Instructed to
alight, and kill the horses of the enemy during battle. 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.
