Chapter XXV

OF THE WAR THAT AROSE BETWEEN ALAU AND BARCA, AND THE BATTLES
THAT THEY FOUGHT.

It was in the year 1261 of Christ’s incarnation that there arose a great discord between King Alau the Lord of the Tartars of the Levant, and Barca the King of the Tartars of the Ponent; the occasion whereof was a province that lay on the confines of both.{1}

⚜ (They exchange defiances, and make vast preparations.)

And when his preparations were complete, Alau the Lord of Levant set forth with all his people. They marched for many days without any adventure to speak of, and at last they reached a great plain which extends between the IRON GATES and the SEA OF SARAIN.{2} In this plain he pitched his camp in beautiful order; and I can assure you there was many a rich tent and pavilion therein, so that it looked indeed like a camp of the wealthy. Alau said he would tarry there to see if Barca and his people would come; so there they tarried, abiding the enemy’s arrival. This place where the camp was pitched was on the frontier of the two kings. Now let us speak of Barca and his people.{3}

NOTE 1.—“_Que_ marcesoit _à le un et à le autre_;” in Scotch
phrase, “which _marched_ with both.”

NOTE 2.—Respecting the Iron Gates, see vol. i. p. 53. The Caspian
is here called the Sea of _Sarain_, probably for _Sarai_, after the
great city on the Volga. For we find it in the Catalan Map of 1375
termed the Sea of _Sarra_. Otherwise _Sarain_ might have been taken
for some corruption of _Shirwán_. (See vol. i. p. 59, note 8.)

NOTE 3.—The war here spoken of is the same which is mentioned in
the very beginning of the book, as having compelled the two Elder
Polos to travel much further eastward than they had contemplated.

Many jealousies and heart-burnings between the cousins Hulaku and
Barka had existed for several years. The Mameluke Sultan Bibars
seems also to have stimulated Barka to hostility with Hulaku. War
broke out in 1262, when 30,000 men from Kipchak, under the command
of Nogai, passed Derbend into the province of Shirwan. They were
at first successful, but afterwards defeated. In December, Hulaku,
at the head of a great army, passed Derbend, and routed the forces
which met him. Ábáká, son of Hulaku, was sent on with a large
force, and came upon the opulent camp of Barka beyond the Terek.
They were revelling in its plunder, when Barka rallied his troops
and came upon the army of Ábáká, driving them southward again,
across the frozen river. The ice broke and many perished. Ábáká
escaped, chased by Barka to Derbend. Hulaku returned to Tabriz and
made great preparations for vengeance, but matters were apparently
never carried further. Hence Polo’s is anything but an accurate
account of the matter.

The following extract from Wassáf’s History, referring to this war,
is a fine sample of that prince of rigmarole:

“In the winter of 662 (A.D. 1262–1263) when the Almighty Artist had
covered the River of Derbend with plates of silver, and the Furrier
of the Winter had clad the hills and heaths in ermine; the river
being frozen hard as a rock to the depth of a spear’s length, an
army of Mongols went forth at the command of Barka Aghul, filthy as
Ghúls and Devils of the dry-places, and in numbers countless as the
rain-drops,” etc. etc. (_Golden Horde_, p. 163 _seqq._; _Ilchan._
I. 214 _seqq._; _Q. R._ p. 393 _seqq._; _Q. Makrizi_, I. 170;
_Hammer’s Wassáf_, p. 93.)