Marco Polo

by Robin Brown

  Anyway, be that as it may, let us proceed to the province of Karkan. It is a five-day journey and the inhabitants are mostly Mahometans with some Nestorian Christians, all subject to the Grand Khan. Plenty of provisions are to be had here, particularly cotton goods, and the people are expert artisans. But they suffer a great deal from swellings of the legs and tumours of the throat brought about by the quality of the water they drink.

  There is nothing else worthy of comment so I will move on, taking a course north-east of east to the province of Kotan, a place of many cities and forts, eight days’ journey away. Again it is a dominion of the Grand Khan and the people are all Mahometans but the essentials of life are to be found here in great abundance: flax, hemp, grain, vines and other produce. There are in addition to the farms, numerous gardens. Excellent traders certainly, but not much good as soldiers, I’m told.

  Now to the province of Peyn which is east-north-east of here in the direction of China. The city of Peyn is one of many cities and castles with a river running through it, in whose bed may be found jasper and chalcedonies. Again, you can get all the provisions you will need here, in fact the inhabitants live by manufacturing and commerce, particularly in cotton goods.

  And they have this custom! If a husband is away from home for twenty days his wife, if she so wishes, may take another. Similarly the husband, which means that a man may marry wheresoever he resides.

  All the provinces I have described thus far, Kashgar, Kotan, Peyn and the country as far as the famous Desert of Lop are in Turkistan.

  East-north-east again, still within Turkistan, is the province of Charchan. It was a flourishing place in the past but the Tartars have laid it waste. Its chief city is Churchman and its people are exclusively Mahometans. More chalcedonies and jasper are to be found in the several large streams running through the province. They find a ready market in China and make a major contribution to the local economy. The place is otherwise desert and the water is mostly bitter and unpalatable. Tartar armies pass through here plundering the goods of the inhabitants and killing and devouring their cattle. When the people get warning of the approach of a body of troops, they flee deep into the desert to places where they know there is fresh water to sustain them. Fearful of these same Tartar raids when the harvest is being gathered, the inhabitants deposit the grain in caverns in the sands from where it is taken out monthly as need dictates. The wind blows away their tracks so only the locals know the hiding places.

  At the end of a five-day journey you arrive at the city of Lop, on the edge of the great desert. You will need to spend a considerable time here if you are planning to cross the desert, both to gather your strength and to make your preparations for what lies ahead. Camels and strong asses are needed for this journey especially if you are carrying commercial goods and, if your provisions run out, you will need to kill both types of beast to survive. Camels are the preferred means of transport because they can carry heavier loads and eat and drink less. You need enough provisions for a month; in fact were you to attempt to traverse the desert’s full length it would take almost a year, which is obviously not practical.

  The thirty-day transit is across sandy plains and barren mountains, stopping every twenty-four hours at known water holes. This water is limited, enough to provide for about one hundred people and their beasts. Three or four of the water holes offer only salty, bitter water, but at the other twenty it is sweet and good.

  You will not see a single bird or beast; there is simply not the food for them.

  People hereabouts will tell you that the desert is home to many evil spirits who employ extraordinary deceptions to tempt travellers to their deaths. If, for example, you fall behind to take a pee or fall asleep and the caravan passes behind a hill, you will hear yourself called – by name! What’s more, it will be in a familiar voice which leads the victim to believe it is one of his own companions. If you follow the voice off the direct road – as many do – you can quickly lose yourself and die. At night the desert traveller is convinced he hears the march of a large cavalcade on one or other side of the road. But if you go in search of it when day breaks, again you find you have been lured into danger. During the day these spirits can actually assume the appearance of a companion and again using a familiar voice, will address you by name and try to lure you off the beaten track. Others claim that there are those who in broad daylight have seen a body of armed men advancing towards them and, apprehensive of being attacked, have fled into the wilderness, only to become lost and die miserably of hunger.

  I have my doubts about these stories but there is a seemingly endless number of them. I heard too of spirits who fill the air with the sound of all kinds of musical instruments, drums and the clashing of arms with the result that travellers close ranks against an attack. Finally, at night you are obliged to set up a marker indicating the right course to be taken on the morrow and to attach a bell to each beast of burden to prevent them wandering off.

  Crossing this desert is no picnic. In fact the troubles and dangers I have described are unavoidable.

  The thirty-day journey across the desert at its narrowest point is rewarded by your arrival at the city of Sachion not far from the Chinese province of Shen-si and subject to the Grand Khan. It is in the province of Talguth and the inhabitants are Turkomans, Mahometans and a scattering of Nestorian Christians. The ones who worship idols have a distinctive language. In the main this is an agricultural community growing a lot of wheat.

  You see monasteries and abbeys featuring a great many idols of various descriptions including some especially revered to which sacrifices are made. When a son is born here he is placed under the protection of one of these idols. A sheep is raised in the father’s house and a year later on the day of the idol’s own festival the boy will be taken into its presence and the sheep sacrificed. They cook the flesh, lay it before the idol and pray at length for the health of the child.

