The Travels of Marco Polo Volume I Part 50

CHAPTER II.

CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF TURCOMANIA.

In Turcomania there are three cla.s.ses of people. First, there are the Turcomans; these are worshippers of Mahommet, a rude people with an uncouth language of their own.[NOTE 1] They dwell among mountains and downs where they find good pasture, for their occupation is cattle-keeping. Excellent horses, known as _Turquans_, are reared in their country, and also very valuable mules. The other two cla.s.ses are the Armenians and the Greeks, who live mixt with the former in the towns and villages, occupying themselves with trade and handicrafts. They weave the finest and handsomest carpets in the world, and also a great quant.i.ty of fine and rich silks of cramoisy and other colours, and plenty of other stuffs. Their chief cities are CONIA, SAVAST [where the glorious Messer Saint Blaise suffered martyrdom], and CASARIA, besides many other towns and bishops' sees, of which we shall not speak at present, for it would be too long a matter. These people are subject to the Tartar of the Levant as their Suzerain.[NOTE 2] We will now leave this province, and speak of the Greater Armenia.

NOTE 1.--Ricold of Montecroce, a contemporary of Polo, calls the Turkmans _homines b.e.s.t.i.a.les_. In our day Ainsworth notes of a Turkman village: "The dogs were very ferocious;... the people only a little better." (_J. R. G.

S._ X. 292.) The ill report of the people of this region did not begin with the Turkmans, for the Emperor Constantine Porphyrog. quotes a Greek proverb to the disparagement of the three _kappas_, Cappadocia, Crete, and Cilicia. (In _Bandurit_ I. 6.)

NOTE 2.--In Turcomania Marco perhaps embraces a great part of Asia Minor, but he especially means the territory of the decaying Seljukian monarchy, usually then called by Asiatics _Rum_, as the Ottoman Empire is now, and the capital of which was Iconium, KUNIYAH, the Conia of the text, and Coyne of Joinville. Ibn Batuta calls the whole country Turkey (_Al-Turkiah_), and the people _Turkman_; exactly likewise does Ricold (_Thurchia_ and _Thurchimanni_). Hayton's account of the various cla.s.ses of inhabitants is quite the same in substance as Polo's. [The Turkmans emigrated from Turkestan to Asia Minor before the arrival of the Seljukid Turks. "Their villages," says Cuinet, _Turquie d'Asie_, II. p. 767, "are distinguished by the peculiarity of the houses being built of sun-baked bricks, whereas it is the general habit in the country to build them of earth or a kind of plaster, called _djes_"--H. C.] The migratory and pastoral Turkmans still exist in this region, but the Kurds of like habits have taken their place to a large extent. The fine carpets and silk fabrics appear to be no longer produced here, any more than the excellent horses of which Polo speaks, which must have been the remains of the famous old breed of Cappadocia. [It appears, however (Vital Cuinet's _Turquie d'Asie_, I. p. 224), that fine carpets are still manufactured at Koniah, also a kind of striped cotton cloth, called _Aladja_.--H. C.]

A grant of privileges to the Genoese by Leon II., King of Lesser Armenia, dated 23rd December, 1288, alludes to the export of horses and mules, etc., from Ayas, and specifies the duties upon them. The horses now of repute in Asia as Turkman come from the east of the Caspian. And Asia Minor generally, once the mother of so many breeds of high repute, is now poorer in horses than any province of the Ottoman empire.

(_Pereg. Quat._ p. 114; _I.B._ II. 255 seqq.; _Hayton_, ch. xiii.; _Liber Jurium Reip. Januensis_, II. 184; _Tchihatcheff, As. Min._, 2'de partie, 631.)

[The Seljukian Sultanate of Iconium or Rum, was founded at the expense of the Byzantines by Suleiman (1074-1081); the last three sovereigns of the dynasty contemporaneous with Marco Polo are Ghiath ed-din Kakhosru III.

(1267-1283), Ghiath ed-din Mas'ud II. (1283-1294), Ala ed-din Kakobad III. (1294-1308), when this kingdom was destroyed by the Mongols of Persia. Privileges had been granted to Venice by Ghiath ed-din Kakhosru I. (+ 1211), and his sons Izz ed-din Kaikaua (1211-1220), and Ala ed-din Kakobad I. (1220-1237); the diploma of 1220 is unfortunately the only one of the three known to be preserved. (Cf. Heyd, I. p. 302.)--H. C.]

