The Travels of Marco Polo

Polo traces the Khan lineage from Genghis to Kublai. Kublai “obtained the sovereignty by his valor, virtues, and prudence, in opposition to his brothers, who were supported by many of the great officers and members of his own family” (1851-52), even as “the succession was his in law and right” (1853). He has been on the throne for forty-two years and is now 85 years old. In his earlier days, he was an enterprising, successful soldier: “Not only was he brave and daring in action, but in judgment and military skill he was considered the most able and successful commander that ever led the Tartars to battle” (1855-56).

The previous chapter included the detail that Nayan had an army of 300,000 horsemen and that Kaidu, the Great Khan's nephew, had promised 100,000 more. In this chapter, the Great Khan is said to have a larger force: “360,000 horsemen, to which was added 100,000 foot soldiers” (1870).

The Great Khan succeeds, by virtue of a forced march, to catch his main enemy, the chief Nayan, by surprise, before the Khan can meet up with Kaidu.

The Great Khan and his army surprise the enemy, who hastily makes ready for battle. The armies face each other, and Polo describes in detail the battle arrangements of the Great Khan and his army:

Kublai took his station in a large wooden castle, borne on the backs of four elephants, whose bodies were protected with coverings of thick leather hardened by fire, over which were housings of cloth of gold. The castle contained many crossbowmen and archers (1895-97).

Instruments sound, warriors sing, and, as drums are thumped, “a fierce and bloody conflict began” (1906):“Such was the slaughter, and so large the heaps of the bodies of men, and more especially of horses, that it became impossible for either side to advance upon the other” (1909-11). For quite a time, it’s not clear which army would win:“At length, however, Nayan, perceiving that he was nearly surrounded, attempted to save himself by flight” (1913-14). He was not successful, and was captured and sentenced to death.

Polo describes the grim manner of death for Nayan: he was wrapped in rugs and shaken to death:“The reason for this peculiar treatment is that the sun and the air should not witness the shedding of the blood of one who belonged to the imperial family” (1918-19). Those defeated re-pledge their allegiance to the Great Khan, who has harsh words for Christians who had thrown in their lot with Nayan.

The triumphant Kublai Khan is once again in one of his capital cities, and it’s Easter. He makes a great show of respect for the Bible and for the celebration of that holiday. Polo says that the Great Khan gave the same attention at festivals of the practitioners of religions other than Christianity.

The Great Khan says that his astrologers and magicians can perform miracles, such as the movement of cups of wine back and forth, and so can prove the power of their deity. To the Polos, the Khan issues an instruction:

[R]eturn to your Pope, and request him in my name to send hither a hundred persons learned in your law, who, being confronted with the idolaters, shall have power to counter them and show that they themselves are endowed with similar art, but refrain from exercising it because it is derived from evil spirits, and thus shall compel them to give up such practices in their presence (1956-58). 

The Great Khan shows his appreciation to his commanders by rewarding them a higher command, gifts of silver (including drinking vessels and a chair to ride on in public), and tablets that, in effect, give the bearer the power of the Great Khan himself:

On the tablet is an inscription to this effect: 'By the power and might of the great God, and of the great grace which He hath accorded to our Emperor, be the name of the Khan blessed; and let all such as disobey him be slain and destroyed' (1972-73).

So, too, to these commanders goes the privilege of using “the horses of the imperial stud at their pleasure” (1981).

Polo includes some personal details about the Great Khan's appearance, among them that “his complexion is fair and occasionally suffused with red, like the bright tint of the rose, which adds much grace to his countenance” (1985-86). The Khan has four wives who are each titled Empress and have a separate court, at which serve hundreds of young women. He has also many concubines.

The Great Khan has forty-seven sons, twenty-two of which have one of Khan’s four wives for a mother. The others sons were born to concubines. Several govern kingdoms of provinces, many are nobles, and many more serve in the army. The Khan's wish for his eldest son, Chinghis, to succeed him was not granted because the son died; his son, Temur, is now in line to succeed: “The disposition of this prince is good, and he is endowed with wisdom and valor; of the latter he has given proofs in several successful battles” (2021-23).

This long chapter contains descriptions of another of the Great Khan's palaces, this one at Khan-balik. The outer wall is eight miles long, an inner wall is six miles long, and a further inner wall is four miles long. Enclosed within are many large buildings housing soldiers and weapons and provisions, meadows and pastures in which roam several species of animals, paved roads that increase vegetation in the pastures, and the Khan's palace:“The palace contains a number of separate chambers, all highly beautiful and so admirably located that it seems impossible to suggest any improvement in this respect” (2055-56). One of these chambers, the grand hall, is large enough to accommodate “great multitudes of people” (2055). 

