Author name:
احمد فرطوس حيدر
Supervisor name:
مرتضى حسن النقيب
Abstract:
The present study, which is entitled (The Venetian Traveler Marco Polo, died in 725 H, 1324 AD, and His tales on about the Mongols), discusses the most prominent historical narratives told by this Venetian traveller about Mongols in the middle ages. This traveler, no doubt, gained a prominent fame that none of the European travelers who preceded him acquired. There are two reasons behind this, firstly for the value of the narratives he wrote about Mongols whether it was from historical point of view or reports counties when they were at the summit of their prominence full of wars and unrest, and secondly, for the great impact these historical narratives had on the European thinkers and their societies about Asian Orient in general and specially the Mongol peoples, who quickly turned from tribes fighting each other to conquers of the world. They had conquered half of the world during the seventh Hegira Century, Thirteenth AD. This dissertation is consist of four chapters, introduction, conclusion, plus list of and appendixes a list of Source material. Chapter one discusses the life and time of the traveller Marco Polo beginning with his birth in Venice, and his growing statehood , his famous travel to China and post in the Mongol Royal palace till his departure to Venice and his death in 725H, 1324 AD. Chapter two deals with the social traditions and habits of the Mongols and the countries submitted to them through a contrastive study between Marco Polo's narratives and those of other contemporary sources in this respect concerning all social life of Mongol life. Chapter three is about Marco Polo's narrratives on the Ilkhanid Empire found by Hulagu Khan in the Eastern Islamic territories after the fall of the Abbasid state. This chapter, also, discusses important issues, such as the fall of Baghdad and the death of the Abbasid Caliph "Al - Musta'sim Billah". Chapter four discusses the most important descriptions of countries visited by Marco Polo, including wide parts of the Mongol Empire. The study has concluded the following results : 1 - This study affirmed the authenticity and truth of most narratives mentioned by the traveler Marco Polo about the Mongols, through the corresponding of these stories with approved historical Chinese and Persian sources that documented the news of these peoples, besides the corresponding of material in general, with those of other travelers such as William of Rubruck and Ibn Battuta among others, However we affirmed the exaggeration in the description of some of Marco's travels. 2 - Concerning debate by some researchers about the authenticity of Marco's visit to China and his residency there, the study confirmed the authenticity of Marco Polo's visit to China and his residency there for seventeen years. During this period, he enjoyed a special care of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan. Through a detailed study of Marco Polo's narratives about China, we found out the precision of the description of the historical incidents. He was accurate in describing Mongols and their capital Khanbaliq which precisely corresponding to the stories of the Mongol historians and contemporary travelers who visited China during the era of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.3 - The study reveals that the importance of Marco's narratives about Mongols relies in the fact that they were not only corresponding to those in the Mongol and Islamic sources, but they represent in addition describing a new era of history in which those Mongols and their nomad tribes had the capability to turn from nomades into civilized societies, as they presented a unique system of administration, of which Marco Polo himself was one of this administration. They could mix the 'Yassa', The Mongol code of law created by Genghis Khan, and the laws of other peoples who submitted to them, unlike the common idea known about Mongols in most of other writings, which described the Mongols as murders savage and barbarian tribes.4 - The study, through Marco Polo's narratives, uncovered many various social traditions of peoples forming the Mongol empire, proving the ability of Mongols to deal with conquered peoples and comprehend wide discrepancies and contradictions among various religions, race and ethics with a unique skill and wisdom.5 - Concerning Mongol Shamanism, which was the religion embraced by Mongols, the present study shows first one which contradict Islamic source that materials with religious Shamanism in claim that the origion of that religion dictate in both the worship of one mighty God.
