The Horse and The Jaguar
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The Horse and the Jaguar...18 Dayisud Tngri and Kukulkan
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Ah Kom Xiu stood in front of the pavilion that would soon accommodate Ahau Cuat Cocom, the King of Mayapan, and the lords and generals he had assembled to participate in the destruction of the Khanate of Songghumal. From his vantage on the slopes of the mountains he could survey the plains, fields, pastures and forests that stretched from the foothills to the sea beyond. The majority of the Mayan army was camped in the nearby valleys so the King’s guards could camp on this land surrounding the prominence where the pavilion was set. The Lord of the Mayans would have an unobstructed view of the city of the Khan and the surrounding countryside.[/FONT]
Many years before, long before his recent mission to the villages of the other sea, Ah Kom Xiu had been to this place with traders from the city of Nohmul. At that time, open woodlands covered most of the lands, interspersed with fields of grass and small farming plots and scattered villages. Now he could see large cultivated areas, open fields with the strange animals; horses and cattle and large settlements dotting the landscape. A road led from the distant bay southeast of his location and across his field of view to hill in the middle distance. There, sin-e Neislel, the future capitol of the Khanate, was under construction. From there, roads led to the northwest across the isthmus, to the town of Asi ügei on the other coast. Another road led towards the mountains where they were camped, but disappeared behind the hills as it approached the quarries where the stone for the city was cut.
Although Xiu was unaware of it, the city being built below him was smaller than an ordinary town in the empire of Kublai Khan. To his eyes he saw a large city rising whole from the ground, one capable of accommodating a huge population. But sin-e Neislel was not a city that he would be familiar with. No great pyramid temples rose to the sky, indeed, few overtopped the walls. There was a distinct geometry in which the landscape had been changed to accommodate the demands of the square plan. Along the unfinished walls, he could count the eight towers per side. In the center of each wall was a great gate which was obviously heavily fortified, although he had never seen defenses such as these. From the north, south and east, streets ran toward the center of the city, where the temple plaza should have been.
At the center and continuing all the way to the western walls was what he could only think of as a second city. Its walls were taller and its walls were complete. Only the western gate and a gate in the walls facing the square in the center of the city seemed to provide access. Here were the largest number of completed buildings with brilliant, peaked red roofs and eaves of gold which glittered in the afternoon sun. Between the main group of buildings and the western gate was a large grassy field with occasional structures and a winding path, lake and stream. Here he expected horses to be pastured.
This, he rightly determined, was the house of the Khan, as large as a small city. The main city walls were nearly complete on the north and east sides but had only been completed in the area of the west gate, where the palace compound merged with the outer defenses. The southern wall indeed had several openings that the defenders had hastily closed with wooden ramparts. Aside from the palace, only the streets of the city had been laid out. Most of the land had been cleared and was dotted with construction equipment.
Songghumal knew that a large Mayan army had appeared on his border and that it had passed into the mountains to this north. Orders had been sent to Orghui in Asi Ügei to come to the aid of the capital if his countryside was clear and safe. Orghui, having received intelligence that there was a Mayan presence in his territory and moving in his direction could only send a small detachment of horsemen to the Khan.
The Khan had sent orders to Chan Chan demanding that troops be sent north by the Governor, but he now received word that Chun Bo Fen had still not returned to the city and that his ministers were unable to respond to the Khan’s request. His next emissary did not return. He knew he was on his own and would have to deal with Chimor later, if he survived the current challenge.
There were two additional thorns in Songghumal’s side. An old Ngöbe shaman from a village to the east and his youthful headman were fomenting discontent in the native community. Nu-gro Ti-roon was a respected shaman renowned for his relationship with the Ngöbe spirits. He was said to walk the forest with the trees, swim the deep sea with the fish, and sleep in the clouds with the sun. The headman, Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba, was the youngest of his position and full of vigor and enthusiasm for his people. They were an unusual looking, but charismatic pair, the grizzled shaman who knew the spirits and the virile headman who saw a world of opportunities. Both had great power and influence within the Ngöbe community and neither was happy with what they saw.
Mu-ri had been part of the Khan’s ill-fated invasion of Kaminaljuyu and escaped with his life and a scar from a Mayan axe on his left chest. As leader of one of Songghumal’s Ngöbe units and headman of his village, he felt great responsibility for his men and had felt tremendous grief at the loss of so many of his best villagers. He questioned the wisdom of the actions of the Khan.
Nu-gro, the old shaman, had spent much time studying with the Mongol Shamans, Buddhist monks and other religious leaders. He was troubled by the fractiousness of their gods. He could not understand why they had so many claiming to be the supreme god. There were at least two who claimed to be the only god and demanded that the other gods be false. How could a god be false? A god was a god, a spirit was a spirit, and the forces of nature simply existed independent of human discussion of their reality. The very idea of only one god was absurd, how could he keep track of all the things going on in the world. There could be only one chief god yet these people had many chief gods. It told him that the heavens of the Asians were in turmoil, and that could not be good for the Ngöbe.
Certainly the Khan had brought great prosperity to the Ngöbe and had given them new skills and animals. Their pottery, always of high quality, had gained a reputation as the best and most beautiful in their trade network. Their cloth exceeded that of any that could be seen elsewhere except for the fine woolens from the far south. They were now casting bronze vessels and fittings for the Khan’s ships and their metalwork had exceeded any that they knew of. Their boats enabled them to fish far out at sea than they could before the Mongols arrived thanks to the sails and new methods of seamanship the Asians had brought.
All this and more had benefited the Ngöbe and the other native peoples of the Isthmus, but the cost had been unexpectedly high. They had gone to war with people who had done them no harm, who were no threat and were not even neighbors. They could not understand why the Khan, with peace, prosperity and power in the Ngöbe lands, wanted more lands so far away? Why had he raised a powerful enemy with a purposeless and unjustified attack? His actions had hurt the Ngöbe people and soon the mighty and terrible Maya would descend upon them.
These two Ngöbe leaders had gathered a following among the villages. They advocated that the Ngöbe, who far outnumbered the Asians, should step back from loyalty to the Khan and his people. The Ngöbe, they advised, should keep that which was good and valuable but not engage in Khan’s adventures. They should live peacefully with the Mongols but not ne a part of them.
Discontent had been spreading among the Ngöbe community before the abortive expedition against Kaminaljuyu and the ability of the headman and the shaman to bring that disaffection to the fore had caused significant changes in the Khan’s surroundings. Flocks of sheep and herds of cattle had been moved far from the capitol, the corvees working on the city had experienced a drop in production and quality of work. Most troublesome to the Khan was that most of the native units had returned to their villages and farms after the retreat from Kaminaljuyu had not responded to his call to arms.
The Ngöbe had in fact decided to let the Khan and his men survive by their own wits. Their common thought was that this was not their war and they were not going to fight it. They would fight if the war came to them, but they would fight for the Ngöbe and the Ngöbe spirits, not Songghumal.
There was additional grumbling in the Uyghur ranks as well. Somewhat unfocused and diffuse, it centered on the disparity between the many Uyghur troops and leaders, and the few Mongol troops and leaders. Since the death of Ike Mense, the Khan had relied far more on his Mongol aides and the Uyghurs felt the growing distance between themselves and their leader. The impression that Mongols were receiving more favors and preferential treatment in duties and rewards was widespread. Their primary advocate to the Khan was his adopted son, Nugün Ürije. Most of his training had been supervised and planed by Ike Mense, His mentors had been accomplished Uyghur warriors and he had spent most of his time with Uyghur units. He had developed a great fondness for the Uyghur troops. When he had been called to Sin-e Neislel he camped with his Uyghur unit within the walls, nit a Mongol unit.
On the morning of September 26th 1300, five days after the proclamation of the Dōngbù Emperor, thousands of Li to the south, Songghumal stood on the northern walls of his unfinished capital and watched the army of Ahau Cuat Cocom descend from the hills. The few re-enforcements from Asi ügei had arrived the night before and virtually all the native troops had melted into the countryside. The garrison consisted of about 3,500 men, mostly Uyghur and Mongol with a few other nationalities. A few hundred monks and other clerics and functionaries as well as many women and children, families of the troops, rounded out the population of the city.
The Ngöbe troops he had trained and armed had gathered in force some distance away. They were there to protect their villages and people whoever the victor in the coming battle might be. They would not come to the Khan’s defense.
As he stood on his tower and watched the Mayan host assemble in the pastures before the city, Songghumal did not know that the Ngöbe had sent representatives to Ahau Cuat Cocom. It was well known among the indigenous population that Mayan wars were fought between kings and armies. The ordinary population was rarely, if ever, harmed. The reason was purely economic since cities and fields were useless without people to make them productive. It was only logical to preserve those who generated the wealth in order to capitalize on that wealth.
The previous morning, in the pavilion on the mountainside, Nu-gro Ti-roon and Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba had promised Ahau Cuat Cocom that the Ngöbe would not take part in the defense of the city, nor would they fight against the Maya. They only wished to return to their fields and nets and workshops to grow food, catch fish and make goods for trade with the cities of the Mayapan League.
The king sent them back without a corresponding promise but sent them with great gifts and an escort of soldiers. Once within sight of their own people, the soldiers bowed to the two Ngöbe who walked back to their camp. Once the two had rejoined the Ngöbe, their Mayan escort wheeled and returned to the king at a trot. The Shaman and the Chief, although not carrying a promise of safety, felt confident that the Mayans would leave them alone and concentrate on the Khan.
For the rest of the day Songghumal watched the Mayan army advance the thirty li from the cover of the foothills. Riders sent out to scout the enemy force had returned and estimates of Mayan numbers were daunting. Ahau Cuat Cocom commanded a huge army of over 40,000 men. They had no siege machines and seemed to be composed entirely of archers and infantry. The Khan, outnumbered more than tenfold, barely had enough to man his defenses.
He reordered his troops to concentrate on the defense of the palace where the walls were at least complete and had less length than the city walls. He knew that a force of this size would be able to breach the city walls to the south easily, overpowering the wooden palisades. The north and east would not be as simple since they had no machines to tear down the wall. The Mayans would rely on soldiers coming in from the south and opening the other gates so their compatriots could pour into the city. The Mayans would then be trapped between the completed defenses of the palace in the open ground of the main city. It would be a fine killing ground for the Mongol archers. Songghumal ordered the western walls reduced where they joined the palace precinct in order to isolate the palace from the city defenses. He knew the western gate would be his major weakness but he believed that the enemy would go for the seemingly easy pickings on the other three sides. He believed the Mayans would be somewhat out of their depth facing fortifications of this sort.
His catapults, trebuchets, cannon and other ranged weapons were placed within and on the palace grounds and on the walls. Cannon were placed in the palace grounds where they could not be seen and were set to a steep angle so their shot would arc over the palace walls and fall on the Mayans in the city beyond. Token forces were set on the city walls to keep watch and to tend fires that were meant to give the impression of a much stronger defensive force. They watched as night fell and the campfires of the Mayan army slowly extended until they nearly surrounded the city.
During the night the balance of the Mayans descended and joined the forces already camped outside the city. When the sun rose it revealed a wall of Mayan soldiers surrounding the capital of the Khanate. The host arrayed against the Khan was uniformly strong and Songghumal and his officers could not identify a weak point in the surrounding army. While the Mayans lacked catapults and other siege machines they were armed with long pikes and what appeared to be swords and clubs. Their officers were brilliantly dressed with elaborate helmets, although there was no metal armor to be seen.
The major body of troops was arrayed against the East wall and Songghumal took stock from the east gate. From behind the ranks a great platform was elevated the army. On it stood a statue of one of the Mayan gods covered in brilliantly colored cloth and adorned with fantastic feathers and gold decorations. It towered above the men as it began to move forward. Behind it other platforms appeared which carried other gods, similarly attired. As the fantastic palanquin moved through the mass of the Mayan troops who waived their weapons and shields, the ranks parted to allow the platform to advance to the front. Songghumal was stunned to see that the platform was escorted by a corps of cavalry and that the palanquin was borne on the backs of four horses.
This great palanquin was borne to the top of a small hill between the city and the enemy troops. There it was joined by the smaller palanquins which positioned themselves a respectful distance from the great one.
The Khan had turned to make a comment to one of his commanders when his attention was directed back to the display before the city. The god on the horse borne palanquin had turned to face the Mayan army and haranguing them. It was no god, but it probably was the King.
The speech could not be understood due to distance and language, but Songghumal could recognize the tone. This would be the speech to rouse the fight within the hearts of the soldiers. When it ended and the king turned back toward the city there was a great din of drums and conch shell horns which rose from the forces in front of the city and spread around to the flanking troops until the entire capital was enveloped in waves of percussion.
Songghumal ordered the outer walls abandoned and all troops back to the palace.
As expected, the southern wall was quickly breached and the eastern and northern gates opened. To the west, the Mayans threw themselves against the gate, taking severe losses from arrows, bombs and stones. The defenders were surprised that the Mayan bows had almost the range that the Mongols enjoyed and their accuracy was impressive. As the invaders poured through the southern wall and the open gates into the city, Mongol archers inflicted massive damage on the Mayans trapped between the walls, but they kept coming. Enemy archers who had mounted the city walls were able to reach within the palace with their arrows. The cannon were used with devastating effect to destroy the city walls in an attempt to deny that high ground to the enemy. The collapsing walls killed not only the archers who had mounted them but many soldiers on the ground below them. The Mayans attempted to hurl their containers of bees and wasps over the walls, but with minimal effect. Most of them smashed against the defenses and were as much trouble to the attackers below as the defenders above.
