Marco Polo was an intrepid fellow.
I’ve been reading many of his accounts that follow his journey along the silk road to get a better understanding of what the terrain, people and other features were prominent during the time. Polo, who traveled with his father (and initially some priests which were sent along to convert pagans), speaks about the land and the people of places he visits. He seems to have an incredible talent for linguistics and grasps many of the languages of the people whom he interacts with.
He is also more curious than afraid. The priests who I mentioned above, took off when they heard that the next city had been invaded by a ferocious army. Honestly, from the accounts, Polo doesn’t really seem to care. He and his father (Nicolo) are hoping to arrive at the Great Khan’s court before he dies, so they keep trudging along from Baghdad to Hormuz.
Along the way down the Tigris river, Polo talks of a new “breed” of people who are inhuman in nature and acted like wolves. The Kurds were of course just normal people, who happened to be attacking Marco and his party. The fact that he describes them as “the savage and vindictive race who dwelt in those fastnesses, and whose occupation it was to rob and murder,” doesn’t really give them a great rap. Unfortunately, we don’t know what the Kurds thought of Polo and his party of flashy armor, strange amulets and terrifying weapons…
This just reminds us of the fact that having a written language and keeping records, skews the perspective of history toward the victor (and often the European). The Han Chinese wrote about the Xiongnu pastoralists in an uncannily similar manner, calling them “Barbarians and animals from the North.” Quite interesting how the “opposition” is related to animals, both from the Han China and Italian point of view.
After a few paragraphs dedicated to insulting the Kurds, Polo finds himself in the port-town of Hormuz. He then proceeds to insult the Persian ships docked at harbor. I judgmental character to say the least… However, not all is bad. Setting out from Hormuz, Polo remarks on the beauty of the natural landscape with in all its flowering magnificence. In fact, he spends the same amount of time discussing the nature around him as he spends describing an attack in which he and his father had to kill 3 bandits before barely escaping with their lives!
The trails of the silk road are already proving treacherous for our venetian explorer. Will he make it to the hall of the great Kublai Khan, or will he succumb to the dangers of the barren deserts? All will be revealed next week. Until then, a great quote from our drama king:
“(Polo and his squad) leading their horses and camels, sometimes on a path so narrow and so high above the gorge by whose side it ran, that it seemed inevitable that the travellers would fall and break their necks.”
Charming.