MARCO POLO 2

The Polos' first encounter with the maritime Silk Road was disappointing. They intended to go by ship from the Gulf port of Hormuz, but on their arrival found the available vessels were, in their opinion, manifestly unseaworthy. That led them to them to abandon the sea voyage and turn north instead, where they joined a branch of the overland route at the city of Balkh.

In 1271, the Arabian dhow had not impressed the Italian merchants. Marco Polo writes, "Their ships are very bad and many founder because they are not fastened with iron nails but stitched together with thread made from coconut husks...The ships have one mast, one sail, and one rudder and are not decked; when they loaded them, they covered their cargo with skins, and on top of these they put the horses which they ship to India for sale".

To European eyes, they were little more than open boats. Furthermore, without decks, cargo would be exposed to violent weather, as well as the hooves of whatever was loaded on top.

The Polos had recently sailed from Venice to Acre in Palestine and were aware of current shipping standards. This trip took place "during the early stages of a major breakthrough in Mediterranean nautical technology that was based in the shipyards of Venice and Genoa. Italian hulls were now longer (up to 130 feet), sturdier (capable of carrying 600 tons of cargo) , and carried more serviceable sails than had been true in earlier centuries". (Gosch & Stearns)

Their experience at Hormuz may be the reason why Marco's account of the return journey in 1291 begins with high praise for Chinese vessels. The "ships in which merchants trading with India make their voyages" are superior ―  bigger, sturdier and safer.

      "They are built of the wood called spruce and fir", writes Marco. "They have one deck; and above this deck...are at least 60 cabins, each one of which can comfortably accommodate one merchant. They have one steering oar and four masts...The entire hull is made of double thickness...one plank is fastened over the top of another, and this double planking extends all the way round. It is caulked outside and in, and the fastening is done with nails.

      "...the bigger [ships] have also 13 bulkheads, or partitions made of short planks dovetailed into one another. This is useful in case the ships hull should chance be damaged in some place by striking on a reef...Cargo is shifted from the damaged compartment into the neighbouring ones; for the bulkheads are so stoutly built that the compartments are watertight. The damage is then repaired and the cargo shifted back.

      "When a ship is in need of refitment...after she has seen a year's service, they...nail on another layer of planks all round, over the top of the original two...Then they caulk her afresh. This process is repeated yearly till there are as many as six layers, after which the ship is rejected [from ocean-going service].

      "The crew needed to man a ship ranges from 150 to 300 according to her size. They carry a much bigger cargo than ours. One ship will take as much as five or six thousand baskets of pepper...

      "These ships are tended by two or three smaller craft, some manned by 60 seamen...which also carry substantial cargoes — some of them fully 1,000 baskets of pepper. These are propelled by oars and often serve to tow the bigger vessels with ropes or tawsers..."

 From ZAITON to CEYLON

Marco and the two elder Polos set off on their home journey from "the splendid city of Zaiton, at which is the port for all the ships that arrive from India laden with costly wares...And I assure you that for one spice ship that goes to Alexandria [Egypt] or elsewhere to pick up pepper for export to Christendom, Zaiton is visited by a hundred."

"When the traveller leaves Zaiton...he sails for 1,500 miles across a wide gulf called the Gulf of Cheynam [possibly derived from the island of Hainan]...The traveller reaches a country called Chamba [Vietnam], a very rich country of wide extent...This kingdom produces great quantities of elephants and aloe wood. There are also many groves of the wood called ebony, which is very black and is used for making chess-men and pen-cases."

"On leaving Chamba and sailing...for 700 miles the traveller reaches two islands...called Sondur and Condor [uninhabited]...Another 500 miles towards the south-[west] brings us to a large and wealthy province of the mainland whose name is Lokak [vicinity of Kelantan-Pahang on east coast of Malayan Peninsula]. This province produces cultivated brazil wood...Gold...elephants and wild game...all the cowrie shells that are spent..."

"On leaving Lokak and sailing southwards for 500 miles, the traveller reaches the island of Bintan [Bintang or Bentan Island, south of Singapore]...The forests are all of sweet-smelling wood of great utility. From here the route runs for sixty miles through a strait between two islands [Malacca Strait between Sumatra and Malaya]."

"...the island of Lesser Java [Sumatra]...is not so little...it extends to more than 2,000 miles in circumference. This island abounds in treasure and in costly products, including aloe wood, brazil, ebony...and many sorts of spice that never reach our country because of the length and perils of the way but are exported to Manzi [South China] and Cathay [North China]."

"There are eight kingdoms on this island...I will begin with the kingdom of Ferlac [Perlac]...the people of Ferlac used all to be idolators, but owing to contact with Saracen merchants, who continually resort here in their ships, they have all been converted to the law of Mahomet."

"On leaving Ferlec, the traveller enters Basman [Pasai in Malay tradition]...