Though the authors quoted above seem to make no distinction between Turks and Turkmans, that which we still understand does appear to have been made in the 12th century: "That there may be some distinction, at least in name, between those who made themselves a king, and thus achieved such glory, and those who still abide in their primitive barbarism and adhere to their old way of life, the former are nowadays termed _Turks_, the latter by their old name of _Turkomans_." (_William of Tyre_, i. 7.)

Casaria is KAISARiYA, the ancient Caesareia of Cappadocia, close to the foot of the great Mount Argaeus. _Savast_ is the Armenian form (_Sevasd_) of Sebaste, the modern SIVAS. The three cities, Iconium, Caesareia, and Sebaste, were metropolitan sees under the Catholicos of Sis.

[The ruins of Sebaste are situated at about 6 miles to the east of modern Sivas, near the village of Gavraz, on the _Kizil Irmak_. In the 11th century, the King of Armenia, Senecherim, made his capital of Sebaste. It belonged after to the Seljukid Turks, and was conquered in 1397 by Bayezid Ilderim with Tokat, Castambol and Sinope. (Cf. _Vital Cuinet_.)

One of the oldest churches in Sivas is St. George (_Sourp-Kevork_), occupied by the Greeks, but claimed by the Armenians; it is situated near the centre of the town, in what is called the "Black Earth," the spot where Timur is said to have ma.s.sacred the garrison. A few steps north of St. George is the Church of St. Blasius, occupied by the Roman Catholic Armenians. The tomb of St. Blasius, however, is shown in another part of the town, near the citadel mount, and the ruins of a very beautiful Seljukian Medresseh. (From a MS. Note by Sir H. Yule. The information had been supplied by the American Missionaries to General Sir C. Wilson, and forwarded by him to Sir H. Yule.)

It must be remembered that at the time of the Seljuk Turks, there were four Medressehs at Sivas, and a university as famous as that of Ama.s.sia.

Children to the number of 1000, each a bearer of a copy of the Koran, were crushed to death under the feet of the horses of Timur, and buried in the "Black Earth"; the garrison of 4000 soldiers were buried alive.

St. Blasius, Bishop of Sebaste, was martyred in 316 by order of Agricola, Governor of Cappadocia and Lesser Armenia, during the reign of Licinius.

His feast is celebrated by the Latin Church on the 3rd of February, and by the Greek Church on the 11th of February. He is the patron of the Republic of Ragusa in Dalmatia, and in France of wool-carders.

At the village of Hullukluk, near Sivas, was born in 1676 Mekhitar, founder of the well-known Armenian Order, which has convents at Venice, Vienna, and Trieste.--H. C.]

CHAPTER III.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GREATER HERMENIA.

This is a great country. It begins at a city called ARZINGA, at which they weave the best buckrams in the world. It possesses also the best baths from natural springs that are anywhere to be found.[NOTE 1] The people of the country are Armenians, and are subject to the Tartar. There are many towns and villages in the country, but the n.o.blest of their cities is Arzinga, which is the See of an Archbishop, and then ARZIRON and ARZIZI.[NOTE 2]

The country is indeed a pa.s.sing great one, and in the summer it is frequented by the whole host of the Tartars of the Levant, because it then furnishes them with such excellent pasture for their cattle. But in winter the cold is past all bounds, so in that season they quit this country and go to a warmer region, where they find other good pastures. [At a castle called PAIPURTH, that you pa.s.s in going from Trebizond to Tauris, there is a very good silver mine.[NOTE 3]]

And you must know that it is in this country of Armenia that the Ark of Noah exists on the top of a certain great mountain [on the summit of which snow is so constant that no one can ascend;[NOTE 4] for the snow never melts, and is constantly added to by new falls. Below, however, the snow does melt, and runs down, producing such rich and abundant herbage that in summer cattle are sent to pasture from a long way round about, and it never fails them. The melting snow also causes a great amount of mud on the mountain].