Ah Kom Xiu had learned that the buildings of the palace compound were built of wood, and not stone. He ordered some of the archers on the southern side to fire at the palace buildings from behind the cover of the unfinished ramparts. Seeing the arrows landing on the colorful roof he instructed them to set fire to the arrows and fire at the exposed parts of the building below the eaves. It took some time, but eventually the timbers of the palace ignited and soon the flames were burning out of control.
The battle raged for several hours, but it was apparent that the city would not fall today. Ahau Cuat Cocom recalled his army to the safety of their camp. As dusk fell, only the sounds of dying men could be heard from the killing ground of the city, which slowly went silent. Within the palace walls, the fire burned for most of the night. Songghumal was far more concerned with the storehouses and armories than his bedchamber. The military structures remained fairly intact but the residence and administrative buildings were reduced to ash.
The Mayans had taken far greater losses than the Khan. Over eight thousand Mayan bodies littered the unfinished city. Within the palace precinct, Songghumal counted 350 of his soldiers dead. He didn’t ask how many of the non-combatants had been lost, although they had been the primary fire fighters.
With a fifth of his army dead, the camp of Ahau Cuat Cocom no longer surrounded the city. There were gaps in his line on all sides, but he still had an immense advantage. He would not give up yet. He and his army rested in preparation for the next day.
The Khan took stock of his situation. Very little powder was left for the cannon, arrows were nearly depleted (he had men gathering the Mayan arrows to be returned to their makers in the morning), several catapult had been destroyed by the fire but his trebuchets had survived. There were only a handful of bombs remaining. Many wounded men would be of limited value tomorrow. Food and water was not a problem, but fodder for the horses would soon be. He summoned Nugün Ürije to his tent.
The boy, when asked by the Khan, gave the same grim assessment the khan had reached. Songghumal told his son he must take the remaining horses and horsemen and make for Asi ügei to support Biskigür. The prince objected strongly saying that his place was fighting by his father’s side. As pleased as this made the Khan, it was an unacceptable response. He wanted his son to survive to continue the khanate, and that could not happen here. The days of Alagh could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Megujin, who had commanded troops in his younger days had counseled the Khan on this plan and eventually convinced the prince that this was the wisest course of action for the Khanate and the legacy of Songghumal.
Nugün Ürije would take most of the horses and escape through the west gate, riding as fast as possible through the gaps in the Mayan lines and go to Biskigür. The prince’s horsemen were mostly Uyghurs with a few Mongol officers. As they prepared beneath the west gate, the Khan came to bid farewell to his son. With him came Megujin, carrying a package. As the troop mounted, the Khan gave his son the parcel and told him to wait until he was well clear of the enemy to open it. Nugün Ürije accepted the gift promising to do what his father said. “My spirits go with you” said the Khan and the gates were opened and the horsemen rode out of the city at a full gallop.
They encountered a few Mayan pickets who were soon dispatched and by sunrise were far along the road to Asi Ügei. Stopping to rest the horses, Nugün Ürije walked a bit away from his men and opened the package given to him by the Khan. It was the helmet of Songghumal, the crown of the Khanate.
Chapter 18
Dayisud Tngri and Kukulkan
Dayisud Tngri and Kukulkan
Ah Kom Xiu stood in front of the pavilion that would soon accommodate Ahau Cuat Cocom, the King of Mayapan, and the lords and generals he had assembled to participate in the destruction of the Khanate of Songghumal. From his vantage on the slopes of the mountains he could survey the plains, fields, pastures and forests that stretched from the foothills to the sea beyond. The majority of the Mayan army was camped in the nearby valleys so the King’s guards could camp on this land surrounding the prominence where the pavilion was set. The Lord of the Mayans would have an unobstructed view of the city of the Khan and the surrounding countryside.[/FONT]
Many years before, long before his recent mission to the villages of the other sea, Ah Kom Xiu had been to this place with traders from the city of Nohmul. At that time, open woodlands covered most of the lands, interspersed with fields of grass and small farming plots and scattered villages. Now he could see large cultivated areas, open fields with the strange animals; horses and cattle and large settlements dotting the landscape. A road led from the distant bay southeast of his location and across his field of view to hill in the middle distance. There, sin-e Neislel, the future capitol of the Khanate, was under construction. From there, roads led to the northwest across the isthmus, to the town of Asi ügei on the other coast. Another road led towards the mountains where they were camped, but disappeared behind the hills as it approached the quarries where the stone for the city was cut.
Although Xiu was unaware of it, the city being built below him was smaller than an ordinary town in the empire of Kublai Khan. To his eyes he saw a large city rising whole from the ground, one capable of accommodating a huge population. But sin-e Neislel was not a city that he would be familiar with. No great pyramid temples rose to the sky, indeed, few overtopped the walls. There was a distinct geometry in which the landscape had been changed to accommodate the demands of the square plan. Along the unfinished walls, he could count the eight towers per side. In the center of each wall was a great gate which was obviously heavily fortified, although he had never seen defenses such as these. From the north, south and east, streets ran toward the center of the city, where the temple plaza should have been.
At the center and continuing all the way to the western walls was what he could only think of as a second city. Its walls were taller and its walls were complete. Only the western gate and a gate in the walls facing the square in the center of the city seemed to provide access. Here were the largest number of completed buildings with brilliant, peaked red roofs and eaves of gold which glittered in the afternoon sun. Between the main group of buildings and the western gate was a large grassy field with occasional structures and a winding path, lake and stream. Here he expected horses to be pastured.
This, he rightly determined, was the house of the Khan, as large as a small city. The main city walls were nearly complete on the north and east sides but had only been completed in the area of the west gate, where the palace compound merged with the outer defenses. The southern wall indeed had several openings that the defenders had hastily closed with wooden ramparts. Aside from the palace, only the streets of the city had been laid out. Most of the land had been cleared and was dotted with construction equipment.
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Songghumal knew that a large Mayan army had appeared on his border and that it had passed into the mountains to this north. Orders had been sent to Orghui in Asi Ügei to come to the aid of the capital if his countryside was clear and safe. Orghui, having received intelligence that there was a Mayan presence in his territory and moving in his direction could only send a small detachment of horsemen to the Khan.
The Khan had sent orders to Chan Chan demanding that troops be sent north by the Governor, but he now received word that Chun Bo Fen had still not returned to the city and that his ministers were unable to respond to the Khan’s request. His next emissary did not return. He knew he was on his own and would have to deal with Chimor later, if he survived the current challenge.
There were two additional thorns in Songghumal’s side. An old Ngöbe shaman from a village to the east and his youthful headman were fomenting discontent in the native community. Nu-gro Ti-roon was a respected shaman renowned for his relationship with the Ngöbe spirits. He was said to walk the forest with the trees, swim the deep sea with the fish, and sleep in the clouds with the sun. The headman, Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba, was the youngest of his position and full of vigor and enthusiasm for his people. They were an unusual looking, but charismatic pair, the grizzled shaman who knew the spirits and the virile headman who saw a world of opportunities. Both had great power and influence within the Ngöbe community and neither was happy with what they saw.
Mu-ri had been part of the Khan’s ill-fated invasion of Kaminaljuyu and escaped with his life and a scar from a Mayan axe on his left chest. As leader of one of Songghumal’s Ngöbe units and headman of his village, he felt great responsibility for his men and had felt tremendous grief at the loss of so many of his best villagers. He questioned the wisdom of the actions of the Khan.
Nu-gro, the old shaman, had spent much time studying with the Mongol Shamans, Buddhist monks and other religious leaders. He was troubled by the fractiousness of their gods. He could not understand why they had so many claiming to be the supreme god. There were at least two who claimed to be the only god and demanded that the other gods be false. How could a god be false? A god was a god, a spirit was a spirit, and the forces of nature simply existed independent of human discussion of their reality. The very idea of only one god was absurd, how could he keep track of all the things going on in the world. There could be only one chief god yet these people had many chief gods. It told him that the heavens of the Asians were in turmoil, and that could not be good for the Ngöbe.
Certainly the Khan had brought great prosperity to the Ngöbe and had given them new skills and animals. Their pottery, always of high quality, had gained a reputation as the best and most beautiful in their trade network. Their cloth exceeded that of any that could be seen elsewhere except for the fine woolens from the far south. They were now casting bronze vessels and fittings for the Khan’s ships and their metalwork had exceeded any that they knew of. Their boats enabled them to fish far out at sea than they could before the Mongols arrived thanks to the sails and new methods of seamanship the Asians had brought.
All this and more had benefited the Ngöbe and the other native peoples of the Isthmus, but the cost had been unexpectedly high. They had gone to war with people who had done them no harm, who were no threat and were not even neighbors. They could not understand why the Khan, with peace, prosperity and power in the Ngöbe lands, wanted more lands so far away? Why had he raised a powerful enemy with a purposeless and unjustified attack? His actions had hurt the Ngöbe people and soon the mighty and terrible Maya would descend upon them.
These two Ngöbe leaders had gathered a following among the villages. They advocated that the Ngöbe, who far outnumbered the Asians, should step back from loyalty to the Khan and his people. The Ngöbe, they advised, should keep that which was good and valuable but not engage in Khan’s adventures. They should live peacefully with the Mongols but not ne a part of them.
Discontent had been spreading among the Ngöbe community before the abortive expedition against Kaminaljuyu and the ability of the headman and the shaman to bring that disaffection to the fore had caused significant changes in the Khan’s surroundings. Flocks of sheep and herds of cattle had been moved far from the capitol, the corvees working on the city had experienced a drop in production and quality of work. Most troublesome to the Khan was that most of the native units had returned to their villages and farms after the retreat from Kaminaljuyu had not responded to his call to arms.
The Ngöbe had in fact decided to let the Khan and his men survive by their own wits. Their common thought was that this was not their war and they were not going to fight it. They would fight if the war came to them, but they would fight for the Ngöbe and the Ngöbe spirits, not Songghumal.
There was additional grumbling in the Uyghur ranks as well. Somewhat unfocused and diffuse, it centered on the disparity between the many Uyghur troops and leaders, and the few Mongol troops and leaders. Since the death of Ike Mense, the Khan had relied far more on his Mongol aides and the Uyghurs felt the growing distance between themselves and their leader. The impression that Mongols were receiving more favors and preferential treatment in duties and rewards was widespread. Their primary advocate to the Khan was his adopted son, Nugün Ürije. Most of his training had been supervised and planed by Ike Mense, His mentors had been accomplished Uyghur warriors and he had spent most of his time with Uyghur units. He had developed a great fondness for the Uyghur troops. When he had been called to Sin-e Neislel he camped with his Uyghur unit within the walls, nit a Mongol unit.
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The Ngöbe troops he had trained and armed had gathered in force some distance away. They were there to protect their villages and people whoever the victor in the coming battle might be. They would not come to the Khan’s defense.
As he stood on his tower and watched the Mayan host assemble in the pastures before the city, Songghumal did not know that the Ngöbe had sent representatives to Ahau Cuat Cocom. It was well known among the indigenous population that Mayan wars were fought between kings and armies. The ordinary population was rarely, if ever, harmed. The reason was purely economic since cities and fields were useless without people to make them productive. It was only logical to preserve those who generated the wealth in order to capitalize on that wealth.
The previous morning, in the pavilion on the mountainside, Nu-gro Ti-roon and Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba had promised Ahau Cuat Cocom that the Ngöbe would not take part in the defense of the city, nor would they fight against the Maya. They only wished to return to their fields and nets and workshops to grow food, catch fish and make goods for trade with the cities of the Mayapan League.
The king sent them back without a corresponding promise but sent them with great gifts and an escort of soldiers. Once within sight of their own people, the soldiers bowed to the two Ngöbe who walked back to their camp. Once the two had rejoined the Ngöbe, their Mayan escort wheeled and returned to the king at a trot. The Shaman and the Chief, although not carrying a promise of safety, felt confident that the Mayans would leave them alone and concentrate on the Khan.
-----
For the rest of the day Songghumal watched the Mayan army advance the thirty li from the cover of the foothills. Riders sent out to scout the enemy force had returned and estimates of Mayan numbers were daunting. Ahau Cuat Cocom commanded a huge army of over 40,000 men. They had no siege machines and seemed to be composed entirely of archers and infantry. The Khan, outnumbered more than tenfold, barely had enough to man his defenses.
He reordered his troops to concentrate on the defense of the palace where the walls were at least complete and had less length than the city walls. He knew that a force of this size would be able to breach the city walls to the south easily, overpowering the wooden palisades. The north and east would not be as simple since they had no machines to tear down the wall. The Mayans would rely on soldiers coming in from the south and opening the other gates so their compatriots could pour into the city. The Mayans would then be trapped between the completed defenses of the palace in the open ground of the main city. It would be a fine killing ground for the Mongol archers. Songghumal ordered the western walls reduced where they joined the palace precinct in order to isolate the palace from the city defenses. He knew the western gate would be his major weakness but he believed that the enemy would go for the seemingly easy pickings on the other three sides. He believed the Mayans would be somewhat out of their depth facing fortifications of this sort.
