FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   297   298   299   300   301   302   303   304   305   306   307   308   309   310   311   312   313   314   315   316   317   318   319   320   321  
322   323   324   325   326   327   328   329   330   331   332   333   334   335   336   337   338   339   340   341   342   343   344   345   346   >>   >|  
an_; exactly likewise does Ricold (_Thurchia_ and _Thurchimanni_). Hayton's account of the various classes of inhabitants is quite the same in substance as Polo's. [The Turkmans emigrated from Turkestan to Asia Minor before the arrival of the Seljukid Turks. "Their villages," says Cuinet, _Turquie d'Asie_, II. p. 767, "are distinguished by the peculiarity of the houses being built of sun-baked bricks, whereas it is the general habit in the country to build them of earth or a kind of plaster, called _djes_"--H. C.] The migratory and pastoral Turkmans still exist in this region, but the Kurds of like habits have taken their place to a large extent. The fine carpets and silk fabrics appear to be no longer produced here, any more than the excellent horses of which Polo speaks, which must have been the remains of the famous old breed of Cappadocia. [It appears, however (Vital Cuinet's _Turquie d'Asie_, I. p. 224), that fine carpets are still manufactured at Koniah, also a kind of striped cotton cloth, called _Aladja_.--H. C.] A grant of privileges to the Genoese by Leon II., King of Lesser Armenia, dated 23rd December, 1288, alludes to the export of horses and mules, etc., from Ayas, and specifies the duties upon them. The horses now of repute in Asia as Turkman come from the east of the Caspian. And Asia Minor generally, once the mother of so many breeds of high repute, is now poorer in horses than any province of the Ottoman empire. (_Pereg. Quat._ p. 114; _I.B._ II. 255 seqq.; _Hayton_, ch. xiii.; _Liber Jurium Reip. Januensis_, II. 184; _Tchihatcheff, As. Min._, 2'de partie, 631.) [The Seljukian Sultanate of Iconium or Rum, was founded at the expense of the Byzantines by Suleiman (1074-1081); the last three sovereigns of the dynasty contemporaneous with Marco Polo are Ghiath ed-din Kaikhosru III. (1267-1283), Ghiath ed-din Mas'ud II. (1283-1294), Ala ed-din Kaikobad III. (1294-1308), when this kingdom was destroyed by the Mongols of Persia. Privileges had been granted to Venice by Ghiath ed-din Kaikhosru I. (+ 1211), and his sons Izz ed-din Kaikaua (1211-1220), and Ala ed-din Kaikobad I. (1220-1237); the diploma of 1220 is unfortunately the only one of the three known to be preserved. (Cf. Heyd, I. p. 302.)--H. C.] Though the authors quoted above seem to make no distinction between Turks and Turkmans, that which we still understand does appear to have been made in the 12th century: "That there may be some distincti
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   297   298   299   300   301   302   303   304   305   306   307   308   309   310   311   312   313   314   315   316   317   318   319   320   321  
322   323   324   325   326   327   328   329   330   331   332   333   334   335   336   337   338   339   340   341   342   343   344   345   346   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

horses

 

Turkmans

 

Ghiath

 
called
 

repute

 

Kaikhosru

 
carpets
 

Kaikobad

 

Turquie

 
Cuinet

Hayton

 

Seljukian

 

partie

 

Sultanate

 

Byzantines

 

expense

 

Suleiman

 

founded

 

Iconium

 

Tchihatcheff


poorer

 

province

 

Ottoman

 

empire

 

distincti

 

mother

 

breeds

 

Jurium

 
Januensis
 

Persia


preserved
 
Privileges
 
Mongols
 

destroyed

 

kingdom

 

Kaikaua

 

diploma

 

Venice

 

granted

 

understand


contemporaneous

 

sovereigns

 

dynasty

 

distinction

 

Though

 

authors

 

quoted

 

century

 

country

 
plaster