lers, on a feudal tenure, conditional on
fidelity and military service in time of need, the holders possessing
supreme authority in their respective territories, and paying little or no
tribute to the paramount power." (_Pandit Manphul_.) The first part of the
valley of which Marco speaks as belonging to a brother of the Prince, may
correspond to Ishkashm, or perhaps to Vardoj; the second, Wakhan, seems to
have had a hereditary ruler; but both were vassals of the Prince of
Badakhshan, and therefore are styled _Counts_, not kings or _Seigneurs_.

The native title which Marco gives as the equivalent of Count is
remarkable. _Non_ or _None_, as it is variously written in the texts,
would in French form represent _Nono_ in Italian. Pauthier refers this
title to the "_Rao_-nana (or nano) _Rao_" which figures as the style of
Kanerkes in the Indo-Scythic coinage. But Wilson (_Ariana Antiqua_, p.
358) interprets _Raonano_ as most probably a genitive plural of Rao,
whilst the whole inscription answers precisely to the Greek one [Greek:
BASILEUS BASILEON KANAERKOU] which is found on other coins of the same
prince. General Cunningham, a very competent authority, adheres to this
view, and writes: "I do not think _None_ or _Non_ can have any connection
with the _Nana_ of the coins."

It is remarkable, however, that NONO (said to signify "younger," or
lesser) is in Tibet the title given to a younger brother, deputy, or
subordinate prince. In Cunningham's _Ladak_ (259) we read: "_Nono_ is the
usual term of respect which is used in addressing any young man of the
higher ranks, and when prefixed to _Kahlon_ it means the younger or deputy
minister." And again (p. 352): "_Nono_ is the title given to a younger
brother. Nono Sungnam was the younger brother of Chang Raphtan, the Kahlon
of Bazgo." I have recently encountered the word used independently, and
precisely in Marco's application of it. An old friend, in speaking of a
journey that he had made in our Tibetan provinces, said incidentally that
he had accompanied the commissioner _to the installation of a new_ NONO (I
think in Spiti). The term here corresponds so precisely with the
explanation which Marco gives of _None_ as a Count subject to a superior
sovereign, that it is difficult to regard the coincidence as accidental.
The _Yuechi_ or Indo-Scyths who long ruled the Oxus countries are said to
have been of Tibetan origin, and Al-Biruni repeats a report that this was
so. (_Elliot._ II