  During the prayer the idol is thought to suck the savoury juices from the meat. The remains are carried home where they are consumed, reverently, at a feast. The bones are preserved in handsome urns. The priests take the head, feet, intestines, the skin and some flesh to eat.

  There are also rituals for the dead. On the death of a man of high rank whose body is to be buried, his relations call in astrologers and, based on the year, day and hour in which the deceased was born, they examine his horoscope. Taking into account the constellations and the positions of planets they set a propitious date for the funeral. If the right planet is not then in the ascendant they will keep the body for a week or more and sometimes as long as six months. Fearful of the effect of adverse influences, the relatives absolutely refuse to burn the corpse until the astrologers say the time is right.

  You can imagine the state of some of these corpses! They attempt to stave off putrefaction by building a coffin of planks 6 inches thick, well fitted together and painted. In with the corpse they place quantities of sweet-scented gums, camphor and other potions. The joints are also sealed with a mixture of pitch and lime and the whole thing covered with silk. Every day the table on which the coffin rests is spread with bread, wine and other provisions. The family take meals here but the food is also there to sustain the spirit of the deceased, which is believed to rely on the fumes from the victuals.

  If the astrologers direct that it would be bad luck to take the corpse out through a particular door, the relatives will break down a wall to ensure it departs opposite the propitious planet. Not to so do would enrage the spirits of the departed against the family and it would do them injury. Should any member of the family subsequently suffer a loss or an untimely death the astrologers are quick, of course, to blame it on the dearly departed not having exited through the right opening!

  The ceremony of cremation must take place outside the city and this too is accompanied by much ritual. Alongside the road on which the body will pass they build little pavilions with porticos covered in silk. At each of these the body is set down and
presented with meat and drink so that the departed will arrive at the cremation site with the energy to attend the pyre.

  Pieces of paper are circulated (made of the bark of a certain tree) upon which the figures of men and women, houses, camels, pieces of money and dresses have been painted and these they burn along with the corpse so that the deceased may enjoy all these things in the afterlife. Throughout these ceremonies every musical instrument in the place is sounded in an incessant din!

  We proceed to the north-west again, this time to the district of Kamul which occupies a tract of cultivable land between the Lop and Gobi Deserts. Food is abundant and there are ample supplies for travellers. The people have their own unique language and they worship idols. The men are a jolly lot and enjoy little else but singing, dancing, reading and writing; in short every kind of amusement open to them. This extends to their wives!

  Wives, daughters, sisters and other female relations are ordered to attend to the visitor’s every whim. When I was there the husband of the house actually went off into the city and the men do not come back the entire time there is a stranger in residence. They will also supply necessities for which they expect payment. I am talking here of all the conjugal rights and privileges a man would expect of his own wife! Nor is this regarded as scandalous behaviour; on the contrary they believe that it brings honour to the family in the eyes of their gods to provide weary travellers with this hospitality.

  And the women are, in truth, very beautiful, very sensual and seem well disposed to carry out their husband’s orders. However, when this custom came to the notice of Mangu Khan, while he was holding court in the province, he was scandalised and issued an order to the people of Kamul banning such goings-on. They were actually prevented from furnishing lodgings to strangers who were obliged instead to seek inferior lodgings at inns or caravanserai.

  Matters went on like this for three long years until the ban was shown to be reducing agricultural production! In fact it caused so many family problems a deputation was sent to the Grand Khan to beseech him to let them resume a custom which they insisted had been solemnly handed down by their fathers from remote ancestors. They stated unequivocally that the ban was progressively ruining family life!

  The Grand Khan washed his hands of the whole affair. ‘If you are so anxious to persist in bringing shame and ignominy upon yourselves, I will not stop you,’ he said. ‘But I think these are base customs and your wives are earning money as prostitutes.’ But I can tell you that the people of Kamul were delighted and have been practising their ancient ‘rights’ right up to the present day.

  Adjoining Kamul is the district of Chinchitalias which takes sixteen days to cross and in its northern parts borders on deserts. Still under the domination of the Grand Khan, there are three distinct religions practised in the forts and cities here: Nestorian Christianity, Islam and idolatry.

  In the mountains they mine iron, zinc and antimony and you also find a strange substance which has the attributes of the legendary salamander. When woven into a cloth it is incom-bustible! When extracted from the mountain the fossil material has fibres not unlike wool. (I was told this by a Turkoman travelling companion, one Curfilar, a very intelligent fellow, who for three years had been in charge of mining in these parts.) The material is first dried in the sun, then pounded in a brass mortar and washed leaving fibres that can be spun into cloth. The cloth is placed in a fire for about an hour until it is as white as snow. When it gets dirty you can clean off the spots by exposing it again to the fire. Nothing else works.

  Incidentally, I never found in the East any traces of true salamanders that are supposed to be able to exist in fire. But there is a report that they preserve in Rome a napkin woven from the salamander material I have just described, in which was wrapped the sudarium of our Lord, sent as a gift from one of the Tartar princes to the Pope.

