Month: October 2025 (Page 5 of 6)

The Travels of Marco Polo: Shang-Tu

October 2, 2025 / Cameron DeVries / 0 Comments

Cameron DeVries

Blog Post #2

October 2, 2025

The Travels of Marco Polo: Shang-Tu

Marco Polo goes on and on for a long time about the Great Khan and all of his palaces, cities, and places he stays during various seasons, and I could write about any one of them. I was most interested in this city of the Khan’s, called Shang-tu (or Shangdu), because I did some research and saw that it was also known as Xanadu in the West. I remembered from my film class when we watched Citizen Kane that Kane lived in this very opulent mansion on a hill that was called Xanadu, and it seems that the word has derived from the times of the Khan and is still used today to represent places of great beauty and wealth. For the majority of this section, this seems to be what Marco Polo is mainly focused on.

Again, Marco Polo does not seem overly concerned with the details on himself, such as the dates of his arrival or the places he stayed in. However, he does note that the Khan stayed in Shang-tu during the Summer months of June, July, and August, and based on the ways in which he tells certain stories and makes descriptions, it can be assumed that Polo was there during these months, although I am not certain. Something else to be noted about Marco Polo before getting into specifics is the fact that he came from a merchant family in Venice, Italy, so he would not be a stranger to wealth or that sort of lifestyle. It could be for this reason that he seems so attracted by and appreciative towards the decadent structures and signs of wealth that he is seeing around him, and the Khan’s lifestyle in general.

We can kind of say that Polo was focused on the buildings and the environment here, because the environment seems to consist mostly of the works of Kubilai Khan and the ways in which he has formed the city to his liking. He talks about the Khan’s great palace with all its columns, rooms, and adornments, as well as the Khan’s huge park that contains (besides another palace of its own) multitudes of species of wildlife, such as stags, leopards, and falcons. This is also the section in which Marco Polo seems to show his great interest in animals more, or maybe it is just because the Khan has so many animals to be spoken of. Marco is impressed by the tens of thousands of pure white horses, and notes how the Khan leaves this city at the end of every summer in conjunction with the ceremony of throwing his mares’ milk on the ground before he leaves, in order to appease the spirits and gain protection over his lands and subjects.

Something that seems to shock him a little more is the presence of the Bakhshi, or the “enchanters” that are called in to dispel the rainy weather when it appeared. It seems like magic and enchantments are something that Marco Polo is a little wary of, because he says he believes their spells to be the work of the Devil rather than holy work as they claim. However, he seems to get past this shock quickly and become interested in their practices; even when he is saying that they live in squalor and look ragged, he is still just saying this in his matter of fact manner, and does not seem judgmental. Similarly, for the Sien-seng people that he describes, he just states that they are “austere” after talking about how they eat only flax, own virtually nothing, and sleep on mats. Going back to the Bakhshi and how they would levitate cups up to the Khan seemingly through magic, it was funny when Marco said “What I have told you is the plain truth without a word of falsehood”, like he was trying to just convince himself, accept it, and move on. Marco Polo continues to write respectfully and in a straightforward way, and is interested in but not judgmental of those with different practices, and is pretty enchanted by the great wealth of Kubilai Khan.

The Book of John Mandeville: Ephesus and Lango, Among Others

October 2, 2025 / Sophie Harberson / 0 Comments

From Constantinople, the fictional John Mandeville outlines his travels to Greek islands–still on his way to the Holy Land. This section of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville builds upon the narrator’s identification of Greek Christians as different from the Western Christians within Mandeville’s audience. He asserts the necessity of this distinction, writing, “For many people take great pleasure and comfort to hear talk of unfamiliar things” (14). This statement reflects both Mandeville’s bias and his purpose for writing a travel account. Aside from the trees on the island of Chios, he does not provide ethnographic details about Greece. This choice focuses Mandeville’s account on the importance of religious sites rather than the people who inhabit them.

