The Travels of Marco Polo Volume I Part 65

[5] Trees.

[6] Opobalsamum.

[7] A recent traveler in China gives a perfectly similar description of sacred trees in Shansi. Many bore inscriptions in large letters. "If you pray, you will certainly be heard."--_Rev. A. Williamson_, _Journeys in N. China_, I. 163, where there is a cut of such a tree near Taiyuanfu. (See this work, I. ch. xvi.) Mr. Williamson describes such a venerated tree, an ancient acacia, known as the Acacia of the T'ang, meaning that it existed under that Dynasty (7th to 10th century). It is renowned for its healing virtues, and every available spot on its surface was crowded with votive tablets and inscriptions.

(Ib. 303.)

CHAPTER XXIII.

CONCERNING THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN.

Mulehet is a country in which the Old Man of the Mountain dwelt in former days; and the name means "_Place of the Aram_." I will tell you his whole history as related by Messer Marco Polo, who heard it from several natives of that region.

The Old Man was called in their language ALOADIN. He had caused a certain valley between two mountains to be enclosed, and had turned it into a garden, the largest and most beautiful that ever was seen, filled with every variety of fruit. In it were erected pavilions and palaces the most elegant that can be imagined, all covered with gilding and exquisite painting. And there were runnels too, flowing freely with wine and milk and honey and water; and numbers of ladies and of the most beautiful damsels in the world, who could play on all manner of instruments, and sung most sweetly, and danced in a manner that it was charming to behold.

For the Old Man desired to make his people believe that this was actually Paradise. So he had fas.h.i.+oned it after the description that Mahommet gave of his Paradise, to wit, that it should be a beautiful garden running with conduits of wine and milk and honey and water, and full of lovely women for the delectation of all its inmates. And sure enough the Saracens of those parts believed that it _was_ Paradise!

Now no man was allowed to enter the Garden save those whom he intended to be his As.h.i.+s.h.i.+N. There was a Fortress at the entrance to the Garden, strong enough to resist all the world, and there was no other way to get in. He kept at his Court a number of the youths of the country, from 12 to 20 years of age, such as had a taste for soldiering, and to these he used to tell tales about Paradise, just as Mahommet had been wont to do, and they believed in him just as the Saracens believe in Mahommet. Then he would introduce them into his garden, some four, or six, or ten at a time, having first made them drink a certain potion which cast them into a deep sleep, and then causing them to be lifted and carried in. So when they awoke, they found themselves in the Garden.[NOTE 1]

NOTE 1.--Says the venerable Sire de Joinville: "_Le Vieil de la Montaingne ne creoit pas en Mahommet, aincois creoit en la Loi de Haali, qui fu Oncle Mahommet._" This is a crude statement, no doubt, but it has a germ of truth. Adherents of the family of 'Ali as the true successors of the Prophet existed from the tragical day of the death of Husain, and among these, probably owing to the secrecy with which they were compelled to hold their allegiance, there was always a tendency to all manner of strange and mystical doctrines; as in one direction to the glorification of 'Ali as a kind of incarnation of the Divinity, a character in which his lineal representatives were held in some manner to partake; in another direction to the development of Pantheism, and release from all positive creed and precepts. Of these Aliites, eventually called _s.h.i.+ahs_, a chief sect, and parent of many heretical branches, were the Ismailites, who took their name, from the seventh Imam, whose return to earth they professed to expect at the end of the World. About A.D. 1090 a branch of the Ismaili stock was established by Ha.s.san, son of Sabah, in the mountainous districts of Northern Persia; and, before their suppression by the Mongols, 170 years later, the power of the quasi-spiritual dynasty which Ha.s.san founded had spread over the Eastern Kohistan, at least as far as Kan. Their headquarters were at Alamut ("Eagle's Nest"), about 32 miles north-east of Kazwin, and all over the territory which they held they established fortresses of great strength. De Sacy seems to have proved that they were called _Has.h.i.+s.h.i.+ya_ or _Has.h.i.+s.h.i.+n_, from their use of the preparation of hemp called _Has.h.i.+sh_; and thence, through their system of murder and terrorism, came the modern application of the word a.s.sa.s.sin.

