The Whole Of That Region, And Even Beyond It, Is
Inhabited By The People Named Changle Or Kangittae, Who Are Descended From
The Romans.
Upon the north side we had the country of the Greater Bulgaria,
and to the south the Caspian sea.
[1] This, however, is only to be understood of what may be termed the
pretorian or royal horde, in a time of profound peace, travelling in
their usual and perpetual round in quest of forage; the almost
boundless space of the desert must have been interspersed with
numerous subordinate hordes, and though the usual guard of Baatu might
not have exceeded 500 heads of families, the military force of his
dominions, though subordinate to Mangu-khan, certainly exceeded
200,000 fighting men. - E.
SECTION XXIII.
Of the River Jaic or Ural, and of sundry Regions and Nations.
At the end of twelve days journey from the Etilia or Volga, we came to a
great river named the Jagag (Jaic or Ural); which, issuing from the land of
Pascatir (of Zibier or of the Baschirs, now Siberia), falls into the
Caspian. The language of the Baschirs and of the Hungarians is the same,
and they are all shepherds, having no cities; and their land is bounded on
the west by the Greater Bulgaria; from which country eastwards, in these
northern parts, there are no cities whatsoever, so that the Greater
Bulgaria is the last country which possesses towns and cities. From this
country of Pascatir the Huns went, who were afterwards called Hungarians.
Isidore writes, that with swift horses they passed the walls of Alexander,
and the rocks of Caucasus, which opposed the barbarians, and even exacted
tribute from Egypt, and laid waste the whole of Europe as far as France,
being even more warlike in their day than the Tartars are now.
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