Bodies kept at home; lords buried with horse and slaves
Editorial contextJordanus heard that in this empire the dead are neither burned nor buried, sometimes for ten years, because the family cannot yet afford the proper rites; the body is kept in the house and served food as if alive. Great lords are buried with a horse and with one or two of their favourite servants alive. The first part fits Chinese custom; the second, steppe Mongol practice.
There they do not burn their dead, nor even bury them, sometimes for ten years; … but they keep them in their houses and serve them food as if they were alive. Great lords, when they die, are buried with one horse and with one or two of their best loved servants alive.
Working translation
Original wording
Ibi, mortuos suos non comburunt; non etiam sepeliunt, aliquotiens per decem annos; … sed tenent eos in domibus, et ministrant sibi cibaria, sicut si esset vivus. Magni domini, cùm moriuntur, sepeliuntur cum equo uno, et cum uno vel duobus suis servitoribus vivis sibi magis dilectis.
About Subjects of the Great Tartar
Keep in mind
Hearsay mixing Chinese and Mongol customs.
OCR normalized against the page image; the editor's '(sic)' after 'vivus' omitted.
Licking fingers and wiping hands on their shoes
Editorial contextAfter describing how Persians eat sitting on the ground, several from one dish, Jordanus says they lick their fingers instead of using a napkin and wipe the leftover grease on their shoes. The Tartars, western and eastern, do exactly the same, he adds; only the Indians eat cleanly, though also with their hands. A fastidious European's table report.
they lick their fingers with tongue and lips and clean them instead of with a napkin, and afterwards, if any grease is still left on their hands, they wipe them on their shoes; and so do the western and eastern Tartars in everything, except the Indians, who alone eat quite cleanly, though with their hands.
Working translation
Original wording
ligant digitos cum linguâ et labris, et mundant loco manutegnii, et posteà, si adhuc superest de pinguedine in manibus, mundant eas super calceos suos; et sic faciunt, per omnia, Tartari occidentales atque orientales, Indis exceptis, qui soli comedunt, licèt cum manibus, satis mundè.
About Persians and Tartars, western and eastern
Keep in mind
'ligant' is the printed spelling (for lingunt, 'lick').
OCR normalized against the page image.
'Saracenized Tartars' in Persia
Editorial contextJordanus, who lived in Tabriz, lists Persia's peoples: Saracens (Muslims), 'Saracenized Tartars', and Christians of many sects, plus a few Jews. The phrase captures the Mongol rulers of Persia after their conversion to Islam around 1295. He calls their ruler simply 'the emperor of Persia'.
This Persia is inhabited by Saracens and by Saracenized Tartars, and by schismatic Christians of various sects, that is Nestorians, Jacobites, Greeks, Georgians and Armenians, and by a few Jews.
Working translation
Original wording
Ista Persida habitatur per Saracenos et per Tartaros saracenatos, atque per Christianos schismaticos diversarum sectarum, seu per Nestorianos, Jacobitas, Græcos, Georgianos, Armenos, et per paucos Judæos.
About Tartars of the Ilkhanate (Mongols in Persia converted to Islam)
A note on this quote
OCR normalized against the page image.
The other two Tartar empires
Editorial contextBesides the Great Tartar of Cathay and the Tartar emperor of Persia, Jordanus has heard of two more Tartar empires: one 'now of Osbet' called Gatzaria, and one of 'Dua and Cayda', now of 'Elchigaday'. Yule's note identifies Osbet as Uzbek, khan of the Golden Horde (1313 to 1340), and Elchigaday as the Chagatai khanate, and explains that Chinggis Khan's conquests had split among his heirs. An early sketch of the divided Mongol world.
But other two empires of the Tartars, as I have heard, to wit, that which was formerly of Cathay, but now is of Osbet, which is called Gatzaria, and the empire of Dua and Cayda, formerly of Capac and now of Elchigaday, extend over more than CC days' journey.
About Golden Horde (Uzbek Khan) and Chagatai khanate
Keep in mind
Hearsay; several names are garbled, and the identifications are Yule's.
Tartary begins at Tana on the Don
Editorial contextIn his closing table of distances Jordanus says it is a thousand miles by sea, always eastwards, from Constantinople to 'Tana or Tartary'. Tana was the Italian trading post at the mouth of the Don, in Golden Horde territory, so for a traveller of 1330 'Tartary' started at the Sea of Azov.
From Constantinople to Tana or Tartary is a thousand miles, going always towards the east, by sea.
Working translation
Original wording
De Constantinopoli usque Tanan vel Tartariam sunt milliaria mille, semper eundo versùs orientem, per mare.
About Tartars of the Golden Horde
A note on this quote
OCR normalized against the page image.
The emperor's corpse relayed so no one finds the grave
Editorial contextWhen the emperor dies, Jordanus heard, men carry the body with great treasure to a certain spot, drop it and run 'as if the devil were after them'; others then snatch it up and do the same, relay after relay, so that the burial place can never be found and the treasure never stolen. His death is kept secret until a successor is quietly enthroned. Secret Mongol royal burials are real; the relay detail is hearsay.
When the emperor dies he is carried with a very great treasure by certain men to a certain place, where they set down the body and flee as fast as they can, as if the devil were chasing them; and others are ready who at once snatch up the body and do the same as far as another place; … and they do this so that the place cannot be found
Working translation
Original wording
Cùm imperator moritur, portatur cum maximo thesauro, à quibusdam hominibus, usque ad certum locum, ubi deponunt corpus, et fugiunt quàm possunt, sicut si diabolus insequeretur eos; et sunt alii parati qui immediatè corpus rapiunt, et simili modo faciunt usque ad alium locum; … et hoc faciunt ne locus possit inveniri
About The Great Tartar (Mongol emperors)
Keep in mind
Hearsay; compare Carpini and Marco Polo on the secret cemetery of the khans.
OCR normalized against the page image.