_Of the Reverence shewn by Sartach, Mangu-khan, and Ken-chan, to the
Christians_.
At the time when the Francs took Antioch from the Saracens[1], a prince
named Con-can, or Khen-khan, held dominion over all the northern regions of
Tartary. Con is a proper name, and can or khan is a title of dignity,
signifying a diviner or soothsayer, and is applied to all princes in these
countries, because the government of the people belongs to them through
divination. To this prince the Turks of Antioch sent for assistance against
the Francs, as the whole nation of the Turks came originally from the
regions of Tartary. Con-khan was of the nation called Kara-Catay, or the
black Catay; which is used to distinguish them from the other nation of
Catayans, who inhabit to the eastwards upon the ocean, of whom I shall
speak afterwards. These Kara-Catayans dwelt upon certain high mountains
through which I travelled; and in a certain plain country within these
mountains, there dwelt a Nestorian shepherd, who was supreme governor over
the people called Yayman or Nayman, who were Christians of the Nestorian
sect. After the death of Con-khan, this Nestorian prince exalted himself to
the kingdom, and was called King John, or Prester John; of whom ten times
more is reported than is true, according to the usual custom of the
Nestorians, for they are apt to raise great stories on no foundations. Thus
they gave out, that Sartach was a Christian, and they propagated similar
stories of Mangu-khan, and even of Con-khan, merely because these princes
shewed great respect to the Christians. The story of King John had no
better foundation; for when I travelled through his territories, no one
there knew any thing at all about him, except only a few Nestorians. In
these regions likewise dwelt Con-khan, formerly mentioned, at whose court
Friar Andrew once was; and I passed through that region in my return. This
John had a brother, a powerful prince and a shepherd like himself, who was
named Vut-khan, or Unc-khan, who dwelt beyond the mountains of Kara-Kitay,
at the distance of three weeks journey from the residence of John. This
Vut-khan was lord of a small village named Caracarum, and his subjects were
called Crit or Merkit, being Christians of the Nestorian sect. But Vut-khan
abandoned the Christian worship and followed idolatry, retaining priests to
his idols, who are all sorcerers and worshippers of the devils.
Ten or fifteen days journey beyond the territory of Vut-khan, lay the
pastures of the Moal, a poor nation without laws or government, except that
they were much given to sorcery and divinations; and near them was another
poor nation called Tartars. On the death of John, the khan of the Cara-
Kitayans, without male issue, his brother Vut succeeded to all his great
riches, and got himself to be proclaimed khan. The flocks and herds of this
Vut-khan pastured to the borders of the Moal, among whom was one Zingis, a
blacksmith, who used to steal as many cattle as he possibly could from the
flock of Vut-Khan. At length the herds complained to their lord of the
reiterated robberies which were committed by Zingis, and Vut-khan went with
an army to seize him. But Zingis fled and hid himself among the Tartars,
and the troops of Vut-khan returned to their own country, after having made
considerable spoil both from the Moal and the Tartars. Then Zingis
remonstrated with the Moal and Tartars, upon their want of a supreme ruler
to defend them from the oppressions of their neighbours, and they were
induced by his suggestions to appoint him to be their khan or ruler.
Immediately after his elevation, Zingis gathered an army secretly together,
and made a sudden invasion of the territories belonging to Vut, whom he
defeated in battle, and forced to fly for refuge into Katay. During this
invasion, one of the daughters of Vut was made prisoner, whom Zingis gave
in marriage to one of his sons, and to whom she bore Mangu-khan, the
presently reigning great khan of the Moal and Tartars. In all his
subsequent wars, Zingis used continually to send the Tartars before him in
the van of his army: by which means their name came to be spread abroad in
the world, as, wherever they made their appearance, the astonished people
were in use to run away, crying out, the Tartars! the Tartars! In
consequence of almost continual war, this nation of the Tartars is now
almost utterly extirpated, yet the name remains; although the Moals use
every effort to abolish that name and to exalt their own. The country where
these Tartars formerly inhabited, and where the court of Zingis still
remains, is now called Mancherule; and as this was the centre of all their
conquests, they still esteem it as their royal residence, and there the
great khan is for the most part elected.
[1] About the year 1097.