History of the World/History of the World (Bureau Development, Inc.)(1992).BIN/dp/0447/04478.txt

Text File | 1992-10-12 | 24KB | 404 lines

$Unique_ID{how04478}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Travels Of Marco Polo
Part I}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Polo, Marco}
$Affiliation{}
$Subject{khan
nayan
now
hundred
thousand
battle
heard
lord
right
four}
$Date{}
$Log{}
Title:       Travels Of Marco Polo
Book:        Book Second: Of Kublai Khan, Great Khan Now Reigning, His Great Puissance
Author:      Polo, Marco

Part I

Chapter I

     Now am I come to the part of our book in which I shall tell you of the
great and wonderful magnificence of the great Khan now reigning, by name
Kublai Khan; Khan being a title which signifies "The Great Lord of Lords," or
emperor.  And of a surety he hath good right to such a title, for all men
know for a certain truth that he is the most potent man, as regards forces
and lands and treasure, that existeth in the world, or ever hath existed from
the time of our first father Adam until this day.  All this I will make clear
to you for truth, in this book of ours, so that every one shall be fain to
acknowledge that he is the greatest lord that is now in the world, or ever
hath been.  And now ye shall hear how and wherefore.

Chapter II

Concerning The Revolt Of Nayan, Who Was Uncle To The Great Khan Kublai

     Now this Kublai Kahn is of the right imperial lineage, being descended
from Jengis Khan, the first sovereign of all the Tartars.  And he is the
sixth lord in that succession, as I have already told you in this book.  He
came to the throne in the year of Christ, 1256, and the empire fell to him
because of his ability and valor and great worth, as was right and reason.
His brothers, indeed, and other kinsmen disputed his claim, but his it
remained, both because maintained by his great valor, and because it was in
law and right his, as being directly sprung of the imperial line.

     Up to the year of Christ now running, to wit 1298, he hath reigned
forty-two years, and his age is about eighty-five, so that he must have been
about forty-three years of age when he first came to the throne.  Before that
time he had often been to the wars, and had shown himself a gallant soldier
and an excellent captain.  But after coming to the throne he never went to
the wars in person save once.  This befel in the year of Christ, 1286, and I
will tell you why he went.

     There was a great Tartar chief, whose name was Nayan, a young man of
thirty, lord over many lands and many provinces; and he was uncle to the
Emperor Kublai Khan of whom we are speaking.  And when he found himself in
authority this Nayan waxed proud in the insolence of his youth and his great
power; for indeed he could bring into the field three hundred thousand
horsemen, though all the time he was liegeman to his nephew, the great Khan
Kublai, as was right and reason.  Seeing then what great power he had, he
took it into his head that he would be the great Khan's vassal no longer;
nay, more, he would fain wrest his empire from him if he could.  So this
Nayan sent envoys to another Tartar prince called Kaidu, also a great and
potent lord, who was a kinsman of his, and who was a nephew of the great Khan
and his lawful liegemen also, though he was in rebellion and at bitter enmity
with his sovereign lord and uncle.  Now the message that Nayan sent was this:
That he himself was making ready to march against the great Khan with all his
forces, which were great, and he begged Kaidu to do likewise from his side,
so that by attacking Kublai on two sides at once with such great forces they
would be able to wrest his dominion from him.

     And when Kaidu heard the message of Nayan, he was right glad thereat,
and thought the time was come at last to gain his object.  So he sent back
answer that he would do as requested; and got ready his host, which mustered
a good hundred thousand horsemen.

     Now let us go back to the great Khan, who had news of all this plot.

