And Now I Will Tell You All About How They First
Acquired Dominion And Spread Over The World.[NOTE 1]
Originally the Tartars[NOTE 2] dwelt in the north on the borders of
CHORCHA.[NOTE 3] Their country was
One of great plains; and there were no
towns or villages in it, but excellent pasture-lands, with great rivers
and many sheets of water; in fact it was a very fine and extensive region.
But there was no sovereign in the land. They did, however, pay tax and
tribute to a great prince who was called in their tongue UNC CAN, the same
that we call Prester John, him in fact about whose great dominion all the
world talks.[NOTE 4] The tribute he had of them was one beast out of every
ten, and also a tithe of all their other gear.
Now it came to pass that the Tartars multiplied exceedingly. And when
Prester John saw how great a people they had become, he began to fear that
he should have trouble from them. So he made a scheme to distribute them
over sundry countries, and sent one of his Barons to carry this out. When
the Tartars became aware of this they took it much amiss, and with one
consent they left their country and went off across a desert to a distant
region towards the north, where Prester John could not get at them to
annoy them. Thus they revolted from his authority and paid him tribute no
longer. And so things continued for a time.
NOTE 1. - KARAKORUM, near the upper course of the River Orkhon, is said by
Chinese authors to have been founded by Buku Khan of the Hoei-Hu or
Uigurs, in the 8th century, In the days of Chinghiz, we are told that it
was the headquarters of his ally, and afterwards enemy, Togrul Wang Khan,
the Prester John of Polo. ["The name of this famous city is Mongol,
Kara, 'black,' and Kuren, 'a camp,' or properly 'pailing.'" It was
founded in 1235 by Okkodai, who called it Ordu Balik, or "the City of the
Ordu," otherwise "The Royal City." Mohammedan authors say it took its name
of Karakorum from the mountains to the south of it, in which the Orkhon
had its source. (D'Ohsson, ii. 64.) The Chinese mention a range of
mountains from which the Orkhon flows, called Wu-te kien shan. (T'ang
shu, bk. 43b.) Probably these are the same. Rashiduddin speaks of a tribe
of Utikien Uigurs living in this country. (Bretschneider, Med. Geog.
191; D'Ohsson, i. 437. Rockhill, Rubruck, 220, note.) - Karakorum was
called by the Chinese Ho-lin and was chosen by Chinghiz, in 1206, as his
capital; the full name of it, Ha-la Ho-lin, was derived from a river to
the west. (Yuen shi, ch. lviii.) Gaubil (Holin, p. 10) says that the
river, called in his days in Tartar Karoha, was, at the time of the
Mongol Emperors, named by the Chinese Ha-la Ho-lin, in Tartar language
Ka la Ko lin, or Cara korin, or Kara Koran. In the spring of 1235,
Okkodai had a wall raised round Ho-lin and a palace called Wang an,
built inside the city. (Gaubil, Gentchiscan, 89.) After the death of
Kublai, Ho-lin was altered into Ho-Ning, and, in 1320, the name of the
province was changed into Ling-pe (mountainous north, i.e. the
Yin-shan chain, separating China Proper from Mongolia). In 1256, Mangu
Kaan decided to transfer the seat of government to Kaiping-fu, or Shangtu,
near the present Dolonnor, north of Peking. (Supra in Prologue, ch. xiii.
note 1.) In 1260, Kublai transferred his capital to Ta-Tu (Peking).
Plano Carpini (1246) is the first Western traveller to mention it by name
which he writes Caracoron; he visited the Sira Orda, at half a day's
journey from Karakorum, where Okkodai used to pass the summer; it was
situated at a place Ormektua. (Rockhill, Rubruck, 21, III.) Rubruquis
(1253) visited the city itself; the following is his account of it: "As
regards the city of Caracoron, you must understand that if you set aside
the Kaan's own Palace, it is not as good as the Borough of St. Denis; and
as for the Palace, the Abbey of St. Denis is worth ten of it! There are
two streets in the town; one of which is occupied by the Saracens, and in
that is the marketplace. The other street is occupied by the Cathayans,
who are all craftsmen. Besides these two streets there are some great
palaces occupied by the court secretaries. There are also twelve idol
temples belonging to different nations, two Mahummeries in which the Law
of Mahomet is preached, and one church of the Christians at the extremity
of the town. The town is enclosed by a mud-wall and has four gates. At the
east gate they sell millet and other corn, but the supply is scanty; at
the west gate they sell rams and goats; at the south gate oxen and
waggons; at the north gate horses.... Mangu Kaan has a great Court beside
the Town Rampart, which is enclosed by a brick wall, just like our
priories. Inside there is a big palace, within which he holds a
drinking-bout twice a year;... there are also a number of long buildings
like granges, in which are kept his treasures and his stores of victual"
(345-6; 334).
Where was Karakorum situated?
The Archimandrite Palladius is very prudent (l.c. p. 11): "Everything that
the studious Chinese authors could gather and say of the situation of
Karakhorum is collected in two Chinese works, Lo fung low wen kao
(1849), and Mungku yew mu ki (1859). However, no positive conclusion can
be derived from these researches, chiefly in consequence of the absence of
a tolerably correct map of Northern Mongolia."
Abel Remusat (Mem. sur Geog. Asie Centrale, p. 20) made a confusion
between Karabalgasun and Karakorum which has misled most writers after
him.
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