The Two Armies
Joined In A Well Contested Battle, Which Lasted From Morning Till Mid-Day,
When Naiam Was Made
Prisoner, and all his followers submitted themselves to
the clemency of the victor; and having renewed their oaths of allegiance,
Were pardoned and dismissed, having a new governor set over them, in whose
fidelity the great khan could confide[4].
Naiam was ordered to be sewed up between two carpets, and tossed up and
down till he died, to avoid shedding the blood of any one belonging to the
imperial house of Zingis.
Naiam is said to have been secretly baptized, and to have professed himself
a Christian, having his principal ensign marked with the sign of the cross,
and to have had a great number of Christians in his army who were all
slain. On this occasion, the Jews and Mahometans, who served in the army of
Kublai, upbraided his Christian soldiers with the disaster which had
happened to the cross in this battle. The Christians complained to Kublai
of this injurious conduct, who sharply reproved the Jews and Mahometans for
their behaviour; then turning to the Christians, he addressed them as
follows: "Surely your God and his cross would not give aid to Naiam. Be not
you therefore ashamed of what has happened; seeing that God, who is good
and just, did not defend iniquity and injustice. Naiam was a traitor and a
rebel, and sought the aid of your God in his mischievous purpose: But your
good and upright God would not favour his bad designs." Kublai-khan
returned after this great victory to Cambalu; and on Easter day he called
the Christians into his presence, and kissed their gospel with great
reverence, making all his great officers and barons do the same. And he
acts in a similar manner on the great festivals of the Mahometans, Jews
[5], and heathens; that Segomamber-khan, the great god of the idol,
Mahomet, Moses, and Jesus, or whosoever is greatest in heaven, may be
favourable to him; yet he made the best shew of liking to the Christian
faith, but alleged that the ignorance of the Nestorian priests, and the
great interest of the sorcerers among the people, hindered him from making
a profession of Christianity.
For the better rewarding his brave and faithful soldiers, the khan has a
military council, composed of twelve Tartar barons, who give him notice of
the meritorious services of all commanders, that they may be promoted to
higher stations, giving to one the command of an hundred, to another the
command of a thousand, and to a third the command of ten thousand, and so
on. The captain of an hundred men has a badge or tablet of silver; the
captain of a thousand has a tablet of gold or silver gilt; and the
commander of ten thousand has a tablet of gold, ornamented with the head of
a lion. These tablets differ in size and weight, according to the dignity
of the wearers.
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