Chapter III

How The Great Khan Marched Against Nayan

     When the great Khan heard what was afoot, he made his preparations in
right good heart, like one who feared not the issue of an attempt so contrary
to justice.  Confident in his own conduct and prowess, he was in no degree
disturbed, but vowed that he would never wear crown again if he brought not
those two traitorous and disloyal Tartar chiefs to an ill end.  So swiftly
and secretly were his preparations made, that no one knew of them but his
privy council, and all were completed within ten or twelve days.  In that
time he had assembled good three hundred and sixty thousand horsemen, and a
hundred thousand footmen, - but a small force indeed for him, and consisting
only of those that were in the vicinity.  For the rest of his vast and
innumerable forces were too far off to answer so hasty a summons, being
engaged under orders from him on distant expeditions to conquer divers
countries and provinces.

     You must know that in all the provinces of Cathav and Mangi, and
throughout the great Khan's dominions, there are too many disloyal folk ready
to break into rebellion against their lord, and hence it is needful in every
province containing large cities and much population, to maintain garrisons.
These are stationed four or five miles from the cities, and the latter are
not allowed to have walls or gates by which they might obstruct the entrance
of the troops at their pleasure.  These garrisons as well as their commanders
the great Khan causes to be relieved every two years; and bridled in this way
the people are kept quiet, and can make no disturbance.  The troops are
maintained not only by the pay which the Khan regularly assigns from the
revenues of each province, but also by the vast quantities of cattle which
they keep, and by the sale of milk in the cities, which furnishes the means
of buying what they require.  They are scattered among their different
stations, at distances of thirty, forty, or sixty days from the capital; and
had Kublai decided to summon but the half of them, the number would have been
incredible.

     If he had waited to summon all his troops, the multitude assembled would
have been beyond all belief, a multitude such as never was heard of or told
of, past all counting.  In fact, those three hundred and sixty thousand
horsemen that he got together consisted merely of the falconers and whippers-
in that were about the court!

     And when he had got ready this handful as it were of his troops, he
ordered his astrologers to declare whether he should gain the battle and get
the better of his enemies.  After they had made their observations, they told
him to go on boldly, for he would conquer and gain a glorious victory:
whereat he greatly rejoiced.

     So he marched with his army, and after advancing for twenty days they
arrived at a great plain where Nayan lay with all his host, amounting to some
four hundred thousand horse.  Now the great Khan's forces arrived so fast and
so suddenly that the others knew nothing of the matter.  For the Khan had
caused such strict watch to be made in every direction for scouts that every
one that appeared was instantly captured.  Thus Nayan had no warning of his
coming and was completely taken by surprise; insomuch that when the great
Khan's army came up, he was asleep in the arms of a wife of his of whom he
was extravagantly fond.  So thus you see why it was that the emperor equipped
his force with such speed and secrecy.

Chapter IV

Of The Battle That The Great Khan Fought With Nayan

     What shall I say about it?  When day had well broken, there was the Khan
with all his host upon a hill overlooking the plain where Nayan lay in his
tent, in all security, without the slightest thought of any one coming
thither to do him hurt.  In fact, this confidence of his was such that he
kept no vedettes whether in front or in rear; for he knew nothing of the
coming of the great Khan, owing to all the approaches having been completely
occupied as I told you.  Moreover, the place was in a remote wilderness, more
than thirty marches from the court, though the Khan had made the distance in
twenty, so eager was he to come to battle with Nayan.

     And what shall I tell you next?  The Khan was there on the hill, mounted
on a great wooden bartizan, which was borne by four well-trained elephants,
and over him was hoisted his standard, so high aloft that it could be seen
from all sides.  His troops were ordered in battles of thirty thousand men
apiece; and a great part of the horsemen had each a foot soldier armed with
a lance set on the crupper behind him (for it was thus that the footmen were
disposed of); and the whole plain seemed to be covered with his forces.  So
it was thus that the great Khan's army was arrayed for battle.