Concerned by the prediction of his astrologers that the people of Khan-balik would rebel, the Great Khan had built another city, called Taidu, right across the river. The palaces described in Chapter 10 are in the new city. Taidu is perfectly square, Polo says:

The whole plan of the city was laid out in lines, and the streets in general are consequently so straight that when a person on the wall over one of the gates looks straight forward, he can see the gate on the opposite side of the city(2088-89). 

Unlike earlier stories that spanned multiple chapters, this series of events is contained within this single, long, chapter. The subject, Achmat, is an administrator who “had more power and influence with the Great Khan than any of the others” (2119). Achmat so convinced the Great Khan of his righteousness that the Khan became nothing so much as a rubber stamp for what Achmat wanted done, particularly who he wanted to dispatch.

After twenty-two years, a group of people, led by an army commander, became determined to stop Achmat. They waited until the Great Khan was out of the city and Achmat was in charge and resorted to trickery to kill him. The Great Khan returned and then “learned all about the endless outrages of the abominable Achmat and his sons” (2170). He ordered killed the sons who had followed Achmat down the path of evil:“The Great Khan then ordered all the treasure that Achmat had accumulated in the Old City to be transferred to his own treasury in the New City, and it was found to be an enormous amount” (2171-72).

The Keshikten, a 12,000-strong group of horsemen, form the Great Khan's personal guard:“It is not, however, out of fear that he is surrounded by this guard, but as a matter of state” (2183-84). The commanders rotate four groups of these personal guard, so that at any one time, 3,000 are on “constant duty in the palace during three successive days and nights” (2185).

At court, the hierarchy is maintained by seating various people at lower and lower levels of table: “The tables are arranged in such a manner that the Great Khan on his elevated throne can overlook the whole” (2196-97). Surplus people sit on carpets or stand outside, looking in on the scene within. Guards prevent anyone else from getting too close to the Great Khan “because touching the threshold is regarded as a bad omen” (2215-16).

The Khan's birthday is September 28 and is celebrated as a festival, second only in importance to the one that marks the new year. On his birthday, “the Great Khan appears in a superb dress of cloth of gold” (2229-30) and his people seek to emulate his manner of dress. They also give him presents and offer prayers to their chosen deity “that they may bless and preserve the sovereign and bestow upon him long life, health, and prosperity” (2242-43).

White, the Mongols believe, is “the emblem of good fortune” (2249). Thus, it is that the Great Khan and everyone else wears clothing of that color on the first day of the new year, which is in February. As on the Khan's birthday, his people on New Year's Day send him gifts of gold, silver, and gems, as well as white cloth and white horses.

To each of the 12,000 barons the Great Khan has given thirteen gem-encrusted robes, each of a different color:“The Emperor himself has thirteen suits corresponding in color to those of his barons, though his are grander, richer, and costlier. And you may see that what all this costs is incalculable” (2284-86).

It is in the Chinese capital that the Khan can be found in winter. Governors of the various districts must send him “all sorts of larger game, such as wild boars, stags, fallow deer, roebucks, and bears” (2290-91). Some governors send the animals; other send only the skins.

Leopards, lions, and lynxes are the predators employed by the Great Khan in the pursuit of bears, boars, deer, oxen, and asses. Lions are kept in cages on carts, inside of which is a dog that is familiar to the lion:“The reason for thus shutting them up is that they would otherwise become so ferocious at the sight of the game that it would be impossible to restrain them” (2301-02).

Brothers are in charge of the hounds for the hunt of wild game. Each brother is in charge of a number of men who participate in the hunt. Polo includes descriptions of how the men are attired and how the hunt progresses:“What a beautiful sight it is to see the maneuvers of the hunts men and the working of the dogs when the Emperor is between them and they are pursuing the stags, bears, and other animals in every direction” (2313-15). These brothers are also charged with supplying the court with fish.

This chapter is as much about the style in which the Great Khan travels as it is about the mechanics of the hunt. Doing the hunting are “a vast number of gerfalcons, peregrine falcons, and sakers, as well as many vultures, for pursuing the game along the banks of the river” (2320-21). The birds are marked with the names of their owners. When the Great Khan is on the hunt, no one else can be for miles around, “unless his name be on a list kept by the grand falconer, or he has a special privilege to that effect” (2366).

The Great Khan returns from the hunt and holds court for three days before going to Shangtu:“To escape the heat he spends his summer there, for the location is a cool one” (2376). Then, it's back to the capital for a few months, and then it's back to hunting: “Thus is his year spent: six months at the capital, three months in hunting, and three months at the Cane Palace” (2378-79).

