Historical Researches on the wars and sports of the Mongols and Romans: in which elephants and wild beasts were employed or slain, and the remarkable local agreement of history with the remains of such animals found in Europe and Siberia ... With a map and ten plates

Front matter

HISTORICAL RESEARCHES ON THE WARS AND SPORTS OF THE i*tiW3ol0 anU £Soman$: IN WHICH ELEPHANTS and WILD BEASTS WERE EMPLOYED OR SLAIN. AND THE REMARKABLE LOCAL AGREEMENT OF HISTORY WITH THE REMAINS OF SUCH ANIMALS FOUND IN EUROPE AND SIBERIA. CONTAINING Life of Genghis Khan, his unparalleled Conquests. — Life of the Grand Khan Kublai: Life of Tamerlane : their Battles ; splendid Courts; and Grand Hunting Expeditions. — Siberia described in Summer; Mongol Sovereigns ; Invasions from China and Bangalla; Battles; Rich Tombs. — Conquest of Russia by a Grandson of Genghis Khan. — Fisheries of the Walrus, called Mammoth by Siberians : Errors arising therefrom. — Roman Wars and Sports with Elephants and wild beasts. —History of Roman Britain, ending A.D. 427: York the Head Quarters of the Roman Empire for ThreeYears. — British Emperors; powerful Fleet. — Mines; Wealth; Amphitheatres. — Conquest of Gaul and Spain by the British Emperor Maximus.

WITH A MAP AND TEN PLATES. BY JOHN RANKING, RESIDENT UPWARDS OF TWENTY YEARS IN HINDOOSTAN AND RUSSIA. LONDON. PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR AND SOLD BY LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. KINGSBURY, PARBURY, AND ALLEM, LEADEMHALL-STREET. AND G. LAWFORD, SAVIL "-PLACE, CONDUIT-STREET. M.DCCC.XXVI. LONDON. w. m'dowali, printer, pemberton-row, OOUGH-SQUARB.

Preface

. I.N the endeavour to trace historical proofs, that the fossil bones of elephants and wild beasts, which have been found in Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Siberia, and other countries, are the remains of those animals which have been employed in the wars, religious ceremonies, and amphitheatrical sports, of the Romans and the Mon gols, (or Moguls) : the author has been led on by the extensive scenes of conquest, the extraordinary grandeur of the Mogul Khans, the magnificence of their hunting expeditions and court parades, which so far exceed anything ever witnessed in Europe; to make a quarto volume of what he imagined might have been comprised in a small compass. In the progress of these researches, there was such a conviction in the writer's mind of his success in the main object of his work, in con sequence of some extraordinary discoveries which he has made ; that he has been induced to write an epitome of the life of the Siberian Gengbis Khan, the most famous conqueror that ever existed; and whose grandson Kublai, on his completion of the conquest of China, governed and controlled an empire much more extensive and populous

PREFACE.

. IV than was ever swayed by the Romans, when their greatness was at its utmost height*. It will be seen what efforts, during this Grand Khan's life, were made to subdue Hindoostan ; but they were repelled by the vigour of the Afghan Emperors. Eastern Bengal, or Bangalla, was the only part of that country which submitted to Kublai. A description of the very ancient capital (now submerged) of this Bengal, has, fortunately, been met with. Siberia, a name which conveys to most readers the idea but of frost and exile, will be found in summer, (which season only is here described), a most magnificent region in many parts; the cradle of the greatest conquerors recorded in history; a country unknown to Russia till the sixteenth century ; of greater extent than Europe ; and so rich in zoology and botany, that the discovery of America, says Pennant, has scarcely imparted a greater number of objects to the naturalist.

The reader will find that country connected with China and India, from the earliest ages : and in the thirteenth century vast invading armies, composed of Mongols, Persians, Chinese, and Arabs, commanded by Timur Kaan, governor of Yunnan, Eastern Bengal, and other elephant provinces, stationed in Siberia for many years; to contest, upon the banks of the Irtish and higher in the north, the possession of the most powerful monarchy that has ever been known. No notice of these in vasions has been met with in any history of Russia or Siberia. About a century afterwards, Tamerlane, who as a conqueror is * In the year 1280 the family of Genghis Khan possessed, in longitude, from Behring's Straits to the Don; and all Russia was tributary:— In latitude, from the south of China to the Arctic Ocean, (Hindoostan and Arabia excepted).

PREFACE.