     When Nayan and his people saw what had happened, they were sorely
confounded, and rushed in haste to arms.  Nevertheless they made them ready
in good style and formed their troops in an orderly manner.  And when all
were in battle array on both sides as I have told you, and nothing remained
but to fall to blows, then might you have heard a sound arise of many
instruments of various music, and of the voices of the whole of the two hosts
loudly singing.  For this is a custom of the Tartars, that before they join
battle they all unite in singing and playing on a certain two-stringed
instrument of theirs, a thing right pleasant to hear.  And so they continue
in their array of battle, singing and playing in this pleasing manner, until
the great naccara of the prince is heard to sound.  As soon as that begins to
sound the fight also begins on both sides; and in no case before the prince's
naccara sounds dare any commence fighting.

     So then, as they were thus singing and playing, thus ordered and ready
for battle, the great naccara of the great Khan began to sound.  And that of
Nayan also began to sound.  And thenceforward the din of battle began to be
heard loudly from this side and from that.  And they rushed to work so
doughtily with their bows and their maces, with their lances and swords, and
with the arblasts of the footmen, that it was a wondrous sight to see.  Now
might you behold such flights of arrows from this side and from that, that
the whole heaven was canopied with them and they fell like rain.  Now might
you see on this side and on that full many a cavalier and man at arms fall
slain, insomuch that the whole field seemed covered with them.  From this
side and from that such cries arose from the crowds of the wounded and dying
that had God thundered, you would not have heard Him!  For fierce and furious
was the battle, and quarter there was none given.

     But why should I make a long story of it?  You must know that it was the
most parlous and fierce and fearful battle that ever has been fought in our
day.  Nor have there ever been such forces in the field in actual fight,
especially of horsemen, we were then engaged - for, taking both sides, there
were not fewer than seven hundred and sixty thousand horsemen, a mighty
force!  and that without reckoning the footmen, who were also very numerous.
The battle endured with various fortune on this side and on that from morning
till noon.  But at the last, by God's pleasure and the right that was on his
side, the great Khan had the victory, and Nayan lost the battle and was
utterly routed.  For the army of the great Khan performed such feats of arms
that Nayan and his host could stand against them no longer, so they turned
and fled.  But this availed nothing for Nayan; for he and all the barons with
him were taken prisoners, and had to surrender to the Khan with all their
arms.

     Now you must know that Nayan was a baptized Christian, and bore the
cross on his banner; but this nought availed him, seeing how grievously he
had done amiss in rebelling against his lord.  For he was the great Khan's
liegeman, and was bound to hold his lands of him like all his ancestors
before him.

Chapter V

How The Great Khan Caused Nayan To Be Put To Death

     And when the great Khan learned that Nayan was taken right glad was he,
and commanded that he should be put to death straightway and in secret, lest
endeavors should be made to obtain pity and pardon for him, because he was of
the Khan's own flesh and blood.  And this was the way in which he was put to
death: he was wrapped in a carpet, and tossed to and fro so mercilessly that
he died.  And the Khan cause him to be put to death in this way because he
would not have the blood of his line imperial spilled upon the ground or
exposed in the eye of heaven and before the sun.
     And when the great Khan had gained this battle, as you have heard, all
the barons and people of Nayan's provinces renewed their fealty to the Khan.
Now these provinces that had been under the lordship of Nayan were four in
number; to wit, the first called Churchin; the second Kaoli; the third
Barscol; the fourth Sinchintingin.  Of all these four great provinces had
Nayan been lord; it was a very great dominion.

     And after the great Khan had conquered Nayan, as you have heard, it came
to pass that the different kinds of people who were present, Saracens and
idolaters and Jews, and many others that believed not in God, did gibe those
that were Christians because of the cross that Nayan had borne on his
standard, and that so grievously that there was no bearing it.  Thus they
would say to the Christians: "See now what precious help this God's cross of
yours hath rendered Nayan, who was a Christian and a worshiper thereof." And
such a din arose about the matter that it reached the great Khan's own ears.
When it did so, he sharply rebuked those who cast these gibes at the
Christians; and he also bade the Christians be of good heart, "for if the
cross had rendered no help to Nayan, in that it had done right well; nor
could that which was good, as it was, have done otherwise; for Nayan was a
disloyal and traitorous rebel against his lord, and well deserved that which
had befallen him.  Wherefore the cross of your God did well in that it gave
him no help against the right." And this he said so loud that everybody heard
him.  The Christians then replied to the great Khan: "Great king, you say the
truth indeed, for our cross can render no one help in wrong doing; and
therefore it was that it aided not Nayan, who was guilty of crime and
disloyalty, for it would take no part in his evil deeds."

