Marco Polo in Central Asia: 46: Wars & Armies

The Tartars are good men at arms, capable of much endurance, and they can go through more warlike toil than other men.  Often, when necessary, he will remain a month on milk of mare, and the flesh of animals hunted by him.  Likewise, his horse remain on grass.  He is very obedient to his master.  He can remain,  carrying his arms, on horseback, the whole night.  They are capable of enduring fatigue and trouble, subsisting on least expenses, and best suited for conquering lands and kingdoms.

They arrange their army in the following manner.  When a Tarar lord goes to war, he has with him 100000 men. He places a chief over every ten, every hundred, every thousand and every ten thousand, so that each officer, has to deal with only ten persons. Every man answers to his captain only. The hundred thousand is called "tut", ten thousand a toman. When the armies are matching through plains and mountains, they send 200 men two days in advance, also behind and on each side, so that they cannot be attacked by surprise. When they are marching a long way, they carry no baggage, but merely two large leather bags, in which they put their milk, and a little earthern pot for cooking their victuals.  They take a small tent, under which they remain during the rain.  When necessary, they ride ten full days without food, and without lighting a fire; but piercing a vein of their horse, they drink his blood.  They have likewise their milk dried into a piece of paste, which when about to use, they stir till it becomes liquid and they drink it.  When they go to battle, they conquer in this manner: They apparently took themselves to shameful flight, for they have so trained their horses that they run round and round like dogs. The enemy pursue them thinking that they are fleeing. But they turn and stand their ground, fight swiftly with their arrows, and the enemy begin to fall by this unexpected retaliation and succumb to the attack or flee.  Thus the Tartars gain complete control.  All that I have told you here applies to gunine Tartars; but they are now much altered.  Those who live in Cathay have adopted the manners and customs of idolaters; those in Levent imitate Saracens.  I have said nothing here of the mighty Khan.  But let us now return to the great plain, where were.

End of the Section 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

( 16 )CHARLES DICKENS: DAVID COPPERFIELD: CHAPTER 16: I AM A NEW BOY IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE

Next morning, after breakfast, I entered on school life again.  I went, accompanied by Mr Wickfield to the scene of my future studies- a grave building in a courtyard, with a learned air about it that suited very well to the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from the Cathedral tower to walk with a clerkly bearing on the grass plot - and was introduced to my new master, Doctor Strong. Doctor Strong looked almost as rusty, to my thinking, as the tall iron rails and gates outside the house; and almost as stiff and heavy as the great stone urn that flanked them, and were set up, on the top of red brick wall, at regular distances all round the court, like sublimated skittles for Time to play at.  Doctor Strong was in his library, with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly combed, his knee-small unbraced, his long black gaiters unbuttoned, and his shoes  yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug.  Turning upon me a lustreless eye, t...
Read more

Sailing Around Erethraean Sea: Three

Updated 29/11/2024 Below the Calf-Eaters there is a little market-town on the shore after sailing about four thousand stadia from Berenice, called Ptolemais of Hunts, from which the hunters started for the interior under the dynasty of Ptolemies. This market town has true land to rtoise in small quantities; it is white and smaller in the shells. And here also is found a little ivory, like that of Adulis. But the place has no harbour, and is reached by small boats. 1. Calf-Eaters: Cattle rearing nomadic tribes. 2. Stadia is the plural of stadion. Ten  stadia= one mile. 3. Ptolemais of Hunts: Ptolemies Theron is the exact Greek term,  located at the Bay of Anfile or Amphila Bay on the coast of Eritrea. Facing the bay is Hando island. It is, in fact, a double bay, an inner bay within, between promontories M'edr and Lelisa. End of the Section 
Read more

Travels Of Marco Polo: Thirty

Now, let me tell of the beasts which his Majesty keeps for hunting.  Among these are Leopards and lynxes or stag-wolves well fitted for that purpose.  He has also many lions larger than those of Babylon of a beautiful hair and colour, striped length ways black red and white, and trained to catch stags, wild oxen, hogs, wild goats and asses; it is delightful to see one of these chases, where the hunters go out, carrying the lion in a cage, and with him a small dog.  They have likewise abundance of eagles, with which they capture hares, foxes and even wolves; those which are trained to catch these last are very large, and of great weight, so that no wolf can escape them. ____________________________________ 1. The lion here described by the author is manifestly the tiger. It is probable that tiger was unknown in Europe when Marco left, he might have viewed it as a variety of lion. 2. Lion and tigers are wild animals and cannot be domesticated. Still human societies used to ...
Read more