. V second only to Genghis Khan, will be found in Siberia and Russia so high in the north, that the morning rays appeared in the east before the sun was entirely set, (the Mahomedan doctors from this pheno menon omitted the evening prayers), with armies that astonish us at their numbers and discipline; and in opposition to monarchs as powerful as himself, but never so fortunate. The splendour of the court, and of the " big wars *, which seemed to make ambition virtue," of this destroying prince, surpass every thing but the fictions of poetry and romance ; and it will be seen how extremely probable it is, that he has, in several instances, been adopted as the prototype of the infernal hero of that great effort of the human intellect, the Paradise Lost. The vanity and folly of ambition were never more forcibly exempli fied than in the instant dissipation, by Tamerlane's successor, of the countless and inestimable gold and jewels, the plunder of Delhi, Bag dat, Damascus, and Bursa; and all to indulge the capricious humour of one of the concubines of the Emir Hadji Seifeddin, whom he had privately married, and whose fatal charms destroyed an empire, which was inferior to none on the earth.

The history of Britain will be found to exhibit that province, while under the power of the Romans, as deemed of the greatest importance to those conquerors ; and which is evinced by the many Emperors who visited and resided in the island, some of them with their fami lies. The obstinate wars with the unsubdued Caledonians lasted to the term of the Roman domination, and attracted the whole Court of * The army, from the extremity of one wing to that of the other, extended be tween three and four leagues. On the approach to Damascus the elephants, in a great rank, marched in front. — See Cb.

PREFACE.

. VI the Empire to York, during the long residence in Britain of the three Emperors, Severus, Caracalla, and Geta, the latter of whom had the command of London. It was in the city of York, which was for three years the head quarters of the Roman Empire, that Severus celebrated a triumph for his victories in Parthia and Arabia. The greatness of several of the British Emperors, their powerful armies, fleet, and their conquests on the continent, attest the wealth of the island; and how justly the loss of its mines, its corn, and very numerous recruits for the Roman armies (on the continent), was de plored. No other person having given a history of Britain with the views of the writer, a stronger light is thrown on that pariE of these researches than has before been collected in a small compass ; and nevertheless every essential historical event, that is extant, is related.

That most noble of the brutes, the elephant, will be found in great numbers, climbing the Alps with Hannibal and Asdrubal ; crossing the mountains of Greece; and fighting with the Roman army under the command of Acilius and Cato, against Antiochus at Thermopylæ ; marching with the Emperor Claudius to the conquest of Britain ; thirty-nine slain in one battle in Spain; a hundred and forty employed in a battle with the Carthaginians, at Palermo; of which a great number was killed by the Romans, and above a hundred were captured. Thirteen hundred elephants at one time, and five hundred on ano ther occasion, were led by the Emperor Mamood against the king of Cashgar, and supported the cold of Tartary, when men and horses per ished by its severity. The numbers possessed by the descendants of Genghis Khan would be incredible, if we did not know that all the

PREFACE.

. VII elephant provinces east of the Burrampooter were under their con trol, and that no monarchs on earth were ever so powerful. The variety and immense numbers of wild beasts destroyed in the circus and amphitheatre are recorded by many historians. Hippo potami, rhinoceroses, camelopards, and almost every known quadru ped were employed in these amusements; sometimes several thousands on a single occasion. On one day, forty elephants were ex hibited in these cruel but grand sports, with which the Roman people were indulged for many centuries. Such respectable authors as Pallas and others having asserted, that all the elephants employed in the armies of the Moguls would not account for the vast number of mammoth's remains found in Siberia, it was indispensably requisite to give sufficient historical proof of the contrary.

The evidence produced in this volume, accompanied with the elucidation of the misunderstandings and consequent exaggerations on this topic, arising from the Siberians calling the walrus, (which they kill in immense numbers), by the name of Mammoth, and Eu ropeans always supposing them to be speaking of elephants, is deemed, by the writer, a satisfactory proof of the errors and misconceptions on this subject: but sufficient conviction regarding the numbers of elephants, could not be conveyed to the reader, without present ing him with the causes for such extraordinary wars and scenes as are here described; and he was therefore necessitated to lay before him those circumstances which have reached us in various scat tered authorities, in order to make out a constructive evidence in those cases, for which direct proof has not been found. In this pursuit many readers will find descriptions and scenes of a nature entirely different from what is usually met with.

PREFACE.