     And so thenceforward no more was heard of the floutings of the
unbelievers against the Christians; for they heard very well what the
sovereign said to the latter about the cross on Nayan's banner, and its
giving him no help.

Chapter VI

How The Great Khan Went Back To The City Of Cambaluc

     And after the great Khan had defeated Nayan in the way you have heard,
he went back to his capital city of Cambaluc and abode there, taking his ease
and making festivity.  And the other Tartar lord called Kaidu was greatly
troubled when he heard of the defeat and death of Nayan, and held himself in
readiness for war; but he stood greatly in fear of being handled as Nayan had
been.

     I told you that the great Khan never went on a campaign but once, and it
was on this occasion; in all other cases of need he sent his sons or his
barons into the field.  But this time he would have none go in command but
himself, for he regarded the presumptuous rebellion of Nayan as far too
serious and perilous an affair to be otherwise dealt with.

Chapter VII

How The Khan Rewarded The Valor Of His Captains

     So we will have done with this matter of Nayan, and go on with our
account of the great state of the great Khan.

     We have already told you of his lineage and of his age; but now I must
tell you what he did after his return, in regard to those barons who had
behaved well in the battle.  Him who was before captain of one hundred he
made captain of one thousand; and him who was captain of one thousand men he
made to be captain of ten thousand, advancing every man according to his
deserts and to his previous rank.  Besides that, he also made them presents
of fine silver plate and other rich appointments; gave them tablets of
authority of a higher degree than they held before; and bestowed upon them
fine jewels of gold and silver, and pearls and precious stones; insomuch that
the amount that fell to each of them was something astonishing.  And yet
'twas not so much as they had deserved; for never were men seen who did such
feats of arms for the love and honor of their lord, as these had done on that
day of the battle.

     Now those tablets of authority, of which I have spoken, are ordered in
this way.  The officer who is a captain of one hundred hath a tablet of
silver; the captain of one thousand hath a tablet of gold or silver-gilt; the
commander of ten thousand hath a tablet of gold with a lion's head on it.
And I will tell you the weight of the different tablets, and what they
denote.  The tablets of the captains of one hundred and one thousand weigh
each of them one hundred and twenty saggi; and the tablet with the lion's
head engraved on it, which is that of the commander of ten thousand, weighs
two hundred and twenty saggi.  And on each of the tablets is inscribed a
device, which runs: "By the strength of the great God, and of the great grace
which He hath accorded to our Emperor, may the name of the Khan be blessed;
and let all such as will not obey him be slain and be destroyed." And I will
tell you besides that all who hold these tablets likewise receive warrants in
writing, declaring all their powers and privileges.

     I should mention too that an officer who holds the chief command of one
hundred thousand men, or who is general in chief of a great host, is entitled
to a tablet that weighs three hundred saggi.  It has an inscription thereon
to the same purport that I have told you already, and below the inscription
there is the figure of a lion, and below the lion the sun and moon.  They
have warrants also of their high rank, command, and power.  Every one,
moreover, who holds a tablet of this exalted degree is entitled, whenever he
goes abroad, to have a little golden canopy, such as is called an umbrella,
carried on a spear over his head in token of his high command.  And whenever
he sits, he sits in a silver chair.

     To certain very great lords also there is given a tablet with gerfalcons
on it; this is only to the very greatest of the Khan's barons, and it confers
on them his own full power and authority; so that if one of those chiefs
wishes to send a messenger anywhere, he can seize the horses of any man, be
he even a king, and any other chattels at his pleasure.

