  skin  similar  to  that  of  the  hippopotami  and  conse- 
quently impenetrable  to  arrows.  In  India,  in  the  remote  part 
of  an  island  situated  in  the  sea,  it  is  said  that  the  inhabitants 
have  long  tails,  such  as  those  ascribed  to  satyrs."  (See  Miiller's 
Gtesias,  pp.  86-7.)]  The  other  mention  is  found  in  a  passage, 
or  rather  two  passages,  of  Strabo.  These  also  allude  only  to  the 
longevity  of  the  Seres,  said  to  exceed  two  hundred  years,  and 
Strabo  at  the  time  seems  to  be  quoting  from  Onesicritus  (Miiller's 
Strabo,  xv,  i,  34  and  37).  The  date  of  Ctesias  is  about  B.C.  400  ; 
Onesicritus  was  an  officer  of  Alexander's  (d.  b.c.  328.)  Smith's 
Dictionary  of  Gr.  and  Rom,  Geography ,  article  Serica,  would  lead 
one  by  its  expressions  to  suppose  that  Aristotle  had  spoken  of 
that  country,  which  of  course  he  does  not.  The  reference  is  to 
that  passage  where  he  speaks  of  fiop.fivKia  being  wound  off  from  a 
certain  insect  in  the  Island  of  Cos.  See  the  passage  quoted  in 
Note  IV  at  the  end. 

3  [See  Supplementary  Note  II.] 

*  Seneca  is  still  more  indefinite,  and  will  not  commit  himself 
to  any  view  of  their  locality  : 

"  Et  quocunque  loco  jacent 
Seres  vellere  nobiles  "   [Thyestes,  378)  ; 
whilst  Lucan  does  commit  himself  to  the  view  that  they  were 
somewhere   at  the  back   of  Ethiopia.     For,   apostrophising  the 
Nile,  he  says : 

"  Teque  vident  primi,  qua:runt  tamen  hi  quoque,  Seres  " 

(x,  292). 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  15 

We  find,  however,  that  the  first  endeavours  to  assign 
more  accurately  the  position  of  this  people,  which  are 
those  of  Mela  and  Pliny,  gravitate  distinctly  towards 
China  in  its  northern  aspect  as  the  true  idea  involved. 
Thus  Mela  says  that  the  remotest  east  of  Asia  is  occupied 
by  the  three  races,  the  Indians,  the  Seres,  and  the  Scyth- 
ians, of  whom  the  Indians  and  the  Scythians  occupy  the 
southern  and  northern  extremities,  the  Seres  the  middle. 
Just  as  in  a  general  way  we  might  say  still  that  the 
extreme  east  of  Asia  is  occupied  by  the  Indies,  China,  and 
Tartary,  the  three  modern  expressions  which  answer 
with  tolerable  accuracy  to  the  India,  land  of  Seres,  and 
Scythia  of  the  Ancients^. 

12.  Ptolemy  first  uses  the  names  of  Sera  and  Serice, 
the -former  for  the  chief  city,  the  latter  for  the  country  of 
the  Seres,  and  attempts  to  define  their  position  with  a 
precision  beyond  what  his  knowledge  justified,  but  which 
was  the  necessary  result  of  the  system  of  his  work.  Yet 
even  his  definition  of  Serice  is  quite  consistent  with  the 
view  that  it  indicated  the  Chinese  Empire  in  its  northern 
aspect,  for  he  carries  it  eastward  to  the  180°  of  longitude, 
which  is  also  according  to  his  calculations,  in  a  lower 
latitude,  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Sinae.  In  one 
especial  point  he  is  inferior  in  the  justness  of  his  views  to 
his  predecessors,  for  whilst  Mela  and  Pliny  both  recognise 
the  position  of  the  Seres  upon  the  Eastern  Ocean  which 
terminates  Asia,  no  such  ocean  is  recognised  by  Ptolemy 
(so  far  as  I  can  discover)  in  any  part  of  his  work.  The 
Ravenna  Geographer  denounces  as  an  impious  error  the 
idea  that  there  is  in  the  extreme  east  an  ocean  passing 
from  south  to  north. 

13.  Ammianus  Marcellinus  devotes  some  paragraphs 
to  a  description  of  the  Seres  and  their  country.     It  is  no 

1  See  Extracts  from  Mela  and  Pliny  in  Notes  III  and  IV. 


l6  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

more  than  a  conversion  of  the  dry  statements  of  Ptolemy 
into  fine  writing,  with  the  addition  of  some  more  or  less 
fabulous  particulars  about  their  mode  of  growing  silk 
and  carrying  on  commerce,  which  are  similar  to  those 
given  by  Pliny.  One  passage  indeed  of  the  geographical 
description  of  Ammianus  is  startling  at  first  sight  in  its 
seeming  allusion  to  the  Great  Wall ;  and  in  this  sense  it 
has  been  understood  by  Lassen,  and  apparently  also  by 
Reinaud^.  But  a  comparison  of  the  passage  with  Ptolemy's 
chapter  on  Serice  from  which  it  is  derived  will  show, 
I  think,  convincingly  that  he  is  speaking  merely  of  an 
encircling  rampart  of  lofty  mountains  within  which  the 
spacious  and  happy  valley  of  the  Seres  is  conceived  to  lie. 

14.  If,  however,  we  try  to  fuse  into  one  general  de- 
scription the  ancient  notices  of  the  Seres  and  their  country, 
omitting  anomalous  and  manifestly  fabulous  statements, 
the  result  will  be  something  like  the  following^  :  "  The 
region  of  the  Seres  is  a  vast  and  populous  country,  touching 
on  the  east  the  Ocean  and  the  limits  of  the  habitable  world, 
and  extending  west  nearly  to  Imaus  and  the  confines  of 
Bactria.  The  people  are  civilised  men,  of  mild  just  and 
frugal  temper,  eschewing  collisions  with  their  neighbours, 
and  even  shy  of  close  intercourse,  but  not  averse  to  dispose 

1  See  Lassen,  ii,  536,  and  Reinaud's  translation  of  the  passage 
in  Rel.  Pol.  et  Commerc.  de  I'Empire  Romain,  etc.,  p.  192.  The 
original  words  run  :  "  Ultra  hasc  utriusque  Scythiae  loca,  contra 
orientalem  plagam  in  orbis  speciem  consertae  celsorum  aggerum 
summitates  ambiunt  Seras,  ubertate  regionum  et  amplitudine 
circumspectos "  [Lib.  xxiii].  The  whole  of  the  passage  from 
Ammianus  will  be  found  translated  in  Note  VI.  In  a  previous 
page  he  speaks  of  Serica  as  a  province  of  Persia  ! 

2  It  must  be  acknowledged,  however,  that  apart  from  the 
exceptional  statement  of  Pausanias  (see  §  17)  the  serious  notices 
of  the  Seres  reduce  themselves  to  two,  viz.,  that  given  by  Pliny 
and  that  given  by  Ptolemy.  For  it  will  easily  be  seen  by  com- 
paring the  extracts  in  the  notes,  (i)  that  the  notices  of  Mela  and 
Pliny  are  either  the  one  copied  from  the  other,  or  both  copied  from 
a  common  source,  and  (2),  that,  as  has  been  already  observed, 
the  statements  of  Ammianus  are  copied  from  Ptolemy  and 
Phny. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  17 

of  their  own  products,  of  which  raw  silk  is  the  staple, 
but  which  include  also  silk  stuffs,  furs,  and  iron  of  remark- 
able quality." 

Now  the  Chinese  Empire  had  during  the  century  before 
our  era,  and  again  about  a  century  after  that  date,  just 
the  extension  which  such  a  description  would  imply  1, 
whilst  the  other  characteristics  all  have  a  distinct  basis 
in  the  character  of  the  nation.  Their  reputation  for 
integrity  and  justice,  in  spite  of  much  that  might  be  said 
against  it,  must  have  had  some  solid  foundation,  for  it 
has  prevailed  to  our  own  day  among  their  neighbours  in 
parts  of  Asia  most  remote  from  each  other^.  The  silk, 
silk-stuffs,  and  furs  of  China  preserve  their  fame  to  our 
own  day  also  ;  and  their  iron  to  which  Pliny  assigns  the 
palm  was  probably  that  fine  cast-iron,  otherwise  unknown 
to  the  ancients,  which  is  still  one  of  the  distinguishing 
manufactures  of  China^. 

^  Strabo,  in  the  only  passage  in  which  he  seems  to  speak 
proprio  motu  of  the  Seres,  says  of  the  kings  of  Bactria  that  "  they 
extended  their  rule  to  the  frontier  of  the  Seres  and  the  Phryni." 

\_Kiu   81]    Ka).   fieXP''   ^VP^^    '^^'-   ^pvvSiv    i^ereivov    rrjv    (ipx^'^-1        (Miiller's 

Strabo,  book  xi,  p.  443.) 

2  Thus  Wood  quotes  the  testimony  regarding  the  Chinese  of 
a  travelled  Mullah  in  Badakshan  :  "  Like  every  other  native  of 
those  countries  with  whom  I  conversed  on  the  subject,  he  praised 
their  probity  and  good  faith  "  (p.  279).  Burnes  heard  that  "  their 
commercial  regulations  are  just  and  equitable.  The  word  of  a 
Chinese  is  not  doubted,  nor  does  the  tea  ever  differ  from  the 
sample  "  (iii,  195).  And  on  the  remote  frontier  of  Burma  and 
Siam,  "  all  the  travellers  whose  journals  I  have  consulted  speak 
in  unconscious  unison  of  the  bitter  feeling  with  which  the  Burmese 
are  regarded  by  all  the  alien  tribes  which  are  in  any  way  subject 
to  their  authority.  And  they  speak  with  a  like  unanimity  of  the 
high  character  which  was  ascribed  to  the  Chinese  for  justice, 
moderation,  and  good  faith  "  {On  Geog.  of  Burma,  etc.,  in  J.R.G.S., 
xxvii) . 

^  "  Ex  omnibus  autem  generibus  palma  Serico  ferro  est. 
Seres  hoc  cum  vestibus  suis  pellibusque  mittunt  "  (xxxiv,  41) 
"  We  found  cast-iron  pots  and  pans  of  remarkable  quality  to 
form  a  chief  item  among  the  miscellaneous  '  notions  '  (apart  from 
the  silk  which  is  the  staple)  imported  by  the  Chinese  into  Ava 
by  the  Yun  nan  Road.  The  art  of  iron  casting  is,  like  most  Chinese 
arts,  a  very  old  one  ;   and  we  find  that  in  the  first  century  B.C.  the 

C.  Y.  C.    I.  2 


l8  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

15.  Of  actual  diplomatic  communication  with  the 
Seres  I  believe  there  is  only  one  obscure  trace  in  Roman 
history  ;  this  is  in  the  representation  of  the  historian 
Florus  that  among  the  numerous  missions  from  remote 
nations  that  sought  the  footstool  of  Augustus  there  came 
envoys  also  from  the  Seres^.  [The  Seres  who  are  mentioned 
by  Florus  may  have  visited  Rome  as  private  individuals, 
merchants,  etc.,  but  certainly  not  on  a  diplomatic  mission. 
"  The  Chinese  Annals  clearly  insinuate  that  Kan  Ying 
(a.d.  98)  was  the  first  Chinese  who  ever  penetrated  as  far 
west  as  T'iao  chih  "  (Hirth,  I.e.  p.  305^).] 

people  of  Ta  wan  or  Farghanah  acquired  the  new  art  of  casting 
iron  tools  and  utensils  from  Chinese  deserters  (Julien,  quoted  by 
Lassen,  ii,  615).  There  is  mention  of  Chinese  iron  in  a  passage 
of  the  Arabian  geographer  Ibn  Khurdadhbah,  quoted  below 
(§83)- 

^  "  Even  the  rest  of  the  nations  of  the  world  which  were  not 
subject  to  the  imperial  sway  were  sensible  of  its  grandeur,  and 
looked  with  reverence  to  the  Roman  people,  the  great  conqueror 
of  nations.  Thus  even  Scythians  and  Sarmatians  sent  envoys  to 
seek  the  friendship  of  Rome.  Nay  the  Seres  came  likewise,  and 
the  Indians  who  dwelt  beneath  the  vertical  sun,  bringing  presents 
of  precious  stones  and  pearls  and  elephants,  but  thinking  all  of 
less  moment  than  the  vastness  of  the  journey  which  they  had 
undertaken,  and  which  they  said  had  occupied  four  years.  In 
truth  it  needed  but  to  look  at  their  complexion  to  see  that  they 
were  people  of  another  world  than  ours.  The  Parthians  also, 
as  if  repenting  for  their  presumption  in  defeating  the  Romans, 
spontaneously  brought  back  the  standards  which  they  had  cap- 
tured in  the  catastrophe  of  Crassus.  Thus  all  round  the  inhabited 
earth  there  was  an  unbroken  circle  of  peace  or  at  least  of  armistice." 
["Omnibus  ad  Occasum  et  Meridiem  pacatis  gentibus,  ad  Septem- 
trionem  quoque,  duntaxat  intra  Rhenum  atque  Danubium,  item 
ad  Orientem  intra  Cyrum  et  Euphratem,  illi  quoque  reliqui,  qui 
immunes  imperii  erant,  sentiebant  tamen  magnitudinem,  et 
victorem  gentium  populum  Romanum  reverebantur.  Nam  et 
Scytha.'  misere  legatos,  et  Sarmatrc,  amicitiam  petentes.  Seres 
etiam,  habitantesque  sub  ipso  sole  Indi,  cum  gemmis  et  mar- 
garitis,  elephantes  quoque  inter  munera  trahentes,  nihil  magis, 
quam  longinquitatem  vire  imputabant,  quam  quadriennio  im- 
pleverant ;  et  tamen  ipse  hominum  color  ab  alio  venire  cnslo 
fatebatur.  Parthi  quoque,  quasi  victorioc  poeniteret,  rapta 
clade  Crassiana  ultro  signa  retulere."     Florus,  Lib.  iv,  12.] 

^  ["  The  only  official  mission  [226]  which  might  have  gone 
forward  from  China  to  Ta-Ts'in  direct  is  that  of  Ts'in-lun,  a 
Syrian  merchant,  who  had  come  to  some  port  in  Cochin  China 
and  was  sent  [from  Kiao  chi]  on  to  the  emperor  of  Wu  [Nan  king], 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


19 


16.  That  Greek  and  Roman  knowledge  of  the  true 
position  of  so  remote  a  nation  should  at  best  have  been 
somewhat  hazy  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  As  the  circle 
of  their  knowledge  widened  its  circumference  from  the 
central  shores  of  the  Mare  Nostrum,  it  also  became  of 
course,  in  something  like  quadruple  ratio,  fainter  and  less 
definite  ;  a  fact  that  seems  to  have  been  forgotten  by 
those  who,  in  dealing  with  the  identity  of  Sera  and  Thinae, 
have  attached  as  much  precision  to  the  expressions  of 
partial  knowledge  hovering  on  the  verge  of  ignorance, 
as  if  these  had  been  the  expressions  of  precise  but  frag- 
mentary knowledge  such  as  our  geographers  possessed  of 
the  Antarctic  Coasts,  or  of  the  Nyanza  Lakes.  Yet  how 
very  vague  this  knowledge  was  we  may  see  in  comparing 
the  positions  of  Thinae  as  assigned  respectively  by  Ptolemy 
and  the  author  of  the  Periplus,  or  in  observing  the  whole- 
sale corrections  which  Ptolemy  applied  to  the  data  of 
Marinus  in  determining  the  distance  in  longitude  of  Sera 
from  the  Stone  Tower  and  of  the  Stone  Tower  from  the 
Euphrates.  Moreover  it  is  natural  in  such  a  state  of 
imperfect  knowledge  both  that  the  name  of  the  remoter 
but  dominant  nation  should  sometimes  be  applied  to  its 
nearest  subject  races,  and  that  the  characteristics  of 
these  nearest  races  should  sometimes  be  transferred  to 
the  governing  nation.  Something  in  a  degree  analogous 
has  taken  place  in  our  own  specific  application  of  the 
term  Dutch  only  to  our  own  neighbours  of  the  Netherlands. 
Still  more  in  point  is  the  fact  that  in  the  days  of  the 
T'ang  dynasty,  when  the  Chinese  power  extended  to 
Transoxiana,  Arab,  and  Armenian  writers  sometimes 
spoke  of  Farghanah  by  the  name   of  China  ;    and  the 

one  of  the  three  states  contending  for  the  supremacy  during  the 
third  century  a.d.,  Sun-ch'iian,  alias  Ta-ti  (a.d.  222-252)  " 
(Hirth,  I.e.  p.  306).] 


20  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Armenians  sometimes  gave  the  name  of  Chinese  even  to 
the  Khazars  and  other  races  north  of  the  Caspian i. 

17.  We  shall  also  find  presently  that  the  view  enter- 
tained by  the  Chinese  themselves  of  the  Roman  Empire 
and  its  inhabitants  had  some  striking  points  of .  analogy 
to  those  views  of  the  Chinese  which  are  indicated  in  the 
classical  descriptions  of  the  Seres.  There  can  be  no 
mistaking  the  fact  that  in  this  case  also  the  great  object 
was  within  the  horizon  of  vision,  yet  the  details  ascribed 
to  it  are  often  far  from  being  true  characteristics,  being 
only  the  accidents  of  its  outer  borders  towards  the  east. 

18.  The  name  of  Seres  is  probably  from  its  earliest 
use  in  the  west  identified  with  the  name  of  the  silkworm 
and  its  produce,  and  this  association  continued  until  the 
name  ceased  entirely  to  be  used  as  a  geographical  expres- 
sion^.  Yet  it  was  long  before  the  Westerns  had  any 
correct  conception  of  the  nature  of  the  article  which  they 
imported  at  so  much  cost.     Virgil  tells  how  the  Seres 

^  St.  Martin,  Armenie,  ii,  19,  20.  An  author  quoted  by  Ibn 
Haukal  places  the  frontiers  of  Sin  close  to  Ma-wara-n-Nahr,  and  an 
Arab  poet  speaks  of  Kutaybah,  the  conqueror  of  Transoxiana  for 
the  Moslem,  as  being  interred  in  the  land  of  Sin,  whilst  it  is  known 
from  other  testimony  that  this  was  in  Farghanah.  (Remusat,  in 
Mem.  de  I'Ac.  des  Insc,  viii,  107.) 

-  The  Chinese  See  and  Szu,  Silk,  is  found  in  the  Corean  language 
or  dialect  in  the  form  Sir,  in  Mongol  Sirkek,  in  Manchu  Sirghe. 
Klaproth  supposes  this  word  to  have  given  rise  to  the  Greek  aTjp, 
the  silk-worm,  and  ^rjpes,  the  people  furnishing  silk,  and  hence 
Sericum,  silk.  {Mem.  rel.  d  I'Asie,  iii,  265.)  Looking  to  the 
Tartar  forms  of  the  word  the  idea  suggests  itself  that  Sericum 
may  have  been  the  first  importation,  and  that  Ser  and  Seres 
may  have  been  formed  by  inverse  analogy  from  that  word  taken 
as  an  adjective.  Deguignes  makes  or  borrows  a  suggestion  that 
the  work  Sherikoth,  which  occurs  in  the  Hebrew  of  Isaiah,  xix,  9 
("  They  that  work  in  fine  flax  and  they  that  weave  net-works 
shall  be  confounded  " — Deguignes  by  mistake  quotes  Ezekiel) 
means  silk,  and  he  refers  to  the  Arabic  Saraqat.  This,  according 
to  Freytag,  means  a  long  piece  of  white  silk,  sometimes  silk  in 
general.  {Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Insc,  xlvi,  575.)  Pardessus, 
in  the  modern  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Insc,  xv,  p.  3,  says  Sir  is 
Persian  for  silk,  but  I  cannot  discover  the  authority.  Sarah, 
connected  with  the  Arabic  word  just  quoted,  is  "  a  stripe  of  white 
silk."     (F.  Johnston's  Diet.) 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  21 

combed  out  from  the  leaves  of  the  forest  the  fleecy  staple 
of  their  trade  ;  and  poet  after  poet  echoes  the  story  down 
to  Claudian^.  Pliny  knows  no  better,  nor  does  Ammianus, 
three  centuries  later  than  Pliny  ^  ;  yet  in  the  interval 
a  juster  idea  of  the  facts  had  been  published  by  Pausanias, 
who  knew  that  silk  was  spun  by  insects  which  the  Seres 
tended  for  the  purpose.  Either  there  was  sounder  know- 
ledge on  the  subject  afloat  in  the  mercantile  world  which 
the  poets  ignored,  sticking  to  the  old  literary  tradition 
of  the  fleecy  leaves  as  the}^  did  to  the  Descend  O  Muse  ; 
or  Pausanias  must  have  had  some  special  source  of  infor- 
mation. The  former  solution  of  the  difficulty  would  be 
the  most  probable,  if  the  error  were  confined  to  the  poets, 
but  when  we  find  a  sober  historian  like  Ammianus  adopt 
the  tale,  we  seem  forced  upon  the  latter.  M.  Reinaud 
thinks  that  Pausanias  must  have  come  in  contact  with 
a  Roman  visitor  of  China  in  the  days  of  Marcus  Aurelius, 
respecting  whom  we  shall  have  to  speak  further  on. 
I  may  observe,  however,  that  among  the  Ancients,  and 
indeed  down  to  the  tiine  when  the  invention  of  the  press 
had  had  time  to  take  effect,  the  fluctuation  of  knowledge 
in  regard  to  geographical  truth  in  general,  and  to  the 

^  A  specimen  from  Silius  Italicus  is  worth  quoting,  as  it  shows 
a  correct  idea  of  the  position  of  the  Seres  on  the  shores  of  the 
remotest  eastern  sea  : 
"  Jam,  Tartessiaco  quos  solverat  aequore.  Titan 

In  noctem  diffusus  equos,  jungebat  Eois 

Littoribus,  primique  novo  Phaethonte  retecti 

Seres  lanigeris  repetebant  vellera  lucis  "  (opening  of  book  vi). 
In  another  passage  an  audacious  hyperbole  carries  the  ashes  of 
Vesuvius  to  that  distant  land  : 

"  Videre  Eoi  (monstrum  admirabile  !)  Seres 
Lanigeros  cinere  Ausonio  canescere  lucos  "  (xvii,  600). 

2  Even  in  the  middle  ages  Jacques  de  Vitry,  writing  about 
1213,  and  believing  in  his  Virgil,  says  :  "  Quaedam  etiam  arbores 
sunt  apud  Seres,  folia  tanquam  lanam  ex  se  procreantes,  ex  quibus 
vestes  subtiles  contexuntur  "  (Deguignes  in  Mem.  de  I' Acad,  des 
Insc,  xlvi,  541).  Probably,  however,  this  writer  did  not  think 
of  silk  (which  he  must  have  known  well  enough)  as  the  Seric 
vestment  in  question. 


22  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Far  East  in  particular,  is  very  noticeable  ;  chiefly  due 
no  doubt  to  the  absence  of  efficient  publication  and  the 
difficulties  of  reference.  Familiar  instances  of  this  are 
seen  in  the  false  notion  of  the  Caspian  entertained  by 
Strabo,  and  the  opposite  error  in  regard  to  the  Indian 
Sea  held  by  Ptolem}^  as  compared  with  the  correct  ideas 
on  both  subjects  possessed  by  Herodotus^.  We  find 
a  like  degeneration  in  the  Arabian  knowledge  of  India 
in  comparing  Al  Biruni  with  Edrisi ;  and  other  examples 
will  occur  in  the  allusions  to  China  which  we  shall  have 
to  cite. 


^  [We  may  add  the  following  information  from  various  authors  : 

"  Qua  ab  Scythico  oceano  et  mari  Caspio  in  oceanum  eoum 
cursus  inflectitur,  ab  exordio  huiusce  plagae  profundae  nives  : 
mox  longa  deserta  :  post  Anthropophagi  gens  est  asperrima  : 
dein  feris  spatia  obsita  ferme  dimidiam  itineris  partem  impene- 
trabilem  reddiderunt.  quarum  difhcultatum  terminum  facit 
iugum  mari  imminens,  quod  Tabim  barbari  dicunt  :  post  quae 
adhuc  longinquae  solitudines.  sic  in  tractu  eius  orae,  quae  spectat 
aestivum  orientem,  post  inhumanos  situs  primos  hominum  Seras 
cognoscimus,  qui  aquarum  aspergine  inundatis  frondibus  vellera 
arborum  adminiculo  depectunt  liquoris  et  lanuginis  teneram 
subtilitatem  humore  domant  obsequium.  hoc  illud  est  sericum 
in  usum  publicum  damno  severitatis  admissum  et  quo  ostendere 
potius  corpora  quam  vestire  primo  feminis,  nunc  etiam  viris 
luxuriae  persuasit  libido.  Seres  ipsi  quidem  mites  et  inter  se 
quietissimi,  alias  vero  reliquorum  mortalium  coetus  refugiunt,  adeo 
ut  ceterarum  gentium  commercia  abnuant.  primum  eorum 
fiuvium  mercatores  ipsi  transeunt,  in  cuius  ripis  nullo  inter  partes 
linguae  commercio,  sed  depositarum  rerum  pretia  oculis  a?stiman- 
tibus  sua  tradunt,  nostra  non  emunt."  (C.  J.  Solinus,  Polyhistor, 
Mommsen's  ed.,  Berlin,  1864,  p.  201.)  Cf.  Pliny—"  Seres  a  proprio 
oppido  nomen  sortiti  sunt,  gens  ad  Orientem  sita,  apud  quos  de 
arboribus  lana  contexitur :  de  quibus  est  illud,  Ignoti  facie,  sed 
noti  vellere  Seres."  (5.  Isidori  Hisp.  Episcopi  Opera  omnia, 
Parisiis,  1601,  Origin.  Lib.  ix,  cap.  ii,  de  gentium  vocahulis,  p.  117.) 

And  again  : 

"  Seres  oppidum  orientis,  a  quo  &  genus  sericum  &  regio 
nuncupata  est.  Hacc  a  Scytico  Oceano  &  mari  Caspio  ad 
Oceanum  orientalem  inflectitur,  nobilibus  fertilis  frondibus, 
a  quibus  vellera  decerpuntur,  qu^  cocteris  gentibus  Seres  ad 
vsum  vestium  vendunt."    {Ibid. ,l^ih.  xiv,  cap.  iii,  De  Asia,  p.  187.)] 

["  Sericum  dictum,  quia  id  Seres  primi  miserunt.  Vermiculi 
enim  ibi  nasci  perhibentur,  a  quibus  haec  circum  arbores  fiila 
ducuntur.  Vermes  autem  ipsi  Graece  l36fii6vKes  nominantur." 
(5.  Isidori  Hisp.  Episc.  Opera  omnia,  Parisiis,  iGoi,  Orig. 
Lib.  xix,  cap.  xxvii,  De  lani.';,  p.   266).] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  23 

19.  The  Chinese  annals  tell  as  that  the  people  whom 
they  call  the  Asi  (supposed  by  Juhen  and  others  to  be 
the  Parthians)  ^  were  the  intermediate  traders  who  carried 
silk  from  the  east  to  the  west,  and  they  inform  us  that 
these  Asi  threw  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  direct  com- 
munication between  the  Chinese  and  the  Romans.  The 
latter,  we  are  assured,  were  exceedingly  desirous  of  such 
communication,  but  the  Asi,  who  were  very  inferior  to 
the  people  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  arts  of  weaving 
and  the  quahty  of  dyes,  feared  to  lose  the  profits  of  agency 
and  manufacture  entirely  unless  they  retained  a  monopoly 
of  the  trade.  The  statement  is  no  doubt  incorrect  that 
all  silk  was  passed  on  to  the  Romans  in  a  manufactured 
state,  or  if  true,  could  only  have  been  so  for  some  brief 
period,  but  the  anxiety  of  the  Romans  to  rid  themselves 

1  The  name  Asi  is  however  said  by  Remusat  to  have  been 
apphed  by  the  Chinese  almost  promiscuously  to  the  nations 
between  the  Jaxartes  and  Oxus,  as  far  south  as  Samarkand  ; 
and  in  one  of  his  quotations  it  is  applied  to  people  of  Khojand, 
and  in  another  to  people  of  Bokhara.  In  the  extracts  from  Men- 
ander  (Note  VIII  at  the  end)  the  Sogdians  appear  as  intermediaries 
in  the  silk  trade,  i.e.,  the  people  of  the  country  whose  centre  is 
Samarkand.  [An-hsi,  An-si  is  Parthia.  The  Ts'ien  Han  Shu 
says  :  "  The  king  of  the  country  of  An-hsi  rules  at  the  city  of 
P'an-tsu  ;  its  distance  from  Ch'ang-an  is  11,600  li.  The  country 
is  not  subject  to  a  tu-hu  [a  Chinese  governor  in  Central- Asiatic 
possessions] .  It  bounds  north  on  K'ang-chii,  east  on  Wu-i-shan-li, 
west  on  T'iao-chih ....  Itlieson  the  banks  of  the  Kuei-shui  [Oxus]." 
And  again  :  "  When  the  emperor  Wu-ti  [b.c.  140-86]  first  sent 
an  embassy  to  An-hsi  [Parthia],  the  king  ordered  a  general  to 
meet  him  on  the  eastern  frontier  with  twenty  thousand  cavalry. 
The  eastern  frontier  was  several  thousand  li  distant  from  the 
king's  capital.  Proceeding  to  the  north  one  came  across  several 
tens  of  cities,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  allied  with  that 
country.  As  they  sent  forth  an  embassy  to  follow  the  Chinese 
embassy,  they  came  to  see  the  country  of  China.  They  offered 
to  the  Chinese  court  large  birds'  eggs,  and  jugglers  from  Li-kan, 
at  which  His  Majesty  was  highly  pleased."  (Hirth,  China  and  the 
Roman  Orient,  pp.  141,  36.)  Notices  of  An-si  are  also  to  be  found 
in  the  Shi  ki,  in  the  Hau  Han  Shu,  etc.  Hirth  adds,  p.  14T  : 
"  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Hekatompylos  of  Greek  and 
Roman  writers,  being  the  chief  capital  of  the  Empire,  is  identical 
with  the  city  of  P'an-tou  (Parthura  ?)  mentioned  in  the  Ch'ien- 
han-shu  and  with  the  city  of  Ho-tu  (old  sound  Wodok  ?)  mentioned 
in  the  Hou-han-shu."] 


24  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY 

of  dependance  on  the  nations  of  Persia  for  the  supply  of 
silk  is  fully  borne  out  by  the  story  which  Procopius  and 
others  relate  as  to  the  introduction  of  the  silkworm  into 
the  Byzantine  territories  by  two  monks  in  the  time  of 
Justinian  (circa  550)  i.  The  country  from  which  the 
monks  brought  their  precious  charge  is  called  by  Theo- 
phanes  simply  that  of  the  Seres,  but  by  Procopius  Serinda. 
China  may  be  intended,  but  of  this  there  can  be  no  cer- 
tainty. Indeed  it  is  possible  that  the  term  was  meant  to 
express  a  compound  like  our  Indo-China,  some  region 
intermediate  between  Serica  and  India,  and  if  so  not 
improbably  Khotan^. 

20.  There  are  among  the  fragments  of  the  Greek 
historians  other  curious  notices  of  intercourse  with  the 
Turkish  tribes  of  Central  Asia  in  the  daj^s  of  Justinian's 
immediate  successors,  which,  though  they  do  not  bring- 
up  mention  of  the  Chinese  under  any  denomination,  are 
in  a  degree  relevant  to  our  subject,  because  they  show 
the  Byzantine  empire  in  contact  and  intercourse  with 
nations  which  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the  Chinese 
annals,  and  introduce  the  names  of  some  princes  who  are 
to  be  recognised  in  those  also^. 

We  have,  however,  in  this  (6th)  and  the  following 
century,  from  Greek  writers,  two  remarkable  notices  of 
China,  in  the  comparison  of  which  we  still  may  trace  the 
duplicate  aspect  of  this  great  country  to  which  we  have 
referred  in  the  opening  of  this  Essay.     For  Cosmas,  the 

1  See  extracts  in  Note  VII. 

^  D'Anville  suggests  that  Serinda  may  be  a  compound  name, 
but  identifies  it  with  Sivhind  in  North  Western  India.  This 
name  I  presume  however  to  be  Persian,  and  to  date  from  com- 
paratively late  times.  Gosselin  will  have  it  to  be  Srinagar  in 
Kashmir.  The  Ravenna  Geographer  puts  India  Serica  in  the 
North  of  India  on  the  Ganges  and  Acesines  {Rav.  Anon.  Cosmog. 
Berlin,  i860,  pp.  45,  48). 

2  See  a  sample  of  these  narratives  in  Note  VIII. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  25 

first  of  these  authors,  recognises  it  chiefly  on  its  southern 
or  maritime  side,  the  other,  Theophylactus,  solely  on  its 
land  side,  and  without  knowledge  of  any  other.  The 
evidence  of  both  goes  to  show  that  the  name  of  Seres  had 
been  now  practically  almost,  if  not  entirely,  forgotten. 

21.  CosMAS,  called  from  his  maritime  experiences 
Indicopleustes,  apparently  an  Alexandrian  Greek,  who 
wrote  between  530  and  550^,  is  the  first  Greek  or  Roman 
writer  who  speaks  of  China  in  a  matter-of-fact  manner, 
and  not  as  a  land  enveloped  in  half  mythical  haze.  He 
speaks  of  it  also  by  a  name  which  I  suppose  no  one  has 
ever  disputed  to  mean  China  ^. 

This  writer  was  a  monk  when  he  composed  the  work 
which  has  come  down  to  us,  but  in  his  earlier  days  he  had 
been  a  merchant,  and  in  that  capacity  had  sailed  on  the 
Red  Sea  and  the  Indian  Ocean,  visiting  the  coasts  of 
Ethiopia,  and  apparently  also  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the 
western  coasts  of  India,  as  well  as  Ceylon^. 

His  book  was  written  at  Alexandria,  and  is  termed 
a  Universal  Christian  Topography'^,  the  great  object  of 
it  being  to  show  that  the  Tabernacle  in  the  Wilderness 
is  a  pattern  or  model  of  the  universe.     The  earth  is  a 

1  Dates  deduced  by  Montfaucon  from  different  parts  of  his 
work  show  that  parts  of  it  were  written  in  535,  and  other  parts 
at  least  twelve  years  later.  The  work  bears  tokens  of  having  been 
often  altered  and  expanded.  Five  books  only  were  at  first 
published  ;  six  and  a  fraction  more  were  added  gradually  to 
strengthen  arguments  and  meet  objections.  (See  preface  in 
Montfaucon's  Collectio  Nova  Patvum  et  Script.  Gvcbc,  ii,  which 
contains  the  work  ;  extracts  were  also  previously  published  in 
Thevenot's  Collection  of  Travels.)  [A  new  edition  and  translation 
of  Cosmas  has  been  brought  out  by  Mr.  J.  W.  McCrindle  for  the 
Hakluyt  Society,  1897.] 

2  See  page  12. 

^  Sir  J.  E.  Tennent  [Ceylon,  i,  542)  says  that  Cosmas  got  his 
accounts  of  Ceylon  from  Sopatrus  whom  he  met  at  Adule,  and 
Lassen  ascribes  all  Cosmas  says  of  India  to  the  same  authority 
(ii,  773).  But  I  have  not  found  the  ground  of  these  opinions. 
One  anecdote  is  ascribed  to  Sopatrus,  no  more. 

*  HpiCTTiaviKr)  ToTToypacpia  TrepieKTiKrj  jravroi  rod  Kdcr/xou. 


26  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

rectangular  plane,  twice  as  long  as  it  is  broad.  The 
heavens  come  down  to  the  earth  on  all  four  sides  like  the 
walls  of  a  room  ;  from  the  north  wall  to  the  south  wall, 
at  an  undefined  height,  a  semicircular  waggon- vault  is 
turned,  at  the  level  of  the  springing  of  which  lies  the  firma- 
ment, like  a  flat  ceiling.  All  below  this  firmament  is 
this  world  ;  the  upper  story  is  Heaven,  or  the  world  to 
come.  In  fact  one  of  those  enormous  receptacles,  which 
carry  the  dresses  of  female  travellers  in  our  day,  forms  a 
perfect  model  of  the  Cosmos  of  Cosmas. 

In  the  middle  of  the  rectangular  surface  of  this  world 
lies  the  inhabited  earth  encompassed  by  the  Ocean. 
Beyond  the  Ocean,  bordering  the  edges  of  creation,  is 
the  unvisited  transoceanic  land,  on  which,  in  the  far  east, 
lies  Paradise.  Here,  too,  on  a  barren  and  thorny  soil, 
without  the  walls  of  Paradise,  dwelt  man  from  the  fall 
to  the  deluge.  The  ark  floated  the  survivors  of  the  human 
family  across  the  great  ocean  belt  to  this  earth  which  we 
inhabit,  and  which,  in  comparison  with  that  where  Noah 
and  his  fathers  dwelt,  is  itself  almost  a  Paradise.  The 
earth  rises  gradually  from  the  south  towards  the  north 
and  west,  culminating  in  a  great  conical  mountain,  behind 
which  the  sun  sets. 

Again  and  again  this  crotchety  monk  sputters  with 

indignation  against  those  who  reject  these  views  of  his, 

"  not  built,"  he  says,  "  on  his  own  opinions  and  conjectures, 

but  drawn  from  Holy  Scripture,  and  from  the  mouth  of 

that  divine  man  and  great  Master,  Patricius^."     Those 

wretched  people  who  chop  logic,  and  hold  that  the  earth 

and  heavens  are  spherical,  are  mere  blasphemers,  given 

1  [This  appears  from  Assemani  to  be  the  translated  name  of 
Mar- Aba,  Patriarch  of  the  Nestorian  Church  from  536  to  552 
(see  ii,  412  ;  iii,  73-6  ;  iii,  pt.  ii,  406).  The  same  author  says 
that  Cosmas,  in  his  expositions  of  Scripture  and  his  system  of  the 
World,  closely  follows  two  chief  Nestorian  Doctors,  Theodorus 
of  Mopsuestia  and  Diodorus  of  Tarsus   (405).] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  2^ 

up  for  their  sins  to  the  beUef  of  such  impudent  nonsense 
as  the  doctrine  of  Antipodes^.  The  sun,  instead  of  being 
larger  than  the  earth,  is  only  of  the  diameter  of  two 
climates  (i8°  of  latitude)  on  the  earth's  surface^. 

Altogether  the  book  is  a  memorable  example  of  that 
mischievous  process  of  loading  Christian  truth  with  a 
dead- weight  of  false  science,  which  has  had  so  many 
followers.  The  book  as  a  whole  is  what  Robert  Hall 
called  some  dreary  commentary,  "  a  continent  of  mud," 
but  there  are  a  few  geographical  fossils  of  considerable 
interest  to  be  extracted  from  it^.     These  have  been  dug 

^  See  pp.  125,  185,  191,  etc.,  and  the  drawing  in  ridicule  of 
the  doctrine  of  Antipodes. 

2  P.  264. 

3  [Mr.  J.  W.  McCrindle  in  his  edition  of  Cosmas  writes  :  "  Since 
the  Topography  had  for  its  main  design  the  exposition  of  these 
views,  it  has  been  compared  by  Yule  to  '  a  mere  bank  of  mud, 
but  remarkable  on  account  of  certain  geographical  fossils  which 
are  found  irabedded  in  it.'  This  comparison,  however,  we  venture 
to  think,  does  less  than  justice  to  the  work,  for  besides  the  geo- 
graphical there  are  many  other  '  fossils  '  to  be  found  in  the  mud, 
of  different  kinds  and  generally  of  more  or  less  interest  and  value. 
A  list  of  these— but  not  pretending  to  be  complete — ^has  been 
given  by  Montfaucon  in  his  Introduction.  Among  others  may 
be  specified  the  indication  of  Clysma  as  the  place  of  the  passage 
of  the  Red  Sea  ;  the  wares  brought  by  merchants  to  the  Israelites 
when  they  sojourned  in  the  wilderness  ;  the  seat  of  the  terrestrial 
Paradise  ;  the  worship  of  Mithras  by  the  Persians  ;  the  rite  of 
baptism  ;  the  date  of  the  Nativity  ;  the  question  of  the  canonicity 
of  the  Catholic  Epistles  ;  the  exposition  of  the  prayer  of  Heze- 
kiah  ;  the  inscriptions  on  the  rocks  found  in  the  desert  of  Sinai  ; 
the  state  of  Christianity  in  Socotra,  Ceylon  and  India  ;  the  extent 
to  which  Christianity  had  spread  over  the  heathen  world  ;  the 
interpretation  of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  ;  extracts  from  Pagan 
writers  and  Fathers  of  the  Church  preserved  only  by  Cosmas  ; 
and  his  views  on  the  destiny  of  children  who  die  in  the  womb 
or  in  infancy.  The  portion,  moreover,  of  the  Topography  which 
is  the  '  mud  bank  '  of  the  comparison  is  not  without  some  value. 
It  is  a  specimen  of  a  once  prevalent  and  not  yet  quite  extinct 
mode  of  Scriptural  exegesis  ;  it  reveals  what  were  some  of  the 
main  currents  of  thought  which  permeated  the  Christian  world 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages  ;  it  discloses  to  what  a  lament- 
able degree,  as  Monotheistic  Christianity  rose  to  the  ascendant, 
triumphant  alike  over  the  Persian  Dualism  of  the  Manichaeans, 
and  the  Greek  Pantheism  of  the  Neo-Platonists,  the  light  of 
Hellenic  learning  and  science  had  faded  from  Christendom  before 
as  yet  Islam,  which  was  destined  to  receive  and  preserve  that 


28  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

out  accordingly,  and  will  be  found  in  Note  IX,  at  the 
end  of  this  Essay. 

22.  It  will  be  seen  from  one  of  these  extracts  that 
Cosmas  had  a  very  correct  idea  of  the  position  of  China, 
as  lying  on  the  extreme  eastern  coast  of  Asia,  "  compassed 
by  the  ocean  running  round  it  to  the  left  just  as  the  same 
ocean  compasses  Barbary  (Somali  Land)  round  to  the 
right."  He  knew  also  that  a  ship  sailing  to  China,  after 
running  east  for  a  long  way,  had  to  turn  to  the  north  at 
least  as  far  as  a  ship  bound  for  Chaldaea  would  have  to 
run  up  frorji  the  straits  of  Hormuz  to  the  mouths  of  the 
Euphrates  ;  and  that  thus  it  was  intelligible  how  China 
by  the  overland  route  lay  much  nearer  to  Persia  than  might 
have  been  thought  from  the  length  of  the  sea-voyage 
thither. 

23.  The  form  of  the  name  which  he  gives  the  country 
is  remarkable,  Tzinitza,  as  it  reads  in  the  2nd  extract, 
but  as  it  occurs  further  on  (5th  extract)  more  correctly 
TziNiSTA,  representing  the  Chinasthana  of  the  old  Hindoos, 
the  Chinistan  of  the  Persians,  and  all  but  identical  with 
the  name  given  to  China  in  the  Syriac  inscription  of 
Si-ngan  fu,  of  which  we  shall  speak  further  on,  viz., 
TziNiSTHAN^.  Cosmas  professes  no  knowledge  of  geo- 
graphical details  between  Ceylon  and  China,  but  he  is 
aware  that  the  clove  country  lies  between  the  two,  which 
is  in  itself  a  considerable  step  in  geography  for  the  sixth 
century.  Silk,  aloes-wood,  cloves,  and  sandal-wood  are 
the  chief  exports  that  came  westward  to  Ceylon  from  China 
and  the  intermediate  countries. 

light,  had  appeared  in  the  world ;  and  while  it  exhibits  the  attitude 
in  which  Theology  and  Science  in  those  days  stood  to  each  other, 
it  illustrates  the  signal  danger  of  regarding  Scripture  as  a  store- 
house of  divine  communications  which  may  be  turned  to  account  in 
defending  or  in  oppugning  scientific  speculations  "  (pp.  xx-xxi).] 
^  See  Pauthier,  UlnscHpt.  de  Singanfu,  p.  42. — [Tzinista, 
Greek  transcription  of  Sanskrit  Cinasthana.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  •   29 

24.  The  other  Greek  notice  of  China,  which  has  been 
alluded  to  above,  is  to  be  found  in  the  History  of  Theo- 
PHYLACTUS  SiMOCATTA,  a  Byzantine  writer  of  the  early 
part  of  the  seventh  century.  This  author  appears  to 
have  acquired,  through  some  exceptional  source,  a  know- 
ledge of  wars  and  revolutions  that  had  been  going  on 
among  the  Turkish  nations  of  Central  Asia,  and  some 
curious  fragments  of  the  history  of  their  relations  with 
one  another  and  with  their  neighbours,  which  he  introduces 
into  his  book  without  much  relevance  to  the  thread  of 
his  narrative.  Among  these  fragments  is  a  notice  of  a 
great  state  and  people  called  Taugas,  which  he  describes 
as  very  famous  over  the  east,  originally  a  colony  of  the 
Turkish  race,  now  forming  a  nation  scarcely  to  be  paralleled 
on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  for  power  and  population. 
Their  chief  city  was  at  a  distance  of  1500  miles  from  India ^. 
After  treating  of  some  other  matters,  the  historian  returns 
to  the  subject,  and  proceeds^: — 

25.  "  The  ruler  of  the  land  of  the  Taugas^  [Tavyd<;] 
is  called  Taissan,  which  signifies,  when  translated,  the 
Son  of  God^.     This  kingdom  of  Taugas  is  never  disturbed 

^  Theoph.  Simoc,  vii,  7.  The  main  subject  of  the  history  of 
Theophylactus  is  the  reign  of  Maurice.  Gibbon  caUs  this  author 
"  a  vain  sophist,"  "  an  impostor,"  "  diffuse  in  trifles,  concise  in 
the  most  interesting  facts." 

^  lb.,  vii,  9. 

2  The  name  of  China  which  this  probably  represents  will  be 
shown  below.  In  the  Latin  version  in  the  Corpus  Hist.  Byz. 
and  in  the  Bonn  edition  it  is  Tatigast,  as  also  in  the  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  Nicephorus  Callistus,  who  copies  largely  from  Theo- 
phylactus (Lang's  Lat.  Version,  Francf.,  1588,  book  xviii,  ch.  30). 

*  This  is  supposed  by  Klaproth  to  represent  the  Chinese 
Thiantse,  "  Son  of  Heaven."  It  is  curious,  however,  that  the 
name  of  the  emperor  reigning  in  the  latter  years  of  Theophylactus, 
and  a  very  celebrated  sovereign  in  Chinese  history,  was  T'ai  Tsung. 
He  came  to  the  throne  in  626.  The  last  addition  known  to  have 
been  made  to  the  history  of  Theophylactus  is  an  allusion  to  the 
death  of  Chosroes,  King  of  Persia,  which  occurred  in  628.  Smith's 
Diet,  of  Greek  and  Roman  Biography  says  that  the  historian  is 
supposed  to  have  died  in  the  following  year,  but  there  does  not 


30  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

by  disputed  successions,  for  the  authority  is  hereditary 
in  the  family  of  the  chief.  The  nation  practises  idolatry, 
but  they  have  just  laws,  and  their  life  is  full  of  temperate 
wisdom.  There  is  a  law  binding  on  these  people  which 
prohibits  the  men  from  ever  wearing  ornaments  of  gold, 
although  they  derive  great  wealth  in  gold  and  silver  from 
their  commerce,  which  is  both  large  and  lucrative.  The 
territory  of  Taugas,  of  which  we  are  speaking,  is  divided 
in  two  by  a  river ^,  which  in  time  past  formed  the  bound- 
ary between  two  very  great  nations  which  were  at  war 
with  one  another.  These  nations  were  distinguished  from 
one  another  by  their  dress,  the  one  wearing  clothes  dyed 
black,  the  other  red.  In  our  own  day,  however,  and 
whilst  Maurice  wielded  the  Roman  sceptre,  the  nation 
of  the  black-coats  crossed  the  river  to  attack  the  red-coats, 
and  having  got  the  victory  over  them  they  thus  became 
supreme  over  the  whole  empire^. 

seem  to  be  any  authority  for  this  ;  and  it  is  possible  that  at  a  later 
date  the  name  of  T'ai  Tsung  might  have  reached  him.  [What 
renders  the  change  of  Thiantse,  says  Yule  in  an  additional  note, 
or  some  similar  term  into  Taissan  more  probable  than  it  seems 
at  first  sight,  is  the  fact  that  Ssanang  Ssetzen  calls  the  title  by 
which  the  Chinese  Emperor,  Ying  Tsung,  ascended  the  throne 
for  the  second  time  (a.d.  1457)  Taissun,  the  real  title  being  T'ien 
Shun,  "Favoured  by  Heaven."  (See  Schmidt,  p.  293,  and  Chine 
Ancienne,  p.  ,405.)] 

1  ["  Le  Wei  choui  coule  au  nord  de  cette  ville,  et  s'y  divise 
en  deux  bras,  qui  se  rejoignent  apres  I'avoir  parcourue.  Ce 
sont  les  deux  rivieres  dont  Theophylacte  parle.  Le  recit  de  cet 
auteur  donne  une  preuve  de  son  exactitude,  et  temoigne  en  faveur 
de  la  veracite  des  Annales  chinoises."  Klaproth,  /.  As.,  viii, 
1826,   pp.    227-230.] 

^  The  great  river  is  the  Kiang,  which  divided  the  Empire  of 
the  Sui,  whose  capital  was  at  Ch'ang-ngan  or  Si-ngan  fu,  from 
that  of  the  Ch'en  whose  Emperor  resided  at  Nan  king.  The 
sovereign  of  the  Sui  crossed  the  Kiang  as  here  related  in  the  year 
589,  and  therefore  in  the  reign  of  Maurice  at  Byzantium  (582-602). 
The  Ch'en  Emperor  threw  himself  into  a  well  ;  the  tombs  of  his 
ancestors  were  violated  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  the  Kiang. 
The  Sui  thus  became  masters  of  the  United  Empire  as  Theophy- 
lactus  relates.  (Klaproth,  Mem.,  as  below,  and  see  Deguignes, 
vol.  i,  51,  52.)  The  characteristic  black  clothing  of  the  people  of 
Shen  si,  in  which  lay  the  capital  of  the  Sui,  is  noticed  by  Hajji 
Mahomed  in  the  extracts  given  in  Note  XVIII. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  3I 

"  And  this  city  of  Taugas  they  say  was  founded  by 
Alexander  the  Macedonian,  after  he  had  enslaved  the 
Bactrians  and  the  Sogdianians,  and  had  consumed  by 
fire  twelve  myriads  of  barbarians. 

"  In  this  city  the  king's  women  go  forth  in  chariots 
made  of  gold,  with  one  ox  to  draw  them^,  and  they  are 
decked  out  most  gorgeously  with  gold  and  jewels  of  great 
price,  and  the  bridles  of  the  oxen  are  gilt.  He  who  hath 
the  sovereign  authority  hath  700  concubines^.  And  the 
women  of  the  chief  nobles  of  Taugas  use  silver  chariots. 

"  When  the  prince  dies  he  is  mourned  by  his  women 
for  the  rest  of  their  lives,  with  shaven  heads  and  black 
raiment ;  and  it  is  the  law  that  they  shall  never  quit 
the  sepulchre. 

"  They  say  that  Alexander  built  a  second  city  at  the 
distance  of  a  few  miles,  and  this  the  barbarians  call 
Khubdan^. 

"  Khubdan  has  two  great  rivers  flowing  through  it, 

^  In  Chine  Ancienne,  I  see  a  plate  from  a  Chinese  drawing 
which  represents  Confucius  traveUing  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  one 
ox  (PL  30). 

2  The  Emperor  T'ai  Tsung  above  mentioned,  is  said  to  have 
dismissed  three  thousand  women  from  the  imperial  establishment. 
{Cli.  Anc,  p.  286.) 

^  This  is  sufficient  of  itself  to  show  that  the  Taugas  of  the 
Greek  writer  is  China.  For  Khumdan  was  the  name  given  by  the 
Turkish  and  Western  Asiatic  nations  to  the  city  of  Ch'ang-ngan 
— now  represented  by  Si-ngan  fu  in  Shen  si — which  was  the 
capital  of  several  Chinese  dynasties  between  the  12th  century  B.C., 
and  the  gth  century  a.d.  The  name  Khumdan  appears  in 
the  Syriac  part  of  the  Si-ngan  fu  inscription  repeatedly ;  in  the 
Arab  Relations  of  the  9th  century  published  by  Renaudot  and 
by  Reinaud  ;  in  Mas'udi  ;  in  Edrisi  (as  the  name  of  the  great 
river  of  China)  ;  and  in  Abulfeda.  What  is  said  in  the  text 
about  the  two  rivers  running  through  the  city  is  substantially 
correct  (see  Klaproth  as  quoted  below).  I  have  here  transposed 
two  periods  of  the  original,  to  bring  together  what  is  said  of 
Khubdan.  Pauthier  takes  Khumdan  for  a  western  transcription 
of  Ch'angan,  whilst  Neumann  regards  it  as  a  corruption  of  Kong- 
tien,  court  or  palace.  Both  of  these  explanations  seem  unsatis- 
factory. [Khumdan  =  Khamdan  =  Khan  fang,  the  court  of  the 
Emperor  =  Si-ngan  fu.  See  Hartraann,  Chine  in  Encyclop. 
de  I'Islam,  p.  863.] 


32  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

the  banks  of  which  are  Hned  with  nodding  cypresses,  so 
to  speak. 

"  The  people  also  have  many  elephants  ;  and  they 
have  much  intercourse  for  trade  with  the  Indians.  And 
these  are  said  to  be  Indians  who  are  white  from  living 
in  the  north. 

"  The  worms  from  which  the  silk  filaments  are  produced 
are  found  among  these  people  ;  they  go  through  many 
alternations,  and  are  of  various  colours.  And  in  the  art 
of  keeping  these  creatures  the  barbarians  show  much 
skill  and  emulation." 

26.  The  passing  remarks  of  some  scholars  have 
identified  the  Taugas  of  this  curious  passage  with  some 
of  the  tribes  of  Turkestan,  but  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  that  it  refers  to  the  Chinese,  though  there  is  no 
allusion  by  Theophylactus  to  Sinae  or  Seres,  and  it  is 
pretty  clear  that  he  was  repeating  what  some  well-informed 
person  had  told  him  without  himself  at  all  understanding 
where  the  country  lay  of  which  he  spoke.  Deguignes 
first  showed  that  the  passage  referred  to  China.  Gibbon 
accepted  this  view,  and  Klaproth  has  expounded  it  in 
the  same  sense,  apparently  unaware  that  he  had  been 
anticipated^.  And  yet  he  does  not  explain  the  name 
applied  to  the  Chinese  or  their  capital. 

Deguignes  explained  it  as  indicating  the  Ta-gdei,  great 
Goei,  or  Wei  dynasty 2,  which  preceded  the  Sui,  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  it  represents  the  obscure  name  of 

^  Gibbon,  ch.  cxl,  notes  ;  Klap.,  Mem.  Rel.  a  I'Asie,  iii,  261- 
4  ;    [Journ.  Asiatique,  viii,  1826,  pp.  227—230]. 

2  [Pelliot  {T'oung  pao,  Oct.  1912,  p.  732)  adopts  Deguignes' 
theory  :  "  From  386  to  556  the  north  of  China  was  occupied 
by  a  foreign  dynasty  coming  from  eastern  Mongoha  which  took 
the  Chinese  name  Wei  ;  its  capital  was  for  a  long  time  in  Shan  si, 
then  in  Ho  nan.  But  the  Chinese  historians  have  kept  the  native 
name  of  these  invaders  with  the  transcription  T'o  pa  (Thak- 
bat)."  It  is  possible  that  Tab-yac  has  been  derived  from  T'o  pa, 
Thak-bat.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  33 

Tamghaj,  once  applied  vaguely  to  China  or  some  great 
country  lying  in  the  mists  of  the  Far  East  by  the  western 
nations  of  Asia,  and  by  old  Arabian  and  Persian  writers. 
Thus  in  1218,  when  Mahomed,  Sultan  of  Khwarizm, 
received  envoys  from  Chinghiz  Khan,  at  Bokhara,  he 
sent  by  night  for  one  of  those  envoys  who  was  a  native 
of  his  own  territories,  and  asked  him  if  it  was  really  true 
that  Chinghiz  Khan  had  conquered  Tamghaj  ^  ? 

1  D'Ohsson,  i,  203.  That  author  refers  in  a  note  to  the  Taugas 
of  Theophylactus.  So  also  Albiruni  terms  the  city  of  Yangju 
in  China  "  the  Residence  of  the  Faghfur,  who  has  the  title  of 
Tamghaj  Khan  "  (Sprenger's  Post-  und  Reise-route  des  Orients, 
p.  90).  Abulfeda  says  the  sarae,  quoting  the  "  Qanun,"  which  I 
believe  is  Albiruni's  work — "  the  Faghfur  of  China,  who  is  called 
Timghaj  Khan,  and  who  is  the  Great  King,  according  to  the  history 
of  Al-Niswy,  where  in  his  account  of  Khwarizm  Shah  and  the 
Tartars,  it  is  stated  that  the  name  of  the  King  of  the  Tartars  in 
China  is  Tooghaj."  I  take  this  from  MS  extracts  of  Abulfeda 
kindly  translated  for  me  by  Mr  Badger.  ["  On  lit  dans  le  Qdnoun  : 
Yandjou  est  le  capitale  du  Faghfour  de  la  Chine.  II  porte  lenom 
de  Tamghadj-khan  :  c'est  leur  grand  roi.  On  lit  dans  la  chronique 
de  Nasawi,  laquelle  est  consacree  a  I'histoire  des  rois  du  Kharizm 
et  des  Tatars  :  La  capitale  du  roi  des  Tatars  en  Chine  se  nomme 
Toughadj."  Aboulfeda,  11,  2''partie,p.i23. — Guyard's  translation.] 
I  do  not  know  how  the  last  word  is  written  in  the  Arabic,  and  its 
closer  correspondence  to  the  Taugas  of  Theophylactus  is  almost 
certainly  due  to  accident.  The  Niswy  or  Nessawi  quoted  by 
Abulfeda  was  secretary  to  Sultan  Jalaluddm  of  Khwarizm, 
and  no  doubt  the  allusion  is  to  the  anecdote  told  in  the  text  from 
D'Ohsson. 

Mas'udi  says  the  King  of  China  when  addressed  was  termed 
Tamgama  Jaban  [and  not  Bagbour]  (qu.  Thamgaj  ?)  {Prairies 
d'Or,  i,  306). 

Clavijo  says  :  "The  Zagatays  call  him  (the  Emperor  of  China) 
Tangus,  which  means  Pig  Emperor"  (!).  SeeMarkham,  pp.  133-4. 
["  Los  Chacatays  lo  llaman  Tangus,  que  han  por  denuesto,  que 
quiere  decir  Emperador  Puerco."  (P.  152,  Vida  del  gran  Tamorlan 
por  Ruy  Gonzalez  de  Clavijo,  Madrid,  1782.)]  In  the  Universal 
History  it  is  mentioned  (probably  after  Sharifuddin)  that  in 
1398  envoys  came  to  Timur  from  Tamgaj  Khan,  Emperor  of 
Cathay.  ["  In  Hi  are  found  the  Chinese  called  T'ao-hua-shi. 
Palladius  supposes  that  this  is  designed  to  render  the  word  tamgaj, 
applied  in  ancient  times  by  the  Mohammedans  in  China."  Bret- 
schneider,  Med.  Researches,  i,  p.  71.] 

The  following  examples  are  more  doubtful.  "  We  call  this 
region  China,  the  which  they  in  their  language  name  Tame,  and 
the  people  Tangis,  whom  we  name  Chinois  "  {Alhacen,  his  Arabike 
Historie  of  Tamerlane,  in  Purchas,  iii,  152). 

Tangtash,  Tangnash,  Taknas,  occur  repeatedly  in  the  transla- 
tion of  Sadik  Isfahani  and  of  the  Shajrat  ul  A  trdk  as  synonymous 

C.  Y.  C.    I.  3 


34  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

27.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  other  mention  of  China  in 
a  Greek  writer  till  we  get  to  Laonicus  Chalcondylas  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  We  need  not  be 
surprised  at  the  vagueness  of  the  site  ascribed  to  Taugas 
by  Theophylactus  when  we  find  this  author,  who  wrote 
from  one  to  two  centuries  after  the  travels  of  Polo,  Odoric, 
and  Ibn  Batuta,  describing  Cathay  in  one  passage  as 
somewhere  near  the  Caspian,  in  another  as  in  India, 
between  the  Ganges  and  Indus  ^. 


with  Machin,  or  a  great  city  therein.  But  these  words  are  perhaps 
corrupt  readings  of  Nangids,  which  was  a  name  appHed  by  the 
Mongols  to  Southern  China.  (See  D'Ohsson,  i,  190-1  ;  Quat., 
Rashideddin ,  p.  Ixxxvi.) 

The  name  can  scarcely  have  any  reference  to  the  T'ang  dynasty, 
for  they  did  not  attain  the  throne  till  the  latter  years  of  Theo- 
phylactus, and  he  mentions  Taugas  in  connexion  with  a  Khan  of 
the  Turks  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Maurice.  It  should  be 
mentioned,  however,  that  the  title  Thangdj  is  found  on  a  coin  of 
a  Turkish  Khakan  of  a.d.  1043-44  (see  Fraehn's  remarks  on  this 
in  Meyendorff's  Voyage  d'Orenbourg  d  Bokhara,  p.  314  seqq.  ; 
see  also  D'Herbelot  in  v.  Thamgaj).  The  geographer  Bakui 
also  defines  Thamgaj  as  a  great  city  of  the  Turks'  country,  near 
which  are  many  villages  between  two  mountains,  and  only 
approached  by  a  narrow  defile.     {Not.  et  Extr.,  ii,  491.) 

1  "  Hence  he  (Timur)  directed  his  march  against  the  Chataides, 
threatening  them  with  destruction.  This  people  are  believed  to 
be  the  same  with  the  ancient  Massageta?,  who  crossed  the  Araxes 
(Jaxartes  ?)  and  took  possession  of  an  extensive  region  adjoining 
that  river,  in  which  they  settled."  [De  Rebus  Turcicis,  iii,  p.  67.) 
Again  :  "  Chataia  is  a  city  towards  the  east  of  Hyrcania,  great 
and  flourishing  in  population,  and  surpassing  in  wealth  and  all 
other  attributes  of  prosperity  all  the  cities  of  Asia  except  Samar- 
kand and  Memphis  (Cairo) .  By  the  Massageta^  it  was  established 
with  excellent  laws  in  olden  time."  {lb.)  Somewhat  later 
(p.  86)  he  puts  Chatagia  in  India,  as  mentioned  above.  Indeed 
geography  for  a  Greek  writer  must  have  been  in  a  state  of  very 
midnight  at  this  time,  when  a  historian  who  ventured  to  treat  of 
Timur  and  Shah  Rukh  (Saxpou^os-)  was  fain  to  say  of  Cheria  (Herat)  : 
"  in  what  part  of  Asia  it  was  situated,  whether  in  the  land  of  the 
Syrians  or  the  land  of  the  Medes,  he  could  not  ascertain.  But 
some  thought  that  anciently  Cheriah  was  Ninus  (Nineveh)  as 
Pagdatine  (Baghdad)  was  Babylon."     {lb.,  p.  68.) 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  35 

II.     CHINESE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

28.  Having  thus  set  forth  such  indications  as  we 
can  of  acquaintance  with  China  from  Greek  and  Roman 
writers,  we  shall  now  collect  such  notices  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  territories  as  we  are  able  to  find  in  translations 
from  Chinese  sources. 

It  was  under  the  Emperor  Wu  Ti,  of  the  Han  dynasty 
(B.C.  140-87),  that  the  Chinese  first  had  relations  with  the 
countries  west  of  the  Bolor  mountains,  and  even  the 
discovery  of  those  regions  is  ascribed  by  Chinese  writers 
to  this  period,  though  the  correctness  of  that  idea  may 
well  be  questioned.  ["The  thirty-six  kingdoms  then 
opened  up  became  afterwards  gradually  subdivided  into 
more  than  fifty  ;  all  lying  to  the  west  of  the  Hiong-nu, 
and  south  of  the  Wu-sun.  Along  the  north  and  south 
run  great  mountains,  and  through  the  centre  flows  a 
river  [Tarim]..  .  .On  the  west  it  is  limited  by  the  Ts'ong- 
ling  mountains^."] 

[In  the  third  century  before  our  era,  two  rival  peoples 
were  fighting  for  supremacy  in  the  north  of  China,  then 
divided  into  states  under  the  power,  more  and  more 
nominal,  of  the  princes  of  the  State  of  Chau  ;  they  were  the 
Hiong  Nu,  extending  from  the  north  of  the  Shan  si 
Province  to  lake  Barkul,  and  the  Yue  chi  settled  in  the 
region  forming  the  present  province  of  Kan  Su.  The 
Hiong  Nu,  at  first  subject  to  the  Yue  chi,  vanquished  these 
a  first  time  at  the  end  of  the  third  century  and  a  second 
time  in  B.C.  177.  The  Yue  chi,  expelled  from  Kan  Su, 
their  cradle,  in  165,  went  to  Ku  cha,  arrived  in  the  country 
of  the  Hi  river  and  of  its  two  southern  tributaries,  the 

1  [A.  Wylie,  Notes  on  the  Western  Regions,  translated  from 
the  "Tseen  Han  Shoo,"  Bk  96,  Pt  I  {Journ.  Anth.  Inst.,  Aug. 
1880).] 


36  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Tekes  and  the  Konges  where  the  Wu  sun  were  estabhshed  ; 
the  newcomers  defeated  the  Wu  sun,  and  passed  beyond 
the  Issik-kul ;  the  Yue  chi  spht  into  two  branches  :  the 
Httle  Yue  chi  who  mixed  with  the  K'iang  or  Tibetans, 
and  the  great  Yue  chi  who  took  Kashgar  at  the  expense  of 
the  Sakas  (b.c.  163).  The  Yue  chi,  defeated  again  by 
the  Hiong  Nu,  protecting  the  Wu  sun,  were  compelled  to 
march  towards  the  south,  pushing  the  Sakas  before  them, 
and  after  some  intermediate  halts,  they  arrived  first  in 
Ta  wan  (Farghanah),  and  then  subjugated  the  kingdom  of 
Ta  Hia,  or  Bactriana,  whose  capital  was  Lan  She,  south 
of  the  Oxus,  in  Badakhshan,  northern  part  of  Tokharestan  ; 
in  B.C.  120  the  Yue  chi  destroyed  the  Greek  dynasty  and 
took  in  the  same  year  the  saka  kingdom  of  Soter  Megas. 
The  Sakas  or  Sak,  whom  Herr  von  Le  Coq  thinks  of  Iranian 
stock,  fled  to  the  N.W.  of  India,  settled  in  Sindh  and 
Pendjab,  and  finally  mixed  probably  with  the  Yue  chi. 
Later  on  the  Yue  chi  made  the  conquest  of  Kashmir  and, 
after  seeing  their  Indian  Empire  fall  into  pieces  in  the 
hands  of  the  Hindu  princes,  disappeared  in  the  fifth 
century  of  our  era  before  the  White  Huns.  The  part 
played  by  the  Yue  chi,  Tokharians  or  Indo-Scythians, 
has  been  considerable,  and  they  were  probably  the 
intermediaries  between  China  and  the  West,  and  it  is 
certainly  by  them  that  buddhism  was  known  to  the 
Celestial  Empire.  According  to  Prof.  F.  W.  K.  Miiller, 
of  Berlin,  one  of  the  "  unknown  "  languages  brought  to 
light  by  the  recent  excavations  in  Central  Asia  is  the 
language  of  the  Tokharians,  Indo-Scythians  or  Yue  chi, 
of  the  Indo-Germanic  group  of  languages.] 

[The  Chinese  Emperor  Wu  being  desirous  of  opening 
communication  with  the  Ta  Yue  chi  in  order  to  excite  a 
diversion  against  the  Hiong  Nu,  the  constant  disturbers 
of  the  Chinese  frontier,  ignoring  that  these  Yue  chi  had 


"s^ 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  37 

already  left  the  Hi  valley  and  fled  south,  sent  for  this 
purpose  an  ofhcer  called  Chang  K'ien  with  about  one 
hundred  people  (a^et."  138).  Chang  K'ien  had  hardly  De- 
left by  the  north-western  route  before  he  was  caught  by 
the  Hiong  Nu  and  kept  a  prisoner  for  about  ten  years. 
Chang  K'ien  then  escaped  with  some  of  his  comrades, 
but  adhering  to  his  mission  succeeded  in  reaching  Ta  wan 
(Farghanah) ,  where  he  was  well  received  by  the  people 
who  were  acquainted  by  fame  with  the  powers  and  riches 
of  China,  though  they  had  never  had  any  direct  communi- 
cation with  that  country.  The  Yue  chi  were  north  of  the 
Oxus,  but  having  conquered  Ta  Hia  (Tokharestan) ,  they 
went  south  to  occupy  their  capital  Lan  She,  and  Chang 
K'ien  followed  them  thither,  passing  through  K'ang  kiu, 
but  failed  to  induce  them  to  quit  their  new  seat  upon  the 
Oxus  to  return. to  their  eastern  deserts  and  battle  with 
the  Hiong  Nu.  Thus  unsuccessful,  after  a  stay  of  one 
year  (AtD'.  128)  with  the  Yue  chi,  Chang  K'ien  tried  to  / 
return  to  China  by  way  of  Tibet,  but  was  again  taken  by 
the  Hiong  Nu  and  detained  for  some  time  ;  he  managed 
to  escape  in  126,  and  at  last  this  adventurous  man  got 
back  to  China  with  a  Turkish  wife  and  a  single  follower 
out  of  the  hundred  who  had  started  with  him.  He  was 
able  to  report,  from  personal  knowledge,  of  the  countries 
on  the  Jaxartes  and  Oxus,  and,  from  the  information  he 
had  collected,  on  other  countries  of  the  west.  He  had 
noticed  bamboos  and  cloths  forwarded  from  Yun  Nan 
and  Sze  ch'wan  through  Shen  tu  (India)  and  Afghanistan, 
and  suggested  that  a  new  route  be  taken  through  India 
to  go  westward  instead  of  crossing  the  Hiong  Nu  country, 
and  henceforward  the  emperor  Wu  acted  upon  this 
advice^.] 

One  of  the  consequences  of  Chang  K'ien's  voyage  was 
^  [Chavannes,  Se-ma  Ts'ien,  i,  pp.  Ixxi-lxxiii.] 


38  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

a  desire  of  the  Emperor  Wu  to  open  a  route  to  the  west 
through  the  Turkish  and  Tibetan  tribes  ;  this  he  was 
able  to  do  after  the  victory  of  General  Ho  K'iu-ping  in 
A.D.  121  and  the  conquest  of  Kan  chau  and  Leang  chau 
which  formed  the  commandry  of  Ts'iau  ts'iuan  with  a 
governor  {t'ai  chau)  at  the  place  now  named  Su  chau  ; 
this  commandry  was  subsequently  divided  into  three  : 
Wu  wei  (Leang  chau),  Chang  ye  (Kan  chau)  and  Tun 
hwang.  The  Great  Wall  built  by  Ts'in  Shi  Hwang  Ti 
in  A.D.  214,  and  uniting  the  various  walls  erected  against 
the  Hiong  Nu  by  the  Northern  States,  was  pushed  on  to 
the  west  through  the  desert  after  the  second  expedition  of 
Li  Kwang-li  against  Ta  wan  in^.D.  loi  and  102^.] 

[The  Yue  chi  had  fled  before  the  Wu  sun  of  the  Hi 
valley ;  Chang  K'ien  gave  the  advice  to  make  an  alliance 
with  these  Wu  sim  against  the  Hiong  Nji,  thus  securing 
a  free  access  to  the  West.  Chang  K'ien  was  again  sent 
in  ^^.  115  with  300  men  to  the  country  of  the  Wu  sun, 
too  weak  to  show  openly  their  hostility  to  the  Hiong  Nu. 
However  Chang  K'ien  was  well  received  and  was  able 
to  send  agents  to  Farghanah  and  Zarafshan,  Chang  K'ien 
has  the  merit  of  having  opened  up  the  road  to  the  countries 
in  the  north-west. 

The  Chinese  envoys  had  reported  "  that  Ta  wan  had 
excellent  horses  in  the  city  of  Urh-sze  ;  but  they  refused 
to  show  them  to  the  envoys. . .  .  The  Emperor  forthwith 
despatched  the  sturdy  yeoman,  Chay  Ling,  and  others, 
on  a  mission  to  the  king  of  Ta-wan,  with  1000  ounces  of 
gold,  and  a  golden  horse,  to  prefer  a  request  for  some  of 
the  famous  horses  in  the  city  of  Urh-sze . . .  the  demand 
of  the  Chinese  envoy  was  met  by  an  absolute  refusal. 
The  envoy  was   enraged,   and  gave  way  to   unguarded 

^  [Chavannes,    Documents    chinois    decouverts    par    A.    Stein, 

pp.  v-vi.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  39 

utterances,  hammered  the  golden  horse  into  a  shape- 
less mass,  and  left  (Wylie,  Notes  on  the  Western  Regions, 
p.  53)."  The  envoy  was  murdered  at  Yau  ch'eng  and 
the  Emperor,  who  had  already  chastised  Lau  Ian,  in  a 
fury  sent  against  Ta  wan  (b.c.  104)  Li  Kwang-li  who 
was  utterly  defeated  ;  but  in  102  the  Chinese  general 
was  more  successful,  reached  Ta  wan  and  Yau  ch'eng, 
punished  the  kings,  and  returned  to  China  in  the  following 
year.] 

[Another  consequence  of  Chang  K'ien's  voyage  was 
the  endeavour  of  the  Chinese  to  find  in  the  south  a  route 
to  Ta-hia,  via  India.  To  the  east  were  the  kingdoms  of 
Tong  Hai  (Che  Kiang)  and  of  Min  Yue  (Fu  Kien)  ;  to  the 
south,  Chao  T'o  had  founded  the  kingdom  of  Nan  Yue 
with  Canton  as  its  capital ;  to  the  west  had  been  estab- 
lished the  kingdom  of  Tien  (Yun  Nan)  ;  the  Chinese  were 
badly  received  in  122  by  the  chief  of  Tien  and  in  112  they 
sent  an  army  against  Nan  Yue.  Having  established  their 
power  in  the  south  by  wars  in  B.C.  11 1  and  no,  the  Chinese 
were  able  to  bring  all  their  forces  against  the  Hiong  Nu. 
The  Emperor  Wu  died  in  B.C.  87.] 

About  the  same  time  the  Chinese  began  to  take  vigorous 
measures  against  the  Hiong  Nu,  and  to  extend  their 
frontier  westward.  By  B.C.  59  their  power  reached  all 
over  what  is  now  Chinese  Turkestan  ;  a  general  govern- 
ment was  established  for  the  tributary  states  ;  and  about 
the  time  of  our  era,  fifty-five  states  of  western  Tartary 
acknowledged  themselves  vassals  of  the  empire,  whilst 
the  Princes  of  Transoxiana  and  Bactriana  are  also  said  to 
have  recognised  its  supremacy. 

29.     [During  part  of  the  first  century(^the  power  of       '^•^■ 
China    decayed  ;    in   99  the  Emperor  Wu  sent   general 
Li  Kwang-li  to  fight  the  Hiong  Nu  near  Lake  Barkul ; 
another  general,  Li  ling,  at  first  victorious,  was  crushed 


40  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

south  of  Hami ;  the  Hiong  Nu  recovered  some  of  their 
ascendancy  and  during  the  period  yong  p'ing  (a.d.  58-75) 
they  twice  attacked  Tun  hwang,  but  they  were  repelled. 
At  the  end  of  this  period,  the  Chinese  entered  into  com- 
munication with  the  western  countries.  In  a.d.  83, 
Pan  Ch'ao,  one  of  the  most  illustrious  commanders  in 
the  Chinese  annals,  born  in  32,  at  P'ing  ling  (Shan  si 
province),  who  had  appeared  in  the  field  some  years 
previously,  was  appointed  commander  of  the  troops. 
He  took  advantage  of  the  feuds  between  the  various 
countries  of  Central  Asia,  Su-le  (Kashgar),  K'ang  kiu 
(Sogdiana),  Shan  Shan  (South  of  Lob  Nor),  Yu  t'ien 
(Khotan),  Kiu  mi  (Uzun  Tati),  Ku  mo  (Aqsu),  Sh'e  ch'eng 
(Uch  Turfan),  So  kiu  (Yarkand),  the  Yue  chi,  the  Wu  sun 
(Hi)  to  turn  them  against  K'iu  tze  (Kucha).  In  88  the 
Yue  chi,  who  had  helped  the  Chinese  in  attacking  Kiu  she 
(Turfan),  sent  them  a  tribute  of  jewels  and  lions  and  asked 
in  marriage  for  their  king  a  princess  of  the  Han  family ; 
their  ambassador  was  put  under  arrest  by  Pan  Ch'ao  and 
sent  back  ;  the  Yue  chi,  very  angry  at  the  treatment  of 
their  envoy,  sent  an  army  of  70,000  men  under  the  com- 
mand of  Sie,  through  the  Ts'ong  ling  (Pamir)  to  attack 
Pan  Ch'ao  ;  Sie  tried  to  gain  to  his  cause  K'iu  tze  (Kucha), 
but  his  emissaries  were  stopped  by  Pan  Ch'ao,  their  chief 
was  put  to  death,  and  Sie  frightened  retired  ;  from  this 
time  the  Yue  chi  sent  a  yearly  tribute  to  the  Chinese. 
From  a.d.  89  to  104,  all  the  western  countries  had  sub- 
mitted to  the  empire,  but  the  K'iang  (Tibetans)  revolted 
then  and  the  west  was  again  cut  off  from  China.  In  91 
Pan  Ch'ao  was  appointed  General  Protector  {tu  hu)  after 
K'iu  tze  (Kucha),  Ku  mo  (Aqsu)  and  Wen  Su  (Uch  Turfan) 
had  submitted.  After  attacking  Yen  k'i  (Karashahr), 
Pan  Ch'ao  took  Kiu  she  (Turfan)  and,  according  to  the 
Chinese  historians,  then  crossed  the  Ts'ong  ling  (Pamir), 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  4I 

but  this  is  doubtful.  It  is  not,  however,  doubtful  that 
he  did  not  push  his  conquests  to  the  Caspian,  nor  did  he 
have  a  way  open  to  the  shores  of  the  Indian  Ocean, 
though  "  we  are  told  that  in  the  year  97  he  despatched 
one  of  his  officers  called  Kan  Ying  to  make  his  way  by 
sea  to  Ta  Ts'in  or  the  Roman  Empire"  (Yule^).  In 
100  he  asked  to  be  relieved  of  his  command  and  he  died 
in  A.D.  102  at  the  age  of  71  years.  He  was  replaced  by 
his  son  Pan  Hiong  who  had  a  military  camp  of  300  men 
established  at  Tun  hwang  ;  during  the  period  yong  p'ing 
(a.d.  58-75),  a  Chinese  of&cial  had  already  been  stationed 
at  Tun  hwang  and  another  one  at  Kiu  she  (Turfan)  ^.] 

30.  Notices  of  the  Ta  Ts'in  region  are  found  in  the 
geographical  works  of  the  time  of  the  latter  Han  (a.d. 
56-220)^,  in  the  annals  of  the  Ts'in  (265-419),  and  of  the 
T'ang  (618-905).  But  references  are  also  made  by  the 
Chinese  editors  to  the  same  country  as  having  been  known 
in  the  days  of  the  first  Han  dynasty  (from  B.C.  202)  under 
the  name  of  Likan  or  Likien,  a  name  which  Pauthier 
with  some  probability  refers  to  the  empire  of  the  Seleu- 
cidas  of  Syria,  whose  conquests  at  one  period  extended 
to  the  regions  of  the  Oxus*. 


1  [Yule  says  in  102  ;  it  is  a  mistake.] — Remusat,  in  Mem.  de 
I' Acad,  des  Ins.  (new),  viii,  1 16-125.  Klaproth,  Tab.  Hist.,  p.  67, 
etc. ;  see  also  Lassen,  li,  352  seq. 

2  Ed.  Chavannes,  Trois  generaux  chinois  de  la  dynastie  des 
Han  orientaux.     [T'oung  pao,  May,  1906,  pp.  210-269.) 

^  [See  A.  Wylie,  Notes  on  the  Western  Regions,  translated 
from  the  "Tseen  Han  Shoo,"  Bk  96,  Pt  I  {Journ.  Anthrop.  Inst., 
Aug.   1880.)] 

*  Pauthier,  De  I'Authent.,  pp.  34,  55  seqq.  ;  Klap.,  o.c,  p.  70. 
["  We  are  told  in  records  as  old  as  the  Hou  Han  Shu  and  the 
Wei  Ho  that  Ta  Ts'in  and  Li-kan  are  one  and  the  same  country, 
and  it  is  clear  that  Li-kan  is  the  older  name  of  the  two.  It  ap- 
parently first  occurs  in  the  Shih-ki  (ch.  123).  When  Chang  K'ien 
had  negotiated  his  treaties  with  the  countries  of  the  west,  the 
king  of  An-hsi  (Parthia)  sent  an  embassy  to  the  Chinese  court 
and  presented  large  birds'  eggs,  probably  ostrich  eggs,  and 
jugglers   from   Li-kan."     (Hirth,   I.e.,   pp.    169-170.)] 


42  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

The  name  Ta  Ts'in  {Great  China),  we  are  told,  was 
applied  to  those  western  lands  on  account  of  the  analogy 
of  its  people  to  those  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Some  even 
alleged  that  they  had  sprung  originally  from  China.  But 
this  was  probably  a  puerile  perversion,  and  we  may  suppose 
that  the  name  was  given  from  some  perception  that  those 
Greek  and  Roman  countries  bore  to  the  west  the  same 
relation  that  China  and  its  civilisation  bore  to  Eastern 
Asia. 

From  this  we  gather,  among  other  things,  that  the 
Chinese  in  the  time  of  Pan  Ch'ao  recognised  the  term 
Ts'in  as  a  name  by  which  they  were  known,  at  least  to 
foreigners.  Indeed  Fa  Hian  the  Buddhist  traveller  (early 
in  the  fifth  century)  repeatedly  speaks  of  his  native  land 
under  this  name^,  though  perhaps  with  a  restricted 
reference  to  the  ancient  territory  of  the  Ts'in  which  was 
the  province  of  his  birth. 

31.  Ta  Ts'in,  according  to  the  earlier  of  these  notices, 
is  otherwise  called  the  kingdom  of  the  Western  Sea 
[Hai  si].  It  is  reached  from  the  country  of  the  T'iao  chi 
(Tajiks,  or  Persians,  according  to  Pauthier  and  others)^, 

1  E.g.,  pp.  7,  333. 

2  [Visdelou  identifies  T'iao  chi  with  Egypt,  Deguignes  with 
Persia.  According  to  Hirth,  China  and  the  Roman  Orient,  p.  144, 
it  is  Babylonia.  Under  the  Han,  it  was  a  western  kingdom  ; 
it  became  a  government  under  the  T'ang ;  see  Chavannes, 
Tou  kiiie,  p.  368. 

It  would  be  more  exact  to  say  that  T'iao  chi  corresponds  to 
Mesene,  i.e.  the  country  between  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates, 
near  their  confluence,  and  Babylonia  and  the  sea  ;  it  was  annexed 
in  225  to  their  possessions  by  the  Sassanid  sovereigns  and  finally 
was  part  of  the  Khalifate  of  Baghdad. 

The  earliest  mention  of  T'iao  chi  appears  in  the  Ts'ien  Han 
shoo  (B.C.  206-A.D.  23)  and  the  Shi  ki,  Hirth,  I.e.,  p.  144. 

"  My  interpretation  of  these  (Chinese)  records  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  ancient  country  of  Ta-ts'in,  called  Fu-lin 
during  the  middle  ages,  was  not  the  Roman  Empire  with  Rome 
as  its  capital,  but  merely  its  oriental  part,  viz.,  Syria,  Egypt  and 
Asia  Minor  ;  and  Syria  in  the  first  instance."  (Hirth,  China  and 
the  Roman  Orient,  p.  vi.) 

"  The   length   of  the   sea-route   from   T'iao-chih   to   Ta-ts'in, 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  43 

by  traversing  the  sea  obliquely  for  a  distance  of  2000  miles 
and  is  about  8000  miles  distant  from  Ch'ang  ngan  or 
Si-ngan  fu.  The  name  of  the  capital  is  Antu^.  The 
An  si,  and  people  of  India,  drive  a  great  and  profitable 
trade  with  this  empire  by  the  way  of  the  Great  Salt  Sea, 
and  merchants  sailing  thither  are  obliged  to  provide  them- 
selves with  necessaries  for  three  years.  Hence  there  are 
few  who  succeed  in  reaching  so  remote  a  region^.  The 
extent  of  the  empire  is  2000  miles  from  east  to  west,  and 
as  much  from  north  to  south  3,  and  it  has  400  cities  of 
the  first  class.  The  coinage  is  stated  to  be  of  gold  and 
silver,  ten  pieces  of  silver  making  the  value  of  one  piece 

i.e.,  from  a  port  on  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates  (Babylon, 
Velogesia,  Hira,  Orchoe,  Charax  Spasinu  ?)  to  Aelana,  the  sea- 
port of  Petra  or  Rekem,  is  described  as  measuring  over  loooo  H." 
..."  We  have  to  interpret  this  expression  [10,000  li] .  .  .as  meaning 
an  indefinite  large  number."  (Hirth,  China  and  the  Roman  Orient, 
p.  164.) 

"  We  may  conclude  from  the  hints  contained  in  the  earlier 
Chinese  histories,  that  this  route  (Central  Asia,  Hekatompylos, 
Acbatana,  Ktesiphon,  Hira,  mouth  of  the  Euphrates,  Persian 
Gulf,  Indian  Ocean,  Red  Sea,  Aelana  and  Petra  with  its  bifurca- 
tion to  Gaza  along  the  Phoenician  coast  and  to  Bostra,  Damascus, 
etc.)  was  the  principal  channel  of  trade  between  China  and 
Syria  as  the  representative  of  the  Far  West  from  the  beginning 
of  commercial  relations  till  up  to  the  year  a.d.  166."  (Hirth, 
China  and  the  Roman  Orient,  p.  169.)  It  will  be  seen  hereafter 
that  the  sea-route  was  known  before  the  year  a.d.  166. 

Dr.  Hirth  has  given  the  translation  and  the  text  of  various 
notices  of  Ta  Ts'in  from  Chinese  works  in  China  and  the  Rotnan 
Orient ;  in  the  Supplemientary  Notes  will  be  found  the  notice 
from  Chau  Ju-kua's  Chu-fan-chi,  translated  also  by  Hirth  in  1912, 
pp.    102-4.] 

1  Antioch,  probably,  as  Pauthier  supposes  ;  and,  if  so,  it 
shows  that  the  information  came  from  a  date  earlier  than  the 
time  of  Pan  Ch'ao.  [With  reference  to  this  name,  apparently 
indicating  Antioch,  it  is  curious  to  read  in  Mas'iidi  that  at  the 
time  of  the  Musulman  conquest  there  remained  of  the  original 
name  of  the  city  only  the  letters  Alif,  Nun,  and  Td  {Ant  or 
Anta,  see  Prairies  d'Or,  iii,  409).] 

^  So,  conversely,  the  author  of  the  Periplus  says,  "It  is  not 
easy  to  get  to  this  Thin,  and  few  and  far  between  are  those  who 
come  from  it." 

^  The  extract  at  p.  36  of  Pauthier  {De  I'Authent.)  has  1000  li 
(200  miles)  ;  but  this  is  evidently  a  mistake  for  10,000,  as  given 
in  another  extract  at  p.  43. 


44  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

of  gold^.  There  follows  a  variety  of  what  read  to  us  as 
vague  or  puerile  notices  of  the  constitution  and  productions 
of  the  country,  including,  however,  a  detailed  and  ap- 
parently correct  enough  account  of  the  coral  fisheries  of 
the  Mediterranean  2. 

32.  In  the  annals  of  the  T'ang  we  are  told  that  the 
country  formerly  called  Ta  Ts'in  has  in  later  days  been 
called  Fu  lin  (ttoX/?',  =  Byzantium,  see  Note  to  Ibn 
Batuta,  vol.  iv,  infra)^.     Many  of  the  trivialities  in  the 

^  In  the  Byzantine  coinage,  however,  twelve  of  the  ordinary 
silver  coin  {miliaresion)  went  to  the  piece  of  gold  [nomisma). 

2  Pauthier,  De  I'Auth.,  pp.  34-40  ;    Klap.,  p.  68. 

^  ["  The  texts  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  speak  of  '  FuTin,  that 
is  the  ancient  Ta-ts'in,'  or  of  'Tats'in,  also  called  Fu-lin,'  and 
it  appears  that  the  two  names  were  interchangeable.  From  the 
Chinese  point  of  view  the  question  would,  therefore,  be  simple 
enough.  If  Ta-ts'in  is  Syria,  Fu-lin  must  be  Syria ....  My  present 
view.  .  .  is  briefly  this  :  Ta-ts'in  is  the  Roman  empire  with  all 
its  grandeur  emanating  from  Rome,  its  capital ;  but  the  detail 
placed  on  record  in  the  contemporaneous  texts  is  confined  to  its 
Asiatic  provinces,  for  which  reason,  not  Rome  but  Antioch  is 
described  as  the  capital  city.  Its  relations  to  China  were  of  a 
commercial  kind.  Fu-lin  is  the  Eastern  empire  of  Byzantium, 
but  as  in  the  case  of  Ta-ts'in,  the  Chinese  accounts  are  confined  to 
certain  Asiatic  portions  of  it,  and  its  relations  to  China  were 
chiefly  ecclesiastical."  (F.  Hirth,  The  Mystery  of  Fulin,  1910, 
p.  I.)  Prof.  Chavannes  after  accepting  this  view  has  abandoned 
it  in  his  Notes  additionnelles  sur  les  Tou-kiue  {T'oung  pao,  1904, 
p.  37,  note  3).  Hirth  has  thus  resumed  the  arguments  of  Cha- 
vannes, l.c.,.Y>-  2,  who  refers  to  Yule's  notes  in  Cathay,  p.  402  : 

"  I .  The  name  Fu-lin  represents  the  Greek  accusative  irokiv 
in  fls  Ti,v  TTukiv,  Istan-polin,  according  to  Mas'udi  the  origin 
of  Istambul. 

2.  The  name  Fu-lin  appears  in  Chinese  literature  previous 
to  the  arrival  of  the  Nestorians  in  China. 

3.  It  may  have  been  brought  to  China  during  the  Sui  period 
by  the  Western  Turks,  who  had  been  visited  by  Byzantine  ambas- 
sadors in  568  and  576  a.d. 

4.  The  king  of  Fu-lin  who  sent  ambassadors  to  China  in  643 
was  called  Po-to-li.  By  substituting  [one  character  for  another], 
the  name  would  appear  as  Po-si-li,  which  may  stand  for  (-iaa-iXev^. 

5.  The  Arab  general  Mo-i,  who  was  sent  to  effect  the  siege 
of  Fu-lin,  may  be  identical  with  Muawia's  son  '  Yezid  ben  Muawia,' 
one  of  the  three  emirs  who  attacked  Constantinople. 

6.  The  king  of  Fu-lin  who  sent  an  embassy  to  China  in  1081 
Mid-li-i-ling-kai-sa  may  have  been  identical  with  the  pretender 
Nicephorus  Melissenus."  However,  Prof.  Hirth  maintains  his 
view  and  identifies  Fu-lin  with  Bethlehem,  I.e.  p.   17,  and  in  a 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  45 

older  accounts  of  Ta  Ts'in  are  repeated,  with  some  cir- 
cumstances that  are  new.  And  among  the  pecuUarities 
ascribed  by  the  Chinese  to  the  Roman  empire  it  is  curious 
to  recognise  not  a  few  that  nearly  or  entirely  coincide  with 
things  that  have  been  described  by  ancient  or  mediaeval 
writers  as  pecuUarities  of  China,  or  the  adjoining  countries. 
Such  are  the  eminently  peaceful  and  upright  character 
of  the  people  ;  the  great  number  of  cities  and  contiguous 
succession  of  populated  places  ;  horse-posts  ;  the  pro- 
vision made  for  the  conveyance  and  maintenance  of 
foreign  ambassadors  ;  the  abundance  of  gold  and  gems, 
among  which  are  some  in  the  form  of  tablets  that  shine 
in  the  dark^ ;  pearls  generated  from  the  saliva  of  golden 
pheasants  (!),  tortoise-shell,  rare  perfumed  essences, 
asbestos  stuffs  that  are  cleaned  by  fire,  cloths  of  gold 
brocade  and  damask  silk  ;  remarkable  capons,  rhino- 
ceroses, hons,  and  vegetative  lambs^.  Jugglers  and 
conjurors  are  also  seen  who  perform  amazing  things^. 

new  paper  in  the  Journ.  Amev.  Orient.  Soc,  xxx,  1909,  and  xxxiii, 

1913- 

I  never  accepted  the  derivation  of  Fu-Hn  from  Bethlehem, 
an  obscure  place  for  the  Chinese  ;  phonetically  it  cannot  come 
from  TToXti/.  M.  Blochet  has  suggested  that  Fu-lin  is  derived 
from  Rum  but  adduced  no  proof  of  the  fact,  while  M.  Pelliot 
has  quite  recently  brought  forward  a  number  of  linguistic  facts 
confirming  this  view.  The  word  Fu-lin  is  found  for  the  first  time 
in  a  Chinese  work  of  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  but  it  is 
quite  possible  that  it  was  known  a  century  before,  according  to 
Pelliot,  under  the  forms  Pu-lan  and  Pu-lam.] 

1  Benjamin  of  Tudela  says  that  the  lustre  of  the  diamonds 
on  the  emperor's  crown  at  Byzantium  was  such  as  to  illumine 
the  room  in  which  they  were  kept  (p.  75). 

2  The  obscure  extracts  in  Pauthier  {op.  cit.  pp.  39,  47),  as  to 
certain  lambs  found  to  the  north  of  the  kingdoms  dependent  on 
Fu  lin,  which  grow  out  of  the  ground,  and  are  attached  by  the 
navel  to  the  soil,  appear  to  refer  to  the  stories  of  the  Lamb-Plant 
of  the  Volga  countries  (see  Odoric,  p.  241),  and  not,  as  Pauthier 
supposes,  to  the  fat-tailed  sheep  of  "Western  Asia.  [Cf .  Chavannes, 
T'oung  pao,  May,  1907,  p.  183  ?z. ;  and  Hirth,  China  and  the  Roman 
Orient,  p.  261.] 

3  See  traces  of  this  juggling  skill  in  a  passage  of  one  Italian 
version  of  Odoric,  at  p.   338  of  Appendix.      In  the  Byzantine 


46  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

33.  If  such  trivialities  as  most  of  these  were  all  on 
which  to  build,  the  identification  with  the  Roman  empire 
would  not  be  very  satisfactory.  But  in  addition  to  the 
name  of  Fu  lin,  and  the  position  ascribed  to  the  kingdom 
as  lying  N.W.  of  Persia,  others  of  the  details,  though  the 
mention  of  some  of  them  has  a  dash  of  the  whimsicality 
of  Chinese  taste,  appear  to  be  genuine  touches  from  the 
reports  of  those  who  had  visited  Constantinople.  The 
accounts  of  the  coral  fishery  and  the  horse-posts  have 
already  been  alluded  to,  as  well  as  the  desire  ascribed  to 
the  kings  of  Ta  Ts'in  for  a  direct  communication  with 
the  Middle  Kingdom,  which  has  its  counterpart  in  the 
statements  of  Procopius  and  Menander  about  the  silk 
trade.  The  compass  of  100  li  or  20  miles,  ascribed  to 
the  capital  of  Fu  lin,  nearly  corresponds  with  that  estimated 
by  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  and  by  popular  opinion  in  the 
city  itself^.  It  stands  upon  the  shore  of  the  sea  ;  the 
houses  are  very  lofty,  and  built  of  stone  ;  the  population 
extends  to  100,000  hres  (say  500,000  souls)  ;  the  adjoining 
boroughs,  villages,  and  houses  are  in  such  numbers  as  to 
form  an  almost  unbroken  succession^.     The  palaces  and 

History  of  Nicephorus  Gregorias,  there  is  a  curious  account  of 
some  Blondins  of  those  days,  whose  itinerancies  extended  from 
Egypt  through  Constantinople  to  Cadiz,  and  who,  in  their  funam- 
bulistic  exhibitions,  shot  arrows  standing  on  the  rope,  and  carried 
hoys  on  their  shoulders  across  it  at  a  vast  height  from  the  ground, 
etc.   (viii,   10). 

1  Benjamin  says  eighteen  miles  (p.  74).  According  to  Gibbon, 
it  was  really  between  ten  and  eleven.  "  Ambitus  urbis  non 
attingit  tredecim  milHaria.  .  .si  ejus  situs  collinus  in  planitiem 
explicaretur,  in  ampliorem  dilataretur  latitudinem,  attamen 
nondum  ad  magnitudinem  quam  vulgo  Byzantini  ei  attribuunt, 
videlicet  duodeviginti  milliariorum."  {Pet.  Gyllitis  de  Topog. 
Constant,  in  Banduri,  Imp.  Orientate,  Venet.,  1729,  i,  284  ;  see 
also  Ducange,  Const.  Christiana.)  [According  to  the  Sin  T'ang 
Shu,  translated  by  Hirth,  I.e.,  p.  57  :  "  The  capital  [of  Fu  lin] 
is  built  of  [granite]  stone  ;    the  city  is  eighty  li  broad."] 

2  When  King  Sigurd  sails  into  Constantinople,  he  steers  near 
the  shore,  and  sees  that  "  over  all  the  land  there  are  burghs, 
castles,  country  towns,  the  one  upon  the  other  without  interval." 
{The  Saga  of  Sigurd — Early  Travels  in  Palestine,  p.  59.) 


PRELIMINARY    ESSAY  47 

other  great  houses  of  the  capital  had  colonaded  porticoes, 
and  parks  with  rare  animals  ;  there  were  twelve  principal 
ministers,  distinguished  by  titles  of  honour,  who  directed 
the  administration  of  the  empire^.  One  great  gate  of  the 
city  towards  the  east  is  20  chang  (about  200  feet)  high, 
and  is  covered  with  gold-leaf  from  top  to  bottom^  ; 
another  of  the  gates  has  a  golden  steelyard  over  it,  and 
also  a  clock  showing  the  twelve  hours  of  the  day  by  means 
of  the  golden  figure  of  a  man  who  drops  a  golden  ball 
at  every  hour^  ;  the  houses  have  fiat  terraced  roofs,  over 
which,  in  hot  weather,  water  is  discharged  from  pipes  ; 
the  costume  of  the  sovereign,  his  jewelled  collars  and  cap, 
his  silken  robe  embroidered  with  flowers,  and  without  any 
opening  in  front,  are  all  in  accordance  with  particulars 

^  The  Empire,  whilst  entire,  was  divided  into  thirteen  dioceses  ; 
but  of  the  administrators  there  were  twelve  vice-prefects,  a  number 
likely  to  adhere  in  popular  accounts.  Gibbon  also  says  :  "  The 
successive  casualties  of  inheritance  and  forfeiture  had  rendered 
the  sovereign  proprietor  of  many  stately  houses  in  the  city  and 
suburbs,  of  which  twelve  were  appropriated  to  the  ministers  of 
state  "  (ch.  liii).  Gibbon  is,  perhaps,  here  building  on  Benjamin 
of  Tudela,  whose  words  closely  corroborate  the  popular  view  as 
exhibited  in  the  Chinese  notices  :  "  Twelve  princely  officers 
govern  the  whole  empire  by  (the  emperor's)  command  ;  each  of 
them  inhabiting  a  palace  at  Constantinople,  and  possessing 
fortresses  and  cities  of  his  own  "  (p.  74). 

^  The  Saga  of  Sigurd,  quoted  above,  says  :  "  The  Emperor 
Alexius  had  heard  of  King  Sigurd's  expedition,  and  ordered  the 
City  Port  of  Constantinople  to  be  opened,  which  is  called  the 
Gold -Tower,  through  which  the  emperor  rides  when  he  has 
been  long  absent  from  Constantinople,  or  has  made  a  campaign 
in  which  he  has  been  victorious  "  (p.  59).  The  Golden  Gate 
stood  towards  the  south  end  of  the  western  wall  of  the  city,  not 
on  the  east  as  said  in  the  Chinese  reports.  "  The  western  side 
of  the  city  is  towards  the  land,"  says  Mas'iidi,  "and  there  rises  the 
Golden  Gate  with  its  doors  of  bronze."  {Prairies  d'Or,  ii,  319.) 
It  was  built  by  Theodosius,  and  bore  the  inscription,  "  Hcbc  loca 
Theudositis  decorat  post  fata  tyranni  ;  Aurea  Sescla  gerit  qui  portam 
construit  auro."     [Insc.   Constant.,  in  Banduri,  i,  p.   156.) 

^  Pauthier  quotes  passages  from  Codinus  about  a  brazen 
modius,  etc.,  over  the  arch  of  Amastrianus ;  but  they  do  not  seem  to 
afford  any  real  corroboration  of  this  account.  See  Banduri,  at 
pp.  18,  73-74;  and  Ducange,  p.  170.  The  latter,  indeed,  speaks  of 
a  golden  horologe  in  the  Forum  of  Constantine  ;  but  this  is  a  slip, 
for  the  original,  which  he  cites,  has  xo-^i^o^v  (p.  134). 


48  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

to  be  observed  in  effigies  of  the  Byzantine  emperors i. 
But  the  most  convincing  proof  that  the  Chinese  authors 
had  real  information  about  the  empire  of  Constantinople, 
is  found  in  a  notice  which  they  give  of  a  somewhat  obscure 
passage  in  the  Byzantine  History  : — 

34.  "  The  Ta  shi  (or  Mohamedan  Arabs),  after  having 
overrun  and  forcibly  taken  possession  of  kingdom  after 
kingdom,  at  last  sent  their  general-in-chief,  Moi,  to  lay 
siege  to  the  capital  city  of  Fu  lin.  Yenyo,  who  was 
the  negociator  of  the  peace  which  followed,  made  it  one 
of  the  conditions  that  the  Ta  shi  should  every  year  pay 
a  tribute,  consisting  of  gold  and  silk-stuffs^." 

In  this  passage  is  commemorated  the  remarkable  fact 
that  the  Khalif  Moawiyah,  after  having  (a.d.  671-678) 
for  seven  successive  summers  renewed  the  endeavour 
to  take  Constantinople,  at  length  felt  himself  under  the 
necessity  of  sending  envoys  to  sue  for  peace  from  the 
Emperor  Constantine  IV  Pogonatus.  The  latter  agreed, 
and  sent  the  patrician  loannes  Petzigaudias  (the  Yenyo 
of  the  Chinese)  to  Damascus  to  conduct  the  negociation 
with  the  Arabs.  The  result  was  that  the  latter  pledged 
themselves  to  a  thirty  years'  peace,  and  to  pay  to  the 

1  The  Chinese  story  ascribes  wing-Hke  appendages  to  the 
emperor's  cap.  Pauthier  refers  to  medals  as  showing  these  ; 
but  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  this.  The  wings  attached  to 
the  cap  are  rather  an  ancient  Hindu  feature,  and  are  remarkably 
preserved  in  the  state  costume  of  the  kings  of  Burma  and  the 
sultans  of  Java.  [I  suppose  that  these  so-called  wings  are  the 
flaps  or  fanions  flowing  from  the  tiara  or  cap  of  the  sovereign  ; 
examples  of  these  flaps  may  be  seen  on  the  coins  of  Tigranes  I 
the  Great  (97-56  B.C.),  king  of  Armenia.] 

2  Pauth.,  De  I'Auth.,  p.  49.  ["  Since  the  Ta  Shih  [Arabs] 
had  conquered  these  countries  they  sent  their  commander-in- 
chief,  Mo-i,  to  besiege  their  capital  city  ;  by  means  of  an  agree- 
ment, they  obtained  friendly  relations,  and  asked  to  be  allowed 
to  pay  every  year  tribute  of  gold  and  silk  ;  in  the  sequel  they 
became  subject  to  Ta  Shih  [Arabia]."  Kiu  T'ang  Shu,  translated 
by  Hirth,  I.e.,  pp.  55-6  ;  this  passage  has  been  mistranslated 
by  Pauthier  and  Bretschneider ;  cf.  Phillips,  China  Review, 
vii,   p.   412.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  49 

empire  every  year  3000  pieces  of  gold,  fifty  slaves,  and 
fifty  horses  ^. 

35.  In  a  later  work,  called  the  History  of  the  Barbarous 
Nations,  some  of  the  particulars  ascribed  to  Ta  Ts'in 
appear  to  belong  to  Syria  under  the  Ayubite  sultans,  but 
with  these  also  are  mixed  up  circumstances,  both  old  and 
new,  which  really  point  to  the  Roman  empire.  Thus  it 
is  said,  with  that  confusion  of  Christianity  with  Buddhism 
of  which  we  have  elsewhere  quoted  various  instances 
(Benedict  Goes,  infra)  : — "  On  the  recurrence  of  every 
seventh  day  people  assembled  from  all  directions  to  offer 
their  devotions  in  the  chapels,  and  to  adore  Fo." 

In  all  these  notices  we  see  much  that  is  analogous 
between  the  fragmentary  views  of  the  great  seats  of 
western  civilisation  under  the  names  of  Ta  Ts'in  and  Fu 
lin,  taken  in  the  Far  East,  and  those  of  the  great  eastern 
civilisation  under  the  names  of  Sinae  and  Seres  taken 
in  the  west.  In  both  we  see  the  same  uncertainty  in 
degree  as  to  exact  position,  the  same  application  of  facts 
belonging  to  the  nearer  skirts  of  the  half-seen  empire  as 
descriptive  of  the  whole  ;  and  in  that  isolated  chance 
record  in  the  Chinese  books  of  a  real  occurrence  in  the 
history  of  Byzantium  we  have  a  singular  parallel  to  the 


^  See  Niceph.  Patriarch.  Breviarium  Historic,  in  the  ist  volume 
of  the  Corpus  Byzant.  Histor.,  pp.  21—2 ;  also,  Theophanis  Chrono- 
graphia,  in  the  same  coll.,  p.  295,  and  Gibbon,  ch.  lii.  Pauthier 
seems  to  think  that  the  circumstances  are  passed  over  entirely 
by  Gibbon  and  other  modern  historians ;  but  this  is  a  mistake. 
Gibbon  does  not  name  the  Greek  envoy  ;  but  he  mentions  his 
going  to  Damascus,  and  the  result.  He  also  relates  how  the 
tribute  was  greatly  augmented  a  few  years  afterwards,  when  the 
Khalifate  was  in  difficulties  ;  but  finally  repudiated  by  the  Khalif 
Abdulmaliq  in  the  time  of  Justinian  II.  The  circumstances, 
with  the  name  of  the  Patrician,  are  also  detailed  in  St.  Martin's 
edition  of  Lebeau  {Hist,  du  Bas  Empire,  xi,  428).  Silk-stuffs 
are  not  mentioned  here  as  part  of  the  tribute  ;  but  "  gold  and 
silk-stuffs  "  do  frequently  appear  as  the  constituents  of  tribute 
exacted  in  the  early  Saracen  wars.  See  Gibbon,  ch.  li,  passim. 
I  believe  no  Mahomedan  writer  records  this  transaction. 

c.  Y.  c.  I.  4 


50  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

like  fragment  of  Chinese  history  which  had  been  picked 
up  and  entered  in  his  narrative  by  Theophylactus.  The 
form  given  in  the  Chinese  fragment  to  the  name  of  the 
Khahf  [Moawiyah]  is  nearly  the  same  as  that  [Maui) 
which  we  find  in  an  Armenian  writer  ^,  and  this  little  cir- 
cumstance may  possibly  indicate  the  people  who  furnished 
the  Chinese  annalists  with  some  of  their  scraps  of  know- 
ledge. 

36.  After  this  short  view  of  the  Chinese  ideas  of  the 
Roman  empire  we  may  return  to  Kan  Ying,  the  officer 
whom  General  Pan  Ch'ao  commissioned  at  the  end  of 
the  first  century^  to  open  communication  with  those 
western  regions,  whether  in  view  to  trade  or  to  conquest  ^. 
This  ofhcer  proceeded  to  take  ship,  it  would  seem  on  the 
Persian  Gulf  [in  T'iao  chi].  "  But  the  ship's  company 
said  to  him,  '  When  out  at  sea  a  multitude  of  things  will 
occur  to  make  you  sigh  for  what  you  have  left  behind. 
He  who  occupies  his  business  in  the  great  waters  is  liable 
to  regret  and  repentance  for  what  he  has  undertaken. 
If  the  envoy  of  the  Han  has  no  father,  no  mother,  no 
wife  or  children  to  pine  after,  then  let  him  go  to  sea — not 
otherwise."  They  also  represented  that  with  a  fair  wind 
it  would  take  two  *  months  at  least  to  cross  the  sea  to 
Ta  Ts'in,  and  if  the  wind  were  adverse  it  might  take  two 
years  to  make  the  return  voyage,  so  that  adventurers 

1  Michael  the  Syrian,  translated  by  Dulaurier  in  Journ.  Asiat., 
ser.  iv,  torn,  xiii,  p.  326. 

2  [Under  the  emperor  Ho,  the  9th  year  (97  a.d.)  yong  yuan.] 

3  Klaproth  says  that  Pan  Ch'ao  entertained  a  scheme  for 
invading  the  Roman  Empire,  but  that  the  general  to  whom  this 
was  confided  was  better  advised,  and  retraced  his  steps.  {Tabl. 
Hist,  de  I'Asie,  p.  67.)  The  extract,  however,  given  by  Pauthier 
from  the  Annals  of  the  Tsin,  as  cited  in  the  Encyclopaedia  of 
the  Emperor  K'ang  Hi  says  Kan  Ying  was  despatched  as  envoy. 
(Pauth.,  p.  38.)     Probably  he  was  sent  to  reconnoitre. 

^  [Chavannes  translates  three  months  from  the  Hau  Han  Shu  ; 
cf.  T'oung  pao,  May,  1907,  p.  178.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  5 1 

bound  for  Ta  Ts'in  were  accustomed  to  lay  in  stores  for 
three  years  ^.  Such  at  least  were  the  excuses  made  by 
the  chicken-hearted  Kan  Ying,  who  was  certainly  not  the 
man  to  conquer  the  Roman  empire  ;  he  therefore  thought 
better  of  it,  and  retraced  his  steps.  Hence  at  this  time 
no  contact  occurred  between  the  representatives  of  the 
two  great  seats  of  civilisation  ^. 

36  his.  [One  of  the  consequences  of  Chang  K'ien's 
voyage  and  the  search  for  a  road  southward  towards 
India,  was  the  conquest  of  the  country  of  the  Kiao  chi 
(Tong  King)  which  under  the  Anterior  Han  (b.c.  206- 
A.D.  24)  and  the  Posterior  Han  (a.d.  25-220)  was  annexed 
to  China  (b.c.  iii-a.d.  39  and  a.d.  42-186)  and  divided 
into  three  parts  :  Kiao  chi  (Ha-noi),  Kiu  chen  (Thanh  hoa?) 
and  Ji  nan  (Kwang  binh).  Tong  King  became  the 
terminus  of  the  sea  route  instead  of  Tiao  chi.  Canton 
took  the  place  of  Tong  King  after  some  hard  competition  ; 
the  pilgrim  Yi  Tsing  embarked  at  Canton.  When  Annam 
became  independent  in  968,  Tong  King  was  abandoned  by 
the  Chinese  and  Canton  remained  up  to  the  nineteenth 
century  the  great  emporium  of  China,  except  during  the 
Mongol  period  when  Zaitiin  seems  to  have  been  the  impor- 
tant trading  port  of  China.  However  from  the  second 
century  until  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  i.e.  before  the 
Tibetan  invasion,  the  Turkestan  route  was  taken  in 
preference.] 

37.  Sixty  years  later,  however  (a.d.  166),  in  the  reign 
of  Hwan  Ti  ^  of  the  Han,  an  embassy  came  to  the  court  of 
China  from  Antun,  king  of  Ta  Ts'in  (the  Emperor  M. 
Aurelius  ANTONinus).     This  mission  had  no  doubt  made 

1  This  may  have  referred  rather  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
provision  suited  to  Oriental  tastes.  Governor  Yeh,  when  a  captive 
bound  for  Fort  William,  laid  in  seven  years'  provision  of  eggs  ! 

*  Pauthier,  u.s.  ;    Remusat,  op.  cit.,  p.  123. 

^  [Ninth  year  yen-hi.'] 


52  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

the  voyage  by  sea,  for  it  entered  China  by  the  frontier  of 
Ji  nan  or  Tong  King,  bringing  presents  of  rhinoceros  horns, 
ivory,  and  tortoiseshell.  This  is  not  precisely  the  sort 
of  present  we  should  have  looked  for,  and  indeed  the 
Chinese  annals  say  that  it  was  believed  the  ambassadors 
had  purloined  the  rarer  objects  of  their  charge  ;  just  the 
accusation  that  was  brought  against  Friar  John  of 
Montecorvino  eleven  hundred  years  later.  It  seems  likely 
enough  that  they  had  lost  their  original  presents  by  ship- 
wreck or  robbery,  and  had  substituted  in  the  east  such 
trumpery  as  they  were  told  the  Chinese  set  a  value  upon. 
The  historians  also  observe  that  the  embassy  came  by 
this  southern  route,  and  not  by  the  northern  route,  which, 
it  is  implied,  they  might  have  followed  ;  a  route  which 
was  doubtless  debarred  to  them  by  Parthian  hostility^. 
[With  regard  to  this  embassy,  which  evidently  was 
not  sent  by  Marcus  Aurelius  and  was  headed  by  some 
Syrian  merchant,  we  shall  remark  that  the  same  route 
to  Kiao  chi  was  followed  in  159  and  161  a.d.  under  the 
same  emperor  Hwan  Ti  by  ambassadors  from  T'ien  tchu 
(India).      Already   in    120   a.d.    musicians   and   jugglers 


1  Klap.,  68-9  ;  Pauthier,  De  I'Auth.,  p.  32  ;  Id.,  Hist,  des  Rela- 
tions, etc.,  p.  20  ;  Deguignes  in  Mem.  de  I'Acad.,  xxxii,  358. 
Reinaud  supposes  that  Pausanias  may  have  got  his  information 
about  the  production  of  silk  from  the  members  of  this  embassy 
{supra,  p.  21).  ["The  sea  route  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to 
Rekem,  it  appears  from  what  we  may  gather,  was  the  principal 
channel  for  the  silk  trade  up  to  the  time  of  the  Parthian  war 
conducted  under  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus  by  Avidius  Cassius 
during  the  years  a.d.  162  to  165  ;  wheieas  the  bulk  of  oriental 
articles  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  further  treatment  (dyeing, 
embroidering,  re-weaving)  in  Phoenicia,  probably  went  to  Alex- 
andria, for  distribution  over  the  Roman  Empire.  It  is  probably 
not  an  accidental  coincidence  that  just  at  the  conclusion  of  this 
war,  which  terminated  with  the  capture  of  Seleucia  and  Ktesiphon 
by  the  Romans  in  a.d.  165,  a  mission  went  forward  from  Ta-ts'in 
by  sea  to  the  Far  East  which  arrived  at  the  court  of  China  in 
October,  a.d.  166.  Up  to  this  time  the  Parthians  had  monopolised 
the  trade  between  China  and  Ta-ts'in  as  we  learn  from  the  Hou 
Han-shu,  the  Wei  lio  and  other  records."    (Hirth,  I.e.,  pp.  173-4.)] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  53 

from  Ta  Ts'in  had  arrived  in  Burmah,  showing  that 
relations  by  sea  existed  between  the  Roman  Empire  and 
the  Far  East^.  The  first  relations  between  China  and 
Southern  and  Western  Asia  through  Burmah  took  place 
at  the  beginning  of  the  2nd  century  of  our  era,  when  king 
Yung-yau-tiao  was  reigning  in  the  country  of  Shan ; 
Yung  had  received  in  97  some  sort  of  imperial  investiture, 
and  he  was  the  prince  who  sent  the  Ta  Ts'in  jugglers  to 
China  in  120  ^.] 

About  the  same  time  [c.  164],  and  perhaps  by  means  of 
this  embassy,  the  Chinese  philosophers  were  made  ac- 
quainted with  a  treatise  on  astronomy,  which  had  been 
brought  from  Ta  Ts'in  ;  we  are  told  that  they  examined 
it,  and  compared  it  with  their  own  ^. 

38.  Some  intercourse  would  seem  to  have  been  kept 
up  after  this  of  which  no  precise  record  has  been  preserved. 
For  we  are  told  that  early  in  the  third  century  the  Sovereign 
of  Ta  Ts'in  sent  to  the  Emperor  T'ai  Tsu*,  of  the  Wei 
dynasty  which  reigned  in  Northern  China,  articles  of 
glass  of  a  variety  of  colours,  and  some  years  later  a  person 
who  had  the  art  of  "  changing  flints  into  crystal  by  means 
of  fire,"  a  secret  which  he  imparted  to  others,  and  by  which 
the  fame  of  the  people  of  the  west  was  greatly  enhanced 
in  China  ^. 

A  new  embassy  came  from  Ta  Ts'in  in  the  year  284, 
bringing  tribute,  as  the  presents  are  termed  on  this  occasion, 
with  the  usual  arrogant  formula  of  the  Chinese.     This 

^  [Chavannes,  Les  Pays  d'Occident  d'apres  le  Heou  Han  Chou, 
T'oung  pao,  May,  1907,  p.  185.] 

2  [Pelliot,  Deux  Itineraires,  p.  132.] 

^  Deguignes  in  Mem.  de  I' Acad.,  xlvi,  555. 

*  Ibid.  [There  is  something  wrong  in  this  passage  from  De- 
guignes as  there  is  no  T'ai  Tsu  of  the  Wei  dynasty.] 

^  Klaproth,  op.  cit.  Pauthier,  probably  by  an  alternative 
translation,  calls  the  presents  "  glasses  of  a  red  colour,  stuffs 
of  azure  silk  figured  with  gold,  and  the  like  "  (p.  49). 


54  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

must  have  been  despatched  by  the  Emperor  Carus  (282- 
283),  whose  short  reign  was  occupied  with  Persian  war^. 
A  long  suspension  of  intercourse  seems  to  have  followed, 
enduring  till  the  7th  century.  In  the  time  of  the  Sui 
the  Emperor  Yang  Ti  (605-617)  greatly  desired  to  open 
communication  with  Ta  Ts'in,  now  called  Fu  lin,  but  he 
could  not  succeed  in  his  object.  In  643  however,  during 
the  reign  of  T'ai  Tsung,  the  second  emperor  of  the 
T'ang  dynasty,  and  one  of  the  greatest  monarchs  in 
Chinese  history,  whose  power  was  acknowledged  south  of 
Hindu  Kush  and  westward  to  the  Caspian,  an  embassy 
came  from  Fu  lin  bringing  a  present  consisting  of  rubies, 
emeralds,  etc.  This  embassy  is  alleged  to  have  been  sent 
by  the  King  of  Fu  hn  called  Potoli  or  Pheitoli.  The 
emperor  deigned  to  address  a  gracious  and  conciliatory 
letter  in  reply  to  this  mission^.     Considering  that   the 

^  ["  During  the  T'ai-k'ang  period  of  the  emperor  Wu-ti 
(a.d.  280-290)  their  king  [Ta  Ts'in]  sent  an  envoy  to  offer  tribute."] 
Chin-shu,  tr.  by  F.  Hirth,  China  and  the  Roman  Orient,  p.  45. 

2  It  is  difficult  to  guess  who  is  meant  by  the  Wang  Pheitoli, 
who  sent  this  embassy.  Herachus  died  in  February  641  ;  his 
son  Constantine  three  months  later.  Heracleonas  was  then 
proclaimed  ;  but  speedily  displaced  by  Constans,  son  of  Con- 
stantine, at  the  age  of  eleven.  Klaproth  ascribes  this  embassy 
to  Theodorus,  the  brother  of  Heraclius,  whose  name  might  be 
represented  in  Chinese  as  Potoli.  'But  he  appears  to  have  been 
killed  in  638.  Pauthier  adopts  the  name,  but  applies  it  to  Pope 
Theodorus,  who  might  have  sent  this  embassy  to  China  after  his 
accession  to  the  Pontifical  throne  in  November  642  ;  a  desperately 
improbable  hypothesis.  May  not  Wang  Pheitoli  represent  the 
Prcstorian  Prefect  during  the  infancy  of  Constans  ?  St.  Martin 
thinks  the  name  represents  Valentine  Caesar,  whose  revolt  put 
Constans  on  the  throne.  (On  Lebeau's  Hist,  du  Bas  Empire, 
xi,  306.)  [With  regard  to  Potoli,  Hirth,  I.e.,  p.  294,  remarks  : 
"  The  old  pronunciation  of  this  name  was  probably  Bat-da-lik 
(the  modern  Cantonese  sound  is  Po-to-lik)  ;  and  this,  in  default 
of  any  prominent  personage  being  mentioned  under  a  similar 
name  in  that  period  of  the  history  of  Syria,  I  consider  as  the 
Chinese  form  of  Arabic  Bathric.  D'Herbelot  {Bibl.  Orient., 
vol.  i,  p.  380),  says  :  "Bathrik  et  Bathrirah,  dont  le  pluriel  est 
Batharekah,  signifie  en  Arabe,  Persien  et  Turc,  le  Patriarche  des 
Chretiens  de  chaque  Secte  et  de  chaque  figlise."  It  is  further 
stated  by  d'Herbelot  that,  at  the  council  of  Constantinople  held 
under  Theodosius  the  Great  in  a.d.  381,  the  rank  of  the  patriarchs, 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  55 

Musulmans  had  in  the  seven  preceding  years  wrested 
Syria  from  the  Roman  Empire  and  Persia  from  the 
Sassanian  kings  ;  that  Yezdegerd,  the  last  of  these  latter, 
had  sent  (as  we  shall  see  hereafter)  envoys  to  China  to 
seek  support,  and  that  the  suzerainty  of  T'ai  Tsung  was 
acknowledged  in  Farghanah,  Bactria,  and  a  part  at  least 
of  Afghanistan  and  Khorassan,  it  seems  not  improbable 
that  the  object  of  the  Byzantine  mission  also  was  to 
stir  up  a  Chinese  diversion  against  the  terrible  new 
enemy. 

39.  Another  embassy  from  Fu  lin,  mentioned  without 
particulars  under  the  year  711,  must  have  been  despatched 
under  Justinian  II,  who  was  slain  in  that  year.  In  719 
arrived  another  embassy  from  the  ruler  of  Fu  lin,  who  is 
termed  on  this  occasion,  not  king,  but  Yenthuholo, 
of  the  rank  of  Premier  Functionary  of  the  Empire,  bringing  '  ^ 
presents  of  lions  and  great  sheep  with  spiral  horns.     The  ''^^S 

emperor  at  this  time  was  Leo  the  Isaurian.  Possibly 
the  mission,  whatever  its  object,  may  have  been  despatched 
before  he  was  established  on  the  throne  (717)  •'■. 

the  spiritual  rulers  over  large  countries,  was  fixed,  and  that  the 
patriarch  of  Antioch  was  to  rank  fourth  amongst  five  {viz.,  those 
of  Rome,  Constantinople,  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem." 
J.  Ed  kins  writes  :  "  My  own  suggestion  in  regard  to  Pa-ta-lik 
is  that  it  was  the  title  of  the  Nestorian  patriarch.  .  .  .Dr.  Hirth 
introduces  the  Arabian  word  Bathrik  from  d'Herbelot  as  the 
medium  by  which  the  word  Patriarch  was  introduced  to  the 
Chinese.  But  the  Chinese  at  that  time  had  both  p  and  6  in  their 
syllabary,  and  so  had  the  Greeks,  and  of  course  the  Syrians  also. 
It  is  better  to  pronounce  pa  as  the  syllabic  spelling  requires." 
[Journ.  China  Br.  R.  As.  Soc,  xx,  1885,  p.  283.)  Chavannes 
thinks  that  Po-to-li  is  a  transcription  of  the  word  hasile^is.  Cf. 
T'oung  pao,  Dec.    1913,  p.   798.] 

^  Pauthier  translates  the  appellation  in  the  Chinese  record, 
"Patrice,  ou  chef  superieur  des  fonctionnaires  de  I' empire" 
(p.  50).  Leo  is  termed,  at  the  time  of  his  election  to  the  empire, 
Leo  the  Patrician  {Niceph.  Constant.,  p.  34).  I  suppose  the  name 
\iovTos  rov  'icraupov  might  become  in  Chinese  organs  something  like 
Yenthuholo. 

[From  the  Kiu  T'ang  shu  quoted  by  Hirth,  I.e.,  p.  295,  we 
gather  the  following  facts  : 


56  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

In  742  came,  bringing  presents,  another  mission  from 
Fu  lin,  but  this  time  composed  of  priests  oj  great  virtue  ^. 
Leo  (717-741)  was  still  reigning  when  this  party  must 
have  been  despatched  from  Byzantium,  if  from  Byzantium 
they  came.  But  we  shall  find  that  the  Christian  inscrip- 
tion of  Si-ngan  fu  records  the  arrival  in  744  of  a  priest  of 
Ta  Ts'in,  Kiho  by  name,  who,  "  observing  the  stars  and 
the  sun,  came  to  the  court  to  present  his  respects  to  the 
august  emperor."  Kiho  is  immediately  afterwards  styled 
"  Of  great  virtue."  Probably  therefore  the  same  event  is 
alluded  to,  and  it  may  appertain  rather  to  the  missions  of 
the  Nestorian  Church  than  to  the  political  relations  of  the 
Eastern  Empire  with  China. 

40.  Another  long  interval  then  occurs  ;  the  Maho- 
medan  power  now  forming  a  wide  and  dense  barrier 
between  the  Empires.  But  in  108 1,  during  the  reign  of 
Chen  Tsung  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  whose  capital  seems  to 
have  been  still  at  Ka'i-fung  fu,  an  embassy  arrives  from 
Fu  lin,  despatched  by  the  King  Mili-i-ling  (or  Mikialing) 
Kaisa.  This  is  supposed  by  Klaproth  and  Pauthier  to 
indicate  the  Emperor  Michael  Ducas,  who,  indeed,  was 
compelled  to  resign  the  purple  some  three  years  before 
(1078),  but  whose  envoys,  in  the  uncertainties  of  Asiatic 
travel,  might  have  been  detained  long  upon  the  way^. 

1.  The  emperor  Yang-ti  wishes  to  communicate  with  Fu  lin 
A.D.    605-617. 

2.  An  embassy  is  sent  to  China  in  a.d.  643. 

3.  The  capital  of  Fu  lin  is  besieged  by  the  Arabs,  and  finally 
submits  to  Arab  rule. 

4.  An  embassy  is  sent  to  China  in  a.d.  667. 
5*     An  embassy  is  sent  in  a.d.  701. 

6.     An  embassy  is  sent  in  a.d.  719.] 

^  Klap.,  p.  70  ;  Pauthier,  pp.  32,  50.  The  extract  in  the  last 
reference  appears  to  mix  up  the  missions  of  719  and  742. 

^  The  name  of  the  Byzantine  Cajsar  appears  to  be  read  by 
Pauthier  himself,  as  it  has  been  by  Deguignes,  Mi-li-iling. 
Klaproth  makes  it  Mikialing,  but  probably  with  some  forcing, 
as  Pauthier,  though  adopting  this  reading  in  a  later  work,  says 
"  Mikia-i-ling    comme    Klaproth    a   cru   pouvoir   lire."     (Klap., 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  57 

Another  mission  is  mentioned  without  particulars  in 
the  year  1091,  which  would  fall  in  the  reign  of  iVlexius  I 
Comnenus.  And  the  last  distinct  record  of  a  communi- 
cation from  the  Byzantine  Empire  is  found  in  1371  under 
Hong  Wu  of  the  Ming  dynasty,  a  few  years  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  House  of  Chinghiz,  when  there  came  to 
the  court  an  envoy  from  Fu  lin  called  Kumin  Nikulun. 
This  person  received  presents,  and  an  imperial  letter  in 
reply  to  the"  requests  which  he  had  submitted^.  Other 
envoys  from  this  country,  it  is  vaguely  added,  came  with 
tribute.  I  cannot  throw  any  light  upon  the  identity  of 
this  Nicholas  Comanus,  or  whatever  his  name  was. 

II*.     COMMUNICATION   WITH    CENTRAL    ASIA. 

[We  have  already  seen  what  were  the  conquests  of 
General  Pan  Ch'ao  in  Central  Asia. 

The  decline  of  the  Chinese  power  in  Central  Asia  dates 
from  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  of  our  era  under 
the  emperor  Ngan  Ti  (a.d.  107-125)  of  the  Posterior  Han. 

p.  70  ;  Deguignes,  i,  67;  Pauthier,  De  I'Auth.,  p.  33;  Do.,  Hist, 
des  Relations,  etc.,  p.  22.)  If  Michael  be  not  accepted,  I  suppose 
the  name  of  the  competitor  for  the  empire,  Bryennius  Ccesar, 
would  be  the  only  alternative  ;  but  why  either  should  have  sent 
a  mission  to  China  I  cannot  venture  to  suggest.  [Hirth  thinks 
that  Mi-li-i-ling  Kai-sa  must  be  the  title  of  a  Seldjuk  under- 
king;  it  stands  "for  the  words  'Melek-i-Rum  Kaisar,'  i.e.,  'under- 
king  of  Rum  and  Caesar.'  King  of  Rum  was,  indeed,  the  title  of 
Soliman,  whose  residence  was  at  Iconium  in  Asia  Minor."  L.c, 
p.  300.] 

^  Pauth. ,  5 1 .  This  is  cited  from  the  Supplement  to  the  Literary 
Encyclopaedia  of  Ma  Twan-lin.  The  Great  Imperial  Geography, 
also  quoted  by  Pauthier  (p.  54),  gives  a  somewhat  different  account. 
"  Towards  the  end  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Yuen  (a  parenthesis 
says  in  1341,  but  the  fall  of  the  Yuen  was  in  1368)  a  man  of  Fu  lin 
named  Nikulun  came  for  purposes  of  trade  to  the  middle  kingdom. 
In  the  fourth  year  of  Hung  Wu  of  the  Ming  this  merchant  of  Ta- 
Ts'in  was  invited  to  appear  at  court.  The  emperor  ordered 
presents  to  be  made  to  him,  and  an  imperial  letter  was  entrusted 
to  him  to  be  delivered  to  his  king  when  he  should  return  to  his 
own  country,  and  relate  what  he  had  witnessed.  In  consequence 
of  this  an  embassy  came  to  China  with  tribute."  [On  Nikillun, 
see  Cathay,  iii,  p.  12  w.] 


58  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

During  the  third  century,  the  emperor  Wu  Ti  (265-290), 
of  the  Western  Tsin,  had  once  more  secured  the  unity  of 
China,  which  had  been  divided  into  three  kingdoms  during 
the  San  kwo  chi  period  ;  he  tried  to  re-estabUsh  Chinese 
influence  in  the  valley  of  the  Tarim  and  built  adjoining 
the  old  Great  Wall  another  wall  with  watch-towers 
beyond  Su  chau. 

During  the  First  Han  there  were  four  routes  to  the 
west ;  (i)  Tun  hwang,  south  of  Lob  Nor,  Charchan  and 
Khotan  ;  (2)  Tun  hwang,  north  of  Lob  Nor,  Kurla  south 
of  Karashahr,  Kucha,  Aqsu  ;  (3)  Hami,  Turfan,  Kucha, 
where  it  met  the  second  route  ;  (4)  Hami,  towards  lake 
Barkul  and  the  northern  slopes  of  the  T'ien  Shan. 
■  The  great  power  of  Central  Asia  from  the  first  half  of 
the  sixth  century  to  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century 
were  the  Western  Tu  Kiue  (Turks). 

The  Turks  or  Tu  Kiue  were  subject  to  the  Juan  Juan 
during  the  first  half  of  the  sixth  century  of  our  era.  In  546, 
the  Tolos,  of  whom  the  Uighiirs  were  a  branch,  attacked 
the  Juan  Juan  but  were  defeated  by  the  Tu  Kiue  ;  the 
Juan  Juan  having  refused  to  reward  the  victorious  party, 
the  chief  of  the  Tu  Kiue,  T'u  men  (Bu  min),  son  of  the  great 
jabgu  T'u  Wu,  turned  against  his  lord  who  was  crushed 
in  552.  The  Turks  were  divided  into  two  branches  :  the 
Northern,  Eastern  or  Orkhon  Branch  and  the  Western 
Branch  ;  the  two  branches  were  distinct  from  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century,  but  their  political  separation  due 
to  the  intrigues  of  the  Chinese  dates  from  582.  The 
chief  of  the  Northern  Turks  bore  the  title  of  qagan  while 
the  head  of  the  Western  Turks  or  Turks  of  the  Ten  Tribes 
was  the  jabgu.  T'u-men's  brother,  Shc-tie-mi  (Istami), 
is  the  ancestor  of  the  Western  Tu  Kiue.  After  the  down- 
fall of  the  Juan  Juan,  the  Turks  became  the  neighbours 
of  the  HephthaUtes  who  were  the  enemies  of  the  Persians. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  59 

Khosru  Naoshirwan,  taking  advantage  of  the  disaster 
that  had  befallen  the  Juan  Juan,  made  an  alliance  with 
the  conqueror  and  married  the  daughter  of  the  qagan 
She-tie-mi  (Dizabul,  Silzibul)  ;  the  Hephthalites  were 
subjugated  between  563  and  567  and  the  Oxus  became 
the  boundary  between  the  Turks  and  the  Persians ; 
later  on,  availing  themselves  of  the  weakness  of  the 
Sassanids,  the  Turks  annexed  the  whole  of  the  possessions 
of  the  Hephthalites.  The  agreement  between  Turk  and 
Persian  did  not  last  long.  The  Sogdians,  who  were  the 
chief  intermediaries  in  the  silk  trade  and  had  passed  from 
the  rule  of  the  Hephthalites  to  that  of  the  Turks,  with  the 
help  of  their  new  lords,  wished  to  push  their  trade  into 
Persia  and,  being  unsuccessful  there,  they  sent — with  the 
approval  of  the  Turks — an  embassy  to  Justin  H,  at 
Byzantium,  hoping  to  find  in  the  Roman  Empire  a  market 
for  their  trade.  The  intrigues  of  the  Turks  brought  on 
a  war  between  the  Romans  and  the  Sassanids  (571-590) 
which  weakened  the  two  countries,  now  unable  to  stand 
against  the  rising  power  of  the  Arabs  whose  victory  at 
Yarmuk  (20th  August  636)  gave  them  Syria.  The  Arabs 
then  turned  against  the  Persians  and  their  king  Yezdi- 
jerd.  The  decline  of  the  Turks  began  about  630.  The 
T'ang  Emperor,  T'ai  Tsung,  having  defeated  the  Northern 
Turks,  had  now  his  hands  free  and  turned  against  the 
Western  Turks.  The  Chinese  allied  themselves  with  the 
Uighiirs,  and  finally  the  Tu  Kiue  were  subjugated  in  659  ^. 
The  Karluk  {Ko  lo  lu)  seem  to  have  taken  the  place  in 
political  importance  of  the  Western  Tu  Kiue  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighth  century  ;  originally  they  were  but  one  of  the 
clans  of  the  Tu  Kiue,  living  to  the  N.W.  of  Pei  t'ing  across 
the  Black  Irtysh  (Pu  ku  chen).  They  apparently  were 
the  ancestors  of  the  Boghra  Khan  dynasty  established  at 

1  [Ed.  Chavannes,  Doc.  sur  les  Tou  kiue  (Turcs)  occidentaux.} 


60  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Balacacaghun  (Balasaghun)  ^.  The  Boghra  Khans  (Ilak 
Khans)  in  the  eighth  century  were  the  dominant  power  in 
Semiriechie  and  Kashgar,  though  these  countries  were 
then  in  the  hands  of  the  Tu  Kiue.  Afragiab  is  supposed 
to  be  their  ancestor.  Probably  on  the  suggestion  of  the 
Sassanids,  in  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century,  Satok 
Boghra  Khan  who  was  reigning  over  the  country  from 
Issik-kul  to  Kashgar  (Urdukand)  embraced  Islam  and 
captured  Bokhara  ;  his  capital  was  Kashgar,  but  after 
his  death  in  993,  it  was  transferred  to  Balasaghiin  and 
his  descendants  took  the  title  of  Ilak  Khan  ;  the  last  of 
them  was  killed  by  Mohamed  Khwariszm  Shah  who  was 
himself  defeated  by  Chinghiz  Khan  ^. 

The  Boghra  Khans  were  the  allies  of  the  Tibetans, 
but  when  these  lost  their  power,  the  Khans  were  at  the 
mercy  of  their  enemies  the  Uighiirs.  To  the  causes  of  the 
decline  of  Chinese  influence  in  Central  Asia  must  be  added 
the  enterprise  of  the  Tibetans.  Under  the  Han,  the  tribes 
scattered  throughout  Tibet  were  known  as  the  Ki'ang  ; 
under  the  T'ang  and  the  Sung  it  was  called  T'ufan=  T'u  po 
=  T'u  bod  ;  the  Leao  called  it  T'u  po  t'e.  The  historical 
period  of  Tibet  begins  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  a.d. 
when  the  first  king,  Lunt  sang,  made  inroads  to  India. 
Srong  btsan  sgam  po,  Lunt  sang's  son,  married  Bribtsun, 
daughter  of  Anguvarman,  sovereign  of  Nepal  in  639,  and 

^  [The  exact  site  of  Balasaghun  in  Central  Asia  is  not  known ; 
Grenard  thinks  it  is  Tokmak  ;  Barthold  says  it  must  be  looked 
for  in  the  Russian  territory  of  Semiriechie,  probably  on  the  Chu, 
where  many  ruins  are  seen  to-day ;  astronomical  calculations 
would  seem  to  show  that  B.  was  situated  to  the  N.W.  of  Awliya- 
Ata,  formerly  Taraz  on  the  Talas  river  ;  in  the  year  1218,  B.  was 
captured  without  any  resistance  by  Jebe  Noyon,  one  of  the  generals 
of  Chinghiz  Khan,  and  the  Mongols  gave  it  the  name  of  Ghubaliq  ; 
it  was  in  ruins  in  the  fourteenth  century.  (Grenard,  La  legende 
de  Satok  Boghra  Khan,  J .  As.,  Jan.-Fev.  1900  ;  V.  Bartold, 
Encyclop.   de   I'lslam.)] 

2  [Elias-Ross,  Tarikh-i-Rashidi,  p.  287  n.  ;  Bretschneider, 
Med.  Res.,  i,  pp.  252-3. J 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  6l 

in  641  the  princess  of  Wen  ch'eng,  daughter  of  the  Chinese 
Emperor  T'ai  Tsung,  whose  court  he  had  visited  in  634  ; 
under  their  influence  he  introduced  Buddhism  into  his 
states,  and  founded  in  639  Lha  dan  (Lhasa) ;  the  power  of 
the  Tibetans  increased  yearly.  In  663  they  conquered  Ku 
ku  nor  from  the  T'u  yu  huen,  of  Sienpi  race  ;  for  the  first 
time  they  took  in  the  first  year,  4th  month  of  the  period 
Hien  Heng  (670),  the  Four  Garrisons  of  the  Protectorate 
of  Ngan-si,  and  they  took  possession  of  Kashgaria  (670- 
692),  thus  cutting  the  road  of  the  Chinese  to  the  West. 

The  destruction  by  the  Chinese  (658-659)  of  the  Empire 
of  the  Western  Tu  Kiue  had  extended  the  power  of  the 
Son  of  Heaven  beyond  the  Oxus,  to  the  Indus  ;  it  is 
the  epoch  of  its  greatest  extension  towards  the  West, 
but  internal  difficulties  during  the  reign  of  the  Empress 
Wu  Hau,  the  conquests  of  the  Arabs,  and  the  occupation 
of  Kashgar  by  the  Tibetans,  closed  the  road  of  the  Pamir 
to  the  invader  from  the  East,  and  rendered  illusory  the 
domination  of  China  in  these  distant  countries,  notwith- 
standing the  victorious  expedition  led  in  747  by  general 
Kao  Sien-chi  beyond  the  Pamir,  through  the  Baroghil  and 
Darkot  passes  to  Gilgit,  to  stop  the  advance  of  the 
Tibetans. 

Being  the  allies  of  the  Arabs,  whom  they  supported  in 
the  valley  of  the  Jaxartes;  the  Tibetans  in  return  received 
their  help  in  Kashgaria.  Thej^  dominated  in  Kan  Su,  Sze 
chw'an,  Yun  Nan  and  penetrated  even  into  Ch'ang  ngan, 
the  capital  of  the  T'ang  Emperors.  Taking  advantage  of 
the  struggle  of  the  Chinese  and  of  the  Tibetans,  P'i-lo-ko, 
in  the  eighth  century,  founded  the  kingdom  of  Nan  chao 
with  Ta-li  as  its  capital ;  the  new  kingdom  declined  after 
the  ninth  century  ;  the  Chinese  were  too  busy  elsewhere 
to  look  after  it,  but  in  1253  the  Mongols  subjugated  the 
kingdom  of  Ta-li  which  had  replaced  Nan  chao. 


62  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

In  692,  the  Chinese  retook  their  Four  Garrisons 
(Karashahr,  Kucha,  Kashgar,  Khotan)  of  Central  Asia. 
"  During  the  reign  T'cheng  yuen,  785-804  a.d.,  the  black- 
coated  Ta  shi  began  a  war  with  T'u  fan  (Tibet),  and  the 
Tibetans  were  obliged  every  year  to  send  an  army  against 
the  Ta  shi.  On  this  account  the  Chinese  frontier  enjoyed 
more  peace  ^."  The  two  most  ancient  historical  edicts  of 
Tibet  have  been  found  by  Dr.  L.  A.  Waddell  upon  a  lofty 
pillar  of  victory  which  stands  at  the  foot  of  Potala  Hill, 
under  the  castles  of  the  ancient  kings,  now  incorporated 
in  the  palace  of  the  Dalai  lama  ;  they  date  between 
A.D.  730  and  763,  are  the  earliest  documents  hitherto 
discovered,  and  throw  a  side-light  on  the  ancient  history 
and  geography  of  China.  The  eighth  century  is  the 
culminating  point  of  Tibetan  power,  which  was  destroyed 
when  the  Uighiirs  became  the  masters  of  the  whole  country 
between  Pei  t'ing  and  Aqsu. 

The  Uighiirs  were  of  Turkish  race  ;  their  ancestor 
was  a  descendant  of  the  Hiong  nu  ;  at  the  time  of  the 
Posterior  Wei,  they  were  called  T'iele  (Tolos)  and  were 
subject  to  the  Tu  Kiue  ;  they  lived  on  the  banks  of  the 
Selenga  ;  in  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century  their  chief 
P'u  sa  rebelled  against  the  northern  Tu  Kiue,  defeated 
their  chief  Hie-li  qagan,  and  in  646  they  sent  an  embassy 
to  China.  Under  T'ai  Tsung,  the  Uighiir  tribe  became  the 
Han  hai  Prefecture,  and  the  chief  T'u  mi  tu  was  appointed 
commander  of  the  region.  Their  power  went  on  increasing 
from  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  ;  at  first  they 
were  called  by  the  Chinese  Hwei  ho  and  later  Hwei  hu 
and  Wei  wu  eul ;  the  Tibetans  appear  to  have  named  them 
Dru  gu. 

The  expansion  of  the  religion  of  Mo-ni  (Mani),  Mani- 
chaeism,  is  intimately  connected  with  the  history  of  the 
^  From  the  History  of  the  T'ang  (Bretschneider,  Arabs,  p.  10). 


PRELIMINARY    ESSAY  63 

Uighiirs  ;  the  discovery  of  documents  made  in  Central 
Asia  and  at  Tun  hwang  by  Stein,  Griinwedel,  von  Le  Coq, 
Pelliot,  and  the  researches  of  F.  W.  K.  Miiller,  have  thrown 
new  and  unexpected  hght  on  Manichseism,  its  dogma  and  its 
art,  beUeved  to  be  lost ;  the  pictures  on  stone  brought  to 
Berlin  by  von  Le  Coq  give  a  high  idea  of  this  art.  Though 
the  contemporary  Chinese  savant  Tsiang  Fu  is  of  opinion 
that  Manichseism  was  introduced  into  China  as  early  as 
the  time  of  the  Northern  Chau  (a.d.  558-581)  and  of  the 
Sui  (a.d.  581-618)  dynasties,  it  appears  that  its  first 
pilgrim  came  to  China  from  Ta  Ts'in  only  in  694  ;  Mani- 
chaeism  seems  to  have  been  mentioned  for  the  first  time 
in  Chinese  books  by  Hiuen  Tsang  in  his  Memoirs  (seventh 
century)  ;  a  Manichaean  astronomer  arrived  in  China  in 
719  ;  Manichseism  had  henceforth  a  great  deal  of  influence 
on  Chinese  astronomy.  However  an  imperial  edict  of 
HiuanTsung  in  732  declared  the  religion  of  Mo-ni  a  perverse 
doctrine  taking  falsely  the  name  of  Buddhism.  Circum- 
stances soon  allowed  Manichaeism  to  take  a  more  important 
place.  The  emperor  Hiuan  Tsung,  who  had  chastised  the 
Uighiirs  guilty  of  murdering  the  commander  of  Liang  chau 
(713-714)  and  stopped  the  traffic  on  the  road  to  Ngan-si, 
died  on  the  3rd  May,  762 ;  his  successor  Su  Tsung  mounted 
the  throne  on  the  i6th  May  following  ;  troubles  arose, 
and  during  the  rebellion  which  ensued,  the  Uighiirs 
entered  Lo  Yang  on  the  20th  Nov.  762,  pillaged  it  and 
left  it  in  November  763.  At  Lo  Yang  the  Uighiir  qagan, 
having  met  some  Manichaeans,  was  converted  to  their 
faith  and  when  he  left  this  capital  he  took  with  him  four 
of  their  priests.  In  768  and  771  the  Uighiirs  of  the 
Manichaean  faith  were  ordered  to  build  temples  called 
Ta  yun  kwang  ming.  We  note  that  some  Manichaeans 
were  among  the  members  of  the  Uighiir  embassy  sent  to 
China  in  806.     But  the  influence  of  Manichaeism  declined 


64  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

with  the  power  of  the  Uighiirs.  In  840  the  Kirghiz,  who 
claimed  to  be  originally  descended  from  the  Chinese 
general  Li  Ling  captured  by  the  Hiong  nu  in  99  B.C., 
took  the  Orkhon  capital  of  the  Uighiirs  and  killed  the 
qagan.  The  Uighiirs  were  scattered  to  the  south  and 
to  the  south-west  towards  Turfan  and  Karashahr  and  to 
the  west  towards  Kucha ;  however  thirteen  Uighiir 
tribes  elected  in  841  Wu-kiai  as  their  qagan ;  Wu-kiai 
led  a  wandering  life,  and  finally  was  killed  in  847  in  the 
Altai.  After  the  fall  of  the  Uighiirs,  the  property  of  the 
Manichseans  was  confiscated  and  their  temples  were 
closed.  The  remaining  Uighiirs  settled  at  Kan  chau, 
in  Kan  Su,  and  at  Kao  ch'ang,  east  of  Turfan.  Their 
religion  lasted  in  Chinese  Turkestan  until  the  thirteenth 
century  ;  in  China  proper  it  was  concealed  under  the 
cover  of  Buddhism  and  Taoism  till  it  disappeared  finally  ^. 
The  capitals  of  the  Uighiirs  were  Kao  ch'ang,  Khotcho 
or  Idiqut  Shahri,  near  Turfan,  and  Kara  Balgasiin  ^  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Orkhon.  An  inscription  in  Chinese, 
Turki  and  Sogdian  found  at  Kara  Balgasiin,  devoted  to 
the  qagan  who  died  in  821,  throws  a  good  deal  of  light 
on  Manichseism^.  The  Uighiir  writing,  from  which  is 
derived  the  Manchu  script,  is  itself  derived  probably  from 
the  Sogdian  and  not  from  the  Estranghelo,  its  parent 
writing.] 