This city has a very large population, “greater than the mind can comprehend” (2383-84). And yet, more people live in the suburbs than live in the city. Public executions and the burning of bodies take place outside the city, as does prostitution:“To this city everything that is most rare and valuable in the world finds its way” (2391-92). It is a large trade city, in both buying and selling: “No fewer than a thousand carriages and packhorses loaded with raw silk come here daily; and an immense quantity of gold tissues and silks of various kinds is manufactured here” (2394-96).

The currency here is made of paper, at the direction of the Great Khan:

He causes the bark to be stripped from mulberry trees (the leaves of which are used for feeding silkworms), and takes from it that thin layer that lies between the coarser bark and the wood of the tree. This being steeped, and afterwards pounded in a mortar until reduced to a pulp, is made into paper, resembling that which is manufactured from cotton, but quite black (2401-03).

The currency has different denominations, all of which are affixed with the royal seal. 

Twelve barons carry out the Great Khan's bidding with regard to troop movements and other military matters. Another group of twelve nobles is in charge of governing the empire's thirty-four provinces. Each province has a head legal officer and several clerks, all of whom report to the twelve nobles, who also have the power of revenue collection and disbursement. Together, these groups of twelve nobles are known as the two highest courts: the Thai, and the Shieng.

Travelers across the empire can avail themselves of a yamb, or posthouse. Lavish are the accommodations therein, and a great many horses are kept on hand at each yamb:

Even in mountainous districts remote from the great roads, where there are no villages and the towns are distant from each other, his Majesty has caused buildings of the same kind to be erected, furnished with everything necessary, and provided with the usual supply of horses (2450-52).

Dotting the landscape between posthouses are villages, in which live foot messengers. Facilitating these deliveries is a system of clerks, one in each village and at each posthouse, to track deliveries. Cities that are near rivers or lakes must maintain boats that couriers can use.

The Khan acts benevolently when his people have suffered from bad weather or plague; “in such cases he not only does not exact the usual tribute, but furnishes them from his granaries with as much corn as they need for subsistence, as well as for sowing their land” (2502-03). To facilitate such generosity, the Khan has great stores of grain and “commands that these granaries always be kept full in order to provide against times of scarcity” (2505-06). The same is true when his people have lost their cattle. 

The planting of trees on both sides of the road gives shade in summer and marks the road in snow-covered winter. If the terrain does not allow for the planting of trees, Khan “orders stones to be placed and columns erected as landmarks” (2519-20). The Great Khan does this for these reasons and because “astrologers tell him that those who plant trees are rewarded with long life” (2522-23).

Rice mixed with spices and alcohol is popular:“This beverage, or wine as it may be termed, is so good and well flavored that they do not wish for better” (2525-26). This drink has a high alcohol content.

Polo describes the mining and use of coal, which he says is“ a sort of black stone” (2527), adding that “[w]hen lighted, it burns like charcoal, and retains the fire much better than wood; it may, indeed, be kept going during the night and in the morning be found still glowing” (2530-31). The people do not want for wood, but “the population is so immense, and their stoves and baths, which they are continually heating, so numerous, that the quantity could not supply the demand” (2533-34). People generally enjoy a warm bath “at least three times a week, and during the winter daily” (2534-35).

The emperor, Polo says, will give “members of a respectable family reduced to poverty by misfortune or unable because of illness to earn a living or raise a supply of any kind of grain [...] enough for a year’s consumption” (2540-41). It is not just food but another basic need as well: “In a similar way the Emperor provides clothing for the poor, which he does from his tenths [tithes] of wool, silk, and hemp” (2543-44).

Polo writes that “[n]ot a day passes in which twenty thousand bowls of rice, millet, and panicum are not distributed by the regular officers” (2553-54). This and other charitable things occur because the Khan has learned that doing good by the poor is looked on with favor by many deities.

The emperor employs 5,000 astrologers and soothsayers, all of whom ply their craft for the Khan and his people. These fortune-tellers use instruments like the astrolabe to study the positions of the stars and planets in the sky so they can issue predictions:“They write their predictions for the year on small squares in booklets called tacuin and these they sell for a groat apiece to all persons who wish to peep into the future” (2565-67). The Mongols track time in a twelve-year cycle, naming each year after an animal.

The Mongols pray daily to their deities, burning incense and prostrating themselves in prayer. They believe in a certain kind of immortality:

They hold that immediately upon the death of a man, his soul enters into another body, and, depending on whether he has acted virtuously or wickedly during his life, his future state will become progressively better or worse (2585-87).

They are clean, courteous people who revere their elders.