His catapults, trebuchets, cannon and other ranged weapons were placed within and on the palace grounds and on the walls. Cannon were placed in the palace grounds where they could not be seen and were set to a steep angle so their shot would arc over the palace walls and fall on the Mayans in the city beyond. Token forces were set on the city walls to keep watch and to tend fires that were meant to give the impression of a much stronger defensive force. They watched as night fell and the campfires of the Mayan army slowly extended until they nearly surrounded the city.
During the night the balance of the Mayans descended and joined the forces already camped outside the city. When the sun rose it revealed a wall of Mayan soldiers surrounding the capital of the Khanate. The host arrayed against the Khan was uniformly strong and Songghumal and his officers could not identify a weak point in the surrounding army. While the Mayans lacked catapults and other siege machines they were armed with long pikes and what appeared to be swords and clubs. Their officers were brilliantly dressed with elaborate helmets, although there was no metal armor to be seen.
The major body of troops was arrayed against the East wall and Songghumal took stock from the east gate. From behind the ranks a great platform was elevated the army. On it stood a statue of one of the Mayan gods covered in brilliantly colored cloth and adorned with fantastic feathers and gold decorations. It towered above the men as it began to move forward. Behind it other platforms appeared which carried other gods, similarly attired. As the fantastic palanquin moved through the mass of the Mayan troops who waived their weapons and shields, the ranks parted to allow the platform to advance to the front. Songghumal was stunned to see that the platform was escorted by a corps of cavalry and that the palanquin was borne on the backs of four horses.
This great palanquin was borne to the top of a small hill between the city and the enemy troops. There it was joined by the smaller palanquins which positioned themselves a respectful distance from the great one.
The Khan had turned to make a comment to one of his commanders when his attention was directed back to the display before the city. The god on the horse borne palanquin had turned to face the Mayan army and haranguing them. It was no god, but it probably was the King.
The speech could not be understood due to distance and language, but Songghumal could recognize the tone. This would be the speech to rouse the fight within the hearts of the soldiers. When it ended and the king turned back toward the city there was a great din of drums and conch shell horns which rose from the forces in front of the city and spread around to the flanking troops until the entire capital was enveloped in waves of percussion.
Songghumal ordered the outer walls abandoned and all troops back to the palace.
As expected, the southern wall was quickly breached and the eastern and northern gates opened. To the west, the Mayans threw themselves against the gate, taking severe losses from arrows, bombs and stones. The defenders were surprised that the Mayan bows had almost the range that the Mongols enjoyed and their accuracy was impressive. As the invaders poured through the southern wall and the open gates into the city, Mongol archers inflicted massive damage on the Mayans trapped between the walls, but they kept coming. Enemy archers who had mounted the city walls were able to reach within the palace with their arrows. The cannon were used with devastating effect to destroy the city walls in an attempt to deny that high ground to the enemy. The collapsing walls killed not only the archers who had mounted them but many soldiers on the ground below them. The Mayans attempted to hurl their containers of bees and wasps over the walls, but with minimal effect. Most of them smashed against the defenses and were as much trouble to the attackers below as the defenders above.
Ah Kom Xiu had learned that the buildings of the palace compound were built of wood, and not stone. He ordered some of the archers on the southern side to fire at the palace buildings from behind the cover of the unfinished ramparts. Seeing the arrows landing on the colorful roof he instructed them to set fire to the arrows and fire at the exposed parts of the building below the eaves. It took some time, but eventually the timbers of the palace ignited and soon the flames were burning out of control.
The battle raged for several hours, but it was apparent that the city would not fall today. Ahau Cuat Cocom recalled his army to the safety of their camp. As dusk fell, only the sounds of dying men could be heard from the killing ground of the city, which slowly went silent. Within the palace walls, the fire burned for most of the night. Songghumal was far more concerned with the storehouses and armories than his bedchamber. The military structures remained fairly intact but the residence and administrative buildings were reduced to ash.
The Mayans had taken far greater losses than the Khan. Over eight thousand Mayan bodies littered the unfinished city. Within the palace precinct, Songghumal counted 350 of his soldiers dead. He didn’t ask how many of the non-combatants had been lost, although they had been the primary fire fighters.
With a fifth of his army dead, the camp of Ahau Cuat Cocom no longer surrounded the city. There were gaps in his line on all sides, but he still had an immense advantage. He would not give up yet. He and his army rested in preparation for the next day.
The Khan took stock of his situation. Very little powder was left for the cannon, arrows were nearly depleted (he had men gathering the Mayan arrows to be returned to their makers in the morning), several catapult had been destroyed by the fire but his trebuchets had survived. There were only a handful of bombs remaining. Many wounded men would be of limited value tomorrow. Food and water was not a problem, but fodder for the horses would soon be. He summoned Nugün Ürije to his tent.
The boy, when asked by the Khan, gave the same grim assessment the khan had reached. Songghumal told his son he must take the remaining horses and horsemen and make for Asi ügei to support Biskigür. The prince objected strongly saying that his place was fighting by his father’s side. As pleased as this made the Khan, it was an unacceptable response. He wanted his son to survive to continue the khanate, and that could not happen here. The days of Alagh could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Megujin, who had commanded troops in his younger days had counseled the Khan on this plan and eventually convinced the prince that this was the wisest course of action for the Khanate and the legacy of Songghumal.
Nugün Ürije would take most of the horses and escape through the west gate, riding as fast as possible through the gaps in the Mayan lines and go to Biskigür. The prince’s horsemen were mostly Uyghurs with a few Mongol officers. As they prepared beneath the west gate, the Khan came to bid farewell to his son. With him came Megujin, carrying a package. As the troop mounted, the Khan gave his son the parcel and told him to wait until he was well clear of the enemy to open it. Nugün Ürije accepted the gift promising to do what his father said. “My spirits go with you” said the Khan and the gates were opened and the horsemen rode out of the city at a full gallop.
They encountered a few Mayan pickets who were soon dispatched and by sunrise were far along the road to Asi Ügei. Stopping to rest the horses, Nugün Ürije walked a bit away from his men and opened the package given to him by the Khan. It was the helmet of Songghumal, the crown of the Khanate.
The Horse and the Jaguar...19 The Fall of The Khan
Songghumal Khan climbed the walls above the western gate and searched the dark areas between the Mayan campfires trying to catch a glimpse, ever so fleeting, of his son and the company he had sent to Asi Ügei. The gloom of the night, with clouds obscuring the moon, denied him that slight comfort. The Khan knew that he had taken the wisest course by sending the young man away from this place of carnage before he became one of its victims. The great Mongol general, who had created his own Khanate on the unknown side of the world, was resigned to the fate he knew must come. But resignation did not eliminate anger, frustration or guilt.
He had led thousands of good men and soldiers to a strange land with promises of divine favor, glory and a great future. It had come to this; standing on the walls of an unfinished city surrounded by tens of thousands of the fiercest and strangest enemies any Mongol had ever encountered, Abandoned by the natives whom he had raised from subsistence to prosperity, his closest friend and confidant killed by the spirits of the sea. He felt completely alone with no hope of victory or escape.
His remaining men were also disheartened by seeing their Khan send his son and their horses away. They felt the cause was lost and that their days were at an end, but they were determined not to go quietly or unnoticed. There was much talk around the fires that night of making the Mayans pay an exorbitant price for their inevitable victory.
Once Songghumal returned to his tent the old shaman, Megujin tried to console him and raise his spirits. He told the Khan that sending Nugün to safety was part of the great plan on the Endless Blue Heaven. The Khanate that Songghumal created would continue under the boy and would rise again, stronger and greater than ever before. But the Khan, feeling sadness at the desperation of the young prince’s flight and angered by the failure of his efforts of the past seven years, was hearing none of that. The only thing he wanted now was to give Nugün time to reach the other sea and escape the Mayans, at least for now. He no longer felt like a Khan, he felt like a general suffering a devastating defeat who must protect the retreat of his sovereign from an overwhelming enemy.
Megujin continued with his efforts to cajole the Khan into some semblance of his old self, strong, decisive and optimistic. The old man was making a grave error in his reading of the mood of Songghumal who was consumed by determination that his son should escape, who was absolutely certain that the great plans of the heavens cared little, if at all, for him or his men and who had decided that no gods of spirits could save him from his fate, even if they cared to.
His sleep, when it came, was as fitful as that of his troops.
In the hours just before dawn Ahau Cuat Cocom ordered his army to resume the assault on Sin-e Neislel. They advanced quietly, if not silently, to the positions they had abandoned at the end of the previous days battle. In the half light before the sun broke over the mountains the struggle resumed with the Mongol archers firing into the mass of warriors below the walls and the cannon behind the walls sending shot in high arcs, killing and maiming tens of Mayan soldiers with each blast. Catapults and trebuchets in the palace grounds and on the walls sent bombs crashing into the troops assaulting the walls with great effect. Ahau Cuat Cocom, who had caused his throne to be erected atop the southeast corner tower, watched the action below.
His strategists had identified sections of the southern palace wall as more vulnerable than other sections and it soon became apparent that this was where the Mayan archers and slingmen were concentrating their efforts. They showered projectiles on the tops of the wall at these spots forcing the defenders to fall back, leaving short stretches of rampart unmanned.
The Khan tried to send reinforcements to these sections but was unable to because of the pressure of the assault on the defenses elsewhere. As the Mongols retreated from the Mayan hale of arrows, the storm followed them creating a wall of death raining from the sky; it was impossible for the defenders to fully man these sections. The attackers seemed oblivious to the arrows, bombe and shot which showered them from the flanks of the palace as a steady stream of reinforcements filled the gaps momentarily created by the defenders.
Once the Mayans had established these clear zones on the walls, Ahau sent special teams of men forward with equipment to scale the walls; ladders, grapples and ropes. The Mayans began to swarm onto the walls of the palace. Some were tasked with pushing the defenders back and opening more sections to Mayan penetration and others were charged with targeting elements within the walls, particularly the catapults and trebuchets. Through the morning the fighting on the south wall grew in ferocity as each side concentrated more assets.
The King’s warriors moved along the ramparts towards the western wall and captured the southwestern tower. They now had a clear path to the western gate. In parts of the palace compound the Mayans had fought their way to the ground and had captured cannon and trebuchets and were advancing toward the ruined palace and the west gate. The towers of the gate fell and in short order the way was opened and the Mayan army poured into the palace grounds.
It was over by noon. The Khan had been captured in the ruins of the palace, standing over the body of the headless Megujin. In his anger at the Tngrii for bringing him and his army to this place his exhaustion at hearing how this was all part of some celestial plan and his self loathing and sense of abject failure he had raged at the old shaman and beheaded him in a blind rage and despair. Seeing what he had done added to his disgust with himself and he could not bring himself to take his own life, not from cowardice, but from unworthiness.
Whatever Ahau Cuat Cocom would do to him was deserved.
Ahau Cuat Cocom, for his part, had learned much. He was a practical man, an observant man, an ambitious man and a man of imagination. What he discovered in the ruins of sin-e Neislel showed him that he had won, not because of Mayan military or moral superiority, courage or weaponry, but because of numbers. His army was simply too large for the Mongols to defeat, but not by that much. He found iron weapons, catapults, cannon, bombs, gunpowder, armor and more. Things he was aware of but had little idea how to exploit to good effect. Most importantly to him, he captured the men who knew about these things and other wonders of the Asian world.
Both leaders had underestimated the others forces. Songghumal anticipated total and barbarous destruction. Ahau expected his army to roll over the Mongols. Neither happened, but the Mayans were still the victors. They did not normally destroy when they were victorious. Their prosperity was hard won and required the work of many people to maintain, so they preserved the resources and skills of the defeated to enhance their own wellbeing. Inevitably, some of the vanquished were sacrificed to the Gods, but most could expect to live on to serve their new masters.
The King would not lay waste to this land; it was too valuable and would be added to his holdings. He was going to learn from these people with their strange ways and wonderful skills and animals. He left several thousand warriors at sin-e Neislel under the command of Ah Kom Xiu, who he made his agent in the city. Ah Kom would rule the city in the interest of Ahau Cuat Cocom and the Mayapan League. The city would not have a king of its own and would remain under the direct rule of Cocom. He sent a few thousand troops off to watch Asi Ügei but they were ordered not to engage the Mongols. These two Mayan contingents would await the arrival of replacements that would bring their families and servants to settle these very productive lands. The Ngöbe would be allowed to live their lives as they wished, as long as they did not challenge the King.
Ahau left Alagh within a week and returned to Mayapan with nearly 700 prisoners, including several clerics and Songghumal. He also brought cattle, pigs and sheep as well as poultry. His scribes had made careful records of what had been seen and done, what had been captured and learned in the victory over the Khan.
In each city the King passed through his captives were paraded through the plazas and his treasures displayed. The animals were exhibited for few, if any of the Mayan people had seen an Asian or a cow or a pig or a sheep. They were left in awe of the King of Mayapan, who had defeated this mighty enemy.
Only in the largest or most troublesome cities were the catapults demonstrated, the Cannon and trebuchets continued on their road to Mayapan with little notice. The King held the knowledge of these to himself.
In Mayapan, the Mongols who had been captured in the previous few years had now largely integrated into the society of Mayapan but were kept away from the celebrations on Ahau Cuat Cocom’s return. They did not see the humiliating parade of their countrymen through the city plazas nor did they see their Khan displayed like a trophy. They did receive the additional livestock and greeted the new captives as brothers.