III.     COMMUNICATION    WITH    INDIA. 

41.  We  have  seen,  in  the  early  part  of  this  Essay, 
that  reason  exists  for  believing  in  very  early  intercourse 

^  [Bretschneider,  Mediaeval  Res.,  i,  pp.  236  seq. ;  Chavannes, 
Tu  Kiue,  pass. ;  Chavannes  et  Pelliot,  Un  traite  manicheen  retrouve 
en  Chine,  J .  As.,  ii,  1912  ;    i,  1913.] 

2  [A  plan  of  this  city  has  been  given  by  Radloff  in  his  Atlas 
der  AlterthiXmey  der  Mongolei,   1892-6.] 

^  [See  the  bibliography  in  Bibliotheca  Sinica,  col.  2732-3.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  65 

between  India  and  China  ;  but  the  Chinese  annals  appear 
to  have  lost  all  sight  of  this,  for  their  first  mention  and 
knowledge  of  India  is  referred  to  B.C.  122,  when  Chang 
k'ien,  returning  from  his  adventurous  expedition  to  Bac- 
triana,  brought  back  intelligence  about  various  regions 
in  the  West,  When  in  that  country  he  observed  among 
the  articles  exposed  for  sale  certain  canes,  which  struck 
him  as  being  like  those  grown  in  the  mountains  of  Kiong 
shan,  and  cloths  also  which  he  recognised  as  the  production 
of  the  country  of  Shu,  i.e.  Ch'eng  tu  fu  in  Sze  ch'wan. 
On  inquiry  he  was  told  that  these  articles  had  been  pur- 
chased by  merchants  in  the  country  of  Shen  tu,  otherwise 
called  T'lEN  chu  (Sind  or  India).  This  country  lay  some 
thousand  li  to  the  south-east  of  Ta  Hia  or  Bactriana,  and 
from  all  that  he  could  gather  could  not  be  far  distant  from 
the  province  of  Sze  ch'wan,  which  accounted  for  the 
importation  of  the  articles  which  he  had  seen  for  sale. 
There  were  three  roads  by  which  Shen  tu  might  be  reached 
from  China  ;  one,  leading  by  the  Kiang,  very  dangerous 
and  difficult  ;  a  second  by  the  north  and  through  the 
lands  of  the  Hiong  Nu,  who  would  certainly  obstruct 
attempts  at  communication  ;  and  a  third,  which  would 
be  the  safest,  by  Sze  ch'wan.  The  emperor,  pleased  with 
the  hope  of  adding  to  the  list  of  his  tributaries  in  those 
western  countries,  sent  Chang  k'ien  to  attempt  to  enter 
India  by  the  way  of  Kien  wei  (Siu  chau  f u  in  Sze  ch'wan) , 
and  others  by  different  roads.  Indeed  some  ten  attempts  in 
all  were  made,  but  they  were  all  as  unsuccessful  as  Colonel 
Sard's  late  attempt  to  follow  in  the  steps  of  Chang  k'ien^. 

1  See  De  Mailla  (I  can  only  refer  to  the  Italian  translation, 
vol.  vii)  ;  Julien  in  /.  As.,  ser.  iv,  torn,  x,  91-2  ;  Deguignes  in 
Mem.  de  I'Acad.,  xxxii,  358.  The  Italian  translation  of  De  Mailla 
is  a  curiosity.  The  editor,  finding  that  the  Chinese  names  were 
distasteful  to  the  readers  of  his  earlier  volumes,  changes  them 
all  into  a  more  pleasing  form.  Thus  Kublai  figures  as  Vobalio, 
Wang  Khan  as  Govannio,  Ilchiktai  as  Chitalio.  [See  the  title  of 
this  translation   in  H.  Cordier's  Bibliotheca  Sinica,  col.  586-7.] 

C.  Y.  C.    I.  S 


66  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

42.  In  the  succeeding  century,  however,  relations 
must  have  been  opened,  for  in  a.d.  65  the  Emperor  Ming 
Ti,  in  consequence  of  a  dream,  sent  ambassadors  to 
T'ien  chu  to  obtain  instruction  in  the  doctrines  of  Buddha, 
and  to  bring  back  images  of  him,  a  step  which  brought 
upon  that  emperor's  memory  the  execrations  of  the  ortho- 
dox Confucian  literati,  and  which  led  to  very  peculiar 
relations  between  the  two  countries  for  many  centuries^. 

Under  the  Emperor  Ho  Ti  (a.d.  89-105)  Indian 
sovereigns  several  times  sent  tribute  (presents)  to  the 
court  of  China,  and  again  in  159  under  Hwan  Ti,  the  same 
emperor  that  received  the  mission  supposed  to  have  come 
from  Marcus  Aurelius. 

43.  Throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  third  and 
fourth  centuries  political  intercourse  between  India  and 
China  seems  to  have  been  interrupted^,  though  it  may 

1  [The  authenticity  of  this  story  is  very  doubtful.  From 
the  study  of  some  newly  discovered  texts,  it  appears  that  Buddhism 
was  introduced  into  China  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  that  at  the  very  time  the  two  bonzes  are  supposed  to  have 
been  brought  back  from  India  by  Ming  Ti's  envoys,  some  Buddhist 
monks  and  laymen  were  living  in  China  with  a  brother  of  the 
Emperor.  Prof.  Henri  Maspero,  of  Hanoi,  who  made  a  careful 
study  of  the  texts,  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  traditionary 
history  of  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  in  China  is  based  entirely 
on  some  pious  legends  of  the  second  century.  H.  Maspero, 
Le  songe  et  l' amhassade  de  Vempeveuv  Ming,  Bui.  Ecole  Ext.  Orient., 
Jany.-March,  1910,  pp.  95-130.  In  b.c.  2  the  king  of  the  Yue 
chi  was  a  fervent  Buddhist  and  tried  to  develop  his  religion  in 
China ;  it  is  probably  from  him  and  through  the  ambassadors 
of  Ngai  Ti  that  the  Chinese  knew  Buddhism.] 

^  [Chavannes  has  given  as  an  appendix  to  his  translation  of 
Sung  Yun  [Bui.  Ecole  frang.  Ext.  Orient.,  July— Sept.,  1903)  a  list 
of  various  works  relating  to  India  published  in  China  before  the 
time  of  the  T'ang.  According  to  the  Leang  Shu,  during  the  Period 
of  the  Three  Kingdoms,  a  sovereign  of  Wu  (a.d.  222-280)  sent 
in  the  middle  of  the  third  century  K'ang  Tai  and  Chu  Ying  as 
ambassadors  to  Fan  Siun,  king  of  Fu  Nan  (Cambodia)  ;  they 
learned  that  some  years  previously,  Fan  Shan,  king  of  Fu  Nan, 
had  sent  a  mission  to  Central  India  whose  sovereign  sent  back 
with  them  a  certain  Ch'en  sung  who  was  seen  by  K'ang  Tai,  to 
whom  he  gave  some  information  on  India  recorded  in  the  Leang 
Shu.]  ["  At  the  time  of  the  Wei  and  Tsin  (220-419)  the  relations 
between  China  and  India  were  interrupted,  and  they  were  not 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  67 

be  gathered  from  the  history  of  Fa  Hian's  travels  that  a 
sea-trade  between  China  and  India  existed  at  the  end  of 
the  latter  century,  as  it  probably  had  done  for  some  time 
previously.  Its  commencement,  however,  perhaps  does 
nat  ascend  beyond  the  early  years  of  the  Eastern  Tsin 
(residing  at  Nan  king,  317-420)  as  the  first  intercourse 
between  China  and  Ceylon  is  ascribed  to  their  time. 
Ceylon  was  famed  for  its  figures  of  Buddha,  and  these 
often  were  sent  as  presents  to  the  Chinese  court.  The  first 
embassy  from  Ceylon  arrived  in  405^,  having  come  ap- 
parently overland,  as  it  was  ten  years  upon  the  road.  It 
brought  a  Jade  image  of  Buddha,  exquisite  in  material 
and  workmanship.  In  the  course  of  the  same  century 
came  four  more  Singhalese  embassies;  one  in  428,  when 
the  King  Chacha  Mohonoan  (Raja  Mahanaama,  reigned 
410-432)  sent  an  address  to  the  emperor,  together  with 
a  model  of  the  shrine  of  the  Sacred  Tooth  ;  one  in  430, 
one  in  435,  and  a  fourth  in  456,  composed  of  five  priests, 
of  whom  one  was  Nante,  a  famous  sculptor,  and  who 
brought  a  threefold  image  of  Buddha.  During  the  sixth 
century  the  kings  of  Ceylon  acknowledged  themselves 
vassals  of  China,  and  in  515  Kumara  Das,  on  succeeding 
to  the  throne,  sent  an  envoy  to  China  to  announce  the 
event,  and  who  reported  that  the  king  had  been  desirous 
to  go  himself,  but  was  afraid  of  the  sea.  Embassies  are 
also  recorded  under  the  years  523,  527,  531^. 

resumed  for  a  long  time."  Pien-yi-tien,  quoted  by  Sylvain  Levi, 
Melanges  Charles  de  Harlez,  p.   176.] 

1  [The  first  embassy  from.  Ceylon  came  to  China  under  the  reign 
of  Hiao  Wu-ti  (373-396)  of  the  Tsin.  With  regard  to  the  embassy 
of  428  sent  by  King  Ts'a-li  Mo-ho-nan  (Ksatriya  Mahanaman], 
see  S.  Levi,  Wang  Hiuen-t'se,  p.  413. — According  to  the  Mahd- 
vamsa,  Mahanaman  reigned  from  412  to  434  ;  during  his  reign 
Buddhagosa  came  from  Magadha  to  Ceylon.] 

2  Tennent's  Ceylon,  2nd  ed.,  i,  590-1 ;  596.  Sir  Emerson 
Tennent  was  supplied  with  unpublished  translations  of  extracts 
from  Chinese  authors  for  his  work.  The  authorities  are  given 
by    him. 

5—2 


68  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

44.  In  428  also  the  King  of  Kapila  (the  birth-place 
of  Buddha  in  the  present  district  of  Gorahkpur)  by  name 
Yuei-ai  or  "  Loved  of  the  Moon,"  i.e.  Chandragupta,  sent 
an  ambassador  carrying  a  diamond  ring,  a  gold  bracelet, 
red  and  white  parrots,  etc.,  to  the  Emperor  Wu  Ti.  In 
466  came  another  mission  from  the  same  court,  and  again 
in  500-504  bringing  a  trained  horse. 

In  441,  455,  466,  and  473  other  Buddhist  kingdoms  in 
or  adjoining  India  sent  tribute.  In  502  Kioto  (or  Gupta), 
a  king  of  India,  sent  one  Chulota  to  present  to  the  emperor 
a  letter,  a  spittoon  of  lapis-lazuli,  perfumes,  cotton-stuffs, 
etc.  This  king's  territory  adjoined  the  great  river 
Sinthao  (Indus)  with  its  five  branches.  Rock-salt  like 
crystal,  it  is  observed,  is  found  there^. 

In  605  Yang  Ti  of  the  Sui  dynasty,  the  same  whose 
desire  had  been  to  open  relations  with  the  Roman  empire, 
having  formed  some  ambitious  projects,  sent  to  try  and 
induce  the  kingdoms  of  Tibet  and  India  to  render  him 
homage,  but  those  of  India  refused,  which  much  enraged 
the  emperor. 

Two  years  later  we  find  one  Chang-tsuen,  "  Director 
of  the  Military  Lands,"  sent  on  an  embassy  to  Ceylon^. 

45.  In  641  the  King  of  Magadha  (Behar,  etc.)  sent  an 
ambassador  with  a  letter  to  the  Chinese  court.  The 
emperor  (the  great  T'ai  Tsung)  in  return  directed  one  of 
his  officers  to  go  to  the  king  with  an  imperial  patent  and 
to  invite  his  submission.  The  King  Shiloyto  (Ciladitya) 
was  all  astonishment.  "  Since  time  immemorial,"  he 
asked  his  officers,  "  did  ever  an  ambassador  come  from 
MoHOCHiNTAN ?  "  "Never,"  they  replied.  The  Chinese 
author  remarks  that  in  the  tongue  of  the  barbarians  the 
Middle    Kingdom    is    called    Mohochintan    {Mahachinas- 

^  Julien,  U.S.,  pp.  99-100. 
2  Tennent,  i,  583. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  69 

thanay.  This  led  to  a  further  exchange  of  civilities 
extending  to  646^.  But  the  usurping  successor  of  ^Ila- 
ditya  did  not  maintain  equally  amicable  relations,  and 
war  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which  the  Chinese,  assisted 
by  the  Kings  of  Tibet  and  Nepal,  invaded  India.  Other 
Indian  kings  lent  aid  and  sent  supplies  ;  and  after  the 
capture  of  the  usurper  Alanashun,  and  the  defeat  of  the 
army  commanded  by  his  queen  on  the  banks  of  the 
Khientowei  (Gandhara),  580  cities  surrendered  to  the 
Chinese  arms,  and  the  king  was  carried  prisoner  to  China^. 
A  magician,  who  accompanied  the  Chinese  general  from 
India,  was  employed  to  treat  the  Emperor  T'ai  Tsung, 
who  was  very  ill,  but  with  no  success.  Wang  Hiuen-ts'e, 
the  envoy  who  had  gone  on  the  mission  which  resulted 
in  this  war,  wrote  a  history  of  all  the  transactions  in 
twelve  books,  but  it  is  lost*. 

'  [In  643,  17th  year  of  the  period  Cheng  kwan,  Li  I-piao  with 
Wang  Hiuen-ts'e  as  his  second,  was  sent  to  Magadha  to  take  back 
a  Brahman  ;  according  to  the  History  of  the  T'ang  he  was  the 
bearer  of  a  reply  of  the  Chinese  Emperor  to  King  Harsa  Qlladltya. 
Sylvain  Levi,  Wang  Hiuen-ts'e,  Journ.  Asiat.,  xv,  1900,  pp.  298—9, 
320-1.] 

^  [In  646  Wang  Hiuen-ts'e  was  sent  again  to  Magadha  with 
thirty  horsemen.  Harsa  ^iladitya  having  died  was  replaced  by 
his  usurping  minister  Na-fu-ti  O-lo-na-shoen,  who  had  the 
Chinese  escort  massacred  and  Wang,  taking  refuge  in  Tibet 
where  Srong-btsan  Sgam-po  was  reigning,  gathered  a  troop  of 
1200  Tibetans  and  7000  Nepalese  horsemen,  fell  upon  Magadha, 
captured  the  king  and  brought  him  back  as  a  prisoner  to  China 
(648).  Sylvain  Levi,  I.e.,  pp.  300-1.  In  657  Wang  was  sent 
again  on  a  mission  to  the  western  countries.] 

^  ["  K'ien-t'o-wei  ramene  a  Gandavati  ou  GandavatI,  une 
des  formes  possibles  du  nom  de  la  Gandaki  (cf.  grec  Kovboxdrr^s) . 
C'est  done  dans  la  region  entre  Pataliputra,  situe  au  confluent 
de  la  Gandaki  et  du  Gange,  et  le  Nepal  d'ou  sort  la  Gandaki,  qu'il 
faut  chercher  la  ville  de  Tch'a-pouo-ho-lo,"  captured  by  Wang 
Hiuen-ts'e.     Sylvain  Levi,  I.e.,  p.  307  n.] 

^  [See  Sylvain  Levi,  Wang  Hiuen-ts'e,  J.  As.,  xv,  1900.] 
Julien,  pp.  107-110.  The  Qiladitya  of  this  account  is  known  from 
Hiuen  Tsang  to  have  been  one  of  the  great  kings  of  Indian  history. 
His  empire  extended  from  the  sea-coast  of  Orissa  at  least  as  far 
north-west  as  Kanauj,  which  was  his  capital,  and  possibly  to  the 
frontiers  of  Kashmir  (see  Lassen,  iii,  673  seqq.).     Lassen,  as  far 


70  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

In  667-8  it  is  asserted  the  Kings  of  the  five  Indies  all 
sent  to  offer  homage  ;  and  this  homage  was  repeated  in 
672  and  692.  These  kings  are  named  in  the  Chinese 
Annals — (i)  the  King  of  Eastern  India,  named  Molopama  ; 
(2)  the  King  of  Western  India,  called  Shiloyito  ;  (3)  the 
King  of  Southern  India,  called  Chilukhipalo  ;  (4)  the 
King  of  Northern  India,  called  Nana  ;  (5)  the  King  of 
Central  India,  called  Timosina^. 

In  670  King  Datopiatissa  of  Ceylon  sent  a  memorial 
to  the  Emperor  with  a  present  of  native  productions. 
Another  Ceylonese  embassy  came  in  711^. 

46.  In  713  an  embassy  came  to  the  Emperor  Hien 
Tsung  from  Chentolopiti  (Chandrapida) ,  King  of  Kashmir, 
acknowledging  allegiance,  and  some  years  later  a  patent 
of  investiture  was  granted  to  this  prince.  A  successor 
and  brother  called  Mutopi  [Muktopida)  also  offered  homage 
and  requested  the  Emperor  to  send  troops  into  Kashmir, 
offering  to  quarter  them  on  the  banks  of  the  Lake  Maha- 
padma  in  the  centre  of  that  valley.  Tribute  continued 
to  be  paid  regularly  by  Kashmir  for  some  time.  The 
pressure  of  the  rising  power  of  Tibet  probably  induced 
this  state  to  seek  Chinese  protection^. 

Between  713  and  731  repeated  missions  are  reported 
from  the  different  kingdoms  of  India,  one  of  which  begged 
aid  against  the  Arabs  and  the  Tibetans,  and  requested  the 

as  I  can  discover,  says  nothing  as  to  this  Chinese  invasion  of 
India,  or  the  usurper  Alanashun.  Nor  is  the  chronology  consistent 
with  his  (from  Hiuen  Tsang),  which  continues  ^iladitya's  reign  to 
650  ;  whilst  the  account  followed  in  the  text  makes  him  already 
dead  in  646.     The  Emperor  T'ai  Tsung  died  in  650. 

1  Chine  Ancienne,  p.   301. 

2  Tennent,  i,  p.  597.  [The  King  of  Ceylon  in  670  was  Hat- 
thadatha  or  Dathopatissa  II   (664-673).] 

^  Remusat,  u.s.,  p.  106;  Chin.  Anc,  311;  Reinaud  in  Mem. 
de  I'Acad.,  xvii,  p.  190.  There  is  a  King  Chandrapida  in  the 
Kashmir  Annals,  but  he  is  killed  in  691.  The  king  reigning 
695-732  was  Laladitya,  a  great  conqueror.  He  seems  to  have 
had  a  brother  Muktopida  (see  Lassen,  iii,  993,  997). 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  7I 

Emperor  to  bestow  an  honorific  title  upon  the  Indian 
monarch's  army.  The  Emperor  perhaps  found  this  the 
most  convenient  part  of  the  petition  to  comply  with, 
and  decreed  it  the  title  of  "  the  Army  which  cherishes 
virtue  1." 

In  742  foreign  merchants  who  had  arrived  in  China  by 
the  Sea  of  the  South  brought  a  number  of  precious  articles 
from  the  kingdom  of  Lions  [Sinhala  or  Ceylon)  to  be 
presented  to  the  Emperor  on  behalf  of  Shiloshukia  their 
king^.  Other  embassies  came  from  the  same  island 
in  746,  750,  762.     There  is  then  an  interval  of  many 

^  See  Julien,  u.s.,  and  compare  Chine  Ancienne,  pp.  309,  310. 
About  this  time  there  is  frequent  mention  in  the  Chinese  Annals 
of  relations  with  two  kingdoms  called  Great  and  Little  Poliu, 
which  lay  between  Kashgar  and  Kashmir.  The  king  of  Little 
Poliu  dwelt  in  a  city  called  Nieito,  near  a  river  called  Sot.  The 
Great  Poliu  was  more  to  the  east ;  this  country  was  occupied  by 
the  Chinese  forces  in  747  (Remusat,  in  Mem.  de  I' Acad,  as  above, 
pp.  100-2).  Remusat  renders  Poliu  Purut ;  but  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  kingdoms  in  question  are  Ladakh  and  Balti, 
which  continued  to  a  late  date  to  be  known  as  Great  and  Little 
Tibet.  These  titles  will  be  found  in  Tavernier  I  think,  and  in  the 
letters  of  the  Jesuit  Desideri  (1716),  and  indeed  the  term  Little 
Tibet  for  Balti  is  scarcely  yet  obsolete.  Ladakh  is  probably 
"  the  city  of  Tibet,  built  on  an  eminence  over  a  river  "  of  Edrisi 
(i,  492).  In  Meyendorff  we  find  the  cities  of  Great  and  Little 
Tibet  still  spoken  of  at  Bokhara.  The  Georgian  Danibeg  went 
from  Kashmir  to  the  "  city  of  Tibet  "  in  twenty  days.  It  was 
three  months  from  Lhasa.  And  the  Tajik  route  given  by  Meyen- 
dorff speaks  of  reaching  by  the  Karakorum  pass  "  Tibet,  a  city 
on  the  croupe  of  a  mountain,  with  the  governor's  residence  at 
the  top,"  a  description  which  applies  perhaps  equally  well  to 
Ladakh  and  Balti.  The  latter  is  perhaps  the  name  concealed 
in  the  Poliu  of  the  Chinese,  and  the  Soi  may  be  the  Shayok  (Meyen- 
dorff, pp.  122,  339).  ["Pulu  is  the  modern  Balti.  At  this  time 
it  was  divided  into  two  states.  Greater  and  Lesser.  The  Greater 
Pulu  is  described  in  the  T'ang  History  as  being  due  west  of  T'ufan, 
contiguous  to  the  Small  Pulu,  and  bounded  on  the  west  by  the 
Northern  Indian  State,  Wuch'ang  (Udyana).  They  sent  several 
missions  with  tribute  to  China  from  the  year  696,  but  were  finally 
conquered  by  the  Tibetans  in  734."  Bushell,  Early  History  of 
Tibet,  J.  R.  As.  Soc,  N.S.,  xii,  p.  530. — Kao  Sien-chi  was  the 
Chinese  general  in  command  in  747.  The  Soi  or  Soyi  River  is 
no  doubt  the  Shyok  River.] 

2  Ch.  Anc,  p.  312.  This  is  not  mentioned  by  Tennent.  The 
king  reigning  at  Anurajapura  at  this  time  was  Aggabodhi  III 
or  Akbo. 


72  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

centuries  before  Ceylon  is  again  heard  of  in  the  Chinese 
Annals'^. 

47.  Towards  758-760,  China,  it  is  said,  having  lost 
the  country  of  Holong,  the  Kings  of  India  ceased  to  send 
homage^.  I  do  not  know  what  country  is  indicated, 
whether  Khuluni  in  the  valley  of  the  Oxus  or  some  region 
on  the  Yun  nan  frontier.  The  former  is  probable,  as  the 
narratives  of  the  Buddhist  pilgrims  show  that  the  long 
route  by  Kashgar  and  Badakhshan  was  that  generally 
followed  between  India  and  China. 

The  Tibetans  at  this  time  were  becoming  powerful 
and  troublesome  neighbours,  insomuch  that  about  787  the 
Emperor  Te  Tsung,  by  the  advice  of  one  of  his  ministers, 
applied  to  the  Uighurs,  the  Princes  of  India,  and  the 
Khalif  to  join  in  a  league  against  them^. 

After  this,  for  a  long  time  no  political  intercourse  is 
heard  of  ;  but  a  few  more  missions  from  Indian  kingdoms 
are  recorded  under  the  later  years  of  the  tenth  century 
and  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  as  visiting  the  Court 
of  the  Northern  Sung.  With  the  exception  of  one  in 
10 1 5  from  the  country  of  Chulien,  which  is  supposed  by 
Deguignes  to  be  the  Chola  Kingdom  of  Southern  India, 
I  suspect  these  embassies  to  belong  rather  to  the  Archi- 
pelago than  to  India  Proper*. 

48.  Throughout  this  period,  however,  there  are 
frequent  notices  either  of  the  visits  of  Indian  Buddhist 
devotees  to'  the  Court  of  China  or  of  leave  obtained  from 

^  Tennent,  ib.,  p.  597. 

[The  embassies  of  742  and  746  and  probably  also  those  of  750 
and  762  were  sent  by  Aggabodhi  VI  Silamegha  (741-781).  S. 
Levi,  I.e.,  p.  428.1 

[On  the  relations  between  Ceylon  and  China  see  the  translations 
from  the  Pien-yi-tien,  by  Sylvain  Levi,  Journ.  Asiat.,  Mai-Juin, 
1900,  pp.  411-418.] 

2  JuHen,   p.    III.  ^  Ch.   Anc,   p.    321. 

4  Deguignes,  i,  pp.  66  seqq.  Tanmoeilieu,  one  of  the  kingdoms 
named,  is  perhaps  Tana-Malayu,  the  Malay  country. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  73 

the  Emperor  by  Chinese  Buddhists  to  visit  India  for  reli- 
gious objects  1.  One  of  the  parties  from  India  is  related 
to  have  been  accompanied  by  the  son  of  an  Indian  king, 
by  name  Mafijugri,  a  very  zealous  Buddhist,  who  was 
treated  with  great  favour  by  the  Emperor.  The  monks 
were  jealous  of  this,  and  as  he  did  not  understand  Chinese 
they  made  him  believe  that  the  Emperor  had  ordered 
his  departure.  He  went  off  in  much  indignation  to  the 
southern  coast  to  embark  in  a  merchant  vessel  for  India^. 
These  religious  visitors  to  China  became  very  frequent 
after  975,  perhaps  a  sign  that  by  that  time  Buddhism 
was  becoming  oppressed  in  India.  In  986,  however,  a 
monk  of  I  chau  (Kamul)  returning  from  India  brought  a 
letter  from  a  king  who  is  called  Mosinang,  written 
in    terms   of    humblest   reverence,   which   are   preserved 


^  The  route  of  one  of  these  parties  is  described  as  carrying 
them  by  Kan  chau,  Sha  chau,  I  chau  (Kamul),  Karashahr, 
Kucha,    Khotan,   Khulum,   Peshawar,   and   Kashmir. 

'^  JuHen,  pp.  111-114.  This  Man ju9ri  appears  in  the  traditions 
of  the  Newars  of  Nepal  as  the  Buddhist  Apostle  of  their  country 
(see  Lassen,  iii,  777  seqq.,  quoting  from  B.  H.  Hodgson).  [The 
Bodhisattwa  Mafijufri,  Manjughosa-Biss5chtma,  called  at  times 
Vagi9vara,  "  Lord  of  the  Voice,"  came  to  Nepal  from  Maha 
Cina  (Great  China)  ;  the  disciples  who  accompanied  him  were 
the  first  colonists  ;  they  also  came  from  Maha  Cina  ;  he  gave 
a  king  to  the  country,  the  Chinese  Dharmakara  who  himself  had 
as  his  successor  another  Chinaman  Dharmapala.  The  Newars 
are  the  companions  of  Maiiju9ri  who  returned  to  China  when 
his  task  was  finished  ;  he  is  more  particularly  venerated  at  the 
Wu  t'ai  shan  {Panda  ctrsa  parvata)  in  the  Shan  si  Province. 
Maiiju9ri  appears  to  have  been  a  Hindu  by  birth  and  the  Sanskrit 
sources  of  Taranatha  make  him  live  under  the  reign  of  Candra- 
gupta,  King  of  Orissa,  a  short  time  after  the  reign  of  Mahapadma, 
about  the  epoch  of  the  Macedonian  invasion. — S.  Levi,  Nepal, 
i,  pp.  320,  340.  With  regard  to  the  relations  of  China  with 
Nepal  it  is  said  that  King  Qaktisimha  sent  presents  to  China 
and  that  the  Emperor  was  so  pleased  with  them  that  he  in  his 
turn  sent  a  seal  bearing  engraved  the  name  of  Qaktisimha  with 
the  title  of  Rama,  and  an  official  letter,  in  the  year  of  China 
(Cinabda)535.  Relations  were  resumed  under  the  Ming  ;  HungWu 
sent  in  1384  a  bonze  to  Nepal  to  bring  to  the  king  a  seal  conferring 
upon  him  the  official  investiture  ;  these  relations  continued  under 
Yong  lo.     (Sylvain  Levi,  Le  Nepal,  ii,  pp.  227,  228.)] 


74  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY 

by   the    Chinese    authority,   and   transmitting    reUcs    of 
Sakya^. 

49.  Indeed,  for  many  centuries  subsequent  to  the  in- 
troduction of  Buddhism  in  China,  the  intercourse  between 
its  devotees  in  the  two  countries  was  frequent,  and  the 
narratives  of  Chinese  pilgrims  who  spent  years  in  studying 
the  Buddhist  doctrines  in  their  original  country  and  in 
visiting  the  sacred  sites  and  monastic  establishments  of 
India,  form  a  curious  and  valuable  part  of  Chinese  litera- 
ture. Of  these  works  several  have  been  translated  into 
European  languages,  as  the  Travels  of  Fa  Hian  (399-414)  ; 

1  Julien,  pp.  1 15-1 16.  This  letter  Avas  translated  by  one  Shihu, 
an  Indian  ecclesiastic,  who  also  communicated  some  information 
about  the  kingdoms  of  India.  Besides  Central  India  (here 
Magadha)  there  were  in  the  north  the  kingdoms  of  Utiennang^ 
(Udyana,  according  to  Julien),  west  of  that  Khientolo  (Gandhara), 
Nanggolokialo  (Nagarahara),  Lanpo  (Lamghan,  now  generally 
called  Laghman),  then  Gojenang  (probably  Ghazni),  and  then 
Persia.  Three  days'  journey  west  of  Magadha  vfa.s  Alawei  [Rewa  ?), 
then  Karana  Kiuje  {i.e.  Kanya  Kubja  or  Kanauj),  Malwa,  Ujjayani, 
Lolo  (Lara,  according  to  Julien),  Surashtra,  and  the  Western  Sea. 
Southern  India  was  four  months'  journey  from  Magadha,  and 
ninety  days  west  of  it  was  Konkana. 

Gandhara  mentioned  above  [is  the  valley  of  Peshawar,  the 
Pu-lu-sha-pu-lo  of  the  Chinese  Pilgrim  Hiuen  Tsang,  Purusapura, 
the  Purushavar  or  Purshavar  of  Al-biruni,  the  Pershavar  or  Pei- 
shavar  of  Abul  Fazl._  (A.  Foucher,  I.e.,  p.  327.)  The  capital 
of  Gandhara  was  Peshawar  (Purusapura)].  It  is  the  Kandahar  of 
Al-biruni  and  other  early  Arab  writers,  the  capital  of  which  was 
Waihand,  which  stood  on  the  west  of  the  Indus  north  of  the  Kabul 
River's  confluence.  This  is  supposed  to  be  the  Utakhanda  of 
Hiuen  Tsang,  and  has  been  identified  with  Ohind  or  Hund 
about  fifteen  miles  above  Attok.  Udhyana  lay  west  of  Gandhara, 
the  country  on  the  Upper  Swat  and  eastern  part  of  the  modern 
Kafiristan.  [The  Swat  valley  and  neighbourhood  constitute  the 
principal  portion  of  the  old  province  of  Udyana,  and  the  capital 
was  Mungali,  or  Mung-kie-li,  identified  by  General  Sir  A.  Cun- 
ningham {Ancient  Geog.  of  India,  p.  82)  with  Minglaur=Mingaur, 
or  Mingora.  Major  Deane  accepts  Mungali  =Minglaur,  but 
makes  a  separate  place  of  Mingaur.  Foucher  has  Mung-kie-li 
=Mangalapura,  some  distance  from  the  left  bank  of  the  Swat 
River.  (H.  A.  Deane,  Note  on  Udyana  and  Gandara,  Journ.  R.  As. 
Sac,  1896,  p.  655.  A.  Foucher,  Notes  sur  la  Geog.  ancienne  du 
Gandhara,  Bui.  Ecole  frang.  Ext.  Orient.,  1901,  pp.  322  seq.).] 
Nanggolokialo  or  Nagarahara  appears  to  have  been  near  the 
present  Jalalabad.  See  Reinaud  in  Mem.  de  I'Acad.,  xvii,  108, 
157,  etc.;  Lassen,  iii,  137  seq.;  V.  St.  Martin  in  N.  Ann.  des 
Voyages  for  1853,  ii,  166. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  75 

of  Hiuen  Tsang  (travelled  628-645)  ;  and  of  Hwei  Sing^, 
who  set  out  in  518.  One  of  the  latest  of  these  travellers 
was  Khinie^,  who  journeyed  (964-976)  at  the  head  of  a 
body  of  300  monks  whom  the  Emperor  despatched  to 
India  to  seek  relics  of  Buddha  and  collect  books  of  palm- 
leaves.  Fragments  of  descriptions  of  the  western  countries 
are  cited  from  a  work  of  one  of  these  pilgrims  older  even 
than  Fa  Hian,  the  monk  Shi-tao-an  who  died  in  385. 
It  does  not  seem  to  be  known  if  the  work  is  extant^. 

These  pilgrimages  must  have  become  more  unfrequent 
as  the  indigenous  Buddhism  of  India  gradually  perished, 
but  perhaps  they  had  not  altogether  ceased  even  in  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  For  at  that  date  we  find 
the  Emperor  of  China  asking  leave  from  Mahomed  Tughlak 
to  rebuild  a  temple  near  the  base  of  the  Himalaya,  which 
was  much  visited  by  his  subjects*. 

50.  In  the  thirteenth  century  we  find  revived  indica- 
tions of  communication  with  Ceylon^.  Singhalese  writers 
mention  imports  from  China  at  this  time  ;  and  in  1266 
Chinese  soldiers  are  mentioned  as  taking  service  in  the 
army  of  the  Ceylonese  King.     We  hear,  also,  during  the 

^  [Companion  of  Sung  Yun.] 

2  [Khinie  is  properly  named  to-day  Ki-ye  ;  his  itinerary  has 
been  translated  with  the  name  of  Wang-nieh  by  G.  Schlegel  in 
the  Memoires  du  Comite  sinico-japonais,  xxi,  1893,  pp.  35-64, 
and  again  by  the  late  Edouard  Huber  in  the  Bulletin  de  I'Ecole 
d' Extreme-Orient,  ii,  July,  1902,  pp.  256-9.  Prof.  Chavannes  has 
added  some  valuable  notes  to  the  itinerary  in  the  same  periodical, 
J  an. -March,  1904.  The  itinerary  was  printed  in  the  first  chapter 
of  the  Wu  ch'wan  lu  ;  it  was  written  by  Fan  Ch'eng-ta,  who  obtained 
his  notes  from  Ki-ye,  then  living  near  the  O-mei  shan  in  the  Sze 
ch'wan   Province.     Ki-ye  died  eighty-four  years  old.] 

^  Julien,  op.  cit.,  pp.  272-294,  and  Preface  to  Vie  de  Hiouen 
Thsang.  The  Chinese  bibliographer  quoted  by  Julien  observes  of 
Fa  Hian  that  he  applies  the  term  Chong  Kouo  or  Middle  Kingdom 
to  India  instead  of  China.  This  error  he  observes  is  a  fashion  of 
the  Buddhist  monks,  and  is  not  worth  the  trouble  of  refutation  ! 
I  suppose  the  Buddhists  used  it  as  a  translation  of  Madhyadesa, 
the  classical  name  which  the  Burmese  still  apply  to  Gangetic 
India. 

*  See  Ibn  Batuta,  infra,  Vol.  iv.  ^  Tennent,  i,  497-8. 


76  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Mongol  reign  in  China  of  the  occasional  despatch  by  the 
Emperors  of  officers  to  Ceylon  to  collect  gems  and  drugs  ; 
and,  on  three  occasions,  envoys  were  sent  to  negotiate 
the  purchase  of  the  sacred  alms-dish  of  Buddha.  Such 
missions  are  alluded  to  by  Polo  and  Odoric. 

51.  As  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
under  the  Ming  dynasty,  the  Chinese  made  a  remarkable 
and  last  attempt  to  renew  their  former  claims  to  honorary 
allegiance  in  the  maritime  countries  of  the  west.  In 
1405  a  mission  from  China,  which  had  come  to  Ceylon 
bringing  incense  and  offerings  to  the  Shrine  of  the  Tooth, 
was  maltreated  by  the  reigning  King  Wijayabahu  VI 
[1398-1410],  who  was  a  native  of  SolW^  or  the  Peninsula, 
and  an  oppressor  of  Buddhism 2.  The  Emperor  Ch'eng 
Tsu  [had  dethroned  his  nephew  Kien  wen  (Hwei  Ti) 
who  disappeared  when  his  capital.  Nan  King,  was  captured 
and  his  palace  invaded  in  1402,  and  was]  indignant  at  the 
outrage,  and  anxious  to  do  something  for  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  declining  prestige  of  China,  despatched 
[the  eunuch]  Cheng  Ho,  [commonly  known  as  San  Pao 
T'ai  kien,  a  native  of  the  Yun  nan  province  and]  a  soldier 
of  distinction,  with  a  fleet  of  sixty-two  ships,  and  a  force 
[of  more  than  37,000  soldiers],  and  armed  with  credentials 
and  presents,  to  visit  the  western  kingdoms^.     He  touched 

1  ["  The  King  is  of  the  Soli  race,  a  most  earnest  beUever  in 
the  Buddhist  rehgion,  and  one  who  treats  elephants  and  cows 
with  a  feehng  of  veneration."  (Ma  Huan,  Journ.  China  B.  R.  As. 
Soc,   1885,  p.   212.)] 

2  [S.  Levy,  I.e.,  p.  437,  remarks  that  the  king  who  treated 
rudely  Cheng  Ho  at  the  time  of  his  first  visit  to  Ceylon  A  lie  ku 
na  eul  (A-le-ko-nar)  is  the  prince  named  in  the  royal  list  Bhuva- 
neka  Bahu  V,  who  was  known  under  the  name  of  Alagakkonara 
before  his  accession  to  the  throne  ;  this  king  was  of  origin  Coda, 
the  Sinhalese  word  for  Soli.] 

3  [The  Emperor  Yong  lo,  fearing  that  his  predecessor  Hwei 
Ti  "  was  concealing  himself  in  some  country  over  the  sea,  wanted 
to  trace  him,  and  at  the  same  time  to  display  his  military  force  in 
foreign  countries,  in  order  to  show  that  China  was  rich  and  strong. 
In  the  sixth  month  of  the  year  1405,  he  ordered  Cheng  Ho,  his 
companion  Wang  Ching-hung,  and  others,  to  go  as  envoys  to  the 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  ^J 

at  Cochin  China,  Sumatra,  Java,  Cambodia,  Siam,  and 
other  places,  proclaiming  at  each  the  imperial  edict  and 
conferring  imperial  gifts.  If  any  of  the  states  refused  to 
acknowledge  the  Emperor's  supremacy  they  were  subdued 
by  force  ;  and  in  1407  the  expedition  returned  to  China 
accompanied  by  envoys  from  the  different  nations. 
Cheng  Ho  being  sent  again  next  year  on  a  like  mission, 
the  Singhalese  King  tried  to  entrap  and  capture  him,  but 
Cheng  Ho  avoided  the  snare,  caught  the  king,  his  whole 
family  and  officers  of  state,  and  carried  them  prisoners 
to  China.  In  141 1  the  Emperor  set  the  prisoners  free, 
but  deposed  the  misdemeanant  king,  and  appointed 
another  of  the  party  in  his  place,  who  was  sent  back  to 
Ceylon  accompanied  by  a  Chinese  commissioner  to  invest 
him  as  a  royal  vassal  of  the  empire.  This  new  king  is 
named  by  the  Chinese  Pulakoma  Bazae  Lacha,  which 
identifies  him  as  Parakkana  Bahu  Raja  VI,  whose  reign 
according  to  the  Ceylonese  annals  extended  from  1410 
to  1462.  Tribute  was  paid  regularly  by  Ceylon  for  fifty 
years  ;  apparently  therefore  throughout  the  long  reign 
of  this  prince  and  no  longer.     During  that  time  the  king 

kingdoms  in  the  western  ocean.  They  took  with  them  30,000 
soldiers  and  a  large  quantity  of  gold  and  silks.  The  fleet  con- 
sisted of  62  ships,  most  of  them  of  large  tonnage,  some  measuring 
440  feet  long  and  180  feet  broad.  They  sailed  from  Liu-kia-kiang, 
an  inlet  of  the  Yang-tze,  situated  a  little  to  the  north  of  Wu  sung, 
the  entrance  of  the  Shanghai  River.  They  touched  on  their  way 
south  at  Woga,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Min,  from  which  place  they 
sailed  to  Cochin  China,  and  so  on  to  the  various  countries  in  the 
Straits  and  India,  making  known  at  each  place  the  orders  from 
the  Emperor.  They  gave  presents  to  the  princes  and  chiefs, 
and  those  who  would  not  submit  were  compelled  to  do  so  by  force. 
Ma  Huan  has  left  us  an  account  of  twenty  of  the  kingdoms  visited 
by  the  expedition."  (Ma  Huan's  work  is  named  Ying-yai-sheng- 
lan ;  Ma  Huan  was  an  Interpreter  and  a  Mohamedan.  Cf.  Geo. 
Phillips,  Journ.  R.  As.  Soc,  1895,  pp.  523  seq.)  The  King  of 
Ceylon  visited  by  Ma  Huan  was  Parakkana  Bahu  VI,  second 
successor  to  Bahu  V  (1410-1462).  Recently,  in  the  town  of  Galle, 
Ceylon,  a  tablet  has  been  found  bearing  inscriptions  in  Chinese, 
Tamil  and  Persian  ;  it  refers  to  the  second  visit  to  Ceylon  of  Cheng 
Ho  and  bears  a  Chinese  date  (7th  year  Yong  lo)  corresponding  to 
the  15th  Feb.  1409. — Spolia  Zeylanica,  June,  1912  ;  /.  North  China 
B.R.A.S.,  1914,  pp.  171-2.J 


yS  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

is  asserted  to  have  been  on  two  occasions  the  bearer  of  it 
in  person  1.  Other  circumstances  mentioned  appear  to 
imply  that  a  Chinese  Resident  was  maintained  on  the 
island  who  superintended  the  administration.  The  last 
tribute  was  paid  in  1459.  Chinese  influence  was  thus  a 
matter  of  recent  memory  on  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese 
in  the  beginning  of  the  following  century,  and  they  found 
many  traces  of  it  remaining. 

Those  events  are  of  course  very  differently  represented 
in  the  Ceylonese  annals.  According  to  their  account  the 
King  of  Mahachina  landed  in  the  island  with  an  army 
under  the  pretence  of  bringing  tribute  ;  the  King  of  Ceylon 
was  then  treacherously  taken  and  carried  captive  to 
China,  etc.^ 

52.  As  regards  warlike  relations  between  India  and 
China  in  the  middle  ages  we  may  mention  the  Mongol 
invasion  of  Bengal  "  by  way  of  Cathay  and  Tibet  "  during 
the  reign  of  Alauddin  Musaiid  King  of  Delhi ;  the  only 
invasion  of  Bengal  from  that  quarter  distinctly  recorded 
in  history.  This  took  place  about  1244,  and  was  defeated 
by  the  local  officers.  Firishta  in  speaking  of  it  says  it  is 
supposed  that  they  entered  by  the  same  route  which  was 
followed  by  Mahomed  Bakhtiyar  Khilji  when  he  invaded 
Cathay    and    Tibet    from    Bengal^.     This    refers    to    the 

^  [The  work  Ts'ien  Wen  ki  written  by  Chu  Yun-ming,  quoted 
by  W.  F.  Mayers,  China  Review,  iii,  329,  contains  a  note 
entitled  "  The  Voyages  to  the  West,"  with  particulars  of  an  under- 
taking in  the  reign  of  Siuen  Teh  (1426-1435)  ;  the  members  of 
the  expedition  included  :  Officers,  soldiers,  purveyors,  steersmen, 
leadsmen,  interpreters,  clerks,  accountants,  doctors,  blacksmiths, 
carpenters,  and  other  artificers,  sailors,  and  landsmen ;  in  all, 
27,550  souls  !  The  expedition  left  Lung  Wan  (near  Nan  King) 
on  the  6th  day  of  the  intercalary  12th  moon  of  the  5th  year  of 
Siuen  Teh  (about  the  beginning  of  a.d.  1431),  visited  Sumatra  and 
the  Malay  Peninsula  and  sailed  to  Ceylon  (6th  of  nth  moon, 
7th  year),  Calicut,  Ormuz  (26th  of  12th  moon)  ;  sailed  on 
return  voyage  (i8th  of  2nd  moon  of  8th  year)  via  Pulo  Condor, 
Chan  ch'eng  and  reached  Nan  King  on  the  6th  of  the  7th  moon.] 

2  Tennent,  pp.  601-2. 

3  Briggs's   Firishta,   i,   231, 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  79 

expedition  some  forty  years  before,  to  which  alhision  is 
made  at  Note  E,  Ibn  Batuta,  Vol.  iv  of  the  present  work. 
It  is  very  possible  that  Bakhtiyar  Khilji's  ambition  dreamt 
even  of  a  raid  upon  China,  but  it  is  difficult  to  gather 
from  the  account  extant  how  far  he  had  really  got  when 
forced  to  retreat ;  perhaps  not  beyond  the  Assam  valley^. 
In  the  still  more  disastrous  enterprise  of  Malik  Yuzbek  in 
1256-57  aims  more  distant  than  Kamriip  are  not  alluded 
to.  The  mad  expedition  of  Mahomed  Tughlak  in  1337 
was,  according  to  Firishta's  account,  directed  against 
China.  Of  the  force,  which  both  that  historian  and  Ibn 
Batuta^  estimate  at  one  hundred  thousand  horse  besides 
infantry,  scarcely  any  returned  to  tell  the  tale,  except  the 
few  who  had  been  left  to  garrison  posts  in  rear  of  the  army. 
It  is  difficult  to  guess  by  what  point  this  host  entered 
the  Himalaya,  nor  have  I  been  able  to  identify  the  town 
of  Jididh  at  the  base  of  the  mountains,  mentioned  by 
Ibn  Batuta,  which  would  ascertain  the  position. 

53.  We  ought  not  to  omit  in  the  record  of  relations 
between  China  and  India,  the  two  embassies  mentioned 
by  the  author  last  named,  viz.,  that  sent  by  the  Mongol 
Emperor  Shun  Ti  or  Togan  Temur  to  the  Court  of  the  same 
Mahomed  Tughlak  in  1341-42,  and  the  unlucky  return 
embassy  entrusted  to  the  Moorish  traveller  himself,  which 
has  furnished  this  collection  with  one  of  its  chief  items. 

An  embassy  from  Bengal  is  mentioned  in  the  time  of 
Ch'eng  Tsu  of  the  Ming  (1409),  but  from  what  sovereign, 
Hindu  or  Musalman,  does  not  appear^.     It  was,  perhaps, 

^  See  Stewart's  History  of  Bengal,  pp.  45-50. 

^  Ibn  Batuta,  iii,  325. 

3  Chine  Anc,  p.  402.  [Phillips  says  that  most  of  the  facts  of 
"Mahuan's  account  of  Bengala  are  to  be  found  endorsed  in  the 
records  of  Foreign  countries,  to  be  met  with  in  the  Ming  Dynasty 
histories.  In  one  account  I  find  that  Gai-ya-szu-ting,  the  king  of 
Bengala,  sent,  in  1409,  an  embassy  with  presents  to  the  Chinese 
Court ;  another  king  of  Bengala,  by  name  Kien-fuh-ting,  sent  a 


8o  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

one  of  those  complimentary  missions  which  General 
Cheng  Ho  went  cruising  to  promote,  as  mentioned  on 
p.  76. 

And  in  1656,  though  the  date  is  beyond  the  field  of  our 
notices,  we  find  that  the  Dutch  envoy  Nieuhoff  was 
presented  at  Peking  along  with  an  ambassador  from  the 
Great  Mogul,  at  that  time  Shah  Jahan^ 

54.  Returning  to  earlier  days,  we  find  that  in  the 
time  of  the  Mongol  emperors  an  ample  trade  by  sea  existed 
between  China  and  the  ports  of  Malabar.  To  this  Polo, 
Odoric,  MarignolH,  and  Ibn  Batuta  bear  witness.  The 
rise  of  this  trade,  so  far  as  we  know  about  it,  will  be  more 
conveniently  related  under  the  head  of  Chinese  intercourse 
with  the  Arabs.  Ibn  Batuta  alludes  to  the  Chinese 
merchants  residing  at  Kaulam^,  and  such  residents  are 

letter  to  the  Emperor  of  China,  written  on  gold  leaf,  and  accom- 
panied by  a  present  of  a  giraffe.  The  first  embassy,  viz.  that  of 
Gai-ya-szu-ting,  is  said  to  have  come  to  China  in  the  sixth  year 
of  Yong-lo's  reign,  which  corresponds  with  1409  of  our  era.  The 
Bengal  king  reigning  at  that  time  appears  to  have  been  Shihab- 
ad-din  Bayazid  Shah,  who  only  came  to  the  throne  in  that  year. 
A  former  king,  Ghiyas-ad-din,  who  reigned  from  1 370-1 396,  comes 
very  near  the  Chinese  name  Gai-ya-szu-ting,  but  he  had  ceased  to 
reign  ten  years  before  the  embassy  is  said  to  have  arrived  in  China. 
Possibly  the  Chinese  dates  are  wrong.  In  the  twelfth  year  of 
Yong-lo,  1415,  the  time  assigned  by  the  Chinese  chroniclers  to 
the  arrival  of  the  second  embassy  to  China,  Jalal-ad-din  was  king 
of  Bengal.  To  make  his  name  agree  with  the  Chinese  Kien- 
fuh-ting  is  somewhat  difficult,  but  I  think  no  other  can  be  meant." 
(J.R.A.S.,  1895,  p.  534.) 

Mr.  John  Beames,  I.e.,  p.  900,  makes  the  following  remark  on  the 
subject  :  "  As  to  the  identification  of  Gai-ya-szu-ting  with  Ghiyas- 
uddin,  the  Chinese  date  seems  to  be  wrong,  as  there  are  no  coins 
or  inscriptions  of  this  king  later  than  a.h.  799,  corresponding  to 
A.D.  1396.  But  the  other  king  may,  perhaps,  be  identified  as 
follows:  In  a.d.  1415  (=a.h.  817-818)  Jalaluddin  was  king,  but 
his  reign  did  not  commence  till  a.h.  818,  the  end  of  March,  1415. 
In  the  former  part  of  the  year  141 5  his  father,  the  Hindu  Raja 
Kans,  was  apparently  still  alive.  Might  it  not,  therefore,  be 
possible  that  the  Chinese  historian  has  mixed  up  the  two,  and 
made  out  of  Kans  and  Jalaluddin  a  joint  name,  Kans  uddin, 
which  he  represents  by  Kien-hut-ding.  A  Chinese  would  not 
be  aware  of  the  incongruity  of  a  mixed  Hindu  and  Musulman 
name."     This  seems  to  me  far-fetched.] 

1  Pauth.,  Relations  Polit.,  etc.,  p.  49.  ^  iv,  p.  103. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  8l 

also  alluded  to  in  ancient  Malabar  documents^.  I  have 
already  suggested  that  Marignolli's  mention  of  "  Tartars  " 
in  connection  with  the  tomb  of  St  Thomas  at  Mailapur 
(ill,  p.  251,  infra)  may  indicate  that  Chinese  traded,  perhaps 
were  settled,  also  on  the  Coromandel  Coast.  But  Ritter's 
idea  that  Chinapatam,  one  of  the  native  names  of  the  town 
of  Madras,  is  a  trace  of  ancient  Chinese  colonisation  here, 
is  not  well  founded.  That  name,  properly  Chennapatam 
or  Chennapapatam,  was  bestowed  on  the  site  granted  to 
the  British  in  1639  by  the  Naik  of  Chingleput,  in  honour 
of  that  chief's  own  father-in-law,  Chennapa  by  name^. 
It  is  curious,  however,  in  connection  with  such  a  suggestion, 
that  Gasparo  Balbi  in  the  sixteenth  century,  speaking  of 
certain  Pagodas  seen  in  making  Negapatam  after  rounding 
Ceylon  (apparently  the  monolithic  temples  at  Mahabali- 
puram,  commonly  known  still  as  the  Seven  Pagodas) 
observes  that  they  were  called  the  Sette  Pagodi  de  Chini, 
and  were  attributed  to  ancient  Chinese  mariners^. 

1  See  Madras  Jovirnal  for  1844,  p.  121. 

2  Ritter,  v,  518,  620;  Madras  in  the  Olden  Time,  by  J.  T. 
Wheeler,  Madras,  1861,  i,  p.  25.  ["  In  honour  of  the  local  Naik's 
father  Chennappa,  the  settlement,  as  distinct  from  the  town  of 
Madras  itself,  was  called  Chennappapattanam,  but  the  natives 
now  apply  the  name  Chennapattanam  to  the  whole  city."  {Imp. 
Gaz.  India,  xvi,  pp.  368-9.)] 

^  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  Catalan  Map  of  1375  has  in  this 
position  a  place  called  Setemelti  ;  qu.  an  error  for  Sette  templi  ? 
[See  note  in  Marco  Polo,  ii,  p.  336.]  [We  read  in  the  Tao  yi  chi  Ho 
(1349)  that  "  T'u  t'a  (the  eastern  stupa)  is  to  be  found  in  the  flat 
land  of  Pa-tan  (Fattan,  Negapatam  ?)  and  that  it  is  surrounded 
with  stones.  There  is  a  stupa  of  earth  and  brick  many  feet  high  ; 
it  bears  the  following  Chinese  inscription  :  '  The  work  was 
finished  in  the  eighth  moon  of  the  third  year  Men  chw'en  (1267).' 
It  is  related  that  these  characters  have  been  engraved  by  some 
Chinese  in  imitation  of  inscriptions  on  stone  of  those  countries  ; 
up  to  the  present  time,  they  have  not  been  destroyed."  Hien 
chw'en  is  the  nien  hao  of  Tu  Tsung,  one  of  the  last  emperors 
of  the  Southern  Sung  Dynasty,  not  of  a  Mongol  Sovereign. 
I  owe  this  information  to  Prof.  Pelliot,  who  adds  that  the  com- 
parison between  the  Chinese  Pagoda  of  Negapatam  and  the  text  of 
the  Tao  yi  chi  lie  has  been  made  independent  of  him  by  Mr.  Fujita 
in  the  Tokyo-gakuho,  November  1913,  pp.  445-6.] 


82  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

55.     We  hear  from  Marco  Polo  of  some  part  of  the 
intercourse  which  Kublai  Khan  endeavoured  to  estabhsh 
with  western  countries  of  Asia,  and  his  endeavours  are 
also   specially  mentioned  in   the    Chinese    annals.     Un- 
fortunately he  and  his  officers  seem  to  have  entertained 
the  Chinese  notion  that  all  intercourse  with  his  empire 
should  take  the  form  of  homage,  and  his  attempts  that 
way  in  Java  and  Japan  had  no  very  satisfactory  result. 
But  he  is  said  to  have  been  more  fortunate  in  1286  with 
the    kingdoms    of    Mapaeul,    Sumuntala,    Sumenna, 
Sengkili,  Malantan,  Lailai,  Navang,  and  Tinghoeul. 
Of  these  the  first  four  are  almost  certainly  Indian.     Maa- 
bari,    (Dwara)    Samundra^,   Sumnath^,   are    not   difficult 
to  recognize  ;    the  fourth,  SengkiH,  is  probably  the  Shin- 
kali  of  Abulfeda,  the  Singuyh  of  Jordanus,  the  Cynkali 
of  Marignolh,  i.e.  Cranganor*.     The  rest   of   the  names 
probably  belong  to  the  Archipelago^. 

^  See  infra,  p.  141  ;  11,  67,  etc. 

2  The  kingdom  of  the  Bilal  Rajas  immediately  north  of  Ma'bar, 
and  constantly  coupled  with  it  in  the  Mahomedan  histories. 

3  See  Marco  Polo,  pt.  iii,  ch.  32. 
*  See  infra,  p.  133  ;  11,  249. 

5  Thus  Malantan,  Navang,  Tinghoeul  may  be  compared  with 
the  names  of  the  actual  Malay  states  or  provinces  of  Kelantan, 
Ra  hang,  and  Sungora.  Pauthier  introduces  the  list  (which  he 
gives  as  Siumenna,Senghili,  Nanwuli,  Malantan,  Tingkorh,  Maparh, 
and  Sumuntala)  as  that  of  "  ten  maritime  kingdoms  of  the  Indian 
Archipelago,"  but  that  is  merely  an  opinion  of  his  own.  It  is 
possible,  certainly,  that  Sumuntala  may  represent  Sumatra,  as 
it  appears  to  do  in  passages  quoted  from  Chinese  geographies 
by  M.  Pauthier.  Some  of  these,  indeed,  appear  to  be  derived 
from  European  sources  ;  others  do  refer  to  the  Chinese  Annals 
as  far  back  as  the  tenth  century,  and  if  these  can  be  depended  on 
as  showing  that  the  island  or  a  kingdom  on  it  was  called  Sumatra 
at  so  early  a  date,  the  circumstance  is  remarkable.  In  the  absence 
of  more  distinct  evidence,  I  should  doubt  if  the  name  is  so  old. 
The  Malay  traditions,  quoted  by  Dulaurier,  ascribe  the  foundation 
of  the  city  called  Sumatra  to  the  father  of  the  king  reigning  in 
Ibn  Batuta's  time. 

The  hst  of  names  in  the  text  is  from  Gaubil  (see  G.,  Hist,  de 
Gentchiscan,  p.  205  ;  Pauthier's  Polo,  p.  572  ;  also  Baldelli  Boni's 
II  Milione,  ii,  388). 

I  may  observe  that  in  an  old  Chino-Japanese  map  described 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  83 

IV.     INTERCOURSE    WITH   THE   ARABS. 

56.  This  likewise,  in  all  probability,  goes  back  to  an 
earlier  date  than  is  to  be  learned  from  any  existing  history, 
as  the  forms  in  which  the  name  of  China  reached  the  Greeks 
have  already  suggested  to  us^. 

The  earliest  date  to  which  any  positive  statement  of 
such  intercourse  appears  to  refer  is  the  first  half  of  the 
fifth  century  of  our  era.  At  this  time,  according  to 
Hamza  of  Ispahan^  and  Ma'sudi,  the  Euphrates  was 
navigable  as  high  as  Hira^,  a  city  lying  south-west  of 

by  Klaproth  and  Remusat,  the  kingdoms  of  Sumenna,  Kylantin, 
Mapoeul,  and  Tinghoeul,  are  placed  far  to  the  west  beyond  the 
Arabs.  {Not.  et  Ext.,  vol.  xi,  and  Klap.,  Mem.  ii.)  This,  however, 
only  shows  that  the  author  of  the  map  did  not  know  where  to 
put  them. 

1  ["  Mahomet  n'a  point  ignore  le  nom  de  la  Chine,  car  il  recom- 
manda  a  ses  disciples  d'acquerir  la  science,  dussent-ils  aller  la 
chercher  en  Chine.  II  avait  eu  quelque  notion  de  ce  vaste  empire, 
soit  par  Selman  Farsy  ou  par  les  membres  des  colonies  persanes 
etablies  sur  les  cotes  de  I'Arabie,  soit  par  les  gens  des  ports  du 
Yemen  qui  etaient  en  rapports  frequents  avec  les  villes  du  littoral 
du  golfe  Persique  oil  abordaient  les  navires  naviguant  dans  les 
mers  des  Indes,  de  la  Malaisie  et  du  sud  de  la  Chine."  Ch.  Schefer, 
Relat.  des  Musulmans  avec  les  Chinois,  p.   2.] 

^  [Martin  Hartmann  says  {Chine  in  Encyclopedie  de  l' Islam)  : 
"  Reinaud  ne  devrait  pas  citer,  au  sujet  des  navires  de  Chine 
a  Hira,  Hamza-al-Isfahani,  p.  102  :  il  est  dit  seulement : 
'  Hira  etait  alors  le  pays  riverain  {sdhil  n'est  pas  la  bordure 
littorale)  de  I'Euphrate  ;  car  la  mer  (lire  al-bahr  au  lieu  d'al-furdt 
que  Gottwaldt  traduisit  par  inadvertance  ;  cette  f aute  de  transcrip- 
tion s'explique  par  la  presence  du  mot  al-furdt  un  peu  plus  haut) 
penetrait  alors  loin  dans  les  terres  (litter,  se  trouvait  plus  pres 
de  la  bordure  septentrionale  de  la  plaine  cotiere  babylonienne) 
et  arrivait  meme  jusqu'a  Nadjaf.'  Cette  addition  fantaisiste 
a  fait  ensuite  naitre  dans  la  tete  de  Richthofen  le  beau  tableau 
suivant  {China,  i,  520)  :  '  Suivant  le  temoignage  de  Masudi  et  de 
Hamza  dTspahan,  les  navires  chinois  venaient  chaque  annee  (!)  jeter 
I'ancre  a  cote  des  navires  hindous  devant  les  maisons  de  Hira.'  "] 

^  ["  Less  than  a  league  south  of  Kufah  are  the  ruins  of  Hirah, 
which  had  been  a  great  city  under  the  Sassanians.  Near  by  stood 
the  famous  palaces  of  As-Sadir  and  Al-Khawarnak,  the  latter 
built,  according  to  tradition,  by  Nu'man,  prince  of  Hirah,  for 
King  Bahram  Gur,  the  great  hunter.  The  palace  of  Khawarnak 
with  its  magnificent  halls  had  mightily  astonished  the  early 
Moslems  when  they  first  took  possession  of  Hirah  on  the  conquest 
of  Mesopotamia."  (G.  Le  Strange,  Lands  of  the  Eastern  Caliphate, 
P-  75-)] 


84  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

ancient  Babylon,  near  Kufa^,  (now  at  a  long  distance  from 
the  actual  channel  of  the  river) ,  and  the  ships  of  India  and 
China  were  constantly  to  be  seen  moored  before  the  houses 
of  the  town^.  Hira  was  then  abounding  in  wealth,  and 
the  country  round,  now  a  howling  wilderness,  was  full 
of  that  life  and  prosperity  which  water  bestows  in  such 
a  climate.  A  gradual  recession  took  place  in  the  position 
of  the  headquarters  of  Indian  and  Chinese  trade.  From 
Hira  it  descended  to  OboUa^,  the  ancient  Apologos,  from 
OboUa  it  was  transferred  to  the  neighbouring  city  of 
Basra,  built  by  the  Khalif  Omar  on  the  first  conquest 
of  Irak  (636),  from  Basra  to  Siraf*  on  the  northern  shore 

^  ["  The  city  of  Al-Kufah  was  founded  immediately  after  the 
Moslem  conquest  of  Mesopotamia,  at  the  same  time  as  Basrah 
was  being  built,  namely,  about  the  year  17  (638),  in  the  Caliphate 
of  'Omar.  It  was  intended  to  serve  as  a  permanent  camp  on  the 
Arab,  or  desert  side  of  the  Euphrates,  and  occupied  an  extensive 
plain  lying  above  the  river  bank,  being  close  to  the  older  Persian 
city  of  Al-Hirah.  Kufah  rapidly  increased  in  population,  and 
when  in  the  year  36  (657)  'Ali  came  to  reside  here  the  city  during 
four  years  was  the  capital  of  that  half  of  Islam  which  recognised 
'Ali  as  Caliph.  In  the  mosque  at  Kufah  'Ali  was  assassinated 
in  the  year  40  (661)."  (G.  Le  Strange,  Lands  of  the  Eastern 
Caliphate,  p.  75.)] 

2  Reinaud,  Relations,  etc.,  i,  xxxv ;  Tennent's  Ceylon,  i,  541  ; 
Mas'ijdi  in  Prairies  d'Or,  i,  216  seqq.  The  passage  in  Mas'udi, 
as  translated  by  Barbier  de  Meynard  and  Pavet  de  Courteille, 
is  not  so  precise  in  its  evidence  as  I  should  have  gathered  from 
Reinaud  and  Tennent.  I  have  not  access  to  Hamza.  [Yule  in 
a  note  says  :  "  The  facts  stated  in  Sir  H.  Rawlinson's  paper  in  vol. 
xxvii  of  the  J.R.G.S.,  p.  185,  seem  to  throw  very  great  doubt  upon 
the  allegation  that  Hira  could  have  been  a  haven  for  eastern  trade 
at  the  time  indicated,  if  ever  it  was  so."] 

"  Hira  was  the  seat  of  a  race  of  kings  who  had  embraced  the 
Christian  religion,  and  reigned  above  six  hundred  years  under  the 
shadow  of  Persia  "  (Gibbon,  ch.  li). 

3  [Al-Ubullah=  Apologos,  "dated  from  Sassanian  or  even 
earlier  times,  but  it  lay  on  the  estuary  and  was  feverish,  and  the 
Moslems  when  they  founded  their  new  city,  Basrah,  built  this 
further  inland  near  the  desert  border."  (G.  Le  Strange,  Lands 
of  the  Eastern  Caliphate,  p.  47.)] 

''  ["  Further  up  the  coast,  to  the  north-west  of  Naband, 
was  the  port  of  Siraf,  the  chief  emporium  of  the  Persian  Gulf 
in  the  4th  (loth)  century,  prior  to  the  rise  of  Kays  island  into 
pre-eminence.  Siraf,  Istakhri  says,  nearly  equalled  Shiraz  in 
size  and  splendour  ;    the  houses  were  built  of  teak  wood  brought 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  85 

of  the  gulf,  and  from  Siraf  successively  to  Kish^  and 
Hormuz^. 

from  the  Zanj  country  (now  Zanzibar),  and  were  several  storeys 
high,  built  to  overlook  the  sea."  (G.  Le  Strange,  Lands  of  the 
Eastern  Caliphate,   p.   258.)] 

["  Aujourd'hui  cette  ville  [Killah]  est  le  rendez-vous  general 
des  vaisseaux  musulmans  de  Siraf  et  d'Oman,  qui  s'y  recontrent 
avec  les  batiments  de  la  Chine  ;  mais  il  n'en  etait  pas  ainsi 
autrefois.  Les  navires  de  la  Chine  se  rendaient  alors  dans  le 
pays  d'Oman,  a  Siraf,  sur  la  cote  de  Perse  et  du  Bahrein,  a  Obollah 
et  a  Basrah,  et  ceux  de  ces  pays  naviguaient  a  leur  tour  directe- 
ment  vers  la  Chine.  Ce  n'est  que  depuis  qu'on  ne  pent  plus 
compter  sur  la  justice  des  gouvernants  et  sur  la  doctrine  de  leurs 
intentions,  et  que  I'etat  de  la  Chine  est  devenu  tel  que  nous  I'avons 
decrit,  qu'on  se  rencontre  sur  ce  point  intermediaire."  Mas'udi, 
i,  p.  308.] 

^  ["  The  country  of  Ki-shi  [Island  of  Kish]  is  on  a  small 
island  in  the  sea,  in  sight  of  the  Ta-shi  (coast),  which  is  distant 
from  it  a  half  day's  journey.  There  are  very  few  towns  (in  this 
region ....  Every  year  the  Ta-shi  send  camels  loaded  with  rose- 
water,  gardenia  flowers,  quicksilver,  spelter,  silver  bullion,  cin- 
nabar, red  dye  plants,  and  fine  cotton  stuffs,  which  they  put 
on  board  ships  on  arriving  in  this  country  to  barter  with  other 
countries."      (Chau  Ju-kua,  pp.   133-4.) 

"  The  island  of  Kays,  or  as  the  Persians  wrote  the  name, 
Kish,  which  in  the  course  of  the  6th  (12th  century)  became  the 
trade-centre  of  the  Persian  Gulf  after  the  ruin  of  Siraf."  (G.  Le 
Strange,  Lands  of  the  Eastern  Caliphate ,  p.  257.)] 

2  ["  Old  Hurmuz,  or  Hurmuz  of  the  mainland,  lay  at  a  distance 
of  two  post-stages,  or  half  a  day's  march  from  the  coast,  at  the 
head  of  a  creek  called  Al-Jir,  according  to  Istakhri,  '  by  which 
after  one  league  ships  come  up  thereto  from  the  sea,'  and  the 
ruins  of  the  town  are  still  to  be  seen  at  the  place  now  known  as 
Minab,  vulgarly  Minao.  In  the  4th  (loth  century)  Old  Hurmuz 
was  already  the  seaport  for  Kirman  and  Sijistan,  and  in  later 
times,  when  New  Hurmuz  had  been  built  on  the  island,  this  place 
supplanted  Kays,  just  as  Kays  had  previously  supplanted  Siraf, 
and  became  the  chief  emporium  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  .  .  .At  the 
beginning  of  the  8th  (14th)  century — one  authority  gives  the 
year  715  (1315) — the  king  of  Hurmuz,  because  of  the  constant 
incursions  of  robber  tribes,  abandoned  the  city  on  the  mainland, 
and  founded  New  Hurmuz  on  the  island  aforesaid  called  Jirun 
(or  Zarun),  which  lay  one  league  distant  from  the  shore.  (Le 
Strange,  I.e.,  pp.  318-319.)  In  one  of  the  itineraries  of  Kia 
Tan  (between  a.d.  785  and  805)  we  read  :  '  Now  the  Fu-li-la 
river  of  the  realm  of  the  Ta-shi  flows  southward  into  the  sea. 
Small  boats  ascend  it  two  days  and  reach  the  country  of  Mo-lo, 
an  important  market  of  the  Ta-shi.'  Rockhill  says:  'Molo  I 
am  disposed  to  identify  with  old  Hurmuz,'  and  adds  :  '  Assuming 
that  the  identification  of  Mo-lo  with  Hormuz  is  correct,  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  this  is  the  only  reference  in  Chinese  works 
to  this  great  port  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  This  is  another  proof  that 
the  Chinese  cannot  have  taken  any  personal  part  in  the  sea  trade 


86  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

57.  Chinese  Annals  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  [618-907] 
of  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  describe  the  course 
followed  by  their  junks  in  voyaging  to  the  Euphrates 
from  Kwang  chau  (Canton).  After  indicating  the  route 
and  the  times  occupied  as  far  as  Ceylon^,  we  are  told  that 
they  passed  in  front  of  Molai  (Male  of  Cosmas,  Malabar), 
after  which  they  coasted  ten  small  kingdoms  towards 
the  north-west,  and  after  two  days'  sail  to  the  north- 
west across  sea  (Gulf  of  Cambay)  they  reached  Tiyu 
(probably  Diu).  Ten  days'  further  voyage  carried  them 
past  five  small  kingdoms  to  another  Tiyu,  near  the 
Great  River  Milan  or  Sinteu^.  In  twenty  days  more 
they  came  to  the  frontiers  of  another  country,  where 
there  was  a  great  lighthouse  in  the  sea^  ;  one  day  more 
brought  them  to  Siraf,  and  thence  they  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  Euphrates. 

with  Persia  in  the  eighth  century,  as  Geo.  PhiUips  {J.R.A.S., 
1895,  525)  thinks  they  did.'  "     (Chau  Ju-kua,  p.  14  n.)] 

1  All  which,  strange  to  say,  is  omitted  by  Deguignes,  from 
whom  this  is  quoted  {Mem.  de  I' Acad,  des  Insc,  xxxii,  367).  The 
passage  does  not  seem  to  have  been  reproduced  by  later  Chinese 
scholars.  It  also  speaks,  as  may  be  gathered  from  Deguignes 
in  another  essay,  of  the  different  places  in  Asia  whither  the  goods 
taken  to  the  Gulf  were  carried  for  sale,  and  indicates  places  of 
commerce  on  the  coast  of  Africa.     {Mem.,  as  above,  xlvi,  547.) 

-  The  Milan  or  Sinteu  is  the  Sindhu  or  Indus,  called  by  the 
Arabs  Mehrdn.  Tiyu  is  probably,  as  suggested  by  Deguignes, 
the  port  of  Diul,  Dewal,  or  Daibul,  which  lay  to  the  west  of  the 
Indus  mouths  and  cannot  have  been  far  from  Karachi.  Edrisi 
speaks  of  it  specifically  as  frequented  by  Chinese  ships.  Daibul 
was  besieged  and  taken  by  the  Mahomedans  before  the  end  of  the 
seventh  century.  The  district  at  the  mouths  of  the  Indus  appears 
to  have  retained  the  name  long  after  the  decay  of  the  port,  for 
Barbosa  calls  this  territory  Diul  (Jaubert's  Edrisi,  i,  161  ;  Gilde- 
meister,  p.  170,  but  the  reading  of  Ibn  Haukal  here  which  places 
Daibul  on  the  east  of  the  Indus  appears  to  be  erroneous  ; 
Barbosa  (Lisbon  ed.),  p.  266;  Reinaud  in  Mem.  de  I'Acad.,  xvii, 
p.  170). 

3  Probably  at  the  Straits  of  Hormuz.  I  do  not  find  any  Kght 
there  mentioned,  but  Mas'udi  mentions  that  at  the  terminus  of 
this  voyage  at  the  entrance  of  the  roadstead  near  OboUah  and 
Abadan  {i.e.,  off  the  mouth  of  Euphrates)  there  were  three  great 
platforms  on  which  beacons  were  lighted  every  night  to  guide 
ships  coming  in.     {Prairies  d'Or,  i,  230.) 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  87 

The  ships  of  China,  according  to  some  authorities, 
used  to  visit  Aden  as  well  as  the  mouths  of  Indus  and 
Euphrates^.  I  do  not  think  that  either  Polo  or  any  traveller 
of  his  age  speaks  of  them  as  going  further  than  Malabar, 
the  ports  of  which  appear  to  have  become  the  entrepots 
for  commercial  exchange  between  China  and  the  west, 
nor  does  it  appear  what  led  to  this  change.  Some  time 
in  the  fifteenth  century  again  they  seem  to  have  ceased 
to  come  to  Malabar,  nor  can  it  be  positively  gathered 
from  Abd-ul-Razzak  or  Conti  whether  Chinese  vessels 
continued  to  frequent  that  coast  in  their  time  {circa  1430- 
42)2.  We  read,  however,  that  Ch'eng  Tsu  of  the  Ming 
dynasty  (1402-24)  despatched  vessels  to  the  islands  and 
countries  of  India,  Bengal,   Calicut,   Ceylon,   Surat,   the 

'^  See  Ihn  el  Wardl,  in  Not.  et  Extraits,  ii,  43.  Edrisi  says  that, 
from  Aden  ships  sailed  for  Hind,  Sind,  and  China  (i,  51).  He 
gives  a  hst  of  the  wares  brought  from  China  by  these  ships,  but 
except  iron,  sword-blades  (perhaps  Japanese),  shagreen,  rich 
stuffs  and  velvets,  and  various  vegetable  tissues,  the  articles 
rather  belong  to  the  Archipelago. 

["  In  the  nineteenth  year  of  Yong-lo  (1422),  an  Imperial 
envoy,  the  eunuch  Li,  was  sent  from  China  to  this  country  [Aden] 
with  a  letter  and  presents  to  the  king.  On  his  arrival  he  was  most 
honourably  received,  and  was  met  by  the  king  on  landing  and 
conducted  by  him  to  his  palace.  During  the  stay  of  the  embassy 
the  people  who  had  rarities  were  permitted  to  offer  them  for  sale. 
Cat's  eyes  of  extraordinary  size,  rubies,  and  other  precious  stones, 
large  branches  of  coral,  amber,  and  attar  of  roses  were  among 
the  articles  purchased.  Giraffes,  lions,  zebras,  leopards,  ostriches, 
and  white  pigeons  were  also  offered  for  sale."  (Mahuan's 
Account  of  Aden.  Geo.  Phillips,  Journ.  R.  As.  Soc,  1896, 
p.  348.) — "  It  is  stated  in  the  History  of  the  Ming,  that  the  first 
embassy  from  Aden  to  China  was  sent  in  1427  and  that  they 
subsequently  were  often  repeated."  (Bretschneider,  Arabs,  p.  18.) 
In  the  same  year,  1427,  an  envoy  arrived  at  the  Chinese  court 
from  Mu  ku  tu  su  [Magadoxo,  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa. 
{Ibid.  p.  21.)  Chu  pu  which  lies  not  far  from  Magadoxo  sent  also 
an  envoy  to  China  during  Yong-lo's  reign.      {Ibid.,  p.  22.)] 

Baroch  is  also  mentioned  as  a  port  visited  by  ships  of  China 
(Edrisi,  i,  179)  ;  and  Suhar  in  Oman  (the  Soer  of  Polo),  as  a  port 
from  which  Arab  vessels  traded  to  China  {Id.,  i,  152). 

2  Abdul  Razzak,  however,  does  mention  merchants  and 
maritime  people  of  China  among  those  who  frequented  Hormuz 
in  his  time  (1442).  He  does  not  distinctly  say  that  ships  of  that 
country  came,  and  the  passage  is  perhaps  too  general  to  build 
upon.      {Ind.  in  XV  Cent.,  p.  56.) 


88  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Persian  Gulf,  Aden,  and  the  Red  Sea,  expeditions  to  which 
reference  has  been  made  in  a  previous  page,  and  which 
do  not  seem  to  have  been  in  any  degree  commercial.  This, 
however,  is  the  last  notice  with  which  I  am  acquainted 
of  Chinese  vessels  visiting  Malabar  and  Western  Asia^. 

57  b.  [The  Arabs  were  known  by  the  Chinese  as  the 
Tazi  or  Ta  shi  (Ta  shi  is  but  a  transcription  of  the  Persian 
Tazi  j^jU  or  Tajik  ^^e^Xi  ',  the  Arabs  were  then  made 
known  to  the  Chinese  by  the  Persians  ;  this  fact  seems  to 
prove  the  priority  of  the  travels  of  the  Persians.  Cf. 
Ferrand,  Textes,  pp.  2-3)  ;  from  the  Sung  Dynasty  (960- 
1279),  when  no  less  than  twentv  embassies  from  the  Ta  shi 
are  reckoned,  the  Mohamedans  are  known  as  the  Hwei 
Hwei,  also  Hwei  Ho  or  Hwei  Hu,  the  very  names  given  to 
the  Uighurs  during  the  T'ang  dynasty.  We  do  not  know 
the  exact  date  of  the  entrance  of  the  Mohamedans  into 
China :  there  is  an  inscription  in  the  mosque  of  Si-ngan  fu 
dated  742  from  which  it  appears  that  the  doctrine  of 
Mahomet  penetrated  into  China  during  the  period  K'ai 
hwang  (581-600),  Sui  dynasty;  the  date  of  Hegira  being 
622,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  Islam  was  known  in 
China  some  years  previously  ;  the  inscription  is  no  doubt 
apocryphaP.  For  a  long  time  the  inscription  of  the 
mosque  [Hwei  Sheng  sze)  of  Canton  (ist  day  8th  month 
loth  year  Che  cheng=2  Nov.  1350)  was  considered  as  the 
most  ancient  in  China,  but  the  inscription  of  the  mosque 
of  Ts'iuan  chau  (1310-11)^  is  older.  Now  a  Sino-Ara.bic 
document  has  been  found  in  Japan  whither  it  was  sent 
from  Ts'iuan  chau  in  12 17  by  a  Japanese  bonze ;  this  is 
so  far  the  oldest  known  Arabic  document  found  in  China*.] 

^  Deguignes,  i,  72. 

2  H.  Cordier,  Journal  des  Savants,  Jan.  1913,  p.  31. 

3  Arnaiz  and  Van  Berchem.     {T'oung  pao,  vii,  1896.) 
*  Pelliot  in  /.  Asiat.,  Juillet-Aout  1913,  pp.  177  seq. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  89 

58.  The  Arabs  at  an  early  date  of  Islam,  if  not  before^, 
had  established  a  factory  at  Canton,  and  their  numbers 
at  that  port  were  so  great  by  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
century  that  in  758  they  were  strong  enough  to  attack 
and  pillage  the  city,  to  which  they  set  fire  and  then  fled 
to  their  ships^.  Nor  were  they  confined  to  this  port. 
The  city  now  called  Hang  chau  fu,  the  Quinsai  and 
Khansa  of  the  middle  ages,  but  known  in  those  days  to 
the  Arabs  as  Khanfu^,  was  probably  already  frequented 
by  them  ;  for,  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  later,  the 
number  of  foreign  settlers,  Musulman,  Jew,  Christian,  and 
Gueber,  who  perished  on  the  capture  of  that  city  by  a 
rebel   army,   is  estimated   at   one   hundred   and   twenty 


1  ["  In  the  year  651  a.d.  the  king  of  the  Ta-shi,  by  name  Han 
mi  mo  m.0  ni  [Emir  al  mumenin],  sent  for  the  first  time  an  envoy 
with  presents  to  the  Chinese  court,  and  at  the  same  time  announced 
in  a  letter,  that  the  house  Ta-shi  had  already  reigned  thirty-four 
years  and  had  three  kings."  (From  the  History  of  the  T'ang, 
Bretschn eider,  Arabs,  p.  8.)] 

^  Deguignes,  i,  59,  ii,  503  ;  also  in  Mem.  de  I'Acad.,  xlvi,  545. 
In  the  latter  essay,  Deguignes  attributes  this  outbreak  to  the 
Arab  auxiliaries  mentioned  further  on. 

["  The  history  of  the  T'ang  states  finally,  that  in  the  year 
758  the  Po  ssu,  following  on  the  path  of  the  Ta  shi  (Arabians), 
invaded  unexpectedly  Kuang  chow  (Canton),  destroyed  the  town 
by  fire,  and  returned  to  their  country  by  sea.  This  appears 
to  me  to  be  the  last  time  that  the  Persians  are  mentioned  under 
the  name  of  Po  ssu  in  Chinese  history."  (Bretschneider,  Notes 
and  Queries  on  C.  and  J .,  iv,  p.  57.)] 

3  Khanfu  was  properly  only  the  port  of  Hang  chau  or  Khansa, 
called  by  the  Chinese  Kan  p'hu  (a  name  still  preserved  as  that 
of  a  town  half  a  league  north  of  the  old  site),  and  by  Marco  Polo 
Ganfu  (ii,  189).  The  place  is  mentioned  as  a  coasting  port  in 
Chinese  Annals  under  a.d.  306  ;  as  the  seat  of  a  master  attendant 
in  706  ;  and  as  that  of  a  marine  court  under  the  Mongols.  (Klap., 
Mem.  rel.  a  I'Asie,  ii,  200  seqq.).  The  name  of  the  port  seems  to 
have  been  transferred  by  the  early  Arabs  to  Hang  chau  ;  for 
there  seems  no  reason  to  ascribe  to  Kan  p'hu  itself  the  importance 
here  assigned  to  Khanfu.  Indeed,  Abulfeda  says  expressly, 
"  Khanfu,  which  is  known  in  our  days  as  Khansa."  [Pelliot 
proposes  to  see  in  Khanfu  a  transcription  of  Kwang-fu,  an  abridge- 
ment of  Kwang  chau  fu,  prefecture  of  Kwang  chau  (Canton). 
Cf.  Bull.  Ecole  franc.  Ext.  Orient.,  Jan.-June  1904,  p.  215  n., 
but  I  cannot  very  well  accept  this  theory.  See  Marco  Polo, 
ii,   199.] 


90  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

thousand,  and  even  two  hundred  thousand^ !  Of  course 
we  must  make  large  deductions,  but  these  contemporary 
statements  still  indicate  a  large  foreign  population. 

59.  In  the  eighth  century  also  the  Arabs  began  to 
know  the  Chinese  not  only  as  SincB,  but  as  Seres,  i.e.  by 
the  northern  land  route.  The  successes  of  Kutaiba,  who 
in  the  time  of  Khalif  Walid  overran  Bokhara,  Samarkand, 
Farghanah,  and  Khwarizm,  and  even  extended  his  con- 
quests across  the  Bolor  to  Kashgar,  brought  the  two 
powers  into  dangerous  collision^ ;  and  the  Emperor  of 
China  seems  to  have  saved  himself  from  an  Arab  invasion, 
only  by  the  very  favourable  reception  which  he  gave  to 
an  embassy  from  Kutaiba,  composed  of  twelve  Mahome- 
dans,  whom  he  sent  back  loaded  with  presents  for  the 
Arab  general^. 

This  was  no  doubt  the  embassy  to  the  Emperor  Hwen 
Tsung  {circa  713),  of  which  the  Chinese  annals  relate  that 
the  envoys  demanded  exemption  from  the  kotow,  and  in 
consequence  were  put  upon  their  trial  and  pronounced 
worthy  of  death.  The  emperor,  however,  graciously 
pardoned  them*  ! 

1  Reinaud,  Relations,  etc.,  i,  p.  64 ;    Mas'udi,   Prairies   d'Or, 

i,  304- 

2  Hajaj,  the  Viceroy  of  Irak,  sent  messages  to  Kutaiba  and  to 
Mahomed  Ibn  Kassim  in  Sind,  urging  both  to  press  forward  to 
the  conquest  of  China,  and  promising  that  the  first  to  reach  it 
should  be  invested  with  the  government.  This  induced  Kutaiba 
to  advance  to  Kashgar,  and  Mahomed  to  press  towards  Kanauj. 
But  the  death  of  their  patron  and  of  the  Khahf  put  an  end  to  their 
schemes  and  brought  destruction  upon  both.  (Reinaud  in  Mdm. 
de  I'Acad.,  xvii,   186). 

3  De  Sacy  in  Not.  et  Extraits,  ii,  374-5. 

*  Remusat,  Melanges  Asiat.,  i,  441-2.  ["  In  713  a.d.  an  Envoy 
appeared  from  the  Ta  shi,  bringing  as  presents  beautiful  horses 
and  a  magnificent  girdle.  When  the  Envoy  was  presented  to 
the  Emperor,  he  refused  to  perform  the  prescribed  obeisance, 
saying :  'In  my  country  we  only  bow  to  God  never  to  a  Prince.' 
At  first  they  wanted  to  kill  the  Envoy:  one  of  the  ministers  how- 
ever interceded  for  him,  saying  that  a  difference  in  the  court 
etiquette  of  foreign  countries  ought  not  to  be  considered  a  crime. 

"  In  the  year  726  a.d.  an  Envov,  by  name  Su  li  p'u,  came  from 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  9I 

The  emperors  seemed  to  have  entertained  a  correcter 
apprehension  of  the  character  of  the  new  enemy  than  their 
successors  have  exhibited  in  later  days  when  coming  in 
contact  with  Em'opean  nations,  and  consequently  they 
were  very  cautious  in  their  answers  to  the  many  applica- 
tions that  were  made  to  them  for  aid  against  the  irresistible 
Arabs.  Yet  collisions  were  not  entirely  avoided.  Indeed 
according  to  one  Mahomedan  historian^  the  end  of  the 
year  87  of  Hegira  (a.d.  709)  had  already  witnessed  the 
glorious  defeat  of  two  hundred  thousand  Tartars  who  had 
broken  into  the  Mahomedan  conquests  under  the  command 
of  Taghabun,  the  Chinese  Emperor's  nephew.  And  at  a 
later  date,  about  751,  we  find  the  Chinese  troops  under 
their  general  Kao  Sien-chi  engaging  those  of  the  Khali  f 
near  Taraz  or  Talas  and  entirely  routed^.  A  few  years 
afterwards  (757-8),  when  the  Emperor  Su  Tsung  was  hard 
pressed  by  a  powerful  rebel,  he  received  an  embassy  from 
the  Khalif  Abu  Jafar  al  Mansur,  accompanied  by  auxiliary 
troops.  But  even  these  ministers  of  timely  aid  are  related 
in  the  Chinese  annals  to  have  been  compelled  to  perform 
the  kotow  in  spite  of  their  strong  remonstrances.  Uighiir 
and  other  western  troops  also  joined  the  emperor's 
standard,  and  the  rebel  was  completely  defeated  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  Si-ngan  fu  [a.d.  757].  These 
auxiliaries  seem  to  have  been  found  very  unmanageable  ; 
the  eastern  capital,  Lo  yang,  was  pillaged  by  them,  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  one  account  ascribes  to  them,  on  their 

Ta  shi  to  the  court.  He  made  the  required  obeisance  before 
the  Emperor  and  received  a  purple  robe  and  a  girdle  as  presents." 
From  the  History  of  the  T'ang;  Bretschneider,  Arabs,  p.  8.]  So 
in  turn  ten  Chinese  envoys  are  said  to  have  been  murdered  at  the 
Burmese  court  in  1286,  because  they  insisted  on  appearing  in  the 
royal  presence  with  their  boots  on.     {Mission  to  Ava,  p.  79.) 

1  Tabari,  quoted  in  Ch.  Anc,  p.  310. 

2  lb.,  311  ;  Deguignes,  i,  58.  [Kao  Sien-chi  was  routed  by 
the  Arabs  {Ta  shi)  allied  to  the  Karluk  near  Talas  in  the  9th 
year  t'ien-pao  (750).     See  Chavannes,  Tou-Kiue,  p.  142.] 


92  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

way  to  embark  for  the  west,  the  sack  of  Canton  which 
occurred  at  this  time^. 

Mention  has  been  made  in  a  preceding"  page  how  about 
787  the  emperor  apphed  to  the  khahf  to  join  in  a  league 
against  the  Tibetans.  Some  years  later  (798)  the  cele- 
brated Khalif  Harun  Al  Rashid  sent  three  ambassadors 
to  the  Court  of  China,  and  it  is  recorded  of  them  that  they 
performed,  apparently  without  remonstrance,  the  cere- 
monies to  which  the  former  Arab  envoys,  like  ours  in 
modern  times,  had  so  strongly  objected^. 

An  embassy  from  the  khalif  is  said  to  have  also  reached 
the  Chinese  Court  in  974,  and  another  to  have  visited  the 
Northern  Sung  in  loii^. 

V.     INTERCOURSE  WITH  ARMENIA  AND  PERSIA,  ETC. 

60.  Besides  that  communication  by  land  and  sea 
with  Arabia,  and  with  the  various  states  of  India,  of  which 
illustrations  have  been  given,  there  existed  from  an  old 
date  other  and  obscurer  streams  of  intercourse  between 
China  and  Western  Asia,  of  which  we  have  but  fragmentary 
notices,  but  which  seem  to  indicate  a  somewhat  fuller 
mutual  knowledge  and  freer  communication  than  most 
persons  probably  have  been  prepared  to  recognise. 

^  See  Mem.  de  I' Acad,  (old),  xvi,  p.  254,  and  supra,  p.  89. 
["  A  po  lo  pa  [Ab'ul  Abbas,  750-754,  the  first  Khalif  Abbasid]  was 
chosen  king  and  his  territories  were  henceforward  called  Hei  yi 
Ta  shi,  or  black  coated  Ta  shi.  After  his  death  his  brother  A  p'u 
ch'a  fo  [Abu  Jafar,  754-775]  ascended  the  throne.  In  the  year 
756  the  king  sent  an  Embassy  to  China.  The  Emperor  retook, 
with  the  help  of  his  (the  caliph's)  army,  both  capitals  of  China." 
From  the  History  of  the  T'ang.     Bretschneider,  Arabs,  p.  9.] 

^  Remusat,  u.s. 

3  Deguignes,  in  Acad.,  xlvi,  544;  H.  des  Huns,  i,  66,  seqq. 
["The  History  of  the  Sung  dynasty,  960-1280,  has  a  long  article 
on  the  Ta  shi  (Arabs),  yet  I  have  found  but  little  of  interest  in  it. 
Mention  is  made  of  twenty  Embassies  from  the  Ta  shi  having  come 
to  China  in  ships  during  this  past  period.  But  it  .seems  that 
most  of  them  bore  no  official  character  and  have  to  be  reduced 
to  mercantile  expeditions."     Bretschneider,   Arabs,   p.    11.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  93 

Thus,  China  appears  to  have  been  well  known  from  an 
early  period  to  the  Armenians.  Moses  of  Chorene,  who 
wrote  a  little  after  a.d.  440,  and  who  probably  drew  from 
earlier  authors,  speaks  of  Jenasdan  {i.e.  Chinistan  or 
China)  as  a  great  plain  country,  east  of  Scythia,  at  the 
extremity  of  the  known  world,  and  occupied  by  a  wealthy 
and  civilised  people  of  character  so  eminently  pacific  as 
to*  deserve  to  be  called  not  merely  friends  of  peace  but 
frie7ids  of  life.  Their  country  furnished  an  abundance  of 
silk,  insomuch  that  silk  dresses,  so  rare  and  costly  in 
Armenia,  were  there  common  to  all  classes.  It  also  pro- 
duced musk,  saffron,  and  cotton.  Peacocks  were  found 
there.  Twenty-nine  nations  were  comprised  within  its 
bounds  ;  and  not  all  of  equal  civilisation,  for  one  was 
addicted  to  cannibalism^.  The  king,  whose  title  was  Jen- 
pagur,  had  his  residence  in  the  city  of  Siurhia  towards  the 
Terra  Incogpita.  The  country  of  the  Sinae  adjoined 
Jenasdan  and  embraced  seven  nations  ;  it  contained  many 
rivers  and  mountains,  and  extended  likewise  to  the 
Unknown  Land^.  According  to  the  same  historian,  in  the 
reign  of  Tigranes  VI  (a.d.  142-178)  several  bodies  of  foreign 
settlers,  and  amongst  others  Chinese,  were  placed  in  Gord- 
yene  or  Kurdish  Armenia,  for  the  defence  of  the  country^. 

^  Compare  Ptolemy,  vi,  16;    and  Marco  Polo,  ii,  225,  228  n. 

^  St.  Martin,  Mem.  sur  V Avmenie ,  ii,  22,  23,  377.  The 
Jenasdan  of  Moses  of  Chorene  is  perhaps  the  Empire  of  the  Wei 
dynasty  which  ruled  in  Northern  China  with  varying  power  from 
the  fourth  to  the  sixth  century,  and  whose  authority  in  Tartary 
was  very  extensive.  Their  capitals  were  various ;  Lo  yang  was 
one  of  them.  I  do  not  know  if  this  could  be  identified  with 
Siurhia ;  but  it  may  be  observed  that  in  the  Syriac  of  the  Si-ngan 
fu  inscription  Lo  yang  is  supposed  to  be  meant  by  Saragh.  The 
Sinae  would  perhaps  represent  the  Tsin  reigning  at  Nan  king. 
[Yule  adds  :  "  Some  clue  to  the  origin  of  this  name  [Siurhia]  may 
perhaps  lie  in  the  circumstance  that  the  Mongol  Ssanang  Ssetzen 
appears  to  give  Daitu  or  Peking,  as  the  capital  of  the  Great 
Khan,,  the  appellation  of  Siro-Khaghan.  The  meaning  of  the 
title  is  not  explained  by  Schmidt.      (vSee  his  work,  p.  127.)"] 

^  St.  Martin,  ii,  47. 


94  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

To  more  than  one  great  Armenian  family  a  Chinese 
descent  was  attributed.  One  of  these  famihes  was  that 
of  the  Orpehans,  which  in  Georgia  was  known  by  the 
name  of  Jenpakuriani  from  their  supposed  ancestor  the 
Jen-pakur  or  Emperor  of  China^.  Another  family  was 
that  of  the  Mamigonians,  one  which  plays  an  important 
part  in  Armenian  history.  Their  story  is  told  by  Moses 
of  Chorene,  who  refers  their  establishment  in  Armenia 'to 
a  date  two  hundred  years  before  his  own  time,  and  there- 
fore to  the  first  half  of  the  third  century.  He  relates  that, 
in  the  latter  days  of  Ardeshir,  the  founder  of  the  Sassanian 
dynasty  (who  died  in  240),  a  certain  Arpog  was  King  of 
China,  one  of  whose  sons,  Mamkon  by  name,  fled  from 
home  on  account  of  a  charge  brought  against  him,  and 
took  refuge  in  Persia.  The  Chinese  threatening  war  on 
account  of  the  shelter  afforded  him,  he  was  obliged  to 
retire  to  Armenia,  where  he  was  received  by  the  King 
Tiridates,  who  eventually  bestowed  the  province  of  Daron 
upon  him  and  his  Chinese  followers.  From  this  Mamkon 
came  the  family  of  the  Mamigonians,  whose  Chinese 
descent  is  spoken  of  by  all  the  Armenian  historians^. 

About  the  same  time  we  find  it  stated  that  the  Emperor 
of  China  offered  to  mediate  between  Ardeshir,  King  of 
Persia,  and  Khosru  I  of  Armenia  ;  whilst  Suren,  a  brother 
of  St.  Gregory  of  Armenia,  is  represented  as  taking  refuge 
in  China.  All  these  circumstances  imply  some  familiarity 
of  relation.     The  authority  quoted  for  them  is  Zenob,  a 

^  St.  Martin  says  that  Pakur  is  tlie  Faghfur  of  the  Mahomedan 
writers,  the  generic  name  appUed  to  the  Emperors  of  China. 
See  note  under  §  85,  infra. 

I  notice,  however,  that  Pakor  forms  a  part  of  the  name  or 
title  of  many  of  the  Georgian  kings  in  Deguignes's  hst. 

^  There  appears  to  be  some  chronological  hitch  in  this  account ; 
for  Tiridates,  who  was  carried  off  as  an  infant  to  the  Romans, 
was  not  established  on  the  throne  till  the  beginning  of  Diocletian's 
reign  (284),  forty-four  years  after  the  death  of  Ardashir.  (Smith's 
Diet,  of  Greek  and  Rom.  Biog.) 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  95 

Syrian,  who  wrote  in  Armenian  in  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century.  And  he  says  that  they  were  derived  from 
a  history  of  China  written  in  Greek  by  one  Parta  or  Barta 
of  Edessa^. 

6i.  The  offer  at  mediation  between  Persia  and 
Armenia  just  referred  to  is  apparently  unknown  to  the 
Chinese  Annals.  Their  first  notice  of  Persia ^  is  the  record 
of  an  embassy  to  the  court  of  the  Wei  in  461  ;  succeeded 
by  a  second  in  466^.  In  the  year  518-519  an  ambassador 
came  from  Kiuhoto  (Kobad),  king  of  that  country,  with 
presents  and  a  letter  to  the  emperor.  The  Chinese 
annalists  profess  to  give  the  literal  terms  of  the  letter, 
which  uses  a  tone  of  improbable  humility*. 

In  the  reign  of  Naoshirwan,  the  celebrated  son  of 
Kobad,  an  embassy  came  to  the  Persian  court  from  the 
Emperor  of  China,  bringing  splendid  presents.  Among 
these  are  mentioned  a  panther  formed  of  pearls  with  eyes 
of  rubies  ;  a  silk  robe  of  ultramarine  blue  of  extraordinary 
splendour  on  which  was  represented  in  gold  the  Persian 
monarch  with  his  courtiers  round  him  ;  and  a  golden 
box  to  contain  this  robe  and  also  a  female  figure, 
whose    face    was    veiled    with    her    long    hair,    through 

1  St.  Martin,  29. 

^  ["The  country  Po  ssu  is  mentioned  for  the  first  time  in 
Chinese  Annals  in  519  a.d.,  when  the  king  of  Po  ssu  sent  an 
Embassy  with  presents  to  the  court  of  the  Northern  Wei 
(386-558).  The  sending  of  such  embassies  was  often  repeated. 
The  Sui  dynasty  (589-618)  received  also  embassies  from  Po  ssu, 
and  during  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Yang  Ti  (605-617)  a  Chinese 
Envoy  was  sent  to  Po  ssu."  (Bretschneider,  Notes  and  Queries 
on  China  and  Japan,  iv,  p.  54.)] 

*  Deguignes,  i,  184.  [See  above  in  Communication  with  Central 
Asia,  p.  59.] 

*  "To  the  Son  of  Heaven,  the  Sovereign  of  the  Great  Realm, 
whom  Heaven  hath  caused  to  exist  and  hath  placed  at  the  sun- 
rising  to  reign  eternally  over  the  empire  of  the  Han ;  the  King 
of  Persia,  Kobad,  presents  his  respectful  homage  a  thousand 
and  ten  thousand  times  and  prays  his  Imperial  Majesty  to  accept 
it."     (Pauthier,  De  I'Auth.,  p.  60.) 


96  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

which  her  beauty  shone  hke  a  ray  of  Hght  through  the 
darkness^. 

In  the  same  reign  (567)  is  mentioned  that  the  King  of 
Persia  sent  an  embassy  to  Wu  Ti,  Emperor  of  the  Chau 
dynasty,  perhaps  to  engage  his  aid  against  the  Turks 
who  had  then  become  formidable  upon  the  Bactrian 
frontiers,  as  we  see  in  the  extracts  from  Menander,  in 
Note  VHP. 

In  638,  Yezdijerd  III,  the  last  of  the  Sassanid  kings, 
when  hard  pressed  in  the  uttermost  corners  of  his  domin- 
ions by  the  Saracens,  sent  an  envoy  to  seek  help  from  the 
Emperor  of  China,  now  the  great  and  powerful  T'ai  Tsung. 
The  Persian  prince,  obliged  to  retire  into  Turkestan  [after 
his  defeat  at  Nehawend  (642)],  met  in  Sogdiana  his 
messenger  returning  with  T'ai  Tsung's  refusal  of  assistance. 
This  embassy  is  mentioned  both  by  Chinese  and  Arabian 
historians  ;  by  the  former  the  unfortunate  king  is  styled 
Yissesse^.  The  son  of  this  king,  called  by  the  Chinese 
Pi  lou  sse,  i.e.,  Perozes  or  Firuz,  established  himself  in 
Tokharistan,  apparently  under  some  subordination  to  the 
Chinese  Government.  In  661  he  reported  to  China  that 
the  Arabs  were  again  pressing  him  hard,  and  some  years 
later  (670-673)  he  took  refuge  at  the  Chinese  court,  where 
he  received  a  high  nominal  command,  [built  a  Mazdean 


^  Malcolm's  History  of  Persia,  i,  144-5;  Ma'sudi,  Prairies 
d'Or,  a,  201.  In  the  latter's  version  the  long-haired  beauty  is 
not  a  picture,  but  a  living  damsel  who  carried  the  casket. 

2  Deguignes,  ii,  385. 

3  Remusat,  L'Acad.,  viii,  p.  103;  St.  Martin,  ii,  19;  Klap., 
Tab.  Hist.,  p.  208;  Pauth.,  De  I'Auth.,  pp.  17,  61.  The  reply  of 
the  Chinese  Emperor  is  thus  represented  by  the  Arab  historian, 
Tabari :  "It  is  just  that  kings  should  help  one  another;  but  I 
have  gathered  from  your  own  ambassadors  what  manner  of  men 
are  these  Arabs,  what  their  habits,  their  religion,  and  the 
character  of  their  leaders.  People  who  have  such  a  faith  and 
such  leaders  will  carry  all  before  them.  Try,  then,  to  make  the 
best  of  things  by  gaining  their  good  graces."     {Not.  et  Extraits, 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  97 

temple  in  677,  at  Ch'ang  ngan],  and  died  soon  after  ^. 
After  his  death,  his  son,  called  by  the  Chinese  Ni  ni  sse 
or  Ni  niei  sse  (Narses  ?),  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
emperor.  In  679  a  Chinese  general,  with  a  body  of  troops, 
was  ordered  to  escort  this  prince  to  his  paternal  dominions  ; 
but  the  general  seems  to  have  descried  serious  obstacles 
to  the  completion  of  this  duty  ;  for  he  turned  back  from 
the  frontier  near  Taraz  "  because  of  the  length  of  the  way 
and  the  fatigue  of  the  journey,"  as  the  Chinese  annalist 
quaintly  puts  it.  The  prince  betook  himself  to  Tokharis- 
tan  where  he  was  hospitably  received  ;  but,  whatever 
efforts  he  may  have  made  to  recover  his  throne,  he  found 
them  fruitless  at  last  ;  for,  in  707  we  find  him  again  pre- 
senting himself  at  the  Chinese  court,  where,  like  his  father, 
he  was  consoled  with  a  sounding  military  title,  and  did 
not  long  survive.     But  here  we  must  look  back  a  little^. 

^  Firuz,  as  the  name  of  a  son  of  Yezdijerd,  the  last  Sassanid 
king,  is  mentioned  by  Mas'udi,  Prairies  d'Or,  ii,  241 .  [Yezdijerd  III 
died  in  651  at  Mar  v.] 

2  ["  The  following  historical  facts  with  regard  to  Po  ssu  are 
stated  in  the  history  of  the  T'ang. 

"Towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  the  Sui  dynasty  (589-618), 
the  Khan  of  T'u  K'iie  devastated  the  kingdom  of  Po  ssu  and 
killed  the  king  K'u  sa  ho.  His  son  Shi  li  was  appointed  as  suc- 
cessor by  the  victors,  who  gave  him  a  Vice-regent  as  assistant. 
Later,  the  daughter  of  K'u  sa  ho  was  murdered.  After  the  death 
of  Shi  li,  his  son  Tan  ko  fang  was  forced  to  take  refuge  in  Fo  lin, 
but  was  subsequently  recalled.  His  nephew  Yi  t'su  ssu  became 
king  after  the  death  of  Tan  ko  fang.  This  king  sent,  in  the  year 
638,  an  Envoy,  Mo  ssu  pan,  with  presents  to  the  Chinese  Court. 
Yi  ts'u  ssu  was  dethroned  on  account  of  several  crimes, — ^he  fled 
to  Tokharestan — but  was  slain  on  the  road  by  the  Ta  shi  (Arabs). 
His  son  Pi  lu  ssu  came  to  Tokharestan  and  sent  off  an  Envoy  to 
the  Emperor  Kao  Tsung  (650-684)  to  ask  for  assistance  to  redress 
his  wrongs.  The  Emperor  declined  all  interference,  saying  that 
Po  ssu  was  a  country  situated  too  far  from  his  own.  In  the  year 
661  he  again  implored  the  Emperor  and  complained  especially 
against  the  Arabians.  The  Emperor  at  last  sent  an  Official  to 
Po  ssu  and  created  a  seat  of  Government  in  the  town  of  Tsi  ling, 
at  the  head  of  which  Pi  lu  ssu  was  appointed.  On  the  death  of 
Pi  lu  ssu  the  Emperor  was  desirous  to  enthrone  Ni  nie  shi  (son 
of  Pi  lu  ssu)  as  king  of  Po  ssu,  but  the  Chinese  armies,  which  were 
to  uphold  him,  did  not  reach  Po  ssu  and  were  obliged  to  return. 
Ni  nie  shi  lived  for  20  years  as  a  guest  with  the  king  of  Tokharestan. 
In  the  year  707  he  came  again  to  the  court  of  China,  where  he 

c.  Y.  c.  I.  7 


98  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

62.  In  the  days  of  Yang  Ti  of  the  Sui  dynasty  (605- 
617)  China  had  begun  to  regain  that  influence  over  the 
states  of  Central  Asia  which  it  had  enjoyed  in  the  great 
days  of  the  Han,  preceding  and  following  the  Christian 
era,  and  under  T'ai  Tsung  of  the  T'ang  (627-650)  that 
influence  was  fully  re-established  and  the  frontiers  of  the 
empire  were  again  carried  to  the  Bolor  and  even  beyond  it 
to  the  borders  of  Persia.  In  these  remoter  provinces  the 
actual  administration  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  native 
princes  who  acknowledged  themselves  the  vassals  of  the 
emperor.  But  from  him  they  accepted  investiture, 
Chinese  seals  of  office,  and  decorations  as  lieges  of  the 
empire.  Their  states  were  divided  after  the  Chinese 
manner  into  departments,  districts,  and  cantons  ( fu,  chau, 
and  Men),  each  of  which  received  a  Chinese  name  by  which 
it  was  entered  in  the  imperial  registers  ;  whilst  Chinese 
camps  were  scattered  over  the  whole  territory.  The 
tributary  states  west  of  the  Bolor  formed  sixteen  fu  and 
seventy-two  chau,  over  which  were  distributed  a  hundred 
and  twenty-six  Chinese  military  posts.  The  list  of  the 
sixteen  districts  of  the  first  class  has  been  published  by 
Remusat,  and,  though  doubts  attach  to  the  localities  of 
some,  enough  has  been  made  out  to  show  that  this  Chinese 
organisation  extended,  at  least  in  theory,  over  Farghanah 
and  the  country  round  Tashkand,  over  the  eastern  part 
at  least  of  Ma-wara-n-Nahr,  the  country  on  the  Oxus  from 
Balkh  upwards,  Bamian  and  other  districts  adjoining  the 
Hindu  Kush,  with  perhaps  Sejistan  and  part  of  Khorasan^. 

died.  There  now  remained  only  the  Western  Branch  as  rulers. 
They  sent  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  ten  embassies  to 
the  Court  of  China,  which  brought  as  presents  valuable  carpets, 
also  a  throne  made  of  agate."  (Bretschneider,  Notes  and  Queries 
on  China  and  Japan,  iv,  p.  57.)] 

^  Remusat,  u.s.,  pp.  81  seqq.  This  author  considers  Kandahar 
and  Kabul  to  be  included  in  the  Chinese  distribution  of  provinces ; 
but  see  Reinaud,  Mdm.  sur  I'Inde  in  M4m.  Acad.,  xvii,  167-8. 

One   of   the   Chinese   Fus   is   termed   Pusse;     i.e.,    "Persia," 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  99 

The  states  of  Turkestan  and  Khorasan  were  probably 
desirous  to  place  themselves  under  Chinese  protection  in 
the  vain  hope  of  finding  it  a  bulwark  against  the  Saracen 
flood,  and  may  themselves  have  originated  this  action  of 
the  Chinese  Government.  Besides  the  states  which  were 
thus  organised  on  a  Chinese  model,  others  occupying  a 
wider  circle  sent  occasional  embassies  of  compliment  which 
the  Chinese  represent  as  bearing  tribute,  and  among  these 
are  found  the  Khans  of  Khwarizm  and  the  Khazars.  The 
kings  of  Samarkand  for  several  generations  are  alleged  to 
have  received  investiture  from  China,  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  their  territory  was  organised  in  the  Chinese 
fashion. 

The  orders  for  that  organisation  were  issued  in  66i, 
and  it  must  remain  very  doubtful  how  far  they  were 

which  should  be  at  least  on  the  borders  of  that  country.  The 
chief  city  of  this  department  was  called  Tsi  ling.  Now,  it  seems 
not  improbable  that  this  department  of  Persia  was  really  part  of 
Sejistan,  the  chief  city  of  which  in  early  Mahomedan  times  was 
called  Zaranj  (compare  the  Drangiane  and  Zarangiane  of  the 
Greeks),  a  name  which  might  be  well  represented  by  the  Chinese 
Tsi  ling.  This  is  the  more  probable,  as  near  Zaranj  stood  the 
ancient  city  of  Pars  (Farrah  ?),  the  traditional  capital  of  Rustum, 
which  might  suggest  the  Persia  or  Pusse  of  the  Chinese  (see  Edrisi, 
i,  445).  M.  Pauthier  suggests  Shiraz  as  the  identification  of 
Tsi  ling.  But  it  would  have  been  a  bold  step  surely  in  661  to  name 
Shiraz  as  the  seat  of  a  Chinese  Government  (see  De  I'Auth.,  p.  61). 
["H.  Yule,  dans  son  Cathay,  t.  i,  p.  Ixxxvii,  identifie  Tsi-ling  a 
Zaranj,  ville  pres  de  laquelle  se  trouve  I'ancienne  cite  de  Pars 
(Farrah),  la  capitale  traditionnelle  de  Roustoum,  qui  pourrait 
expliquer  le  Pars  (P'o  sse)  des  Chinois.  II  me  parait  impossible 
que  r administration  des  Chinois  ait  penetre  aussi  loin  de  leur 
domaine,  qui  avait  alors  pour  confins,  encore  plus  fictifs  que 
reels,  les  quatre  places  de  guerre  (Talas,  K'outche,  Kachgar  et 
Ouch)."  Deveria,  Origine  de  I'lslamisme  en  Chine,  p.  307 w. 
This  argument  is  not  to  the  point;  the  Chinese  organisation 
may  not  have  been  carried  out  and  still  Firuz  may  have  taken  a 
refuge  at  Zaranj  or  Tsi  ling.  The  following  works  on  Seistan  do 
not  throw  any  light  on  the  question  :  Journal  from  Bunder 
Abbass  to  Mash' ad  by  Sistan,  with  some  account  of  the  last-named 
Province.  By  Major-General  Sir  F.  J.  Goldsmid.  {Proc.  R.  Geog. 
Soc,  xvii,  1872-73,  pp.  86-92) ;  Notes  on  Seistan.  By  Major- 
General  Sir  H.  C.  Rawlinson.  {Journal  Roy.  Geog.  Soc,  1873, 
pp.  272-294,  map) ;  The  Frontiers  of  Baluchistan.  By  G.  P.  Tate, 
Lond.,  1909.] 

7—2 


lOO  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

ever  carried  out,  considering  that  in  that  very  year,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  Sassanian  Prince  Firiiz  was  beginning  to 
find  Tokharestan  too  hot  to  hold  him.  The  highest  point 
of  this  tide  of  the  Chinese  power  must  have  been  then 
reached,  but  several  of  the  states  west  of  the  Bolor  are 
represented  as  continuing  to  send  tribute  to  China  with 
wonderful  persistence  for  years  after  the  conquests  of 
Kutaiba,  and  well  into  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century^. 

The  Chinese  Annals  represent  indeed  that  some  small 
districts  of  Persia  maintained  their  independence  against 
the  Arabs  for  a  considerable  time,  and  between  713  and 
7552  sent  ten  separate  embassies  to  the  court  of  China. 
A  prince  of  Tabaristan  is  especially  mentioned  as  sending 
one  of  these  missions  ;  his  country  is  correctly  described 
as  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  mountains  and  on  the 
north  by  the  Little  Sea  (the  Caspian).  The  capital  was 
called  Sari^.  In  the  time  of  the  Kings  of  Persia  this  had 
been  the  seat  of  an  officer  called  the  Great  General  of  the 
East.  This  officer  had  refused  to  submit  to  the  Arabs, 
and  in  746  he  (or  rather  a  successor)  sent  envoys  to  the 
Emperor  of  China  and  received  a  title  of  honour.  Eight 
years  later  he  sent  his  son  to  China,  and  the  Emperor 
conferred  high  military  rank  upon  him.  The  father 
perished  at  the  hands  of  the  Arabs. 

One  more  embassy  is  reported  from  Persia  in  923. 

1  See  Remusat,  to  p.  102.  He  says  the  Chinese  power  really 
extended  to  the  Caspian  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventh  and  first 
half  of  the  eighth  centuries.  But  how  can  this  be  reconciled  with 
the  Mahomedan  conquests  ? 

2  [The  Chinese  priest  Kan  shin  (Kien  chen)  from  Yang  chau 
in  748  mentions  the  existence  of  a  very  large  Persian  village  in  the 
island  of  Hai-nan.  (Takakusu  in  Premiev  Congres  int.  des  Etudes 
d'Ext.  Orient,  Hanoi,  1903,  p.  58.)] 

3  An  old  city  of  Mazandaran,  which  is  celebrated  in  the  legends 
of  Afrasiab.  There  are,  or  were  in  the  last  century,  still  to  be 
seen  at  Sari  four  ancient  circular  temples,  each  thirty  feet  in 
diameter  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high.  (Malcolm,  i, 
p.  261.) 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  lOI 

The  greater  part  of  Persia  seems  at  that  time  to  have  been 
under  the  Samanid  dynasty  at  Bokhara,  with  whom  inter- 
course was  carried  on  and  a  marriage  alhance  took  place 
some  twenty  years  later,  if  we  can  depend  on  the  Arabian 
traveller  Ibn  Muhalhil  (see  §  84). 

63.  In  this  part  of  our  subject  we  may  also  mention 
as  worthy  of  note,  though  without  being  able  to  throw  any 
light  upon  it,  the  tradition  of  the  Druzes  of  Syria  that 
China  is  the  land  of  their  forefathers,  and  the  happy 
country  to  which  good  Druzes  revert  beyond  the  grave ^. 

VI.     NESTORIAN    CHRISTIANITY   IN   CHINA. 

64.  The  traditions  of  the  eastern  churches  take  back 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  China  to  a  very  old  date 
indeed.  Not  St.  Thomas  only  is  asserted  to  have  carried 
so  far  his  indefatigable  missionary  journeys 2,  for  the 
apostle  Bartholomew  is  related  by  a  Syro-Arabian  writer 
to  have  gone  preaching  to   India  and  further   China^. 

1  Mr.  Cyril  Graham  in  Journ.  R.  Geog.  Soc,  vol.  xxvii,  pp.  262-3. 

2  The  Chaldsean  breviary  of  the  Malabar  Church  in  its  office 
of  St.  Thomas  contains  this  passage  : 

"By  St.  Thomas  were  the  errors  of  idolatry  banished  from 
among  the  Indians ; 

"By  St.  Thomas  were  the  Chinese  and  the  Ethiopians  con- 
verted to  the  truth; 

"By  St.  Thomas  did  they  receive  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism 
and  the  adoption  of  children; 

"By  St.  Thomas  were  they  brought  to  believe  in  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost; 

"By  St.  Thomas  when  they  had  gotten  the  Faith  they  did 
maintain   it ; 

"  By  St.  Thomas  hath  the  brightness  of  the  doctrine  unto  life 
arisen  over  all  the  Indies ; 

"By  St.  Thomas  hath  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  taken  unto 
itself  wings  and  passed  even  unto  China." 

And  again  in  an  anthem  : 

"The  Hindus  and  the  Chinese  and  the  Persians,  and  all  the 
people  of  the  Isles  of  the  Sea,  and  they  who  dwell  in  Syria  and 
Armenia,  in  Javan  and  Romania  call  Thomas  to  remembrance 
and  adore  Thy  Name,  O  Thou  our  Redeemer."  (Assemani, 
pp.  32,  516.) 

*  Ditto,  p.  576. 


102  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Apart  from  these  legends,  a  Christian  author  of  the  third 
century  speaks  of  the  Seres  with  the  Persians  and  Medes 
as  among  the  nations  who  had  been  reached  by  the  power 
of  the  Word^.  On  this  we  cannot  build  as  evidence  that 
Christianity  had  then  extended  to  China  ;  but  that  it  was 
in  the  following  century  already  widely  diffused  over 
Mesopotamia  and  Persia  is  shown  by  the  number  of 
Bishops  and  Presbyters  who  are  named  as  martyrs  or 
otherwise  in  connexion  with  the  persecutions  of  Sapor  ^  ; 
whilst  the  existence  of  an  episcopal  see  at  Marv  and  Tus 
in  334,  raised  to  metropolitan  dignity  in  420,  shows  how 
early  the  church  had  established  itself  also  in  Khorasan^. 
65.  After  the  condemnation  and  banishment  [in  431] 
of  Nestorius,  his  opinions  nevertheless  spread  extensively 
in  Persia  and  throughout  the  eastern  churches.  The 
separation  from  Byzantine  orthodoxy  and  influence 
(formally  accomplished  about  498)  rather  recommended 

^  That  new  power  which  has  arisen  from  the  works  wrought 
by  the  Lord  and  his  Apostles  "has  subdued  the  flame  of  human 
passions,  and  brought  into  the  hearty  acceptance  of  one  faith  a 
vast  variety  of  races,  and  nations  the  most  different  in  their 
manners.  For  we  can  count  up  in  our  reckoning  things  achieved 
in  India,  among  the  Seres,  Persians,  and  Medes ;  in  Arabia, 
Egypt,  Asia,  and  Syria ;  among  the  Galatians,  the  Parthians, 
and  the  Phrygians;  in  Achaia,  Macedonia,  and  Epirus;  in  all 
the  islands  and  provinces  which  the  rising  or  the  setting  sun 
looks  down  upon."  [ "  Virtutes  sub  oculis  positae,  et  inaudita 
ilia  vis  rerum,  vel  quae  ab  ipso  fiebat  palam,  vel  ab  ejus  prae- 
conibus  celebrabatur  in  orbe  toto :  eas  subdidit  appetitionum 
flammas,  et  ad  unius  credulitatis  assensum  mente  una  concurrere 
gentes  et  populos  fecit,  et  moribus  dissimillimas  nationes. 
Enumerari  enim  possunt,  atque  in  usum  computationis  venire 
ea,  quae  in  India  gesta  sunt,  apud  Seras,  Persas,  et  Medos  :  in 
Arabia,  ^Egypto,  in  Asia,  Syria,  apud  Galatas,  Parthos,  Phrygas : 
in  Achaja,  Macedonia,  Epiro  :  in  insulis  et  provinciis  omnibus, 
quas  sol  oriens,  atque  occidens  lustrat. .."]  (Arnobius,  Adversus 
Gentes,  in  ii,  448,  Max.  Bihlioth.  Patrum,  1677). 

2  As.,  pp.  52-3,  415. 

^  Ditto,  477,  479.  ["Tus,  in  the  4th  (loth  century),  was  the 
second  city  of  the  Naysabur  quarter  of  Khurasan."  Cf.  Le 
Strange,  Eastern  Caliphate,  pp.  388-390.  "  Great  Marv,  in  the 
middle  ages,  was  called  Marv-ash-Shahijan,  to  distinguish  it 
from  Marv-ar-Rud,   Little  Marv."     Ibid.,  p.   398.] 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  IO3 

the  Separatists  to  the  Kings  of  Persia,  though  their  treat- 
ment by  those  princes  constantly  fluctuated  between  favour 
and  persecution.  And  much  the  same  may  be  said  of 
their  condition  under  the  Arabian  khahfs.  At  first  they 
seem  to  have  been  treated  by  the  Mahomedans  with  some 
amount  of  good  will^.  They  found  employment  with  the 
khalifs,  especially  as  secretaries  and  physicians,  and  in  the 
latter  capacity  many  of  them  acquired  a  wide  eastern 
fame.  Still  they  were  always  liable  to  be  treated  with 
capricious  outbursts  of  severity,  and  too  often  the  heavy 
hand  of  Islam  was  brought  down  upon  them  through  their 
own  internal  rivalries  and  factions. 

66.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  faults  of  the 
churches,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  strong  missionary 
spirit  among  them  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  as 
shown  both  by  positive  historical  statements^,  and  by  the 
extension  eastward  of  the  metropolitan  sees.  Such  were 
constituted  at  Herat,  Samarkand,  and  in  China  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the  eighth  century,  and  no  doubt  these 
must  have  existed  as  ordinary  bishoprics  for  some  time 
before^.  Under  the  patriarchate  of  Timothy  again  (778- 
820)  we  find  the  record  of  the  appointment  of  one  David 

^  The  Patriarch  Jesujabus  (650-660)  in  a  letter  given  by 
Assemani,  deplores  a  falling  away  of  thousands  of  Christian 
people  in  the  province  of  Marv  before  the  Mahomedan  invasion, 
not  from  any  reason  that  they  had  to  fear  fire  or  sword,  but  only 
to  avoid  the  loss  of  part  of  their  goods.  He  testifies  in  the  same 
letter  that  the  conduct  of  the  Tayi,  as  he  calls  the  Mahomedans 
(whence,  as  M.  Pauthier  has  somewhere  pointed  out,  the  Ta  shi 
of  the  Chinese,  v.  supra,  p.  48),  was  in  general  kindly  towards  the 
Christians.     Assem.  iii,  Pt.  i,  pp.  130-1. 

2  E.g.,  see  in  Assemani,  p.  478. 

^  Indeed  some  of  the  Syrian  authors  ascribe  all  three  metro- 
politan sees  to  much  earlier  dates.  A  writer  quoted  by  Assemani 
says  :  "Herise  et  Samarkandae  et  Sinse  Metropolitanos  creavit 
Salibazacha  Catholicos  [714-728].  Aiunt  vero  quidam  Achaeum 
[411-415]  et  Silam  [503-520]  illos  constituisse  "  (p.  522).  The 
fact  may  be  that  Herat  was  constituted  a  bishopric  in  411-415, 
and  Samarkand  in  503-520.  We  shall  see  that  the  existence 
of  any  bishopric  in  China  before  635  is  highly  improbable. 


104  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

to  be  metropolitan  of  China.  In  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
century  we  find  the  metropolitan  of  China  mentioned 
along  with  those  of  India,  Persia,  Marv,  Syria,  Arabia, 
Herat,  and  Samarkand,  as  excused  on  account  of  the 
remoteness  of  their  sees  from  attending  the  quadrennial 
synods  of  the  church,  but  enjoined  to  send  every  six  years 
a  report  of  the  state  of  their  affairs,  and  not  to  neglect 
the  collections  for  the  support  of  the  patriarchate^.  There 
is  thus  good  evidence  from  the  ecclesiastical  annals  of 
Western  Asia  of  the  existence  of  the  church  in  China  during 
the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries  ;  and  the  narrative  of  the 
Arab  Abu  Said,  in  consistence  with  this,  speaks  of  Chris- 
tians as  forming  one  part  of  a  very  large  foreign  population 
at  Khanfu  in  the  year  878. 

The  institution  of  a  metropolitan  for  China  about  the 
year  720  involves  a  presumption  that  Christianity  had 
penetrated  to  that  country  some  time  before.  Deguignes 
thought  it  had  got  thither  very  much  earlier,  but  he  seems 
to  have  been  misled  by  a  theory  that  some  at  least  of 
the  earlier  notices  of  Buddhism  in  China  alluded  to 
Christianity^. 

67.  For  these  extreme  ideas  there  seems  to  be  no 
evidence,  unless  we  accept  the  loose  statement  of  Arnobius 
about  the  Seres.  Cosmas,  in  the  sixth  century,  was  not 
aware  of  the  existence  of  any  Christians  further  east  than 
Taprobane,  nor  in  Inner  Asia  does  he  speak  of  any  beyond 
the  Huns  and  the  Bactrians,  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus 
and  the  Oxus.  But  that  Christianity  in  China  was  nearly 
a  century  older  than  the  date  of  its  first  metropolitan 
bishop  is  established  by  more  than  one  Chinese  record. 

^  Assem.,  p.  439. 

-  He  refers,  without  the  condemnation  which  it  may  be 
supposed  to  merit,  to  a  medal  representing  the  Virgin  and  Child 
united  to  a  Chinese  copper  coin  of  a.d.  556,  of  which  he  says  a 
cut  is  given  in  the  Lettres  £,difiantes,  xvi.     See  Deguignes,  i,  50. 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  IO5 

The  first  of  these,  which  would  be  obscure  without  the 
light  reflected  on  it  by  the  second  and  more  important,  is 
an  edict  issued  in  745  by  the  Emperor  Hiuan  Tsung  of  the 
T'ang,  wherein  it  is  declared  that  the  religion  of  the  sacred 
books  known  as  Persian  had  originally  come  from  Ta  Ts'in 
(the  Roman  Empire)  ;  propagated  by  preaching  and 
tradition  it  had  made  its  way  to  the  Middle  Kingdom,  and 
had  been  for  a  long  time  practised  therein.  Temples  of 
this  worship  had  been  erected  from  the  first,  and  had  got 
to  be  known  popularly  as  Persian  temples.  But  as  this 
title  was  inaccurate  it  was  by  this  edict  enacted  that 
throughout  the  empire  the  name  of  Persian  temples  should 
be  thenceforward  changed  to  Ta  Ts'in  Temples^. 

68.  The  second  record  is  that  celebrated  monument 
of  Si-ngan  fu  which  has  been  the  subject  of  so  much 
discussion. 

This  monument  was  dug  up  in  the  year  1625  during  a 
chance  excavation  in  a  suburb^  of  Si-ngan  fu,  preserving 
in  its  name  of  Ch'ang-ngan  that  of  the  city  which  was  for 
so  many  ages  the  capital  of  successive  dynasties.  It  was 
a  stone  slab  [about  y\  feet  high  by  3  feet  wide,  and  some 
10  inches  in  thickness],  with  a  cross  carved  at  the  top, 
[and  beneath  this  are  nine  large  characters  in  three  columns, 
constituting  the  heading,  which  runs  :  "  Monument  com- 
memorating the  introduction  and  propagation  of  the  nolle 
law  o/Ta  Ts'in  in  the  Middle  Kingdom  "]^,  and  below  that 
a  continuous  Chinese  inscription  of  great  length  [consist- 

1  Pauth.,  De  I'Auth.,  pp.  79-80. 

2  [This  slab  King-kiao-pei  was  found  in  the  sub-prefecture  of 
Chau  chi,  a  dependency  of  Si-ngan  fu,  among  ancient  ruins. — 
Havret,  2nd  Pt.,  p.  71.  Pelliot  says  that  the  slab  was  not  found 
at  Chau  Chi,  but  in  the  western  suburb  of  Si-ngan,  at  the  very 
spot  where  it  was  to  be  seen  some  years  ago,  before  it  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Pei-lin,  in  fact  at  the  place  where  it  was  erected  in 
the  seventh  century  inside  the  monastery  built  by  Olopun. — 
Chretiens  d'Asie  centrale,  T'oung  pao,  1914.] 

^  Marco  Polo,  ii,  p.  27  n. 


I06  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

ing  of  1789  characters],  besides  lines  of  writing  in  an 
alphabetic  character,  which  was  soon  after  the  discovery 
ascertained  to  be  Syriac^. 

The  contents  of  this  inscription,  attesting  the  ancient 
propagation  of  Christianity  in  China,  speedily  became 
known  to  the  Jesuit  missionaries  ;  and  a  Chinese  edition 
of  it  was  published  in  the  country  [in  1641,  by  Father 
Emmanuel  Diaz,  Yang  Ma-no,  under  the  title  T'ang  king 
kiao  p'ai  sung  cheng  ts'iuen  ;  it  has  been  reprinted  in  1878 
at  T'u  se  wei].  Long  before  the  first  date,  however, 
copies  or  facsimiles  had  been  sent  to  Europe,  and  the  first 
attempt  at  a  translation  was  published  by  Athanasius 
Kircher  in  1636  [in  his  Prodromus  Coptus  sive  Mgyptiacus, 
and  again  in  his  China  illustrata]. 


1  Extracts  regarding  the  discovery  of  the  monument  will  be 
found  in  Suppl.  Note  X.  [M.  Grenard,  who  reproduces  (iii,  p. 152) 
a  good  facsimile  of  the  inscription,  gives  to  the  slab  the  following 
dimensions  :  high  2  m.  36,  wide  cm.  86,  thick  cm.  25. — Father 
Havret  has  given  a  photolithographic  reproduction  of  the  inscrip- 
tion on  the  original  scale,  from  a  rubbing  sent  in  1894  from 
Si-ngan  fu  by  Father  Gabriel  Maurice,  in  the  first  part  of  La 
Stele  chretienne  de  Si-ngan  fou,  Shanghai,  1895.  In  1891  a  shed 
was  built  over  the  slab  but  soon  disappeared.  In  1907  a  Danish 
gentleman,  Mr.  Frits  V.  Holm,  took  a  photograph  of  the  tablet 
as  it  stood  outside  the  west  gate  of  Si-ngan,  south  of  the  road  to 
Kan  Su  ;  it  was  one  of  five  slabs  on  the  same  spot ;  it  was  removed 
without  the  stone  pedestal  (a  tortoise)  into  the  City  on  the  2nd 
Oct.  1907,  and  it  is  now  kept  in  the  museum  known  as  the  Pei-lin 
(Forest  of  Tablets).  Holm  says  it  is  ten  feet  high,  the  weight 
being  two  tons ;  he  tried  to  purchase  the  original,  and  failing  this 
he  had  an  exact  replica  made  by  Chinese  workmen ;  this  replica 
was  deposited  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  as  a  loan,  on  the  i6th  of  June  1908.  "The  original 
Nestorian  Tablet  of  a.d.  781,  as  well  as  my  replica,  made  in  1907," 
Holm  writes, "are  both  carved  from  the  stone  quarries  of  Fu 
Ping  Hien;  the  material  is  a  black,  sub-granular  limestone 
with  small  oolites  scattered  through  it."  (Frits  V.  Holm,  The 
Nestorian  Monument,  Chicago,  1909.)  In  this  pamphlet  there  is 
a  photograph  of  the  tablet  as  it  stands  in  the  Pei-lin. 

Prof.  Ed.  Chavannes,  who  also  visited  Si-ngan  in  1907,  saw 
the  Nestorian  monument;  in  the  album  of  his  Mission  archeo- 
logique  dans  la  Chine  Septentrionale,  Paris,  1909,  he  has  given 
(plate  445)  photographs  of  the  five  tablets,  the  tablet  itself,  the 
western  gate  of  the  western  suburb  of  Si-ngan,  and  the  entrance 
of  the  temple  Kin  Sheng  Sze.] 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  IO7 

The  inscription  has  since  been  several  times  translated^, 
and  has  given  rise  to  a  large  amount  of  controversy,  some- 
times of  very  acrimonious  character.  Many  scholars  have 
entirely  refused  to  believe  in  its  genuineness.  Voltaire, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  sneered  at  it.  In  our  own  day 
Renan  (though  apparently  with  some  doubts)  and  Julien 
have  denied  its  authenticity  ^  ;  so  has  the  German  Neu- 
mann with  singular  rashness,  roundly  accusing  the  Jesuit 
Semedo  of  having  forged  it^.  On  the  other  hand,  Abel 
Remusat  and  Klaproth  fully  accepted  and  stoutly  main- 
tained its  authenticity,  which  M,  Pauthier  seems,  as  far 
as  I  can  judge,  to  have  demonstrated.  It  is  not  easy  to 
see  why  a  Jesuit  should  have  expended  enormous  labour 
in  forging  a  testimonial  to  the  ancient  successes  of  a 
heretical  sect  ;  though  perhaps  one  could  not  build 
entirely  on  this,  as  the  mysteries  of  the  hoaxing  propensity 
in  the  human  mind  are  great.  But  the  utter  impossibility 
of  the  forgery  of  such  a  monument  at  the  time  and  place 
of  its  discovery  is  a  more  invulnerable  argument,  and  to 
appreciate  this  the  remarks  of  Remusat  and  Pauthier 
must  be  read, 

69.  The  monument  exhibits,  in  addition  to  the  Chinese 
text  which  forms  its  substance,  a  series  of  short  inscriptions 
in  Syriac,  containing  the  date  of  erection,  the  names  of 
the  reigning  patriarch  of  the  Nestorian  Church,  of  the 
Bishop  of  China  {Tzinisthdn,  the  form  used  by  Cosmas), 
and  of  the  chief  clerical  staff  of  the  capital,  which  is  here 
styled,  as  in  the  early  Greek  and  Arabic  sources  already 

^  Cf.  Bibliotheca  Sinica,  col.  772-781. 

2  [Renan  in  the  fourth  edition  of  his  Histoire  des  Langues 
semitiques,  1863,  pp.  288-290,  has  fully  recognized  the  authenticity 
of  the  inscription;   so  has  Stanislas  Julien.] 

3  See  Pauthier,  De  I'Auth.,  pp.  6  seqq. ;  14  seqq. ;  83  seqq. ;  and 
especially  91.  [The  fullest  account  of  the  inscription  is  to  be 
found  in  La  Stele  chretienne  de  Si-ngan-fou,  par  le  P.  Henri  Havret, 
Shanghai,  1895,  1897,  1902,  being  Nos.  7,  12,  20  of  the  Collection 
VaHetes  sinolog iques,  edited  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  at  Zi-ka-wei.] 


I08  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

quoted,  Kumddn.  To  this  are  added  in  Syriac  characters 
the  names  of  sixty-seven  persons,  apparently  Western 
Asiatics,  the  great  majority  of  whom  are  characterised 
as  priests  {KasMshd),  with  those  of  sixty-one  persons  of 
the  country  in  Chinese,  all  of  whom  are  styled  priests 
except  two^. 

1  The  essential  parts  of  the  Syriac  matter  on  the  monument 
run  as  follows  : 

"  l7i  the  days  of  the  Father  of  Fathers,  Mar  Hanan  Ishu'a  the 
Catholic  Patriarch  : 

[And]  "  Adam  Priest  and  Bishop  and  Pope  of  Tzinisthan  : 

"  In  the  year  one  thousand  and  ninety-two  of  the  Greeks  [a.d.  781] 
Mar  Idbuzid,  Priest  and  Chorepiscopus  of  Kumdan,  the  royal 
city,  son  of  Milis  of  blessed  memory.  Priest  of  Balkh,  a  city  of 
Thokaresthan,  has  erected  this  table  of  stone,  on  which  are  inscribed 
the  Redemption  by  our  Saviour,  and  the  preachings  of  our  Fathers 
to  the  King  of  Tzinia  : 

"  Adam  the  Deacon,  son  of  Idbuzid,  Chorepiscopus  : 

"Mar  Sargis  [Sergius],  Priest  and  Chorepiscopiis  : 

"Sabar  Ishu'a,  Priest : 

"Gabriel,  Priest,  and  Archdeacon  and  Church  Ruler  of  the 
cities  of  Kumdan  and  Saragh." 

[This  is  the  translation  of  Father  Cheikho,  S.J.  (Havret, 
I.e.,  iii,  p.  6). 

I.  Adam  pretre  chore veque  et  pape  de  Chine  [Sinestan]. 

II.  Au  temps  du  chef  des  eveques  le  seigneur  Catholicos,  le 
Patriarche  Hananjesu. 

III.  En  I'annee  X092  des  Grecs,  le  seigneur  Jazedbouzid, 
pretre  et  choreveque  de  la  capitale  du  royaume  Koumdan,  le  fils 
du  defunt  Milis  pretre  originaire  de  Balkh  ville  de  Tahouristan, 
a  eleve  ce  monument  lapidaire  ou  sont  ecrites  la  loi  de  notre 
Redempteur  et  la  predication  de  nos  Peres  pres  des  rois  de  Chine. 
[Then  follow  the  names.]  ] 

Anan  Jesus  II,  according  to  Assemani  (iii,  i,  15577)..  was 
patriarch  of  the  Nestorian  Church  from  774  to  778.  It  is  justly 
pointed  out  by  the  same  author  that  the  fact  of  this  patriarch's 
being  represented  as  still  reigning  in  781  is  a  perfectly  natural 
result  of  the  long  distance  from  the  Patriarchal  see.  The  ana- 
chronism is  in  fact,  quantum  valeat,  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of 
the  monument.  Saragh,  according  to  Pauthier,  is  Lo  yang  in 
Ho  nan,  one  of  the  capitals  of  the  T'ang,  and  occupied  as  such 
by  the  Imperial  Government  for  a  time,  between  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  and  the  date  of  the  monument. 

[Assemani,  iii,  p.  Dxlv,  Ch.  v,  has  "Mar  Sergius  Presbyter,  and 
Chorepiscopus  Sinarum."  Prof.  I.  H.  Hall  [Journ.  Am.  Orient. 
Soc,  xiii,  1889,  p.  cxxvi)  remarks  that  Assemani  is  taking  Sinistan, 
i.e.  China,  for  Shiangtsu,  and  he  adds  :  "It  is  astonishing  that  he 
should  make  such  a  blunder,  for  the  '  of  Sinistan  '  occurs  else- 
where in  the  inscription,  on  the  face  of  the  stone."  With  regard  to 
the  word  pope,  papas  given  to  Adam,  M.  Pelliot  remarks  that  the 
inscription  has  not  papas  but  papsi  and  that  it  is  but  a  Buddhist 
title,  fa-shi  {fap-si),  "Master  of  the  Law."     As  to  Mar  Sergius, 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  IO9 

The  chief  contents  of  the  long  inscription  in  Chinese, 
which  contains  1789  characters,  may  be  thus  summarised  : 
— 1st.  An  abstract  of  Christian  doctrine,  of  a  very  vague 
and  figurative  kind.  This  vagueness  is  perhaps  partly  due 
to  the  character  of  the  Chinese  language,  but  that  will 
scarcely  account  for  the  absence  of  all  intelligible  enuncia- 
tion of  the  Crucifixion,  or  even  of  the  death,  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  though  his  Ascension  is  declared.  2nd.  An 
account  of  the  arrival  of  the  missionary,  Olopun^,  from 

chorepiscopus  of  Shiangtsu,  according  to  the  same  authority 
Shiangtsu  is  not  the  name  of  a  locality  but  also  a  Buddhist  title 
Shang  tso,  sansk.  sthavlra,  i.e.  the  head  of  a  monastery.  Pelliot, 
Deux  titres  bouddhistes,  T'oung  pao,  dec.  191 1,  pp.  664-670.  Cf. 
F.  Nau,  Journ.  Asiat.,  Jan. — Fev.  1913,  pp.  235-6.] 

1  This  name  according  to  Pauthier  is  Syriac;  Alo-pano 
signifying  the  Return  of  God.  If  this,  however,  be  an  admissible 
Syriac  name,  it  is  singular  that  the  original  should  have  been 
missed  by  one  so  competent  as  Assemani,  who  can  only  suggest 
that  the  name  was  the  common  Syriac  name  Jaballaha,  from 
which  the  Chinese  had  dropt  the  first  syllable,  adding  a  Chinese 
termination. 

Might  not  Olopdn  be  merely  a  Chinese  form  of  the  Syriac 
Rabban,  by  which  the  Apostle  had  come  to  be  generally  known  ? 

[Dr  F.  Hirth  {China  and  the  Roman  Orient,  p.  323)  writes  : 
"O-LO-PEN  =  Ruben  =  Rupen  ? "  He  adds  {Journ.  China  Br.  R. 
As.  5oc.,xxi,  1886,  pp.  214-215)  :  "  Initial  r  is  also  quite  commonly 
represented  by  initial  /.  I  am  in  doubt  whether  the  two  characters 
o-lo  in  the  Chinese  name  for  Russia  {O-lo-ssii)  stand  for  foreign  ru 
or  ro  alone.  This  word  would  bear  comparison  with  a  Chinese 
transcription  of  the  Sanskrit  word  for  silver,  rilpya,  which  in  the 
Pen-ts' ao-kang-mu  (ch.  8,  p.  9)  is  given  as  o-lu-pa.  If  we  can  find 
further  analogies,  this  may  help  us  to  read  that  mysterious  word 
in  the  Nestorian  stone  inscription,  being  the  name  of  the  first 
Christian  missionary  who  carried  the  cross  to  China,  0-lo-pen,  as 
'Ruben.'  This  was  indeed  a  common  name  among  the  Nesto- 
rians,  for  which  reason  I  would  give  it  the  preference  over  Pauthier's 
Syriac  'Alopeno.'  "  But  Father  Havret  {Stele  chretienne,  Leide, 
1897,  p.  26)  objects  to  Dr.  Hirth  that  the  Chinese  character  la,  to 
which  he  gives  the  sound  ru,  is  not  to  be  found  as  a  Sanskrit 
phonetic  element  in  Chinese  characters,  but  that  this  phonetic 
element  ru  is  represented  by  the  Chinese  characters  pronounced 
lu,  and  therefore  he.  Father  Havret,  adopts  Sir  Henry  Yule's 
opinion  as  the  only  one  which  is  fully  satisfactory.] 

It  is  fair,  however,  to  observe  that  the  name  in  the  older 
versions  used  by  Assemani  is  written  Olopuen,  which  might  have 
disguised  from  him  the  etymology  proposed  by  Pauthier.  The 
name  of  this  personage  does  not  appear  in  the  Syriac  part  of  the 
inscription. 

Saragh,  it  may  be  added,  is  referred  by  Pauthier  to  the  Saraga 


no  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

the  empire  of  Ta  Ts'in  in  the  year  635,  bringing  sacred 
books  and  images  ;  of  the  translation  of  the  said  books  (a 
notable  circumstance)  ;  of  the  approval  of  his  doctrine  by 
the  imperial  authority,  and  the  permission  given  to  teach 
it  publicly.  There  follows  a  decree  of  the  emperor  (T'ai 
Tsung)  issued  in  638  in  favour  of  the  new  doctrine,  and 
commanding  the  construction  of  a  church  in  [the  Square 
of  Peace  and  Justice  {I-ning  Fang)  at]  the  capital.  The 
emperor's  portrait  was  to  be  placed  in  the  Church.  After 
this  comes  a  short  description  of  Ta  Ts'in  (here,  says 
Pauthier,  especially  meaning  Syria)  from  Chinese  geo- 
graphical works  ;  and  then  there  are  particulars  given  of 
the  continued  patronage  of  Olopun  and  his  doctrine  under 
the  Emperor  Kao  Tsung  (650-663)  1,  and  of  the  spread  of 
Christianity  in  the  empire.  In  the  end  of  the  century 
Buddhism  establishes  a  preponderance,  and  succeeds  for 
a  time  in  depressing  the  new  doctrines.  Under  Hiuan 
Tsung  (713-755)  the  church  recovers  its  prestige,  and  a 
new  missionary  called  Kiho  appears.  Su  Tsung  (756-762), 
T'ai  Tsung  (763-779),  and  Te  Tsung  (780-783),  continue 
to  favour  the  Christians.  Under  this  last  reign  the  monu- 
ment was  erected,  and  this  part  of  the  inscription  ter- 
minates with  an  elaborate  eulogy  of  Isse^,  a  sage  and 
statesman,  who,  though  apparently  by  profession  a  Budd- 

of  Ptolemy,  a  city  placed  by  the  geographer  among  the  Sines, 
and  according  to  his  theory  of  course  far  to  the  south  of  the  real 
position  of  Lo  yang.  But  we  have  seen  reason  to  believe  that 
Ptolemy's  view  of  the  Sin(s  and  Seres  is  that  of  a  person  using  his 
right  and  left  eye  separately.  Binocular  vision  reduces  the  two 
objects  to  one,  and  corrects  their  displacement. 

^  Kao  Tsung  was  also  the  devout  patron  of  the  Buddhist 
traveller  Hiuen  Tsang.  Kublai  and  Akbar  are  examples  of  like 
wavering  among  great  kings. 

2  [Isse  or  Yi-se,  according  to  Pelliot,  is  but  the  Chinese  tran- 
scription of  Idbuzid  [Yazdbozed]  who  erected  the  tablet ;  he  was 
not  a  monk  but  belonged  to  the  Nestorian  secular  clergy;  under  the 
T'ang,  one  of  the  names  given  by  the  Chinese  to  Balkh  was  "the 
City  of  the  Royal  Residence."  Pelliot,  Chr Miens  d'Asie  centrale, 
T'oung  pao,  1914.)] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  III 

hist,  conferred  many  benefits  upon  the  churches.  3rd. 
A  recapitulation  in  octosyllabic  stanzas  of  the  purport 
of  the  inscription,  but  chiefly  as  regards  the  praises  of 
the  emperors  who  had  favoured  the  progress  of  the 
church. 

The  record  concludes  with  the  date  of  erection,  viz. 
the  second  year  Kienchung  of  the  Great  T'ang  [dynasty, 
the  seventh  day  of  T'ai  Tsu,  the  feast  of  the  great  Yaosan. 
This  corresponds,  according  to  Gaubil,  to  4th  February 
781^] ;  the  name  of  the  chief  of  the  law,  the  Priest  Ning- 
CHU,  charged  with  the  instruction  of  the  Christian 
population  of  the  eastern  countries  (and,  I  presume,  the 
same  with  the  Adam,  who  appears  as  Metropolitan  in  the 
Syriac  sentences)  ;  the  name  of  a  civil  officer  who  wrote 
and  engraved  the  Chinese  inscription  ;  and  the  official 
approval  of  the  whole. 

70.  It  is  reasonably  supposed  that  this  remarkable 
monument,  the  idea  of  which  was  probably  taken  from  a 
Buddhist  custom^,  may  have  been  buried  about  the  year 
845,  when  the  Emperor  Wu  Tsung  published  an  edict,  still 
extant,  denouncing  the  increase  of  Buddhist  monks,  nuns, 
and  convents,  and  ordering  the  destruction  of  4600  great 
monasteries,  the  260,500  inmates  of  which  were  to  return 
to  civil  life.  40,000  minor  monasteries  scattered  about 
the  country  were  also  to  be  demolished,  the  lands  attaching 
to  them  to  be  resumed  by  the  state,  and  150,000  slaves 
belonging  to  the  bonzes  to  be  admitted  to  civil  privilege 

1  Marco  Polo,  ii,  p.  28  n. 

2  Stone  monuments  and  inscriptions  highly  analogous  in 
character  are  very  common  in  the  precincts  of  pagodas  and 
monasteries  in  Burma.  Some  account  of  a  remarkable  one  on  a 
marble  slab,  standing  eight  and  a  half  feet  high  by  six  feet  wide 
and  eleven  inches  in  thickness,  is  given  at  pp.  66,  351  of  the  Mission 
to  Ava  in  1855.  This  contains  on  each  side  eighty-six  lines  of 
inscription  beautifully  executed.  It  is  not  older  than  the  seven- 
teenth century,  but  imitates  others  of  far  greater  antiquity. 
See  the  like  in  the  old  Cambodian  temples  described  by  Bastian. 
(/.  R.  G.  S.,  XXXV,  p.  85.) 


112  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

and  duties.  The  edict  also  directs  that  foreign  bonzes 
who  had  come  to  China  to  make  known  the  law  prevailing 
in  their  countries,  whether  that  of  Ta  Ts'in  or  of  Muhupa, 
amounting  to  some  3000,  should  also  return  to  secular  life, 
and  cease  to  corrupt  the  institutions  of  the  Central  Flowery 
Kingdom^. 