Thus, Mandeville spends more time writing about locations integral to Christian memory. To Mandeville, the importance of a place is dependent upon what event happened there. While less significant places are merely listed, many locations are denoted by an associated Christian figure or relic. Furthermore, Mandeville takes more time to address the most relevant places and their story, whether historical, mythical, or Biblical. Mandeville associates Patmos with being, “where Saint John the Evangelist wrote the Apocalypse” (14). Rather than talking about the island’s terrain or people, Mandeville instead tells his reader about Saint John–quickly shifting his location to Ephesus, where Saint John died.

Mandeville describes Ephesus more than the preceding Greek islands, signaling its value to his audience. He calls it, “a lovely city” (14), on account of the fact that it was once controlled by Christians. To Mandeville, the hallmark of Ephesus is the tomb of Saint John and the mysterious whereabouts of his body. Similar to the provenance of the relics he encountered in Constantinople, Mandeville highlights that the story of Saint John’s tomb is contentious. He notes that, “some men say that his body was translated to Paradise” (14), while others believe, “he did not die but that he is resting there until the Day of Judgement” (14). By addressing various conclusions to the question of Saint John’s tomb, Mandeville maintains the site’s relevance, making it contemporary to his reader rather than solely historical.

Beyond Ephesus, Mandeville briefly accounts for Patera, the birthplace of Saint Nicholas, and its wine, before writing about the island of Lango. In contrast to previous locations, Mandeville’s description of Lango is tethered to regional myth. He outlines the presumed origin of the island, noting it to be, “Hippocrates’ daughter in the form of a dragon” (15). Mandeville goes on to detail a story about a young maiden being transformed into a dragon, with only a bold, brave knight able to save her. Similar to his description of holy, Christian relics and sites, Mandeville constructs an ultimatum of fate. If the young maiden is kissed by the right knight, she will no longer be a dragon. Similarly, if Saint John is in his tomb, when the Day of Judgement arrives, he will reappear. The ‘if’ within Mandeville’s account adds a layer of intrigue, positioning him as a storyteller rather than a travel expert.

Although Mandeville is less receptive to the customs of Greek Christians, this section illustrates his appreciation for explanations different than his own. Since Mandeville’s account is not rooted in fact, the power of a place is dependent on its associated myth–whether secular, pagan, or Christian. Though this account tracks Mandeville’s journey to Jerusalem, he does not condemn the stories of other cultures, but embraces them. Mandeville bridges the gap between his travels and his reader by underscoring the continuous, cross-cultural practice of storytelling.

The Book of Marvels and Travels by John Mandeville: Cyprus

October 2, 2025 / Adam Hall / 0 Comments

After leaving Constantinople, the next place John Mandeville describes in detail is the island of Cyprus. Mandeville, writing for the benefit of prospective pilgrims, for the most part maintains his religious focus when describing the island. He informs his readers that there is an archbishop at Nicosia, along with four others in the region. Along with this he says that in Cyprus there is the Hill of the Holy Cross of the good thief Dysmas, along with the burial sites of St Sozomenos, an ecclesiastical historian, and St Hilarion, and that St Bernard was born near the city of Famagusta on the island. Pilgrims using Mandeville’s book as a guide for their own journeys would surely find such information useful, as they were on the look out for places to display their piety. Mandeville even warns pilgrims that the locals advertise that they have half of the Holy Cross upon which Jesus was crucified, but it is a fraud and that they sin by saying so.

Mandeville does, however, include more practical and secular information about Cyprus as well. In fact, the first thing he says about the island is that a variety of grapes which start red and turn white after a year grow there, and that these grapes are “…utterly translucent and have the best scent.” Descriptions of local produce like this have not been mentioned before, so it is interesting that he would want to include it here. Mandeville also informs us that the city of Famagusta has an excellent harbor and that “…Christians, Saracens, and people of all nations live there.” It is interesting to note how matter of fact the zealous Mandeville talks about the island’s Muslim inhabitants. On top of this he describes how the Cypriots hunt with papiouns, a type of big cat similar to a leopard though modern scholars do not know what it could actually be. Mandeville also reports that Cypriots eat on the ground in massive ditches dug for that purpose up to the knees. He says this is because it keeps food more fresh in the hot climate of the island, though when foreigners come for great feasts they set up tables for them, but would prefer eating on the floor.