The next kingdom, situated in the same island, is called Sumatra [or Sermudra, the neighbouring state of Parsai, both at NW end of the island]. In this kingdom I myself Marco Polo spent five months, waiting for weather that would permit us to continue our voyage [Indian Monsoon]...We disembarked from our ships and for fear of these nasty and brutish folk who kill men for food we dug a big trench round our encampment, extending down to the shore of the harbour at either end. On the embankment of the trench we built five wooden towers or forts; and within these fortifications we lived for five months...the islanders used to trade with us for victuals and the like..."

"Let us now leave here and pass onto a kingdom called Dagroian...

Let me tell you next of the kingdom of Lambri [same as Acheh on NE tip of the island]...the country produces abundance of brazil, besides camphor, and other precious spices...Lastly, let us turn to the kingdom of Fansur [Barus on the west coast]...This kingdom produces the best camphor in the world, which is called Fansuri and is worth more than any other kind...it is sold for its weight in gold."

"When the traveller leaves Lesser Java and the kingdom of Lambri and sails northwards for about 150 miles, he reaches two islands, one of which is called Nicobar...All the forests in this island are of noble trees of great worth; these are red sandal, coconuts...apples of paradise [possibly bananas], cloves, brazil, and many other good trees

...the other island, whose name is Andaman...have abundance of spices of every kind...also have coconuts, apples of paradise, and many other fruits different from ours."

"On leaving the island of Andaman and sailing for 1,000 miles a little south of west, the traveller reaches Ceylon...They have sesame, from which they make oil...They have abundance of brazil...superb and authentic rubies...sapphires, topazes, amethysts, garnets, and many other precious stones..."

From CEYLON to HORMUZ

("You must understand that it is a very long voyage from [China] to India")

"When the traveller leaves Ceylon and sails westwards for about sixty miles, he arrives in the great province of MAABAR [Ma'ba]...part of the mainland...in this sea is a gulf between the island [Ceylon] and the mainland [India]; and in all this gulf there is no more than eight or ten fathoms of water...It is in this gulf that the pearls are gathered...the pearls gathered in this gulf are exported throughout the world, because most of them are round and lustrous...

      "Let me tell you that this country does not breed horses. Hence all the annual revenue, or the greater part of it, is spent on the purchase of horses...the merchants of Hormuz and Kais, of Dhofar and Shihr and Aden, all of which provinces produce large numbers of battle chargers and other horses, buy up the best horses and load them on ships and export them to this king and his four brother kings...this king buys 2,000 of them and more every year, and his brothers as many..."

"...the great and splendid city of KAYAL. It belongs to Ashar, the eldest of the royal brothers...this is the port of call for all ships trading with the west ― with Hormuz, and Kais, and Aden, and all of Arabia ― for horses and other goods. The merchants use it because it is conveniently situated and affords a good market for their wares. The king...governs his country well and maintains strict justice, especially in his dealings with...the foreign merchants. And merchants congregate here from many parts to buy horses and various merchandise."

"...the realm of QUILON...produces Quilon brazil which is very good and also pepper in great abundance in all the fields and woods...the pepper trees are planted and watered and grow in cultivation. There is also plenty of good indigo [blue dye]..."

"...ELY...In this province there is no port, except that there is a big river with a very fine estuary. Pepper grows here in great abundance, and ginger too, besides plenty of other spices...ships from Manzi and elsewhere come here in summer, load in four to eight days, and leave as soon as they can...it is very hazardous to linger here, because there are merely sandy beaches...the ships of Manzi are not so much afraid to beach on sand as others are, because they are fitted with such powerful wooden anchors that they hold firm in every stress."

"...the great kingdom of MALABAR...In this kingdom there is a great abundance of pepper and also of ginger, besides cinnamon in plenty, and other spices...Buckrams [cotton fabric] are made here of the loveliest and most delicate texture...ships come here from many parts, notably from the great province of Manzi, and goods are exported to many parts. Those that go to Aden are carried thence to Alexandria [Egypt]."

      "...from Malabar, and from a neighbouring province called Gujerat, more than 100 ships cruise out every year as corsairs, seizing other ships and robbing the merchants. For they are pirates on a big scale. Most of these villainous corsairs scatter here and there, scouring the sea in quest of merchant ships. But sometimes...they cruise in a line...about five miles apart...twenty ships cover 100 miles of sea...so that not a [merchant] ship can pass through this  sea undetected."

"GUJERAT likewise is a great kingdom...There is pepper here in profusion and also ginger and indigo. There is also plenty of cotton...The manufactures of this kingdom include great quantities of leather goods...Enough is manufactured to load several ships a year. They are exported to Arabia and many other countries. They also manufacture handsome mats of scarlet leather, embossed with birds and beasts and stitched with gold and silver of very fine workmanship...worth ten marks of silver...They also make cushions stitched with gold, so splendid that they are worth fully six marks of silver."