^  Pauthier  {De  I'Auth.,  pp.  69-71)  takes  Muhupa  for  the 
Ma'bar  of  Southern  India,  and  thinks  that  offshoots  of  the  St. 
Thomas  Christians  are  meant.  But  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
the  name  Ma'bar  as  apphed  to  a  country  of  Southern  India  occurs 
so  early  by  some  centuries.  The  opinion  of  Gaubil,  quoted  by 
Pauthier,  that  the  Mubids  or  Guebers  of  Persia  were  meant, 
seems  more  probable.  It  will  be  recollected  that  Abu  Zaid 
mentions  among  the  foreigners  slaughtered  at  Khanfu  in  878 
Magians  as  well  as  Mahomedans,  Christians,  and  Jews  {supra, 
p.  89). 

["With  regard  to  the  temples  of  the  Ta-ts'in  and  the  Muh-hu, 
when  Buddhism  was  exterminated,  those  heretical  religions 
might  thereupon  not  be  left  in  existence ;  their  adherents  must  be 
compelled  to  return  in  a  body  to  the  secular  life,  and  settle  down 
again  in  their  original  family  circle,  there  to  be  enlisted  as  ground- 
rent-paying  people;  and  the  foreigners  amongst  them  must  be 
sent  back  to  their  native  country,  and  there  be  taken  under 
control  by  the  authorities."  And  further  on  :  "Of  the  4600  and 
more  convents  that  are  to  be  pulled  down  within  the  empire,  the 
260,500  monks  and  nuns  who  must  adopt  secular  life,  shall  be 
enlisted  amongst  the  families  who  pay  ground-tax  twice  a  year. 
Of  the  40,000  and  more  chao-t'i  and  lan-jok  that  are  to  be 
demolished,  the  fattest  land  of  the  best  kind,  measuring  several 
thousand  myriads  of  khing,  shall  be  confiscated  and  the  slaves 
of  both  sexes  (employed  in  cultivating  them?),  to  a  number  of 
150,000,  shall  be  enlisted  among  the  families  that  pay  ground-tax 
twice  a  year.  And  secular  life  shall  be  adopted  by  more  than 
3000  Ta-ts'in  and  Muh-hu-pat  belonging  to  the  class  of  the 
Buddhist  monks  and  nuns,  or  to  the  Bureau  for  the  Reception  and 
Entertainment  of  Foreigners,  who  devote  themselves  to  the 
explanation  of  foreign  religious  rescripts;  with  the  customs  of 
the  Flowery  Land  of  the  Centre  they  shall  no  longer  meddle." 
J.  J.  M.  de  Groot,  Sectarianism,  i,  pp.  64,  66. 

With  regard  to  the  relations  betAveen  the  Buddhists  and  the 
Nestorians  we  may  quote  this  passage  discovered  by  J .  Takakusu 
in  the  Cheng-yuen  Sin-ting-Shih-kidp-muh-luh,  The  new  catalogue 
of  (the  books  of)  the  Teaching  of  Sakya  in  the  period  of  Cheng- 
yuen  (a.d.  785-804),  compiled  by  Yuen  chao,  a  priest  of  Si-ngan  fu 
regarding  Adam,  called  King-tsing  in  Chinese,  in  the  Si-ngan  fu 
inscription:  "Prajna,  a  Buddhist  of  KapLsa,  N.  India,  travelled 
through  Central  India,  Ceylon,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Southern 
Sea  (Sumatra,  Java,  etc.)  and  came  to  China,  for  he  heard  that 
Mafijuiri  was  in  China.  He  arrived  at  Canton  and  came  to  the 
upper  province  (North)  in  a.d.  782  [one  year  after  the  erection 
of  the  slab  at  Si-ngan].    He  met  a  relation  of  his  in  a.d.  786,  who 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  II3 

71.     A  century  later,  Christianity  in  China  seems  to 

have  fallen  to  a  very  low  ebb,  though  probably  not  quite 

to  zero  as  the  next  information  on  the  subject  would  imply. 

This  is  derived  from  a  circumstance  noted  by  an  Arabian 

author,  Mahomed,  the  son  of  Isaac,  surnamed  Abulfaraj, 

who  says  : — "  In  the  year  377  (a.d.  987),  behind  the  church 

in  the  Christian  quarter  (of  Baghdad),  I  fell  in  with  a 

certain  monk  of  Najran,  who  seven  years  before  had  been 

sent  to  China  by  the  Catholicos,  with  five  other  ecclesiastics, 

to  bring  the  affairs  of  Christianity  in  that  country  into 

order.     He  was  a  man  still  young,  and  of  a  pleasant 

countenance,  but  of  few  words,  opening  his  mouth  only 

to  answer  questions.     I  asked  him  about  his  travels,  and 

he  told  me  that  Christianity  had  become  quite  extinct  in 

China.     The   Christians  had  perished  in  various  ways  ; 

their  Church  had  been  destroyed;   and  but  one  Christian 

came  to  China  before  him.  He  translated  together  with  King- 
tsing  (  =  Adarn),  a  Persian  priest  of  the  monastery  of  Ta-ts'in 
(Syria),  the  5atparamita-sutra  from  a  Hu  text,  and  finished 
translating  seven  volumes.  But  because  at  that  time  Prajiia 
was  not  familiar  with  the  Hu  language,  nor  understood  the 
Chinese  language,  and  as  King-tsing  (Adam)  did  not  know  the 
Brahma  language  (Sanskrit),  nor  was  versed  in  the  teaching  of 
the  Sakya,  so  though  they  pretended  to  be  translating  the  text, 
yet  they  could  not,  in  reality,  obtain  a  half  of  its  gems  {i.e.  real 
meanings).  They  were  seeking  vainglory  privately,  and  wrongly 
trying  their  luck.  They  presented  a  memorial  (to  the  Emperor), 
expecting  to  get  it  propagated.  The  Emperor  (Te  Tsung,  a.d.  780- 
804),  who  was  intelligent,  wise  and  accomplished,  who  revered 
the  canon  of  the  ^akya,  examined  what  they  had  translated,  and 
found  that  the  principles  contained  in  it  were  obscure  and  the 
wording  was  diffuse.  Moreover,  he  said  that,  the  Sangharama  of  the 
6akya  and  the  monastery  of  Ta-ts'in  (Syria)  differing  much  in  their 
customs,  and  their  religious  practices  being  entirely  opposed  to 
each  other,  King-tsing  (Adam)  ought  to  hand  down  the  teaching 
of  Mi-shi-ho  (Messiah),  and  the  Sakyaputriya-^ramanas  should 
propagate  the  sutras  of  the  Buddha.  It  is,  he  said,  to  be  wished 
that  the  boundaries  of  the  doctrines  may  be  made  distinct,  and 
the  followers  may  not  intermingle.  Orthodoxy  and  heterodoxy 
are  different  things,  just  as  the  rivers  King  and  Wei  have  a 
different  course."  T'oung  pao,  1896,  pp.  589-590. — King-tsing, 
i.e.  Adam,  who  was  a  "master  of  the  Law,"  fapsi,  was  probably 
the  translator  of  a  great  many  Christian  texts,  and  among  others 
of  a  Hymn  to  the  Holy  Trinity  found  by  Pelliot  at  Tun  hwang. 
Pelliot,  /.c] 

C.  Y.  C.    I.  8 


114  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

remained  in  the  land.  The  monk,  finding  nobody  whom 
he  could  aid  with  his  ministry,  had  come  back  faster  than 
he  went^." 

The  capital  of  China  at  this  time,  according  to  the 
monk,  was  a  city  called  Taiuna  or  Thajuye,  in  which 
Pauthier  discovers  a  corruption  of  the  name  Chdo  or  Chiao- 
fu,hy  which  Si-ngan  fu  was  called  under  the  Sung  dynasty. 
In  any  case  it  was  probably  the  same  as  that  intended  by 
the  Tdjah,  which  Edrisi  and  Abulfeda  speak  of  as  the 
capital  of  China.  The  form  is  more  suggestive  of  T'ai 
yuenfu  in  the  province  of  Shan  si,  the  Taianfu  of  M.  Polo, 
which  had  been  for  a  time  the  capital  of  the  T'ang  in  the 
eighth  century^. 

72.  To  the  early  tide  of  Christianity  in  China  which 
here  reaches  its  ebb,  probably  belong  those  curious 
relics  of  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  connexion  which  Layard 
found  in  the  valley  of  Jelu  in  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan. 
Here,  in  visiting  a  very  old  Nestorian  church,  he  saw 
among  many  other  motley  curiosities,  a  number  of  China 

1  Reinaud's  Abulfeda,  i,  ccccii;  also  N.  Annates  des  Voyages 
for  1846,  iv,  90;  and  Pauth.,  Auth.,  p.  95;  also  Mosheim,  p.  13. 
The  passage  had  previously  been  referred  to  by  Golius,  but  it 
was  not  known  whence  he  had  derived  it,  till  it  was  rediscovered 
by  M.  Reinaud  in  a  work  in  the  Bibl.  Imperiale. 

2  See  Pauthier's  Polo,  p.  353.  It  must  have  been  difficult  to 
say  what  was  the  capital  of  China  in  the  tenth  century,  when  it 
was  divided  into  five  monarchies.  That  of  the  Sung,  who 
acquired  a  predominance  in  960,  was  first  at  Ch'ang-ngan  or  Si-ngan 
fu,  and  afterwards  at  K'ai  fung  fu.  [During  the  period  of  the  Five 
Dynasties  (907-960),  the  capitals  of  China  were  very  numerous  : 
1°  Leang  dynasty  (907-923) ;  in  907,  the  eastern  capital  was  at 
K'ai-fung  fu  [Tung  King],  and  the  western  capital  [Si  King]  at 
Lo-yang. — 2°  T'ang  dynasty  (923-936) ;  in  923,  the  eastern  capital 
was  at  Ta-ming  (Chi-li) ;  the  western  capital  at  T'ai  yuen  (Shan-si), 
which  in  the  same  year  became  the  northern  capital  [Pe  King], 
while  the  western  capital  was  transferred  to  Si-ngan  fu ;  in  925, 
Ta-ming  received  the  name  of  Ye-tu,  and  the  eastern  capital  was 
transferred  to  Lo-yang;  in  929,  Ye-tu  was  suppressed. — 3°  Tsin 
dynasty  (936-947) ;  in  938,  the  eastern  capital  was  at  K'ai-fung 
fu  ;  the  western  at  Lo-yang ;  Ye-tu  was  restored. — 4°  Han  dynasty 
(936-951);  Hke  the  Tsin. — 5°  Chau  dynasty  (951-960);  like  the 
Tsin  and  the  Han,  except  that  Ye-tu  was  suppressed  in  954. — 
I  owe  this  information  to  Prof.  Pelliot.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  II5 

bowls,  black  with  the  dust  of  ages,  suspended  from  the 
roof.  These,  he  was  assured,  had  been  brought  from  the 
distant  empire  of  Cathay  by  those  early  missionaries  of 
the  Chaldean  church,  who  bore  the  tidings  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  shores  of  the  Yellow  Sea^. 

73.  No  more  is  known,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  of 
Christianity  in  China  till  the  influx  of  European  travellers 
in  the  days  of  Mongol  supremacy.  We  then  again  find 
a  considerable  number  of  Nestorian  Christians  in  the 
country.  It  is  probable  that  a  new  wave  of  conversion 
had  entered  during  the  twelth  and  thirteenth  centuries, 
consequent  on  the  christianisation  of  large  numbers  among 
the  Turkish  and  Mongolian  tribes,  of  which  we  have  many 
indications,  and  on  the  influence  exercised  by  those  tribes 
upon  Northern  China,  both  in  the  time  of  Chinghiz  and  his 
successors,  and  in  the  revolutions  which  preceded  the  rise 
of  that  dynasty.  Already  in  the  time  of  the  patriarch 
Timothy  (778-820)  we  hear  of  active  and  successful 
missions  in  the  countries  adjoining  the  Caspian,  and  of 
the  consequent  conversion  of  a  Khakan  of  the  Turks  and 
of  several  minor  princes  2.  The  progress  of  Christianity 
among  those  nations  then  remains  obscure  till  the  con- 

1  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  p.  433. 

2  There  is  a  still  older  indication  of  the  existence  of  Christians, 
however  ignorant,  among  the  Turks,  in  a  curious  story  related  by 
Theophylactus  Simocatta  and  Theophanes.  In  the  expedition  sent 
by  the  Emperor  Maurice  to  assist  Chosroes  II  against  Bahram 
near  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  the  General  Narses  sent  to 
Constantinople  some  Turks  who  had  been  taken  prisoners.  "  And 
these  bore  marked  on  their  foreheads  the  sign  of  the  Lord  (that 
"which  is  called  the  cross  by  the  followers  of  the  Christian  religion) . 
The  emperor  therefore  inquired  what  the  meaning  might  be  of 
this  token  being  borne  by  the  Barbarians.  And  they  said  their 
mothers  had  put  it  on  them.  For,  once  when  a  virulent  pestilence 
prevailed  among  the  Scythians  in  the  east,  certain  of  the  Christians 
persuaded  them  to  prick  the  foreheads  of  their  children  with  this 
symbol.  The  Barbarians  by  no  means  despised  this  counsel, 
and  the  result  was  their  preservation."  (Theophyl.,  bk.  v,  ch.  10; 
see  also  Theophanis  Chronog.,  a.m.  6081.  The  latter  says,  "Some 
among  them  who  were  Christians.") 


Il6  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

version  of  the  Kerait  Tartars  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century i,  followed  by  those  rumours  of  Christian 
potentates  under  the  name  of  Prester  John  which  con- 
tinued to  reach  Europe  during  the  following  age  2. 
Rubruquis,  in  the  narrative  of  his  journey  to  the  court 
of  Karakorum  (1253-54),  makes  frequent  mention  of  the 
Nestonans  and  their  ecclesiastics,  and  speaks  specifically 
of  the  Nestorians  of  Cathay  as  having  a  bishop  in  Segin 
or  Si-ngan  fu  (p.  292)  ^.  He  gives  an  unfavourable  account 
of  the  literature  and  morals  of  their  clergy,  which  deserves 
more  weight  than  such  statements  regarding  those  looked 
on  as  schismatics  generally  do  ;  for  the  narrative  of 
Rubruquis  gives  one  the  impression  of  being  written  by 
a  thoroughly  honest  and  intelligent  person*.     In  the  time 

1  See  infra,  11,  p.  24. 

2  [The  Chinese  work  Neng  kai  chai  man  lu,  circa  a.d.  1125, 
quotes  a  passage  of  the  Shu  kiun  ku  sJii  (second  half  of  the  eleventh 
century)  in  which  mention  is  made  of  a  "  temple  of  Ta  Ts'in"  (Ta 
Ts'in  sze),  in  all  likelihood  a  Nestorian  temple  which  had  been 
"formerly"  [no  doubt  under  the  T'ang]  built  at  Ch'eng  tu,  in 
Sze-ch'wan  by  people  from  Central  Asia  [Hou-jen). — Note  of 
Pelliot.] 

3  ["  Living  mixed  among  them,  though  of  alien  race  (tanquam 
advene),  are  Nestorians  and  Saracens  all  the  way  to  Cathay.  In 
fifteen  cities  of  Cathay  there  are  Nestorians,  and  they  have  an 
episcopal  see  in  a  city  called  Segin,  but  for  the  rest  they  are 
purely  idolaters."  (Rockhill's  Rubruck,  p.  157.)  Rockhill  makes 
the  following  remarks  regarding  Segin:  "  Segin  is  usually  supposed 
to  be  Si-ngan  Fu,  which  was  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries 
the  centre  of  Nestorianism  in  China.  This  city  in  the  thirteenth 
century  did  not  bear  the  name  of  Si-ngan  Fu,  but  was  called  by 
its  older  name,  Ch'ang-ngan.  However,  in  popular  parlance  it 
may  have  retained  the  other  name.  It  is  strange,  however,  that 
the  two  famous  Uigur  Nestorians,  Mar  Jabalaha  and  Rabban 
Cauma,  when  on  their  journey  from  Koshang  in  southern  Shan-si 
to  western  Asia  in  about  1276,  while  they  mention  'the  city  of 
Tangut,'  or  Ning  hia  on  the  Yellow  River,  as  an  important 
Nestorian  centre,  do  not  once  refer  to  Si-ngan  Fu  or  Ch'ang-ngan. 
Had  Ch'ang-ngan  been  at  the  time  the  Nestorian  episcopal  see, 
one  would  think  that  these  pilgrims  would  have  visited  it,  or  at 
least  referred  to  it.  (Chabot,  Mar  Jabalaha,  21.)  Segin  may 
represent  the  Chinese  Si  King,  'western  capital,'  a  name  fre- 
quently appUed  to  Si-ngan  Fu."] 

«  ["The  Nestorians  there  know  nothing.  They  say  their 
offices,  and  have  sacred  books  in  Syrian,  but  they  do  not  know  the 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  II7 

of  Marco  Polo  we  find  Nestorian  Christians  numerous  not 
only  at  Samarkand  but  at  Yarkand,  whilst  there  are  such 
also  in  Chichintalas  (identified  by  Pauthier  with  the 
modern  Urumtsi,  north  of  the  T'ien  Shan)i,  in  Su  chau 

language,  so  they  chant  hke  those  monks  among  us  who  do  not 
know  grammar,  and  they  are  absolutely  depraved .  In  the  first  place 
they  are  usurers  and  drunkards ;  some  even  among  them  who  live 
with  the  Tartars  have  several  wives  like  them.  When  they  enter 
church,  they  wash  their  lower  parts  like  Saracens ;  they  eat  meat 
on  Friday,  and  have  their  feasts  on  that  day  in  Saracen  fashion. 
The  bishop  rarely  visits  these  parts,  hardly  once  in  fifty  years. 
When  he  does,  they  have  all  the  male  children,  even  those  in  the 
cradle,  ordained  priests,  so  nearly  all  the  males  among  them  are 
priests.  Then  they  marry,  which  is  clearly  against  the  statutes 
of  the  fathers,  and  they  are  bigamists;  for  when  the  first  wife  dies 
these  priests  take  another.  They  are  all  simoniacs,  for  they 
administer  no  sacrament  gratis.  They  are  solicitous  for  their  wives 
and  children,  and  are  consequently  more  intent  on  the  increase  of 
their  wealth  than  of  the  faith.  And  so  those  of  them  who 
educate  some  of  the  sons  of  the  noble  Moal,  though  they  teach 
them  the  Gospel  and  the  articles  of  the  faith,  through  their  evil 
lives  and  their  cupidity  estrange  them  from  the  Christian  faith,  for 
the  lives  that  the  Moal  themselves  and  Tuins  or  idolaters  lead  are 
more  innocent  than  theirs"  (Rockhill's  Rubruck,  pp.  158-9).] 

^  It  occurs  to  me  as  possible  that  the  Cy olios  Kagan  (Kagan 
cyollos)  of  MarignoUi  {infra,  11,  p.  213)  may  be  the  same  name  as  the 
Chichintalas  of  Polo.  The  position  of  the  two  corresponds  in  a 
general  way,  and  both  may  be  represented  by  the  Chagan  Talas 
("White  Plains")  of  some  modern  maps  (see  K.  Johnston's 
Royal  Atlas,  Asia).  [Regarding  Chingintalas  :  "supposing  that 
M.  Polo  mentions  this  place  on  his  way  from  Sha-chow  to  Su-chow, 
it  is  natural  to  think  that  it  is  Chi-kin-talas ,  i.e.  'Chi-kin  plain'  or 
valley ;  Chi-kin  was  the  name  of  a  lake,  called  so  even  now,  and  of 
a  defile,  which  received  its  name  from  the  lake.  The  latter  is 
on  the  way  from  Kia-yu  kwan  to  Ansi  chow."  (Palladius, 
Elucidations  of  Marco  Polo's  Travels,  1876.)  "  Chikin,  or  more 
correctly  Chigin,  is  a  Mongol  word  meaning  'ear.'"  {Ibid.) 
Palladius  (p.  8)  adds  :  "The  Chinese  accounts  of  Chi-kin  are  not  in 
contradiction  to  the  statements  given  by  M.  Polo  regarding  the 
same  subj  ect ;  but  when  the  distances  are  taken  into  consideration, 
a  serious  difficulty  arises ;  Chi-kin  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  or 
sixty  li  distant  from  Su-chow,  whilst,  according  to  M.  Polo's 
statement,  ten  days  are  necessary  to  cross  this  distance.  One 
of  the  three  following  explanations  of  this  discrepancy  must  be 
admitted  :  either  Chingintalas  is  not  Chi-kin,  or  the  traveller's 
memory  failed,  or,  lastly,  an  error  crept  into  the  number  of  days' 
journey.  The  two  last  suppositions  I  consider  the  most  probable ; 
the  more  so  that  similar  difficulties  occur  several  times  in  Marco 
Polo's  narrative."  (L.c,  p.  8.) — Urumtsi  has  nothing  to  do  with 
Chingintalas.  At  Chingintalas  Marco  Polo  says  (i,  p.  212)  ; 
"  There  are  three  different  races  of  people  in  it — Idolaters,  Sara- 
cens, and  some  Nestorian  Christians."] 


no  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

and  Kan  chau,  and  over  all  the  kingdom  of  Tangut,  in 
Tenduc^  and  the  cities  east  of  it,  as  well  as  in  Manchuria 
and  the  countries  bordering  on  Corea.  Polo's  contem- 
porary Hayton  also  testifies  to  the  number  of  great 
and  noble  Tartars  in  the  Uighur  country  who  held 
firm  to  the  faith  of  Christ  2.  As  regards  the  spread  of 
Nestorian  Christianity  in  China  Proper  at  this  period 
we  do  not  find  in  Polo  so  many  definite  statements, 
though  various  general  allusions  which  he  makes 
to  Christians  in  the  country  testify  to  their  existence. 
He  also  speaks  of  them  specifically  in  the  remote  province 
of  Yun  nan,  and  at  Chin  kiang  fu,  where  they  had  two 
churches,  built  in  the  traveller's  own  day  [1278]  by  Mar 
Sergius,  a  Christian  officer  who  was  governor  there ^. 
Their  number  and  influence  in  China  at  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century  may  also  be  gathered  from  the  letter 
of  John  of  Monte  Corvino  (11,  pp.  46  seqq.)  in  this  volume, 
and  in  the  first  part  of  the  following  century  from  the 
report  of  the  Archbishop  of  Soltania,  who  describes  them 
as  more  than  thirty  thousand  in  number,  and  passing  rich 

1  See  II,  p.  244  infra. 

2  V.  2nd  chapter  of  Hayton's  Hist.   "  De  Regno  TarsicB." 

3  ["You  see,  in  the  year  just  named  [1278],  the  Great  Kaan 
sent  a  Baron  of  his  whose  name  was  Mar  Sarghis,  a  Nestorian 
Christian,  to  be  governor  of  this  city  for  three  years.  And  during 
the  three  years  that  he  abode  there  he  caused  these  two  Christian 
churches  to  be  built,  and  since  then  there  they  are.  But  before 
his  time  there  was  no  church,  neither  were  there  any  Christians." 
Marco  Polo,  ii,  p.  177.  A  Christian  monastery  or  temple  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Chi  shun  Chin-kiang  chi  quoted  by  the  Archimandrite 
Palladius  :  "The  temple  Ta-hing-kuo-sze  stands  in  Chin-kiang  fu, 
in  the  quarter  called  Kia-t'ao  h'eang.  It  was  built  in  the  i8th  year 
oi  Chi-yuen  (A.D.1281)  hy  the  Sub-dsiruga.chi,Sie-li-ki-sze  (Sergius) 
Liang  Siang,  the  teacher  in  the  Confucian  school,  wrote  a  com- 
memorative inscription  for  him."  From  this  document  we  see 
that  "  Sie-mi-sze-hien  (Samarcand)  is  distant  from  China  100,000 
li  (probably  a  mistake  for  10,000)  to  the  north-west.  It  is  a 
country  where  the  religion  of  the  Ye-li  k'o  wen  dominates.  .  .The 
founder  of  the  religion  was  called  Ma-rh  Ye-li-ya.  He  lived  and 
worked  miracles  a  thousand  five  hundred  yeans  ago.  Ma  Sie-li- 
ki-sze  CMar  Sergius)  is  a  follower  of  him."  {Chinese  Recorder,  vi, 
p.  io8.~)] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  II9 

people.  Probably  there  was  a  considerable  increase  in 
their  numbers  about  this  time,  for  Odoric,  about  1324, 
found  three  Nestorian  churches  in  the  city  of  Yang  chau, 
where  Marco  would  probably  have  mentioned  them  had 
they  existed  in  his  time^.  That  Christians  continued  to 
rise  in  influence  during  the  short  remainder  of  the  Mongol 
reign  appears  probable  from  the  position  which  we 
find  the  Christian  Alans  to  occupy  in  the  empire  at  the 
time  of  the  visit  of  John  Marignolli. 

[An  instance  of  the  important  part  played  by  the 
Nestorians  from  China  is  given  in  the  history  of  two 
Uighur  Nestorians  :  Rabban  Bar  Qauma,  born  at  Khan- 
baliq,  was  tonsured  by  Mar  Guiwarguis  (George),  Metro- 
politan of  Khan-baliq  ;  Marcos  son  of  Bainiel,  born  in 
1245  at  Ko  shang,  visited  ^auma  and  was  tonsured  in  his 
turn  by  the  Metropolitan  Mar  Nestorios,  probably  the 
successor  of  Mar  George.  The  two  friends  made  up  their 
mind  to  visit  Jerusalem  (1278)  and  travelled  via  Ko 
shang,  Tangut,  Khotan,  Kashgar,  Talas,  Khorassan,  Tus, 
Azerbaidjan,  and  on  their  way  to  Baghdad  met  at  Maragha 
the  catholicos  Mar  Denha  who  gave  them  letters  for 
Palestine  ;  the  two  travellers  went  on  to  Baghdad,  Arbela, 
Mosul,  Nisibis,  Mardin,  Gozart  ;  they  settled  at  the 
convent  of  Saint  Mar  Micael  of  Tar'el  near  Arbela,  but 
were  soon  called  for  by  Denha  who  entrusted  them  with 
a  mission  for  the  Mongol  Sovereign  of  Persia,  Abaka. 
Denha  had  been  compelled  to  leave  Baghdad  in  1268, had 
retired  to  Arbela,  then  to  Ushnej  in  Azerbaidjan  ;  he 
wanted  some  favour  from  the  king.  In  1279  Denha  had 
ordained  as  Metropolitan  of  China  Bar  Kaliq,  bishop 
of  Tus  in  Khorassan ;  Bar  Kaliq  became  arrogant  and 
was  thrown  by  Denha  into   a  prison,   where    he   died. 

1  [Speaking  of  the  inhabitants  of  Yang  chau,  Marco  Polo,  ii, 
p.  154,  says  :  "The  people  are  Idolaters  and  use  paper-money, 
and  are  subject  to  the  Great  Kaan."] 


120  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Denha  chose  to  replace  him  Rabban  Marcos  who  was 
elected  Metropolitan  of  Cathay  under  the  name  of 
Jabalaha,  in  1280,  being  thirty-five  years  of  age  ;  his 
friend  Rabban  ^auma  being  appointed  Visiteur  General. 
Denha  died  at  Baghdad  on  the  24th  February  1281  before 
Jabalaha  had  left.  Jabalaha,  on  account  of  his  knowledge 
of  the  Mongol  language,  was  elected  by  his  colleague 
patriarch  in  the  place  of  Denha,  and  he  was  consecrated 
in  November  1281,  his  nomination  being  approved  of  by 
Abaka.  Jabalaha  was  the  third  of  this  name  occupying 
the  see  of  Seleucia  and  Ktesiphon  with  Baghdad  as  the 
place  of  residence.  Ahmed,  the  successor  of  Abaka,  who 
died  on  the  ist  April  1282,  was  hostile  to  Jabalaha  III,  but 
he  was  murdered  on  the  loth  of  August  1284 ;  the  eldest 
son  of  Abaka,  Arghun  ascended  the  throne  on  the  nth 
August  1284,  and  granted  great  honours  to  the  Metro- 
politan. Arghun,  a  clever  and  ambitious  man,  was 
desirous  of  conquering  Palestine  and  Syria,  and  wishing 
to  obtain  the  good-will  of  Christian  Princes  he  sent  as 
an  ambassador  to  Europe  Rabban  Qauma,  chosen  for  his 
knowledge  of  languages  (1287).  Cauma  was  received 
with  honours  at  Constantinople  by  the  Basileus,  An- 
dronicus  II  (1282-1328)  ;  he  then  went  to  Naples,  and 
before  he  reached  Rome  he  learnt  the  news  of  the  death 
of  the  Pope  Honorius  IV  on  the  3rd  April  1287  ;  he  was 
received  at  Rome  by  the  College  of  Cardinals  and  questions 
were  put  to  him  by  Cardinal  Jerome  of  Ascoli,  bishop  of 
Palestrina  and  General  of  the  Minor  Friars,  who  was 
elected  to  replace  Honorius  IV  as  Pope  on  the  20th  Feb. 
1288.  ^auma  passed  through  Tuscany  and  Genoa,  and 
arrived  at  Paris  where  he  was  well  received  by  the  King, 
Philip  the  Fair ;  from  Paris  he  went  to  Gascony  to  visit 
the  King  of  England,  and  returned  to  Rome  where  he  had 
an  audience  of  Nicholas  IV.     He  went  back  to  Arghun's 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  121 

court  by  the  same  route,  ^auma  died  at  Baghdad  on 
the  loth  of  January  1294.  Mar  Jabalaha  himself  died  at 
Maragha  on  the  13th  of  November  1317,  being  seventy- 
two  years  of  age,  in  the  reign  of  Abu  Said,  son  of 
Oljaitu.     (ti6  Dec.  13161.)] 

74.  That  the  Nestorians  continued  to  exist  in  China 
or  on  its  frontiers  during  the  fifteenth  century  we  shall 
see  hereafter  from  the  brief  records  of  a  mission  which 
they  appear  to  have  sent  to  Rome  in  the  time  of  Pope 
Eugenius  IV.  Even  till  near  the  end  of  that  century  q. 
Metropolitan  of  China  continued  to  be  constituted,  though 
we  know  not  if  he  resided  in  the  country.  In  the  case  of 
John,  who  was  nominated  Metropolitan  of  Masin  (Maha- 
chin)  in  1490,  the  charge  seems  to  have  been  united  with 
that  of  India,  and  therefore  as  regards  China  we  may 
conjecture  that  the  title  had  ceased  to  have  more  of 
practical  meaning  than  the  Sodor  of  the  English  bishop 
of  Sodor  and  Man^. 

75.  When  China  was  re-occupied  by  the  Jesuit 
Missions  in  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  impression 
of  the  missionaries  at  first  was  that  no  Christianity  had 
ever  existed  in  China  before  their  own  day.  Ricci  must 
in  any  case  have  modified  that  opinion  when  he  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  China  was  the  Cathay  of  Marco 
Polo  ;  but  he  also  met  before  his  death  with  unexpected 
evidence  of  its  having  survived,  in  however  degenerate  a 
form,  almost  to  his  own  time.  Its  professors  he  was 
informed  had  been  numerous  in  the  northern  provinces, 
and  had  gained  distinction  both  in  arms  and  literature. 
But  some  sixty  years  before  {i.e.  about  1540)  a  persecution 

^  J.-B.  Chabot,  Histoire  de  Mar  Jabalaha  III.    Paris,  1895,  8vo. 

2  See  Assem.,  pp.  439,  523.  [Mr.  B.  C.  Patterson  gives  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  the  old  Nestorian  Church  in  North  Kiangsu  in 
the  Journal  of  the  North  China  Branch  of  the  R.  A.  Soc,  1912, 
pp.  118,  119.] 


122  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

against  them  had  arisen  which  had  driven  all,  or  nearly 
all,  to  abandon  or  conceal  their  profession.  At  a  later 
date  a  member  of  the  Jesuit  company  visited  the  cities  in 
which  the  descendants  of  these  people  were  said  to  exist, 
furnished  with  the  names  of  the  families.  But  none  of 
them  would  admit  any  knowledge  of  the  subject  on  which 
he  spoke  ^. 

Some  years  afterwards  also  the  Jesuit  Semedo  chanced 
on  faint  traces  of  former  Christianity  in  the  neighbourhood 
pf  the  chief  city  of  Kiang  si^. 

Some  material  relics  also  bearing  like  evidence  came 
in  the  course  of  the  seventeenth  century  into  the  hands  of 
the  Jesuit  missionaries,  such  as  a  bell  with  a  cross  and 
Greek  inscription,  and  at  Chang  chau  in  Fu  kien  sculptures 
of  the  Virgin,  marble  crosses,  and  the  like.  More  than  one 
mediaeval  MS.  of  the  Scriptures  was  also  met  with,  but 
as  these  were  Latin  they  must  have  been  relics  of  the 
Franciscan  missions  of  John  Montecorvino  and  his  brethren 
rather  than  of  the  Nestorians^. 

^  Trigault,  De  Exped.  Christiana  apud  Sinas,  bk.  i,  ch.  ii. 

^  Semedo,  Rel.  della  Cina,  1643,  p.  195.  It  does  not  seem 
necessary  to  do  more  than  allude  to  the  story  told  by  Ferdinand 
Mendez  Pinto  of  his  coming  on  a  Christian  village  on  the  canal 
between  Nanking  and  Peking,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were 
descended  from  converts  made  one  hundred  and  forty-two  years 
before  {i.e.,  about  1400)  by  one  Matthew  Escandel  of  Buda  in  Hun- 
gary, a  hermit  of  Mount  Sinai ;  all  the  history  of  which  was  shown  to 
Ferdinand  in  a  printed  book  (language  not  specified)  by  the 
people  of  the  village  !  (ch.  xcvi).  [We  have  mentioned,  11,  p.  214, 
the  discovery  at  Lin-ts'ing  of  two  tombs  of  Franciscan  missionaries 
of  the  fourteenth  century ;  one  of  them  being  named  Bernard  and 
considered  as  a  companion  of  Odoric ;  no  Bernard  is  mentioned  in 
any  book  with  Odoric ;  this  Bernard  is  probably  Bernardino 
della  Chiesa,  a  Friar  Minor  sent  to  China  in  1680  with  four  brethren, 
who  had  been  appointed  before  his  departure  bishop  of  Argolis, 
and  who  became  subsequently  coadjutor  to  the  vicar  apostolic 
of  Yun  nan  and  later  bishop  of  Peking;  he  died  on  the  2rst 
December  1721.  See  H.  Cordier,  Imprimerie  Sino-Europeenne , 
pp.  65-6. — M.  Romanet  du  Caillaud  has  written  a  notice  of 
Escandel,  after  Pinto,  in  the  Missions  Catholiques,  29  Jan.  1886, 
PP-  52-3] 

2  Trigault,  u.s.;  Martini's  Atlas  Sinensis;  Baldelli  Boni, 
Introd.  to  //  Milione.     One  of  these  relics,  a  Latin  Bible  of  the 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  123 

76.     It  is  a  melancholy  history.     For  ages  after  the 

rise  of  Mahomedanism,  Christianity,  in  however  defective 

a  form,   had  a  wide  and  even  growing  influence   over 

extensive   regions   of   the   earth,    across   which   now   for 

centuries  past  a  Christian  has  scarcely  dared  to  steal. 

Leaving  out  China,  where  possibly  the  Church  of  Rome 

may  number  as  many  disciples  now  as  the  Syrian  Church 

did  in  its  most  prosperous  days,  how  many  Christians  are 

there  in  what  were  up  to  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth 

centuries    the    metropolitan    sees    of    Tangut,    Kashgar, 

Samarkand,  Balkh,  Herat,  Sejistan,  and  Marv  ?     Whilst 

at  the  other  end  of  Asia,  Socotra,  once  also  the  seat  of  a 

Christian  Archbishop,  and  we  may  hope  of  some  Christian 

culture,  is  sunk  into  the  very  depths  of  savagery^. 

eleventh  century,  which  was  obtained  by  the  Jesuit  PhiHp 
Couplet  from  a  Chinese  in  the  province  of  Nanking,  is  now  in  the 
Laurentian  Library  at  Florence.  [It  is  not  mentioned  in  Ban- 
dini's  Catalogue.]  I  tried  to  see  it  but  could  not.  "How  not 
to  do  it"  is,  or  was  till  lately,  the  principle  of  administration 
in  that  institution,  if  I  may  judge  from  my  own  experience 
on  two  occasions,  on  the  second  with  an  introduction;  in  this 
a  singular  contrast  to  those  other  public  libraries  of  Florence 
which  are  not  under  clerical  management.  [Father  Martini 
wrote  in  the  Novus  Atlas  Sinensis,  p.  125,  with  regard  to  Chang 
chau  :  "locum  hunc  jam  tum  a  plurimis  navibus  fuisse  frequenta- 
tum,  ac  M.  Pauli  Zartem  hie  alicubi  fuisse,  accedit  quod  in  hac 
urbe  multa  eaque  luculenta  reperta  sint  Christianorum  vestigia, 
intraque  ipsa  moenia  sculpti  lapides  non  pauci,  quibus  salutiferae 
Crucis  signum  visitur  impositum,  atque  etiam  sanctissimae  Virginis 
Dei  genitricis  Mariae,  cum  caelestibus  geniis  in  terram  prostratis 
imagines  cum  duabus  pendulis  lucernulis,  imo  &  in  praefecti 
cujusdam  palatio  reperta  est  pulcherrima  crux  marmorea,  hanc 
obtenta  ab  eo  facultate  inde  eduxere  Christiani,  ac  in  nostro  urbis 
hujus  templo  summa  cum  pietate  atque  apparatu  collocavere. 
Vidi  etiam  una  cum  sociis  hie  apud  litteratum  quendam  volumen 
vetus,  Gothicis  characteribus  diligentissime  exaratum,  adhibita 
fuit  papyri  loco  tenuissima  membrana;  maxima  Scripturae 
sacrae  pars  Latine  erat  conscripta ;  tentavi  librum  ut  consequerer  : 
at  ejus  dominus  tametsi  gentilis,  nee  prece  nee  pretio  ullo  adduci 
potuit,  ut  traderet,  in  sua  familia  per  multas  jam  nepotum  pro- 
genies tanquam  rarissimum  quoddam  antiquitatis  cimelium 
adservatum  illud  asserens."] 

1  There  are  one  or  two  indications  of  the  existence  of  Christians 
in  the  Indo-Chinese  countries  and  islands  which  have  perhaps 
been  hitherto  overlooked.  One  is  found  in  Marignolli  who  speaks 
of  there  being  a  few  Christians  in  Saba,  which  we  shal   see  reason 


124  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


VII.    LITERARY   INFORMATION   REGARDING    CHINA 
PREVIOUS    TO    THE   MONGOL   ERA. 

77,  Before  speaking  of  that  great  opening  of  the 
Farther  East  to  European  travel,  which  took  place  under 
the  reign  of  the  Mongol  dynasty  in  Asia,  it  will  be  well 
to  take  such  a  view  as  is  practicable  to  me  of  the  informa- 
tion regarding  China  which  is  to  be  found  in  literary  works 

to  believe  to  be  Java  {infy.  11,  p.  220),  and  another  in  the  Travels 
of  Hier.  Santo  Stephano,  who,  when  his  comrade  Hieronimo 
Adorno  died  in  the  city  of  Pegu  in  1496,  buried  him  "in  a  certain 
ruined  church,  frequented  by  none  "  {India  in  the  Fifteenth 
Century,  p.  6).  If  the  Sornau  of  Varthema's  Christian  fellow- 
travellers  be  Siam,  this  affords  a  third  indication  of  the  same 
kind.  [Pinto,  ch.  xcv,  has  "Kingdom  of  Sournau,  vulgarly 
called  Siam."  Yule  adds,  in  a  note  :  "Mr.  Badger  in  his  notes  on 
Varthema  (p.  213)  is  not  inclined  to  accept  Mendez  Pinto's 
authority,  which  he  supposes  to  stand  alone,  for  calling  Siam 
Sornau.  But  I  have  recently  found  that  the  name  Sarnau  is 
used  several  times  by  Varthema's  contemporary,  Giovanni 
d'  Empoli,  in  a  connexion  that  points  to  Siam.  In  one  passage 
he  speaks  of  Pedir  in  Sumatra  as  being  frequented  by  'Junks, 
which  are  the  ships  of  Bengala,Pecu  (Pe^w) ,  Martamam  {Martaban), 
Sarnau,  and  Tanazzar'  (Tanasserim).  In  another  passage  he 
couples  it  again  with  Tenasserim  as  a  place  which  supplied  the 
finest  Benzoin,  Lac,  etc.  The  Italian  editor  interprets  the 
name  as  Sirian,  but  for  this  I  see  no  ground  (see  Letters  of 
G.  d'  Empoli  in  Archivio  Storico  Italiano,  Appendice,  tom.  iii, 
pp.  54,  80;  Firenze,  1845.)"  Yule  referred  again  to  the  same 
subject  in  Hob  son- J  oh  son,  s.v.  Sarnau,  Sornau  :  "A  name  often 
given  to  Siam  in  the  early  part  of  the  i6th  century ;  from  Shahr-i- 
nao,  Pers.  'New-City';  the  name  by  which  Yuthia,  or  Ayodhya, 
the  capital  founded  on  the  Menam  about  1350,  seems  to  have 
become  known  to  the  traders  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  Mr.  Braddell 
(/.  Ind.  Arch.  v.  317)  has  suggested  that  the  name  {Sheher-al-nawi, 
as  he  calls  it)  refers  to  the  distinction  spoken  of  by  La  Loubere 
between  the  Thai- Yai,  an  older  people  of  the  race,  and  the  Thai- 
Noi,  the  people  known  to  us  as  Siamese.  But  this  is  less  probable. 
We  have  still  a  city  of  Siam  called  Lophaburt,  anciently  a  capital, 
and  the  name  of  which  appears  to  be  a  Sanskrit  or  Pali  form, 
Nava-pura,  meaning  the  same  as  Shahr~i-nao ;  and  this  indeed 
may  have  first  given  rise  to  the  latter  name.  The  Cernove  of 
Nicolo  Conti  (c.  1430)  is  generally  supposed  to  refer  to  a  city  of 
Bengal,  and  one  of  the  present  writers  has  identified  it  with  Lakh- 
naoti  or  Gaur,  an  official  name  of  which  in  the  14th  century  was 
Shahr-i-nao.  But  it  is  just  po.ssiblc  that  Siam  was  the  country 
spoken  of."  Valentijn,  v.  319,  has:  "About  1340  reigned  in 
the  kingdom  of  Siam  (then  called  Sjahar-nouw  or  Sornau)  a  very 
powerful  Prince."] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  125 

of  the  middle  ages  antecedent  to  that  era.  These  are  all, 
with  one  slight  exception,  Arabic. 

The  earliest  of  them  (at  least  as  regards  one  half  of 
it)  is  an  Arab  compilation  of  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
century  and  beginning  of  the  tenth,  which  was  first  made 
known  to  Europe  by  the  Abbe  Eusebius  Renaudot  in  1718 
under  the  title  of  Anciennes  Relations  de  I'lnde  et  de  la 
Chine  de  deux  Voyageurs  Mahometans  qui  y  allerent  dans 
le  IX^^^^  siecle^.  The  original  from  which  Renaudot  had 
translated  was  lost  sight  of,  and  some  of  his  critics  both 
in  France  and  England  went  so  far  as  to  set  his  work  down 
as  a  forgery.  But  the  MS  was  discovered  some  fifty  years 
later  [1764]  by  Deguignes  in  the  Bibliotheque  Royale^ ; 
and  in  1845  a  new  translation  and  commentary  by 
M.  Reinaud  appeared,  in  company  with  an  impression  of 
the  Arabic  text,  which  had  been  lying  since  18 11  in  the 
stores  of  the  Government  Printing  Office  at  Paris^. 

y^.  The  title  given  by  Renaudot  is  acknowledged  to 
be  an  incorrect  description  of  the  work.  It  is  in  two  parts 
indeed,  written  at  different  times,  and  by  different  authors, 
but  the  author  of  the  second  part,  Abu  Zaid  Hassan  of 
Siraf  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  certainly  does  not  profess  to  have 
himself  travelled  in  the  east.  He  gives  the  date  of  his 
predecessor's  work  as  a.h.  237  (a.d.  851),  and  his  own  is 
fixed  by  M.  Reinaud  from  an  apparent  mention  of  him  by 

^  An  English  version  of  Renaudot's  translation  appeared  in 
1733  (see  Major's  Introd.  to  India  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  p.  xxiii), 
and  has  been  reprinted  or  abstracted  in  Harris,  i,  521,  and 
Pinkerton,  vii,  p.   179. 

2  Mem.  de  I' Acad,  des  Insc,  xxxii,  366;  Not.  et  Extraits,  i, 
136  seqq.  Deguignes  himself  had  fancied  the  work  to  be  a 
compilation  of  Renaudot's  own. 

^  [Relation  des  Voyages  faits  par  les  Arabes  et  les  Persans  dans 
I'Inde  et  la  Chine  dans  le  IX''  siecle  de  I'ere  chretienne,  texte  arabe 
imprime  en  181 1  par  les  soins  de  feu  Langles,  public  avec  des  cor- 
rections et  additions  et  accompagne  d'une  traduction  frangaise 
et  d'eclaircissements  par  M.  Reinaud..  .  .Paris,  1845,  2  vols. 
i2-mo.] 


126  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Mas'udi^  to  about  916.  M.  Reinaud  says  that  the  narrative 
which  forms  the  basis  of  the  first  part  of  the  work  is  derived 
from  Suleiman  a  merchant,  who  had  made  voyages  to 
India  and  China,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  on 
what  grounds  this  opinion  is  founded.  The  introductory 
passages  of  the  work  are  missing,  so  that  we  are  without 
explanation  by  the  author  as  to  his  own  identity  or  the 
sources  of  his  information.  The  name  of  Suleiman  is  only 
once  mentioned ;  nor  is  there  any  narrative,  properly 
speaking,  to  be  traced  throughout  the  composition,  though 
the  first  pages,  amounting  to  about  one  third  of  the  whole, 
contain  a  tolerably  coherent  account  of  the  seas  and  islands 
between  Oman  and  China,  in  the  course  of  which  twice,  as 
well  as  once  or  twice  again  in  subsequent  pages  of  the  book, 
passages  occur  in  the  first  person.  It  may  be  observed, 
however,  that  none  of  these  passages,  if  my  examination 
may  be  trusted,  refer  to  China.  They  relate  to  India, 
Ceylon,  and  the  seas  between  those  countries  and  Arabia. 
My  conclusion  would  rather  be  that  the  book  is  a  compila- 
tion of  notes  made  by  the  author  from  his  own  experiences 
in  a  voyage  to  India,  and  from  what  he  had  collected  from 
others  who  had  visited  China,  Suleiman  among  them.  The 
remainder  of  this  first  part  of  the  book  is  in  fact  a  medley 
of  notes  about  India  and  China,  including  a  detail  of  some 
of  the  chief  kingdoms  of  the  Indies  of  which  the  author  had 
heard.  It  is  clear  from  the  vagueness  of  these  accounts 
that  the  author's  knowledge  of  India  was  slight  and  in- 
accurate, and  that  he  had  no  distinct  conception  of  its 
magnitude.  An  abstract  of  them  will  be  found  in  the  notes 
to  this  essay,  with  some  remarks  that  it  seems  desirable 
to  offer  regarding  this  part  of  the  subject,  over  which  I 
venture  to  think  that  M.  Reinaud,  with  all  his  great 
learning,  has  spread  confusion  rather  than  shed  light^. 

^  See  Prairies  d'Or,  i,  322.  ^  gge  Note  XI. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  127 

79.  The  names  of  seas  and  places  described  by  this 
writer  as  encountered  on  the  voyage  to  China  have  given 
rise  to  curious  controversy.  The  views  taken  by  M.  Reinaud 
about  many  of  them  are  very  untenable,  and  the  most 
consistent  and  probable  interpretation  yet  published 
appears  to  be  that  of  M.  Alfred  Maury^. 

According  to  this  view,  with  trifling  modifications,  the 
seas  and  places  passed  are  as  follows: — The  Sea  of  Persia; 
the  Sea  of  Lar  [Larwi]  (that  which  washes  Gujarat 
and  Malabar)  ^ ;  the  Sea  of  Harkand  (the  Indian  Ocean 
from  the  Dibajat  or  Maldives,  and  Serendib  or  Ceylon^  to 
AlRamni  or  Sumatra)  ^;  the  Lanjabalus  or  Lankhabalus 
(the  Nicobar  Islands)  ^ ;  and  the  two  (Andaman)  Islands 
in  the  Sea  of  Andaman  ;  Kalah-Bar,  a  dependence  of 
Zabaj  (some  port  on  the  Malacca  coast,  perhaps  Kadah, 
commonly  spelt  Quedda  ;   Zabaj  ^  representing  some  great 

^  Examen  de  la  route  que  suivaient,  au  IX^  siecle  de  notre  ere, 
les  Arabes  et  les  Persans  pour  aller  en  Chine,  d'apres  la  relation 
arabe  traduite  successivement  par  Renaudot  et  M.  Reinaud. 
Published  in  the  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Geographie,  1846,  pp.  203- 
238,  and  republished  some  years  ago  in  a  collection  of  essays  by 
M.  Maury. 

2  These  first  two  are  missing  with  the  opening  pages  of  the 
work,  and  are  derived  by  Reinaud  from  a  parallel  passage  in 
Mas'udi. 

^  Compare  the  ab  usque  Divis  et  Serendivis  of  Ammianus 
Marcellinus. 

*  See  Odoric,  infra  11,  p.  146,  note  3. 

*  [Langabaliis]  Probably  we  have  in  the  second  part  of  this 
name  the  Malay  Pulo  meaning  island.  I  may  observe  that  there 
is  a  considerable  island  belonging  to  Queddah,  and  surrounded 
by  many  smaller  ones,  at  the  northern  entrance  of  the  Straits 
of  Malacca,  which  is  called  Pulo  Langkawi. 

*  The  Syrian  bishops  Thomas,  Jabalaha,  Jacob,  and  Denha, 
sent  on  a  mission  to  India  in  1503  by  the  Patriarch  Elias,  were 
ordained  to  go  "  to  the  land  of  the  Indians  and  the  islands  of  the 
Seas  which  are  between  Dabag  and  Sin  and  Masin."  (Assemani, 
iii,  Pt.  i,  592.)  This  Dabag  is  probably  a  relic  of  the  form  Zabaj 
of  the  early  narratives,  used  also  by  Al-Biruni.  Ibn  Khurdadhbah 
and  Edrisi  use  J  aba  for  Zabaj.  [Zabadj,  ancient  pronunciation 
Zdbag,  represents  the  initial  form  Djdwaga  (Ferrand,  p.  23).] 
Walckenaer  quoted  by  Mr.  Major  (pp.  cit.,  p.  xxvii)  says:  "The 
Puranas  and  Hindu  books  show  that  the  title  of  Maharaja  or  Great 


128  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

monarchy  then  existing  on  the  Malay  Islands,  probably 
in  Java,  the  king  of  which  was  known  to  the  Arabs  by  the 
Hindu  title  of  Maharaj)  ;  Batuma  or  Tanumah^  (perhaps 
errors  for  Natiima,  the  Natuna  Islands)  ;  Kadranj^ 
(Siam  or  some  other  region  on  the  Gulf  of  Siam)  ;  Sanf 
(Champa,  but  here  used  in  a  sense  much  more  extensive 
than  the  modern  Champa,  and  including  Cambodia)  ^ ; 
SuNDAR  FuLAT  (the  Sondur  and  Condur  group  of  Marco 
Polo,  the  chief  island  of  which  is  now  called  Pulo  Condore)  *. 

King  was  originally  applied  to  the  sovereign  of  a  vast  monarchy 
which  in  the  second  century  comprised  a  great  part  of  India,  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  Sumatra,  and  the  neighbouring  islands.  This 
dynasty  continued  till  628,"  etc.  It  is  a  pity  that  Baron  Walc- 
kenaer  did  not  quote  more  definitely  "the  Puranas  and  Hindu 
books"  which  give  this  precise  and  interesting  information,  and 
in  the  absence  of  such  quotation  there  must  be  some  hesitation 
in  accepting  it.  The  truth  appears  to  be  that  whilst  the  antiquities, 
literature,  and  traditions  of  Java  and  other  islands  show  that 
communication  with  continental  India  in  remote  times  must 
have  been  large  and  intimate,  nothing  distinct  has  yet  been 
produced  to  show  that  any  record  of  such  communication  or 
knowledge  of  those  islands  lias  been  preserved  on  the  Continent. 
Friedrich  and  Lassen  certainly  seem  to  have  no  knowledge  of 
such  records  as  Walckenser  alludes  to. 

1  [Batuma  transcribed  by  Reinaud  Betoumah  Xa^^  for  ^^&aJ 
Tiyuma,  island  of  Tiuman  or  Tioman  on  the  south-eastern  coast 
of  the  Malay  Peninsula.     Cf.  Ferrand,  p.  30.] 

2  [Kadranj  for  Kundrang  (ancient  pronunciation)  and  Kun- 
drandj  (modern  pronunciation),  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mekong 
River.  Cf.  Ferrand,  p.  14. — The  distance  between  Kundrang 
and  Champa,  and  Champa  and  Chundur-fulat,  is  ten  days.  Ibn 
al  Fakih,  translated  by  Ferrand,  p.  58.] 

"  [The  Arabic  ^_fO  gives  ^^s  Chanf  =  Champa,  not  Sanf  ;  cf. 
Ferrand,  p.  viii,  12.] 

*  This  is  not  in  accordance  with  Maury,  who  places  Sundar 
Fiilat  arbitrarily  on  the  coast  of  Cochin  China,  perhaps  from 
confining  Sanf  or  Champa  to  the  tract  now  retaining  that  name 
(for  the  names  are  identical,  the  Arabs,  having  no  ch  and  no  p, 
necessarily  writing  Champa  as  Sanf  a).  But  Crawfurd  states  that 
the  name  Champa  with  the  Malays  really  applies  to  the  whole  of 
Cambodia  embracing  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Siam  {Diet. 
Ind.  Islands,  p.  80),  whilst  actual  tradition  in  those  regions 
ascribes  to  ancient  Champa  sovereignty  over  all  the  neighbouring 
kingdoms  to  the  frontiers  of  Pegu  and  China  (Mouhot's  Travels, 
i,  223).  Hence  Pulo  Condor  would  properly  come  between  a 
port  on  this  coast  and  China,  as  Sundar  Fiilat  does  in  the  Arab 
narrative.  I  do  not  know  what  is  the  proper  Malay  name  of 
Pulo  Condor,   but  it  is  probably  connected  with  the  Sanskrit 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  129 

80.  The  port  of  China  frequented  by  the  Arab  mer- 
chants was  Khanfu^,  of  which  we  have  aheady  spoken. 

Sundara  beautiful.  And  the  Fuldt  is  probably  only  an  Arabic 
plural  from  the  Malay  Pulo  or  Pulau  an  island.  All  that  is  said 
of  the  place  in  the  Relations  is  that  Sundar  Fulat  is  an  island,  ten 
days  from  Sanf  and  a  month's  voyage  from  China,  where  the 
ships  find  fresh  water.  [Mr.  CO.  Blagden  has  some  objection 
to  Sundar  Fiilat  being  Pulo  Condor  :  "  In  connexion  with  Sundar- 
Fulat,  some  difficulties  seem  to  arise.  If  it  represents  Pulo  Condor, 
why  should  navigators  on  their  way  to  China  call  at  it  after 
visiting  Champa,  which  lies  beyond  it  ?  And  if  fuldt  represents 
a  Persian  plural  of  the  Malay  Pulau,  'island,'  why  does  it  not 
precede  the  proper  name,  as  generic  names  do  in  Malay  and  in 
Indonesian  and  Southern  Indo-Chinese  languages  generally  ? 
Further,  if  sundur  represents  a  native  form  cundur,  whence  the 
hard  c  {=  k)  of  our  modern  form  of  the  word  ?  I  am  not  aware 
that  Malay  changes  c  to  A  in  an  initial  position."  /.  R.  A.  S., 
April  1914,  p.  496.]  According  to  Alex.  Hamilton  the  Pulo 
Condor  group  consists  of  four  or  five  islands,  "producing  nothing 
but  wood,  water,  and  fish  for  catching."  There  are  two  harbours 
or  anchorages,  but  neither  of  them  good.  Mr.  Allan  Ketchpole 
established  a  factory  for  the  East  India  Company  on  Pulo  Condor 
in  1702,  v/hich  speedily  came  to  a  disastrous  end,  [the  Europeans 
being  massacred  by  their  Macassar  garrison.]  (A''.  Ace.  of  the 
East  Indies,  ed.  1744,  ii,  205.)  [The  chief  island  is  called  by  the 
Chinese  Kun  lun.]  ["L'ile  de  Sendi  Foulat  est  tres  grande ;  il 
y  a  de  I'eau  douce,  des  champs  cultives,  du  riz  et  des  cocotiers.  Le 
roi  s'appelle  Resed.  Ees  habitants  portent  la  fouta  soit  en 
manteau,  soit  en  ceinture. . .  .  L'ile  de  Sendi  Foulat  est  entouree, 
du  cote  de  la  Chine,  de  montagnes  d'un  difficile  acces,  et  ou 
souffient  des  vents  impetueux.  Cette  ile  est  une  des  portes  de  la 
Chine.  De  la  a  la  ville  de  Khancou,  x  journees."  Edrisi,  i,  p.  90. 
In  Malay  Pulo  Condor  is  called  Pulau  Kundur  (Pumpkin  Island) 
and  in  Cambodian,  Koh  Tralach.  See  Pelliot,  Deux  Itineraires, 
pp.  218-20. — Fiilat  =  fill  (Malay  pulo)  +  Persian  plural  suffix  -at. 
Cundur  fuldt  means  Pumpkin  island.  Ferrand,  Textes,  pp.  ix,  2.] 
1  [De  l'ile  "de  Senfy  a  la  ville  de  Loukiin,  3  journees.  C'est 
la  premiere  echelle  de  la  Chine.  . . .  On  y  fabrique  diverses  'riches 
etoffes  de  sole  de  la  Chine  qui  sont  exportees  au  dehors,  et 
notamment  le  ghazar-sini  dont  on  fait  commerce  dans  les  pays 
voisins  aussi  bien  qu'au  loin.  On  y  trouve  du  tiz,  des  cereales, 
des  noix  de  coco,  des  cannes  a  sucre.  Les  habitants  portent  la 
fouta;  ils  accueillent  bien  les  etrangers;  ils  sont  tres  magnifiques, 
et  font  un  plus  grand  usage  de  parfums  que  les  autres  habitants 
de  I'lnde.  . . .  De  Loukin  a  Khancou,  4  journees  de  navigation,  et 
20  par  terre.  Cette  derniere  echelle  est  la  plus  considerable  de  la 
Chine."    Edrisi,  i,  p.  84.] 

[Khancou  ^AJli.  or  Khanfou  ^ijl^.] 

["Ce  pays  est  gouverne  par  un  roi  puissant  et  glorieux,  qui  a 
beaucoup  de  sujets,  de  troupes  et  d'armes.  On  s'y  nourrit  de 
riz,  de  noix  de  coco,  de  lait,  de  sucre  et  de  mokl.  La  ville  est 
situee  sur  un  golfe  (ou  a  I'embouchure  d'un  fleuve)  qu'on  remonte 
durant  deux  mois  de  marche  jusqu'a  la  ville  de  Badja,  qui  appar- 

c.  Y.  c.    I.  Q 


130  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Here  there  was  a  Musulman  Kazi  and  public  worship.  The 
houses  were  for  the  most  part  built  of  wood  and  bamboo 
matting,  which  led  to  frequent  fires.  When  a  foreign  ship 
arrived,  the  officials  took  charge  of  the  cargo  and  locked 
it  up.  When  all  the  ships  of  the  season  had  entered,  a 
duty  of  30  per  cent,  was  exacted  before  placing  the  goods 
at  the  disposal  of  the  owners.  If  the  king  wanted  any- 
thing for  himself,  the  highest  price  was  paid  for  it  in 
ready  money. 

Many  particulars  mentioned  by  this  author  regarding 
China  are  silly  enough,  but  much  also  that  is  stated  is 
perfectly  correct.  He  notices  the  ancient  Chinese  customs 
of  issuing  food  from  public  granaries  in  times  of  dearth, 
as  well  as  of  dispensing  medicines  to  the  poor ;  the  support 
of  schools  by  the  government ;  the  generally  methodical 
and  just  character  of  the  administration ;  the  elaborate 
classification  of  official  titles ;  the  custom  of  doing  all 
business  by  written  documents,   and  the  strict  censure 

tient  au  bagh  bough,  lequel  est  le  roi  de  toute  laChine.  Cetteville  est 
la  terme  des  voyages  das  Occidentaux ;  on  y  trouva  toute  espece  da 
fruits  at  de  legumes,  du  ble,  da  I'orga  et  du  riz."  On  ne  trouve 
ni  raisin  ni  figues  dans  la  totalite  de  la  China  at  des  Indes,  "  mais 
bien  le  fruit  d'un  arbra  qu'on  nomme  al-chaki  et  el-berki.  Cet 
arbre  croit  particulieremant  dans  la  pays  du  poivra.  Cast  un 
arbre  dont  les  fruits  sont  durs,  at  dont  las  feuillas,  d'un  vert 
eclatant,  ressemblent  a  calla  du  chou ;  il  porte  un  fruit  de  la 
longueur  de  quatre  palmes,  rond,  samblable  a  une  conque  marina, 
convert  d'une  ecorce  rouge,  et  dans  I'interieur  duqual  est  une 
graina  ou  un  gland  qui  ressembla  a  calui  du  chene ;  bouilli  au  fau, 
on  le  mange  comma  la  chataigne,  dont  il  a  exactement  la  gout. 
La  pulpe  da  ce  fruit  forme  un  aliment  tres-doux  et  tres-agreabla, 
qui  reunit  au  gout  da  la  pomma  calui  de  la  poire,  at  qualque 
chose  meme  da  la  saveur  de  la  banane  et  du  mokl.  C'est  im  fruit 
appetissant,  admirable,  et  le  plus  recherche  de  tons  ceux  qu'on 
mange  dans  I'lnde.  On  trouve  egalemant  dans  ce  pays  un  arbra 
qu'on  appelle  el-i'nba;  il  est  grand  comma  la  noyer,  ses  fauilles 
ressemblant  aux  feuilles  de  cet  arbre,  et  son  fruit  a  celui  du 
palmier  doum.  Lorsque  ca  fruit  est  none,  il  est  tendre;  alors  on  le 
met  dans  du  vinaigra,  at  son  gout  ressemble  exactement  a  celui 
des  olives.  C'est  chaz  les  Indians  un  hors  d'oeuvre  destine  a  exciter 
I'appetit." 

"De  la  ville  de  Khancou  a  la  ville  de  Djankou,  on  compte  3 
joumees."     Edrisi,  i,  pp.  84-5.] 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  I3I 

exercised  on  the  style  and  tone  of  papers  submitted  to 
public  departments^ ;  the  use  of  a  copper  currency  instead 
of  gold  and  silver ;  the  custom  of  delaying  the  burial  of 
the  dead  for  years  sometimes ;  the  systematic  protection 
afforded  to  travellers ;  the  manufacture  of  porcelain ; 
the  use  of  rice- wine  and  of  tea  {sdkh  or  sdhh  for  cha^). 
There  is  scarcely  anything  of  Chinese  Geography  in  this 
first  part  beyond  the  mention  of  Tibet  and  the  Taghazghaz 
as  the  western  neighbours  of  China,  and  of  the  Isles  of  SiLA 
in   the   east,   which  appear  to  be  Japan^. 

One  custom  he  mentions  with  great  apparent  admira- 
tion. It  is,  that  the  governor  of  every  city  slept  with  a 
bell  at  his  head  communicating  with  a  handle  at  the  gate, 
which  anyone  claiming  justice  was  at  liberty  to  ring.  And 
we  learn  from  Abu  Zaid  that  even  the  king  had  such  a  bell ; 
only  he  who  dared  to  use  it  must  have  a  case  justifying  so 
strong  an  appeal  from  the  ordinary  course  of  justice,  or  he 
suffered  for  it*. 

^  See  III,  p.  122  infra  and  note. 

2  See  Reinaud,  Relation,  i,  pp.  39,  46,  47,  43-4,  37,  33,  36,  42, 
34,  40.  None  of  the  mediaeval  European  travellers  in  China 
mention  tea.  The  first  notice  of  it  so  far  as  I  know  is  in  Ramusio's 
notes  of  Hajji  Mahomed's  information  (see  Note  XVIII  at  the 
end  of  the  essay).  [Envoys  from  T'ien  fang  (Mecca)  under  the 
Ming  dynasty  in  presenting  tribute  solicit  silk,  tea-leaves,  and 
porcelain. — Bretschneider,   Med.   Res.,   ii,   p.   300.] 

^  Edrisi  also  speaks  of  the  Isles  of  Silah,  of  which  the  chief 
city  was  Ankuah,  and  where  gold  was  so  abundant  that  the 
people  made  dog-chains  of  it.  The  low  value  of  gold  in  Japan  up 
to  the  opening  of  the  trade  the  other  day  is  a  familiar  fact. 
M.  Polo  says  of  it :  "  et  je  vous  dy  qu'ils  ont  tant  d'or  que  c'est  sans 
fin ;  car  ils  le  treuvent  en  leurs  isles."  (Pauth.,  Polo,  538.)  Possibly 
Ankiiah  may  really  represent  Miyako.  [Sila  is  not  Japan  but 
Corea.  Ankuah  has  nothing  to  do  with  Miyako.  Corea  is  some- 
times called  Tung  Kwo,  the  Eastern  Empire,  in  Chinese  books, 
but  I  have  not  heard  of  Ngan  Kwo,  the  equivalent  of  Ankuah.] 

*  Edrisi  also  speaks  of  this  [i,  p.  100].  It  is  a  kind  of  story 
having  a  strong  attraction  for  eastern  people.  Ibn  Batuta  heard 
that  the  same  custom  was  adopted  by  Shamsuddin  Altamsh, 
Sultan  of  Delhi  (1211-1236).  See  Ibn  Bat.,  iii,  158.  The  custom 
was  a  genuine  Chinese  one,  but  the  summons  seems  to  have  been 
by  a  drum  rather  than  by  a  bell.  Thus  in  the  Romance  of  "The 
Fortunate   Union,"   the  hero   Teichungyu   exclaims,    "My  lord, 

9—2 


132  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

The  anonymous  author  was  aware  that  the  principles 
of  the  Chinese  reHgion  (here  meaning  Buddhism)  came 
from  India.  Both  countries,  he  says,  accept  the  doctrine 
of  metempsychosis,  but  with  certain  differences. 

8i.  Abu  Zaid,  the  author  of  the  second  part  of  the 
Relation,  begins  by  remarking  the  great  change  that  had 
taken  place  in  the  interval  (some  sixty  years)  since  the 
first  part  of  the  book  was  composed.  Events  had  happened 
which  had  entirely  stopped  the  Arab  trade  with  China,  had 
thrown  that  country  into  anarchy,  and  had  destroyed  its 
power.  He  then  proceeds  to  relate  this  revolution,  which 
was  due  to  a  rebel  whom  he  calls  Banshoa,  who,  after 
sacking  many  cities  of  the  empire,  including  Khanfu,  which 
he  took  in  a.h.  264  (a.d.  Sj^),  at  length  marched  against 
the  capital.  The  emperor  fled  to  the  frontiers  of  Tibet ; 
but,  after  obtaining  the  aid  of  the  King  of  the  Taghazghaz 
(a  great  Turkish  tribe),  was  enabled  to  renew  the  struggle 
and  to  regain  his  throne.  His  capital,  however,  was  in 
ruins  ;  his  power  and  treasure  had  vanished  ;  his  generals 
had  perished,  and  the  best  of  his  soldiers.  The  provinces 
had  been  seized  by  rapacious  adventurers  who  scarcely 
made  a  pretence  of  allegiance.  Foreign  merchants  and 
shipmasters  were  bullied,  insulted,  and  plundered ;  the 
staple  industries  of  the  country  were  destroyed ;  trade 
could  not  go  on  ;  and  thus  the  misfortunes  and  anarchy  of 
China  carried  ruin  to  many  families  in  distant  Siraf  and 
Oman. 

Klaproth^  has  pointed  out  the  correspondence  of  this 

you  are  mistaken  !  The  emperor  himself  suspends  the  drum  at 
his  palace  gate,  and  admits  all  to  state  their  hardships  without 
reserve."  {Da.vi?,'?,  Chinese  Miscellanies,  y.  109.)  This  institution 
of  the  drum  was  adopted  by  a  late  king  of  Siam,  according  to 
Pallegoix,  but  the  pages  who  had  to  answer  it  succeeded  in 
extinguishing  the  practice.  A  curious  Chinese  drawing  engraved 
in  Chine  Ancienne  [L'Univevs  Pittoresque) ,  pi.  3,  represents  this 
institution  of  the  drum. 

1  Tab.  Historiques,  pp.  223-230. 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  I33 

statement  with  the  account  in  the  Chinese  Annals  of  the 
rebelhon  of  Hwang-chao,  here  called  Banshoa,  at  the  time 
mentioned  by  Abu  Zaid  ;  one  of  those  tremendous  insur- 
rections which  seem  to  recur  in  China  almost  periodically. 
The  chief  cities  of  the  empire,  including  (880)  Lo  yang  and 
Ch'ang  ngan,  the  two  imperial  capitals,  really  fell  into  the 
hands  of  this  chief,  who  declared  himself  emperor,  but  was 
eventually  beaten  from  them  by  the  aid  of  Turki  auxiliaries. 
The  Chinese  account  of  the  insubordination  continuing  to 
prevail  in  the  provinces  after  the  emperor's  restoration, 
also  corresponds  almost  in  so  many  words  with  that  of  the 
Arab  writer  1. 

82.  Abu  Zaid  adds  to  the  notes  of  his  predecessor 
many  interesting  particulars  regarding  India  and  the 
Islands,  as  well  as  regarding  China.  In  reference  to  the 
latter  country  he  gives  a  curious  account  of  a  visit  which 
an  acquaintance  of  his  own,  Ibn  Wahab  of  Basra,  paid  to 
Khumdan,  the  capital  of  China  (see  ante,  pp.  31,  108),  and 
of  the  interview  which  he  had  there  with  the  emperor,  who 
must  have  been  Hi  Tsung  of  the  T'ang,  very  shortly  before 
the  great  rebellion  broke  out.  The  story  of  the  interview 
is  too  long  to  extract ;  but  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any 
sufficient  reason  to  doubt  its  correctness,  and  we  may  gather 
from  it  further  proof  that  the  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  in 
the  days  of  the  T'ang  was  by  no  means  confined  to  that 
circle  of  oblique-eyed  humanity  which  we  are  accustomed 
to  regard  as  the  limit  of  Chinese  ideas.  Ibn  Wahab 
describes  Khumdan  or  Ch'ang  ngan,  which  was  two  months' 
journey  from  Khanfu,  as  divided  in  two  by  a  long  and  wide 
street.  The  city  eastward  of  this  was  entirely  devoted  to 
the  residences  of  the  emperor  and  officers  of  Government. 
On  the  west  side  were  the  shops,  places  of  business, 
and    the    miscellaneous   population.      The    streets    were 

^  Reinaud,  i,  66-7;    Chine  Ancienne,  p.   330. 


134  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY 

traversed  with  channels  of  running  water  and  bordered 
with  trees. 

Abu  Zaid,  Hke  his  predecessor,  dwells  upon  the  orderly 
and  upright  administration  of  China  whilst  in  its  normal 
state.  This  indeed  seems  to  have  made  a  strong  impression 
at  all  times  on  the  other  nations  of  Asia,  and  we  trace  this 
impression  in  almost  every  account  that  has  reached  us 
from  Theophylactus  downwards^,  whilst  it  is  also  probably 
the  kernel  of  those  praises  of  the  justice  of  the  Seres  which 
extend  back  some  centuries  further  into  antiquity. 

He  is  acquainted  with  the  general  character  of  the 
overland  communication  between  Sogdiana  and  China 
Proper.  The  frontier  of  the  latter  was  a  two  months' 
journey  distant,  over  a  country  which  was  almost  a  water- 
less desert,  though  the  frontier  of  the  empire  was  not  far 
from  Khorasan.  The  difficulty  of  passing  this  desert  had 
alone  prevented  the  Musulman  warriors  of  Khorasan  from 
attempting  the  invasion  of  China.  A  friend  of  the  author 
told  him,  however,  that  he  had  seen  at  Khanfu  a  man  with 
a  bagful  of  musk  on  his  back  whom  he  found  to  have  come 
on  foot  all  the  way  from  Samarkand  ^. 

He  mentions  that  three  of  the  chief  officers  of  state 
were  called  the  Master  of  the  Right,  the  Master  of  the  Left, 
and  the  Master  of  the  Centre.  I  do  not  know  if  traces  of 
these  appellations  still  exist  in  the  Chinese  administration  ; 
but  we  find  that  under  Kublai  Khan  the  two  chief  ministers 
of  state  bore  the  titles  of  "Minister  of  the  Right,  and 
Minister  of  the  Left^." 


1  The  Jesuit  historian  Du  Jarric  thinks  that  "if  Plato  were  to 
rise  from  Hades  he  would  declare  that  his  imagined  Republic 
was  realised  in  China."     (ii,  676.) 

2  i,  p.  114. 

^  See  Pauthier's  Polo,  p.  329,  and  Yule-Cordier's  M.  Polo, 
i,  p.  432.  In  the  case  of  Lord  Amherst's  Embassy  the  three 
members  of  the  Legation  were  distinguished  by  the  Chinese  as 
the  Middle  or  Principal,  the  Left  Hand  (which  is  the  more  honour- 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  I35 

83.  We  have  some  account  of  China  from  an  Arab 
geographer  who  was  contemporary  with  the  eariier  of  the 
two  compilers  of  the  Relation,  and  wrote  perhaps  a  few 
years  later  than  the  date  assigned  by  Abu  Zaid  to  the  work 
of  his  predecessor.  This  was  Abu'l-Kasim  'Ubaid-Allah 
called  Ibn  Khurdadhbah,  born  about  820-830,  and  who 
served  under  the  Khalif  Mutammid  (869-885)  as  director 
of  the  posts  in  Jibal  or  the  ancient  Media.  His  work, 
"The  Book  of  Routes  and  Provinces,"  in  great  part  con- 
sists only  of  lists  of  stages  and  distances,  but  there  are 
occasionally  some  descriptive  details  introduced.  The 
following  lines  contain  nearly  all  that  he  says  of  China  ^  : 

"From  Sanf  (Champa)  to  Al-Wakin^,  which  is  the 

first  port  of  China,  is  one  hundred  farsangs  either  by  sea  or 

by  land.     Here  you  find  excellent  Chinese  iron,  porcelain, 

and  rice^.    You  can  go  from  Al-Wakin,  which  is  a  great  port, 

to  Khanfu*  in  four  days  by  sea.  or  in  twenty  days  by 

land.     Khanfu  produces  all  sorts  of  fruits  and  vegetables, 

able  side),  and  the  Right  Hand  Envoys.  (Davis's  Chinese,  Supp. 
vol.,  p.  40.)  In  our  Mission  to  Ava  in  1855  the  Envoy's  secretary 
was  termed  by  the  Burmese  "the  Right  Hand  Officer."  [In 
Corea  there  was  a  prime  or  middle  minister,  seng-ei-tsieng,  a 
minister  of  the  left,  tsoa-ei-tsieng ,  and  a  minister  of  the  right, 
wu-ei-tsieng .  Also  in  Annam,  the  left  is  the  place  of  honour.  In 
the  province  of  Nghe-an  there  were  two  sub-governors,  the  Dao 
of  the  right,  Quan  Hu'u  Dao,  and  the  Dao  of  the  left,  Quan  Ta  Dao.] 

^  From  a  translation  by  Barbier  de  Meynard  in  the  fournal 
Asiatique,  ser.  vi,  tom.  v  (see  pp.  292-4). 

2  The  Lukin  of  Edrisi  (v,  §  85  and  p.  129  n.,  supra),  who  has 
derived  several  passages  from  Ibn  Khurdadhbah.  One  would 
suppose  it  to  be  Canton,  had  not  Ibn  Batuta  identified  Canton 
with  Sin-ul-Sin,  which  Edrisi  describes  quite  distinctly  from  Lukin. 
Edrisi,  however,  had  no  distinct  ideas  about  Eastern  Asia,  and 
this  is  not  conclusive.  This  Lukin  cannot  of  course  be  the  Lukinfu 
of  Rashid  (iii,  p.  126  infra),  but  it  may  have  something  to  do  with 
the  alternative  name  (apparently  corrupt)  of  Lumkali  applied  in 
the  same  page  to  Canton. 

^  ["On  trouve  a  Loukyn  la  pierre  chinoise,  la  sole  chinoise, 
de  la  porcelaine  d'excellente  qualite  et  du  riz." — De  Goeje.] 

*  [ "  On  va  de  Loukyn  a  Khanfou,  qui  est  I'echelle  la  plus 
considerable  (de  la  Chine)." — De  Goeje.]  Khanfu  is  also  pronounced 
Khancu.  De  Goeje,  p.  49,  writes:  "  C'est  le  port  de  Canton 
(Hongkong)."     Fancy  Hongkong  in  the  ninth  century! 


136  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY 

wheat,  barley,  rice,  and  sugar-cane.  From  Khanfu  you 
arrive  in  eight  days  at  Janfu^,  which  has  the  same  produc- 
tions. Thence  to  Kantu,  six  days,  also  having  the  same 
productions 2.  In  all  the  ports  of  China  you  find  a  great 
navigable  river  affected  by  the  tide^.  In  that  of  Kantu 
there  are  geese,  ducks,  and  other  wild  fowl.  The  greatest 
length  of  coast  from  Al  Maid*  to  the  other  extremity  of 
China  is  two  months'  voyage.  China  includes  three 
hundred  prosperous  and  famous  cities^.  It  is  bounded 
by  the  sea,  by  Tibet,  and  by  the  country  of  the  Turk^. 

^  Janfu  is  probably  the  Janku  of  others,  and  to  be  identified 
with  Yang  chau  {infra,  11,  p.  209).  Kantu,  from  the  mountains  of 
Sila  or  Japan  opposite  to  it,  as  mentioned  below,  should  be  either 
Shang  Hai  or  about  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow  River,  if  there  was 
ever  a  port  there.  [The  mouth  of  the  Yellow  River  is  out  of  the 
question ;  Shang  Hai  is  possible,  as  it  was  the  seat  of  one  of  the 
inspectors  of  foreign  trade  {shi-po-shi) .  Chau  Ju-kwa  held  the 
office  in  Fu-kien.  At  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  "at  the 
seaport  of  Hwa-ting,  an  of&cer  was  appointed  to  take  account  of 
the  merchant- vessels,  and  to  levy  a  toll  on  the  goods ;  in  this 
way  was  constituted  the  town  of  Shang  Hai";  this  is  the  first 
mention  made  of  the  name  of  Shang  Hai  in  history;  in  1156 
the  office  of  superintendent  of  the  trading  vessels  at  Shang  Hai 
was  abolished.  {Desc.  of  Shanghae,  Chinese  Miscel.,  iv,  1850.) — 
However,  we  may  remark  that  it  is  impossible  to  see  the  mountains 
of  Sila  (Corea)  from  Shang  Hai  and  indeed  from  any  port  of 
China  proper;  Prof.  Pelliot  writes  to  me  that  the  organization 
of  the  commissaries  of  foreign  trade  [ski  po)  was  due  to  the 
Sung  and  continued  by  the  Mongols.  It  varied  during  the  Yuen 
Dynasty,  but  according  to  the  edict  of  1293  there  were  seven 
commissaries  :  Ts'iuan  chau,  Shang  hai,  K'an  p'u,  Wen  chau, 
Kwang  Tung,  Hang  chau  and  K'in  yuan.  It  will  be  noted  that 
all  these  places  are  south  of  the  Yangtze  and  that  four  out  of  the 
seven  are  situated  in  Che  kiang.] 

2  [Khandjou,DeGoeje,  who  identifies  this  place  with  Hang  chau. 

"  De  1^  [Khandjou]  a  Kangou,  oil  Ton  trouve  aussi  les  memes 
productions,  20  journ6es." — De  Goeje,  who  identifies  Kan9ou  with 
Kian  chau.] 

2  ["  Chacune  des  echelles  de  la  Chine  est  situee  a  I'embouchure 
d'un  grand  fleuve  navigable  qui  est  soumis  a  I'influence  de  la 
mar^e." — De  Goeje.] 

*  [Armabyl. — De  Goeje.] 

5  ["  La  Chine  renferme  300  villes,  toutes  prosperes,  dont  90 
c61^bres." — De  Goeje.] 

*  ["  Ce  pays  est  borne  par  la  mer,  le  Tibet,  le  pays  des  Turcs, 
et,  &.  I'occident,  ITnde." — De  Goeje. 

Mas'udi  says  also  :   "  Au  delS,  de  la  Chine  il  n'y  a  plus,  du  c6t6 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  I37 

Strangers  from  India  are  established  in  the  eastern  pro- 
vinces   

"What  is  beyond  China  is  unknown.  But  in  front  of 
Kantu  rise  high  mountains.  These  are  in  the  country  of 
SiLA^,  which  abounds  in  gold.  Musulmans  who  visit  this 
country  are  often  induced  to  settle  for  good  because  of  the 
advantages  of  the  place.  The  products  exported  are 
ghorraih  (a  kind  of  plant),  gum  kino,  aloes,  camphor, 
sails,  saddles,  porcelain,  satin,  cinnamon,  and  galanga^  ^." 

[Ibn  Rosteh  wrote  his  Al-A'ldk  al-Nafisa  about  903 ; 
he  is  not  so  well  informed  as  Mas'udi ;  he  says  that 
there  is  but  one  sea  from  Basrah  to  China,  and  that  the 
same  water  bathes  the  coasts  of  India  and  China  :  but 
that  it  was  said  that,  properly  speaking,  there  were 
seven  seas  having  each  its  special  characteristics,  winds, 
taste,  colour,  fauna ^.] 

83*.     Mas'udi  is  our  next  writer ;  who  in  the  Meadows 

of  Gold^  treats  of  all  things  in  Nature  and  History,  and  of 

all  at  once  rather  than  all  in  succession  ;   of  China  among 

de  la  mer,  ni  royaume  connu,  ni  contree  qui  ait  ete  decrite, 
excepte  le  territoire  d'es-Sila  et  les  iles  qui  en  dependent." 
i,  p.  346.] 

^  [Corea.] 

2  ["  Quant  a  ce  que  la  mer  orientale  fournit  &,  I'exportation,  on 
tire  de  la  Chine  la  sole  blanche  (haryr),  la  sole  de  couleur  {fir and) 
et  la  sole  damassee  {Kymkhdw) ,  le  muse,  le  bois  d'alods,  des  selles, 
des  fourrures  de  martre  (Sammour),  de  la  porcelaine,  le  cylhandj, 
la  cinnamome  et  le  galanga." — De  Goeje.] 

^  [I  have  revised  this  abstract  of  Ibn  Khurdadhbah  with  the 
translation  of  the  great  Arabic  scholar  of  Leyden,  De  Goeje,  in  the 
volume :  Kitib-al-Masalik  Wa'1-Mamalik  {Liber  Viarum  et 
Regnorum)  auctore  Abu'l-Kasim  Obaidallah  ibn  Abdallah  Ibn 
Khordadhbeh  et  excerpta  e  Kitab  al-Kharadj  auctore  Kodama 
ibn  Dja'far  quae  cum  versione  gallica  edidit,  indicibus  et  glossario 
instruxit  M.  J.  de  Goeje. — Lugduni-Batavorum,  E.  J.  Brill, 
1889,  8vo.] 

*  [See  Hartmann,  p.  861,  Chine,  Encycl.  Islam.'] 

^  Les  Prairies  d'Or — translated  by  MM.  Bar  bier  de  Meynard 
and  Pavet  de  Courteille,  Paris,  1861-77.  [Published  in  nine  octavo 
volumes  in  the  Collection  d'Ouvrages  Orientaux  publiee  par  la 
Socidte  Asiatique.  From  Vol.  iv,  the  name  of  Barbier  de  Meynard 
is  the  only  one  printed  on  the  title-page.] 


138  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

the  rest.  He  travelled  far  and  wide,  and  from  a  very  early- 
age,  visiting  Sind  in  912  when  quite  a  youth,  and  after- 
wards, according  to  his  own  account,  Zanzibar  and  the 
Island  of  Kanbalu^,  Champa,  China,  and  the  country  of 
Zabaj  {supra,  p.  127),  besides  travelling  a  long  way  into 
Turkestan.  If  he  really  visited  China  it  must  have  been 
in  a  very  cursory  manner.  I  can  find  nothing  of  any 
interest  respecting  it  that  does  not  also  appear  in  the 
Relation,  chiefly  in  that  part  of  it  of  which  Abu  Zaid  is 
the  professed  author.  M.  Reinaud  has  treated  of  these 
coincidences,  but  has  not  I  think  quite  satisfactorily 
accounted  for  them 2. 

84.  In  the  course  of  the  tenth  century  we  have  another 
Arab  traveller  who  professes  to  have  visited  China.  This 
is  Abu  Dulaf  Mis'ar  Ibn  Muhalhil  who  being,  according  to 
his  own  account,  at  the  Court  of  Nasri  Bin  Ahmed  Bin 
Ismail  of  the  Samanidae  at  Bokhara  when  ambassadors 
arrived  from  "the  King  of  China  Kalatin-bin-ul-Shakhir^," 
to  negotiate  a  marriage  between  his  own  daughter  and 
Noah  the  son  of  Nasri  (who  afterwards  succeeded  to  the 
throne  of  Bokhara),  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  of 
accompanying  the  ambassadors  on  their  return,  about  the 
year  941.  The  whole  narrative  of  this  traveller  is  not 
extant,  but  much  of  it  has  been  preserved  in  citations  by 
Yakut  (a.h.  617,  A.D.  1220),  and  Qazwini  (a.h.  667,  a.d. 
1268-9),  and  a  German  editor  has  collected  these  passages 

1  The  French  translators  take  this  for  Madagascar.  Ma'sudi 
describes  it  as  an  island  in  the  sea  of  Zanj,  well  cultivated  and 
inhabited  by  Musulmans  speaking  the  Zanj  language.  The 
Mahomedans  got  possession  of  it  about  the  beginning  of  the 
Abasside  dynasty,  capturing  the  whole  Zanj  population  (this 
never  could  be  true  of  Madagascar).  Sailors  reckoned  it  roughly 
about  five  hundred  farsangs  to  Oman.  I  should  think  it  must 
be  the  Island  of  Zanzibar,  or  perhaps  the  Great  Comoro,  which 
has  some  resemblance  in  name,  and  is  occupied  by  people  of 
Arab  descent. 

2  Discours  Prdliminaire  to  Relation,  etc.,  pp.  viii  and  xviii  seqq. 

3  Or  Kalin  bin-Shakhhar.     [Qdlin  h.  as  Sachlr. — Marquart.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  1 39 

into  a  tolerably  continuous  narrative,  and  translated  them 
into  Latin  1. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  say  whether  the  narrative  is 
genuine  or  not,  or  to  guess  how  much  it  may  have  suffered 
from  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  thus  coopered  out 
of  loose  fragments  2.  If  the  author  really  accompanied 
Chinese  ambassadors  from  Bokhara  back  to  their  native 
country,  it  is  not  easy  to  understand  why  they  should  have 
made  a  grand  tour  of  all  the  Turk  and  Tartar  nations  from 
the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  to  the  banks  of  the  Amur.  The 
name  which  he  attributes  to  the  capital  of  China  is  Sin- 
DABIL,  which  is  more  like  an  Indian  than  a  Chinese  name,  or 
rather  like  the  Arabic  perversion  of  an  Indian  name  (com- 
pare Kanddbil,  Sanddbur).  The  nearest  Chinese  name  is 
that  of  Ch'eng  tu  fu^,  or  as  Marco  Polo  calls  it  Sindifu, 
the  chief  city  of  the  province  of  Sze  ch'wan,  and  which 
was  during  parts  of  the  tenth  century  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom  of  Shu*.     Neither  would  it  be  easy  to  discover 

^  Abu  Dolif  Misavis  Ben  Mohalhel  de  Itinere  Asiatico  com- 
mentarius — Studio  Kurd  de  Schloezer,  Berolini,  1845.  [A  better 
commentary  has  been  given  by  J.  Marquart,  in  his  Osteuropdische 
und  ostasiatische  Streifzuge,  Leipzig,  1903,  8vo.  pp.  74-95  :  Das 
Itinerar  desMi'sar  b.  al  Muhalhil  nach  der  chinesischen  Hauptstadt. — 
See  also  the  French  translation  by  G.  Ferrand,  pp.  208  seq.  in 
Relat.  de  Voyages.  .  .arabes,  persans  et  turks,  i,  Paris,  1913.] 

2  ["  Jeder  der  es  versuch,  auf  der  Karte  des  Itinerar  des 
Reisenden  zu  verfolgen,  wird  alsbald  mit  steigendem  Kopfschiitteln 
die  sonderbaren  Kreuz-  und  Querziige  betrachten,  die  uns  bald 
nach  Tibet  und  an  die  Grenze  von  China,  bald  wieder  nach 
dem  Irtischgebiet  oder  dem  Tarimbecken  fiihren."  Marquart, 
P-  75-] 

^  [Marquart,  I.e.,  pp.  86-7,  shows  that  it  is  impossible  that 
Sindabil  be  Ch'eng  tu;  he  identifies  it  with  Kanchau.  The  great 
temple  of  Sindabil  mentioned  by  Abu  Dulaf  is  no  doubt  the  idol 
temple  of  Kanchau,  500  cubits  square,  of  Shah  Rukh's  ambassadors ; 
the  identity  of  Kanchau  with  Sindabil  is  confirmed  by  Qasvini. 
See  Marco  Polo,  i,  pp.  220-1.] 

*  [The  first  Shu  Dynasty  was  the  Minor  Han  Dynasty  which 
lasted  from  a.d.  221  to  a.d.  263;  its  capital  was  Ch'eng  tu  in 
modern  Sze  ch'wan;  this  Shu  Dynasty  was  one  of  the  Three 
Kingdoms  {San  kwo  chi) ;  the  two  others  being  Wei  (a.d.  220-264) 
reigning  at  Lo  Yang,  and  Wu  (a.d.  222-277)  reigning  at  Kien 


140  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

in  a  list  of  Chinese  sovereigns  any  name  resembling 
Kalatin  son  of  Shakhbar  or  Shakhir.  In  one  of  the  notes 
appended  to  this  paper  will  be  given  an  abstract  of  the 
chief  points  of  this  journey,  real  or  pretended^. 

84 bis.  ["Now  we  should  mention  the  relation  of  the 
land-route  between  Transoxiana  and  China  to  be  found  in 
a  work  of  Abii  Sa'Id  'Abd  al-Haiy  Ibn  Duhak  Gardezi 
(Marquart,  Streifzuge,  writes  Giirdezi,  but  see  Rieu,  Cat. 
Pers.  Brit.  Mus.,  1071a,  and  Raverty,  Tahakdt-i  Ndsiri, 
p.  901)  of  whom  Bartold  had  the  insight  to  recognize  the 
value  and  to  edit  a  fragment  from  his  important  Zain  al- 
Akhbdr  (written  in  io$o) {Otcetopo'ezdk'  e  vSredniuiuAziiu, 
1893-4,  Pet.,  1897).  Gardezi  describes  China  pp.  92  ^'^-4^. 
The  most  important  passage  is  the  itinerary  Turfan-Kham- 
dan  92^"^®:  Cinandjket  {i.e.  Turfan-Kara  Khodjo)  in  the 
country  of  the  Toghuzghuz  to  Kumul  eight  days  ;  at  Bagh 
Shiira  (one  might  see  in  bagh  the  Persian  bdgh  '  garden' ; 
the  word  shUrd  would  answer  to  cura  of  Turkish  names ; 
thus  one  of  the  most  considerable  of  the  Volga  Turks  : 
Akcura  Oghli)  one  must  cross  a  river  in  a  boat ;  then  seven 
days  in  the  steppe,  with  wells  and  pasturage,  to  Sha  chau, 
with  the  remark  that  the  town  was  called  Dun  chuan  [Tun 
hwang]  until  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century  ;  to-day 
the  road  passes  through  Ngan-si  fu,  to  the  N.W.  of  Sha 
chau :  then  three  days'  travelling  to  a  stone  desert  (sengldkh) 
then  seven  days  to  Sukhchau  {Sukh  reproduces  an  ancient 
pronunciation  which  Abulfeda  renders  by  sUkdju)  ;    then 

Kang  (Nan  king).  The  second  was  the  Ts'ien  Shu  Dynasty, 
founded  in  907  by  Wang  Kien,  governor  of  Sze  chw'an  since  891 ; 
it  lasted  till  925  when  it  submitted  to  the  Hau  T'ang ;  in  933  the 
Hau  T'ang  were  compelled  to  grant  the  title  of  King  of  Shu 
(Hau  Shu)  to  Mong  Chi-siang,  governor  of  Sze  chw'an,  who  was 
succeeded  by  Mong  Ch'ang,  dethroned  in  965  ;  the  capital  was  also 
Ch'eng  tu  under  these  two  dynasties.]  The  names  of  the  kings 
as  given  in  Deguignes  have  no  possibility  of  assimilation  to 
those  in  the  text  (Deg.,  i,  124-9). 
1  See  Note  XII. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  I4I 

three  days  to  Khamcau  (=  Khanchau) ;  then  eight  days 
to  Kuca  (?)  ;  then  in  15  days  to  a  river  called  Kiyan 
(=  Hwang  ?),  which  is  navigable.  From  Baghshura  to 
Khamdan,  the  capital  of  China,  the  voyage  lasts  one  month 
(which  does  not  tally  with  the  total  of  the  days  of  the 
journey  =  43).  Relays  are  to  be  found  on  the  road." 
Mr.  Hartmann,  from  whom  we  borrow  these  particulars 
{Encydop.  de  l' Islam,  s.v.  Chine),  remarks  that  it  was 
always  the  main  route  between  China  and  the  West.] 

85.  The  account  of  China  in  the  Geography  of  Edrisi, 
written  under  the  patronage  of  King  Roger  II  of  Sicily, 
and  completed  in  1153-4,  is,  like  the  whole  of  his  account 
of  South-eastern  Asia,  including  India,  very  meagre  and 
confused.  Professing  to  give  the  distances  between  places, 
he  generally  under-estimates  these  enormously,  insomuch 
that  in  a  map  compiled  from  his  distances  Asia  would, 
I  apprehend,  assume  very  contracted  dimensions.  Owing 
to  his  manner  of  dealing  with  the  world  in  successive 
climates  or  zones  of  latitude  the  passages  in  his  work  treat- 
ing of  China  are  scattered  over  nearly  all  parts  of  the  book  ; 
but  the  general  result  is  something  like  the  following : 

China  is  a  great  and  populous  empire  whose  supreme 
king  is   called  the  Baghhugk^.     This   sovereign   is   just, 

^  This  word  in  various  forms,  Baghbugh,  Baghbur,  Faghfur, 
is  applied  as  a  generic  title  to  the  emperors  of  China  by  old 
Arabian  and  Persian  writers,  and  appears  in  Marco  Polo  as  applied 
to  the  dethroned  Sung  emperor  in  the  form  Facfur  (ii,  p.  148). 
[Baghbur  j^*ij,  Faghfur  j^ks,  are  the  Arabic  forms  of  the 
Persian  Baghpuv,  Son  of  God,  translation  of  T'ien  tze,  in  Chinese 
Son  of  Heaven.  Cf.  Ferrand,  Textes,  p.  2.]  It  is,  according  to 
Neumann,  a  translation  of  the  Chinese  title  T'ien  tze  or  "  Son  of 
Heaven"  into  old  Persian,  in  which  Bak  is  Divinity  (Sansk. 
Bhaga,  Hindi  Bhagwdn),  and  Fur  is  "Son"  (Sansk.  putra).  The 
elenients  of  the  name  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  modern  Persian 
dictionaries  :  "Bagh,  The  name  of  an  Idol,"  and  "Ptir,  A  Son." 
So  Shah  Pur,  the  Sapor  of  the  Romans,  is  "King's  Son"  (see 
Biirck's  Polo,  p.  629;  Pauthier's  Polo,  453;  F.  Johnson's  Diet.). 
["The  last  of  the  Sung  Emperors  (1276)  'Facfur'  {i.e.  the  Arabic 
ioT  T'ien  tze)  was  freed  by  Kiiblai  from  the  (ancient  Khotan) 
indignity  of  surrendering  with  a  rope  round  his  neck,  leading  a 


142  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

powerful,  sage,  and  provident,  easy  and  gentle  in  his 
administration,  generous  in  his  gifts,  attentive  to  what 
goes  on  in  foreign  countries,  but  much  occupied  with  the 
interests  of  his  own  subjects,  who  are  admitted  to  his 
presence  readily,  and  without  having  to  apply  for  the  inter- 
vention of  subordinates.  In  religion  he  follows  an  idola- 
trous faith  differing  but  little  from  that  of  India ;  but  he 
follows  it  devoutly,  and  is  liberal  to  the  poor. 

The  people  are  dark  like  those  of  Hind  and  Sind. 
They  live  upon  rice,  coco-nut,  milk,  sugar,  and  mokl 
(said  to  be  the  fruit  of  the  dum-palm  of  Upper  Egypt). 
No  arts  are  more  valued  among  them  than  those  of  design 
and  pottery. 

Under  the  Baghbugh  there  are  some  three  hundred 
flourishing  cities  and  many  fine  seaports.  The  latter 
generally  stand  upon  river-estuaries,  up  which  ships  ascend 
some  distance  from  the  sea.  They  are  full  of  life  and 
business,  and  the  security  of  property  in  them  is  perfect. 
The  greatest  of  the  ports  is  Khanfu^,  which  is  the  terminus 
of  the  western  trade.  It  stands  on  (or  near)  the  Khumdan, 
the  great  river  of  China,  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
famous  of  all  rivers ;  the  Ganges  itself  is  said  to  be  an 
affluent  of  it 2.  Its  banks  are  crowded  with  population, 
and  many  great  cities  stand  upon  them.  Such  are  Susah^, 
a  very  famous  city  whether  for  its  buildings  or  its  trade, 
or  for  the  wealth  of  its  citizens.  Its  commercial  credit 
extends  over  the  world.     Here  are  made  an  unequalled 

sheep,  and  he  received  the  title  of  Duke:  in  1288  he  went  to 
Tibet  to  study  Buddhism,  and  in  1296  he  and  his  mother,  Ts'iuen 
T'ai  How,  became  a  bonze  and  a  nun,  and  were  allowed  to  hold 
360  k'ing  (say,  5000  acres)  of  land  free  of  taxes  under  the  then 
existing  laws."  (E.  H.  Parker,  China  Review,  Feb.,  March  1901, 
P-  195-)] 

^  Jaubert  has  Khanku,  but  no  doubt  the  right  reading  is  Khan- 
fu.     It  involves  but  the  difference  of  a  dot. 

2  So  thought  Fra  Mauro,  as  his  map  shows. 

^  Qu.  Su  chau  in  Kiang  nan,  the  celebrated  rival  of  Hang  chau  ? 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  I43 

kind  of  porcelain,  the  Ghazdr  of  China,  and  silk-stuffs 
famous  for  their  solidity  and  elegance.  Janku  is  also  on 
the  Khumdan  about  three  days  from  Khanfu.  This  also 
is  a  city  where  there  are  manufactures  of  glass  and  silk 
stuffs.  Two  months'  journey  up  the  river  is  Bajah^,  the 
capital  of  the  Baghbugh,  where  is  his  palace  with  his 
guards,  treasures,  harem,  and  slaves.  He  is  bound  to  keep 
always  one  hundred  dowered  wives  and  one  thousand 
elephants.  Another  city  is  Sinia-ul-Sin  which  Ibn  Batuta 
enables  us  to  identify  with  Canton  (see  infra,  Vol.  iv). 
And  the  first  port  of  China  coming  from  Sanfi  or  Champa 
is  LuKiN  (see  supra,  p.  135),  where  also  are  made  rich 
silks,  and  among  others  a  kind  called  Ghazar-Sini^ ,  which 
are  exported  far  and  near. 

Many  places  besides  these  are  named  which  it  seems 
impossible  to  identify.  Such  are,  on  the  borders  of  Indo- 
China,  Tarighurghan  and  Katighora,  the  last  a  name 
which  seems  simply  borrowed  from  the  Cattigara  of 
Ptolemy  [see  note  on  Kattigara,  Note  II],  Khaighun, 
Asfiria^,  Bura,  Karnabul,  Askhra,  Sharkhu  or  Sadchu, 
Bashiar,  Taugha  (recalling  the  Taugas  of  Theophylactus), 
€tc.  Kasghara,  apparently  Kashgar,  is  put  only  four 
days  distant  from  Katighora  upon  the  China  Sea. 

Exterior  China,  apparently  corresponding  in  a  general 

way  to  the  Tangut  of  later  days,  is  also  mentioned  by 

Edrisi.     It  is  bounded  by  the  Taghazghaz  on  the  west,  by 

Tibet  on  the  south,  and  by  the  country  of  the  Khizilji 

Turks  on  the  north. 

^  The  copies  used  by  Jaubert  read  Bdjah  or  Ndjah.  But 
probably  the  right  reading  is  Taj  ah.  Compare  with  Abulfeda 
quoted  hereafter,  and  with  the  Taiuna  or  Thajuye  at  p.  114  supra. 

2  I  do  not  find  this  word  in  the  Arabic  dictionaries.  May  it  be 
the  origin  of  our  word  Gauze,  which  has  been  referred  to  Gaza  in 
Palestine  ? 

3  It  is  very  possible  that  this  Asfiria  also  represents  the  Ptole- 
maean  Aspiihra,  and  perhaps  some  of  the  other  names  have  a  like 
origin,  though  too  much  corrupted  to  identify  with  the  Greek. 


144  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

86.  To  a  date  only  a  few  years  later  than  Edrisi  belongs 
Benjamin  of  Tudela,  who  travelled  between  1159  and  1173, 
and  of  whom  some  account  has  been  given  by  Mr.  Major 
in  his  Introduction  to  India  in  the  Fifteenth  Century,  which 
need  not  be  repeated.  After  speaking  of  the  Island 
Khandy,  supposed  to  be  Ceylon,  this  traveller  says  : — 

"From  hence  the  passage  to  China  is  effected  in  forty 
days.  This  country  lies  eastward,  and  some  say  that  the 
star  Orion  predominates  in  the  sea  which  bounds  it,  and 
which  is  called  the  sea  of  Nikpha.  Sometimes  the  sea  is  so 
stormy,  that  no  mariner  can  conduct  his  vessel ;  and,  when- 
ever a  storm  throws  a  ship  into  this  sea,  it  is  impossible 
to  govern  it ;  the  crew  and  the  passengers  consume  their 
provisions  and  then  die  miserably,  but  people  have  learned 
how  to  save  themselves  from  this  fate  by  the  following 
contrivance"  ;  and  so  he  proceeds  to  tell  how  the  sailors 
sew  themselves  in  bulls'  hides,  and  being  found  floating  in 
the  sea  are  carried  ashore  by  great  eagles,  and  so  forth. 
This  stuff  (literally  a  cock  and  a  bull  story)  is  all  that 
Benjamin  relates  in  connexion  with  China^. 

It  is  remarked  by  the  English  editor  of  Benjamin  that 
this  author  is  the  first  European  who  mentions  China  by 
that  name.  But  Edrisi  at  least  precedes  him,  and  a  Sicilian 
Arab  writing  of  Sin  in  Arabic  at  Palermo,  has  at  least  as 
good  a  title  to  be  considered  a  European  author  writing 
of  China,  as  a  Spanish  Jew  writing  of  Tsin  in  Hebrew  at 
Tudela.  Benjamin  appears  to  have  heard  these  tales  of 
the  voyage  to  China  at  the  island  of  Kish,  which  would 
seem  to  have  been  the  limit  of  his  travels ^  ;  what  he  relates 

^  Bohn's  ed.  (in  Early  Travellers  in  Palestine),  pp.  116-117. 

2  Kais  or  Kish  was  the  real  terminus  of  Indian  trade  for  several 
ages,  and  the  seat  of  a  principality,  Quisci  of  Polo.  Marco,  I  see, 
shows  the  true  approximate  position  of  Quisci  as  two  hundred 
miles  further  up  the  Gulf  than  Hormuz.  Kish,  in  the  map  before 
me  {Siieler's  Hand- Atlas),  is  termed  Guase  or  Kena.  [The  island 
and  city  of  Kish  or  Kais  is  about  200  miles  from  the  mouth  of 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  1 45 

of  India  likewise  being  to  all  appearance  mere  hearsay. 
Indeed  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  are  more  bare 
of  notices  of  communication  between  China  and  western 
nations  than  almost  any  others  since  the  beginning  of  our 
era. 

8y.  Abulfeda  (1273-1331)  belongs  to  a  date  sub- 
sequent to  the  rise  of  the  Mongol  power,  which  we  have 
fixed  as  a  dividing  mark  in  the  treatment  of  this  subject ; 
but  it  will  be  more  convenient  to  dispose  of  his  notices  of 
China  now,  in  connexion  with  those  of  the  other  Arab 
writers  who  have  been  already  cited.  Notwithstanding 
the  facilities  which  his  age  afforded  for  obtaining  correct 
information  about  China,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  in 
the  way  of  profiting  greatly  by  them.  His  knowledge  of 
those  regions  is,  as  he  himself  complains,  very  much 
restricted,  and  his  accounts  are  chiefly  derived  from  books 
long  antecedent  to  his  own  time  and  to  that  of  the  Mongol 
sovereigns,  though  they  are  not  altogether  devoid  of  recent 
information.  Some  extracts  of  the  essential  part  of  his 
information  on  China  will  be  found  in  the  supplementary 
notes,  and  will  show  this  curious  mixture  of  the  obsolete 
statements  of  the  geographers  of  the  tenth  or  eleventh 
centuries  with  items  of  modern  knowledge ^  ;  affording  an 
analogy  to  the  maps  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  which  in  remoter  Asia  sometimes  present  a 
strange  jumble  of  Ptolemy,  Marco  Polo,  and  recent  dis- 
coveries. 


the  Gulf,  and  for  a  long  time  was  one  of  the  chief  ports  of  trade 
with  India  and  the  East.  The  island,  the  Cataea  of  Arrian,  now 
called  Ghes  or  Kenn,  is  singular  among  the  islands  of  the  Gulf  as 
being  wooded  and  well  supplied  with  fresh  water.  The  ruins  of  a 
city  [called  Harira,  according  to  Lord  Curzon]  exist  on  the  north 
side.  See  Yule-Cordier's  Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  64  n. — See  p.  S^  and 
n.  I,  supra.'] 

1  See  Note  XIII. 


C.  Y.  C.    I.  10 


146  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

VIII.     CHINA  UNDER  THE  MONGOL  DYNASTY, 
KNOWN  AS  CATHAY. 

88.  We  now  arrive  at  the  epoch  of  the  Mongols,  during 
whose  predominance  the  communication  of  China  with  the 
western  nations  was  less  impeded  by  artificial  obstacles 
than  it  has  been  at  any  other  period  of  history.  For  even 
now,  though  our  war-steamers  have  ascended  the  Kiang 
to  Han  kau,  and  a  post  runs  from  Peking  to  Petersburg, 
every  land  frontier  excepting  that  towards  Russia  remains 
as  impervious  as  in  the  darkest  age  of  the  past^. 

It  was  in  the  days  of  the  Mongols  also  that  China  first 
became  really  known  to  Europe,  and  that  by  a  name  which, 
though  especially  applied  to  the  northern  provinces,  also 
came  to  bear  a  more  general  application,  Cathay^. 

89.  This  name,  Khitai  [or  K'itai],  is  that  by  which 
China  is  styled  to  this  day  by  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  nations 
which  know  it  from  an  inland  point  of  view,  including  the 
Russians  Kirrafi,  [the  Greeks,  Kirata]  the  Persians,  and  the 
nations  of  Turkestan  [Khitai]  ;  and  yet  it  originally  be- 
longed to  a  people  who  were  not  Chinese  at  all.  The  K'itans 
were  a  people  of  Manchu  race  who  inhabited  for  centuries  a 
country  to  the  north-east  of  China,  lying  east  of  theKhingan 
mountains'and  north  of  the  river  Sira,  and  whose  allegiance 
was  rendered  alternately  to  the  Khakans  of  the  Turks  and 
the  Emperors  of  China.     In  the  beginning  of  the  tenth 

1  [It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  last  lines  were  written 
nearly  half  a  century  ago.] 

2  Several  names  strongly  resembling  Cathay  appear  in  ancient 
geographers ;  but,  of  course,  none  of  them  have  any  connexion 
with  the  name  as  applied  to  China.  The  Xmrat  Scythians  of 
Ptolemy  probably  represent  Khotan  (vi,  15).  The  KaO^a  of  Strabo 
is  in  the  Punjab,  apparently,  from  what  he  says,  including  the  Salt 
Range  (Bk.  xv).  The  Kataia  of  Arrian  is  the  island  of  Kish  in  the 
Persian  Gulf.  [The  Northern  Chinese  of  Cathay  were  called  by 
the  Southern  Chinese,  Pe  tai,  the  fools  of  the  North ;  in  retaliation 
the  Cathayans  named  the  Southerners  Man  tze,  Barbarians:  hence 
the  Manzi  or  Mangi  of  mediaeval  travellers.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  1 47 

century  the  chief  of  one  of  their  tribes  made  himself  supreme 
first  over  his  own  entire  race,  and  then  successively  over 
the  adjoining  nations  of  Asia  from  the  sea  of  Corea  to  the 
Altai.  The  son  of  this  conqueror  having  assisted  to  place 
on  the  throne  Kao  Tsu  of  the  brief  dynasty  of  the  later  Tsin, 
this  prince  in  return  not  only  transferred  to  the  Tartar  a 
large  tract  of  Northern  China,  but  agreed  to  pay  him  yearly 
tribute,  and  to  acknowledge  his  supremacy.  The  next 
Chinese  sovereign  kicking  against  these  degradations,  the 
K'itan  overran  all  the  provinces  north  of  the  Yellow  River, 
and  established  his  own  empire  within  them,  under  the 
name  of  Leao  or  the  Iron  Dynasty.  This  K'itan  empire 
subsisted  for  two  centuries,  in  Northern  China^  and  the 
adjoining  regions  of  Tartary.  The  same  curious  process 
then  took  place  which  seems  always  to  have  followed  the 
intrusion  of  Tartar  conquerors  into  China,  and  singularly 
analogous  to  that  which  followed  the  establishment  of  the 
Roman  emperors  in  Byzantium.  The  intruders  themselves 
adopted  Chinese  manners,  ceremonies,  literature,  and 
civilisation,  and  gradually  lost  their  energy  and  warlike 
character.  It  must  have  been  during  this  period,  ending 
with  the  overthrow  of  the  dynasty  in  1125,  and  whilst  this 
northern   monarchy   was    the    face   which   the    Celestial 


^  [The  Eastern  Tartars,  K'  itans  of  Tungusic  origin,  founded 
an  empire  in  Northern  China;  nine  sovereigns  belonged  to  their 
dynasty  : 

1.  Ye-Uu  A-pao-ki      =  T'ai  tsu,  907 

2.  Ye-Hu  Te  Kwang  =  T'ai  tsung,  927 

3.  Ye-liu  Yuen  =  Shi  tsung,  947 

4.  Ye-Hu  King  =  Mo  tsung,  951 

5.  Ye-hu  H'ien  =  King  tsung,  968 

6.  Ye-hu  Lung-siu      =  Sheng  tsung,  983 

7.  Ye-hu  Tsung-chin  =  Hing  tsung,   103 1 

8.  Ye-liu  H'ung-ki      =  Tao  tsung,   1055 

9.  Ye-liu  Yen-hi  =  T'ien  tso,  1101-1125. 

In  937  Te  Kwang,  T'ai  tsung,  took  the  nien  hao  of  Hwei  T'ung  and 
gave  to  his  dynasty  the  name  of  Leao.  The  capital  of  the  Leao 
was  Leao  yang  in  Leao  tung,  and  was  transferred  by  A-pao-ki  to 
Yen  king  (Peking).     They  were  replaced  by  the  Niu  che  (Kin).] 


148  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Empire  turned  to  Inner  Asia,  that  the  name  of  Khitan, 
Khitat,  or  Khitai,  became  indissolubly  associated  with 
China^. 

90.  In  the  year  just  named  the  last  prince  of  the 
dynasty  was  captured  by  the  leader  of  the  revolted 
Churches,  who  had  proclaimed  himself  emperor,  and 
founder  of  a  dynasty  under  the  name  of  the  Golden,  the 
Kin  of  the  Chinese. 

This  dynasty,  like  its  predecessor,  adopted  the  Chinese 
civilisation,  and  for  a  brief  period  prospered.  Their  empire, 
the  chief  capital  of  which  was  established  at  the  city  which 
they  called  Chung  tu,  the  modern  Peking,  embraced  in 
China  itself  the  provinces  of  Pe  Che-li,  Shan  si,  Shan  tung, 
Ho  nan,  and  the  south  of  Shen  si,  whilst  beyond  the  wall 
all  Tartary  acknowledged  their  influence.  Their  power, 
however,  soon  passed  its  climax,  and  their  influence  over 
Mongolia  had  already  declined  before  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century^. 

91.  Temuchin,  afterwards  known  as  Chinghiz,  was 
born  of  a  Mongol  tribe  on  the  banks  of  the  Onon  in  1162. 

1  [When  the  Leao  were  expelled  by  the  Kin,  they  retired  west- 
ward into  Kashgaria,  took  the  place  of  the  Kara-Khanids  (Ileks,  or 
Al-i-Afrasyab) ,  and  founded  the  new  dynasty  of  Kara  K'itai,  Si 
Leao  or  Western  Leao ;   five  sovereigns  belong  to  this  dynasty  : 

1.  Te  tsung,   11 25  =  Ye-liu  Ta  Shi. 

2.  Kan  T'ien  Haii,   1136  =  Ta  Pu-yen,   Princess   Regent, 

Hien  Tsing. 

3.  Jin  tsung,   1142  =  Ye-liu  I-lie. 

4.  Cheng  t'ien,   11 54  =  Ye-liu  Shi  (Princess  Regent). 

5.  Mo  Chu,  1 168  =  Ye-liu  Che-lu-ku. 
Che-lu-ku,  second  son  of  Jin  tsung,  was  dethroned  by  his  son-in- 
law  Kuchluk,  chief  of  the  Naimans,  a  Turkish  tribe,  subjugated 
later  by  the  Mongols  of  Chinghiz  Khan ;  see  Notice  of  the  Kara 
Khitai  or  Si  Liao  in  Mediaeval  Researches  from  Eastern  Asiatic 
Sources,  by  E.  Bretschneider,  i.] 

2  [The  Niu  che  or  Niu  chen  Tartars,  another  Tungusic  tribe, 
expelled  the  Leao  in  1125  and  lasted  until  the  Mongol  conquest 
(1234).  At  first  tributary  of  Corea,  Hien-phu  became  indepen- 
dent; however  the  first  real  chief  was  Ukunai,  his  sixth  successor 
(102 1) ;  Aguda  (O-ko-ta),  fifth  successor  of  Ukunai,  is  the  founder 
of  the  Kin  dynasty  (11 13)  with  the  miao  hao  (temple  name)  of 
T'ai  Tsu.] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  I49 

It  is  not  needful  to  follow  the  details  of  his  rise  and  of 
his  successes  against  the  nations  of  Tartary  which  led  to 
his  being  saluted  in  1206  by  the  diet  of  his  nation  as 
Chinghiz  Khan^. 

The  conquest  of  China  was  commenced  by  Chinghiz, 

1  Chinghiz,  according  to  Quatremere,  did  not  use  the  higher 
appellation  of  Kdan  (or  rather  Oaan) ,  which  was  adopted  by  his  son 
Okkodai  and  his  successors  as  their  distinctive  title,  identical  with 
Khdqdn,  the  Xaydvos  of  the  Byzantine  historians.  Properly  a  dis- 
tinction should  therefore  be  preserved  between  Khan,  the  ordinary 
title  of  Tartar  chiefs,  and  which  has  since  spread  to  Persian 
gentlemen  and  come  to  be  a  common  affix  to  the  name  of  Hindu- 
stanis of  all  classes,  and  Qdan,  as  the  peculiar  title  of  the  Supreme 
Chief  of  the  Mongols.  The  Mongol  princes  of  the  subordinate 
empires  of  Chagatai,  Persia,  and  Kipchak,  were  entitled  only  to 
the  former  affix,  though  the  other  is  sometimes  applied  to  them  in 
adulation,  whilst  the  successors  of  Chinghiz,  viz.,  Okkodai,  Kuyuk, 
Mangu,  Kiiblai,  and  those  who  followed  him  on  the  throne  of 
Khanbaliq,  the  Magni  Canes  of  our  ecclesiastical  travellers,  should 
properly  be  designated  as  Qdan.  But  I  have  not  ventured  on 
such  a  refinement.  (See  Quatremere  on  Rashid,  pp.  10  et  seqq.) 
[See  note  in  Yule-Cordier's  Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  10.] 

[Mr.  Rockhill,  Rubruck,  p.  108  n.  writes:  "The  title  Khan, 
Rubruck's  Cham,  though  of  very  great  antiquity,  was  only  used 
by  the  Turks  after  a.d.  560,  at  which  time  the  use  of  the  word 
Khatun  came  in  use  for  the  wives  of  the  Khan,  who  himself  was 
termed  Ilkhan.  The  older  title  of  Shan-yu  did  not,  however, 
completely  disappear  among  them,  for  Albiruni  says  that  in  his 
time  the  chief  of  the  Ghuz  Turks,  or  Turkomans,  still  bore  the 
title  of  Jenuyeh,  which  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  {Proc.  Roy.  Geog.  Soc, 
V,  15)  takes  to  be  the  same  word  as  that  transcribed  Shan-yil  by 
the  Chinese  (see  Ch'ien  Han  shu,  bk.  94,  and  Chou  shu,  bk.  50,  2). 
Although  the  word  Khakhan  occurs  in  Menander's  account  of  the 
embassy  of  Zemarchus,  the  earliest  mention  I  have  found  of  it  in 
a  western  writer  is  in  the  Chronicon  of  Albericus  Trium  Fontium, 
where  (571),  under  the  year  1239,  he  uses  it  in  the  form  Cacanus." 
Albericus  has  :  "  cepit  unum  Regem  eorum  nomine  Cacanum 
iCutanum)."  {Chronicon,  1698,  p.  571.) — ^Terrien  de  Lacouperie 
{Khan,  Khakan,  and  other  Tartar  Titles,  Bab.  and  Orient.  Record, 
Nov.  1888)  says,  p.  272,  that  the  "  Kha  Kan  or  Khagan  ,jlsl.^,  the 
supreme  title  of  authority  among  the  Tartars,  makes  its  first 
appearance  in  history  in  402  a.d.  It  was  assumed  by  Tulun,  the 
Khan  of  the  Joujen,  after  he  had  established  his  supremacy  all 
over  Tartary.  He  disdained  the  old  title  of  Shen-yu,  which 
hitherto  had  been  always  assumed  by  the  supreme  rulers  of  these 
regions,  and  he  struck  out  for  himself  and  his  successors  in  power 
the  new  title  of  Khakan..  .  .stated  to  be  the  same  as  Hwang  Ti, 
i.e.  Supreme  Ruler.  .  .the  ruler  of  the  Karakhitai  started  the  title 
of  Gurkhan."  With  regard  to  Temujin,  Terrien  adds,  p.  274,  that 
he  received  in  1206  the  title  of  Chinghiz  Khan  or  the  "  Very  Mighty 
Khan"  because  he  had  conquered  so  many  Gurkhans:  he  could 
not  adopt  that  humbled  title.] 


150  .         PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

although  it  was  not  completed  for  several  generations. 
Already  in  1205  he  had  invaded  Tangut,  a  kingdom 
occupying  the  extreme  north-west  of  China,  and  extending 
beyond  Chinese  limits  in  the  same  direction,  held  by  a 
dynasty  of  Tibetan  race,  which  was  or  had  been  vassal  to 
the  Kin.  This  invasion  was  repeated  in  succeeding  years  ; 
and  in  1211  his  attacks  extended  to  the  empire  of  the  Kin 
itself.  In  12 14  he  ravaged  their  provinces  to  the  Yellow 
River,  and  in  the  following  year  took  Chung  tu  or  Peking. 
In  12 19  he  turned  his  arms  against  Western  Asia,  and  con- 
quered all  the  countries  between  the  Bolor  and  the  Caspian 
and  southward  to  the  Indus,  whilst  his  generals  penetrated 
to  Russia,  Armenia,  and  Georgia  ;  but  a  lieutenant  whom 
he  had  left  behind  him  in  the  East  continued  to  prosecute 
the  subjection  of  Northern  China.  Chinghiz  himself  on 
his  return  from  his  western  conquests  renewed  his  attack 
on  Tangut,  and  died  on  that  enterprise  i8th  August, 
1227. 

92.  Okkodai,  the  son  and  successor  of  Chinghiz, 
followed  up  the  subjugation  of  China,  extinguished  the 
Kin  finally  in  1234,  ^^^  consolidated  with  his  empire  all 
the  provinces  north  of  the  Great  Kiang.  The  southern 
provinces  remained  for  the  present  subject  to  the  Chinese 
dynasty  of  the  Sung,  reigning  now  at  King  sze  or  Hang 
chau.  This  kingdom  was  known  to  the  Tartars  as  Nang- 
KiASS,  and  also  by  the  quasi-Chinese  title  of  Mangi  or 
Manzi,  made  so  famous  by  Marco  Polo  and  the  travellers 
of  the  following  age,  a  title  which  the  Western  Mahomedans 
not  unnaturally  confounded  and  identified  with  Machin, 
a  term  of  another  origin  and  properly  of  a  larger  appli- 
cation^. 

^  Machin  is  merely  a  contraction  of  Mahachina,  "  Great  China," 
the  name  by  which  the  Hindus  anciently  styled  the  Great  Empire 
(see  supra,  p.  68),  and  in  this  application  I  have  heard  it  still 
vernacularly  used  by  them.     In  this  sense,  also,  it  would  appear 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  15I 

93.  After  establishing  his  power  over  so  much  of 
China  as  we  have  said,  Okkodai  raised  a  vast  army  and  set 
it  in  motion  towards  the  west.  One  portion  was  directed 
against  Armenia,  Georgia,  and  Asia  Minor,  whilst  another 

to  have  been  understood  in  old  times  by  the  more  inteUigent 
Mahomedans,  as  when  Al  Biruni,  speaking  of  the  Himalayas,  says 
that  beyond  those  mountains  is  Mahachin.  That  geographer's 
contemporary^  Firdusi,  also  uses  the  name  (see  Jonrn.  As.,  ser.  iv, 
tom.  iv,  259;  Klaproth,  Mem.,  iii.  257,  seqq.).  But  the  majority, 
not  knowing  the  meaning  of  the  expression,  seem  to  have  used  it 
pleonastically  coupled  with  Chin  to  denote  the  same  thing,  "Chin 
and  Machin" ;  a  phrase  having  some  analogy  to  the  way  Sind 
and  Hind  was  used  to  express  all  India,  but  a  stronger  one  to  Gog 
and  Magog,  as  applied  to  the  northern  nations  of  Asia;  for  Sind 
and  Hind  are  capable  of  divorce.  And  eventually  Chin  was 
discovered  to  be  the  eldest  son  of  Japhet,  and  Machin  his  grandson, 
which  is  much  the  same  as  saying  that  Britain  was  the  eldest  son 
of  Brut  the  Trojan,  and  Great  Britain  his  grandson.  In  the  Mongol 
days,  when  Chinese  affairs  were  for  a  time  more  distinctly  known 
in  Western  Asia,  and  the  name  of  Mdnzi  as  the  southern  portion 
of  the  Empire  was  current  in  men's  mouths,  it  would  appear  that 
this  name  was  confounded  with  Machin,  and  the  latter  word  thus 
acquired  a  specific  application,  though  an  erroneous  one.  For 
though  accident  thus  gave  a  specific  meaning  to  Machin,  I  cannot 
find  that  Chin  ever  had  a  similar  specific  meaning  given  to  it.  One 
author  of  the  sixteenth  century,  indeed,  quoted  by  Klaproth, 
distinguishes  North  and  South  China  as  the  Chin  and  Machin  of 
the  Hindus  {Journ.  As.,  ser.  ii,  tom.  i,  115).  But  there  is  no  proof 
that  the  Hindus  ever  made  this  distinction,  nor  has  anyone  that 
I  know  of  quoted  an  instance  of  Chin  being  applied  peculiarly  to 
Northern  China.  Ibn  Batuta,  on  the  contrary,  sometimes  dis- 
tinguishes Sin  as  South  China  from  Khitai  as  North  China. 

In  times  after  the  Mongol  regime,  when  intercourse  with  China 
had  ceased,  the  double  name  seems  to  have  recovered  its  old  vague- 
ness as  a  rotund  way  of  saying  China.  Thus  Barbaro  speaks  of 
Cini  and  Macini,  Nikitin  of  Chin  and  Machin,  the  commission  of 
Syrian  bishops  to  India  {supra,  p.  127)  of  Sin  and  Masin,  all 
apparently  with  no  more  plurality  of  sense  than  there  is  in  Thurn 
and  Taxis.  And  yet,  at  the  same  time,  there  are  indications  of 
a  new  application  of  Machin  to  the  Indo-Chinese  countries.  Thus 
Conti  applies  it  to  Ava  or  Siam,  in  which  Fra  Manro  follows 
him,  and  the  Ayin  Akhari,  if  I  remember  rightly,  applies  it 
to  Pegu. 

The  use  of  a  double  assonant  name,  sometimes  to  express  a  dual 
idea  but  often  a  single  one,  is  a  favourite  Oriental  practice.  As 
far  back  as  Herodotus  we  have  Crophi  and  Mophi,  Thyni  and 
Bithyni ;  the  Arabs  have  converted  Cain  and  Abel  into  Kabil  and 
Habil,  Saul  and  Goliah  into  Taiut  and  Jalut,  Pharaoh's  magicians 
into  Risam  and  Rejain,  of  whom  the  Jewish  traditions  had  made 
Jannes  and  Jambres;  whilst  Christian  legends  gave  the  names  of 
Dismas  and  Jesmas  to  the  penitent  and  impenitent  thieves  in  the 
Gospel.     Jarga  and  Nargah  was  the  name  given  to  the  great  circle 


152  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

great  host  under  Batu,  the  nephew  of  the  Great  Khan, 
conquered  the  countries  north  of  Caucasus,  overran  Russia 
making  it  tributary,  and  still  continued  to  carry  fire  and 
slaughter  westward.  One  great  detachment  under  a 
lieutenant  of  Batu's  entered  Poland,  burned  Cracow,  found 
Breslau  in  ashes  and  abandoned  by  its  people,  and  defeated 
with  great  slaughter  at  Wahlstatt  near  Liegnitz  (April  9th, 
1241)  the  troops  of  Poland,  Moravia,  and  Silesia,  who  had 
gathered  under  Duke  Henry  II  of  the  latter  province  to 
make  head  against  this  astounding  flood  of  heathen.  Batu 
himself  with  the  main  body  of  his  army  was  ravaging 
Hungary.  The  king  had  been  very  slack  in  his  prepara- 
tions, and  when  eventually  he  made  a  stand  against  the 
enemy  his  army  was  defeated  with  great  loss,  and  he 
escaped  with  difficulty.  Pesth  was  now  taken  and  burnt, 
and  all  its  people  put  to  the  sword. 

The  rumours  of  the  Tartars  and  their  frightful  devasta- 
tions had  scattered  fear  through  Europe,  which  the  defeat 
at  Liegnitz  raised  to  a  climax.  Indeed  weak  and  disunited 
Christendom  seemed  to  lie  at  the  foot  of  the  barbarians. 
The  Pope  to  be  sure  proclaimed  a  crusade,  and  wrote  cir- 
cular letters,  but  the  enmity  between  him  and  the  Emperor 
Frederic  II  was  allowed  to  prevent  any  co-operation,  and 

of  beaters  in  the  Mongol  hunting  matches.  In  geography  we  have 
numerous  instances  of  the  same  thing,  e.g.,  Zabuhstan  and  Kabuhs- 
tan,  Koh  AkoH,  Longa  Solanga,  Ibir  Sibir,  Kessair  and  Owair, 
Kuria  Muria,  Ghuz  and  Maghuz,  Mastra  and  Castra  {Edrisi), 
Artag  and  Kartag  [Abulghazi],  Khanzi  and  Manzi  (Rashid),  Iran 
and  Turan,  Crit  and  Mecrit  {Rubruquis) ,  Sondor  and  Condor  [Marco 
Polo),  etc.  (See  Quatremere's  Rashid,  pp.  243-6  ;  D'Avezac,  p.  534  ; 
Prairies  d'Or,  i,  p.  399-) 

The  name  of  A  chin  in  Sumatra  appears  to  have  been  twisted 
in  this  spirit  by  the  Mahomedan  mariners  as  a  rhyme  to  Machin ; 
the  real  name  is  Atcheh. 

In  India,  such  rhyming  doublets  are  not  confined  to  proper 
names;  to  a  certain  extent  they  may  be  made  colloquially  at  will 
upon  a  variety  of  substantives.  The  chauki-auki  means  "chairs" 
simply  (chauki),  or,  at  most,  "chairs  and  tables";  lakri-akri, 
"sticks  and  stakes."  In  some  such  sense  probably  grew  up  the 
use  of  Chin  Machin,  China  and  all  its  appurtenances. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  1 53 

neither  of  them  responded  by  anything  better  than  words 
to  the  earnest  calls  for  help  which  came  from  the  King  of 
Hungary.  No  human  aid  merited  thanks  when  Europe 
was  relieved  by  hearing  that  the  Tartar  host  had  suddenly 
retreated  eastward.  The  Great  Khan  Okkodai  was  dead 
in  the  depths  of  Asia,  and  a  courier  had  come  to  recall 
the  army  from  Europe. 

94.  In  1255  a  new  wave  of  conquest  rolled  westward 
from  Mongolia,  this  time  directed  against  the  Ismaelians 
or  "Assassins^"  on  the  south  of  the  Caspian,  and  then 
successively  against  the  Khalif  of  Baghdad^  and  Syria. 
The  conclusion  of  this  expedition  under  Hiilaku  may  be 
considered  to  mark  the  climax  of  the  Mongol  power. 
Mangu  Khan,  the  emperor  then  reigning,  and  who  died 
on  a  campaign  in  [Sze-ch'wan]  China  in  1259,  was  the  last 
who  exercised  a  sovereignty  so  nearly  universal.  His 
successor  Kiiblai  extended  indeed  largely  the  frontiers  of 
the  Mongol  power  in  China,  which  he  brought  entirely 
under  the  yoke,  besides  gaining  conquests  rather  nominal 
than  real  on  its  southern  and  south-eastern  borders,  but 
he  ruled  effectively  only  in  the  eastern  regions  of  the  great 
empire,  which  had  now  broken  up  into  four,  (i)  The 
immediate  Empire  of  the  Great  Khan,  seated  eventually 
at  Khanbaliq  or  Peking,  embraced  China,  Corea,  Mongolia, 
and  Manchuria,  Tibet,  and  claims  at  least  over  Tong  King 
and  countries  on  the  Ava  frontier;  (2),  the  Chagatai 
Khanate,   or  Middle    Empire   of    the    Tartars,   with  its 


^  [The  Assassins  were  defeated  at  the  end  of  1256  by  Hiilaku, 
and  the  eighth  Prince  of  Alamut,  Rocn  uddin  Khurshah,  was  put 
to  death.  Cf.  Marco  Polo,  i,  pp.  145  seqq. ;  and  the  French  edition 
of  Odoric,  pp.  473—483.] 

2  [Mostas'im  Billah  was  the  last  of  the  Abbasid  Khalifs ; 
cf.  Marco  Polo,  i,  pp.  63-4,  67  w. — Rashiduddm  says:  "The 
evening  of  Wednesday,  the  T4th  of  Safar,  656  (20th  February, 
1258),  the  Khalif  was  put  to  death  in  the  village  of  Wakf,  with  his 
eldest  son  and  five  eunuchs  who  had  never  quitted  him."] 


154  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

capital  at  Almaliq,  included  the  modern  Dzungaria,  part 
of  Chinese  Turkestan,  Transoxiana,  and  Afghanistan ; 
(3),  the  Empire  of  Kipchak,  or  the  Northern  Tartars,, 
founded  on  the  conquests  of  Batu,  and  with  its  chief  seat 
at  Sarai  on  the  Volga,  covered  a  large  part  of  Russia,  the 
country  north  of  Caucasus,  Khwarizm,  and  a  part  of  the 
modern  Siberia;  (4),  Persia,  with  its  capital  eventually 
at  Tabriz,  embraced  Georgia,  Armenia,  Azerbaijan  and 
part  of  Asia  Minor,  all  Persia,  Arabian  Irak,  and 
Khorasan. 

95.  Though  the  Tartar  host  had  retired  spontane- 
ously when  Europe  seemed  to  lie  at  its  mercy,  the  fears 
of  renewed  invasion  hung  over  the  west  for  years.  Pope 
Innocent  IV,  who  had  succeeded  Gregory  IX,  summoned 
a  council  at  Lyons  in  1245,  the  chief  alleged  object  of  which 
was  to  devise  measures  for  the  protection  of  Christendom 
against  this  enemy.  But  even  before  the  meeting  of  the 
Council  the  Pope  had  taken  one  of  the  steps  which  was  to 
stand  instead  of  a  hearty  union  to  resist  the  common  foe, 
by  sending  missions  to  the  Tartar  chiefs  which  should  call 
upon  them  to  shed  no  more  Christian  blood,  but  to  adopt 
the  Christian  faith.  There  seems  indeed,  even  when  the 
early  panic  caused  by  the  vast  scale  of  the  Tartar  atrocities 
had  scarcely  passed  away,  (and  the  feeling  for  many  years 
grew  rather  than  diminished),  an  undercurrent  of  anticipa- 
tion to  have  run  through  Europe  that  these  barbarians 
were  in  some  way  ripe  for  conversion  ;  and  this  sentiment 
is  traceable,  more  or  less,  in  most  of  the  missions  that  from 
this  time  forth  were  sent  to  them  by  Christian  Pontiffs  and 
Princes.  At  its  maximum,  as  we  have  seen,  the  power  of 
the  Grand  Khan  extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Tong  King 
almost  to  the  Baltic.  None,  or  next  to  none,  of  the  Mongol 
princes  were  at  this  time  Mahomedans,  and  the  power  of 
Islam  over  the  length  of  Asia  was  for  a  time  prostrated. 


PRELIMINARY    ESSAY  155 

The  heavy  blows  thus  dealt  at  the  Mahomedan  enemy  ; 
then  the  old  stories  of  Prester  John  with  whom  early 
rumour  had  confounded  Chinghiz  ;  the  vagueness  of 
religious  profession  in  the  Khans  and  their  captains, 
facilitating  the  ascription  to  them  of  that  Christianity 
which  was  no  doubt  really  professed  by  some  of  the  tribal 
chiefs  under  them ;  the  tolerance  and  patronage  in  some 
cases  extended  to  Christians  in  the  conquered  countries ; 
all  these  circumstances  perhaps  contributed  to  create  or 
to  augment  in  Europe  the  impression  of  which  we  have 
spoken. 

And  the  accomplishment  of  the  missions  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made  was  facilitated  by  the  very  extent 
of  the  Tartar  flood  which  had  thus  washed  down  all  arti- 
ficial barriers  from  the  Yellow  River  to  the  Danube.  Nor 
only  to  those  missionaries  and  ambassadors,  or  to  the 
crowned  kings  who  bore  their  own  homage  to  the  footstool 
of  the  Great  Khan,  was  the  way  thus  thrown  open  ;  the 
circulation  of  the  tide  extended  far  lower,  and  the  accidents 
of  war,  commerce,  and  opportunity  carried  a  great  variety 
of  persons  in  various  classes  of  European  life  to  remote 
regions  of  Asia. 

96.  ' '  'Tis  worthy  of  the  grateful  remembrance  of  all 
Christian  people,"  says  Ricold  of  Montecroce,  "that  just 
at  the  time  when  God  sent  forth  into  the  eastern  parts  of 
the  world  the  Tartars  to  slay  and  to  be  slain.  He  also  sent 
forth  in  the  west  his  faithful  and  blessed  servants  Dominic 
and  Francis,  to  enlighten,  instruct,  and  build  up  in  the 
Faith."  Whatever  we  may  think  on  the  whole  of  the 
world's  obligations  to  Dominic,  it  is  to  the  friars,  but  more 
especially  indeed  to  the  Franciscans,  that  we  owe  much 
interesting  information  about  the  Tartars  and  Cathay. 
Thus,  besides  the  many  wanderers  dumb  to  posterity  who 
found  their  way  to  the  Great  Khan's  camp  in  the  depths 


156  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

of  Mongolia,  there  went  also  John  of  Piano  Carpini,  and 
William  [of  Rubruck  or]  Ruysbroek  or  Rubruquis,  both 
Franciscan  monks  of  superior  intelligence,  who  have  left 
behind  them  narratives  of  what  they  saw  and  learned. 
And  these  were  the  first,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  bring  to 
Western  Europe  the  revived  knowledge  of  a  great  and 
civilised  nation  lying  in  the  extreme  east  upon  the  shores 
of  the  ocean.  To  this  kingdom  they  give  the  name,  now 
first  heard  in  Europe,  of  Cathay. 

John  of  Plano  Carpini,  deriving  his  name  from  a 
place  in  the  territory  of  Perugia  1,  and  an  immediate  dis- 
ciple of  the  founder  of  his  order,  was  the  head  of  one  of  the 
missions  dispatched  by  Pope  Innocent  to  call  the  chief  and 
people  of  the  Tartars  to  a  better  mind.  He  set  out  from 
Lyons  on  the  i6th  of  April  1245,  accompanied  by  Friar 
Stephen,  a  Bohemian,  who  speedily  broke  down  and  had 
to  be  left  behind,  was  joined  at  Breslau  by  Friar  Benedict, 
the  Pole,  who  was  intended  to  act  as  interpreter,  and  in 
February  1246  reached  the  head-quarters  of  Batu  on  the 
Volga.  After  some  stay  here,  they  were  sent  on  to  the 
camp  of  the  Great  Khan  near  Karakorum,  (a  fatiguing 
journey  of  three  months  and  a  half,  which  must  have  sorely 
tried  an  elderly  and  corpulent  man  like  Friar  John), 
arriving  on  the  22nd  July.  We  shall  not  go  into  any  further 
details  on  the  mission  or  narrative  of  Piano  Carpini  which 
has  been  so  ably  reviewed  and  edited  by  M.  D'Avezac^, 

1  ["The  editors  of  the  Analecta  Franciscana  (iii,  266)  remark 
that  it  would  be  more  correct  to  write  his  Latin  names  Piano 
Carpinis  or  de  Carpine,  Planum  Carpinis  or  Planum  Carpi  being 
the  Latin  form  of  the  Italian  Pian  di  Carpina,  the  modern  Pian  la 
Magione  or  Magione,  about  fourteen  miles  from  Perugia . ' '  Rockhill , 
p.  xxii,  M.] 

2  See  that  able  and  admirable  essay  "Notice  sur  les  Anciens 
Voyageurs  en  Tartarie  en  general,  et  sur  celui  de  Jean  du  Plan  de 
Carpin  en  particulier,"  Recueil  de  Voyages  et  de  Memoires,  iv,  399. 

[The  best  editions  are  :  The  Journey  of  William  of  Rubruck 
to  the  Eastern  Parts  of  the  World,  1253-5,  <^^  narrated  by  himself, 
with  two  accounts  of  the  earlier  journey  of  John  of  Pian  de  Carpine. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  l57 

but  be  content  to  say  that  he  obtained  his  dismissal  from 
Kuyuk  Khan  on  the  13th  November,  with  a  brief  and 
haughty  reply  to  the  Pope's  address,  and  returned  safely, 
reporting  his  mission  to  the  Pope  apparently  some  time  in 
the  autumn  of  1247^. 

97.  After  mentioning  the  wars  of  Chinghiz  against 
the  Cathayans  {Kitai),  he  goes  on  to  speak  of  that  people 
as  follows : 

"But  one  part  of  the  country  of  the  Cathayans  which 
lies  upon  the  sea-shore  has  not  been  conquered  by  the 
Tartars  to  this  day.  Now  these  Cathayans  of  whom  we 
have  been  speaking  are  heathen  men,  and  have  a  written 
character  of  their  own.  Moreover  'tis  said  they  have  an 
Old  and  New  Testament,  and  Lives  of  the  Fathers,  and 
religious  recluses,  and  buildings  which  are  used  for  churches 
as  it  were,  in  which  they  pray  at  their  own  times :  and  they 
say  that  they  have  also  some  saints  of  their  own.  They 
worship  the  one  God,  honour  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
believe  in  eternal  life,  but  are  entirely  without  baptism. 
They  pay  honour  and  reverence  to  our  Scriptures,  are  well 
disposed  towards  Christians,  and  do  many  alms  deeds. 
They  seem  indeed  to  be  kindly  and  polished  folks  enough. 
They  have  no  beard,  and  in  character  of  countenance  have 
a  considerable  resemblance  to  the  Mongols,  but  are  not  so 
broad  in  the  face.  They  have  a  language  of  their  own. 
Their  betters  as  craftsmen  in  every  art  practised  by  man 
are  not  to  be  found  in  the  whole  world.     Their  country  is 

Translated  from  the  Latin,  and  Edited,  with  an  Introductory  Notice, 
by  William  Woodville  Rockhill.  .  .London,  Hakluyt  Society, 
M.DCCCC. — The  Texts  and  Versions  of  John  de  Piano  Carpini  and 
William  de  Rubruquis  as  printed  for  the.  first  time  by  Hakluyt  in 
1598  together  with  some  shorter  pieces.  Edited  by  C.  Raymond 
Beazley,  London,  Hakluyt  Society,  1903.  See  also  :  G.  PuUe. — 
Historia  Mongalorum.  Viaggio  di  F.  Giovanni  da  Pian  del  Carpine 
ai  Tartari  nel  1245-7.     Firenze,  1913,  8vo.] 

1  The  last  date  is  that  of  his  arrival  at  Kiev  a  fortnight  before 
St.  John  Baptist's  day  [i.e.,  9th  June  1247). 


158  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

very  rich  in  corn,  in  wine,  gold,  silver,  silk,  and  in  every 
kind  of  produce  that  tends  to  the  support  of  mankind." 
98.  WilHam  of  Rubruquis,  a  Fleming  [from  Ruys- 
broek,  in  French  Flanders],  was  sent  by  St.  Lewis  on  a 
mission  to  the  Tartar  chiefs,  the  object  of  which  is  not  to 
be  very  clearly  gathered.  It  was  suggested,  however,  by 
the  report  that  Sartach,  the  son  of  Batu,  who  was  in  com- 
mand near  the  Don,  was  a  Christian,  and  probably  partook 
of  the  character  of  a  religious  as  well  as  a  political  recon- 
naissance. The  friar,  though  carrying  letters  from  the 
king,  was  evidently  under  orders  to  deny  all  pretension  to 
the  character  of  an  envoy,  and  to  put  forward  his  duty  as 
a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  as  the  motive  of  his  journey.  His 
narrative  is  a  remarkably  interesting  one,  showing  that 
the  author  had  a  great  deal  of  sagacity  and  observation  ; 
and  his  remarks,  in  reference  to  language  in  particular, 
show  much  acumen.  There  are  difficulties  in  connexion 
with  the  indications  of  his  route  across  Tartary,  which  it 
would  be  interesting  to  discuss,  but  scarcely  appropriate 
here^.  Suffice  it,  therefore,  to  say,  that  he  entered  the 
Black  Sea  on  the  7th  May,  1253,  ^^^  ^f^er  visiting  succes- 
sively Sartach,  Batu,  and  the  court  of  the  Great  Khan 
Mangu  near  Kara  Korum,  got  back  to  Antioch  about  the 
end  of  June  1255. 

99.  After  describing  several  of  the  nations  of  Further 
Asia,  he  says  :  "Further  on  is  Great  Cathay  which  I  take 
to  be  the  country  which  was  anciently  called  the  Land  of 
the  Seres.  For  the  best  silk  stuffs  are  still  got  from  them, 
and  the  people  themselves  call  such  stuffs  Seric^ ;    the 

1  Some  remarks  on  the  subject  will,  however,  be  found  at  the 
end  of  Supp.  Note  XVII. 

[See  Rubruquis,  by  Sir  H.  Yule,  Encycl.  Britannica,  xxi, 
pp.  ^G-j.-Vber  Rubruh's  Reise  von  1253-5... uow  Franz  Max 
Schmidt,  Berlin,  1885.     [Zeit.  Ges.  Erdk.,  xx.)] 

'^  This  is  probably  a  reference  to  the  Mongol  word  Sirkek  {supra, 
p.  20),  and  Rubruquis  thus  anticipated  Klaproth  in  tracing  an 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  159 

nation  getting  the  name  of  Seres  from  a  certain  town  of 
theirs.  I  was  really  given  to  understand  that  there  is 
a  town  in  that  country  which  has  silver  walls  and  golden 
"battlements^.  The  land  in  question  is  divided  into  many 
provinces,  several  of  which  have  not  yet  been  subdued  by 
the  Mongols,  and  the  sea  lies  between  it  and  India.  Those 
■Cathayans  are  little  fellows,  speaking  much  through  the 
nose,  and  as  is  general  with  all  those  eastern  people  their 
eyes  are  very  narrow.  They  are  first-rate  artists  in  every 
kind  of  craft,  and  their  physicians  have  a  thorough  know- 
ledge of  the  virtues  of  herbs,  and  an  admirable  skill  in 
diagnosis  by  the  pulse 2.  But  they  don't  examine  the 
urine  or  know  anything  on  that  subject ;  this  I  know  from 
my  own  observation.  There  are  a  great  many  of  these 
people  at  Karakorum  ;  and  it  has  always  been  their  custom 
that  all  the  sons  must  follow  their  father's  craft  whatever 
it  be.  Hence  it  is  that  they  are  obliged  to  pay  so  heavy 
a  tribute ;  for  they  pay  the  Mongols  daily  1500  iascot  or 
cosmi^ ;  the  iascot  is  a  piece  of  silver  weighing  ten  marks, 
so  that  the  daily  sum  amounts  to  15,000  marks  without 
counting  the  silk  stuffs  and  food  in  kind  which  is  taken 
from  them,  and  the  other  services  which  they  are  obliged 


eastern  etymology  of  the  term  Serica.  I  do  not  know  what  town 
he  can  allude  to,  but  see  the  Siurhia  of  Moses  the  Armenian,  and 
the  Saragh  of  the  Si-ngan  fu  inscription  [supra,  pp.  93,  108,  no). 

1  Martini  alludes  to  a  popular  Chinese  saying  about  the  golden 
walls  of  Si-ngan  fu  {Atlas  Sinensis).  And  these  passages  are 
remarkable  with  reference  to  the  remark  of  Ptolemy  about  the 
metropolis  Thincs,  that  there  was  no  truth  in  the  stories  of  its 
brazen  walls. 

2  Martini  speaks  of  the  great  skill  of  the  physicians  in  diagnosis 
by  the  pulse,  and  Duhalde  is  very  prolix  on  that  matter. 

[A  number  of  Chinese  treatises  has  been  written  on  the  Art  of 
feeling  the  Pulse. — See  H.  Cordier's  Bib.  Sinica,  col.  1470-3.] 