Because Mandeville is an invented character and did not actually go to Cyprus, it is difficult to tell if any of the information he relays is true. The strange eating custom could be something the author heard from someone else and believed it, but just as easily be something he decided would be fun to make people believe. The fact scholars have no idea what a papiouns is, and that Mandeville claims Cypriots use these animals which he says are larger than lions to hunt is too strange to believe. Which begs the question of what he gains from making this up? He seems to sincerely want people to be informed about the pilgrimage route and where to stop on the way by the fact he warns readers where frauds are, but his own fraudulent information seems to work against this stated goal. This disconnect continues down to smaller details: usually light on the practicalities of travel, he claims Cyprus is nearly 500 miles from Rhodes. No it isn’t, the distance is much closer to 300 miles. It may be an innocuous detail, but it seems strange to me that he feels the need to include such a detail when he never has before, and it is just plain wrong.

The Book of Margery Kempe – Chapter 30 (From the River Jordan Towards Rome Through Venice)

October 2, 2025 / Taylor Morrow / 0 Comments

In this chapter of Margery Kempe’s travels, she continues on her journey through holy lands, including Mount Quarantine. This is supposedly the mountain where Jesus himself fasted for forty days. Kempe’s travels are truly devoted to finding and experiencing holy lands and specific sites of miraculous and religious events. After her trip up Mount Quarantine, she also traveled to important sites of John the Baptist, Mary, Martha, Lazarus’ miraculous resurrection location, the church where Jesus reunited with his mother on Easter Day, Mary Magdalene’s location at Jesus’ walk towards his crucifixion, and more (110-111). From these many religious locations, Margery moves towards Rome but stops in Venice first. In Venice, many of her companions fall sick and end up refusing to help her on her journey from that point forward.

Much of what Kempe discusses is not about the details of transportation, food, or even the specifics of certain events, but rather about how she is perceived and treated in each of the places she visits and how the people in those places react to her unusual devoutness. Kempe highlights mostly the differences between the people she meets along the way against the way she was/is treated by her original companions. She notes that her original companions are not very fond of her and often refuse to help her or continue along the journey with her. She evidently does not have a good relationship with these men and is likely perceived as crazy, annoying, or generally insane.

On the other hand, Kempe meets many people along her travels, most of whom are of different religions and races, and rather than have a judgmental tone or outlook, she actually grows fond of these strangers. Kempe notes that many of the people she meets are actually much kinder to her than she is used to, no matter their differences of religion, language, or origin. When her original companions refused to help her up Mount Quarantine, a random Saracen man came and helped her up the mountain with little hesitation.

In a similar fashion, when Kempe makes it to Venice, she says that all of her companions abandoned her and would not continue traveling with her even if they were paid a large sum. Despite being terrified and very obviously alone in a strange place, Kempe never loses her faith in the Lord and describes a private conversation she has with Him, where He reassures her that everything will be okay. On her way, she meets a man with a broken back, two Friers, and a woman who all help her continue her journey to Rome. Again, these are strangers who are mostly of differing religions/races than Kempe, but are much kinder to her than the people she began her journey with.

Despite a language barrier, these strangers help her along the way, feeding her, clothing her, housing her, and generally providing her with the things she needs to survive this journey. It is evident that Kempe values people who are generally kind, especially if they are religious. No matter what religion others are, it seems that Kempe finds religion itself to be a common ground to trust strangers on – simply the act of being religious, even if that religion is different from her own – is enough to allow Kempe to travel with these strangers. Perhaps Kempe highlights these strangers’ acts of simple kindness to highlight that goodness is not secular, that anyone can be good and anyone can be bad, no matter what God they believe in. Even though Kempe herself is devoutly Catholic, her ability to highlight the goodness in others, no matter how different they are, is an anomaly for writers of this period.

Margery Kempe Konstanz-Bologna-Venice-Jersualem Chapter 27-28 (travel blog 2)

October 2, 2025 / Tristan Deliana / 0 Comments

In chapter 27 Margery Kempe is still in Konstanz Germany separated from her group and her handmaiden. Within the city she meets a well respected Friar who acknowledges her tears are out of genuine love for God and not for show, and agrees to eat dinner with her and her previous companions in order to help her with her ordeal, all he asks is that she does not speak.

