The Travels Of Marco Polo - Volume 2 Of 2 By Marco Polo And Rustichello Of Pisa











































 -  And they replied that they would
be delighted. So the Emperor caused them to be fitted out with all that - Page 117
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And They Replied That They Would Be Delighted.

So the Emperor caused them to be fitted out with all that an army requires, and gave them a Captain and a body of men-at-arms to help them; and so they set out, and marched until they came to the country and province of Mien.

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.

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