The country is bounded on the south by a kingdom called Mosul, the people of which are Jacobite and Nestorian Christians, of whom I shall have more to tell you presently. On the north it is bounded by the Land of the Georgians, of whom also I shall speak. On the confines towards Georgiania there is a fountain from which oil springs in great abundance, insomuch that a hundred shiploads might be taken from it at one time. This oil is not good to use with food, but 'tis good to burn, and is also used to anoint camels that have the mange. People come from vast distances to fetch it, for in all the countries round about they have no other oil.[NOTE 5]

Now, having done with Great Armenia, we will tell you of Georgiania.

NOTE 1.--[Erzinjan, Erzinga, or Eriza, in the vilayet of Erzrum, was rebuilt in 1784, after having been destroyed by an earthquake.

"Arzendjan," says Ibn Batuta, II. p. 294, "is in possession of well-established markets; there are manufactured fine stuffs, which are called after its name." It was at Erzinjan that was fought in 1244 the great battle, which placed the Seljuk Turks under the dependency of the Mongol Khans.--H. C.] I do not find mention of its hot springs by modern travellers, but Lazari says Armenians a.s.sured him of their existence. There are plenty of others in Polo's route through the country, as at Ilija, close to Erzrum, and at Ha.s.san Kala.

The _Buckrams_ of Arzinga are mentioned both by Pegolotti (circa 1340) and by Giov. d'Uzzano (1442). But what were they?

Buckram in the modern sense is a coa.r.s.e open texture of cotton or hemp, loaded with gum, and used to stiffen certain articles of dress. But this was certainly _not_ the mediaeval sense. Nor is it easy to bring the mediaeval uses of the term under a single explanation. Indeed Mr. Marsh suggests that probably two different words have coalesced. Fr.-Michel says that _Bouqueran_ was _at first_ applied to a light cotton stuff of the nature of muslin, and _afterwards_ to linen, but I do not see that he makes out this history of the application. Douet d'Arcq, in his _Comptes de l'Argenterie_, etc., explains the word simply in the modern sense, but there seems nothing in his text to bear this out.

A quotation in Raynouard's Romance Dictionary has "_Vestirs de polpra e de_ bisso _que est_ bocaran," where Raynouard renders _bisso_ as _lin_; a quotation in Ducange also makes Buckram the equivalent of Bissus; and Michel quotes from an inventory of 1365, "_unam culcitram pinctam_ (qu.

punctam?) _albam factam_ de bisso _aliter_ boquerant."

Mr. Marsh again produces quotations, in which the word is used as a proverbial example of _whiteness_, and inclines to think that it was a bleached cloth with a l.u.s.trous surface.

It certainly was not _necessarily_ linen. Giovanni Villani, in a pa.s.sage which is curious in more ways than one, tells how the citizens of Florence established races for their troops, and, among other prizes, was one which consisted of a _Bucherame di bambagine_ (of cotton). Polo, near the end of the Book (Bk. III. ch. x.x.xiv.), speaking of Abyssinia, says, according to Pauthier's text: "_Et si y fait on moult beaux_ bouquerans et autres draps de coton." The G. T. is, indeed, more ambiguous: "_Il hi se font maint biaus dras_ banbacin e bocaran" (cotton _and_ buckram). When, however, he uses the same expression with reference to the delicate stuffs woven on the coast of Telingana, there can be no doubt that a cotton texture is meant, and apparently a fine muslin. (See Bk. III. ch. xviii.) Buckram is _generally_ named as an article of price, _chier bouquerant_, _rice boquerans_, etc, but not always, for Polo in one pa.s.sage (Bk. II. ch.

xlv.) seems to speak of it as the clothing of the poor people of Eastern Tibet.

Plano Carpini says the tunics of the Tartars were either of buckram (_bukeranum_), of _purpura_ (a texture, perhaps velvet), or of _baudekin_, a cloth of gold (pp. 614-615). When the envoys of the Old Man of the Mountain tried to bully St. Lewis, one had a case of daggers to be offered in defiance, another a _bouqueran_ for a winding sheet (_Joinville_, p.

136.)

In accounts of materials for the use of Anne Boleyn in the time of her prosperity, _bokeram_ frequently appears for "lyning and taynting" (?) gowns, lining sleeves, cloaks, a bed, etc., but it can scarcely have been for mere stiffening, as the colour of the buckram is generally specified as the same as that of the dress.