3  I  do  not  know  what  the  word  iascot  is ;  but  cosmi  is  possibly 
intended  for  the  same  word  as  the  sommi  of  Pegolotti  [infra,  ill, 
p.  148),  though  the  value  here  assigned  would  be  about  ten  times 
that  of  the  sommo,  taking  the  mark  as  f  of  a  pound.  [See  Rock- 
hill's  Rubruck,  pp.  156-7  n.] 


l60  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

to  render^. . .  .  And  in  answer  to  my  inquiries  of  the  priests 
who  came  from  Cathay  I  was  told  that  from  the  place 
where  I  found  Mangu-Chan  to  Cathay  was  twenty  days' 
journey  going  south-east.. .  .One  day  there  sat  with  me 
a  certain  priest  from  Cathay  clothed  in  a  crimson  stuff  of 
a  splendid  colour^,  so  I  asked  him  whence  that  colour  was 
got.  In  reply  he  told  me  that  in  the  eastern  parts  of 
Cathay  there  are  lofty  rocks  inhabited  by  certain  creatures 
which  have  the  human  form  in  every  respect  except  that 
they  can't  bend  their  knees,  but  get  along  by  some  kind  of 
a  jumping  motion.  They  are  only  a  cubit  high,  and  are 
hairy  all  over,  and  dwell  in  inaccessible  holes  in  the  rock. 
So  the  huntsmen  bring  beer  with  them,  which  they  know 
how  to  brew  very  strong,  and  make  holes  in  the  rocks  like 
cups  which  they  fill  with  beer.  (For  they  have  no  wine 
in  Cathay,  but  make  their  drink  of  rice,  though  now  they 
are  beginning  to  plant  vines^.)  So  the  huntsmen  hide 
themselves,  and  then  the  creatures  come  out  of  their  holes 
and  taste  the  drink  that  has  been  set  for  them  and  call  out 
'  Chin  chin  ! '  and  from  this  call  they  get  their  name  : 
for  they  are  called  Chinchin.  Then  they  gather  in  great 
numbers  and  drink  up  the  beer  and  get  tipsy  and  fall 
asleep.  So  the  huntsmen  come  and  catch  them  sleeping 
and  bind  them  hand  and  foot,  and  open  a  vein  in  the  neck 
of  the  creatures,  and  after  taking  three  or  four  drops  of 
blood  let  them  go.     And  'tis  that  blood,  he  told  me,  that 


1  Pp.  291-2. 

2  [Rockhill  remarks,  I.e.,  p.  199  «.  :  "This  priest  must  have 
been  a  Tibetan  lama  who  had  visited  China.  Chinese  priests 
(whether  Buddhist  or  Taoist)  have  never  worn  red  gowns,  and 
Friar  Wilham  has  told  us  that  all  the  Tuin  among  the  Mongols 
dressed  in  yellow."] 

3  [Rockhill  remarks,  I.e.,  p.  199  n.:  "Though  the  Chinese  have 
never  made  wine  from  the  grape,  the  vine  has  been  cultivated  in 
China  since  the  second  century  B.C.,  when  it  was  brought  there 
from  Turkestan  by  the  great  traveller,  Chang-k'ien."] 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  l6l' 

gives  this  most  precious  purple  dye^.  And  they  also  used 
to  tell  as  a  fact,  though  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it,  that 
there  is  a  certain  province  on  the  other  side  of  Cathay,  and 
whatever  a  man's  age  be  when  he  enters  that  province  he 
never  gets  any  older.  Cathay  lies  on  the  Ocean.. .  .The 
common  money  of  Cathay  consists  of  pieces  of  cotton 
paper  about  a  palm  in  length  and  breadth,  upon  which 
certain  lines  are  printed  resembling  the  seal  of  Mangu  Chan. 
They  do  their  writing  with  a  brush  such  as  painters  paint 
with,  and  a  single  character  of  theirs  comprehends  several 
letters  so  as  to  form  a  whole  word 2." 

100.  Another  traveller,  of  whose  journey  some  account 
has  come  down  to  us,  visited  the  Court  of  Mangu  Khan 
immediately  after  Rubruquis.  This  was  Hethum  or 
Hayton  I,  King  of  Little  Armenia,  [residing  in  the  city  of 
Sis,  in  Cilicia]who  at  an  early  date  saw  the  irresistible  power 
of  the  Tartars  and  made  terms  with  them  ;  i.e.,  acknow- 
ledged himself  the  Khan's  vassal.  On  the  accession  of 
Kuyuk  Khan  (1246)  the  king  sent  his  brother  Sempad  or 
Sinibald,  Constable  of  Armenia,  to  secure  the  continuance 


1  This  is  a  genuine  Chinese  story. 

["The  story  here  told  is  found  in  a  Chinese  work,  entitled, 
Chu  ch'vian  or  Records  of  Notes  by  Wang-kang  of  T'ai-yuan,  in 
Chu,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  the  date  at  which  it  was 
written..  .  .The  other  details  of  Friar  William's  story  are  supplied 
by  another  Chinese  work,  entitled  Hua-yang  kuo  chih,  or  'Topo- 
graphical description  of  the  state  of  Hua-yang.'  Hua-yang 
included  part  of  the  present  province  of  SsiJ-ch'uan.  This  work 
says:  'The  hsing-hsing  is  found  in  the  Shan  {Ai-lao)  country,  in 
the  province  of  Yung-chan.  It  can  speak.  A  red  dye  can  be 
made  with  its  blood.'  The  above  quotations  are  taken  from 
MaTuan-lin,  bk.  329,8."  (Rockhill,  I.e.,  p.  200  n.)  Yule,  Hobson- 
Jobson,  p.  154,  with  regard  to  the  story  of  Rubruck,  writes  :  "And 
it  is  equally  remarkable  to  find  the  same  story  related  with  singular 
closeness  of  correspondence  out  of  'the  Chinese  books  of  geo- 
graphy' by  Francesco  Carletti,  350  years  later  (in  1600).  He 
calls  the  creatures  Zinzin  {Ragionamenti  di  F.  C,  pp.  138-9)."] 

2  Pp.  327-329.  Neither  Marco  Polo,  nor,  I  believe,  any  other 
traveller  previous  to  the  sixteenth  century,  had  the  acumen  to 
discern  the  great  characteristic  of  the  Chinese  writing  as  Rubruquis 
has  done  here. 


l62  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

of  good  understanding.  This  prince  was  four  years  absent, 
and  we  possess  a  letter  from  him  written  on  the  journey  in 
which  some  allusions  are  made  to  Tangut  and  Cathay, 
with  reference  to  the  general  delusion  as  to  the  Christianity 
of  those  countries^. 

1  The  letter  is  addressed  to  the  King  and  Queen  of  Cyprus  and 
others  at  their  court,  and  was  written  apparently  from  Samarkand 
(printed  Saurequant,  probably  for  Samrequant).  Here  is  an 
extract :  "  We  understand  it  to  be  the  fact  that  it  is  five  years  past 
since  the  death  of  the  present  Chan's  father  [Okkodai] ;  but  the 
Tartar  barons  and  soldiers  had  been  so  scattered  over  the  face  of 
the  earth  that  it  was  scarcely  possible  in  the  five  years  to  get  them 
together  in  one  place  to  enthrone  the  Chan  aforesaid.  For  some 
of  them  were  in  India,  and  others  in  the  land  of  Chata,  and  others 
in  the  land  of  Caschar  and  of  Tanchat.  This  last  is  the  land 
from  which  came  the  Three  Kings  to  Bethlem  to  worship  the  Lord 
Jesus  which  was  born.  And  know  that  the  power  of  Christ  has 
been,  and  is,  so  great,  that  the  people  of  that  land  are  Christians  ; 
and  the  whole  land  of  Chata  believes  in  those  Three  Kings.  I  have 
myself  been  in  their  churches  and  have  seen  pictures  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  Three  Kings,  one  offering  gold,  the  second  frankin- 
cense, and  the  third  myrrh.  And  it  is  through  those  Three  Kings 
that  they  believe  in  Christ,  and  that  the  Chan  and  his  people  have 
now  become  Christians.  And  they  have  their  churches  before  his 
gates  where  they  ring  their  bells  and  beat  upon  pieces  of  timber. 
And  I  tell  you  that  we  have  found  many  Christians  scat- 
tered all  over  the  East,  and  many  fine  churches,  lofty,  ancient, 
and  of  good  architecture,  which  have  been  spoiled  by  tlie  Turks. 
Hence  the  Christians  of  the  land  came  before  the  present  Khan's 
grandfather ;  and  he  received  them  most  honourably,  and  granted 
them  liberty  of  worship,  and  issued  orders  to  forbid  their  having 
any  just  cause  of  complaint  by  word  or  deed.  And  so  the  Saracens 
who  used  to  treat  them  with  contumely  have  now  like  treatment 

in  double  measure And  let  me  tell  you  that  those  who  set 

up  for  preachers  (among  these  Christians),  in  my  opinion,  deserve 
to  be  well  chastised.  Let  me  tell  you,  moreover,  that  in  the  land 
of  India,  which  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle  converted,  there  is  a  certain 
Christian  king  who  stood  in  sore  tribulation  among  the  other  kings 
who  were  Saracens.  They  used  to  harass  him  on  every  side,  until 
the  Tartars  reached  that  country,  and  he  became  their  liegeman. 
Then,  with  his  own  army  and  that  of  the  Tartars,  he  attacked  the 
Saracens ;  and  he  made  such  booty  in  India  that  the  whole  East 
is  full  of  Indian  slaves  ;  I  have  seen  more  than  50,000  whom  this 
king  took  and  sent  for  sale"  (Mosheim,  App.,  p.  49). 

[T  have  given  in  the  Supplementary  Notes  the  full  text  of  this 
letter  from  the  old  French  translation  in  the  Vie  de  Saint  Louis 
par  Guillaume  de  Nangis,  pp.  361-3  of  vol.  xx  of  the  Recueil  des 
Historiens  des  Gaules  et  de  la  France,   18^0.] 

The  motive  in  the  letter  is  perhaps  the  justification  of  his 
brother  Hay  ton  for  having,  like  this  questionable  Indian  king, 
become  the  Tartar's  liegeman.  The  writer  [died  aged  68,  at  Sis, 
in  1276,  from  a  wound  to  his  foot  received  during  his  pursuit  of 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  163 

Hayton  himself  went  to  the  court  of  Mangu  Khan  soon 
after  the  latter's  accession,  to  assure  his  position  with  that 
potentate,  and  to  obtain  certain  advantages  for  himself 
and  his  states.  He  set  out  apparently  in  the  beginning 
of  1254,  first  visiting  Bachu  Noian,  the  general  of  the 
Tartar  army  at  Kars,  and  then  passing  through  Armenia 
Proper  and  by  the  Pass  of  Derbend  to  the  Volga,  where  he 
saw  Batu  and  his  son  Sartach,  whom  this  narrative  alleges 
to  have  been  a  Christian,  in  opposition  to  Rubruquis,  who 
says  such  stories  were  all  nonsense^.  The  chiefs  received 
Hayton  well,  and  sent  him  on  to  Kara  Korum  by  a  route 
far  to  the  north  of  that  followed  by  Piano  Carpini  and 
Rubruquis.  Leaving  the  court  of  Batu  on  the  13th  May, 
the  party  arrived  at  the  royal  camp  before  the  13th 
September  ;  they  saw  the  Great  Khan  in  state  on  the  14th 
and  offered  their  gifts.  King  Hayton  was  treated  with 
honour  and  hospitality,  and  on  the  ist  November  set  out 
on  his  homeward  journey,  passing  by  Bishbaliq,  [Almaliq, 
Hi  baliq]  and  through  the  modern  Dzungaria  to  Otrar, 
Samarkand,  and  Bokhara ;  thence  through  Khorasan 
and  Mazanderan  to  Tabriz,  and  so  to  his  own  territories 
[where  he  arrived  at  the  end  of  July  1255]. 

King  Hayton  related  many  wonderful  things  that  he 

had  seen  and  heard  of  the  nations  of  barbarians,  and 

among  others  of  the  Ghotaians  or  Cathayans.     In  their 

country  there  were  many  idolaters  who  worshipped  a 

clay  image  called  Shakemonia.     This  personage  had  been 

the  Turkmen  who  had  invaded  Cilicia  near  Marasch.     See  His- 
toriens  des  Croisades, — Documents  Armeniens,  i,  1869,  p.  606,] 

1  See  III,  p.  19.  When  Friar  WiUiam  was  leaving  the  camp 
of  Sartach,  one  of  the  Tartar  officers  said  to  him :  "  Don't  you 
be  saying  that  our  master  is  a  Christian ;  he  is  no  Christian,  but 
a  Mongol!"  (p.  107).  Just  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  tells  somewhere 
of  a  belated  southron  traveller  in  the  old  days,  who,  seeking  vainly 
for  shelter  in  some  town  on  the  border,  exclaimed  in  despair : 
"  Would  no  good  Christian  take  him  in  ?  "  To  which  an  old  woman 
who  heard  him,  made  answer:  "Christian?  Na,  na !  we're  a' 
Jardines  and   Johnstones  here." 


164  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Deity  for  the  last  3040  years,  and  had  still  to  rule  the 
World  for  35  tumans  or  350,000  years,  when  he  was  to  be 
deprived  of  his  divinity.  They  had  also  another  god  (who 
should  then  reign  ?)  called  Madri,  of  whom  they  had 
made  a  clay  image  of  incredible  size.  In  these  statements 
we  have  a  rough  indication  of  Buddhism  with  its  last 
Buddha  or  deified  sage,  Sakya-Muni,  and  its  coming 
Buddha,  Maitreya  or  Maidari,  awaiting  his  time  in  the 
development  of  the  ages.  The  king  heard,  too,  of  a  people 
beyond  Cathay  whose  women  had  the  use  of  reason  like 
men,  whilst  the  males  were  great  hairy  dogs,  a  story  which 
Piano  Carpini  had  also  heard,  and  which  Klaproth  has 
found  in  the  Chinese  books  of  the  period^.  The  informa- 
tion regarding  Cathay  and  other  countries  of  the  far  East, 
contained  in  the  history  written  half  a  century  later  by 
the  king's  namesake  and  relative,  Hayton  the  Younger, 
was  also  probably  derived  in  part  from  the  former  and  his 
companions. 

10 1.  We  do  not  mean  here  to  enter  into  any  details 
regarding  that  illustrious  Venetian  family  whose  travels 
occupy  a  large  space  in  the  interval  between  the  journeys 
of  Rubruquis  and  King  Hayton  and  the  end  of  the  thir- 

^  See  PI.  Carpini,  pp.  12,  36.  King  Hayton,  in  his  later  years, 
abdicated  and  became  a  monk ;  as  did  at  a  later  date  his  son 
Hayton  II,  and  again,  their  kinsman,  Hayton  the  historian. 

[The  account  of  Hethum's  journey  was  originally  written  in 
Armenian  by  Kirakos  Gandsaketsi  who  belonged  to  the  suite  of 
the  King.  It  has  been  translated  into  Russian  by  Argutinsky 
and  from  Russian  by  Klaproth.  [Noitv.  Journ.  Asiatique,  2  Ser., 
xii,  pp.  273  seq.)  In  1870,  it  was  again  translated  into  French  by 
Brosset  {Mdm.  Acad,  des  Sciences  St.  Pdtersb.,  July  1870)  and  into 
Russian  by  K.  P.  Patkanov  in  1874.  See  H.  Cordier's  Bib.  Sinica, 
col.  1998-9. — An  English  translation  was  given  in  1876  by 
E.  Bretschneider.  {Journ.  North  China  B.  R.  As.  Soc,  x,  1876, 
pp.  297  seq.  ;  reprint,  in  Mediaeval  Researches,  i,  1883,  pp.  164  seq.) 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  "  it  seems  to  be  the  only  instance  that 
any  mediaeval  author  mentions  a  city  of  this  name  [Hi  baliq]. 
The  city  was  evidently  situated  on  the  Hi  river,  perhaps  near  the 
place  where  now  the  post-road  from  Kuldja  to  Tashkend  crosses 
the  river.  There  is  on  the  left  the  borough  Ilishoye."  (Bret- 
schneider, Med.  Res.,  11,  p.  44.)] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  165 

teenth  century,  those  travels  which  more  than  all  other 
narratives  together  familiarised  Europe  with  the  name 
and  wonders  of  Cathay.  Indeed,  all  other  travellers  to 
that  region  are  but  stars  of  a  low  magnitude  beside  the 
full  orb  of  Marco  Polo.  There  was  a  time  when  he  fell 
into  discredit  1 ;  but  that  is  long  past,  and  his  veracity 
and  justness  of  observation  still  shine  brighter  under  every 
recovery  of  lost  or  forgotten  knowledge.  Nearly  fifty 
years  ago  a  Quarterly  Reviewer  received  with  disparaging 
anticipations  the  announcement  of  a  new  Italian  edition 
of  Polo 2,  as  if  deeming  that  little  could  be  added  in  illustra- 
tion of  the  Traveller  to  what  Marsden  had  effected.  Much 
as  Marsden  really  did  in  his  splendid  edition,  it  would  be 
no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  light  thrown  on  Marco's 
narrative  has  since  that  day  been  more  than  doubled  from 
the  stores  of  Chinese,  Mongol,  and  Persian  history  which 
have  been  rendered  accessible  to  European  readers,  or 
brought  directly  to  bear  on  the  elucidation  of  the  Traveller, 
by  Klaproth,  Remusat,  Quatremere,  and  many  other 
scholars,  chiefly  Frenchmen.  And  within  the  last  year 
Paris  has  sent  out  an  edition  of  the  Traveller,  by  M.  Pau- 
thier,  which  leaves  far  behind  everything  previously 
attempted,  concentrating  in  the  notes  not  only  many  of 
the  best  suggestions  of  previous  commentators,  but  a  vast 
mass  of  entirely  new  matter  from  the  editor's  own  Chinese 
studies^. 

^  The  editors  of  the  Histoire  Generale  des  Voyages  (I  am  afraid 
this  is  a  translation  from  the  English)  express  doubts  whether 
Polo  ever  was  really  in  China  or  Tartary,  because  he  says  nothing 
of  the  great  Wall,  of  tea,  of  the  compressed  feet  of  the  ladies,  etc. 
(Baldelii  Boni,  //  Milione,  p.  Ixxv).     [See  Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  292  n.] 

2  Baldelii  Boni's  :  see  that  work,  i,  p.  civ.  Perhaps,  however, 
the  terms  quoted  may  refer  only  to  the  improbability  of  fresh  light 
from  Italian  archives. 

3  [We  need  not  remind  the  reader  that  Yule's  Book  of  Ser 
Marco  Polo  had  not  yet  been  published  ;  the  first  edition  appeared 
in  1871,  the  second  in  1875,  and  the  third,  revised  by  the  present 
writer,  in  1903.] 


l66  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

102.  During  a  period  including  the  last  thirty  years 
of  the  thirteenth  century  and  the  first  few  years  of  the 
fourteenth  many  diplomatic  communications  took  place 
between  the  Mongol  Khans  of  Persia  and  the  sovereigns 
of  Christendom  ;  and  in  these  we  find  a  tone  on  the  part 
of  the  Tartar  princes  very  different  from  the  curt  insolence 
of  the  previous  age.  They  no  longer  held  the  same 
domineering  supremacy,  and  their  great  object  now  was 
to  obtain  Christian  alliances  against  their  bitter  rivals, 
the  Sultans  of  Egypt.  These  communications  do  not, 
however,  bear  upon  our  subject,  except  in  one  curious 
incidental  aspect.  The  Khans  of  Persia,  as  liegemen  of 
the  Great  Khan,  still  received  from  him  their  seals  of 
state,  and  two  of  their  letters  preserved  in  the  French 
archives  exhibit  the  impressions  of  these  seals  bearing 
inscriptions  in  ancient  Chinese  characters,  in  the  case  of 
the  earlier  letter  perhaps  the  first  specimens  of  such 
characters   that   reached   Europe^. 

1  See  Remusat's  Memoir  in  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscript.,  vii, 
367,  391,  etc.  The  earlier  letter  is  from  Arghiin  Khan,  and  is  dated 
1289.  It  is  written  in  Uighur  characters  in  the  Mongol  language 
on  a  roll  of  cotton  paper  six  feet  and  a  half  long  by  ten  inches 
wide.  The  seal  is  thrice  impressed  on  the  face  of  the  letter  in  red. 
It  is  five  inches  and  a  half  square,  containing  six  characters  ; 
"Seal  of  the  Minister  of  State,  Pacificator  of  Nations."  The 
second  letter  is  from  Khodabandah,  otherwise  called  Oljaitu,  and 
written  in  May,  1305.  The  seal  in  this  case  contains  the  words, 
"  B}'  a  supreme  decree  the  Seal  of  the  Descendant  of  the  Emperor 
charged  to  reduce  to  obedience  the  1 0,000  barbarous  nations." 
A  duplicate  of  this  perhaps  went  to  Edward  II,  as  his  reply,  dated 
Northampton,  i6th  October,  1307,  is  in  Rymer's  Fcedera  (Remusat, 

U.S.)  . 

[These  two  documents  addressed  to  the  King  of  France, 
Philip  the  Fair,  are  kept  in  the  National  Archives  in  Paris ;  a 
facsimile  has  been  given  of  both  in  PL  xiv  of  Documents  de 
I'dpoqiie  mongole,  edited  by  Prince  Roland  Bonaparte.] 

[It  is  quite  possible  that  a  first  embassy  was  sent  to  Honorius  IV 
by  Arghiin  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign  (1285),  according  to  a 
letter  sent  by  this  prince  to  the  Pope  in  the  month  of  May  of  the 
first  year  of  his  reign.  (See  Annales  Ecclesiat.,  1285,  p.  619. 
Chabot,  Mar  Jahalaha,  pp.  188  seq.)  Then  the  second  embassy 
would  be  Bar  Cauma's  (1287-8,  see  supra,  p.  120).  The  answer 
of  Nicholas  IV  to  Jabalaha  is  printed  by  Chabot,  I.e.,  pp.  195  seq., 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  167 

This  peculiar  relation,  which  the  Mongol  conquests 
produced  between  China  and  Western  Asia,  not  only 
introduced  strangers  -from  the  remote  West  to  China 
and  its  borders,  but  also  carried  Chinese  to  vast  distances 
from  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Not  only  were  corps  of  Alans 
and  Kipchaks  seen  fighting  in  Tong  King,  but  Chinese 
engineers  were  employed  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  and 
Chinese  astronomers,  physicians,  and  theologians  could 
be  consulted  at  Tabriz^.  The  missions  of  Kiiblai  himself 
extended  to  Madagascar. 

103.  There  must  have  been  other  Frank  travellers 
to  Cathay  contemporary  with  the  Polos,  such  as  the 
German  engineer,  whom  Marco  mentions  as  employed 
under  his  father,  his  uncle,  and  himself,  in  the  construction 
of  mechanical  artillery  to  aid  Kublai  Khan  in  his  attack 
on  the  city  of  Saianfu  or  Siang  yang  fu  in  Hu  kwang,  but 
no  other  narrative  from  the  time  of  their  sojourn  in  China 
has  come  down  to  us 2. 


as  well  as  his  letters  to  Arghun,  pp.  200  seq.  A  third  embassy  was 
sent  by  Arghun  (1289-90)  with  the  Genoese  Christian  Buscarel  at 
its  head  ;  the  original  letter  which  he  took  to  Philip  the  Fair,  king 
of  France,  is  in  the  Archives  Nationales  in  Paris ;  it  is  written  in 
Uighur  character,  and  a  facsimile  of  it  ha,s  been  given  in  the  Docu- 
ments mongols  edited  by  Prince  Roland  Bonaparte  ;  he  also  visited 
Edward  I,  King  of  England;  he  arrived  in  London  on  the  5  th  January, 
1290  ;  see  Unpublished  Notices  of  the  times  of  Edward  I,  especially 
of  his  relations  with  the  Moghul  Sovereigns  of  Persia,  by  T.  Hudson 
Turner.  [Archcsological  Journal,  viii,  1851,  pp.  45-51.)  A  fourth 
embassy  was  sent  to  Rome  by  Arghxin  (1290-1)  with  Chagan  or 
Zagan  as  its  chief.     (See  Chabot,  pp.  235  seq.)] 

^  See  Polo,  iii,  35;  D'Ohsson,  ii,  611;  iii,  265;  Quatremere's 
Rashid,  pp.  195,  417,  and  Rashid's  own  grandiloquence,  p.  39. 
Marco  Polo's  will  bequeaths  liberty  and  a  legacy  to  a  Tartar 
servant,  thirty  years  after  his  return  home. 

["  Also  T  release  Peter  the  Tartar,  my  servant,  from  all  bondage, 
as  completely  as  I  pray  God  to  release  mine  own  soul  from  all  sin 
and  guilt.  And  I  also  remit  him  whatever  he  may  have  gained  by 
work  at  his  own  house ;  and  over  and  above  I  bequeath  him  100 
lire  of  Venice  denari."      {Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  72.)] 

2  [Cf.  Marco  Polo,  ii,  pp.  158-169.] 

[Marco  Polo,  ii,  p.  159,  says:  "The  Khan  bade  them  with 
all  his  heart  have  such  mangonels  made  as  speedily  as  possible. 


l68  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

An  interesting  chapter  on  Cathay  is  found  in  the 
geographical  part  of  the  work  of  Hayton,  Prince  of  Gorigos, 
already  alluded  to.  This  prince,  after  long  experience  of 
eastern  war  and  politics,  [was  exiled  from  Little  Armenia 
in  1305,  went  to  Cyprus  and  became,  at  the  abbey  of 
Lapais,  in  Cyprus,  a  monk  of  the  Order  of  Praemon- 
strants.  He  arrived  in  France  probably  at  the  end  of 
1306,  and  by  order  of  Clement  V  he  dictated  his  history 
in  French  in  August  1307  in  the  city  of  Poitiers  to 
Nicholas  Faulcon  of  Toul,  who  translated  it  afterwards 
into  Latin^].  It  contains  in  sixty  chapters  a  geography 
of  Asia,  the  history  of  the  Mongol  Khans,  and  notices  of 
the  Holy  Land  and  the  Eastern  Christians. 

The  first  fifteen  chapters  contain  short  successive 
accounts  of  the  chief  kingdoms  of  Asia,  and  form  altogether 
probably  the  best  geographical  summary  of  that  continent 
which  had  yet  been  compiled.     In  the  Supplementary 

Now  Messer  Nicolo  and  his  brother  and  his  son  immediately 
caused  timber  to  be  brought,  as  much  as  they  desired,  and  fit  for 
the  work  in  hand.  And  they  had  two  men  among  their  followers, 
a  German  and  a  Nestorian  Christian,  who  were  masters  of  that 
biisiness,  and  these  they  directed  to  construct  two  or  three  man- 
gonels capable  of  casting  stones  of  300  lbs.  weight."  Yule  says 
rightly,  I.e.,  p.  167,  "this  chapter  is  one  of  the  most  perplexing  in 
the  whole  book,  owing  to  the  chronological  difficulties  involved." 
The  siege  of  Siang  yang  was  undertaken  in  the  latter  part  of  1268, 
and  it  fell  v/ith  Fan  ch'eng  only  in  March  of  1273.  Marco  Polo 
had  not  yet  arrived  in  China.     Cf.  Marco  Polo,  ii,  pp.  167-9.] 

^  [The  history  ends  thus,  in  French:  "Lequel  livre  je,  Nicole 
Falcon  de  Toul,  escris  primierement  en  fran^ois,  si  come  le  dit 
freire  Hayton  me  disoit  de  sa  bouche,  sanz  note  ne  exemplaire,  e 
de  romanz  le  translatei  en  latin.  Et  celui  livre  ont  nostra  signor 
le  Pape,  en  I'an  Nostre  Seignor  mcccvii,  en  mois  d'aost.  Deo 
gracias.     Amen."] 

[In  Latin  :  Explicit  liber  Hystoriarum  parcium  Orientis,  a 
religioso  viro  fratre  Haytono,  ordinis  Beati  Augustini,  domino 
Churchi,  consanguineo  regis  Armenia,  compilatus,  ex  mandato 
summi  pontificis  domini  Clementis  pape  quinti,  in  civitate  Picta- 
vensi,  regni  Franchie,  quern  ego,  Nicolaus  Falconi,  primo  scripsi 
in  galico  ydiomate,  sicut  idem  frater  H.  michi  ore  suo  ditabat, 
absque  nota  sive  aliquo  e.xemplari,  et  de  galico  transtuli  in  lati- 
num,  anno  Domini  M°  iii'^  septimo,  mense  augusti.  Deo  dicamus 
gratias."] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  169 

Notes  to  this  Essay  will  be  found  the  chapter  on  Cathay 
[with  the  French  and  Latin  texts  ^]. 

[Hayton  arrived  at  Cyprus  on  the  6th  May,  1308,  with 
a  letter  of  the  Pope  to  the  Prince  of  Tyre  concerning  the 
Templars.  He  then  leturned  to  his  native  land,  was 
appointed  constable,  and  died  probably  after  1314  in 
Armenia,  not  at  Poitiers.] 

104.  Just  as  the  three  Poll  were  reaching  their  native 
city,  the  forerunner  of  a  new  band  of  travellers  was  enter- 
ing Southern  China.  This  was  John  of  Monte  Corvino, 
a  Franciscan  monk,  who,  already  nearly  fifty  years  of  age, 
was  plunging  alone  into  that  great  ocean  of  Paganism,  and 
of  what  he  deemed  little  better,  Nestorianism,  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  After  years  of  uphill  work  and  solitary  labour 
others  joined  him  ;  the  Papal  See  woke  up  to  what  was 
going  on  ;  it  made  him  Archbishop  in  Khanbaliq  or  Peking, 
with  patriarchal  authority,  and  sent  him  spasmodically 
batches  of  suffragan  bishops  and  friars  of  his  order ;  the 
Roman  Chur-ch  spread ;  churches  and  Minorite  Houses 
were  established  at  Khanbaliq ;  at  Zaytiin  or  Chin  chau, 
at  Yang  chau  and  elsewhere ;  and  the  missions  flourished 
under  the  immediate  patronage  of  the  Great  Khan  himself. 
Among  the  friars  whose  duty  carried  them  to  Cathay 
during  the  interval  between  the  beginning  of  the  century 
and  the  year  1328,  when  Archbishop  John  was  followed 
to  the  grave  by  mourning  multitudes.  Pagan  as  well  as 
Christian,  several  have  left  letters  or  more  extended 
accounts  of  their  experiences  in  Cathay.  Among  these  may 
be  mentioned  Andrew  of  Perugia,  Bishop  of  Zaytun  ; 
John  de  Cora,  Archbishop  of  Sultania  (though  it  is  not 
quite  certain  that  his  account  was  derived  from  personal 
knowledge),  and  above  all  Friar  Odoric  of  Pordenone. 
A  short  though  interesting  notice  of  China  belonging  to 

1  See  Note  XIV. 


170  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

this  period,  but  derived  from  the  information  of  others^ 
is  also  contained  in  the  Mirahilia  of  Friar  Jordanus^. 

The  only  ecclesiastical  narrative  subsequent  to  the 
time  of  Archbishop  John  is  that  contained  in  the  reminis- 
cences of  John  Marignolli,  who  spent  four  years  at  the 
court  of  Peking  (1342-6)  as  Legate  from  the  Pope. 

105.  But  the  Exchange  had  its  emissaries  at  this 
time  as  well  as  the  Church.  The  record  is  a  very  fragmen- 
tary and  imperfect  one,  but  many  circumstances  and 
incidental  notices  show  how  frequently  the  far  East  was- 
reached  by  European  traders  in  the  first  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century ;  a  state  of  things  which  it  is  very 
difficult  to  realise,  when  we  see  how  all  those  regions,  when 
reopened  only  two  centuries  later,  seemed  almost  as 
absolutely  new  discoveries  as  the  empires  which  about 
the  same  time  Cortes  and  Pizarro  were  annexing  in  the 
West. 

This  frequency  of  commercial  intercourse,  at  least 
with  China,  probably  did  not  commence  till  some  years 
after  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century.  For 
Montecorvino,  writing  in  1305,  says  it  was  then  twelve 
years  since  he  had  heard  any  news  of  the  Court  of  Rome 
or  European  politics,  the  only  western  stranger  who  had 
arrived  in  that  time  being  a  certain  Lombard  chirurgeon 
who  had  spread  awful  blasphemies  about  the  Pope.  Yet,, 
even  on  his  first  entrance  into  Cathay,  Friar  John  had  been 
accompanied  [from  Tabriz]  by  one  Master  Peter  of  Luca- 
longo,  whom  he  describes  as  a  faithful  Christian  man  and 
a  great  merchant  [at  whose  expense  ground  was  purchased 
at  Khanbaliq  to  build  a  Christian  Church].  The  letter 
of  Andrew,  Bishop  of  Zaytun,  lately  referred  to,  quotes 

^  The  journey  of  Ricold  of  Montecroce,  one  of  the  most  learned 
of  the  monk  traveller?  of  the  age  (d.  1309),  did  not  apparently 
extend  beyond  Baghdad.  He  mentions  Cathay  only  once  in 
noticing  the  conquests  of  Chinghiz.      (Pereg.  Quat.,  120.) 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  17I 

the  opinion  of  the  Genoese  merchants  of  his  acquaintance 
at  that  great  seaport  touching  a  question  of  exchanges. 
Marino  Sanuto,  the  Venetian,  writing  about  1306  to  pro- 
pound a  great  scheme  for  the  subversion  of  the  Mahomedan 
power,  alludes  to  the  many  merchants  who  had  already 
gone  to  India  to  make  their  purchases  and  come  back 
safely.  About  1322  Friar  Jordanus,  the  Dominican,  when 
in  sore  trouble  at  Tana  near  Bombay,  where  four  of  his 
brethren  had  been  murdered  by  the  Mahomedans,  falls  in 
with  a  young  Genoese  who  gives  him  aid ;  and  in  one  of 
his  letters  from  Gujarat,  he  speaks  of  information  received 
from  "Latin  merchants."  In  the  stories  connected  with 
the  same  martyred  friars,  we  find  mention  of  a  merchant 
of  Pisa  owning  a  ship  in  the  Indian  seas.  Mandeville, 
too,  speaks  of  the  merchants  of  Venice  and  Genoa  coming 
habitually  to  Hormuz  to  buy  goods^.  Odoric,  dictating 
his  travels  in  1330,  refers  for  confirmation  of  the  wonders 
related  of  the  great  city  of  Cansay  or  Hang  chau,  to  the 
many  persons  whom  he  had  met  at  Venice  since  his  return, 
who  had  themselves  been  witnesses  of  all  that  he  asserted. 
A  few  years  later  (1339)  we  find  William  of  Modena,  a 
merchant,  dying  for  the  Faith  with  certain  friars  at  Almaliq 
on  the  banks  of  the  Hi.  John  Marignolli  mentions  that 
when  he  was  in  Malabar  about  1347-8,  his  interpreter  was 
a  youth  who  had  been  rescued  from  pirates  in  the  Indian 
seas  by  a  merchant  of  Genoa.  And  from  the  same  author- 
ity we  find  that  there  was  a  fondaco  or  factory,  and  ware- 
house for  the  use  of  the  Christian  merchants,  attached 
to  one  of  the  Franciscan  convents  at  Zaytiin. 

106.  But  the  most  distinct  and  notable  evidence  of 
the  importance  and  frequency  of  the  European  trade  from 

1  [We  need  only  refer  the  reader  to  our  note,  pp.  598-605  of 
The  Booh  0/  Ser  Maico  Polo,  Vol.  ii,  with  regard  to  the  value  or 
rather  lack  of  value  of  the  Travels  written  by  the  so-called  Mande- 
ville.] 


172  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Cathay,  of  which  silk  and  silk  goods  were  the  staple,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  work  of  F.  Balducci  Pegolotti,  of  which 
an  account  and  extracts  are  given  in  the  present  collection. 
That  the  ventures  on  this  trade  were  not  insignificant  is 
plain  from  the  example  taken  by  the  author  to  illustrate 
the  question  of  expenses  on  the  journey  to  Cathay,  which 
is  that  of  a  merchant  carrying  goods  to  the  amount  of 
some  £i2,oooi. 

107.  To  the  same  period  of  the  Mongol  domination 
and  active  commerce  with  the  west,  belongs  the  voyage, 
about  1347,  of  the  Moor,  Ibn  Batuta,  to  China,  which 
forms  a  part  of  this  work. 

But,  as  regards  Christian  intercourse,  missions  and 
merchants  alike  disappear  from  the  field  soon  after  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  as  the  Mongol  dynasty 
totters  and  comes  down.  We  hear,  indeed,  once  and  again 
of  friars  and  bishops  despatched  from  Avignon  ;  but  they 
go  forth  into  the  darkness  and  are  heard  of  no  more.  For 
the  new  rulers  of  China  revert  to  the  old  indigenous  policy 
and  hold  foreigners  at  arm's  length  ;  whilst  Islam  has 
recovered  its  ground  and  extended  its  grasp  over  Middle 
Asia,  and  the  Nestorian  Christianity  which  once  prevailed 
there  is  rapidly  vanishing  and  leaving  its  traces  only  in 
some  strange  parodies  of  church  ritual  which  are  found 
twined  into  the  worship  of  the  Tibetan  Lamas,  like  the 
cabin  gildings  and  mirrors  of  a  wrecked  vessel  adorning 
the  hut  of  a  Polynesian  chief.  A  dark  mist  has  descended 
upon  the  farther  east,  covering  Mangi  and  Cathay  with 
those  cities  of  which  the  old  travellers  told  such  wonders, 
Cambalec   and  Cansay  and  Zaytun   and   Chinkalan. 


^  [The  following  woik  has  come  to  hand  since  Vol.  iii  of  Cathay 
was  printed :  Der  Mittelalterliche  Welthandel  von  Florenz  in  seiner 
Geographischen  Ausdehnung  {nach  der  Pratica  della  Mercatura  des 
Balducci  Pegolotti)  von  Dr.  Eduard  Friedmann.  {Abh.  K.  K.  Geog. 
Ges.  in  Wien,  x  Bd.,  1912.)] 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  I73 

And  when  the  veil  rises  before  the  Portuguese  and  Spanish 
explorers  a  century  and  a  half  later,  those  names  are  heard 
of  no  more.  In  their  stead  we  have  China  and  Peking, 
Hang  chau  and  Chin  chau  and  Canton.  Not  only  are 
the  old  names  forgotten,  but  the  fact  that  those  places  had 
been  known  before,  is  utterly  forgotten  also.  Gradually 
Jesuit  missionaries  went  forth  again  from  Rome.  New 
converts  were  made  and  new  vicariats  constituted ;  but 
the  old  Franciscan  churches  and  the  Nestorianism  with 
which  they  had  battled  had  been  alike  swallowed  up  in 
the  ocean  of  Paganism.  In  time,  as  we  have  seen,  slight 
traces  of  the  former  existence  of  Christian  churches  came 
to  the  surface,  and  when  Marco  Polo  was  recalled  to  mind, 
one  and  another  began  to  suspect  that  China  and  Cathay 
were  one. 


IX.     CATHAY  PASSING  INTO  CHINA.— CONCLUSION. 

108.  But  we  have  been  going  too  fast  over  the  ground, 
and  we  must  return  to  that  dark  interval  of  which 
we  have  spoken,  between  the  fall  of  the  Yuen  dynasty 
and  the  first  appearance  of  the  Portuguese  in  the  Bocca 
Tigris.  The  name  of  Cathay  was  not  forgotten  ;  the  poets 
and  romancers  kept  it  in  memory^,  and  the  geographers 
gave  it  a  prominent  place  on  their  maps.  But  this  was 
not  all ;  some  flickering  gleams  of  light  came  now  and  then 
from  behind  the  veil  that  now  hung  over  Eastern  Asia. 
Such  are  the  cursory  notices  of  Cathay  which  reached 
Ruy  Gonzalez  de  Clavijo  on  his  embassy  to  the  court  of 

1  E.g.,  the  story  of  Mitridanes  and  Nathan  in  Boccaccio  is 
laid  in  Cathay.  And  in  the  Orlando  Innamorato  the  father  of 
Angehca  is  King  Galafron  : 

"II  qual  neir  India  estrema  signoreggia 
Una  gran  terra  ch'  ha  nome  il  Cattajo."     x,  18. 


174  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY 

Timur  at  Samarkand  (a.d.  1403-5)1,  and  John  Schiltberger 
the  Bavarian  who  served  for  many  years  in  the  armies  of 
Bajazet  and  Timur,  and  returned  to  his  native  land  in 
14272. 

109.  More  detail  is  found  in  the  narrative  of  Nicolo 
Conti,  as  taken  down  in  Latin  by  Poggio  Bracciolini  about 
1440,  of  which  a  version  has  been  given  in  India  in  the 

^  Clavijo  speaks  of  an  ambassador  whom  the  Lord  of  Cathay 
had  sent  to  Timur  Beg,  to  demand  the  yearly  tribute  which  was 
formerly  paid.  When  Timur  saw  the  Spaniards  seated  below  this 
Cathayan  ambassador,  he  sent  orders  that  they  should  sit  above 
him;  those  who  came  from  the  King  of  Spain,  his  son  and  friend, 
were  not  to  sit  below  the  envoy  of  a  thief  and  scoundrel  who  was 
Timur's  enemy.  Timur  was  at  this  time  meditating  the  expedition 
against  China,  in  entering  on  which  he  died  at  Otrar  (17th  Feb. 

1405)- 

The  Emperor  of  Cathay,  Clavijo  tells  us,  was  called  Chuyscan, 
which  means  "  Nine  Empires."  But  the  Zagatays  (Timur's  people) 
called  him  Tangus,  which  means  Pig  Emperor  {supra,  p.  33). 
The  best  of  all  merchandise  coming  to  Samarkand  was  from  China 
(it  is  not  quite  clear  whether  Clavijo  understands  Cathay  and 
China  to  be  the  same)  ;  especially  silk,  satins,  musk,  rubies, 
diamonds,  pearls,  and  rhubarb.  The  Chinese  were  said  to  be  the 
most  skilful  workmen  in  the  world.  They  said  themselves  that 
they  had  two  eyes,  the  Franks  one,  and  the  Moors  (Mahomedans) 
none  (an  expression  which  we  find  repeatedly  quoted  by  different 
authors).  Cambalu,  the  chief  city  of  Cathay,  was  six  months 
from  Samarkand,  two  of  which  were  over  steppes.  In  the  year 
of  the  embassy  800  laden  camels  came  from  Cambalu  to  Samar- 
kand. The  people  with  them  related  that  the  city  was  near  the 
sea  and  twenty  times  as  big  as  Tabriz.  Now  Tabriz  is  a  good 
league  in  length,  so  Cambalu  must  be  twenty  leagues  in  length 
(bad  geometry  Don  Ruy  !).  The  emperor  used  to  be  a  Pagan  but 
was  converted  to  Christianity.  (Markham's  Trans.,  pp.  133  seq., 
171,   173  seq.) 

2  Schiltberger  seems  to  have  been  at  Samarkand  at  the  same 
time  with  Clavijo.  AH  that  he  says  of  China  is  with  reference 
to  the  embassy  spoken  of  by  the  latter,  and  Timur's  scheme  of 
invasion  :  "Now  at  this  time  had  the  Great  Chan,  the  King  of 
Chetey,  sent  an  envoy  to  Thamerlin  with  four  himdred  horses, 
and  demanded  tribute  of  him,  seeing  that  he  had  neglected  to  pay 
it  and  kept  it  back  for  five  years  past.  So  Thamerlin  took  the 
envoy  with  him  to  his  capital  aforesaid.  Then  sent  he  the  envoy 
away  and  bid  him  tell  his  master  he  would  be  no  tributary  nor 
vassal  of  his,  nay  he  trusted  to  make  the  emperor  his  tributary 
and  vassal.  And  he  would  come  to  him  in  person.  And  then  he 
sent  off  despatches  throughout  his  dominions  to  make  ready,  for 
he  would  march  against  Cetey.  And  so  when  he  had  gathered 
1,800,000  men  he  marched  for  a  whole  month,"  etc.  [Reisen  des 
Johannes  Schiltberger,  etc.,  Miinchen,  1859,  p.  81). 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  175 

Fifteenth  Century.  The  narrative  does  not  distinctly 
assert  that  Nicolo  himself  had  been  in  Cathay  ^ ;  but 
I  think  there  is  internal  evidence  that  he  must  have  been. 
He  briefly  notices  Cambalec  (Cambaleschia)  and  another 
city  of  great  size  which  had  been  established  by  the 
emperor,  to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  Nemptai,  and 
which  was  the  most  populous  of  alP.  He  speaks  of  the 
great  wealth  of  the  country  and  of  the  politeness  and 
civilisation  of  the  people,  as  quite  on  a  par  with  those  of 
Italy.  Their  merchants  were  immensely  wealthy,  and 
had  great  ships  much  larger  than  those  of  Europe,  with 
triple  sides  and  divided  into  water-tight  compartments 
for  security.  "Us,"  he  says,  "they  call  Franks,  and  say 
that  whilst  other  nations  are  blind,  we  see  with  one  eye, 
whilst  they  are  the  only  people  who  see  with  both."  Alone 
of  all  eastern  nations  they  use  tables  at  dinner,  and  silver 

^  [I  do  not  believe  that  Conti  actually  visited  China.  Had 
he  done  so,  he  would  not  have  used  the  obsolete  geographical 
words  of  Marco  Polo's  nomenclature,  i.e.  words  used  by  foreigners, 
but  the  real  Chinese  names  of  places,  as  the  Portuguese  did  when 
they  arrived  in  China  in  the  first  half  of  the  XVIth  century.] 

2  I  suppose  this  to  be  Nan  King.  The  "  ab  imperatore  condita  " 
appears  to  imply  recent  construction  or  reconstruction,  which 
would  justly  apply  to  Nan  King,  established  as  the  capital  of  the 
Ming  dynasty  at  the  time  the  Mongols  were  expelled  (1367-8). 
Indeed  Ramusio's  Italian  version  of  Conti  has  'la  quale  da  poco 
tempo  in  qua  e  stata  fatta  di  novo  di  questo  re."  Thirty  miles,  the 
circuit  ascribed  by  Conti  to  Nemptai,  though  above  the  truth,  is 
less  than  more  recent  travellers  have  named  (see  p.  205  infra). 
I  am  not  able  to  explain  the  name,  though  I  have  little  doubt  that 
it  was  a  Mongol  appellation  of  Nan  King,  perhaps  connected  with 
Ingtien,  a  name  given  to  that  city  by  the  Ming  when  they  made  it 
their  capital  [Martini),  and  that  it  is  the  same  which  occurs  in 
Sharifuddin's  life  of  Timur,  where  it  is  mentioned  that  from 
Tetcaul  (qu.  Karaul  of  Shah  Rukh's  ambassadors  ?  infra),  the 
fortified  gate  of  the  Great  Wall  on  the  Shen  si  frontier,  it  was  fifty- 
one  days'  journey  to  Kenjanfu  (i.e.,  Si-ngan  fu,  vide  infra,  p.  246), 
and  from  that  city  forty  days  alike  to  Canbalec  and  Nemnai. 
The  reading  should  probably  be  Nemtai  as  in  Conti.  One  dot 
missing  makes  the  difference  (Petis  de  la  Croix,  iii,  218).  [The 
city  meant  is  possibly  Nan  King,  not  Hang  chau,  as  suggested  in 
a  note  of  Poggio's  ed.  and  of  Winter  Jones'  translation;  but 
Nemptai  or  Nemtaif  is  a  transcription  of  Nam  tai,  the  island  in 
the  Min  River,  on  which  the  foreign  settlement  of  Fu  chau  was 
built  after  the  treaty  of  1842.] 


176  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

dishes.  The  women  paint  their  faces.  Their  tombs  are 
caves  dug  in  the  side  of  a  hill,  arched  over,  and  revetted 
on  the  exterior  with  a  handsome  wall.  All  these  particu- 
lars are  perfectly  accurate,  and  can  scarcely  have  been, 
acquired  except  from  personal  knowledge  1. 

no.  The  information  brought  home  by  Nicolo  was 
eagerly  caught  at  by  the  cosmographers  of  the  period, 
and  much  of  it  is  embodied  both  in  the  Cosmographia  in 
the  Palatine  Library  at  Florence^,  and  in  the  more  impor- 
tant map  of  Fra  Mauro,  now  in  the  Ducal  Palace  at 
Venice.  The  latter  map  indeed  embraces  so  much  more 
than  is  noticed  in  Poggio's  narrative,  especially  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Ganges  and  the  Irawadi,  that  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  Conti,  when  at  Venice,  was  subjected  to 

1  See  India  in  the  XVth  cent.,  pp.  14,  21,  23,  27.  The  passage 
about  the  tombs  is,  indeed,  in  the  printed  edition  given  as  of 
Anterior  India;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  is  a  mistake  for 
Interior  India,  a  term  which  Conti  uses  for  China,  as  where  he 
quotes  the  proverb  about  the  one  eye  of  the  Franks,  etc.,  as  used 
by  the  Interiores  Indi.  This  is  inexactly  translated  by  Mr.  Winter 
Jones  as  "  The  natives  of  Central  India  " ;  but  the  word  is  used  for 
remoter,  as  by  Cosmas,  when  he  says  that  Ceylon  receives  silk 
"from  the  parts  further  in  {airo  tmv  ivbaripuiv),  I  speak  of  Chinista 
and  the  other  marts  in  that  quarter,"  and  again  of  China,  "  jJs 
ivboripm  ('further  hen,'  as  they  say  in  Scotland),  there  is  no  other 
country."  Ptolemy  uses  a  like  expression  for  remoter  (see  ext. 
infra) .  The  description  of  the  tombs  applies  accurately  to  those 
of  the  Chinese  and  of  no  other  people. 

Poggio  has  evidently  not  followed  Conti's  Geography  with  any 
insight,  and  thus  has  mixed  up  features  belonging  to  very  different 
eastern  nations.  Thus  the  passage  which  is  given  as  applicable 
to  all  the  nations  of  India,  of  writing  vertically,  was  probably  meant 
onlv  to  apply  to  the  Chinese. 

2  This  map  is  described  by  Zurla  {Dissert.,  ii,  397)  as  of  1417, 
and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  it  is  so  entered  in  the  Palatine  Catalogue.  • 
But  the  coincidences  with  Conti,  e.g.,  his  Java  Major  and  Minor, 
his  islands  of  Sandai  and  Bandan,  his  lake  in  Ceylon,  etc.,  are  too 
many  and  too  minute  to  admit  question  of  their  origin.  The  third 
figure  of  the  date  is  half  obliterated,  and  can  just  as  well  be  read 
4  a.s  I.     The  date  is  certainly  1447  at  the  earliest. 

I  had  noted  these  remarks  from  examination  of  the  original 
before  I  became  aware,  from  a  passage  in  Professor  Kunstmann's 
Die  Kenntniss  Indiens  im  i^ten  J ahrhunderte  (p.  33),  that  Neige- 
bauer,  an  author  whom  I  do  not  know,  had  already  made  the 
correction. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  I77 

a  more  effectual  cross-examination  by  the  cosmographic 

friari. 

III.     Poggio   helps   us   to   another  very  ill-focussed 

glimpse  of  Cathay  in  the  notices  which  he  adds  at  the  end 

of  Conti's  narrative.     Here  he  states  that  whilst  he  was 

preparing  that  story  for  publication  a  person  had  arrived 

"from  Upper  India  towards  the  north,"  who  had  been 

deputed  to  visit  the  Pope  and  to  collect  information  about 

Western  Christians,  by  the  Patriarch  of  his  own  country, 

which  was  a  Nestorian  kingdom,  twenty  days'  journey 

from  Cathay.     The  imperfections  of  interpretation  made 

it  difficult  to  acquire  information  of  interest  from  this 

personage.     He  spoke,  however,  of  the  Great  Khan,  and 

of  his  having  dominion  over  nine  potent  kings ^.     This 

seems  to  be  the  same  envoy  who  is  spoken  of  by  the  Italian 

philosopher  and  mathematician,  Paolo  del  Pozzo  Toscanelli, 

^  Thus  in  Burmah  we  have  not  only,  as  in  the  narrative  by 
Poggio,  AvA  and  Paigu  (Pegu,  transmuted  by  Poggio  into  Pan- 
covia,  and  printed  Panconia  in  Winter  Jones'  ed.),  but  also  Chesmi 
(Cosmin,  the  port  representing  the  modern  Bassein  till  the  begin- 
ning of  last  century,  but  the  exact  site  of  which  seems  lost), 
Martaban  ;  and  up  the  river  Perhe  (Prome,  in  the  true  Burmese 
form  Pre),  Pochang  (Pagan,  the  ancient  capital),  Capelang  (the 
Ruby  country  north  of  Ava,  a  name  preserved  to  a  much  later 
date,  but  not  now  traceable),  Moquan  (Mogoung).  And  near  the 
head  of  the  Irawadi,  i.e.,  at  Bhamo,  is  the  rubric,  "Here  goods 
are  transferred  from  river  to  river,  and  so  go  on  into  Cathay."  In 
Bengal,  again,  we  have  Orica,  Bengalla  (see  Ibn  Batuta,  infra), 
Sonargauam  {ibid.),  Satgauam  (Satganw,  or  perhaps  Chittagong), 
and  in  the  interior  Scierno  {Cernoue  in  Poggio;  i.e.,  Gaur  under 
the  name  of  Shahv-i-nau,  see  ibid.),  Zuanapur  (Jaunpur),  Chandar 
(Chunar?).  But  there  are  enormous  fundamental  confusions  in 
Fra  Mauro's  ideas  of  the  rivers  of  India.  Thus,  the  Indus  takes 
in  a  great  measure  the  place  of  the  Ganges,  whilst  the  Ganges 
is  confounded  with  the  Kiang.  And  some  of  the  towns  of  Bengal 
named  are  placed  on  the  Indus  and  some  are  transported  eastward. 
2  See  the  extract  from  Clavijo  above.  This  notion  may  be 
taken  from  some  traditional  title  bearing  reference  to  the  oldest 
division  of  China  under  Yu  (b.c.  2286)  into  Nine  Provinces  {Chine 
Moderne,  p.  37) ;  also  in  the  division  of  the  empire  under  the 
Mongols  into  12  sings  {infra,  iii,  p.  128) ;  three  of  these,  Solangka, 
Corea,  and  Yun  nan,  were  considered  exterior,  the  other  nine  to 
constitute  China  Proper  (D'Ohsson,  ii,  478).  Nine  Provinces  was 
anciently  a  name  applied  to  China  Proper.  {Chine  Moderne,  211  ; 
and  Vie  de  Hiouen  Thsang,  p.  298.) 


178  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

in  a  letter  addressed  in  1474  to  his  friend  Fernando  Marti- 
nez, canon  of  Lisbon,  of  which  the  writer  afterwards  sent 
a  copy  to  Columbus,  when  replying  to  a  communication 
from  the  latter  on  the  great  object  of  his  life.  The  state- 
ment of  Poggio  that  the  envoy  came  from  a  Christian 
ecclesiastic  seems  much  more  probable  than  that  he  came, 
as  Toscanelli  thought,  from  the  Great  Khan  himself.  But 
it  remains  a  difficult  problem  to  say  whence  he  did  really 
come.  It  would  seem  as  if  some  tribe  of  the  Kerait  or  the 
Uighurs  had  maintained  their  Christianity  till  near  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century^. 

112.  To  this  period  also  belong  the  notices  of  Cathay 
which  were  collected  by  Josafat  Barbaro,  and  are 
recounted  in  the  history  of  his  Embassy  to  Persia.  Whilst 
he  was  on  this  mission,  the  Lord  Assambei  {i.e.,  Uzun 
Hassan,  a  Turcoman  chief,  who,  in  the  civil  strifes  that 
accompanied  the  decay  of  Timur's  dynasty,  acquired  the 
whole  of  Western  Persia),  being  one  day  greatly  pleased 
with  the  acumen  shown  by  Barbaro  in  judging  of  a  Balass 
ruby,  called  out  "O,  Cathayers,  Cathayers  !  (said  you 
not  well  that)  three  years  have  been  allowed  mankind, 
and  you  have  got  two  of  them,  and  the  Franks  the  third  ! " 
Barbaro  understood  what  he  meant,  for  he  had  already 
heard  the  proverb  (as  we  have  now  three  times  before^) 
from  a  certain  ambassador  in  the  service  of  the  Khan  of 

^  See  the  letter  in  Note  XV.  The  curious  statements  in 
Varthema  about  Christians  of  Sarnau  [Siam],  a  country  towards 
Cathay,  with  whom  he  travelled  in  the  Archipelago,  are  here 
brought  to  mind.  I  think  Mr.  Badger  has  referred  to  this  passage 
of  Poggio ;  but  I  cannot  turn  to  his  edition  now.  The  letter  of 
Toscanelli  is  extracted  from  "Del  Vecchio  e  Nuovo  Gnomone 
Fiorentino,  etc.,  di  Lionardo  Ximenes  delta  Comp.  di  Gesu,  Geografo 
di  sua  Maestd  Imp.     Firenze,  1757,"  pp.  Ixxxi-xcviii. 

Another  traveller,  who  returned  from  the  Indies  in  1424  after 
wandering  there  for  twenty-four  years,  by  name  Bartolomeo 
Fiorentino,  related  what  he  had  seen  to  Pope  Eugenius  at  Venice ; 
but,  unfortunately,  nothing  of  this  narrative  seems  to  have  been 
preserved.     (See  Humboldt,  Examen  Critique,  etc.,  i.  260.) 

2  From  Hayton  (in  Note  XIV),  Clavijo,  and  Conti. 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY  179 

the  Tartars  of  the  Volga,  who  had  come  from  Cathay  in 
1436,  and  whom  Barbaro  had  entertained  in  his  house  at 
Tana  (or  Azov)  "hoping  to  get  some  jewel  out  of  him." 
From  this  ambassador  he  gathered  a  good  deal  of  detail 
about  Cathay,  which  he  gives  in  a  later  part  of  his  work^. 

113.  Somewhat  earlier  in  the  century  occurred  the 
mission  sent  by  Shah  Rukh,  the  son  of  Timur,  to  the  court 
of  Ch'eng  Tsu,  the  third  Emperor  of  the  Ming  dynasty.  Of 
this  embassy  a  narrative  written  by  Khwaja  Ghaiassuddin, 
surnamed  Nakkash  or  the  Painter,  a  member  of  the  mission, 
has  been  preserved  in  Abdur  Razzak's  History  of  Shah 
Rukh,  and  has  been  translated  by  M.  Quatremere^.  The 
embassy  took  place  in  a.h.  823-5  (a.d.  1420-2),  and  was 
one  out  of  several  such  interchanged  between  the  courts, 
of  which  mention  is  made  in  the  same  history^.  It  is 
amusing  to  find  the  Emperor  of  China,  in  a  letter  carried 
by  one  of  his  embassies,  speaking  of  the  steadfastness  with 
which  his  correspondent's  father,  Timur,  had  maintained 
his  loyalty  to  the  Court  of  China*.  An  abstract  of  the 
narrative,  with  notes,  will  be  found  in  the  sequeP. 

114.  Except  the  brief  and  fabulous  stories  of  Chin 
and  Machin,  which  Athanasius  Nikitin  picked  up  in  the 
ports  of  Western  India  (1468-74)  I  am  not  aware  of  any 
other  European  notices  of  China  previous  to  the  voyages 
of  Columbus  and  De  Gama.     The  former,  it  is  scarcely 

1  Ramusio,  ii,  ff .  106  v.  and  107.     See  the  extracts  in  Note  XVI. 

2  Notices  et  Extraits,  xiv,  pt.  i,  pp.  387  seqq.  There  is  a  sHghtly 
abridged  translation  in  Astley's  Voyages.  Quatremere  is  mistaken 
in  supposing  that  the  narrative  of  the  Embassy  is  translated  in 
Chambers' s  Asiatic  Miscellany.  There  is  only  an  extract  contain- 
ing some  account  of  the  preceding  intercourse  between  the  courts. 

^  See  op.  cit.,  pp.  213  seqq.,  216  seqq.,  304-6.  There  seems  to 
be  some  variation  as  to  the  correct  date.  It  is  not  worth  going 
into  here,  but  a  comparison  of  the  passage  where  Abdur  Razzak 
speaks  of  the  embassy  in  the  ordinary  course  of  his  history  (p.  306) 
with  that  where  he  introduces  the  special  narrative  (p.  387)  will 
show  the  inconsistency. 

4  P.  214.  5  See  Note  XVII. 


l8o  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

needful  to  say,  in  his  great  enterprise  was  seeking  no  new 
continent  but  a  shorter  route  to  the  Cathay  and  Cipangu 
of  Marco  Polo,  and  died  believing  that  the  countries  which 
he  had  discovered  were  the  eastern  skirts  of  Asia,  a  belief 
which  was  not  extinct  for  some  twenty  years  and  more 
after  his  death^. 

115.  The  Portuguese  first  visited  a  port  of  China  in 
15 14,  and  the  adventurers  on  this  occasion  sold  their  goods 
to  great  profit  though  they  were  not  allowed  to  land.  In 
15 17  took  place  the  trading  expedition  to  Canton  under 
Andrade,  carrying  the  unfortunate  ambassador  Pirez,  who 
died  in  fetters  in  China  2. 

116.  With  this  event,  perhaps,  our  sketch  ought  to 
conclude.  But  it  was  a  good  many  years  longer  before 
China  was  familiarly  known  from  the  seaward  access,  and 
with  the  revived  interest  in  discovery  and  in  the  perusal 

^  In  a  letter,  De  Orbis  Situ  ac  Descriptione,  from  a  certain 
Franciscan  Friar  Francis,  addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Palermo, 
which  is  attached  to  some  copies  of  the  Peregrinatio  Joannis  Hesei 
(Antwerp.  1565),  the  city  of  "  ThemLstetan  "  or  Mexico  is  identified 
with  the  Quinsai  of  Marco  Polo,  Hispaniola  with  Cipangn,  and  so 
forth. 

2  This  last  is  generally  stated  as  the  first  Portuguese  expedi- 
tion to  China.  But  the  former  one  is  noticed  by  Andrew  Corsalis 
in  his  letter  to  Duke  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  dated  6th  January,  1515 
(Ramusio,  i,  ff.,  180,  181)  :  "The  merchants  of  the  land  of  China 
also  make  voyages  to  Malacca  across  the  Great  Gulf  to  get  cargoes 
of  spices,  and  bring  from  their  own  country  musk,  rhubarb,  pearls, 
tin.  porcelain,  and  silk  and  wrought  stuffs  of  all  kinds,  such  as 
damasks,  satins,  and  brocades  of  extraordinary  richness.  For 
they  are  people  of  great  skill,  and  on  a  par  with  ourselves  {di  nostra 
qualitd),  but  of  uglier  aspect,  with  little  bits  of  eyes.  They  dress 
very  much  after  our  fashion,  and  wear  shoes  and  stockings  (?  scarpe 
e  calciamenti)  like  ourselves.  I  believe  them  to  be  pagans,  though 
many  allege  that  they  hold  our  faith  or  some  part  of  it.  During 
this  last  year  some  of  our  Portuguese  made  a  voyage  to  China. 
They  were  not  permitted  to  land ;  for  they  say  'tis  against  their 
custom  to  let  foreigners  enter  their  dwellings.  But  they  sold 
their  goods  at  a  great  gain,  and  they  say  there  is  as  great  profit  in 
taking  spices  to  China  as  in  taking  them  to  Portugal ;  for  'tis  a 
cold  country  and  they  make  great  use  of  them.  It  will  be  five 
hundred  leagues  from  Malacca  to  China,  sailing  north."  [See 
L'Ayrivde  des  Portugais  en  Chine,  par  Henri  Cordier ;  ext.  from  the 
T'oungpao,  xii,  191 1.] 


PRELIMINARY  ESSAY  l8l 

of  the  old  travellers,  attention  became  again  directed  to 
Cathay,  as  a  region  distinct  from  these  new  found  Indies, 
so  that  it  might  be  considered  yet  to  hold  an  independent 
place  in  geographical  history.  Cathay  had  been  the  aim 
of  the  first  voyage  to  the  north-west  of  the  Cabots  in  1496, 
and  it  continued  to  be  the  object  of  many  adventurous 
English  voyages  to  the  north-west  and  the  north-east  till 
far  on  in  the  succeeding  century,  though  in  the  later  of 
these  expeditions  China  no  doubt  had  assumed  its  place. 
At  least  one  memorable  land  journey  too  was  made  by 
Englishmen,  of  which  the  investigation  of  the  trade  with 
Cathay  was  a  chief  object ;  I  mean  of  course  that  in  which 
Anthony  Jenkinson  and  the  two  Johnsons  reached  Bokhara 
from  Russia  in  1558-9.  The  country  regarding  which 
they  gathered  information  at  that  city  is  still  known  to 
them  only  as  Cathay,  and  its  great  capital  is  still  as  in  the 
days  of  Polo  Cambalu  and  not  Peking  1. 

117.  Other  narratives  of  Asiatic  journeys  to  Cathay 
are  preserved  by  Ramusio,  and  by  Auger  Gislen  de 
BusBECK.  The  first  was  taken  down  by  the  Venetian 
geographer  from  the  lips  of  Hajji  Mahomed,  an  intelligent 
Persian  merchant  whom  he  fell  in  with  at  Venice^ ;  the 
second  was  noted  by  Busbeck,  when  ambassador  from  the 
Emperor  Charles  V  to  the  Porte  (1555-62),  from  the  narra- 
tive of  a  wandering  Turkish  dervish^.  Large  extracts 
from  these  last  words  about  Cathay  will  be  found  in  the 
notes  to  this  essay*. 

118.  We  arrive  now  at  the  term  of  our  subject  in  the 
journey  of  Benedict  Goes,  undertaken  in  1603  with  the 

^  Such  is  the  case  also  in  the  narrative  of  the  Russian  Embassy 
of  Feodor  Isakovich  Baikov  in  1653  {Voyages  au  Nord,  iv,  150). 

2  Preface  to  the  2nd  vol.  of  the  Navigationi. 

^  Busbequii  EpistolcB,  Amsterd.,  1660,  pp.  326-330.  The 
letter  containing  this  narrative  was  written  at  Frankfort,  i6th 
December,  1562,  after  the  ambassador's  return. 

^  See  Notes  XVIII  and  XIX. 


1 82  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Specific  object  of  determining  whether  the  Cathay  of  old 
European  travellers  and  modern  Mahomedans  was  or  was 
not  a  distinct  region  from  that  China  of  which  parallel 
marvels  had  now  for  years  been  recited.  Benedict, 
"seeking  Cathay  found  Heaven,"  as  one  of  his  brethren 
has  pronounced  his  epitaph  ;  but  not  before  he  had  ascer- 
tained that  China  and  Cathay  were  one.  His  journey  we 
have  chosen  as  a  fitting  close  to  our  collection.  After  the 
publication  of  that  narrative  inexcusable  ignorance  alone 
could  continue  to  distinguish  between  Cathay  and  China, 
and  though  such  ignorance  lingered  for  many  years  longer, 
here  we  may  fairly  consider  our  task  at  an  end^. 

1  Ricci  and  his  companions,  as  we  have  seen,  were  before  the 
journey  of  Goes  satisfied  of  the  identity  of  Cathay  and  China.  So 
appears  to  have  been,  at  an  earlier  date,  the  ItaHan  Geographer 
Magini.  Purchas  perceived  the  same,  and  the  Jesuit  Martini,  in 
his  Atlas  Sinensis,  expounded  the  identity  in  detail.  Yet  the 
Geographical  Lexicon  of  Baudrand,  in  a  revised  edition  of  1677, 
distinguishes  between  them,  remarking  that  "some  confound 
Cathay  with  China."  I  have  not  had  access  to  Miiller's  Dis- 
quisitio  de  Chataja,  which  probably  contains  interesting  matter  on 
the  subject. 

[The  full  title  of  Miiller's  book  published  at  Berlin  in  1670  is  : 
AndreaeMiilleri,  Greiff  enhagii,  Disquisitio  Geographica  &  Historica, 
De  Chataja,  In  Qua  i.  Praecipue  Geographorum  nobilis  ilia  Contro- 
versia :  Quaenam  Chataja  sit,  &  an  sit  idem  ille  terrarum  tractus, 
quem  Sinas,  &  vulgo  Chinam  vocant,  aut  pars  ejus  aliqua  ?  latissime 
tractatur;  2.  Eadem  vero  opera  pleraque  rerum,  quae  unquam 
de  Chataja,  deque  Sinis  memorabilia  fuerunt,  atque  etiam  nunc 
sunt,  compendiose  narrantur.  The  opinion  of  all  the  authors  is 
given,  but  I  do  not  see  that  it  has  much  interest  now.] 

A  faint  attempt  to  repeat  the  journey  of  Goes,  but  apparently 
in  ignorance  of  that  enterprise,  was  made  a  good  many  years  later 
by  the  Jesuit  Aime  Chesaud  starting  from  Ispahan.  He  does  not 
seem  to  have  got  further  than  Balkh,  if  so  far.  He  still  speaks  of 
"  getting  to  Chatao  and  thence  to  China."  There^s  no  date  given. 
(See  his  letter  in  Kircher's  China  Illustrata,  1667,  p.  86.) 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES   TO    PRELIMINARY 

ESSAY 


NOTE   L 

EXTRACT    FROM    THE    PERIPLUS    OF    THE 
ERYTHR^AN    SEA. 

(Circa  a.d.  80-9. )i 

"  Behind  this  country  ^  the  sea  comes  to  a  termination  some- 
where in  Thin  ;  and  in  the  interior  of  that  country,  quite  to  the 
north,  there  is  a  very  great  city  called  Thin^,  from  which  raw 
silk  and  silk  thread  and  silk  stuffs  are  brought  overland  through 
Bactria  to  Barygaza^,  as  they  are  on  the  other  hand  by  the  Ganges 
River  to  Limyrice*.  It  is  not  easy,  however,  to  get  to  this  Thin, 
and  few  and  far  between  are  those  who  come  from  it.  The  place 
lies  quite  under  the  Little  Bear  ;  and  it  is  said  that  its  territories 
adjoin  the  remoter  frontiers  of  Pontus  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  beside 
which  you  find  the  Lagoon  Maeotis  which  has  a  communication  with 
the  ocean. 

"  Every  year  there  come  to  the  frontier  of  Thin  certain  people 
of  dwarfish  stature  and  very  broad  in  the  face,  scarcely  superior 
to  wild  creatures,  but  harmless,  who  are  said  to  be  called  Sesad^^. 

^  This  is  Miiller's  view ;  see  his  Prolegomena  to  Geog.  Grcsci  Minores, 
i,  xcvi-vii. 

2  Viz.  Chryse,  "  The.  Golden  Land,"  apparently  Pegu  and  there- 
abouts, the  Suvarna  Bhumi  or  Golden  Land  of  the  old  Indian  Buddhists. 
Sonapavanta,  a  term  of  like  meaning,  is  still  the  sacred  or  classical  term 
for  the  central  territories  of  Ava.  [On  the  Golden  Island,  see  p.  201, 
abstracts  from  Dionysius  Periergetes,  Rufus  Festus  Avienus  and 
Priscianus.] 

3  ["  Ex  qua  lana  [lanugo  arboris  laniferae)  et  filum  et  othonium 
Sericum  Barygazaj  per  Bactriam  terrestri  itinere."     C.  Miiller,  i,  p.  303.] 

*  The  meaning  is  probably  the  same  as  that  of  Ptolemy's  statement, 
extracted  in  the  next  note,  that  there  was  not  only  one  road  from  the 
Sinae  or  Seres  to  Bactriana  by  the  Stone  Tower,  but  also  another  direct 
to  Palibothra  on  the  Ganges. 

■''  In  the  work  styled  Palladius  on  the  Brahmans,  embodied  in  the 
Pseudo-Callisthenes  published  by  Miiller  [Script,  de  Alex.  Magno, 
pp.  103-4)  there  is  an  account  apparently  of  the  same  people  under  the 
name  of  Bisades,  the  gatherers  of  pepper.  They  are  described  as  "  a 
dwarfish  and  imbecile  race  who  dwell  in  rocky  caves,  and  from  the  nature 
of  their  country  are  expert  at  climbing  cliffs,  and  thus  able  to  gather 
the  pepper  from  the  thickets. .  .  .  These  Bisades  are  pygmies,  with  big 


184  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

They  come  accompanied  by  their  wives  and  children,  and  bring 
with  them  great  loads  in  creels^  that  look  as  if  they  were  made  of 
green  vines.  These  people  halt  at  some  place  on  the  frontier 
between  their  own  country  and  Thin,  and  hold  a  feast  for  several 
days,  during  which  they  strew  [the  materials  of]  their  baskets 
about  on  the  ground,  and  then  they  depart  to  their  own  homes 
in  the  interior.  When  the  other  people  are  aware  of  their  depart- 
ure they  come  to  the  spot  and  gather  those  withes^  that  had  been 
strewn  about.  To  these  they  give  the  name  of  Petri^.  Getting 
rid  of  the  [stalks  and]  fibrous  parts  they  take  the  leaves  and  double 
them  up  into  little  balls  which  they  stitch  through  with  the  fibres 
of  the  withes.  And  these  they  divide  into  three  classes,  forming 
from  the  largest  leaves  what  is  called  Big-ball  Malabathrum,  from 
the  next  size  Middle-ball,  and  from  the  smallest  leaves  Little-ball. 
And  thus  originate  the  three  qualities  of  Malabathrum,  which  the 
people  who  have  prepared  them  carry  to  India  for  sale*. 

heads  and  long  straight  unclipt  hair."  Sir  J.  E.  Tennent  applies  this 
to  the  Veddahs  of  Ceylon.  But  there  is  nothing,  I  think,  in  the  passage 
to  fix  it  to  Ceylon.  It  is  given  on  the  authority  of  a  certain  Scholasticus 
of  Thebes,  who  finding  an  Indian  vessel  in  a  port  of  the  Axum  country 
took  the  opportunity  it  offered  of  visiting  distant  parts.  The  story  is 
probably  not  genuine.  For  as  Miiller  points  out,  the  Besides  are 
mentioned  by  Ptolemy  (vii,  i)  as  a  people,  otherwise  called  Tiladas, 
who  live  north  of  Maeandrus  (a  mountain  chain  on  the  east  of  Bengal), 
"  dwarfish  and  stumpy  and  platter-faced,  but  white  in  complexion." 
Lassen  locates  them  as  a  Bhotiya  race  in  the  Himalaya  near  Darjiling; 
his  map  (by  Kiepert)  in  the  Garo  and  Kasia  Hills  north  of  Silhet. 

1  The  word  is  rapwovas,  the  meaning  of  which  is  doubtful.  ["  Magnas 
portantes  sarcinas  et  sirpeas  viridis  vitis  foliis  comparandas."  Miiller, 
P-  304-] 

^  The  word  is  Ka\a/j.oi,  and  would  usually  mean  reeds  or  canes.  But 
it  seems  absurd  so  to  term  what  had  been  described  as  like  green  vine- 
twigs. 

^  Not  the  withes  but  the  leaves,  as  Lassen  (iii,  38)  has  pointed  out, 
must  have  been  called  thus  ;  Sanskt.  Pair  a,  a  leaf ;  mod.  Hindust.  Patti. 

*  The  same  terms  (hadrospherum,  mesospherum,  microspherum)  are 
applied  by  Pliny  to  varieties  of  Nard  ;  perhaps  a  mistake  of  his,  as 
Dioscorides  observes  that  some  people  made  the  mistake  of  regarding 
malabathrum  as  the  leaf  of  Indian  Nard. 

Some  of  the  early  writers  after  the  Portuguese  discoveries  took  the 
pan  or  betel  leaf  for  the  malabathrum  of  the  ancients,  but  the  physician 
Garcia  Da  Horta,  in  his  work  on  the  aromatics  of  India  (first  published 
at  Goa  in  1563)  pointed  out  that  malabathrum  was  the  Tamdlapattra, 
the  leaf  of  a  species  of  cassia,  still  valued  in  India  though  in  a  greatly 
inferior  degree  (see  ch.  xix  ;  I  quote  an  Ital.  transL,  Venice,  1589). 
Curiously  enough  Ramusio  gives  as  a  representation  of  the  "  Betelle  " 
a  cut  which  really  represents  with  fair  accuracy  the  Tamalapattra, 
commonly  called  (at  least  in  Bengal)  Tejpdt.  Linschoten  describes  it 
accurately,  noticing  its  pleasant  clove-hke  smell,  and  says  it  was  in 
great  repute  among  the  Hindus  as  a  diuretic,  etc.,  and  to  preserve 
clothes  from  moths,  two  of  the  uses  expressly  assigned  to  malabathrum 
by  Dioscorides  and  Pliny.  He  also  observes  that  the  natives  considered 
it  to  rival  spikenard  in  all  its  qualities.  Linschoten's  commentator 
Paludanus  says  much  was  imported  to  Venice  in  his  time  ;   and  that  it 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  185 

"  But  as  for  the  regions  beyond  those  places  that  we  have 
mentioned,  whether  it  be  that  the  wintry  cHmate  and  excessive 
cold  renders  it  hard  to  penetrate  them,  or  whether  it  be  the  result 
of  some  supernatural  influence  from  the  gods,  it  is  the  fact  that 
they  never  have  been  explored."  From  Miiller's  Geogr.  Gr.  Minor  es, 
i.  PP-  303-5- 


NOTE   I  BIS. 
EXTRACTS   FROM   THE   LATIN    POETS. 

(a.d.  First  Century.) 

Publius  ViRGiLius  Marc. 
Georg.,  lib.  11,  v.   120-1  : 

Quid  nemora  iEthiopum,  moUi  canentia  lana  ? 
Velleraque  ut  foliis  depectant  tenuia  Seres  ? 

was  called  by  the  Arabs  Cadegi  Indi  (Read  Qadegi).  I  see  that  in  F. 
Johnson's  Persian  Dictionary,  Sddaj  is  defined  "  Indian  spikenard," 
and  Sddhaji  Hindi,  "  Indian  leaf,"  which  seems  to  show  the  persistence 
of  the  confusion  between  the  two  articles.  This  leaf  was  abundant  in 
the  forests  of  the  Kasia  Hills,  where  I  passed  a  part  of  my  earliest 
service  in  India,  and  so  was  a  cassia  producing  a  coarse  cinnamon,  of 
which  there  was  a  considerable  export  to  the  plains.  The  trees  were 
distinct,  if  I  be  not  mistaken,  though  evidently  of  the  same  genus. 
The  Tejpdt  was  narrow,  like  that  of  the  Portugal  laurel,  that  of  the  other 
tree  much  broader,  both  noticeable  for  their  partition  by  three  main 
longitudinal  nerves,  like  the  lines  of  longitude  on  a  map  of  the  hemi- 
sphere. The  Kasias  in  features  would  answer  well  to  the  Besada  or 
SesadcB,  but  they  are  no  dwarfs,  whilst  some  of  the  Tibetan  tribes  of 
the  Himalaya  are  very  short.  Domestically  among  Anglo-Indians  this 
once  prized  malabathrum,  some  qualities  of  which  the  Romans  pur- 
chased at  three  hundred  denarii  per  pound,  is,  as  far  as  I  know,  used 
only  to  flavour  tarts,  custards,  and  curries.  But  (besides  what  Lin- 
schoten  says)  Rheede  mentions  that,  in  his  time  in  Malabar,  oils  in 
high  medical  estimation  were  made  from  both  the  root  and  the  leaves 
of  the  Kama  or  wild  cinnamon  of  that  coast,  a  plant  no  doubt  closely 
allied.  And  from  the  former  a  camphor  was  extracted,  having  several 
of  the  properties  of  real  camphor  and  more  fragrant. 

Mr.  Crawfurd  has  suggested  that  the  finer  malabathrum  was  benzoin, 
but  I  believe  all  the  authorities  on  the  subject  speak  of  it  as  derived 
from  a  leaf ;  indeed  Dioscorides,  like  our  author  here,  speaks  of  the 
stitching  up  of  the  leaves.  Some  part  of  what  Dioscorides  says  seems 
indeed  to  apply  to  a  solid  extract,  but  it  may  have  been  of  the  nature 
of  Rheede's  camphor.  (See  Pliny,  xii,  25,  26,  59;  xiii,  2;  xxxiii,  48; 
Dioscorides,  loc.  cit.;  Linschoten,  Latin  version,  Hague,  1599,  p.  84; 
'Rheede,  Hortus  Malabaricus,  i,  107;  Crawf.  Diet.  Indian  Islands,  p.  50; 
on  Malabathrum,  see  also  Lassen,  i,  283;  iii,  37,  154  seq.)  [Yule  in 
Hobso7t-Jobson,  s.v.  Malabathrum  :  "  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this 
classical  export  from  India  was  the  dried  leaf  of  various  species 
of  Cinnamomum,  which  leaf  was  known  in  Sanskrit  as  tamdla-pattra." 
Garcia  writes,  ff.  95^,  96  :  "  the  folium  indu  is  called  by  the  Indians 
Tamalapatra,  which  the  Greeks  and  Latins  corrupted  into  malabathrum," 
etc.] 


l86  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Ouintus  HoRATius  Flaccus. 
Lib.  I.  Carmen  xii :    Ad  Caesarem  Augustum. 
Ille,  seu  Parthos  Latio  imminentes 
Egerit  justo  domitos  triumpho, 
Sive  subjectos  Orientis  orae 

Seras  et  Indos, 
Te  minor  latum  reget  aequus  orbem. 

Lib.  I.  Carmen  xxix  :    Ad  ledum. 
Puer  quis  ex  aula  capillis 

Ad  cyathum  statuetur  unctis, 
Doctus  sagittas  tendere  Sericas 
Arcu  paterno  ? .  .  . 

Lib.  III.  Carmen  xxix :   Ad  Maecenatem. 
Tu,  civitatem  quis  deceat  status, 
Curas,  Urbi  sollicitus  times, 
Quid  Seres,  et  regnata  Cyro 

Bactra  parent,  Tanaisque  discors. 

Lib.  IV.  Carmen  xv :    Caesar  is  Augusti  laudes. 
Non,  qui  profundum  Danubium  bibunt, 
Edicta  rumpent  Julia,  non  Getae, 
Non  Seres,  iniidive  Persae, 

Non  Tanain  prope  flumen  orti. 

Epod.  VIII  : 

Quid  ?    quod  libelli  Stoici  inter  Sericos 
Jacere  pulvillos  amant. 

Sextus  AuRELius  Propertius. 

Elegiae,  lib.  i.  xiv,  22  : 

Quid  relevant  variis  serica  textilibus  ? 

Lib.  IV.  VIII : 

Serica  nam  taceo  vulsi  carpenta  nepotis. 

Publius  OviDius  Naso. 
Amores,  Lib.  i.  xiv,  5-6  : 

Quid,  quod  erant  tenues,  et  quos  ornare  timeres, 
Vela  colorati  qualia  Seres  habent. 

SiLius  Italicus. 
Punicorum  Lib.  vi,   1-4  : 

lam,  Tartessiaco  quos  solverat  aequore.  Titan, 
In  noctem  diffusus,  equos  iungebat  Eois 
Litoribus,  primique  novo  Phaethonte  retecti 
Seres  lanigeris  repetebant  vellera  lucis. 

Lib.  XV,  79-81  : 

.  .  .  Quid  cui,  post  Seras  et  Indos 

Captivo  Liber  cum  signa  referret  ab  Euro, 

Caucaseae  currum  duxere  per  oppida  tigres  ? 

Lib.  XVII,  595-6  : 

Videre  Eoi,  monstrum  admirabile,  Seres 
Lanigeros  cinere  Ausonio  canescere  lucos. 

A  complete  list  of  quotations  will  be  found  in  the  valuable  book  of 
G.  Coed6s,  Textes  d'auieurs  grecs  et  latins  relatifs  a  I' Extreme  Orient,  Paris, 
1910,  8vo. 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES  187 

NOTE   II. 

EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    GEOGRAPHY    OF    PTOLEMY. 

(Circa  a.d.  150.) 

"  The  inhabited  part  of  our  earth  is  bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  Unknown  Land  which  hes  along  the  region  occupied  by  the 
easternmost  nations  of  Asia  Major,  the  Sin^  and  the  nations  of 
Serice  ;  and  on  the  south  Hkewise  by  the  Unknown  Land  which 
shuts  round  the  Indian  Sea,  and  encompasses  that  Ethiopia  to  the 
south  of  Libya  which  is  called  the  land  of  Agisymba  ;  to  the  west 
by  the  Unknown  Land  which  embraces  the  Ethiopic  Gulf  of 
Libya,  and  then  by  the  Western  Ocean  which  lies  along  the  most 
westerly  parts  of  Libya  and  of  Europe  ;  and  on  the  north  by  that 
continuation  of  the  same  ocean  which  encircles  the  Bx-itannic  Isles 
and  the  most  northerly  parts  of  Europe,  and  which  goes  by  the 
names  of  Duecalydonian  and  Sarmatic,  and  by  an  Unknown  Land 
which  stretches  along  the  most  northerly  parts  of  Asia  Major, 
viz.,  Sarmatia,  Scythia,  and  Serice.... 

"  The  Hyrcanian  Sea,  called  also  Caspian,  is  everywhere  shut 
in  by  the  land,  so  as  to  be  just  the  converse  of  an  island  encom- 
passed by  the  water.  Such  also  is  the  case  with  that  sea  which 
embraces  the  Indian  Sea  with  its  gulfs,  the  Arabian  Gulf,  the 
Persian  Gulf,  the  Gangetic  Gulf,  and  the  one  which  is  called 
distinctively  the  Great  Gulf,  this  sea  being  encompassed  on  all 
sides  by  the  land.  So  we  see  that  of  the  three  Continents  Asia 
is  joined  to  Libya  both  by  that  Arabian  Isthmus  which  separates 
Our  Sea  from  the  Arabian  Gulf,  and  by  the  Unknown  Land  which 
encompasses  the  Indian  Sea. .  .  . 

"  The  eastern  extremity  of  the  known  earth  is  limited  by  the 
meridian  drawn  through  the  metropolis  of  the  Sinae,  at  a  distance 
from  Alexandria  of  ii9j°,  reckoned  upon  the  equator,  or  about 
eight  equinoctial  hours..  .  ."  (Book  vii,  ch.  5.) 

In  his  first  book  Ptolemy  speaks  of  Marinus  as  the  latest  Greek 
writer  who  had  devoted  himself  to  geography.  Editions  of  his 
revision  of  the  geographical  tables  had  been  very  numerous.  But 
his  statements  required  much  correction,  and  he  forms  too  great 
an  estimate  of  the  extent  of  the  inhabited  world  both  in  length 
and  breadth.  As  regards  latitude  Ptolemy  illustrates  this  by 
criticising  the  position  which  Marinus  had  assigned,  on  the  basis 
of  certain  journeys  and  voyages,  to  the  extreme  southern  region 
of  Ethiopia  called  Agisymba.  The  calculation  of  distance  in  the 
rough  from  those  routes  would  have  placed  this  region  24,680 
stadia  south  of  the  equator,  or  as  Ptolemy  says  almost  among  the 
antarctic  frosts^.     Marinus  had  summarily  cut  this  down  to  12,000 

1  Bk.  1,  ch.  8. 


l88  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

stadia,  bringing  it  nearly  to  the  southern  tropic,  and  Ptolemy 
again  on  general  reasoning  as  to  the  nature  of  the  animals  met 
with,  etc.,  reduces  the  distance  to  8,000  stadia.  So  also,  he  says, 
Marinus  had  exaggerated  the  longitude,  giving  an  interval  of 
15  hours  between  the  Fortunate  Islands  in  the  west  and  the  most 
easterly  regions  of  Sera,  of  the  Sinae,  and  of  Cattigara  in  the  east, 
which  should  not  be  more  than  12  hours.  In  determining  the 
position  of  Sera,  etc.,  Marinus  had  made  use  of  the  route  of  certain 
mercantile  agents  who  had  travelled  thither,  and  this  Ptolemy 
proceeds  to  criticise.  He'  assents  to  the  longitude  assigned  by 
Marinus  between  the  Fortunate  Isles  and  the  Euphrates  Ferry  at 
Hierapolis^,  and  then  proceeds  (Bk  i,  ch.  11)  : 

"  But  as  regards  the  distance  between  the  said  Euphrates 
Ferry  and  the  Stone  Tower,  which  he  deduces  to  be  876  schceni, 
or  26,280  stadia,  and  the  distance  from  the  Stone  Tower  to  Sera, 
the  capital  of  the  Seres 2,  a  journey  of  seven  months,  which  he 
calculates  at  36,200  stadia  running  on  one  parallel  {i.e.  due  east) 
we  shall  apply  a  correction  in  reduction  of  each  of  these.  For 
in  neither  section  has  he  made  any  diminution  on  account  of  the 
exaggeration  caused  by  deviations  from  a  straight  course,  whilst 
in  the  second  portion  of  the  route  he  has  fallen  into  the  same 
errors  as  in  regard  to  the  itinerary  from  the  country  of  the  Gara- 
mantes  to  that  of  Agisymba.  In  that  case  it  was  found  necessary 
to  cut  down  more  than  the  half  on  the  distance  as  calculated  from 
a  journey  of  four  months  and  fourteen  days,  for  it  was  not  to  be 
supposed  that  travelling  should  have  gone  on  without  inter- 
mission all  that  time.  And  as  regards  this  seven  months'  journey 
the  same  consideration  will  apply  even  more  forcibly  than  on  the 
route  from  the  Garamantes.  For  in  the  latter  case  the  business 
was  carried  out  by  the  king  of  the  country,  and  as  we  may  suppose 
with  more  than  ordinary  forethought,  and  they  had  fine  weather 
all  along.  But  on  the  journey  from  the  Stone  Tower  to  Sera  bad 
weather  was  to  be  looked  for,  seeing  that  it  ran  (according  to 
Marinus's  own  hypothesis)  in  the  latitudes  of  Hellespont  and 
Byzantium.  And  on  this  account  there  must  have  been  many 
halts  on  the  journey.  Moreover  it  must  be  remembered  that  it 
was  on  a  trading  expedition  that  the  information  about  this  road 
was  acquired. 

"  For  he  tells  us  that  the  distances  were  taken  down  by  one 
Maes  called  also  Titianus,  a  Macedonian,  and  a  merchant  like  his 
father  before  him  ;  not  that  he  made  the  journey  himself,  but  he 
had  sent  agents  to  the  Seres.  Now  Marinus  himself  (on  other 
occasions)  has  shown  little  faith  in  traders'  stories,  as  (for  example) 

^  N.E.  of  Aleppo. 

^  Most  editions  I  believe  read  "  capital  of  the  Sines,"  which,  however, 
with  Ptolemy's  views,  as  clearly  enough  shown  in  these  extracts,  cannot 
be  the  genuine  reading. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  189 

when  lie  refuses  to  believe  the  statement  of  Philemon  (founded  on 
the  talk  of  some  traders),  that  the  island  of  luvernia  was  20  days' 
journey  in  length  from  east  to  west.  For  such  people,  he  observes, 
don't  take  any  trouble  to  search  into  the  truth  of  things,  being 
constantly  taken  up  with  their  business  and  often  exaggerating 
distances  through  a  spirit  of  brag.  Just  so,  as  there  seems  to 
have  been  nothing  else  that  they  thought  worth  remembering  or 
telling  about  this  seven  months'  journey,  they  made  a  wonder 
about  the  length  of  time  it  had  occupied. 

Chapter  XII. 

"  For  these  reasons,  and  because  the  journey  was  not  really 
upon  one  parallel  (the  Stone  Tower  being  in  the  latitude  of 
Byzantium,  whilst  Sera  is  further  south  than  Hellespont)  it  might 
have  seemed  advisable  to  reduce  the  distance  of  36,200  stadia 
ascribed  to  this  seven  months'  journey  by  more,  rather  than  by 
less,  than  a  half.  But  let  us  keep  the  reduction  within  the  half, 
so  as  to  calculate  the  distance  on  a  round  estimate  at  22,625  stadia 
or  45i°.  .  .And  the  first  distance  (I  speak  of  that  from  Euphrates 
to  the  Stone  Tower)  should  be  reduced  from  876  schoeni  to  800 
only,  i.e.  24,000  stadia,  on  account  of  deviations  from  the  straight 
line. .  .  .For  the  road  from  the  ferry  of  the  Euphrates  at  Hierapolis 
through  Mesopotamia  to  the  Tigris,  and  thence  through  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Garamseans  of  Assyria^,  and  Media,  to  Ecbatana  and 
the  Caspian  Gates 2,  and  through  Parthia  to  Hecatompylos^,  is 

1  In  the  country  S.E.  of  Mosul  ;  see  the  Beth-Garma  of  the  list  at 
III,  p.  22. 

2  Pass  in  the  Elburz,  east  of  Demawend. 

*  Somewhere  near  Damghan.  ["  We  are  indebted  to  Quintus  Curtius 
and  Diodorus  for  indicating  Hecatompylus  as  the  place  where  Alexander 
made  this  prolonged  halt.  The  name  is  not  mentioned  by  Arrian. 
The  site  of  the  city,  though  undoubtedly  one  of  considerable  importance, 
has  unfortunately  not  been  determined  ;  it  was  clearly  situated  south 
of  the  mountain  chain  which  forms  the  prolongation  of  Mt.  Elburz,  on 
the  line  of  road  leading  from  the  Caspian  Gates  towards  Meshed  and 
Herat."     (Bunbury,  Ancient  Geog.,  i,  p.  479.) 

"  Urbs  erat  ea  tempestate  clara  Hecatompylos,  condita  a  Graecis  : 
ibi  stativa  rex  habuit  commeatibus  undique  advectis."     (Curtius,  vi,  2.) 

Triv  fxev  yap  diro  rrjs  Kara  'lepciTroXiv  tov  EiK^pdrov  dtajSaaecos  5td  rrjs 
MecroTTOTa^tas  €Tri  rbv  T^lypiv  68dv  Kal  r7]v  evrevdev  5ta  Tapafialiov  ttjs  'Aaavpias 
Kai  MTjdlas  els  'EK^arava  /cat  Kacririas  IltJXas  Kai  ttjs  Ilapdias  els  "E/i'ar6/x7ru\oj' 
ivdexerai.  irepl  tov  did  ttjs  'Po5t'a?  iriiTTeLv  TrapdXkTjXov ,  oIitos  yap  Kai  /far  avTov 
ypdcpeTai  8id  tQv  elpTjfxevccv  x'^P^v.      (Ptolem.,  i,  c.  12.) 

elffl  5'  dirb  ^acnriiav  irvKQiv . . .els  5'  'Evaro/UTDAoj',  t6  tQv  TlapOvaiuv 
PaaiXeiov,  x''^'ot  SiaKdcnoL  e^TjKovTa."      (Strabo,  xi,  c.  9.) 

"  Damghan  is  too  near  the  Pylae  Caspiae  :  on  the  whole,  it  is 
probable  that  any  remains  of  Hecatompylos  ought  to  be  sought  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  a  place  now  called  Jah  Jirm."  (W.  Smith,  Diet. 
Greek  and  Roman  Geog.) 

"  What  I  wish  to  establish  is  that  the  position  of  Hecatompylos  cannot 
be  reasonably  assigned  to  any  other  spot  than  the  one  now  occupied  by 


190  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

assumed  to  lie  in  the  parallel  of  Rhodes,  for  Marinus  himself  draws 
that  parallel  through  all  those  places.  But  the  road  from 
Hecatompylos  to  Hyrcania^  must  decline  to  the  north,  for  the 
city  of  Hyrcania  lies  somewhere  between  the  latitudes  of  Smyrna 
and  of  the  Hellespont..  .  .Then  the  route  runs  on  through  Aria^ 
to  Margiana  Antiochia^,  first  declining  to  the  south  (for  Aria  lies 
in  the  same  latitude  as  the  Caspian  Gates),  and  then  to  the  north, 
Antiochia  being  somewhere  near  the  parallel  of  the  Hellespont. 
Thence  the  road  proceeds  eastward  to  Bactra*,  and  from  that 
northward  up  the  ascent  of  the  hill  country  of  the  Comedi,  and 
then  inclining  somewhat  south  through  the  hill  country  itself  as 
far  as  the  gorge  in  which  the  plains  terminate.  For  the  western 
end  of  the  hill  country  is  more  to  the  north  also,  being  (as  Marinus 
puts  it)  under  the  latitude  of  Byzantium,  the  eastern  end  more  to 
the  south,  being  under  the  latitude  of  Hellespont.  Hence  [the 
hills  running  thus  from  south  of  east  to  north  of  west]  the  road 
runs  as  he  describes  in  the  opposite  direction,  i.e.  towards  the 
east  with  an  inclination  south  ;  and  then  a  distance  of  50  schoeni 
extending  to  the  Stone  Tower  would  seem  to  tend  northward. 
This  Stone  Tower  stands  in  the  way  of  those  who  ascend  the 
gorge,  and  from  it  the  mountains  extend  eastward  to  join  the 
chain  of  Imaus  which  runs  north  to  this  from  (the  territory  of) 
Palimbothra.^".  .  . 

Shah-rood  and  Bostam,  as  being  one  of  the  extremities  of  the  capital 
of  the  ancient  Parthians."     (Farrier,  Caravan  Journeys,  p.  70.) 

Curzon  is  in  favour  of  Damghan  and  writes  :  "  Farrier,  I  think 
erroneously,  endeavours  to  combat  this  theory  by  the  argument  that 
the  City  of  Hundred  Gates  must  mean  a  city  in  which  many  roads  met, 
whereas  at  Damghan  there  are  only  two.  He,  therefore,  prefers  the 
Shahrud-Bostam  site  for  that  Hekatompylos.  Apart,  however,  from 
the  fact  that  mora  roads  meat  at  Damghan  than  two,  it  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  the  Greeks,  whan  they  used  this  dascriptive  epithet,  referred 
to  city  gates  at  all.  The  title  was  equally  applied  by  tham  to  Egyptian 
Thebas,  where  it  has  been  conjectured  to  refer  to  the  pylons,  or  gate- 
ways, of  the  many  splendid  temples  by  which  the  capital  of  the  Rameses 
was  adorned  ;  and  it  may  have  had  soma  similar  application  in  the  case 
of  the  Parthian  city."  (Persia,  i,  p.  287.)  One  may  well  hesitate 
between  Damghan  and  Shah-rud,  but  I  think  Ferrier  is  right.] 

1  Jorjan,  N.W.  of  Astrabad. 

2  The  territory  of  Harah,  Hari  or  Herat. 

3  Supposed  to  be  Mary.  *  Balkh. 

^  I  have  not  perhaps  succeeded  in  rendering  this  description  very 
intelligible.  The  old  Latin  versions  and  the  Abbe  Halma's  French 
translation  seem  simply  to  .shirk  the  difficulties  of  the  passage.  I  have 
not  access  to  any  others  or  to  Humboldt's  Asie  Centrale,  which  I  believe 
contains  a  dissertation  on  this  route. 

The  account  would  perhaps  be  easier  to  understand  if  wa  knew  more 
of  the  geography  of  the  country  towards  Karategin,  in  which  I  suppose 
the  hill  country  of  the  Comedi  must  lie.  [In  a  note  in  Ancient  Khotan, 
p.  54,  Stein  writes  :  "  The  discussion  of  the  Ptolemy  passage  in  Cathay, 
i,  p.  cxlix,  is  still  of  value,  as  showing  how  Sir  H.  Yule,  by  a  chain  of 
sound  critical  reasoning,  had  been  led  to  Karategin  as  the  probable 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  IQI 

And  so  on,  bringing  out  the  whole  distance  from  the  Fortunate 
Isles  to  the  city  of  Sera  to  be  i77i°.  In  chapters  13  and  14  he 
tries  to  estimate  the  longitude  run  by  sea  from  Cape  Cory  in 
Southern  India  to  Cattigara  the  port  of  the  Sinse,  determining  the 
latter  to  lie  in  177°  ;    and  as  all  were  agreed  that  the  metropolis 

position  of  the  Komedi,  even  before  information  became  available  as 
to  the  survival  of  the  local  name  into  Mohammedan  times."]  The 
chief  difficulties  arise  in  connexion  with  the  expression  "  as  far  as  the 
gorge  in  which  the  plains  terminate  "  [fJ-exp'-  '''^^  e/cSexo/xe?/?;?  to.  iredLa 
(pdpayyos),  and  the  statement  that  fifty  schoeni  (one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  ?)  before  reaching  the  Stone  Tower  the  route  lay  northward. 
The  former  expression  is  inteUigible  if  with  Ritter  we  understand  the 
passage  of  Imaus  to  have  been  that  running  from  Kokand  up  the 
Jaxartes  Valley  to  Andijan  and  across  the  Terek  Dawan  to  Kashgar, 
but  in  that  case  how  could  the  route  approaching  the  Stone  Tower 
which  he  places  at  Ush  (where  there  are  said  to  be  ancient  remains  of 
importance)  by  any  possibility  run  northward  ?  (see  Ritter,  vii,  483, 
563  ;  viii,  693.)  In  the  time  of  the  Sui  dynasty,  or  beginning  of  the 
seventh  century,  the  Chinese  knew  three  roads  from  Eastern  into 
Western  Turkestan,  among  which  we  naturally  seek  that  of  Maes 
Titianus.  Of  these  three  the  first  or  north  road  seems  from  the  de- 
scription to  have  run  north  of  the  T'ien  Shan,  and  is  out  of  the 
question ;  a  second  or  middle  road  passed  from  Kashgar  to  Farghanah, 
and  is  no  doubt  that  of  the  Terek  Dawan  ;  the  third  or  south  road  passed 
through  Khotan,  and  then  through  Chukiupo  (said  to  be  Yangihissar) 
[cf.  Yule's  Notes  on  Hwen  Thsang's  Account  of  Tokhdristdn,  pp.  119  and 
120],  and  Kopantho  (said  to  be  Selekur  or  Sarikul ;  see  N.  Ann.  des 
Voy.,  1846,  iii,  47).  Ritter  takes  the  second  for  the  route  of  Titianus, 
supposing  the  third  route  to  be  that  by  the  Sirikul  [General  Cunningham 
has  identified  Sirikol  with  the  kingdom  of  Khia  pwan  to,  Khavanda 
(Hiuan  Tsang).  Tash  Kurghan  is  reputed  the  old  capital.  Cf.  Yule, 
Notes  on  Hwen  Thsang's  Account  of  Tokhdristdn,  p.  119]  into  Badakh- 
shan,  which  is  certainly  inconsistent  with  Ptolemy's  data.  But  it  is 
certain  that  there  was  no  route  in  former  use  intevmediate  between  the 
pass  to  Farghanah  and  that  to  Badakhshan,  e.g.  passing  from  Tashbaliq 
towards  Karategin  ?  Kinmi,  which  is  probably  the  country  of 
Ptolemy's  Comedi,  is  mentioned  in  Remusat's  list  of  states  tributary 
to  China  under  the  T'ang.  He  says  indeed  it  lay  "  among  the  mountains 
of  Tokharestan  south  of  the  Oxus,  towards  Balkh  and  Termedh,"  but 
north  of  the  Oxus  would  be  more  consistent  with  the  data,  and  it  is  north 
of  the  Oxus  that  the  kingdom  of  Keumitho  mentioned  by  Hiuan- 
Tsang  appears  to  lie,  which  is  doubtless  the  same  (see  Mdm.  de  I'Acad. 
R.  des  Inscr.,  viii,  92-3  ;  Vie  de  Hiouen  Thsang,  p.  464  ;  and  Chino- 
Japanese  ancient  Map,  in  Klaproth's  Memoires,  tom.  ii).  I  see  that 
Kiepert  in  his  map  of  Asia  (1864)  inserts  Kumid  above  Karategin  with 
a  query  (?).  It  seems  possible,  however,  that  we  have  the  name  of  the 
Comedi  in  Kawadidn  or  Kabadidn,  which  Edrisi  applies  to  the  country 
between  Termedh  and  Hissar,  and  which  still  survives  as  the  name  of 
a  town  or  village.  [Yule,  in  his  Notes  on  Hwen  Thsang's  Account  of 
the  Principalities  of  Tokhdristdn  (Jour.  Roy.  As.  Soc,  N.S.,  vi,  1873, 
pp.  9778),  has  the  following  on  the  Comedi:  "  Kiu-mi-tho,  Kumidha. 
This  kingdom  was  some  20  days'  journey  (2000  li)  from  east  to  west, 
and  two  days  from  north  to  south,  lying  among  the  Thsungling  moun- 
tains. On  the  S.W.  it  adjoined  the  Oxus  ;  on  the  south  it  was  in 
contact  Avith  the  kingdom  of  Shikhini  or  Shighnan.  The  state  of  Kiumi 
is  also  mentioned  along  with  Shikhini  and  Hunvi  in  the  historical  extracts 
of  Abel  Remusat  [Extension  de  I'Empire  chinois  du  cote  de  I'Occident  ; 
Mem.  Acad.  Insc,  viii,  p.  93],  as  sending  tribute  to  China  in  the  seventh 


192  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

of  the  SinK  lay  still  further  to  the  east,  he  puts  that  in  180°. 
The  whole  calculation  is  based  on  the  loosest  possible  data,  and 
made  to  bring  out  a  foregone  conclusion.  The  following  is  a 
specimen  of  the  data  : 

"  Marinus   does   not   exhibit   the   mileage   from   the   Golden 

century.  Major  General  Cunningham,  though  not  giving  any  specific 
modern  identification  of  this  State,  most  happily  connects  it  with  the 
Comedae  of  Ptolemy,  who  inhabited  the  hill  country  east  of  Bactriana, 
and  up  whose  valley  lay  the  route  of  the  caravans  from  Bactra,  bound 
for  Serica  across  Imaus  or  the  Thsungling.  The  proportions  of  length 
and  breadth  ascribed  to  the  territory  of  Khmiitho,  20  by  2,  show  that 
a  valley  is  in  question.  The  passage  in  Ptolemy  just  alluded  to  is  one 
of  the  most  notable  in  regard  to  the  geography  of  Inner  Asia  of  all  that 
have  come  down  to  us  from  classic  times.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  Gen.  Cunningham's  identification  of  Khtmitho  with  the  Comedae 
is  well  founded,  and  we  could  scarcely  desire  a  more  precise  definition  of 
their  position  than  Hwen  Thsang  has  here  given  us.  '  They  lay  to  the 
eastward  of  Khotl,  among  the  roots  of  Pamir,  to  the  northward  of 
Shighnan,  and  had  the  Oxus  on  their  south-west.'  "  Stein,  Ancient 
Khotan,  p.  54,  writes  :  "  It  is  the  joint  merit  of  Sir  H.  Yule  and  Sir 
H.  Rawlinson  to  have  demonstrated  beyond  all  doubt  the  identity  of 
the  mountain  tract  of  the  Komedi  with  the  Chii-mi-t'o  of  Hsiian-tsang 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  '  land  of  the  Kumedh  '  of  early  Mohammedan 
writers  on  the  other.  It  thus  became  possible  to  locate  with  certainty 
'  the  valley  of  the  Komedi'  in  the  mountains  which  divide  the  Wakhshab 
river  and  the  adjacent  alpine  tracts  of  Karategin  from  the  course  of 
the  Oxus.  From  Karategin  a  direct  and  comparatively  easy  line  of 
communication  leads  along  the  Wakhshab  up  to  the  rich  grazing  grounds 
of  the  wide  Alai  plateau.  Ascending  the  latter  to  its  eastern  end,  it 
then  crosses  the  watershed  range  between  the  Oxus  and  the  Tarim  at 
its  lowest  point,  the  Taun-murun  Pass  ;  and  a  short  distance  below, 
near  the  headwaters  of  the  Kashgar  river,  it  joins  the  great  route  which 
connects  Kashgar  with  Farghanah  over  the  Terek  Dawan."] 

Beyond  the  Stone  Tower,  and  in  Imaus  itself,  there  was  a  dpfX7]Trjpiot' 
or  station  for  the  traders  to  the  Seres  (bk.  vi,  ch.  13).  This  may  have 
been  about  Tashbaliq.  Smith's  Diet,  of  Gr.  and  Roman  Geography, 
article  Serica,  states  as  a  fact  that  in  the  ancient  conduct  of  the  silk 
trade  the  Seres  deposited  their  bales  of  silk  in  the  Stone  Tower  with 
the  prices  marked,  and  then  retired,  whilst  the  western  merchants  came 
forward  to  inspect.  Where  is  the  authority  ?  And  if  it  were  so,  why 
did  Maes  send  his  agents  seven  months'  journey  further  ?  Or  did  the 
writer  of  the  article  find  the  dumb  trade  in  Pliny  and  the  Stone  Tower 
in  Ptolemy,  and  like  a  celebrated  character  of  Dickens's  "  combine  the 
information  "  ?  ["  An  exact  location  of  the  famous  '  Stone  Tower  ' 
{\iiUvos  irvpyos)  is  not  possible  at  present,  and  can  be  hoped  for  only 
from  antiquarian  investigations  effected  on  the  spot.  In  regard,  however, 
to  the  traders'  station  which  Maes'  account  mentions  to  the  east  of  the 
Stone  Tower  and  on  the  road  starting  for  Sera,  I  think  that  unchanging 
geographical  conditions  afford  us  some  guidance.  Baron  Richthofen 
has  justly  pointed  out  that  this  station  must  be  looked  for  close  to  the 
watershed  crossed  by  the  above  route,  since  Ptolemy  places  it  in  the 
line  of  the  Imaus,  which  undoubtedly  corresponds  to  the  range  buttress- 
ing the  Pamir  region  on  the  east,  and  dividing  the  drainage  areas  of  the 
Oxus  and  the  Tarim.  He  has  also  rightly  observed  that  the  point  where 
the  much-frequented  route  coming  from  Farghanah  over  the  Terek 
Dawan  is  joined  by  the  route  from  the  Wakhshab  valley  was  the  most 
likely  position  for  such  a  station."  Stein,  Ancient  Khotan,  pp.  54-5. 
Ptolemy's  Stone  Tower  must  not  be  confounded  with  Tash  Kurghan.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES  I93 

Chersonese  to  Cattigara,  But  he  says  that  Alexander  has  de- 
scribed the  land  beyond  (that  Chersonese)  to  He  facing  the  south, 
and  that  after  saihng  by  this  for  20  days  you  reach  the  city  of 
Zaba\  and  still  sailing  on  for  some  days  southward  but  rather 
to  the  left  you  reach  Cattigara^.  He  exaggerates  the  distance, 
for  the  expression  is  some  days  not  many  days.  He  says  indeed 
that  no  numerical  statement  of  the  days  was  made  because  they 
were  so  many  :    but  this  I  take  to  be  ridiculous,"  etc.,  etc. 

In  chapter  17,  speaking  of  persons  who  had  made  the  voyage 
to  India  and  spent  much  time  in  those  parts,  he  proceeds  : 

"  From  these  persons  also  we  have  got  more  exact  information 
about  India  and  its  kingdoms,  as  well  as  about  the  remoter^  parts 
of  the  region  extending  to  the  Golden  Chersonese  and  thence  to 
Cattigara.  For  example  they  all  agree  in  stating  that  in  going 
thither  your  course  is  to  the  east,  and  in  coming  back  again  it  is 
to  the  west,  and  they  agree  also  in  saying  that  no  determinate 
time  can  be  named  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  voyage,  which 
varies  with  circumstances.  They  also  agree  that  the  land  of  the 
Seres  with  their  metropolis  lies  to  the  north  of  the  land  of  the 
Sinae,  and  that  all  that  is  further  east  than  these  is  a  Terra 
Incognita  full  of  marshy  lagoons  in  which  great  canes  grow,  and 
that  so  densely  that  people  are  able  to  cross  the  marshes  by  means 
of  them.     They  tell  also  that  there  is  not  only  a  road  from  those 

1  ["The  locality  of  the  ancient  port  of  Zabai  [Za^a  or  Za^ai]  or 
Champa  is  probably  to  be  sought  on  the  west  coast  of  Kamboja,  near 
the  Campot,  or  the  Kang  Kao,  of  our  maps."  Yule,  Notes  on  the 
Oldest  Records  of  the  Sea-Route  to  China,  Proc.  R.  Geog.  Soc,  1882. 
p.  657.] 

^  ["To  myself,  the  arguments  adduced  by  my  friend  Baron  F.  von 
Richthofen  in  favour  of  the  location  of  Kattigara  in  the  Gulf  of 
Tongking,  are  absolutely  convincing.  This  position  seems  to  satisfy 
every  condition.     For : 

1.  Tongking  was  for  some  centuries  at  that  period  (b.c.  hi  to 
A.D.  263),  and  that  period  only,  actually  incorporated  as  part  of  the 
Chinese  Empire. 

2.  The  only  port  mentioned  in  the  Chinese  annals  as  at  that  period 
open  to  foreign  traffic  was  Kiau-chi,  substantially  identical  with  the 
modern  capital  of  Tongking,  Kesho,  or  Hanoi.  Whilst  there  are  no 
notices  of  foreign  arrivals  by  any  other  approach,  there  are  repeated 
notices  of  such  arrivals  b}'  this  province,  including  that  famous 
embassy  from  Antun,  King  of  Ta-ts'in,  i.e.  M.  Aurelius  Anton-inus 
(A.D.  161-180),  in  A.D.  166. 

3.  The  province  in  question  was  then  known  as  Ji-nan  (or  Zhi-nan, 
French  /) ;  whence  possibly  the  name  Sinae,  which  has  travelled  so  far 
and  spread  over  such  libraries  of  literature.  The  Chinese  annalist, 
who  mentions  the  Roman  embassy,  adds  :  '  The  people  of  that  kingdom 
[Ta-ts'in,  or  the  Roman  Empire)  come  in  numbers  for  trading  purposes 
to  Fu-nan,  Ji-nan,  and  Kiau-chi.'  Fu-nan,  we  have  seen,  was  Champa 
or  Zabai.  In  Ji-nan,  with  its  chief  port  Kiau-chi,  we  may  recognise 
with  assurance  '  Kattigara,  portus  Sinarum.'  "  Yule,  Notes  on  the  Oldest 
Records  of  the  Sea-Route  to  China,  Proc.  R.  Geog.  Soc,  1882,  pp.  658-9.] 

3  Lit.  "  Interior." 

C.  Y.  C.    I.  13 


194  ■  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY 

countries  to  Bactriana  by  the  Stone  Tower,  but  also  a  road  to 
India  which  goes  through  Pahmbothra.  And  the  road  from  the 
metropoHs  of  the  Sinae  to  the  port  of  Cattigara  runs  towards  the 
south-west ;  so  the  former  city  wovild  appear  not  to  fall  on  the 
meridian  of  Sera  and  Cattigaras,  as  Marinus  will  have  it,  but  to 
lie  further  east." 

Serice. 

"  Serice  is  bounded  on  the  west  by.  Scythia  beyond  Imaus, 
according  to  the  line  already  defined  (i.e.,  a  line  whose  northern 
extremity  is  in  long.  150°,  N.  lat.  63°  and  its  southern  extremity 
in  long.  160°,  N.  lat.  35°)  ;  on  the  north,  by  the  Terra  Incognita, 
in  the  latitude  of  the  Island  of  Thule  ;  on  the  east,  by  the  Eastern 
Terra  Incognita  in  the  meridian  of  180°  from  lat.  63°  down  to  3°o  ; 
on  the  south,  by  the  remaining  part  of  India  beyond  the  Ganges 
along  the  parallel  of  35°  to  the  termination  of  that  country  in 
long.  173°,  and  then  by  the  Sinae  along  the  same  line  till  you 
reach  the  frontier  of  the  Terra  Incognita,  as  it  has  just  been 
defined^. 

"  Serice  is  girdled  round  by  the  mountains  named  Anniba^, 
by  the  easternmost  part  of  the  Auxacian  Mountains,  by  the 
mountains  called  Asmirsean,  the  easternmost  part  of  the  Kasian 
Mountains,  by  Mount  Thagurus,  by  the  most  easterly  part  of  the 
ranges  called  Hemodus  and  Sericus,  and  by  the  chain  of  Ottoro- 
corrhas.  Two  rivers  of  especial  note  flow  through  the  greater 
part  of  Serice  ;  the  river  CEchordas  is  one  of  these,  one  source  of 
which  is  that  set  forth  as  flowing  from  the  Auxacian  range,  and 
the  other  from  the  Asmirsean  range. .  .  .  And  the  other  is  the  river 
called  Bautes,  which  has  one  source  in  the  Kasian  Mountains  and 
another  in  the  mountains  of  Ottorocorrhas^. 

"  The  most  northern  parts  or  Serice  are  inhabited  by  tribes 

1  One  might  be  reading  the  legislative  definitions  of  the  boundaries 
of  an  American  state  or  an  Australian  colony.  We  see  here  how 
Ptolemy's  Asiatic  Geography  was  compiled.  It  is  evident  that  he  first 
drew  his  maps  embodying  all  the  information  that  he  had  procured, 
however  vague  and  rough  it  might  be.  From  these  maps  he  then  educed 
his  tables  of  latitudes  and  longitudes  and  his  systematic  topography. 
The  result  is  that  everything  assumes  an  appearance  of  exact  definition  ; 
and  indications  on  the  map  which  meant  no  more  than  "  somewhere 
hereabouts  is  said  to  be  such  a  country,"  become  translated  into  a 
precision  fit  for  an  Act  of  Parliament. 

^  I  omit  the  latitudes  and  longitudes  of  the  mountains,  rivers,  and 
cities  named  in  this  chapter. 

^  There  is,  I  suppose,  no  question  that  the  Serice  described  here  is 
mainly  the  basin  of  Chinese  Turkestan,  encompas.sed  on  three  sides  by 
lofty  mountains.  In  Auxacia  we  probably  trace  the  name  of  Aqsu 
(Deguigncs  and  D'Anville),  in  Kasia  perhaps  Kashgar  (D'Anv.).  The 
Oikhardai,  on  the  river  of  that  name,  which  is  probably  the  Tarim,  may 
represent  the  Uighurs.  [This  is  no  doubt  an  error  ;  the  Uighiirs  did 
not  exist  then.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  I95 

of  cannibals^.  Below  these  the  nation  of  the  Annibi  dwells  to 
the  north  of  the  mountains  bearing  the  same  name.  Between 
these  last  and  the  Auxacian  Mountains  is  the  nation  of  the 
Sizyges^ ;  next  to  them  the  Damnse  ;  and  then  the  Piaddae, 
extending  to  the  river  CEchardus.  Adjoining  it  are  a  people 
bearing  the  same  name,  the  CEchardae. 

"  And  again,  east  of  the  Annibi  are  the  Garenaei  and  the 
Nabannse^.  There  is  the  Asmiraean  country  lying  north  of  the 
mountains  of  the  same  name,  and  south  of  this  extending  to  the 
Kasian  Mountains  the  great  nation  Issedones  ;  and  beyond  them 
to  the  east  the  Throani.  Below  them  come  the  Ethaguri  to  the 
east  of  the  mountains  of  the  same  name,  and  south  of  the  Issedones 
the  Aspacarse,  and  then  the  Batae,  and  furthest  to  the  south,  near 
the  mountain  chains  Hemodus  and  Sericus,  are  the  Ottorocorrhae*." 

The  names  of  the  following  cities  of  Serice  are  given  :  "  Damna, 
Piada,  Asmiraea,  Tharrhana,  Issedon  Serica,  Aspacara,  Drosache, 
Paliana,  Abragana,  Thogara,  Daxata,  Orosana,  Ottorocorrha, 
Solana,  Sera  Metropolis  "   (book  vi,  ch.   16). 

The  Land  of  the  SiN^. 

"  The  Sinee  are  bounded  on  the  north  by  part  of  Serice,  as  has 
been  defined  already  ;  on  the  east  and  the  south,  by  the  Terra 
Incognita  ;  on  the  west,  by  India  beyond  the  Ganges,  according 
to  the  boundary  already  defined  extending  to  the  Great  Gulf,  and 
then  by  the  Great  Gulf  itself,  and  those  gulfs  that  follow  it  in 
succession,  by  the  gulf  called  Theriodes,  and  by  part  of  the  gulf 
of  the  Sinas,  on  which  dwell  the  fish-eating  Ethiopians^,  according 
to  the  detail  which  follows." 

He  then  gives  the  longitude  and  latitude  of  various  points  on 
the  coast ;  viz..  River  Aspithra,  city  of  Bramma,  River  Ambastes, 
Rhabana,  R.  Senus,  Cape  Notion,  Satyr's  Cape,  R.  Cottiaris,  and 
Cattigara,  to  the  Port  of  the  Sinae.     Of  inland  cities  are  named 

1  As  late  as  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  King  Hethum  of 
Armenia  in  the  deserts  near  Bishbaliq  speaks  of  wild  men  with  no 
covering  but  the  hair  of  their  heads  ;  "  They  are  real  brutes,"  it  is 
added.  I  do  not  know  any  other  reference  to  tribes  in  Tartary  in  so 
low  a  state.     (Journ.  Asiat.,  ser.  ii,  torn,  xii,  pp.  273  seqq.) 

*  The  name  Sizyges  in  its  probable  etymology  appears  to  refer  to  the 
chariot-  or  waggon-driving  habits  of  the  people.  A  tribe  of  the  Uighiirs 
hereabouts  were  called  by  the  Chinese  Chhesse  or  "  The  Car  Drivers." 
(Remusat  in  Acad.,  viii,  112.) 

3  Possibly  the  Naiman  horde  so  notable  in  the  Mongol  history. 

*  Utara  Kuru  of  the  Hindus,  see  Lassen,  i,  846. 

5  Marcianus  of  Heraclea  in  the  corresponding  passage  has  the 
"  Ichthyophagi  Sinae,"  which  is,  perhaps,  an -indication  that  his  Ptolemy 
did  not  contain  the  perplexing  appellation  Mthiopes.  As  this  appella- 
tion (Ichthyophagi  Mthiopes)  occurs  more  appropriately  (Bk.  iv,  chap.  9) 
as  that  of  a  tribe  on  the  remote  west  coast  of  Africa,  it  is  not  improbable 
that  its  introduction  here  is  due  to  officious,  or  perhaps  unconscious, 
interpolation  by  a  transcriber. 

13 — 2 


196  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Akadra,  Aspithra,  Cocco-  or  Coccora-Nagara,  Saraga,  and  Thinae 
the  Metropolis. 

"  But  this  last,  they  say,  hath  in  reality  neither  brazen  walls 
nor  anything  else  worth  mentioning^  "  (book  vii,  oh.  3). 


NOTE   III. 

FROM    POMPONIUS    MELA    DE    SITU    ORBIS. 

(Supposed  about  a.d.  50.) 

"  In  the  furthest  east  of  Asia  are  the  Indians,  Seres,  and 
Scythians.  The  Indians  and  Scythians  occupy  the  two  extremities, 
the  Seres  are  in  the  middle  "  (i,  2)^. 

In  another  passage,  after  speaking  of  certain  islands  in  the 
Caspian,  and  on  the  Scythian  coast,  he  proceeds  : 

"  From  these  the  course  (of  the  shore)  makes  a  bend  and  trends 
to  the  coast  line  which  faces  the  east.  That  part  which  adjoins 
the  Scythian  promontory  is  first  all  impassable  from  snow  ;  then 
an  uncultivated  tract  occupied  by  savages.  These  tribes  are  the 
Cannibal  Scythians  and  the  Sagse,  severed  from  one  another  by 
a  region  where  none  can  dwell  because  of  the  number  of  wild 
animals.  Another  vast  wilderness  follows,  occupied  also  by  wild 
beasts,  reaching  to  a  mountain  called  Thabis  which  overhangs  the 
sea.  A  long  way  from  that  the  ridge  of  Taurus  rises.  The  Seres 
come  between  the  two;  a  race  eminent  for  integrity,  and  well 
known  for  the  trade  which  they  allow  to  be  transacted  behind  their 
backs,  leaving  their  wares  in  a  desert  spot  "  (iii,  7)^. 


NOTE   IV. 

EXTRACTS    FROM    PLINY'S    NATURAL    HISTORY. 

(Born  A.D.  23,  Died  a.d.  79.) 

"  From  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Scythian  Ocean  the  course 
(of  the  coast)  makes  a  bend  till  the  shore  faces  the  east.  The  first 
part  of  that  tract  of  country,  beginning  from  the  Scythian  Pro- 

^  See  note  at  p.  159. 

^  ["  In  ea  primes  hominum  ab  oriente  accipimus  Indos,  et  Seres  et 
Scythas.  Seres  media  ferme  eoae  partis  incolunt,  Indi  et  Scythae 
ultima  :  ambo  late  patentes,  neque  in  hoc  tantum  pelagus  effusi." 
Pomponius  Mela,  Lib.  i,  c.  2.] 

3  ["  Ab  iis  in  Eoum  mare  cursus  inflectitur,  inque  oram  terras 
spectantis  orientem.  Pertinet  hsec  a  Scythico  promontorio  ad  Colida : 
primumque  omnis  est  invia  ;  deinde  ob  immanitatem  habitantium 
inculta.  Scythae  sunt  androphagi  et  Sacae,  di.stincti  regione,  quia  feris 
scatet,  inhabitabih.  Vasta  deinde  iterum  loca  bellusc  infestant,  usque 
ad  montem  mari  imminentem,  nomine  Tabim.  Longe  ab  eo  Taurus  at- 
toUitur.  Seres  intersunt;  genus  plenum  justitias,  et  commercio,  quod 
rebus  in  solitudine  relictis  absens  peragit,  notissimum."  Pomponius 
Mela,  Lib.  iii,  c.  7.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  197 

montory,  is  uninhabitable  from  eternal  winter  ;  the  next  portion 
is  uncultivated  and  occupied  by  savage  tribes,  among  whom  are 
the  Cannibal  Scythians  who  feed  on  human  flesh  ;  and  alongside 
of  these  are  vast  wildernesses  tenanted  by  multitudes  of  wild 
beasts  hemming  in  those  human  creatures  almost  as  brutal  as 
themselves.  Then,  we  again  find  tribes  of  Scythians,  and  again 
desert  tracts  occupied  only  by  wild  animals,  till  we  come  to  that 
mountain  chain  overhanging  the  sea,  which  is  called  Tabis.  Not 
till  nearly  half  the  length  of  the  coast  which  looks  north-east  has 
been  passed,  do  you  find  inhabited  country^. 

"  The  first  race  then  encountered  are  the  Seres,  so  famous 
for  the  fleecy  product  of  their  forests.  This  pale  floss,  which  they 
find  growing  on  the  leaves,  they  wet  with  water,  and  then  comb 
out,  furnishing  thus  a  double  task  to  our  womenkind  in  first 
dressing  the  threads,  and  then  again  of  weaving  them  into  silk 
fabrics.  So  has  toil  to  be  multiplied  ;  so  have  the  ends  of  the 
earth  to  be  traversed  :  and  all  that  a  Roman  dame  may  exhibit 
her  charms  in  transparent  gauze 2. 

1  It  is  evident  from  a  comparison  of  this  with  the  passage  of  Mela 
quoted  in  the  preceding  note,  that  both  authors  are  drawing  from  some 
common  source. 

2  Seneca  is  still  stronger  in  expressions  to  like  purport :  "  Video 
sericas  vestes,  si  vestes  vocandaB  sunt,  in  quibus  nihil  est  quo  defendi 
aut  corpus,  aut  denique  pudor  possit;  quibus  sumptis,  mulier  parum 
liquido,  nudam  se  non  esse  jurabit.  Haec  ingenti  summa,  ab  ignotis 
etiam  ad  commercium  gentibus,  arcerssuntur,  ut  matronse  nostrae,  ne 
adulteris  quidem,  plus  sui  in  cubiculo,  quam  in  publico  ostendant."  De 
Bejteficiis,  vii,   9.      [Cf.   Hirth,   China  and  the  Roman  Orient,  p.   259.] 

From  these  passages  it  would  appear  that  the  silk  textures  in  such 
esteem  among  the  Romans  of  those  days  were  not  what  we  should  call 
rich  silks,  like  the  satins  and  damasks  which  were  imported  from  China 
in  later  days,  but  gauzes,  the  value  of  which  lay  in  their  excessive 
delicacy.  And  that  this  continued  to  be  the  character  of  the  China 
silks  in  most  general  estimation  for  several  centuries  later  may  be 
gathered  from  Abu  Zaid,  who  tells  us  that  the  chief  Chinese  officers 
wore  "  silks  of  the  iirst  quality,  such  as  were  never  imported  into 
Arabia,"  and  illustrates  this  by  the  story  of  an  Arab  merchant  whose 
curiosity  was  attracted  by  a  mark  upon  the  chest  of  an  officer  of  the 
imperial  household,  which  was  plainly  visible  through  several  folds  of 
the  silk  dress  which  he  wore  ;  and  it  proved  that  the  officer  had  on 
five  robes  of  this  texture,  one  over  the  other  [Relation,  i,  p.  76).  Like 
stories  are  told  in  India  of  the  Dacca  muslins.  One  tells,  I  think,  of 
Akbar  that  he  rebuked  one  of  his  ladies  for  the  indecent  transparency 
of  her  dress,  and  in  defence  she  showed  that  she  had  on  nine,  of  the  kind 
which  was  called  Bad-baft,  or  "  Woven  Wind." 

The  passage  of  Pliny  here  translated,  coupled  with  another  to  be 
noticed  presently,  has  led  to  a  statement  made  in  many  respectable 
books,  but  which  I  apprehend  to  be  totally  unfounded,  that  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  picked  to  pieces  the  rich  China  silks  and  wove  light  gauzes 
out  of  the  material.  This  is  asserted,  for  example,  in  the  treatise  on 
Silk  Manufacture  in  Lardner's  Cyclopcedia  (pp.  5,  6),  and  in  the  Encyclo- 
pcedia  Britannica  (7th  ed.,  article  Silk).  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and 
Roman  Geography  also  (article  Serica)  says:  "Pliny  records  that  a 
Greek  woman  of  Cos,  named  Pamphila,  first  invented  the  expedient  of 


igS 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


"The  Seres  are  inoffensive  in  their  manners  indeed;  but,  like 
the  beasts  of  the  forest,  they  eschew  the  contact  of  mankind  ; 
and,  though  ready  to  engage  in  trade,  wait  for  it  to  come  to  them 
instead  of  seeking  it  "  (vi,  20). 

Further  on,  when  speaking  of  Taprobane,  he  says  : 
"  So  far  we  have  from  the  ancients.     But  we  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  more  correct  information  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  when 

splitting  these  substantial  silk  stuffs,  and  of  manufacturing  those  very 
fine  and  web-like  dresses  which  became  so  celebrated  under  the  name  of 
CocB  Vestes." 

The  whole  passage  of  Pliny  here  alluded  to  is  as  follows  (xi,  25)  : 
"  Among  these  there  is  a  fourth  kind  of  Bombyx  produced  in  Assyria  and 
greater  than  those  of  which  we  have  been  speaking.  These  make  nests 
of  clay,  having  the  appearance  of  salt,  fastening  them  upon  stone  ;  and 
these  nests  are  so  hard  that  they  can  scarcely  be  pierced  with  a  pointed 
tool.  They  secrete  wax  in  these  nests  more  copiously  than  bees  do, 
and  the  grub  too  is  of  proportionately  larger  size. 

"  26.  There  is  one  with  another  mode  of  development  produced 
from  a  yet  larger  grub  which  has  two  peculiar  horns  as  it  were.  From 
this  it  becomes  first  a  caterpillar  ;  then  what  is  called  bombylius  ;  next 
necydalus  ;  and  then  in  six  months  a  bombyx.  These  spin  webs  like 
spiders,  which  are  turned  to  the  account  of  female  dress  and  extrava- 
gance under  the  name  of  Bombycina.  The  process  of  dressing  these 
webs  and  again  of  weaving  them  into  fabrics  was  first  invented  in  Ceos 
by  a  woman  called  Pamphila,  the  daughter  of  Latous.  Let  us  not 
cheat  her  of  her  glory  in  having  devised  a  method  by  which  women  shall 
be  dressed  and  yet  naked  ! 

"27.  They  say  that  Bombyces  are  also  produced  in  the  island  of 
Cos  by  the  genial  action  of  the  earth  on  the  flowers  of  cypress,  turpen- 
tine-tree, ash,  or  oak,  when  shaken  down  by  rain.  The  first  form  of  the 
creature  produced  is  that  of  a  butterfly,  little  and  naked  ;  then  as  the 
cold  affects  it,  it  develops  a  rough  coat,  and  against  the  winter  prepares 
for  itself  a  thick  envelope  by  scraping  off  the  down  of  leaves  with  its 
feet,  which  are  adapted  to  this  purpose.  Carding,  as  it  were,  and 
spinning  out  this  substance  to  a  fine  thread  with  its  claws,  it  stretches 
it  from  branch  to  branch,  and  then  lays  hold  of  it  and  winds  it  round 
its  body  till  entirely  wrapped  in  the  nest  so  formed.  The  people  then 
gather  the  creatures  and  put  them  in  earthen  pots  with  warm  bran,  the 
effect  of  which  is  to  develop  on  them  a  new  plumage,  clothed  with  which 
they  are  let  go  to  the  other  functions  reserved  for  them.  The  woolly 
web  that  they  had  spun  is  moistened  so  as  to  disengage  more  easily, 
and  wound  off  on  a  reel  of  reed.  The  stuffs  made  from  this  are  worn 
Avithout  shame  even  by  men  as  light  summer  clothing.  So  far  have  we 
degenerated  from  the  days  when  cuirasses  of  mail  were  worn  that  even 
a  coat  is  too  great  a  burden  for  us  !  The  produce  of  the  Assyrian 
Bombyx  however  we  as  yet  leave  to  the  ladies." 

On  these  passages  we  may  remark  : 

1.  That  the  account  of  the  Bombyx  in  §25  appears  to  be  sub- 
stantially taken  from  Aristotle,  De  Animal.  Hist.,  v,  24,  and  to  refer  to 
some  kind  of  mason  bee.  The  "  in  Assyria  proveniens  "  of  Pliny, 
which  the  reference  to  "  Bombyx  Assyria  "  again  at  the  end  of  the 
extract  seems  to  connect  with  the  produce  of  some  kind  of  texture,  does 
not  appear  in  Aristotle  at  all.  And  yet  Pliny  gives  no  explanation  as 
to  what  the  produce  of  the  Assyrian  i3ombyx  was. 

2.  In  .§  26  Pamphila's  invention  and  some  kind  of  web-weaving 
bombyx  are  referred  to  Ceos  ;  in  §  27  another  kind  of  weaving  bombyx 
(with  its  anomalous  history)  is  referred  to  Cos  ;   whilst  Aristotle,  as  we 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES  199 

ambassadors  came  from  the  island.  A  freedman  of  Annius 
Plocamus,  who  had  farmed  the  customs  of  the  Red  Sea  from  the 
Imperial  Exchequer,  after  sailing  round  Arabia,  was  driven  by 
storms  past  Carmania,  and  on  the  fifteenth  day  made  the  port  of 
Hippuri^.  Here  he  was  entertained  by  the  king  with  kindness 
and  hospitality  for  six  months  ;  and,  when  he  had  learned  to 
speak  the  language,  in  answer  to  the  king's  questions,  told  him 
all  about  Caesar  and  the  Romans.  Nothing  that  the  king  heard 
made  such  a  wonderful  impression  on  him  as  the  opinion  of  the 
exactness  of  our  dealings  which  he  formed  from  seeing  in  some 
Roman  money  that  had  been  taken  that  the  coins  were  all  of  the 
same  weight,  though  the  heads  upon  them  showed  that  they  had 
been  struck  by  different  princes.  And  the  stranger  having 
particularly  urged  him  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  Romans, 
he  sent  these  four  ambassadors,  the  chief  of  whom  was  named 


shall  see,  refers  Pamphila  to  Cos.  Has  not  Pliny  here  been  merely 
emptying  out  of  his  note-book  two  separate  accounts  of  the  same 
matter  ? 

3.  In  §  26  Pliny's  words  redordiri  rursusque  texere  are  verbatim  the 
same  that  he  uses  in  the  passage  about  the  Seres  translated  in  the  text, 
and  seem  to  be  merely  affected  expressions,  indicating  nothing  more 
than  the  carding  and  reeling  the  sericum  and  the  bombycinum  respec- 
tively out  of  the  entanglement  of  their  natural  web  (as  Pliny  imagines 
it)  and  then  re-entangling  them  again  (as  it  were)  in  the  loom.  This 
is  put  beyond  doubt  by  the  fact  that  §  26  is  merely  a  paraphrase  from 
Aristotle  (De  An.  Hist.,  v,  19),  who,  speaking  of  various  insect  trans- 
formations, says  :  "  From  a  certain  great  grub,  which  has  as  it  were 
horns,  and  differs  from  the  others,  is  produced,  first  by  transformation 
of  the  grub,  a  caterpillar,  and  then  bombylius,  and  then  necydalus.  In 
six  months  it  goes  through  all  these  changes  of  form.  And  from  this 
creature  some  women  disengage  and  reel  off  the  bombycina  and  then 
weave  them.  And  the  first  who  is  said  to  have  woven  this  material  was 
Pamphile,  daughter  of  Plates  in  Cos."  Whatever  material  this  bomby- 
cina may  have  really  been,  there  is  evidently  here  no  question  of 
picking  foreign  stuffs  to  pieces,  a  figment  which  seems  entirely  based  on 
Pliny's  rhetoric.  ["  It  must  be  admitted  that  as  long  as  we  had  no 
clear  idea  as  to  what  kind  of  texture  was  meant  by  Pliny's  '  telae 
araneorum  modo  textae,'  we  were  free  to  assume  that  the  stuff  '  slipt 
and  re-woven '  was  either  the  cocoon  itself,  or  raw  silk  pressed  into 
skeins.  Yet,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  passage  in  the  Wei-lio  and  Ma 
Tuan-lin's  extension  of  it,  fully  confirm  the  matter  of  fact  as  represented 
by  Pliny.  It  looks  very  inuch,  as  if  the  texture  called  hu-ling  in  the 
two  passages^. referred  to  was  identical  with  the  thin  gauzes  of  which 
Seneca  [speaks]  "  (see  supra).  Hirth,  I.e.,  p.  259.]  Cuvier  considered 
the  description  in  §  27,  however  erroneous,  clearly  to  indicate  some 
species  of  silkworm,  which  had  been  superseded  by  the  introduction  of 
that  from  China  (see  Didot's  edition  of  Pliny  with  Cuvier's  notes  in 
loco).  And,  indeed,  as  regards  the  Assyrian  Bombyx,  we  learn  from 
Consul  Taylor  that  its  wild  silk  is  still  gathered  and  used  for  dresses  by 
the  women  about  Jazirah  on  the  Tigris  (see  /.  R.  G.  S.,  xxxv,  p.  51). 

1  Tennent  says  this  is  the  modern  Kudra-mali  on  the  north-west  of 
Ceylon,  near  the  pearl  banks  of  Manaar  (i,  532).  [See  the  "  Tapro- 
bane  "  of  Pliny  and  Ptolemy.  By  Donald  Ferguson.  (Jour.  R.  As. 
Sac,  July,  1904,  pp.  539-541-)] 


200  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Rachias^ .  .  .These  men  also  related  that  the  side  of  their  island 
which  was  opposite  India,  extended  ten  thousand  stadia  towards 
the  south-east.  The  Seres,  too,  who  dwell  beyond  the  mountains 
of  Emodus,  and  who  are  known  to  us  by  the  commerce  which  is 
carried  on  with  them,  had  been  seen  by  these  people  ;  the  father  of 
Rachias  had  visited  their  country  ;  and  they  themselves,  on  their 
travels,  had  met  with  people  of  the  Seres.  They  described  these 
as  surpassing  the  ordinary  stature  of  mankind,  as  having  red  hair, 
blue  eyes,  hoarse  voices,  and  no  common  language  to  communicate 
by.  The  rest  of  what  they  told  was  just  as  we  have  it  from  our 
own  traders.  The  goods  carried  thither  are  deposited  on  the 
further  side  of  a  certain  river  beside  what  the  Seres  have  for  sale, 
and  the  latter,  if  content  with  the  bargain,  carry  them  off ;  acting, 
in  fact,  as  if  in  contempt  of  the  luxury  to  which  they  ministered, 
and  just  as  if  they  saw  in  the  mind's  eye  the  object  and  destination 
and  result  of  this  traffic^  "  (vi,  24). 

In  a  later  passage,  after  speaking  of  the  simplicity  of  primitive 
habits,  he  goes  on  : 

"  Hence,  one  wonders  more  and  more,  how  from  beginnings  so 
different,  we  have  come  now  to  see  whole  mountains  cut  down  into 
marble  slabs,  journeys  made  to  the  Seres  to  get  stuffs  for  clothing, 
the  abysses  of  the  Red  Sea  explored  for  pearls,  and  the  depths  of 
the  earth  in  search  of  emeralds  !  Nay,  more,  they  have  taken  up 
the  notion  also  of  piercing  the  ears,  as  if  it  were  too  small  a  matter 
to  wear  these  gems  in  necklaces  and  tiaras,  unless  holes  also  were 
made  in  the  body  to  insert  them  in  !  "  (xii,  i). 

And  again  : 

"  But  the  sea  of  Arabia  is  still  more  fortunate  ;  for  'tis  thence 
it  sends  us  pearls.  And  at  the  lowest  computation,  India  and 
the  Seres  and  that  Peninsula  put  together  drain  our  empire  of 
one  hundred  million  of  sesterces  every  year.  That  is  the  price 
that  our  luxuries  and  our  womankind  cost  us  !  "  (xii,  41). 

1  On  the  possible  interpretations  of  this  name  see  Tennent's  Ceylon, 
i.  532-3- 

2  I  cannot  attempt  to  solve  the  difficulties  of  this  passage,  on  which 
I  have  seen  nothing  satisfactory.  Putting  aside  the  red  hair  and  blue 
eyes,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  the  Chinese  ever  practised  this  dumb 
trade,  which  in  all  other  known  cases  I  believe  has  been  found  only 
where  one  party  to  it  was  in  a  very  low  state  of  civilisation.  A  certain 
kind  of  dumb  trade  indeed  prevails  more  or  less  in  most  Asiatic 
countries,  including  Mongolia  (Hue  and  Gabet,  112)  and  possibly  China, 
I  mean  that  by  which  bargains  are  driven  and  concluded  by  the  two 
parties  fingering  each  other's  knuckles  under  a  shawl  without  a  word 
spoken.  Could  the  stories  of  tlie  Seric  trade  have  risen  out  of  this 
practice  ? 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  201 

NOTE   IV  BIS. 
FROM    DIONYSIUS    PERIERGETESi. 

(a.d.  2nd  Century.) 

Verum  ubi  Scythici  oceani  gurgitem  profundum 

navis  secueris,  ulteriusque  ad  mare  orientale  deflexeris, 

iter  tibi  Auream  insulam  adducit,  ubi 

solis  ipsius  ortus  conspicitur  purus.     (587-590.) 

Post  hunc  propter  Jaxai-tis  cursus  Sacse  habitant 

sagittiferi,  quos  baud  facile  alius  refutaverit 

Sagittarius,  quippe  quibus  non  sit  fas  irrita  jaculari, 

et  Tochari  Phrunique  et  barbaras  Serum  nationes, 

qui  boves  pinguesque  oves  detrectant, 

sed  versicolores  vastae  regionis  fiores  intexunt 

ac  vestes  multa  arte  conficiunt  pretiosas, 

quae  colore  pratensis  herbae  honorem  referant, 

ut  ne  opus  quidem  aranearum  cum  illis  certet.     (749-7570 

FROM    RUFUS    FESTUS    AVIENUS^. 

(4th  Century.) 

Descripfio  Orbis  Terrcp. 

.  .  .  Turn  cyaneis  erepit  ab  undis 

insula,  quae  prisci  signatur  nominis  usu 

Aurea,  quod  fulvo  sol  hie  magis  orbe  rubescat.     (769-771.) 

.  .  .  Inde  cruenti 

sunt  Tochari,  Phrunique  truces,  et  inhospita  Seres 
arva  habitant.     Gregibus  permixti  oviumque  boumque 
vellera  per  silvas  Seres  nemoralia  carpunt.     (933-936.) 

FROM    PRISCIANUS«. 
(Beginning  4th  Century.) 

Periegesis. 

At  navem  pelago  flectenti  aquilonis  ab  oris 

ad  solem  calido  referentem  lumen  ab  ortu 

Aurea  spectetur  tibi  pinguibus  insula  glebis.     (592-594.) 

Inde  Sacae  nimium  certis  gens  mira  sagittis, 

fiumen  laxartem  juxta  quibus  arva  coluntur  ; 

et  Tochari  Phrurique  et  plurima  millia  Serum  : 

illis  nulla  boum,  pecoris  nee  pascua  curse, 

vestibus  utuntur,  texunt  quas  floribus  ipsi, 

quos  tenuant  lectos  desertis  finibus  ipsi.     (725-730.) 

^  Geographi  Gresci   Minores,.  .  .ill.    C.    Miillerus,   ii,    1861,    pp.    141 
151-2. 

2  Geographi  Grceci  Minores,.  .  .ill.  C.  Miillerus,  ii,  1861,  pp.  184,  185. 
^  Geographi  Gresci  Minores,.  .  .ill.  C.  Miillerus,  ii,  1861,  pp.  195,  196. 


202  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


NOTE    V. 

FROM    THE    ITINERARY    OF    GREECE    OF 
PAUSANIAS. 

(Circa  a.d.   174.) 

"  Now,  the  Land  of  Elis  is  not  merely  fruitful  in  other  products, 
but  also,  and  it  is  not  the  least  of  them,  in  Byssus'^.  Hemp  and 
flax  and  byssus  are  sown  by  such  as  have  soils  appropriate  to  the 
cultivation  of  each.  But  the  filaments  from  which  the  Seres 
make  their  stuffs  are  the  growth  of  no  plant,  but  are  produced  in 
quite  another  manner  ;  and  thus  it  is.  There  exists  in  their 
country  a  certain  insect  which  the  Greeks  call  Ser  ;  but  by  the 
Seres  it  is  not  called  Ser,  but  something  quite  different.  In  size 
'tis  twice  as  big  as  the  biggest  of  beetles  :  but,  in  other  respects, 
it  resembles  the  spiders  that  spin  under  trees  ;  and,  moreover,  it 
has  eight  legs  as  spiders  have.  The  Seres  keep  these  creatures, 
and  make  houses  for  their  shelter  adapted  to  summer  and  winter 
respectively.  And  the  substance  wrought  by  these  insects  is 
found  in  the  shape  of  a  slender  filament  entangled  about  their 
legs.  The  people  feed  them  for  about  four  years  upon  millet, 
and  in  the  fifth  year  (for  they  know  that  the  creatures  will  not  live 
longer  than  that)  they  give  them  a  kind  of  green  reed  to  eat. 
This  is  the  food  that  the  insect  likes  best  of  all ;  and  it  crams 
itself  with  it  to  such  an  extent  that  it  bursts  from  repletion. 
And  when  it  is  thus  dead,  they  find  the  bulk  of  what  it  has  spun 
in  its  inside^. 

"  Now,  Seria  is  known  to  be  an  island  in  a  recess  of  the 
Erythraean  Sea.  But  I  have  been  told  that  it  is  not  the  Erythraean 
Sea  which  makes  it  an  island,  but  a  river  which  they  call  Ser, 
just  as  the  Delta  of  Egypt  is  isolated  by  the  Nile  and  not  by  a 
sea  compassing  it  all  round.  And  these  Seres  are  of  the  Ethiopic 
race  ;  and  they  hold  also  the  adjoining  islands.  Abas  a  and  Sakaia. 
Yet  others  say  that  they  are  not  Ethiopians  at  all,  but  a  cross 
between  the  Scythians  and  the  Indians.  This  is  what  they  tell 
of  these  matters  "  (vi,  26). 

1  Cotton  ? 

^  Erroneous  as  this  account  is,  it  looks  as  if  it  had  come  originally 
from  real  information,  though  afterwards  misunderstood  and  perverted. 
The  "  shelter  adapted  to  winter  and  summer  "  seems  to  point  to  the 
care  taken  by  the  Chinese  in  regulating  the  heat  of  the  silk-houses  ; 
the  "  five  years  "  may  have  been  a  misunderstanding  of  the  five  ages 
of  the  .silkworm's  life  marked  by  its  four  moultings  ;  the  reed  given  it 
to  eat  when  the  spinning  .season  has  come  may  refer  to  the  strip  of  rush 
with  which  the  Chinese  form  receptacles  for  the  worms  to  spin  in  (see 
Lardner's  Cyc.  Silk  Manufacture,  p.  126). 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  203 

NOTE   VI. 

FROM    THE    HISTORY    OF   AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS. 

(Circa  a.d.  380.) 

"  Beyond  these  regions  of  the  two  Scythias,  towards  the  east, 
a  circhng  and  continuous  barrier  of  lofty  mountains  fences  round 
the  Seres,  who  dwell  thus  secure  in  their  rich  and  spacious  plains. 
On  the  west  they  come  in  contact  with  the  Scythians  ;  on  the 
north  and  east  they  are  bounded  by  solitary  regions  of  snow  :  on 
the  south,  they  reach  as  far  as  India  and  the  Ganges.  The 
mountains  of  which  we  have  spoken  are  called  Anniva  and  Naza- 
vicium  and  Asmira  and  Emodon  and  Opurocarra^.  And  these 
plains,  thus  compassed  on  all  sides  by  precipitous  steeps,  are 
traversed  by  two  famous  rivers,  CEchardes  and  Bautis,  winding 
with  gentle  current  through  the  spacious  level ;  whilst  the  Seres 
themselves  pass  through  life  still  more  tranquilly,  ever  keeping 
clear  of  arms  and  war.  And  being  of  that  sedate  and  peaceful 
temper  whose  greatest  delight  is  a  quiet  life,  they  give  trouble  to 
none  of  their  neighbours.  They  have  a  charming  climate,  and 
air  of  healthy  temper  ;  the  face  of  their  sky  is  unclouded  ;  their 
breezes  blow  with  serviceable  moderation ;  their  forests  are 
spacious,  and  shut  out  the  glare  of  day. 