During the dinner, her companions attempt to convince the Friar that they can no longer allow her into the party unless she stops her weeping and fasting of meat. The Friar denies their arguments stating it would be incorrect if he were to command someone who had taken a vow to walk to Rome barefoot as a pilgrim, just the same it would be wrong if he commanded her to stop her fasting. Based on this phrase I would assume to some degree these types of religious vows are common during pilgrimages, such as virgins wearing white, fasting from foods, and in this case walking barefoot. This reminds me of, or is possibly due to, other religious practices in the Christian faith like fasting during Holy Lent, Nativity of Christ, or fasting on Wednesdays or Fridays. These types of fasts are important for removing oneself from indulging in the material world and humbling oneself before God and to be reminded of the necessity of spiritual prayer and humility by abstaining from material things. I think this would be especially important for someone like the Friar and Margey Kempe which is why I see why she would take such a fast for her journey and I see why the Friar would support it. Though I am quite surprised to see the other pilgrims upset at her fasting despite this being a common practice within the faith.

Eventually the group hand her to the Friar who provides her with money and a guide named William Werver. As the two make their way to Bologna in an unspecified manner, Margery describes again being hosted by people in their homes along the way and being fed by them; it does not specify that she had to pay for these acts of kindness. This makes me think this is a common practice of the era in which pilgrims are fed and hosted for free by people in their own homes along their journey maybe because the journey is a religious one for God. Eventually the two arrive in Bologna in which again she meets her former companions, in order to rejoin the group they permit her to eat meat but to at least stop her weeping.

They eventually arrived in Venice, where they remained for 13 weeks with Margery receiving Holy communion every Sunday. Eventually she speaks of the Gospel again to the dismay of the group and they begin to diverge again. When it is time to set sail for Jerusalem Margery opts to take a galley (a low ship with 1-2 sails) all the way from Venice to the Holy land. Eventually they arrive at the port, to get from the port to Jersualem, Margery chooses to ride a donkey. Possibly this may be because this is one of the cheaper or common forms of transportation to get to Jerusalem but I think this may also be Margery imitating Christ who also rode into Jerusalem with a donkey on Palm Sunday. This makes sense to me since Margery is an extremely religious Christian. She eventually visits important holy sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and weeps for Christ who was tortured, crucified, buried, and resurrected for humanity’s sake.

Ibn Fadlan: Khwarazm

October 2, 2025 / Iona Nelson / 0 Comments

Ibn Fadlan, on his trip to Bulghar, stops in Khwarazm, where he makes many comments on these people’s customs and culture. Fadlan started his journey in Baghdad, setting out for Bulghar. His total trip length to get to and from Bulghar was about a year and a half. According to the provided map, it was a little over 900 miles to get to Khwarazm from Baghdad. We know it took at least forty-one days to reach Khwarazm, but it most likely took longer (as Fadlan only gives information about how long he stayed in each place, not the travel time). Fadlan doesn’t state exactly how long he stayed in Khwarazm, but we know it was at least three days. In his journey to Khwarazm, we know he was accompanied by a “caravan”; the exact number of people he traveled with is not known. He states they took a boat to Khwarazm; they hired a boat to go up the river, which I assume means someone else was steering the boat. He states that it was so cold they had to break up the trip into multiple days. We don’t know how long this boat ride lasted, but he stated it was “200 farsakhs” from where they rented the boat (6).

Khwarazm is one of the only places in his travels where we get a glimpse of his lodging situation. Fadlan states that when they arrived in Khwarazm, they went to find the “ruler of the town.” (7) The ruler allowed them to stay in a house in the town. “He admitted us to his presence and lodged us in a house” (7). He describes no other aspect of the house he stays in. We know the weather was very cold on the boat trip to Khwarazm; however, he states that the cold lasted until Khwarazm. Fadlan doesn’t give any other information about the weather there. However, the statement about the cold ending at Khwarazm shows it had to be warmer than on the river.