. VIII The various Chapters consist of those extracts of short passages, and abstracts of long ones, and even of whole volumes, which contri bute to prove the point aimed at. The dates and circumstances are sometimes so distant or various as to preclude the possibility of always maintaining a connected narrative like a regular history, nor does the nature of the subject require it. The author considers himself merely as a pioneer, who has, on a very interesting question, endeavoured to open a new road, which may pro bably lead to a more extended knowledge of nature and osman. CONTENTS. Introduction Page 1 CHAP. I. Sketch of the History of the Grand Khans of the Mongols and Tartars, from the Birth of Genghis, A.D. 11 54.-, to the Accession of Kublai, in 1257. Unparalleled Conquests. Genghis's Laws.

Sieges of Samarkand and of Bochara.- Imperial Hunting Circle. A Courailtai, or General Council, held at Toncat. Description of Caracorum, the Capital of the Mongol Empire 15 CHAP. II. Of the Grand Khan Kublai, whose domination exceeded that of Attgustus. Conquest of Manji, or South China; Bangalla; Burmah; fye. Numerous Elephants received in tribute. Rebellion in Siberia. Invasion of Java. Invasion of Japan. • Pomp and Splendour of his Court. Magnificent Hunting Expeditions. Failure of Attempts to conquer Hindostan 53 b CONTENTS. X CHAP. III. Of the Employment of Elephants from the earliest times in China Persia Turan Scythia Tur quest an Gazna Thibet Assam; from which Countries they may have been introduced into Siberia 86 CHAP. IV. Sketch of the Life of Timur Bee, or Tamerlane. His Battles in Siberia Russia Hindostan Syria Georgia A sia Minor.

Elephants. Extraordinary Splendour of his Court. His Death Ruin of his Empire. Embassy from his Son, Shah Rohk, to the Emperor of China. Origin qftlie Gijpsies 109 CHAP. V. Of Siberia. Described in Summer. Fertility. Wild Animals. Magnificent Scenery Mongol Sovereigns Coronation of the Grand Khan Keyuc, at Olougyourt. Invadedfrom China and India beyond the Ganges. Immense Armies stationed on the Irtish, and Battles in the Thirteenth Century. — ■ — Invasions of Tamerlane, Fourteenth Century Tombs; Elephants' Bones, Golden Chess-boards and Men, Golden Plates, Sfc. found in them. Note on the Conquest of Russia by Batou, Grandson of Genghis. Tamerlane invades Russia. His terrible Battle with tlie Khan of Capschac described CONTENTS. XI CHAP. VI. Fossil Remains of Elephants, Rhinoceroses, and Buffaloes, found in Siberia and Russia.

Remarks on the Elephant found in the Ice at the Mouth of the Lena. Sublime Scenery. Ruins of Ancient Forts . Happiness of the Natives. Numerous Errors arising from Europeans having transferred the Word Mammoth, the Siberian Name of the Walrus, to the Remains of Elephants, Whales, Sfc 228 CHAP. VII. Description of the Ancient City of Bangalla, which stood at the Eastern Mouth of the Ganges, now overflowed Bur malt Pegu, Sfc. in the Sixteenth Century ; all of which had been subject to the Grand Khans, in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Bloody Wars for a White Elephant. Siege of Pegu. Deplorable Famine. Immense Treasures . . . 261 CHAP. VIII. Hindostan. Heroism of tlie Indian Ladies. Court Parades of the Emperors Akbar, Jehanghir, and Aurungxeb. Coinbats of Elephants with Horses; of English Mastiffs with Elephants; of Crocodiles with Horses 276 CHAP. IX.

Of Roman and Greek Wars in ivhich Elephants were employed. Marches qf Hannibal and Asdrubal over the Alps, with a b2 CONTENTS. 317 33S great number of Elephants. Arduous march of the Consul Marcius, with Elephants, over the Olympic chain of Mountains in Greece. Of Acilius, with Elephants, over Mount Cor ax. Elephants killed, and some captured by Cato, in the defile of Thermopylæ 291 CHAP. X. Of Roman Amphitheatres, remains of which exist in Britain Italy -France Spain Sicily Greece Syria and other Countries • • 308 CHAP. XL Sports and Combats in the Circus and Amphitheatre; in which were slain, Elephants Rhinoceroses Hippopotami Bears Lions Tigers Hyænas Camelopards Cro codiles Ostriches, 8fc. in surprising numbers. Grand Tri umphal Processions at Rome. Chariots drawn by tamed Lions, Leopards, Tigers, Oryges with one horn, Stags, 8sc. .

