The Travels of Marco Polo Volume II Part 67

_Note_.--A considerable number of the quasi-historical chapters in this section (which I have followed M. Pauthier in making into a Fourth Book) are the merest verbiage and repet.i.tion of narrative formulae without the slightest value. I have therefore thought it undesirable to print all at length, and have given merely the gist (marked thus <+>), or an extract, of such chapters. They will be found entire in English in H.

Murray's and Wright's editions, and in the original French in the edition of the Societe de Geographie, in Bartoli, and in Pauthier.

BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I.

CONCERNING GREAT TURKEY.

In GREAT TURKEY there is a king called CAIDU, who is the Great Kaan's nephew, for he was the grandson of CHAGATAI, the Great Kaan's own brother.

He hath many cities and castles, and is a great Prince. He and his people are Tartars alike; and they are good soldiers, for they are constantly engaged in war.[NOTE 1]

Now this King Caidu is never at peace with his uncle the Great Kaan, but ever at deadly war with him, and he hath fought great battles with the Kaan's armies. The quarrel between them arose out of this, that Caidu demanded from the Great Kaan the share of his father's conquests that of right belonged to him; and in particular he demanded a share of the Provinces of Cathay and Manzi. The Great Kaan replied that he was willing enough to give him a share such as he gave to his own sons, but that he must first come on summons to the Council at the Kaan's Court, and present himself as one of the Kaan's liegemen. Caidu, who did not trust his uncle very far, declined to come, but said that where he was he would hold himself ready to obey all the Kaan's commands.

In truth, as he had several times been in revolt, he dreaded that the Kaan might take the opportunity to destroy him. So, out of this quarrel between them, there arose a great war, and several great battles were fought by the host of Caidu against the host of the Great Kaan, his uncle. And the Great Kaan from year's end to year's end keeps an army watching all Caidu's frontier, lest he should make forays on his dominions. He, natheless, will never cease his aggressions on the Great Kaan's territory, and maintains a bold face to his enemies.[NOTE 2]

Indeed, he is so potent that he can well do so; for he can take the field with 100,000 horse, all stout soldiers and inured to war. He has also with him several Barons of the imperial lineage; i.e., of the family of Chinghis Kaan, who was the first of their lords, and conquered a great part of the world, as I have told you more particularly in a former part of this Book.

Now you must know that Great Turkey lies towards the north-west when you travel from Hormos by that road I described. It begins on the further bank of the River JON,[1] and extends northward to the territory of the Great Kaan.

Now I shall tell you of sundry battles that the troops of Caidu fought with the armies of the Great Kaan.

NOTE 1.--We see that Polo's error as to the relations.h.i.+p between Kublai and Kaidu, and as to the descent of the latter (see Vol I. p. 186) was not a slip, but persistent. The name of Kaidu's grandfather is here in the G.

T. written precisely Chagatai (_Ciagatai_).

Kaidu was the son of Kas.h.i.+n, son of Okkodai, who was the third son of Chinghiz and his successor in the Kaanate. Kaidu never would acknowledge the supremacy of Kublai, alleging his own superior claim to the Kaanate, which Chinghiz was said to have restricted to the house of Okkodai as long as it should have a representative. From the vicinity of Kaidu's position to the territories occupied by the branch of Chaghatai he exercised great influence over its princes, and these were often his allies in the constant hostilities that he maintained against the Kaan. Such circ.u.mstances may have led Polo to confound Kaidu with the house of Chaghatai. Indeed, it is not easy to point out the mutual limits of their territories, and these must have been somewhat complex, for we find Kaidu and Borrak Khan of Chaghatai at one time exercising a kind of joint sovereignty in the cities of Bokhara and Samarkand. Probably, indeed, the limits were in a great measure _tribal_ rather than territorial. But it may be gathered that Kaidu's authority extended over Kashgar and the cities bordering the south slopes of the Thian Shan as far east as Kara Khoja, also the valley of the Talas River, and the country north of the Thian Shan from Lake Balkhash eastward to the vicinity of Barkul, and in the further north the country between the Upper Yenisei and the Irtish.