The Kings officials had taken the time on the return journey to question the prisoners and find out their skills and special knowledge, so Ahau knew who the metal-smiths, herders, masons and carpenters were. He also knew who the clerics were and he discovered that unlike his own priests, they knew not only religion, and there seemed to be several of them, but they were also scribes and scholars. Scribes conferred prestige because they could document the actions and deeds of the King, Scholars had knowledge of many things, and that made them valuable as well, but priests of strange and foreign gods… His own Gods already demanded enough of Ahau without adding the demands of a whole set of new ones.
The interesting thing about the foreign gods is that they really did not require that much. There was little or no blood, hardly any violence. They did require, in some cases, prayers five times a day or no labor on a particular day or sacrifices that were far more symbolic than real. They were a lot less work than Kukulkan…but they had lost…so much for them.
A few of the most imposing of the Asian prisoners were separated from the others and subjected to public humiliation and degradation. Songghumal Khan, being a foreign King and an invader, was not treated as a defeated Mayan king would have been. Under normal circumstances enemy kings were brought to the Capitol in bondage, displayed, humiliated and then sent back to their city as a properly chastened and dutiful puppet. In this case, a special fate awaited Songghumal. He was displayed, beaten and humiliated as normal. He was paraded through several nearby cities, in some cases being dragged behind his own horses ridden by Mayan warriors. These events usually ended with the Khan watching as one or more of his men were sacrificed to the Mayan Gods. In most cases, they were thrown into a great natural well to drown. In other they were shot with arrows. On his return to Mayapan after his tour of humiliation, he and six of his men were paraded through the city to the main plaza before the great temple pyramid. He watched as one by one his men were dragged up the stairs of the temple and ceremoniously killed. They were beheaded after their hearts had been ripped from their chest and their heads and bodies tossed down the stairs. At long last, Songghumal was led up the temple stairs. Exhausted as he was he climbed the stairs with his back straight and his head held high, if anyone could hear above the din of the crowd in the plaza they would have heard the Khan intoning an old Mongol hymn of passing, a song for the dead. He was stripped, bound and laid on his back on the altar. A priest approached him and the Khan calmly locked eyes whit him. The priest, not accustomed to such a stoic sacrifice, held his jade knife above his head and as the Khan watched, he brought the knife down and opened the khan’s chest and cut out his heart.
Raising the pulsing heart above his head so the crowd below could see the priest spread Songghumal’s blood to the four corners of the world and then turned toward the sanctuary where the Khan’s heart was burned.
The Khan’s head was severed from his lifeless body and both were flung down the great flight of stairs to join the corpses below
.
So ended the reign of Songghumal Khan, Khan of the Silver Horde, and Conqueror of the uttermost east.
Chapter 19
The Fall of The Khan
The Fall of The Khan
He had led thousands of good men and soldiers to a strange land with promises of divine favor, glory and a great future. It had come to this; standing on the walls of an unfinished city surrounded by tens of thousands of the fiercest and strangest enemies any Mongol had ever encountered, Abandoned by the natives whom he had raised from subsistence to prosperity, his closest friend and confidant killed by the spirits of the sea. He felt completely alone with no hope of victory or escape.
His remaining men were also disheartened by seeing their Khan send his son and their horses away. They felt the cause was lost and that their days were at an end, but they were determined not to go quietly or unnoticed. There was much talk around the fires that night of making the Mayans pay an exorbitant price for their inevitable victory.
Once Songghumal returned to his tent the old shaman, Megujin tried to console him and raise his spirits. He told the Khan that sending Nugün to safety was part of the great plan on the Endless Blue Heaven. The Khanate that Songghumal created would continue under the boy and would rise again, stronger and greater than ever before. But the Khan, feeling sadness at the desperation of the young prince’s flight and angered by the failure of his efforts of the past seven years, was hearing none of that. The only thing he wanted now was to give Nugün time to reach the other sea and escape the Mayans, at least for now. He no longer felt like a Khan, he felt like a general suffering a devastating defeat who must protect the retreat of his sovereign from an overwhelming enemy.
Megujin continued with his efforts to cajole the Khan into some semblance of his old self, strong, decisive and optimistic. The old man was making a grave error in his reading of the mood of Songghumal who was consumed by determination that his son should escape, who was absolutely certain that the great plans of the heavens cared little, if at all, for him or his men and who had decided that no gods of spirits could save him from his fate, even if they cared to.
His sleep, when it came, was as fitful as that of his troops.
-----
In the hours just before dawn Ahau Cuat Cocom ordered his army to resume the assault on Sin-e Neislel. They advanced quietly, if not silently, to the positions they had abandoned at the end of the previous days battle. In the half light before the sun broke over the mountains the struggle resumed with the Mongol archers firing into the mass of warriors below the walls and the cannon behind the walls sending shot in high arcs, killing and maiming tens of Mayan soldiers with each blast. Catapults and trebuchets in the palace grounds and on the walls sent bombs crashing into the troops assaulting the walls with great effect. Ahau Cuat Cocom, who had caused his throne to be erected atop the southeast corner tower, watched the action below.
His strategists had identified sections of the southern palace wall as more vulnerable than other sections and it soon became apparent that this was where the Mayan archers and slingmen were concentrating their efforts. They showered projectiles on the tops of the wall at these spots forcing the defenders to fall back, leaving short stretches of rampart unmanned.
The Khan tried to send reinforcements to these sections but was unable to because of the pressure of the assault on the defenses elsewhere. As the Mongols retreated from the Mayan hale of arrows, the storm followed them creating a wall of death raining from the sky; it was impossible for the defenders to fully man these sections. The attackers seemed oblivious to the arrows, bombe and shot which showered them from the flanks of the palace as a steady stream of reinforcements filled the gaps momentarily created by the defenders.
Once the Mayans had established these clear zones on the walls, Ahau sent special teams of men forward with equipment to scale the walls; ladders, grapples and ropes. The Mayans began to swarm onto the walls of the palace. Some were tasked with pushing the defenders back and opening more sections to Mayan penetration and others were charged with targeting elements within the walls, particularly the catapults and trebuchets. Through the morning the fighting on the south wall grew in ferocity as each side concentrated more assets.
The King’s warriors moved along the ramparts towards the western wall and captured the southwestern tower. They now had a clear path to the western gate. In parts of the palace compound the Mayans had fought their way to the ground and had captured cannon and trebuchets and were advancing toward the ruined palace and the west gate. The towers of the gate fell and in short order the way was opened and the Mayan army poured into the palace grounds.
It was over by noon. The Khan had been captured in the ruins of the palace, standing over the body of the headless Megujin. In his anger at the Tngrii for bringing him and his army to this place his exhaustion at hearing how this was all part of some celestial plan and his self loathing and sense of abject failure he had raged at the old shaman and beheaded him in a blind rage and despair. Seeing what he had done added to his disgust with himself and he could not bring himself to take his own life, not from cowardice, but from unworthiness.
Whatever Ahau Cuat Cocom would do to him was deserved.
-----
Ahau Cuat Cocom, for his part, had learned much. He was a practical man, an observant man, an ambitious man and a man of imagination. What he discovered in the ruins of sin-e Neislel showed him that he had won, not because of Mayan military or moral superiority, courage or weaponry, but because of numbers. His army was simply too large for the Mongols to defeat, but not by that much. He found iron weapons, catapults, cannon, bombs, gunpowder, armor and more. Things he was aware of but had little idea how to exploit to good effect. Most importantly to him, he captured the men who knew about these things and other wonders of the Asian world.
Both leaders had underestimated the others forces. Songghumal anticipated total and barbarous destruction. Ahau expected his army to roll over the Mongols. Neither happened, but the Mayans were still the victors. They did not normally destroy when they were victorious. Their prosperity was hard won and required the work of many people to maintain, so they preserved the resources and skills of the defeated to enhance their own wellbeing. Inevitably, some of the vanquished were sacrificed to the Gods, but most could expect to live on to serve their new masters.
The King would not lay waste to this land; it was too valuable and would be added to his holdings. He was going to learn from these people with their strange ways and wonderful skills and animals. He left several thousand warriors at sin-e Neislel under the command of Ah Kom Xiu, who he made his agent in the city. Ah Kom would rule the city in the interest of Ahau Cuat Cocom and the Mayapan League. The city would not have a king of its own and would remain under the direct rule of Cocom. He sent a few thousand troops off to watch Asi Ügei but they were ordered not to engage the Mongols. These two Mayan contingents would await the arrival of replacements that would bring their families and servants to settle these very productive lands. The Ngöbe would be allowed to live their lives as they wished, as long as they did not challenge the King.
Ahau left Alagh within a week and returned to Mayapan with nearly 700 prisoners, including several clerics and Songghumal. He also brought cattle, pigs and sheep as well as poultry. His scribes had made careful records of what had been seen and done, what had been captured and learned in the victory over the Khan.
In each city the King passed through his captives were paraded through the plazas and his treasures displayed. The animals were exhibited for few, if any of the Mayan people had seen an Asian or a cow or a pig or a sheep. They were left in awe of the King of Mayapan, who had defeated this mighty enemy.
Only in the largest or most troublesome cities were the catapults demonstrated, the Cannon and trebuchets continued on their road to Mayapan with little notice. The King held the knowledge of these to himself.
In Mayapan, the Mongols who had been captured in the previous few years had now largely integrated into the society of Mayapan but were kept away from the celebrations on Ahau Cuat Cocom’s return. They did not see the humiliating parade of their countrymen through the city plazas nor did they see their Khan displayed like a trophy. They did receive the additional livestock and greeted the new captives as brothers.
The Kings officials had taken the time on the return journey to question the prisoners and find out their skills and special knowledge, so Ahau knew who the metal-smiths, herders, masons and carpenters were. He also knew who the clerics were and he discovered that unlike his own priests, they knew not only religion, and there seemed to be several of them, but they were also scribes and scholars. Scribes conferred prestige because they could document the actions and deeds of the King, Scholars had knowledge of many things, and that made them valuable as well, but priests of strange and foreign gods… His own Gods already demanded enough of Ahau without adding the demands of a whole set of new ones.
The interesting thing about the foreign gods is that they really did not require that much. There was little or no blood, hardly any violence. They did require, in some cases, prayers five times a day or no labor on a particular day or sacrifices that were far more symbolic than real. They were a lot less work than Kukulkan…but they had lost…so much for them.
A few of the most imposing of the Asian prisoners were separated from the others and subjected to public humiliation and degradation. Songghumal Khan, being a foreign King and an invader, was not treated as a defeated Mayan king would have been. Under normal circumstances enemy kings were brought to the Capitol in bondage, displayed, humiliated and then sent back to their city as a properly chastened and dutiful puppet. In this case, a special fate awaited Songghumal. He was displayed, beaten and humiliated as normal. He was paraded through several nearby cities, in some cases being dragged behind his own horses ridden by Mayan warriors. These events usually ended with the Khan watching as one or more of his men were sacrificed to the Mayan Gods. In most cases, they were thrown into a great natural well to drown. In other they were shot with arrows. On his return to Mayapan after his tour of humiliation, he and six of his men were paraded through the city to the main plaza before the great temple pyramid. He watched as one by one his men were dragged up the stairs of the temple and ceremoniously killed. They were beheaded after their hearts had been ripped from their chest and their heads and bodies tossed down the stairs. At long last, Songghumal was led up the temple stairs. Exhausted as he was he climbed the stairs with his back straight and his head held high, if anyone could hear above the din of the crowd in the plaza they would have heard the Khan intoning an old Mongol hymn of passing, a song for the dead. He was stripped, bound and laid on his back on the altar. A priest approached him and the Khan calmly locked eyes whit him. The priest, not accustomed to such a stoic sacrifice, held his jade knife above his head and as the Khan watched, he brought the knife down and opened the khan’s chest and cut out his heart.
Raising the pulsing heart above his head so the crowd below could see the priest spread Songghumal’s blood to the four corners of the world and then turned toward the sanctuary where the Khan’s heart was burned.
The Khan’s head was severed from his lifeless body and both were flung down the great flight of stairs to join the corpses below
.
So ended the reign of Songghumal Khan, Khan of the Silver Horde, and Conqueror of the uttermost east.
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Just a comment
I just want to say that I really appreciate the way this has been received.
We are going to go in some different directions from this point forward. Consider…The Mayans now have horses, cattle and the wheel. In South America the development of the Inca is being impacted almost 200 years before they broke out of their mountain realm. There is a Chinese empire in Peru.
The Mongols are not finished by any means.
These are the most obvious changes, but there is intrigue and power games enough for the most intense Byzantinista to come.
I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I am.
I just want to say that I really appreciate the way this has been received.
We are going to go in some different directions from this point forward. Consider…The Mayans now have horses, cattle and the wheel. In South America the development of the Inca is being impacted almost 200 years before they broke out of their mountain realm. There is a Chinese empire in Peru.
The Mongols are not finished by any means.
These are the most obvious changes, but there is intrigue and power games enough for the most intense Byzantinista to come.
I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I am.
