The Travels of Marco Polo Volume I Part 73

The remains of the ancient capital of Khotan were accidentally discovered, some thirty-five years ago, at Yotkan, a village of the Borazan Tract. A great ma.s.s of highly interesting finds of ancient art pottery, engraved stones, and early Khotan coins with Kharosthi-Chinese legends, coming from this site, have recently been thoroughly examined in Dr. h.o.e.rnle's Report on the "British Collection of Central Asian Antiquities." _Stein_.--(See _Three further Collections of Ancient Ma.n.u.scripts from Central Asia_, by Dr. A. F. R. h.o.e.rnle ... Calcutta, 1897, 8vo.)

"The sacred sites of Buddhist Khotan which Hiuen Tsang and Fa-hian describe, can be shown to be occupied now, almost without exception, by Mohamedan shrines forming the object of popular pilgrimages." (M. A.

Stein, _Archaeological Work about Khotan, Jour. R. As. Soc._, April, 1901, p. 296.)

It may be justly said that during the last few years numerous traces of Hindu civilisation have been found in Central Asia, extending from Khotan, through the Takla-Makan, as far as Turfan, and perhaps further up.

Dr. Sven Hedin, in the year 1896, during his second journey through Takla-Makan from Khotan to Shah Yar, visited the ruins between the Khotan Daria and the Kiria Daria, where he found the remains of the city of Takla-Makan now buried in the sands. He discovered figures of Buddha, a piece of papyrus with unknown characters, vestiges of habitations. This Asiatic Pompei, says the traveller, at least ten centuries old, is anterior to the Mahomedan invasion led by Kutebe Ibn-Muslim, which happened at the beginning of the 8th century. Its inhabitants were Buddhist, and of Aryan race, probably originating from Hindustan.--Dutreuil de Rhins and Grenard discovered in the k.u.mari grottoes, in a small hill on the right bank of the Karakash Daria, a ma.n.u.script written on birch bark in _K_harosh_t_hi characters; these grottoes of k.u.mari are mentioned in Hiuen Tsang. (II. p.

229.)

Dr. Sven Hedin followed the route Kashgar, Yangi-Hissar, Yarkand to Khotan, in 1895. He made a stay of nine days at Ilchi, the population of which he estimated at 5500 inhabitants (5000 Musulmans, 500 Chinese).

(See also Sven Hedin, _Die Geog. wissenschaft. Ergebnisse meiner Reisen in Zentralasien_, 1894-1897. _Petermann's Mitt._, Erganz. XXVIII. (Hft. 131), Gotha, 1900.--H. C.]

CHAPTER x.x.xVII.

OF THE PROVINCE OF PEIN.

Pein is a province five days in length, lying between east and north-east.

The people are worshippers of Mahommet, and subjects of the Great Kaan.

There are a good number of towns and villages, but the most n.o.ble is PEIN, the capital of the kingdom.[NOTE 1] There are rivers in this country, in which quant.i.ties of Jasper and Chalcedony are found.[NOTE 2] The people have plenty of all products, including cotton. They live by manufactures and trade. But they have a custom that I must relate. If the husband of any woman go away upon a journey and remain away for more than 20 days, as soon as that term is past the woman may marry another man, and the husband also may then marry whom he pleases.[NOTE 3]

I should tell you that all the provinces that I have been speaking of, from Cascar forward, and those I am going to mention [as far as the city of Lop] belong to GREAT TURKEY.

NOTE 1.--"In old times," says the _Haft Iklim._, "travellers used to go from Khotan to Cathay in 14 (?) days, and found towns and villages all along the road [excepting, it may be presumed, on the terrible Gobi], so that there was no need to travel in caravans. In later days the fear of the Kalmaks caused this line to be abandoned, and the circuitous one occupied 100 days." This directer route between Khotan and China must have been followed by Fa-hian on his way to India; by Hiuen Tsang on his way back; and by Shah Rukh's amba.s.sadors on their return from China in 1421.

The circuitous route alluded to appears to have gone north from Khotan, crossed the Tarimgol, and fallen into the road along the base of the Thian Shan, eventually crossing the Desert southward from Komul.

Former commentators differed very widely as to the position of Pein, and as to the direction of Polo's route from Khotan. The information acquired of late years leaves the latter no longer open to doubt. It must have been nearly coincident with that of Hiuen Tsang.