The original aim of this system was perhaps that of a kind of _Vehmgericht_, to punish or terrify orthodox persecutors who were too strong to be faced with the sword. I have adopted in the text one of the readings of the G. Text _Asciscin_, as expressing the original word with the greatest accuracy that Italian spelling admits. In another author we find it as _Chazisii_ (see _Bollandists_, May, vol. ii. p. xi.); Joinville calls them _a.s.sacis_; whilst Nangis and others corrupt the name into _Harsacidae_, and what not.

The explanation of the name MULEHET as it is in Ramusio, or _Mulcete_ as it is in the G. Text (the last expressing in Rusticiano's Pisan tongue the strongly aspirated _Mulhete_), is given by the former: "This name of Mulehet is as much as to say in the Saracen tongue '_The Abode of Heretics_,'" the fact being that it does represent the Arabic term _Mulhid_, pl. _Mulahidah_, "Impii, heretici," which is in the Persian histories (as of Ras.h.i.+duddin and Wa.s.saf) the t.i.tle most commonly used to indicate this community, and which is still applied by orthodox Mahomedans to the Nosairis, Druses, and other sects of that kind, more or less kindred to the Ismaili. The writer of the _Tabakat-i-Nasiri_ calls the sectarians of Alamut _Mulahidat-ul-maut_, "Heretics of Death."[1] The curious reading of the G. Text which we have preserved "_vaut a dire des_ Aram," should be read as we have rendered it. I conceive that Marco was here unconsciously using one Oriental term to explain another. For it seems possible to explain _Aram_ only as standing for _Haram_, in the sense of "wicked" or "reprobate."

In Pauthier's Text, instead of _des aram_, we find "_veult dire en francois_ Diex Terrien," or Terrestrial G.o.d. This may have been subst.i.tuted, in the correction of the original rough dictation, from a perception that the first expression was unintelligible. The new phrase does not indeed convey the meaning of _Mulahidah_, but it expresses a main characteristic of the heretical doctrine. The correction was probably made by Polo himself; it is certainly of very early date. For in the romance of Bauduin de Sebourc, which I believe dates early in the 14th century, the Caliph, on witnessing the extraordinary devotion of the followers of the Old Man (see note 1, ch. xxiv.), exclaims:

"Par Mahon ...

Vous estes _Diex en terre_, autre coze n'i a!" (I. p. 360.)

So also Fr. Jacopo d'Aqui in the _Imago Mundi_, says of the a.s.sa.s.sins: "Dicitur iis quod sunt in Paradiso magno _Dei Terreni_"--expressions, no doubt, taken in both cases from Polo's book.

Khanikoff, and before him J. R. Forster, have supposed that the name _Mulehet_ represents _Alamut_. But the resemblance is much closer and more satisfactory to _Mulhid_ or _Mulahidah_. _Mulhet_ is precisely the name by which the kingdom of the Ismailites is mentioned in Armenian history, and _Mulihet_ is already applied in the same way by Rabbi Benjamin in the 12th century, and by Rubruquis in the 13th. The Chinese narrative of Hulaku's expedition calls it the kingdom of _Mulahi_. (_Joinville_, p. 138; _J.

As._ ser. II., tom. xii. 285; _Benj. Tudela_, p. 106; _Rub._ p. 265; _Remusat_, _Nouv. Melanges_, I. 176; _Gaubil_, p. 128; _Pauthier_, pp.

cx.x.xix.-cxli.; _Mon. Hist. Patr. Scriptorum_, III. 1559, Turin, 1848.) [Cf. on _Mulehet_, _melahideh_, Heretics, plural of _molhid_. Heretic, my note, pp. 476-482 of my ed. of Friar Odoric.--H. C.]

"Old Man of the Mountain" was the t.i.tle applied by the Crusaders to the chief of that branch of the sect which was settled in the mountains north of Lebanon, being a translation of his popular Arabic t.i.tle _Shaikh-ul-Jibal_. But according to Hammer this t.i.tle properly belonged, as Polo gives it, to the Prince of Alamut, who never called himself Sultan, Malik, or Amir; and this seems probable, as his territory was known as the _Balad-ul-Jibal_. (See _Abulf._ in _Busching_, V. 319.)

[1] Elliot, II. 290.

CHAPTER XXIV.

HOW THE OLD MAN USED TO TRAIN HIS a.s.sa.s.sINS.