The Horse and the Jaguar...20 The Son of Heaven and The Son of the Sun
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Zi yí, The Dōngbù Emperor, returned to Chan Chan in as much glory as could be mustered while on campaign in distant and barren lands. A carriage would have been the appropriate transport for The Emperor but one would have needed to be built and the roads, such as they were, often were unsuitable for such a vehicle. He chose to ride beneath a yellow canopy carried by four of his horsemen and this would, in fact, become the favored way for The Son of Heaven to travel about the empire. His progress was announced by heralds who went before the triumphantly returning army proclaiming the passage of the Son of Heaven and the glory of his conquests in every city and town along the route. Some of the clerics in his court might quibble with his use of that title, Son of Heaven, but Xi Yi had no difficulty with it since there was no emperor of China as far as he knew and it was obvious that the Gods, whoever they were, had favored him and had given him a mandate to guide this land and its people.
He did indeed feel responsible for the wealth and prosperity, peace and happiness, progress and growth of the people of Chimor. The Chimu people were quick to recognize how much their condition had improved, not that it was bad to begin with, but He had brought new crops, animals, tools, methods, ideas and energy to the coast of the continent. The people of Chimor no longer feared the possibility of invasion by another state and the ruin that could bring since they were protected by this great and powerful lord. Every bit of tribute that the cities of the valleys sent to Chan Chan yielded a greater return. Governor Chun Bo Fen, now Emperor Zi yí had proven to be a profitable investment.
Now that Zi yí had a steady source of iron the pace of progress in Chimor would certainly increase. Iron for tools, plows and utensils would enhance the productivity of the populace and the land, ships and boats would increase their range for his fishermen and extend his trade networks. Iron for weapons would arm those ships and improve the efficiency and power of his army. He would now be able to construct a fleet that could defend against Alagh. Heaven truly did smile upon him and his land.
The Emperor arrived at Chan Chan in triumph and amid great ceremony and acclimation from the citizens of the city. He moved through the streets to the great plaza before the palace compound accompanied by cheers and acclimation. The people of Chan Chan, sophisticated in the ways of power politics in their complicated world, recognized what had happened and understood the implications of the return of an Emperor where a Governor had marched out of the city.
Zi yí received the emissaries sent by Songghumal Khan carrying the news of the Mayan invasion of Alagh and the Khan’s orders to send troops north. The Khans men were stunned when they were brought into his presence and immediately recognized the significance of the yellow robes The Emperor wore. They immediately feared for their lives and kowtowed before his presence. The Chimu court functionaries were unsure of the significance of this act for The Emperor, careful of the sensibilities of the people he ruled, had not introduced it to this land. The emissaries were Uyghurs, one a Buddhist monk and the other a Nestorian priest. They were men of faith and letters, not warriors. Zi yí called on them to rise and ordered cushions brought for them to sit on. He questioned them regarding the conditions in Alagh and the true threat presented by the Mayans. Once they had answered his questions he told them they would be allowed to stay in his Empire if they liked but there would be no aid going to the Khan. If they wished to return to Alagh they were welcome to do so. The Buddhist Monk stayed, the Nestorian priest chose to carry the Emperor’s response to the Khan.
A small vessel was prepared and the priest was well accommodated and well supplied. His message to the Khan was that the Son of Heaven, Zi yí, the Dōngbù Emperor of the Chimu was distressed to hear of the invasion by the Mayans, but was unable to provide any aid at this time. He would continue to plead the case of the Khan before Heaven.
Songghumal never received that message.
Now that he had addressed the Khan he summoned the kings and leaders of all the cities of The Empire to Chan Chan in order to receive their allegiance and assure them that little would change. They would still conduct their own affairs as long as they sent tribute to Chan Chan and made men available for The Empires projects and army.
The various city states were grouped into provinces and responsibilities were assigned. Troops were garrisoned and rules for trade were established. A network of fine roads linking the Empire was planned to replace the haphazard trails and paths that connected many of his cities. Sites for harbors were sought and canals to irrigate the terraces and carry water to the towns and cities were planned. Not in several centuries had so much energy swept the lands between the mountains and the sea.
Not long after his return to the capital The Emperor received word that an embassy from the Mayta Cápac, the King of Qusqu, was en route to Chan Chan. A company of riders was sent to greet the King’s emissary and discovered that he was accompanied by a large caravan of Llamas and many Inca warriors. Upon hearing this news, an “Escort of Honor” consisting of several thousand Chimu soldiers was sent to meet them several days march from the city. The message was not lost on the ambassador or the Incan military commander and they gratefully accepted the escort and progressed toward Chan Chan in great dignity.
Pahuac Amaru, Ambassador of Mayta Capac, King of Qusqu, and Zi yí, Son of Heaven, The Dōngbù Emperor met in a pavilion set up on cliffs overlooking the sea not far from the city of Chan Chan. The King had sent many wonderful gifts to the Emperor, gold, fine cloth, beautiful ceramics, llamas, alpacas and vicunas among other treasures. The King, it seemed, wanted to insure peace with the Empire after the events in the valleys of Chiribaya and Chincha. He proposed that the two monarchs proclaim that they were “brothers” and commit to not conducting hostile acts against the other.
Zi yí was pleased by this, as it fit nicely with his immediate goal of consolidation the Empire. He knew Qusqu was no match for Chimor militarily, but it was powerful enough that he did not wish to be looking over his shoulder at the mountains every time he took an initiative. Additionally and more practically, the Inca were a prime market for Chimor goods, and that mattered greatly.
The Emperor agreed in principal to Mayta Cápac’s proposal but needed something more than a caravan of gifts as a sign of the King’s good intentions. The Ambassador understood the Emperor’s intentions and the sort of assurance he was seeking and requested that he be allowed to return the next day with such assurances. Zi yí, knowing that he could not communicate with Qusqu in a day, agreed and the ambassador returned to his camp while the Emperor retired to one of the junks anchored offshore.
The next day, the ambassador and the Emperor met again at the pavilion and Pahuac Amaru delivered Manco Cápac’s guarantee to the Emperor. Once the formalities were concluded the ambassador turned to an aid and gave him a sign, at which the man retired from the pavilion. When he returned he was accompanied by a guard of Incan soldiers, unarmed, who were escorting several young women who were wonderfully dressed in colorful and intricate clothes.
The Emperor thought they were meant as a gift to him, concubines for his pleasure, which would be a nice gift, but not a guarantee of peace. As the women approached the ambassador, they parted and one of their number advanced through their midst to stand beside Pahuac Amaru before the Emperor. She was taller than the others and commanded their deference. She was more intricately attired with ornaments of gold and silver, jewelry of pearls and jade and turquoise. She was, the ambassador announced, Pillcu Ocllo, daughter of Mayta Capac, princess of Qusqu. King Mayta Cápac, knowing of the Emperor’s loss; the death of his wife and son in the Khan’s lands to the north, offered his daughter to be the consort of the Emperor, to bring him peace, comfort and pleasure. She would bring their realms closer together and give Zi yí more sons to secure the future of the Empire.
Zi yí still mourned his wife and son and was not willing to commit to this union, but he did recognize it as the strong sign of the Inca’s sincerity. He struggled with the right way to present his thoughts and feelings to the Inca delegation. While not ready to take another wife he was aware of his duty as first of his dynasty. He needed to think about and act on the best interests of his empire. Pahuac sensed the Emperor’s conflict and suggested that the princess and her handmaidens remain at the Emperors court, there to learn the ways of the great house of Chimu. Undoubtedly this would improve the understanding between the two nations. Of course it would also give Zi yí time to get to know Pillcu and give her time to display her worth and talents to the Emperor.
Zi yí agreed that she should stay as his honored guest at the court for as long as she should wish. In the back of his mind he was thinking that a hostage was a hostage. He also suggested that the King and he exchange permanent embassies in their capitals which Pahuac agreed to immediately. He would return to Mayta Cápac in Qusqu with the best wishes of the Emperor. Zi yí insured that he did not return to Qusqu empty handed.
Thus, Pillcu Ocllo, daughter of Manco Cápac the fourth Sapa Inca and king of Qusqu, began her education in the ways of the Chinese. She was an apt student and disappointed neither the Emperor nor her father. Mayta Capac had chosen his representatives wisely and his daughter and her maidens were soon moving through the Emperors palace with ease and comfort.
Pahuac returned to Qusqu in a caravan far more dramatic than that which had accompanied him on his trip to Chan Chan. The Emperors escort accompanied him as far as the frontier of Mayta Cápac’s kingdom before they turned back and instead of a caravan of Llamas the gifts were carried in carts drawn by great oxen. The Emperor sent his “brother” fine pottery combining the skills and artistry of Chinese with the motifs and aesthetic of native artisans, Bronze figures, Coins from the Emperor’s first minting, intricately woven cottons and fine linens. He also sent iron tools such as chisels to simplify stone cutting, axe heads which stayed sharp far longer than stone, copper or bronze, and agricultural implements including a plow.
Zi yí also sent his ambassador, Xin Du Xian, a trusted Buddhist monk and scholar who had served the Emperor well over the years. Xin carried a special book for the King which had been compiled during the visit of Pahuac to the Emperor. This book documented the mission of the ambassador and the amity that existed between the two monarchs. As final gifts, a small herd of cattle, some swine and a stallion and mare were sent to the King along with several Chimor herdsmen to care for them and teach the Inca about them.
Mayta Capac was more than pleased at the results of his embassy and rewarded Pahuac handsomely. The iron tools created great interest in Qusqu, particularly since the Inca could not determine what sort of metal they were made of. The King’s architects and stone masons were very impressed by the chisels and stone working tools and wanted to get more of them from Chimor, what had been sent amounted to a sample, a tease. These items only hinted at the power they could create. It was not lost on Mayta Cápac who held that power. The carts which brought the gifts to the King were also a revelation for while the Inca knew the wheel, they had never thought to put it to practical use. Here, great quantities of goods were transported for great distances through the labor of one or two of the strange horned animals brought by the Emperor.
The horses were looked upon with great awe because so few of the Inca had seen them. There was widespread excitement when a race through the city of Qusqu took place between the Kings best runners and the two horses. The horses won handily. It was a great sign to the King that the Emperor had sent a breeding pair as a gift; it was a sign of trust and faith.
Knowing that Chimor was not a threat to Qusqu, The King began to finalize his plans to dominate the entire valley of the sacred lake and beyond. As Chimor was to the coast, Tawantinsuyu would be to the mountains.
Chapter 20
The Son of Heaven and The Son of the Sun
The Son of Heaven and The Son of the Sun
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Zi yí, The Dōngbù Emperor, returned to Chan Chan in as much glory as could be mustered while on campaign in distant and barren lands. A carriage would have been the appropriate transport for The Emperor but one would have needed to be built and the roads, such as they were, often were unsuitable for such a vehicle. He chose to ride beneath a yellow canopy carried by four of his horsemen and this would, in fact, become the favored way for The Son of Heaven to travel about the empire. His progress was announced by heralds who went before the triumphantly returning army proclaiming the passage of the Son of Heaven and the glory of his conquests in every city and town along the route. Some of the clerics in his court might quibble with his use of that title, Son of Heaven, but Xi Yi had no difficulty with it since there was no emperor of China as far as he knew and it was obvious that the Gods, whoever they were, had favored him and had given him a mandate to guide this land and its people.
He did indeed feel responsible for the wealth and prosperity, peace and happiness, progress and growth of the people of Chimor. The Chimu people were quick to recognize how much their condition had improved, not that it was bad to begin with, but He had brought new crops, animals, tools, methods, ideas and energy to the coast of the continent. The people of Chimor no longer feared the possibility of invasion by another state and the ruin that could bring since they were protected by this great and powerful lord. Every bit of tribute that the cities of the valleys sent to Chan Chan yielded a greater return. Governor Chun Bo Fen, now Emperor Zi yí had proven to be a profitable investment.
Now that Zi yí had a steady source of iron the pace of progress in Chimor would certainly increase. Iron for tools, plows and utensils would enhance the productivity of the populace and the land, ships and boats would increase their range for his fishermen and extend his trade networks. Iron for weapons would arm those ships and improve the efficiency and power of his army. He would now be able to construct a fleet that could defend against Alagh. Heaven truly did smile upon him and his land.
The Emperor arrived at Chan Chan in triumph and amid great ceremony and acclimation from the citizens of the city. He moved through the streets to the great plaza before the palace compound accompanied by cheers and acclimation. The people of Chan Chan, sophisticated in the ways of power politics in their complicated world, recognized what had happened and understood the implications of the return of an Emperor where a Governor had marched out of the city.
Zi yí received the emissaries sent by Songghumal Khan carrying the news of the Mayan invasion of Alagh and the Khan’s orders to send troops north. The Khans men were stunned when they were brought into his presence and immediately recognized the significance of the yellow robes The Emperor wore. They immediately feared for their lives and kowtowed before his presence. The Chimu court functionaries were unsure of the significance of this act for The Emperor, careful of the sensibilities of the people he ruled, had not introduced it to this land. The emissaries were Uyghurs, one a Buddhist monk and the other a Nestorian priest. They were men of faith and letters, not warriors. Zi yí called on them to rise and ordered cushions brought for them to sit on. He questioned them regarding the conditions in Alagh and the true threat presented by the Mayans. Once they had answered his questions he told them they would be allowed to stay in his Empire if they liked but there would be no aid going to the Khan. If they wished to return to Alagh they were welcome to do so. The Buddhist Monk stayed, the Nestorian priest chose to carry the Emperor’s response to the Khan.
A small vessel was prepared and the priest was well accommodated and well supplied. His message to the Khan was that the Son of Heaven, Zi yí, the Dōngbù Emperor of the Chimu was distressed to hear of the invasion by the Mayans, but was unable to provide any aid at this time. He would continue to plead the case of the Khan before Heaven.