In Khwarazm, Fadlan heavily focuses on the coinage and the language of the people; Basically, neglecting any other information about this place. He tells the names of their money: Ki’ab, Dawamat, and Tazja’s. He compares their money directly to his own currency. He states that their Tazja is equivalent to the Dirham. He also reports on the weight of the Tazja, which is four and a half Danaqs; a Danaq was a unit of mass and a kind of currency. When discussing the language, he only passes judgment on the way they speak, rather than giving details about their language. They say that their language sounds like “ the cries of starlings.” (8) This is the only statement he makes regarding their language.

As stated in the last post, Fadlan was working for the Calif in a position where he was attempting to convert the people he came in contact with. His audience is the calif who is of the opinion that all these people are bad and different. In this, we see Fadlan pass judgment on the people he encounters. His descriptions of language are quite rude throughout his accounts. He also compares all of their currency in terms he is familiar with. This makes sense as the frame of reference that his audience has is less broad than Fadlan’s. The best way to convey his discoveries is in terms his audience understands. The last thing Fadlan tells us about the Khwarazm people is their disbelief in the “ legitimacy of the commander of the faithful.” (8) In other places, he spends a lot of time discussing their religious practices and beliefs. In Khwarazm, however, he spends one sentence describing their beliefs. To me, this shows that he throws in that information for the sake of the Calif, rather than including it because he is personally perturbed. In Khwarazm, Fadlan is fairly nice about their culture and customs. The farther north he gets, the more judgmental he becomes, which makes sense as that is consistent with the Islamic view of the world at this time. In Khwarazm, he isn’t that judgmental, presumably because it is more southern.

The Travels of Ibn Battutah: Syria

October 2, 2025 / Joshua Crilly / 0 Comments

Upon leaving Cairo, Ibn Battutah made his way to Syria, specifically highlighting many of the religious cities he passes through. These include several places of significance to Christianity and Judaism, mainly he mentions Jerusalem and Bethlehem. This portion of his travels involves much more architectural description of holy sites, such as when he wrote of the congregational mosque at Damascus, the capital of Syria. “The inner faces of all the walls of this mosque are decorated with cut stones of gold known as fusaifisa, intermingled with various colours of extraordinary beauty” (37). Culture also remained at he center of his attention, as Ibn Battutah was engrossed in the religious significance of these cities, such as his visiting of religious tombs of what we now more commonly associate with prominent Christian figures. In Islam, many of these people are still acknowledged as prophets appointed by God. This was very interesting to see in Ibn Battutah’s writings, as I would not have expected his religious pilgrimage to include stops at the graves of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and even Jesus and his mother Mary. The mention of these names is also usually followed by the customary “(peace be upon him)” or some derivative of this prayer for speaking a notable name.

This portion of the text does not as much concern the physical aspects of travel, at least not in comparison to how his journey started. Much of Ibn Battutah’s writing concerns his description of the holy lands he visits and their customs. There were a few mentions of illness while he was in Damascus it seemed, as he claims to have “witnessed at the time of the Great Plague at Damascus…a remarkable instance of the veneration of the people of Damascus for this mosque” (39). He again chooses to focus on the religious resilience of the city residents, but before leaving the city himself he appears to fall ill as well.

After being treated for this illness, he claims the medical bill has depleted all his funds and he would not have been able to travel. Had it not been for his host’s hospitality, he would have been stuck in Damascus. “Nur al-Din, learning this, hired camels for me and gave me travelling provisions, etc., and money in addition,” (41). While not anecdotes about his actual travels, the fact his pilgrimage was almost completely halted due to health and funding should not be overlooked. It speaks to his inexperience as a young traveler, clearly enamored by the locations and probably not being careful with planning and conserving his resources for the journey ahead.

Much of Ibn Battutah’s travels through this region contained anecdotes and stories of other people’s lives, most of which he obviously heard from the locals and is simply recording. The consistency of these stories was strange to me, almost uncharacteristic of how he is usually so excited to write about the people he meets, not someone already dead long before his arrival. It only makes sense to me in the context of the religious nature of these cities, that many of these stories he retells are relating to the devotion of the people there. The story of Ad’ham seems to be some sort of lesson on prayer, as the man (metaphorically) prays himself to death after being forced into marriage and fornication (34). At least, that is my guess considering the message is not clearly stated in my opinion. Either way, it is intrinsically tied to the act of prayer and the man’s relationship God, so it can be assumed that its retelling bears some lesson regarding this or Ibn Battutah would not have felt the need to write it down.

