The City Has Such A Good Position That Merchandize Is Brought Thither From India, Baudas, CREMESOR,[NOTE 2] And Many

Other regions; and that attracts many Latin merchants, especially Genoese, to buy goods and transact other business there; the more

As it is also a great market for precious stones. It is a city in fact where merchants make large profits.[NOTE 3]

The people of the place are themselves poor creatures; and are a great medley of different classes. There are Armenians, Nestorians, Jacobites, Georgians, Persians, and finally the natives of the city themselves, who are worshippers of Mahommet. These last are a very evil generation; they are known as TAURIZI.[NOTE 4] The city is all girt round with charming gardens, full of many varieties of large and excellent fruits.[NOTE 5]

Now we will quit Tauris, and speak of the great country of Persia. [From Tauris to Persia is a journey of twelve days.]

NOTE 1. - Abulfeda notices that TABRIZ was vulgarly pronounced Tauriz, and this appears to have been adopted by the Franks. In Pegolotti the name is always Torissi.

Tabriz is often reckoned to belong to Armenia, as by Hayton. Properly it is the chief city of Azerbaijan, which never was included in 'IRAK. But it may be observed that Ibn Batuta generally calls the Mongol Ilkhan of Persia Sahib or Malik ul-'Irak, and as Tabriz was the capital of that sovereign, we can account for the mistake, whilst admitting it to be one. [The destruction of Baghdad by Hulaku made Tabriz the great commercial and political city of Asia, and diverted the route of Indian products from the Mediterranean to the Euxine.

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