Songghumal never received that message.
Now that he had addressed the Khan he summoned the kings and leaders of all the cities of The Empire to Chan Chan in order to receive their allegiance and assure them that little would change. They would still conduct their own affairs as long as they sent tribute to Chan Chan and made men available for The Empires projects and army.
The various city states were grouped into provinces and responsibilities were assigned. Troops were garrisoned and rules for trade were established. A network of fine roads linking the Empire was planned to replace the haphazard trails and paths that connected many of his cities. Sites for harbors were sought and canals to irrigate the terraces and carry water to the towns and cities were planned. Not in several centuries had so much energy swept the lands between the mountains and the sea.
-----
Not long after his return to the capital The Emperor received word that an embassy from the Mayta Cápac, the King of Qusqu, was en route to Chan Chan. A company of riders was sent to greet the King’s emissary and discovered that he was accompanied by a large caravan of Llamas and many Inca warriors. Upon hearing this news, an “Escort of Honor” consisting of several thousand Chimu soldiers was sent to meet them several days march from the city. The message was not lost on the ambassador or the Incan military commander and they gratefully accepted the escort and progressed toward Chan Chan in great dignity.
Pahuac Amaru, Ambassador of Mayta Capac, King of Qusqu, and Zi yí, Son of Heaven, The Dōngbù Emperor met in a pavilion set up on cliffs overlooking the sea not far from the city of Chan Chan. The King had sent many wonderful gifts to the Emperor, gold, fine cloth, beautiful ceramics, llamas, alpacas and vicunas among other treasures. The King, it seemed, wanted to insure peace with the Empire after the events in the valleys of Chiribaya and Chincha. He proposed that the two monarchs proclaim that they were “brothers” and commit to not conducting hostile acts against the other.
Zi yí was pleased by this, as it fit nicely with his immediate goal of consolidation the Empire. He knew Qusqu was no match for Chimor militarily, but it was powerful enough that he did not wish to be looking over his shoulder at the mountains every time he took an initiative. Additionally and more practically, the Inca were a prime market for Chimor goods, and that mattered greatly.
The Emperor agreed in principal to Mayta Cápac’s proposal but needed something more than a caravan of gifts as a sign of the King’s good intentions. The Ambassador understood the Emperor’s intentions and the sort of assurance he was seeking and requested that he be allowed to return the next day with such assurances. Zi yí, knowing that he could not communicate with Qusqu in a day, agreed and the ambassador returned to his camp while the Emperor retired to one of the junks anchored offshore.
The next day, the ambassador and the Emperor met again at the pavilion and Pahuac Amaru delivered Manco Cápac’s guarantee to the Emperor. Once the formalities were concluded the ambassador turned to an aid and gave him a sign, at which the man retired from the pavilion. When he returned he was accompanied by a guard of Incan soldiers, unarmed, who were escorting several young women who were wonderfully dressed in colorful and intricate clothes.
The Emperor thought they were meant as a gift to him, concubines for his pleasure, which would be a nice gift, but not a guarantee of peace. As the women approached the ambassador, they parted and one of their number advanced through their midst to stand beside Pahuac Amaru before the Emperor. She was taller than the others and commanded their deference. She was more intricately attired with ornaments of gold and silver, jewelry of pearls and jade and turquoise. She was, the ambassador announced, Pillcu Ocllo, daughter of Mayta Capac, princess of Qusqu. King Mayta Cápac, knowing of the Emperor’s loss; the death of his wife and son in the Khan’s lands to the north, offered his daughter to be the consort of the Emperor, to bring him peace, comfort and pleasure. She would bring their realms closer together and give Zi yí more sons to secure the future of the Empire.
Zi yí still mourned his wife and son and was not willing to commit to this union, but he did recognize it as the strong sign of the Inca’s sincerity. He struggled with the right way to present his thoughts and feelings to the Inca delegation. While not ready to take another wife he was aware of his duty as first of his dynasty. He needed to think about and act on the best interests of his empire. Pahuac sensed the Emperor’s conflict and suggested that the princess and her handmaidens remain at the Emperors court, there to learn the ways of the great house of Chimu. Undoubtedly this would improve the understanding between the two nations. Of course it would also give Zi yí time to get to know Pillcu and give her time to display her worth and talents to the Emperor.
Zi yí agreed that she should stay as his honored guest at the court for as long as she should wish. In the back of his mind he was thinking that a hostage was a hostage. He also suggested that the King and he exchange permanent embassies in their capitals which Pahuac agreed to immediately. He would return to Mayta Cápac in Qusqu with the best wishes of the Emperor. Zi yí insured that he did not return to Qusqu empty handed.
Thus, Pillcu Ocllo, daughter of Manco Cápac the fourth Sapa Inca and king of Qusqu, began her education in the ways of the Chinese. She was an apt student and disappointed neither the Emperor nor her father. Mayta Capac had chosen his representatives wisely and his daughter and her maidens were soon moving through the Emperors palace with ease and comfort.
Pahuac returned to Qusqu in a caravan far more dramatic than that which had accompanied him on his trip to Chan Chan. The Emperors escort accompanied him as far as the frontier of Mayta Cápac’s kingdom before they turned back and instead of a caravan of Llamas the gifts were carried in carts drawn by great oxen. The Emperor sent his “brother” fine pottery combining the skills and artistry of Chinese with the motifs and aesthetic of native artisans, Bronze figures, Coins from the Emperor’s first minting, intricately woven cottons and fine linens. He also sent iron tools such as chisels to simplify stone cutting, axe heads which stayed sharp far longer than stone, copper or bronze, and agricultural implements including a plow.
Zi yí also sent his ambassador, Xin Du Xian, a trusted Buddhist monk and scholar who had served the Emperor well over the years. Xin carried a special book for the King which had been compiled during the visit of Pahuac to the Emperor. This book documented the mission of the ambassador and the amity that existed between the two monarchs. As final gifts, a small herd of cattle, some swine and a stallion and mare were sent to the King along with several Chimor herdsmen to care for them and teach the Inca about them.
Mayta Capac was more than pleased at the results of his embassy and rewarded Pahuac handsomely. The iron tools created great interest in Qusqu, particularly since the Inca could not determine what sort of metal they were made of. The King’s architects and stone masons were very impressed by the chisels and stone working tools and wanted to get more of them from Chimor, what had been sent amounted to a sample, a tease. These items only hinted at the power they could create. It was not lost on Mayta Cápac who held that power. The carts which brought the gifts to the King were also a revelation for while the Inca knew the wheel, they had never thought to put it to practical use. Here, great quantities of goods were transported for great distances through the labor of one or two of the strange horned animals brought by the Emperor.
The horses were looked upon with great awe because so few of the Inca had seen them. There was widespread excitement when a race through the city of Qusqu took place between the Kings best runners and the two horses. The horses won handily. It was a great sign to the King that the Emperor had sent a breeding pair as a gift; it was a sign of trust and faith.
Knowing that Chimor was not a threat to Qusqu, The King began to finalize his plans to dominate the entire valley of the sacred lake and beyond. As Chimor was to the coast, Tawantinsuyu would be to the mountains.
Life gave me lemons
Yesterday (Saturday) I woke up to no conditioning and a dead coffee maker. The day was spent finding the right machine for my morning indulgence. Today I dealt with the AC (I live in central Florida and my house has floated about 90 F yesterday and today, with the appropriate humidity level. The AC unit will be replaced later this week and the house should be liveable again.
We are nearing a major turning point in the story and Perhaps a spin-off timeline for Zi yi, at least until the 15th or 16th century. Don't know how I am going to handle that yet.
Thanks and an update will come soon.
Sorry about that, I thought the almost daily posts would get me in trouble.Very good as always. But you seem to have not posted an update today. I'm very disappointed in you.
Keep up the good work.
Yesterday (Saturday) I woke up to no conditioning and a dead coffee maker. The day was spent finding the right machine for my morning indulgence. Today I dealt with the AC (I live in central Florida and my house has floated about 90 F yesterday and today, with the appropriate humidity level. The AC unit will be replaced later this week and the house should be liveable again.
We are nearing a major turning point in the story and Perhaps a spin-off timeline for Zi yi, at least until the 15th or 16th century. Don't know how I am going to handle that yet.
Thanks and an update will come soon.
Last edited:
[FONT="]Chapter 21[/FONT]
Exodus
Exodus
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Orghui Biskigür had been able to hold back the tentative probes of the Mayans, keeping them some tens of li away from Asi Ügei. The natives, as in Alagh, had largely melted into the countryside leaving him with only his few Mongol and Uyghur troops and the naval infantry and crews that had been sent with the junks. Many of his men had brought their families as well. Asian craftsmen had traveleld across the isthmus over the past few months along with clerics monks and shamans.
When Nugün Ürije and his troops arrived the General welcomed them warmly but was naturally distraught by the news of the fall of the capital. He convened a council of the senior officers, captains and leaders of the camp to discuss options available to the remaining Asians in Asi. The most prominent and influential members of the community took part and the leadership fell on Orghui by default. Nugün remained quiet towards the back as he listened to the older men argue their points of view. The only consensus was to prepare for a Mayan attack, complete the junks on the ways and position the junks already completed to defend the town from the water.
Nugün left the council with a feeling of disquiet and sought out a Buddhist monk who had acted as his tutor and later as his friend and confidant. This monk, who Nugün simply called Shīfù, sat quietly and listened as his young friend tried to put recent events in perspective. The Prince had changed much since entering the world of the Mongols. He rarely spoke Ngöbe anymore and had little contact with his own people. He considered himself to be a Mongol, born in the wrong place. Although he retained fond memories of his simple youth, swimming and fishing with his father in the bay, Songghumal had become his true father in his mind. As he had grown older and been enveloped further and further into the life of a Mongol boy, he had grown distant from his mother, who had eventually returned to the village. Their visits with each other became fewer, and he had not seen her in many months.
The life of a Mongol warrior had agreed with him, and he had grown fit and strong. He was somewhat taller than most of the Asians and looked somewhat ungainly when he mounted his horse, but his skill as a horseman made him a wonder to watch as he galloped across the fields, creating the image of a single being. He was now just Seventeen, but possessed skills far in advance of his age.
Shīfù said little, choosing to let his student talk through his confusion and arrive at a conclusion himself. He would occasionally ask Nugün a question, or restate something the Prince had said to be certain he understood the meaning, but he gave no advice or council. The two sat near the harbor for several hours before Nugün seemed to reach a decision of some sort. The conversation had died as Shīfù gave Nugün the time to arrive at a conclusion and decision. Finally the young Prince stood, looked out at the ships riding at anchor, then to the shipways where three ships were under construction, and finally down at the still sitting monk.
Shīfù looked out at the junks in the bay and said;
“You know what you will do.”
It was a statement, not a question.
Nugün replied;
“I know what Great Blue Heaven wishes me to do, and I will do just so.”
The monk made a little face at the reference to the old Mongol religion, but understood the Princes meaning. He closed the conversation by telling the Prince;
“Then it will be done.”
The Prince and the monk then returned silently each to their quarters.
-----
Orghui, recognizing that Songghumal had taken Nugün as his son was careful to give him the due deffderence ythe son of the Khan deserved, but he viewed the Prince as little more than a precocious barbarian boy. His assignments from Songghumal had prevented him from having much exposure with Nugün so he had little appreciation of the Prince’s capabilities. Adding to this somewhat low opinion was the simple fact that the boy, as Orghui called him in private, was Ngöbe, and not Mongol, Uyghur or even Chinese.
In mid October Nu-gro Ti-roon and Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba came to Asi Ügei and requested an audience witht eh Lord of the town. Orghui consented and the shaman and Headman were escorted to his tent. Upon entering, the two Ngöbe dignitaries looked around at the men gathered there and asked;
“Where is the Nugün Ürije, the young Khan? It is he we wish to speak to.”
Orghui was surprised. While Nugün Ürije had been demonstrating his independence recently, conducting his own training exercises with his troops, none had questioned the general’s authority in Asi Ügei. The assorted Asian leaders gathered in the tent looked to Orghui for his response, some with concern, expecting him to be angry, while others were hard put to hide their amusement at the awkward question.
Orghui was somewhat taken aback but responded after a moment telling them that the Khan had been killed defending his palace and that he, Orghui, was the senior officer in Asi. The office of Khan was at the will of the leaders of the people and not hereditary. Since Songghunmal Khan was dead, there was no Khan. He was annoyed that his stature and authority had been questioned in front of his subordinates by these uncivilized men. He chose to ignore the obvious truth behind their question.
Nu-gro Ti-roon replied;
“The old Khan is not yet dead; he is the captive of Ahau Cuat Cocom, great King of Mayapan and soon, undoubtedly, to be given to their gods in thanks.”
Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba then said;
“Where is the young Khan, Nugün Ürije, who was born to our people and brought to manhood by your Khan? The Ngöbe have sent us to speak with him for them.”
Orghui’s face had begun to color as annoyance moved toward anger, His breathing was heavier and his voice darker as he addressed them;
“If the Khan still lives, he IS our Khan, and we shall return him to his camp. The Ngöbe boy, Nugün Ürije is not Khan; he is but a captain of the Khan. I rule in Asi Ügei in the name of Songghumal Khan. If you wish to speak, you must speak to me.”