The perusal of Johnson's Report of his journey to Khotan, and the Itineraries attached to it, enabled me to feel tolerable certainty as to the position of Charchan (see next chapter), and as to the fact that Marco followed a direct route from Khotan to the vicinity of Lake Lop. Pein, then, was identical with PIMA,[1] which was the first city reached by Hiuen Tsang on his return to China after quitting Khotan, and which lay 330 _li_ east of the latter city.[2] Other notices of Pima appear in Remusat's history of Khotan; some of these agree exactly as to the distance from the capital, adding that it stood on the banks of a river flowing from the East and entering the sandy Desert; whilst one account seems to place it at 500 _li_ from Khotan. And in the Turkish map of Central Asia, printed in the _Jahan Numa_, as we learn from Sir H.

Rawlinson, the town of _Pim_ is placed a little way north of Khotan.

Johnson found Khotan rife with stories of former cities overwhelmed by the shifting sands of the Desert, and these sands appear to have been advancing for ages; for far to the north-east of Pima, even in the 7th century, were to be found the deserted and ruined cities of the ancient kingdoms of _Tuholo_ and _Shemathona_. "Where anciently were the seats of flourishing cities and prosperous communities," says a Chinese author speaking of this region, "is nothing now to be seen but a vast desert; all has been buried in the sands, and the wild camel is hunted on those arid plains."

Pima cannot have been very far from _Kiria_, visited by Johnson. This is a town of 7000 houses, lying east of Ilchi, and about 69 miles distant from it. The road for the most part lies through a highly cultivated and irrigated country, flanked by the sandy desert at three or four miles to the left. After pa.s.sing _eastward_ by Kiria it is said to make a great elbow, turning north; and within this elbow lie the sands that have buried cities and fertile country. Here Mr. Shaw supposes Pima lay (perhaps upon the river of Kiria). At Pima itself, in A. D. 644, there was a story of the destruction of a city lying further north, a judgment on the luxury and impiety of the people and their king, who, shocked at the eccentric aspect of a holy man, had caused him to be buried in sand up to the mouth.

(_N. et E._ XIV. 477; _H. de la Ville de Khotan_, 63-66; _Klap. Tabl.

Historiques_, p. 182; _Proc. R. G. S._ XVI. 243.)

[Dutreuil de Rhins and Grenard took the road from Khotan to Charchan; they left Khotan on the 4th May, 1893, pa.s.sed Kiria, Nia, and instead of going direct to Charchan through the desert, they pa.s.sed Kara Say at the foot of the Altyn tagh, a route three days longer than the other, but one which was less warm, and where water, meat, milk, and barley could be found.

Having pa.s.sed Kapa, they crossed the Karamuren, and went up from Achan due north to Charchan, where they stayed three months. Nowhere do they mention Pein, or Pima, for it appears to be _Kiria itself_, which is the only real town between Khotan and the Lobnor. Grenard says in a note (p. 54, vol.

ii.): "_Pi-mo_ (Keria) recalls the Tibetan _bye-ma_, which is p.r.o.nounced _Pema_, or _Tchema_, and which means _sand_. Such is perhaps also the origin of _Pialma_, a village near Khotan, and of the old name of Charchan, _Tche-mo-to-na_, of which the two last syllables would represent _grong_ (p.r.o.nounce _tong_ = town), or _kr'om_ (_t'om_ = bazaar). Now, not only would this etymology be justified because these three places are indeed surrounded with sand remarkably deep, but as they were the first three important places with which the Tibetans met coming into the desert of Gobi, either by the route of Gurgutluk and of Polor, or by Karakoram and Sandju, or by Tsadam, and they had thus as good a pretext to call them 'towns of sand' as the Chinese had to give to T'un-hw.a.n.g the name of _Shachau_, viz. City of Sand. Kiria is called _Ou-mi_, under the Han, and the name of Pi-mo is found for the first time in Hiuen Tsang, that is to say, before the Tibetan invasions of the 8th century. It is not possible to admit that the incursion of the Tu-ku-hun in the 5th century could be the cause of this change of name. The hypothesis remains that Pi-mo was really the ancient name forced by the first Tibetan invaders spoken of by legend, that _Ou-mi_ was either another name of the town, or a fancy name invented by the Chinese, like Yu-t'ien for Khotan, Su-lo for Kashgar...."

Sir T. D. Forsyth (_J. R. G. S._, XLVII., 1877, p. 3) writes: "I should say that Peim or Pima must be identical with Kiria."--H. C.]

NOTE 2.--The Jasper and Chalcedony of our author are probably only varieties of the semi-precious mineral called by us popularly _Jade_, by the Chinese _Yu_, by the Eastern Turks _Kash_, by the Persians _Yashm_, which last is no doubt the same word with [Greek: iaspis], and therefore with _Jasper_. The Greek Jaspis was in reality, according to Mr. King, a green Chalcedony.

