With Abubachar, was the son of a king of Great Tartary. To him came messengers, wanting him to go home, that he might be responsible for the kingdom. He asked Abubachir to allow him to go; this he did, and so he went home with six hundred horsemen; I was one of five [Christians?] who went with him into Great Tartary. You must notice through which countries he passed. First, through the country called Strana, where silk grows; then through a country called Gursey, where there are Christians, and they believe in the Christian faith, and Saint Jörig is patron there. After that, he passed through a country called Lochinschan; there, also, silk grows; then through another called Schurban, where silk grows of which the good stuffs are made at Tamasch and at Kaffer, and also at Wursa, the capital of the Infidels, situated in Turkey; this silk is also taken to Venice and to Lickcha, where good velvet is worked; but it is an unhealthy country. Afterwards he passed through a country called Samabram;[(1)] then through one called in the Tartar tongue, Temurtapit,[1][(2)] which is as much as to say, the Iron Gate. This divides Persia and Tartary. Then he passed through a city called Origens; it is powerful, and lies in the middle of a river called Edil.[(3.)] Then he travelled through a mountainous country called Setzulet, where there are many Christians who have a bishop there; their priests belong to the Order of the Shoeless, who do not know Latin, and they sing and read their prayers in the Tartar tongue. It is found that thus the laity become stronger in the faith, and also many Infidels are confirmed in the Christian faith, because they understand the words that the priests sing and read. After that, he went into Great Tartaria, and came to the lord named Edigi, who had written and sent messengers to him, as he wanted him to come and rule the kingdom. And when he arrived, Edigi was waiting, having prepared to go into a country called Ibissibur.[2] It is to be noted, that it is the custom for the king, in Great Tartary, to have a Chief to rule over him, who can elect or depose a king, and has also power over vassals. Now at that time Edigi was the Chief. The vassals in Tartary wander about in winter and summer, with their wives and children, and their cattle, and when the king encamps, there must be erected one hundred thousand huts. Now when the son of the above-named king of Tartary, and who was named Zegre,[(4.)] had come to Edigi, he went with him into the above-named country, Ibissibur, and they travelled two months before they arrived there. There is a mountain in that country, which is thirty-two days’ journey in extent. The people there, themselves say, that at the extremity of the mountain is a desert, and that the said desert is the end of the earth; and in this same desert nobody can have an habitation, because of snakes and wild beasts. On the same mountain there are savages, who are not like other people, and they live there. They are covered all over the body with hair, except the hands and face, and run about like other wild beasts in the mountain, and also eat leaves and grass, and any thing they can find. The lord of the country sent to Edigi, a man and a woman from among these savages, that had been taken in the mountain.[(5)] The horses are of the same size as donkeys, and there are many wild beasts that are not in Germany, and of which I do not know the names. There are also in the above-named country, dogs, that go in carts and in sledges; they are also made to carry luggage, and are as large as donkeys. Dogs are eaten in this country. It is also to be noted, that the people in this country believe in Jesus Christ like the III kings who came and brought offerings to Christ at Bethlaem, and saw him lying in the manger; and they have a picture, which is a representation of our Lord in a manger, as the three holy kings saw him, when they brought offerings to him. They have this also in their temples, and say their prayers before it; and the people who are of this faith are called Ugine.[(6)] In Tartaria there are many people of this religion. It is also the custom in the country, that when a young man, who has not had a wife, dies, he is dressed in his best clothes, and players carry him, and he is laid on a bier, and a canopy is placed over him. And all the young people, also dressed in their best clothes, go before, and the players with them. The father and mother, and friends, also follow the bier, and it is taken to the grave by the young people and by the players, with singing and much merry-making. But the father and mother and friends, go near the bier and weep; and when they have buried him, they bring their food and drink, and the young people and the players sit down, and eat and drink by the grave with much rejoicing. The father and mother and friends, sit on one side, and lament, and when they have done, they take the father and mother to the place where they live, and there they lament; and so they end the ceremony which was as if they had had a wedding, because he had no wife. In this country they have nothing but millet, and they do not eat bread. All this I have seen, and was there with the above-named king’s son, Zeggra.
[1]Derbend, i.e., the closed gate or barricade, called by the Turks Timurcapi, or the Iron Gate. N.
[2]This, undoubtedly, is Siberia, here mentioned for the first time. It so happens that the name of Siberia appears in the Russian annals of about the same period, 1450.—See Lehrberg’s Zur Erläuterung der älteren Geschichte von Russland, St. Petersburg, 1816. Schiltberger probably looks upon the Buddhists as Christians, as has frequently been the case. N.
26.—How one lord succeeds another lord.
And after that Edigi and Zeggra had subdued the country Ibissibur, they went into the country Walher, and conquered it also, and afterwards they went back to their country. At that time, there was a king in Great Tartaria who was called Sedichbechan, and kan is as much as to say a king, in the Tartar tongue. When he heard that Edigi had come into his country, he took to flight. Edigi sent after him, that he should be brought as a prisoner, but he was killed in a battle.[(1)] Then Edigi elected a king named Polet, who reigned one year and a half.[(2)] Then there was one named Segelalladin, who expelled Polet; and after this, Polet’s brother was king, and he reigned fourteen months. Then came his brother, named Thebachk, who fought with him for the kingdom, and killed him,[(3)] and then there was no king. But he had a brother called Kerumberdin, who became king, and reigned five months. Then came his brother Theback, and he expelled Kerimberdin and became king. Then came Edigi and my lord Zeggra, and they drove away the king, and Edigi made my lord the king as he had promised. He was king for nine months. Then came one named Machmet, and he fought with Zeggra and with Edigi. Zeggra fled to a country called Distihipschach, and Machmet became king. Then came one named Waroch; he expelled Machmet and became king. After that, Machmet recovered, and he drove away Waroch and was again king. Then came one named Doblabardi, who drove away Machmet and became king, and was king for three days only. Then came the same Warach, who expelled Doblabardi, and again became king. Then came my lord Machmet, and he overcame Waroch and again became king. After that, came my lord Zeggra, and he fought with Machmet and was killed.[(4)]
27.—Of an Infidel woman, who had four thousand maidens.
During the time that I was with Zeggra, there came to Edigi, and also to Zeggra, a Tartar woman named Sadurmelickh,[(1)] with four thousand maidens and women. She was powerful, and her husband had been killed by a Tartar king. She wanted to be revenged, and therefore came to Edigi, so that he should assist her to expel the king. And you must also know, that she and her women rode to battle and fought with the bow, as well as men; and when the women rode to battle, they had on one side a sword, and on the other a bow. In a battle she had with a king, there was the king’s cousin who had killed the husband of this woman, and he was made a prisoner. He was brought before the woman; she ordered him to kneel, and drew her sword, and cut off his head at one blow, and said: “Now am I revenged.” I was present there, and I also saw this.