  Off again, still heading north-east towards China sometimes called Cathay (indeed I may be in it by now), where a journey of ten days through unremarkable country brings one to Succuir province, a place of many towns and castles of which the capital is likewise named Succuir. The inhabitants are mostly idolaters with a few Christians and are subject to the Grand Khan. Throughout this province, and two others I will get to in a moment, all rather mountainous, they grow large quantities of the most excellent rhubarb. Merchants ship it from here all over the world.

  But there is a real problem here with a poisonous plant which grows throughout the area and exposure to which causes the hoofs of pack animals to drop off. Traders do not dare go into the mountains with pack animals for fear of this plant, but the locals know how to avoid it.

  The inhabitants of Succuir – who are quite dark – depend on meat and what they grow, not bothering much with trade. The district is very healthy.

  As promised, I want to move on to the adjoining province of Tangut and the city of Kampion, which is large and magnificent. Again there live here a mixture of Christians, Muslims and idolaters and we are far enough east to find religious houses of the latter (monasteries and abbeys). A multitude of idols made of clay, stone and wood, all gilded, some huge, others tiny, are housed in these places. The big figures are almost 30 feet high and are mostly lying down. The small figurines stand behind these giants, like disciples in reverential postures. Size is not important, small and large are highly venerated.

  Very religious idolaters lead more correct lives than the other classes (according to their ideas of morality) and abstain from anything sensual or carnal. Unlicensed intercourse is not generally considered a serious offence, however, and the general rule is that if a woman makes advances that’s fine. Not so for men, however!

  They consult an almanac much like we do according to the rules of which there are days when they do not shed blood, eat flesh or fowl (as we do not on Fridays) and mark the Sabbath and saints’ days. A husband may take as many as thirty wives according to how able he is to afford them. They do not receive dowries with their brides; on the contrary, the wife expects a marriage settlement of cattle, slaves and money. The first wife is the highest ranked but the husband can send away any of his wives who does not get on with the rest and is generally disagreeable. They mostly take to their beds close relatives, even mothers-in-law!

  With my uncles I was obliged to live in this city for almost a year and from a Christian point of view these people really live like animals and commit mortal sins with indifference.

  We now strike out due north on a journey of twelve days to the city of Ezina on the borders of China at the commencement of the vast Gobi Desert. Here the inhabitants are all idolaters. They raise camels and various kinds of cattle and in the mountains are excellent lanner and saker falcons. They get enough from the land to meet their needs and they are not really concerned with trade.

  Here you must invest in provisions for forty days because the road to the north heads straight into the desert. Say goodbye to human company also because, apart from a few grazers in summer in the mountains and valleys, the place is otherwise deserted. These same retreats are home to wild animals and wild asses that find water somehow in the pine woods. But the journey is well worth it because having survived the desert you reach the city of Karakoran on the northern side where the first Tartars settled in ancient times and established their rule.

  Karakoran is about 3 miles in circumference and is defended by a massive rampart of earth (there being no good stone hereabouts) and boasts a huge castle in which there is a handsome palace occupied by the Governor.

  The history of the Tartars is an extraordinary tale well worth the telling. They originated around the towns of Jorza and Bargu between Lake Baikal and the Gobi Desert where there are immense steppes, good pasture, large rivers and plenty of water. They had no king of their own but gave allegiance to a powerful prince whose name, I am told, was Unc-Khan but who remains a rather mystical figure and may have been the person we know of as Prester John. Over the course of time these Tartars (or Moghuls) multiplied to such a m
assive extent that Unc-Khan grew apprehensive of their strength and came up with a plan to split them up and confine the groups to different corners of the country.

  Rebellions and such like were put down by a conscripted force and slowly the power of the provincial groups was diminished. The irregulars were made more effective and followed Unc-Khan’s orders better when he appointed his own officers to lead them. Eventually the Tartars came to recognise, however, that what Unc-Khan really had in mind was their enslavement and that their only salvation was to form themselves into a strict union and move out. They went north across the great desert until they had put enough distance between the Tartar Union and Unc-Khan for them not to have to pay him the traditional tribute.

  Some time before the migration to Karakoran, in about the year 1162, they elected as king one Genghis (or Jengiz) Khan, a leader known for his integrity, great wisdom, commanding eminence and reputation for valour.

  Initially Genghis dispensed such justice and practised such moderation that the Tartar tribes revered him as a deity. As his fame spread more and more of them, no matter how distant, gathered to his banner until eventually he was leading so many brave men he decided it was time for the Tartars to emerge from the wilderness.

  He instructed the Tartars to arm themselves with bows and at the head of a vast, very mobile army set about the conquest of cities and provinces. Genghis continued just and virtuous so that wherever he went the people submitted to him and professed themselves happy with his protection and favour. This is not surprising because previously towns and districts had either been ruled by district councils or by petty officials. Anyway, there was really no way to resist so formidable a power as Genghis Khan and he was soon in possession of some nine provinces. Governors were appointed, of whom Genghis demanded exemplary conduct in terms of those whom they governed and their property. He also relocated key individuals to other provinces (always paying them well).