The Jade of Turkestan is largely derived from water-rolled boulders fished up by divers in the rivers of Khotan, but it is also got from mines in the valley of the Karakash River. "Some of the Jade," says Timkowski, "is as white as snow, some dark green, like the most beautiful emerald (?), others yellow, vermilion, and jet black. The rarest and most esteemed varieties are the white speckled with red and the green veined with gold."

(I. 395.) The Jade of Khotan appears to be first mentioned by Chinese authors in the time of the Han Dynasty under Wu-ti (B.C. 140-86). In A.D.

541 an image of Buddha sculptured in Jade was sent as an offering from Khotan; and in 632 the process of fishing for the material in the rivers of Khotan, as practised down to modern times, is mentioned. The importation of Jade or _Yu_ from this quarter probably gave the name of _Kia-yu Kwan_ or "Jade Gate" to the fortified Pa.s.s looking in this direction on the extreme N. W. of China Proper, between Shachau and Suhchau. Since the detachment from China the Jade industry has ceased, the Musulmans having no taste for that kind of _virtu_. (_H. de la V. de Khotan_, 2, 17, 23; also see _J. R. G. S._ x.x.xVI. 165, and _Cathay_, 130, 564; _Ritter_, II. 213; _Shaw's High Tartary_, pp. 98, 473.)

[On the 11th January, 1895, Dr. Sven Hedin visited one of the chief places where Jade is to be found. It is to the north-east of Khotan, in the old bed of the Yurun Kash. The bed of the river is divided into _claims_ like gold-fields; the workmen are Chinese for the greater part, some few are Musulmans.

Grenard (II. pp. 186-187) says that the finest Jade comes from the high Karakash (black Jade) River and Yurungkash (white Jade); the Jade River is called Su-tash. At Khotan, Jade is polished up by sixty or seventy individuals belonging to twenty-five workshops.

"At 18 miles from Su-chau, Kia-yu-kwan, celebrated as one of the gates of China, and as the fortress guarding the extreme north-west entrance into the empire, is pa.s.sed." (_Colonel M. S. Bell, Proc. R. G. S._ XII. 1890, p. 75.)

According to the Chinese characters, the name of Kia-yu Kwan does not mean "Jade Gate," and as Mr. Rockhill writes to me, it can only mean something like "barrier of the pleasant Valley."--H. C.]

NOTE 3.--Possibly this may refer to the custom of temporary marriages which seems to prevail in most towns of Central Asia which are the halting-places of caravans, and the morals of which are much on a par with those of seaport towns, from a.n.a.logous causes. Thus at Meshid, Khanikoff speaks of the large population of young and pretty women ready, according to the accommodating rules of Shiah Mahomedanism, to engage in marriages which are perfectly lawful, for a month, a week, or even twenty-four hours. Kashgar is also noted in the East for its _chaukans_, young women with whom the traveller may readily form an alliance for the period of his stay, be it long or short. (_Khan. Mem._ p. 98; _Russ. in Central Asia_, 52; _J. A. S. B._ XXVI. 262; _Burnes_, III. 195; Vigne, II. 201.)

[1] _Pein_ may easily have been miscopied for _Pem_ which is indeed the reading of some MSS. Ramusio has _Peym_.

[2] M. Vivien de St. Martin, in his map of Hiuen Tsang's travels, places Pima to the _west_ of Khotan. Though one sees bow the mistake originated, there is no real ground for this in either of the versions of the Chinese pilgrim's journey. (See _Vie et Voyages_, p. 288, and _Memoires_, vol. ii. 242-243.)

CHAPTER x.x.xVIII.

OF THE PROVINCE OF CHARCHAN.

Charchan is a Province of Great Turkey, lying between north-east and east.

The people worship Mahommet. There are numerous towns and villages, and the chief city of the kingdom bears its name, Charchan. The Province contains rivers which bring down Jasper and Chalcedony, and these are carried for sale into Cathay, where they fetch great prices. The whole of the Province is sandy, and so is the road all the way from Pein, and much of the water that you find is bitter and bad. However, at some places you do find fresh and sweet water. When an army pa.s.ses through the land, the people escape with their wives, children, and cattle a distance of two or three days' journey into the sandy waste; and knowing the spots where water is to be had, they are able to live there, and to keep their cattle alive, whilst it is impossible to discover them; for the wind immediately blows the sand over their track.