"  The  trees  of  these  forests  furnish  a  product  of  a  fleecy  kind, 
so  to  speak,  which  they  ply  with  frequent  waterings,  and  then 
card  out  in  fine  and  slender  threads,  half  woolly  fibre,  half  viscid 
filament.  Spinning  these  fibres  they  manufacture  silk,  the  use  of 
which  once  confined  to  our  nobility  has  now  spread  to  all  classes 
without  distinction,  even  to  the  lowest.  Those  Seres  are  frugal 
in  their  habits  beyond  other  men,  and  study  to  pass  their  lives  in 
peace,  shunning  association  with  the  rest  of  mankind.  So  when 
foreigners  pass  the  river  on  their  frontier  to  buy  their  silk  or  other 
wares,  the  bargain  is  settled  by  the  eyes  alone  with  no  exchange  of 
words.  And  so  free  are  they  from  wants  that,  though  ready  to 
dispose  of  their  own  products,  they  purchase  none  from  abroad  " 
(xxiii,  6). 


NOTE   VII. 

THE    INTRODUCTION    OF    THE    SILK-WORM    INTO 

THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE,    FROM    PROCOPIUS,    DE 

BELLO    GOTH  I  CO. 

(a.d.  500-565.) 

"  About  the  same  time  certain  monks  arrived  from  the  (country 
of  the)  Indians,  and  learning  that  the  Emperor  Justinian  had  it 

^  Read     "  Anniba,     Auxacius,  Asmiraeus,  Emodon,  and     Ottoro- 
corrhas."     See  extract  from  Ptolemy,  supra,  p.   195. 


204  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

much  at  heart  that  the  Romans  should  no  longer  buy  silk  from 
the  Persians,  they  came  to  the  king  and  promised  that  they  would 
so  manage  about  silk  that  the  Romans  should  not  have  to  purchase 
the  article  either  from  the  Persians  or  from  any  other  nation  ; 
for  they  had  lived,  they  said,  a  long  time  in  a  country  where  there 
were  many  nations  of  the  Indians,  and  Avhich  goes  by  the  name  of 
Serinda.  And  when  there  they  had  made  themselves  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  way  in  which  silk  might  be  produced  in  the 
Roman  territory.  And  when  the  emperor  questioned  them  very 
closely,  and  asked  how  they  could  guarantee  success  in  the 
business,  the  monks  told  him  that  the  agents  in  the  production 
of  silk  were  certain  caterpillars,  working  under  the  teaching  of 
nature,  which  continually  urged  them  to  their  task.  To  bring 
live  caterpillars  indeed  from  that  country  would  be  impracticable, 
but  arrangements  might  be  made  for  hatching  them  easily  and 
expeditiously.  For  the  eggs  produced  at  a  birth  by  one  of  those 
worms  were  innumerable  ;  and  it  was  possible  to  hatch  these  eggs 
long  after  they  had  been  laid,  by  covering  them  with  dung,  which 
produced  sufficient  heat  for  the  purpose.  When  they  had  given 
these  explanations,  the  emperor  made  them  large  promises  of 
reward  if  they  would  only  verify  their  assertions  by  carrying  the 
thing  into  execution.  And  so  they  went  back  again  to  India  and 
brought  a  supply  of  the  eggs  to  Byzantium.  And  having  treated 
them  just  as  they  had  said,  they  succeeded  in  developing  the 
caterpillars,  which  they  fed  upon  mulberry  leaves.  And  from  this 
beginning  originated  the  establishment  of  silk-culture  in  the 
Roman  territory  "   (iv,   17). 

Zonaras  {Annals,  xiv,  vol.  ii,  p.  69  of  Paris  ed.  1687),  in  relating 
this  story  after  Procopius,  says  that  till  this  occurred  the  Romans 
did  not  know  how  silk  was  produced,  nor  even  that  it  was  spun  by 
worms. 

The  same    as  told  by  Theophanes  of  Byzantium. 

(End  of  sixth  century.) 

"  Now  in  the  reign  of  Justinian  a  certain  Persian  exhibited  in 
Byzantium  the  mode  in  which  (silk)  worms  were  hatched,  a  thing 
which  the  Romans  had  never  known  before.  This  Persian  on 
coming  away  from  the  country  of  the  Seres  had  taken  with  him 
the  eggs  of  these  worms  (concealed)  in  a  walking-stick,  and 
succeeded  in  bringing  them  safely  to  Byzantium.  In  the  beginning 
of  spring  he  put  out  the  eggs  upon  the  mulberry  leaves  which  form 
their  food  ;  and  the  worms  feeding  upon  those  leaves  developed 
into  winged  insects  and  performed  their  other  operations.  After- 
wards when  the  Emperor  Justinian  showed  the  Turks  the  manner 
in  which  the  worms  were  hatched,  and  the  silk  which  they  pro- 
duced, he  astonished  them  greatly.  For  at  that  time  the  Turks 
were  in  possession  of  the  marts  and  ports  frequented  by  the  Seres, 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES  205 

which  had  been  formerly  in  the  possession  of  the  Persians.  For 
when  Ephthalanus  King  of  the  Ephthahtes  (from  whom  indeed  the 
race  derived  that  name)  conquered  Perozes  and  the  Persians,  these 
latter  were  deprived  of  their  places,  and  the  Ephthahtes  became 
possessed  of  them^.  But  somewhat  later  the  Turks  again  con- 
quered the  Ephthahtes  and  took  the  places  from  them  in  turn." 
In  Miiller's  Fragmenta  Histor.  Grcec,  iv,  270. 


NOTE   VIII. 

EXTRACTS  REGARDING  INTERCOURSE  BETWEEN  THE 
TURKISH  KHANS  AND  THE  BYZANTINE  EMPERORS. 

From  the  Fragments  of  Menander  Protector. 

(End  of  sixth  century.) 

"  In  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  year  of  the  Emperor  Justin 
[568]  an  embassy  from  the  Turks  arrived  at  Byzantium  ;  and  it 
came  about  thus.  The  power  of  the  Turks  had  now  grown  to 
a  great  pitch,  and  the  people  of  Sogdia  who  had  formerly  been 
subject  to  the  Ephthahtes ^  but  were  now  under  the  Turks, 
besought  the  king  to  send  an  embassy  to  the  Persians,  in  order 
to  obtain  permission  for  them  to  carry  silk  for  sale  into  Persia. 
Dizabulus^   consented    to    send    an    embassy    of   Sogdians,    and 

^  Perozes  (Firoz)  reigned  458-484.  The  circumstances  as  gathered 
from  other  Greek  writers  are  set  forth  in  Lassen,  ii,  773. 

The  mention  here  of  the  "  ports  frequented  by  the  Seres  "  is  remark- 
able, and  I  believe  the  only  indication  of  the  Seres  (under  that  name) 
as  a  sea-faring  people.  //  the  expression  can  be  depended  on,  the  ports 
in  question  must  have  been  in  Sind.  We  have  seen  that  a  record  of 
the  Chinese  trade  to  Sind  at  a  date  somewhat  later  exists  {supra,  p.  87). 
This  passage  then  becomes  a  final  link  of  identification  between  Seres 
and  Chinese. 

2  [The  Hephthalites  or  Ephthahtes,  known  as  the  White  Huns, 
derive  their  name  from  their  chief  Y e-tai-i-li-t' o ,  who  sent  an  embassy 
to  China  in  516.  The  Chinese  Historians  say  that  the  Ye  ta  (Ephtha- 
htes) were  of  the  race  of  the  Ta  Yue-chi,  came  from  Kin  shan  (Altai), 
and  settled  west  of  Yu  t'ien  (Khotan).  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  they 
were  a  branch  of  the  Ta  Yue-chi.  They  were  at  first  a  small  people  called 
Hoa,  subject  to  the  Juan  Juan ;  they  grew  in  importance  during  the 
fifth  century  and  became  the  neighbours  of  the  Persians  ;  Talikhan, 
west  of  Balkh,  being  the  frontier  town  between  the  two  nations  in  500. 
The  capital  of  the  Ephthahtes  was  Bamyin  (Badhaghis)  (Pai-ti-yen), 
near  Herat.  We  saw  that  the  Ephthahtes  were  destroyed  by  the 
Western  Turks  between  563  and  567.  [See  supra,  p.  59.] — Specht, 
Etudes  sur  I'Asie  centrale,  J.  As.,   1883.     Chavannes,   Tou-Kiue.] 

3  The  Great  Khan  of  the  Turks  at  this  time,  according  to  the  Chinese 
histories,  was  Mohan.  There  was  also  a  great  chief  called  by  these 
authorities  Titeupuli,  who  is  mentioned  as  joining  Mokan  Khan  in  an 
expedition  to  China  a  few  years  before  this  time.  It  is  difiicult  not  to 
identify  this  name  with  that  of  Dizabulus,  but  the  latter  is  so  distinctly 
represented  as  the  supreme  chief  that  Deguignes  hesitates  whether  to 


206  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Maniach  was  put  at  the  head  of  the  mission.  So  they  presented 
themselves  before  the  Persian  king,  and  solicited  permission  to  carry 
on  their  silk  trade  without  obstruction.  The  King  of  the  Persians, 
however,  was  not  at  all  pleased  at  the  notion  that  the  Turks 
should  have  free  access  from  that  side  into  the  Persian  territories, 
and  so  he  put  them  off  till  the  morrow,  and  when  the  morrow 
came  again  deferred  reply.  After  he  had  thus  staved  off  the 
matter  for  a  length  of  time  on  one  pretext  or  other,  the  solicita- 
tions of  the  Sogdian  people  became  very  importunate,  and  at  last 
Khosroes  called  a  council  where  the  matter  was  brought  up  for 
consideration.  And  then  that  same  Ephthalite  Katulphus,  who, 
in  revenge  for  the  king's  ravishing  his  wife,  had  betrayed  his 
nation  to  the  Turks,  and  who  had  on  that  account  abandoned  his 
country  and  taken  up  with  the  Medes,  exhorted  the  Persian  king 
on  no  account  to  let  the  silk  have  free  passage,  but  to  have  a  price 
put  upon  it,  buy  it  up,  and  have  it  burnt  in  the  presence  of  the 
ambassadors.  It  would  thus  be  seen  that  though  he  would  do 
no  injustice,  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  silk  of  the 
Turks.  So  the  silk  was  put  into  the  fire  and  the  ambassadors 
turned  homeward,  anything  but  pleased  with  the  result  of  their 
journey,  and  related  to  Dizabulus  what  had  taken  place.  He 
was,  however,  exceedingly  desirous  to  obtain  the  good  will  of  the 
Persians  for  his  government,  so  he  immediately  despatched  a 
second  embassy.  When  this  second  Turkish  embassy  arrived  at 
the  Persian  court,  the  king,  with  the  Persian  ministers  and 
Katulphus,  came  to  the '  conclusion  that  it  would  be  highly 
inexpedient  for  the  Persians  to  enter  into  friendly  relations  with 
the  Turks,  for  the  whole  race  of  the  Scythians  was  one  not  to  be 
trusted.  So  he  ordered  some  of  the  ambassadors  to  be  taken  off 
by  a  deadly  poison,  in  order  to  prevent  any  more  such  missions 
from  coming.  Most  of  the  Turkish  envoys  accordingly,  in  fact 
all  but  three  or  four,  were  put  an  end  to  by  a  deadly  poison  which 
wasmixt  with  their  food,  whilst  the  king  caused  it  to  be  whispered 
about  among  the  Persians  that  the  Turkish  ambassadors  had  died 
of  the  suffocating  dry  heat  of  the  Persian  climate  ;    for  their  own 

identify  him  with  Mokan  or  Titeupuli  (ii,  380-5).  [Prof.  Chavannes, 
Tou-Kiiie,  pp.  227-8,  has  a  paragraph  on  the  name  Silzibul  (Dizabul) 
which  he  derives  from  the  proper  name  Sin  and  the  title  jabgu  {Sin 
jabgu) ;  Marquart,  £ransahr,  p.  216,  in  Silzibul  sees  Syr-jabgu,  the  people 
of  the  Syr  Country.] 

Another  of  the  fragments  of  Menander  contains  an  account  of  the 
embassy  of  Valentine  who  was  sent  some  twelve  years  later  by  the 
Emperor  Tiberius  II.  In  this  occur  the  names  of  Tardu  and  Bochanos, 
two  Turkish  chiefs  who  appear  in  the  Chinese  Annals  as  Ta  t'eu  Khan 
and  Apo  Khan  (see  Deguignes  i,  226,  227  ;  ii,  395,  463).  [The  Western 
Turks  (see  above,  p.  58)  had  for  ancestor  T'u  wu,  grandson  of  Na-tu-lu  ; 
his  two  sons  were  T'u  men  and  She-tic-mi:  Ta  t'eu  kagan  (Tardu)  was 
the  son  of  She-tie  mi  (Dizabul).  Mu  han  or  Se  kin  who  died  c.  572 
after  reigning  twenty  years  was  a  son  of  T'u  men  ;  Mu  han's  son  was 
Ta  lo  pien  or  Apo  Kagan.     See  Chavannes,  Tou-Kiue,  pp.  47  seq.'\ 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  207 

country  was  subject  to  frequent  falls  of  snow,  and  they  could  not 
exist  except  in  a  cold  climate.  Dizabulus,  however,  a  sharp  and 
astute  person,  was  not  ignorant  of  the  real  state  of  the  case. 
And  so  this  was  the  origin  of  ill-will  between  the  Turks  and  the 
Persians.  Maniach,  who  was  chief  of  the  people  of  Sogdia,  took 
the  opportunity  of  suggesting  to  Dizabulus  that  it  would  be 
more  for  the  interest  of  the  Turks  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of 
the  Romans,  and  to  transfer  the  sale  of  silk  to  them,  seeing  also 
that  they  consumed  it  more  largely  than  any  other  people.  And 
Maniach  added  that  he  was  quite  ready  to  accompany  a  party  of 
Turkish  ambassadors,  in  order  to  promote  the  establishment  of 
friendly  relations  between  the  Turks  and  the  Romans.  Dizabulus 
approved  of  the  suggestion,  and  despatched  Maniach  with  some 
others  as  ambassadors  carrying  complimentary  salutations,  with 
a  present  of  silk  to  no  small  value,  and  letters  to  the  Roman 
Emperor.  So  Maniach.  .  .at  last  arrived  at  Byzantium,  and  pre- 
senting himself  at  the  court,  conducted  himself  before  the  Emperor 
in  accordance  with  the  obligations  of  friendship,  and  when  he 
had  made  over  the  letter  and  presents  to  the  proper  officers, 
prayed  that  all  the  toils  of  his  long  journey  might  not  have  been 
wasted.  The  Emperor  when  he  had  by  aid  of  the  interpreters 
read  the  letter,  which  was  written  in  Scythian,  gave  a  gracious 
reception  to  the  embassy,  and  then  put  questions  to  them  about 
the  government  and  country  of  the  Turks.  They  told  him  that 
there  were  four  chiefs,  but  that  the  supreme  authority  over  the 
whole  nation  rested  with  Dizabulus.  They  also  related  how  he 
had  subdued  the  Ephthalites  and  even  made  them  pay  tribute. 
Then  said  the  Emperor,  '  Has  then  the  whole  power  of  the 
Ephthalites  been  overthrown  ?  '  '  Altogether,'  answered  the  en- 
voys. Again  the  Emperor  :  '  Did  the  Ephthalites  live  in  cities 
or  villages  or  how  ?  '  The  Envoys  :  '  They  are  a  people  who  live 
in  cities,  O  king.'  '  Is  it  not  of  course  then,'  said  the  Emperor, 
'  that  you  are  become  masters  of  all  their  cities  ?  ' .  .  .  The  ambassa- 
dors having  counted  up  to  the  Emperor  all  the  nations  who  were 
subject  to  the  Turks,  begged  him  to  give  his  sanction  to  the 
establishment  of  amity  and  alliance  between  the  two  nations, 
and  said  that  on  their  part  they  would  always  be  ready  to  attack 
the  enemies  of  the  Roman  power  wherever  they  might  show 
themselves  in  their  part  of  the  world.  And  as  he  said  this 
Maniach  and  his  companions  raised  their  hands  and  swore  a  great 
oath  that  they  were  speaking  with  their  whole  hearts,  and  invoked 
curses  on  themselves  and  on  Dizabulus,  and  on  all  the  nation,  if 
their  promises  were  not  true  and  such  as  they  would  carry  out. 
And  thus  it  was  that  the  nation  of  the  Turks  became  friends  with 
the  Romans."         ********* 

{Another  Fragment.) 
"  Now  Justin,  when  the  Turks,  who  were  anciently  called 


208  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Sacae,  had  sent  to  arrange  a  treaty  with  him,  resolved  to  send 
them  an  embassy  also.  So  he  ordered  Zemarchus  the  Cilician, 
who  was  then  Praefect  of  the  cities  of  the  East,  to  prepare  for  this. 
And  when  he  had  got  everything  ready  that  he  required  for  so 
long  a  journey,  which  was  towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  year  of 
the  reign  of  Justin,  in  the  month  which  the  Latins  call  August, 
Zemarchus  started  from  Byzantium  with  Maniach  himself  and  his 
company."         ***** 

(Another.) 

"  After  accomplishing  a  journey  of  many  days,  Zemarchus  and 
his  party  arrived  in  the  territories  of  the  Sogdians.  And  as  they 
dismounted  from  their  horses  certain  Turks,  sent  as  it  seemed  for 
that  purpose,  presented  some  iron  which  they  offered  for  sale  ; 
this  being,  I  fancy,  in  order  to  show  that  they  had  mines  of  iron 
in  their  country.  For  the  manufacture  of  iron  is  reckoned  among 
them  to  be  by  no  means  an  easy  art ;  and  we  may  guess  that  this 
was  a  kind  of  brag  by  which  they  intended  to  indicate  that  theirs 
was  a  country  in  which  iron  was  produced^.  Some  others  of  the 
tribe  also  showed  off  their  performances  (in  a  different  line). 
These,  announcing  themselves  as  the  conjurors  away  of  evil  omens, 
came  up  to  Zemarchus  and  taking  all  the  baggage  of  the  party  set 
it  down  in  the  middle.  They  then  began  ringing  a  bell  and  beating 
a  kind  of  drum  over  the  baggage,  whilst  some  ran  round  it  carrying 
leaves  of  burning  incense  flaming  and  crackling,  and  raged  about 
like  maniacs,  gesticulating  as  if  repelling  evil  spirits.  Carrying 
on  this  exorcism  of  evil  as  they  considered  it,  they  made  Zemarchus 
himself  also  pass  through  the  fire,  and  in  the  same  manner  they 
appeared  to  perform  an  act  of  purification  for  themselves  2.     After 

1  It  may  have  had  a  different  import.  For  according  to  the  Chinese 
authority  followed  by  Deguignes,  the  tribe  which  founded  the  Turkish 
power  shortly  before  this  time  had  long  inhabited  the  Altai,  where  they 
worked  as  smiths  for  the  service  of  the  Khan  of  the  Geu-gen  or  Juan- 
Juan  ;  and  the  Khans  of  the  Turks  instituted  in  memory  of  their  origin 
the  ceremony  of  annually  forging  a  piece  of  iron.  The  presentation  of 
iron  to  the  Byzantine  envoys  may  have  had  some  kindred  signification 
(Deguignes,  ii,  350,  373).  [The  Juan-Juan  who  became  very  powerful 
during  the  fifth  century  were  defeated  by  the  Turks  in  552  ;  they  took 
refuge,  part  of  them  at  the  court  of  the  Wei  Sovereigns  in  China  ; 
the  others  at  Byzantium.  They  are  known  in  Western  History  as  the 
Avars.     See  Chavannes,  Tou-Ktue,  p.  230.] 

2  When  Piano  Carpini  and  his  companions  came  to  the  camp  of  Batu 
they  were  told  that  they  must  pass  between  two  fires,  because  this  would 
neutralise  any  mischievous  intentions  they  might  entertain,  or  poison 
that  they  might  be  carrying.  And  in  another  place  the  traveller  says  : 
"  To  be  brief,  they  believe  that  by  fire  all  things  are  purified.  Hence 
when  envoys  come  to  them,  or  chiefs,  or  any  other  persons  whatever, 
they  and  the  presents  they  bring  must  pass  between  two  fires,  to  prevent 
their  working  any  witchcraft  or  bringing  any  poison  or  evil  thing  with 
them  "  (p.  744  and  p.  627).  In  the  French  note  which  Buscarel,  the 
ambassador  in   1289  of  Arghun   Khan  of   Persia,  presented  with  his 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  209 

these  performances  the  party  proceeded  with  those  who  had  been, 
sent  to  receive  them  to  the  place  where  the  Khagan  was,  in  a 
certain  mountain  called  Ectag,  or  as  a  Greek  would  say  '  the 
Golden  Mountain.'  And  when  they  got  there  they  found  the 
camp  of  Dizabulus  in  a  certain  hollow  encompassed  by  the 
Golden  Mountain^.  The  party  of  Zemarchus  on  their  arrival 
were  immediately  summoned  to  an  interview  with  Dizabulus .  They 
found  him  in  his  tent,  seated  on  a  golden  chair  with  two  wheels, 
which  could  be  drawn  by  one  horse  when  required.  Then  they 
addressed  the  Barbarian  in  accordance  with  the  fashion  of  those 
people,  and  laid  the  presents  before  him,  which  were  taken  charge 
of  by  those  whose  office  it  was.  Zemarchus  then  made  a  polite 
speech  [which  may  be  omitted],  and  Dizabulus  replied  in  like 
manner.  Next  they  were  called  to  a  feast,  and  passed  the  whole 
day  in  conviviality  in  the  tent.  Now  this  tent  was  furnished  with 
silken  hangings  of  various  colours  artfully  wrought.  They  were 
supplied  with  wine,  not  pressed  from  the  grape  like  ours,  for  their 
country  does  not  produce  the  vine,  nor  is  it  customary  among  them 
to  use  grape  wine  ;  but  what  they  got  to  drink  was  some  other 
kind  of  barbarian  liquor^.  And  at  last  they  departed  to  the  place 
assigned  for  their  quarters.  Next  day  again  they  assembled  in 
another  pavilion,  adorned  in  like  manner  with  rich  hangings  of 
silk,  in  which  figures  of  different  kinds  were  wrought.  Dizabulus 
was  seated  on  a  couch  that  was  all  of  gold^,  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  pavilion  were  drinking  vessels  and  fiagons  and  great  jars,  all 
of  gold*.  So  they  engaged  in  another  drinking  match,  talking 
and  listening  to  such  purpose  as  people  do  in  their  drink,  and  then 
separated^.     The    following   day   there   was    another   bout   in    a 

master's  letter  to  the  King  of  France  (both  of  which  are  preserved  in 
the  French  archives)  it  is  said  :  "  priant  vous  que  se  vous  11  envoiez 
yceuls  ou  autres  messages,  que  vous  vouliez  soufErir  et  commander  leur 
que  il  li  facent  tele  reverence  et  honneur  comme  coustume  et  usage  est 
en  sa  court  sanz  passer  feu."  (Remusat,  in  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  Insc,  vii,  432.) 

1  Ek'tag  or  Ak-tagh  would  be  "  White  Mountain."  The  Altai  or 
Golden  Mountain  of  the  Mongols,  which  was  the  original  seat  of  these 
Turks,  may  be  meant,  but  it  is  very  remote.  [See  Chavannes,  Tou-Kiue, 
p.  236.]  All  that  can  be  deduced  from  the  narrative  is  that  it  was 
beyond  Talas,  for  the  party  pass  that  place  on  their  march  towards 
Persia  (infra).  Simocatta  also  says  it  was  an  established  law  among 
the  Turks  that  the  Golden  Mountain  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  most 
powerful  Khagan  (vii,  8).     [See  p.  201.] 

2  No  donhtDarassun  ;  see  Shah  Rukh's  embassy  in  Note  XVII  infra. 
'  So  Rubruquis  describes  Batu  as  seated  "  on  a  long  broad  throne 

like  a  bed,  gilt  all  over  "  (p.  268). 

^  "  At  the  entrance  of  the  tent  there  was  a  bench  with  Cosmos 
(Kumis  or  fermented  mare's  milk),  and  great  goblets  of  gold  and  silver 
set  with  precious  stones  "  (Ibid.).     See  also  Shah  Rukh's  Embassy  infra. 

5  This  constant  drinking  corresponds  exactly  to  the  account  of  the 
habits  of  the  Mongol  court  in  Piano  Carpini  and  Rubruquis.  Thus  the 
former,  on  the  occasion  of  Kuyuk  Khan's  formal  inthroning,  says  that 

C.  Y.  C.   I.  14 


210  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

pavilion  supported  by  wooden  posts  covered  with  gold,  and  in 
which  there  was  a  gilded  throne  resting  on  four  golden  peacocks^. 
In  front  of  the  place  of  meeting  there  was  a  great  array  of  waggons, 
in  which  there  was  a  huge  quantity  of  silver  articles  consisting  of 
plates  and  dishes,  besides  numerous  figures  of  animals  in  silver, 
in  no  respect  inferior  to  our  own.  To  such  a  pitch  has  attained 
the  luxury  of  the  Turkish  Sovereign  ! 

"  And  whilst  Zemarchus  and  his  party  continued  there, 
Dizabulus  thought  proper  that  Zemarchus  with  twenty  of  his 
servants  and  followers  should  accompany  him  on  a  campaign 
against  the  Persians,  sending  the  rest  of  the  Romans  back  to  the 
land  of  the  Choliat^^  to  await  the  return  of  Zemarchus.  These 
last  Dizabulus  dismissed  with  presents  and  friendly  treatment ; 
and  at  the  same  time  he  honoured  Zemarchus  with  the  gift  of  a 
handmaiden,  one  of  those  called  Kherkhis,  who  was  the  captive 
of  his  spear^.  And  so  Zemarchus  went  with  Dizabulus  to  fight 
the  Persians.  Whilst  they  were  on  this  expedition,  as  they  were 
pitched  at  a  place  called  Talas,  an  ambassador  from  the  Persians 
came  to  meet  Dizabulus,  who  invited  him  to  dinner  as  well  as  the 
ambassador  of  the  Romans*.  When  the  party  had  met,  Dizabulus 
accorded  to  the  Roman  much  the  more  honourable  treatment, 
and  made  him  occupy  the  more  honourable  place  at  table.  More- 
over he  heaped   great  reproaches   on   the   Persians,   telling  the 

after  the  homage  had  been  done  "  they  began  to  drink,  and  as  their 
way  is,  continued  drinking  till  hour  of  vespers."  (p.  758.)  Rubruquis's 
account  of  his  residence  at  the  Court  of  Mangu  Khan  is  quite  redolent 
of  drink.  One  sees  how  Sultan  Baber  came  by  his  propensity  to  strong 
drink. 

1  Probably  the  lineal  predecessor  of  the  Peacock  Throne  of  Delhi. 

2  Or  ChliatcB.  The  Kallats  are  mentioned  with  the  Kanklis,  Kip- 
chaks,  and  Kharliks  as  four  Turkish  tribes  descended  from  the  Patriarch 
Oguz  Khan.     (Deguignes,  ii,  9.) 

Were  these  the  four  divisions  of  the  Turks  of  whom  Maniach  spoke 
to  the  Emperor  ? 

Deguignes,  however,  identifies  the  Chliatae  with  the  Kangli  who  lay 
north  of  the  country  between  the  Caspian  and  Aral  (ii,  388).  And  St. 
Martin  in  his  notes  on  Lebeau's  History  says  that  in  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries  the  Russians  called  the  Turk  and  Fin  nations  near 
the  Caspian  Khwalis,  and  knew  that  sea  as  the  Sea  of  Khwalis.  (Hist,  du 
Bus  Empire,  1828,  x,  61.) 

3  This  girl  might  be  either  Kirghiz  or  Circassian.  St.  Martin  thinks 
the  latter.     (lb.) 

*  Near  Talas  about  sixty  years  later  the  Chinese  pilgrim,  Hiuen 
Tsang,  on  his  way  to  India  fell  in  with  the  Great  Khan  of  the  Turks,  a 
successor  of  Dizabulus,  whom  the  Chinese  traveller  calls  Shehu.  His 
account  is  very  like  that  of  Zemarchus.  The  Khan  "  occupied  a  great 
tent  adorned  with  gold  flowers  of  dazzling  richness.  The  officers  of 
the  court  sat  in  two  long  rows  on  mats  before  the  Khan,  brilliantly 
attired  in  embroidered  silk  ;  the  Khan's  guard  standing  behind  them. 
Although  here  was  but  a  barbarian  prince  under  a  tent  of  felt,  one  could 
not  look  on  him  without  respect  and  admiration."  (H.  de  la  Vie  de  H. 
T.,  pp.  55-&-) 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  211 

injuries  he  had  received  at  their  hands,  and  how  he  was  coming 
on  that  account  to  attack  them^.  So  as  the  abuse  of  Dizabulus 
waxed  more  and  more  violent,  the  Persian  envoy,  casting  off  all 
regard  for  that  etiquette  of  theirs  which  imposes  silence  at  feasts, 
began  to  speak  with  heat,  and  in  the  most  spirited  manner  to 
refute  the  charges  of  Dizabulus  ;  insomuch  that  all  the  company- 
wondered  at  the  way  in  which  he  gave  rein  to  his  wrath.  For, 
contrary  to  all  rule,  he  used  all  sorts  of  intemperate  expres- 
sions. 

"  And  in  this  state  of  things  the  party  broke  up  and  Dizabulus 
prosecuted  his  preparations  against  the  Persians.  And  then  he 
summoned  Zemarchus  and  his  party,  and  when  they  had  presented 
themselves  he  renewed  his  declarations  of  friendship  for  the  Romans 
and  gave  them  their  dismissal  homewards,  sending  also  with  them 
another  embassy.  Now  Maniach  the  leader  of  the  former  embassy 
was  dead,  and  the  name  of  the  one  next  in  rank  was  Tagma,  with 
the  dignity  of  Tarchan^.  So  this  personage  was  sent  by  Dizabulus 
as  ambassador  to  the  Romans,  and  along  with  him  the  son  of  the 
deceased,  I  mean  of  Maniach.  This  was  quite  a  young  fellow, 
but  he  had  succeeded  to  his  father's  honours,  and  obtained  the 
next  place  in  rank  to  Tagma  Tarchan.  *  *  *  * 

"  Now  when  the  rumour  spread  through  Turkey^  and  among 
the  neighbouring  nations  how  ambassadors  from  the  Romans  were 
among  them,  and  were  going  back  to  Byzantium  accompanied  by 
a  Turkish  embassy,  the  chief  of  the  tribes  in  that  quarter  sent 
a  request  to  Dizabulus  that  he  might  be  allowed  also  to  send  some 
of  his  own  people  to  see  the  Roman  state.  And  Dizabulus  granted 
permission.  Then  other  chiefs  of  the  tribes  made  the  same 
petition,  but  he  would  grant  leave  to  none  except  the  chief  of 
the  Choliatee.  So  the  Romans  taking  the  latter  with  them  across 
the  River  Oech,  after  a  long  journey  came  to  that  huge  wide 
lagoon*.  Here  Zemarchus  halted  for  three  days  and  sent  off 
George,  whose  business  it  was  to  carry  expresses,  to  announce  to 
the  Emperor  the  return  of  the  party  from  the  Turks.  So  George 
with  a  dozen  Turks  set  out  for  Byzantium  by  a  route  which  was 
without  water,  and  altogether  desert,  but  was  the  shortest  way. 
Zemarchus  then  travelled  for  twelve  days  along  the  sandy  shores 
of  the  Lagoon,  and  having  to  cross  some  very  difficult  places. 


^  A  curious  parallel  to  the  scene  at  Samarkand,  related  by  Clavijo 
(supra,  p.  174),  where  Timur  takes  the  place  of  Dizabulus,  the 
Castilian  envoy  that  of  Zemarchus,  and  the  Chinese  ambassador  that  of 
the  Persian. 

2  See  III,  pp.  146-7  w.  infra.     [Cf.  Chavannes,  Tou-Kiue,  p.  239.] 

3  "  Kara  ttjv  TovpKiav." 

*  If  this  was  the  Aral  we  may  suppose  the  Oech  to  be  the  Sir  or 
Jaxartes.  But  this  is  scarcely  consistent  with  the  position  assigned  to 
the  Chliatae. 

14 — z 


212  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

came  to  the  streams  of  the  River  Ich^,  and  then  to  the  Daich^, 
and  then  by  other  swampy  tracts  to  the  Attila^,  and  then  again 
to  the  land  of  the  Ugurs*.  And  these  sent  to  say  that  four 
thousand  Persians  were  stationed  in  ambuscade  in  the  bush  about 
the  River  Kophen  ^  to  lay  hands  on  the  party  as  it  passed/'  etc., 
etc. 

Zemarchus  escapes  the  Persians,  and  after  visiting  the  chief 
of  the  Alans  gets  to  the  Phasis,  and  so  to  Trebizond,  whence  he 
rode  post  to  Byzantium.  (From  Miiller's  Fragmenta  Histor. 
GrcBC,  iv,  p.  235.) 


NOTE   IX. 

EXTRACTS   FROM  THE    TOPOGRAPHIA    CHRISTIANA 
OF   COSMAS  THE  MONK. 

(Circa  545.) 

I.  "  But,  as  is  said  by  those  who  are  without^,  in  discoursing 
of  this  matter  (and  here  they  speak  truth) ,  there  are  on  this  earth 
four  gulfs  which  enter  the  land  from  the  ocean  ;  to  wit,  this  one 
of  ours  which  penetrates  the  land  from  the  west  side,  and  extends 
from  Gades''  right  through  Romania^;  then  the  Arabian  Gulf 
called  also  Erythraean*  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  both  which  are  off- 
shoots from  that  of  Zinj,  and  penetrate  the  southern  and  eastern 
side  of  the  earth  over  against  the  region  called  Barbary,  which 
forms  the  extremity  of  the  land  of  Ethiopia^".     And  those  who 

1  Probably  the  Emba.  It  appears  to  be  called  Tic  by  Sharifuddin 
(Petis  de  la  Croix,  ii,  95,  129). 

2  The  Ural  or  laik,  called  by  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  Ve-ox- 
{De  Administ.  Imper.,  cap.  xxxvii.) 

3  The  Athil  or  Volga. 

*  On  these  Ugurs,  see  Vivien  St.  Martin  in  TV.  Annates  des  Voyages 
for  1848,  iv. 

^  Kuban  I  presume. 

^  Oi  f^bidev,  meaning  those  who  are  not  Christians. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  book  is  illustrated  with  sketches  and 
diagrams,  the  originals  of  which  would  appear  to  have  been  drawn  by 
Cosmas  himself. 

'  Gadeira  (M-^Crindle). 

8  [Romania  =  Rome,  J.  W.  M^Crindle,  who  quotes,  p.  38,  the  following 
note  of  Montfaucon  (ii,  p.  132  w.)  :  "  Pwyotacta,  Romania,  hie  intelligitur 
terra  ilia  omnis,  quaj  ad  Romanam  ditionem  pertinebat.  Quo  item 
usu  Athanasius,  p.  364  &  Epiphanius,  p.  728,  'Pu/xavLav  memorant." 
The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages  in  his  own  editions  of  these  two  authors.] 

*  ["  The  Erythraean,  in  its  wider  sense,  includes  both  the  Arabian  and 
Persian  Gulfs,  beside  the  ocean  between  Africa  and  India."  (M'^Crindle, 
p.  38  n.)] 

1°  ["  Cosmas  is  here  in  agreement  with  the  author  of  the  Periplus 
who   makes   the   Aromatic   Cape   (Guardafui)   the    end    of   Barbaria : 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  213 

navigate  the  Indian  Sea  are  aware  that  Zinj'^,  as  it  is  called,  lies 
beyond  the  country  where  the  incense  grows,  which  is  called 
Barbary,  and  which  is  compassed  round  by  the  ocean  as  it  passes 
on  into  those  two  gulfs.  And  the  fourth  gulf  enters  from  the  north 
side  of  the  earth,  further  to  the  east,  and  is  called  the  Caspian  or 
Hircanian  Sea^.  Now  navigation  is  confined  to  these  gulfs  only. 
The  ocean  it  is  impossible  to  navigate,  on  account  of  the  multitude 
of  currents  and  the  fogs  that  rise  and  obstruct  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
and  because  of  its  vast  extent.  These  things,  then,  I  have  made 
known  as  I  received  them  from  the  Man  of  God  (as  has  been 
mentioned)  ;  or  indeed,  I  might  rather  say  in  this  case,  from  my 
own  experience.  For  I  myself,  for  purposes  of  trade,  have  sailed 
on  three  out  of  those  four  gulfs  ;  to  wit,  the  Roman,  the  Arabian, 
and  the  Persian  ;  and  I  have  got  accurate  information  about  the 
different  places  on  them  from  the  natives  as  well  as  from  sea- 
faring men. 

"  Once  upon  a  time,  when  we  were  sailing  to  Further  India^, 
we  had  crossed  over  within  a  little  way  of  Barbary,  beyond  which 
is  Zinj  (for  so  they  call  the  mouth  of  the  Ocean),  and  there  I  saw 
to  the  right  of  our  course  a  great  flight  of  the  birds  called  suspha'^. 
These  are  birds  twice  as  big  as  kites  and  somewhat  more.     And 

Te\evTo2ov  ttjs  ^ap^apiKrjs  TjTrfipov.  Ptolemy,  however,  makes  it  begin 
here,  and  extends  it  to  Rhaptum  in  the  Gulf  of  Zanguebar."  (M^Crindle, 
pp.  38-911.)] 

1  [On  Zinj  see  Reports  of  Miss.  Friars,  p.  183  note,  and  Marignolli, 
p.  324,  Int. — Montfaucon  has  the  following  note  {I.e.,  p.  132)  :  "  Zingium 
ex  sevi  sui  usu  vocat  Cosmas,  non  modo  fretum  Arabic!  sinus,  sed  etiam 
Oram  maritimam  Africanam  ultra  fretum;  itemque  mare  adjacens; 
quod  nomen  hodieque  perseverat  littus,  quippe  Zanguebaricum,  a 
freto  Arabic!  sinus,  pene  ad  usque  promontorium  Bonae  Spei,  quoti- 
dianis  Europaeorum  navigationibus  frequentatum,  ab  incolis  Zangui 
vocatur.     Zanguebar  enim  significat,  mare  Zangui."] 

2  ["  Cosmas  shared  the  error  prevalent  in  ancient  times,  that  the 
Caspian  was  not  a  land-locked  sea  but  was  a  gulf  of  the  great  ocean. 
Herodotus,  however,  is  not  chargeable  with  having  been  under  this 
delusion."     (M<^Crindle,  p.  39  w.)] 

"  Literally  "  Inner  India."  ["  This  generally  means  that  part  of 
India  which  lies  on  the  further  side  of  Cape  Comorin  or  of  the  Straits 
between  Ceylon  and  the  mainland.  But  as  the  name  of  India  was 
sometimes  applied  to  Southern  Arabia,  and  even  to  Eastern  Africa, 
India  as  lying  beyond  these  countries  may  be  here  meant.  John 
Malela,  or  Malala,  the  Byzantine  historian,  who  wrote  not  long  after 
the  time  of  Cosmas,  calls  both  of  them  India  :  '  At  this  time  it  happened 
that  the  Indians  warred  against  each  other,  those  called  Auxumites 
with  those  called  Homerites..  .  .The  Roman  traders  go  through  the 
Homerites  into  Auxume,  and  to  the  interior  kingdoms  of  the  Indians, 
for  there  are  seven  kingdoms  of  the  Indians  and  Ethiopians.'  Friar 
Jornandes  calls  Eastern  Africa  India  Tertia."  (J.  W.  M^^Crindle,  p.  39  n.) 
See  III,  p.  27  note,  Introductory  Notices,  Reports  of  Missionary  Friars.] 

*  ["  The  size  of  these  birds,  and  the  fact  afterwards  mentioned  that 
they  kept  flying  aloft,  might  indicate  them  to  be  albatrosses." 
(M'^Crindle,  p.  40  n.)] 


214  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

I  observed  that  in  that  quarter  there  were  signs  of  very  unsettled 
weather.  So  all  the  men  of  experience  on  board,  whether  mariners 
or  passengers,  began  to  say  that  we  were  getting  near  the  Ocean, 
and  so  they  called  out  to  the  steersman,  '  steer  the  ship  to  port, 
and  bear  up  into  the  gulf,  or  the  currents  will  sweep  us  into  the 
Ocean,  and  we  shall  be  lost.'  For  the  Ocean  driving  up  into  the 
gulf  was  creating  a  very  heavy  sea,  and  the  currents  from  the  gulf 
again  were  drifting  the  ship  towards  the  Ocean  ;  a  terrible  thing 
indeed  for  us  who  saw  what  was  happening,  and  in  great  fear 
were  we.  And  all  this  time  flocks  of  those  birds  called  suspha 
followed  us  flying  high  over  our  heads,  which  was  a  sign  that  the 
Ocean  was  nigh^."  (Book  ii,  p.  132. — Book  ii,  pp.  37-40,  in 
M^Crindle's  ed.) 

2.  "  For  if  Paradise  were  realty  on  the  surface  of  this  world, 
is  there  not  many  a  man  among  those  who  are  so  keen  to  learn 
and  search  out  everything,  that  would  not  let  himself  be  deterred 
from  reaching  it  ?  When  we  see  that  there  are  men  who  will  not 
be  deterred  from  penetrating  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  in  search 
of  silk^,  and  all  for  the  sake  of  filthy  lucre,  how  can  we  believe 
that  they  would  be  deterred  from  going  to  get  a  sight  of  Paradise  ? 
The  country  of  silk,  I  may  mention,  is  in  the  remotest  of  all  the 
Indies,  lying  towards  the  left  when  you  enter  the  Indian  Sea,  but 
a  vast  distance  farther  off  than  the  Persian  Gulf  or  that  island 
which  the  Indians  call  Selediba^  and  the  Greeks  Taprobane. 
TziNiTZA  is  the  name  of  the  country,  and  the  Ocean  compasses 
it  round  to  the  left,  just  as  the  same  Ocean  compasses  Barbary 
round  to  the  right.  And  the  Indian  philosophers,  called  Brach- 
mans,  tell  you  that  if  you  were  to  stretch  a  straight  cord  from 
Tzinitza  through  Persia  to  the  Roman  territory,  you  would  just 
divide  the  world  in  halves.     And  mayhap  they  are  right*. 

^  With  reference  to  the  terrors  of  the  Southern  Ocean  see  infra,  n, 
p.  160  note.  Edrisi  says  :  "  The  Ocean  Sea,  which  is  called  the  Dark 
Sea,  because  it  is  dark,  and  is  almost  always  in  commotion  with  violent 
winds,  and  covered  by  thick  fogs."     (i,  87.) 

2  [^teraf loj/ =  silk.  "  Sometimes  written  (U.aratioj' — a  foreign  word,  and 
only  found  in  later  Greek.  In  classical  Greek  the  name  for  silk  is 
pdfi^v^,  and  also  ay^piKhv,  from  which  our  word  silk  is  derived  by  the 
change,  which  is  not  uncommon,  of  r  into  I."     (M'^Crindle,  p.  47  w.)] 

3  [Montfaucon's  note  {I.e.,  p.  137  w.):  "  "LekeU^a,  inferius  legitur, 
XieXeoifia.  Estque  insula  Ceylan,  nomine  tantis  per  immutato.  Nam 
5t/3a,  aut  diua,  insulam  sibi  vult ;  hinc  Maldive,  ita  ut  Sielediva, 
insulam  Siele  significet.  Mox  Tfii'trj'a,  inferius  in  Vaticano  Codice 
legitur  T.ttj'T?,  Tsina,  sive  Sina  ;  nempe  Sinarum  regio  :  quae,  ipso 
teste  Cosma,   Oceano  ab  oriente  terminatur."] 

*  [Beazley  (Dawn  of  Modern  Geography,  i,  p.  193  n.)  thinks  that 
Tzinista  "  is  probably  only  a  dim  notion  of  Malaya  or  Cochin-China  ; 
the  northern  bend  he  describes  is  probably  that  of  the  Gulf  of  Siam  ; 
and  this  shadowy  account  does  not  at  all  anticipate  the  real  discovery 
of  these  regions,  for  Europe,  by  Marco  Polo  or,  for  the  Caliphate,  by 
the  Arabs."] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  2I5 

"  For  the  country  in  question  lies  very  much  to  the  left, 
insomuch  that  loads  of  silk  passing  through  the  hands  of  different 
nations  in  succession  by  land  reach  Persia  in  a  comparatively 
short  time,  whilst  the  distance  from  Persia  by  sea  is  vastly  greater. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  just  as  great  a  distance  as  the  Persian  Gulf 
runs  up  into  Persia  has  the  voyager  to  Tzinitza  to  run  up  from 
[the  latitude  of]  Taprobane  and  the  regions  beyond  it  to  reach 
his  destination.  And,  in  the  second  place,  there  is  no  small 
distance  to  be  traversed  in  crossing  the  whole  width  of  the  Indian 
Sea  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  Taprobane,  and  from  Taprobane 
to  the  regions  beyond  [where  you  turn  up  to  the  left  to  reach 
Tzinitza]^.  Hence  it  is  clear  that  one  who  comes  by  the  overland 
route  from  Tzinitza  to  Persia  makes  a  very  short  cut.  And  this 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  such  quantities  of  silk  are  always  to  be 
found  in  Persia. 

"  Further  than  Tzinitza  there  is  neither  navigation  nor 
inhabited  country. 

"  And  here  I  may  observe,  that  if  anyone  should  actually 
measure  the  earth's  longitude  with  a  straight  line  running  from 
Tzinitza  westward,  he  would  find  it  to  be  four  hundred  marches 
more  or  less^,  taking  the  marches  at  thirty  miles  each.  And  the 
measurement  will  run  thus  :  From  Tzinitza  to  the  frontier  of 
Persia,  including  all  Unnia^  and  India,  and  the  Land  of  the 
Bactrians,  will  be  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  marches,  if  not  more, 
certainly  not  less.     The  whole  of  Persia  will  be  eighty  marches. 


^  I  believe  this  is  the  meaning,  but  the  passage  is  very  elliptical. 
[M^^Crindle  (p.  49)  translates  this  passage  :  "  For  just  as  great  a  distance 
as  the  Persian  Gulf  runs  up  into  Persia,  so  great  a  distance  and  even  a 
greater  has  one  to  run,  who,  being  bound  for  Tzinitza,  sails  eastward 
from  Taprobane  ;  while  besides,  the  distances  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Persian  Gulf  to  Taprobane  and  the  parts  beyond  through  the  whole 
width  of  the  India  sea  are  very  considerable."  He  remarks  in  a  note 
that  "  the  Persian  Gulf  has  a  length  of  650  English  miles,  while  the 
distance  from  Ceylon  to  the  Malacca  peninsula  only  is  nearly  twice 
that  distance."] 

[M.  Robert  Gauthiot  remarks  that  in  one  of  the  Sogdian  letters  of 
the  beginning  of  our  era  brought  back  from  Central  Asia  by  Sir  Aurel 
Stein,  he  reads  the  word  cynstn  with  the  sense  of  China.  Cynstn  is 
evidently  cmastan,  "  country  of  the  Cina  "  ;  iji  Sogdian  the  a  of  °stan  is 
not  noted  ;  in  the  Syriac  part  of  the  Si-ngan  fu  inscription  there  is  a 
similar  orthography,  without  notation  of  a,  if  not  in  the  name  of  China, 
at  least  in  this  of  Tokharestan.  Prof.  Pelliot  adds  that  it  clearly 
appears  thatCin  was  the  name  of  China  just  before  our  era,  and  that  it 
is  very  probably  the  name  of  the  kingdom  and  of  the  princes  of  Ts'in. 
T'oung  pao,  1913,  p.  428.] 

^  ["  Si  quis  ergo  a  Sina  usque  ad  occidentem,  recta  longitudinem 
terrae  funiculo  dimetiatur,  inveniet  mansiones  circiter  400  triginta 
milliarium  singulas."     (Montfaucon,  p.   138.)] 

*  [Unnia. — Montfaucon,  lomla,  Juvia. — M^^Crindle,  louvia,  "this 
would  mean  the  country  of  the  Huns."     p.  49.] 


2l6  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

From  Nisibisi  to  Seleucia^  thirteen  marches.  From  Seleucia  by 
Rome  and  the  Gauls  and  Iberia  (the  country  of  those  who  are 
nowadays  called  Spaniards),  to  Outer  Gades  on  the  Ocean  a 
hundred  and  fifty  marches  and  more.  So  the  total  of  the  dis- 
tances will  be  four  hundred  marches,  more  or  less. 

"  Now,  as  regards  the  earth's  latitude.  From  the  far  north  to 
Byzantium  will  not  be  more  than  fifty  marches^  (for  we  may  form 
a  good  guess  at  the  extent  of  those  northern  regions,  both  inhabited 
and  uninhabited,  from  the  position  of  the  Caspian  Sea  which  is  a 
gulf  of  the  ocean)*.  From  Byzantium  again  to  Alexandria  is 
fifty  marches.  From  Alexandria  to  the  Cataracts  thirty  marches  ^. 
From  the  Cataracts  to  Axum''  thirty  marches.     From  Axum  to  the 

1  [On  the  site  of  Nisibis  was  built  the  present  Nisibin,  Nissibin, 
chief  town  of  the  caza  of  Nisibin,  in  the  sandjak  of  Mardin,  vilayet  of 
Diarbekir,  on  the  banks  of  the  Jaghjagha  (Mygdonius)  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Massius.  Under  the  Seleucids  Nisibis  was  called  Antiocheia  of 
Mygdonia  ;  the  Greeks  named  it  also  Anthumusia  on  account  of  the 
fragrant  scent  of  its  flowery  plain.  It  belonged  to  the  Kings  of  Armenia 
and  was  the  capital  of  Tigranes,  was  taken  by  LucuUus,  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Parthians  and  was  annexed  by  Trajan  to  the  Roman 
Empire ;  it  was  ceded  by  the  emperor  Jovian  to  the  Sassanid  King 
Sapor  II.  After  the  defeat  of  Ismael  Shah  by  Sultan  Selim  I  at  Chal- 
diran  (1514)  it  formed  part  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.] 

2  [Seleucia  or  Seleuceia  was  built  near  the  right  bank  of  the  Tigris 
by  Seleucus  Nicator  with  materials  brought  mainly  from  Babylon,  just 
as  Ctesiphon  was  constructed  with  the  ruins  of  Seleucia  destroyed  during 
the  Parthian  Wars.] 

3  ["  Latitude  vero  terrse  ab  Hyperboreis  partibus  ad  usque  Byzan- 
tium, mansiones  non  plures  quinquaginta  sunt."     (Montfaucon,  p.  138.)] 

*  I  suppose  there  is  here  to  be  understood  a  comparison  of  the 
Caspian,  regarded  as  a  gulf,  with  the  Red  Sea  or  Persian  Gulf,  and  a 
deduction  that  the  Ocean  cannot  lie  further  north  from  the  innermost 
point  of  the  Caspian  than  it  lies  south  of  the  innermost  point  of  one  of 
those  gulfs. 

5  [M-^Crindle  makes  the  following  remark,  p.  50  :  "  Gv.  /MoualX'.  Here 
the  numeral  \'=  30  must  be  an  error  for  k' —-  20,  because  the  distance 
from  Alexandria  to  Syene,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Great  Cataract,  is 
about  600  Roman  miles  ;  and  because,  moreover,  in  the  summing-up 
of  the  figures  as  in  the  text  there  is  an  excess  of  ten  over  the  given 
total.     Montfaucon  has  not  noticed  this  discrepancy."] 

«  ["  La  premiere  mention  des  Axoumites  et  de  leur  capitale  est 
dans  le  Periple  de  la  mer  Erythree,  ouvrage  qui  doit  avoir  ete  redige 
a  Alexandrie  vers  I'annee  80  de  Jesus-Christ.  La  consequence  que 
Ton  est  fonde  a  tirer  de  ces  rapprochements,  c'est  que  les  etablissements 
commerciaux  des  Grecs  d'Egypte  sur  les  parties  meridionales  de  la 
cote  ethiopienne,  et  les  rapports  habituels  qui  en  furent  la  suite, 
amenferent  de  grands  changements  dans  I'etat  social  et  pohtique  de 
quelques  parties  de  I'interieur,  et  qu'un  royaume  dont  Axoum  fut  la 
capitale  se  forma  alors  dans  le  haut  pays.  .  .  Plusieurs  faits  bien  connus, 
prouvent  d'ailleurs  Taction  directe  de  Thellenisme  egyptien  sur  le 
developpement  de  la  civilisation  axoumite.  Ainsi  I'auteur  du  Periple 
rapporte  que  le  roi  d'Axoum,  qu'il  nomme  Zoskalds,  etait  familiarise  avec 
les  lettrcs  grecques ;  et  ce  qui  montre  que  cette  influence  cut  une  longue 
durcc,  c'est  que  deux  si^cles  et  demi  plus  tard  on  voit  la  langue  grecque 
employee  a  Axoum  dans  les  inscriptions  concurremment  avec  la  langue 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  217 

projecting  part  of  Ethiopia,  the  country  where  the  incense  grows, 
and  which  is  called  Barbary^,  lying  along  the  Ocean,  and  including 
the  territory  of  Sas  which  is  the  remotest  part  of  Ethiopia,  and  is 
anything  but  a  narrow  tract  of  country,  indeed  quite  the  reverse, 
fifty  marches,  more  or  less.  So  that  we  may  take  the  whole 
breadth  at  two  hundred  marches,  more  or  less.  And  thus  we  see 
that  the  Holy  Scripture  speaks  the  truth  when  it  puts  the  length 
of  the  earth  at  double  its  breadth  :  '  For  thou  shalt  make  the  Table 
(which  is,  as  it  were,  a  pattern  of  the  Earth)  in  length  two  cubits, 
and  in  breadth  one  cubit^.' 

"  Now,  the  country  where  the  incense  grows  lies  in  the  pro- 
jecting parts  of  Ethiopia,  being  itself  indeed  an  inland  region,  but 
having  the  ocean  on  the  other  side  of  it.  Hence  the  people  of 
Barbary,  being  in  the  vicinity,  are  able  to  visit  the  interior  for 
trading  purposes,  and  bring  back  with  them  many  kinds  of 
aromatics,  such  as  incense,  cassia,  calamus^,  and  a  great  variety 

ethiopienne.  Ce  qui  existe  encore  de  rancienne  Axoum,  particulifere- 
ment  ses  obelisques,  est  d'un  style  grec,  bien  qu'on  y  sente  une 
reminiscence  egyptienne.  Enfin,  la  religion  des  Grecs  d'Egypte  avait 
penetre  dans  le  royaume  d'Axoum,  en  meme  temps  que  leur  langue  et 
leurs  artistes,  car  dans  les  inscriptions  le  roi  ethiopien  se  dit  '  fills  de 
I'invincible  Ares.'  "  (Vivien  de  Saint-Martin,  Inscription  d' Adults,  Jour. 
Asiat.,  Oct.  1863,  pp.  332-4.) 

"E  regione  igitur  Orinae  insulae  in  continente  viginti  a  mari  stadiis 
sita  est  Abduli,  pagus  mediocris,  a  quo  ad  Coloen,  urbem  mediter- 
raneam  primumque  eboris  emporium,  via  est  tridui.  Hinc  ad  ipsam 
metropolim  Auxumitarum  iter  est  aliorum  dierum  quinque  ;  in  hanc 
omne  ebur  e  regione  trans  Nilum  sita  per  Cyeneum  quem  vocant  tractum 
deportatur,  hinc  vero  Adulin.  Cuncta  scilicet  quae  caeditur  elephan- 
torum  et  rhinozerotum  multitude  in  superioribus  degit  locis,  non 
nunquam  tamen,  raro  licet,  in  maritima  etiam  regione  circa  ipsam 
Adulin  conspiciuntur."  (Peripliis  Maris  Erythraei,  Geographi  Grceci 
Minores.  .  .illust.  Carolus  Miillerus,  i,  Parisiis,  1855,  §  4,  pp.  260—1.) 

"  At  this  time  there  is  no  settled  City  in  all  Ethiopia  ;  formerly  the 
Town  of  Aczum  was  very  famous  among  the  Abyssinians,  and  still 
preserves  somewhat  of  its  Renown ;  and  this  place  seems  to  have  been 
a  City,  at  least  they  look  upon  it  as  most  certain,  that  the  Queen  of 
Sheba  kept  her  Court  there,  and  that  it  was  the  Residence  of  the 
Emperors  for  many  Ages  after,  and  that  they  are  Crown'd  there  to 
this  Day.  .  .  ;  at  present  it  is  only  a  Village  of  about  100  Houses." 
{The  Travels  of  the  J  esuits  inEthiopia,  by  F.  Balthazar  Tellez,  1710,  p.  59.) 

Axum  "  was  distant  from  its  sea-port,  Adule,  which  was  situated 
near  Annesley  Bay,  about  120  miles,  or  an  eight  days'  caravan  journey. 
It  was  the  chief  centre  of  the  trade  with  the  interior  of  Africa.".  .  . 
"  Christianity  was  introduced  into  Axum  in  the  fourth  century  by 
CEdisius  and  Frumentius,  the  latter  of  whom  was  afterwards  appointed 
its  first  bishop.  Sasu,  which  is  next  mentioned,  is  near  the  coast,  and 
only  5°  to  the  north  of  the  equator."  (M^Crindle,  pp.  50-1  n.) — The 
ruins  of  Axum  are  to  the  west  of  the  Adua,  present  capital  of  Tigre.] 

1  The  modern  Somali  country.  The  name  of  Barbary  is  still  retained  in 
that  of  Berberah  on  the  coast  over  against  Aden.     See  also  Ptolemy,  1,17. 

^  [Exodus  xxxvii.  10.] 

^  ["  The  sweet  calamus  mentioned  in  Exodus  xxx.  23."  M^Crindle, 
P-  5I-] 


2l8  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

of  others,  and  these  again  they  carry  by  sea  to  Adule^  and  Homer- 
ite,  and  to  Further  India  and  to  Persia.  And  this  is  just  as  you 
wil]  find  it  written  in  the  Book  of  Kings,  where  the  Queen  of  Saba, 
i.e.,  of  Homerite  (and  whom  again  in  the  Gospels  the  Lord  terms 
the  Queen  of  the  South),  brings  to  Solomon  aromatics  from  this 
very  Barbary  (she  residing  hard  by  on  the  coast  just  opposite), 
and  brings  him  also  staves  of  ebony,  and  monkeys,  and  gold  from 
Ethiopia,  the  whole  of  Ethiopia  being  in  fact  quite  in  her  vicinity, 
and  just  across  the  Arabian  Gulf.  Again,  let  us  look  at  some  of 
Our  Lord's  words,  as  when  he  calls  those  places  the  Ends  of  the 
Earth,  saying,  '  The  Queen  of  the  South  shall  rise  up  in  judgment 
with  this  generation  and,  shall  condemn  it,  for  she  came  from  the  Ends 
of  the  Earth  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon.'  The  fact  is,  Homerite 
is  at  no  distance  from  Barbary,  for  the  sea  between  them  has  only 
a  width  of  some  two  days'  sail.  And  beyond  that  is  the  Ocean, 
which  thereabouts  is  called  the  Sea  of  Zinj  2.  And  just  as  the 
Incense  Country  has  the  Ocean  near  it,  so  also  has  the  Land  of 
Sas  where  the  gold  mines  are.  Now,  year  by  year  the  King  of 
the  Axumites,  through  the  ruler  of  Agau^,  sends  men  of  his  own 
to  Sas  for  the  purchase  of  gold.  And  many  others  bound  on  the 
same  speculation  accompany  them  on  this  expedition,  so  there 
shall  be  more  than  five  hundred  in  the  party.  They  take  with 
them  beeves,  and  pieces  of  salt,  and  iron.  And  when  they  get 
near  the  country  they  make  a  halt  at  a  certain  place,  and  take 
a  quantity  of  thorns  with  which  they  make  a  great  hedge,  within 
which  they  establish  themselves,  and  there  they  slaughter  the 
oxen  and  cut  them  up,  and  put  the  meat,  and  the  pieces  of  salt, 
and  the  iron  on  the  top  of  the  hedge.  So  the  natives  then  approach 
with  gold  in  nuggets,  like  peas,  which  they  call  Tancharan'^,  and 
each  of  them  deposits  one  or  two  of  these  upon  the  joints  of  meat, 
or  the  salt,  or  the  iron  as  he  pleases,  and  then  stands  aloof.  Then 
the  owner  of  the  beef  etc.,  comes  up,  and  if  he  is  satisfied  he  takes 
the  gold,  whilst  the  other  party  comes  and  removes  the  flesh,  or 
piece  of  salt  or  iron.  But  if  the  trader  is  not  satisfied  he  leaves  the 
gold  where  it  is,  and  when  the  native  comes  up  and  sees  that  his 


1  ["  'AdjiiXrj,  Adule,  ex  qua  mare  adjacens,  sinus  Adulitanus  appel- 
labatur,  vide  Ptolemaeum."     (Montfaucon,  p.  140  n.)] 

2  ["  The  ocean  which  is  there  called  Zingion."     M<=Crindle,  p.  52.] 

*  Alvarez  in  Ramusio  speaks  of  certain  lordships  of  Abyssinia  "  the 
people  of  which  are  called  Agaos,"  and  who  are  a  mixture  of  Gentiles  and 
Christians.  The  Agaus  appear  to  be  scattered  widely  over  Abyssinia. 
Salt  speaks  of  them  along  the  Takazze  to  the  east  of  Gondar,  and  one  of 
Petermann's  maps  .shows  Agau  also  to  the  south-west  of  Tzana  Lake, 
which  again  lies  south-west  of  Gondar.  A  country  including  both  of 
these  positions  would  lie  south  and  a  little  west  of  Axum.  (Ramusio,  i, 
f.  250;  Salt's  Second  Travels,  French  fransL,  1816,  ii,  21  seq.;  Peter- 
mann's MiUeilungen,  1857,  pi.  23.) 

*  [Tancharan,  Montfaucon,  p.  139. — Tancharas,  M'^Crindle,  p.  53.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  219 

gold  has  not  been  taken,  he  either  adds  to  the  quantity  or  takes 
up  his  gold  and  goes  away.  This  is  the  mode  of  barter  among  the 
people  in  that  quarter  ;  for  they  are  of  different  language  and  have 
no  supply  of  interpreters  ^.  The  time  of  their  stay  to  do  business 
in  that  country  extends  to  five  days,  more  or  less,  according  to 
the  rate  at  which  customers  present  themselves  until  they  have 
sold  off  all  their  goods.  And  on  the  return  journey  they  all  form 
themselves  into  an  armed  body  ;  for  there  are  certain  people  in 
the  tract  they  pass  through  who  hang  about  them  and  endeavour  to 
plunder  the  gold.  The  whole  business  carried  on  in  this  way  takes 
some  six  months;  the  journey  thither  being  accomplished  more 
slowly  than  the  return,  chiefly  because  of  the  cattle  that  accompany 
them,  and  also  because  they  make  great  haste  on  the  way  back 
that  the  winter  rains  catch  them  not  on  the  journey.  For  the 
head  of  the  Nile  is  somewhere  thereabouts,  and  the  rivers  that 
feed  it  cross  the  route,  and  in  winter  become  greatly  swollen  by 
the  rains.  Now,  the  winter  there  is  in  the  time  of  our  summer, 
extending  from  the  month  called  by  the  Egyptians  Epiphi  ^,  till 
that  called  Thoth  :  and  all  these  three  months  it  rains  with  great 
violence,  so  as  to  give  rise  to  a  multitude  of  rivers,  all  of  which 
discharge  themselves  into  the  Nile^  "  (book  ii,  pp.  138-140, 
M'^Crindle,  pp.  47-54). 

Cosmas  then  proceeds  to  give  an  account  of  an  ancient  marble 
throne  which  he  had  seen  at  Adule  (then  the  port  of  Abyssinia, 
a  little  south  of  Massawah) ,  with  Greek  inscriptions  on  it,  of  which 
he  gives  a  professed  transcript  ;    but  I  shall  not  attempt  to  enter 

^  ["  Est  hodieque  his  in  partibus,  in  regno  scilicet  Habessinorum 
.^thiopum  regio  Agau  nomine,  ubi  celebres  illae  Nili  scaturigines,  ut 
inferius  narratur.  Quod  vero  narrat  hie  Cosmas  de  singulari  ilia 
mercaturam  exercendi  consuetudine  :  qua  nempe  ^thiopes  &  Barbari 
illi  lingua  discrepantes,  admotis  rebus  commutandis  ;  turn  negotia- 
tionem  perficerent,  cum  is  qui  venumdabat,  adpositum  pretium 
acciperet ;  hodieque  in  plerisque  Africae  partibus  usu  venit,  ut  videas 
in  itinerariis  &  descriptionibus  Africae."     (Montfaucon,  p.  139 -ra.)] 

2  Epiphi  (June  25th — July  25th)  was  the  eleventh  month  of  the 
Egyptian  year,  and  Thoth  (August  29th — September  28th)  the  first 
month  ;  represented  by  the  modern  Coptic  months  Ebib  and  Tut  (see 
Nicolas,  Chron.  of  Hist.,  pp.  13,  15). 

3  Alvise  Cadamosto  gives  nearly  the  same  account  of  the  dumb  barter 
of  salt  for  gold  as  carried  on  by  negro  traders  from  Timbuktu  and  Melli 
with  a  certain  people  in  the  remote  interior. 

The  Sasus  of  Cosmas  must  also  have  lain  towards  the  centre  of  the 
continent  and  south-west  from  Abyssinia.  This  is  shown  by  the 
relative  position  of  Agau  to  Axum  (see  preceding  note)  ;  by  the  fact 
that  the  route  crossed  numerous  Nile  feeders,  apparently  those  which 
show  so  thickly  in  the  map  between  7°  and  10°  N.  lat.  ;  and  again 
because  the  Adule  inscription  mentioned  in  the  next  paragraph  of  the 
text  speaks  of  conquests  extending  east  to  the  Thuriferous  country, 
and  west  to  Sasus.  Cosmas  indeed  speaks  of  Sasus  as  not  far  from  the 
Ocean.  But  then  he  supposes  the  Ocean  to  cut  across  Africa  somewhere 
about  the  equator.     [See  note,  supra,  p.  217.] 


220  PRELIMINARY    ESSAY 

upon  this  subject,  which  has  been  treated  by  competent  com 
mentators^.     (pp.  140-3.) 

3.  In  a  later  passage,  speaking  of  the  Gospel's  being  preached 
throughout  the  world,  he  says  : 

"  So  that  I  can  speak  with  confidence  of  the  truth  of  what  I 
say,  relating  what  I  have  myself  seen  and  heard  in  many  places 
that  I  have  visited. 

"  Even  in  the  Island  of  Taprobane  in  Further ^  India  where 
the  Indian  Sea  is,  there  is  a  church  of  Christians  with  clergy  and 
a  congregation  of  believers,  though  I  know  not  if  there  be  any 
Christians  further  on  in  that  direction.  And  such  also  is  the  case 
in  the  land  called  Male,  where  the  pepper  grows^.  And  in  the 
place  called  Kalliana*  there  is  a  bishop  appointed  from  Persia, 
as  well  as  in  the  island  which  they  call  the  Isle  of  Dioscoris^  in  the 
same  Indian  Sea.  The  inhabitants  of  that  island  speak  Greek, 
having  been  originally  settled  there  by  the  Ptolemies  who  ruled 
after  Alexander  of  Macedon.  There  are  clergy  there  also, 
ordained  and  sent  from  Persia  to  minister  among  the  people  of 
the  island,  and  a  multitude  of  Christians^.  We  sailed  past  the 
island,  but  did  not  land.  I  met,  however,  with  people  from  it 
who  were  on  their  way  to  Ethiopia,  and  they  spoke  Greek.  And 
so  likewise  among  the  Bactrians  and  Huns  and  Persians  and  the 
rest  of  the  Indians,  and  among  the  Persarmenians  and  Greeks 
and  Elamites,  and  throughout  the  whole  land  of  Persia,  there  is 
an  infinite  number  oi  churches  with  bishops,  and  a  vast  multitude 
of  Christian  people,  and  they  have  many  martyrs  and  recluses 
leading  a  monastic  life.  So  also  in  Ethiopia,  and  in  Axum,  and 
in  all  the  country  round  about,  among  the  Happy  Arabians,  who 
are  nowadays  called  Homeritse,  and  all  through  Arabia  and 
Palestine,  Phoenicia,  and  all  Syria,  and  Antioch  and  Mesopotamia  ; 
also  among  the  Nubians  and  the  Garamantes^  in  Egypt,  Libya, 

1  See  Salt's  Travels,  and  De  Sacy  in  Annales  des  Voyages,  xii,  350. 

2  "  Inner." 

3  Malabar.     Compare  the  Kaulam-Male  of  the  Arab  Relation. 

*  Probably  the  Kalliena  of  the  Periplus,  which  Lassen  identifies 
with  the  still  existing  Kalydni  on  the  mainland  near  Bombay.  Father 
Paolino  indeed  will  have  it  to  be  a  place  still  called  Kalyanapuri  on  the 
banks  of  a  river  two  miles  north  of  Mangalore,  but  unreasonably.  ( Viag. 
alle  Indie  Orientali,  p.  100.) 

'"  [Dioscoris  or  Dioscorides  =  Socotra,  see  Yule-Cordier,  Marco  Polo, 
II,  p.  408.] 

*  See  On  the  Christianity  of  Socotra,  ill,  p.  7  infra,  where  this  passage 
of  Cosmas  should  have  been  referred  to.  Some  further  particulars  on 
the  subject,  apparently  taken  from  the  letters  of  Francis  Xavier,  are 
given  in  du  Jarric  [Thesaurus  Rerum  Indicarum,  i,  pp.  108-9).  On  the  use 
of  the  Greek  language  in  Aby.ssinia  and  Nubia,  see  Letronne  in  MSm.  de 
I'Acad.  (New),  ix,  ijo  seqq. 

'  ["  The  Garamantes  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  oasis  in  the 
Libyan  desert  called  Phazania,  and  now  Fezzan,  but  the  name  was  often 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  221 

and  Pentapolis',  and  so  through  Africa  and  Mauritania  as  far  as 
Southern  Gades^,  in  a  very  great  number  of  places  are  found 
churches  of  Christians  with  bishops,  martyrs,  monks,  and  recluses, 
wherever  in  fact  the  Gospel  of  Christ  hath  been  proclaimed. 
So  likewise  again  in  Cilicia,  Asia,  Cappadocia,  Lazice,  and  Pontus, 
and  in  the  Northern  Regions  of  the  Scythians,  Hyrcanians,  Heruii, 
Bulgarians,  Greeks,  and  Illyrians,  Dalmatians,  Goths,  Spaniards, 
Romans,  Franks,  and  other  nations  till  you.  get  to  Ocean  Gades." 
(Book  iii,  p.  178. — M'^Crindle,  pp.  11 8-1 21.) 

4.  He  says  the  place  in  the  Red  Sea  where  the  Egyptians 
perished  is  "in  Klysma^,  as  they  call  it,  to  the  right  of  people 
travelling  to  the  Mount  (Sinai)  ;  and  there  also  are  to  be  seen  the 
tracks  of  chariot-wheels  over  a  long  tract  extending  to  the  sea. 
These  have  been  preserved  to  this  day,  as  a  sign,  not  for  believers, 
but  for  unbelievers."    (Book  v,  p.  194. — M'^Crindle,  p.  142.) 

5.  "  —  Elim,  now  called  Raithu,  where  there  were  twelve 
springs,  which  are  still  preserved*.  .  .Raphidin,  now  called 
Pharan,  whence  Moses  went  with  the  elders  to  Mount  Choreb, 
i.e.  in  Sinai,  which  is  about  six  miles  from  Pharan."  {lb.,  pp.  195, 
196. — M'^Crindle,  p.  144.) 

6.  "  And  when  they  (the  Israelites)  had  received  the  written 
Law  from  God,  they  then  and  there  first  learned  letters.  For 
God  made  use  of  the  wilderness  in  its  quiet  as  a  kind  of  school  for 
them,  and  allowed  them  there  to  practise  their  letters  for  forty 
years.     And  you  may  see  in  that  desert  of  Sinai,  at  every  place 

used  in  a  wider  sense  to  denote  the  people  of  northern  Africa  who  lived 
to  the  south  of  the  Syrtis."     (M'^Crindle,  p.  120.)] 

^  ["  Pentapolis,  the  name  of  any  association  of  five  cities,  denotes 
here  the  five  chief  cities  of  the  province  of  Cyrenaica  in  north  Africa. 
These  were  Cyrene,  Berenice,  Arsinoe,  Ptolemais,  and  ApoUonia,  the 
port  of  Cyrene."     (M'^Crindle,  p.  120.)] 

^  "  ews  TadeLpcju,  ra  irpos  vbrov,"  an  odd  construction,  which,  how- 
ever, seems  intended  to  be  distinctive  from  "  VaSelpwv  toD  'ilKeavod  " 
mentioned  a  few  lines  further  on,  and  to  indicate  some  place  in  Africa, 
perhaps  Tingis,  or  Cape  Spartel,  called  by  Strabo  Ktirets.  I  do  not 
know  if  this  Southern  Gades  is  mentioned  by  any  other  author,  but 
something  analogous  will  be  found  in  the  passage  quoted  from  Mande- 
ville  at  III,  p.  2ig  infra,  where  Gades  is  used  for  the  World's  End,  eastern 
as  well  as  western. 

*  At  or  near  Suez,  whence  the  Kolzum  of  the  Arabs,  and  the  name 
Bahr-Kolzum  given  to  the  Red  Sea.  ["  The  Heroopolitan,  or  Western 
Gulf  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Red  Sea,  is  called  by  Eusebius 
Clysma.  As  it  was  said  to  have  been  so  designated  from  a  town  at  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  gulf,  Clysma  was  probably  situated  at,  or 
somewhere  near,  Suez.  Orosius  mentions  the  wheel  tracts  here  spoken 
of  by  Cosmas,  as  does  also  Philostorgius  in  the  abstract  of  his  Ecclesias- 
tical History  made  by  Photius  (Book  iii,  c.  6).  Athanasius,  however, 
and  others  thought  Clysma  was  in  Arabia,  near  the  mountain  to  which 
Philo,  an  Egyptian  bishop,  was  banished  by  Constantius."  M<^Crindle, 
p.  142  w.)] 

*  Raithu  was  the  seat  of  a  monastery,  as  is  mentioned  by  Cosmas 
himself  (at  p.  141). 


222  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

where  you  halt,  that  all  the  stones  which  have  rolled  down  from 
the  mountains  are  written  over  with  Hebrew  characters.  And 
to  this  I  can  myself  bear  witness,  having  travelled  that  ground  on 
foot.  And  these  inscriptions  were  explained  to  us  by  certain  Jews 
who  could  read  them,  and  they  were  to  this  effect  :  '  The  depar- 
ture of  So-and-so  of  such  a  tribe,  in  such  a  year  and  such  a  month  ; ' 
just  such  things  in  fact  as  you  often  find  scribbled  on  the  walls  of 
inns  by  people  among  ourselves.  But  the  Israelites,  as  is  the 
way  of  people  who  have  but  recently  learned  to  write,  were  always 
making  use  of  their  new  accomplishment,  and  were  constantly 
writing,  so  that  all  those  places  are  quite  covered  with  Hebrew 
characters.  And  these  have  been  preserved  to  this  day, — for  the 
sake  of  unbelievers  as  I  think.  And  anyone  who  likes  may  go 
there  and  see  for  himself,  or  may  ask  from  those  who  have  been 
there,  and  learn  that  I  am  saying  what  is  true."  (Pp.  205-6. — 
M'^Crindle,  pp.  159-160.) 

Nearly  the  whole  of  Book  xi  is  worth  translating.  It  contains 
"  Details  regarding  Indian  Animals,  and  the  Islands  of  Taprobane." 

"  Rhinoceros. 
"  This  animal  is  called  Rhinoceros  because  he  has  horns  over 
his  nostrils  ;  when  he  walks  his  horns  jog  about,  but  when  he  is 
enraged  with  what  he  is  looking  at  he  erects  his  horns,  and  they 
become  so  rigid  that  he  is  able  to  uproot  trees  with  them,  especially 
if  they  are  straight  before  him^.  His  eyes  are  placed  low  down 
near  his  jaws.  He  is  altogether  a  fearful  beast,  and  he  is  some- 
how especially  hostile  to  the  elephant.  His  feet  and  his  skin  are, 
however,  very  like  those  of  the  elephant.  His  skin  when  dried  is 
four  fingers  thick,  and  some  people  have  used  it  instead  of  iron 
to  put  in  the  plough,  and  have  ploughed  the  ground  with  it  ! 
The  Ethiopians  in  their  own  dialect  call  him  Arue  Harisi,  using 
in  the  second,  word  an  aspirated  a  with  rhisi  added.  The  word 
Arue  expresses  the  beast  as  such,  but  Harisi  expresses  ploughing, 
a  nickname  that  they  give  him  from  his  form  about  the  nose,  and 
also  from  the  use  to  which  his  skin  is  turned 2.     I  saw  this  creature 

1  ?  T(x  fV  avTo7s  /j.d\LaTa  to  ^ixirpoaOev.  The  fact  about  the  animals 
carrying  the  horn  loose  when  not  irritated  is  confirmed  by  Salt.  {2d 
Travels,  French  Trans.,  1816,  ii,  191.) 

^  Ludolf  mentions  Arweharis  as  a  great  and  fierce  beast,  of  which 
his  friend  Abba  Gregory  often  used  to  speak.  He  quotes  Arab.  Hharash, 
Hharshan,  "  Unicorn,"  but  I  do  not  find  these  in  the  dictionaries.  Salt 
again  says  :  "  The  name  by  which  the  rhinoceros  (two  horned)  is  desig- 
nated to  this  day  all  over  Abyssinia  is  absolutely  the  same  as  that  given 
by  Cosmas.  In  the  Gheez  it  is  written  Arue  Haris,  pronounced  with  a 
strong  aspiration  of  the  Ha.  .  .Arue,  signifying  always /era  or  bestia  in 
genere  ;  a  coincidence  .so  extraordinary  as  to  convince  me  that  the 
language  spoken  at  the  court  of  Axum  was  the  Gheez  "  (Ludolf,  i,  10, 
78  ;    Salt  as  above). 

Hhars  means  'ploughing"  in  Arabic,  which  may  illustrate  the 
etymology   of  Cosmas. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  223 

alive  once  in  Ethiopia,  but  I  kept  a  good  distance  from  him. 
And  I  have  seen  one  dead,  skinned  and  stuffed  with  straw, 
standing  in  the  king's  palace,  so  that  I  have  been  able  to  draw 
him  accurately. 

"  Taurelaphus. 

"  This  creature,  the  Taurelaphus  (or  Bull-stag),  is  found  both 
in  India  and  Ethiopia.  Those  in  India  are  tame,  and  they  make 
them  carry  loads  of  pepper  and  other  such  articles  in  sacks  ; 
they  also  milk  them  and  make  butter  from  their  milk.  We  also 
eat  their  flesh.  Christians  cutting  their  throats  and  Greeks  felling 
them.  Those  of  Ethiopia  again  are  wild  beasts,  and  have  not 
been  domesticated^. 

"  Cameleopard. 

"  The  Cameleopard  is  found  only  in  Ethiopia.  These  also  are 
wild  beasts,  and  have  not  been  domesticated.  But  in  the  palace^ 
[at  Axum]  they  have  one  or  two  which  they  have  tamed  by  the 
king's  command  by  catching  them  when  young,  in  order  to  keep 
them  for  a  show.  When  milk  or  water  to  drink  is  given  to  these 
creatures  in  a  dish,  as  is  done  in  the  king's  presence,  they  cannot 
reach  the  vessel  on  the  ground  so  as  to  drink,  except  by  straddhng 
with  their  fore-legs,  owing  to  the  great  length  of  their  legs  and 
height  of  the  chest  and  neck  above  the  ground.  It  stands  to 
reason  therefore  that  they  must  widen  out  their  fore-legs  in  order 
to  drink.  This  also  I  have  drawn  (or  described)  from  personal 
knowledge. 

"  The  Wild  Ox. 

"  This  Wild  Ox  is  a  great  beast  of  India,  and  from  it  is  got 
the  thing  called  Tupha,  with  which  officers  in  the  field  adorn  their 
horses  and  pennons.  They  tell  of  this  beast  that  if  his  tail  catches 
in  a  tree  he  will  not  budge,  but  stands  stock-still,  being  horribly 
vexed  at  losing  a  single  hair  of  his  tail ;  so  the  natives  come  and 
cut  his  tail  off,  and  then  when  he  has  lost  it  altogether  he  makes 
his  escape  !     Such  is  the  nature  of  the  animaP. 

^  This  appears  to  be  the  buffalo.  Everything  applies  accurately 
except  the  name,  which  does  not  seem  a  very  appropriate  one.  The 
picture  is  that  of  a  lanky  ox  with  long  tusks. 

2  Cosmas  here  uses  the  Latin  word  :   TraXariy  (M'^Crindle). 

^  This  is  evidently  the  Yak  [Bos  grunniens],  which  Cosmas  could 
only  have  known  by  distant  hearsay.  Tupha  is  probably  Tugh  or  Tan, 
which  according  to  Remusat  is  the  Turkish  name  of  the  horse-tail 
standard,  applied  also  by  the  Chinese  to  the  Yak-tail,  which  respectively 
with  those  nations  mark  the  supreme  military  command  (Rech.  sur  les 
langues  Tar  tares,  303  ;    also  D'Ohsson,  i,  40). 


224  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

"  The  Musk  Animal. 

"  This  little  animal  is  the  Musk.  The  natives  call  it  in  their 
own  tongue  Kasturi^.  When  they  hunt  it  they  shoot  it  with 
arrows,  and  after  tying  up  the  blood  collected  in  the  navel,  cut 
it  off.  For  this  is  the  fragrant  part  of  the  beast,  or  what  we  call 
the  musk.     The  rest  of  the  body  they  throw  away. 

"  The  Unicorn. 
"  This  creature  is  called  a  Unicorn.  I  can't  say  I  ever  saw 
him,  but  I  have  seen  bronze  figures  of  him  in  the  four-towered 
palace  of  the  King  of  Ethiopia,  and  so  I  have  been  able  to  make 
this  drawing  of  him.  They  say  he  is  a  terrible  beast,  and  quite 
invincible,  and  that  all  his  strength  lies  in  his  horn.  And  when  he 
is  encompassed  by  many  hunters  so  that  he  is  hard  put  to  it,  he 
makes  a  leap  over  some  high  precipice,  and  as  he  falls  he  turns 
over,  so  that  his  horn  bears  the  whole  force  of  the  fall,  and  he 
escapes  unhurt^.  So  also  the  Scripture  discourses  of  him,  saying  : 
'  Save  me  from  the  mouths  of  lions  and  my  humility  from  the  horns  of 
the  Unicorns'^  ;  '  and  again  in  the  blessings  wherewith  Balaam 
blessed  Israel,  he  saith  twice  over :  '  Thus  hath  God  led  him  out 
of  Egypt  like  the  glory  of  the  unicorn*;  '  in  all  these  passages 
testifying  to  the  strength  and  audacity  and  glory  of  the  creature^. 

"  The  Hog-stag  and  Hippopotamus. 
"  The  Choerelaphus  (or  Hog-stag)  I  have  both  seen  and  eaten. 
The  hippopotamus  I  have  not  seen  indeed,  but  I  had  some  great 
teeth  of  his  that  weighed  thirteen  pounds  which  I  sold  here  [in 
Alexandria].  And  I  have  seen  many  such  teeth  in  Ethiopia  and 
in  Egypt^. 

1  Kastikri  is  a  real  Sanskrit  name  for  the  perfume  musk  (see  Lassen,  i, 
316  ;  and  iii,  45).  This  author  says  that  in  the  Himalaya  Kasturi  is  also 
applied  to  the  animal.  He  observes  that  "  Cosmas  is  the  first  to  men- 
tion the  musk  animal  and  musk  as  products  of  India,  but  he  is  wrong  in 
representing  the  animal  as  living  in  Taprobane."  Cosmas  does  nothing 
of  the  kind. 

2  From  this  story  some  kind  of  Ibex  or  Oryx  would  seem  to  be 
meant.  The  practice  is  asserted  of  animals  of  that  class  in  parts  of  the 
world  so  remote  from  each  other  that  it  can  scarcely  be  other  than  true. 

3  "  Save  me  from  the  lion's  mouth  :  for  thou  hast  heard  me  from 
the  horns  of  the  unicorns."     {Ps.  xxii,  21.) 

*  "  God  brought  him  out  of  Egypt  :  He  hath  as  it  were  the  strength 
of  a  unicorn."     [Numhers  xxiii,  22  ;   xxiv,  8.) 

^  [Unicorn  Monoceros,  see  Ctesias  of  Cnides.  Yule-Cordier's  Polo  ii, 
291.] 

*  The  Chcerelaphus  is  represented  in  the  drawing  as  a  long-legged 
hog  with  very  long  tusks.  It  has  certainly  nothing  to  do  with  the 
so-called  hog-deer  of  India,  which  has  no  resemblance  to  a  hog.  It 
looks  a  good  deal  like  the  Babirussa,  but  that  is  I  believe  peculiar  to  the 
Archipelago.  Yet  this  description  by  Pliny  of  a  kind  of  swine  in  India 
comes  very  near  that  animal  :  "  In  India  cubitales  dentium  tlexus 
gemini  ex  rostro,  totidem  a  fronte  ceu  vituli  cornua,  exeunt  "  (viii,  78). 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  225 

"  Pepper. 

"  This  is  the  pepper-tree.  Every  plant  of  it  is  twined  round 
some  lofty  forest  tree,  for  it  is  weak  and  slim  like  the  slender 
stems  of  the  vine.  And  every  bunch  of  fruit  has  a  double  leaf 
as  a  shield^ ;    and  it  is  very  green  like  the  green  of  rue. 

"  Argellion  (the  Coco-nut). 

"Another  tree  is  that  which  bears  the  ArgelP,  i.e.  the  great 
Indian  Nut.  In  nothing  does  it  differ  from  the  date-palm, 
excepting  that  it  surpasses  it  in  height  and  thickness,  and  in  the 
size  of  its  fronds.  All  the  fruit  it  produces  is  from  two  or  three 
stalks  bearing  three  Argells  each  3.  The  taste  is  sweet  and  very 
pleasant,  like  that  of  fresh  nuts.  The  Argell  at  first  is  full  of  a 
very  sweet  water,  which  the  Indians  drink  from  the  nut,  using  it 
instead  of  wine.  This  drink  is  called  Rhoncosura^,  and  is  exceed- 
ingly pleasant.  But  if  the  Argell  be  pluckt  and  kept,  the  water 
congeals  gradually  on  the  inside  of  the  shell  ;  a  small  quantity 
remaining  in  the  middle,  till  in  course  of  time  that  also  gets  quite 
dried  up.  If,  however,  it  be  kept  too  long  the  coagulated  pulp 
goes  bad  and  cannot  be  eaten. 

"  Phoca,  Dolphin,  and  Turtle. 

"  The  Phoca,  Dolphin,  and  Turtle  we  eat  at  sea  if  we  chance 
to  catch  them.  To  eat  the  dolphin  or  turtle  we  cut  their  throats  ; 
the  phoca's  throat  we  don't  cut,  but  strike  it  over  the  head  as  is 
done  with  large  fishes.  The  flesh  of  the  turtle  is  like  mutton,  but 
blackish  ;  that  of  the  dolphin  is  like  pork,  but  blackish  and  rank  ; 
that  of  the  phoca  is  also  like  pork,  but  white  and  free  from  smell. 

"  Concerning  the  Island  of  Taprobane. 

"  This  is  the  great  island  in  the  ocean,  lying  in  the  Indian  Sea. 
By  the   Indians  it  is   called  Sielediba    [2teXeSt'/3a]^,  but  by  the 

1  I  do  not  find  any  confirmation  of  this  in  modern  accounts.  But 
Ibn  Khurdadhbah  (see  ante,  p.  135)  says:  "The  mariners  say  every 
bunch  of  pepper  has  over  it  a  leaf  that  shelters  it  from  the  rain.  When 
the  rain  ceases  the  leaf  turns  aside  ;  if  rain  recommences  the  leaf  again 
covers  the  fruit"  (in  Journ.  As.,  ser.  vi,  torn,  v,  p.  284).  [See  Chau 
Ju-kua,  pp.  222-3.] 

^  Pers.  N argil. 

^  This  is  obscure  in  the  original  :  ov  jSaXXet  de  Kapwbv  el  /mrj  8vo  7}  rpia 
(nradia  dvb  rpiQv  dpyeWiuv.  But  his  drawing  explains,  showing  two 
stalks  with  three  nuts  to  each.     He  must  have  seen  but  poor  specimens. 

*  Possibly  Cosmas  has  confounded  the  coco-nut  milk  with  the 
coco-palm  toddy.  For  Sura  is  the  name  applied  on  the  Malabar  coast 
to  the  latter.  Roncho  may  represent  Lanha,  the  name  applied  there  to 
the  nut  when  ripe  but  still  soft,  in  fact  in  the  state  in  which  it  gives  the 
milk  (see  Garcia  dall'  Orto,  Venice,  1589,  p.  114  ;    Rheede,  vol.  i). 

5  This  represents  fairly  the  Pali  name  Sihaladipa.  Sihala  or 
(Sansk.)  Sinhala,  the  "  Dwelling  of  the  Lions,"  or  as  otherwise  explained 
"  The  Lion-Slayers."     Taprobane,   from  (Pali)  Tambapanni   (Sansk.) 

C.  Y.  C.    I.  15 


226  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Greeks  Taprobane.  In  it  is  found  the  hyacinth  stone^.  It  lies 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Pepper  Country^.  And  round  about  it 
there  are  a  number  of  small  islands,  in  all  of  which  you  find  fresh 
water  and  coco-nuts.  And  these  are  almost  all  set  close  to  one 
another^.  The  great  island,  according  to  what  the  natives  say, 
has  a  length  of  three  hundred  gaudia,  and  a  breadth  of  the  same 
number,  i.e.  nine  hundred  miles*.  There  are  two  kings  on  the 
island,  and  they  are  at  enmity  with  one  another^.  The  one  possesses 
the  hyacinth^,  and  the  other  has  the  other  part  in  which  is  the 
great  place  of  commerce  and  the  chief  harbour.  It  is  a  great 
mart  for  the  people  of  those  parts.  The  island  hath  also  a  church 
of  Persian  Christians  who  have  settled  there,  and  a  Presbyter  who 
is  appointed  from  Persia,  and  a  Deacon,  and  all  the  apparatus  of 
public  worship.  But  the  natives  and  their  kings  are  quite 
another  kind  of  people''.     They  have  many  temples  on  the  island, 

Tamraparni,  the  name  of  a  city  founded  near  Putlam  by  Wijaya  (son 
of  Sihabahu)  the  first  human  king  and  colonist.  These  names  are 
explained  in  the  Mahawanso  thus  : 

"  At  the  spot  where  the  seven  hundred  men,  with  the  king  at  their 
head,  exhausted  by  (sea)  sickness,  and  faint  from  weakness,  had  landed 
out  of  the  vessel,  supporting  themselves  on  the  palms  of  their  hands 
pressed  on  the  ground,  they  set  themselves  down.  Hence  to  them  the 
name  of  Tambapanniyo  ('  copper-palmed,'  from  the  colour  of  the  soil). 
From  this  circumstance  that  wilderness  obtained  the  name  of  Tamba- 
PANNi.  From  the  same  cause  also  this  renowned  land  became  celebrated 
(under  that  name). 

"  By  whatever  means  the  monarch  Sihabahu  slew  the  Siho  (Lion), 
from  that  feat  his  sons  and  descendants  are  called  Sihala  (Lion-Slayers). 
This  Lanka  having  been  conquered  by  a  Sihalo,  from  the  circumstance 
also  of  its  having  been  colonized  by  a  Sihalo,  it  obtained  the  name  of 
SiHALA  "  (in  Turner's  Epitome,  p.  55).  The  more  approved  etymologies 
of  the  names  will  be  found  in  Lassen,  i,  200  seq. ;  Tennent's  Ceylon,  i, 
525  ;   Hobson-Johson. 

^  [Some  think  this  is  notour  jacinth,  but  rather  the  sapphire;  others 
take  it  to  be  the  amethyst.     (M<=Crindle,  p.  364.)] 

2  Malabar,  so  called  by  the  Arabs  [Balad-ul-F alfal)  ;  see  Ibn  Batuta, 
infra,  Vol.  iv. 

3  dffaopadal,  perhaps  a  mistake  for  aaffhraTaL.  He  here  seems  to 
speak  of  the  Maldives.  [The  Laccadives.  The  name  means,  islands  by 
the  hundred  thousand.     (M'^Crindle,  p.  364.)] 

*  "  This  singular  word  gaou,  in  which  Cosmas  gives  the  dimensions 
of  the  island,  is  in  use  to  the  present  day  in  Ceylon,  and  means  the 
distance  which  a  man  can  walk  in  an  hour  "  (Tennent,  i,  543). 

5  Tennent  translates  :    "  at  opposite  ends  of  the  island." 

*  This  has  been  thought  by  some  to  mean  the  part  of  the  island  con- 
taining the  ruby  mines  ;  but  Tennent  considers  it  to  refer  to  the  Ruby 
mentioned  below  (.see  Ceylon,  i,  543).  The  expression,  however,  "  the 
Hyacinth  "  for  the  "  district  producing  hyacinths  "  seems  quite  in  the 
vein  of  Cosmas.  Thus  below  he  uses  rb  KapvlxpvWov  for  the  Clove 
Country.  Tennent  considers  the  Port  to  be  Galle,  but  I  have  noticed 
this  elsewhere  (Note  XII). 

'  d\\6(pv\\oL,  i.e.  as  I  understand  it.  Gentiles  ;  at  any  rate  not  Persian 
Christians.  But  Sir  E.  Tennent  renders  it  :  "  The  natives  and  their 
kings  are  of  different  races." 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  227 

and  on  one  of  these  temples  which  stands  in  an  elevated  position 
there  is  a  hyacinth,  they  say,  of  great  size  and  brilliant  ruddy 
colour,  as  big  as  a  great  pine-cone,  and  when  it  is  seen  flashing 
from  a  distance,  especially  when  the  sun's  rays  strike  on  it,  'tis 
a  glorious  and  incomparable  spectacle^. 

"  From  all  India  and  Persia  and  Ethiopia  many  ships  come  to 
this  island,  and  it  likewise  sends  out  many  of  its  own,  occupying 
as  it  does  a  kind  of  central  position.  And  from  the  remoter 
regions,  I  speak  of  Tzinista  and  other  places  of  export,  the  imports 
to  Taprobane  are  silk,  aloes-wood,  cloves^,  sandal -wood^,  and  so 
forth,  according  to  the  products  of  each  place.  These  again  are 
passed  on  from  Sielediba  to  the  marts  on  this  side,  such  as  Male, 
where  the  pepper  is  grown,  and  Kalliana,  whence  are  exported 
brass,  and  sisam  logs*,  and  other  wares,  such  as  cloths  (for  that 
also  is  a  great  place  of  business)  ;  also  to  Sindu,  where  you  get 
the  musk  or  castorin,  and  androstachyn^  ;  also  to  Persia,  Home- 
rite,  and  Adule.  And  the  island  receives  imports  again  from  all 
those  marts  that  I  have  been  mentioning,  and  passes  them  on  to 
the  remoter  ports,  whilst  at  the  same  time  it  exports  its  own 
produce  in  both  directions. 

"  Sindu  is  where  India  begins.  Now,  the  Indus,  i.e.,  Phison, 
the  mouths  of  which  discharge  into  the  Persian  Gulf,  is  the  boun- 
dary between  Persia  and  India.  And  the  most  notable  places  of 
trade  are  these  :   Sindu,  Orrhotha,  Kalliana,  Sibor^,  and  then 

^  This  is  spoken  of  by  Hiuen  Tsang  as  on  the  Buddha-Tooth  Temple 
near  Anurajapura.  "  Its  magical  brilliance  illumines  the  whole  heaven. 
In  the  calm  of  a  clear  and  cloudless  night  it  can  be  seen  by  all,  even  at 
a  distance  of  10,000  li  "  (Vie  de  H.  T.,  p.  199  ;   also  371-2). 

^  Here  Tennent,  following  Thevenot's  edition,  has  "  clove-wood," 
but  it  is  not  in  Montfaucon.  As  regards  clove-wood  see  Vol.  iii,  168, 
and  Ibn  Batuta,  infra. 

3  T'gdvSavT),  representing  the  Sanscrit  Chandana. 

*  The  Periplus  mentions  among  exports  from  Barygaza  (Baroch) 
.brass,  sandal-wood,  beams,  horns,  and  planks  of  sasam  and  ebony.  I 
suppose  the  suggestion  has  been  made  before,  though  I  cannot  find  it, 
that  these  sisam  logs  or  sasam  planks  were  the  wood  of  the  sissu  or 
shisham,  one  of  the  most  valuable  Indian  timbers.  I  believe  the  black- 
wood  of  Western  India,  much  used  for  carved  furniture,  is  a  species  of 
sissu.  The  brass  was  probably  manufactured  into  pots  and  vessels  ;  still 
so  prominent  a  business  in  Indian  towns. 

^  Sindu,  doubtless  a  port  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sinthus  or  Indus, 
probably  Diul  or  Daibul,  which  we  have  seen  to  be  a  port  known  to 
the  Chinese  soon  after  this  {supra,  p.  57,  Hobson-Jobson,  p.  247). 
Androstachyn  is  probably,  as  Lassen  suggests,  an  error  for  Nardostachys 
or  spikenard,  the  chief  sources  of  which  seem  to  have  been  the  countries 
on  the  tributaries  of  the  Upper  Indus  (see  Lassen,  iii,  41,  42  ;  also  i, 
288-9). 

®  Sibor,  probably  the  Supera  of  Jordanus  and  Suppara  of  Ptolemy 
(infra,  iii,  p.  76).  [Sibor,  Ptolemy's  SymuUa  or  Timulla,  Saimur  and 
Jaimur  of  the  Arab  travellers,  probably  Chaul  (Cheul),  on  the  coast,  30 
miles   south   of   Bombay.]     Orrhatha   is   supposed   by   Lassen   to   be 

15—2 


228  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

the  five  marts  of  Male,  from  which  pepper  is  exported,  to  wit. 
Parti,  Mangaruth,  Salopatana,  Nalopatana,  Pudopatanai. 
Then  there  is  Sielediba  ;  i.e.,  Taprobane,  which  lies  hitherward 
about  five  days  and  nights'  sail  from  the  Continent ;  and  then 
again  on  the  Continent,  and  further  back  is  Marai.lo,  which 
exports  conch  shells^  ;  Kaber,  which  exports  alabandinum^ ; 
and  then  again  further  off  is  the  Clove  Country  ;  and  then 
TziNiSTA,  which  produces  the  silk.  Beyond  this  there  is  no  other 
country,  for  the  ocean  encompasses  it  on  the  east. 

"  This  same  Sielediba  then,  set,  as  it  were,  in  the  central  point 
of  the  Indies,  and  possessing  the  Hyacinth,  receiving  imports 
from  all  the  seats  of  commerce,  and  exporting  to  them  in  return, 
is  itself  a  great  seat  of  commerce.  Here  let  me  relate  what  there 
befel  one  of  the  merchants  accustomed  to  trade  thither.  His 
name  was  Sopatrus,  and  he  has  been  dead,  to  my  knowledge, 
these  thirty-five  years  past.  Well,  he  had  gone  to  the  island  of 
Taprobane  on  a  trading  adventure,  and  a  ship  from  Persia 
happened  to  put  in  there  at  the  same  time.  So  when  the  Adule 
people,  with  whom  Sopatrus  was,  went  ashore,  the  people  from 
Persia  went  ashore  likewise,  and  with  them  they  had  a  certain 
venerable  personage  of  their  nation*.  And  then,  as  their  way  is, 
the  chief  men  of  the  place  and  the  officers  of  the  custom-house 
received  the  party,  and  conducted  them  before  the  king.  The 
king  having  granted  them  an  audience,  after  receiving  their 
salutations,  desired  them  to  be  seated,  and  then  asked,  '  In  what 
state  are  your  countries  ?  and  how  go  your  own  affairs  ?  '  They 
answered,  '  Well.'  And  so  as  the  conversation  proceeded,  the  king 
put  the  question,  '  Which  of  you  has  the  greatest  and  most  power- 
ful king  ?  '  The  Persian  elder  snatching  the  word,  answered, 
'  Our  king  is  the  greatest  and  the  most  powerful  and  the  wealthiest, 
and  indeed  is  the  king  of  kings  ;   and  whatever  he  desires,  that  he 

Ptolemy's  Soratha  on  the  Peninsula  of  Gujarat,  identified  with  the 
Surata  of  Hiuen  Tsang,  not  to  be  confounded  with  modern  Surat. 
(Reinaud,  Mem.  sur  I'lnde  in  Acad.,  p.  155.) 

1  Of  these  five  ports  of  Malabar,  Mangaruth  is  no  doubt  Mangalore, 
Pudopatana  the  port  which  bore  the  same  name  till  a  recent  century 
(see  infra,  Ibn  Batuta) ;    the  others  I  cannot  identify. 

"  In  position  and  perhaps  in  name  identical  with  Marava  or  Marawar 
opposite  Ceylon.  The  fishing  of  chank  shells  hereabouts  was  till  recently 
I  beUeve  a  government  monopoly  like  the  pearl-fishery.  Walckenaer 
says  Marallo  is  "  Morilloum,  opposite  Ceylon."     Is  there  such  a  place  ? 

'  Kaber,  from  the  name  and  position,  may  be  the  Chaberis  of  Ptolemy 
(Kaveripattam)  [a  little  north  of  Tranquebar] — [Kavera  is  the  Sanskrit 
word  for  saffron.  M'Crindle],  but  I  can  get  no  light  on  the  alabandinum. 
Pliny  speaks  of  alabandic  carbuncles  and  of  an  alabandic  black  marble, 
both  called  from  a  city  of  Caria.  The  French  apply  the  name  almandine 
or  albandine  to  a  species  of  ruby.  (Pliny,  xxxvii,  25  ;  xxxvi,  13  ;  Diet. 
de  Trdvoux.)  If  rubies  be  meant  it  is  just  possible  that  Pegu  may  be  in 
question. 

^  "TTpeafivTTjs."     A  Shaikh?     Montfaucon's  Latin  has  omtoy. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  229 

is  able  to  accomplish.'  But  Sopatrus  held  his  peace.  Then, 
quoth  the  king,  '  Well,  Roman  !  hast  thou  not  a  word  to  say  ?  ' 
Said  Sopatrus,  '  Why,  what  is  there  for  me  to  say,  after  this  man 
hath  spoken  as  he  hath  done  ?  But  if  thou  wouldst  know  the 
real  truth  of  the  matter  thou  hast  both  the  kings  here  ;  examine 
both,  and  thou  shalt  see  thyself  which  is  the  more  magnificent 
and  potent.'  When  the  prince  heard  that,  he  was  amazed  at  the 
words,  and  said,  '  How  make  you  out  that  I  have  both  the  kings 
here  ?  '  The  other  replied,  '  Well,  thou  hast  the  coins  of  both — 
of  the  one  the  nomisma,  and  of  the  other  the  dirhem  {i.e.,  the 
miliavesion).  Look  at  the  effigy  on  each,  and  you  will  see  the 
truth.'  The  king  approved  of  the  suggestion,  nodding  assent, 
and  ordered  both  coins  to  be  produced.  Now,  the  nomisma  was 
a  coin  of  right  good  ring  and  fine  ruddy  gold,  bright  in  metal  and 
elegant  in  execution,  for  such  coins  are  picked  on  purpose  to  take 
thither,  whilst  the  miliaresion,  to  say  it  in  one  word,  was  of  silver, 
and  of  course  bore  no  comparison  with  the  gold  coin.  So  the 
king,  after  he  had  turned  them  this  way  and  that,  and  had  studied 
both  with  attention,  highly  extolled  the  nomisma^,  saying  that  in 
truth  the  Romans  were  a  splendid,  powerful,  and  sagacious  people. 
So  he  ordered  great  honour  to  be  paid  to  Sopatrus,  causing  him 
to  be  set  on  an  elephant,  and  conducted  round  the  city  with  drums 
beating  in  great  state.  These  circumstances  were  told  me  by 
Sopatrus  and  the  others  who  had  accompanied  him  from  Adule 
to  that  island.  And,  as  they  told  the  story,  the  Persian  was  very 
much  ashamed  of  what  had  happened  "  (p.  338). 

"  But  in  the  direction  of  those  most  notable  places  of  trade 
that  I  have  mentioned,  there  are  many  others  (of  minor  import- 
ance) both  on  the  coast  and  inland,  and  a  country  of  great  extent. 
And  in  India  further  up  the  country,  i.e.,  further  north,  are  the 
White  Huns^.     That  one  who  is  called  GoUas,  'tis  said,  goes  forth 

1  Nomisma  was  usually  applied  to  the  gold  solidus,  as  here.  [This 
would  be  an  aureus.  Constantine  the  Great  coined  aurei  of  seventy- two 
to  the  pound  of  gold,  and  at  this  standard  the  coin  remained  to  the  end 
of  the  empire.  M^Crindle,  p.  369.]  The  miliaresion  or  miliarense  was 
a  silver  coin,  the  twelfth  part  of  the  solidus  (Ducange,  de  Inf.  Aevi 
Numism.).  The  latter  coin  continued  to  be  well  known  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean probably  to  the  end  of  the  Byzantine  Empire.  Migliaresi  are 
frequently  mentioned  by  Pegolotti  circa  1340.  [Miliaresion,  a  silver 
drachma  of  which  twenty  made  a  daric,  which  was  equivalent  to  an 
Attic  Stater.  (M^^Crindle.)]  [Probably  in  312,  Constantine  issued  the 
aureus  of  seventy-two  to  the  pound  or  4  gr.  55,  and  gave  the  name  of 
solidus  aureus  or  simply  solidus  to  the  new  gold  standard.  (Babelon, 
Traite  des  Monnaies  grecques  et  romaines,  i,  1901,  pp.  532—3.)]  [The 
miliarense  was  1/14  of  the  solidus  aureus  of  4  gr.  55.  When  Constantine 
coined  his  gold  solidus  he  coined  also  a  new  silver  coin  of  72  to  the  pound 
which  weighs,  consequently,  like  the  gold  coin,  4  gr.  55  ;  this  coin  is  the 
miliarense.     (Babelon,  I.e.,  p.  570.)] 

2  On  the  Yue  chi.  Ye  tas  or  White  Huns,  called  also  Ephthalites, 
see  Lassen,  ii,  771  seqq.,  and  iii,  584  seqq.  [Vivien  de  Saint-Martin  has 
written  a  special  dissertation  on  Les  Huns  Blancs  ou  Ephthalites  des 
Historiens  byzantins.     (Paris,  Thunot,  1849,  8vo.)     See  p.  205  n.,  supra.] 


230  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

to  war  with  not  less  than  a  thousand  elephants,  besides  a  great 
force  of  cavalry.  This  ruler  tyrannises  over  India  and  exacts 
tribute  from  the  people.  Once  upon  a  time,  as  they  tell,  he  would 
lay  siege  to  a  certain  inland  city  of  India  ;  but  the  city  was  pro- 
tected all  round  by  inundation.  So  he  sat  him  down  before  it 
for  many  days,  and  in  course  of  time  what  with  his  elephants  and 
his  horses  and  the  people  of  his  camp  the  whole  of  the  water  was 
drunk  dry,  so  that  at  last  he  was  able  to  cross  over  dry-shod,  and 
took  the  city. 

"  These  people  have  a  great  fondness  for  the  emerald  stone, 
and  it  is  worn  by  their  king  in  his  crown^.  The  Ethiopians  who 
obtain  this  stone  from  the  Blemmyes  in  Ethiopia,  import  it  into 
India  and  with  the  price  they  get  are  able  to  invest  in  wares  of 
the  greatest  value. 

' '  Now,  all  these  matters  I  have  been  able  thus  to  describe  and 
explain,  partly  from  personal  experience,  and  partly  from  accurate 
inquiries  which  I  made  when  in  the  vicinity  of  the  different  places." 

(P-  339-) 

"  There  are  other  kings  (I  may  observe)  of  different  places  in 
India  who  keep  elephants,  such  as  the  King  of  Orrhotha,  and  the 
King  of  the  Kalliana  people,  and  the  Kings  of  Sindu,  of  Sibor, 
and  of  Male.  One  will  have  six  hundred  elephants,  another  five 
hundred,  and  so  on,  some  more,  or  less.  And  the  King  of  Siele- 
diba  [gives  a  good  price  for]^  both  the  elephants  that  he  has,  and 
the  horses.  The  elephants  he  buys  by  cubit  measurement ;  for 
their  height  is  measured  from  the  ground,  and  so  the  price  is 
fixed  according  to  the  measurement,  ranging  from  fifty  to  a 
hundred  nomismata  or  more^.  Horses  they  bring  to  him  from 
Persia,  and  these  he  buys,  and  grants  special  immunities  to  those 
who  import  them. 

"  The  kings  on  the  mainland  cause  wild  elephants  to  be  tamed, 

1  [Yule  in  his  additional  notes  writes  :  "  So  Mas'udI  says  one  species 
of  emerald  from  the  country  of  the  Bejah  (Blemmyes  ?)  was  called 
Bahri,  because  so  much  prized  by  the  Kings  of  Transmarine  countries, 
such  as  Hind,  Sind,  Zinj,  and  Sin,  who  sought  it  diligently  "to  set  in 
their  diadems,'  etc.     {Prairies  d'Or,  iii,  44.) 

"  The  Blemmyes  were  fierce  predatory  nomads  of  the  Nubian  wilds 
and  the  regions  adjacent.  Emeralds  were  found  in  the  mines  of  Upper 
Egypt,  and  were  no  doubt  shipped  from  Adule  for  the  Indian  markets 
by  the  Ethiopian  traders  who  bought  them  from  the  Blemmyes.  If 
taken  to  Barygaza  (Bharoch),  they  could  be  transported  thence  by  a 
frequented  trade-route  to  Ujjain,  thence  to  Kabul,  and  thence  over  the 
Hindu  Kush  to  the  regions  of  the  Oxus."     M'^Crindle,  p.  371.] 

2  This  is  conjectural,  as  some  words  are  evidently  wanting.  Mont- 
faucon's  Latin  supplies  pretio  emit. 

^  From  £-^1  to  £6^.  The  price  of  elephants  in  Bengal  now  may  run 
from  twice  to  thrice  these  amounts.  Height  is  always  one  of  the 
elements  in  estimating  the  price  of  an  elephant.  Edrisi  says  :  "  The 
Kings  of  India  and  China  make  a  great  work  about  the  height  of  their 
elephants  ;  they  pay  very  dear  in  proportion  as  this  attribute  increases." 
(i.  97) 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  23I 

and  make  use  of  them  in  war.  And  it  is  a  common  practice  to 
get  up  elephant  fights  as  a  spectacle  for  the  king.  For  this  purpose 
they  set  up  between  the  two  elephants  a  pair  of  upright  timbers 
with  a  great  crossbeam  fastened  to  them  which  reaches  as  it  might 
be  to  the  chests  of  the  elephants.  A  number  of  men  are  also 
stationed  on  this  side  and  on  that  to  prevent  the  animals  coming 
to  close  quarters,  but  at  the  same  time  to  stir  them  up  to  engage 
one  another.  And  so  the  beasts  thrash  each  other  with  their 
trunks  till  at  length  one  of  them  gives  in. 

"  The  Indian  elephants  are  not  furnished  with  great  tusks^. 
And  even  when  they  have  them  naturally  the  people  saw  them 
off,  in  order  that  their  weight  may  not  be  an  incumbrance  in  war. 
The  Ethiopians  do  not  understand  the  art  of  taming  elephants  ; 
but  if  their  king  should  want  one  or  two  for  a  show  they  catch 
them  young  and  bring  them  up  in  captivity.  For  in  their  country 
there  are  great  numbers  of  elephants,  and  they  are  of  the  kind 
that  have  great  tusks.  And  these  tusks  are  exported  by  sea  from 
Ethiopia  into  Persia  and  Homerite  and  the  Roman  territory,  and 
even  to  India.  These  particulars  are  derived  from  what  I  have 
heard."     (p.  339.— M^Crindle,  pp.  358-373.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


—  CoUectio  nova  Patrum  et  Scriptorum  Graecorum,  Eusebii 
Caesariensis,  Athanasii,  &  Cosmse  ^gyptii.  Haec  nunc  primum 
ex  Manuscriptis  Codicibus  Grsecis  Italicis  Gallicanisque  eruit, 
Latine  vertit,  Notis  &  Praefationibus  illustravit  D.  Bernardus  de 
Montfaucon,  Presbyter  &  Monachus  Ordinis  Sancti  Benedicti, 
e  Congregatione  S.  Mauri.  Tomus  secundus,  fol.  [Parisiis,  C. 
Rigaud,  MDCCVI]. 

Cosmas,  pp.  xxiv  +  pp.  numbered  113-345. 
Cosmae  Monachi  ^gyptii  Topographia  Christiana.  Fasci- 
cvlus  vevvm  gvcecavvm  ecclesiasticarvm .  .  .  omnia  grcece  nvnc 
primvm  prodevnt  ex  Medicea  Bibliotheca  cvra  et  stvdio  Ang.  Mar. 
Bandini.  .  .Florentiae  Typis  Caesareis  Anno  CIO.  D.  cclxiii,  8vo, 
pp.  21-35.) 

—  Bibliotheca  Veterum  Patrum  Antiquorumque  Scriptorum 
Ecclesiasticorum,  postrema  Lugdunensi  multo  locupletior  atque 
accuratior. — Cura  &  studio  Andreae  Gallandii  Presbyteri  Con- 
gregationis  Oratorii. — Tomus  XL — Venetiis  cio.  d.cclxxvi,  large 
fol. 

Cosmag  ^gyptii  Monachi  Christiana  Topographia,  sive 
Christianorum  Opinio  de  Mundo,  pp.  399-578,  4  plates. 

^  It  is  well  known  that  a  large  proportion  of  male  elephants  in  India 
have  only  very  small  tusks  like  the  females.     Such  in  Bengal  are  called 

makhna. 


232  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

—  Description  des  Animavx  et  des  Plantes  des  Indes.  Avec 
vne  relation  de  I'isle  Taprobane,  tiree  de  la  Topographic  Chresti- 
enne  de  Cosmas  le  Solitaire.  [Greek  Text  and  Translation.] 
{Relation  de  divers  voyages  curieux .  .  .par.  .  .feu  M.  Melchisedec 
Thevenot.  .  .Nouvelle  edition,  Augmentee  de  plusieurs  Relations 
curieuses.  T.  I.  Contenant  la  I.  et  II.  Partie.  A  Paris,  Chez 
Thomas  Moette, .  .  .M.dc.xcvi,  fol.) 

—  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  Voyageur  egyptien  [Sixieme  siecle 
apres  Jesus-Christ].  (Edouard  Charton,  Voyageurs  Anciens  et 
Modernes,  II,  Paris,  1861,  pp.  1-30.) 

With  a  Bibliography,  p.  30. 

—  K02MA  AirYHTIOY  MONAXOY  XPI2TIANIKH  TOnOTPA^IA. — 
The  Christian  Topography  of  Cosmas,  an  Egyptian  Monk.  Trans- 
lated from  the  Greek,  and  Edited,  with  Notes  and  Introduction 
by  J.  W.  M'^Crindle. .  .London,  Printed  for  the  Hakluyt  Society. 
M.DCCC.xcvii,  8vo,  pp.  xxvii. — 398. 

Vol.  98  of  the  Works  issued  by  the  Hakluyt  Society,  in  1897. 
The  English  text  only. 

—  Zizi.  Ein  Beitrag  zur  Erklarung  einer  Stelle  bei  Cosmas. 
Von  Jos.  Teige.  {Forschungen  zur  Deutschen  Geschichte,  Bd.  xxiv, 
Hft.  I. — Gottingen,  Dieterich,  1883,  pp.  203-4.) 

—  The  Dawn  of  Modern  Geography.  A  History  of  Exploration 
and  Geographical  Science ...  by  C.  Raymond  Beazley.  London  ; 
John  Murray,  1897,  8vo.  pp.  xvi-538. 

Cosmas,  pp.  273-303  ;    also  pp.  190-6. 


NOTE    IX  BIS. 
EXTRACTS    FROM    THEOPHYLACTUS    SIMOCATTAK 

Lib.  VII,  Caput  vii.  "  Ergo  deuictis  a  Chagano  Abaris  (sursum 
enim  redeo)  alii  eorum  ad  Taugastenses  confugerunt  (est  autem 
Taugast  Turcarum  nobilis  colonia,  stadiis  mille  quingentis  ab 
India  distans,  cuius  indigenae,  &  strenuissimi,  &  f requentissimi , 
&  prcestantia  quouis  populo  in  orbe  terrarum  superiores)  alii 
propter  amissam  libertatem  hurailiorem  sortiti  conditionem, 
ad  Mucritas  qui  dicuntur,  Taugastensibus  vicinissimos  se  contu- 
lerunt,  ad  praelia  ineunda  tum  propter  quotidiana  belli  exercitia, 
tum  propter  tolerantiam  in  periculis  eximio  animorum  robore 
preeditos."      (P.    174.) 

Lib.  vii,  Caput  ix  :  "  Chaganvs  igitur  ciuili  bello  finite,  rem 
felicibus   auspiciis   administrat,    &    cum    Taugastensibus    foedus 

1  Theophylacti  Simocattae  expra^fecti  et  observatoris  coactorvm 
Historiarvm  libri  viii.  Interprete  lacobo  Pontano  Societatis  lesy. 
Editio  priore  castigatior,  &  Glossario  Grajco-barbaro  auctior.  Studio 
&  opera  Caroli  Annibalis  Fabroti  IC.     Parisiis,  E  Typographia  regia.— 

M.DC.XLVII,    fol. 

Greek  text  and  Latin  translation  in  Corpus  Byzantinae  Historiae. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  233 

percutit,  vt  tranquillitatem  &  pacem  supremam  vndique  nactus, 
principatum  sibi  omnis  seditionis  expertem  efficeret.  Princeps 
autem  in  Taugast  Taisan  audit,  quae  vox  grseca  lingua  filium  Dei 
sonat.  Hoc  regnum  nullis  intestinis  discordiis  agitatur,  propterea 
quod  Princeps  illic  a  successione  generis  creatur.  Statuas  vener- 
antur  :  iustis  reguntur  legibus,  frugalitatem  in  omni  vita  excolunt. 
Consuetude  est  apud  eos,  vim  legis  obtinens,  vt  mares  ornatu 
aureo  in  perpetuum  abstineant  :  quanquam  auro  argentoque 
propter  magnorum  mercimoniorum  commoditatem  abundant. 
Hanc  vrbem  fluuius  discriminat,  qui  olim  duos  frequentissimos 
populos  dissidentes  diuidebat,  quorum  alter  nigra,  alter  cocco 
tincta  veste  vtebatur.  Nostris  itaque  temporibus,  Mauricio 
Imperatore,  nigram  gestantes,  transmisso  fluuio  rubram  indutis 
bellum  intulerunt,  victoresque  toto  illo  imperio  potiti  sunt. 
Vrbem  Taugast  barbari  memorant  Alexandrum  condidisse,  quando 
Bactrianos,  &  Sogdianam,  centum  viginti  barbarorum  millibus 
igne  consumptis  subiugauit.  Vxores  regiae  auro  &  lapillis  pre- 
tiosissimis  conspicuae,  curribus  vehuntur  aureis,  quorum  singuli 
a  singulis  iuuencis,  fraenis  auro,  &  gemmis  sumptuose  exornatis 
trahuntur.  Princeps  cum  feminis  septingentis  noctem  exigit. 
Nobilium  coniugibus  pilenta  sunt  argentea.  Fama  est,  Alex- 
andrum aliam  quoque  vrbem,  non  multis  millibus  distantem, 
quam  barbari  Chubdan  nominant,  sedificasse.  Eius  principem 
demortuum,  ipsius  vxores  rasis  capitibus,  &  pullatae  continenter 
lugent:  neque  per  legem  eius  sepulcrum  deserere  vnquam  pos- 
sunt.  Chubdan  duo  latissimi  amnes  disterminant,  quorum  ripis 
cupressi  (vt  ita  loquar)  annuunt.  Multos  habent  elephantos,  & 
cum  Indis  negotiantur. 

Hos  autem  Indos  in  plaga  Boreali  habitantes,  albis  corporibus 
esse  praedicant.  Bombycum,  vnde  fila  serica,  magna  &  diuer- 
sicolor  apud  eos  copia  :  in  quibus  curandis  barbari  magnum,  & 
artificiosum  studium  prsstare  solent.  Verum  ne  historiam  a 
meta  proposita  abducamus,  hactenus  de  Scythis  ad  Bactrianam, 
Sogdianam,  &  nigrum  fluuium  a  nobis  dictum  esto."  (Pages 
176-7.) 


NOTE   IX  TER. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    CHAU    JU-KWA^. 
Ta  Ts'in. 
"The  country  of  Ta-ts'in,"  also  called  Li-kien,  "is  the  general 
mart  of  the  natives  of  the  Western  Heaven,  the  place  where  the 
foreign  merchants  of  the  Ta-shi  assemble." 

1  Chau  Ju-kua :  His  Work  on  the  Chinese  and  Arab  Trade  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  Centuries,  entitled  Chu-fan-chi,  Translated  from 
the  Chinese  and  Annotated  by  Friedrich  Hirth  and  W.  W.  Rockhill. — 
St  Petersburg,  1912,  large  8vo,  pp.  102-4. 


234  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

"  Their  King  is  styled  Ma-lo-fu  "  ;  he  rules  in  the  city  of  An-tu. 
"  He  Avears  a  turban  of  silk  with  gold  embroidered  characters, 
and  the  throne  he  sits  upon  is  covered  with  a  silken  rug." 

"  They  have  walled  cities  "  and  markets  with  wards  and  streets. 
"  In  the  King's  residence  "  they  use  crystal  in  making  pillars,  and 
"  plaster  in  guise  of  tiles.  Wall-hangings  abound.  The  circuit 
(of  the  wall)  is  pierced  with  seven  gates,  each  guarded  by  thirty 
men. 

"  Tribute  bearers  from  other  countries  pay  homage  below  the 
platform  of  the  (palace)  steps,  whence  they  withdraw  after  having 
offered  their  congratulations." 

The  inhabitants  are  tall  and  of  a  fine  bright  complexion,  some- 
what like  the  Chinese,  which  is  the  reason  for  their  being  called 
Ta-ts'in. 

They  have  Keepers  of  official  records,  and  in  writing  they  use 
Hu  characters.  They  trim  their  hair  and  wear  embroidered  gowns. 
■They  also  have  small  carts  with  white  tops,  flags,  etc.  {Along  the 
roads)  there  is  a  shed  every  ten  It,  and  every  thirty  li  there  is  a  beacon- 
tower.  There  are  many  lions  in  this  country  that  interfere  with 
travellers  and  are  likely  to  devour  them  unless  they  go  in  caravans  of 
an  hundred  well-armed  men. 

"  Underneath  the  palace  they  have  dug  a  tunnel  through  the 
ground  communicating  with  the  hall  of  worship  at  a  distance  of 
over  a  li.  The  king  rarely  goes  out  except  to  chant  the  liturgy 
and  worship.  On  every  seventh  day  he  goes  by  way  of  the  tunnel 
to  the  hall  of  worship  for  divine  service,  being  attended  by  a  suite 
of  over  fifty  men.  But  few  amongst  the  people  know  the  king's 
face.  If  he  goes  out  he  rides  horseback,  shaded  by  an  umbrella  ; 
the  head  of  his  horse  is  ornamented  with  gold,  jade,  pearls  and 
other  jewels. 

"  There  is  among  the  Kings  of  the  Ta-shi  country  he  who  is 
styled  Su-tan  ;  every  year  he  deputes  men  to  send  in  tribute,  and, 
if  trouble  is  apprehended  in  the  country,  he  orders  the  Ta-shi  to 
use  their  military  force  to  keep  order. 

"  The  food  consists  principally  of  cooked  dishes,  bread  and 
meat.  They  do  not  drink  wine  ;  they  make  use  of  vessels  of  gold 
and  silver,  helping  themselves  to  the  contents  with  ladles.  After 
meals  they  wash  their  hands  in  golden  bowls  full  of  water. 

"  The  native  products  comprise  opaque  glass,  coral,  native  gold 
(or  gold  bullion),  brocades  (or  Kincobs),  sarsenets,  red  cornelian 
and  pearls";  also  (the  precious  stone  called)  hid-M-si  or  tung- 
t'ien-si. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  yen-hi  period  of  the  Han  (a.d.  158-176) 
the  ruler  of  this  country  sent  an  embassy  which,  from  outside  the 
frontier  of  Ji-nan,  came  to  offer  rhinoceros  (horns),  elephants' 
(tusks),  and  tortoise-shell  ; — this  being  the  first  direct  communication 
with  China.  As  the  presents  comprised  no  other  rarities,  it  may 
be  suspected  that  the  envoys  kept  them  back. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  235 

During  the  t'ai  k'ang  period  of  the  Tsin  (a.d.  280-9)  tribute 
was  again  brought  from  there. 

There  is  a  saying  that  in  the  west  of  this  country  is  the  Jo-shui 
and  the  Liu-sha,  near  the  place  where  the  Si-wang-mu  resides  and 
almost  where  the  sun  goes  down. 

Tu  Huan  in  the  King-hing-ki  says :  "  The  country  of  Fu-lin 
is  in  the  west  of  the  Chan  country;  it  is  also  called  Ta-ts'in. 
The  inhabitants  have  red  and  white  faces.  The  men  wear  plain 
clothes,  but  the  women  brocades  set  with  pearls.  They  like  to  drink 
wine  and  eat  dry  cakes.  They  have  many  skilled  artisans  and  are 
clever  weavers  of  silk. 

' '  The  size  of  the  cotintry  is  a  thousand  li.  The  active  army  con- 
sists of  over  ten  thousand  men.     It  has  to  ward  off  the  Ta-shi. 

"  In  the  Western  Sea  there  is  a  market  where  a  (silent)  agreement 
exists  between  buyer  and  seller  that  if  one  comes  the  other  goes. 
The  seller  first  spreads  out  his  goods  ;  afterwards  the  (would-be) 
purchaser  spreads  out  the  equivalent  (he  offers),  which  must  lie  by 
the  side  of  the  articles  for  sale  till  taken  by  the  seller,  when  the  objects 
purchased  may  be  carried  off.  This  is  called  the  '  Devil  (or  Spirit) 
market.'  " 


NOTE   X. 

THE   DISCOVERY  OF  THE   SYRO-CHINESE   CHRISTIAN 
MONUMENT   AT  SI-NGAN   FU. 

From  the  Relazione  della  Cina  of  P.  Alvarez  Semedo,  Rome, 

1643. 

"  In  the  year  1625,  whilst  the  foundations  of  a  house  were 
a-digging  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city  of  Si-ngan  fu,  the  capital 
of  the  province  of  Shen  si,  the  workmen  hit  upon  a  stone  slab 
raore  than  nine  palms  long,  by  four  in  width,  and  more  than  a 
palm  in  thickness.  The  head  of  this  slab,  i.e.  one  of  the  ends  in 
its  longer  dimension,  is  finished  off  in  the  form  of  a  pyramid  more 
than  two  palms  high  with  a  base  of  more  than  one  palm,  and  on 
the  surface  of  this  pyramid  is  a  well-formed  cross  with  floreated 
points,  resembling  those  which  are  described  to  be  sculptured  on 
the  tomb  of  St.  Thomas  at  Meliapur,  and  such  as  were  also  at  one 
time  in  use  in  Europe,  as  we  may  see  by  some  examples  that  have 
been  preserved  to  the  present  day. 

"  There  are  some  cloudy  marks  round  about  the  cross,  and 
(immediately)  below  it  three  transverse  lines,  each  composed  of 
three  large  characters  clearly  carved,  all  of  the  kind  employed  in 
China.  The  whole  (of  the  rest)  of  the  surface  of  the  stone  is  seen 
to  be  sculptured  over  with  characters  of  the  same  kind,  and  so 
also  is  the  thickness  of  the  slab,  but  in  the  last  the  characters  are 


236  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

different  from  the  others,  for  some  of  them  are  outlandish,  and 
their  nature  was  not  known  at  the  time  of  the  discovery. 

"  No  sooner  had  the  Chinese  cleaned  this  notable  piece  of 
antiquity  and  seen  what  it  was,  than,  with  the  vivid  curiosity 
which  is  natural  to  them,  they  ran  to  tell  the  Governor.  He  came 
in  all  haste  to  see  it,  and  straightway  caused  it  to  be  set  up  on  a 
handsome  pedestal  under  an  arch  which  was  closed  at  the  sides 
and  open  in  front,  so  that  it  might  at  once  be  protected  from  the 
weather,  and  accessible  to  eyes  capable  of  enjoying  and  appre- 
ciating an  antique  of  such  a  venerable  kind.  The  place  which  he 
selected  for  it  was  also  within  the  enclosure  of  a  Bonze  Temple^ 
not  far  from  where  the  discovery  occurred. 

"  Great  numbers  of  people  flocked  to  see  this  stone,  attracted 
in  part  by  its  antiquity  and  in  part  by  the  novelty  of  the  strange 
characters  that  were  visible  on  it.  And  as  the  knowledge  of  our 
religion  has  now  spread  far  and  wide  in  China,  a  certain  Pagan 
who  happened  to  be  present,  and  who  was  on  very  friendly  terms 
with  a  worthy  Christian  mandarin  called  Leo,  when  he  discerned 
the  bearing  of  this  mysterious  writing,  thought  he  could  not  do 
his  friend  a  greater  pleasure  than  by  sending  him  a  copy  of  it. 
And  this  he  did,  although  the  Mandarin  was  a  six  weeks'  journey 
off,  residing  in  the  city  of  Hang  chau,  whither  most  of  our  fathers 
had  retired  on  account  of  the  persecution  that  had  occurred,  of 
which  we  shall  speak  in  its  place.  He  received  the  transcript 
with  pious  joy,  and  visible  demonstrations  of  delight,  seeing  the 
irrefragable  testimony  of  the  ancient  Christianity  of  China  which 
it  contained  (a  thing  such  as  had  been  much  desired  and  sought 
for),  as  we  shall  explain. 

"  Three  years  later,  in  1628,  some  of  the  fathers  had  an 
opportunity  of  visiting  the  province  in  question  in  company  with 
a  Christian  mandarin  called  Philip,  who  had  to  go  thither.  A 
church  and  a  house  (of  the  Society)  were  erected  in  that  metropolis; 
for  the  Blessed  God  who  had  willed  the  discovery  of  so  fine  a 
monument  of  the  ancient  occupation  of  this  country  by  His  Divine 
Law,  was  also  pleased  to  facilitate  its  restitution  in  the  same 
locality.  It  was  my  fortune  to  be  one  of  the  first  to  go  thither, 
and  I  thought  myself  happy  in  having  that  post,  on  account  of 
the  opportunity  it  gave  me  of  seeing  the  stone  ;  and  on  my  arrival 
I  could  attend  to  nothing  else  until  I  had  seen  it  and  read  it. 
And  I  went  back  to  read  it  again,  and  examined  it  in  a  leisurely 
and  deliberate  manner.  Considering  its  antiquity,  I  could  not 
but  admire  that  it  was  so  perfect,  and  exhibited  letters  sculptured 
with  such  clearness  and  precision. 

"  Looked  at  edge- wise  there  are  on  it  many  Chinese  characters 
which  contain  a  number  of  names  of  priests  and  bishops  of  that 
age.  There  are  also  many  other  characters  which  were  not  then 
known,  for  they  are  neither  Hebrew  nor  Greek,  but  which,  as  far 
as  I  understand,  contain  the  same  names,  in  order  that  if  by  chance 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  237 

some  one  from  abroad  should  come  who  could  not  read  the 
writing  of  the  country,  he  might,  perhaps,  be  able  to  understand 
these  foreign  characters. 

"  Passing  afterwards  through  Cochin  on  my  way  to  Cranganor, 
the  residence  of  the  Archbishop  of  the  Coast,  I  consulted  on  the 
subject  of  those  letters  Father  Antonio  Fernandez  of  our  Society, 
who  was  very  learned  in  the  literature  of  those  St.  Thomas 
Christians,  and  he  told  me  that  the  letters  were  Syriac,  and  the 
same  as  were  in  use  by  that  body."     (P.  197  seq.) 

The  following  account  is  given  in  a  Chinese  work  entitled 
"  Laichai's  Brief  examination  of  Inscriptions  on  Stone  and  Metal." 

"  At  present  this  inscription  exists  in  the  enclosure  of  the 
monastery  Kinching  ('  Golden  Victory  ')  to  the  west  of  the  city 
of  Si-ngan.  In  the  years  Tsung  ching  of  the  Ming  (1628-43)  the 
Prefect  of  Si-ngan,  Doctor  Tseu  Tsing  chang,  a  native  of  Tsin-ling, 
had  a  young  child  called  Hoaseng  who  was  endowed  from  his 
birth  with  a  very  rare  degree  of  intelligence  and  penetration. 
Almost  as  soon  as  he  could  speak  he  would  already  join  his  hands 
to  adore  Fo.  When  he  had  reached  his  twelfth  year,  the  child, 
without  knowing  where  was  the  seat  of  his  ailment,  pined  away ; 
his  eyes  insensibly  closed  ;  he  opened  them  for  an  instant  with 
a  smile,  and  died.  Chang,  seeing  that  his  son  was  gone,  cast  lots, 
and  these  indicated  for  the  place  of  his  burial  a  spot  to  the  south 
of  the  monastery  T'sungjin  {'  Sublime  Humanity  ')  in  Chang-ngan. 
After  digging  here  to  a  depth  of  several  feet,  they  hit  upon  a  stone 
which  was  no  other  than  that  bearing  the  inscription, ' '  etc.  (From 
Pauthier,  L' Inscription  Chretienne  de  Singanfou,  pp.  70-1.) 


NOTE   X  BIS. 

FROM    THE    ISTORIA    OF    P.    D.    Bartoli. 

P.  Daniello  Bartoli  in  his  Istoria  delta  Compagnia  di  Gesu  has 
given  in  the  third  part  of  Asia  devoted  to  China  (Torino,  1825, 
Lib.  4°,  pp.  4  seq.)  a  history  of  the  discovery  of  the  Si-ngan  fu 
inscription  which  is  more  complete  in  its  particulars  than  the 
account  of  Semedo.  I  have  thought  it  might  prove  of  good 
service  and  I  insert  it  here  : 

Descrizion  d'una  lapida 

trovata  nella  Provincia  di  Scensi  in  memoria 

della  Fede  gia  fiorita  nella  Cina. 

La  Provincia  di  Scensi,  fra  tutte  le  quindici  della  Cina,  e  in 
venerazione  come  di  madre  ;  percioche  si  ha  fino  ab  immemorabili, 
che  i  primi  padri  e  fondatori  della  Nazion  cinese  quivi  abitassero, 
e  quinci,  multiplicando,  diffondessero  i  lor  nipoti  e  discendenti,  a 


238  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

popolar  tutte  le  quattordici  altre  Provincie.  E  par  vero ;  peroche 
chi  vien  da  verso  1'  India  per  la  via  di  terra  a  quel  Regno,  la 
Provincia  di  Scensi  e  la  prima  a  farsi  loro  incontro  a  riceverli,  si 
come  quella,  che  piii  di  niun'  altra  si  stende  in  quel  verso,  fino  a 
Sifan,  ciod  a'  Regni  di  Tibet  e  Cascar  :  e  le  carovane  de'  Mori,  che 
ad  ogni  tanti  anni  si  portano  alia  Cina,  le  lontanissime  dalla  Persia 
e  dal  Mogor,  e  1'  altre  da  piu  vicino,  tutte  vengono  a  metter  capo 
a  Scensi  nel  suo  lato  a  Settentrione,  dove  ha  la  gran  muraglia  che 
la  divide  da'  Tartari.  Quivi  anco  ebbero  per  piii  secoli  il  lor  seggio 
i  primi  Re  della  Cina,  e  la  Corte  in  Sigan  metropoli  della  Provincia  ; 
per  cio  tutta  sontuosissimi  edificj,  e  per  almen  dodici  miglia 
nostrali,  quante  (oltre  a'  gran  borghi)  ne  volge  il  suo  circuito, 
intorniata  d'  un  muro  di  pietra  viva,  la  si  bella  fabrica  a  vedersi, 
e  si  forte  a  difendere  la  citta,  ch'  ella  giustamente  ne  va  con  nome 
di  Muraglia  d'  oro.  Or'  in  questa  Provincia  di  Scensi,  e  in  questa 
sua  maestosa  metropoli  Sigan,  si  apparecchiavano  i  Padri  a  portar 
la  luce  deir  Evangelic ;  quando,  pochi  mesi  innanzi  al  lor  giun- 
gervi  (e  non,  pochi  anni  prima  del  lor'  entrar  nella  Cina,  come 
altri  ha  scritto  :  ed  e  fallo  d'  almen  quarantacinque  anni),  apren- 
dosi  dove  gittare  i  fondamenti  di  non  so  qual  nuovo  edificio  presso 
a  Ceuce,  citta  non  delle  grandi,  un  qualche  trenta  miglia  lungi 
dalla  metropoli  in  ver  Levante,  i  cavatori  s'  avvennero  in  certe 
rovine  di  fabrica,  e  fra  esse,  nello  scassinarle,  diedero  in  una  gran 
piastra  di  marmo,  che  tratta  fuori,  e  rinetta  con  diligenza,  si  vide 
tutta  esser  messa  a  caratteri,  altri  cinesi,  altri  di  stranissima 
formazione,  niuno  sapea  di  che  lingua  :  ma  gli  uni  e  gli  altri, 
quanto  all'  intaglio,  opera  di  mano  eccellente.  Cosi  dell'  inven- 
zione  di  questa  memorabile  anticaglia  si  e  scritto  fin'  era  da  chi 
ne  fa  menzione,  attribuendola  a  fortuito  avvenimento  de'  cavatori, 
che,  senza  nulla  cercarne,  si  abbatterono  in  lei.  Ma  io,  nelle 
memorie  inviateci  dalla  Provincia  di  Scensi  1'  anno  1639,  truovo 
la  testimonianza  d'  un  vecchio,  il  quale,  accoltosi  cortesemente  il 
P.  Stefano  Fabri,  gran  ministro  dell'  Evangelio  in  quel  Regno, 
ad  albergo  una  notte  nel  suo  povero  casolare,  posto  cola  fra  le 
piu  erme  pendici  di  quella  montagnosa  Provincia,  gli  conto  per 
indubitabil  saputa,  i  paesani  della  contrada,  cola  onde  si  trasse  la 
pietra,  avere  osservato,  che  coprendosi  sin  dal  primo  far  del  verno 
di  foltissime  nevi  tutto  intorno  il  paese,  solo  un  pochissimo  di 
terreno  ne  rimaneva  al  tutto  libero  e  scoperto  :  e  cio  per  piu  anni 
seguentemente  :  dunque,  forza  essere,  che  ivi  sotto  si  nascondesse 
o  un  tesoro  (come  desideravano),  o,  che  che  altro  si  fosse,  cosa 
degna  di  sapersi  che  fosse  :  e  da  cio  essersi  indotti  a  cercarne,  e 
cavare,  e  avervi  trovato  in  verita  il  tesoro  della  pietra  che  dicevamo. 
Tanto  ne  riferiva  il  vecchio.  Curiosissimi  sono  i  Cinesi  di  ci6  che 
sa  deir  antico :  n^  piii  caro  dono  pu6  farsi  ad  uomo  di  profession 
Letterato,  che  un  che  che  sia,  tanto  piu  prezioso,  quanto  piii 
antico,  massimamente  memorie  di  secoli  andati,  che  cola  sono 
reliquie  del  tempo  sacrosante,  e  ne  arricchiscono  que'  loro  sontuosi 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  239 

Musei,  ch'  essi  chiamano  Case  di  studio.  Percio  v'  ebbe  gara  a  chi 
portasse  il  primo  1'  annunzio  della  pietra  al  Governatore  di  Ceuce  ; 
il  quale  accorsovi,  e  lettone  quel  che  v'  era  in  sua  lingua,  altro  non 
ne  comprese,  se  non  ch'  ella  era  cosa  di  gran  mistero,  e  antichis- 
sima,  Si  come  fin  dal  tempo  della  real  famiglia  Tarn,  e  di  Chienciun, 
un  de'  successori  d'  essa  regnante.  Era  la  pietra  meglio  di  quattro 
palmi  in  largo,  lunga  oltre  a  nove,  e  grossa  un  sommesso.  D'  in 
su'l  lato  superiore,  spiccavasi  un'  altro  minor  quadrato  ;  la  cui 
sommita  levandosi  un  poco  alta,  e  stringendosi,  finiva  in  acuto  ; 
e  quivi  entro  all'  angolo  superiore  una  Croce  ben  disegnata,  su 
r  andar  di  quella  de'  Cavalieri  di  Malta,  con  a'  capi  alcune  giunterelle 
da  renderla  di  bel  garbo.  Sotto  essa,  nove  si  gran  caratteri,  ch'  essi 
soli  empiono  tutto  il  quadrato  superiore,  disposti  in  tre  righe  a 
tre  per  ciascuna.  Ma  nel  plan  del  quadrato  maggiore,  elle  eran 
da  trenta  righe,  non  coricate  come  le  nostre,  ma  ritte  in  pid,  e  da 
leggersi  calando  dalla  cima  al  fondo  :  chd  tale  ho  detto  altrove 
essere  il  proprio  scrivere  de'  Cinesi :  e  in  esse  contavansi  mille 
diciotto  caratteri ;  i  quali,  tra  perche  ciascun  di  loro  d  una  voce 
intera,  e  per  la  mirabil  forza  che  hanno  nell'  esprimere  e  significare 
i  concetti  dell'  animo,  a  volerli  ridurre  a  scrittura  in  lettere 
uguali  d'  ogni  altra  lingua  d'  Europa,  empierebbono  tre  e  quattro 
volte  pill  spazio.  Oltre  a  questi  cinesi,  correvanle  per  su  il  lembo 
attorno  altri  caratteri,  di  soriano  all'  antica,  ma  quivi  non  cono- 
sciuti,  ne  pur  di  che  lingua  si  fossero. 

Letta  da'  Gentili  la  pietra,  e  non  intesa  : 
se  ne  manda  copia  al  Dottor  Lione,  e  si  stampa. 

II  Governator  dunque,  adorato  quel  marmo,  venerabilissimo 
per  r  antichita  di  presso  ottocencinquanta  anni  (come  indubitato 
appariva  dal  tempo  in  che  vissero  i  Re  quivi  expressi),e  contenente, 
nella  sua  natia  favella,  misteri  da  lui  poco  intesi,  e  nulla  quel  che 
dicea  la  straniera,  il  mando  trasportar  di  cola  in  un  tempio  di 
Taosi,  un  miglio  presso  a  Sigan,  e  quivi  alzarlo  su  un  piedestallo, 
sotto  un  bel  capannuccio  portato  da  quattro  colonne  :  e  al  par 
di  lui,  un'  altra  piastra  di  marmo,  con  incisavi  dentro  una  ben 
composta  memoria  del  ritrovamento  di  quella  antichita  presso 
a  Ceuce,  cola  dov'  egli  era  Governatore.  Tutta  Sigan  vi  trasse, 
con  gara  eziandio  fra'  piu  dotti  a  comprenderne  o  indovinarne  il 
significato,  difficilissimo  a  rinvenire,  non  tanto  perchd  il  dettato 
della  scrittura  era  in  istile  sollevatissimo,  quanto  per  le  figurate 
maniere  dell'  accennarvisi  i  misteri  della  Fede  nostra,  quivi  non 
ancora  divulgati.  E  gia  lo  stesso  era  avvenuto  a  que'  di  Ceuce, 
senza  trovarsi  chi  di  loro  si  apponesse  al  vero,  fuor  che,  come  a 
Dio  piacque,  un  solo  del  secondo  ordine  de'  Letterati,  che  cola 
chiamano  Chiugin.  Questi,  eran  de  gli  anni  presso  a  diciotto,  che 
stretta  in  Pechin  amicizia  col  P.  Matteo  Ricci,  ne  aveva  udito 
della  Legge  cristiana  quanto   ora  tornandolsi  alia  memoria,   e 


240  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

riscontrandolo  con  quel  che  leggea  nella  pietra,  il  rende  certo, 
quivi  di  lei  trattarsi  :  e  senza  piu,  sovraposto  alia  medesima 
pietra  uno  o  due  di  que'  loro  fran  fogli,  coll'  arte  dello  stampare 
in  pietra  che  cola  e  in  uso,  ne  ricavo  fedelmente  la  scrittura  a 
carattere  bianco  in  campo  nero,  e  per  messaggio  a  posta  1'  invio 
sino  ad  Hanceu  al  Dottor  Lione  suo  vecchio  amico,  e,  come  egli 
ben  sapeva,  Cristiano.  Cosi  appunto  ando  il  fatto  :  ed  hollo  per 
narrazione  fattane  dallo  stesso  Dottor  Lione  :  il  quale  tutto  per 
cio  festeggiante  venne  a  darne  avviso  a'  Padri.  Indi  egli,  e  poscia 
anche  il  Dottor  Paolo,  ridottala  a  carattere  di  minor  forma,  e 
stampatene  in  gran  numero  copie,  le  publicarono  a  tutto  il  Regno, 
aggiuntivi  lor  proemj,  e  interpretazion  letterali  delle  metafore,  e 
postille,  e  chiose  necessariamente  richieste  all'  intelligenza  del 
testo.  E  qui  altresi  a  me  fara  bisogno  frametterne  almen  quelle, 
senza  il  cui  lume  si  andrebbe  mezzo  alia  cieca,  per  la  troppa 
scurita  del  semplice  testo  ;  massimamente  trasportato,  per  piu 
fedelta,  a  verbo  a  verbo,  quanto  il  diversissimo  scriver  cinese  si 
comporta  col  nostro  :  il  non  cosi  necessario,  per  meno  interrom- 
pere,  avra  suo  luogo  nel  margine.  E  ne  ho  di  cola,  in  tre  diverse 
lingue,  otto  interpretazioni  di  valent'  uomini,  che  tutte  nel 
sustanziale  sono  quasi  una  medesima  :  benche,  a  dir  vero,  in  non 
poche  particolarita  fra  se  differenti,  per  lo  si  vario  sentimento 
che  posson  probabilmente  ricevere  que'  caratteri  della  scrittura 
cinese,  la  quale  ha  un  non  so  che  del  simile  a'  geroglifici  de  gli 
antichi  Egiziani.  In  tutte  poi  si  da  in  passi  tanto  difficili  e  scuri, 
che  si  puo  dir  ben  da  vero,  che  1'  interpretazione  stessa  ha  bisogno 
d'  interprete.  Ma  il  suo  peggio,  e  per  cui  appena  sara  che  leggen- 
dosi  non  annoi,  e  il  riuscir  1'  interpretazione  un  cadavero  dell'  ori- 
ginale,  mancandole,  senza  potersene  altramente,  quello  spirito  e 
quell'  ingegno,  che  ha  la  maniera  dell'  esprimer  cinese,  a  forza  del 
mistero  ch'  e  ne'  caratteri  e  semplici  e  accozzati.  Pure,  qual  che 
sia  per  riuscir  questa,  che  non  sara  niuna  delle  otto,  e  ne  avra 
parte  di  tutte,  m'  e  paruta  da  stendersi  qui  tutta  intera.  E  vuolsene 
sapere  avanti,  che  dovunque  in  essa  si  nomina  il  paese  di  Tacin, 
alia  e  la  Giudea :  e  gl'  Illustri,  o  la  Legge  o  dottrina  illustre,  sono 
in  vece  di  nome  proprio,  a  significar  Cristiano,  e  Legge  cristiana. 
I  nomi  poi  de'  Re  Cinesi,  che  qui  per  ordine  di  successione  si 
contano  (e  tutti  furono  della  stessa  famiglia  Tam),  come  altresi 
de'  Mandarini  di  Lettere  e  d'  Armi,  tutti  si  accordano  fedelmente 
colle  istorie  cinesi,  che  ne  fan  memoria  co'  medesimi  nomi  e  col 
medesimo  ordine  :  e  da  esse  abbiamo,  che  il  presente  entrar  della 
Fede  in  quel  Regno  cadde  ne  gli  anni  di  Cristo  636,  e'l  rizzar  che 
si  fece  di  questa  lapida  fu  nel  782.  Se  gia  non  paresse  in  ci6  aver 
maggior  peso  1'  autorita  del  Dottor  Lione  cinese,  che  di  cinque 
anni  anticipa  1'  un  conto  e  1'  altro.  Or  le  nove  gran  lettere,  ch'  erano 
in  testa  alia  pietra,  e  riempievano  tutto  il  quadrato  superiore, 
cosi  dicono  :  Pietra,  in  memoria  dell'  essersi  propagata  per  lo 
regno  della  Cina  la  Legge  illustre  del  Tacin  (cioe,  la  Legge  cristiana, 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  241 

venutavi  di  Giudea).  Poi  nel  quadrate  maggiore  incomincia  la 
narrazione  sotto  questo  brieve  preambolo  :  Chincin,  Sacerdote  di 
Tacin,  cosi  propone,  e  dice  :    [the  translation  follows]. 


