CHAPTER II.

CONCERNING THE REVOLT OF NAYAN, WHO WAS UNCLE TO THE

GREAT KAAN CUBLAY.

Now this Cublay Kaan is of the right Imperial lineage, being descended

from Chinghis Kaan, the first sovereign of all the Tartars. And he is

the sixth Lord in that succession, as I have already told you in this

book. He came to the throne in the year of Christ, 1256, and the Empire

fell to him because of his ability and valour and great worth, as was

right and reason.{1} His brothers, indeed, and other kinsmen disputed

his claim, but his it remained, both because maintained by his great

valour, and because it was in law and right his, as being directly

sprung of the imperial line.

Up to the year of Christ now running, to wit 1298, he hath reigned

two-and-forty years, and his age is about eighty-five, so that he must

have been about forty-three years of age when he first came to the

throne.{2} Before that time he had often been to the wars, and had

shown himself a gallant soldier and an excellent captain. But after

coming to the throne he never went to the wars in person save once.{3}

This befel in the year of Christ, 1286, and I will tell you why he went.

There was a great Tartar Chief, whose name was NAYAN,{4} a young man

[of thirty], Lord over many lands and many provinces; and he was Uncle

to the Emperor Cublay Kaan of whom we are speaking. And when he found

himself in authority this Nayan waxed proud in the insolence of his

youth and his great power; for indeed he could bring into the field

300,000 horsemen, though all the time he was liegeman to his nephew,

the Great Kaan Cublay, as was right and reason. Seeing then what great

power he had, he took it into his head that he would be the Great

Kaan’s vassal no longer; nay more, he would fain wrest his empire from

him if he could. So this Nayan sent envoys to another Tartar Prince

called CAIDU, also a great and potent Lord, who was a kinsman of his,

and who was a nephew of the Great Kaan and his lawful liegeman also,

though he was in rebellion and at bitter enmity with his sovereign Lord

and Uncle. Now the message that Nayan sent was this: That he himself

was making ready to march against the Great Kaan with all his forces

(which were great), and he begged Caidu to do likewise from his side,

so that by attacking Cublay on two sides at once with such great forces

they would be able to wrest his dominion from him.

And when Caidu heard the message of Nayan, he was right glad thereat,

and thought the time was come at last to gain his object. So he sent

back answer that he would do as requested; and got ready his host,

which mustered a good hundred thousand horsemen.

Now let us go back to the Great Kaan, who had news of all this plot.

NOTE 1.—There is no doubt that Kúblái was proclaimed Kaan in 1260

(4th month), his brother Mangku Kaan having perished during the

seige of Hochau in Szechwan in August of the preceding year. But

Kúblái had come into Cathay some years before as his brother’s

Lieutenant.

He was the _fifth_, not sixth, Supreme Kaan, as we have already

noticed. (Bk. I. ch. li. note 2.)

NOTE 2.—Kúblái was born in the eighth month of the year

corresponding to 1216, and had he lived to 1298 would have been

eighty-two years old. [According to Dr. E. Bretschneider (_Peking_,

30), quoting the _Yuen-Shi_, Kúblái died at Khanbaligh, in the

Tze-t’an tien in February, 1294.—H. C.] But by Mahomedan reckoning

he would have been close upon eighty-five. He was the fourth son of

Tuli, who was the youngest of Chinghiz’s four sons by his favourite

wife Burté Fujin. (See _De Mailla_, IX. 255, etc.)

NOTE 3.—This is not literally true; for soon after his accession

(in 1261) Kúblái led an army against his brother and rival

Arikbuga, and defeated him. And again in his old age, if we credit

the Chinese annalist, in 1289, when his grandson Kanmala (or

Kambala) was beaten on the northern frontier by Kaidu, Kúblái took

the field himself, though on his approach the rebels disappeared.

Kúblái and his brother Hulaku, young as they were, commenced their

military career on Chinghiz’s last expedition (1226–1227). His most

notable campaign was the conquest of Yunnan in 1253–1254. (_De

Mailla_, IX. 298, 441.)

NOTE 4.—NAYAN was no “uncle” of Kúblái’s, but a cousin in a junior

generation. For Kúblái was the grandson of Chinghiz, and Nayan was

the great-great-grandson of Chinghiz’s brother Uchegin, called in

the Chinese annals Pilgutai. [Belgutai was Chinghiz’s step-brother.

(_Palladius_.)—H. C.] On this brother, the great-uncle of Kúblái,

and the commander of the latter’s forces against Arikbuga in the

beginning of the reign, both Chinghiz and Kúblái had bestowed large

territories in Eastern Tartary towards the frontier of Corea, and

north of Liaotong towards the Manchu country. [“The situation

and limits of his appanage are not clearly defined in history.

According to Belgutai’s biography, it was between the Onon and

Kerulen (_Yuen shi_), and according to Shin Yao’s researches (_Lo

fung low wen kao_), at the confluence of the Argun and Shilka.

Finally, according to Harabadur’s biography, it was situated in

Abalahu, which geographically and etymologically corresponds to

modern Butkha (_Yuen shi_); Abalahu, as Kúblái himself said, was

rich in fish; indeed, after the suppression of Nayan’s rebellion,

the governor of that country used to send to the Peking Court

fishes weighing up to a thousand Chinese pounds (_kin_.). It was

evidently a country near the Amur River.” (_Palladius_, _l.c._

31.)—H. C.] Nayan had added to his inherited territory, and become

very powerful. [“History has apparently connected Nayan’s appanage

with that of Hatan (a grandson of Hachiun, brother of Chinghiz

Khan), whose _ordo_ was contiguous to Nayan’s, on the left bank of

the Amur, hypothetically east of Blagovietschensk, on the spot,

where still the traces of an ancient city can be seen. Nayan’s

possessions stretched south to Kwang-ning, which belonged to his

appanage, and it was from this town that he had the title of prince

of Kwang-ning (_Yuen shi_).” (_Palladius_, _l.c._ 31.)—H. C.] Kaidu

had gained influence over Nayan, and persuaded him to rise against

Kúblái. A number of the other Mongol princes took part with him.

Kúblái was much disquieted at the rumours, and sent his great

lieutenant BAYAN to reconnoitre. Bayan was nearly captured, but

escaped to court and reported to his master the great armament that

Nayan was preparing. Kúblái succeeded by diplomacy in detaching

some of the princes from the enterprise, and resolved to march in

person to the scene of action, whilst despatching Bayan to the

Karakorum frontier to intercept Kaidu. This was in the summer of

1287. What followed will be found in a subsequent note (ch. iv.

note 6). (For Nayan’s descent, see the Genealogical Table in the

Appendix (A).)