A number of pa.s.sages seem to point to a _quilted_ material. Boccaccio (Day viii. Novel 10) speaks of a quilt (_coltre_) of the whitest buckram of Cyprus, and Uzzano enters buckram quilts (_coltre di Bucherame_) in a list of _Linajuoli_, or linen-draperies. Both his handbook and Pegolotti's state repeatedly that buckrams were sold by the piece or the half-score pieces--never by measure. In one of Michel's quotations (from _Baudouin de Sebourc_) we have:

"Gaufer li fist premiers armer d'un auqueton Qui fu de _bougherant_ et _plaine de bon coton_."

Mr. Hewitt would appear to take the view that Buckram meant a quilted material; for, quoting from a roll of purchases made for the Court of Edward I., an entry for Ten Buckrams to make sleeves of, he remarks, "The sleeves appear to have been of _pourpointerie_," i.e. quilting. (_Ancient Armour_, I. 240.)

This signification would embrace a large number of pa.s.sages in which the term is used, though certainly not all. It would account for the mode or sale by the piece, and frequent use of the expression _a_ buckram, for its habitual application to _coltre_ or counterpanes, its use in the _auqueton_ of Baudouin, and in the jackets of Falstaff's "men in buckram,"

as well as its employment in the frocks of the Mongols and Tibetans. The winter _chapkan_, or long tunic, of Upper India, a form of dress which, I believe, correctly represents that of the Mongol hosts, and is probably derived from them, is almost universally of quilted cotton.[1] This signification would also facilitate the transfer of meaning to the substance now called buckram, for that is used as a _kind_ of quilting.

The derivation of the word is very uncertain. Reiske says it is Arabic, _Abu-Kairam_, "Pannus c.u.m intextis figuris"; Wedgwood, attaching the modern meaning, that it is from It., _bucherare_, to pierce full of holes, which might be if _bucherare_ could be used in the sense of _puntare_, or the French _piquer_; Marsh connects it with the _bucking_ of linen; and D'Avezac thinks it was a stuff that took its name from _Bokhara_. If the name be local, as so many names of stuffs are, the French form rather suggests _Bulgaria_. [Heyd, II. 703, says that Buckram (Bucherame) was princ.i.p.ally manufactured at Erzinjan (Armenia), Mush, and Mardin (Kurdistan), Ispahan (Persia), and in India, etc. It was shipped to the west at Constantinople, Satalia, Acre, and Famagusta; the name is derived from Bokhara.--H. C.]

(_Della Decima_, III. 18, 149, 65, 74, 212, etc.; IV. 4, 5, 6, 212; _Reiske's_ Notes to _Const. Porphyrogen._ II.; _D'Avezac_, p. 524; _Vocab.

Univ. Ital.; Franc.-Michel, Recherches_, etc. II. 29 seqq.; _Philobiblon Soc. Miscell._ VI.; _Marsh's Wedgwood's Etym. Dict._ sub voce.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Castle of Baiburt.]

NOTE 2.--Arziron is ERZRUM, which, even in Tournefort's time, the Franks called _Erzeron_ (III. 126); [it was named _Garine_, then _Theodosiopolis_, in honour of Theodosius the Great; the present name was given by the Seljukid Turks, and it means "Roman Country"; it was taken by Chinghiz Khan and Timur, but neither kept it long. Odorico (_Cathay_, I.

p. 46), speaking of this city, says it "is mighty cold." (See also on the low temperature of the place, Tournefort, _Voyage du Levant_, II. pp.

258-259.) Arzizi, ARJISH, in the vilayet of Van, was destroyed in the middle of the 19th century; it was situated on the road from Van to Erzrum.

Arjish Kala was one of the ancient capitals of the Kingdom of Armenia; it was conquered by Toghrul I., who made it his residence. (Cf. Vital Cuinet, _Turquie d'Asie_, II. p. 710).--H. C.]

Arjish is the ancient _Arsissa_, which gave the Lake Van one of its names.

It is now little more than a decayed castle, with a village inside.

Notices of Kuniyah, Kaisariya, Sivas, Arzan-ar-Rumi, Arzangan, and Arjish, will be found in Polo's contemporary Abulfeda. (See _Busching_, IV.