Quitting Charchan, you ride some five days through the sands, finding none but bad and bitter water, and then you come to a place where the water is sweet. And now I will tell you of a province called Lop, in which there is a city, also called LOP, which you come to at the end of those five days.

It is at the entrance of the great Desert, and it is here that travellers repose before entering on the Desert.[NOTE 1]

NOTE 1.--Though the _Lake_ of Lob or Lop appears on all our maps, from Chinese authority, the latter does not seem to have supplied information as to a town so called. We have, however, indications of the existence of such a place, both mediaeval and recent. The History of Mirza Haidar, called the Tarikh-i-Rashidi, already referred to, in describing the Great Basin of Eastern Turkestan, says: "Formerly there were several large cities in this plain; the names of two have survived--_Lob_ and _Kank_, but of the rest there is no trace or tradition; all is buried under the sand." [Forsyth (_J. R. G. S._ XLVII. 1877, p. 5) says that he thinks that this Kank is probably the Katak mentioned by Mirza Haidar.--H. C.] In another place the same history says that a boy heir of the house of Chaghatai, to save him from a usurper, was sent away to Sarigh Uighur and _Lob-Kank_, far in the East. Again, in the short notices of the cities of Turkestan which Mr. Wathen collected at Bombay from pilgrims of those regions on their way to Mecca, we find the following: "_Lopp_.--Lopp is situated at a great distance from Yarkand. The inhabitants are princ.i.p.ally Chinese; but a few Uzbeks reside there. Lopp is remarkable for a salt-water lake in its vicinity." Johnson, speaking of a road from Tibet into Khotan, says: "This route ... leads not only to Ilchi and Yarkand, but also via _Lob_ to the large and important city of Karashahr." And among the routes attached to Mr. Johnson's original Report, we have:--

"Route No. VII. _Kiria_ (see note 1 to last chapter) to CHACHAN and LOB (_from native information_)."

This first revealed to me the continued existence of Marco's Charchan; for it was impossible to doubt that in the CHACHAN and LOB of this Itinerary we had his Charchan and Lop; and his route to the verge of the Great Desert was thus made clear.

Mr. Johnson's information made the journey from Kiria to Charchan to be 9 marches, estimated by him to amount to 154 miles, and adding 69 miles from Ilchi to Kiria (which he actually traversed) we have 13 marches or 223 miles for the distance from Ilchi to Charchan. Mr. Shaw has since obtained a route between Ilchi and Lob on very good authority. This makes the distance to Charchan, or _Charchand_, as it is called, 22 marches, which Mr. Shaw estimates at 293 miles. Both give 6 marches from Charchand to Lob, which is in fair accordance with Polo's 5, and Shaw estimates the whole distance from Ilchi to Lob at 373, or by another calculation at 384 miles, say roundly 380 miles. This higher estimate is to be preferred to Mr. Johnson's for a reason which will appear under next chapter.

Mr. Shaw's informant, Rozi of Khotan, who had lived twelve years at Charchand, described the latter as a small town with a district extending on both sides of a stream which flows to Lob, _and which affords Jade_.

The people are Musulmans. They grow wheat, Indian corn, pears, and apples, etc., but no cotton or rice. It stands in a great plain, but the mountains are not far off. The nature of the products leads Mr. Shaw to think it must stand a good deal higher than Ilchi (4000), perhaps at about 6000 feet. I may observe that the Chinese hydrography of the Kashgar Basin, translated by Julien in the _N. An. des Voyages_ for 1846 (vol. iii.), seems to imply that mountains from the south approach within some 20 miles of the Tarim River, between the longitude of Shayar and Lake Lop. The people of Lob are Musulman also, but very uncivilised. The Lake is salt.

The hydrography calls it about 200 _li_ (say 66 miles) from E. to W. and half that from N. to S., and expresses the old belief that it forms the subterranean source of the Hw.a.n.g-Ho. Shaw's Itinerary shows "salt pools"

at six of the stations between Kiria and Charchand, so Marco's memory in this also was exact.

_Nia_, a town two marches from Kiria according to Johnson, or four according to Shaw, is probably the ancient city of Ni-jang of the ancient Chinese Itineraries, which lay 30 or 40 miles on the China side of Pima, in the middle of a great marsh, and formed the eastern frontier of Khotan bordering on the Desert. (_J. R. G. S._ x.x.xVII. pp. 13 and 44; also Sir H.

Rawlinson in XLII. p. 503: _Erskine's Baber and Humayun_, I. 42; _Proc. R.