NOTE  XI. 

THE   KINGDOMS  OF  INDIA  IN  THE  NINTH  CENTURY, 
SPOKEN   OF   BY   THE   ARAB  WRITERS   IN   THE 
RELATIONS  TRANSLATED   BY   REINAUD. 

The  first  king  named  is  the  Balhara,  who  is  said  to  have  been 
regarded  as  the  most  exalted  of  Indian  princes,  and  whom  the 
Indians  and  Chinese  classed  with  the  Khalif,  the  Emperor  of 
China,  and  the  King  of  the  Romans,  as  the  four  great  kings  of  the 
world.  There  is,  however,  scarcely  anything  definite  stated  about 
him  except  that  his  empire  began  at  the  country  of  Komkam  (the 
Konkan)  on  the  sea  coast. 

The  name  of  Balhara  Lassen  considers  to  be  a  corruption  of 
Ballahhirda  or  raja,  the  title  of  a  great  dynasty  which  reigned  at 
Ballabhipura  in  the  Peninsula  of  Gujarat^,  but  which  had  fallen 
long  before  this  time.  Nor  indeed  does  there  appear  to  have  been 
any  very  powerful  dynasty  in  this  region  in  the  ninth  century  2. 
Al  Biriini,  who  in  Indian  matters  knew  what  he  was  talking  about 
a  great  deal  better  than  other  old  Arabic  writers,  says  nothing  of 
the  Balhara^.  He  mentions  a  kingdom  of  Konkan  with  its  capital 
at  Tdlah  [read  Tdnah]  *. 

Among  the  other  kings  with  whom  the  Balhara  was  often  at 
war  was  one  named  the  Jurz,  who  was  noted  for  his  cavalry,  and 
had  great  riches,  and  camels  and  horses  in  great  numbers.  His 
states  are  said  to  form  a  tongue  of  land,  i.e.,  I  presume,  to  be  on 
the  sea  coast.  Yet  Abu-Zaid  says  that  Kanauj  formed  his  empire, 
and  to  this  M.  Reinaud  holds.  But  Mas'udi,  who  gives  the  same 
account  of  the  Jurz  (or  Juzr  as  it  is  in  his  book  as  printed),  makes 
him  entirely  distinct  from  the  King  of  Kanauj ,  whom  he  calls  the 

^  Called  by  Mas'udi  Manekir,  and  identified  by  Lassen  with  the 
Minnagara  of  Ptolemy. 

^  See  Lassen,  iii,  533  seqq.,  and  iv,  917  seqq.  It  is  a  curious  illus- 
tration of  the  expanse  of  the  Mahomedan  power  and  consequent 
circulation  of  its  agents  that  the  name  of  this  Indian  prince,  the  Balhara, 
was  applied  to  a  village  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Palermo,  now  the  well- 
known  Monreale,  and  from  it  again  to  a  market  in  the  city,  Sikk-Balhara, 
now  called  Piazza  Ballard.  Similar  illustrations  are  found  in  the  names 
of  Manzil-Sindi,  near  Corleone  ;  Jibal-Sindi,  near  Girgenti  ;  and  'A  in- 
Sindi,  in  the  suburbs  of  Palermo  :  all  preserved  by  mediaeval  docu- 
ments, and  the  last  still  surviving  under  the  corrupted  name  of  Fonte 
Dennisinni  (Amari,  St.  dei  Musulm.  di  Sicilia,  i,  84;  ii,  33,  34,  300). 

3  Reinaud,  MSm.  sur  I'lnde  in  Mim.  de  I'Acad. 

*  Reinaud  in  /.  As.,  s€t.  iv,  tom.  iv,  p.  251. 

C.  Y.  C,   I.  16 


242  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Bawiirah^.  Lassen  and  the  editors  of  Mas'udi^  make  this  king- 
dom Gujarat,  apparently  from  the  shght  resemblance  of  name. 
But  it  seems  much  more  likely  that  it  is  the  King  J  or  of  Al  Biruni, 
whom  that  writer  places  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Peninsula, 
either  in  the  Tanjore  country  or  in  Telinga,  or  extending  over 
both.  And  from  Hiuen  Tsang  also  we  hear  of  a  kingdom  called 
Jiivi  or  Jurya,  which  lay  some  three  hundred  miles  north  of 
Dravida  (the  capital  of  which  last  was  the  present  Konjeveram), 
and  this  may  have  been  the  same^. 

There  is  then  the  kingdom  of  Thafak,  or  Thafan  as  Mas'Sdi 
has  it,  which  was  noted  for  its  women,  who  were  the  whitest  and 
most  beautiful  in  India.  The  author  of  the  Relations  calls  it 
beside  the  Jurz,  but  no  great  weight  can  be  attached  to  this  where 
his  knowledge  was  evidently  so  dim.  Because  of  Ibn  Batuta's 
praise  of  the  Mahratta  women,  M.  Reinaud  will  have  Thafan  to 
be  in  the  Dekkan,  nay  he  localises  it  "in  the  present  province  of 
Aurungabad,"  and  Lassen  following  up  this  lead  with  equal 
precision  will  prefer  to  put  it  in  Baglana,  which  was  then  the 
Mahratta  country*.  But  Ibn  Batuta  certainly  does  not  say  that 
the  Mahratta  women  were  white,  the  very  last  attribute  I  suppose 
that  they  could  claim,  and  we  find  thatMas'iidi  couples  Thafan  with 
Kashmir  and  Kandahar  {i.e.  Gandhdra,  the  country  about  Pesha- 
war and  Attok)  as  one  of  the  countries  in  which  the  Indus  had  its 
sources*.  The  traveller  Ibn  Muhalhil  speaks  of  Thdbdn  as  a  chief 
city  of  Kabul,  but  whether  that  be  meant  for  the  same  place  or 
no,  this  Thafan  is  certainly  to  be  sought  on  the  N.W.  frontier  of 
India,  and  the  fair  women  are  very  probably  those  of  the  race 
now  called  Kafirs,  whose  beauty  and  fair  complexion  are  still  so 
much  extolled^. 

1  Or  Baurawa.  Gildemeister  says  on  this  :  "  Paurav  [in  Nagari 
letters]  esse  puto,  nam  eo  nomine  Reges  Kanyakubgenses  gloriati 
sunt  "  ;  but  gives  no  authority  (p.  160).  Mas'udI  also  speaks  of  a 
city  Bawurah  on  one  of  the  Panjab  rivers,  which  is  perhaps  the  Parvata 
of  Hiuen  Tsang.     [Pr.  d'Or,  i,  371  ;    Vie  de  H.  T.,  p.  210.) 

2  Lassen,  iv,  921  ;  Prairies  d'Or,  i,  383,  384.  In  the  last  passage 
the  French  translator  puts  simply  le  Guzerat  to  represent  A  I- Jurz  or 
Juzr,  which  is  scarcely  fair  translating  of  so  doubtful  a  point. 

^  See  Vie  de  H.  T.,  pp.  189,  190,  453  ;  also  Lassen,  iii,  205,  note. 
The  Jurz  of  the  Relations  is  evidently  the  Malik-al-Jizr  of  Edrisi,  who 
puts  him  on  what  he  calls  the  Island  of  Madai  on  the  way  to  China, 
but  Edrisi's  information  about  the  South  Eastern  Indies,  is  a  hopeless 
chaos  (see  i,  86,  98). 

*  Lassen,  iv,  921. 

^  Prairies  d'Or,  i,  207. 

8  See  the  notices  of  the  Kafir  women  quoted  Vol.  iv,  Goes,  infra. 
Kazwini  mentions  a  very  strong  fortress  of  India  called  Thaifand,  on 
the  summit  of  a  mountain  almost  inaccessible,  but  which  had  water, 
cultivation,  and  everything  needful  for  the  maintenance  of  its  garrison. 
It  was  taken,  he  says,  by  Mahmud  Sabaktagin  in  the  year  414  (a.d. 
1023),  and  five  hundred  elephants  were  found  in  it.     This  is  like  the 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  243 

Contiguous  to  these,  according  to  the  Arab  writer,  was  the 
Kingdom  of  Ruhmi,  Rahma,  or  Rahman^,  who  was  at  war  with 
the  Jurz  and  the  Balhara.  He  was  not  of  great  consideration, 
though  he  had  the  greatest  army,  and  was  accompanied  by  some 
fifty  thousand  elephants  and  fifteen  thousand  washermen  ! 
MusHns  that  could  pass  through  a  ring  were  made  in  his  country. 
Gold,  silver,  aloes-wood,  and  chowries  were  also  found  in  it. 
Cowries  were  the  money  used  ;  and  in  the  forests  was  the 
rhinoceros,  of  which  a  particular  description  is  given  under  the 
name  of  Karkadan^.  The  Kingdom  of  Rahma,  adds  Mas'udi, 
extends  both  inland  and  on  the  sea. 

Of  this  Reinaud  says  :  "  This  seems  to  me  to  answer  to  the 
ancient  Kingdom  of  Visiapur  " ;  and  Lassen  will  have  it  that 
it  fits  none  but  the  Kingdom  of  the  Chalukyas  of  Kalliani  (in  the 
Dekkan).  Why,  it  would  be  hard  to  say  ;  the  washermen  doubt- 
less exist  in  those  regions,  and  to  a  certain  extent  the  elephants, 
but  none  of  the  other  alleged  products.  Gold,  silver,  aloes-wood, 
chowries,  rhinoceroses,  and  the  fabulous  stud  of  elephants  all 
point  to  Transgangetic  India,  perhaps  including  Assam,  whilst  the 
muslins  that  pass  through  a  ring  are  the  produce  of  Eastern 
Bengal  (Dacca  muslins).  Pegu  is  known  in  Burma,  Buddhisto- 
classically,  as  Rahmaniya^,  and  I  have  little  doubt  that  this  is  the 
name  involved,  though  I  should  be  sorry  to  define  more  particularly 
the  limits  of  the  region  intended  by  the  Arab  writer*. 

Then  come  an  inland  people  of  white  complexion  with  pierced 
ears,  and  remarkable  for  their  beauty,  called  Kashibin,  or,  as 
Mas'udi  has  it,  Kdman.  M.  Reinaud  says  Mysore,  but  only 
because  he  had  last  said  Visiapur.  He  cannot  suppose  that  the 
people  of  Mysore  are  white  in  any  sense.     All  that  can  be  said  is 

account  given  of  a  stronghold  on  the  west  of  the  Indus,  at  Mahahan, 
which  had  been  admirably  identified  by  Col.  James  Abbott  with 
Aornos.  The  name  may  have  to  do  with  our  Thafan  (see  Gildem. ,  p.  208 ) . 
^  Some  copies  of  Mas'udi  have  Wahman,  which  seems  to  point  to 
Rahman  as  the  proper  name  (see  Reinaud,  Relations,  i,  cii).  Edrisi  (in 
Jaubert,  i,  173)  has  Dumi. 

2  This  is  probably  the  word  which  Aelian  intends  in  his  description 
of  the  Indian  unicorn,  whicli  he  calls  KapTa^divov.  (De  Nat.  Animalium, 
xvi,  20.) 

3  The  great  Burmese  inscription  at  Kaungmiidhau  Pagoda,  near 
Ava,  thus  defines  :  "  All  within  the  great  districts  of  Hanzawadi  (i.e., 
the  city  of  Pegu),  Digun  (Rangoon),  Dala  (opposite  Rangoon),  Kothian, 
Youngmyo,  and  Mauttama  (Martaban)  is  the  great  kingdom  of  Rama- 
NiYA  "  {Mission  to  Ava,  p.  351).  Avvamaniya  is  also  used  in  the 
Ceylonese  annals  to  designate  some  country  of  the  Transgangetic 
Peninsula  (see  Tumour's  Epitome,  p.  41).  The  sounding  titles  of  many 
of  the  Indo-Chinese  princes  refer  to  their  possession  of  vast  numbers  of 
elephants. 

*  The  kings  of  India,  as  given  by  Ibn  Khurdadhbah  {supra,  p.  135), 
are  the  Balhara,  the  kings  of  Jabah,  Tafan,  Juzr,  Ghanah  or  'Anah, 
Rahma,  and  Kamriin.  Ghanah  seems  to  have  no  parallel  in  other 
lists,  nor  can  I  conjecture  what  is  meant. 

16 — 2 


244  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

that  this  and  all  the  other  kingdoms  mentioned  afterwards  appear 
to  be  in  Farther  India.  These  are  Kairanj,  said  to  be  on  the 
sea,  probably  the  sea  called  Kadvanj,  in  the  list  of  seas  between 
Oman  and  China  ^  ;  then  Mujah,  where  there  is  much  good  musk 
and  very  long  ranges  of  snowy  mountains  ;  and  Mabad  or  May  ad, 
the  people  of  both  of  which  resemble  the  Chinese,  whilst  the  latter 
touch  the  Chinese  frontier.  These  are  to  be  sought  in  the  vicinity 
of  Yun  nan,  which  has  much  musk  and  very  long  ranges  of  snowy 
mountains. 


NOTE   XII. 

ABSTRACT    OF    THE    TRAVELS    OF    IBN    MUHALHIL. 

Quitting  Khorasan  and  the  Mahomedan  cities  of  Mavara-un- 
Nahr,  with  the  ambassadors  of  China,  as  mentioned  in  the  text, 
the  party  came  first  to  the  territory  of  Harkah  (or  Harkat)^. 
It  took  a  month^  to  pass  through  this  region,  and  then  they  came 
to  that  of  Thathah*,  through  which  they  travelled  for  twenty 
days^.  The  people  of  this  country  are  in  alliance  with  those  of 
Harkat  to  repel  the  inroads  of  the  Pagans,  and  they  are  subject 
to  the  orders  of  the  Emperor  of  China.  They  pay  tribute  also  to 
Harkat,  as  the  latter  lies  between  them  and  the  Musulman 
countries  with  which  they  desire  to  have  commerce.  Next  they 
reached  Naja^,  tributary  to  Thathah.  Here  they  have  wine,  figs, 
and  black  meddlars,  and  a  kind  of  wood  which  fire  will  not  burn. 
The  Christians  carry  this  wood  away,  believing  that  Christ  was 
crucified  upon  iV.     Next  they  came  to  the  Bajnak",  a  people 

1  A  passage  quoted  by  Dulaurier,  in  relation  to  camphor,  from  an 
Arabic  author,  Ishak  Bin  Amram,  says  that  the  best  camphor  comes 
from  "  Herenj,  which  is  Little  China."  This  seems  to  point  either  to 
Borneo  or  to  Cochin  China.     (Jour.  Asiat.,  ser.  iv,  torn,  viii,  p.  218.) 

2  [Chargah,  Marquart. — Kharkah,  Ferrand.] 

^  ["  During  which  we  lived  on  wheat  and  barley."  Ferrand, 
p.  210.] 

*  [Tachtach,  Marquart. — Takhtakh,  Ferrand.] 

^  ["  In  peace  and  security."     Ferrand.] 

®  Or  Baja.     [Baga,  Marquart. — Badja,  Ferrand.] 

'  ["  Das  Land  ist  reich  an  Feigen,  Trauben  und  schwarzem  Mispel, 
und  es  gibt  daselbst  eine  Holzart,  die  das  Feuer  nicht  verzehrt.  Aus 
diesem  Holze  machen  sie  Gotzenbilder.  Durchreisende  Christen 
pflegen  dies  Holz  fort  zu  nehmen,  und  behaupten,  dass  es  von  dem 
Balken  stamme,  an  welchem  Jesus  gekreuzigt  wurde."  Marquart, 
p.  76.     This  wood  is  probably  teakwood.] 

8  On  the  three  preceding  peoples  or  countries,  Harkah  [Harkah 
Yarkand],  Thathah,  and  Naja,  I  can  throw  no  light.  The  Bajnak 
[Bagndk,  Marquart]  are  the  Pechinegs,  or  llaTJ'tcaK^rat  of  the  Greeks 
[of  Turkish  race,  of  Huns  stock],  much  discoursed  of  by  Constantine 
Porphyrogenitus,  who  evidently  stood  in  great  fear  of  them,  in  his 
book  De  Administrando   Imperio.      In    his   time   they   were    on    the 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  245 

with  beards  and  mustachios,  and  went  twenty-two  days^  through 
their  territory  which  extended  north  to  the  confines  of  theScLAVES^. 
Next  to  the  Jikil^,  a  people  who  keep  no  cattle  ;  they  marry 
their  daughters  and  sisters  without  regard  to  unlawful  affinities, 
and  are  subject  to  the  Turks*.     They  have  a  herb  called  Kalkan 

Dnieper  and  Dniester,  but  he  tells  us  that  fifty  years  before  they  had 
been  driven  from  their  original  seats  on  the  Atil  and  Geech  (Volga  and 
laic)  by  the  Uz  (or  Ghuz)  and  Khazars.  Their  original  settlement  is 
described  by  an  Arab  writer  as  having  on  the  north  Kipchak,  to  the 
south  the  Khazars,  to  the  east  the  Ghuz,  to  the  west  the  Slavs.  (Const. 
Porph.  in  Banduri,  Imper.  Orientale,  vol.  i ;  Defremery,  Fragments  de 
Geographes,  etc.,  in  Jour.  As.,  ser.  iv,  torn,  xiii,  466;  Mas'udi,  Prairies 
d'Or,  i,  262.)     [They  were  exterminated  by  John  Comnen  in  1123.] 

[Klaproth,  Memoire  sur  les  Khazars  {Journal  Asiatique,  iii,  1823, 
pp.  153-160): 

"  Les  ecrivains  Byzantins  font  pour  la  premiere  fois  mention  des 
Khazars  en  I'an  626.     lis  les  appellent  aussi  Turcs  ou  Turcs  orientaux." 

P-  155- 

From  Ibn  Hhauqual:  "La  langue  des  veritables  Khazars,"  he  says, 
"  differe  de  celle  des  Turcs  et  des  Persans,"  p.  158. — "La  langue  des 
Bulgares  est  aussi  celle  des  Khazars.  Les  Berthas  ont  une  autre  langue, 
et  celle  des  Russes  differe  entierement  des  idiomes  des  Khazars  et  des 
Berthas,"  p.  158. 

From  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus :  "  Pres  du  Danube  inferieur, 
vis-a-vis  de  Dristra,  commence  le  pays  des  Petcheneghes,  et  leur  domina- 
tion s'etend  jusqu'a  Sarkel,  forteresse  des  Khazars,  dans  laquelle  il  y  a 
une  garnison  qu'on  change  de  tems  en  tems.  Chez  eux  Sarkel  signifie 
habitation  blanche,"  p.  159. 

Klaproth  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Wogouls  of  western 
Siberia,  the  Khazars  and  the  Bulgares  belong  to  the  race  of  the  eastern 
Finns.  .  .this  fact  shows  that  "  Schloezter  et  Thunmann  ne  se  sont  pas 
trompes  en  supposant  que  les  Hongrois  blancs  cites  dans  la  Chronique 
russe  de  Nestor,  n'etaient  autres  que  les  Khazars  des  Byzantins ,"  p.  160. 

Physically  the  greater  part  of  the  Bulgarians  are  Finno-Ugrians, 
but  mixed  with  Slavs  ;  their  language  and  customs  have  suffered  the 
Slav  influence  and  they  make  use  of  the  Cyrillic  alphabet.] 

1  [Twelve  days,  Ferrand.] 

2  ["  Hierauf  kamen  wir  zu  einem  Stamme,  namens  Bagnak 
(Pecenegen),  mit  langen  Barten  und  Schnurrbarten,  rohen  Barbaren, 
die  einander  gegenseitig  iiberfallen.  Sie  essen  nur  Hirse.  Ihre  Frauen 
begatten  sie  auf  offener  Strasse.  Wir  reisten  durch  ihr  Gebiet  12  Tage 
lang,  und  es  wurde  uns  erzahlt,  dass  ihr  Land  nach  Norden  und  den 
Slawenlandern  zu  ungeheuer  sei.  Sie  zahlen  niemanden  Tribut." 
Marquart,  p.   75.] 

3  [Cikil,  Marquart. — Ferrand.] 

*  ["  Les  indigenes  se  nourrissent  exclusivement  d'orge,  de  pois 
chiches  et  de  viande  de  mouton.  lis  n'egorgent  pas  les  chameaux ; 
ils  n'elevent  pas  de  vaches  ;  il  n'y  en  a  pas  dans  leur  pays.  Leurs 
vetements  sont  en  laine  et  en  fourrure  ;  ils  n'en  ont  pas  d'autres  que 
ces  deux  sortes-la.  II  y  a  chez  eux  quelques  chretiens  [manicheens] . 
lis  sont  beaux  de  visage.  Les  hommes,  chez  eux,  epousent  leurs  fiUes, 
leurs  soeurs  et  toutes  les  femmes  interdites  [par  ITslam].  lis  ne  sont 
pas  Mages,  et  cependant  telle  est  leur  doctrine  en  ce  qui  concerne  le 
mariage.  lis  adorent  Canope  [Suhayl,  a  du  Navire],  Saturne,  les 
Gemeaux,  Banat  Na's  [the  tails  of  the  Little  and  of  the  Great  Bear], 
le  Chevreau  ;  ils  appellent  Sirius,  le  Seigneur  des  Seigneurs.  Chez  eux  la 
tranquillite  regne  ;  ils  ne  font  rien  de  mal ;  toutes  les  tribus  turques  qui  les 
entourent  cherchent  a  les  attaquer  et  a  les  depouiller."    Ferrand,  p.  211.] 


246  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

which  they  boil  with  their  meat^.  Bezoars  are  found  here,  and 
mahgnant  serpents  haunt  the  country  in  the  beginning  of  winter. 
Their  houses  are  of  wood  and  clay^.  Then  to  the  Baghraj,  whose 
king  is  descended  from  'Ali,  and  who  are  very  skilful  in  the  manu- 
facture of  arms^.  Next  to  Tobbat,  and  travelled  forty  days 
therein.  There  was  a  great  city  there  built  of  reeds  and  a  temple 
made  of  ox  leather  covered  with  varnish.  There  is  also  an  idol 
made  of  the  horns  of  musk  oxen*.  Next  they  came  to  Kimak^, 
where  the  houses  are  of  the  skins  of  beasts,  and  there  are  vines 
with  grapes  which  are  half  black  and  half  white.  There  is  also 
a  stone  here  with  which  they  produce  rain  as  often  as  they  wilP. 
Gold  is  found  on  the  surface,  and  diamonds  are  disclosed  by  the 
rivers.     They  have  no  king  nor  temple.     They  venerate  greatly 

1  Kalank  in  Pevs.  is  the  kitchen  herb  purslain.  The  Ashkal,  Szekely 
or  Siculi,  no  doubt  the  same  as  these  Jikil,  are  mentioned  in  the  extracts 
by  Defremery  just  quoted  (p.  473),  as  being  to  the  south  of  the  Majgars 
or  Majars,  who  again  were  south  of  the  Bajnaks.  [Read  kilkan,  the 
leek;  it  grows  at  Key  and  in  Khorasan.  Notices  et  Ext.,  xxvi,  1883, 
p.  162. — Ferrand,  p.  211.] 

2  [Bone  ?  Ferrand,  p.  212. — "  lis  n'ont  pas  de  rois.  Nous  avons 
traverse  leur  pays  en  quarante  jours,  en  paix,  quietude  et  tranquillite." 
Ferrand,  p.  212.] 

*  Qu.  Georgians  ?  (whose  kings  were  Bagratidce)  ;  or  Bulgarians  ? 
(of  the  Volga).  ["  La  particularite  merveilleuse  de  ceux  qu'ils  choisissent 
pour  roi  parmi  les  descendants  de  Zayd,  c'est  que  ceux-ci  ont  de  la 
barbe,  le  nez  droit  et  de  grand  yeux.  Les  indigenes  se  nourrissent 
de  millet  et  de  viande  de  mouton  male.  II  n'y  a  dans  leurs  paj^s  ni 
vaches  ni  chevres.  Leurs  vetements  sont  en  feutre  ;  ils  n'en  revetent 
pas  d'autres.  Nous  voyageames  chez  eux  pendant  un  mois  dans  la  peur 
et  la  crainte ;  nous  dumes  leur  donner  le  dixieme  de  tout  ce  que  nous 
avions  avec  nous."  Ferrand,  p.  212.  Sir  Henry  H.  Howorth,  in  his 
paper  The  Northern  Frontagers  of  China  (Journ.  Roy.  Asiat.  Soc,  1893, 
pp.  467-502),  has  devoted  some  pages  to  Boghra  Khan.  The  Bagrac 
were  perhaps  the  subjects  of  the  Boghra  Khan.] 

*  Some  regions  of  Siberia  ?     [Tobbat :  Tubat  CUJ  and  not  Tubbat 


. .  .  . "  Dans  cette  ville  se  trouvent  des  musulmans,  des  juifs,  des 
Chretiens,  des  Mages  et  des  Indiens ;  [les  habitants]  payent  I'impot  a 
I'Ahde  [roi  de  la  tribu]  des  Baghrac.  Les  [Tubat]  tirent  leur  roi  au  sort. 
Us  ont  une  prison  pour  les  criminels  et  [infligent]  des  amendes.  lis 
prient  en  se  mettant  dans  la  direction  de  la  Kibla  de  la  Mekke." 
Ferrand,  p.   213.] 

^  [Kaimak,  Marquart. — Kaymak,  Ferrand.] 

*  On  the  rain-stone  used  by  the  Turk  and  Tartar  tribes  to  conjure 
rain,  and  still  known  among  the  Kalmaks,  see  one  of  Quatremfere's  long 
but  interesting  notes  on  Rashiduddin,  pp.  428  seqq. ;  also  Hammer's 
Golden  Horde,  pp.  42  and  436.  This  stone  was  called  by  the  Turks 
Jadah  (Pers.  Yadah).  Is  this  the  origin  of  our  Jade-stone  ?  and  is  it 
connected  with  the  {Pers.)  word  Jddu,  conjuring,  in  common  use  in 
India  ?  ["  Der  Regenstein  (Nephrit)  '  wird  bekanntlich  seit  Alters 
siJdHch  von  Khuttan  aus  anstehendem  Felsgestein  gebrochen  (H.  v. 
Schlagintweit,  Hochasien,  iv,  161  f.)  und  die  Fliisse  von  Khuttan, 
Yarqand,  Kiria  und  Carcan  fiihren  Nephrit  im  Gerolle.'  "  Marquart, 
p.  79.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  247 

those  who  attain  eighty  years  without  being  ill.  The  travellers 
were  thirty -five  days  among  them^.  Then  they  came  to  the 
Ghuz,  whose  city  is  of  stone,  timber,  and  reeds.  They  have  a 
temple  but  no  images.  Their  king  is  very  powerful  and  trades 
with  India  and  China.  Their  clothes  are  of  linen  and  camel's 
hair.  They  have  no  wool.  They  have  a  white  stone  which  is 
good  for  colic,  and  a  red^  stone  which  by  touching  a  sword  pre- 
vents it  from  cutting.  The  route  lay  securely  for  one  month 
through  this  country^.  Then  came  the  Taghazghaz*  who  eat 
flesh,  both  raw  and  cooked,  and  wear  wool  and  cotton.  They 
have  no  temples  ;  they  hold  horses  in  high  esteem.  They  have 
a  stone  that  stops  bleeding  at  the  nose.  They  celebrate  a  feast 
when  they  see  a  rainbow.  In  prayer  they  turn  to  the  west. 
The  king  is  very  powerful,  and  at  the  top  of  his  castle  is  a  round 
structure  of  gold  which  holds  a  hundred  men,  and  is  seen  for  five 
parasangs.  Their  standards  are  black.  The  travellers  went 
twenty  days  through  this  country  in  great  fear^.     Next  they  came 


1  ["  lis  ont  des  caractferes  pour  ecrire."  Ferrand,  p.  213.]  The 
Kimaks  are  represented  by  Edrisi  as  the  greatest  of  the  Turk  (or  Tartar) 
nations.  They  had  the  Taghazghaz  to  the  south,  the  Khiziljis 
(Kharlikhs  ?)  to  the  south-west,  the  Khilkhis  to  the  west,  on  the  east 
the  Dark  Sea.  They  had  numerous  cities,  all  on  a  great  river  flowing 
eastward.  El-Wardi  calls  them  a  race  of  Eastern  Turks,  bordering  on 
Northern  China.  In  the  Chinese  Annals  we  find  embassies  repeatedly 
from  the  Kumuki,  coupled  with  the  K'itans,  to  the  court  of  the  Wei 
dynasty  in  the  fifth  century  (Edrisi,  i,  25  ;  ii,  217-223,  etc.  ;  Ibn 
Khurdadhbah  in  Jour.  As.,  ser.  vi,  tom.  v,  268  ;  D'Herbelot  in  v.  ; 
Deguignes,  i,  183,  184).  The  river  was  perhaps  the  Irtish,  as  Mas'udi 
speaks  of  the  "  Black  and  White  Irshat  (the  French  transl.,  however, 
prints  Arasht)  on  the  banks  of  which  is  the  kingdom  of  the  Keimak- 
Baigur,  a  Turkish  tribe  originating  in  the  country  beyond  the  Jihun." 
{Prairies  d'Or,  i,  230  ;    also  288.) 

^  [Green,  Ferrand,  p.  214.] 

3  The  Ghuz  or  Uzes  had  their  seats  about  the  Aral  and  to  the  east 
of  it.  In  the  reign  of  Constantine  Ducas  they  penetrated  into  Mace- 
donia, and  got  large  sums  from  the  emperor  to  make  peace.  On  their 
return  they  were  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Pechinegs.  The  Ghuz  are 
identified  with  the  Turkomans  (Edrisi,  i,  7  ;  ii,  339  seqq.  ;  Deguignes, 
ii,  522;  Mas'udi,  Prairies  d'Or,  i,  212).  ["lis  se  nourrissent  exclusive- 
ment  de  froment ;  il  n'y  a  pas  chez  eux  de  legumes.  lis  mangent  la 
chair  des  moutons  et  des  chevres,  males  et  femelles."     Ferrand,  p.  214.] 

*  [T07UZ7UZ  (Uiguren),  Marquart,  p.  80. — Toguzoguz,  Ferrand, 
p.   214.] 

^  The  Taghazghaz  (printed  in  Edrisi,  Bagharghar)  were  one  of  the 
greatest  tribes  of  the  Turks,  according  to  the  early  Arab  geographers. 
Their  country  seems  to  have  been  that  afterwards  known  as  the  Uighiir 
country,  whether  they  were  the  same  people  or  not  (see  Edrisi,  i,  490 
seq.  ;  Ibn  Khurdadhbah,  u.s.,  268).  Mas'udi  says  they  occupied  the 
city  of  Kushan  between  Khorasan  and  China,  supposed  to  be  the 
Kao  ch'ang  of  the  Chinese,  the  modern  Turfan.  He  says  they  were  in 
his  day  the  most  valiant,  powerful,  and  best  governed  of  the  Turks. 
{Prairies  d'Or,  i,  288.)     The  round  structure  of  gold  was  probably  a 


248 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


to  the  Khirkhiz^,  a  people  who  have  temples  for  worship  and  a 
written  character,  and  are  a  very  intelligent  people.  They  never 
put  a  light  out-.  They  have  a  little  musk.  They  keep  three 
feasts  in  the  year.  Their  standards  are  green,  and  in  prayer  they 
turn  to  the  south.  They  adore  the  planets  Saturn  and  Venus, 
and  predict  the  future  by  Mars.  They  have  a  stone  that  shines 
b}^  night  and  is  used  for  a  lamp.     No  man  under  forty  sits  down 


gilt  Dagoba.  ["  Reinaud,  in  the  preface  to  his  Abulfeda,  pp.  360  seq., 
affords  evidence  that  the  Turkish  race  called  Tagazgaz  by  the  Arabian 
geographers  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  is  identical  with  the 
Uigurs.  Mas'udi  states  that  in  his  days  (he  died  956)  the  Tagazgaz 
were  the  most  valiant,  numerous  and  best  governed  among  the  Turk 
tribes.  Their  empire  extended  from  Khorassan  to  Sin  (China).  Their 
principal  city  was  called  Kiishan  ;  their  king  had  the  title  irkhan. 
Mas'udi  adds  that  the  Tagazgaz  were  the  only  Turk  tribe  who  professed 
the  Manichean  doctrine.  Reinaud  thinks  that  Kiishan  is  Kucha  in 
Eastern  Turkestan  ;  Barbier  de  Meynard  identifies  this  name  with 
Kao  ch'ang  of  the  Chinese  Annals.  As  to  the  doctrine  of  Mani  (or 
Manes),  I  may  observe  that  Wang  Yengte,  in  his  narrative,  notices  in 
Kao  ch'ang  a  temple  (devoted  to)  Mani  {Ma-ni  sz'),  and  served  by 
monks  from  Persia,  who  have  their  particular  rules,  and  who  declare 
the  books  of  the  Buddhists  to  be  heretical."  Bretschneider,  Mediaeval 
Researches,  i,  p.  252.] 

["  Les  Tagazgaz,  qui  occupent  la  ville  de  Kouchan  (Kao-tchang), 
situee  entre  le  Khora9an  et  la  Chine,  et  qui  sont  aujourd'hui,  en  332, 
de  toutes  les  races  et  tribus  turques,  la  plus  valeureuse,  la  plus  puissante 
et  la  mieux  gouvernee.  Leurs  rois  portent  le  titre  d'Irkhan,  et  seuls 
entre  tous  ces  peuples  ils  professent  la  doctrine  de  Manfes."  (Mas'udi, 
i,  p.  288.)..  .  ."  Leur  royaume  [des  Chinois]  est  contigu  a  celui  des 
Tagazgaz,  qui,  comme  nous  I'avons  dit  plus  haut,  sont  manicheens  et 
proclament  I'existence  simultanee  des  deux  principes  de  la  lumidre  et 
des  tenfebres."     {I.e.,  pp.  299-300.)] 

[Mas'udi  (i,  288,  299)  says  that  among  the  Turks,  the  Taghazghaz 
were  the  only  ones  following  the  religion  of  Manes.  According  to 
Edrisi,  they  were  mazdeans.  The  Taghazghaz  were  certainly  the 
Uighiirs  who  are  called  in  Orkhon  Inscriptions  Toquz  Oguz  =  Nine  Oguz. 
Cf.  Vilh.  Thomsen,  Insc.  de  VOrkhon,  1896,  pp.  112,  147,  Monument  I. — 
Chavannes,  Journ.  As.,  i,  1897,  p.  80.] 

["  Ensuite  il  faut  compter  celui  des  rois  turcs  qui  possfede  la  ville 
de  Kouchan  et  qui  commande  aux  Tagazgaz.  On  lui  donne  le  titre  de 
roi  des  betes  feroces  et  de  roi  des  chevaux,  parce  qu'aucun  prince  de 
la  terre  n'a  sous  ses  ordres  des  guerriers  plus  valeureux  et  plus  disposes 
a  repandre  le  sang,  et  qu'aucun  d'eux  ne  poss^de  un  plus  grand  nombre 
de  chevaux.  Son  royaume  est  isole  entre  la  Chine  et  les  deserts  du 
Khora9an ;  quant  a  lui,  il  porte  le  titre  de  irkhan,  et  bien  qu'il  y  ait 
chez  les  Turcs  plusieurs  princes  et  beaucoup  de  peuples  qui  ne  sont  pas 
soumis  a  un  roi,  aucun  n'a  la  pretention  de  rivaliser  avec  lui."  Mas'udi, 
i.  p.  358-] 

^  [Kirgiz,  Ferrand,  p.  214  ;    in  Chinese,  Kie  Ku  and  Kien  Wen.] 

2  Wood  mentions  this  prejudice,  against  blowing  out  a  light,  not 
indeed  among  the  Kirghiz,  but  among  the  immediate  neighbours  of 
the  Kirghiz  of  Pamir,  the  people  of  Wakhan  and  Badakhshan  ;  "A 
Wakhani  considers  it  bad  luck  to  blow  out  a  light  by  the  breath,  and 
will  rather  wave  his  hand  for  several  minutes  under  the  flame  of  his 
pine-slip  than  resort  to  the  sure  but  to  him  disagreeable  alternative." 
{Oxus,  p.  333  ;   see  also  p.  274.) 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  249 

in  the  king's  presence^.  Next  to  the  Hazlakh^,  who  are  great 
gamblers,  and  stake  wife,  mother,  or  daughter  on  their  play. 
When  a  caravan  of  travellers  comes  into  their  country  the  wife  or 
sister  or  daughter  of  some  chief  comes  and  washes  them.  And  if 
any  of  these  ladies  takes  a  fancy  for  one  of  the  strangers  she  carries 
him  home  and  entertains  him  with  all  kindness,  and  makes  her 
husband  or  son  or  brother  provide  for  him  in  every  way  ;  nor  as 
long  as  the  guest  is  keeping  company  with  her  does  the  husband 
come    near    them    unless    for    necessary    business^.     Next    they 

1  ["  Nous  voyageames  chez  [les  Kirgiz]  pendant  un  mois,  en  toute 
tranquillite  et  securite."     Ferrand,  p.  215.] 

^  ["  Nous  arrivames  ensuite  dans  la  tribu  des  Kharlok.  lis  se 
nourrissent  de  pois  chiches  et  de  lentilles.  lis  fabriquent  una  boisson 
avec  du  millet.  lis  ne  mangent  que  de  la  viande  salee.  lis  s'habillent 
de  vetements  de  laine.  II  y  a  chez  eux  une  maison  de  priere  sur  les 
murs  de  laquelle  on  voit  Timage  de  leurs  anciens  rois.  La  maison  est 
en  bois  incombustible.  II  y  a  beaucoup  de  ce  bois  dans  leur  pays. 
La  violence  et  la  rebellion  r^gnent  parmi  eux  ;  ils  sont  ennemis  les 
uns  des  autres.  Le  libertinage  y  est  courant  et  licite."  Ferrand, 
p.  215.] 

I  suspect  it  should  be  Kharlikh  (it  is  a  question  of  pomts  only), 
[  ^)jaJ\^  al-Kharlokh]  the  name  of  one  of  the  greatest  Turkish  tribes, 

and  sometimes  written  Carligh,  whose  country  seems  to  have  been  north 
of  Farghanah.  They  are  probably  the  Khizilji  of  the  French  Edrisi, 
and  the  Khuzluj  of  Mas'udi,  "  remarkable  for  their  beauty,  stature, 
and  perfect  features.  Formerly  they  ruled  over  all  the  other  tribes. 
From  their  race  descended  the  Khakan  of  the  Khakans  who  united 
under  his  empire  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  Turks,  and  commanded  all 
their  kings  "  (p.  288). 

^  This  discreditable  custom  is  related  by  Marco  Polo  of  the  people 
of  Qamul ;  he  says  of  it  ["  And  it  is  the  truth  that  if  a  foreigner  comes 
to  the  house  of  one  of  these  people  [at  Camul]  to  lodge,  the  host  is 
delighted,  and  desires  his  wife  to  put  herself  entirely  at  the  guest's 
disposal,  whilst  he  himself  gets  out  of  the  way,  and  comes  back  no 
more  until  the  stranger  shall  have  taken  his  departure.  The  guest 
may  stay  and  enjoy  the  wife's  society  as  long  as  he  lists,  whilst  the 
husband  has  no  shame  in  the  matter,  but  indeed  considers  it  an  honour. 
And  all  the  men  of  this  province  are  made  wittols  of  by  their  wives  in 
this  way.  The  women  themselves  are  fair  and  wanton."  Yule-Cordier's 
Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  210,  and  note  3,  p.  212. — We  find  the  same  custom  at 
Caindu,  I.e.,  ii,  pp.  53-4.  "  I  must  tell  you  of  a  custom  that  they  have 
in  this  country  regarding  their  women.  No  man  considers  himself 
wronged  if  a  foreigner,  or  any  other  man,  dishonour  his  wife,  or  daughter, 
or  sister,  or  any  woman  of  his  family,  but  on  the  contrary  he  deems 
such  intercourse  a  piece  of  good  fortune.  And  they  say  that  it  brings 
the  favour  of  their  gods  and  idols,  and  great  increase  of  temporal 
prosperity.  For  this  reason,  they  bestow  their  wives  on  foreigners  and 
other  people  as  I  will  tell  you. 

"  When  they  fall  in  with  any  stranger  in  want  of  a  lodging  they  are 
all  eager  to  take  him  in.  And  as  soon  as  he  has  taken  up  his  quarters 
the  master  of  the  house  goes  forth,  telling  him  to  consider  everything 
at  his  disposal,  and  after  saying  so  he  proceeds  to  his  vineyards  or  his 
fields,  and  comes  back  no  more  till  the  stranger  has  departed.  The 
latter  abides  in  the  caitiff's  house,  be  it  three  days  or  be  it  four,  enjoying 
himself  with  the  fellow's  wife  or  daughter  or  sister,  or  whatsoever 
woman  of  the  family  it  best  likes  him  ;    and  as  long  as  he  abides  there 


250  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

reached  the  KhathlakhI,  the  bravest  of  all  the  Turks.  These 
admit  marriage  with  sisters.  Women  are  allowed  to  marry  but 
once,  and  there  is  no  divorce  except  for  breach  of  marriage  vows  ; 
in  which  case  both  the  offending  parties  are  burnt.  The  wife  is 
endowed  with  all  the  man's  worldly  goods,  and  he  must  serve  her 
father  for  a  year.  They  have  the  custom  of  exacting  blood- 
money  ;  and  the  king  is  not  allowed  to  marry  on  pain  of  death. 
Next  they  came  to  the  Khatiyan^.     These  do  not  eat  meat  unless 

he  leaves  his  hat  or  some  other  token  hanging  at  the  door,  to  let  the 
master  of  the  house  know  that  he  is  still  there.  As  long  as  the  wretched 
fellow  sees  that  token,  he  must  not  go  in.  And  such  is  the  custom  over 
all  that  province."] 

It  is  a  notorious  allegation  against  the  Hazaras  of  the  Hindu  Kush 
that  they  exercise  the  same  practice  (Wood,  p.  201,  and  Burnes).  But 
what  shall  we  say  to  its  being  ascribed  also  by  a  Byzantine  historian  of 
the  fifteenth  century  to  a  certain  insular  kingdom  of  Western  Europe 
(the  capital  of  which  was  Aovi'Spas),  at  least  if  we  trust  to  the  Latin 
version  of  Conrad  Clauser.  The  Greek  runs  :  "  vofii^eTai.  Be  tovtois  to. 
T  dfxcpi  ras  ywdlKCLS  re  Kai  tovs  TratSa?  aTrXolX'wrepa  were  dva  irdaav  ttjv  vyjaov 
eireibav  tl's  es  ttjv  tov  eTiTTjoeiov  avrip  oiKiav  iarjet  KoKovfievos,  Kijcravra  r^]v 
yvvaiKa,  oOrw  ^efi^eadai  avrov,  Kal  iv  rats  oSots  8k  airavTaxv  vepiexovTai  rds 
eavrGiv  yvvaiKas  ev  tois  f7rir>)5etois.  .  .  . /cat  ovSk  aiax^^V^  tovto  (pipiL  eavTols 
Ktjecrdai  rds  re  yvvoLKas  avrCov  Kal  rds  dvyarepas"  (Laonicus  Chalcondylas,  in 
ed.  Paris,  1650,  pp.  48-9).  The  translation  of  Clauser  gives  substantially 
the  same  meaning  as  Ibn  Muhalhil's  account  of  the  Kharlikh  practice, 
except  that  it  is  much  more  grossly  expressed.  We  need  not  defend 
our  ancestors  and  ancestresses  against  the  Byzantine  ;  but  was  he 
really  such  a  gobe-mouches  as  his  translator  makes  him  ?  I  must  needs 
speak  very  diffidently,  but  do  the  words  mean  more  than  this  ?  "  They 
take  things  very  easily  in  regard  to  their  wives  and  children.  For  over 
all  the  island,  when  anyone  goes  to  visit  a  friend,  he  kisses  the  good 
wife  on  entering  the  house.  And  if  friends  meet  on  the  highway  'tis 
the  universal  custom  that  they  embrace  each  other's  wives. .  .  .  Nor  do 
they  think  shame  that  their  wives  and  daughters  should  be  kissed." 

["  Les  [Kharlok]  ont  une  fete  ou  ils  revetent  des  vetements  de  sole  a 
ramages  ;  ceux  qui  ne  peuvent  pas  le  faire,  mettent  un  morceau  de 
sole  a  ramages  a  leurs  vetements  [habituels].  II  y  a  chez  eux  une  mine 
d'argent  melange  a  du  mercure.  lis  ont  un  arbre  qui  a  I'aspect  du 
myrobolan  et  est  de  la  grosseur  de  la  jambe.  Quand  on  oint  de  son 
sue  les  tumeurs  chaudes,  elles  sont  gueries  instantanement.  Ils  ont 
une  grande  pierre  qu'ils  venerent  et  devant  laquelle  ils  viennent  plaider 
leurs  affaires  ;  ils  lui  egorgent  des  victimes.  Cette  pierre  est  de  couleur 
vert-poireau.  Nous  voyageames  chez  les  Kharlok  pendant  vingt-cinq 
jours,  en  toute  paix  et  tranquillite."     Ferrand,  p.  216.] 

^  [Khutlukh,  Ferrand,  p.  216.] 

^  I  have  elsewhere  (Benedict  Goes,  infra)  intimated  a  suspicion  that 
thisis  Khotan.  The  civilised  character  of  the  people  ;  their  temples  ;  and 
their  having  musk,  are  favourable  to  this  supposition,  as  well  as  the 

juxtaposition  of  Bai.    ["  H.  Yule  will  dagegen  in  den  (JjIaIsUI  die  Ein- 

wohner  von  Chotan  erkennen,  so  dass  zu  lesen  ware  (^l-i^a^JI  Chutanan, 

also  einfach  der  persische  Plural,  wie  z.  B.  in  O*^*^  Chutaldn  neben  ^^»• 
Chutal.  Dies  wiirde  in  der  That  viel  besser  in  den  Zusammenhang  des 
f'olgenden  Itinerars  passcn.  AUein  es  ist  schwer  einzusehen,  warum 
Abu  Dulaf  dann  nicht  die  gewohnliche  Form  dieses  bei  den  Arabern  so 
bekannten  Namens  gebraucht  hatte.     Man  miisste  geradezu  annehmen, 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  25I 

cooked  ;  they  have  civihsed  laws  of  marriage  and  wise  institutions  ; 
they  have  no  king  ;  they  use  no  cruelties  towards  foreigners. 
They  have  no  dyed  clothes  ;  they  possess  musk,  and  a  stone 
which  heals  poisoned  bites^,  etc.,  also  the  bezoar.  Then  they 
came  to  Bahi.  This  is  a  great  city  and  territory,  with  palm  trees, 
vines,  etc.  In  the  city  are  Mahomedans,  Jews,  Christians, 
Magians,  and  idolaters.  They  have  a  green  stone  which  is  good 
for  the  eyes,  and  a  red  stone  which  is  good  for  the  spleen  ;  also 
excellent  indigo^.  They  travelled  forty  days  in  this  territory^. 
Then  they  came  to  Kalib*,  in  which  there  is  a  colony  of  the  Arabs 
of  Yemen,  who  were  left  behind  by  the  army  of  Tobba,  after  he 
had  invaded  the  Chinese.  They  use  the  ancient  Arabic  language 
and  the  Himyaritic  character.  They  worship  idols,  and  make  a 
drink  from  dates.  The  king  pays  tribute  to  the  King  of  China^. 
After  travelling  for  one  month  through  their  territory  they  came 
to  the  Makdm  til  Bab  (House  or  Halting-place  of  the  Gate),  in  a 
sandy  region.  Here  is  stationed  an  officer  of  the  King  of  China, 
and  anyone  desiring  to  enter  China  from  the  Turkish  countries  or 
elsewhere  must  ask  leave  here.  He  is  entertained  three  days  at 
the  king's  expense  and  is  then  allowed  to  set  out.  In  the  first 
parasang  of  the  journey  the  travellers  met  with  beasts  loaded  with 
necessaries  for  them,  and  then  they  arrived  at  the  Wadi  ul-Makdm 
(Valley  of  the  Station  or  Halting-place),  where  they  had  to  ask 
leave  to  enter,  and  after  abiding  three  days  at  the  king's  expense 
in  that  valley,  which  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  and  fairest  regions 

dass  er  absichtlich  durch  die  Wahl  dieser  ungewohnlichen  Form  as 
seinen  Lesern  unmoglich  machen  wollte,  in  diesem  Orte  das  bekannte 
Chotan  wiederzuerkennen.  Auch  ware  es  immerhin  sehr  auffallig,  dass 
dieser  Name  von  den  Abschreibern  so  sehr  entstellt  warden  konnta." 
Marquart,  p.  83.] 

1  ["  Una  pierre  qui  arrete  la  fievre  ;  il  n'en  existe  pas  hors  da  laur 
pays."     Ferrand,  p.  217.] 

2  ["lis  ont  un  excellent  indigo  rouge  (sic),  lager  sur  I'eau,  qui,  si 
on  le  met  dans  I'aau,  ne  va  pas  au  fond."     Ferrand,  p.  218.] 

*  ["  Pima,"  Ferrand,  p.  217.]  This  is  probably  the  province  of  Pein, 
which  in  Marco  Polo  follows  Khotan,  and  is  now  represented  by  the 
town  and  district  of  Bai  between  Aqsu  and  Kucha  (see  Benedict  Goes, 
infra).  [Pein  has  nothing  to  do  with  Bai.  Sir  M.  A.  Stein  appears  to 
have  exactly  identified  Pain  with  Uzun-Tati,  on  the  road  from  Khotan  to 
Nia,  leaving  Kiria  to  the  south.     See  Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  192  ;   ii,  p.  595.] 

*  [Kulaybu,  Ferrand,  p.  218.] 

^  The  name  of  this  country  seems  to  be  corrupt.  Tibet  is  probably 
meant,  of  which  Mas'udi  says :  "  the  population  is  in  great  part  com- 
posed of  Himyarites  mixed  with  some  descendants  of  Tobba,"  etc. 
(Prairies  d'Or,  i,  p.  350.)  He  also  in  his  account  of  the  Kings  of  Yemen 
speaks  of  one  of  them,  Malkikarib,  son  of  Tobba  al  Akran,  who  "  over- 
ran various  countries  of  the  East,  such  as  Khorasan,  Tibet,  China,  and 
Sejistan  "  (iii,  154).  Tobba  was  the  hereditary  title  of  the  ancient  Kings 
of  Yemen.  They  seem  to  have  been  as  useful  to  the  Arabian  antiquaries 
as  the  Phoenicians  to  ours.  Samarkand  was  said  to  have  been  built  by 
them,  and  a  Himyarite  inscription  on  one  of  the  gates  to  testify  there- 
unto (see  d'Herbelot).     [We  have  seen  p.  246  that  this  is  not  Tibet.] 


252  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

of  God's  earth,  permission  was  given^.  Leaving  the  valley  and 
travelling  for  a  whole  day  they  came  to  the  city  of  Sindabil^,  the 
capital  of  China,  and  where  the  king's  palace  is.  They  stopped 
the  night  at  a  mile  from  the  city.  Setting  out  in  the  early 
morning,  and  making  the  best  of  their  way  for  a  whole  day^, 
they  reached  the  city  at  sunset.  It  is  a  great  city,  a  day's  journey 
in  length,  and  having  sixty  straight  streets  radiating  from  the 
palace.  The  wall  (of  the  palace  ?)  is  ninety  cubits  high  and  ninety 
thick  ;  on  the  top  of  it  is  a  stream  of  water  throwing  off  sixty 
branches,  one  at  every  gate.  Each  branch  flows  down  the  street 
and  back  to  the  palace,  so  that  every  street  has  a  double  canal 
flowing  this  way  and  that.  The  one  supplies  water,  the  other 
acts  as  a  drain*.  There  is  a  great  temple  inclosure,  greater  than 
that  of  Jerusalem,  inside  of  which  are  images  and  a  great  pagoda*. 
The  constitution  of  the  government  is  very  elaborate,  and  the 
laws  are  strict.  No  animals  are  slaughtered  for  food,  and  to  kill 
them  is  a  capital  offence  6.  The  traveller  found  the  king  most 
accomplished,  intelligent,  and  benevolent,  and  enjoyed  his 
hospitality  until  the  terms  of  the  marriage  were  settled,  and  the 
princess  was  then  committed  to  the  escort  of  two  hundred  slaves 
and  three  hundred  handmaidens  to  be  taken  to  Khorasan  to  Noah 
Ben  Nasr. 

Leaving  Sindabil,  the  traveller  proceeded  to  the  sea-coast  and 
halted  at  Kalah,  the  first  city  of  India  (from  the  east)  and  the 
extreme  point  made  by  ships  going  in  that  direction.     If  they  go 

^  This  part  of  the  narrative  has  a  kind  of  verisimilitude,  and  may 
be  compared  with  that  of  Shah  Rukh's  ambassadors,  who  were  stopped 
and  entertained  for  a  day  or  two  by  the  Chinese  officials,  after  which 
they  proceeded  through  the  desert  to  the  Great  Wall,  provisions  of  all 
sorts  being  supplied  to  them,  etc.     (See  the  abstract  in  Note  XVII.) 

2  [Sandabil,  Marquart,  p.  85. — Ferrand,  p.  219.] 

3  "  Per  totam  diem  contendimus."  I  do  not  understand,  unless  it  be 
meant  that  getting  through  the  crowded  population  took  them  a  whole 
day  to  move  a  mile  ? 

*  This  is  all  very  obscure  in  the  Latin.  I  have  tried  to  interpret 
into  consistent  meaning.  ["  Sur  le  faite  du  mur,  se  trouve  un  grand 
fleuve  qui  se  divise  en  soixante  bras.  Chaque  bras  coule  vers  I'une  des 
portes  et  rencontre  un  moulin  qui  deverse  I'eau  au-dessous,  puis  un 
autre  moulin  d'oii  I'eau  coule  sur  le  sol.  Ensuite,  la  moitie  de  I'eau 
sort  hors  du  mur  et  irrigue  les  jardins.  L'autre  moitie  est  dirigee  vers 
la  ville,  fournit  de  I'eau  aux  habitants  de  la  rue  [dans  laquelle  elle 
passe]  jusqu'au  palais  du  gouvernement  [auquel  aboutit  la  rue].  Puis 
[I'eau]  passe  dans  la  rue  opposee  et  sort  [eniin]  de  la  ville.  Chaque  rue 
a  ainsi  deux  courants  d'eau.  Toute  rue  a  deux  courants  d'eau  coulant 
en  sens  inverse  I'un  de  l'autre.  Le  courant  qui  coule  dans  le  sens 
de  I'exterieur  de  la  ville  vers  I'interieur,  fournit  de  I'eau  potable; 
celui  qui  coule  dans  le  sens  de  I'interieur  de  la  ville  vers  I'exterieur, 
emporte  les  immondices  [des  habitants]."     Ferrand,  p.  219.] 

^  [A  great  Buddha,  Ferrand,  p.  219.] 

*  ["  Cette  ville  est  en  meme  temps  la  capitale  de  I'lnde  et  des 
Turks."     Ferrand,   p.   220.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  253 

past  it  they  are  lost.  This  is  a  great  city  with  high  walls,  gardens, 
and  canals.  Here  are  the  mines  of  lead^  called  Qala'i,  which  is 
found  in  no  part  of  the  world  except  Qala'h'^.  Here  also  are  made 
the  swords  of  Qala'h,  the  best  in  India.  The  inhabitants  rebel 
against  their  king  or  obey  him,  just  as  they  please.  Like  the 
Chinese,  they  do  not  slaughter  animals  {i.e.,  are  Buddhists). 
The  Chinese  frontier  is  three  hundred  parasangs  from  their 
territory.  Their  money  is  of  silver,  worth  three  dirhems,  and  is 
called  Fahri.  Their  king  is  under  the  King  of  the  Chinese,  and 
they  pray  for  him  and  have  a  temple  dedicated  to  him. 

From  Kalah  Ibn  Muhalhil  proceeds  to  the  Pepper  Country, 
by  which  name  Malabar  is  often  styled^,  and  thence  to  the  foot 
of  Mount  Kafur,  on  which  there  are  great  cities,  one  of  which  is 
Kamrun*,  from  which  comes  the  green  wood  called  Mandal 
Kamruni^.  There  also  is  the  city  called  Sanf,  which  gives  its 
name  to  the  Sanfi  aloes-wood.  At  another  foot  of  the  mountain 
towards  the  north  is  the  city  called  Saimur,  whose  inhabitants 
are  of  great  beauty,  and  said  to  be  descended  from  Turks  and 
Chinese.  From  this  place  also  the  Saimuri^  wood  is  named, 
though  it  is  only  brought  thither  for  sale,  etc.''     After  describing 


^  [Tin,  Ferrand,  p.  221.] 

2  This  difference  of  spelling  is  in  the  original.  Kalah  or  Kalah-bar  is 
spoken  of  by  the  authors  of  the  Relation  as  one  month's  voyage  from 
Kaulam,  and  as  midway  between  Oman  and  China,  and  as  a  great 
central  point  of  trade  in  aloes,  camphor,  sandal,  ivory,  the  lead  called 
al-qala'i,  ebony,  brazil-wood,  and  spices,  i.e.  of  the  products  of  the 
Archipelago.  Reinaud  is  very  wild  about  the  position  of  this  Kalah, 
and  whether  he  means  it  to  be  a  port  on  the  Coromandel  coast,  the 
Kalliana  of  Cosmas  (i.e.  a  port  on  the  West  of  India),  or  Pt.  de  Galle  in 
Ceylon,  is  difficult  to  discern.  It  seems  to  me  certain  that  it  is  a  port 
of  the  Archipelago,  representing  in  a  general  way  the  modern  Singapore 
or  Malacca,  and  very  possibly  identical  with  Kadah  (Quedah)  as  M. 
Maury  has  suggested.  M.  Reinaud  objects  to  "  the  lead  called  al-qala'i  " 
being  translated  tin,  though  all  the  light  he  throws  on  it  is  a  suggestion 
that  it  is  the  brass  which  Cosmas  says  was  exported  from  Kalliana. 
Yet  qala'i  is  the  word  universally  used  in  Hindustani  for  the  tinning  of 
pots  and  pans,  and  I  see  F.  Johnston's  Persian  Dictionary  simply  defines 
it  as  tin.  This  product  sufficiently  fixes  Kalah  as  in  or  near  the  Malay 
Peninsula.     Edrisi  also  places  the  mine  of  qala'i  at  that  place. 

I  should  not  have  enlarged  on  this  if  Sir  E.  Tennent  had  not  in 
his  Ceylon  followed  up  and  expanded  the  suggestion  of  Reinaud  that 
Kalah  was  Pt.  de  Galle.  He  refers  to  the  arguments  of  Dulaurier  in  the 
Journ.  Asiat.,  but  there  does  not  seem  to  be  much  force  in  them. 

^  E.g.,  see  Ibn  Batuta,  infra,  Vol.  iv,  and  Cosmas,  supra,  p.  226. 

*  [Kamarub  (Ferrand)  =Skr.  Kamdrupa=A5s,a,va.'\ 

^  [Green  aloes  called  Mandal  al-Kdmarubi.     (Ferrand,  p.  222.)] 

"  [Saymiir,  Ferrand,  p.  223.] 

'  This  passage  is  a  strange  jumble,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
the  author  has  been  fairly  represented  in  the  extracts.  For  in  Gilde- 
meister  (p.  70)  will  be  found  a  quotation  from  Kazwini  which  seems  to 
represent  the  same  passage,  in  which  the  cities  named  are  Kamarun, 
Kumar,  and  Sanf,  but  nothing  is  said  of  Saimur      KamviXn  is  generally 


254  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Jajali^,  a  city  on  a  great  mountain  overlooking  the  sea,  he  goes 
to  Kashmir,  where  there  is  a  great  observatory  made  of  Chinese 
iron  which  is  indestructible ^  ;  thence  to  Kabul  and  its  chief 
city  Thaban  {see  supra,  p.  242).  He  then  returns  rapidly  to  the 
shore  of  the  India  Sea,  and  describes  the  city  called  Mandurafin^ 
(or  Kin),  a  place  which  has  not  been  identified  ;  and  thence  to 
KuLAM,  where  grow  teak,  brazil,  and  bamboos,  and  respecting 
which  various  other  perplexing  particulars  are  stated.  From  the 
cities  of  the  shore  he  visits  Multan,  where  he  gives  a  romancing 
description  of  the  great  idol  so  celebrated  among  the  early  Arab 
invaders*.     According  to  Abu  Dulif  it  was  a  hundred  cubits  high, 


understood  to  be  intended  for  Kamrup  or  Assam,  though  the  notices  of 
Abulfeda  {ib.,  p.  191)  leave  this  very  doubtful.  Sanf  is  Champa,  and 
Kumar  will  be  spoken  of  in  Vol.  iv,  Ibn  Batata,  infra.  Sainiur  was  the 
name  of  a  seaport  not  far  from  Bombay,  the  exact  site  of  which  has  not 
been  ascertained.  [Yule  has  written  since  (M.  Polo,  ii,  p.  367  n.) :  "Saimur 
(the  modern  Chaul,  as  I  believe").]  According  to  Reinaud  it  is  the 
Simylla  of  Ptolemy  and  the  Periplus,  and  perhaps  the  Chimolo  of 
Hiuen  Tsang  {Vie  de  H.  T.,  p.  420).  It  seems  to  be  called  by  Al- 
Biriini  Jainiur.  He  puts  it  south  of  Tana  in  the  country  of  Ldrdn  (see 
Reinaud's  Mem.  sur  I'lnde  in  Mem.  Acad.,  p.  220,  and  his  extracts  in 
/.  As.,  ser.  iv,  tom.  iv,  pp.  263-4).  Putting  all  these  forms  of  the  name 
together,  and  looking  to  the  approximate  position,  it  seems  likely  that 
the  old  name  was  something  like  Chaimul  or  Chdnwul,  and  that  the 
port  was  no  other  than  Chaul,  some  thirty  miles  south  of  Bombay, 
which  continued  to  be  a  noted  port  down  to  the  seventeenth  century. 
[Chaul  is  a  town  in  the  Alibag  tdlnka  or  Kolaba  district,  Bombay, 
30  miles  south  of  Bombay,  and  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Kundalika 
river,  or  Roha  creek.  "  Chaul  is  a  place  of  great  antiquity.  Under 
the  names  of  Champavati  and  Revatikshetra,  local  Hindu  traditions 
trace  it  to  the  times  when  Krishna  reigned  in  Gujarat.  It  seems 
probable  that  Chaul  or  Cheul  is  Ptolemy's  (a.d.  150)  headland  and 
emporium  of  Symulla  or  TimuUa  ;  and  it  has  a  special  interest,  as 
Ptolemy  mentions  that  he  gained  information  about  Western  India 
from  people  who  had  come  from  Symulla  to  Alexandria.  About  a 
hundred  years  later  (a.d.  247)  it  appears  in  the  Periplus  of  the  Ery- 
thraean Sea  as  Semulla,  the  first  local  mart  south  of  Kalliena  ;  and  in 
642  it  is  called  Chimolo  by  Hiuen  Tsang.  Chaul  next  appears  under 
the  names  Saimur  and  Jaimur  in  the  writings  of  the  Arab  travellers  of 
the  tenth,  eleventh,  -and  twelfth  centuries.  Early  in  the  fourteenth 
century  it  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  centres  of  Yadava  power  in  the 
Konkan.  The  Russian  traveller  Athanasius  Nikitin  (1470)  calls  it 
Chivil.  Thirt3^-five  years  later  (1505)  the  Portuguese  first  appeared  at 
Chaul."     Imperial  Gazet.  India.] 

1  [JajuUa,  Ferrand,  p.  223.] 

2  Compare  Pliny  at  p.  17,  as  to  Seric  iron. 

^  [Mandura-patan,  Ferrand,  p.  225.] 

*  According  to  Edrisi  the  image  was  mounted  on  a  throne  of  plastered 
brick.  The  temple  was  in  the  form  of  a  dome  (probably  the  Hindu 
bulging  pyramidal  spire)  which  was  gilt  ;  the  walls  were  painted. 
When  Multan  was  taken  in  the  time  of  the  Khalif  Walid  by  Muhammad 
bin  Kasim  [712],  he  left  the  temple  of  the  idol  standing,  but  hung  a 
pieceof  beef  round  the  neck  of  the  latter.  (Edrisi,  i,  167;  Reinaud,  Mem., 
p.  185.) 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  255 

and  hung  suspended  in  air,  without  support,  a  hundred  cubits 
from  the  ground.  Thence  he  goes  to  Mansura  and  DAbil^,  etc.^ 
On  the  whole  the  impression  gathered  is,  that  the  author's 
work  (hke  that  of  some  more  modern  travellers)  contained  genuine 
matter  in  an  arrangement  that  was  not  genuine  ^  ;  but  that  some 
at  least  of  the  perplexities  found  in  it  are  due  to  the  manner  in 
which  its  fragments  have  been  preserved  and  joined  together. 


NOTE  XIII. 

EXTRACTS  REGARDING  CHINA  FROM  ABULFEDA*. 

(a.d.  1273-1331.) 

"  China  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  lands  ^  between  India 
and  China  ;  on  the  south,  by  the  sea  ;  on  the  east,  by  the  Eastern 
Atlantic^  ;  on  the  north  by  the  lands  of  Gog  [Yadjudj]  and  Magog 
[Madjudj],  and  other  regions  respecting  which  we  have  no  informa- 
tion. Writers  on  the  customs  and  kingdoms  of  the  world  have 
in  their  works  mentioned  many  provinces  and  places  and  rivers 
as  existing  in  China  under  the  different  climates,  but  the  names 
have  not  reached  us  with  any  exactness,  nor  have  we  any  certain 
information  as  to  their  circumstances.  Thus  they  are  as  good  as 
unknown  to  us  ;  there  being  few  travellers  who  arrive  from  those 
parts,  such  as  might  furnish  us  with  intelligence  (respecting  those 
places),  and  for  this  reason  we  forbear  to  detail  them. 

1°     "  Some  places,  however,  are  named  by  persons  who  come 

1  [Daybul,  Ferrand,  p.  229.] 

2  As  to  Daibal  see  p.  85  supra.  Mansura,  the  capital  of  the 
Musulman  conquerors  of  Sind,  was  two  parasangs  from  the  old  Hindu 
city  of  Bahmanabad  ;  and  this  lay  on  an  old  channel  forty-three  miles 
to  the  north-west  of  Haidarabad.     (See  Proc.  R.  G.  S.,  vol.  x,  p.  131.) 

*  [Marquart  who  quotes  these  lines  writes,  p.  83  :  "  Schon  aus  dem 
Bisherigen  erhellt,  dass  die  Berichte  des  Abu  Dulaf,  ehe  sie  verwertet 
werden  konnen,  erst  auf  ihre  Quellen  zuriickgefiihrt  werden  miissen, 
dass  aber  aus  der  Reihenfolge,  in  welcher  die  Volker  bei  ihm  stehen, 
noch  keineswegs  auf  geographische  Nachbarschaft  geschlossen  werden 
darf."] 

*  My  friend  Mr.  Badger  was  kind  enough  to  make  a  literal  translation 
of  these  extracts  for  me.  I  have  slightly  smoothed  the  ruggedness  of  a 
literal  version  from  Arabic,  whilst  trying  not  to  affect  the  sense. 

It  is  to  be  lamented  that  M.  Reinaud  has  left  his  version  of  Abulfeda's 
Geography  unfinished  for  some  eighteen  years.  There  is  a  Latin  trans- 
lation by  Reiske  in  Biisching's  Magazine,  but  I  have  no  access  to 
it.  [The  translation  left  unfinished  by  Reinaud  was  completed  by  the 
late  Prof.  Stanislas  Guyard  in  1883  ;  I  have  revised  Yule's  text  with 
Guyard's  translation  and  added  the  end  of  Abulfeda's  chapter  con- 
cerning China  (Sin),  i.e.,  Sila,  Jankiit,  Khaju,  Sankju.     H.  C] 

■^  [Desert. — Guyard.] 

'^  [Eastern  Surrounding  Sea. — Guyard.] 


256  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

from  those  parts,  and  of  these  one  is  [Khanqu,  read]  KhAnfu^, 
which  is  known  in  our  day  as  KhansA,  and  on  the  north  side  of 
which  is  a  lake  of  fresh  water  called  Sikhu  about  half-a-day's 
journey  in  circumference 2. 

"  It  is  also  stated  that  Shanju  [Shinju],  known  in  our  time  as 
Zaitun,  is  one  of  the  ports  of  China,  and  with  them  the  ports  are 
also  the  places  of  customs^. 

"  [Khanqu,  read]  Khanfu  is  one  of  the  gates  of  China,  and  is 
situated  on  the  river,  as  it  is  stated  in  the  Qdnun*^.  Ibn  Sa'id  says 
it  is  mentioned  in  books,  and  is  situated  on  the  east  of  the  River 
of  Khamdan.  Ibn  Khurdadhbah  says  it  is  the  greatest  com- 
mercial port  of  China,  and  abounds  in  fruit,  vegetables,  wheat, 
barley,  rice,  and  sugar-cane. 

2°  "  Khanju  is,  according  to  the  Qdnun,  one  of  the  gates  of 
China,  situated  on  the  river.  Ibn  Sa'id  states  that  it  is  the  chief 
of  the  gates  of  China,  and  is  fortified  with  masonry. .  .  .  To  the 
east  of  it  is  the  city  of  Tajah  [Tai  chau].  Ibn  Sa'id  adds :  It^ 
is  the  capital  of  China  where  the  Baghbur  their  great  king 
resides^. 

3°  "  Yanju,  the  residence  of  their  king.  The  Qdnun  states 
that  this  is  the  abode  of  the  Faghfur  of  China,  who  is  called  Tamg- 
haj  Khan,  and  is  their  Great  King,  etc.  (see  supra,  p.  33)'.  The 
Qdnun  also  states  that  the  city  of  Kazqu  in  China  is  greater  than 
the  above-named  Yanju..  .  .Some  who  have  seen  Yanju  describe 
it  as  in  a  temperate  part  of  the  earth,  with  gardens  and  a  ruined 
wall 8.     It  is  two  days  from  the  sea,  and  between  it  and  Khansa  is 

1  The  word  is  written  as  in  Jaubert's  Edrisi,  Khdnkik,  but  I  believe 
there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  righ<t  reading.  See  above,  pp.  89, 
129.  135- 

2  The  Si-hii  or  Western  Lake  of  Hang  chau.  Its  mention  here  is  no 
doubt  a  part  of  Abulfeda's  scanty  recent  information,  as  well  as  the 
next  paragraph. 

3  ["  Both  places  (Khanfu  and  Shinju)  are  bandars  of  China.  Now 
the  word  bandar  means  a  port,  in  China."     Guyard.] 

*  The  Qdnun  is  I  believe  the  lost  work  of  Al-Biriini  upon  Geography. 
The  "  Gates  of  China  "  appears  to  have  been  a  sort  of  technical  expres- 
sion for  the  chief  ports  of  China,  connected  with  the  view  of  the  access 
to  that  country  conveyed  in  the  Relations  and  in  Edrisi.  In  approach- 
ing China  ships  find  a  series  of  mountainous  islands  or  promontories. 
Between  these  are  narrow  channels,  through  which  the  ships  pass  to  the 
various  ports  of  the  Empire,  and  these  passages  are  called  the  Gates  of 
China  (Reinaud,  Relations,  i,  19;   Edrisi,  i,  90). 

^  I.e.  as  I  apprehend  Tdjah,  the  Bdjah  of  Jaubert's  Edrisi  {supra, 
p.  143).     Khdnjil  is  perhaps  Kwang  chau  or  Canton. 

®  [This  last  sentence  is  not  given  in  Guyard's  translation.] 

'  ["  According  to  the  Chronicle  of  Al-Niswy  (Nasawi),  which  includes 
a  history  of  the  Kings  of  Khwarizm  and  of  the  Tartars  :  the  Capital 
of  the  King  of  the  Tartars  in  China  is  called  Tughaj."     Guyard.] 

*  ["  Its  inhabitants  drink  water  from  wells."     Guyard. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  257 

a  distance  of  five  days.  Yanju  is  to  the  north  and  west  of  Khansa, 
and  is  smaller  in  size^. 

4°  "  ZaittJn,  i.e.  Shanju^  is  a  haven  of  China,  and,  according 
to  the  accounts  of  merchants  who  have  travelled  to  those  parts, 
is  a  city  of  mark.  It  is  situated  on  a  marine  estuary  which  ships 
enter  from  the  China  Sea.  The  estuary  extends  fifteen  miles,  and 
there  is  a  river  at  the  head  of  it.  According  to  some  who  have 
seen  the  place  the  tide  flows  (at  Zaitiin).  It  is  half-a-day  from 
the  sea,  and  the  channel  by  which  ships  come  up  from  the  sea 
is  of  fresh  water.  It  is  smaller  in  size  than  Hamath^,  and  has 
the  remains  of  a  wall  which  was  destroyed  by  the  Tartars.  The 
people  drink  water  from  the  channel  and  also  from  wells*. 

5°  "  Khansa,  i.e.  Khanfu.  According  to  some  travellers 
Khanfu  is  at  the  present  time  the  greatest  port  of  China,  and  is 
that  which  is  made  by  voyagers  from  our  own  country.  According 
to  some  who  have  seen  it,  it  is  east  and  south  of  Zaitun,  and  is 
half-a-day  from  the  sea.  It  is  a  very  large  city  and  lies  in  a 
temperate  part  of  the  earth.  In  the  middle  of  the  city  are  some 
four  small  hills.  The  people  drink  from  wells.  There  are  pleasant 
gardens  about  it.  The  mountains  are  more  than  two  days  distant 
from  it. 

[6°  "  SiLA^  or  SilI  is  situated  east  at  the  top  of  China.  Those 
who  travel  by  sea  do  not  often  visit  it.  It  is  one  of  the  islands  of 
the  Eastern  Sea  which  is  the  counterpart  of  the  Eternal  and 
Fortunate  Islands  in  the  Western  Sea  ;  but  these  are  cultivated 
and  wealthy  ;  it  is  the  reverse  with  the  islands  of  the  Eastern  Sea. 

7°  "  Jamkut  is  the  farthest  inhabited  eastern  land;  it  is  at 
the  extreme  eastern  limit,  just  like  the  Eternal  Islands  which  are 

1  Yanju  is  evidently  from  name  and  position  Yang  chau  (see  Odoric, 
ii,  p.  209  ;  Marco  Polo,  ii,  pp.  154  seq.).  But  it  never  was  the  capital  of 
China.  I  do  not  know  what  Kazku  is  ;  but  no  doubt  the  name  is 
corrupt.     It  is  perhaps  Fuchau  in  some  form. 

^  ["  Lorsqu'Abu'l-Fida  remarque  que  Zaitun  est  identique  a 
Shindju  (le  it  de  ch'udn  semble  se  retrouver  dans  le  son  du  i),  il  veut 
dire  qu'on  connaissait  de  son  temps  cette  ville  en  Occident  sous  son 
nom  chinois  (je  pease  que  Zaitun  est  une  deformation  de  celui-ci  : 
zai  ou  zi  correspond  a  ch'udn,  et  tim  fut  ajoute  par  jeu  pour  former  un 
mot  arabe  connu  de  chaque  musulman  (Kur'an,  95,  i)."  (Encyclop.  de 
rislam,  s.v.  Chine,  par  Martin  Hartmann.)] 

3  Hamath  was  Abulfeda's  own  city.  We  may  strongly  doubt  the 
accuracy  of  his  information  as  to  the  comparative  size  of  Zaitun. 

*  On  Zaitun  or  Chin  chau  see  note  to  Odoric,  ii,  p.  183,  and  to  Ibn 
Batuta,  Vol.  iv.  [M.  Ferrand  remarks  that  Tze-tung  =  C>3^J ,  zitvm  in 
Arabic,  inexactly  read  Zaytun,  on  account  of  its  similitude  with  its 
homonym  05*:!j,  zaytun,  olive.     [Relat.  de  Voy.,  i,  p.  11.)] 

^  [During  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  Era,  Korea  was  divided 
into  three  kingdoms  (Sa7n  kuk)  :  to  the  N.  and  N.E.,  Ko  ku  rye  (Kau 
Ii) ;  to  the  W.,  Paik  tjyei  (Pe  tsi),  and  to  the  S.E.  Sin  ra  (Sin  la) ;  in 
660  Pe  tsi,  in  668  Kau  Ii  were  divided  between  the  T'ang  and  Sin  ra. 
Kao  Ii  and  Si  la  of  Abulfeda  are  the  Ko  ku  rye  and  Sin  ra  of  Korea.] 

C.  Y.  C.    I.  17 


258  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

stated  to  be  at  the  extreme  western  limit.  East  of  Jamkut,  no 
habitable  land  is  to  be  found.  Persians  call  this  country  Jama- 
kud.     This  country  is  on  the  equator  and  has  no  latitude. 

8°  "  Khaju.  a  person  who  has  seen  Khaju  states  that  it  is 
a  great  city,  one  of  the  capitals  of  China  called  Sing,  and  is  fifteen 
days  from  Khan  BaUq.     It  is  situated  between  Khata  and  Kao-li. 

9°  "Saukju.  a  person  who  visited  it  states  that  it  is  as 
great  as  Emese ;  that  it  is  situated  in  a  plain  and  is  surrounded 
with  small  streams  coming  from  a  spring  spouting  out  of  the  neigh- 
bouring mountains  ;  that  it  has  orchards  ;  and  finally,  that  it  is 
four  days  from  Qamju^."] 


NOTE   XIV. 

EXTRACT    FROM    THE    HISTORY    OF    HAYTON 
THE    ARMENIAN. 

(Written  in  1307.) 
"  Of  the  Kingdom  of  Cathay. 

"  The  empire  of  Cathay  is  the  greatest  that  you  will  find  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  and  it  abounds  with  population,  and  has 
wealth  without  end.  It  is  situated  on  the  shore  of  the  Ocean 
Sea.  And  there  are  in  that  quarter  so  many  islands  in  the  sea 
that  there  is  no  knowing  their  number.  For  no  man  is  to  be  found 
in  existence  who  shall  venture  to  say  that  he  hath  seen  all  those 
islands.  But  such  of  them  as  are  attainable  are  found  to  have  an 
infinite  store  of  riches. 

"  That  which  is  reckoned  well-nigh  the  most  costly  article 
that  you  can  purchase  in  those  parts  is  oil  of  olive,  and  when  any 
such  oil  finds  its  way  thither  by  any  means  the  kings  and  nobles 
treasure  it  with  the  greatest  care  as  if  it  were  some  princely  salve. 

"  There  are  in  that  kingdom  of  Cathay  more  marvellous  and 
singular  things  than  in  any  other  kingdom  of  the  world.  The 
people  of  the  country  are  exceedingly  full  of  shrewdness  and 
sagacity,  and  hold  in  contempt  the  performances  of  other  nations 
in  every  kind  of  art  and  science.  They  have  indeed  a  saying  to 
the  effect  that  they  alone  see  with  two  eyes,  whilst  the  Latins  see 
with  one,  and  all  other  nations  are  blind  !     By  this  you  may 

1  ["  Je  remarque  ici  que  les  autres  informations  d'Abu'I-Fida  sur 
la  Chine  d^notent  une  certaine  confusion  ;  c'est  ainsi  qu'il  confond 
Canton  avec  Hang-chou  fou,  car  son  '  al  Khansa  identique  a  Khanku 
(lisez  Khanfu) '  reunit  les  deux  villas  ;  il  ne  cite  Khamdan  et  Khanbalik 
que  dans  les  '  Notices,'  et  11  n'a  pas  reconnu  que  son  Khanku  (ii, 
122-3)  confond  deux  villas:  le  Khanbalik  du  nord  (=Peking;  voy. 
Ibn  Batuta,  ici)  et  le  Canton  du  sud,  le  vrai  Khanfu."  (Encycl.  de 
V Islam,  s.v.  Chine,  par  Martin  Hartmann.)] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  259 

easily  gather  that  they  look  on  all  other  nations  as  quite  uncivilised 
in  comparison  with  themselves.  And  in  good  sooth  there  is  such 
a  vast  variety  of  articles  of  marvellous  and  unspeakable  delicacy 
and  elaboration  of  workmanship  brought  from  those  parts,  that 
there  is  really  no  other  people  that  can  be  compared  with  them  in 
such  matters. 

"  All  the  people  of  that  empire  are  called  Cathayans,  but  they 
have  also  other  names  according  to  the  special  nation  to  which 
they  belong.  You  will  find  many  among  them,  both  men  and 
women,  who  are  very  handsome,  but  as  a  general  rule  they  have 
all  small  eyes,  and  nature  gives  them  no  beard.  These  Cathayans 
have  a  very  elegant  written  character,  which  in  beauty  in  some 
sort  resembles  the  Latin  letters.  It  were  hard  to  enumerate  all 
the  sects  of  Gentiles  in  that  empire,  for  there  be  some  who  worship 
idols  of  metal ;  others  who  worship  oxen,  because  these  plough 
the  ground  which  produces  wheat  and  the  other  fruits  of  the  earth  ; 
others  who  worship  great  trees  of  different  kinds  ;  some  who 
devote  themselves  to  astronomy  and  the  worship  of  nature  ; 
others  who  adore  the  sun  or  the  moon  ;  and  others  again  who 
have  neither  creed  nor  laws  but  lead  a  mere  animal  life  like  brute 
beasts.  And  though  these  people  have  the  acutest  intelligence 
in  all  matters  wherein  material  things  are  concerned,  yet  you 
shall  never  find  among  them  any  knowledge  or  perception  of 
spiritual  things. 

"  The  people  of  that  country  are  not  courageous,  but  stand  in 
greater  fear  of  death  than  at  all  befits  those  who  carry  arms.  Yet 
being  full  of  caution  and  address  they  have  almost  always  come 
off  victorious  over  their  enemies  both  by  land  and  by  sea.  They 
have  many  kinds  of  arms  which  are  not  found  among  other  people. 

"  The  money  which  is  current  in  those  parts  is  made  of  paper 
in  a  square  form,  and  sealed  with  the  king's  seal ;  and  according 
to  the  marks  which  it  bears  this  paper  has  a  greater  or  less  value. 
And  if  perchance  it  begins  to  wear  from  long  usage  the  owner 
thereof  shall  carry  it  to  a  royal  office,  and  they  give  him  new 
paper  in  exchange.  They  do  not  use  gold  and  other  metals  except 
for  plate  and  other  purposes  of  show. 

"  'Tis  said  of  that  empire  of  Cathay  that  it  forms  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  world,  and  that  no  nation  dwells  beyond  it. 
Towards  the  west  it  hath  upon  its  frontier  the  kingdom  of  Tarse, 
and  towards  the  north  the  Desert  of  Belgian,  whilst  towards  the 
south  it  hath  the  Islands  of  the  Sea,  whereof  we  have  spoken 
above." 


17 — 2 


260  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

FRENCH  TEXT. 

DU    ROIAUME    DE    CATHAY. 

Le  roiaume  de  Cathay  est  tenu  por  le  plus  noble  roiaume  e 
por  le  plus  riche  qui  soit  eu  monde,  e  est  sur  le  rivage  de  la  mar 
Occeane.  Tantes  isles  y  a  de  mar  qua  Tom  n'en  poet  bien  savoir 
le  nombre.  La  gent  qui  habitent  en  calui  roiauma  sunt  apallaz 
Cathains.  E  se  trovent  entre  eaus  maints  beaus  homes  et  fames, 
selonc  luar  nacion,  mes  touz  ont  les  oils  molt  petiz,  e  ont  poi  de 
barba.  Cela  gens  ont  letres  qui  de  beautey  resemblent  a  letres 
latines,  e  parlent  une  lengue  qui  molt  est  diverse  das  autras 
lengues  du  monde.  La  creance  de  ceste  gent  est  molt  diverse, 
car  aucuns  croient  es  ydoles  da  metal,  autres  croient  an  le  solail, 
autras  an  la  lune,  autres  es  astailas,  autres  es  natures,  au  fau, 
autres  a  I'eve,  autres  as  arbres,  autres  as  bues,  por  ca  qua  laborent 
la  terra  dont  il  vivent ;  e  aucuns  ne  ont  point  da  loi,  ne  da  creance, 
ains  vivent  come  bestes.  Castes  gens,  qui  tant  sont  simples  en 
lur  creance  e  es  choses  espiriteus,  sont  plus  sages  e  plus  sotils  que 
totes  autres  gens  es  euvres  corporals.  E  dient  les  Catains  que  il 
sont  ceus  qui  voient  de  II  oils,  a  das  Latins  disant  q'il  voiant  d'un 
oil,  mes  las  autres  nacions  diant  qua  sont  avuagles.  E  por  ca 
puet  om  entendre  que  il  tianent  las  autres  gens  de  gros  entenda- 
ment.  E  verraiement  I'om  voit  venir  de  calui  pais  tantas  choses 
estranges  e  marveilloses,  e  da  sotil  labour,  que  bian  semblent  astre 
la  plus  soutils  gens  du  monda  d'art  a  de  labour  da  mains.  Les 
homes  de  celui  pais  ne  sont  vigoros  as  armes,  mes  il  sont  molt 
sotils  e  engignous,  dont  sovent  ont  desconfit  luer  enamis  par  luar 
angins.  E  ont  diverses  manieres  d'armes  e  d'engins,  lesquals  ne 
ont  Jes  autras  nacions.  En  celui  pais  se  despent  monoie  faita  da 
papier  en  forme  quarree,  signe  du  seignal  du  signor,  e  selonc  ce 
qua  est  signea  vaut  ou  plus  ou  meins.  E  da  cele  monoie  achatent 
e  vendant  toutes  choses.  E  quant  cela  monoie  enpire  par  veillesce 
ou  autremant,  celui  qui  I'aura  la  rendra  a  la  cort  du  seignor,  e 
am  pranra  da  nueve.  En  celui  pais  I'oila  d'olive  est  tenue  a  molt 
chiera  chose  ;  a  quant  les  rois  e  les  seignors  en  poent  trover, 
a  grant  chierte  e  por  grant  mervaille  le  font  garder.  A  ceste 
terre  de  Cathay,  ne  marchit  nula  terra,  fors  qua  le  roiaume  de 
Tarsa,  devers  Occident,  car  da  toutes  les  autres  parties  la  roiaume 
de  Cathai  est  environnes  ou  de  desert  ou  de  la  mer  Occeane." 
(Pages  121— 2,  Recueil  des  Historiens  des  Croisades,  Documents 
ArmSniens,  ii. — Doc.  latins  et  frangais  relatifs  a  V Avminie,  Paris, 
1906,  fol.) 

This  is  the  original  text ;  the  Latin  text  has  been  revised  and 
added  to. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  261 

LATIN   TEXT. 

DE    REGNO    CATAY. 

Regnum  Cathay  est  majus  regnum  quod  in  orbe  valeat 
inveniri  et  est  repletum  gentibus  et  diviciis  infinitis  et  in  maris 
Occeani  littore  habet  situm.  Tot  enim  sunt  ibidem  maris  insula 
quod  numerus  nuUatenus  potest  sciri.  Nam  nuUus  penitus 
invenitur  qui  omnes  illas  insulas  asserat  se  vidisse.  lUe  vero 
insule  que  calcari  possunt  inveniuntur  innumerabilibus  divitiis 
habundantes,  et  illud  fere  quod  in  illis  partibus  carius  emitur  et 
habetur  est  oleum  olivarum,  quoniam  reges  et  magnates  illud, 
quando  modo  aliquo  reperitur,  quasi  precipuum  medicamen  cum 
magna  diligentia  faciunt  custodiri.  In  ipso  eciam  regno  Cathai 
plura  sunt  mirabilia  monstruosa  quam  in  aliquo  alio  regno  mundi. 
Homines  vero  illius  patrie  sunt  sagacissimi  et  omni  calliditate 
repleti  et  ideo  in  omni  arte  et  scientia  vilipendunt  alias  nationes 
et  dicunt  quod  ipsi  soli  sunt  qui  duobus  oculis  respiciunt,  Latini 
vero  uno  lumine  tantum  vident,  sed  omnes  alias  naciones  asserunt 
esse  cecas,  et  per  hoc  certissime  demonstratur  quod  omnes  alios 
reputant  esse  rudes.  Et  vere  tot  res  diverse  et  mirabiles  et 
ineffabilis  subtilitatis  et  laboris  manuum  ex  illis  partibus 
deferuntur,  quod  non  videtur  esse  aliquis  qui  in  talibus  eis 
valeat  comparari.  Omnes  illi  de  illo  regno  Catayni  vocantur  et 
juxta  naciones  suas  multi  tam  homines  quam  femine  reperiuntur 
pulcerrimi ;  tamen  omnes  communiter  parvos  habent  oculos  et 
naturaliter  barba  carent.  Isti  Catayni  valde  pulcras  litteras 
habent,  que  latinis  litteris  in  pulcritudine  quodam  modo  similan- 
tur.  Secta  vero  gentium  illius  regni  vix  posset  modo  aliquo 
enumerari,  quoniam  quidam  sunt  qui  colunt  ydola  de  metallo, 
alii  vero  boves  adorant,  quia  laborant  terram  de  qua  crescunt 
frumenta  et  alia  nutritiva,  alii  colunt  magnas  arbores  et  diversas, 
alii  secuntur  naturalia  et  [alii]  astronomiam,  alii  adorant  solem, 
alii  vero  lunam,  alii  quidem  nullam  habent  fidem  vel  legem,  sed 
sicut  bruta  animalia  ducunt  bestialiter  vitam  suam,  et  licet  sint 
perspicacissimi  ingenii  ad  omnia  opera  corporalia  exercenda, 
nulla  tamen  inter  eos  spiritualium  noticia  sive  sciencia  invenitur. 
Homines  illius  patrie  non  sunt  audaces,  sed  sunt  mortis  timidi 
plus  satis  quam  armigeros  esse  decet.  Multum  tamen  sunt 
cauti  et  ingeniosi  et  propterea  tam  per  terram  quam  per  mare 
victoriam  de  inimicis  suis  sepius  reportarunt.  Multa  habent 
armorum  genera  que  non  inveniuntur  inter  alias  naciones. 
Moneta  vero  que  in  illis  partibus  expenditur  fit  de  papiro  in  forma 
quadrata  et  est  regali  signo  signata  ;  et  secundum  signum  ilia 
moneta  est  majoris  precii  vel  minoris.  Et  si  forte  ilia  moneta 
propter  vetustatem  incipiat  devastari,  ille  qui  illam  habuerit  ad 


262  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

regalem  curiam  deportabit  et  pro  ilia  dabitur  sibi  nova.  De  auro 
vero  et  aliis  metallis  vasa  fiunt  et  alia  ornamenta.  De  isto  regno 
Catay  dicitur  quod  est  in  principio  mundi,  in  oriente  ab  uno 
capite,  et  ex  parte  ilia  nulla  est  ulterius  habitatio  gentium,  et  ex 
parte  occidentis  suos  habet  confines  cum  regno  Tarse,  et  ex  parte 
septemtrionis  cum  deserto  de  Belgian,  et  ex  parte  meridiei  sunt 
insule  maris  superius  nominate."  (Pages  261-2,  Recueil  des  Histor. 
des  Croisades,  Documents  Armeniens,  11. — Doc.  latins  et  frangais 
relatifs  a  I'Armenie,  Paris,  1906,  fol.) 


NOTE   XIV  BIS. 


LETTER  OF  SEMPAD    (1243). 

A  tres  haut  et  puissant  houme  monseigneur  Henry  [Henri  de 
Lusignan],  par  la  grace  de  Die  roy  de  Chipre,  et  a  sa  chiere  suer 
Enmeline  la  royne,  et  a  noble  houme  Jehan  de  Hibelin  son  frere, 
li  connoitables  de  Ermenie  salut  et  amour.  Sachies  que  aussi 
comme  je  me  esmui  la  ou  vous  saves  pour  Dieu  et  pour  le  profit 
de  la  foy  crestienne,  tout  aussinc  Nostres  Sires  ma  conduit  sain 
et  sauf  jusques  a  une  ville  que  on  appelle  Sautequant ;  mout 
terres  estranges  ay  veues  en  la  voie.  Ynde  lessames  derrier  nous  ; 
par  le  royaume  de  Baudas  passames,  et  meimes  II.  moys  a  passer 
toute  la  terre  de  ce  royaume  ;  moult  de  citez  veimes  que  li 
Tartarin  avoient  gastees,  desqueles  nus  ne  pourroit  dire  la 
grandesse  ne  la  richesse  dont  eles  estoient  plainnes.  Nous  veimes 
aucunes  villes  grans  par  lespasse  de  III.  journees,  et  plus  de  C. 
monciaus^  grans  et  mervellieus  des  os  de  ceus  que  li  Tartarin 
avoient  ocis  et  tues ;  et  se  la  grace  de  Dieu  neust  amene  les 
Tartarins  pour  ocirre  les  paiens,  il  eussent  destruit,  si  comme  nous 
pouons  veoir,  la  terre  toute  de9a  la  mer.  Nous  trespassames  I. 
grant  fleuve  qui  vient  de  paradis  terrestre,  ca  non  Gyon,  duquel 
les  arenes  durent  dune  part  et  dautre  par  lespasse  dune  grant 
journee.  Si  sachies  que  des  Tartarins  est  si  grant  plentez,  que  il 
ne  pueent  estre  nombrez  par  homme  ;  il  sont  bon  archier,  et  ont 
laides  faces  et  di verses  ;  ne  je  ne  vous  pourroie  dire  ne  descrire  la 
maniere  dont  il  sont.  Bien  a  passe  VIII.  moys  que  nous  finames 
derrer  par  nuit,  et  encore  ne  soumes  pas  ou  milieu  de  la  terre 
Cham  le  grant  roi  des  Tartarins.  Si  avons  entendu  pour  certaine 
choze,  que  puisque  Cham  li  roys  des  Tartarins,  peres  di  celui  Cham 
qui  regne  maintenant,  fu  trespassez,  que  li  baron  et  les  chevaliers 
des  Tartarins  qui  estoient  par  divers  lieus,  mistrent  bien  par 
lespasse  de  V.  ans  a  assambler  pour  couronner  le  roy  Cham  qui 
maintenant  regne,  et  apainnes  potent  estre  assamble  en  I.  lieu. 

1   Another  MS  has  :  "  et  plus  de  cent  mille  monceaus." 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  263 

Aucuns  de  eulz  estoient  en  Inde  et  en  Chatha,  et  li  autre  en  Roussie 
et  en  la  terre  de  Cascat^,  qui  est  la  terre  dont  li  roy  furent  qui 
vindrent  en  Jherusalem  aourer  Nostre  Seigneur  ;  et  sont  les  gens  de 
celle  terre  crestiens.  Je  fui  en  leur  eglizes,  et  vi  la  figure  de  Jhesu 
Crist  paint,  comme  li  troy  roy  li  offrirent  or,  mirre  et  encens.  Par 
ces  trois  roys  tindrent  et  orent  prumierement  oil  de  Tangat  la  foy 
crestienne,  et  par  aulz  sont  maintenant  Cham^  li  roys  des  Tartarins 
et  sa  gent.  Devant  leur  portes  sont  les  eglizes,  la  ou  on  sonne  les 
cloches  selonc  les  Latins,  et  tables  selonc  la  maniere  des  Grieus  ; 
et  va  on  prumierement  saluer  Nostre  Seigneur  au  matin,  puis 
apres  Cham  en  son  palais.  Nous  avons  trouve  moult  de  crestiens 
dispers  et  espandus  par  la  terre  d'Orient,  et  moult  de  eglizes  hautes 
et  beles,  anciennes,  qui  ont  este  gastees  par  les  Tartarins  avant 
quil  feussent  crestien  ;  dont  il  est  avene  que  li  crestien  d'Orient, 
qui  estoient  espandu  par  divers  lieues,  sont  venu  au  roy  Cham  des 
Tartarins  qui  maintenant  regne,  et  a  painnes  porent  estre  assamble 
en  un  lieu,  lesquels  il  a  receu  a  grant  honneur  et  leur  a  donne 
franchize,  et  fait  crier  partout  que  nulz  ne  soit  si  hardis  qui  les 
courouce,  ne  de  fait,  ne  de  paroles.  Et  pourceque  Nostre  Sires 
Jhesu  Crist  navoit  en  ces  parties  qui  prestast  pour  lui  son  non,  il 
meismes  par  ces  saintes  vertus  que  il  a  demonstre  et  preschie  en 
tele  maniere  que  les  gens  croient  en  lui.  En  la  terre  dinde  que 
saint  Thoumas  converti  a  la  foy  crestienne,  avoit  I.  roy  crestien 
entre  les  autres  Sarrasins,  que  li  Sarrasin  avoient  moult  de  maus 
fays  et  de  gries,  juques  a  tant  que  Tartarin  vindrent  qui  pristrent 
sa  terre  en  leur  main,  et  en  fu  leur  hons  [vassal]  ;  il  assambla  son 
ost  avec  lost  des  Tartarins,  et  entra  en  Inde  centre  les  Sarrasins, 
et  conquit  tant  que  toute  sa  terre  est  plainne  desclaves  et  de  gens 
indes  ;  et  de  ces  esclaves  je  vis  plus  de  V.  C.  mil,  que  li  roys 
commanda  a  vendre.  Si  sachies  que  li  papes  a  envoye  au  roy 
Cham  des  Tartarins,  messages  pour  savoir  se  il  estoit  crestiens,  et 
pourquoy  il  avoit  envoie  sa  gent  pour  ocirre  et  tuer  les  crestiens  et 
le  peuple.  A  ce  respondi  li  roys  Cham,  que  nostre  Sires  Diex  avoit 
mande  a  ses  devanciers  ayeulz  et  bezaieulz,  quil  envoiassent  leur 
gens  pour  occirre  et  pour  destruire  les  mauvaizes  gens.  Et  a  ce 
qui  li  papes  li  manda  se  il  estoit  crestiens,  il  respondi  que  ce  savoit 
Diex ;  et  se  li  papes  le  vouloit  savoir,  se  venit  en  sa  terre  et  veit 
et  sent  comment  il  est  des  Tartarins.  {Recueil  des  Hist,  des  Gatiles 
et  de  la  France,  xx,  Paris,  1840,  Gttillaume  de  Nangis,  pp.  361-3.) 


■•  Another  MS  has  :    "  estoient  en  Ynde  et  en  la  terre  de  Chata, 
li  autre  en  Roussie  et  en  la  terre  de  Chastac  et  de  Tangat." 

2  Another  MS  :    "  Et  par  euls  sont  maintenant  crestiens  Cham." 


264  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


NOTE    XIV  TER. 

EXTRACTS  REGARDING  CATHAY,  FROM  THE  NARRA- 
TIVE OF  RUY  GONZALEZ  DE  CLAVIJO,  AMBASSA- 
DOR TO  THE  COURT  OF  TIMUR. 

(1403-6.) 

"  The  ambassadors  were  then  taken  to  a  room,  on  the  right- 
hand  side  of  the  place  where  the  lord  sat ;  and  the  Meerzas,  who 
held  them  by  the  arms,  made  them  sit  below  an  ambassador, 
whom  the  emperor  Chayscan,  lord  of  Cathay,  had  sent  to  Timour 
Beg  to  demand  the  yearly  tribute  which  was  formerly  paid. 
When  the  lord  saw  the  ambassadors  seated  below  the  ambassador 
from  the  lord  of  Cathay,  he  sent  to  order  that  they  should  sit 
above  him,  and  he  below  them.  As  soon  as  they  were  seated,  one 
of  the  Meerzas  of  the  lord  came  and  said  to  the  ambassador  of 
Cathay,  that  the  lord  had  ordered  that  those  who  were  ambassadors 
from  the  king  of  Spain,  his  son  and  friend,  should  sit  above  him  ; 
and  that  he  who  was  the  ambassador  from  a  thief  and  a  bad  man, 
his  enemy,  should  sit  below  them  ;  and  from  that  time,  at  the 
feasts  and  entertainments  given  by  the  lord,  they  always  sat  in 
that  order.  The  Meerza  then  ordered  the  interpreter  to  tell  the 
ambassadors  what  the  lord  had  done  for  them. 

"  This  emperor  of  Cathay  is  called  Chuyscan,  which  means 
nine  empires ;  but  the  Zagatays  called  him  Taugas,  which 
means  '  pig  emperor.'  He  is  the  lord  of  a  great  country,  and 
Timour  Beg  used  to  pay  him  tribute,  but  he  refuses  to  do  so  now." 
(Pp.  I33-4-) 

"  The  city  [of  Samarcand]  is  also  very  rich  in  merchandize 
which  comes  from  other  parts.  Russia  and  Tartary  send  linen 
and  skins ;  China  sends  silks,  which  are  the  best  in  the  world, 
(more  especially  the  satins) ,  and  musk,  which  is  found  in  no  other 
part  of  the  world,  rubies  and  diamonds,  pearls  and  rhubarb,  and 
many  other  things.  The  merchandize  which  comes  from  China 
is  the  best  and  most  precious  which  comes  to  this  city,  and  they 
say  that  the  people  of  China  are  the  most  skilful  workmen  in  the 
world.  They  say  themselves  that  they  have  two  eyes,  the  Franks 
one,  and  that  the  Moors  are  blind,  so  that  they  have  the  advantage 
of  every  other  nation  in  the  world.  From  India  come  spices, 
such  as  nutmegs,  cloves,  mace,  cinnamon,  ginger,  and  many  others 
which  do  not  reach  Alexandria."     (P.  171.) 

"  When  the  lord  returned  to  the  city  [from  the  war  against 
the  Turk],  the  ambassadors  from  Cathay  arrived,  with  others  to 
say  that  the  lord  held  that  land,  subject  to  the  emperor  of  Cathay, 
and  to  demand  the  payment  of  tribute  every  year,  as  it  was 
seven  years  since  any  had  been  paid.     The  lord  answered  that 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  265 

this  was  true,  but  that  he  would  not  pay  it.  This  tribute  had 
not  been  paid  for  nearly  eight  years,  nor  had  the  emperor  of 
Cathay  sent  for  it,  and  the  reason  why  he  did  not  send  for  it,  was 
this. 

"  The  emperor  of  Cathay  died,  leaving  three  sons,  to  whom 
he  bequeathed  his  territories.  The  eldest  son  wished  to  take  the 
shares  of  the  other  two.  He  killed  the  youngest,  but  the  middle 
one  fought  with  the  eldest,  and  defeated  him,  and  he,  from  despair 
at  the  consequences  which  he  dreaded  would  follow  his  treatment 
of  his  youngest  brother,  set  fire  to  his  palace,  and  perished  with 
many  of  his  followers.  The  middle  brother,  therefore,  reigned 
alone.  As  soon  as  he  was  quietly  established  in  his  own  empire, 
he  sent  these  ambassadors  to  Timour  Beg,  to  demand  the  tribute 
which  was  formerly  paid  to  his  father,  but  we  did  not  hear  whether 
he  resented  the  answer  which  was  given  by  Timour. 

' '  From  Samarcand  to  the  chief  city  of  the  empire  of  Cathay, 
called  Cambalu,  is  a  journey  of  six  months,  two  of  which  are 
passed  in  crossing  an  uninhabited  land,  never  visited  by  anyone 
but  shepherds,  who  wander  with  their  flocks,  in  search  of  pasture. 
In  this  year  as  many  as  eight  hundred  camels,  laden  with  merchan- 
dize, came  from  Cambalu  to  this  city  of  Samarcand,  in  the  month 
of  June.  When  Timour  Beg  heard  what  the  ambassadors  from 
Cathay  had  demanded,  he  ordered  these  camels  to  be  detained, 
and  we  saw  the  men  who  came  with  the  camels.  They  related 
wonderful  things,  concerning  the  great  power  of  the  lord  of 
Cathay  :  we  especially  spoke  to  one  of  these  men,  who  had  been 
six  months  in  the  city  of  Cambalu,  which  he  said  was  near  the 
sea,  and  twenty  times  as  large  as  Tabreez.  The  city  of  Cambalu 
is  the  largest  in  the  world,  because  Tabreez  is  a  good  league  in 
length,  so  that  Cambalu  must  be  twenty  leagues  in  extent.  He 
also  said  that  the  lord  of  Cathay  had  so  vast  an  army  that,  when 
he  collected  troops  to  march  beyond  his  own  territory,  not 
counting  those  who  thus  departed  with  him,  four  hundred  thousand 
cavalry  and  more  were  left  to  guard  the  land  ;  he  added  that  it 
was  the  custom  of  this  lord  of  Cathay  not  to  allow  any  man  to 
mount  a  horse,  unless  he  had  a  thousand  followers  ;  and  he  told 
many  other  wonders  concerning  this  city  of  Cambalu,  and  the 
land  of  Cathay. 

"  This  emperor  of  Cathay  used  to  be  a  gentile,  but  he  was 
converted  to  the  faith  of  the  Christians. 

*********** 

"  Fifteen  days  journey  from  the  city  of  Samarcand,  in  the 
direction  of  China,  there  is  a  land  inhabited  by  Amazons,  and  to 
this  day  they  continue  the  custom  of  having  no  men  with  them, 
except  at  one  time  of  the  year  ;  when  they  are  permitted,  by  their 
leaders,  to  go  with  their  daughters  to  the  nearest  settlements, 
and  have  communication  with  men,  each  taking  the  one  who 


266  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

pleases  her  most,  with  whom  they  live,  and  eat,  and  drink,  after 
which  they  return  to  their  own  land.  If  they  bring  forth  daughters 
afterwards,  they  keep  them  ;  but  they  send  the  sons  to  their 
fathers.  These  women  are  subject  to  Timour  Beg  ;  they  used 
to  be  under  the  emperor  of  Cathay,  and  they  are  Christians  of  the 
Greek  Church.  They  are  of  the  lineage  of  the  Amazons  who  were 
at  Troy,  when  it  was  destroyed  by  the  Greeks."  (Pp.  172-5, 
Narrative  of  the  Embassy  of  Ruy  Gonzalez  de  Clavijo  to  the  Court  of 
Timour,  at  Samarcand,  a.d.  1403-6.  Translated ...  by  Clements 
R.  Markham.     London,  Hakluyt  Society,  1859,  8vo.) 


NOTE    XIV   QUATER. 

EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    TRAVELS    OF    NICOLO 
CONTI    (1438)1. 

"  Beyond  this  province  of  Macinus  is  one  which  is  superior 
to  all  others  in  the  world,  and  is  named  Cathay.  The  lord  of 
this  country  is  called  the  Great  Khan,  which  in  the  language  of 
the  inhabitants  means  emperor.  The  principal  city  is  called 
Cambaleschia.  It  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  quadrangle,  and  is 
twenty-eight  miles  in  circumference.  In  the  centre  is  a  very 
handsome  and  strong  fortress,  in  which  is  situated  the  King's 
palace.  In  each  of  the  four  angles  there  is  constructed  a  circular 
fortress  for  defence,  and  the  circuit  of  each  of  these  is  four  miles. 
In  these  fortresses  are  deposited  military  arms  of  all  sorts,  and 
machines  for  war  and  the  storming  of  cities.  From  the  royal 
palace  a  vaulted  wall  extends  through  the  city  to  each  of  the  said 
four  fortresses,  by  which,  in  the  event  of  the  people  rising  against 
the  King,  he  can  retire  into  the  fortresses  at  his  pleasure.  Fifteen 
days  distant  from  this  city  there  is  another,  very  large,  called 
Nemptai,  which  has  been  built  by  this  King.  It  is  thirty  miles  in 
circumference,  and  more  populous  than  the  others.  In  these  two 
cities,  according  to  the  statement  of  Nicolo,  the  houses  and  palaces 
and  other  ornaments  are  similar  to  those  in  Italy  :  the  men, 
gentle  and  discreet,  wise,  and  more  wealthy  than  any  that  have 
been  before  mentioned. 

"  Afterwards  he  departed  from  Ava  and  proceeded  towards  the 
sea,  and  at  the  expiration  of  seventeen  days  he  arrived  at  the 

1  The  Travels  of  Nicolo  Conti  in  the  East,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  as  related  by  Poggio  Bracciohni,  in  his  work  entitled 
"  Historia  de  Varietate  Fortunae,"  Lib.  iv.  (39  Pages  in  India  in  the 
Fifteenth  Century ..  .'Edited,  with  an  Introduction  by  R.  H.  Major... 
London,   Hakluyt  Society,   1857,  8vo.) 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  267 

mouth  of  a  moderately  sized  river,  where  there  is  a  port  called 
Xeythona ;  and  having  entered  the  river,  at  the  end  of  ten  days 
he  arrived  at  a  very  populous  city  called  Panconia,  the  circum- 
ference of  which  is  twelve  miles.  He  remained  here  for  the  space 
of  four  months.  This  is  the  only  place  in  which  vines  are  found, 
and  here  in  very  small  quantity  :  for  throughout  all  India  there 
are  no  vines,  neither  is  there  any  wine.  And  in  this  place  they 
do  not  use  the  grape  for  the  purpose  of  making  wine.  They  have 
pine  apples,  oranges,  chestnuts,  melons,  but  small  and  green, 
white  sandal  wood,  and  camphor.  The  camphor  is  found  within 
the  tree,  and  if  they  do  not  sacrifice  to  the  gods  before  they  cut 
the  bark,  it  disappears  and  is  no  more  seen."     (Pp.  14-15.) 


NOTE   XV. 

EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  OF  PAOLO  DAL  POZZO 
TOSCANELLI  TO  FERNANDO  MARTINEZ,  CANON 
OF    LISBON. 

(Written  25th  June,   1474.) 

"  And  now  to  give  you  full  information  as  to  all  those  places 
which  you  so  much  desire  to  learn  about,  you  must  know  that  both 
the  inhabitants  and  the  visitors  of  all  those  islands  are  all  traders, 
and  that  there  are  in  those  parts  as  great  a  multitude  of  ships 
and  mariners  and  wares  for  sale,  as  in  any  part  of  the  world,  be 
the  other  what  it  may.  And  this  is  especially  the  case  at  a  very 
noble  port  which  is  called  Zaitun,  where  there  load  and  discharge 
every  year  a  hundred  great  pepper  ships,  besides  a  multitude  of 
other  vessels  which  take  cargoes  of  other  spices  and  the  like^. 
The  country  in  question  is  exceedingly  populous,  and  there  are 
in  it  many  provinces  and  many  kingdoms,  and  cities  without 
number,  all  under  the  dominion  of  a  certain  sovereign  who  is 
called  the  Great  Caan^,  a  name  which  signifies  the  king  of  kings. 
The  residence  of  this  prince  is  chiefly  in  the  province  of  Cathay. 
His  predecessors  greatly  desired  to  have  intercourse  and  friendship 
with  Christians,  and  some  two  hundred  years  since  they  sent 

1  Here  Toscanelli  is  drawing  from  Marco  Polo  (i,  ch.  81),  as  again 
below  where  he  speaks  of  Quinsai. 

2  [The  use  of  the  title  of  Great  Caan  is  no  proof  against  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  letter  ;  though  obsolete,  since  it  disappeared  with  the 
Yuen  Dynasty  (1368),  it  was  still  in  use  among  foreigners  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century  to  designate  the  sovereign  of  China.  In  a 
letter  from  Cochin,  dated  15th  November  151 5,  Giovanni  da  Empoli 
writes  to  Lopo  Soares  de  Albergaria  :  "  Spero .  .  .  fare  un  salto  la  a 
vedere  il  Grand  Cane  che  e  il  re,  che  si  chiama  il  re  de  Cataio."] 


268  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

ambassadors  to  the  Pope,  begging  him  to  despatch  a  number  of 
wise  and  learned  teachers  to  instruct  them  in  our  faith.  But  on 
account  of  the  hindrances  which  these  ambassadors  met  with 
they  turned  back  without  reaching  Rome.  And  in  later  times 
there  came  an  ambassador  to  Pope  Eugenius  IV i,  who  rehearsed 
to  him  the  great  friendship  that  those  princes  and  their  people 
bore  towards  Christians.  And  I  myself  discoursed  at  length  with 
this  ambassador  on  many  subjects,  as  of  the  greatness  of  their 
royal  buildings,  and  of  the  vastness  of  their  rivers  in  length  and 
breadth.  And  he  told  me  many  things  that  were  wonderful  as  to 
the  multitudes  of  cities  and  towns  which  are  built  on  the  banks  of 
those  rivers  ;  as  that  upon  one  r^ver  alone  are  to  be  found  two 
hundred  cities,  all  of  which  have  their  marble  bridges  of  great 
width  and  length,  and  adorned  with  a  profusion  of  marble  columns. 
The  country  indeed  is  as  fine  a  country  as  has  ever  been  discovered; 
and  not  only  may  one  have  great  gain,  and  get  many  valuable 
wares  by  trading  thither,  but  also  they  have  gold  and  silver  and 
precious  stones,  and  great  abundance  of  all  kinds  of  spices  such 
as  are  never  brought  into  our  part  of  the  world.  And  it  is  a  fact 
that  they  have  many  men  of  great  acquirements  in  philosophy 
and  astrology,  and  other  persons  of  great  knowledge  in  all  the 
arts,  and  of  the  greatest  capacity  who  are  employed  in  the 
administration  of  that  great  territory,  and  in  directing  the  ordering 
of  battle. 

"  From  the  city  of  Lisbon  going  right  to  the  westward  there 
are  in  the  map  which  I  have  mentioned  twenty-six  spaces,  each 
containing  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  to  the  great  and  very 
noble  city  of  Quinsai,  which  has  a  circuit  of  one  hundred  miles 
or  thirty-five  leagues^." 


^  1 431-1447.  [I  believe  that  the  story  of  the  ambassador  sent  to 
Pope  Eugenius  IV  is  but  a  reminiscence  of  the  arrival  of  Nicol6  Conti  ; 
the  embassies  sent  southward  by  the  third  Ming  Emperor  never  came 
to  Europe.] 

2  [The  authenticity  of  Toscanelli's  letter  to  F.  Martins  has  been 
attacked  by  Henry  Vignaud  in  La  Lettre  et  la  Carte  de  Toscanelli  sur  la 
route  des  Indes  par  I'Ouest.  .  .Paris,  1901,  8vo.  A  bibliography  of  the 
controversy  that  followed  the  publication  of  this  book  has  been  written 
by  Vignaud  and  translated  into  Italian  by  G.  Uzielli,  NapoH,  1905. 
Cf.  H.  Cordier's  Bibliotheca  Sinica,  col.  2054-7.  ^  do  not  think  this 
is  the  place  to  give  the  arguments  against  or  in  favour  of  the  thesis  of 
Mr.  Vignaud,  whose  case  is  very  strong  in  my  opinion,  in  spite  of  the 
weakness  of  some  of  the  arguments :  for  instance  the  use  of  the  title 
Great  Khan  by  the  writer  of  the  letter.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES  269 

NOTE  XVI. 

EXTRACTS  REGARDING  CATHAY  FROM  THE 
NARRATIVE  OF  SIGNOR  JOSAFA  BARBARO. 

(Written  about  1480,  but  the  information  acquired  about  1436.) 

"  And  in  this  same  province  of  Zagatai  is  the  very  great  and 
populous  city  of  Sanmarcant,  through  which  all  those  of  Chini 
and  Machini  pass  to  and  fro,  and  also  those  of  Cathay,  whether 
traders  or  travellers. ...  I  have  not  been  further  in  this  direction 
myself,  but  as  I  have  heard  it  spoken  of  by  many  people,  I  will 
tell  you  that  Chini  and  Machini  are  two  very  great  provinces 
inhabited  by  idolaters.     They  are,  in  fact,  the  country  in  which 
they  make  plates  and  dishes  of  porcelain.     And  in  those  places 
there  is  great  store  of  wares,  especially  of  jewels  and  of  fabrics 
of  silk  and  other  stuffs.     And  from  those  provinces  you  go  on 
into  that  of  Cathay,  about  which  I  will  tell  you  what  I  learned 
from  the  Tartar's  ambassador  who  arrived  from  those  parts  when 
I  was  at  Tana.     Being  with  him  one  day  and  our  talk  running  on 
this  Cathay,  he  told  me  that  after  passing  the  places  that  have 
been  mentioned,  as  soon  as  he  had  entered  the  country  of  Cathay 
all  his  expenses  were  provided  stage  by  stage  until  he  arrived  at 
a  city  called  Cambalu.     And  there  he  was  honourably  received, 
and  had  an  apartment  provided  for  him.     And  he  said  that  all 
the  merchants  who  go  that  way  have  their  expenses  provided  in 
the  same  manner.     He  was  then  conducted  to  where  the  sovereign 
was,  and  when  he  came  in  front  of  the  gate  he  was  obliged  to 
kneel  down  outside.     The  place  was  a  level,  very  broad  and  long  ; 
and  at  the  far  end  of  it  there  was  a  stone  pavement,  on  which  the 
prince  was  seated  on  a  chair  with  his  back  turned  towards  the 
gate.     On  the  two  sides  there  were  four  persons  sitting  with  their 
faces  towards  the  gate,  and  from  the  gate  to  the  place  where  those 
four  were  there  was  on  each  side  a  row  of  mace  bearers  standing 
with  silver  sticks,  leaving,  as  it  were,  a  path  between  them,  and 
all  along  this  were  interpreters  sitting  on  their  heels  as  the  women 
do   with   us   here.     The    ambassador   accordingly   having   been 
brought  to  the  gate,  where  he  found  things  arranged  as  we  have 
described,  was  desired  to  say  what  his  object  was.     And  so  having 
delivered  his  message  it  was  passed  from  hand  to  hand  by  the 
interpreters  till  the  explanation  reached  the  prince,  or  at  least 
those  four  who  sat  at  the  top.     Answer  was  then  made  that  he 
was  welcome,  and  that  he  might  return  to  his  quarters  where  the 
official  reply  would  be  delivered  to  him.     And  thus  there  was  no 
more  need  for  him  to  return  to  the  prince,  but  only  to  confer 
with  some  of  his  people  who  were  sent  to  the  ambassador's  house 
for  the  purpose  ;   reference  being  made  in  this  quarter  or  that,  as 
occasion  arose  ;    and  so  the  business  was  despatched  in  a  very 


270  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

prompt  and  pleasant  manner.  One  of  the  servants  of  this  am- 
bassador, and  also  a  son  of  his,  both  of  whom  had  been  with  him 
in  Cathay,  told  me  wonderful  things  of  the  justice  that  was  done 
there. .  .  .  And  they  said  that  not  only  in  the  city  but  anywhere 
outside  of  it  where  travellers  pass,  if  anything  should  be  found 
under  a  stone  or  elsewhere  that  a  traveller  has  dropt,  no  one 
would  dare  to  take  it  up  and  appropriate  it.  And,  moreover,  if 
one  going  along  the  road  is  asked  by  some  one  whom  he  regards 
with  suspicion,  or  does  not  put  much  trust  in,  where  he  is  going  ; 
and  if  he  go  and  make  complaint  of  this  question,  then  the  person 
who  put  it  must  give  some  good  and  lawful  reason  for  asking, 
otherwise  he  will  be  punished.  And  so  you  may  easily  perceive 
that  this  is  a  city  of  liberty  and  great  justice. 

"  As  regards  the  disposal  of  merchandise,  I  have  heard  that 
all  the  merchants  who  arrive  in  those  parts  carry  their  goods  to 
certain  fonteghi ,  and  those  whose  duty  it  is  then  go  and  see  them, 
and  if  there  is  anything  that  the  sovereign  would  like  to  have  they 
take  it  at  their  option,  giving  in  exchange  articles  of  greater  value. 
The  rest  remains  at  the  disposal  of  the  merchant.  For  small 
dealings  there  they  use  money  of  paper,  which  is  exchanged  every 
year  for  other  paper  freshly  stamped  ;  the  old  money  being  taken 
at  the  new  year  to  the  mint,  where  the  owners  receive  an  equal 
amount  of  fine  new  paper,  paying  always  a  fee  of  two  per  cent, 
in  good  silver  money,  and  the  old  (paper)  money  is  thrown  into 
the  fire.  Their  silver  is  sold  by  weight,  but  they  have  also  some 
metal  coinage  of  a  coarse  description. 

"  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  religion  of  these  Cathayans  is 
paganism,  although  many  people  of  Zagatai  and  other  nations 
who  have  been  there  assert  that  they  are  Christians.  And  when 
I  asked  on  what  ground  they  judged  them  to  be  Christians,  the 
answer  was  that  they  had  images  in  their  temples  as  we  have. 
And  it  having  chanced  once  when  I  was  at  Tana,  and  the  ambassa- 
dor aforesaid  was  standing  with  me,  that  there  passed  in  front  of 
us  one  Nicolas  Diedo,  an  old  Venetian  of  ours,  who  sometimes 
used  to  wear  a  coat  of  cloth  quilted  with  taffetas,  and  with  open 
sleeves  (as  used  to  be  the  fashion  in  Venice)  over  a  jerkin  of  leather, 
with  a  hood  on  the  back,  and  a  straw  hat  on  his  head  that  might 
be  worth  four  sous,  as  soon  as  the  ambassador  saw  him  he  said 
with  some  surprise,  '  That's  the  very  dress  that  the  Cathay  people 
wear  ;  they  must  be  of  the  same  religion  with  you,  for  they  dress 
just  like  you  !  ' 

"  In  the  country  of  which  we  are  speaking  there  is  no  wine 
grown,  for  'tis  a  mighty  cold  country,  but  of  other  necessaries  of 
life  they  have  good  store."     Ramusio,  ii,  f.  io6  w.  and  107. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  27 1 


NOTE   XVII. 

THE    EMBASSY    SENT    BY    SHAH    RUKH    TO    THE 
COURT   OF   CHINA. 

A.D.    I419-I422. 

Abstracted  from  Quafremere's  Translation  in  Notices  et  Extraits 
xiv,  Pt.  I,  pp.  387  et  seq. ;    with  Notes''. 

The  embassy  embraced  representatives  not  only  of  Shah  Rukh 
himself  but  of  several  princes  of  his  family  governing  different 
provinces  of  the  empire  founded  by  Timur,  and  appears  also,  like 
the  ordinary  sham  embassies  which  frequented  China  under  the 
Ming  dynasty,  to  have  been  accompanied  by  merchants  bound  on 
purely  commercial  objects.  Shadi  Khwaja  was  the  chief  of  Shah 
Rukh's  ambassadors,  and  Ghaiassuddin  Nakkash  ("  The  Painter"), 
one  of  the  envoys  (sent  by  one  of  the  king's  sons,  Mirza  Baisangar), 
was  the  author  of  the  narrative  which  has  been  preserved  by 
Abdurrazzak  ;  his  master  having  enjoined  on  him  to  keep  a  full 
diary  of  everything  worthy  of  note. 

The  party  left  Herat,  the  capital  of  Shah  Rukh,  on  the  i6th  of 
Dhu'lqadah  a.h.  822  (4th  December  14192),  and  proceeded  via 
Balkh  to  Samarkand^.  The  envoys  [Sultan  Shah  and  Muhammad 
Bakhshi]  of  Mirza  Olugh  Beg  (the  astronomer,  and  eldest  son  of 
Shah  Rukh),  who  governed  there,  had  already  started*,  but  those 

^  [Cf.  An  Embassy  to  Khata  or  China  a.d.  1419.  From  the 
Appendix  to  the  Rouzat-al-Ssafa  of  Muhammad  Khavend  Shah  or 
Mirkhond.  Translated  from  the  Persian  by  Edward  Rehatsek.  (Indian 
Antiquary ,  March  1873,  pp.  75-83.) 

This  is  the  beginning  of  this  translation  :  "In  the  year  820  (a.d. 
1419),  the  pious  defunct  well-known  king  Mirza  Shah  Rokh  sent  an 
embassy  to  Khata  under  the  leadership  and  direction  of  Shady  Khajah, 
who  was  accompanied  by  the  royal  prince  Mirza  Baysangar  Sultan 
Ahmad,  and  Khajah  Ghayath-ul-din,  the  painter,  who  was  a  clever 
artist ;  he  ordered  the  first- mentioned  Khajah  that  notes  in  writing 
should  be  taken,  from  the  day  of  their  starting  from  the  capital  of 
Herat  till  the  day  of  their  return,  concerning  everything  they  might 
experience  ;  such  as  the  adventures  they  should  meet,  the  state  of  the 
roads,  the  laws  of  the  countries,  positions  of  towns,  the  state  of  buildings, 
the  manners  of  kings,  and  other  things  of  this  kind,  without  adding  or 
omitting  anything. 

"  Khajah  Ghayath-ul-din  obeyed  the  above  orders,  and,  having  con- 
signed everything  he  saw  to  his  itinerary,  presented  it  on  his  return  : 
the  following  account  of  the  strange  and  wonderful  events  the  envoys 
met  with,  and  all  they  saw,  has  been  extracted  from  his  diary  ;  but  the 
responsibility  rests  with  the  travellers."] 

2  [3rd  Dec,  Rehatsek.] 

3  ["  Arrived  on  the  9th  Dhulhejjah  (Dec.  27th)  in  Balkh,  where 
they  remained,  on  account  of  the  great  falling  [of  snow  ?]  and  the  severe 
cold,  till  the  beginning  of  Muharram  of  823,  and  arrived  on  the  22nd  of 
that  month  (Feb.  7th)  in  Samarqand."     Rehatsek.] 

*  A  place  called  Sairam  appears  in  some  of  our  modern  maps  about 
one  degree  north  of  Tashkand.     The  Sairam  of  those  days  must,  how- 


272  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

deputed  by  other  princes  joined  the  mission  here,  and  the  whole 
party  left  Samarkand  on  the  loth  Safar  823  (25th  February  1420). 

Passing  by  Tashkand,  Sairam,  and  Ashparari,  they  entered 
the  Mongol  territory  on  the  25th  April,  and  were  soon  afterwards 
met  by  the  venerable  Amir  Khudaidad  (see  infra,  iv,  Ibn  Batuta, 
Goes).  We  cannot  trace  with  certainty  their  course  to  Yulduz, 
but  it  probably  lay  by  the  Issikul  and  the  Hi  River,  crossing  the 
T'ien  Shan  N.W.  of  Yulduz^. 

From  Yulduz  they  proceeded  to  Turfan  [arrived  nth  July] 
(see  infra,  Vol.  iv,  Goes)  where  the  people  were  mostly  Buddhists, 
and  had  a  great  temple  with  a  figure  of  Sakya  Muni^.  From  Turfan 
[left  13th  July]  they  reached  Karakhoja  [arrived  i6th  July]  {infra. 
Vol.  Ill)  and  five  days  beyond  this  they  were  met  by  Chinese 
ofi&cials,  who  took  down  the  names  of  the  envoys  and  the  number 
of  their  suite.  Seven  days  later  they  reached  the  town  of  Ata- 
SUFI  (a  name  which  does  not  seem  to  occur  elsewhere),  and  in 

ever,  have  been  further  east,  for  Hiilaku  on  his  march  to  Persia  reached 
Sairam,  the  second  day  after  passing  Talas.  Rashid  also  speaks  of 
Kari-Sairani  near  Talas  as  an  ancient  city  of  vast  size,  said  to  be  a 
daj^'s  journey  from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  to  have  forty  gates.  {Not. 
et  Ex.,  xiii,  224.) 

^  Asparah  was  a  place  on  the  Mongol  frontier,  frequently  mentioned 
in  the  wars  of  Timur's  time.  Its  position  does  not  seem  to  be  known, 
but  it  certainly  lay  east  of  Talas,  not  far  from  Lake  Issik  Kul.  It  is 
perhaps  the  Equiiis  of  Rubruquis,  a  place  that  has  been  the  subject  of 
great  difference  of  opinion.  The  idea  that  its  odd  name  is  the  transla- 
tion of  some  Persian  word  beginning  with  Asp  (a  horse),  is  due  to 
Mr.  Cooley  in  Maritime  and  Inland  Discovery.  There  is  another  Asparah 
or  Asfarah  south  of  the  Sihun,  with  which  this  is  not  to  be  confounded. 
(Remusat,  Nouv.  Melanges,  i,  171  seqq.;  Not.  et  Extraits,  xii,  224,  228; 
Hist.  Univ.  {Moderne),  iv,  139,  141  ;  Arahshah,  i,  219.)  Some  remarks 
on  the  topography  of  Rubruquis,  including  the  position  of  Equius,  will 
be  found  at  the  end  of  this  paper     [See  note,  p.  287.] 

["  Having  passed  through  Tashkant  and  Byram,  they  entered  among 
the  A'yl  of  the  Mughuls,  and  when  they  arrived  the  news  came  that 
A'wys  Khan  had  attacked  Shir  Muhammad  Oghllan,  and  that  on  that 
account  disturbances  had  arisen  among  the  A'los,  but  that  afterwards 
peace  had  been  restored.  .  .On  the  i8th  of  Jomady  the  first  (May  31st), 
they  arrived  in  a  place  called  Saluyu  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
Muhammad  Beg..  .  .They  started  from  that  place  on  the  22nd  (June 
4th),  and  crossing  the  river  Langar.  .  .  ;  and  on  the  28th  of  the  same 
month  (loth  June)  they  entered  the  Jalgah  of  Yaldiiz  and  the  A'yl  of 
Shir  Behram,  and  in  that  desert  they  found  solid  ice  of  the  thickness  of 
two  fingers,  although  the  sun  was  in  the  sign  of  Cancer."     Rehatsek.] 

2  The  only  places  named  between  Asparah  and  Yulduz  are  Bilugtu 
and  the  river  Kankar  or  Kangar  ;  and  they  passed  the  latter  five  days 
before  reaching  the  Yulduz  territory,  whilst  in  that  journey  they 
traversed  a  desert  region  so  cold  that  water  froze  two  inches  thick, 
though  it  was  nearly  midsummer.  The  Kangar  from  these  indications 
would  seem  to  have  been  the  Tekes  or  one  of  its  branches  ;  perhaps 
the  Kungis.  The  cold  region  must  have  occurred  in  the  passage  of  the 
T'ien  Shan. 

3  ["  They  found  that  in  that  country  most  of  the  inhabitants  were 
polytheists,  and  had  large  idol-houses,  in  the  halls  whereof  they  kept 
a  tall  idol."     Rehatsek.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  273 

two  inarches  more  Kamul  {infra,  iii,  p.  265,  iv,  Goes),  where  they 
found  a  magnificent  mosque  and  convent  of  Derwishes  in  juxta- 
position with  a  fine  Buddhist  temple^.  The  envoy  notes  that  at 
the  gate  of  the  latter  were  figures  of  two  demons  which  seemed 
preparing  to  fly  at  one  another  ;  a  correct  enough  description  of 
the  figures  commonly  called  warders  which  are  often  found  in 
pairs  facing  one  another  in  the  approaches  to  temples  in  Burma 
and  other  Buddhist  countries. 

Twenty-five  days  were  then  occupied  in  crossing  the  Great 
Desert.  In  the  middle  of  the  passage  they  fell  in  with  a  wild 
camel  and  a  Kutds,  or  wild  Yak'^. 

On  arriving  [24th  August]  near  the  frontier  of  China  Proper, 
Chinese  officers  again  came  to  meet  them,  and  one  march  further 
on  they  found  a  platform  with  awnings  erected  in  the  desert, 
and  an  elegant  repast  set  out  for  them,  such  as  many  cities  would 
have  found  it  difficult  to  furnish.  Provisions  of  all  sorts  were 
also  supplied  to  every  member  of  the  party,  with  many  polite 
forms.  The  envoys  were  then  called  on  to  subscribe  a  document 
declaring  the  number  of  persons  in  their  service,  and  the  Ddjis^ 
had  to  make  affidavit  that  nothing  but  truth  was  stated.  The 
merchants  who  had  accompanied  the  embassy  were  counted  among 
the  servants,  and  to  give  a  colour  to  this  they  employed  themselves 
in  waiting  on  the  ambassadors.  There  were  five  hundred  and  ten 
souls  in  the  party,  without  counting  Mirza  Olugh  Beg's  envoys 
who  had  gone  on  before,  and  those  of  Mirza  Ibrahim  Sultan  not 
yet  arrived. 

On  Aug.  26th  they  were  invited  to  a  feast  of  royal  magnificence 
at  the  camp  of  the  Dangchi  *  [dangdji]  commanding  on  the  frontier^. 
The  envoys  took  their  places  at  the  left  hand  of  the  Dangchi, 
that  being  the  position  of  honour  in  Cathay,  "  becarj  e  the  heart 
is  on  the  left  side."  Before  each  of  the  envoys  two  cables  were 
placed,  on  one  of  which  were  various  dishes  of  meat  and  poultry 

^  ["Amir  Fakhar-ul-din  had  built  a  high,  very  costly,  and  orna- 
mented mosque,  but  near  it  the  polytheists  had  constructed  a  large  and 
a  small  temple  with  wonderful  pictures."     Rehatsek.] 

2  ["  After  leaving  Qayl,  they  travelled  25  stages,  and  obtained  water 
every  alternate  day  ;  and  on  the  12th  (August  22nd)  they  met  in  that 
boundless  desert  a  lion  (which  statement  is  however  contrary  to  the 
assertion  that  none  exist  on  the  frontiers  of  Khata)  which  had  a  horn 
on  its  head."     Rehatsek.] 

^  It  is  not  explained  who  the  Ddjis  were,  but  the  word  seems  to  be 
a  Tartar  form  of  the  Chinese  Ta  jin,  "great  man,"  a  title  still  applied 
to  certain  officers  on  the  Tartar  frontiers.  They  must  have  been  Chinese 
officials  who  had  joined  the  mission  party  at  an  earlier  date.  [Ta  Jen 
is  the  title  applied  to  Chinese  mandarins  from  the  highest  to  the  Tao  t'ai 
included.] 

*  [Ankjy. — Rehatsek.] 

5  This  perhaps  represents  the  Chinese  Tsiang-shi,  a  general. 
Pauthier  however,  I  see,  says  it  is  in  Chinese  Tangchi,  without  further 
explanation  {M.  Polo,  166).     [Possibly  a  T'ung  Che,  Sub-Prefect.] 

C.  Y.  C.    I.  18 


274  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

and  dried  fruits  ;  on  the  other  cake,  excellent  bread,  and  artificial 
bouquets  made  of  paper  and  silk  admirably  wrought.  The  other 
guests  had  but  one  table  apiece.  Elevated  before  them  there  was 
a  great  roj^al  drum,  and  in  front  of  this  a  buffet  on  which  were 
ranged  flagons,  cups,  and  goblets  of  silver  and  porcelain^.  On 
either  side  of  this  was  an  elaborate  orchestra,  which  played 
admirably.  One  of  the  great  Chinese  lords  presented  the  cup  to 
each  guest  in  turn,  and  as  he  did  so  took  a  sprig  from  a  basket  of 
artificial  flowers,  and  placed  it  in  the  other's  cap,  "  so  that  the 
pavilion  presented  the  appearance  of  a  parterre  of  roses." 
Beautiful  children  also  were  in  attendance  carrying  dishes  filled 
with  various  relishes,  such  as  filberts,  jujubes,  walnuts,  pickles, 
etc.,  every  kind  being  disposed  on  the  plate  in  a  separate  com- 
partment. When  the  amir  presented  the  cup  to  any  person  of 
distinction  one  of  these  children  also  presented  this  plate  that  he 
might  choose  what  pleased  him.  Dances  were  performed  by 
young  men  in  feminine  costume^,  and  by  figures  of  animals  made 
of  pasteboard  with  men  inside  ;  among  others  a  perfect  representa- 
tion of  a  stork,  which  bobbed  its  head  to  the  music,  this  way  and 
that,  to  the  admiration  of  the  spectators.  Altogether  the  first 
Chinese  fete  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  a  great  success. 

The  following  day  [August  27th]  they  proceeded  on  their  march 
through  the  desert.  On  their  arrival  at  a  strong  castle  called 
Karaul^,  in  a  mountain  defile,  through  the  middle  of  which  the 
road  passed,  the  whole  party  was  counted  and  their  names 
registered  before  they  were  allowed  to  proceed.     They  then  went 

^  See  this  feature  in  the  receptions  of  the  Turk  and  Tartar  Khans, 
in  the  extracts  from  Menander  (p.  209,  supra,  and  note  there). 

2  ["  There  were  also  handsome  youths  adorned  like  women  with 
their  faces  painted  red  and  white  ;  they  wore  earrings  of  pearls,  and 
represented  a  theatrical  performance."     Rehatsek.] 

'  Karciul  [Qarawul]  means  in  Persian  (probably  of  Turkish  origin) 
a  sentry,  guard,  or  advanced  post.  The  place  here  so  designated  is  the 
fortified  entrance  of  the  Great  Wall  called  Kia-yu  Kwan,  or  Fort  of 
the  Jade-Gate,  mentioned  by  Hiuen  Tsang  in  the  seventh  century, 
and  which  was  in  the  latter  days  of  the  Ming  the  actual  limit  of  the 
Chinese  power  (see  supra,  p.  175). 

[This  is  the  first  mention  by  a  western  writer  of  this  line  of  defence 
built  for  the  purpose  "  of  closing  the  great  Central- Asian  trade  route 
at  a  time  when  China  had  resumed  its  traditional  attitude  of  seclusion 
from  the  barbarian  West."  (Stein,  Ruins  of  Desert  Cathay,  ii,  p.  282.) 
Stein  writes  (I.e.,  p.  283)  with  regard  to  Shah  Rukh's  ambassador's 
narrative  :  "  An  exactly  .similar  account  was  given  about  1560  by  a 
Turki.sh  Dervish  to  Gislen  de  Busbeck,  Charles  V's  envoy  at  Constanti- 
nople. Starting  from  the  Persian  frontier,  his  caravan,  after  a  fatiguing 
journey  of  many  months,  "  came  to  a  defile  which  forms,  as  it  were, 
the  barrier  gate  of  Cathay.  Here  there  was  an  inclosing  chain  of 
rugged  and  precipitous  mountains,  affording  no  passage  except 
through  a  narrow  strait  in  which  a  garrison  was  stationed  on  the  king's 
part.  There  the  question  is  put  to  the  merchants,  '  What  they  bring  ? 
whence  they  come  ?  '  etc."] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  275 

on  to  SuKCHAU^,  where  they  were  lodged  in  the  great  Yam-Khaan 
or  Post-House,  at  the  City  Gate. 

"  Sukchau  is  a  great  city,  with  strong  fortifications,  in  the 
form  of  a  perfect  square^.  The  bazars  are  without  covering,  and 
are  fifty  ells^  in  width,  all  kept  well  swept  and  watered.  The 
people  keep  tame  swine  in  their  houses,  and  in  the  butchers'  shops 
mutton  and  swine's  flesh  are  hung  up  for  sale  side  by  side  !  In 
every  street  you  see  numerous  edifices  surmounted  by  handsome 
wooden  spires,  and  with  wooden  battlements  covered  with  lacquer 
of  Cathay*.  All  along  the  rampart  of  the  city,  at  intervals  of 
twenty  paces^,  you  find  towers  with  the  tops  roofed  over.  There 
are  four  gates,  one  in  the  middle  of  each  of  the  four  walls,  so  that 
one  directly  faces  another,  and  as  the  streets  are  as  straight  as  can 
be  you  would  think  in  looking  from  one  gate  to  the  other  that  it 
is  but  a  little  way.  And  yet  to  go  from  the  centre  of  the  town  to 
any  one  of  the  gates  is  really  a  considerable  distance.  Behind 
[over  ?]  each  gate  there  is  a  two-storied  pavilion  with  a  high 
pitched  roof  in  the  Cathayan  fashion,  just  such  as  you  see  in 
Mazanderan.  Only  in  this  latter  province  the  walls  are  plastered 
with  plain  mud,  whereas  in  Cathay  they  are  covered  with  porcelain. 
In  this  city  there  are  a  variety  of  idol  temples  to  be  seen,  some  of 
which  occupy  a  space  of  ten  acres,  and  yet  are  kept  as  clean  as 
possible.  The  area  is  paved  with  glazed  tiles,  which  shine  like 
polished  marble." 

From  this  time  the  party  were  supplied  with  everything  by 
the  Chinese  authorities.  They  were  lodged  at  the  Yams  or  post- 
houses,  of  which  there  were  ninety-nine  between  Sukchau  and 
Khan  baliq,  and  every  night  found  not  only  provisions  but  servants, 
beds,  night-clothes,  etc.,  awaiting  them".      At  every  yam  they 

1  SucHAU  ;  see  iii,  p.  126,  iv,  Goes,  infra  ;  also  Hajji  Mahomed 
in  Note  XVIII.      [Bykjii.— Rehatsek.] 

2  A  square  is  the  typical  form  of  royal  fortified  cities,  both  in  China 
and  in  all  the  Indo-Chinese  countries  including  Java.  It  is,  I  believe, 
a  sacred  Buddhist  form. 

3  [50  statute  cubits  broad. — Rehatsek.] 

*  ["  There  are  many  bazars  and  thoroughfares,  the  latter  being 
covered  by  extremely  handsome  pavilions  with  Khatdy-Muqranus 
(Domes)."     Rehatsek.] 

^  Quatremere  has  "  twenty  feet,"  but  this  cannot  be.  The  word  is 
Kadam,  which  means  sometimes  a  foot,  sometimes  a  step  or  pace. 

^  ["  Chaque  iam  se  trouve  situe  vis-a-vis  une  ville  ou  un  bourg  ; 
dans  I'intervalle  qui  separe  les  iam  on  compte  plusieurs  kargou  et  kidi- 
fou.  On  designe  par  le  mot  kargou  une  maison  qui  s'eleve  a  une 
hauteur  de  soixante  ghez ;  deux  hommes  se  tiennent  constamment 
dans  cet  edifice  ;  il  est  construit  de  maniere  que  Ton  peut  apercevoir 
un  autre  kargou  :  lorsqu'il  arrive  un  evenement,  tel  que  I'approche 
d'une  armee  etrangere,  aussitot  on  allume  du  feu  qui  est  aper^u  de 
I'autre  kargou,  ou  Ton  s'empresse  d'en  allumer  un  pareil.  La  chose  a 
lieu  de  proche  en  proche,  et,  dans  I'espace  d'un  jour  et  d'une  nuit,  une 
nouvelle  est  connue  a  une  distance  de  trois  mois  de  marches.     Une 

18—2 


276  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

brought  four  hundred  and  fifty  well  caparisoned  horses  and 
donkeys  for  the  use  of  the  travellers,  besides  fifty  or  sixty  vehicles. 
The  description  of  these  vehicles  {'Ardbah)  is  a  little  obscure,  but 
they  seem  to  have  been  palankins  of  some  sort,  and  were  carried 
by  twelve  men  each.  "  The  lads  who  have  charge  of  the  horses 
are  called  Bd-fu  {Md-fu)  ;  those  who  look  after  the  donkeys  are 
called  Lu-fu  ;  and  those  attached  to  the  vehicles  are  called  Chi-fu. 
.  .  .At  every  post-house  the  travellers  were  presented  with  sheep, 
geese,  fowls,  rice,  flour,  honey,  dardsun^,  arak,  garlic,  pickled 
onions  and  vegetables.  At  every  city  the  ambassadors  were 
invited  to  a  banquet.  The  palace  of  the  government  is  called 
Duson,  and  the  banquet  took  place  there."  On  these  occasions 
there  was  always  a  vacant  throne  with  a  curtain  hung  before  it, 
and  a  fine  carpet  spread  in  front.  The  Chinese  officials  and  the 
ambassadors  sat  down  upon  this  carpet  whilst  the  rest  of  the 
company  stood  behind  them  in  ranks,  like  Mahomedans  at  their 
public  worship.  A  man  standing  beside  the  throne  then  pro- 
claimed something  in  Chinese,  and  the  mandarins  proceeded  to 
Kotow  before  the  throne,  in  which  the  envoys  were  obliged  to 
follow  them. 

The  first  city  that  they  reached  was  Kamchau^,  nine  yams 
from  Suchau.  The  entertainment  given  by  the  Dangchi,  whose 
seat  was  here,  took  place  in  Ramadhan  [Sept.  20th],  and  the  envoys 
were  obliged  to  excuse  themselves  from  eating.     The  Dangchi 

depeche  arrive  egalement  sans  interruption,  car,  d'un  kidi-fou  a  I'autre, 
elle  est  transmise  de  main  en  main.  On  designe  par  le  mot  kidi-fou 
une  reunion  de  plusieurs  individus  places  dans  une  station,  et  dont 
voici  les  fonctions.  Lorsqu'ils  resolvent  une  lettre  ou  une  nouvelle, 
un  d'entre  eux,  qui  se  tient  tout  pret,  part  a  I'instant,  et  porte  la  depeche 
a  un  autre  kidi-fou,  et  ainsi  de  suite,  jusqu'a  ce  qu'elle  parvienne  au 
pied  du  trone  imperial.  D'un  kidi-fou  a  un  autre  la  distance  est  de 
10  mereh  ;  seize  de  ces  mesures  equivalent  a  une  parasange.  Les 
hommes  qui  occupent  le  kargou,  et  qui  sont  au  nombre  de  dix,  sont 
remplaces  tous  les  dix  jours,  et,  a  Tarrivee  des  seconds,  les  premiers 
se  retirent.  Mais  ceux  qui  occupent  le  kidi-fou  y  sont  a  demeure.  lis 
se  construisent  des  maisons,  et  s'occupent  de  la  culture  et  de  I'ense- 
mencement  des  terres."     Quatremfere,  pp.  395-6. 

With  regard  to  yams  and  fire-signals,  see  Odoric,  pp.  233-4  n. 
The  use  of  fire-signals  in  China  is  very  ancient.  They  are  mentioned 
in  the  biography  of  Wu-ki,  lord  of  Sin-ling,  who  died  in  B.C.  243  ;  the 
day  fire-signals  were  called  fung  and  gave  a  good  deal  of  smoke ;  the 
night  fire-signals  were  called  sui  with  a  strong  light ;  the  soldiers  of  the 
western  garrisons  had  to  keep  these  signals  lighted.  Cf.  Chavannes, 
Documents  chinois  dicouverts  par  A .  Stein,  p.  xi.] 

1  The  rice  wine  of  the  Chinese  {infra,  11,  p.  199).  Ysbrant  Ides  (quoted 
in  Astley,  iii,  567)  says  :  "  Their  liquors  are  brandy,  which  they  call 
arakka,  and  iarasu,  a  sort  of  wine  they  drink  warm.  This  is  a  decoction 
of  immature  rice,"  etc.  In  Ssanang  Ssetzen  there  is  a  legend  telling 
how  Chinghiz  was  sitting  in  his  hall  when  a  Jade  cup  of  a  deHcious 
drink  called  darassun  descended  into  his  hand  from  the  chimney,  a 
token  which  was  considered  as  a  celestial  recognition  of  his  supremacy. 

-  Kanchau,  see  iii,  p.  148,  and  iv,  Benedict  Goes,  infra,  and  next 
note  (XVIII). 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  277 

took  their  excuses  in  good  part,  and  sent  all  that  had  been  prepared 
to  their  quarters. 