When therefore they awoke, and found themselves in a place so charming, they deemed that it was Paradise in very truth. And the ladies and damsels dallied with them to their hearts' content, so that they had what young men would have; and with their own good will they never would have quitted the place.

Now this Prince whom we call the Old One kept his Court in grand and n.o.ble style, and made those simple hill-folks about him believe firmly that he was a great Prophet. And when he wanted one of his _As.h.i.+s.h.i.+n_ to send on any mission, he would cause that potion whereof I spoke to be given to one of the youths in the garden, and then had him carried into his Palace. So when the young man awoke, he found himself in the Castle, and no longer in that Paradise; whereat he was not over well pleased. He was then conducted to the Old Man's presence, and bowed before him with great veneration as believing himself to be in the presence of a true Prophet. The Prince would then ask whence he came, and he would reply that he came from Paradise! and that it was exactly such as Mahommet had described it in the Law. This of course gave the others who stood by, and who had not been admitted, the greatest desire to enter therein.

So when the Old Man would have any Prince slain, he would say to such a youth: "Go thou and slay So and So; and when thou returnest my Angels shall bear thee into Paradise. And shouldst thou die, natheless even so will I send my Angels to carry thee back into Paradise." So he caused them to believe; and thus there was no order of his that they would not affront any peril to execute, for the great desire they had to get back into that Paradise of his. And in this manner the Old One got his people to murder any one whom he desired to get rid of. Thus, too, the great dread that he inspired all Princes withal, made them become his tributaries in order that he might abide at peace and amity with them.[NOTE 1]

I should also tell you that the Old Man had certain others under him, who copied his proceedings and acted exactly in the same manner. One of these was sent into the territory of Damascus, and the other into Curdistan.[NOTE 2]

NOTE 1.--Romantic as this story is, it seems to be precisely the same that was current over all the East. It is given by Odoric at length, more briefly by a Chinese author, and again from an Arabic source by Hammer in the _Mines de l'Orient_.

The following is the Chinese account as rendered by Remusat: "The soldiers of this country (Mulahi) are veritable brigands. When they see a l.u.s.ty youth, they tempt him with the hope of gain, and bring him to such a point that he will be ready to kill his father or his elder brother with his own hand. After he is enlisted, they intoxicate him, and carry him in that state into a secluded retreat, where he is charmed with delicious music and beautiful women. All his desires are satisfied for several days, and then (in sleep) he is transported back to his original position. When he awakes, they ask what he has seen. He is then informed that if he will become an a.s.sa.s.sin, he will be rewarded with the same felicity. And with the texts and prayers that they teach him they heat him to such a pitch that whatever commission be given him he will brave death without regret in order to execute it."

The Arabic narrative is too long to extract. It is from a kind of historical romance called The _Memoirs of Hakim_, the date of which Hammer unfortunately omits to give. Its close coincidence in substance with Polo's story is quite remarkable. After a detailed description of the Paradise, and the transfer into it of the aspirant under the influence of _bang_, on his awaking and seeing his chief enter, he says, "O chief! am I awake or am I dreaming?" To which the chief: "O such an One, take heed that thou tell not the dream to any stranger. Know that Ali thy Lord hath vouchsafed to show thee the place destined for thee in Paradise....

Hesitate not a moment therefore in the service of the Imam who thus deigns to intimate his contentment with thee," and so on.

William de Nangis thus speaks of the Syrian Shaikh, who alone was known to the Crusaders, though one of their historians (_Jacques de Vitry_, in _Bongars_, I. 1062) shows knowledge that the headquarters of the sect was in Persia: "He was much dreaded far and near, by both Saracens and Christians, because he so often caused princes of both cla.s.ses indifferently to be murdered by his emissaries. For he used to bring up in his palace youths belonging to his territory, and had them taught a variety of languages, and above all things to fear their Lord and obey him unto death, which would thus become to them an entrance into the joys of Paradise. And whosoever of them thus perished in carrying out his Lord's behests was wors.h.i.+pped as an angel." As an instance of the implicit obedience rendered by the _Fidawi_ or devoted disciples of the Shaikh, Fra Pipino and Marino Sanuto relate that when Henry Count of Champagne (t.i.tular King of Jerusalem) was on a visit to the Old Man of Syria, one day as they walked together they saw some lads in white sitting on the top of a high tower. The Shaikh, turning to the Count, asked if he had any subjects as obedient as his own? and without giving time for reply made a sign to two of the boys, who immediately leapt from the tower, and were killed on the spot. The same story is told in the _Cento Novelle Antiche_, as happening when the Emperor Frederic was on a visit (imaginary) to the Veglio. And it is introduced likewise as an incident in the Romance of Bauduin de Sebourc:

