And they did conquer the whole of it! And when they
found in the city the two towers of gold and silver of which I have been
telling you, they were greatly astonished, and sent word thereof to the
Great Kaan, asking what he would have them do with the two towers, seeing
what a great quantity of wealth there was upon them. And the Great Kaan,
being well aware that the King had caused these towers to be made for the
good of his soul, and to preserve his memory after his death, said that he
would not have them injured, but would have them left precisely as they
were. And that was no wonder either, for you must know that no Tartar in
the world will ever, if he can help it, lay hand on anything appertaining
to the dead.[NOTE 2]
They have in this province numbers of elephants and wild oxen;[NOTE 3]
also beautiful stags and deer and roe, and other kinds of large game in
plenty.
Now having told you about the province of Mien, I will tell you about
another province which is called Bangala, as you shall hear presently.
NOTE 1. - The name of the city appears as Amien both in Pauthier's text
here, and in the G. Text in the preceding chapter. In the Bern MS. it is
Aamien. Perhaps some form like Amien was that used by the Mongols and
Persians. I fancy it may be traced in the Arman or Uman of
Rashiduddin, probably corrupt readings (in Elliot I. 72).
NOTE 2. - M. Pauthier's extracts are here again very valuable. We gather
from them that the first Mongol communication with the King of Mien or
Burma took place in 1271, when the Commandant of Tali-fu sent a deputation
to that sovereign to demand an acknowledgment of the supremacy of the
Emperor. This was followed by various negotiations and acts of offence on
both sides, which led to the campaign of 1277, already spoken of. For a
few years no further events appear to be recorded, but in 1282, in
consequence of a report from Nasruddin of the ease with which Mien could
be conquered, an invasion was ordered under a Prince of the Blood called
Siangtaur [called Siam-ghu-talh, by Visdelou. - H.C.]. This was probably
Singtur, great-grandson of one of the brothers of Chinghiz, who a few
years later took part in the insurrection of Nayan. (See D'Ohsson, II.
461.) The army started from Yun-nan fu, then called Chung-khing (and the
Yachi of Polo) in the autumn of 1283. We are told that the army made use
of boats to descend the River Oho to the fortified city of Kiangtheu
(see supra, note 3, ch.