The old Shaman drew himself up to his full height and looked down into Orghui’s eyes saying;
“Our People, who have been part of this world longer than the world has been, have given you their labor, their food, their mothers and daughters. They charge us to speak to the Khan, who is the son of the Khan.
The young Headman rose beside the old man, taller, broadshouldered viril and strong and continued;
“Songghumal Khan will not return. Mighty as your weapons are and skilled as your warriors are, you cannot save him. The warriors of the King of Mayapan are as numerous as swarming bees of their bombs and have the same fury without fear. The old Khan will join his mothers and fathers long before you ever will see Mayan lands.”
Nu-gro Ti-roon concluded;
“We will wait by the shore until you choose to let us fulfill the wish of our people”
Turning, they walked out of the tent and through the town towards a low headland not far from the walls. As they walked, natives who had not been seen for several days came out of the surrounding countryside and joined them. When they arrived at the point they had chosen for their camp they sat and waited…for five days.
Orghui, embarrassed, humiliated, frustrated and angry, determined to get rid of these men who had insulted him. He sent soldiers to bring them back to him so he could dispense Mongol justice but his plan failed because no sooner had the Headman and Shaman sat down on their headland but they were surrounded by the mass of Ngöbe, who had streamed in from every direction, including the sea. They provided for all the needs of the two emissaries, but most importantly, they provided their defense. Orghui was powerless to reach them.
Seeing this encampment as a threat to the safety of Asi Ügei, Orghui called a second council of leaders. Here he expressed his anger at the Ngöbe and spoke of their complete destruction. He did not speak of the insult he had received in detail, only noting that he had been insulted. Many of the men in the council had been in the tent for that ill-fated meeting and remembered the humiliation and embarrassment of the general and the dignity and power presented by the two natives. The general engaged in a long tirade detailing the treachery of the Ngöbe in Alagh and the danger they posed, of their lack of respect for those obviously better than they, of the need and rightness of bringing them into servitude.
The atmosphere was one of building tension as some of the officers agreed with the General and some, thinking of their Ngöbe wives or the pleasure they had shared with these very different people, grew increasingly uncomfortable and troubled at the tone. One of the officers mad a slight sign to an aid standing near the tent entry and the aid left with another souldier.
Nugün had not been informed of the meeting and was with his troops, exercising in the fields. He knew of the Ngöbe mission and he knew of their camp by the sea. The two officers who had left the council came riding up to him at full gallop and told him what was being said at the council. Nugün was not surprised that he had not been asked to attend, but he was angered by the purpose. He gathered his troops quickly and raced back to Asi Ügei. He sent an aid to Shīfù telling him to bring the monk to the council tent “because it is time”.
His troop arrived at the council tent causing great noise and confusion. Orghui, hearing the commotion, interrupted the council and angrily went out front, followed by the other officers. There they found Nugün Ürije, son of Songghumal and his cavalry arrayed before them in full battle dress.
Orghui was in no mood to be respectful or polite and demanded to know what they were doing disturbing the council and geared for battle.
Nugün nudged his mount forward out of the line toward the General. He was polite and nearly deferential to Orghui, saying;
“My soldiers and I were training in the fields, and so we rode out this morning fully armed to get the best benefit from our efforts. We are sorry to disturb your peace and deliberations, but when I became aware of this council I realized that you had undoubtedly been unable to locate me to request my presence, and rode as quickly as possible to join you. My men, as they always do, followed me to be certain no accident or delay prevented me from arriving.”
The General, in worsening mood and rising temper replied;
“My commanders and I do not need your presence, opinions or immature ideas. Take your playmates and return to your games boy.” And he turned to stride back to the tent.
A murmur rose from the assembled captains.
Nugün trotted forward until the general could feel the breath of the Prince’s horse on his neck. His soldiers had been insulted by being called his “playmates” and were having difficulty keeping themselves from falling upon the general.
“Orghui…” Nugün called him by name and without honorific or title, with a tone in his voice few had heard before…”Songghumal Khan made you commander here, but Songghumal is no longer Khan.”
Orghui wheeled to face the young man startling the prince’s mount which reared and was instantly calmed by the young prince. The general’s face was flushed and his breath ragged.
“I know Songghumal lives! As he lives, he is Khan! As he is Khan, I rule in Asi Ügei!”
He looked to his guard and was preparing to order them to arrest Nugün.
“Songghumal, my father, was Khan…” responded the Prince “…Shi Bi, my father was not Khan. Songghumal is once again Shi Bi and Shi Bi will soon die to satiate the gods of the mayans. There is no Khan Orghui!”
Orghui’s gaze snapped back to Nugün Ürije. He was about to speak, to call the young man a traitor, to condemn him and call for his execution as a traitor.
At this point, Shīfù came forward carrying a basket with a cloth covered bundle and cried;
“A Kurultai! Prince Nugün Ürije calls for a Kurultai!!”
Orghui looked at the monk in amazement. Confused murmurs drifted through the gathered crowd and Nugün’s troops began to chant;
“Kurultia!…Kurultai!…Kurultai!”
Shīfù, standing in front of the chanting cavalry, drew the cloth from the basket and revealed the helmet and crown of the Khan, holding it high for all to see.
The chant began to spread through all those gathered before the tent.
“Kurultia…Kurultai…Kurultai”
-----
Nugün Ürije, on the other hand was pleased by the aspect of a change in leadership. He and Shīfù had concocted a plan to bring the remnants of the Khan’s army together and hopefully survive as a unified people. He was relying on his knowledge of his own Ngöbe culture as well as his experience with the Mongols. He knew that the Mayans would not long tolerate an independent Asian presence nor the Ngöbe a dominant one. The King of Mayapan would view the natives as a source of goods and trade, to be allowed to continue their ways under the eyes of and to the benefit of the Mayapan League. He would not accept a potential military challenge.
The Mayans in fact had their hand full integrating their conquest of Alagh into the League. What had been an interesting but minor trade area was now the source of technology, resources, wealth and power. There would be culture shock as the Mayans learned new ways. They had to adjust to the reality of herding large animals in great numbers, learn how to exploit them, what they could provide and how they would enhance the life of the Mayan cities. For the first time, they had a potentially plentiful source of animal protein that they could control. Additionally, cattle provided them, with a draft animal that could haul goods more efficiently than a human and allow field to be plowed for greater prodiction. There was also the wheel and it’s logical extensions, carts and wagons. Although they had used wheels for small things, such as toys, they had never made the leap to using it as a labor saving device. Here they had received it, fully developed and with many of it’s applications in use. They had not even begun to consider all the implications.
Horses had already made an impression, but now the Mayans had a substantial number and were learning to breed them. They also provided a multitude of possibilities, speed of communications and transport, speed and mobility on the battlefield, horses were going to have a huge impact.
Other technologies such as advanced looms, new agricultural techniques, medical knowledge, enhanced metallurgy, sailing, shipbuilding and other maritime knowledge would be greatly beneficial. The possession of gunpowder, however, and the ability to produce it had implications that Ahau Cuat Cocom was only now beginning to dream about. Where could they find this magical metal iron they wondered.
As the Mayans tried to absorb the riches and knowledge that had fallen into their hands, they were less concerned with the immediate expulsion of the Asians. The Ngöbe had realized where their long term interests lie and would not support the invaders, so Asi Ügei could wait a bit.
-----
Many of the commanders there were backing Nugün for a number of different reasons. Some felt that Songghumal had designated the Prince by giving him the crown while he was still alive. Others had gained respect for the Prince’s leadership skills as demonstrated by the utter loyalty of his command. Still more recognized the native intelligence and budding insight and wisdom possessed by the young man. In the few years he had been with the Mongols, the Ngöbe boy had become a promising Mongol leader. There were also those who simply didn’t like Orghui and thought he was overbearing and arrogant.
When the decision came, Nugün was proclaimed Khan and Orghui his regent until the prince turned 20. Orghui was not happy, but at least it gave him three years to influence the Mongol’s path. Nugün surprised everyone, except Shīfù when he stated;
“I will have no regent. I am of age to fight in battle and to lead in battle. I will lead you if you wish, but I will not be directed.”
There was turmoil as the Prince assumed the most significant seat. There was murmuring and swearing, prayers and denunciations, praise and anger. The debate over the decision began anew although they could not go back on their proclamation of Nugün as Khan. The opinion that the Prince’s act demonstrated the dignity of a Khan and the decisiveness of a Khan gradually took hold. In the end, Nugün Ürije was declared Khan in his own right.
Orghui accepted his loss with much disappointment and some anger, but he was wise enough and a good enough soldier to know when he was beaten and he reluctantly joined the others as they went before the new Khan and swore oaths of loyalty.
Nugün chose to be called Ghung-bey-e Khan, meaning solitary.
As Orghui completed his oath to the Khan, Ghung-bey-e paused the proceedings. He spoke privately to the General for a moment before addressing the gathering.
“Orghui Biskigür has been a loyal and trusted lieutenant for my father, achieving many honors and distinctions. He has sworn his loyalty and will serve this Khan as he did my father. He is my advisor and my councilor, my servant and my friend.”
Approval of the new Khan’s first act swept like a wave over the commanders. It was hoped that this act would defuse any resentment or strife caused by Orghui’s defeat. All knew that they needed unity to survive.
A few days later, the young Khan went with Shīfù to meet with Nu-gro Ti-roon and Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba at their camp on the shore. There were several thousand Ngöbe and other local villagers who had been come to protect the Shaman and the Headman. The four of them walked some distance down the beach before sitting down and discussing the issues before them as equals.
Shīfù simply recorded what was happening, occasionally making an observation to the Khan or proposing a question to be asked. The meeting lasted several hours, and a mid-day meal of fish, cooked Ngöbe style, was brought to sustain them.
In essence, the Ngöbe leaders told the Khan that the Mongols and their troops were no longer welcome. The natives wished them to leave. The Khan argued that he was one of them as well as a Mongol and that he would impose nothing on them. They responded that though they believed the Khan would be benevolent, the mere presence of the Asians would bring the wrath of the Mayas down upon them, meaning destruction and slavery. The three Ngöbe knew that this was not quite accurate, but the Khan understood their meaning and feelings and did not correct them. Shīfù, for his part, took them at their word.
It was decided that the Khan and his people would leave, but not immediately. They were given some time to decide their course of action and they would meet in a week to finalize the exodus.
Ghung-bey-e assembled his commanders, with Orghui by his side. Some wanted to fall upon the Ngöbe and subjugate them, but they were told there were too many Ngöbe and too few Asians. They were also reminded that their wives were largely Ngöbe and their children half Ngöbe. Options for a march to the west were discussed, but that would take them closer to the K’iche and the Pipil, who were far stronger than the local Ngöbe. To the east was a Jungle that seemed impenetrable and showed little promise until they neared Chimor, a very long march.
They discussed trying to ally with the Maya, but that got very little traction since the sacrifice of their countrymen to the Mayan gods had horrified them. Awful vengeance upon those who have wronged you was one thing, but sacrificing enemies to the gods was something else. The only reason for human sacrifice was to assist a great man in their journeys after death.
It was finally determined that the only viable solution was to take to their ships. Where would they go though? The great bays of Jibqulang toque and Hasighun mören to the east were heavily populated, as were the lands around them and farther east along the coast. The Dorunadu islanders, far to the east had been welcoming initially, but demonstrated limited patience before letting the explorers know they should leave. The Islands that stretched northward from there had been hostile and determined to chase the explorers away.
To the northwest along the coast was the land of the Maya, and they had a sense Of possession over the islands along that coast. But a few hundred li to the northeast of the Mayan country was a large island which had recently been discovered. The people were not as advanced as the Ngöbe and not as numerous as in the Dorunadu, nor were they as hostile as those in the chain of islands.
This large island was called Cirtai Aral and there they would be able to claim good land in time. If the natives did not accept their presence they would drive them out or eliminate them. They would be close enough to the Mayans to keep watch over them but far enough away that they would have time to build their strength. Their initial settlement would be on an island off the coast which the explorers had named Gacur-a Aral because of its pine trees. It was large enough to support a good population and provide land for herds and farms, but it was far enough from the main island to limit incursions by the natives for some time. That is where they would begin their new life and eventually move to Cirtai Aral.
When the Khan told Nu-gro Ti-roon and Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba of their decision, the two were greatly satisfied. It was agreed that the Ngöbe would help them finish building their ships, which would take about a month, and that they would take cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and of course their horses. The refugees would consist of the Asians themselves and their native families. If some of the Asians wished to stay with the Ngöbe, and take on their lifestyle, they could do so, but would be dispersed among the native villages.
With this decided, instructions were given, work begun, supplies and provisions collected. Orghui was put in charge of the gathering and preparation of the livestock and their necessary feed. Ghung-bey-e took charge of the completion and outfitting of the fleet.
The Ngöbe headman, Mu-ri Ti-ed-eba let it be known that there was to be no interference with the preparations and if assistance was required, it should be given in order to hasten the departure of the Asians. Nu-gro Ti-roon supported the headman with prayers to the spirits who protected and provided for the Ngöbe and spoke of visions they had sent him which showed their approval. The Mayans, pre occupied in Alagh, had allowed the Ngöbe to deal with the Asians themselves, but were keeping an eye on the events in Asi Ügei. They approved of the exile of the invaders as an economically reasonable solution to their presence.