CHAP. XII. Remains of Elephants and Wild Beasts found in Italy France Sicily Spain -Germany and other Countries CHAP. XIII. Sketch of the History of Roman Britain, ending A.D. 427. Julius Cæsar. Claudius. Elephants. Britain is visited by many Emperors. York, the Head Quarters of the CONTENTS. XIII Roman Empire for three years. Mines. Wealth.- Temples Baths. Amphitheatres. British Emperors. Carausius; his powerful fleet; he sails to Africa. Conquest of Gaul and Spain by Maximus; he passes the Alps. Invasion of Gaul, Spain, and Italy, by Constantine. Sudden ruin and destruction of Colonies, Towns, Temples, and Palaces 851 CHAP. XIV. Remains of Elephants and Wild Beasts, found in England, Scotland, and Ireland 423 CHAP XV. Description of the living Asiatic and African Elephants, which are noticed by Naturalists.

List of Countries in which Elephants and other Wild Beasts are found. Tusks of fifteen thousand Elephants imported into Great Britain in Eleven Years 440 CHAP. XVI. On the Fisheries in the Arctic seas, of the Walrus, (the Mammoth of Siberia), and the Narwal. Surprising numbers of these Animals. Description of the Walrus by the Emperor Kang-hi 454 CHAP. XVII. On the rapid changes which the surface of the Earth undergoes from Floods, Earthquakes, and other Causes CONTENTS. CHAP. XVIII. Erroneous Notio?is respecting Giants, Mammoths, Extinct Species of Quadrupeds, and Spiral Tusks. Concluding Remarks 4 79 MAP OF ASIA. Explanation of the Flags upon the Map ; showing the Conquests and some of the Places qf Residence of the Family of Genghis Khan, fye 500 LIST Of Books res erred to in this Work , 511 Errata DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. 1 THE Map of Asia is to be placed opposite to the title page of the volume. 2 The Emperor Kublai, in a castle borne by four elephants, to face the title of Chapter II.

This print is composed from the descriptions of Marco Polo, and the histories and plates of Du Halde and the Abbe Grosier. 3 The Portrait of Tamerlane is to face the title of Chapter IV. It is from an Indian coloured drawing, in the possession of the Author; in which the dress is rose-colour; the buttons are emeralds, surrounded with pearls; and the turban is white, striped with gold. 4 An Urn found in a tomb in Siberia, copied from Strahlenberg ; and Tartars travelling, copied from an old book ; to face the title of Chapter V. 5 Defeat of Hannibal by Scipio, at Zama, from Catrou ; to face Chapter XI. 6 Map of the March of Hannibal and Asdrubal from Spain, over the Alps, to Italy. — Hairs of a living Elephant. — Tusks of the Lena Elephant, &c. to face page 295. 7 A Temple for Sacrificing ; an Amphitheatre ; and a Circus, with twenty of the most remarkable animals slain by the Romans ; to face Chap. XI. 8 Plate 1. — Coins of Ancient British Kings, to face page 354. 9 Plate 2. — Medals and Coins of Romans who were in Britain, to face page 385. 10 Plate 3. — Medals for Victories in Britain; and Emperors of Britain; to face page 395. 1 1 The Walrus, or Mammoth ; and the Narwal; to face the title of Chapter

Introduction

. JH OW defective is History, and how small a portion of that which does exist is known to any one person! Rritain was connected with the Romans about four hundred and eighty one-years: of which a space of three hundred and twenty years is a perfect blank. What little is known is collected from the incidental mention of that island by Ro man, and a few Greek authors ; Rritain itself, it is supposed, not hav ing produced any writer whatever. Siberia was above three centuries governed by the Moguls ; and not a word of its history, during that period, is to be found, except what may be gleaned from authors fo reign to that extensive region, — Persians, Chinese, Russians, and Eu ropean missionaries and travellers. The pride of man, in his intellectual attainments, is humbled at the reflection, that he who can "unfold all Nature's law," measure the diameter of the sun, and the distance of the stars, should, at the same time, be frequently as ignorant as the savage of the most important events which occur, during his own existence, on the B

INTRODUCTION.

. 2 atom of the universal frame which he inhabits. Scarcely any one in Europe believed the narrative of Marco Polo. The information received since the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, has proved the truth of that intelligent traveller's book in a remarkable degree. At the death of the Black Prince, Timur Bee had worn the crown of Zagatai about seven years; but his exploits had been con fined to Persia and his wars with the Mogul princes who possessed Siberia. It is, therefore, very probable, that these heroes never heard of the existence of each other ; although a battle, in which ninety thousand men were killed*, would have commanded the admiration of that great conqueror. To this day, in most parts of Africa, the assurance that, in other countries, elephants are tamed and ridden, passes as one of the " white man's liesf."

