Marco Polo tells a quaint story about a daughter of Kaidu s, who was renowned for her fame in wrestling. She had sent challenges in all directions, offering to marry any many who should throw her, while he should forfeit 100 horses if he failed. In this way she had won 10,000 horses. He goes on to describe how a prince came from a distant land where he was renowned for his skill and strength, and was determined to win her or a lose a thousand horses; that both Kaidu and his wife tried to persuade their daughter to allow herself to be beaten; that she refused; that the match came off in the presence of the royal pair... and that after a long struggle she threw him on his back on the palace pavement; he lost his horses and his wife, for she would not have him... from Kaidu Khan This 1876 work is a comprehensive history of the nomad tribes who dominated Central Asia during the early centuries of the last millennium, and of their great rulers: the khans. Drawing firsthand on numerous scholarly sources and full of illustrative detail and entertaining anecdotes, this remains a vital reference on a civilization now lost to time. Part 1 of this three-volume work includes the tales of: Jingis (Genghis) Khan Ogotai Khan Kuyuk Khan Mangu Khan Khubilai Khan Toghon Timur Khan the Chakhars and the Forty-Nine Banners the early contact between the Russians and the Mongols and much more. British ethnologist and historian SIR HENRY HOYLE HOWORTH (1842 1923) served as president of the Royal Archaeological Institute, and is the author of Glacial Nightmare and the Flood (1893) and Methods of Archaeological Research (1896), among other works.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

Delve into the fascinating and complex history of the Mongols with this comprehensive volume. Written by renowned historian Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth, this book covers the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire, as well as the legacy it left behind. With meticulous research and engaging prose, this book is a must-have for anyone interested in world history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Covering more than one century, this book describes the complex issues of Mongol-Armenian political relations that involved many different ethnic groups in a vast geographical area stretching from China to the Mediterranean coast in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

An epic account of the rise and fall of the Silk Road empires The first complete history of Central Eurasia from ancient times to the present day, Empires of the Silk Road represents a fundamental rethinking of the origins, history, and significance of this major world region. Christopher Beckwith describes the rise and fall of the great Central Eurasian empires, including those of the Scythians, Attila the Hun, the Turks and Tibetans, and Genghis Khan and the Mongols. In addition, he explains why the heartland of Central Eurasia led the world economically, scientifically, and artistically for many centuries despite invasions by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, and others. In retelling the story of the Old World from the perspective of Central Eurasia, Beckwith provides a new understanding of the internal and external dynamics of the Central Eurasian states and shows how their people repeatedly revolutionized Eurasian civilization. Beckwith recounts the Indo-Europeans' migration out of Central Eurasia, their mixture with local peoples, and the resulting development of the Graeco-Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations; he details the basis for the thriving economy of premodern Central Eurasia, the economy's disintegration following the region's partition by the Chinese and Russians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the damaging of Central Eurasian culture by Modernism; and he discusses the significance for world history of the partial reemergence of Central Eurasian nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Empires of the Silk Road places Central Eurasia within a world historical framework and demonstrates why the region is central to understanding the history of civilization.