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Marco Polo, Rustichello of Pisa - The Travels of Marco Polo, 1
which signifyeth "The Great Lord of Lords," or Emperor. And of a surety he hath good right to such a
title, for all men know for a certain truth that he is the most potent man, as regards forces and lands and
treasure, that existeth in the world, or ever hath existed from the time of our First Father Adam until this
day. All this I will make clear to you for truth, in this book of ours, so that every one shall be fain to
acknowledge that he is the greatest Lord that is now in the world, or ever hath been. And now ye shall
hear how and wherefore.[NOTE 1]
NOTE 1. - According to Sanang Setzen, Chinghiz himself discerned young Kublai's superiority. On his
deathbed he said: "The words of the lad Kublai are well worth attention; see, all of you, that ye heed
what he says! One day he will sit in my seat and bring you good fortune such as you have had in my
day!" (p. 105).
The Persian history of Wassaf thus exalts Kublai: "Although from the frontiers of this country ('Irak) to
the Centre of Empire, the Focus of the Universe, the genial abode of the ever-Fortunate Emperor and Just
Kaan, is a whole year's journey, yet the stories that have been spread abroad, even in these parts, of his
glorious deeds, his institutes, his decisions, his justice, the largeness and acuteness of his intellect, his
correctness of judgment, his great powers of administration, from the mouths of credible witnesses, of
well-known merchants and eminent travellers, are so surpassing, that one beam of his glories, one
fraction of his great qualities, suffices to eclipse all that history tells of the Caesars of Rome, of the
Chosroes of Persia, of the Khagans of China, of the (Himyarite) Kails of Arabia, of the Tobbas of
Yemen, and the Rajas of India, of the monarchs of the houses of Sassan and Buya, and of the Seljukian
Sultans." (Hammer's Wassaf, orig. p. 37.)
Some remarks on Kublai and his government by a Chinese author, in a more rational and discriminative
tone, will be found below under ch. xxiii., note 2.
A curious Low-German MS. at Cologne, giving an account of the East, says of the "Keyser von
Kathagien - syn recht Name is der groisse Hunt!" (Magnus Canis, the Big Bow-wow as it were.
See Orient und Occident, vol. i. p. 640.)
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.[NOTE 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.[NOTE 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.[NOTE 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,[NOTE 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
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