"THANA...is a busy centre of commerce and a great resort of merchant shipping, exporting leather goods worked in various styles of excellent quality. It also exports plenty of good buckram and cotton as well."

      "I must tell you that this kingdom is the base for many corsairs who sally out to sea and take a heavy toll on merchant shipping. And what is more, they act with the connivance of the king. For he has struck a bargain with the corsairs that they shall give him all the horses they may capture...while all the rest of the merchandise...[they] keep for themselves."

"CAMBAY...the centre of an active commerce. Indigo is plentiful here and of good quality. Buckram and cotton are produced in abundance for export...There is also a brisk trade in leather goods...the standards of workmanship is as high here as anywhere...many merchant ships call here with various imports, especially gold, silver and brass. They bring in the products of their own countries and take out such local products as they hope to sell at a profit."

      "...in this kingdom there are no corsairs; the people live by trade and industry and are honest folk."

"SOMNATH...The people...are not corsairs but live by trade and industry as honest people ought to do...this is a kingdom in which commerce thrives, a resort of merchants from many lands bringing in their wares and exporting others in return."

An recurring theme in Marco Polo's account of India is the booming horse trade from Arabia. When recording his impressions of Thana he writes, "there is a lively export trade in horses to all parts of India, and few ships go thither without taking horses." 

The scale of this trade in the thirteenth century was scarcely credible. Of Maabar, the south-eastern region of the five kings, he reports, "this king buys 2,000 of them and more every year, and his brothers as many." To their kingdoms and their capital Kayal came "the merchants of Hormuz and Kais, of Dhofur and Shihr and Aden, all of which provinces produce large numbers of battle chargers and other horses."

These claims are supported by contemporary sources. In the 1290s, historian Vassaf al-Hazrat recorded that 1,400 horses were to be sent annually from the Persian Gulf Island of Qa'is (Polo's Kais) to Ma'bar, together with as many as could be sourced from elsewhere in the Il-khanid territories. The fixed price per head was 220 dinars of red gold.

An Il-khan official, vizier Rashid al-Din, counts a total of 10,000 head of horse exported annually to Ma'bar, purchased at a cost of 2,200,000 dinars of red gold. (Lembourn, 2016)

Polo goes on to describe the Arabian ports contributing to the trade:

ADEN "From it they export to India many fine Arab chargers...they sell a good horse in India                for 100 marks of silver or more."

SHIHR "From here they export innumerable fine chargers and sturdy pack horses of great                      worth and price."

DHOFAR "Many good Arab steeds, and horses from other lands as well, are brought here,                       and the merchants make a handsome profit on them."

KALHAT "Many fine war horses are exported from here to India to the great gain of the                            merchants...The total number of horses shipped to India from this port and the                          others I have mentioned is past all reckoning." 

Vassaf al-Hazrat is more specific. According to him these Bahri (horses 'of or from the sea') were to be ridden by the troops of the Indians (junud-i hindu). The Arabian horses were intended for use in war and equestrian training in India. A number of modern historians have also concluded that the growth of the horse trade over the thirteenth century was military in origin. The Bahri horses were part of a South Asian "arms race". (Lembourn, 2016)

In particular, the large cavalries of the Delhi Sultanate "led to a general structural militarization of the Indian subcontinent". The Ghurid conquest of northern India in the late twelfth century had concentrated the minds other rulers powerfully. The success of the Sultanate's forces was down to their larger numbers of mounted troops, especially archers. By comparison, the traditional war machine, the mounted elephant, was too cumbersome and slow.

Polo was witnessing a political, cultural, and economic shift. Military priorities had changed and rulers were desperate to modernise their armies. In the south, where tropical climate and distance from healthy horse breeding areas were real disadvantages, despots were willing to devote all, or nearly all, their revenues towards this goal. 

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REFERENCES:

Marco Polo, 1298, The Travels of Marco Polo, Translated and with an Introduction by Ronald Latham, 1958, Penguin Classics, London. <archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.50789/2015.50789.The_Travels.pdf>

Stephen S Gosch & Peter N Stearns, 2008, 'Marco Polo and the heritage of Christian travel' in Premodern Travel in World History, Routledge, New York.

Colin Jack-Hinton, 1964, 'Marco Polo in South-East Asia: A Preliminary Essay in Reconstruction', Journal of South-East Asian History, 5.2, 43-103

Roderich Ptak, 1993, 'Yuan and Early Ming Notices on the Kayal Area in South India', BEFEO, 80, 137-156

Elizabeth Lembourn, 2016, 'Towards a Connected History of Equine Culture in South Asia: Bahri (Sea) Horses and "Horsemania" in Thirteenth Century South India', The Medieval Globe, 2.1, 57-100