"Volles veioir merveilles? dist li Rois Seignouris"

to Bauduin and his friends, and on their a.s.senting he makes the signal to one of his men on the battlements, and in a twinkling

"Quant le vinrent en l'air salant de tel avis, Et aussi liement, et aussi esjois, Qu'il deust conquester mil livres de parisis!

Ains qu'il venist a tiere il fut mors et fenis, Surles roches agues desrompis corps et pis,"[1] etc.

(_Cathay_, 153; _Remusat, Nouv. Mel._ I. 178; _Mines de l'Orient_, III.

201 seqq.; _Nangis_ in _d.u.c.h.esne_, V. 332; _Pipino_ in _Muratori_, IX.

705; _Defremery_ in _J. As._ ser. V. tom. v. 34 seqq.; _Cent. Nov.

Antiche_, Firenze, 1572, p. 91; _Bauduin de Sebourc_, I. 359.)

The following are some of the more notable murders or attempts at murder ascribed to the Ismailite emissaries either from Syria or from Persia:--

A.D. 1092. Nizum-ul-Mulk, formerly the powerful minister of Malik Shah, Seljukian sovereign of Persia, and a little later his two sons. 1102. The Prince of Homs, in the chief Mosque of that city. 1113. Maudud, Prince of Mosul, in the chief Mosque of Damascus. About 1114. Abul Muzafar 'Ali, Wazir of Sanjar Shah, and Chakar Beg, grand-uncle of the latter. 1116.

Ahmed Yel, Prince of Maragha, at Baghdad, in the presence of Mahomed, Sultan of Persia. 1121. The Amir Afdhal, the powerful Wazir of Egypt, at Cairo. 1126. Kasim Aksonkor, Prince of Mosul and Aleppo, in the Great Mosque at Mosul. 1127. Moyin-uddin, Wazir of Sanjar Shah of Persia. 1129.

Amir Billah, Khalif of Egypt. 1131. Taj-ul Muluk Buri, Prince of Damascus.

1134. Shams-ul-Muluk, son of the preceding. 1135-38. The Khalif Mostars.h.i.+d, the Khalif Ras.h.i.+d, and Daud, Seljukian Prince of Azerbaijan.

1149. Raymond, Count of Tripoli. 1191. Kizil Arzlan, Prince of Azerbaijan.

1192. Conrad of Montferrat, t.i.tular King of Jerusalem; a murder which King Richard has been accused of instigating. 1217. Oghulmish, Prince of Hamadan.

And in 1174 and 1176 attempts to murder the great Saladin. 1271. Attempt to murder Ala'uddin Juwaini, Governor of Baghdad, and historian of the Mongols. 1272. The attempt to murder Prince Edward of England at Acre.

In latter years the _Fidawi_ or Ismailite adepts appear to have let out their services simply as hired a.s.sa.s.sins. Bibars, in a letter to his court at Cairo, boasts of using them when needful. A Mahomedan author ascribes to Bibars the instigation of the attempt on Prince Edward. (_Makrizi_, II.

100; _J. As._ XI. 150.)

NOTE 2.--Hammer mentions as what he chooses to call "Grand Priors" under the Shaikh or "Grand Master" at Alamut, the chief, in Syria, one in the Kuhistan of E. Persia (Tun-o-Kain), one in k.u.mis (the country about Damghan and Bostam), and one in Irak; he does not speak of any in Kurdistan. Colonel Monteith, however, says, though without stating authority or particulars, "There were several divisions of them (the a.s.sa.s.sins) scattered throughout Syria, _Kurdistan_ (near the Lake of Wan), and Asia Minor, but all acknowledging as Imaum or High Priest the Chief residing at Alamut." And it may be noted that Odoric, a generation after Polo, puts the Old Man at _Millescorte_, which looks like _Malasgird_, north of Lake Van, (_H. des a.s.sa.s.s._ p. 104; _J. R. G. S._ III. 16; _Cathay_, p. ccxliii.)