Kaidu died in 1301 at a very great age. He had taken part, it was said, in 41 pitched battles. He left 14 sons (some accounts say 40), of whom the eldest, called Shabar, succeeded him. He joined Dua Khan of Chaghatai in making submission to Teimur Kaan, the successor of Kublai; but before long, on a quarrel occurring between the two former, Dua seized the territory of Shabar, and as far as I can learn no more is heard of the house of Kaidu. Vambery seems to make the Khans of Khokand to be of the stock of Kaida; but whether they claim descent from Yunus Khan, as he says, or from a son of Baber left behind in his flight from Ferghana, as Pandit Manphul states, the genealogy would be from Chaghatai, not from Kaidu.

NOTE 2.--"To the N.N.W. a desert of 40 days' extent divides the states of Kublai from those of Kaidu and Dua. This frontier extends for 30 days'

journey from east to west. From point to point," etc.; see continuation of this quotation from Ras.h.i.+duddin, in Vol. I. p. 214.

[1] The Jaihun or Oxus.

CHAPTER II.

OF CERTAIN BATTLES THAT WERE FOUGHT BY KING CAIDU AGAINST THE ARMIES OF HIS UNCLE THE GREAT KAAN.

Now it came to pa.s.s in the year of Christ's incarnation, 1266, that this King Caidu and another prince called YESUDAR, who was his cousin, a.s.sembled a great force and made an expedition to attack two of the Great Kaan's Barons who held lands under the Great Kaan, but were Caidu's own kinsmen, for they were sons of Chagatai who was a baptized Christian, and own brother to the Great Kaan; one of them was called CHIBAI, and the other CHIBAN.[NOTE 1]

Caidu with all his host, amounting to 60,000 horse, engaged the Kaan's two Barons, those cousins of his, who had also a great force amounting to more than 60,000 hors.e.m.e.n, and there was a great battle. In the end the Barons were beaten, and Caidu and his people won the day. Great numbers were slain on both sides, but the two brother Barons escaped, thanks to their good horses. So King Caidu returned home swelling the more with pride and arrogance, and for the next two years he remained at peace, and made no further war against the Kaan.

However, at the end of those two years King Caidu a.s.sembled an army composed of a vast force of hors.e.m.e.n. He knew that at Caracoron was the Great Kaan's son NOMOGAN, and with him GEORGE, the grandson of Prester John. These two princes had also a great force of cavalry. And when King Caidu was ready he set forth and crossed the frontier. After marching rapidly without any adventure, he got near Caracoron, where the Kaan's son and the younger Prester John were awaiting him with their great army, for they were well aware of Caidu's advance in force. They made them ready for battle like valiant men, and all undismayed, seeing that they had more than 60,000 well-appointed hors.e.m.e.n. And when they heard Caidu was so near they went forth valiantly to meet him. When they got within some 10 miles of him they pitched their tents and got ready for battle, and the enemy who were about equal in numbers did the same; each side forming in six columns of 10,000 men with good captains. Both sides were well equipped with swords and maces and s.h.i.+elds, with bows and arrows, and other arms after their fas.h.i.+on. You must know that the practice of the Tartars going to battle is to take each a bow and 60 arrows. Of these, 30 are light with small sharp points, for long shots and following up an enemy, whilst the other 30 are heavy, with large broad heads which they shoot at close quarters, and with which they inflict great gashes on face and arms, and cut the enemy's bowstrings, and commit great havoc. This every one is ordered to attend to. And when they have shot away their arrows they take to their swords and maces and lances, which also they ply stoutly.

So when both sides were ready for action the Naccaras began to sound loudly, one on either side. For 'tis their custom never to join battle till the Great Naccara is beaten. And when the Naccaras sounded, then the battle began in fierce and deadly style, and furiously the one host dashed to meet the other. So many fell on either side that in an evil hour for both it was begun! The earth was thickly strewn with the wounded and the slain, men and horses, whilst the uproar and din of battle was so loud you would not have heard G.o.d's thunder! Truly King Caidu himself did many a deed of prowess that strengthened the hearts of his people. Nor less on the other side did the Great Kaan's son and Prester John's grandson, for well they proved their valour in the medley, and did astonis.h.i.+ng feats of arms, leading their troops with right good judgment.