I found this portion of Ibn Battutah’s journey less compelling. Though he seemed easily influenced by the Shaikh in Cairo and other notable people up until now, parroting the stories of the region and not offering as much of his own insight and experiences. It was however interesting to see how he viewed the many places considered sacred to more than just Islam, as the perspective it gives was something I knew of but had not thought would affect him as it did.

The Travels of Marco Polo: Hormuz (Andrew Conte Post #2)

October 1, 2025 / Andrew Conte / 0 Comments

As we discussed in class, Marco Polo’s book is a dramatized version of the truth. While we have deemed this book a travel account, because of its less “character-focused” narrative, it is still a story. While Polo was in prison, he recounted his adventures to the writer Rustichello. Because of Rustichello’s “liberal” flair, he added to the book the experiences of Marco Polo may be overly excessive. Nonetheless, it should be noted, the sheer display of grandeur that is the kingdom of the Great Khan should not be seen to differ too far from the truth. Polo goes on for pages about the splendor of each castle the Khan has, along with all the riches that come with them. Polo goes on for pages about the decor of the area and tries hard to relate the sheer amount of marvels that he has seen to the reader. In addition to the material wonders, Polo is equally impressed by the number of people within the Khan’s great dining hall. With each person, Polo is convinced of the strong community the Khan has made around the imperial domain.

What we can infer from this information is that Polo (as noted in the previous post and in class) is obsessed with material culture since he himself is a merchant and tradesman. However, what is more impressive is Polo’s wonder and admiration for the community of the people serving the Great Khan. Polo comes from a divided Italy that is warring with itself. For him to see a vast sweeping kingdom such as the Khan’s, that is also stable, shows how he can admire another culture based on its values, even though it differs greatly from the religious values he holds.

The Book of Margery Kempe: Constance

October 1, 2025 / Elisa Germanis / 0 Comments

Margery Kempe travels with her fellow pilgrims to Constance despite their disputes in Zierikzee. As the text does not specifically state how they travelled, it can be assumed that like most pilgrims, they walked. Margery does not provide the amount of time this journey took, however she does mention that her fellow pilgrims caused her “much shame and reproof as they went along” during the journey by making her wear a short gown and “some white canvas in a kind of sacking apron” so that “she would be taken for a fool” (98). This visual form of shaming through an outfit that is sexual (as implied by its length) and ugly suggests a cultural importance placed on female appearance in Margery’s society. Her group makes her dress a certain way so she is “taken for a fool,” directly connecting a woman’s visual appearance to how she would be treated (with signs of sexuality or aesthetically unappealing qualities leading to a woman being treated with less respect). Margery details that her group continues to shame her by making her sit at the end of the table when eating, “so that she scarcely dared speak a word” (98). This enforcement of her silence suggests another cultural expectation placed on Margery– for women to be quiet while the men speak.

However, Margery also describes that “the good man of the house where they were staying… would always do whatever he could to cheer her up before them all and sent her what he had from his own meal” (98). Practically, this description implies that Margery and her group of pilgrims were housed and fed (seemingly generously) by a man of Constance, perhaps suggesting an emphasis on religious obligation in Constance. Further, this man’s kind treatment of Margery, despite her group’s annoyance, may suggest kinder or more polite treatment of women in Constance.

Interestingly, while in Constance, Margery describes her experiences with an English friar rather than depicting the religious community in Constance (though the English friar’s presence infers a Catholic presence). Margery shares her strained relationship with her group and the legate offers her religious comfort. The group invites the legate to dinner, where they ask him to command Margery to eat meat like the rest of them and stop weeping so much. The legate responds that he will not order her to not eat meat when “our Lord gives her strength to abstain” or restrain her weeping when “it is the gift of the holy ghost” (100). He adds that “As for her talking I will ask her to stop until she comes somewhere that people will hear her more gladly than you do” (100). These words from the friar/legate once more suggest that in Margery’s culture, she can draw some forms of power and personal autonomy through religion, however, the expectation to remain silent if men do not want to hear her speak is fairly constant, even if she is discussing religion.