And can this be wondered at, when my Lord of Gloucester, on examining the grinder of an Elephant, (which animal was dug up at Gloucester, and Ring James sent Lord Her bert of Cherbury to ascertain if it were a giant's), assured Bishop Hakewill, that " he himself was not confident that it was the tooth of a man^?" The discovery of fossil bones of Elephants and certain other animals, has filled the world with amazement; and though history, imperfect as it is, presents us with the solution of the enigma; it * See Mezeray, Historiographer of France with a pension of four thousand livres. He gives the particulars of the two days at Crecy : Hume states the number of both days to be thirty-six thousand and six hundred. f A French vessel touching on the coast of Guinea, some of the crew were taken before the king, who was seated upon a log under a tree with the queen, both naked, attended by four guards with wooden pikes : this was his majesty's Court of Justice.

His enquiry of the strangers was, whether they talked much about him in France? Montesquieu, Persian Letter XLIV. \ Bishop Hakewill's Apology, p. 229.

INTRODUCTION.

. 3 is quite astonishing that no one has hitherto searched into the his torical origin of the most remarkable of these remains*. The ingenuity of the greatest and most respectable authors has been tortured to invent abstruse systems and causes for what ap peared so truly wonderful. They, however, have failed to convince mankind of the truth of their hypotheses. The various theories of the earth have been resorted to. Of those which are supposed to have reference to the subject of this essay, the following are the principal; but they are all involved in such difficulties, that perhaps the mind of no person has ever been satisfactorily convinced of the truth of either of them. Leibnitz supposes that the earth was a luminous fixed star; which, after burning for many ages, was extinguished from a deficiency of combustible matter; and that, when cooled, the moist vapour fell and formed the ocean.

This theory is deemed altogether hypothe tical. Buffon conjectures that the earth was a portion of the sun, de tached from it by the oblique stroke of a comet; and that, being removed to a considerable distance from the sun, it gradually cooled, and the vapours condensed by degrees and fell down in water. But this original formation of the earth has been thought hypothetical by all, and by many fanciful f. It has, however, hence been supposed, that what are now the frozen regions, were once warm enough, from the earth's own heat, to maintain wild Elephants, Rhinoceroses, &c. X- Others have imagined that the obliquity of the ecliptic was * The writer has perhaps been more attracted to this subject than any other person, by the circumstance of his having passed upwards of twenty years of his life in Hindostan and Russia. f See Rees's Cye.

" Earth," " Deluge." Encyc. Brit. "Mammoth." X Pallas at first concluded that the Northern regions had been sufficiently warm to be the native country of Elephants, Rhinoceroses, &c. but, on seeing the spots where bones were B

INTRODUCTION.

. 4 once so great as to include the Arctic Regions within the tropics. But the obliquity being caused by a vibratory, not a rotary, motion; and the mean variation not ever amounting to one mile in a century, renders it impossible that the Arctic Regions could have ever been warmed by that operation, so as to affect this question: for, granting that the obliquity does arise from a rotary motion, it would require more than sixty thousand years to produce a difference of only ten degrees of latitude: and how would this accord with the finding of a Rhinoceros upon the sand of the bank of the river Vilui, in Siberia, Lat. 64°, with the skin upon the head, and the eyelids not destroyed ? A long list of eminent authors attribute the fossil remains of Elephants, and other animals in question, to the great Deluge.

"I give the fact," says Pennant, "let others, more favoured, explain how these animals were transported from their torrid seats to the Arctic Regions. I should have recourse to the only one we have authority for, and think that phenomenon sufficient. I mention this, because modern philosophers look for a later cause : I rest convinced, to avoid contradicting what can never be proved." It is not to be supposed that this amiable man and excellent writer deemed that this fact was required in support of the truth of the deluge, scarcely any one doubting it, and, least of all, a philosopher like Pennant. In addition to holy writ, almost all the historians of the world agree in this catastrophe; and, therefore, the deluge stands not in need that this additional testimonial should be substantiated.

In mat ters of science, truth alone is the object which every one ought to have in view; and, with regard to the present inquiry, the usual interests and customs of society will perhaps be sufficient to bring found in Siberia, he changed his opinion, and thought they could have been transported only by a sudden inundation. Rees's Cye. " Elephants' bones."

INTRODUCTION.

