The Use Of The Latter Name Suggests The Possibility That In The
Saracanco Of Pegolotti The Latter Half Of The Name May Be The Mongol
Kunk "Great." (See Pavet De Courteille, P. 439.)
Professor Bruun also draws attention to the impossibility of Ibn Batuta's
travelling from Astrakhan to Tzarev in three days, an argument which had
already occurred to me and been inserted above.
[The Empire of Kipchak founded after the Mongol Conquest of 1224, included
also parts of Siberia and Khwarizm; it survived nominally until
1502. - H. C.]
(Four Years of Archaeological Researches among the Ruins of Sarai [in
Russian] by M. Gregorieff [who appears to have also published a pamphlet
specially on the site, but this has not been available]; Historisch-
geographische Darstellung des Stromsystems der Wolga, von Ferd. Heinr.
Mueller, Berlin, 1839, 568-577; Ibn. Bat. II. 447; Not. et Extraits,
XIII. i. 286; Pallas, Voyages; Cathay, 231, etc.; Erdmann, Numi
Asiatici, pp. 362 seqq.; Arabs. I. p. 381.)
NOTE 2. - BOLGHAR, our author's Bolgara, was the capital of the region
sometimes called Great Bulgaria, by Abulfeda Inner Bulgaria, and stood a
few miles from the left bank of the Volga, in latitude about 54 deg. 54', and
90 miles below Kazan. The old Arab writers regarded it as nearly the limit
of the habitable world, and told wonders of the cold, the brief summer
nights, and the fossil ivory that was found in its vicinity. This was
exported, and with peltry, wax, honey, hazel-nuts, and Russia leather,
formed the staple articles of trade. The last item derived from Bolghar
the name which it still bears all over Asia. (See Bk. II. ch. xvi., and
Note.) Bolghar seems to have been the northern limit of Arab travel, and
was visited by the curious (by Ibn Batuta among others) in order to
witness the phenomena of the short summer night, as tourists now visit
Hammerfest to witness its entire absence.
Russian chroniclers speak of an earlier capital of the Bulgarian kingdom,
Brakhimof, near the mouth of the Kama, destroyed by Andrew, Grand Duke of
Rostof and Susdal, about 1160; and this may have been the city referred to
in the earlier Arabic accounts. The fullest of these is by Ibn Fozlan, who
accompanied an embassy from the Court of Baghdad to Bolghar, in A.D. 921.
The King and people had about this time been converted to Islam, having
previously, as it would seem, professed Christianity. Nevertheless, a
Mahomedan writer of the 14th century says the people had then long
renounced Islam for the worship of the Cross. (Not. et Extr. XIII. i.
270.)
[Illustration: Ruins of Bolghar.]
Bolghar was first captured by the Mongols in 1225. It seems to have
perished early in the 15th century, after which Kazan practically took its
place. Its position is still marked by a village called Bolgari, where
ruins of Mahomedan character remain, and where coins and inscriptions have
been found. Coins of the Kings of Bolghar, struck in the 10th century,
have been described by Fraehn, as well as coins of the Mongol period
struck at Bolghar.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 206 of 655
Words from 107756 to 108273
of 342071