The text continues to state that the pilgrims “gave Margery over to the legate,” wanting nothing more to do with her (100). This phrasing that Margery can be “given” to someone like an object reflects another way she lacks control in her society. The primary way the group transfers Margery over to the legate is by taking charge of her money (implying that women for the most part were not meant to hold their own money). The legate “organized for her the exchange of her English money into foreign money,” also suggesting that Margery is reaching territory where English money is no longer accepted as much. Additionally, Margery describes the legate as treating her “as though she had been his mother” (100). This comparison suggests the type of control or responsibilities (monetary) a son might have had over his mother in Margery’s society.

Overall, the near complete lack of detail Margery offers about Constance (including how long she is there) emphasizes that Margery is recording her journey for very personal and religious reasons. While her stop at Constance provides us with little information about the culture there, it does offer insight on Margery’s culture (and its treatment of women). Further, this stop demonstrates a consistent tension throughout Margery’s traveling between patriarchal control and her ability to draw power from religion.

Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Bukhara

October 1, 2025 / Avery Butcher / 0 Comments

Ibn Fadlan and his travelling companions went to the city of Bukhara during their journey. In this section, Fadlan focuses mostly on the people he encounters there. He meets with people in high esteem, such as the Amir and his secretary. The secretary, Jayhani, set up Ibn Fadlan and his people with a place to stay and a servant to attend to their needs. Fadlan then describes the ruler of this place and their meeting. The ruler, Nasr ibn Ahmad, is described as “a beardless youth” (Fadlan 5), so he was a young king. The purpose of their meeting, at least for Ibn Fadlan, was to ask for the amir’s help in ensuring their safe journey. Ibn Fadlan reads him a letter from his own ruler, which commanded the young amir to do three things: “transfer [the revenues of] Arthakhushmithan from al-Fadi ibn Musa…to Ahmad ibn Musa al-Khwarazmi” (Fadlan 5), send a letter to the governor of Khwarazm to let them pass through without any trouble, and lastly, “send a letter to the Gate of the Turk” (Fadlan 5), again, asking him to let them pass without any difficulty. This stop on Ibn Fadlan’s journey was to make sure that the rest of his trip went smoothly. He also writes about the coinage of this city, known as ghitrifi dirhams. These coins were “made of copper, brass and bronze” (Fadlan 6) and he denotes the conversion rate of their coins to the dirhams he is accustomed to. He writes that this currency is used for the dowries of women and for selling slaves and property.

Ibn Fadlan traveled to Bukhara with his group, presumably, on camelback. He discusses in the section prior to this one how he travels on camels. He also mentions the various cities he stopped through on the way to Bukhara. He crossed a desert to get to Amul before reaching Bukhara. Due to their mode of transportation, meaning the camels, they needed to stop intermittently during their travels to let the camels rest. Fadlan also encountered some dangerous people along the way, like “Ibn Qarin the agent of Da’i” (Fadlan 4), where the group needed to hide in the caravan and run away. This person was a political adversary. Ibn Fadlan and his group stayed in Bukhara for 28 days. They left due to the impending winter and headed to Kharasm by boat. They were housed by Jayhani on the orders of the amir.

The purpose of Ibn Fadlan writing about his time spent in Bukhara is to share his experience with his caliph, who sent him on this journey. He purposefully describes his interactions with the people of political power in Bukhara, such as Nasr ibn Ahmad, the amir, and his secretary. He also makes sure to include that he read the letter the caliph assigned Ibn Fadlan to read. He makes it very clear that he completed his task and relayed the required information to the ruler of Bukhara. Also, he includes how both he and the amir talk about the caliph when he is not there: “‘How did you leave our master, the Commander of the Faithful? May God prolong his life and his good health…’ ‘We left him in good health,’ we replied” (Fadlan 5). He intentionally inserts these well-wishes because the caliph will read them after the journey and think fondly of Ibn Fadlan, his group, and this ruler who treated him with respect even in his absence. The overall purpose of Ibn Fadlan’s trip to Bukhara was for political reasons. He needed the ruler of Bukhara’s help in making his journey seamless and to relay the caliph’s orders.