And what shall I tell you? The battle lasted so long that it was one of the hardest the Tartars ever fought. Either side strove hard to bring the matter to a point and rout the enemy, but to no avail. And so the battle went on till vesper-tide, and without victory on either side. Many a man fell there; many a child was made an orphan there; many a lady widowed; and many another woman plunged in grief and tears for the rest of her days, I mean the mothers and the _araines_ of those who fell.[NOTE 2]

So when they had fought till the sun was low they left off, and retired each side to its tents. Those who were unhurt were so dead tired that they were like to drop, and the wounded, who were many on both sides, were moaning in their various degrees of pain; but all were more fit for rest than fighting, so gladly they took their repose that night. And when morning approached, King Caidu, who had news from his scouts that the Great Kaan was sending a great army to reinforce his son, judged that it was time to be off; so he called his host to saddle and mounted his horse at dawn, and away they set on their return to their own country. And when the Great Kaan's son and the grandson of Prester John saw that King Caidu had retired with all his host, they let them go unpursued, for they were themselves sorely fatigued and needed rest. So King Caidu and his host rode and rode, till they came to their own realm of Great Turkey and to Samarcand; and there they abode a long while without again making war.

[NOTE 3]

NOTE 1.--The names are uncertain. The G.T. has "one of whom was called Tibai or Ciban"; Pauthier, as in the text.

The phrase about their being Kaidu's kinsmen is in the G.T., "_qe_ zinzinz (?) _meisme estoient de Caidu roi_."

NOTE 2.--_Araines_ for _Harims_, I presume. In the narrative of a merchant in Ramusio (II. 84, 86) we find the same word represented by _Arin_ and _Arino_.

NOTE 3.--The date at the beginning of the chapter is in G.T., and Pauthier's MS. A, as we have given it. Pauthier subst.i.tutes 1276, as that seems to be the date approximately connecting Prince Numughan with the wars against Kaidu. In 1275 Kublai appointed Numughan to the command of his N.W. frontier, with Ngantung or 'Antung, an able general, to a.s.sist him in repelling the aggressions of Kaidu. In the same year Kaidu and Dua Khan entered the Uighur country (W. and N.W. of Kamul), with more than 100,000 men. Two years later, viz., in 1277, Kaidu and s.h.i.+reghi, a son of Mangu Khan, engaged near Almalik (on the Hi) the troops of Kublai, commanded by Numughan and 'Antung, and took both of them prisoners. The invaders then marched towards Karakorum. But Bayan, who was in Mongolia, marched to attack them, and completely defeated them in several engagements. (_Gaubil_, 69, 168, 182.)

Pauthier gives a little more detail from the Chinese annals, but throws no new light on the discrepancies which we see between Polo's account and theirs. 'Antung, who was the grandson of Mokli, the Jelair, one of Chinghiz's Orlok or Marshals, seems here to take the place a.s.signed to Prester John's grandson, and s.h.i.+reghi perhaps that of Yesudar. The only prince of the latter name that I can find is a son of Hulaku's.

The description of the battle in this chapter is a mere formula again and again repeated. The armies are always exactly or nearly equal, they are always divided into corps of 10,000 (_tomans_), they always halt to prepare for action when within ten miles of one another, and the terms used in describing the fight are the same. We shall not inflict these tiresome repet.i.tions again on the reader.

CHAPTER III.

WHAT THE GREAT KAAN SAID TO THE MISCHIEF DONE BY KAIDU HIS NEPHEW.

<+> (That were Caidu not of his own Imperial blood, he would make an utter end of him, &c.)

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE EXPLOITS OF KING CAIDU'S VALIANT DAUGHTER.