. ■5 the subject home " to the business and bosoms of men," without disturbing either the heavens or the earth. If any one can fairly and completely answer my arguments, I shall admire his ingenuity, and will adopt his better proofs. In the words of Junius, " grateful as I am to the Good Being whose bounty has imparted to me this reasoning intellect, whatever it is ; I hold myself proportionably in debted to him from whose enlightened understanding another ray of knowledge communicates to mine. But neither should I think the most exalted faculties of the human mind a gift worthy of the Di vinity, nor any assistance in the improvement of them a subject of gratitude to my fellow creature, if I were not satisfied, that, really to inform the understanding, corrects and enlarges the heart." To return to the subject: The following opinions have been held: Peter the Great conjectured that some Elephants' bones had been left on Alexander's expedition, when he crossed, as is said, the Don*.

The Emperor was probably not acquainted with the history of the Moguls, as the books on that subject were then scarcely known. Quintus Curtius was the author whose works heated the brain of Charles XII. and, thereby, created the formidable military power of Russia ; with the history of Alexander, the Czar was of course fa miliar. Voltaire gave it as his opinion, that the tusks found in Siberia had been lost by traders. Mr. Tooke says, "if Mammoths lived once where their bones are discovered, it is certain that these countries must formerly have had a very different climate. Did they get thither while alive ? what inducement led them .' have they been drifted thither after death, or are they the bones of sea animalsf ?" Leibnitz * Alexander crossed the Jaxartes, which he supposed was the Tanais. (See Plutarch in Alex, and Q. Curtius). This led the Czar to make that erroneous conjecture. ■j* Russian Empire, Vol. 1, p. 29.

INTRODUCTION.

. 6 and Linnæus are of opinion that the Mammoths' horns might be morse tusks, but they are differently composed *." Marsigli supposed the fossil remains found in Europe were of those animals slain in the Ro man games. Father Martini, who was in China before Du Halde, was of opinion that the fossil bones found in Siberia were the remains of the animals employed in the wars of the Mongols with the Chinese and Indians. Camden says, "the bones of the abundance of Ele phants which Claudius brought with him to England, being casually found, have given rise to several groundless stories f . The reader is requested to keep in mind that the bones of the Mas todon or Mastodonte found in America, on the Ohio and in other places, form no part of these researches ; nor do the fossil remains of Elephants, a few of which have been found on the shores of America.

Some fossil Mastodontes have been found in Europe. The writer is not without hope that he shall be able to meet with something inter esting respecting the early connection of Asia with America, and about these animals, when he is more at leisure ; some very extraordinary indications, relating to periods long before Columbus, having oc curred in the pursuit of these researches. In reading Eastern History the names — Scythians, Tartars, Turks, Mongols, are often used without discrimination ; and without convey ing to the reader a clear idea of what people are particularly alluded to. Scythians, in ancient history, seems to mean, in general, all those people eastward of the Black Sea, from the latitude 40 to the Frozen Ocean. Tartars, in modern times, is a general term applied to all the tribes between the Volga and the Japan Sea, from about the latitude of 40 to the chain of mountains which divides the flat territory from Siberia. * Cuvier, p. 55. f Britannia, p. 347. (sol. ed. 1695).

INTRODUCTION.

. 7 Turks have been known in modern times chiefly by their conquests in Europe; but Turquestan, the head quarters of which has always been in the vicinity of the Altai mountains, a country rich in pastures, horses, and cattle, has from the earliest times produced some of the greatest conquerors known in history. More on this subject will be found in this volume. Mongols are not distinguished in history till Genghis, at once, by his bloody victories, immortalized their name. Their native country is the neighbourhood of Nertshinsk, in Siberia, both on the north and south sides of the chain of mountains. The Russians describe those terrible invaders by the name of Tartars. The armies being formed of all the nations in Tartary, and the leaders not having yet become much known, they were, no doubt, at first called Tartars; and that name has generally been used in Russian history.

The Chinese, in their history, call all their northern invaders by the name of Tartars : Oguz was a Turk, Genghis a Mongol, and Shun-Chi, the conqueror, A. D. 1644, was a Mandshur *. To enter further into this subject would lead to perplexity; all that is aimed at, is to give those readers, to whom Eastern History is not familiar, a guide, however imperfect, through a path which no historian has yet satisfactorily cleared of its impediments. It has been the object of the writer to give as much information as possible on the subject of this essay in a small compass: any one who is desirous of further information may, by means of the references, procure it with facility in European works. With regard to Eastern * Perhaps a great conquest was never undertaken with more honor, or achieved with more wisdom, than that of China by the Mandshur Tartars, who are not an uncivilized peo ple.