"  In  this  city  of  Kamchau^  there  is  an  idol  teraple  five  hundred 
cubits  square.  In  the  middle  is  an  idol  lying  at  length,  which 
measures  fifty  paces.  The  sole  of  the  foot  is  nine  paces  long, 
and  the  instep  is  twenty-one  cubits  in  girth.  Behind  this  image 
and  overhead  are  other  idols  of  a  cubit  (?)  in  height,  besides 
figures  of  Bakshis^  as  large  as  life.  The  action  of  all  is  hit  off  so 
admirably  that  you  would  think  they  were  alive.  Against  the 
wall  also  are  other  figures  of  perfect  execution.  The  great  sleeping 
idol  has  one  hand  under  his  head,  and  the  other  resting  on  his 
thigh.  It  is  gilt  all  over  and  is  known  as  Shakamuni-fu.  The 
people  of  the  country  come  in  crowds  to  visit  it,  and  bow  to  the 
very  ground  before  this  idoP. .  .  .In  the  same  city  there  is  another 
temple  held  in  great  respect.  At  it  you  see  a  structure  which  the 
Mussulmans  call  the  Celestial  Sphere*.  It  has  the  form  of  an 
octagonal  kiosque,  and  from  top  to  bottom  there  are  fifteen 
stories.  Each  story  contains  apartments  decorated  with  lacquer 
in  the  Cathay  an  manner,  with  anterooms  and  verandas. .  .  .Below 
the  kiosque  you  see  figures  of  demons  which  bear  it  on  their 
shoulders^. . .  .It  is  entirely  made  of  polished  wood,  and  this  again 
gilt  so  admirably  that  it  seems  to  be  of  solid  gold.  There  is  a 
vault  below  it.  An  iron  shaft  fixed  in  the  centre  of  the  kiosque 
traverses  it  from  bottom  to  top,  and  the  lower  end  of  this  works 
in  an  iron  plate,  whilst  the  upper  end  bears  on  strong  supports  in 
the  roof  of  the  edifice  which  contains  this  pavilion.  Thus  a 
person  in  the  vault  can  with  a  trifling  exertion  cause  this  great 
kiosque  to  revolve.  All  the  carpenters,  smiths,  and  painters  in 
the  world  would  learn  something  in  their  trades  by  coming  here  !  " 


1  [Kan  chau  is  called  Campichu  by  M.  Polo.  "  Messer  Maffeo  and 
Messer  Marco  Polo  dwelt  a  whole  year  in  this  city  when  on  a  mission." 
(M.  Polo,  i, -p.  220.)  It  fell  under  the  Tangut  dominion  in  1208.  Polo, 
i,  p.  219,  says  that  "  the  Idolaters  have  many  minsters  and  abbeys 
after  their  fashion.  In  these  they  have  an  enormous  number  of  idols, 
both  small  and  great,  certain  of  the  latter  being  a  good  ten  paces  in 
stature ;  some  of  them  being  of  wood,  others  of  clay,  and  others  yet 
of  stone.  They  are  all  highly  polished,  and  then  covered  with  gold. 
The  great  idols  of  which  I  speak  lie  at  length.  And  around  them 
there  are  other  figures  of  considerable  size,  as  if  adoring  and  paying 
homage  before  them."     See  note.  I.e.,  p.  221.] 

2  I.e.,  Buddhist  monks;   see  11,  p.  250,  and  Ibn  Batuta,  notes. 

3  This  recumbent  figure  at  Kanchau  is  mentioned  also  by  Hajji 
Mahomed  in  Note  XVIII.  Such  colossal  sleeping  figures,  symbolising 
Sakya  Muni  in  the  state  of  Nirwana,  are  to  be  seen  in  Burma,  Siam, 
and  Ceylon  to  this  day.  Notices  of  them  will  be  found  in  Tennent's 
Ceylon,  ii,  597  ;  Mission  to  the  Court  ofAva  in  1855,  p.  52  ;  and  Bowring's 
Siam.  Hiuen  Tsang  speaks  of  one  such  in  a  convent  at  Bamian  which 
was  1000  feet  long  !   (Vie  de  H.  T.,  p.  70). 

*  ["A  sky-wheel."     Rehatsek.] 

^  The  statement  of  the  dimensions  is  corrupt  and  unintelligible. 


278  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

All  the  baggage  was  deposited  at  Kanchau  till  their  return, 
and  the  Chinese  took  over  all  the  presents  intended  for  the 
Emperor,  with  the  exception  of  a  lion  sent  by  Mirza  Baisangar, 
which  the  athlete  Salahuddin^,  the  lion-keeper,  retained  charge  of 
till  they  reached  the  capital. 

Every  day  they  halted  at  a  yam.,  and  every  week  they  reached 
some  city.  On  the  4th  of  Shawal,  a.h.  823  (Oct.  12th,  1420),  they 
were  on  the  banks  of  the  Karamuran,  a  river  which  in  size  might 
be  classed  with  the  Oxus.  There  was  a  bridge  over  it  composed 
of  twenty-three  boats  attached  together  by  a  chain  as  thick  as 
a  man's  thigh,  and  this  was  moored  on  each  side  to  an  iron  post 
as  thick  as  a  man's  body,  deeply  planted  in  the  ground 2.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  river  they  found  a  great  city  with  a  splendid 
temple.  This  city  was  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  its  women, 
insomuch  that  it  was  known  as  the  City  of  Beauty  (Husnabad)^. 

After  thirty-seven  days'  journey  they  reached  [Nov.  i8th],  we 
are  told,  another  great  river  twice  the  size  of  the  Oxus,  and  this 
they  had  to  cross  in  boats  (evidently  the  Hwang  Ho  again,  where 
it  divides  the  provinces  of  Shen  si  and  Shan  si)  ;  and  twenty-three 
days  later  they  reached  a  city  which  they  call  Sadinfu,  where 
there  was  a  great  idol  of  gilt  bronze,  fifty  ells  in  height*. 

Eleven  days  after  this  (14th  December)  they  arrived  at  the 
gates  of  Peking  [Khan  baliq]  some  time  before  dawn.  The  city 
had  been  recently  re-occupied  after  the  temporary  transfer  of  the 
Court  to  Nan  King,  and  the  buildings  were  yet  under  reconstruction. 
The  envoys  were  conducted  straight  to  the  palace,  in  an  inner 
court  of  which  they  found  a  numerous  assemblage  of  courtiers 
and  ofi&cers  waiting  for  the  Emperor's  appearance^.     "  Each  held 

^  [Pehlvan  Ssullah. — Rehatsek.] 

2  [These  two  iron  posts  were  still  in  existence  a  few  years  ago  and 
were  seen  by  Prof.  Pelliot.] 

^  They  probably  crossed  the  Karamuran  or  Hwang  Ho  opposite 
Lan  chau,  the  present  capital  of  the.  province  of  Kan  Suh,  and  this  is 
therefore  most  probably  the  Husnabad  of  the  Persians. 

*  As  they  reached  Peking  in  eleven  days  from  Sadinfu,  the  latter 
city  must  be  looked  for  about  two  thirds  of  the  way  between  the  Hwang 
Ho  and  the  capital.  Hereabouts  we  find  the  city  of  Ch'eng  ting  fu  in 
Pe  Che-li ;  and  at  that  city  accordingly,  as  the  Chinese  Imperial  Geo- 
graphy tells  us,  there  is  a  Buddhist  temple  called  "  the  Monastery  of 
the  Great  Fo,"  founded  a.d.  586,  which  possesses  a  bronze  statue  of 
Buddha,  seventy  Chinese  feet  in  height  {Chine  Moderne,  p.  50). 

[Rehatsek  has  "  reaching  Ssadyn-Qur  on  the  27th  of  the  same 
month  (Dec.  3rd)."  They  had  arrived  near  the  river  on  the  nth 
Dhulqadah  (Nov.  rSth),  i.e.  sixteen  days  before,  not  twenty-three;  in 
fact  Quatremfere  like  Rehatsek  says  they  reached  "  Sadin-four  "  on  the 
27th  of  the  same  month.] 

^  ["  They  obtained  sight  of  a  very  large  and  magnificent  city  entirely 
built  of  stone,  but  as  the  outer  walls  were  still  being  built,  a  hundred 
thousand  scaffoldings  concealed  them.  When  the  ambassadors  were 
taken  from  the  tower,  which  was  being  constructed,  to  the  city,  they 
alighted  near  the  entrance  to  the  Emperor's  palace,  which  was  extremely 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  279 

in  his  hand  a  tablet  of  a  cubit  in  length  and  a  quarter  as  much  in 
breadth,  on  which  he  kept  his  eyes  steadfastly  fixed^.  Behind 
these  were  troops  in  countless  numbers,  of  spearmen  and  cuiras- 
siers, a  part  of  whom  held  drawn  swords.  All  preserved  the 
profoundest  silence.  You  would  have  thought  it  an  assembly 
of  the  dead."  As  "  the  Emperor  came  out  of  the  women's 
apartments  they  set  against  the  throne  ^  a  silver  ladder  of  five 
steps,  and  placed  a  golden  chair  on  the  top  of  the  throne.  The 
Emperor  mounted  and  took  his  seat  upon  this  chair.  He  was  a  man 
of  the  middle  height ;  his  face  neither  very  large  nor  very  small, 
and  not  without  some  beard  ;  indeed  two  or  three  hundred  hairs 
of  his  beard  were  long  enough  to  form  three  or  four  curls  upon  his 
chest.  To  right  and  left  of  the  throne  stood  two  young  girls  with 
faces  like  the  moon,  who  had  their  hair  drawn  to  a  knot  on  the 
crown  ;  their  faces  and  necks  were  bare  ;  they  had  large  pearls 
in  their  ears  ;  and  they  held  paper  and  pen  in  their  hands  ready 
to  take  down  the  Emperor's  orders.  It  is  their  duty  to  write 
down  whatever  falls  from  the  Emperor's  mouth.  When  he  returns 
to  the  private  apartments  they  submit  this  paper  to  him.  Should 
he  think  proper  to  change  any  of  the  orders,  a  new  document  is 
executed,  so  that  the  members  of  his  Council  may  have  his  mature 
decisions  to  follow. 

"  When  the  Emperor  had  taken  his  seat  on  the  throne,  and 
everybody  was  in  place  in  the  royal  presence,  they  made  the 
ambassadors  come  forward  side  by  side  with  certain  prisoners. 
The  Emperor  proceeded  to  examine  the  latter,  who  were  some 
seven  hundred  in  number.  Some  of  them  had  a  doshdkah  (or 
wooden  yoke)  on  their  necks  ;  others  had  both  necks  and  arms 
passed  through  a  board  ;  some  five  or  ten  were  held  together  by 
one  long  piece  of  timber,  through  holes  in  which  their  heads 
protruded^.  Each  prisoner  had  a  keeper  by  him  who  held  him 
by  the  hair,  waiting  for  the  Emperor's  sentence.  Some  were 
condemned  to  imprisonment,  others  to  death.  Throughout  the 
Empire  of  Cathay  no  Amir  or  Governor  has  the  right  to  put  any 
person  whatsoever  to  death.  When  a  man  has  committed  any 
crime  the  details  of  his  guilt  are  written  on  a  wooden  board  which 
is  hung  round  the  delinquent's  neck,  as  well  as  a  memorandum 

large  ;  up  to  this  entrance  they  proceeded  on  foot  by  a  pavement  formed 
of  cut-stone,  about  700  paces  in  length.  On  coming  close  they  saw 
five  elephants  standing  on  each  side  of  the  road  with  their  trunks 
towards  it ;  after  passing  between  the  trunks  the  ambassadors  entered 
the  palace,  through  a  gate  near  which  a  crowd  of  about  a  hundred 
thousand  men  had  assembled."     Rehatsek.] 

1  See  allusion  to  these  tablets  by  Odoric,  infra,  11,  p.  237,  and  the  note 
there. 

2  By  throne  is  to  be  understood  an  elevated  ottoman  or  cushioned 
platform. 

^  These  are  varieties  of  the  portable  pillory  called  by  our  travellers, 
after  the  Portuguese,  Cangue  [and  by  the  Chinese  Kid]. 


28o  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

indicating  the  punishment  incurred  according  to  the  infidel  law, 
and  then  with  a  wooden  pillory  on  and  a  chain  attached  to  him 
he  is  sent  off  to  Khan  baliq  to  the  foot  of  the  throne.  Should  he 
have  a  year's  journey  to  get  there  still  he  must  never  be  allowed 
to  halt  till  he  reaches  the  capital^. 

"  At  last  the  ambassadors  were  led  in  front  of  the  throne  and 
placed  some  fifteen  ells  from  it.  An  Amir  kneeling  read  a  paper  in 
the  Cathayan  language,  stating  all  about  the  ambassadors  to  the 
following  effect :  '  Certain  deputies,  sent  by  his  majesty  Shah  Rukh 
and  his  sons,  have  come  from  a  distant  country  with  presents  for 
the  Emperor,  and  present  themselves  in  order  to  strike  the  ground 
with  their  foreheads  before  him.'  His  worship  Hajji  Yusuf  the 
Kazi,  who  was  one  of  the  Amirs  of  a  tuman  (or  commandants  of 
ten  thousand)  and  one  of  the  officers  attached  to  the  person  of 
the  Emperor,  as  well  as  chief  of  one  of  the  twelve  imperial  councils, 
came  forward  accompanied  by  several  Musulmans  acquainted 
with  the  languages.  They  said  to  the  ambassadors  :  '  First 
prostrate  yourselves  and  then  touch  the  ground  three  times  with 
your  heads.'  Accordingly  the  envoys  bent  their  heads,  but  with- 
out absolutely  touching  the  ground  ;  then  raising  both  hands 
they  presented  the  letters  of  his  majesty  Shah  Rukh,  of  his 
Highness  Baisangar,  and  of  the  other  princes  and  Amirs,  each  of 
which  was  folded  in  a  piece  of  yellow  satin.  For  it  is  a  law 
among  the  people  of  Cathay  that  everything  intended  for  the 
Emperor  must  be  wrapt  in  a  piece  of  some  yellow  stuff.  His 
worship  the  Kazi  advanced,  took  the  letters,  and  handed  them 
to  an  eunuch  who  stood  before  the  throne  ;  the  eunuch  carried 
them  to  the  Emperor,  who  received  them,  opened  them,  and 
glanced  at  them,  and  then  gave  them  back  to  the  eunuch." 

After  some  trivial  questions  the  emperor  remarked  that  they 
had  had  a  long  journey,  and  dismissed  them  to  take  some  refresh- 
ments. After  having  done  so  in  an  adjoining  court  they  were 
conducted  to  the  Yamkhana  or  hostelry,  where  they  found  every- 
thing handsomely  provided  for  them. 

Next  morning,  before  daylight,  they  were  summoned  by  the 
officer  called  the  Sejnin  (or  Sekjin)^,  who  had  charge  of  them,  to 
get  up  and  come  in  haste  to  the  palace,  as  a  banquet  was  to  be 

1  This  was  no  doubt  a  misunderstanding,  but  it  is  the  Chinese  law 
(not  we  may  presume  the  practice,  at  least  in  troubled  times)  that 
every  capital  sentence  must  be  confirmed  by  a  special  court  at  the 
capital,  composed  of  members  of  the  six  great  Boards  of  Administration 
and  of  three  great  Courts  of  Justice  (see  Chine  Moderne,  pp.  230,  256). 
The  presentation  of  the  ambassadors  along  with  criminals  for  sentence 
was  characteristic.  In  Burma,  even  the  ambassadors  of  China  are 
subjected  to  analogous  .slight.     (See  Mission  to  Ava,  p.  76.) 

*  The  former  in  Quatremere,  the  latter  in  Astley.  The  word  is 
(Chin.)  Sse-jin,  "a  Palace-man  or  Eunuch"  (see  Journ.  Asiat.,  s.  iv, 
tom.  ii,  435). 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  281 

given  them  by  the  emperor  ;  but  this  affords  nothing  of  much 
interest. 

"  On  the  17th  of  the  month  of  Dhulhajja  (23rd  December, 
1420),  several  criminals  were  sent  to  the  place  of  execution. 
According  to  the  practice  among  the  infidels  of  Cathay,  a  formal 
record  is  made  of  the  punishment  inflicted  for  every  crime,  and 
they  enter  into  very  long  details  on  this  subject.  But  my  pen 
refuses  to  expose  particularly  the  (horrid)  nature  of  these  punish- 
ments. The  people  of  Cathay  in  all  that  regards  the  treatment 
of  criminals  proceed  with  extreme  caution.  There  are  twelve 
courts  of  justice  attached  to  the  Emperor's  administration;  if  an 
accused  person  has  been  found  guilty  before  eleven  of  these,  and 
the  twelfth  has  not  yet  concurred  in  the  condemnation,  he  may 
still  have  hopes  of  acquittal^.  If  a  case  requires  a  reference 
involving  a  six  months'  journey  or  even  more,  still  as  long  as  the 
matter  is  not  perfectly  clear  the  criminal  is  not  put  to  death,  but 
only  kept  in  custody. 

"  The  27th  day  of  Moharram  His  Worship  the  Kazi  sent  a 
message  to  the  ambassadors  :  '  To-morrow  is  the  New  Year. 
The  Emperor  is  going  to  visit  his  New  Palace,  and  there  is  an 
order  that  none  should  wear  white  clothes  '  (for  among  these 
people  white  is  the  colour  of  mourning).  The  28th,  about  mid- 
night, the  Sekjin  arrived  to  conduct  the  ambassadors  to  the  New 
Palace.  This  was  a  very  lofty  edifice  which  had  only  now  been 
finished  after  nineteen  years  of  work.  This  night  in  all  the  houses 
and  shops  there  was  such  a  lighting  up  of  torches,  candles,  and 
lamps,  that  you  would  have  thought  the  sun  was  risen  already. 
That  night  the  cold  was  much  abated.  Everybody  was  admitted 
into  the  New  Palace,  and  the  Emperor  gave  an  entertainment  to 
his  great  officers  of  state^. ...  It  would  be  impossible  to  give  a  just 
description  of  this  edifice.  From  the  gate  of  the  hall  of  audience 
to  the  outer  gate  there  is  a  distance  of  19853  paces. .  .  .To  the  right 
and  left  there  is  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  buildings,  pavilions, 
and  gardens.  All  the  buildings  are  constructed  of  polished  stone 
and  glazed  bricks  of  porcelain  clay*,  which  in  lustre  are  quite  like 
white  marble.  A  space  of  two  or  three  hundred  cubits  is  paved 
with  stones  presenting  not  the  very  slightest  deflexion  or  in- 

^  Here  is  doubtless  some  misapprehension.     See  preceding  page. 

2  Astley's  version  has  here  a  passage  not  found  in  Quatremere's  : 
"  They  found  at  the  palace  one  hundred  thousand  people  who  had  come 
thither  from  all  parts  of  Cathay,  the  countries  of  Tachin  and  Machin, 
Kalmak,  Tibet,  Kabul  (read  Kamul),  Karakhoja,  Jurga  (Churche  ?), 
and  the  sea  coasts."  ["In  that  camp  nearly  one  hundred  thousand 
men  from  the  countries  of  Chin,  Khata,  Ma-Chin,  Qalmaq,  Tibbet,  and 
others  had  congregated."     Rehatsek.] 

^  [1925  paces. — Rehatsek.] 

*  I  suppose  this  meant  by  "bricks  formed  of  Chinese  earth." 
[■'Stones  and  burnt  bricks,  the  latter  being  made  of  China-earth." 
Rehatsek.] 


282  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY 

equality,  insomuch  that  you  would  think  the  joints  had  been 
ruled  with  a  pen.  In  the  arts  of  stone-polishing,  cabinet-making, 
pottery,  brick-making,  there  is  nobody  with  us  who  can  compare 
with  the  Chinese.  If  the  cleverest  of  our  workpeople  were  to  see 
their  performances  they  could  not  but  acknowledge  the  superiority 
of  these  foreigners.     Towards  noon  the  banquet  ended. 

"  On  the  9th  of  Safar  (13th  February,  1421),  in  the  morning, 
horses  were  sent  for  the  ambassadors. .  .  .Every  year,  according  to 
a  practice  of  theirs,  the  emperor  passes  several  days  without 
eating  animal  food,  or  entering  his  harem,  or  receiving  anyone. 
He  goes  to  a  palace  which  contains  no  image  or  idol,  and  there, 
as  he  says,  adores  the  God  of  Heaven.  This  was  the  day  of  his 
return,  and  he  entered  his  harem  again  with  immense  pomp. 
Elephants  walked  in  procession,  handsomely  caparisoned,  and 
bearing  on  their  backs  a  circular-gilded  litter  ;  then  came  flags  of 
seven  different  colours,  and  men-at-arms,  and  then  five  more 
handsomely  gilt  litters  carried  by  men  on  their  shoulders.  Musical 
instruments  played  the  while  in  a  manner  of  which  it  is  impossible 
to  give  an  idea.  50,000  men  marched  before  and  behind  the 
emperor,  keeping  perfect  step  and  cadence.  Not  a  voice  was 
heard ;  nothing  but  the  sound  of  the  music.  As  soon  as  the 
emperor  had  entered  the  harem  everybody  went  away." 

It  was  now  the  time  of  the  Feast  of  Lanterns,  but  it  was  stripped 
of  its  ordinary  splendours,  of  which  the  ambassadors  had  heard 
much,  because  the  astrologers  had  predicted  that  the  palace  would 
catch  fire^. 

"The  8th  of  Rabbi  First  (13th  March),  the  monarch  having 
sent  for  Ahmed  Shah  and  Bakhshi  Malik,  gave  them  what  is  called 
a  sankish  or  present.  He  gave  Sultan  Shah  eight  halish  of  silver^, 
thirty  dresses  of  royal  magnificence,  a  mule,  twenty-four  pieces 
of  kala'P,  two  horses,  one  of  them  caparisoned,  a  hundred  cane 

^  ["At  that  season  the  feast  of  lanterns  takes  place,  when  for  seven 
nights  and  days  in  the  interior  of  the  Emperor's  palace  a  wooden  ball 
is  suspended  from  which  numberless  chandeliers  branch  out,  so  that  it 
appears  to  be  a  mountain  of  emeralds  ;  thousands  of  lamps  are  sus- 
pended from  cords,  mice  are  prepared  of  naphtha,  so  that  when  a 
lamp  is  kindled  the  mouse  runs  along  these  ropes  and  lights  every 
lamp  it  touches,  so  that  in  a  single  moment  all  the  lamps  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom  of  the  ball  are  kindled.  At  that  time  the  people  light 
many  lamps  in  their  shops  and  houses,  and  do  not  condemn  any  one 
during  those  seven  days  [the  courts  of  justice  closed  ?].  The  Emperor 
makes  presents  and  liberates  prisoners.  That  year,  however,  the 
Khatay  astrologers  had  ascertained  that  the  house  of  the  Emperor 
would  be  in  danger  of  conflagration,  and  on  that  account  no  orders  for 
illumination  had  been  issued;  nevertheless  the  amirs  met  according  to 
ancient  custom,  and  the  Emperor  gave  them  a  banquet  and  made  them 
presents."     Rehatsek.] 

*  See  II,  p.  196,  and  Ibn  Batuta,  infra,  iv. 

'  Tin  ?  Quatremfere  does  not  translate  it.  Astley  has  "  under 
petticoats  "  ! 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  283 

arrows,  five  three-sided  kaibars^,  in  the  Cathayan  fashion,  and 
five  thousand  chao'^.  Bakhshi  MaUk  received  a  similar  present, 
only  he  had  one  balish  less.  The  wives  of  the  ambassadors 
received  no  silver,  but  were  presented  with  pieces  of  stuffs. .  .  . 
"The  ist  day  of  the  Latter  Rabbi  (5th  April^*),  news  was 
brought  that  the  emperor  was  on  his  way  back  from  the  hunting 
field,  and  that  they  were  expected  to  meet  him.  The  ambassadors 
were  out  riding  when  the  news  came,  and  as  he  was  to  arrive  next 
day  they  returned  home  at  once.  The  blue  Shonghdr  belonging 
to  Sultan  Ahmed  was  dead*.  The  Sekjin  visited  them,  and  said  : 
'  Take  care  to  start  to-night  in  order  that  you  may  be  ready  to 
be  presented  to  the  emperor  the  first  thing  in  the  morning.'  So 
they  mounted  in  haste,  and  when  they  arrived  at  the  post-house 
they  found  His  Worship  the  Kazi  looking  very  much  put  out. 
Asking  what  made  him  so  out  of  spirits,  he  answered  in  a  low 
tone  :  '  The  emperor  during  the  chase  has  been  thrown  by  one 
of  the  horses  sent  by  His  Majesty  Shah  Rukh,  which  he  was 
riding.  He  is  tremendously  enraged  at  this  mishap,  and  has 
ordered  the  ambassadors  to  be  put  in  irons  and  sent  off  to  the 
eastern  provinces  of  Cathay.'  The  envoys,  deeply  disturbed  at 
the  intelligence,  got  on  their  horses  again  at  morning  prayer-time. 
By  the  time  half  the  forenoon  was  past  they  had  ridden  some 
twenty  marrah^,  and  reached  the  camp  where  the  emperor  had 
spent  the  night.  This  occupied  an  area  of  some  five  hundred 
feet  square,  round  which  they  had  built  that  same  night  a  wall  of 
four  feet  in  thickness  and  ten  cubits  high.  Such  walls,  built  of 
pise,  are  erected  in  Cathay  with  extraordinary  celerity.     There 

1  Quivers  ? — [Five  Khatay  girls. — Rehatsek.] 

2  Bank  notes  (see  11,  p.  196;  iii,  p.  149). 

3  [25th  March.— Rehatsek.] 

*  The  shonghdr  was  a  species  of  falcon  monopolised  by  eastern 
royalty,  and  was,  I  believe,  that  of  which  Marco  Polo  speaks  as  the 
gerfalcon,  which  bred  on  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean.  They  were 
sent  in  tribute  to  the  Great  Khan  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Northern  Tartar 
Tribes.  In  a  passage  of  the  narrative  which  has  been  omitted,  the 
emperor  had  presented  several  to  the  envoys  for  their  respective  princes, 
adding  the  brusque  observation  that  they  brought  him  screws  of  horses 
and  carried  off  his  good  shonghdr s.  Petis  de  la  Croix  says  of  the 
shonghdr  :  "  'Tis  a  mark  of  homage  which  the  Russians  and  Crim- 
Tartars  are  bound  by  the  last  treaty  to  send  annually  to  the  Porte." 
(H.  de  Timur  Bee,  ii,  75.) 

'  In  a  previous  passage  it  is  said  that  "•  every  sixteen  marrah  make 
a  farsang  "  (or  nearly  three  miles  and  a  half).  Astley's  version  has 
six  to  a  farsang.  The  former  estimate  reduces  the  distance  ridden  in 
half  the  forenoon  to  less  than  five  miles.  The  word  marrah  is  perhaps 
that  which  Clavijo  called  mole,  but  he  applies  it  to  Timur's  leagues, 
"  equal  to  two  leagues  of  Castille  "  (p.  106).  This  last  definition, 
however,  corresponds  with  that  which  Ssanang  Ssetzen  gives  of  the 
Bard,  probably  the  same  word.  This  makes  it  16,000  ells,  which  will 
be  about  six  miles,  taking  the  ell  at  two  feet  (see  Schmidt,  p.  5). 


284  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

were  two  gates  left  in  it,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  wall  there  was  a 
ditch  from  which  the  earth  had  been  dug  for  it. .  .  .  Inside  there 
was  a  pavilion  of  yellow  satin,  and  an  awning  adorned  with  gems. 
Each  of  these  was  some  twenty-five  cubits  square,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  four  pillars.  All  round  were  other  tents  of  yellow  satin 
embroidered  with  gold. 

"  When  the  ambassadors  had  arrived  within  five  hundred 
paces  of  the  imperial  camp.  His  Worship  the  Kazi  told  them  to 
dismount  and  stop  where  they  were  till  the  emperor  should  appear, 
whilst  he  himself  went  on.  As  soon  as  the  emperor  had  returned 
to  camp  and  dismounted,  the  Li-daji  and  the  Jdn-daji^  (who  in 
the  Cathayan  tongue  are  called  Serai-id  and  Jik-fu)  came  and 
stood  before  him.  The  emperor  then  discussed  the  question  of 
arresting  the  ambassadors.  The  Li-daji,  the  Jdn-daji,  and  His 
Worship  Yusuf  the  Kazi  bowed  their  foreheads  to  the  ground, 
and  said  :  '  The  envoys  are  in  no  way  to  blame.  Their  princes 
send  good  horses  as  presents  doubtless,  when  they  can  meet  with 
such  ;  but  in  any  case  these  persons  have  no  authority  over  their 
sovereigns.  If  your  Majesty  has  the  envoys  cut  in  pieces  it  won't 
hurt  their  kings,  but  the  name  of  the  emperor  will  be  evil  spoken 
of.  People  will  not  fail  to  say  that  the  Emperor  of  China  has 
used  violence  to  ambassadors  contrary  to  all  the  rules  of  justice.' 
The  emperor  took  these  judicious  remonstrances  in  good  part. 
His  Worship  the  Kazi  came  in  great  glee  to  tell  this  news  to  the 
ambassadors,  saying  :  '  The  Most  High  has  shown  his  mercy  to 
these  foreigners.'  The  emperor  having  thus  decided  on  a  merciful 
course,  the  dishes  which  he  had  sent  were  placed  before  the  envoys  ; 
but  as  they  consisted  of  swine's  flesh  and  mutton  the  Musulmans 
declined  to  partake  of  them.  The  emperor  then  started,  mounted 
on  a  black  horse  with  white  points  which  had  been  sent  as  a 
present  by  Mirza  Olugh  Beg,  and  which  had  housings  of  yellow 
brocaded  with  gold.  Two  grooms  ran  alongside,  each  holding  by 
one  of  the  stirrups,  and  these  also  were  dressed  in  gold  brocade  of 
a  royal  magnificence.  The  emperor  had  on  a  red  mantle  brocaded 
with  gold,  to  which  was  stitched  a  pocket  of  black  satin  in  which 
the  imperial  beard  was  cased.  Seven  small  covered  palankins 
were  borne  after  him  on  men's  shoulders  ;  these  contained  young 
ladies  of  the  emperor's  family.  There  was  also  a  great  palankin 
carried  by  seventy  men.  Right  and  left  of  the  emperor,  at  the 
interval  of  a  bow-shot,  were  columns  of  horsemen  who  kept  exactly 
abreast  of  him.  These  lines  extended  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  and  there  was  a  space  of  twenty  paces  between  their  ranks. 
They  marched  in  this  way,  keeping  exact  alignment,  to  the  gates 
of  the  city.  The  emperor  rode  in  the  middle,  accompanied  by 
the  Dah-daji,  whilst  the  Kazi  rode  with  the  Li-daji  and  the  Jan- 
daji.     The    Kazi    coming    forward,    said    to    the    ambassadors  : 

1  [Lillajy  and  Jan  Wajy. — Rehatsek. — Li  Ta  Jen  and  Jan  Ta  Jen?] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  285 

'  Dismount  and  touch  the  ground  with  your  heads  '  ;  and  so  they 
did.  The  emperor  then  desired  them  to  mount  again,  which  they 
did,  and  joined  the  procession.  The  monarch  began  to  reproach 
them,  saying  to  Shadi  Khwaja  :  '  When  horses  or  other  objects 
of  value  are  sent  as  presents  to  kings,  they  should  be  of  the  best, 
if  they  are  meant  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendship.  Here, 
I  mounted  for  the  chase  yesterday  one  of  the  horses  which  you 
brought  me,  and  the  beast,  being  excessively  old,  came  down  with 
me.  My  hand  is  much  hurt  and  has  become  black  and  blue. 
It  is  only  by  applying  gold  in  great  quantities  that  the  pain  has 
abated  a  little.'  Shadi  Khwaja,  to  put  the  best  face  on  the 
matter,  answered  :  '  The  fact  is,  this  horse  belonged  to  the  Great 
Amir,  Amir  Timur  Kurkan.  His  Majesty  Shah  Rukh  in  sending 
the  animal  to  you  intended  to  give  you  a  testimony  of  his  highest 
consideration  ;  indeed,  he  thought  that  in  your  dominions  this 
horse  would  be  regarded  as  a  very  pearl  of  horses^.'  This  account 
of  the  matter  satisfied  the  emperor  who  then  treated  the  ambassa- 
dors with  kindness." 

After  this  one  of  the  emperor's  favourite  wives  died,  and  also 
a  fire,  occasioned  by  lightning,  took  place  in  the  new  palace,  so 
that,  "contrary  to  what  usually  happens,"  the  diarist  observes, 
"  the  prediction  of  the  astrologers  was  completely  verified." 
These  misfortunes  made  the  old  emperor  quite  ill,  and  it  was 
from  his  son  that  the  ambassadors  received  their  dismissal. 
During  the  days  that  they  remained  at  Peking  after  this  they  no 
longer  received  the  usual  supplies. 

On  their  return  journey,  however,  they  met  with  all  the  same 
attentions  as  on  their  way  to  court.  They  followed  the  same 
road  as  before,  and  quitting  Khan  baliq  on  the  middle  of  Jumadah 
first  (about  i8th  May  142 1),  they  reached  the  city  of  Bikan^  on 
the  first  day  of  Rajab  (2nd  July).  Here  they  were  splendidly 
feted  ;    and  on  the  fifth  of  Shaban  (3rd  October^)  they  recrossed 


^  As  the  Great  Amir  was  dead  sixteen  years  before,  this  pearl  of 
horses  must  indeed  have  been  a  venerable  animal. 

2  [Bangan. — Rehatsek.]  The  dates  indicate  the  position  as  about 
one-third  of  the  way  from  the  capital  to  the  passage  of  the  Hwang  Ho 
at  Lan  chau.  This  and  the  name  probably  point  to  Ping  yang  fu  in 
the  province  of  Shan  si,  one  of  the  most  ancient  capitals  of  China.  It 
is  the  Pian-iu  of  Polo,  who  says  of  it — "  moult  est  grant  citez  et  de 
grant  vaillance ;  en  laquelle  a  marchans  assez  qui  vivent  d'art  et  de 
marchandize.     Etsi  font  sole  en  grant  habondance."     (Pauthier's  Polo, 

P-  354-) 

I  find  that  in  the  identification  of  the  three  cities  named  on  the 
journey  through  China  (Husnabad,  Sadinfu,  and  Bikan)  M.  Reinaud 
has  anticipated  me  in  every  case  ;  but  as  my  identifications  were 
arrived  at  independently  on  the  grounds  assigned,  this  is  a  strong 
confirmation  of  their  correctness  (see  his  Introduction  to  Abulfeda, 
pp.  ccclxxxv— vii). 

3  [5th  August. — Rehatsek.] 


286  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

the  Karamuran.  Nineteen  days  later^  they  arrived  at  Kanchau 
and  took  up  their  servants  and  baggage  which  had  been  left  there^. 
But  they  had  to  halt  here  two  months  on  account  of  the  disturbed 
state  of  the  Mongol  country  ;  and  they  were  again  detained  at 
Suchau,  so  that  they  did  not  pass  the  frontier  fortress  till  some 
days  after  the  middle  of  Moharram  825^  (about  9th  January  1422). 
Here  the  whole  party  were  again  mustered  and  registered  by  the 
Chinese  officials.  The  troubles  in  Mongolia  induced  the  ambassa- 
dors now  to  take  the  unfrequented  southern  route  through  the 
desert.  They  reached  Khotan  on  the  30th  May,  and  Kashgar 
on  the  5th  July.  From  this  they  passed  the  mountains  by  the 
defile  of  Andijan,  i.e.  by  the  Terek  Dawan,  and  there  separated ; 
one  party  taking  the  road  to  Samarkand,  the  other  "  preferring 
the  route  of  Badakhshan  "  travelled  to  Hissar  Shaduman*,  and 
thence  reached  Balkh  on  the  i8th  August.  Finally  on  the  ist 
September  1422  they  kissed  the  feet  of  his  majesty  Shah  Rukh  at 
Herat,  and  related  their  adventures^ 


1  Nine  days  according  to  the  date  in  Quatremere  (14th  Shaban), 
but  thus  seems  much  too  short.  Ashley  has  24th.  [24th  Shaban,  24th 
August. — Rehatsek.] 

2  ["In  this  town  they  remained  during  seventy -five  days,  and 
leaving  it  on  the  first  day  of  Dhulhejjah  (Nov.  27th),  they  arrived  on 
the  17th  (Dec.  3rd)  in  the  town  of  Bokjii,  in  which  place  the  ambassador 
of  Mirza  Ebrahim  Sultan,  who  had  arrived  from  Shyraz,  and  the  envoy 
of  Mirza  Rustum,  who  was  coming  from  Essfahan,  met  the  ambassadors 
of  His  Majesty  Shah  Rokh,  and  asked  them  for  information  concerning 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Khatays,  which  was  given  to  them." 
Rehatsek.] 

3  [The  1st  Muharram  fell  on  the  26th  Dec.  1421. — Rehatsek.] 

*  The  expression  in  the  text  seems  to  show  that  Badakhshan  was 
sometimes  used  in  a  much  larger  sense  than  is  now  attached  to  it. 
But  this  brief  indication  of  the  route  followed  by  the  ambassadors  from 
Kashgar  to  Balkh  is  particularly  interesting,  because  it  precisely  retraces 
Ptolemy's  caravan  route  across  Imaus,  on  the  supposition  that  the 
Stone  Tower  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Ush  or  Andijan  (Andijan  =  The 
Stone  Tower ;  Hissar  Shaduman  =  Ascent  to  Hill  Country  of  the 
Komedi  ;  Balkh  =  Bactra).  And  this  is  certainly  an  argument  in 
favour  of  Ritter's  view,  for  the  route  from  Kashgar  via  Tashbaliq  and 
Wakhsh  to  Hissar  would  have  been  vastly  more  direct,  and  there  must 
have  been  ample  reason  for  not  adopting  it,  even  in  the  height  of 
summer,  as  on  this  occasion  (see  ante,  p.  191,  seq.). 

5  ["  After  they  had  been  searched  and  examined,  they  left  Qayl, 
and  selected  the  road  through  Chiil  on  account  of  the  insecurity  of  the 
highways,  and  arrived  after  much  trouble  on  the  9th  of  Jomady  the 
first  (May  ist)  in  the  town  of  Khotan,  after  leaving  which  they  passed 
on  the  6th  Rajab  (June  26th)  through  Kashgar,  and  on  the  21st  (July 
nth)  they  passed  over  the  heights  of  Andagan,  where  some  of  the 
ambassadors  selected  the  road  through  Khorasan  and  others  through 
Samarqand  ;  in  the  beginning  of  Ramazan  (Aug.  19th)  they  arrived  in 
Balkh,  and  on  the  loth  of  the  same  month  (Aug.  28th)  they  reached 
the  capital  city  Herdt,  where  they  were  admitted  to  the  honour  of 
kissing  the  carpet  of  His  prosperous  Majesty  the  Khagan  Shdh  Rokh 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  287 

(may  God  increase  his  fame)  ;     and  were   made   happy  thereby." — 
Rehatsek.] 

["  Apres  une  verification  exacte,  les  ambassadeurs  partirent  de 
Karaoul  le  dix-neuvieme  jour  de  moharrem.  La  crainte  de  I'ennemi  les 
decida  a  preferer  la  route  du  desert ;  le  dix-huitieme  jour  de  rebi-awal, 
ils  franchirent,  avec  de  grandes  fatigues,  ces  chemins  non  frayes  et 
depourvus  d'eau  ;  le  neuvieme  jour  de  djoumada  second,  ils  arrivferent 
a  la  ville  de  Khoten  ;  ils  en  partirent,  et,  le  seizieme  jour  de  redjeb,  ils 
atteignirent  Kaschgar  ;  le  vingt  et  unieme  jour  du  meme  mois,  ils 
traverserent  le  defile  d'Andegan.  De  la,  une  partie  des  ambassadeurs 
prit  le  chemin  des  Samarykand ;  les  autres,  ayant  prefere  la  route  de 
Badakhschan,  arriverent,  bien  portants  et  joyeux,  a  Hisar-shaduman, 
le  vingt  et  unieme  jour  de  Schaban.  Ayant  traverse  le  fieuve  Amouieh, 
ils  arriverent  a  Balkh  le  premier  jour  de  ramazan  ;  de  la,  ils  se  dirigerent 
vers  Herat.  Le  quinzieme  jour  du  meme  mois,  ils  furent  admis  a 
I'honneur  de  baiser  les  pieds  de  I'empereur  Schah-rokh,  et  exposerent 
a  ce  prince  les  details  de  leur  voyage."     Quatremere,  pp.  425-6.] 

I  will  here  insert  some  remarks  on  the  topography  of  Rubruquis's 
travels,  in  connexion  with  the  site  of  Equius,  which  I  suppose  to  be  the 
Asparah  of  these  ambassadors  {supra,  p.  272). 

Rubruquis,  riding  with  Tartars  and  relays  of  horses,  set  out  from 
the  Volga  on  the  i6th  September  1253.  The  route  lay  straight  east, 
or  nearly  so,  through  the  country  of  the  Kangli  till  the  31st  October. 
They  then  bore  a  good  deal  south,  passing  through  certain  Alps  (moun- 
tain pastures  ?).  On  the  7th  November  they  entered  a  plain  irrigated 
like  a  garden,  through  which  a  large  river  flowed  which  entered  no  sea, 
but  after  forming  swamps  was  absorbed  by  the  earth.  It  flowed  from 
very  high  mountains  which  were  seen  towards  the  south  (east). 

On  the  8th  November  they  entered  the  city  of  Kenchac.  They 
went  from  this  east  towards  the  mountains,  and  got  among  the  mountain 
pastures,  where  the  Caracatai  formerly  dwelt,  a  few  days  later.  They 
found  there  a  great  river  which  they  had  to  cross  in  a  boat ;  they  then 
turned  into  a  valley  where  there  were  old  intrenchments  of  earth  over 
which  the  plough  had  passed,  and  came  to  a  good  town  called  Equius, 
where  the  Mahomedan  inhabitants  spoke  Persian. 

Next  day  they  passed  the  "  Alps,"  which  were  spurs  from  the  great 
mountains  to  the  south,  and  entered  an  extensive  and  beautiful  plain, 
which  was  copiously  irrigated  by  the  streams  from  the  mountains.  The 
mountains  in  question  were  to  the  right  of  the  travellers,  and  to  the 
left,  beyond  the  plain,  was  a  sea  or  great  lake  of  twenty -five  days' 
journey  in  compass. 

There  had  formerly  been  many  cities  in  this  plain  but  the  Tartars 
had  destroyed  them.  They  found,  however,  one  great  town  called 
Cailac,  where  they  halted  for  twelve  days.  . 

The  country  in  which  they  now  were  was  called  Orgonum  ;  and 
here  Rubruquis  first  met  with  Buddhist  temples. 

They  quitted  Cailac  on  the  30th  November  (hence  they  must  have 
reached  it  on  the  i8th  or  19th),  and  four  days  later  (3rd  December)  they 
came  upon  the  head  of  the  great  lake.  There  was  a  great  island  in  the 
lake.  The  water  was  brackish,  but  drinkable.  A  valley  opened  upon 
the  head  of  the  lake  from  the  south-east,  and  up  this  valley  among  the 
mountains  was  another  lake.  Through  this  gorge  at  times  such  furious 
gusts  of  wind  blew  that  riders  were  apt  to  be  blown  into  the  lake. 

Passing  this  valley  they  went  north  towards  great  mountains  covered 
with  snow. 

From  December  6th  they  greatly  increased  the  length  of  their 
journeys,  doing  two  days'  journey  in  one.  On  December  12th  they 
passed  a  horrible  rocky  defile,  said  to  be  haunted  by  demons,  etc. 

They  then  entered  the  plains  of  the  Naiman  country.  After 
this  they  again  ascended  a  hill  country,  tending  northward.  On 
December  26th  they  entered  a  great  flat  plain  like  the  sea,  and  next 


288  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

day  reached  the  camp  of  Mangu  Khan,  apparently  not  far  from 
Karakorum. 

Now  the  points  on  this  journey  which  we  may  consider  ascertained 
(besides  its  departure  from  the  Volga  somewhere  near  Sarai,  and  its 
termination  near  Karakorum)  are  two. 

The  first  is  the  city  of  Kenchac.  This  is  known  to  have  been  one 
of  the  cities  of  the  valley  of  the  Talas,  near  the  city  so  called.  (See 
Quatremere  in  Notices  et  Extraits,  xiii,   224—5—6.) 

The  other  is  the  site  of  the  great  rushing  wind.  This  is  described  in 
Carpini's  narrative  in  very  similar  terms  (see  p.  751).  It  is  also  spoken 
of  by  the  diarist  of  Hulaku's  march  ;  and  in  modern  times  by  a  Russian 
traveller  Poutimsteff  (quoted  in  Malte  Brun,  Precis  de  la  Geog.  Univer- 
selle,  ix,  p.  208).  These  three  latter  accounts  point,  and  the  last  indeed, 
which  is  singularly  coincident  with  Carpini's,  distinctly  refers  the  scene 
of  this  phenomenon,  to  the  lake  called  Ala-kul.  Rubruquis  had 
specified  the  island  in  the  lake  ;  Carpini  says  "  several  islands  "  ; 
Poutimsteff  says  it  contains  "  three  great  rocks  of  different  colours," 
with  which  he  connects  its  name.  We  now  go  back  to  trace  the  route 
of  Rubruquis. 

After  riding  for  six  weeks  east,  but  not  quite  so  due  east  as  he 
imagines,  leaving  the  Caspian  and  Aral  on  the  right,  about  long.  67° 
he  strikes  south-east,  crosses  the  "  Alps  "  of  the  Kara-tau  to  the  south- 
east of  the  modern  town  of  Turkestan  (in  the  medieval  map  south-east 
of  Otrar)  and  enters  the  valley  of  the  Talas,  the  river  which,  as  he  says, 
loses  itself  in  swamps  and  enters  no  sea.  Here  he  has  to  the  south-east 
very  lofty  mountains,  the  branches  of  the  T'ien  Shan,  or  perhaps  the 
great  range  itself. 

Quitting  Kenchak  and  the  Talas,  he  goes  east  into  the  "  Alps  "  that 
separate  the  Upper  Talas  from  the  Chu  ;  the  Chu  is  the  river  crossed  in 
a  boat.  Beyond  this  is  the  valley  with  the  remains  of  old  intrench- 
ments.  These  are  noticed  also  by  the  Diarist  of  Hulaku's  march. 
Four  days  before  reaching  Talas,  this  writer  says,  "  they  passed  between 
the  two  mountains  Itu  (qu.  the  two  parallel  ranges  called  Ala-tagh  ?). 
The  country  is  flat,  well  peopled  and  well  watered  ;  and  there  are  many 
old  ramparts  and  military  structures,  for  it  was  formerly  occupied  by 
the  Khitan  "  (the  Caracatai  of  Rubruquis,  see  infra,  in,  p.  19).  "  Near 
this  is  a  river  called  Yi-yun,  very  rapid,  flowing  from  the  east ;  the 
people  of  the  country  call  it  the  Yellow  river  "  (as  to  the  muddy  colour 
and  great  rapidity  of  the  Chu,  see  Russians  in  Central  Asia,  p.  262). 

Rubruquis  then  reaches  Equitis,  or  as  I  have  supposed  the  A  spar  ah 
of  the  Mahomedan  writers,  and  we  must  therefore  locate  this  north  of 
the  Chu,  somewhere  opposite  the  modern  Russian  posts  of  Pishpek  or 
Tokmak. 

[Rockhill,  Rubruck,  writes,  p.  139  n.  :  "  The  identification  of 
Rubruck's  '  great  river  '  with  the  Hi  obliges  us  to  reject  Yule's  identi- 
fication of  Equius  with  the  Aspareh  of  Shah  Rokh's  mission,  which 
was  on  the  Chu,  somewhere  near  the  present  Pishpek,  or  Tokmak."] 

They  then  cross  the  "Alps"  again;  this  time  the  branch  of  the 
Ala-Tau  between  Pishpek  and  Almaty,  and  emerge  on  the  great  plain 
stretching  to  the  Balkash.  It  is  true  that  towards  the  lake  this  is  a 
barren  steppe,  but  the  tract  along  the  spurs  of  the  Northern  Ala-Tau, 
which  bounded  the  plain  to  the  right  of  the  traveller  as  he  describes,  is 
rich  arable  land,  amply  irrigated  (see  Semenov  in  Petermann's  Mitthei- 
lungen  for  1858,  pp.  352-3). 

Somewhere  at  the  foot  of  those  hills  was  Cailac,  doubtless  the 
Kayaliq  of  the  historians  of  the  Mongols.  It  must  have  been  some 
distance  north  of  the  Hi,  for  the  traveller  reaches  the  Alakul  from 
Cailac  in  four  days.  It  may  be  placed  near  the  modern  Russian  station 
of  Kopal. 

That  it  was  not  on  the  Hi,  but  some  distance  beyond  it,  is  in  some 
degree  confirmed  by  the  circumstance  that,  though  a  place  of  import- 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  289 

ance,  it  is  not  mentioned  in  the  route  either  of  Hulaku  or  of  King 
Hethum,  both  of  whom  seem  to  have  come  down  the  Ih  valley  from 
Almaliq  (near  modern  Kulja)  and  then  passed  to  Talas  by  the  route 
by  which  Rubruquis  had  come. 

In  Benedict  Goes  infra  are  quoted  some  passages  relating,  or  supposed 
to  relate,  to  Kayaliq  or  Cailac.  Another  may  be  cited  as  slightly  favour- 
able to  the  site  indicated.  We  are  told  that  Batu  was  on  his  way  from 
his  domain  on  the  Volga  to  Karakorum,  when  "  at  the  mountain 
Aladagh,  seven  days  march  from  Kayaliq,  he  heard  of  the  death  of 
the  Kaan  "  {Kuyuk),  and  turned  back.  Supposing  this  to  be  the 
Alatagh  pass  between  the  Chu  and  the  Hi  the  distance  would  be  appro- 
priate to  our  position  (see  D'Ohsson,  ii,  246). 

The  name  Orgonum,  which  Rubruquis  heard  applied  to  the  country, 
I  have  endeavoured  to  elucidate  in  the  notes  to  Ibn  Batuta. 

It  will  be  observed  that  Rubruquis,  coming  upon  the  Alakul, 
regarded  it  as  the  continuation  and  termination  of  the  great  lake  which 
had  occupied  the  distant  horizon  on  his  left  for  a  good  many  days,  an 
error  which  the  map  alone  renders  very  conceivable  to  us,  and  which 
may  then  have  had  still  more  excuse,  as  all  those  lakes  appear  to  be 
contracting.  Indeed  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  Balkash  and 
Alakul  were  formerly  actually  one,  though  they  may  not  have  been  so 
in  the  days  of  Rubruquis.  (See  Semenov  as  above,  p.  351 ;  and  in  J.  R. 
G.  S.,  XXXV,  p.  213  ;   also  Petermann  for  1863,  p.  392.) 

From  the  Alakul  the  mountains  crossed  to  the  north  were  apparently 
those  above  Tarbagatai.  From  this  the  route  probably  lay  along  the 
Upper  Irtish  and  then  along  the  Jabkan  river. 

On  the  return  journey  in  summer  Rubruquis  passed  to  the  north  of 
the  Balkash.  The  only  part  common  to  the  two  journeys  was,  he  says, 
a  fifteen  days'  ride  along  a  river  among  mountains,  where  there  was 
no  grass  except  on  the  banks.  This  would  seem  to  have  been  the 
Jabkan. 

I  discern  no  real  difficulty  in  the  foregoing  interpretation  of  the 
traveller  except  one,  viz.,  the  scanty  time  allowed  between  Kenchak 
in  the  Talas  valley  and  the  head  of  the  Alakul.  This  distance  is  about 
five  hundred  miles  without  deviations  of  course,  and  the  time  according 
to  the  data  (deducting  the  twelve  days'  halt  at  Cailac)  is  fourteen  days, 
giving  an  average  of  more  than  thirty-five  miles  (crow-flight)  daily, 
and  much  of  it  through  hilly  ground.  It  is  true  that  the  traveller  says 
that  they  rode  daily  as  far  as  from  Paris  to  Orleans,  say  sixty  miles  ; 
but  the  measurement  of  his  first  long  stretch  from  the  Volga  to  Talas 
gives  only  about  twenty-seven  miles  a  day  as  the  crow  flies.  If  we  can 
venture  to  suppose  that  the  halt  at  Cailac  was  written  vii  days  instead 
of  xii,  this  would  bring  the  marches  between  Talas  and  Alakul  to  about 
the  same  average. 

The  map  in  Russians  in  Central  Asia,  or  some  other  embracing 
the  recent  Russian  surveys,  will  be  serviceable  in  following  these 
remarks. 


C.  Y.  C.    I.  19 


290  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


NOTE   XVIII. 

HAJJI    MAHOMED'S    ACCOUNT    OF    CATHAY,    AS 
DELIVERED    TO   MESSER   GIOV.   BATTISTA   RAMUSIO^. 

(Circa  1550.) 

"  In  the  thirty-eighth  chapter  of  Messer  Marco  Polo's  first 
book  he  treats  of  the  rhubarb  which  is  produced  in  the  province 
of  SuccuiR,  and  is  thence  exported  into  these  parts  and  all  over 
the  world.  And  it  seems  highly  necessary  that  I  should  give  a 
particular  account  of  what  I  chanced  to  hear  on  this  subject  some 
years  ago  from  a  certain  Persian  of  great  judgment  and  intelli- 
gence ;  for  the  matter  is  well  worthy  of  correct  knowledge,  seeing 
how  universal  the  use  of  the  article  among  sick  people  has  become 
in  our  time,  nor  have  I  ever  yet  seen  so  much  information  regarding 
it  in  any  book. 

"  The  name  of  the  narrator  was  Chaggi  Memet,  a  native  of 
the  province  of  Chilan  on  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and 
from  a  city  called  Tabas^,  and  he  had  himself  been  to  Succuir, 
coming  afterwards,  at  the  time  I  speak  of,  to  Venice  with  a  large 
quantity  of  the  aforesaid  rhubarb.  Now  it  happened  one  day 
that  I  had  gone  out  of  town  to  dine  at  Murano  ;  a  relaxation  of 
business  allowed  me  to  get  away  from  the  city,  and  to  enjoy  it 
all  the  more  I  chanced  to  have  in  my  party  that  excellent  architect 
Messer  Michele  San  Michele  of  Verona,  and  Messer  Tommaso 
Giunti,  both  very  dear  friends  of  mine,  besides  this  Persian^.  So 
when  dinner  was  over  and  the  cloth  was  drawn,  he  began  his 
narrative,  and  it  was  interpreted  as  he  went  along  by  Messer 
Michele  Mambre,  a  man  of  great  acquirements  in  the  Arabic, 
Persian,  and  Turkish  tongues,  and  a  person  of  most  agreeable 
manners,  whose  accomplishments  have  now  obtained  him  the 
position  of  Turkish  interpreter  to  this  illustrious  Signory.     First 

1  [G.  Uzielli  and  Amat  di  S.  Filippo  (Siudi  biografici  e  bihliografici, 
II,  Roma,  1882,  p.  246)  mention  under  the  name  of  Hagi  Ahmed  the 
following  map  of  the  world  kept  in  the  Library  of  St  Mark,  at  Venice  : 
"Mappamondo  a  forma  di  cuore,  sopra  legno  intagliato  per  la  stampa, 
o  carta  impressa  col  medesimo.  £  redatto  in  Hngua  turca.  Comprende 
11  mondo  conosciuto.  Scala  e  proiezione  fantastiche."  Would  it  not 
be  possible  that  this  Hagi  Ahmed  and  our  Hajji  Mahomed  are  but  one 
person  ?] 

2  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  place  of  this  name  in  Ghilan. 
But  Tabas  in  the  Salt  Desert  north  of  Yezd  is  called  in  the  Tables  of 
Nasiruddin  Tabas  Kili  or  Gili,  and  this  may  be  meant  (see  in  Hudson, 
vol.  iii). 

'  Sanmichele  of  Verona,  the  still  celebrated  architect  and  engineer 
of  the  Venetian  Republic,  and  often  called  (though  wrongly)  the  inventor 
of  modern  bastioncd  fortification.  Giunti,  the  printer  and  publisher  of 
Ramusio's  great  work,  and  editor  of  it  after  the  author's  death. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  29I 

he  told  us  that  he  had  been  at  Succuir^  and  Campion^,  cities  of 
the  province  of  Tangath,  at  the  commencement  of  the  states 
of  the  Great  Can,  whose  name  he  said  was  Daimir  Can^,  and  by 
whom  rulers  were  sent  to  govern  the  said  cities,  the  same  that 
M.  Marco  speaks  of  in  the  thirty-eighth  and  thirty-ninth  chapters 
of  his  first  book.  They  are  the  first  cities  of  idolaters  that  are 
met  with  in  going  from  the  Musulman  territories  ;  and  he  went 
thither  with  the  caravan  that  goes  with  merchandise  from  Persia 
and  the  countries  about  the  Caspian  to  the  regions  of  Cathay. 
And  this  caravan  is  not  allowed  to  enter  further  into  the  country 
than  Succuir  and  Campion  ;  nor  may  any  merchant  belonging 
to  it,  unless  he  go  as  an  ambassador  to  the  Great  Can*. 

"  This  city  of  Succuir  is  large  and  extremely  populous,  with 
very  handsome  houses  built  of  brick  after  the  Italian  manner  ; 
and  in  it  there  are  many  great  temples  with  idols  carved  in  stone. 
It  is  situated  in  a  plain,  through  which  run  an  infinite  number  of 
streamlets,  and  abounds  in  all  sorts  of  necessaries.  They  grow 
silk  there  in  very  great  quantities,  using  the  black-mulberry  tree 
for  the  purpose.  They  have  no  wine  grown  there,  but  for  their 
drink  they  make  a  kind  of  beer  with  honey.  As  regards  fruit, 
the  country  is  a  cold  one,  so  they  have  none  but  pears,  apples, 
apricots,  and  peaches,  melons,  and  grapes.  Then  he  told  us  that 
the  rhubarb  grows  over  all  that  province,  but  much  the  best  is 
got  in  a  certain  neighbouring  range  of  lofty  and  rocky  mountains, 
where  there  are  many  springs,  with  woods  of  sundry  kinds  of 
trees  growing  to  a  great  height,  and  soil  of  a  red  colour,  which, 
owing  to  the  frequent  rains  and  the  springs  which  run  in  all 
directions,  is  almost  always  in  a  sloppy  state.  As  regards  the 
appearance  of  the  root  and  its  leaves  it  so  chanced  that  the  said 
merchant  had  brought  a  little  picture  with  him  from  the  country 
w^hich  appeared  to  be  drawn  with  great  care  and  skill,  so  he  took 
it  from  his  pocket  and  showed  it  us,  saying  that  here  we  had  the 
true  and  natural  representation  of  the  rhubarb. .  .  .  He  said  more- 
over .  . .  that  in  the  Lands  of  Cathay  they  never  used  the  rhubarb 

^  Succuir,  or  rather  Succiur  {i.e.  Sukchur)  as  Polo  seems  to  have 
written  it,  is  according  to  Pauthier  a  Mongol  pronunciation  of  Suh- 
chau-lu,  the  Circuit  of  Suhchau  (Polo,  p.  164).  On  Suhchau  or  Suchau 
see  supra,  p.  275,  and  references  there.  [See  on  Suhchau  my  note. 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  126.] 

^  Campicion  in  most  copies  of  Polo  ;  well  identified  with  Kanchau, 
though  the  form  of  the  name  has  not  been  satisfactorily  explained. 

^  Daiming  Khan  is  the  name  by  which  the  Emperor  of  China  is 
called  in  Abdur  Razzak's  History  introducing  the  narrative  abstracted 
in  the  preceding  note.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  name  of  the  native  Dynasty 
(Ta-Ming,  "  Great  Light  ")  usually  called  the  Ming,  which  reigned 
from  1368  to  1644  (see  Chine  Ancienne,  p.  389  ;  Atlas  Sinensis  in 
Blaeu,  p.  I ;  Notices  et  Extraits,  xiv,  pt.  i,  pp.  213  seq. ;  Schmidt,  pp.  153, 
211,  289). 

*  See  the  narrative  of  Goes  passim. 

19 — 2 


292  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

for  medicine  as  we  do,  but  pounded  it  up  and  compounded  it 
with  some  other  odoriferous  ingredients  to  burn  as  a  perfume 
before  their  idols.  And  in  some  other  places  it  is  so  abundant 
that  they  constantly  use  it  for  fuel,  whilst  others  give  it  to  their 
sick  horses,  so  little  esteem  have  they  for  this  root  in  those  regions 
of  Cathay.  But  they  have  a  much  greater  appreciation  of  another 
little  root  which  grows  in  the  mountains  of  Succuir  where  the 
rhubarb  grows,  and  which  they  call  Mambroni  Cini.  This  is 
extremely  dear,  and  is  used  in  most  of  their  ailments,  but  especially 
where  the  eyes  are  affected.  They  grind  it  on  a  stone  with  rose- 
water,  and  anoint  the  eyes  with  it.  The  result  is  wonderfully 
beneficial.  He  did  not  believe  that  this  root  was  imported  into 
these  parts,  and  he  was  not  able  to  describe  it^.  Then  seeing  the 
great  pleasure  that  I  beyond  the  rest  of  the  company  took  in  his 
stories,  he  told  me  that  over  all  the  country  of  Cathay  they  made 
use  of  another  plant,  or  rather  of  its  leaves.  This  is  called  by 
those  people  Chiai  Cafai^,  and  grows  in  the  district  of  Cathay, 
which  is  called  Cacianfu^.  This  is  commonly  used  and  much 
esteemed  over  all  those  countries.  They  take  of  that  herb  whether 
dry  or  fresh,  and  boil  it  well  in  water.  One  or  two  cups  of  this 
decoction  taken  on  an  empty  stomach  removes  fever,  head-ache, 
stomach-ache,  pain  in  the  side  or  in  the  joints,  and  it  should  be 
taken  as  hot  as  you  can  bear  it.  He  said  besides  that  it  was  good 
for  no  end  of  other  ailments  which  he  could  not  then  remember, 
but  gout  was  one  of  them.  And  if  it  happens  that  one  feels 
incommoded  in  the  stomach  from  having  eaten  too  much,  one  has 
but  to  take  a  little  of  this  decoction  and  in  a  short  time  all  will 
be  digested.  And  it  is  so  highly  valued  and  esteemed  that  every 
one  going  on  a  journey  takes  it  with  him,  and  those  people  would 
gladly  give  (as  he  expressed  it)  a  sack  of  rhubarb  for  an  ounce  of 
Chiai  Catai.     And  those  people  of  Cathay  do  say  that  if  in  our 

^  Mambroni  Cini  is,  I  suppose,  Mdmirdn-i-Chini  ;  the  first  word  of 
which  is  explained  by  F.  Johnson  as  "  swallow-wort."  Bernier  also 
mentions  Mamiron  as  a  little  root  very  good  for  eye  ailments,  which 
used  to  be  brought  with  rhubarb  to  Kashmir  by  caravans  from  China 
(in  H.  Gen.  des  Voyages,  torn.  37,  p.  335).  It  is  possibly  the  Jinseng 
or  "  Man-Root  "  (from  its  forked  radish  shape),  so  much  prized  by  the 
Chinese  as  a  tonic,  etc.,  and  which  used  to  sell  for  three  times  its  weight 
in  silver.  Another  root,  called  by  the  Chinese  Foling,  comes  from  the 
rhubarb  region  in  question,  and  was  formerly  well  known  in  European 
pharmacy  under  the  name  Radix  China.  This,  however,  was  not  a 
"  little  root."  [See  M  amir  an  in  Hobson-Jobson  :  Curcuma  longa, 
M  amir  a  of  the  old  Arabs  ;    Thalictrum  foliosum,  M  amir  a  of  Punjab.] 

2  (Pers.)  Chd-i-Khitai,  "  Tea  of  China."  Here  and  in  some  other 
words  in  this  narrative  the  ch  must  be  sounded  soft,  and  not  as  usual 
in  Italian.  I  do  not  know  of  any  earlier  mention  of  tea  in  an  European 
book.     [See  Hobson-Jobson,  s.v.  Tea.'] 

3  Cachanfu  is  probably  Kanjanfu,  i.e.  Si  ngan  fu  (see  infra,  11,  p.  246). 
Tea  would  come  to  the  frontier  from  that  quarter,  whether  it  grows 
there  or  not. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  293 

parts  of  the  world,  in  Persia  and  the  country  of  the  Franks, 
people  only  knew  of  it  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  merchants  would 
cease  altogether  to  buy  Ravend  Cini  as  they  call  rhubarb  in  those 
parts^. ...  I  asked  him  what  route  he  had  followed  in  returning 
from  Campion  and  Succuir  on  his  way  to  Constantinople,  if  he 
were  able  to  tell  it  me.  He  answered  by  Mambre  our  interpreter 
that  he  would  tell  me  the  whole  gladly.  So  he  began  by  saying 
that  he  had  not  returned  by  precisely  the  same  way  that  he  had 
taken  with  the  caravan  in  going,  for  at  the  time  that  he  wanted 
to  start  it  happened  that  those  Tartar  chiefs  of  the  Green  caps, 
whom  they  call  lescilbas,  were  sending  an  ambassador  of  theirs 
with  a  great  company  by  way  of  the  Desert  of  Tartary  to  the 
north  of  the  Caspian  Sea  to  the  Grand  Turk  at  Constantinople  in 
order  to  make  a  league  with  him  for  a  joint  attack  on  their 
common  enemy  the  5o^....And  so  he  travelled  with  them  as 
far  as  Caffa.  But  he  would  willingly  detail  to  me  the  route  as 
it  would  have  been  had  he  returned  by  the  same  that  he  followed  in 
going.  And  it  would  stand  thus  :  Leaving  the  city  of  Campion  you 
come  to  Gauta^,  which  is  a  six  days'  journey.  Every  day's  journey 
is  reckoned  at  so  many  favsenc,  and  one  Persian  farsenc  is  three 
of  our  miles.  And  a  day's  journey  may  be  taken  at  eight  farsencs, 
but  in  case  of  deserts  and  mountains  they  will  not  do  half  as  much, 
so  days  made  in  the  desert  must  be  reckoned  at  half  ordinary 
journeys.  From  Gauta  you  come  to  Succuir  in  five  days,  and 
from  Succuir  to  Camul^  in  fifteen.  Here  the  Musulmans  begin  ; 
all  having  been  idolaters  hitherto.  From  Camul  to  Turfon 
thirteen;  and  after  Turfon  you  pass  three  cities,  the  first  of 
which  is  Chialis,  ten  days,  then  Chuche  ten  more,  and  then 
Aqsu  twenty  days*.  From  Aqsu  to  Cascar  is  twenty  days  more 
of  the  wildest  desert,  the  journey  hitherto  having  been  through 
inhabited  country.  From  Cascar  to  Samarcand  twenty -five  days, 
from  Samarcand  to  Bochara  in  Corassam,  jfive  ;  from  Bochara 
to  Eri^,  twenty  ;  and  thence  you  get  to  Veremi  in  fifteen  days®  ; 
then  Casein  in  six,  from  Casbin  to  Soltania  in  four,  and  from 
Soltania  to  the  great  city  of  Tauris  in  six.     Thus  much  I  drew 

1  Pers.  Rdwand-i-Chini,  "  China  Rhubarb." 

2  Kao-t'ai,  between  Kanchau  and  Suchau. 

*  Supra,  p.  273,  infra,  iii,  p.  265,  and  Goes,  Vol.  iv. 

*  On  these  places  see  Goes,  infra.  Vol.  iv. 
5  Herat. 

®  Veramin  was  a  great  town  two  marches  east  of  Tehran,  close  to 
the  site  of  ancient  Rai,  "  to  which  it  succeeded  as  Tehran  has  succeeded 
to  Veramin."  (Ritter,  viii,  450.)  It  is  mentioned  also  by  Clavijo,  who 
on  his  return,  after  passing  Damghan,  Perescote  (Firuz-koh),  and  Cenan 
{Semnan),  "  came  to  a  great  city  called  Vatami  "  (read  Varami)  "  which 
was  nearly  depopulated  and  without  any  wall,  and  they  call  this  land 
the  Land  of  Rei."  (Markham's  Clavijo,  p.  182;  see  also  Petis  de  la 
Croix,  H.  de  Timuv  Bee,  ii,  181,  401.) 


294 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


from  that  Persian  merchant.  And  the  detail  of  his  route  was 
all  the  more  interesting  to  me  because  I  recognised  with  great 
satisfaction  the  names  of  man}^  cities  and  of  several  provinces 
which  are  written  in  the  first  book  of  the  travels  of  M.  Marco  Polo. 
And  on  that  account  it  seemed  to  me  in  a  measure  necessary  to 
give  the  statement  here. 

"  It  seems  also  expedient  to  add  here  a  brief  summary,  which 
was  drawn  up  for  me  by  the  said  Chaggi  Memet  the  Persian 
merchant  before  his  departure  from  this  city,  giving  some  par- 
ticulars regarding  the  city  of  Campion,  and  the  people  of  those 
parts.  And  these  I  shaU  repeat  for  the  benefit  and  advantage  of 
all  my  gentle  readers  in  few  words  and  under  various  heads  just 
as  he  set  them  down. 

"  The  city  of  Campion. .  .  .The  people  here  go  dressed  in  cotton 
stuff  of  a  black  colour,  which  in  winter  the  poor  have  lined  with 
wolf-skins  and  sheep-skins,  and  the  rich  with  costly  sables  and 
martens.  They  wear  black  caps  coming  to  a  point  like  sugar- 
loaves.  The  men  are  short  rather  than  tall.  They  wear  their 
beard  as  we  do,  and  especially  at  a  certain  time  of  the  year. 

"  Their  houses  are  built  after  our  fashion  with  brick  and  cut 
stone,  two  or  three  stories  high,  with  ceiUngs  painted  in  various 
colours  and  patterns.  There  are  no  end  of  painters  there  ;  and 
one  street  in  the  city  is  entirely  occupied  by  painters. 

"The  princes  of  that  country  to  exhibit  their  pomp  and 
grandeur  have  a  great  platform  made,  over  which  are  stretched 
two  canopies  of  silk  embroidered  with  gold  and  silver,  and  with 
many  pearls  and  other  gems  ;  and  on  this  they  and  their  friends 
take  their  places,  and  forty  or  fifty  slaves  take  up  the  whole  and 
carry  them  about  the  city  for  recreation.  Ordinary  noblemen 
go  about  in  a  simple  open  litter  without  ornament  carried  by  four 
to  six  men. 

"  Their  temples  are  made  after  the  fashion  of  our  churches 
with  columns  from  end  to  end  ;  and  they  are  enormous  things, 
fit  to  hold  four  or  five  thousand  people.  There  are  also  in  that 
city  two  remarkable  statues,  one  of  a  man,  the  other  of  a  woman, 
each  of  them  forty  feet  in  length  and  represented  extended  on  the 
ground^  ;  each  figure  is  of  one  solid  piece,  and  they  are  gilt  all 
over.     There  are  first-rate  sculptors  in  stone  there. 

"  They  get  their  blocks  of  stone  sometimes  from  a  distance  of 
two  or  three  months'  journey,  conveying  them  on  carts  that  have 
some  forty  very  high  wheels  with  iron  tires  ;  and  these  shall  be 
drawn  by  five  or  six  hundred  horses  or  mules. 

"  There  are  other  statues  of  smaller  size  that  have  six  or  seven 
heads  and  ten  hands,  each  hand  grasping  a  different  article,  as 
if  (for  example)  one  should  hold  a  serpent,  a  second  a  bird,  a  third 
a  flower,  and  so  on. 

^  See  preceding  note,  p.  277. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  295 

"  They  have  also  certain  monasteries  where  many  men  dwell 
leading  the  most  holy  life  possible.  For  they  have  the  doors  of 
their  chambers  walled  up  so  they  can  never  get  forth  again  as 
long  as  they  live.     People  come  every  day  with  food  for  them. 

"  There  are  also  no  end  of  the  same  class  who  go  about  the 
town  just  like  our  friars. 

"  Their  custom  is,  when  anyone  of  their  kin  shall  die,  to  wear 
white  clothes  for  many  days,  that  is  to  say  of  cotton  cloth.  Their 
clothes  are  made  after  the  same  fashion  as  ours,  reaching  to  the 
ground,  and  with  large  sleeves  like  those  of  ours  at  Venice  which 
we  call  a  gomedo^. 

"  They  have  the  art  of  printing  in  that  country,  and  their 
books  are  printed.  And  as  I  wanted  to  be  clear  on  the  point 
whether  their  manner  of  printing  was  the  same  as  our  own,  I 
took  the  Persian  one  day  to  see  the  printing  office  of  M.  Thomaso 
Giunti  at  San  Giuliano  :  and  when  he  saw  the  tin  types  and  the 
screwpresses  with  which  they  print,  he  said  that  they  seemed  to 
him  to  be  very  much  like  the  other^. 

"  Their  city  is  fortified  by  a  thick  wall,  filled  with  earth  inside, 
so  that  four  carriages  can  go  abreast  upon  it.  There  are  great 
towers  on  the  walls  and  artillery  planted  as  thickly  as  on  the 
Grand  Turk's.  There  is  a  great  ditch  which  is  dry,  but  can  be 
filled  with  water  at  pleasure. 

"  They  have  a  kind  of  oxen  of  great  size,  and  which  have  long 
hair  extremely  fine  and  white^. 

"  The  Cathayan  people  and  pagans  generally  are  prohibited 
from  leaving  their  native  country  and  going  about  the  world  as 
traders. 

"  On  the  other  side  of  the  desert  north  of  Corassam  as  far  as 
Samarcand,  the  lescilbas  or  people  of  the  green  caps  have  sway. 
Those  Green-caps  are  a  certain  race  of  Mahomedan  Tartars*  who 
wear  conical  caps  of  green  felt,  and  give  themselves  that  name  to 
distinguish  themselves  from  the  followers  of  the  Sofi,  their  deadly 
enemies,  who  are  the  rulers  of  Persia,  who  are  also  Mahomedans 
and  wear  red  caps^.  And  these  Green-caps  and  Red-caps  are 
continually  at  most  cruel  war  with  one  another  on  account  of 

1  "  Utrisque  (viris  et  feminis)  manicse  laxiores  longioresque  com- 
munes sunt,  quales  in  Italia  Venetorum  esse  solent."  (Trigautius, 
b.  i,  c.  8.) 

2  The  Hajji's  observation  must  have  been  superficial,  at  least  as 
regards  the  metal  types.  Printing  with  movable  types  (made  of  terra 
cotta)  was  invented  in  China  by  a  smith  named  Pishing  before  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  but  the  invention  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  followed  up.  Wood  printing  was  known  at  least  as  early  as 
A.D.  581  ;  and  about  904  engraving  on  stone  for  the  press  was  introduced. 
(Julien  in  Jour.  Asiat.,  ser.  iv,  tom.  ix,  509,  513;  Chine  Moderne, 
pp.  626  seqq.) 

3  The  Yak. 

*  Uzbeks.  ^  The  Kizil-bdsh. 


296  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

certain  religious  differences  and  frontier  disputes.  Among  the 
cities  that  the  Green-caps  have  under  their  rule  are  among  others 
at  present  Bochara  and  Samarcand,  each  of  which  has  a  prince  of 
its  own. 

"  Those  people  have  their  peculiar  sciences  which  they  call 
respectively  Chimia,  that  which  we  call  alchemy,  Limia  or  the 
science  of  attracting  love,  and  Siniia,  or  that  of  illusion^.  They 
have  no  coined  money,  but  every  gentleman  or  merchant  has  his 
gold  or  silver  made  into  small  rods,  and  these  are  divided  into 
small  fragments  for  spending,  and  this  is  the  practice  of  all  the 
inhabitants  of  Campion  and  Succuir. 

"  On  the  public  square  at  Campion  every  day  there  gather  a 
number  of  charlatans  who  practise  the  art  of  Simia,  and  by  means 
of  it,  in  the  middle  of  crowds  of  people,  they  will  exhibit  all  sorts 
of  wonders  ;  for  example  they  will  take  a  man  who  accompanies 
them  and  cleave  him  through  with  a  sword,  or  cut  his  arm  off, 
and  you'll  see  him  all  streaming  with  blood,  and  so  forth^." 
(From  the  "  Espositione  of  M.  Giov.  Batt.  Ramxisio,  prefixed  to 
the  travels  of  Marco  Polo,  in  the  second  vol.  of  the  Navigationi  e 
Viaggi,"  f.  14  vers,  to  f .  16  vers.) 


NOTE  XIX. 

ACCOUNT   OF   CATHAY   BY   A   TURKISH   DERVISH,    AS 
RELATED   TO   AUGER   GISLEN   DE   BUSBECK. 

(Circa  1560.) 
"  Now  let  me  tell  you  what  I  heard  about  the  city  and  country 
of  Cathay  from  a  certain  Turkish  vagabond.  He  was  one  of 
that  kind  of  sect  whose  devotion  consists  in  wandering  into  the 
most  distant  countries,  and  in  worshipping  God  in  the  loftiest 
mountains  and  in  the  wildest  deserts.  This  fellow  had  rambled 
over  well-nigh  the  whole  Eastern  "World,  and  among  other  things 
he  mentioned  that  he  had  come  across  the  Portuguese.  Then  he 
was  seized  with  a  strong  desire  to  see  the  city  and  kingdom  of 
Cathay,  and  for  that  purpose  attached  himself  to  a  company  of 
merchants  who  were  going  thither.     For  it  is  their  custom  to  join 

1  Kimia  (Ar.)  Alchemy  ;  Simia  (Pers.)  Enchantment  or  fascination. 
Limia  is  probably  a  factitious  word  made  on  the  jingling  principle 
spoken  of  in  note  at  p.   151. 

D'Herbelot  says,  however,  that  Simia  is  that  part  of  chemistry 
which  refers  to  the  preparation  of  metals  and  minerals,  and  that  Kimia 
Simia  is  used  to  express  chemistry  in  general.  There  is  another  Simia, 
he  adds,  which  has  for  its  subject  a  sort  of  divination  by  names  and 
numbers  ;    the  word  being  connected  with  ism,  a  name. 

2  See  Ibn  Batuta,  infra,  Vol.  iv. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  297 

together  in  large  numbers,  and  to  travel  to  the  frontiers  of  that 
empire  in  a  company.  There  is  no  passage  for  a  small  party  that 
way,  or  at  least  it  is  very  unsafe  ;  for  there  are  a  number  of 
treacherous  tribes  upon  the  way  whose  attacks  the  travellers  have 
to  dread  at  every  moment.  When  they  have  got  some  distance 
from  the  Persian  frontier  they  come  to  the  cities  of  Sammarcand, 
BoRCHARA,  Taschan,  and  other  places  occupied  by  the  successors 
of  Demirlani.  After  these  there  are  extensive  deserts  and 
inhabited  countries,  some  occupied  by  savage  and  inhospitable 
tribes,  others  by  people  of  more  civilised  character,  but  everywhere 
scantily  supplied  with  food  and  forage,  so  that  everyone  has  to 
take  his  victuals  and  other  necessaries  along  with  him,  and  this 
involves  a  large  number  of  camels  to  carry  the  loads.  Such  large 
companies  of  men  and  beasts  they  call  caravans.  After  a  fatiguing 
journey  of  many  months  they  came  to  a  defile  which  forms,  as  it 
were,  the  barrier  gate  of  Cathay.  For  a  great  part  of  that  empire 
consists  of  inland  country,  and  here  there  was  an  inclosing  chain 
of  rugged  and  precipitous  mountains,  affording  no  passage  except 
through  a  narrow  strait  in  which  a  garrison  was  stationed  on  the 
king's  part^.  There  the  question  is  put  to  the  merchants,  '  What 
they  bring,  whence  they  come,  and  how  many  of  them  are  there  ? 
The  answer  being  given,  the  king's  guards  pass  it  by  signal — by 
smoke  if  in  daylight,  by  fire  if  by  night — to  the  next  watch- 
tower  ;  they  to  the  next,  and  so  on,  till  in  a  few  hours  the  message 
reaches  the  king  at  Cathay  :  a  thing  which  would  by  any  other 
communication  require  many  days^.  The  king  sends  back  his 
orders  in  the  same  manner  and  with  equal  rapidity,  saying  whether 
all  shall  be  admitted,  or  onl^?-  a  part,  or  the  whole  put  off.  If  they 
are  allowed  to  enter  they  proceed  under  charge  of  certain  leaders, 
finding  halting-places  arranged  at  proper  distances  where  every- 
thing needed  for  food  or  clothing  is  to  be  had  at  reasonable  rates, 
until  they  reach  Cathay  itself.  On  arriving  there  they  have  each 
to  declare  what  they  bring,  and  then  they  make  a  complimentary 
present  to  the  king,  as  each  thinks  fit.  He,  however,  is  accus- 
tomed to  pay  for  what  he  wants  at  a  fair  price*.  The  rest  of  their 
goods  they  sell  or  barter,  a  day  being  appointed  for  their  return, 
up  to  which  they  have  full  liberty  to  do  business.  For  the  people 
of  Cathay  do  not  approve  of  the  prolonged  stay  of  foreigners 
among  them,  lest  their  indigenous  manners  should  be  corrupted 
by  some  foreign  infection.  And  so  the  merchants  are  sent  back 
stage  by  stage  along  the  same  road  that  they  followed  in  coming. 
"  This  wanderer  stated  that  they  were  a  people  of  extraordinary 
accomplishments,  highly  civilised  and  polite  in  their  mode  of 
living,  and  had  a  religion  of  their  own,  which  was  neither  Christian, 
Jewish,  nor  Mahomedan,  but  except  as  regards  ceremonies  came 

1  Bokhara  ;  Tashkand  ;    Tamerlane.  ^  Supra,  p.  274. 

^  Infra,  11,  pp.  233-4.  *  Supra,  p.  130. 


298  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

nearest  to  the  Jewish.  For  many  centuries  past  the  art  of 
printing  has  been  in  use  among  them,  and  books  printed  with 
types,  which  he  had  seen  there,  sufficiently  proved  the  fact.  For 
this  they  made  use  of  paper  made  from  the  slough  and  envelopes 
of  silkworms,  which  was  so  thin  that  it  bore  the  impression  of  the 
types  on  one  side  only,  whilst  the  other  side  was  left  blank^. 

"  There  were  many  taverns  in  that  city..  .  .^  The  odour  of 
the  perfume  called  musk,  which  is  the  exudation  of  a  certain  little 
animal  about  as  big  as  a  kid.  Nothing  fetched  so  great  a  price 
among  them  as  a  lion  ;  for  this  beast  does  not  occur  in  those 
countries,  and  they  look  on  it  with  immense  admiration,  and  give 
any  price  for  it. 

"  So  much  for  the  kingdom  of  Cathay,  as  I  heard  told  by  that 
vagabond  ;  let  him  answer  for  its  truth.  For  it  might  easily  be 
that  whilst  my  questions  referred  to  Cathay,  his  answers  referred 
to  some  other  country  thereabouts,  and  in  fact  that  we  were 
playing  at  cross  purposes.  But  when  I  had  heard  so  much,  I 
thought  I  would  ask  if  he  had  not  brought  back  from  his  travels 
any  curious  kind  of  a  root  or  fruit  or  pebble  or  what  not  ? 
'Nothing  whatever,'  he  said,  'except  this  little  root  that  I 
carry  about  with  me,  and  if  I  am  knocked  up  with  fatigue  or  cold, 
by  chewing  and  swallowing  a  tiny  morsel  of  it,  I  feel  quite  warmed 
and  stimulated^.'  And  so  saying,  he  gave  it  me  to  taste,  telling 
me  to  be  careful  to  take  but  the  smallest  quantity.  My  doctor 
William  (who  was  alive  then)  tasted  it,  and  got  his  mouth  into 
a  state  of  inflammation  from  its  burning  quality.  He  declared  it 
to  be  regular  wolfsbane."  (From  Busbequii  Epistolce,  Amster- 
dam, 1661,  pp.  326-330.) 


1  This  is  well  known  as  a  characteristic  of  Chinese  printing.  Paper 
in  China  is  made  from  bamboo,  from  the  bark  of  mulberry,  of  a  hibiscus 
(Rosa  Sinensis),  and  of  a  tree  called  chu  (Broussonetia  Papyrifera).  "All 
bark  paper  is  strong  and  tough  ;  it  has  rays  crossing  it,  so  that  when 
torn  you  would  think  it  was  made  of  silk  fibres.  This  is  why  it  is  called 
Mien-chi  or  silk  paper  "  (Chinese  author  translated  by  Julien — see 
Chine  Moderne,  pp.  622  seqq.).  Duhalde,  however,  does  mention  a  kind 
of  paper  made  from  "  the  cods  the  silk-worms  spin  "  (ext.  in  Astley,  iv, 
p.  158).  [It  is  also  made  from  cotton.  See  a  paper  in  T'oung  pao, 
1908,  p.  589.] 

2  An  unindicated  hiatus  in  the  original. 

^  This  was  certainly  Jinseng  {supra,  p.  292). 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  299 

NOTE    XX. 
ON    THE    MAPS    IN    THIS    WORK. 

I.       MAP  OF  ASIA  IN  THE  FIRST  HALF  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY. 

This  is  intended  to  elucidate  the  narrative  of  the  fourteenth 
century  travellers,  from  John  of  Monte  Corvino  to  Ibn  Batuta, 
as  far  as  was  possible  without  attempting  greater  detail  than  my 
time  or  knowledge  would  permit.  The  basis  is  a  trace  from  Keith 
Johnston's  Map  in  the  Royal  Atlas  ;  substituting  for  present 
political  divisions  the  chief  of  those  which  existed  at  the  period 
in  question,  and  inserting  (in  general)  only  those  names  of  places 
which  occur  in  the  narratives  and  notes  of  this  collection.  Before 
preparing  the  map,  I  had  at  different  times  consulted  maps  of 
the  period  by  Klaproth  (in  Tablemix  Historiques  de  I'Asie), 
D'Ohsson,  and  Spriiner  [Historical  Atlas,  German),  and  at  a  later 
date  the  map  attached  to  Pauthier's  Marco  Polo  ;  but  latterly 
none  of  these,  except  the  last,  have  been  within  reach,  and  the 
map  has  in  the  main  been  compiled  gradually  along  with  the 
matter  which  it  illustrates.  The  theory  of  the  indications  was 
to  show  all  political  divisions,  and  all  names  still  extant,  in  black  ; 
obsolete  names  used  by  European  writers  in  red  ;  and  obsolete 
names  only  used  by  Asiatics  in  red  also,  but  with  the  slope  of  the 
letters  reversed.  I  am  afraid,  however,  that  these  minutiae  have 
sometimes  been  overlooked  by  myself. 

II.       CATALAN    MAP    OF    I375. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  an  acceptable  pendant  to  the  map  last 
noticed  would  be  a  copy  of  one  showing  the  geography  of  the 
same  period  as  it  was  conceived  by  the  people  of  the  time.  The 
Carta  Catalana  of  1375,  in  the  Imperial  Library  at  Paris,  as 
lithographed  in  vol.  xiv,  part  11,  of  the  Notices  et  Extraits,  with 
a  description  by  MM.  Buchon  and  Tastu,  was  the  only  model 
accessible  ;  but  at  the  same  time  it  is  probably  the  best  that 
could  have  been  taken  for  the  purpose.  The  original,  as  shown 
in  the  lithographed  facsimiles,  is  complicated  and  perplexed  with 
many  radiations  of  roses  des  Vents  and  other  geometrical  lines, 
with  numerous  rude  drawings  and  long  rubrics,  and  by  the  fact 
that  to  read  half  the  names  and  inscriptions  3^ou  have  to  turn  the 
map  upside  down.  All  this,  together  with  the  character  of  the 
writing,  renders  the  map  as  published  difficult  to  appreciate 
without  considerable  study,  and  it  is  trusted  that  the  trouble 
taken  to  present  its  geographical  substance  here  in  a  more  lucid 
and  compact  form  will  not  have  been  thrown  away^. 

^  [The  original  Catalan  Map  of  1375  from  the  Library  of  King 
Charles  V  of  France  is  now  kept  in  the  Mazarine  Gallerj^  at  the  Biblio- 
thfeque  nationale,  Paris  (No.  119  of  Morel- Fatio's  Catalogue  of  Spanish 


300  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Those  sheets  of  the  map  which  pertain  to  Asia  have  alone  been 
copied.  The  scale  is  one-fourth  that  of  the  original.  All  the 
embellishments,  geometrical  lines,  and  long  rubrics,  have  been 
omitted,  preserving  the  essential  points  of  the  latter,  where  it  has 
been  possible  to  do  so  in  few  words.  On  the  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  Black  Sea,  which  are  thickly  studded  with  names  in 
the  original,  only  a  few  have  been  selected,  but  in  the  remainder 
of  the  map  scarcely  any  have  been  intentionally  omitted  except 
a  few  on  the  Caspian.  In  deciphering  the  names  the  printed 
transcripts  of  the  French  editors  have  been  consulted,  but  not 
servilely  followed^. 

It  may  be  observed  that  in  the  original  facsimiles  the  sheets 
do  not  fit  to  one  another  properly.  This  is  especially  the  case 
with  sheets  iii  and  iv,  and  is  obvious  even  in  my  reduction,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  fragment  shown  of  the  Arctic  Sea,  and  in  the 
faulty  junction  of  the  coast  lines  of  the  Peninsula  of  India.  We 
find  also  a  pair  of  duplicate  names  occurring  in  these  two  sheets 
{Chabol  and  Camav),  besides  other  instances  of  apparent  duplica- 
tion in  sheet  iv.  This  is  probably  the  result  of  inexpert  com- 
pilation from  different  authorities,  and  I  have  seen  the  same  thing 
in  modern  published  maps  of  some  pretension. 

The  date  of  the  map  has  been  fixed,  on  sufficient  grounds  I 
believe,  to  1375  ;  but  the  data  from  which  it  has  been  constructed 
are  naturally  not  all  of  one  period.  Thus  Cathay  is  represented 
as  the  Empire  of  the  Great  Can  Holubeim^  ;    i.e.,  not  Olug  Beig, 

MSS).  Buchon  made  a  preparatory  study  of  this  document  for  the 
Notices  et  Extraits,  Vol.  xiii,  part  11,  but  only  a  few  copies  were  struck 
off ;  later  Buchon,  with  the  help  of  Tastu,  resumed  the  work,  which 
finally  appeared  in  Vol.  xiv,  part  11,  of  the  same  collection,  with  a  very 
poor  lithographic  reproduction.  Viscount  de  Santarem  in  his  magnifi- 
cent collection  of  maps  reproduced  in  colour  the  Catalan  Map  (1841) ; 
again  Leopold  Delisle  in  his  Choix  de  documents  geographiques  (Paris, 
1883)  gave  a  faithful  reproduction  of  the  map  in  heliogravure.  I  have 
myself  given  a  good  phototypic  reproduction  of  two  sheets  from  the 
original  map  in  my  paper  L' Extreme-Orient  dans  l' Atlas  Catalan  de 
Charles  V  roi  de  France  (Ext.  du  Bull,  de  geog.  hist,  et  descriptive,  1895), 
Paris,  1895,  8vo.] 

1  In  the  names  extracted  below  there  are  I  think  scarcely  any 
variations  from  the  French  readings,  though  corrections  of  the  original 
have  been  suggested  occasionally.  But  in  Central  Asia  there  are 
several  open  to  amendment,  as  where  they  read  Fista  and  Evi  for  Sistd 
and  Eri,  thus  obscuring  the  otherwise  obvious  identification  of  the 
places  Seistan  and  Heri  or  Herat. 

2  [This  is  the  text  concerning  the  Great  Khan  : 

Lo  maior  princeps  de  tots  los  Tartres 
ha  nom  holubeim  |  q  uol  div  gran  Ca  \ 
A   quest  emperador  es  molt  pus  rich 
de  tots  los  altres  emperadors  de  tot  lo 
mon  I  aquest  em:prador  guarden  xii  mil 
caualles  I  z  han  iiij.  capitans  \  aquels  ah 
XII.  millia  caualles  \  e  cascu  capitan  va 
en  la  cart  absa  copaya  per  iij   meses 
de  I'any  \  e  axi  dels  altres  per  orda.] 


The  Far  East  in  XHh  Catalan  Map  of  1375. 


0/  Section  7  of  the  whole 


Reproduced  for  the  Hakluyt  Socuty  by  Donald  Macbeth. 


The  Far  East  in  the  Catalan  Map  of  1375. 

Eiiiteni  Portion.     Pai-t  of  Section  S  of  the  wImIc 


icproduMd  for  ihe  llakluyt  Society  by  DonoU  Macbitii.  London. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  3OI 

as  the  French  editors  say  (a  Great  Khan  not  known  to  history), 
but  Kuhldi,  who  died  in  1294I;  Medeia  or  the  Middle  Empire  of 
the  Tartars  is  shown  as  ruled  by  King  Chabech  ;  i.e.,  Guebek  or 
Kapak,  who  reigned  some  time  between  13 10  and  1320  ;  and 
Sarra  or  Kipchak  is  under  the  Lord  Janibech  ;  i.e.,  Janibeg,  the 
son  of  Mahomed  Uzbek,  who  reigned  1342-56. 

One  of  the  aids  in  compiling  this  map  was  almost  certainly 
the  Portulano  Mediceo,  now  in  the  Laurentian  Library,  or  perhaps 
it  would  be  more  safe  to  say  that  both  copied  from  some  common 
source.  That  they  did  so  to  a  certain  extent  will  be  evident  from 
a  comparison  of  the  coasts  of  Arabia  and  Persia  and  the  west 
coast  of  India  with  the  names  entered,  as  they  are  on  this  map 
and  on  the  map  from  the  Portulano  engraved  by  Baldello  Boni  in 
the  Atlas  to  his  //  Milione^. 

For  Cathay  and  the  countries  adjoining^  it  we  can  trace  Marco 
Polo  as  one  of  the  authorities,  and  perhaps  Odoric  as  another. 
To  the  former  certainly  belong  Calajan  {i.e.  Carazan),  Vociam, 
Zardandan,  Michem  {Mien),  Penta  {Pentam),  and  many  more 
names  found  here  ;  to  the  latter  perhaps  Zayton  and  Fozo. 
Cincolam  and  Mingio  are  found  in  Odoric  and  not  in  Polo,  but 
they  are  located  here  with  a  correctness  which  seems  to  imply 
independent  knowledge. 

Much  cannot  be  said,  however,  for  correctness  of  detail  in 
Cathay.  We  have  a  good  approximation  to  its  general  form  and 
position  in  the  map  of  Asia  ;  Chanbalech  is  placed  correctly  at 
the  northern  extremity  of  the  empire*,  and  Cincolam  and  Caynam 
{Hainan)  at  the  southern,  whilst  Zayton  and  Mingio  (Ningpo) 

^  Kiiblai  is  called  Quolibey  in  Wadding's  version  of  Pope  Nicholas 
Ill's  letter  to  the  Khan  of  1278  {infra,  iii,  p.  5). 

2  Baldello's  is  not  a  perfect  representation  of  the  original,  which 
contains  half  effaced  traces  of  a  good  deal  that  he  has  not  copied. 
^  [We  find  also  Japan  : 

Japan  insula,  a  M.  Paulo 
Veneto  zipangri  dicta, 
olim  Chrijse,  a  Magna 
Cham  olim  hello  petita 
sed  frustra] 
*  ICjuitas  de 

chanbalech  magni 
canis  catdyo.] 
[This  is  the  text  concerning  Chambalech  : 
Sapiats  q  de  casta  la  ciutat  de  chambalech  auja  vna  gran  ciutat  antigamet 
q  auja  nota  guaribalu  \  elo  grd  cha  troba  p  le.'^tornomia  q  a  questa  ciutat  se 
deuja  reuelar  cotra  el  axi  q  feula  desabitare  feu  fer  aqui  esta  ciutat  de 
Chabalech.  E  a  enuiro  aquesta  ciutat  xxiiij.  legues  \  e  es  malt  ben  murada 
e  es  a  cayre  si  qd  cascun  \  cayre  ha.  vj.  legues  \  e  ha  dalt  xx  passes,  e  x 
passes  de  gros  \  E  ay  xii.  partes  e  ay  1  gran  tar  a 
en  q  sta  vn  seyn  q  sona  a^  u  son  a  abans  \  axi  pus 
ha  sonat  no  gossa  anar  negu  p  villa  \  e  a  cascuna 
porta  guarden  mill  homes  no  p  temessa 
mas  p  honor  p  d'l  Senyor.] 


302  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

appropriately  occupy  intermediate  positions.  Vociam  and  Zar- 
dandan  are  rightly  placed  on  the  south-west  frontier  towards 
Michem  (Ava),  and  Cansio  {Kanchau)  properly  stands  on  the 
north-west  frontier  towards  the  desert.  But  in  the  rest  of  the 
details  we  have  confusion  or  darkness.  Many  of  the  names  in 
the  interior  can  be  recognised  but  doubtfully  or  not  at  all. 
I  suspect,  however,  that  most  of  them  are  from  corrupt  copies  of 
Marco  Polo.  And  it  may  be  added  that  the  representation  of 
China  and  Cathay  in  the  geography  of  Magini  at  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century  is  decidedly  less  correct  in  general  position  and 
almost  as  wild  in  details  as  this.  [Yule  has  written  since  in 
Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  1J4  :  "In  this  map  it  seems  to  me  Marco  Polo's 
influence,  I  will  not  say  on  geography,  but  on  map-making,  is  seen 
to  the  greatest  advantage.  His  Book  is  the  basis  of  the  Map  as 
regards  Central  and  Further  Asia,  and  partially  as  regards  India. 
His  names  are  often  sadly  perverted,  and  it  is  not  always  easy  to 
understand  the  view  that  the  compiler  took  of  his  itineraries. 
Still  we  have  Cathay  admirably  placed  in  the  true  position 
of  China,  as  a  great  Empire  filling  the  south-east  of  Asia.  The 
Eastern  Peninsula  of  India  is  indeed  absent  altogether,  but  the 
Peninsula  of  Hither  India  is  for  the  first  time  in  the  History  of 
Geography  represented  with  a  fair  approximation  to  its  correct 
form  and  position,  and  Sumatra  also  {Jaua)  is  not  badly  placed. 
Carajan,  Vocian,  Mien,  and  Bangala,  are  located  with  a  happy 
conception  of  their  relation  to  Cathay  and  to  India.  Many  details 
in  India  foreign  to  Polo's  book,  and  some  in  Cathay  (as  well  as 
in  Turkestan  and  Siberia,  which  have  been  entirely  derived  from 
other  sources)  have  been  embodied  in  the  Map.  But  the  study 
of  his  Book  has,  I  conceive,  been  essentially  the  basis  of  those 
great  portions  which  I  have  specified,  and  the  additional  matter 
has  not  been  in  mass  sufficient  to  perplex  the  compiler.  Hence 
we  really  see  in  this  Map  something  like  the  idea  of  Asia  that  the 
Traveller  himself  would  have  presented,  had  he  bequeathed  a 
Map  to  us."  In  my  study  of  the  Far  East  in  the  Catalan  Map, 
I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  cartographer's  knowledge 
of  Eastern  Asia  is  drawn  entirely  from  Marco  Polo.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that  Manzi  does  not  appear  in  the  Catalan  Map.     H.  C] 

The  7548  islands  ascribed  to  the  Eastern  Archipelago  are 
certainly  derived  from  Polo^. 

As  in  the  geographical  ideas  of  Ibn  Batuta,  and  it  would  seem 


1  Murray's  Polo  (ii,  c.  4)  has  7448  islands;   Pauthier's  (p.  250)  7459. 
[This  is  the  text  concerning  these  islands  : 

En  la  mar  de  les  indies  son  illes 

7548.  delsquals  no  podem  resp 

ondre  assi  les  marauelozes  cozas 

guj  son  en  eles  d'or  z  dergent 

z  despecies  z  de  pedres  p'ec'oses.'] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  3O3 

of  Abulfeda,  one  great  river  with  its  radiating  branches  extends  all 
over  Cathay. 

The  eastern  peninsula  of  India  is  omitted  altogether,  or  con- 
fused with  the  Island  of  Java  (probably  Sumatra)^.  In  the 
extreme  south-east  is  a  great  Island  of  Taprobane.  It  exhibits 
a  number  of  cities,  the  names  of  which  seem  to  be  imaginary, 
and  it  is  stated  in  the  rubric  to  be  the  remotest  island  of  the  east 
called  by  the  Tartars  Great  Kauli.  Kao  li  was  the  Chinese  and 
Tartar  name  for  Corea-,  and  this  great  Taprobane  is  perhaps  a 
jumble  of  Corea  and  Japan^. 

The  great  river  which  separates  India  from  China,  rising  in 
the  mountains  of  Baldassia  {Badahhshan),  and  flowing  into  the 
Bay  of  Bengal,  appears  to  be  a  confusion  between  Indus  and 
Ganges,  a  confusion  still  more  elaborately  developed  in  the 
map  of  Fra  Mauro.  Bengal  a  itself  is  placed  with  admirable 
correctness. 

The  width  of  the  Great  Desert  of  Central  Asia  is  greatly  over- 

^  In  the  facsimile  the  name  is  written  J  ana.  The  same  clerical 
error  occurs  in  Jordanus  (p.  30),  and  perhaps  he  was  one  of  the  authori- 
ties used.  For  near  it  we  have  also  the  Island  of  the  Naked  Folk  which 
that  friar  mentions.  In  Jana  also  the  map  shows  us  the  Regio  Femi- 
narum,  which  Polo,  Conti,  Jordanus,  and  Hiuen  Tsang  all  concur  in 
placing  in  the  western  part  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  But  a  Chinese 
authority  quoted  by  Pauthier  places  it  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Java  {Polo,  iii,  ch.  33  ;  Conti,  p.  20  ;  Jordanus,  p.  44  ;  Vie  de  H.  Thsang, 
p.  208  ;    Pauthier's  Polo,  p.  559). 

[This  is  the  text  concerning  Jana  : 

"  En  la  ilia  I  ana  ha  molts  arbres  leny  ayloes,  camphora,  sandels, 
species  subtils,  garenga,  nou  moscada,  arbres  de  canyela,  laqual  es  pus 
preciosa  de  qual  se  vol  altra  de  tola  la  India  ;  e  son  axi  mateix  aqui 
magis  e  folii."'\ 

[This  is  the  text  concerning  the  Naked  Folk  south  of  Caynam  : 
Insula  nudo^- 
in  q"-  holes  z  muliers 
portdt  vnii  folum 
ante  z  ret"  alium. 
Another  text  refers  to  the  north  of  Taprobana  : 
Aquesta  gent  son  saluaiges 
q  uien  de  peyx  cruu  z  beuen 
de  la  mar  \  z  van  tots  nuus.] 
[On  the  Kingdom  of  Women  [Niu  kwo],  see  G.  Schlegel,  Problemes 
geographiques,  T'oung  pao,  iii,  1892.] 

2  V.  infra,  ill,  pp.  113,  125. 

3  [This  is  the  text  concerning  this  island  of  Taprobana  : 

La  ilia  trapobana  \  aquesta  es  appellade  ^  los  tartres 
magna  caulij  derrera  de  oriet  I  ejt  aquesta  ilia  ha  gens 
de  gran  dife'ncia  de  les  altres  \  En  alguns  muts  de  aquesta 
ilia  ha  homes  de  gran  forma,  go  es  de  xii.  coldes  j  axi 
com  a  gigants  \  z  molt  negres  \  z  no  usants  de  raho 
abans  menjen  los  homes  blanchs  esirays  sils  podn 
auer  \  In  aquesta  ilia  ha  cascun  any.     ij  estius  z  IJ 
juerns  |  z  dues  uegades  layn  hi  florexen  les  arbres 
z  les  herbes  \  z  es  la  derera  ilia  de  les  indies  \  z  ha 
bunda  molt  en  or  z  en  argent  \  z  en  pedres  pregioses.'] 


304  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

estimated,  and  this  has  the  effect  of  shoving  up  Kamul  and  other 
cities  of  Eastern  Turkestan  into  immediate  contact  with  Siberia 
and  the  Eastern  Volga  regions. 

In  the  extreme  north-east  of  Asia  we  have  the  nations  of  Gog 
and  Magog,  shut  up  within  mountains  by  Alexander  the  Great  to 
await  the  latter  days^. 

The  Orontes  is  represented  as  a  branch  diverging  from 
Euphrates  ;  and  in  this  we  are  again  reminded  of  a  similar  error 
of  Ibn  Batuta's^.  The  Tigris  is  connected  with  the  Euphrates  by 
a  branch  or  canal  (the  traces  of  which  seem  really  to  exist)  near 
Baghdad  (Baldach),  but  flows  into  the  sea  by  a  separate  mouth. 
Another  great  river,  a  duplicate  of  Tigris,  having  no  prototype  in 
nature,  but  perhaps  an  amalgamation  of  the  two  Zabs  and  other 
rivers  east  of  Tigris,  flows  from  the  seas  of  Argis  and  Marga 
(Lakes  Van  and  Urmia),  and  enters  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the 
eastward. 

The  Oxus  flows  into  the  Caspian  in  the  latitude  of  Urganj  after 
passing  that  city  (Organci).     There  is  no  indication  of  the  AraP. 

Notwithstanding  these  and  many  other  errors  the  map  is  a 
remarkable  production  for  the  age.  The  general  form  of  Asia  is 
fairly  conceived  ;  the  Peninsula  of  India  is  shown  I  believe  for 
the  first  time  with  some  correctness  of  form  and  direction.  In 
these  respects  the  map  is  greatly  superior  to  the  more  ambitious 
work  of  Era  Mauro  in  the  following  century.  The  Catalan 
geographer  was  probably  more  of  a  practical  man,  and  did  not 
perplex  himself  and  distort  his  geography  with  theories  about  the 
circular  form  of  the  inhabited  earth.  Unluckily,  however,  he 
seems  to  have  allowed  his  topography  towards  the  north  and 
south  to  be  compressed,  by  no  theories  indeed,  but  by  the  limits 
of  his  parchment ! 

The  following  is  an  orderly  list  of  the  names  shown  on  our 


^  The  name  given  to  the  mountains  (Caspis)  shows  the  curious 
jumble  between  the  Wall  of  Derbend  and  the  Wall  of  China,  between 
the  Caucasian  nations,  the  Tartars,  and  the  Gog  Magog  of  Ezekiel  and 
the  Apocalypse,  which  was  involved  in  this  legend.  It  is  very  old,  for 
it  is  found  in  the  Pseudo-Callisthenes  edited  by  Mtiller  (pp.  139,  143). 
[See  Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  56.]  It  seems  that  a  prince  of  the  Shut-Up 
Nations  found  his  waj'^  out  in  the  sixteenth  century,  but  he  had  better 
have  stayed  where  he  was  :  "  It  is  reported  by  certain  writers  that  the 
King  of  Tabor  came  from  those  parts  to  seek  Francis  I  of  France  and 
Charles  V  the  Emperor,  and  other  Christian  princes,  in  order  to  gain 
them  secretly  over  to  Judaism.  But  by  the  command  of  Charles  V 
at  Mantua  in  1540  his  temerity  was  punished  in  the  fire."  (Magini, 
Geografia,  Venet.,  1598,  f.  171,  v.) 

2  Infra,  Ibn  Batuta,  Vol.  iv. 

8  In  the  map  of  Marino  Sanudo  dating  from  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  besides  the  Caspian,  which  he  calls  M.  Yrcanum, 
we  have  a  smaller  sea  in  the  position  of  the  Aral  called  M.  Caspium, 
and  then  yet  another  and  still  smaller  into  which  the  Gyoit  flows. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 


305 


reduction  of  the  map  in  some  of  its  most  interesting  portions,  with 
as  many  identifications  as  I  have  been  able  to  suggest^. 


IN  SHEET  ivbis^. 

Countries  North  of  the  Black  Sea. 

"rossia,  burgaria,  cumania,  gatzaria,  allania." 


R.  Tiulo 
R.  Lussom 


R.  Tanay 

Torachi 

Rostaor 

Titer 

Perum 

Baltachinta 


Branchicha 


Chiva 
Canada 
Calamit 
Cembaro 
Soldaya 
Caff  A. 
Porto  Pisano 
Tana 


The  Dniester ;  ancient  Tyras^ ;  Tvirlu  of 
the  Mahomedans. 

The  Dnieper.  Sharifuddin  calls  the 
Dnieper  Uzi'^,  which  is  perhaps  the  name 
here  {L'Uzi). 

The  Don  (Tanais). 

Torshok  N.W.  of  Tver. 

Rostov. 

Tver. 

Novgorod  ?  where  there  was  a  great  idol 
called  Perum  ^. 

Poltava?  Timur  returning  from  the  sack 
of  Moscov  took  guides  to  travel  across 
the  steppes  by  way  of  Balchimkin  (P.  de 
la  Croix,  ii,  365) .  That  translator  gives 
as  explanation  of  the  name  "  les  Palus 
Meotides  "  ;  but  this  is  probably  one  of 
his  random  shots. 

Somewhere  near  Czernikov,  where  we  hear 
of  a  great  forest  of  Branki   (Magini). 

■  There  was  also  a  city  Bransko  in  the 
same  quarter. 

Kiev. 

Caminietz  ? 

Eupatoria  ?  on  Kalamita  Bay. 

Balaclava  (see  iii,  p.  14). 

Sudak. 

Taganrog. 
Azov. 


1  A  few  of  these  identifications  only  are  given  by  the  French  editors. 
M.  Elie  de  la  Primaudaie,  in  his  Etudes  sur  le  Commerce  au  Moyen  Age, 
has  identified  nearly  all  the  names  on  the  Black  Sea  and  Caspian  Coasts. 
These  I  have  not  repeated  here. 

2  Sheets  of  L.  Delisle's  collection. 

3  "  Nullo  tardior  amne  Tyras  "  (Ovid,  Epist.  ex  Pont.,  iv,  10).  For 
Turlu,  see  Not.  et  Extraits,  xiii,  274. 

*  Petis  de  la  Croix,  ii,  360. 

^  Gwagnini,  Sarmatia  Europ.  descripta,  Moscovia,  f.  8-9. 

C.  Y.  C.   I.  20 


?o6 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


Larissa 

Damiyat 

Casar  Bochir 

Alexandria. 

Chayre 

Babillonia 

Bussi 

Mijnere 

leuch  (read  Seuth) 

Chossa 

Tegia 


Ansee 

Lialeyse  (read  S- 

Sohan 

Hurma 

DONCOLA 


Coale 

Dobaha 

Sobaha 

Ciutat  Sioene 
Insula  Meroe 
Ciutat  de  Nubia 
Al-Bayadi 
Desert  de  Gipte 


Egypt. 

El-Arish. 
Damietta. 
Abukir. 

Cairo. 

Old  Cairo  (iii,  p.  263). 

Bush,  near  Beni  Suef  (see  Ibn  Bat.,  11,  95). 

Minieh. 

Siut. 

Kus  (see  Ibn  Batuta,  iv). 

?  near  Luqsor.  Possibly  should  read 
Begia,  a  station  of  the  Bejah  tribes  of 
the  Red  Sea  desert  who  held  the  emerald 
mines  of  Berenice  ;  see  quotation  from 
Mas'udi,  supra,  p.  230. 

Esneh. 

Silsilah. 

Assuan. 

Darmut  ? 

(Old  Donkola.)  The  Dominican  Bartholo- 
mew of  Tivoli  was  made  Missionary 
Bishop  of  Donkola  in  1330  (Le  Quien, 
iii,   1414). 

Ghalwa  of  Edrisi  (i,  33). 

Al-Dabah,  above  Donkola. 

Sohah,  the  ruins  of  which  are  near  Khar- 
tum ? 

From  the  ancients. 

Nudbah  of  Edrisi,  i,  25. 
Little  Oasis  ? 
Libyan  Desert. 


Mns.  of  Barchium, 

Meda 

Lidebo 

Chos 

Aydip 

Eliim 

essiongeber 

Guid6 

Semin 


Coast  of  Red  Sea. 

Suakin  ? 

Aidhdb. 

Kosseir. 

A  double  of  Aidhab. 

Exodus  (xv,  27). 

{Deiit.  ii,  8  ;  i  Kings  ix,  26). 

Jiddah. 

Zahid  ? 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 


307 


Armenia,  the  Euphrates,  and  Interior  Syria. 


Poperti 

Savast 

Scisia 

Malmistra 

Layazo 

G.  of  Cararaela 


Malasia 
Brisom 
Benzab 
Tira 
Serug 
Domasch 
Mt.  Ermon 
,,    Sanir 


„    Jilahd     . 

„     PiSGA. 

,,    Abari 

,,    Nebo. 
„    de  Rubeo 
Sea  of  Gamora 


Baiburt. 

Sivas  (Sebaste). 

Sis  (ill,  p.  139). 

Mississa  (Mopsuestia) . 

Aias  (ill,  p.  139). 

(Read  Cannamela)  G.  of  Scanderun.  The 
castle  Cannamella  between  Scanderiin 
and  Malmistra  is  mentioned  by  Wili- 
brand  of  Oldenburg,  xi. 

Malatia. 

Castle  of  Parshiam  ?  see  Ritter,  x,  866,  868. 

Membaj  or  Benbij  P 

(Read  Biro)  Bir. 

Seruj  or  Sarug,  S.W.  of  Urfa. 

Damascus. 

Herman. 

Shenir  of  Deuter.  iii ;  Sanyr  of  Friar 
Burchard  iii,  7,  8,  for  the  S.  part  of 
Hermon  ;   see  also  Prairies  d'Or,  iv,  87. 

Gilead. 

Abarim,  see  Numb,  xxvii,  12,  and  Deut. 
xxxii,  49. 


Dead  Sea. 


R.  Edil 

COSTRAMA. 

Borgar 
Jorman 


Pascherti 
Fachatim 
Sebur 


IN    SHEET   V. 

Country  North  of  the  Caspian. 

EMPIRE    OF    SARRAY. 

.     The  Athil  or  Volga. 

.     City  of  Bolgar  (see  iv,  Ibn  Batuta). 

.  Julman  of  Rashid  and  Masdlak-al-absdr, 
supposed  the  country  on  the  Kama, 
asserted  to  be  called  also  R.  Cholma  (see 
Not.  et  Extr.,  xiii,  274).  The  Maps  still 
show  a  place  on  the  Viatka,  tributary  of 
the  Kama,  called  Churmansk. 

.     Bashkird. 
Viatka  .^ 

.     Sibir,  ancient  city  near  Tobolsk. 


3o8 


PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 


City  of  Marmorea 


Mns.  of  Sebur 
Zizera 

Berchimam  . 
City  of  Sarra. 
Agitarchan    . 


Mercator  and  Hondius  (loth  Ed.,  1630) 
and  N.  Sanson  (1650)  show  Jorman  on 
the  south  of  the  Kama  R.,  Pascherti  in 
the  position  of  Ufa,  the  present  head- 
quarter of  the  Bashkirs,  Sagatin  (  = 
Fachatim  of  the  text)  at  the  head  of  the 
Ufa  River,  Marmorea  on  the  Bielaya 
south  of  Ufa.  Blaeu  (1662)  has  these, 
similarly  placed,  except  Jorman.  He 
has,  however,  lurmen  as  a  tract  between 
Astracan  and  the  laik.  I  suspect  these 
names  in  the  main  were  mere  traditions 
from  old  maps  like  the  Catalana. 

Altai  and  T'ien  Shan. 

The  Jazirah  or  Island  on  the  Volga  (nr. 
Zaritzin). 

Probably  the  Upper  City  of  Sarai. 

Or  Sarai  (see  iii,  p.  82). 

Astracan. 


Countries  South  of  the  Caspian. 

"  ARMENIA    MAJOR,    KINGDOM    OF    TAURIS    AND    CHALD^A." 


Three  Churches 

Malascorti 

Pasalain 

Zizera 
Arbo  [Orbo] 


C.  of  Baldach 

Tauris 

Sodania 

Sea  of  Argis 

Argis 

Capreri 

Sea  of  Marga 

Marga 

Ormi 

Cremi 


Cade 
Chesi 


Echmiazin  ?  or  Uch  Kilisi  (see  iii,  p.  163). 

Malasjerda. 

Read  Rasalain,  the  ancient  Callirrhoe,  on 

the  Khabur. 
Jazirah  on  the  Tigris. 
Harba  (see  Ibn  Bat.,  11,  132,  and  J.R.G.S., 

ix,  445)- 
Baghdad. 
Tabriz. 
Sultania. 
L.  Van. 
Arjish. 
? 

L.  Urumia. 

Maragha. 

Urumia. 

Karmisin  is  mentioned  by  Ibn  Khallikan 
as  a  place  in  Kurdistan.  (See  Quatre- 
mere's  Rashid,  p.  266.)  Kirmesin  was  a 
city  from  whose  ruins  arose  Kermanshah 
(see  Rawlinson  in  J.R.G.S.,  ix,  42). 

Hadith  ?  at  the  confluence  of  the  Gr.  Zab 
and  Tigris  (see  Assemani,  p.  752). 

Khuzistan. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 


309 


Rey 

.     Rai. 

Siras 

Shiraz. 

Abdeni 

.     Ahadan,  on  Island  in  mouth  of  Tigris 

Bassora 

.     Basra. 

Taiwust 

.     Wasit  ?  called  Madlnairt  Wdsit  ("  The  Two 

Cities  Wasit,"  see  Edrisi,  i,  367). 

Serans  or  Seam 
Ussn 


Creman 

I.  of  Chis 

I.  of  Ormis 

Hormisiom 

Nocran 

Chesimo 

Damonela 

Femenat 

Goga 

Baroche. 

Canbetum 

Cocintaya 


Paychinor 

Chintabor 

Nandor  (Nanaor  ?) 

Pescamor 

Manganor 

Elly 

Columbo 

Carocam 
Setemelti 
Mirapor 
Butifilis 


Bengala 


Coast  of  Persia  and  India. 

.     Siraf  ?    But  the  Mediceo  has  Sustar,  i.e. 

Shustar. 
.     Husn  Amdrat  ?    (see  Edri.,  i,  379)-     Any 

castle  is  Husn. 
.     Kirman. 

Kish. 
.     Hormuz. 

.     Old  Hormuz  on  the  Continent. 
.     Mekran. 

.     Kij.  Mediceo  has  Chechi. 
.     Daibul. 

Somnath. 
.     Gogo. 

.     Camhay. 

.     Med.  has  Cocintana  :   the  Kokan-Tana  of 

Ibn  Batuta  (iii,  335)^ ;  the  city  of  Tana 

(see  II,  p.  113),  capital  of  Konkan. 
.     Faknur    of    Ibn    Batuta    (see    Vol.   iv) ; 

Bakanur,  but  out  of  place  a  little. 
.     Sanddbur,  Goa  (see  iv,  Ibn  Batuta). 
Honore  ?  Med.  has  Niandor. 
Perhaps  Bar9elor. 
Mangalore. 

Hili  (see  iv,  Ibn  Batuta,  Note  D). 
Kaulam,  but  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 

Peninsula. 
Karikal  ? 

Seven  Pagodas  ?   (see  supra,  p.  81). 
Mailapur  ;  Madras. 
Mutfili  of  Polo  (see  iii,  p.  70) ;   but  by  a 

misunderstanding  the  author  puts  St. 

Thomas's  tomb  here. 
(See  IV,  Ibn  Batuta.) 


1  Where  Elliot,  quoting  Rashid,  has  "  Guzerat,  which  is  a  great 
country,  in  which  are  Cambay,  Sumnath,  Konkan,  Tana,  and  several 
other  towns  and  cities";  and  again:  "Beyond  Guzerat  are  Konkan 
and  Tana,"  probably  the  original  will  be  found  to  read  as  here,  "  Konkan- 
Tana  "  (p.  42  ;  I  quote  an  extract  in  Pauthier's  Polo,  p.  663,  not  having 
the  passage  in  my  own  notes). 


310  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

Interior  of  India. 


Bijder 

.     Bidr. 

Diogil 

.     Deogiri  or  Daulatabad- 

Jaleym 

.     Jdlna  ? 

Delly. 

Neruala 

.     Anhilwara. 

Hocibelch 

? 

Bargelidoa     . 

.     ? 

MOLTAN. 

III.       SKETCH    MAP    TO    ILLUSTRATE    TRAVELS    OF    IBN    BATUTA    IN 

BENGAL. 

This  is  little  more  than  a  diagram,  for  no  accurate  map  of 
Bengal  east  of  the  old  Brahmaputra  has  yet  been  published.  Two 
or  three  of  the  positions  wanted  in  the  Silhet  district  are,  however, 
given  by  Rennell's  and  other  maps,  and  others  have  been  inserted 
from  the  information  quoted  in  Note  E,  Ibn  Batuta,  iv,  to  give  an 
idea  of  the  localities. 

IV.       MAP    IN    ILLUSTRATION    OF    THE    JOURNEY    OF    GOES. 

The  following  maps  have  been  used  or  studied  in  the  compila- 
tion of  the  map  in  question  : 

1.  Wood's  and  other  British  surveys  Kabul  and  on  the  Oxus, 
as  embodied  in  a  map  by  Mr  John  Walker  (title  and  date  missing 
in  my  copy). 

2.  Kiepert's  large  map  of  Asia,  Weimar,  1864. 

3.  Tracing  of  part  of  a  map  of  Central  Asia,  by  Col.  G.  T. 
Walker,  R.E.  of  the  G.  Trig.  Survey  of  India. 

4.  Veniukov's  Sketch  of  the  Bolor,  as  given  in  Petermann, 
for  1861  (plate  10). 

5.  Extract  of  Schlagintweit's  General  Map,  as  given  in  the 
same  place. 

6.  Kashmir,  in  Petermann  for  1861,  p.  i. 

7.  Tracing  of  Gen.  Court's  Map  {Itindraire  d' Afghanistan) ,  in 
vol.  viii  of  the  /.  As.  Soc.  Bengal. 

8.  Austin's  Map  of  Balti,  etc.,  in  /.  R.  G.  S.  for  1864. 

9.  Tracing  of  a  map  by  Masson,  from  his  Travels. 

10.  Map  of  the  Scene  of  the  Umbeyla  Campaign,  from  a 
Parliamentary  Report. 

11.  Macartney's  Map  in  Elphinstone's  Caubul. 

12.  Arrowsmith's  Map  to  Burnes's  Travels. 

13.  Map  in  the  Russians  in  Central  Asia  (by  Stanford 
apparently) . 

14.  Keith  Johnston's  Map  of  India,  extracted  from  his  Royal 
Atlas. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  3II 

I  have  also  derived  from  Leech's  Reports  on  the  Passes  of  the 
Hindu  Kiish,  and  still  more  from  Wood's  Journey,  names  and 
indications  that  do  not  appear  in  any  of  the  maps  named  ;  a  chief 
object  having  been  to  make  that  part  of  the  map  which  relates  to 
the  Hindu  Kush  and  Badakhshan  as  complete  as  possible. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  see  a  translation  of  Veniukov's  paper 
on  the  Bolor  (referred  to  in  the  Introductory  Notice  of  Benedict 
Goes,  Vol.  IV,  infra),  excepting  as  regards  some  extracts  from  the 
journal  of  the  anonymous  German  traveller,  which  have  been 
kindly  made  for  me  by  Mr.  Moukhine,  the  Consul  General  of  Russia 
in  Sicily.  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  appears,  however,  to  have  completely 
demolished  the  claims  of  the  German  narrative  to  genuineness. 
We  have  seen  such  strange  mystifications  of  a  somewhat  similar 
kind  in  our  own  day  that  it  would  be  rash  perhaps  to  say  that 
the  journey,  or  a  part  of  it,  was  never  made,  but  till  the  matter 
be  more  thoroughly  investigated,  none  of  his  statements  can  be 
built  upon^.  Even  if  the  German's  MS  prove  entirely  worthless, 
the  Chinese  itinerary  referred  to  by  Veniukov  should  be  of  great 
value. 

How  uncertain  is  still  the  basis  of  any  map  connecting  the 
regions  on  the  different  sides  of  the  Bolor,  Karakorum,  and  T'ien 
Shan  Ranges  may  be  judged  from  the  following  statement  of  the 
longitudes  assigned  in  the  maps  before  me  to  some  of  the  chief 
points,  to  which  are  added  the  data  for  the  same  as  given  by  the 
Chinese  missionary  surveyors,  and  those  of  some  of  them  deduced 
by  Captain  Montgomerie  from  the  papers  of  his  Munshi  Mahomed 
Hamid. 


Ilchi 

Yarkand 

Kashgar 

Aqsu 

Issikul 

Sirikul 

(Khotan) 

(W.  End) 

(W.  End) 

Chinese  Tables 

80°  21' 

76°  3' 

73°  4S' 

78°  58' 

78°   I2'2 

Veniukov 

76°  10' 

73°  58' 

73°  38' 

Kiepert 

79°' 12' 

74°  56' 

72°  53' 

78°  20' 

77°  30' 

73°  5' 

Colonel  Walker     . 

79°  13' 

76°  24' 

73°  58' 

79°  40' 

73°  30' 

John  Walker  (W^oorf) 

73°  33' 

Schlagintweit 

78°' 20' 

73°' 58' 

71'°' 50' 

76°  27' 

74°' 6' 

71°  28' 

Golobev 

76°  17' 

, .  . 

Montgomerie 

79°' 0' 

77°  30' 

75°  20' 

Greatest  Differences        2°  i'  3°  32'        3°  30'        3°  13'        4°  6'  ; 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  geographers  who  deviate  most  widely 
from  all  the  rest  are  the  Schlagintweits,  who  carry  the  whole  of 

^  After  this  had  gone  to  press  I  received  a  copy  of  Sir  H.  Rawlinson's 

remarks  on  the  German  narrative,  and  as  M.  Khanikov  is  stated  to 

have  taken  up  the  defence,  the  question  will  doubtless  be  thoroughly 

discussed.     A  few  memoranda  that  occur  to  me  on  the  subject  will  be 

-    found  at  the  end  of  this  note. 

2  Only  an  approximate  deduction  from  other  data  in  the  tables.  I 
take  them  as  given  in  the  Russians  in  Central  Asia,  pp.  522—3.  [I  may 
note  the  following  longitudes  east  of  Paris  for  Khotan :  Dutreuil  de 
Rhins,  77°  37'  5  ;  Pievtsov,  77°  33'  6.] 


312  PRELIMINARY  ESSAY 

Turkestan  from  2°  to  3°  further  west  than  the  Chinese  tables. 
I  have  not  seen  any  statement  of  the  grounds  on  which  this  great 
change  is  based.  It  is  certainly  a  bold  one,  for  it  throws  over  not 
merely  the  Chinese  tables  entirely,  but  the  positions  assigned  by 
the  Russians,  north  of  the  T'ien  Shan,  and  by  the  British  travellers 
on  the  Oxus.  Our  last  intelligence  affords  no  corroboration  of 
this  revolutionary  map-making.  On  the  contrary.  Captain  Mont- 
gomerie's  data  carry  the  position  of  Yarkand  one  degree  more  to 
the  east  than  any  previous  map^.  And  it  is  not  merely  as  regards 
calculations  of  longitude  that  the  Schlagintweits  reject  the  results 
of  the  British  journeys  on  the  Oxus.  Captain  Wood's  latitude 
of  Sirikul  is  treated  with  equal  contempt ;  nor  does  that  dis- 
tinguished traveller  seem  to  be  considered  competent  even  to  take 
a  compass  bearing.  For  the  Upper  Oxus,  the  river  which  he 
represents  himself  as  having  travelled  along  for  many  days,  and 
which  his  map  shows  as  flowing  from  north-east  by  east  to  south- 
west by  south,  is  made  by  Schlagintweit  to  flow  from  south  by 
east  to  north  by  west.  And  the  lake  itself  which  Wood  imagined 
that  he  saw  lying  east  and  west,  is  made  by  Schlagintweit  to  lie 
south-east  and  north-west. 

The  chief  difficulty  found  in  adjusting  the  longitude  of  the 
cities  of  Chinese  Turkestan,  in  accordance  with  Captain  Mont- 
gomerie's  approximate  determination  of  Yarkand,  arises  from 
the  impossibiUty  of  reconciling  this  with  the  difference  between 
Ilchi  and  Yarkand  in  the  Jesuit  Tables.  This  amounts  in  those 
Tables  to  4°  18' ;  whilst  the  collation  of  Montgomerie's  position 
of  Yarkand  with  the  Jesuit  position  of  Ilchi  reduces  it  to  2°  51', 
and  with  the  position  which  the  former's  own  data  induced  him 
to  assign  to  Ilchi  it  comes  down  to  1°  30'.  It  had  indeed  long 
been  pretty  certain  that  the  Jesuit  position  of  Ilchi  was  too  far 
east ;  and  a  communication,  for  which  I  have  had  to  thank 
Captain  Montgomerie  since  this  went  to  press,  reports  later  data 
obtained  by  Colonel  Walker  (who  will  no  doubt  publish  them  in 
detail)  as  fixing  Ilchi  approximately  to  longitude  79°  25'  and 
latitude  37°  8'.  This  longitude  I  have  adopted  in  my  map,  whilst 
in  regard  to  Yarkand  I  have  stretched  Captain  Montgomerie's 
data  westward  as  far  as  their  circumstances  seemed  to  justify 
(perhaps  further  than  he  would  admit),  assigning  to  it  a  longitude 
of  77°.  This  is  still  36'  further  east  than  the  assignment  of  any 
previous  map,  whilst  it  reduces  the  discrepancy  from  the  Jesuit 
data  in  relation  to  Ilchi,  though  still  leaving  it  inevitably  large. 
Next  to  this  general  uncertainty  about  the  longitudes  the 

1  The  map  had  been  finished  when  I  saw  in  the  Times  the  account  of 
my  brother  officer  Captain  Montgomerie's  paper,  read  at  the  R.  Geog. 
Society  in  May  1866.  I  have  since  re-cast  the  part  affected  by  that 
information,  and  I  have  to  thank  him  for  his  kind  readiness  in  answering 
questions  which  I  sent  Mm.  But  I  have  not  seen  Capt.  Montgomerie's 
ftiU  paper,  or  his  map. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  313 

great  geographical  puzzle  about  this  region  appears  to  be  the 
identity  of  the  main  source  of  the  Oxus.  In  addition  to  Wood's 
River,  which  he  traced  to  the  Sirikul  Lake,  most  maps  represent 
another,  a  longer  and  therefore  perhaps  greater,  feeder  from  a 
more  northern  source,  under  the  name  of  the  River  of  Bolor  or 
Wakhsh.  Nor  has  the  narrative  of  Wood's  journey  through  the 
district  of  Wakhan  yet  displaced  from  our  maps  another  position 
assigned  to  Wakhan  or  Vokhan  upon  this  northern  river. 

Wood  unluckily  never  treats  these  questions  at  all.  Finding 
Wakhan  upon  the  Panja,  just  where  Macartney's  map  led  him 
to  expect  it,  he  notices  no  other  place  of  the  name,  nor  does  he 
allude  to  any  other  great  branch  of  the  river.  And  it  may  well 
be  doubted  if  there  is  in  truth  any  other  Wakhan  than  that  which 
Wood  passed  through^.  The  position  assigned  to  the  northern 
Vokhan  of  the  maps  is  due  I  believe  to  an  entry  in  the  Chinese 
tables.  But  it  seems  to  be  very  doubtful  if  the  Jesuit  observers 
in  person  actually  crossed  the  mountains^.  This  Northern 
Wakhdn,  if  not  a  mere  displacement,  I  suspect  to  represent 
Wakhsh  or  the  Wakhshjird  of  the  old  Arab  geographers. 

The  existence  of  a  place  called  Bolor  stands  on  better  evidence  ; 
at  least  there  is  or  has  been  a  State  so  called,  the  chief  inhabited 
place  of  which  would  appropriate  the  name  in  the  talk  of  foreigners, 
according  to  a  well-known  Asiatic  practice,  whether  rightly  or 
not.  It  appears  to  be  mentioned  as  a  kingdom  by  Hiuen  Tsang 
(Pololo)  ^ ;   it  is  spoken  of  by  Polo  as  the  name  of  a  province ;    it 

1  Edrisi  speaks  of  Wakhan  as  the  region  in  which  the  Jihun  rises, 
lying  towards  Tibet.  Abdul  Razzak  speaks  of  Mirza  Ibrahim  during  a 
campaign  in  Badakhshan  as  advancing  into  Saqndn,  Ghand  (which 
Quatremere  proposes  to  read  Waghand  or  Wakhan),  and  Bamir,  the 
exact  order  of  Shagnan,  Wakhan,  and  Pamir,  as  reported  by  Wood. 
Macartney's  map,  drawn  up  most  carefully  from  information,  many 
years  before  Wood's  journey,  gives  Darwaz,  Shagnan,  Wakhan,  exactly 
in  Wood's  order.  Burnes,  a  few  years  before  Wood,  does  the  same. 
(Edrisi,  i,  472  ;   Not.  et  Extraits,  xiv,  491.) 

2  [Felix  da  Rocha,  named  in  Chinese  Fu  Tso-lin,  a  Jesuit,  born  at 
Lisbon  on  the  31st  August  1713  ;  entered  the  S.J.  on  the  ist  May 
1728;  arrived  in  China  in  1738;  was  vice-provincial,  1754-7,  1762; 
Superior  at  Peking,  where  he  died  on  the  22nd  May  1781.  He  was  sent 
with  the  Chinese  Armies  to  Central  Asia  in  1756.  Da  Rocha  was 
accompanied  in  Central  Asia  by  Father  Joseph  d'Espinha,  another 
Portuguese  Jesuit  (died  at  Peking  10  July  1788),  and  four  Chinese 
Geographers.  See  Positions  g&og.  determinees  par  deux  missionnaires 
jesuites  dans  le  Turkestan  oriental  et  la  Dzoungarie  en  i j 56.  .  .par  le 
P.  Brucker,  Lyon,   1880.] 

3  ["  South  of  the  valley  of  Pamir,  and  beyond  a  mountain  range,  is 
the  Kingdom  of  Po-lo-lo,  Bolor,  where  is  got  much  gold  and  silver, 
and  which  had  been  visited  by  the  traveller  [Hiuen  Tsang]  on  his 
zigzag  route  when  first  entering  India.  It  was  then  reached  by  him  in 
five  marches  from  Talilo  or  Darail  (Cunningham)  ;  it  had  a  circuit 
of  forty  days'  journey  (4000  li),  being  much  longer  from  east  to  west 
than  from  north  to  south,  etc.  The  particulars  previously  given,  as 
well  as   the   position   now   indicated,   are   in   entire   accordance    with 


314  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

appears  as  a  geographical  position  in  the  tables  of  Nasiruddin, 
and  reappears  in  the  Chinese  tables  of  the  last  century  with  exactly 
the  same  latitude.  It  is  also  mentioned  in  the  Tdrikh  Rashidi  of 
the  sixteenth  century^ ;  and  its  prince  appears  as  a  tributary  to 
China  in  the  Chinese  annals  of  some  seventy  years  back^. 

But  is  there  a  great  Wakhsh  branch  of  the  Oxus  coming  from 
those  regions,  and  if  so  where  does  it  join  the  Panja  or  river  of 
the  Sirikul  ?  To  the  first  question  I  would  answer  in  the  afhrma- 
tive.  The  very  name  Wakhsh  appears  to  be  that  from  which  the 
classical  and  Chinese  names  of  the  combined  stream  {Oxus,  and 
Potsu  or  Fatsvi)  are  derived.  It  is  also  spoken  of  both  by  Hiuen 
Tsang  and  by  Edrisi,  and  by  the  latter  is  described  as  a  very  great 
river,  though  he  evidently  regards  the  Panja  of  Wood  as  the  chief 
source. 

Hiuen  Tsang  on  the  other  hand  appears  to  have  regarded  the 
Wakhsh  branch  as  the  main  Potsu  or  Oxus.  For  after  describing 
the  Lake  of  Pamir,  apparently  the  Sirikul  of  Wood,  he  says  : 
"  This  lake  discharges  to  the  westward  ;  for  a  river  issues  from 
it  which  runs  west  to  the  eastern  frontier  of  the  kingdom  of 
Tamositieti,  and  then  joins  the  River  Potsu  ;  their  waters  flow 
westward  and  are  discharged  into  the  sea^." 

The  following  extracts  show  what  Edrisi  says  on  the  subject : 

"The  Jihun  takes  its  rise  in  the  country  of  Wakhan*  on 
the  frontier  of  Badakhshan,  and  there   it  bears  the  name  of 

Cunningham's  view,  that  the  country  intended  is  Balti,  which  he  states 
to  be  still  called  Bolor  by  the  Dard  tribes.  But  doubtless,  as  he  also 
remarks,  the  territory  included  Gilghit  and  Kanjiit,  the  latter  famous 
for  its  gold  produce."  Yule,  Notes  on  Hwen  Thsang's  Account  of 
Tokkdristdn,  p.  117.] 

^  "  Malauv  is  a  country  with  few  level  spots.  It  has  a  circuit  of 
four  months'  march.  The  eastern  frontier  borders  on  Kashgar  and 
Yarkand  ;  it  has  Badakhshan  to  the  north,  Kabul  to  the  west,  and 
Kashmir  to  the  south,"  etc.  {Not.  et  Extvaits,  xiv,  492).  ["  Baluristan 
is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  provinces  of  Kashgar  and  Yarkand ;  on 
the  north  by  Badakhshan ;  on  the  west  by  Kabul  and  Lumghan ;  and 
on  the  south  by  the  dependencies  of  Kashmir.  It  is  four  months' 
journey  in  circumference."  Tarikh-i-Rashidi .  .  .transl.  by  E.  D.  Ross, 
1895,  p.  385. — On  Bolor,  see  Yule-Cordier's  Marco  Polo,  i,  p.  178  n. 
"It  can,  I  think,  be  demonstrated  that  Bolor,  or  Bilaur,  was  the  name 
applied  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  elongated  belt  of  mountain 
country  south  of  the  main  range  of  the  Hindu  Kush,  including  the 
valleys  of  Kafiristan,  Upper  Chitral,  Yasin,  Gilgit,  and  Hunza-Nagar 
(and  in  the  pages  of  some  writers  having  an  even  wider  application).' 
Curzon,  The  Pamirs,  p.  70.] 

2  See  Pauthier's  Polo,  p.  133. 

*  Vie  de  H.  T.,  p.  272. 

*  Jaubert  has  Ujdn,  or  rather  (as  his  transcription  of  the  Arabic 
shows)  Wajdn,  an  obvious  misreading  for  Wakhdn.  I  regret  that  I 
cannot  show  these  corrections  (without  which  it  is  useless  to  quote  the 
French  Edrisi)  in  Arabic  letters,  which  would  carry  conviction  of  their 
fairness,  but  at  my  distance  from  the  press  it  gives  too  much  trouble  to 
the  printer. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  315 

Khari-ah^.  It  receives  five  considerable  tributaries  which  come 
from  the  countries  of  Khutl.^  and  Waksh.  Then  it  becomes  a 
river  surpassing  all  the  rivers  in  the  world  as  regards  volume, 
depth  and  breadth  of  channel. 

"The  Khariab  receives  the  waters  of  a  river  called  Akhsua  or 
Mank^,  those  of  Than^  or  Balian,  of  Farghan  (or  Faughdn),  of 
Anjdra  (or  Andijdra'),  of  Wakhsh-ab  with  a  great  number  of 
affluents  coming  from  the  mountains  of  Botm  :  (it  also  receives) 
other  rivers  such  as  those  of  Sdghanidn^,  and  Kawddidn^,  which 
all  join  in  the  province  of  the  latter  name  and  discharge  into  the 
Jihun. 

"  The  Wakhsh-ab  takes  its  rise  in  the  country  of  the  Turks  ; 
after  arriving  in  the  country  of  Wakhsh  it  loses  itself  under  a 
high  mountain,  where  it  may  be  crossed  as  over  a  bridge.  The 
length  of  its  subterranean  course  is  not  known  ;  finally,  however, 
it  issues  from  the  mountain,  runs  along  the  frontier  of  the  country 
of  Balkh  and  reaches  Tarmedh.  The  bridge  of  which  we  have 
spoken  serves  as  a  boundary  between  Khutl  and  Wakhshjird. 

"  The  river  having  passed  to  Tarmedh  flows  on  to  Kilif,  to 
Zam,  to  Amol,  and  finally  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Lake  of 
Khwarizm  (the  Aral). 

"  Badakhshan  is  built  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Khariab,  the 
most  considerable  of  the  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Jihun^  They 
bring  to  Badakhshan  the  musk  of  the  regions  of  Tibet  adjoining 
Wakhan.  Badakhshan  has  on  its  frontier  Kanauj,  a  dependency 
of  India^. 

"  The  two  provinces  which  you  reach  first  beyond  the  Jihun 
are  Khutl  and  Wakhsh.  Although  distinct  and  separate  provinces 
they  are  under  the  same  government.  They  lie  between  the 
Khariab  and  the  Wakhsh-ab,  the  first  of  which  rivers  bathes  the 
eastern  part  of  Khutl,  and  the  other  the  country  of  Wakhsh,  of 
which  we  have  spoken. . . .  Khutl  is  a  province  everywhere  very 


1  This  Khari  is  perhaps  the  Icarus  of  which  Pliny  speaks,  on  the 
authority  of  Varro  (vi,  19). 

2  Jaubert  throughout  has  Jil,  a  name  that  seems  totally  unknown 
hereabouts  (Jil  is  another  name  for  Gilan).  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  it  is  misread  for  Khutl  (sometimes  called  Khutldn),  a  province 
frequently  mentioned  as  lying  north  to  the  Oxus  towards  Karategin. 
It  is  probably  the  Kotulo  of  Hiuen  Tsang. 

3  Mank  is  afterwards  described  as  a  dependency  of  Jil  (Khutl). 

*  Afterwards  apparently  written  Tha'lan  (beginning  with  the  fourth 
Arabic  letter),  and  I  believe  a  misreading  for  Baghldn. 

^  Apparently  the  Kafirnihan  of  the  maps. 

*  Perhaps  the  Tupalak  of  the  maps. 

'  This  does  not  answer  to  the  position  of  Faizabad,  the  capital  of 
Badakhshan,  abandoned  in  Wood's  time,  but  reoccupied  by  Mir  Shah, 
the  chief,  in  1866. 

*  Kanauj  is  absurd.     I  suspect  it  should  be  read  Masfauj. 


3l6  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

mountainous  except  near  Wakhsh  and  the  country  of  Akjar  which 
borders  on  Mank,  a  dependency  of  Khutl^." 

Further  on,  in  giving  a  route  from  Saghanian  (Cheghdnidn)  to 
Wasjird  {Wahhshjird)  he  mentions  that  the  road  comes  upon  the 
Wakhshab  between  nine  miles  and  thirty  miles  from  the  former 
place,  and  that  the  river  has  here  a  breadth  of  three  miles. . . . 
"  From  Wakhsh jird  to  the  place  where  the  Wakhshab  loses  itself 
under  a  mountain  is  one  short  day. .  .  . 

"  On  the  borders  of  Wakhsh  and  Khutl  are  Wakhan  and 
Saknia,  dependencies  of  the  Turks'  country.  From  Wakhan  to 
Tibet  is  eighteen  days.  Wakhan  possesses  very  rich  silver  mines, 
producing  ore  of  excellent  quality.  Gold  is  found  in  the  valleys 
when  the  torrents  have  been  in  fiood^. . .  .Musk  and  slaves  are 
also  exported.  Saknia  is  a  town  in  dependence  on  the  Khizilji 
Turks.  It  is  five  days  from  Wakhan,  and  its  territories  border 
on  the  possessions  of  China^." 

In  spite  of  the  obscurities  of  these  passages  we  can  gather  that 
the  feeder  of  the  Oxus  which  Edrisi's  authorities  regarded  as  the 
main  one  came  from  Wakhan,  a  country  lying  in  the  direction  of 
Tibet,  but  that  it  received  somewhere  before  reaching  Tarmedh 
another  great  branch  called  the  Wakhshab,  so  great  as  to  be 
reported  in  one  part  of  its  course  to  have  a  channel  three  miles 
wide,  and  which  rose  in  the  Turks'  country,  i.e.  at  least  as  far  off 
as  the  main  chain  of  the  Bolor  ;  also  that  between  those  two  great 
branches  lay  the  provinces  of  Wakhsh  and  Khutl. 

But  where  do  these  two  streams  join  ?  Wood,  the  most 
competent  to  have  settled  the  question,  in  his  book,  as  we  have 
seen,  takes  no  notice  of  the  Wakhshab  at  all.  Nor  is  there  any 
distinct  trace  of  it  in  Macartney's  map,  though  a  tributary  of  the 
Oxus  which  he  represents  under  the  name  of  the  Surkhdb  or  R.  of 
Karategin,  entering  the  main  stream  a  short  distance  above  its 

^  Mank  is  perhaps  the  Mungkien  (or  Munkan)  of  Hiuen  Tsang  (see 
Vie  de  H.  T.,  pp.  269,  422). 

2  Wood  mentions  a  torrent  in  Wakhan  called  Zevzumen,  probably 
Zay-Zamin,  "  Gold-ground."  He  also  says  all  the  tributaries  of  the 
Oxus  are  fertile  in  gold  (p.  382). 

3  This  Saknia  does  not  seem  to  be  the  Shagnan  of  Wood,  which  is 
below  Wakhan.     It  appears  to  correspond  to  the  Shikini  of  Hiuen  Tsang. 

["Northward  across  high  mountains  from  Tamosit'ieti  or  Wakhan 
was  Shikhini,  having  a  circuit  of  twenty  days'  journey  (2000  H).  It  con- 
sisted of  a  succession  of  mountains,  valleys,  and  steppes  covered  with 
sand  and  stones.  Much  pulse  and  corn  were  grown,  but  little  rice. 
The  climate  was  very  cold,  and  the  people  brutal,  etc.  Their  written 
character  resembled  that  of  Tukhara,  but  their  spoken  language  was 
different. 

"  Cunningham  identifies  this  with  Shighnan  (or  Shagndn)  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  about  it.  The  form  Shighnan  is  no  doubt  a  plural  ; 
the  gentile  adjective  is  Shighni,  with  which  the  Chinese  form  is  identical." 
Yule,  Notes  on  Hwen  Thsang's  Account  of  the  Principalities  of  Tokhdris- 
tdn,  p.  113.] 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES  317 

confluence  with  the  Kokcha,  has  by  later  geographers  {e.g.  by  the 
author  of  the  map  to  Russians  in  Central  A  sia)  been  expanded  into 
identity  with  the  great  Bolor-Wakhsh  branch.  But  as  Wood  in 
his  journey  from  Kila'h-Chap  to  Jan-Kila'h  and  Sayad  twice 
passed  the  mouth  of  this  Surkhab,  so  good  an  observer  would 
scarcely  have  omitted  to  notice  the  confluence  of  a  rival  Oxus. 
The  gallant  seaman  is  still  more  slightingly  treated  by  Kiepert 
in  his  map  of  Asia.  That  geographer  denies  entirely  the  identity 
of  the  river  which  Wood  ascended  for  thirty  miles  (as  has  just 
been  mentioned)  from  the  Kokcha  confluence  at  Kila'h-Chap  to 
Sayad,  with  that  river  which  the  same  traveller  had  previously 
tracked  from  near  the  Ruby -Mines  up  to  the  Sirikul.  The  former 
river  is  conjured  by  Kiepert  from  the  east  to  the  west  of  the  town 
of  Sayad,  and  identified  by  him  with  the  Bolor-Wakhsh  River: 
the  latter,  under  a  new  name,  Duwdn,  due  to  the  anonymous 
German,  occupies  quite  a  subordinate  position,  and  is  introduced 
into  the  Kokcha  about  half-way  between  Faizabad  and  Kila'h- 
Chap  ;  a  clandestine  union  surely  !  at  a  spot  within  a  few  miles 
of  which  Wood  passed  twice  without  being  aware  of  it,  and  within 
five  and  twenty  miles  of  which  he  lived  for  several  weeks. 
Veniukov's  treatment  of  this  admirable  traveller  is  equally 
violent,  and  we  have  already  seen  how  he  fares  at  the  hands  of 
the  Schlagintweits.     Surely  this  is  geography  run  mad. 

Perhaps  Wood's  own  map  suggests  the  real  point  of  union, 
though  without  recognising  its  importance.  In  J.  Walker's  map 
of  Wood's  surveys  we  find  the  Wagish  River  indicated  as  entering 
the  Oxus  some  twelve  or  thirteen  miles  to  the  west  of  Hazrat 
Imam,  at  a  point  of  the  river's  course  yet  visited  by  no  modern 
traveller.  In  my  map  I  have  assumed  this  to  be  the  real  Wakh- 
shab,  a  hypothesis  which  has  at  least  the  advantage  of  not  flying 
in  the  face  of  an  honest  and  able  traveller.  [We  have  no  room  to 
discuss  here  anew  the  Oxus  question ;  we  refer  the  reader  to  our 
Marco  Polo,  to  Yule's  Introduction  to  the  new  edition  of  Wood's 
Oxus,  1872,  and  to  G.  N.  Curzon's  The  Pamirs  and  the  Source  of 
the  Oxus,  1896.] 