Chapter VIII

Concerning The Person Of The Great Khan

     The personal appearance of the great Khan, lord of lords, whose name is
Kublai, is such as I shall now tell you.  He is of a good stature, neither
tall nor short, but of a middle height.  He has a becoming amount of flesh,
and is very shapely in all his limbs.  His complexion is white and red, the
eyes black and fine, the nose well formed and well set on.  He has four
wives, whom he retains permanently as his legitimate consorts; and the eldest
of his sons by those four wives ought by rights to be emperor - I mean when
his father dies.  Those four ladies are called empresses, but each is
distinguished also by her proper name.  And each of them has a special court
of her own, very grand and ample; no one of them having fewer than three
hundred fair and charming damsels.  They have also many pages and eunuchs,
and a number of other attendants of both sexes; so that each of these ladies
has not less than ten thousand persons attached to her court.

     When the emperor desires the society of one of these four consorts, he
will sometimes send for the lady to his apartment and sometimes visit her at
her own.  He has also a great number of concubines, and I will tell you how
he obtains them.

     You must know that there is a tribe of Tartars called Kungurat, who are
noted for their beauty.  The great Khan sends his commissioners to the
province to select four or five hundred, or whatever number may be ordered,
of the most beautiful young women, according to the scale of beauty enjoined
upon them.  And they set a value upon the comparative beauty of the damsels
in this way.  The commissioners on arriving assemble all the girls of the
province, in presence of appraisers appointed for the purpose.  These
carefully survey the points of each girl in succession, as for example her
hair, her complexion, eyebrows, mouth, lips, and the proportion of all her
limbs.  They will then set down some as estimated at sixteen points, some at
seventeen, eighteen, twenty, or more or less, according to the sum of the
beauties or defects of each.  And whatever standard the great Khan may have
fixed for those that are to be brought to him, whether it be twenty points or
twenty-one, the commissioners select the required number from those who have
attained that standard, and bring them to him.  And when they reach his
presence he has them appraised anew by other parties, and has a selection
made of thirty or forty of those, who then get the highest valuation.  Now
every year a hundred of the most beautiful maidens of this tribe are sent to
the great Khan, who commits them to the charge of certain elderly ladies
dwelling in his palace.  And these old ladies make the girls sleep with them,
in order to ascertain if they have sweet breath and do not snore, and are
sound in all their limbs.  Then such of them as are of approved beauty, and
are good and sound in all respects, are appointed to attend on the emperor by
turns.  Thus six of these damsels take their turn for three days and nights,
and wait on him when he is in his chamber and when he is in his bed, to serve
him in any way, and to be entirely at his orders.  At the end of the three
days and nights they are relieved by other six.  And so throughout the year,
there are reliefs of maidens by six and six, changing every three days and
nights.

Chapter IX

Concerning The Great Khan's Sons

     The emperor hath, by those four wives of his, twenty-two male children;
the eldest of whom was called Chimkin for the love of the good Jengis Khan,
the first lord of the Tartars.  And this Chimkin, as the eldest son of the
Khan, was to have reigned after his father's death; but, as it came to pass,
he died.  He left a son behind him, however, whose name is Temur, and he is
to be the great Khan and emperor after the death of his grandfather, as is
but right; he being the child of the great Khan's eldest son.  And this Temur
is an able and brave man, as he hath already proven on many occasions.

     The great Khan hath also twenty-five other sons by his concubines; and
these are good and valiant soldiers, and each of them is a great chief.  I
tell you moreover that of his children by his four lawful wives there are
seven who are kings of vast realms or provinces, and govern them well; being
all able and gallant men, as might be expected.  For the great Khan their
sire is, I tell you, the wisest and most accomplished man, the greatest
captain, the best to govern men and rule an empire, as well as the most
valiant, that ever has existed among all the tribes of the Tartars.