Another  vexed  question  embraced  in  this  field  is  the  course  of 
the  main  feeder  of  the  Yarkand  river.  According  to  Moorcroft's 
information,  probably  derived  from  IzzetooUah'  (see  J.R.G.S., 
vol.  i,  p.  245),  this  rises  in  the  north  face  of  the  Karakorum  Pass, 
and  flows  in  a  northerly  (north-westerly)  direction  to  a  point  where 
it  receives  drainage  from  the  (Eastern)  Sarikul,  and  the  Bolor 
Mountains,  and  then  turns  east  (north-east)  towards  Yarkand. 
But,  according  to  the  best  interpretation  I  can  put  upon  the 
Chinese  Hydrography  translated  by  Julien  {N .  Ann.  des  Voyages, 
1846,  iii,  23  seqq.),  the  river  rising  in  Karakorum,  which  I  take  to 
be  that  there  termed  Tingdsapuho,  only  joins  the  stream  from 
Karchu  and  Sarikul  helow  Yarkand.  In  the  map  I  have  hypothe- 
tically  adopted  the  latter  view,  but  with  no  great  confidence. 


3l8  PRELIMINARY   ESSAY 

1  may  add  that  both  the  authorities  just  cited  illustrate  the  name 
given  by  Goes  to  the  mountain  between  Sarikul  and  Yanghi-Hisar 
(Chechalith,  no  doubt  misread  for  Chechalich)^,  the  Chinese 
terming  it  Tsitsikling,  and  Moorcroft  Chechuklik  or  "  Place  of 
Flowers." 

Before  concluding,  I  venture  to  contribute  two  or  three 
remarks  in  aid  of  the  discussion  regarding  the  anonymous  German 
Traveller. 

Abdul  Medjid,  the  British  messenger  in  i860,  made  nineteen 
long  marches  from  Faizabad  to  the  Karakul.  The  German  is 
only  eleven  days,  less  some  days'  halt,  say  only  eight  days,  from 
Karakul  to  Badakhshan  (Faizabad). 

The  German  represents  the  city  just  named  as  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river  on  which  it  stands.  We  know  from  Wood  that 
it  is  on  the  north  side. 

But  on  the  other  hand  the  German  narrative,  whether  fictitious 
or  no,  contains  indications  of  special  sources  of  knowledge.  For 
example,  the  name  Chakheraller ,  which  it  applies  to  a  mountain 
north  of  the  Karakul,  will  be  found  in  the  Chinese  Hydrography 
recently  quoted,  applied  in  the  same  way.  The  German  speaks 
of  the  Duvan,  by  which  the  main  Oxus  of  Wood  seems  meant,  as 
crossed  by  a  bridge  to  the  north  of  Badakhshan.  Wood  tells  us 
(p.  398)  that  it  is  bridged  in  that  quarter.  And  the  German  speaks 
of  the  river  of  Vokhan  passing  vmderground  at  a  spot  on  the 
frontier  of  the  district  of  Vokhan,  a  remarkable  coincidence  with 
the  statement  of  Edrisi  quoted  at  p.  315. 

I  would  suggest  to  any  one  trying  to  settle  the  question  about 
this  narrative  a  careful  comparison  of  its  indications  with  the  map 
which  Klaproth  published  of  Central  Asia.  To  this  I  have  no 
access.  [Recent  voyages,  especially  those  made  by  Sir  Aurel 
Stein  and  Prof.  Pelliot,  have  thrown  a  good  deal  of  new  light  on 
the  roads  of  Central  Asia,  and  we  have  made  use  of  the  information 
in  the  revision  of  the  itinerary  of  Goes ;  we  had  access  also  to  the 
more  recent  Russian  Maps.] 

^  See  Vol.  IV,  Journey  of  Benedict  Goes. 


Cambritrge : 

PRINTED   BY  JOHN   CLAY,    M.A. 
AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   PRESS 


Uhc  'fbMu^t  SocietiP. 


(Founded  1846.) 
I915. 


President. 

ALBERT  GRAY,  Esq.,  K.C. 

Vice-Presidents. 

The  Right  Hon.  The  Lord  BELHAVEN  and  STENTON. 

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LS.O. 

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F.B.A.,  Litt.D. 


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K.C.M.G. 
Admiral     Sir     ALBERT      HASTINGS 

MARKHAM,  K.C.B. 

ALFRED  P.  MAUDSLAY,  Esq. 

Lt.-Col.  Sir  MATTHEW  NATHAN, 
G.C.M.G.,  R.E. 

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Sir  EDWARD  HOBART  SEYMOUR, 
G.C.B.,  O.M.,  G.C.V.O.,  LL.D. 

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LiEUT.-CoL.  Sir  RICHARD  CARNAC 
TEMPLE,  Bart.,  CLE. 

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Hon.  Secretary. 

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British  Museum,  W.C 

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Royal  Geographical  Society,  Kensington  Gore,  S.W. 

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IV 


WORKS     ALREADY     ISSUED. 


FIRST     SERIES. 
1847-1898. 

1— The  Observations  of  Sir  Richard  Hawkins,  Knt., 

In  his  Voyage  into  the  South  Sea  in  1593.  Reprinted  from  the  edition 
of  1622,  and  edited  by  Admiral  Charles  Ramsay  Drinkwater 
Bethune,  C.B.     pp.  xvi.  246.  Index. 

(First  Edition  out  of  print.     See  No.  57.  j     Issued  for  1847. 

2— Select  Letters  of  Christopher  Columbus, 

With  Original  Documents  relating  to  the  Discovery  of  the  New  World.  Trans- 
lated and  Edited  by  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.S.A.,  Keeper  of  Maps, 
British  Museum,  Sec.  R.G.  S.     pp.  xc.  240.  Index. 

(First  Edition  out  of  print.  See  No.  43.  Two  copies  only  were  printed  on 
vellum,  one  of  which  is  in  the  British  Museum,  C.  29.  k.  14.) 

Issued  for  1847. 

3— The  Discovery  of  the  Large,  Rich,  &  Beautiful  Empire  of  Guiana, 

With  a  relation  of  the  great  and  golden  City  of  Manoa  (which  the  Spaniards 
call  El  Dorado),  &c.,  performed  in  the  year  1595  by  Sir  Walter  Ralegh, 
Knt.  .  .  .  Reprinted  from  the  edition  of  1596.  With  some  unpublished 
Documents  relative  to  that  country.  Edited  with  copious  explanatory  Notes 
and  a  biographical  Memoir  bySiR  Robert  Hermann  Schomburgk,  Th.  D. 
pp.  Ixxv.  XV.  I  Map.  Index. 

( Out  of  print.     Secoitd  Edition  in  preparation. )   Issued  for  1 848. 

4— Sir  Francis  Drake  his  Voyage,  1595, 
By  Thomas   Maynarde,   together  with   the  Spanish   Account  of  Drake's 
attack   on    Puerto  Rico.       Edited    from   the   original    MSS.    by   William 
Desborough  CoOLEY.     pp.  viii.  65.  {Out  of  print.)    Issued  for  i^/^^. 

5— Narratives  of  Voyages  towards  the  North- West, 
In  search  of  a  Passage  to  Cathay  &  India,   1496  to  163 1.     With  selections 
from   the  early  Records   of  .   .   .  the  East  India   Company  and  from  MSS. 
in  the  British  Museum.    Edited  by  Thomas  Rundall.  pp.  xx.  259.    2  Maps. 

(Out  of  print.  J     Issued  for  1849. 

6— The  Historic  of  Travaile  into  Virginia  Britannia, 

Expressing  the  Cosmographie  and  Commodities  of  the  Country,  together  with 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people,  gathered  and  observed  as  well  by  those 
who  went  first  thither  as  collected  by  William  Strachey,  Gent,  the 
first  Secretary  of  the  Colony.  Now  first  edited  from  the  original  MS.  in  the 
British  Museum  by  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.S.A.,  Keeper  of  Maps,  British 
Museum,  Sec.  R.G.S.     pp.  xxxvi.  203.  i  Map.  6  Illus.  Glossary.  Index. 

(  Out  of  pnnt. )     Issued  for  1 849. 

7— Divers  Voyages  touching  the  Discovery  of  America 

And  the  Islands  adjacent,  collected  and  published  by  Richard  Hakluyt, 
Prebendary  of  Bristol,  in  the  year  1582.  Edited,  with  notes  &  an  introduction 
by  John  Winter  Jones,  Principal  Librarian  of  the  British  Museum, 
pp.  "xci.  171.  6.  2  Maps,  i  Illus.  Index.       ( Out  of  print,  j    Issued  for  1850. 


8— Memorials  of  the  Empire  of  Japon. 

In  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centuries.  (The  Kingdome  of  Japonia. 
Harl.  MSS.  '6249. — The  Letters  of  Wm.  Adams,  161 1  to  1617.)  With  a 
Commentary  by  Thomas  Rundall.     pp.  xxxviii.     186.  i  Map.  5  lUus. 

(Out  of  print. )     Issued  for  1 8  50. 

9— The  Discovery  and  Conquest  of  Terra  Florida, 

By  Don  Ferdinando  de  Soto,  &  six  hundred  Spaniards  his  followers.  Written 
by  a  Gentleman  of  Elvas,  employed  in  all  the  action,  and  translated  out  of 
Portuguese  by  Richard  Hakluyt.  Reprinted  from  the  edition  of  161 1. 
Edited  with  Notes  &  an  Introduction,  &  a  Translation  of  a  Narrative  of  the 
Expedition  by  Luis  Hernandez  de  Biedma,  Factor  to  the  same,  by 
William  Brenchley  Rye,  Keeper  of  Printed  Books,  British  Museum, 
pp.  Ixvii.  200.  V.  I  Map.  Index.  ( Out  of  print, )    Issued  for  1851. 

10— Notes  upon  Russia, 
Being  a  Translation  from  the  Earliest  Account  of  that  Country,  entitled  Rerum 
Muscoviticarum  Commentarii,  by  the  Baron  Sigismttnd  von  Herberstein, 
Ambassador  from  the  Court  of  Germany  to  the  Grand  Prince  Vasiley  Ivanovich, 
in  the  years  1517  and  1526.  Translated  and  Edited  with  Notes  &  an 
Introduction,  by  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.S.A.,  Keeper  of  Maps,  British 
Museum,  Sec  R.G.S.     Vol.  i.  pp.  clxii.  116.     2  Illus. 

(Vol.  2  =  No.  12.)  (  0  tit  of  print.)     Issued  for  iS^i. 

11— The  Geography  of  Hudson's  Bay, 

Being  the  Remarks  of  Captain  W.  Coats,  in  many  Voyages  to  that  locality, 
between  the  years  1727  and  1751.  With  an  Appendix  containing  Extracts 
from  the  Log  of  Captain  Middleton  on  his  Voyage  for  the  Discovery  of  the 
North-west  Passage,  in  H.M.S.  "Furnace,"  in  174 1-3.  Edited  by  John 
Barrow,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.     pp.  x.  147.  Index. 

( Out  of  print. )     Issued  for  1852. 

12— Notes  upon  Russia. 

(Vol.  I.  =No.  10.)     Vol.  2.     pp.  iv.  266.  2  Maps,  i  Illus.  Index. 

{Out  of  print.)   Issued  for  18^2. 

13 -A  True  Description  of  Three  Voyages  by  the  North-East, 

Towards  Cathay  and  China,  undertaken  by  the  Dutch  in  the  years  1594,  1595 
and  1596,  with  their  Discovery  of  Spitzbergen,  their  residence  often  months  in 
Novaya  Zemlya,  and  their  safe  return  in  two  open  boats.  By  Gerrit  de 
Veer.  Published  at  Amsterdam  in  1598,  &  in  1609  translated  into  English 
by  William  Philip.  Edited  by  Charles  Tilstone  Beke,  Ph.D., 
F.S.A.     pp.  cxlii   291.  4  Maps.  12  Illus.  Index. 

(Out  of  print.     See  also  No.  ^^. )     Issued  for  l8<,-^. 

14-15— The  History  of  the  Great  and  Mighty  Kingdom  of  China  and 
the  Situation  Thereof. 

Compiled  by  the  Padre  JuAN  Gonzalez  de  Mendoza,  &  now  reprinted  from 
the  Early  Translation  of  R.  Parke.  Edited  by  Sir  George  Thomas 
Staunton,  Bart,  M.P.,  F.R.S.  With  an  Introduction  by  Richard 
Henry  Major,  F.S.A.,  Keeper  of  Maps,  British  Museum,  Sec.  R.G.S., 
2  vols.  Index.  {Vol.  \  a,  out  of  print.)         Issued  for  1854. 

16— The  World  Encompassed  by  Sir  Francis  Drake. 

Being  his  next  Voyage  to  that  to  Nombre  de  Dios.  [By  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  the  Younger.]  Collated  with  an  unpublished  Manuscript  of  Francis 
Fletcher,  Chaplain  to  the  Expedition.  With  Appendices  illustrative  of 
the  same  Voyage,  and  Introduction,  by  William  Sandys  Wright 
Vaux,  F.R.S.,  Keeper  of  Coins,  British  Museum,  pp.  xl.  295.  i  Map. 
Index.  (  Out  of  print.)    Issued /or  18^^. 


VI 

17— The  History  of  the  Two  Tartar  Conquerors  of  China, 

Including  the  two  Journeys  into  Tartary  of  Father  Ferdinand  Verbiest,  in  the 
suite  of  the  Emperor  Kang-Hi.  From  the  French  of  Pfre  Pierre  Joseph 
d'Orleans,  of  the  Company  of  Jesus,  1688.  To  which  is  added  Father 
Pereira's  Journey  into  Tartary  in  the  suite  of  the  same  Emperor.  From  the 
Dutch  of  NicOLAAS  WiTSEN.  Translated  and  Edited  by  the  Eari.  of 
Eli.esmere.  With  an  Introduction  by  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.S.A., 
Keeper  of  Maps,  British  Museum,  Sec.  R.G.S.     pp.  xv.  vi.  153.  Index. 

(Out  of  print. )     Issued  for  1855. 

18— A  Collection  of  Documents  on  Spitzbergen  and  Greenland, 

Comprising  a  Translation  from  F.  Martens'  Voyage  to  Spitzbergen,  167 1  ;  a 
Translation  from  Isaac  de  la  Peyr^re's  Histoire  du  Groenlaud,  1663,  and 
God's  Power  and  Providence  in  the  Preservation  of  Eight  Men  in  Greenland 
Nine  Moneths  and  Twelve  Dayes.  1630.  Edited  by  Adam  White,  of  the 
British  Museum,     pp.  xvi.  288.  2  Maps.  Index.  Issued  for  1856. 

19— The  Voyage  of  Sir  Henry  Middleton  to  Bantam  and  the  Maluco  Islands, 

Being  the  Second  Voyage  set  forth  by  the  Governor  and  Company  of 
Merchants  of  London  trading  into  the  East  Indies.  From  the  (rare)  Edition 
of  1606.  Annotated  and  Edited  by  Bolton  Corney.  M.R.S.L.  pp.  xi.  83. 
52.  viii.  3  Maps.  3  Illus.  Bibliography.  Index. 

(OjU  of  print).     Issued  for  i?>^6. 

20— Russia  at  the  Close  of  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

Comprising  the  Treatise,  "The  Russe  Commonwealth"  by  Dr.  Gii.es 
Fletcher,  and  the  Travels  of  Sir  Jerome  Horsey,  Knt.,  now  for  the  first 
time  printed  entire  from  his  own  MS.  Edited  by  Sir  Edward  Augustus 
Bond,  K.C.B.,  Principal  Librarian  of  the  British  Museum,  pp.  cxxxiv.  392. 
Index.  Issued  for  1857. 

21— History  of  the  New  World.    By  Girolamo  Benzoni,  of  Milan. 

Showing  his  Travels  in  America,  from  a.d.  1541  to  1556.  with  some 
particulars  of  the  Island  of  Canary.  Now  first  Translated  and  Edited  by 
Admiral  William  Henry  Smyth,  K.S.F.,  F.R.S.,  D.C.L.  pp.  iv.  280. 
19  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1857. 

22— India  in  the  Fifteenth  Century. 

Being  a  Collection  of  Narratives  of  Voyages  to  India  m  the  century  pieceding 
the  Portuguese  discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  from  Latin,  Persian, 
Russian,  and  Italian  Sources.  Now  first  Translated  into  English.  Edited 
with  an  Introduction  bv  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.S.A.,  Keeper  of 
Maps,  British  Museum,     pp.  xc.  49.  39.  32.  10.  Index. 

{Out  of  print.)     Issued  for  iHz,^. 

23— Narrative  of  a  Voyage  to  the  West  Indies  and  Mexico, 

In  the  years  1599- 1602,  '^^'^^  4  Maps  and  5  Illustrations.  By  Samuel 
Champlain.  Translated  from  the  original  and  unpublished  Manuscript, 
with  a  Biographical  Notice  and  Notes  by  Alice  Wilmeke.  Edited  by 
Norton  Shaw.    pp.  xcix.  48.  Iss-uedfor  1858. 

24— Expeditions  into  the  Valley  of  the  Amazons,  1539,  1540,  1639, 

Containing  the  Journey  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  from  the  Royal  Commen- 
taries of  Garcilasso  Inca  de  la  Vega  ;  the  Voyage  of  Francisco  de  Orellana, 
from  the  General  History  of  Herrera;  and  the  Voyage  of  Cristoval  de  Acuna. 
Translated  and  Edited  by  SiR  Clements  R.  Makkham,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S., 
ex-Pres.  R.G.S.  pp.  Ixiv.  190.  I  Map.  List  of  Tribes  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Amazons.  Issjiedfor  1859. 


Vll 

25— Early  Voyages  1|)  Terra  Australis, 

Now  called  Australia.  A  Collection  of  documents,  and  extracts  from  early 
MS.  Maps,  illustrative  of  the  history  of  discovery  on  the  coasts  of  that  vast 
Island,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  to  the  time  of  Captain 
Cook.  Edited  vv^ith  an  Introduction  by  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.S.A., 
Keeper  of  Maps,  British  Museum,  Sec.  R.G.S.  pp.  cxix.  200.  13.  5  Maps. 
Index.  {Out  of  print.)     Issued  for  1%^^ 

26— Narrative  of  the  Embassy  of  Ruy  Gonzalez  de  Clavijo  to  the  Court 
of  Timour,  at  Samareand,  A.D.,  1403-6. 

Translated  for  the  first  time  vs^ith  Notes,  a  Preface,  &  an  introductory  Life  of 
Timour  Beg,  by  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C  B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres. 
R.G.S.     pp.  Ivi.  200.  I  Map.  Issued  for  i860 

27— Henry  Hudson  the  Navigator,  1607-13. 

The  Original  Documents  in  which  his  career  is  recorded.  Collected,  partly 
Translated,  &  annotated  with  an  Introduction  by  George  Michael 
ASHER,  LL. D.  pp.     ccxviii.  292.  2  Maps.  Bibliography.  Index. 

Issued  for  i860. 

28— The  Expedition  of  Pedro  de  Ursua  and  Lope  de  Aguirre, 

In  search  of  El  Dorado  and  Omagua,  in  1560-61.  Translated  from  Fray 
Pedro  Simon's  "  Sixth  Historical  Notice  of  the  Conquest  of  Tierra  Firme," 
1627,  by  William  Bollaert,  F. R.G.S.  With  an  Introduction  by  Sir 
Clkments  R.  Markham,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S.  pp.  Hi  237. 
I  Map.  Issued  for  r86i. 

29— The  Life  and  Acts  of  Don  Alonzo  Enriquez  de  Guzman, 

A  Knight  of  Seville,  of  the  Order  of  Santiago,  A.D.  1518  to  1543.  Translated 
from  an  original  &  inedited  MS.  in  the.  National  Library  at  Madrid.  With 
Notes  and  an  Introduction  by  SiR  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B., 
F.R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S.     pp.  xxxv.  168.  i  Illus.  Issued  for  \^62. 

30— The  Discoveries  of  the  World 

From  their  first  original  unto  the  year  of  our  Lord  1555.  By  Antonio 
Galvano,  Governor  of  Ternate.  [Edited  by  F.  DE  Sousa  Tavares.] 
Corrected,  quoted,  &  published  in  England  by  Richard  Hakluyt,  1601. 
Now  reprinted,  with  ihe  original  Portuguese  text  (1563),  and  edited  by 
Admiral  Charles  Ramsay  Drinkwater  Bethune,  C.B.    pp. iv.  viiii.  242. 

Issued  for  1862. 

31— Mirabilia  Descripta.    The  Wonders  of  the  East. 

By  Friar  Jordanus,  of  the  Order  of  Preachers  &  Bishop  of  Columbum  in 
India  the  Greater,  circa  1330.  Translated  from  the  Latin  Original,  as  published 
at  Paris  in  1839,  in  the  Recueil  de  Voyages  et  de  iVJeinoires,  of  the  Societe  de 
Geographic.  With  the  addition  of  a  Commentary,  by  CoL.  Sir  Henry 
Yule,  K.C.S.L,  R.E.,  C.B.     pp.  iv.  xviii.  68.  Index.         Issiied for  1863. 

32— The  Travels  of  Ludovico  di  Varthema 

In  Egypt,  Syria,  Arabia,  Persia,  India,  &  Ethiopia,  A.D.  1503  to  1508. 
Translated  from  the  original  Italian  edition  of  15 10,  with  a  Preface,  by 
John  Winter  Jones,  F. S.  A.,  Principal  Librarian  of  the  British  Museum, 
&  Edited,  with  Notes  &  an  Introduction,  by  the  Rev.  George  Pekcy 
Badger,     pp.  cxxi.  321.  i  Map.  Index.     {Out  of  print.)     Issued  for  i?,6t,. 


Vlll 

33— The  Travels  of  Pedro  de  Cieza  de  Leon,  A.D.  1532-50, 
From  the  Gulf  of  Darien  to  the  City  of  La  Plata,  contained  in  the  first  part  of 
his  Chronicle  of  Peru  (Antwerp,   1554).     Translated  &  Edited,    with    Notes 
&   an    Introduction,   by  SiR  Clements    R.    Markham,   K.C.B.,  F.R.S., 
ex-Pres.  R.G.S.     pp.  xvi.  Ivii.  438.  Index. 

(Vol.  2  =  No.  68.)  Issued  for  \^(>/^. 

34— Narrative  of  the  Proceedings  of  Pedrarias  Davila 

In  the  Provinces  of  Tierra  Firme  or  Castilla  del  Oro,  &  of  the  discovery  of  the 
South  Sea  and  the  Coasts  of  Peru  and  Nicaragua.  Written  by  the  Adelantado 
Pascual  de  Andagoya.  Translated  and  Edited,  with  Notes  &  an  Introduc- 
tion, by  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S. 
pp.  xxix,  88.  I  Map.  Index.  Issued  for  1865. 

35— A  Description  of  the  Coasts  of  East  Africa  and  Malabar 

In  the  beginning  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  by  Duarte  Barbosa,  a 
Portuguese.  Translated  from  an  early  Spanish  manuscript  in  the  Barcelona 
Library,  with  Notes  &  a  Preface,  by  Lord  Stanley  of  Alderley. 
pp.  xi.  336.  2  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1865. 

36-37— Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither. 

Being  a  Collection  of  mediseval  notices  of  China,  previous  to  the  Sixteenth 
Century.  Translated  and  Edited  by  Colonel  Sir  Henry  Yule,  K.C.S.I., 
R.E.,  C.B.  With  a  preliminary  Essay  on  the  intercourse  between  China  &  the 
Western  Nations  previous  to  the  discovery  of  the  Cape  Route.  2  vols. 
3  Maps.  2  Illus.  Bibliography.  Index. 

{Out  of  print  ;  see  also  Ser.  II.,  Vol,  33.)     Issued  for  1866. 

38— The  Three  Voyages  of  Sip  Martin  Frobisher, 

In  search  of  a  Passage  to  Cathaia  &  India  by  the  North- West,  A.D.  1576-8. 
By  George  Best.  Reprinted  from  the  First  Edition  of  Hakluyt's  Voyages. 
With  Selections  from  MS.  Documents  in  the  British  Museum  &  State  Paper 
Office.  Edited  by  Admiral  Sir  Richard  Collinson,  K.C.B.  pp.  xxvi. 
376.  2  Maps.  I  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1867. 

39— The  Philippine  Islands, 

Moluccas,  Siam,  Cambodia,  Japan,  and  China,  at  the  close  of  the  i6th  Century. 
By  Antonio  de  Morga,  1609,  Translated  from  the  Spanish,  with  Notes  & 
a  Preface,  and  a  Letter  from  Luis  Vaez  de  Torres,  describing  his  Voyage 
through  the  Torres  Straits,  by  Lord  Stanley  of  Alderley.  pp.  xxiv.  431. 
2  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1868. 

40— The  Fifth  Letter  of  Hernan  Cortes 

To  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  containing  an  Account  of  his  Expedition  to 
Honduras  in  1525-26.  Translated  from  the  original  Spanish  by  Don 
Pascual  de  Gayangos.     pp.  xvi.  156.  Index.  Issued  for  1868. 

41— The  Royal  Commentaries  of  the  Yncas. 

By  the  Ynca  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega.    Translated  and  Edited,  with  Notes 
&   an   Introduction,   by   Sir  Clements    R.    Markham,  K.C.B.    F.R.S., 
ex-Pres.  R.G.S.     Vol.  i.  (Books  I.-IV.)     pp.  xi.  359.  i  Map.  Index. 
(Vol.  2.=  No.  45.)  Issued  for  l%6g. 

42— The  Three  Voyages  of  Vaseo  da  Gama, 

And  his  Viceroyalty,  from  the  Lendas  da  India  of  Caspar  Correa  ;  accom- 
panied by  original  documents.  Translated  from  the  Portuguese,  with  Notes 
&  an  Introduction,  by  Lord  Stanley  of  Alderley.  pp.  Ixxvii.  430. 
xxxv.  3  Illus.  Index.  (Out  of  print.)         Issued  for  i?)6^. 


43— Select  Letters  of  Chpistopher  Columbus, 

With  other  Original  Documents  relating  to  his  Four  Voyages  to  the  New 
World.  Translated  and  Edited  by  RICHARD  Henry  Major,  F.S.A., 
Keeper  of  Maps,  British  Museum,  Sec.  R.G.S.  Second  Edition,  pp.  iv.  142. 
.3  Maps.  I  lUus.     Index. 

(First  Edition  =  No.  2.)  Issued  for  1870, 

44— History  of  the  Imams  and  Seyyids  of  'Om^, 

By  Salil-Ibn-Razik,  from  A.D.  661-1856.  Translated  from  the  original 
Arabic,  and  Edited,  with  a  continuation  of  the  History  down  to  1870,  by  the 
Rev.  George  Percy  Badger,  F. R.G.S.  pp.  cxxviii.  435.  i  Map.  Biblio- 
;graphy.  Index.  Issued  for  1 870. 

45— The  Royal  Commentaries  of  the  Yneas. 

By  the  Ynca  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega.      Translated  &  Edited  with  Notes, 
:an  Introduction,  &  an  Analytical  Index,  by  SiR  Clements  R.  Markham, 
K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S.     Vol.  II.     (Books  V.-IX.)  pp.  553. 
(Vol.  I.  =  No.  41.)  Issued  for  \%T  I. 

46— The  Canarian, 
Or  Book  of  the  Conquest  and  Conversion  of  the  Canarians  in  the  year  1402, 
by  Messire  Jean  de  BiSthencgurt,  Kt.  Composed  by  Pierre  Bontier  and 
Jean  le  Verrier.  Translated  and  Edited  by  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.S.  A., 
Keeper  of  Maps,  British  Museum,  Sec.  R.G.S.  pp.  Iv.  229.  i  Map.  2  Illus. 
Index.  Issued  for  1871. 

47— Reports  on  the  Discovery  of  Peru. 

I.  Report  of  Francisco  de  Xeres,  Secretary  to  Francisco  Pizarro.  II.  Report 
of  Miguel  de  Astete  on  the  Expedition  to  Pachacamac.  III.  Letter  of 
Hernando  Pizarro  to  the  Royal  Audience  of  Santo  Domingo.  IV.  Report  of 
Pedro  Sancho  on  the  Partition  of  the  Ransom  of  Atahuallpa.  Translated  and 
Edited,  with  Notes  &  an  Introduction,  by  SiR  Clemenis  R.  Markham, 
K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S.     pp.  xxii.  143.  i  Map.     Issued  for  1872. 

48— Narratives  of  the  Rites  and  Laws  of  the  Yneas. 

Translated  from  the  original  Spanish  MSS.,  &  Edited,  with  Notes  and  an 
Introduction,  by  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres. 
K.G.S.     pp.  XX,  220.  Index.  Issued  for  1872. 

49— Travels  to  Tana  and  Persia, 

By  JoSAFA  Barbaro  and  Ambrogio  Contarini.  Translated  from  the 
Italian  by  William  Thomas,  Clerk  of  the  Council  to  Edward  VI.,  and  by 
E.  A.  Roy,  and  Edited,  with  an  Introduction,  by  Lord  Stanley  of 
Alderley.  pp.  xi.  175.  Index.  A  Narrative  of  Italian  Travels  in  Persia, 
-in  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  centuries.  Translated  and  Edited  by 
'Charles  Grey.     pp.  xvii.  231.  Index.  Issued  for  1873, 

50— The  Voyages  of  the  Venetian  Brothers,  Nieolo  &  Antonio  Zeno, 

To  the  Northern  Seas  in  the  Fourteenth  century.  Comprising  the  latest 
known  accounts  of  the  Lost  Colony  of  Greenland,  &  of  the  Northmen  in 
America  before  Colurnbus.  Translated  &  Edited,  with  Notes  and  Introduc- 
tion, by  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.S. A.,  Keeper  of  Maps,  British 
Museum,  Sec.  R.G.S.     pp.  ciii.  64.  2  Maps.  Index.  Issued  for  1873. 

51— The  Captivity  of  Hans  Stade  of  Hesse  in  1547-55, 

Among  the  Wild  Tribes  of  Eastern  Brazil.  Translated  by  Albert  Tootal, 
■of  Rio  de  Janiero,  and  annotated  by  SiR  RiCHARD  Francis  Burton, 
K.C.M.G.     pp.  xcvi.  169.  Bibliography.  Issued  for  1874. 


X 

52— The  First  Voyage  Round  the  World  by  Magellan.     1518-1521. 

Translated  from  the  Accounts  of  Pigafetta  and  other  contemporary  writers. 
Accompanied  by  original  Documents,  with  Notes  &  an  Introduction,  by  LoRl> 
Stanley  of  Alderley.     pp.  Ix.  257.  xx.  2  Maps.  5  Illus.  Index. 

Issued  for  1874. 

53— The  Commentaries  of  the  Great  Afonso  Dalboquerque, 

Second  Viceroy  of  India,     Translated  from  the  Portuguese  Edition  of  I774> 
and  Edited  by  Walter  be  Gray  Birch,  F.R.S.L.,  of  the  British  Museum.- 
Vol.  I.     pp.  Ix.  256.  2  Maps.  I  Illus.  (Index  in  No.  69.) 
(Vol.  2  =  No.  55.     Vol.  3  =  No.  62.     Vol.  4  =  No.  69.)      Issued  for  1875. 

54— The  Three  Voyages  of  William  Barents  to  the  Arctic  Regions,  in  1594^ 

1595,  &  1596. 

By  Gerrit  de  Veer.  Edited,  with  an  Introduction,  by  Lieut.  Koolemans- 
Beynen,  of  the  Royal  Netherlands  Navy.  Second  Edition,  pp.  clxxiv.  289. 
2  Maps.  12  Illus.  Issued  for  1876. 

(First  Edition  =  No.  13.) 

55— The  Commentaries  of  the  Great  Afonso  Dalboquerque, 

Second  Viceroy  of  India.  Translated  from  the  Portuguese  Edition  of  I774> 
with  Notes  and  an  Introduction,  by  Walter  de  Gray  Birch,  F.R.S.L.,  of 
the  British  Museum.  Vol.  2.  pp.  cxxxiv.  242.  2  Maps  2  Illus.  (Index  in 
No.  69.)  Issued  for  1875. 

(Vol.  i=No.  53.     Vol.  3^  No.  62.     Vol.  4  =  No.  69.) 

56— The  Voyages  of  Sir  James  Lancaster,  Knt.,  to  the  East  Indies, 

With  Abstracts  of  Journals  of  Voyages  to  the  East  Indies,  during  the  Seven- 
teenth century,  preserved  in  the  India  Oiifice,  &  the  Voyage  of  Captain  JOHN 
Knight,  1606,  to  seek  the  North- West  Passagt.  Edited  by  Sir  Clements 
R.   Markham,  K.C.B.,  F  R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S.     pp.  xxii.  314      Index. 

Issued  for  1877. 

57— The  Hawkins'  Voyages 

During  the  reigns  of  Henry  VIII,  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  James  I.  [Second 
edition  of  No.  i.]  Edited  by  SiR  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S., 
ex-Pres.  R.G.S.    pp.  lii.  453.  i  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1877. 

(First  Edition  =  No.  i). 

58— The  Bondage  and  Travels  of  Johann  Schiltberger,  a  Native  of  Bavaria,, 
in  Europe,  Asia,  &  Africa. 

From  his  capture  at  the  battle  of  Nicopolis  in  1396  to  his  escape  and  return 
to  Europe  in  1427.  Translated  from  the  Heidelberg  MS  ,  Edited  in  1859  by 
Professor  Karl  Fr.  Neumann,  by  Commander  John  Buchan  'I  elfer, 
K.N. ;  F.S.A.  With  Notes  by  Professor  P.  Bkuun,  &  a  Preface,  Introduction,, 
&  Notes  by  the  Translator  &  Editor.  pp.  xxxii.  263.  i  Map.  Bibliography. 
Index.  Issued  for  1878. 

59— The  Voyages  and  Works  of  John  Davis  the  Navigator. 

Edited  by  Admiral  Sir  Albert  Hastings  Markham,  K.C.B. 
pp.  xcv.  392.  2  Map.s.  15  Illus.  Bibliography.  Index.  Issued  for  xZ']^. 

The  Map  ot  the  World,  A.D.  1600. 
Called  by  Shakspere  "  The  New  Map,  with  the  Augmentation  of  the  Indies."' 
To  illustrate  the  \'oyages  of  John  Davis.     Issued  for  1878. 


60-61— The  Natural  &  Moral  History  of  the  Indies. 
By  Father  Joseph  de  Acosta.  Reprinted  from  the  English  Translated  Edition 
of  Edward  Grimston,  1604;  and  Edited  by  SiR  Clements  R.  Markham, 
K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S.  Vol.  i,  The  Natural  History  Books,  I.-IV. 
pp.  xlv.  295.  Vol.  2,  The  Moral  History  Books,  V.-VII.  pp.  xiii.  295-551. 
Index.  Issued  for  1879. 

Map  of  Peru. 
To  Illustrate  Nos.  33,  41,  45,  0D,  and  61.  Issued  for  1879. 

62— The  Commentaries  of  the  Great  Afonso  Dalboquerque, 

Second  Viceroy  of  India.  Translated  from  the  Portua:uese  Edition  of  I774» 
with  Notes  &  an  Introduction,  by  Walter  de  Gray  Birch,  F.S.A.,  pf 
the  British  Museum.  Vol.  3.  pp.  xliv.  308.  3  Maps.  3  Illus.  (Index  in 
No.  69.)  Issued  for  1880. 

63-The  Voyages  of  William  Baffin,  1612-1622. 

Edited,  with  Notes  &  an  Introduction,  by  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham, 
KC.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S.     pp.  lix.  192.  8  Maps,  i  Illus.  Index. 

Issued  for  1880. 

64— Narrative  of  the  Portuguese  Embassy  to  Abyssinia 
During  the  years  1520-1527.     By  Father  FRANCISCO  ALVAREZ.     Translated 
from  the  Portuguese  &    Edited,  with  Notes  &  an  Introduction,   by  Lord 
Stanley  of  Alderley.     pp.  xxvii.  416   Index.  Issued  for  1881. 

65— The  History  of  the  Bermudas  or  Summer  Islands. 
Attributed  to  Captain  Nathaniel   Butler.     Edited   from   a  MS.  in  the 
Sloane  Collection,  British  Museum,  by  General  Sir  John  HenRY  Lefroy, 
R.A.,   K.C.M.G.,    C.B.,    F.R.S.      pp.  xii.  327.    i   Map.  3  Illus.  Glossary. 
Index.  Issued  for  188 1. 

66-67— The  Diary  of  Richard  Coeks, 
Cape-Merchant  in  the  English   Factory  in    Japan,  1615-1622,  with  Corres- 
pondence (Add.  MSS.  31,300-1,   British  Museum).     Edited  by  SiR  Edward 
Maunde   Thompson,   K.C.B.,   Director  of  the  British   Museum.     Vol.  I. 
pp.  liv.  349.     Vol.  2,  pp.  368.  Index.  Issued  for  1882. 

68— The  Second  Part  of  the  Chronicle  of  Peru,  1532-1550 

By  Pedro  de  Cieza  de  Leon.  1554.  Translated  and  Edited,  with  Notes 
&  an  Introduction,  by  Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B  ,  F.R.S., 
ex-Pres.  R.G.S.     pp.  Ix.  247.     Index.  Issued  for  1883. 

(Vol.  i  =  No.  33.) 

69— The  Commentaries  of  the  Great  Afonso  Dalboquerque, 

Second  Viceroy  of  India.  Translated  from  the  Portuguese  Edition  of  1774, 
with  Notes  &  an  Introduction,  by  Walter  de  Gray  Birch,  F.S.A.,  of  the 
British  Museum.  Vol.  4.  pp.  xxxv.  324.  2  Maps.  2  Illus.  Index  to  the 
4  vols.  Issued  for  1 883. 

(Vol.  i=No.  53.     Vol.  2  =  No.  55.     Vol.  3  =  No.  62.) 

70-71— The  Voyage  of  John  Huyghen  van  Linschoten  to  the  East  Indies. 

From  the  Old  English  Translation  of  1598.  The  First  Book,  containing  his 
Description  of  the  East.  In  Two  Volumes,  Edited,  the  First  Volume,  by 
the  late  Arthur  Coke  Burnell,  Ph.D.,  CLE.,  Madras  C.  S.  ;  the 
Second  Volume,  by  Pieter  Anton  Tiele,  of  Utrecht.  Vol  i.  pp.  Hi.  307. 
Vol.  2.     pp.  XV.  341.  Index.  Issued  for  1884. 


Xll 

72-73— Early  Voyages  and  Travels  to  Russia  and  Persia, 

By  Anthony  Jenkinson  and  other  Englishmen,  with  some  account  of  the 
first  Intercourse  of  the  English  with  Russia  and  Central  Asia  by  way  of  the 
Caspian  Sea.  Edited  by  Edward  Delmar  Morgan,  and  Charles  Henry 
CooTE,  of  the  British  Museum.  Vol.  i.  pp.  clxii.  176.  2  Maps.  2  lUus. 
Vol.  2.  pp.  177-496.  2  Maps.  I  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1885. 

74-75— The  Diary  of  William  Hedges,  Esq., 

Afterwards  Sir  William  Hedges,  during  his  Agency  m  Bengal ;  as  well  as  on 
his  Voyage  out  and  Return  Overland  (1681-1687).  Transcribed  for  the  Press?, 
with  Introductory  Notes,  etc.,  by  R.  Barlow,  and  Illustrated  by  copious 
Extracts  from  Unpublished  Records,  etc.,  by  Col.  Sir  Henry  Yule, 
K.C.S.I.,  R.E.,  C.B.,  LL.D.  Vol.  i.  The  Diary,  with  Index,  pp.  xii.  265. 
Vol.  2.  Notices  regarding  Sir  William  Hedges,  Documentary  Memoirs  of  Job 
Charnock,  and  other  Biographical  &  Miscellaneous  Illustrations  of  the  time  in 
India,     pp.  ccclx.  287.  18  Illus.  Issued  for  1886. 

(Vol.  3  =  No.  78.) 

76-77— The  Voyage  of  Francois  Pyrard,  of  Laval,  to  the  East  Indies, 

The  Maldives,  the  Moluccas  and  Brazil.     Translated  into  English  from  the 
Third    French    Edition    of  1619,    and    Edited,    with    Notes,    by   Albert 
Gray,  K.C,  assisted  by  Harry  Charles   Purvis  Bell,  Ceylon  C.  S. 
Vol.  1.  pp.  Iviii.  I  Map.  11  Illus.     Vol.  2.  Part  I.  pp.  xlvii.  287.  7  Illus. 
(Vol.  2.  Part  II.  =No.  80.)  Issued  for  1887. 

78— The  Diary  of  William  Hedges,  Esq. 

Vol.  3.  Documentary  Contributions  to  a  Biography  of  Thomas  Pitt,  Governor 
of  Fort  St.  George,  with  Collections  on  the  Early  History  of  the  Company's 
Settlement  in  Bengal,  &  on  Early  Charts  and  Topography  of  the  Hugh  River. 
pp.  cclxii.  I  Map.  8  Illus.  Index  to  Vols.  2,  3.  Issued  for  1888. 

(Vols.  I,  2  =  Nos.  74,  75.) 

79— Traetatus  de  Globis,  et  eorum  usu. 

A  Treatise  descriptive  of  the  Globes  constructed  by  Emeiy  Molyneux,  and 
PubUshed  in  1592.     By  Robert  Hues.    Edited,  with  annotated  Indices  &  an 
Introduction,  by  Sir  Clements  K.   Markham,  K.C.B.,   F.R.S.,  ex-Pres. 
R.G.S.     To  which  is  appended, 

Sailing  Directions  for  the  Circumnavigation  of  England, 

And  for  a  Voyage  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  From  a  Fifteenth  Century 
MS.  Edited,  with  an  Account  of  the  MS.,  by  James  Gaikdner,  of  the 
Public  Record  Office  ;  with  a  Glossary  by  Edward  Delmar  Morgan. 
pp.  1.  229.  37.  I  Illus.  I  Map.  Issued  for  1888. 

80— The  Voyage  of  Francois  Pyrard,  of  Laval,   to   the  East  Indies,  the 
Maldives,  the  Moluccas,  and  Brazil. 

Translated  into  English  from  the  Third  French  Edition  of  1619,  and  Edited, 
with  Notes,  by  Albert  Gray,  K.C,  assisted  by  Harry  Charles  Purvis 
Bell,  Ceylon  Civil  Service.    Vol  2.  Pt.  II.  pp.  xii.  289-572.    2  Maps.    Index. 
(Vol  I.  Vol.  2.  Pt.  I.=Nos.  76,  77.)  Issued  for  1889. 

81— The  Conquest  of  La  Plata,  1535-1555. 
I. — Voyage  of  Ulrich  Schmidt  to  the  Rivers  La  Plata  and  Paraguai,  from 
the  original  German  edition,  1567.  11.  The  Commentaries  of  Alvar  Nufiez 
Cabeza  de  Vaca.  From  the  original  Spanish  Edition,  1555.  Translated, 
with  Notes  and  an  Introduction,  by  H.  E.  Don  Luis  L.  Dominguez, 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  pp.  xlvi.  282.  i  Map, 
Bibliography.  Index.  Issued  for  1889. 


Xlll 

82-83— The  Voyage  of  Francois  Leguat,  of  Bresse,  1690-98. 

To  Rodriguez,  Mauritius,  Java,  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Transcribed 
from  the  First  English  Edition,  1708.  Edited  and  Annotated  by  Capt.  Samuel 
Pasfield  Oliver,  (late)  R.A.  Vol  i.  pp.  Ixxxviii.  137.  i  Illus.  6  Maps. 
Bibliography.     Vol.  2.  pp.  xviii.  433.  5  Illus.  5  Maps.  Index, 

Is  sued  for  1890. 

84-85— The  Travels  of  Pietro  della  Valle  to  India. 

From  the  Old  Ehglish  Translation  of  1664,  by  G.  HAVERS.  Edited,  with 
a  Life  of  the  Author,  an  Introduction  &  Notes  by  Edward  Grey,  late 
Bengal  C.  S.  Vol.  i.  pp.  Ivi.  192.  2  Maps.  2  Illus.  Bibliography.  Vol.  2. 
pp.  xii.  193-456.  Index.  Issued  for  \%(ji. 

86— The  Journal  of  Christopher  Columbus 

During  his  First  Voyage  (1492-93),  and  Documents  relating  to  the  Voyages 
of  John  Cabot  and  Gaspar  Corte  Real.  Translated,  with  Notes  &  an 
Introduction,  by  SiR  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres. 
R.G.S.    pp.  liv.  259.  3  Maps.  I  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1892. 

87— Early  Voyages  and  Travels  in  the  Levant. 
I. — The  Diary  of  Master  Thomas  Dallam,   1599-1600.    II. — Extracts  from 
the  Diaries  of  Dr.  John   Covel,   1670-1679.     With  some  Account  of  the 
Levant  Company  of  Turkey  Merchants.    Edited  by  James  Theodore  Bent, 
F.S.A.,  F.R.G.S.     pp.  xlv.  305.  Illus.  Index. 

Issued  for  1892. 

88-89— The  Voyages  of  Captain  Luke  Foxe,  of  Hull,  and  Captain  Thomas 
James,  of  Bristol, 

In  Search  of  a  N.-W.  Passage,  1631-32  ;  with  Narratives  of  the  Earlier 
North-West  Voyages  of  Frobisher,  Davis,  Weymouth,  Hall,  Knight,  Hudson, 
Button,  Gibbons,  Bylot,  Baffin,  Hawkridge,  &  others.  Edited,  with  Notes  & 
an  Introduction,  by  Robert  Miller  Christy,  F.L.S.  Vol.  i.  pp.  ccxxxi. 
259.  2  Maps.  2  Illus.     Vol.  2.  pp.  viii.  261-681.  3  Maps.  I  Illus.  Index. 

Issued  for  1893. 

90— The  Letters  of  Amerigo  Vespucci 

And  other  Documents  illustrative  of  his  Career.  Translated,  with  Notes  & 
an  Introduction,  by  SiR  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres. 
R.G.S.     pp.  xliv.  121.  I  Map.  Index. 

Issued  for  1894. 

91— Narratives  of  the  Voyages  of  Pedro  Sarmiento  de  Gamboa  to  the 
Straits  of  Magellan,  1579-80. 

Translated  and  Edited,  with  Illustrative  Documents  and  Introduction,  by 
Sir  Clements  R.  Markham,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  ex-Pres.  R.G.S.  pp.  xxx. 
401.  I  Map.  Index. 

Issued  for  1894, 

92-93-94— The  History  and  Description  of  Africa, 

And  of  the  Notable  Things  Therein  Contained.  Written  by  Al- Hassan  Ibn- 
Mohammed  Al-Wezaz  Al-Fasi,  a  Moor,  baptized  as  Giovanni  Leone,  but 
better  known  as  Leo  Africanus.  Done  into  English  in  the  year  1600  by 
John  Pory,  and  now  edited  with  an  Introduction  &  Notes,  by  Dr.  Robert 
Brown.  In  3  Vols.  Vol.  i.  pp.  viii.  cxi.  224.  4  Maps.  Vol.  2.  pp.  225-698. 
Vol.  3.  pp.  699-1119.  Index. 

Issued  for  1 895. 


XIV 

95— The  Chronicle  of  the  Diseovepy  and  Conquest  of  Guinea. 

Written  by  Gomes  Eannes  de  Azurara.  Now  first  done  into  English 
and  Edited  by  Charles  Raymond  Beazley,  M.A.,  F.R.G.S.,  and  Edgar 
Prestage,  B.A.  Vol.  I.  (Ch.  i. — xl.)  With  Introduction  on  the  Life  & 
Writings  of  the  Chronicler,     pp.  Ixvii.  127.  3  Maps.  I  Illus. 

(Vol.  2  =  No.  100.)  Isstied for  1896. 

96-97— Danish  Apctic  Expeditions,  1605  to  1620.     In  Two  Books. 

Book  I.  The  Danish  Expeditions  to  Greenland,  1605-07;  to  which  is  added 
Captain  James  Hall's  Voyage  to  Greenland  in  1612.  Edited  by  Christian 
Carl  August  Gosch.     pp.  xvi.  cxvii.  205.  10  Maps.  Index. 

Issued  for  1896. 

Eook  2.  The  Expedition  of  Captain  Jens  Munk  to  Hudson's  Bay  in  search 
of  a  North- West  Passage  in  1619-20.  Edited  by  Christian  Carl  August 
Gosch.     pp.  cxviii.  187.  4  Maps.  2  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1897. 

98— The  Topogpaphia  Christiana  of  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,   an 
Egyptian  Monk. 
Translated  from  the  Greek  and  Edited  by  John  Watson  McCrindle,  LL.D., 
M.R.A.S.     pp.  xii.  xxvii.  398.  4  Illus.  Index.  Issued  J  or  1897. 

99— A  Journal  of  the  First  Voyage  of  Vaseo  da  Gama,  1497-1499. 

By  an  unknown  writer.  Translated  from  the  Portuguese,  with  an  Intro- 
duction and  Notes,  by  Ernest  George  Ravenstein,  F.R.G.S.  pp.  xxxvi. 
250.  8  Maps.   23  Illus.    Index.  Issued  for  1898. 

100— The  Chronicle  of  the  Diseovepy  and  Conquest  of  Guinea. 

Written  by  Gomes  Eannes  de  Azurara.  Now  first  done  into  English  and 
Edited  by  Charles  Raymond  Beazley,  M.A.,  F.R.G.S.,  and  Edgar 
Prestage,  B.A.  Vol.  2.  (Ch.  xli. — xcvii.)  With  an  Introduction  on  the 
Early  History  of  African  Exploration,  Cartography,  &c.  pp.  cl.  362.  3  Maps. 
2  Illus.  Index.  Issued  fur  1898. 

(Vol.  i=No.  95.) 


XV 

WORKS  ALREADY  ISSUED. 


SECOND   SERIES,    1899,  etc. 

1-2— The  Embassy  of  Sir  Thomas  Roe  to  the  Court  of  the  Great  Mogul, 

1615-19. 

Edited  from  Contemporary  Records  by  William  Foster,  B.A.,  of  the 
India  Office.    2  vols.    Portrait,  2  Maps,  &  6  Illus.  Index. 

{Out  of  print.)     Issued  for  l?>gg. 

3— The  Voyage  of  Sir  Robert  Dudley  to  the  West  Indies  and 
Guiana  In  1594. 

Edited  by  George  Frederic  Warner,  Litt.D.,  F.S.A.,  Keeper  of 
Manuscripts,  British  Museum.  pp.  Ixvi.  104.  Portrait,  Map,  &  i  Illus. 
Index.  Issued  for  1899. 

4— The  Journeys  of  William  of  Rubruek  and  John  of  Plan  de  Carpine 
To  Tartary  in  the  13th  century.     Translated  and  Edited  by  H.  E.  the  Hon. 
Wm.  Woodville  Rockhill.     pp.  Ivi.  304.  Bibliography.  Index. 

( Out  of  print. )     Issued  for  i  goo. 

5— The  Voyage  of  Captain  John  Saris  to  Japan  in  1613. 

Edited  by  H.  E.  Sir  Ernest  Mason  Satow,  G.C.M.G.  pp.  Ixxxvii.  242. 
Map,  &  5  Illus.  Index.  Issued  for  1900. 

6— The  Strange  Adventures  of  Andrew  Battell  of  Leigh  in  Essex. 

Edited  by  Ernest  George  Ravenstein,  F.R.G.S.  pp.  xx.  210.  2  Maps. 
Bibliography.  Index.  Issued  for  1900. 

7-8 -The  Voyage  of  Mendana  to  the  Solomon  Islands  in  1568. 

Edited  by  the  Lord  Amherst  of  Hackney  and  Basil  Thomson.  2  vols. 
5  Maps,  &  33  Illus.  Index.  {Out  of  print.)     Issued  for  1901. 

9— The  Journey  of  Pedro  Teixeira  from  India  to  Italy  by  land,  1604-05; 

With  his  Chronicle  of  the  Kings  of  Ormus.  Translated  and  Edited  by  William 
Frederic  Sinclair,  late  Bombay  C.  S.,  with  additional  Notes,  &c.,  by 
Donald  William  Ferguson,     pp.  cvii.  292.  Index. 

( Out  of  print. )     Issued  for  i  go  i . 
10— The  Portuguese  Expedition  to  Abyssinia  in  1541,  as  narrated  by 
Castanhoso  and  Bermudez.     Edited  by  Richard  Stephen  Whiteway, 
late  I.C.S.      With  a  Bibliography,  by  Basil  H.  Soulsby,  F.S.A.,  Super- 
intendent of  the  Map  Department,  British  Museum,    pp.  cxxxii.  296.  Map,  & 
2  Illus.  Bibliography.  Index.  {Out  of  print.)     Issued  for  igo2. 

11— Early  Dutch  and  English  Voyages  to  Spitzbergen  in  the  Seventeenth 

Century, 

Including  Hessel  Gerritsz.  "  Histoire  du  Pays  nomme  Spitsberghe,"  1613, 
translated  into  English,  for  the  first  time,  by  Basil  H.  Soulsby,  F.S.A.',  of 
the  British  Museum  :  and  Jacob  Segersz.  van  der  Brugge,  "  Journael  of  Dagh 
Register,"  Amsterdam,  1634,  translated  into  English,  for  the  first  time,  by 
J.  A.  J.  DE  Villiers,  of  the  British  Museum.  Edited,  with  introductions 
and  notes  by  Sir  Martin  Conway,  pp.  xvi.  191.  3  Maps,  &  3  Illus. 
Bibliography.     Index.  Issued  for  1902. 

12— The  Countries  round  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 
Edited,  from  an  unpublished  MS.,  i669-7g,  by  Thomas  Bowrey,  by  Col.  Sir 
Richard  Carnac  Temple,  Bart.,  CLE.  pp.  Ivi.  387.   ig  Illus.  &  i  Chart. 
Bibliography.  Index.  Issued  for  igo3. 

13— The  Voyage  of  Captain  Don  Felipe  Gonzalez 
in  the  Ship   of   the  Line  San  Lorenzo,  with  the  Frigate  Santa  Rosalia  in 
company,  to  Easter  Island,  in  1770-1771.      Preceded   by   an   Extract   from 
Mynheer  Jacob  Roggeveen's  Official  Log  of  his  Discovery  of  and  Visit  to 


XVI 

Easter  Island  in  1722.  Translated,  Annotated,  and  Edited  by  BoLTON" 
Glanvill  Corney,  Companion  of  the  Imperial  Service  Order.  With  a 
Preface  by  Admiral  Sir  Cyprian  Bridge,  G.C.B.  3  Maps  &  4  lUus. 
Bibliography.     Index,     pp.  Ixxvii.   176.  Issued  for  \()0T,. 

14,  15— The  Voyages  of  Pedro  Fernandez  de  Quiros,  1595  to  1606. 

Translated  and  Edited  by  Sir  Clements  Markham,  K.C.B.,  Pres.  R.G.S., 
President  of  the  Hakluyt  Society.  With  a  Note  on  the  Cartography  of  the 
Southern  Continent,  and  a  Bibliography,  by  Basil  H.  Soulsby,  F.S.A., 
Superintendent  of  the  Map  Department,  British  Museum.  2  vols.  3  Maps. 
Bibliography.  Index.  Issued  for  1904. 

16— John  Joupdain's  Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  the  East  Indies,  1608-1617. 

(Sloane  MS.  858,  British  Museum).  Edited  by  William  Foster,  B.A.,. 
of  the  India  Office,  pp.  Ixxxii.  394.  With  Appendices,  A — F,  and  a  Biblio- 
graphy, by  Basil  H.  Soulsby,  F.S.A.  4  Maps.  Index.      Issued  for  1905. 

17— The  Travels  of  Peter  Mundy  in  Europe  and  Asia,  1608-1667. 

(Bodleian  Librarj'.  Rawl.  MSS.  A.  315.)  Vol.  I.  Travels  in  Europe, 
1608-1628.  Edited  by  Lieut.-Col.  SiR  Richard  Carnac  Temple,  Bart., 
CLE.,  Editor  of  "  A  Geographical  Account  of  Countries  round  the  Bay  of 
Bengal."  3  Maps  &  3  Illus.  With  a  Bibliography,  alphabetically  arranged. 
Index,     pp.  Ixiii.    284.  Isstied  for  i^O'^. 

18— East  and  West  Indian  Mirror. 

By  JORis  van  Speilbergen.  An  Account  of  his  Voyage  Round  the  World 
in  the  years  1614  to  1617,  including  the  Australian  Navigations  of  Jacob  le 
Mai  re.  Translated  from  the  Dutch  edition,  "  Oost  ende  West-Indische 
Spiegel,  &c.,"  Nicolaes  van  Geelkercktn :  Leyden,  1619,  with  Notes  and  an 
Introduction,  by  John  A.  J.  de  Villiers,  of  the  British  Museum.  With  a 
Bibliography  &  Index  by  Basil  H.  Soulsby,  F.S.A.  26  Illus.  &  Maps. 
Index,     pp.  Ixi.  272.  Issued  for  1906. 

19,  20.— A  New  Account  of  East  India  and  Persia. 

In  eight  Letters,  being  Nine  Years'  Travels,  begun  1672,  and  finished  1681. 
By  John  Fryer,  M.D.,  Cantabrig.,  and  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society. 
Printed  by  R.  R.  for  Ri.  Chiswell ;  at  the  Rose  and  Crown  in  St.  Paul's 
Churchyard,  London,  i6g8.  Fol.  Edited,  with  Notes  and  an  Introduction, 
by  William  Crooke,  B.A.,  Bengal  Civil  Service  (retired),  Editor  of 
"  Hobson  Jobson,"  &c.,  &c.  Vol.  i-ii.  (Vol.  i)  Map  &  6  Illus.  pp.  xxxviii. 
353;  (Vol.  II)  Map.     pp.  371.  Issued  for  1909  and  1912. 

21— The  Guanehes  of  Tenerife,  The  Holy  Image  of  Our  Lady  of  Candelaria. 

With  the  Spanish  Conquest  and  Settlement.  By  the  Friar  Alonso  de 
Espinosa,  of  the  Order  of  Preachers.  1594.  Translated  and  Edited,  with 
Notes  and  an  Introduction,  by  SiR  Clements  Markham,  K.C.B.,  President  of 
the  Hakluyt  Society.  With  a  Bibliography  of  the  Canary  Islands,  A.D.  1341- 
1907,  chronologically  arranged,  with  the  British  Museum  press-marks,  and  an 
alphabetical  list  of  authors,  editors,  and  titles.  2  Maps,  by  SiR  Clements 
Markham,  and  4  Illus.     Index,     pp.  xxvi.  221.  Issued  for  1907. 

22— History  of  the  Incas. 

By  Pedro  Sarmiento  de  Gamboa.  1572.  From  the  MS.  sent  to 
King  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  and  now  in  the  Gottingen  University  Library. 
And  The  Execution  of  the  Inca  Tupac  Amaru.  1571.  By  Captain 
Baltasar  de  Ocampo.  1610.  (British  Museum  Add.  MSS.  17,  585.) 
Translated  and  Edited,  with  Notes  and  an  Introduction,  by  Sir  Clements 
Markham,  K.C.B.     2  Maps  and  10  Illus.     Index,     pp.  xxii.  395. 

Supplement.     A  Narrative  of  the  Vice- Regal  Embassy  to  Vilcabambal 

1571,  and  of  the  Execution  of  the  Inca  Tupac  Amaru,  Dec.  1571.  By  Friar 
Gabriel  de  Oviedo,  of  Cuzco,  1573.  Translated  by  Sir  Clements 
Markham,  K.C.B.     Index,     pp.  397-412.  Issued  for  1907. 


^ 


XVll 

23,  24,  25— Conquest  of  New  Spain. 
The  True  History  of  the  Conquest  of  New  Spain.  By  Bernal  DIaz  , 
DEL  Castillo,  one  of  its  Conquerors.  From  the  only  exact  copy  made  of  the 
Original  Manuscript.  Edited  arid  published  in  Mexico,  by  Genaro  Garcia,  , 
1904.  Translated  into  English,  with  Introduction  and  Notes,  by  Alfred 
Percival  Mauds  lav,  M.A.,  Hon.  Professor  of  Archaeology,  National 
Museum,  Mexico.  Vols,  i-ili.  (Vol.  i)  pp.  Ixv.  396.  3  Maps.  15  Illus.  ; 
{Vol.  II)  pp.  xvi.  343.  Map  and  13  Panoramas  and  Illus.  ;  (Vol.  iii)  pp.  38. 
8  Maps  and  Plans  in  12  sheets.  Issued/or  1908  and  19 10. 

(Vol.  IV  =  No.  30.) 

26,  27.— Storm  van's  Gravesande. 
The  Rise  of  British  Guiana,  compiled  from  his  despatches,  bv  C.  A.  Harris, 
C.B.,    C.M.G.,  Chief  Clerk,   Colonial  Office,   and  J.  A.  j.   de  Villiers, 
■of  the  British  Museum.     2  vols.     pp.  372,  373-703.     3  Maps.     5  Illus. 

Issued  for  191 1. 
28.— Magellan's  Strait. 
Early  Spanish  Voyages,  edited,  with  Notes  and  Introduction,  by  Sir  Clements 
R.  Markham,  K.C.B.  pp.  viii.  288.  3  Maps.   9  Illus.  Issued  for  1911. 

29.— Book  of  the  Knowledge. 
Book  of  the  Knowledge  of  all  the  Kingdoms,  Lands  and  Lordships  that  are  in 
the  World.  .  .  .  Written  by  a  Spanish  Franciscan  in  the  Middle  of  the 
XIV  Century ;  published  for  the  first  time,  with  Notes,  by  Marcos  Jimenez 
DE  la  Espada.  Translated  and  Edited  by  Sir  Clements  Markham, 
K.C.B.     With  20  Coloured  Plates,     pp.  xiii.     85.  Issued  for  19 12. 

30.— Conquest  of  New  Spain. 
The  True  History  of  the  Conquest  of  New  Spain.     By  Bernal  Diaz  del 
Castillo.  .  .  .  Edited  by  Genaro  Garcia.     Translated,   with  Notes,  by 
Alfred    P.   Maudslay,   M.A.,   Hon.    Professor  of  Archaeology.      Vol.  iv.. 
pp.  xiv.  395.     3  Maps  and  Plan.     3  Illus.  Issued  for  1912. 

(Vols.  l-iii  =  Nos.  23-25.) 

31.— The  War  of  Quito. 
The  War   of  Quito,  by  Cieza  de  Leon.     Translated   and  Edited  by  Sir 
Clements  Markham,  K.C.B.     pp.  xii.  212.  Issued  for  1913. 

32.— The  Quest  and  Occupation  of  Tahiti. 
The  Quest  and  Occupation  of  Tahiti  by  Emissaries  of  Spain  during  the  years 
1772- 1 776.     Compiled,  with  Notes  and  an  Introduction,  by  B.   Glanvill 
Corney,  I.S.O.   Vol.  I.  pp.  Ixxxviii.  363.  3  Charts,  8  Plans  and  Illus. 

Issued  for  19 13. 
33.— Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither. 
Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither.     Being  a  Collection  of  Mediaeval  Notices  of 
China,     Translated   and  Edited  by  Colonel   Sir  Henry  Yule,  K.C.S.I., 
R.E. ,  C.B.    New  Edition,  revised  throughout  by  Professor  Henri  Cordier, 
•de  rinstitut  de  France.  Vol.  11.  pp.  xii.  367.  Map  &  6  Illus.     Issued  for  1913. 

34— New  Light  on  Drake. 
New  Light  on  Drake.     Spanish  and  Portuguese  Documents  relating  to  the 
Circumnavigation  Voyage.     Discovered,  translated,    and  annotated  by  Mrs. 
Zelia  Nuttall.    pp.  Ivi,  443.  3  Maps  and  14  Illus.  Issued  for  1914* 

35— The  Travels  of  Peter  Mundy. 
The   Travels  of  Peter  Mundy  in  Europe  and  Asia,   1608- 1667.     Edited  by 
Sir  Richard  Carnac  Temple,  Bart.,  CLE.     Vol.  11.      pp.  Ixxix.  437. 
2  Maps  and  29  Illus.  Issued  for  1914. 

37— Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither. 
Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither.  Being  a  Collection  of  Mediaeval  Notices  of 
China  previous  to  the  XVIth  century.  Translated  and  edited  by  Colonel 
Sir  Henry  Yule,  K.C.S.I.,  R.E.,  C.B.  A  new  edition  by  Professor 
Henri  Cordier,  de  I'lnstitut  de  France.  Vol.  iii.  pp.  xv.  270.  Map  and 
Portrait.  Is  sued  for  19 14. 

B 


XVlll 

EXTRA     SERIES. 

1-12— The  Ppinelpal  Navigations,  Voyages,  Tpafflques,  &  Discoveries  of  the 

English  Nation, 

Made  by  Sea  or  Over-land  to  the  remote  and  farthest  distant  quarters  of  the 
earth  at  any  time  within  the  compasse  of  these  1600  yeeres.  By  Richard 
Hakluyt,  Preacher,  and  sometime  Student  of  Christ  Church  in  Oxford. 
With  an  Essay  on  the  English  Voyages  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  by 
Walter  Raleigh,  Professor  of  the  English  Language  in  the  University  of 
Oxford.  Index  by  Madame  Marie  Michon  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Carmont. 
12  vols.     James  MacLehose  &  Sons  :    Glasgow,   1903-5.  {Out  of  print.) 

13— The  Texts  &  Versions  of  John  de  Piano  Carpini  and  William  de 

Rubruquis. 

As  printed  for  the  first  time  by  Hakluyt  in  1598,  together  with  some  shorter 

pieces.       Edited    by    Charles    Raymond    Beazley,     M.A.,    F.R.G.S. 

pp.  XX.  345.  Index.  University  Press  :   Cambridge,  1903.  ( Out  of  print.) 

14-33— Hakluytus  Posthumus  op  Pupehas  His  Pilgrimes. 
Contayning  a  History  of  the  World  in  Sea  Voyages  and  Lande  Travails  by 
Englishmen  and  others.      By  Samuel  Purchas,   B.D.      20  vols.   Maps  & 
Illus,     With  an  Index  by  Madame  Marie  Mtchon.      fames  MacLehose  and 
Sons :  Glasgow,  1905-7. 


THE     ISSUES     FOR     1915     WILL     BE: 

SERIES  IL 

Vol.  36.— The  Quest  and  Occupation  of  Tahiti.  Edited  by  B.  Glanvill 
Corney,  I.S.O.     Vol.  II. 

Vol.  38. — Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither.  Being  a  collection  of  mediseval 
notices  of  China  previous  to  the  XVIth  century.  Translated  and 
edited  by  Colonel  Sir  Henry  Yule,  K.C.S.I.,  R.E.,  C.B.  A  new 
edition  by  Professor  Henri  Cordier,  de  I'lnstitut  de  France.    Vol.  I. 

Vol.  39. — A  New  Account  of  East  India  and  Persia.  In  eight  Letters, 
being  Nine  Years'  Travels,  begun  1672,  and  finished  1681.  By  John 
Fryer,  M.D.  Edited,  with  Notes  and  an  Introduction,  by  William 
Crooke,  B.A.,  Bengal  Civil  Service  (retired).     Vol.  Ill  and  last. 

OTHER     VOLUMES     IN     ACTIVE     PREPARATION     ARE: 

The  True  History  of  the  Conquest  of  New  Spain.  By  Bernal  Diaz  del 
Castillo.  Translated,  with  Notes,  by  A.  P.  Maudslay.  Vol.  V  and 
last.  [/« Press. 

Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither.     New  edition.     Vol.  IV  and  last.        [/«  Press. 

William  Lockerby's  Journal  in  Fiji,  1808.  Edited  by  Sir  Everard  F.  IM 
Thurn,  K.C.M.G.,  C.B.,  and  L.  C.  Wharton,  B.A. 

Jons  Olafssonar  Indiafara.  An  English  Translation  by  Miss  Bertha  Phill 
potts.     Edited  by  Sir  R.  C.  Temple,  Bart.,  CLE.     Two  Vols. 

A  Description  of  the  Coasts  of  East  Africa  and  Malabar  in  the  beginning  of 
the  Sixteenth  Century,  by  Duarte  Barbosa,  a  Portuguese.  A  new 
translation  by  Mr.  Longworth  Dames. 

The  Travels  of  Peter  Mundy  in  Europe  and  Asia,   1608- 1667.     Edited  by 
.  Sir  Richard  Carnac  Temple,  Bart.,  CLE.     Vol.  Ill  and  last. 


XIX 


INDEX 

TO  THE  FIRST  AND   SECOND   SERIES  OF  THE  SOCIETY'S 
PUBLICATIONS,  1847-1913. 


Abd-er-Kazzak,  i.  22 
Abyssinia,  i.  32,  64  ;  ii.  10 
Acosta,  Joseph  de,  i.  60,  61 
Acuna,  Cristoval  de,  i.  24  ;  ii.  22 
Adams,  Will.,  i.  8,  66,  67  ;  ii.  5 
Africa,  i.  21,  58,  82,  83,  92-94,  95,  100 
Africa,  East,  i.  32,  35,  64  ;  ii.  10 
Africa,  West,  ii.  6 
Aguirre,  Lope  de,  i.  28,  47 
Alaminos  Auton  de,  ii.  23 
Albuquerque,   Affonso   de,  i.  53,  55, 

62,  69 
Alcock,  Thomas,  i.  72,  73 
Alessandri,  Vincentio  d',  i.  49 
Al  Hassan  Ibn  Muhammad.  See  Hasan 
Alvarado,  Pedro  de.  ii.  23 
Alvarez,  Francisco,  i.  64 
Alvo,  Francisco,  i.  52 
Amapaia,  i.  3 
Amat  y  Junient,  Manuel  de.  Viceroy 

of  Peru,  ii.  13 
Amazon,  L  24 
America,  Central,  i.  40 
America,  North,  i.   2,  4,  6,  7,  9,  11, 

18,  21,  23,  43,  50,  65,  96,  97 
America,  South,  i.  3,  21,  24,  28,  33, 

34,  41,  43,  45,  47,  51,  60,  61,  68, 

76,  77,  80,  81,  91 ;  ii,  3, 13,  14, 15,  22 
Amherst  of  Hackney,  Lord,  ii.  7,  8 
Andagoya,  Pascual  de,  i.  34  ;  ii.  22 
Andrew,  Bishop  of  Zayton,  i.  36  ;  ii.  37 
Angiolello,  Giovanni  Maria,  i.  49 
Angola,  ii.  6 

Aquines,  Juan.  See  Hawkins,  Sir  John. 
Arabia,  i.  32 ;   ii.  16 
Arctic  Regions,  i.  13,  54, 88,  89,  96,  97 
Arias,  Dr.  Juan  Luis,  i.  25  ;  ii.  14,  15 
Arias  d'Avila,  Pedro,  i.    21,  34,  47  ; 

ii.  22,  23 
Arriaga  y  Rivera,  Julian  de,  ii.  13 
Arromaia,  i.  3 

Asher,  George  Michael,  i.  27 
Asia,  i.  5,  8,  13-15,  17,    19,   22,    26, 

35-39,  42,  44,  49,  53-55,  58,  62,  66, 

67,  69-78,  80,  82,  83,  87;  ii.  1,  2,  4, 

5,12,  ;6,  17,35 
Astete,  Miguel  de,  i.  47  ;  ii,  22,  35 


Atahualpa,  i,  47,  68  ;  ii.  22 
Australasia,  i.  25  ;  ii.  7,  8,  14,  15,  18 
Avila,  Francisco  de,  i,  48  ;  ii.  22 
Avila,    Pedro    Arias    d'.      See   Arias 

d'Avila. 
Azov,  i.  49 
Azurara,    Gomes    Eannes    de.       See 

Eannes, 

Badger,  George  Percy,  i,  32,  44 

Baffin,  William,  i.  5,  63,  88,  89 

Balak,  John,  i.  13,  54 

Bantam,  i,  19 

Barbaro,  Giosafat,  i,  49 

Barbosa,  Duarte,  i.  35,  52 

Barcelona  MSS,,  i,  35 

Bardsen,  Ivar,  i,  50 

Barentsz.,  William,  i.  13,  27,  54 

Barker,  Edmund,  i.  56 

Barlow,  R.,  i.  74,  75,  78 

Barrow,  John,  F.R.S.,  i.  11 

Battell,  Andrew,  ii.  6 

Beazley,  Charles  Raymond,  i,  95,  100; 

Extra  Ser.  13 
Behrens,  Carl  Friedrich,  ii.  13 
Bake,  Charles  Tilstone,  i.  13,  54 
Bell,  Harry  Charles  Purvis,  i.  76,  77, 80 
Belmonte  y  Bermudez,  Luis   de    ii, 

14,  15 
Bengal,  i,  37,  74,  75,  78  ;  ii,  12 
Bent,  James  Theodore,  i.  87 
Benzoni,  Girolamo,  i.  21 
Bermudas,  i,  65,  86 
Bermudez,  Joao,  ii.  10 
Beste,  George,  i,  38 
B^thencourt,  Jean  de,  i,  46  ;  ii.  21 
Bethune,  Charles  Ramsay  Drinkwater, 

i,  1,  30 
Beynen,  Koolemans,  i.  54 
Biedma,  Luis  Hernandez  de,  i.  9 
Bilot,  Robert,  i,  88,  89 
Birch,  Walter  de  Gray,  i  53,  55,  62,  69 
Bollaert,  William,  i,  28 
Bond,  Sir  Edward  Augustus,  K,C,B,, 

i,  20 
Bontier,  Pierre,  i.  46  ;  ii.  21 
Boty,  Iver,  i.  13 


Bowrey,  Thomas,  ii.  12 

Bracciolini,  Poggio,  i.  22 

Brazil,!.  51,  76,^77,  80 

Bridge,  Admiral  Sir  Cyprian  Arthur 

George,  G.C.B.,  ii.  13 
British  Guiana,  ii.  26,  27 
British  Museum  MSS.,  i.  2,  4,  5,  6,  8, 

16,  20,  25,  38,  52,  53,  55,  62,  65-67, 

69  ;  ii.  13,  16,  22 
Brown,  Dr.  Robert,  i.  92-94 
Brugge,  Jacob  Segersz.  van  der.    See 

Segersz.,  Jacob 
Bruun,  Philip,  i.  58 
Burnell,  Arthur  Coke,  C.I.E.,  i.  70,  71 
Burre,  Walter,  i.  19 
Burrough,  Christopher,  i.  72,  73 
Burrough,  William,  i.  72,.  73 
Burton,    Sir    Richard    Francis, 

K.C.M.G.,  i.  51 
Butler,  Nathaniel,  i.  65,  86 
Button,  Sir  Thomas,  i.  5,  88,  89 
Bylot,  Robert,  i.  5,  63,  88,  89 

Cabe9a  de  Vaca,  Alvar  Nunez.  See 
Nunez  Cabe9a  de  Vaca. 

Cabot,  John,  i.  86 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  i.  5, 12 

Cambodia,  i.  39 

Canarian,  The,  i.  46  ;  ii.  21 

Canary  Islands,  i.  21,  46  ;  ii.  21 

Candelaria,  Our  Lady  of,  ii.  21 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  i.  22,  36,  37,  82,  83 

Carmont,  Elizabeth,  Extra  Ser.  12 

Carpino  Joannes,  de  Piano.  See 
Joannes. 

Caspian  Sea,  i.  72,  73 

Cassano,  Ussan,  i.  49 

Castanhoso,  Miguel  de,  ii.  10 

Castilla  del  Oro,  i.  34,  47 

Cathay,  i.  5, 13,  36-38,  54;  ii.  19,  20,33 

Champlain,  Samuel,  i.  23 

Chanca,  Dr.,  i.  2,  43 

Charles  V.,  Emperor,!.  40,  47  ;  ii.  22, 
23,  24 

Charnock,  Job,  i.  74,  75,  78 

Cheinie,  Richard,  !.  72,  73 

China,  i.  5.  13-15, 17,  36,  37,  39,  54  ;  ii. 
19,  20  ;  ii.  33,  37 

Christy,  Robert  Miller,  i.  88,  89 

Cieza  de  Leon,  Pedro  de,  i.  33, 68 ;  ii.  22, 
31 

Cinnamon,  Land  of,  i.  24 

Clavigo,  Ruy  Gonzalez  de.  See  Gon- 
zalez de  Clavigo. 

Cliffe,  Edward,  i.  16 

Clifford,  George,  i.  59 

Coats,  William,  i.  11 

Cocks,  Richard,  i.  8,  66,  67 

Cogswell,  Joseph  G.,  i.  27 

CoUinson,  Sir  Richard,  K.C.B.,  i.  38 


Columbus,  Christopher  : 

Journal,  i.  86 

Letters,  i.  2,  43 
Congo,  ii.  6 

Contarini,  Ambrogio,  i.  49 
Conti,  Nicol6,  i.  22 
Conway,  Sir  William  Martin,  ii.  11 
Cooley,  WUliam  Desborough,  i.  4 
Cook,  Captain  James,  i.  25 
Coote,Charles  Henry,  i.  72,  73 
Cordier,  Henri,  ii.  33 
Corney,  Bolton,  i.  19 
Corney, Bolton  Glanvill,  LS.O.,ii.  13, 

32,  36 
Correa,  Caspar,  i.  42  .    , 

Corte  Real,  Caspar,  i.  86 
Cortes,  Hernando,  i.,  21,  40  ;  ii.  23, 

24,  25 
Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  i.  98       , 
Covel,  John.i.  87 
Crosse,  Ralph,  i.  56 
Crooke,  William,  ii.  19,  20 
Cumberland,  Earl  of,  i.  59 
Cuzco,  i.  47,;  ii.  22 

Dalboquerque,    Afonso.      See  .Albu- 
querque. 

Dallam,  Thomas,  i.  87 

Dalrymple,  Alexander,  i.  25;  ii.  14,15 

Dampier,  William,  i.  25 

Danish  Arctic  Expeditions,  i.  96,  97 

Darien,  Gulf  of,  i.  33 

Dati,  Giulianp,  i.  2,  43 

Davila,  Pedrarias.   See  Arias  d'Avila. 

Davis,  Edward,  ii.  13 

Davis,  John,  i.  5,  59,  88,  89 

De  Villiers,  John  Abraham  Jacob, 
■     ii.' 11,  18,  26,  27 

Diaz,  Juan,  Clerigo,  ii.  23 

Diaz  del  Castillo,  Bernal,  ii.  23,  24,  25, 
30 

Digges,  Sir  Dudley,  i.  63 

Dominguez,  Don  Luis  L.,  i.  81 

Donck,  Adrian  van  der,  i.  27 

Dorado,  El,  i.  3,  28  ;   ii.  26,  27 

Doughty,  Thomas,  i.  1 6 

Downton,  Nicholas,  i.  56 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  i.  4,  16  ;  ii.  34 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  the  Younger,  i.  16 

Drake,  John,  ii.  34 

Dryandri,  Joh.,  i.  51 

Ducket,  Jeffrey,  i.  72,  73 

Dudley.  Sir  Robert,  ii.  3 

Dutch  Voyages,  i.  13  ;  ii.  11,  13, 18 

East  India,  ii.  19,  20 

East  India  Company,  i.  5,  19 

East  Indies.     See  India. 

Easter  Island,  ii.  13 

Eannes,  Gomes,  de  Zurara,  i.  95,  100 


XXI 


EgertonMSS.,ii.  13 
Eden,  Eichard,  i.  12 
Edwards,  Arthur,  i.  72,  73 
Egypt,  i.  32 

El  Dorado,  i.  3,  28  ;  ii.  26,  27 
Ellesmere,  Earl  of,  i.  17 
Elvas,  Gentleman  of,  i.  9 
Emeria,  i.  3 

England,  Circumnavigation  of,  i.  79 
Engronelanda,  i.  50 
Enriquez  de  Guzman,  Alonzo,  i.  29 
Eslanda,  i.  50  ' 
Espinosa,  Alonso  de,  ii.  21 
Estotilanda,  i.  50 
Ethiopia.     See  Abyssinia. 
Europe,  i.  10,  12,  13,  18,  20.  49,  54, 
58,  64,  72,  73,  79  ;  ii.  9,  11,  17 

Ferguson,  Donald  William,  ii.  9 
Fernandez  de  Quiroa,  Pedro  de.     See 

Quiros 
Figueroa,  Christoval  Suarez  de.     See 

Suarez  de  Figueroa. 
Fletcher,  Francis,  i.  16 
Fletcher,  Giles,  i.  20 
Florida,  i.  7,  9 
Fort  St.  George,  i.  74,  75,  /8 
Foster.  William,  B.A.,  ii.  1,  2, 16 
Fotherby,  Eobert,  i.  63 
Fox,  Luke,  i.  5,  88,  89 
Foxe,  Luke.     See  Fox. 
Frisian  da,  i.  50 

Frobisher,  Sir  Martin,  i.  5,  38,  88,  89 
Fryer,  John,  ii.  19,  20 
Furnace,  H.M.S.,  i.  11 

Gairdner.  James,  i.  79 

Galvao,  Antonio,  i.  30 

Gama,  Christovao  da,  ii.  10 

Gama,  Vascoda,  i.  42,  99 

Gamboa,    Pedro   Sarmiento   de.     See 

Sarmiento  de  Gamboa. 
Garcia,  Genaro,  ii.  23,  24,  25,  30 
Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  el  Inca,  i.  24, 

41,  45;  ii.  22 
Gastaldi,  Jacopo,  i.  12 
Gatonbe.  John,  i.  63 
Gayangos,  Pascual  de,  i.  40  ;  ii.  22 
Gerritsz.,  Hessel,  i.  27,  54  ;  ii.  11 
Gibbons,  William,  i.  5.  88.  89 
Gibraltar,  Straits  of,  i.  79 
Globes,  i.  79 

God's  Power  &  Providence,  i.    18 
Goes,  Benedict,  i.  36,  37 
Gonzalez  de  Clavijo.  Ruy,  i.  26;  ii.  21 
Gonzalez  y  Haedo,  Felipe,  ii.  13 
Gosch.  Christian  Carl  August,  i.  96,  97 
Gray,  Albert,  K.C  ,  i.  76,  77,  80 
Great  Mogul,  ii.l,  2 
Greenland,  i.  18,  50,  96,  97 


Grey,  Charles,  i.  49 

Grey,  Edward,  i.  84,  85 

Grijalva,  Juan  de,  ii.  23 

Grimston,  Edward.     See  Grimstone. 

Grimstone,  Edward,  i.  60,  61 

Guanches,  ii.  21 

Guiana,  i.  3  ;  ii.  3 

Guinea,  i.  95,  100  ;  ii.  6 

Hackit,  Thomas,  i.  7 
Hakluyt,  Richard  : 

Divers  Voyages,  i.  7 

Galvano,  i.  30 

Principall  Navigations,  i.   16,  20, 
38,  59  ;  Extra  Ser.  1-12 

Terra  Florida,  i.  9 

Will  of,  i.  7 
Hall,  James,  i.  5,  88,  89,  96,  97 
Harleian  MSS.,  i.  8 
Harris,  C.  A.,  ii.  26,  27 
Hasan  Ibn  Muhammad,  al  Wazzan,  al 

Fasi,  i.  92-94 
Havers,  George,  i.  84,  85 
Hawkins,  Sir. John,  i.  1,  57 
Hawkins,  Sir  Richard,  i.  1,  57 
Hawkins,  William,  i.  57 
Hawkridge,  William,  i.  88,  89 
Hedges,  Sir  William,  i.  74,  75.  78 
Heidelberg  MS.,  i.  58 
Herberstein,  Sigismund  von,  i.  10,  12 
Hernandez  de  Biedma,  Luis,  i.  9 
Herrera,  Antonio  de,  i.  24  ;  ii.  22,  23 
Herv^,  Juan,  ii.  13 
Honduras,  i.  40 
Horsey,  Sir  Jerome,  i.  20 
Houtman's  Abrolhos,  i.  25 
Howard,  Eliot,  ii.  12 
Hudson,  Henry,  i.  13,  27,  88,  89 
Hudson's  Bay,  i.  11,  96,  97 
Hues,  Robert,  i.  79 
Hugh  River,  i.  78  ;  ii.  12 

Ibn  Batuta,  i.  36,  37 

Icaria,  i.  50 

Imams  and  Seyyids  of  'Om§,n  i.  44 

Incas,  i.  41,  45,  47,  48  ;  ii.  22 

Incas,  Rites  and  Laws,  i.  48  ;  ii.  22 

Incas,    Roval    Commentaries,    i.    41, 

45  ;  ii.  22 
India,  i.  5,  22,  32,  38,  42,  53,  55,  56, 

69,  62,  70,  71,  74-78,  80,  84,  85  ;  ii. 

1,  2,  9,  12,  16,  17 
India  Office  MSS.,  i.  5,  56,  66,  67 
Indian  Language,  Dictionarieof  the,  i.  6 
Italy,  ii.  9 

James  I.,  i.  19 

James,  Thomas,  i.  5,  88,  89 

Janes,  John,  i.  59 

m,  i.  8,  39,  66,  67  ;  ii.  5 


Java,  i.  82,83 
Jeannin,  P.,  i.  27 
Jeukinson,  Anthony,  i.  72,  73 
Joannes,    de    Piano    Carpino,   ii.    4  ; 

Extra  Ser.  13 
Jones,  John  Winter,  i.  7,  22,  32 
Jordanus  [Catalan!],  i.  31,  36  ;  ii.  37 
Jourdain,  John,  ii   16 
Jovius,  Paulus,  i.  12 
Juet,  Robert,  i.  27 

Keeling,  William,  i.  56 
Knight,  John,  i.  5,  56,  88,  89 

Lambrechtsen,  i.  27 

Lancaster,  Sir  James,  i.  56 

La  Peyrere,  Isaac  de,  i.  18 

La  Plata,  City,  i.  'd-^ 

La  Plata,  River,  i.  81 

Lefroy,  Sir   John   Henry,  K.C.]\r.G., 

i.  65,  86 
Leguat,  Francois,  i.  82,  83 
Le  Maire,  Jacob,  ii.  18 
Lendas  da  India,  i.  42 
Leo  Africanus,  i.  92-94 
Leone,  Giovanni,  i.  92-94 
Leupe,  P.  A.,  i.  25 
Levant,  i.  87 

Le  Verrier,  Jean,  i.  46  ;  ii.  21 
Leza    Caspar  Gonzalez  de,  i.  39  ;   ii. 

14^  15 
Linschoten,  Jan  Huyghen  van,  i.  70  71 

McCrindle,  John  Watson,  i.  89 
Madras,  i.  74,  75,  78 
Madrid  MSS.,  i.  29 
Magellan,  Ferdinand,  i.  52 
Magellan,  Straits  of,  i.  91  ;  ii.  18 
Major,  Richard  Henry,  i  2,  6,  10,  12, 

14,  15,  17,  22,  25,  43,  46,  50 
Malay  Archipelago,  ii.  16,  18 
Malabar,  i.  35 

Maldive  Islands,  i.  76,  77,  80 

Maluco  Islands.    See  Molucca  Islands. 

Manoa,  i.  3 

Marignolli,  John  de',  i.  37  ;  ii.  37 

Markham,  Sir  Albert  Hastings,  K.C.B., 

i.  59 
Markham.  Sir  ClementsRobertjK.C.B., 
i.  24,  26,  28,  29,  33,  34,  41,  56,  57, 
60,  61,  63,  68,  79,  86,  90,  91  ;  ii.  14, 

15,  21,  22,  28,  29,  31 
Martens,  Friedrich,  i.  18 
Maudslav,  Alfred  Percival,  ii.  23,  24, 

25,  30' 
Mauritius,  i.  82,  83 
Maynarde,  Thomas,  i.  4 
Mendaiia  de  Neyra,  Alvaro,  i.  25,  39  ; 

ii.  7,  8,  14,  15 
Mendoza,  Juan  Gonzalez  de,  i.  14,  Ifj 


Mexico,  i.  23  ;  ii.  23,  24,  25,  30 
Michon,  Marie,  Extra  Ser.,  12,  33 
Middleton,  Christopher,  i.  11 
Middleton,  Sir  Henry,  i.  19,  56 
Mirabilia  Descripta,  i.  31 
Mogul,  The  Great,  ii.  1,  2 
Molucca  Islands,  i.  19,  39,  52,  76,  77, 

80 
Molyneux,  Emery,  i.  79 
Montecorvino,  John  of,  i.  36  ;  ii.  37 
Montezuma,  i.  61  ;  ii.  23,  24 
Morga,  Antonio  de,  i.  39  ;  ii.  14,  15 
Morgan,  Henry,  i,  59 
Morgan,   Edward   Delmar,  i.  72,  73, 

79,  83,  86 
Mundy,  Peter,  ii.  17,  35 
Munk,  Jens,  i.  96,  97 
Miinster,  Sebastian,  i.  12 
Muscovy  Company,  i.  7,  63  ;  ii.  11 

Neumann,  Karl  Friedrich,  i.  58 

New  Hebrides,  ii.  14,  15 

New  Spain,  ii.  23,  24,  25,  30 

New  World,  i.  2,  43 

Nicaragua,  i.  34 

Nicopolis,  i.  68 

Nikitin,  Athanasius,  i.  22 

Nombre  de  Dios,  i.  16 

Norsemen  in  America,  i.  2,  50 

North- East  Voyages,  i.  13 

North- West  Passage,  i.  5,  11,  38,  56, 

88,  89,  96,  97 
Northern  Seas.  i.  50 
Nova  Zembla,  i.  13,  54 
Nunez  Cabeija  de  Vaca.  Alvar,  i.  81 
Nuttall,  Mrs.  Zelia,  ii.  34 

Ocampo,  Baltasar  de,  ii.  22 
Odoric,  Friar,  i.  36  ;  ii.  33 
Ulaondo,  Alberto,  ii.  13 
Olid,  Cristuval  de,  ii.  23 
Oliver,  Samuel  Pasfield,  i.  82,  83 
Omagua,  i.  28 
'Oman,  i.  44 

Ondegardo,  Polo  de,  i.  48  ;  ii.  22 
Orellana.  Francisco  de,  i.  24 
Orleans,  Pierre  Joseph  d',  i.  17 
Ormuz,  Kirgs  of,  ii.  9 
Oviedo,  Gabriel  de,  ii.  22 

Pachacamac,  i.  47;  ii.  22 

Pacific  Ocean,  i.  1,  34,  57  ;  ii.  13,  18 

Paraguay,  River,  i.  81 

Parke,  Robert,  i.  14,  15 

Pascal  of  Vittoria,  i.  36  ;  ii.  37 

Pegolotti,  i.  37  ;  ii.  37 

Pellham,  Edward,  i.  18 

Pelsart,  Francis,  i.  25 

Pereira,  Thomas,  i.  17 

Persia,  i.  32,  49,  72.  73  ;  ii.  19,  20  39 


XXlll 


Peru,  i.  33,  34,  41,  45,  47,  60,  61   68  ; 

ii.  22 
Peru,  Chronicle  of,  i.  33,  68 
Philip,  William,  i.  13,  54 
Philippine  Islands,  i.  39 
Pigafetta,  Antonio,  i.  52 
Pitt  Diamond,  i.  78 
Pitt,  Thomas,  i.  74,  75,  78 
Pizarro,  Francisco,  i.  21,  47  ;  ii.  22 
Pizarro,  Gonzalo,   i.  21,  24,  47  ;  ii.  22 
Pizarro,  Hernando,  i.  47  ;  ii.  22 
Pochahontas,  i.  6 
Pool,  Gerrit  Thomasz.,  i.  25 
Portugal,  i.  64  ;  ii.  10 
Pory,  John.i.  92-94 
Powhatan,  i.  6 
Prado     y    Tovar,    Don     Diego     de, 

ii.  14,  15 
Prestage,  Edgar,  i.  95,  100 
Prester  John,  i.  64  ;  ii.  10 
Pricket  Abacuk,  i.  27 
Public  Record  Office  MSS.,  i.  38 
Puerto  Rico.  i.  4 
Purchas,  Samuel,  i.  13,  56,  63  ;  Extra 

Ser.  14-33 
Pyrard,  Fran9ois,  i.  76,  77,  80 

Quatremere,  i.  22 

Quiros,    Pedro  Fernandez  de,  i.   25. 

39  ;  ii.  14,  15 
Quito,  The  War  of,  ii.  31 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  i.  3 

Raleigh,  Walter,  Professor,  Extra 
Ser.  12 

Ramusio,  Giovanni  Battista,  i.  49,  52 

Rashiduddin,  i.  37  ;  ii.  37 

Ravenstein,  Ernest  George,  i.  99  ; 
ii.  6 

Rawhnson  MSS.,  ii.  17 

Recueil  de  Voyages,  i.  31 

Remdn,  Alonzo,  ii.  23 

Ribault,  John,  i.  7 

Rockhill,  William  Woodville,  ii.  4 

Rodriguez,  Island,  i.  82,  83 

Roe,  Sir  Thomas,  ii.  1,  2 

Roggeveen,  Jacob,  ii.  13 

Roy,  Eugene  Armand,  i.  49 

Rubruquis,  Gulielraus  de,  ii.  4  ;  Ex- 
tra Ser.  13 

Ruudall,  Thomas,  i.  5,  8 

Jlusse  Commonwealth,  i.  20 

Russia,  i.  10,  12,  20,  72,  73 

Rye,  William  Brenchley,  i.  9 

Salil-Ibn-Ruzaik,  i.  44 
Samarcand,  i.  26 
Sauclio,  Pedro,  i.  47  ;  ii.  22 
Santo-Stefano,  Hieronimo  di,  i.  22 
Saris,  John,  i.  8  ;  ii.  5 


Sarmieuto  de  Gamboa,  Pedro,  i.  91  ; 

ii.  22,  34 
Satow,  Sir  Ernest  Mason,  G.C.M.G., 

ii.  5 
Schiltberger,  Johann,  i.  58 
Schmidel,  Ulrich,  i.  81 
Schmidt,  Ulrich.     See  Schmidel. 
Schomburgk,  Sir    Robert   Hermann, 

i.  3 
Schouten,  Willem  Cornelisz.,  ii.  18 
Scory,  Sir  Edmund,  ii.  21 
Seaman's  Secrets,  i.  59 
Segersz.,  Jacob,  ii.  11 
Sellman,  Edward,  i,  38 
Shakspere's  "New  Map,"  i.  59 
Sharpeigh,  Alexander,  i.  56 
Shaw,  Norton,  i.  23 
Siam,  i.  39 

Silva,  Nuiio  da.  ii.  34 
Simon,  Pedro,  i.  28 
Sinclair,  William  Frederic,  ii.  9 
Sloane  MSS..  i.  25,  65  ;  ii'.  16 
Smith,  Capt.  John,  i.  65,  86 
Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  i.  19,  63,  65 
Smyth,  William  Henry,  i.  21 
Solomon  Islands,  ii.  7,  8,  14,  15 
Soltania,  Archbishop  of,  i.  36  ;  ii.  37 
Somers,  Sir  George,  i.  65 
Soto,  Ferdinando  de,  i.  9,  47 
Soulsby,  Basil  Harrington,  ii.  10,  11, 

]4,  15,  16,  18 
Sousa  Tajvares,  Francisco  de,  i.  30 
South  Sea  .    See  Pacific  Ocean. 
Spanish  MSS.,  i.  29,  48 
Spanish  Voyages,  i.  25,  39  ;    ii.  7,  8. 

13,  14,  15 
Speilbergen,  Joris  van,  ii.  18 
Spitsbergen,  i.  13,  18,  54  ;  ii.  11. 
Staden,  Johann  von,  i.  51 
Stanley  of  Alderley,  Lord,  i.  35,  39, 

42,  52,  64 
Staunton,  Sir  George  Thomas,  Bart., 

i.  14,15 
Stere,  William,  i.  13 
Storm  van  's  Gravesande,  ii.  26,  27 
Strachey,  William,  i.  6 
Suarez  de  Figueroa,  Christoval,  i.  57  ; 

ii.  14,  15 
Summer  Islands,  i.  65,  86 
Syria,  i.  32 

Tabasco,  ii.  23 

Tahiti,  ii.  13,  32,  36 

Tamerlane,  The  Great,  i.  26 

Tana  (Azov),  i.  49 

Tapia,  Andres  de,  ii.  23 

Tartary,  i.  17  ;   ii.  1,  2,  4 

Tavares,    Francisco    de    Sousa.     See 

Sousa  Tavares,  F.  de. 
Teixeira,  Pedro,  ii.  9 


XXIV 


Telfer,  John  Buchan,  i.  58 

Temple,   Sir    Richard  Carnac,  Bart., 

ii.  12,  17,  35 
Tenerife.  ii.  21 
Terra  AustraHs,  i.  25 
Terra  Florida,  i.  9 
Thomas,  William,  i.  49 
Thompson,     Sir     Edward     Maunde, 

K.C.B.,i.  66,67 
Thpmson,  Basil  Home,  ii.  7,  8 
Thome,  Robert,  i.  7 
Tibet,  i.  36,  37  ;  ii.  33 
Tiele,  Pieter  Anton,  i.  70,  71 
Tierra  Firme,  i.  28,  34,  47 
Timour,  Great  Khan,  i.  26 
Toledo,  Francisco  de,  Viceroy  of  Peru, 

ii.  22 
Tootal,  Albert,  i.  51 
Topograpkia  Christiana,  i.  98 
Torquemada,  Fray  Juan  de,  ii.  14,  15 
Torres,  Luis  Vaez  de,  i.  25,  39  ;  ii.  14, 

15 
Toscanelli,  Paolo,  i.  86 
Towerson,  Gabriel,  i.  19 
Tractotus  de  Globis,  i.  79 
Transylvanus,  Maximilianus,  i.  .t2 
Tupac  Amaru,  Inca,  ii.  22 
Turbervile,  George  i.  10 
Turkey  Merchants,  i.  87 

Ursua,  Pedro  de,  i.  28,  47 

Valle,  Pietro  della,  i.  84,  85 
Varthema,  Ludovico  di,  i.  19,  32 
Vaux,  William  Sandys  Wright,  i.  16 
Vaz,  Lopez,  i.  16 
Veer,  Gerrit  de,  i.  13,  54 
Velasco,  Don  Luis  de,  ii.  34 
Velasquez,  Diego,  ii.  23 


Vei-a  Cruz,  ii.  23 
Verarzanus,  John,  i.  7,  27 
Verbiest,  Ferdinand,  i.  17 
Vespucci,  Amerigo,  i.  90 
Vilcapampa,  ii.  22 
Virginia  Britannia,  i.  6 
Vivero  y  Velasco,  Rodrigo  de  i.  8 
Vlamingh,  Willem  de,  i.  25 
Volkersen,  Samuel,  i.  25 

Warner,  George  Frederic,  Litt.D.,  ii.  3 

Weigates,  Straits  of,  i.  13,  54 

West  Indies,  i.  4,  23  ;  ii.  3,  23 

Weymouth,  George,  i.  5,  88,  89 

White,  Adam,  i.  18 

Whiteway,  Richard  Stephen,  ii.  10 

Wielhorsky,  i.  22 

William  of  Rubruck.     See  Rubruquis, 

Gulielmus  de 
Wilmere,  Alice,  i.  23 
Winter,  John,  i.  16 
Witsen,  Nicolaas,  i.  17,  25 
Wolstenholme,  Sir  John,  i.  63,  88,  89 
Worlde's  Mydrographical  Description, 

i.  59 
Wright,  Edward,  i.  59 

Xeres,  Francisco  de,  i.  47  ;  ii.  22 

Yncas.     See  Incas. 
Yucatan,  ii.  23 

Yule,    Sir  Henry,  K.C.S.L,  i.  31   36, 
37,74,  75,  78;  ii.  19,  20,  33 

Zarate,  Don  Francisco  de,  ii.  34 
Zeno,  Antonio,  i.  50 
Zeno,  Caterino,  i.  49 
Zeno,  Nicolo.  i.  50 
Zychman,  i.  51 


XXV 


LAWS    OF    THE    HAKLUYT    SOCIETY. 


I.  The  object  of  this  Society  shall  be  to  print,  for  distribution  among  the 
members,  rare  and  valuable  Voyages,  Travels,  Naval  Expeditions,  and  other 
geographical  records. 

II.  The  Annual  Subscription  shall  be  One  and  a-half  Guinea  (for  America, 
eight  dollars,  U.S.  currency),  payable  in  advance  on  the  ist  January. 

III.  Each  member  of  the  Society,  having  paid  his  Subscription,  shall  be 
entitled  to  a  copy  of  every  work  produced  by  the  Society,  and  to  vote  at  the 
general  meetings  within  the  period  subscribed  for  ;  and  if  he  do  not  signify, 
before  the  close  of  the  year,  his  wish  to  resign,  he  shall  be  considered  as  a  member 
for  the  succeeding  year. 

IV.  The  management  of  the  Society's  affairs  shall  be  vested'ih  a  Council 
consisting  of  twenty-two  members,  viz.,  a  President,  three  Vice-Presidents,  a 
Treasurer,  a  Secretary,  and  sixteen  ordinary  members,  to  be  elected  annually ; 
but  vacancies  occurring  between  the  general  meetings  shall  be  filled  up  by  the 
Council. 

V.  A  General  Meeting  of  the  Subscribers  shall  be  held  annually.  The 
Secretary's  Report  on  the  condition  and  proceedings  of  the  Society  shall  be 
then  read,  and  the  meeting  shall  proceed  to  elect  the  Council  for  the  ensuing  year. 

VI.  At  each  Annual  Election,  three  of  the   old  Council  shall  retire. 

VII.  The  Council  shall  meet  when  necessary  for  the  dispatch  of  business,  three 
forming  a  quorum,  including  the  Secretary ;  the  Chairman  having  a  casting  vote. 

VIII.  Gentlemen  preparing  and  editing  works  for  the  Society  shall  receive 
twenty-five  copies  of  such  works  respectively. 


XXVI 


LIST     OF     MEMBEKS.— 1915. 


Members  are  requested  to  inform  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  any  errors  or 
alterations  in  this  List. 


1899  Aberdare,  The  Right  Hon.  Lord,  83,  Eaton  Square,  S.  W. 

1847  Aberdeen  University  Library,  Aberdeen. 

1913  Abraham,  H.  C,  Esq.,    c/o   W.  Abraham,  Esq.,  69,  Tennyson  Road,  Ports- 
wood,  Southampton. 

1895  Adelaide  Public  Library,  North  Terrace,  Adelaide,  South  Australia. 

1847  Admiralty,  The,  Whitehall,  S.W.     [2  copies.] 

1847  Advocates'  Library,  11,  Parliament  Square,  Edinburgh. 

1899  Alexander,  William  Lindsay,  Esq.,  Pinkieburn,  Musselburgh,  N.B. 

1847  AH  Souls  College,  Oxford. 

1847  American  Geographical  Society,  11,  West  81st  Street,  New  York  City,  U.S.A. 

1906  Andrews,  Michael  C,  Esq.,  17,  University  Square,  Belfast. 

1847  Antiquaries,  The  Society  of,  Burlington  House,  Piccadilly,  W. 

1909  Armstrong,   Capt.  B.  H.  0.,  R.E. 

1847  Army  and  Navy  Club,  36,  Pall  Mall,  S.W. 

1847  Athenfeum  Club,  Pall  Mall,  S.W. 

1912  Aylward,  R.  M.,  Esq.,  7*^  Avenida  Sur,  No.  87,  Guatemala. 


1899     Baer,  Joseph  &  Co.,  Messrs.,  Hochstrasse  6,  Frankfort-on-Main,  Germany. 
1847     Bagram,  John  Ernest,  Esq.,  10,  Old  Post  Office  Street,  Calcutta. 

1912  Baird,  H.  A.,  Esq.,  West  House,  Bothwell,  N.B. 

1909     Baldwin,  Stanley,  Esq.,  M.P.,  Astley  Hall,  nr.  Stourport. 
1899     Ball,  John  B.,  Esq.,  Ashburton  Cottage,  Putney  Heath,  S.W. 

1893  Barclay,  Hugh  Gurney,  Esq.,  Colney  Hall,  Norwich. 
1911     Barwick,  G.  F.,  Esq.,  British  Museum. 

1899     Basset,  M.  Rene,  Directeur  de  I'Ecole  Superieure  des  Lettres  d' Alger,  Villa 
Louise,  rue  Denfert  Rochereau,  Algiers. 

1894  Baxter,  Hon.  James  Phinney,  Esq.,  61,  Deering  Street,  Portland,  Maine,  U.S.A. 
1896     Beaumont,    Admiral    Sir    Lewis  Anthony,   G.C.B.,   K.C.M.G.,    St.   Georges, 

Hurstpierpoint,  Sussex. 

1913  Beaumont,  Lieut.  H.,  Rhoscolyn,  Holyhead,  N.  Wales. 

1904     Beetem,  Charles  Gilbert,  Esq.,  110,  South  Hanover  Street,  Carlisle,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 
1899     Belfast   Library  and   Society   for   Promoting   Knowledge,   Donegall   Square 

North,  Belfast. 
1913     Belfield,  T.    Broom,   Esq.,    1905,   Spring  Garden    Street.  Philadelphia,  Pa., 

U.S.A. 
1896     Belliaven   and  Stenton,   Col.  The  Right  Hon.  the  Lord,  R.E.,  41,  Lennox 

Gardens,  S.W.  (Vice-President). 

1913  Bennett,  Ira  A.  Esq.,  Editor  Washington  Post,  Wnshington,  D.C.,  U.S.A. 
1847     Berlin  Geogi-aphical  Society  (Gesellschaft  fiir  Erdkunde),  Wilhelmstrasse  23, 

Berlin,  S.W.,  48. 
1847     Berlin,  the  Royal  Library  of,  Opernplatz,  Berlin,  W. 
1847     Berlin  University,  Geographical  Institute    of,  Georgenstrasse  34-36    Berlin 

N.W.  7. 

1914  Bernice  Pauahi  Bishop  Museum,  Honolulu,  Hawaii  Island. 
1913     Beuf,  L.,  6,  Via  Caroli,  Genoa. 


Sent  to  press,  July  1st,  1915. 


XXVll 

1913  Bewsher,  F.  W.,  Esq.,  25,  Brook  Green,  W. 

1911  Bingham,  Professor  Hiram,  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 
1899  Birmingham  Central  Free  Library,  Ratclifi  Place,  Birmingham. 

1847  Birmingham  Old  Library,  The,  Margaret  Street,  Birmingham. 

1910  Birmingham  University  Library. 

1899  Board  of  Education,  The  Keeper,  Science  Library,  Science  Museum,  South 

Kensington,  S.W. 

1847  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford. 

1894  Bonaparte,  H.  H.  Prince  Roland  Napoleon,  Avenue  d'Jena  10,  Paris. 

1847  Boston  Athenaeum  Library,  lOJ,  Beacon  Street,  Boston.  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

1847  Boston  Public  Library,  Copley  Square,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

1912  Bourke,  Hubert,  Esq.,  Feltimores,  Harlow,  Essex. 
1899  Bowdoin  College,  Brunswick,  Maine,  U.S.A. 

1894  Bower,  Major  -  General    Hamilton,    c/o  Messrs.   Cox  and  Co.,   16,    Charing 

Cross. 

1896  Bowring,  Sir  Thomas  B.,  7,  Palace  Gate,  Kensington,  W. 

1912  Boyd- Richardson,  Lieutenant  S.  B.,  R.N.,  Wade  Court,  Havant,  Hants 

1914  Braislin,  Dr.  William  C,  556,  Washington  Avenue,  Brooklyn.  U.S.A. 

1906  Brereton,  The  Rev.  William,  The  Rectory,  Steeple  Giddiug,  Peterboro'. 

1893  Brighton  Public  Library,  Royal  Pavilion,  Church  Street,  Brighton. 

1890  British    Guiana  Royal  Agricultural  and    Commercial    Society,     Georgetown, 

Demerara. 

1847  British  Museum,  Department  of  British  and  Mediaeval  Antiquities. 

1847  British  Museum,  Department  of  Printed  Books. 

1896  Brock,  Henry  G.,  Esq.,  1612,  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 

1909  Brooke,  John  Arthur,  Esq.,  J.P,,  Fenay  Hall,  Huddersfleld. 
1899  Brookline  Public  Library,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

1899  Brooklyn  Mercantile  Library,  197,  Montague  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  U.S.A. 

1899  Brown,  Arthur  William  Whateley,  Esq.,  62,  Carlisle  Mansions,  Carlisle  Place, 

Victoria  Street,  S.W. 

1896  Buda-Pesth,  The  Geographical  Institute  of  the  University  of,  Hungary. 

1910  Buenos  Aires,  Biblioteca  Nacional  (c/o  E.  Terquem,  19,  Rue  Scribe,  Paris). 
1890  Burns,  Capt.  John  William,  Leesthorpe  Hall,  Melton  Mowbray. 

1914  Byers,  Gerald,  Esq.,  c/o  Messrs.  Butterfield*and  Swire,  Shanghai. 


1913  Cadogan,  Lieut.  Francis,  R.N.,  H.M.S.  "Argyll." 
1903  California,  University  of,  Berkeley,  Cal.,  U.S.A. 
1847  Cambridge  University  Library,  Cambridge. 

191 1  Canada,  Department  of  the  Naval  Service,  Ottawa. 

1847  Canada.  The  Parliament  Library,  Ottawa. 

1896  Cardifif  Public  Library,  Trinity  Street,  Cardiff. 

1847  Carlisle,  The  Rt.  Hon.  the  Earl  of.  Castle  Howard,  York. 

1847  Carlton  Club  Library,  94,  Pall  Mall,  S.W. 

1899  Carnegie  Library,  Pittsburgli,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 

1914  Casserly,  John  Bernard,  Esq.,  San  Mateo,  California,  U.S.A. 

1910  Cattarns,  Richard,  Esq.,  7,  Gloucester  Terrace,  Regent's  Park,  N.W. 

1899  Chambers,    Captain  Bertram  Mordaunt,  R.N.,  c/o  Messrs.  Cocks,  Biddulph 

and  Co.,  43,  Charing  Cross,  S.W. 

1910  Chapelotet  Cie.,  30,  Rue  et  Passage -Dauphine,  Paris. 

1913  Charleston  Library,  Charleston,  U.S.A. 

1910  Chicago,  Geographical  Society  of,  P.O.  Box  223,  Chicago. 

1899  Chicago  Public  Library.  Chicago,  111.,  U.S.A. 

1899  Chicago  University  Library,  Chicago,  111.,  U.S.A. 

1896  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 

1847  Christiania  University  Library,  Christiania,  Norway. 

1913  Churchill,  Arnold,  Esq.,  Stone  House,  Broadstairs. 

.1899  Cincinnati  Public  Library,  Ohio,  U.S.A. 


XXVlll 

1907  Clark,  Arthur  H.,  Esq.,  Caxtou  Buildings,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
1913     Clark,  James  Cooper,  Esq..  Ladyhill  House,  Elgin,  N.B. 

1913  Clarke,  Sir  Rupert,  Bart.,  Clarke  Buildings,  Bourke  Street,  Melbourne. 

1903  Clay,  John,  Esq.,  University  Press  and  Burrell's  Corner,  Cambridge. 

1913  Coates,  O.  R.,  Esq.,  British  Consulate-General.  Shanghai. 

1847  Colonial  Office,  The,  Downing  Street,  S.W. 

1899  Columbia  Universitj^  Library  of.  New  York,  U.S.A. 

1896  Conway,  Sir  William  Martin,  Allingtou  Castle,  Maidstone,  Kent. 

1903  Cooke,  William  Charles,  Esq.,  Vailima,  Bishopstown,  Cork. 

1847  Copenhagen  Royal  Library  (Det  Store  Kongelige  Bibliothek),  Copenhagen. 

1894  Cora,  Professor  Guido,  M.A.,  Via  Nazionale,  181,  Rome. 

1847  Cornell  University.  Ithaca.  New  York,  U.S.A. 

1903  Corney,    Bolton    Glanvill,    Esq.,    I.S.O.,    c/o  Royal    Geographical   Society,. 

Kensington  Gore,  S.W. 
1899     Corning,  C.  R.,  Esq.,  36  Wall  Street,  New  York. 
1893     Cow,  John,  Esq.,  Elfinsward,  Hayward's  Heath,  Sussex. 
1902     Cox,  Alexander  G. ,  Esq.,  Engineer-in-Chief's  Office,  Canton-Hankow  Railway, 

Hankow,  China. 

1908  Crewdson,  W.,  Esq.,  J.P.,  Southside.  St   Leonards-ou-Sea. 

1904  Croydon  Public  Libraries,  Central  Library,  Town  Hall,  Croydon. 

1893     Curzon  of  Kedleston,  The  Right  Hon.  Earl,  G.M.S  1.,  G.M.I.E  ,  1,  Carlton 

House  Terrace,  S.W. 
1911     Cutting,  Lady  Sybil,  c/o  the  Earl  of  Desart,  2,  Rutland  Gardens,  S.W. 


1913     Dalgliesh,  Percy,  Esq.,  Guatemala,  C.A. 

1847     Dalton,  Rev.  Canon  John  Neale,  C.M.G.,  C.V.O.,  4,  The  Cloisters,  Windsor. 

1913     Dames,  Mansell  Longworth,  Esq.,  Crichmere.  Edgeborough  Road,  Guildford. 

1899     Dampier,  Gerald  Robert,  Esq.,  I.C.S.,  Dehra  Dun,  N.W.P.,  India. 

1847  Danish  Royal  Naval  Library  (Det  Kongelige  Danske  S^kaart  Archiv),  Copen- 
hagen. 

1912     Dartmouth  College  Library,  Hanover,  N.  H.,  U.S.A. 

1908     Darwin,  Major  Leonard,  late  R.E.,  12,  Egerton  Place,  S.W. 

1894  De  Bertodano,  Baldomero  Hyacinth,  Esq.,  Cowbridge  House,  Malmesbury, 
Wilts. 

1911     Delbanco,  D.,  Esq.,  9,  Mincing  Lane,  E.C 

1899     Detroit  Public  Library,  Michigan,  U.S.A. 

1893     Dijon  University  Library,  Rue  Monge,  Dijon,  Cote  d'Or,  France. 

1899  Dresden  Geographical  Society  (Verein  fiir  Erdkunde),  Kleine  Briid^rsrasse- 
21n,  Dresden. 

1902     Dublin,  Trinity  College  Library. 

1910     Dunn,  J.  H.,  Esq.,  Coombe  Cottage,  Kingston  Hill,  S.W. 


1899  Ecole  Fran^aise  d'Extreme  Orient,  Hanoi,  Indo-Chine  Frangaise. 

1913  licole  des  Langues  Orientales  Vivantes,  Paris. 

1892  Edinburgh  Public  Library,  George  IV.  Bridge,  Edinburgh. 

1847  Edinburgh  University  Library,  Edinburgh. 

1847  Edwards,  Francis,  Esq.,  83,  High  Street,  Maryleboue,  W. 

1913  Eliot,  Sir  Charles,  K.C.M.G.,  C.B.,  The  University,  Hong  Kong. 

1906  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library,  Baltimore,  Md.,  U.S.A. 

1912  Ewing,  Arthur,  Esq. 


1910  Fairbrother,  Colonel  W.  T.,  C.B.,  Indian  Army,  Bareilly,  N.P.,  India, 

1911  Fayal,  The  Most  Noble  the  Marquis  de,  Lisbon. 


XXIX 

1899  Fellowes  Athenaeum,  46,  Millmont  Street  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

1894  Fisher,  Arthur,  Esq.,  The  Mazry,  Tiverton,  Devon. 

1896  Fitzgerald,  Major  Edward  Arthur,  5th  Dragoon  Guards. 

1914  FitzGibbon,  F.  J.,  Esq.,  Casilla  106,  La  Paz,  Bolivia. 

1847  Foreign  Office  of  Germany  (Auswartiges  Amt),  Wilhelmstrasse,  Berlin,  W. 

1893  Forrest,  George  William,  Esq.,  C.I.E.,  Eose  Bank,  Iffley,  Oxford. 

1902  Foster,  Francis  Apthorp,  Esq.,  Edgartown,  Mass.,  U.S  A. 

1893  Foster,  William,  Esq.,  C.I.E.,  India  Office,  S.W. 


1911     Garcia,  Seiior  Genaro,  Apartado  337,  Mexico  D.F. 

1913     Gardner,  Harry  G.,  Esq.,  Hongkong  and  Shanghai  Bank,  Hankow,  China. 

1847     George,  Charles  WUliam,  Esq.,  51,  Hampton  Road,  Bristol. 

1901     Gill,    William    Harrison,    Esq.,    Marunouchi,   Tokyo    (c/o  Messrs.    Nichols, 

Ocean  House,  24/5,  Great  Tovirer  Street,  E.G. 
1847     Glasgow  University  Library,  Glasgow. 

1913  Glyn,  The  Hon.  Mrs.  Maurice,  Albury  Hall,  Much  Hadham. 

1880     Godman,  Frederick  Du  Cane,  Esq.,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  45,  Pont  Street,  S.W. 
1905     Goldie,  The  Right.  Hon.  Sir  George  Taubman,  K.C.M.G.,  F.R.S.,  Naval  & 

Military  Club,  Piccadilly,  W. 
1847     Gottingen  University  Library,  Gottingen,  Germany. 

1914  Gottschalk,  Hon.  A.  L.  M.,  American  Consul-General,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil. 
1877     Gray,  Albert,  Esq.,   K.C.  (President),   Catherine  Lodge,   Trafalgar  Square, 

Chelsea,  S.W. 
1894     Gray,  Matthew  Hamilton,  Esq.,  Lessness  Park,  Abbey  Wood,  Kent. 
1903     Greenlee,  William  B.,  Esq.,  130  Kenesaw  Terrace.  Chicago,  111.,  U.S.A. 
1899     Griffiths,  John  G.,  Esq.,  4,  Hyde  Park  Gardens,  W.  ,       . 

1899     Grosvenor  Library,  Buffalo,  N.Y.,  U.S.A. 
1847     Guildhall  Library,  E.G. 
1887     Guillemard,  Francis  Henry  Hill,  Esq.,  M.A.,   M.D.,  The  Old  Mill  House, 

Trumpington,  Cambridge. 


1910  Hackley  Public  Library,  Muskegon,  Mich,  U.S.A.  ■ 

1847  Hamburg  Commerz-Bibliothek,  Hamburg,  Germany. 

1901  Hammersmith  Public  Libraries,  Carnegie  (Central)  Library,  Hammersmith,  W. 

1898  Hannen,  The  Hon.  Henry  Arthur,  The  Hall,  West  Farleigh,  Kent. 
1913  Hargreaves,  Walter  Ernest,  Esq.,  Nazeing,  Essex. 

1906  Harrison,  Carter  H.,  Esq.  (c/o  Messrs.  Stevens  and  Brown). 

1913  Harrison,  George  L.,  Esq.,  400,  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia. 

1905  Harrison,  William  P.,  Esq.,  1021,  Lawrence  Avenue,  Chicago,  111.,  U.S.A. 

1847  Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

1899  Harvie-Brown,  John  Alexander,  Esq.,  Dunipace,  Larbert,  Stirlingshire. 
1913  Hay,  E.  Alan,  Esq.,  14,  Kensington  Court,  W. 

1887  Heawood,  Edward,  Esq.,  M.A.,  Church  HiU,  Merstham,  Surrey  (Treasurer). 

1899  Heidelberg  University  Library,  Heidelberg  (Koestersche  Buchhandlung). 

1904  Henderson,  George,  Esq.,  13,  Palace  Court,  W. 

1915  Henderson,  Capt.  R.  Ronald,  Little  Compton  Manor,  Moreton-in-Marsh. 

1890  Hervey,  Dudley  Francis  Amelius,  Esq.,  C.M.G.,  Westfields,  Aldeburgh, 
Suffolk. 

1899  Hiersemann,  Herr  Karl  Wilhelm,  Konigsstrasse,  3,  Leipzig. 

1874  Hippisley,  Alfred  Edward,  Esq.,  8,  Herbert  Crescent,  Hans  Place,  W. 

1904  Holdich,  Colonel  Sir  Thomas  Hungerford,  K.G.M.G.,  K.C.I.E.,  C.B.,  R.E., 
41,  Courtfield  Road,  S.W. 

1913  Holman,  R.  H.,  Esq.,  "Wynustay,"  Putney  Hill,  S.W. 

1913  Hong  Kong  University,  c/o  Messrs.  Longmans  &  Co. ,  38,  Paternoster  Row,  E.G. 

1899  Hoover  Herbert  Clarke,  Esq.,  The  Red  House,  Horn  ton  Street,  Ken- 
sington, W. 


1887     Horner,  Sir  John  Francis  Fortescue,  K.C.V.O.,  Mells  Park,  Frome,  Somerset. 

1911     Hoskins,  G.  H.,  Esq.,  Sydney. 

1915     Rowland,  S.  S.,  Esq.,  c/o  Messrs.  N.  M.   Rothschild  and  Sons,  New  Court,. 

St.  Swithin's  Lane,  E.G. 
1890     Hoyt  Public  Library,  East  Saginaw,  Mich.,  U.S.A. 
1909     Hubbard,  H.  M.,  Esq.,  H6,  The  Albany,  Piccadilly,  \V. 
1899     Hiigel,   Baron   Anatole   A.  A.   von,   Curator,  Museum   of   Archaeology   and 

Ethnology,  Cambridge. 
1913     Hughes,  R   H.  Esq.,  22,  Sussex  Mansions,  Sussex  Place,  S.W. 
1894     HuU  Public  Libraries.  Baker  Street,  Hull. 
1913     Humphreys,  John,  Esq.,  26,  Clarendon  Road,  Edgbaston,  Birmingham. 


1912  Illinois,  University  of,  Urbana,  TIL,  U.S.A. 

1899  Im  Thurn,  Sir  Everard,  K.CM.G. ,  C.B.,  39,  Lexham  Gardens,  W. 

1847  India  Office,  Downing  Street,  S.W.     [20  copies.] 

1899  Ingle,  William  Bruncker,  Esq.,  4,  Orchard  Road,  Blackheath,  S.E. 

1892  Inner  Temple,  Hon.  Society  of  the.  Temple,  E.G. 


1899  Jackson,  Stewart  Douglas,  Esq.,  61,  St.  Vincent  Street,  Glasgow. 

1898  James,  Arthur  Curtiss,  Esq.,  92  Park  Avenue,  New  York  City,  U.S.A. 
1896  James,  Walter  B.,  Esq.,  M.D.,  17,  West  54th  Street,  New  York  City,  U.S.A. 

1912  Jenkins,  Captain  F.  W.  R.,  Apartado  331,  Guatemala. 
1907  Johannesburg  Public  Library,  Johannesburg,  South  Africa. 

1847  John  Carter  Brown  Library,  357,  Benefit  Street,  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 

U.S.A. 

1847  John  Rylands  Library,  Deansgate,  Manchester. 

1847  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  Md.,  U.S.A. 

1899  Johnson,  W.  Morton,  Esq.,  Woodleigh,  Altrincham 
1910  Jones,  L.  C,  Esq.,  M.D..  Falmouth,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
1914  Jones,  Livingston  E.,  Esq.,  Germantown,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 

1913  Jowett,  The  Rev.  Hardy,  Ping  Kiang,  Hunan,  China. 


1903  Kansas  University  Library,  Lawrence,  Kans.,  U.S.A. 

1887  Keltic,  John  Scott,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  1,  Kensington  Gore,  S.W. 

1909  Kesteven,  C.  H.,  Esq.,  2,  Hungerford  Street,  Calcutta. 
1899  Kiel,  Royal  University  of,  Kiel,  Schleswig-Holstein. 
1907  Kindberg,  Herrn  Captain  J.  P.,  Goteborg,  Sweden. 

1898  Kinder,  Claude  William,  Esq.,  C.M.G.,  Kelvin,  Avondale  Road,  Fleet,  Hants. 
1890  King's  Inns,  The  Hon.  Society  of  the,  Henrietta  Street,  Dublin. 

1899  Kitching,  John,  Esq.,  Oaklands,  Queen's  Road,  Kingston  Hill,  S.W. 

1912  Koebel,  W.  H.,  Esq.,  Author's  Club,  2,  Whitehall  Court,  S.W. 

1913  Kolouiaal  Instituut,  Amsterdam. 

1910  Koninklijk  Instituut  voor  de  Taal  Land  en  Volkenkunde  van  Nederlandsch 

Indie.     The  Hague. 


1899     Langton,  J.  J.  P.,  Esq.,  802,  Spruce  Street,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  U.S.A. 

1899     Larchmont  Yacht  Club,  Larchmont,  N.Y..  U.S.A. 

1913     Laufer,  Berthold,  Esq.,  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago. 


XXXI 

1899  Leeds  Library,  18,  Commercial  Street,  Leeds. 

1899  Lehigh  University,  South  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 

1893  Leipzig,  Library  of  the  University  of  I^eipzig. 

1912  Leland  Stanford  Junior  University,   Library  of,  Stanford  University,  Cal. 

U.S.A. 

1899  Levy,  Judah,  Esq.,  17,  Greville  Place,  N.W. 

1912  Lind,  Walter,  Esq.,  1°  Calle,  Guatemala,  C.A. 

1899  Lindsay-Smith,  Fred.   Ales.,  Esq.,  J. P.,  18,  Sussex  Place,  Eegent's  Park. 

1847  Liverpool  Free  Public  Library,  William  Brown  Street,  Liverpool. 

1896  Liverpool   Geographical   Society,  14,    Hargreaves   Buildings,    Chapel  Street, 

Liverpool. 

1899  Liverpool,  University  of  Liverpool. 

1911  Loder,  Gerald  W.  E.,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Wakehurst  Place,  Ardingly,  Sussex. 
1899  Loescher,  Messrs.  J.,  and  Co.,  Via  Due  Macelli,  88,  Rome. 

1847  London  Institution,  11,  Finsbury  Circus,  E.C. 

1847  London  Library,  12,  St.  James's  Square,  S.W. 

1899  London  University,  South  Kensington,  S.W. 

1895  Long  Island  Historical  Society,  Pierrepont  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  U.S.A. 

1899  Los  Angeles  Public  Library,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  U.S.A. 

1899  Lowrey,  Joseph,  Esq.,  The  Hermitage,  Loughton,  Essex. 

1912  Luard,  Major  Charles  Eckford,  M.A.,  D.S.O.,  Indore,  Central  India. 

1880  Lucas,  Sir  Charles  Prestwood,  K.C.  B.,  K.C.M.  G.,  65,  St.  George's  Square,  S.  W. 

1895  Lucas,  Frederic  Wm.,  Esq.,  21,  Surrey  Street,  Strand,  W.C. 

1912  Lukach,  H,  C.  Esq.,  M.  A.,  Government  House,  Cyprus. 

1898  Lydenberg,  H.  M. ,  Esq.,  New  York  Public  Library,  Fifth  Avenue  and  Forty- 

second  Street,  New  York  City,  U.S.A. 
1880     Lyons  University  Library,  Lyon,  France. 

1899  Lyttleton-Annesley,  Lieut. -General  Sir  Arthur  Lyttelton,  K.C.V.O.,  Temple- 

mere,  Oatlands  Park,  Weybridge. 


1910  MacDonald,  The  Right  Hon.  Sir  Claude  M.,  G.C.M.G.,  G.C.V.O.,  K.C.B., 

46,  Chester  Square,  S.W. 
1899     Macrae,  Charles  Colin,  Esq.,  93,  Onslow  Gardens,  S.W. 
1908  ,  Maggs  Brothers,  Messrs.,  109,  Strand,  W.C. 
1847     Manchester  Public  Free  Libraries,  King  Street,  Manchester. 
1899     Manierre,  George,  Esq.,  112w,  Adams  Street,  Chicago,  111.,  U.S.A. 
1880     Msirkham,  Admiral  Sir  Albert  Hastings.  K.C.B.,  Belmont  Paddocks,  Faversham. 
1852     Markham,  Sir  Clements  Robert,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  21,  Eccleston  Square,  S.W. 

( Vice-President). 

1892  Marquand,  Henry,  Esq.,  Whitegates  Farm,  Bedford,  New  York,  U.S.A. 
1899     Martelli,  Ernest  Wynne,  Esq.,  4,  New  Square,  Lincoln's  Inn,  W.C. 

1847     Massachusetts   Historical    Society,    1154,    Boylston    Street,    Boston,    Mass., 

U.S.A. 
1905     Maudslay,  Alfred  Percival,  Esq.,  Morney  Cross,  Hereford. 
1899     McClurg,  Messrs.    A.    C,   &   Co.,  215-221,  Wabash   Avenue,  Chicago,   111.,. 

U.S.A. 
1914     Means,  Philip  A.,  Esq.,  196,  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  U.S.A. 
1913     Mensing,  A.  W.  M.,  Esq.  (Frederik  Muller  and  Co.),  Amsterdam. 
1901     Merriman,  J.  A.,  Esq.,  Standard  Bank  of  South  Africa,  Durban. 

1911  Messer,  Allan  E.,  Esq.,  2,  Lyall  Street,  Belgrave  Square,  S.W. 
1913     MeyeudorfiF,  Baron  de,  Ambassade  de  Russie,  Madrid. 

1893  Michigan,  University  of,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  U.S.A. 

1899     Middletown,  Conn.,  Wesleyan  University  Library,  U.S.A. 

1904     Mikkelsen,  Michael  A.,  Esq.,  610,  South  Fifth  Avenue,  Mt.  Vernon,  New  York. 

1847     Mills,  Colonel  Dudley  Acland,  R.E.,  Droaks,  Beaulieu,  Hants. 


XXXll 

1912  Mihvard,  Graham,  Esq.,  77,  Colmore  Row,  Birmingham. 
1896  Milwaukee  Public  Library,  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  U.S.A. 
1895  Minneapolis  Athenaeum,  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  U.S.A. 
1899  Minnesota  Historical  Society,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  U.S.A. 
1899  Mitchell  Library,  21,  Miller  Street,  Glasgow. 

1899  Mitchell,  Wm.,  Esq.,  14,  Forbesfield  Road,  Aberdeen. 

1899  Monson,  The  Right  Hon.  Lord,  C.V.O.,  Burton  Hall,  Lincoln. 

1901  Moreno,  Dr.  Francisco  J., La  Plata  Museum,  La  Plata,  Argentine  Republic. 

1893  Morris,  Henry  Cecil  Low,  Esq.,  M.D.,  The  Steyne,  Bognor,  Sussex. 

1899  Morrison,   George    Ernest,  Esq.,    M.D.,  Times   Correspondent,  c/o   H.B.M. 

Legation,  Peking. 

1911  Morrison,  R.E.,  Esq.,  Ardoch,  Partickhill,  Glasgow. 

1899  Morrisson,  James  W.,  Esq.,  200-206,  Randolph  Street,  Chicago,  111.,  U.S.A. 

1913  Moule,  The  Rev.  A.  C,  Littlebredy,  Dorchester. 

1895     Moxon,   Alfred  Edward,  Esq.,  c/o  Mrs.    Gough,  The  Lodge,  Souldern,  near 

Banbury. 
1899     Mukhopadhyay,  Hon.  Sir  Asutosh,  Kt.,  C.S.I.,  D.Sc,  LL.D.,  77  Russa  Road 

North,  Bhowanipur,  Calcutta. 
1847     Munich  Royal  Library  (Kgl.  Hof  u.  Staats-Bibliothek),  Munich,  Germany. 


1913  Natal  Society's  Library,  Pietermaritzburg,  S.  Africa. 

1899  Nathan,  Lt.-Col.  Sir  Matthew,  G.C.M.G.,  R.E.,  Brandon  House,  Kensington 

Palace  Gardens,  W. 

1894  Naval  and  Military  Club,  94,  Piccadilly,  W. 

1909  Nebraska  University  Library,  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  U.S.A. 

1913  Needham,  J.  E.,  Esq.,  Bombay  Club,  Bombay. 

1880  Netherlands,  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  the    (Koninklijk  Nederlandsch 

Aardrijkskundig  Genootschap),  Singel  421,  Amsterdam. 

1899  Netherlands,  Royal  Library  of  the,  The  Hague. 

1847  Newberry  Library,  The,  Chicago,  111.,  U.S.A. 

1847  Newcastle-upon-Tyne    Literary  and  Philosophical    Society,  Westgate   Road, 

Newcastle  on-Tyne. 

1899  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  Public  Library,  New  Bridge  Street,  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

1894  New  London  Public  Library,  Conn.,  U.S.A. 

1899  New  South  Wales,  Public  Library  of,  Sydney,  N.S.W. 

1899  New  York  Athletic  Club,  Central  Park,  South,  New  York  City,  U.S.A. 

1895  New  York  Public  Library,  40,  Lafayette  Place,  New  York  City,  U.S.A. 
1847  New  York  State  Library,  Albany,  New  York,  U.S.A. 

1894  New  York  Yacht  Club.  37  West  44  Street,  New  York  City,  U.S.A. 

1897  New  Zealand,  The  High  Commissioner  for,  13,  Victoria  Street,  S.W. 

1911  NijhofiF,  Martinus,  The  Hague,  Holland. 

1896  North  Adams  Public  Library,  Massachusetts,  U.S.A. 

1893  Northcliffe,  The  Right  Hon.  Lord.  Elmwood,  St.  Peter's,  Thanet.        '     ' 

1899  Nottingham  Public  Library  Sherwood  Street,  Nottingham.  ' 


1890  Oriental  Club,  18,  Hanover  Square,  W.  ,        . 

1902  Otani,  Kozui,  Esq.,  Nishi  Honganji,  Horikawa,  Kyoto,  Japan. 

1899  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Club,  71,  Pall  Mall,  S.W. 

1847  Oxford  Union  Society,  Oxford. 


1911     Pan-American  Union,  Washington,  D.C.,  U.S.A. 
1847     Paris,  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Rue  de  Richelieu,  Paris. 
1847     Paris,  Institut  de  France,  Quai  de  Conti  23,  Paris. 


xxxm 

1899    Parlett,  Harold  George,  Esq.,  H.B.M.  Consulate,  Dairen,  Japan. 
1880     Peabody  Institute,  Baltimore,  Md.,  U.S.A. 

1908  Pearson,  Dr.  F.  S.,  Coombe  House,  Kingston  Hill,  S.W. 

1847     Peckover  of  Wisbech,   The  Right  Hon.  Lord,  Bank  House,  Wisbech  (Vice- 
President). 
1893     Peek,  Sir  Wilfred,  Bart.,  c/o  Mr.  Grover,  Rousdon,  Lyme  Regis. 

1911  Penrose,  R.  A.  F.,  Esq.,  Bullitt  Buildings,  Philadelphia,  U.S.A. 
1899     Pequot  Library,  Southport,  Conn.,  U.S.A. 

1913     Petersen,  V.,  Esq.,  Chinese  Telegraph  Administration,  Peking,  China. 
1880     Petherick,   Edward  Augustus,    Esq.,    Commonwealth    Library,    Melbourne, 

Australia. 
1895     Philadelphia  Free  Library,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 
1899     Philadelphia,  Library  Company  of,  N.VV.  corner  Juniper  &  Locust  Streets, 

Philadelphia.  Pa.,  U.S.A. 
1899     Philadelphia,  Union  League  Club,  8,  Broad  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 
1899     Philadelphia.  University  Club,  1510  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 

1909  Plymouth,  Officers'  Library,  Royal  Marine  Barracks. 

1899     Plymouth  Proprietary  and  Cottonian  Library,  Cornwall  Street,  Plymouth. 
1899     Portico  Library,  57,  Mosley  Street,  Manchester. 

1912  Provincial  Library  of  British  Columbia,  Victoria,  British  Columbia. 

1911     Pykett,  The   Rev.   G.   F.,  Anglo-Chinese  School,  Methodist  Epis.  Mission, 
Penang. 

1913  Pym,  C.  Guy,  Esq.,  35,  Cranley  Gardens,  S.W. 


1894     Quaritch,  Bernard,  Esq.,  11,   Grafton  Street,  New  Bond  Street,  W. 

(12  copies). 
1913     Queen's  University,  The,  Kingston,  Ontario,  Canada. 
1913     Quincey,  Edmund  de  Q.,  Esq.,  Oakwood,  Chislehurst. 


1890  Raffles  Museum  and  Library,  Singapore. 

1847  Reform  Club,  104,  Pall  Mall,  S.W. 

1899  Reggio,  Andr^  C,  Esq.,  43,  Tremont  Street,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

1895  Rhodes,  Josiah,  Esq.,  The  Elms,  Lytham,  Lancashire. 

1907  Ricketts,  D.  P.,  Esq.,  Imperial  Chinese  Railways,  Tientsin,  China. 

1882  Riggs,  T.  L.,  Esq.,  1311,  Mass.  Avenue,  Washington,  D.C.,  U.S.A. 

1911  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Archivo  Publico  Nacional,  Sa  da  Republica,  No.  26. 

1899  Rodd,  H.E.  The  Right  Hon.  Sir  James  Rennell,  G.C.V.O.,  K.C.M.G.,  C.B., 

British  Embassy,  Rome. 

1906  Rotterdamsch  Leeskabinet,  Rotterdam. 

1911  Royal  Anthropological  Institute,  50,  Great  Russell  Street,  W.C. 

1893  Royal  Artillery  Institution,  Woolwich. 

1847  Royal  Colonial  Institute,  Northumberland  Avenue,  W.C. 

1896  Royal  Cruising  Club,  1,  Bolton  Street,  Piccadilly,  W. 
1847  Royal  Engineers'  Institute,  Chatham. 

1847  Royal  Geographical  Society,  Kensington  Gore,  W, 

1890  Royal  Scottish  Geographical  Society,  Synod  Hall,  Castle  Terrace,  Edinburgh. 

1897  Royal  Societies  Club,  63,  St.  James's  Street,  S.W. 
1847  Royal  United  Service  Institution,  Whitehall,  S.W. 

1899  Runciman,  The  Right  Hon.  Walter,  M.P.,  Doxford,  Chathill,  Northumberland. 
1904  Ruxton,    Captain    Upton    Fitz    Herbert,    Little    Drove    House,    Singleton, 

Sussex. 

1900  Ryley,  John  Horton, Esq.,  8,  Rue  d'Auteuil,  Paris. 

C 


XXXIV 

1899  St.  Andrews  University,  St.  Andrews. 

1899  St.  Deiniol's  Library,  Hawarden,  Flintshire,  N.  Wales. 

1893  St.  John's,  New  Brunswick,  Free  Public  Library. 
1890  St.  Louis  Mercantile  Library,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  U.S.A. 

1899     St.  Martin's-in-the-FieldsFree  Public  Library,  115,  St.  Martin  s  Lane,  W.C. 
1847     St.  Petersburg  University  Library,  St.  Petersburg. 

1894  St.  Wladimir  University,  Kiew,  Russia. 

1911  Saise,  Walter,  Esq.,  D.Sc,  M.  Inst.  C.E.,  Stapleton,  Bristol. 

1913  Salby,  George,  Esq.,  65,  Great  Russell  Street,  W.C. 
1899  San  Francisco  Public  Library,  San  Francisco,  Gal.,  U.S.A. 
1899  Sclater,  Dr.  William  Lutley,  10,  Sloane  Court,  S.W. 
1899  Seattle  Public  Library,  Seattle,  Washington,  U.S.A. 

1894  Seymour,  Admiral  of  the  Fleet  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Hobart,  G.C.B.^ 

O.M.,  G.C.V.O.,  LL.D.,  Queen  Anne's  Mansions,  St.  James's  Park,  S.W. 

1898  Sheffield  Free  Public  Libraries,  Surrey  Street,  Sheffield. 

1914  Sheppard,  S.  T.,  Esq.,  Byculla  Club,  Bombay,  No.  8. 
1847     Signet  Library,  11,  Parliament  Square,  Edinburgh. 

1890     Sinclair,  Mrs.  Wilham  Frederic,  102,  Cheyne  Walk,  Chelsea,  S.W. 
1910     Skimming,  E.  H.  B.,  Esq.,  6,  Cleveland  Terrace,  W. 

1913     Skinner,  Major  R.  M.,  R.  A.  M.  Corps,  c/o  Messrs.  Holt  and  Co.,  3,  Whitehall 
Place,  S.W. 

1912  Skipper,  Mervyn  G.,  Esq.,  care  of  Eastern  Extensions  Tel.  Co  ,  Electra  House,, 

Finsbury  Pavement,  E.G. 

1904     Smith,  John  Langford,  Esq.,  H.  B.  M.  Consular  Service,  China,  c/o  E.  Green- 
wood, Esq.,  Frith  Knowl,  Elstree. 

1906     Smith,  J.  de  Berniere,  Esq.,  4,  Gloucester  Terrace,  Regent's  Park,  N.W. 

1913  Smith,  The  Right  Hon.  James  Parker,  Linburn,  Kirknewton,  Midlothian. 
1896     Smithers,  F.  Oldershaw,  Esq.,  Dashwood  House,  9,  New  Broad  Street,  E.G. 

1899  Society  Geografica  Italiana,  Via  del  Plebiscite  102,  Rome. 
1847     Soci^t^  de  Geographic,  Boulevard  St.  Germain,  184,  Paris. 

1899     South  African  Public  Library,  Queen  Victoria  Street,  Cape  Town,  South  Africa. 

1904  Stanton,  John,  Esq.,  High  Street,  Chorley,  Lancashire. 

1912     Stein,    Herr    Johann,    K.    Ungar.    Universitiits  -  Buchhandlung,  Kolozsvar,. 

Hungary. 
1847     Stevens,  Son,  and  Stiles,  Messrs.  Henry,  39,  Great  Russell  Street,  W.C. 
1847     Stockholm,  Royal  Library  of  (Kungl.  Biblioteket),  Sweden. 

1895  Stockton  Public  Library,  Stockton,  Cal.,  U.S.A. 

1905  Storer,  Albert  H.,  Esq.,  Ridgefield,  Ct.,  U.S.A. 
1890     Strachey,  Lady,  67,  Belsize  Park  Gardens,  N.W. 

1904     Suarez,  Colonel   Don  Pedro  (Bolivian  Legation),  Santa  Cruz,  74,  Compayne- 

Gardens,  N.W. 
1909     Swan,  J.  D.  C,  Dr.,  25,  Ruthven  Street,  Glasgow. 
1908     Sydney,  University  of.  New  South  Wales. 
1899     Sykes,  Colonel  Sir  Percy  Molesworth,  K.C.I.E.,  C.M.G.,  Kashgar. 


1914     Tamplen,  Lewis  H.,  Esq.,  c/o  Messrs.  Jardine,  Matheson  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  Hong 

Kong. 
1899     Tangye,    Richard    Trevithick     Gilbertstone,    Esq.,    LL.B.,     40,    Bramham. 

Gardens,  S.W. 
1914     Taylor,  Frederic  W.,  Esq.,  1529,  Niagara  Street,  Denver,  Colorado,  U.S.A. 
1910     Teleki,  Count  Paul,  Joszef-ter.,  7,  Budapest  V. 

1899     Temple,  Lieut.-Col.  Sir  Richard  Carnac,  Bart.,  CLE.,  The  Nash,  nr.  Worcester. 
1894     Thomson,  Basil  Home,  Esq.,  81,  Victoria  Road,  Kensington,  W. 
1906     Thomson,  Colonel  Charles    FitzGerald,  late  7th  Hussars,  St.  James's  Club,. 

106,  Piccadilly,  W. 
1913     Thurston,  E.  Coppce,  Esq.,  Milnthorpe,  St.  John's  Road,  Harrow. 


XXXV 

1904  Todd,  Commander  George  James,  R.N.,  The  Manse,  Kin'gsbarns,  Fife. 

1896  Toronto  Public  Library,  Toronto,  Ont.,  Canada. 

1890  Toronto  University,  Toronto,  Ont.,  Canada. 

1911  Tower,  Sir  Reginald,  K.C.M.G.,  C.V.O.,  8,  Baker  Street,  Portman  Square,  W, 

1847  Travellers'  Club,  106,  Pall  Mall,  S.W. 

1899  Trinder,  Arnold,  Esq.,  River  House,  Walton-on-Thames. 

1913  Trinder,  W.  H.,  Esq.,  The  Old  Vicarage,  Kingswood,  Surrey. 

1847  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

1847  Trinity  House,  The  Hon.  Corporation  of,  Tower  Hill,  E.G. 

1911  Tuckerman,  Paul,  Esq.,  59,  Wall  Street,  New  York,  U.S.A. 

1890  TurnbuU,  Alexander  H.,  Esq.,  Elibank,  Wellington,  New  Zealand. 

1902  Tweedy,  Arthur  H.,  Esq.,  Widmore  Lodge,  Widmore,  Bromley,  Kent. 


1847  United  States  Congress,  Library  of,  Washington,  D.C.,  U.S.A. 

1899  United  States  National  Museum  (Library  of),  Washington,  D.C.,  U.S.A. 

1847  United  States  Naval  Academy  Library,  Annapolis,  Md.,  U.S.A. 

1847  Upsala  University  Library,  Upsala,  Sweden  (c/o  Simpkin,  Marshall). 


1911  Van  Ortroy,  Professor  F.,  University  de  Gand,  Belgium. 
1913  Vasquez,  Senor  Don  Ricardo,  Guatemala,  C.A. 

1899  Vernon,  Roland  Venables,  Esq..  Colonial  OflBce,  Downing  Street,  S.W. 

1899  Victoria,   Public   Library,  Museums,   and   National    Gallery   of,   Melbourne, 

Australia. 

1847  Vienna  Imperial  Library  (K.  K.  Hof-Bibliothek),  Vienna. 

1905  Vienna,  K.  K.  Geographische  Gesellschaft,  Wollzeile  33,  Vienna. 

1887  Vignaud,  Henry,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  2,  Rue  de  la  Mairie,  Bagneux  (Seine),  France. 

1912  Villa,  Dr.  F.  Luis  de.  Banco  Colombiano,  Guatemala,  C.A. 
1909  Villiers,  J.  A.  J.  de,  Esq.,  British  Museum  {Hon.  Secretary)  (2). 


1904    Wagner,  Ferrn  H.,  and  E.  Debes,  Geographische  Anstalt,  Briiderstrasse  23, 

Leipzig. 
1902    War  Office,  Mobilisation  and  Intelligence  Library,  Whitehall,  S.W. 
1847     Washington,  Department  of  State,  D.C.,  U.S.A. 

1847     Washington,  Library  of  Navy  Depaitment,  Washington,  D.C.,  U.S.A. 
1899     Watanabe,  Chiharu,  Esq.,  4,  Shimotakanawamachi,  Shibaku,  Tokyo,  Japan. 
1899     Watkinson  Library,  Hartford,  Connecticut,  U.S.A. 
1899    Weld,   Rev.    George   Francis,   Hingham,   Mass.,     U.S.A.    (Weldwold,    Santa 

Barbara,  California). 
1899     Westaway,  Engineer  Rear-Admiral   Albert   Ernest    Luscombe,  36,    Granada 

Road,  Southsea. 
1913    Western  Reserve  Historical  Society,  Cleveland,  U.S.A. 

1898  Westminster  School,  Dean's  Yard,  S.W. 

1913  White,  James,  Esq.,  Commission  of  Conservation,  Ottawa. 

1914  White,  John  G.,  Williamson  Building,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  U.S.A. 

1893    Whiteway,  Richard  Stephen,  Esq.,  Brownscombe,  Shottermill,  Surrey. 

1910    Wihlfahrt.  E.,  Esq. 

1914     Willard,  A.  F.,  Esq.,  Lloyd's  Agency,  Livingston,  Guatemala. 

1899  Williams,  0.  W.,  Esq.,  Fort  Stockton,  Texas.  U.S.A. 


JCXXVl 

1914  Williams,  Sidney  Herbert,  Esq.,  32,  Warrior  Square,  St.  Leonards-on-Sea. 

1899  Wilmauns,  Frederick  M.,  Esq.,  89,  Oneida  Street,  iMilwaukee,  Wise,  U.S.A. 
1913  Wimble,  John  Bowring,  Esq.,  18,  Westbourne  Terrace,  Hyde  Park,  W. 
1895  Wisconsin,  State  Historical  Society  of,  Madison,  Wise,  U.S.A. 

1913  Wood,  Henry  A.  Wise,  Esq.,  1,  Madison  Avenue,  New  York. 

1900  Woodford,  Charles  Morris,  Esq.,  The  Grinstead,  Partridge  Green,  Sussex. 
1907  Woolf,  Leonard  Sidney,  Esq.,  -38,  Brunswick  Square,  W.C. 

1899  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  Free  Library,  Worcester,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

1914  Wright,  Dr.  J.  Farrall,  46,  Derby  Street,  Bolton,  Lanes. 
1913  Wright,  R.,  Esq.,  The  Poplars,  Worsley  Road,  Swinton,  Lanes. 


1847     Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  U.S.A. 

1894     Young,  Alfales,  Esq.,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  U.S.A. 


1847     Ziirich,  Stadtbibliothek,  Ziirich,  Switzerland, 


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Yule,  Henry,  1820-1889, 

Cathay  and  the  way  thither 


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