Only a few of the Asians decided to stay and they were re-settled in the villages of their wives. Of them, little was recorded, and they vanished into the native population, leaving only their skills as metal workers, farmers, carpenters and herdsmen behind to mark their presence.
-----
They sailed north for some days in fine weather with fair winds, and eventually turned northwest toward Gacur-a Aral having stayed well out to sea and away from the Mayan coast. The weather started to deteriorate a few days after their change in heading. The winds grew and became fickle, seas began to mount and the sky grew dark and menacing clouds, particularly to the east-southeast. They were forced westward until the navigators were certain their destination was now behind them to the northeast.
The fleet attempted to claw their way back toward Gacur-a Aral but as they made slow progress eastward the sky grew darker the seas more confused and the winds grew angry. A late season storm, a Huracan as the Mayans called it after their storm god, had fallen upon the fleet and was about to subject the exiles to the whims of the gods.
The conditions worsened through the night and the dim morning light showed exactly how sever the sea state was. Waves towered above the ships on all sides, lifting them singly and in groups to their crests and then pulling them down into the troughs, providing alternate views of a world tearing itself apart and a world of walls of water reaching for an angry sky. Rain and spray blinded them while the wind tossed their ships and tore at the few remaining sails aloft. There were mariners among them who had experienced typhoons in the waters of the China Sea, and survived, and they shared their courage with the rest of the party as they fought the violence of the storm. Eventually there was nothing left for them but to run before the storm under bare poles.
When the Huracan had passed and the seas began to moderate, they had been blown far to the north and west, into a new sea. The ships had all survived the storm with varying degrees of damage. Only a few people had been lost, mostly washed from the decks or blown from the rigging. None of the ships were crippled and the vast majority of their animals were alive, though traumatized.
They continued to sail in a generally northerly direction, having no knowledge of how far or in which direction the storm had taken them. The voyage that was supposed to take about two weeks stretched into a month. They were struck by another, but less sever Huracan during the third week.
In mid December, they finally saw a low island ahead of them. It looked to be little more than a sand bar and they started to sound the water depths. Moving eastward along the island, they looked for an inlet that might lead to a calm anchorage. Eventually, they were able to discern trees on the coast and the sand bar turned into a mangrove as the continued their approach. Late in the day, the eastern end of the island came into view. As they neared the terminal cape, they saw land and trees, swamps and mangroves stretching northward into the distance. They had found a huge bay.
Rounding the eastern end of the island the fleet sailed into the bay, found a safe anchorage and dropped anchor for the first time since leaving Asi Ügei. None had the energy or interest that night to think about naming this place. All slept, with the exception of small watch crews who were happy to stay awake and smell land and trees.
The next morning, one of the night watch on the Khan’s ship said he had spent the night savoring the odor of good earth, and the bay was named Toque Darim köser, Bay of Good Earth.
Bavarian Raven
Banned
Wonderful TL, keep it going.
Curious, did they land somewhere near the mouth of the Mississippi/texas gulf?
Curious, did they land somewhere near the mouth of the Mississippi/texas gulf?
The Horse and the Jaguar...22 Mayapan and Antisuyu
[FONT="]
The success of Mayapan’s conquest of Alagh along with the departure of the young Khan Gung-bey-e and his people had an impact that would take years to be fully realized and appreciated by Ahau Cuat Cocom. It was an event that would fundamentally change the trajectory of Mayan history in unimaginable ways. The Ngöbe and the other natives of the Isthmus had been exposed to the blessings and curses brought by the Yuan fleet for several years could better appreciate the changes wrought by the presence of the Asians. Many of the foreigners had been assimilated into the local population but continued to practice their crafts and trades within the context of Ngöbe culture. Because of these aliens and their contributions the peoples of the Isthmus were now the most technologically advanced culture north of the Empire of Chimor. [/FONT]
In the past seven years their already wonderful pottery, metalwork and textiles had been enhanced and improved by Asian skills, techniques and tools. Their ceramics had benefitted from new methods of handling and modeling the clay along with improved firing and glazing techniques. The results were become finer and more sophisticated and more versatile products which were coveted as far as the Mayan homelands. Metal casting was being practiced and the quality of bronze had improved. The Asian designed looms not only improved the quality of the fine textiles they already produced, but increase the production of fabric, making it more profitable. To the cotton and other plant fibers they had employed, they now added wool from their sheep. Dyes introduced by the Asians had added a vast spectrum of colors to their repertoire. Transport had taken a huge leap with the adoption of the wheel, cart and the Ox. The sail and other imported marine design and construction techniques along with navigation and seamanship skills were revolutionizing fishing and trade. The new agricultural methods enhanced the already successful indigenous practices and crop yields had soared, as had the variety of produce being farmed. Hunting was nearly a leisure activity thanks to the introduction of cattle, swine, sheep and chickens.
As a result of the rapid progress the population was growing, as women were freed from constant labor and dairy production freed them from extended nursing of the young. Chinese medical ideas had taken hold and, combined with the enhanced diet, the Ngöbe were now among the healthiest of the peoples they knew of. Immunization, as introduced by the Chinese, had greatly reduced the impact of the plagues which periodically swept the region as Ngöbe shamans and Chinese physicians adapted the technique to other diseases.
Immigrants from the Yucatan were arriving regularly and the Mayan presence grew ever stronger. Ah Kom Xiu, functioning as the viceroy of Alagh, had continued the construction of the city, although with the addition of temples, ball courts and other Mayan urban necessities. Industries established by Songghumal to facilitate the building of his capitol were resumed. The Manufacture of tiles for roofing, flooring and wall covering as well as the milling of lumber and the quarrying of stone expanded to supply the city’s construction as well as demand from the Ngöbe villages. In the villages, the more prominent and important structures were being fitted with stone or tile floors and there was some discussion of replacing existing buildings with stone buildings and tile roofs.
The messenger sent by the Emperor of Chimor to inform Songghumal that aid was not coming sailed into Alagh shortly after the fall of the city. There were still a few junks in the anchorage but they only had caretaker crews on board since most had been called to defend the Khan. Zi yí’s agent learned from them of the Mayan victory and the flight of the Khan’s son to Asi Ügei.
Xiu did not have the means to attack the ships since he only had the small Ngöbe canoes or smaller vessels that his forces did not yet have the skills to operate effectively so he had kept an eye on the anchorage but left them largely unmolested. He did investigate the new arrival but there was no contact between the Mayans and the imperial envoy.
The crews had lost some of their number who had abandoned their posts in order to join their families after the departure of The King. There were now only enough to man two of the war junks. They were offered the opportunity to sail south, if they wished, and serve the Emperor. An offer they quickly accepted. Weapons, fittings and supplies were cannibalized from the other vessels and loaded on two junks of the Khan and the imperial ship. The remaining vessels were scuttled where they were anchored and the small flotilla sailed from the bay.
Ah Com Xiu was not happy when he learned that the ships had been sunk but he was now aware of the Chinese presence to the south. His learned from his captives of the strained relationship between the two Asian powers and determined to try and establish contact once he had consolidated the Mayan gains on the Isthmus.
In Mayapan, Ahau Cuat Cocom and his ministers, priests and other officials were learning as much as they could from the prisoners that had been brought back to the city from Alagh. They had returned with hundreds of Uyghur soldiers along with many other Asians possessing diverse skills and expertise. Once again the exchange of skills and ideas was in progress. Many of the soldiers had additional skills that were valuable on campaign; engineers, blacksmiths, carpenters, leatherworkers and experts in animal husbandry. There were clerics, farmers, herdsmen, weavers and masons among the captives as well.
The King soon realized that in order to fully capitalize on this technological windfall he would need additional artisans and craftspeople in the Mayan homeland. While he now had some skilled craftsmen in his captive Asians he would need many more in order to spread this knowledge widely among the cities of the League. There were many natives and foreigners in the conquered Khanate who possessed this knowledge and he determined that they would share these skills with the Mayans. Mayan craftsmen were sent to Alagh and Asi Ügei to learn and return to their cities to share their new knowledge. This benefitted Alagh as well as it would become an important center of knowledge.
In the meantime, Cocom learned as much as possible from his Uyghur soldiers and began to integrate new ideas, tactics and strategies into his own military. The Uyghurs, for their part, were used to fighting in other people’s wars and were happy to share their skills, particularly since it kept them alive and out of the hands of the Mayan priests. In fact, they were very well treated by the King and lived in comparative luxury.
The first steps in an unprecedented partnership were being taken. The Asians and Ngöbe had sowed the seeds of a new cultural presence and, under the protection of a growing centralized Mayan polity, were laying the foundation for unheard of commercial prosperity and artistic influence. Three diverse schools of thought in art, industry, agriculture and philosophy were blending together, benefiting from each one’s strengths. The prospect of a brilliant new civilization was on the horizon, although few, if any, saw it.
As the New Year began the Dōngbù Emperor busied himself consolidating his empire and securing his source of iron. His ships now regularly plied the coast carrying trade goods, food and iron ore. People of Chimor could see and feel the growing prosperity under his light hand and were enthusiastic supporters of their Chinese leadership. The Chinese, in turn were quick to see the value of the unique knowledge of the Chimu and find new ways to exploit their particular skills.
Regular trade with the cities of Tawantinsuyu, the land of Mayta Cápac, King of Qusqu, increased the wealth and power and influence of the empire as did trade with lesser polities. The flow of goods, ideas and beliefs was constant and growing. The Chinese scholars had been surprised to discover that the native populations did not have writing, as such. The closest they came was a system of knots in twine which the Chinese found nearly impossible to master. Zi yí ordered them to adapt Chinese script to the Quechua languages spoken by most of the people in his empire. He knew that his dominion over the millions of Chimu and other natives of the Empire was tenuous, although it appeared to be absolute. It was important for the Chinese to do something most uncharacteristic of them; they needed to blend with the people they had conquered. As had happened so many times, the conquered would assimilate the conquerors. This time, however, the conquerors would be active partners in the assimilation.
The Inca’s daughter, Pillcu Ocllo, who had been offered to Zi yí in marriage, kept her father informed of the Emperor’s acts and, as much as possible his state of mind. While not truly an Incan spy, she had a vested interest in continued good relations between the two monarchs. The Emperor was increasingly comfortable with her presence and frequently sought her company. She was making a strong effort to learn Chinese and much of her free time was invested in this endeavor. When she and the Emperor were together they he enjoyed helping her master the language and she was happy to let him believe that he was responsible for most of her progress. The Princess was learning to read and write at the same time which further impressed the Emperor. Over time, Zi yí discovered that she was not only beautiful and exotic but also intelligent and perceptive in the ways of statecraft. For her part, she learned that this strange man from across the sea was determined that the people of his empire be happy and content, prosperous and creative. He had no interest in oppressing them for he knew that there was no benefit in being a tyrant. The two began to relax their guards when they were in each other’s company. She helped him to understand his people and he brought her new ideas and philosophies.
Zi yí had received the news of the fall of the Khanate from his messenger and welcomed the addition of the two refugee war junks and their cargoes of weapons and fittings. He felt a slight pang of sadness at the news for many of the men who had remained with the Khan were good and talented, and some had served him well when he was the Khan’s admiral. His knowledge of the Maya was entirely based upon hearsay and he knew it was suspect. He sent agents to Alagh to garner additional information from Ngöbe friends and discovered that the Khan’s son had led the remains of the Khanate into the Other Sea and on to unknown lands. Learning of the colonization of the Isthmus by the Mayans Zi Yi began to view them as a potential market for Chimor trade.
High in the mountains, Mayta Cápac was also making plans. The conquest of the lands surrounding the sacred lake Titiqaqa and the fertile river valleys leading to the Empire of Zi Yi were his primary focus. As he planned the details of his campaigns he also dwelled on the implications of success. Tawantinsuyu was a power in the mountains and influential in the valleys but their power paled in comparison to Chimor. His daughter informed him that the Emperor was a wise and patient man and dedicated to the well being of his people. She also advised him that Zi yí was intent on consolidation and wished a stable diplomatic situation. This told the King that the time for his own expansion was ripe. Chimor would not intervene as long as his conquests did not challenge the hegemony of the Empire.
Trade with Chimor had dramatically increased and was reaching the limits imposed by the roadways in the mountains; this provided him with an excuse to improve them to accommodate the flow of goods and, naturally, troops. Trade goods would need to be stored in new warehouses, as would supplies for his army.
He needed to insure that Chimor stay out of the coming conflict. He did not want the powerful empire feeling his actions were a threat, nor did he wish to share his conquests. He looked for ways to enforce the neutrality of his stronger neighbor.
Mayta Cápac carefully manipulated his relations with the targeted cities. He created situations where they failed to cooperate with him, where they had little choice but to offer him some manufactured offense, to become increasingly intransigent and belligerent. It was a skillful performance designed to create a sympathetic attitude in Chan Chan.
When the seasons changed there was prosperity and peace on the coast and in the lands of Chimor. Tensions had grown in the mountains but between Chimor and Tawantinsuyu there was growing economic partnership and cultural exchange. Under the influence of its Chinese ruling class, Chimor was learning much from the Incas as well as the peoples it had absorbed. All the subject cities and nations were making valuable contributions to the Empire and they felt they were getting fair exchange. Tawantinsuyu, for its part, was able to plan it’s conquests in peace, knowing that the great power of Chimor was friendly. The lands that had been targeted by the King saw Chimor and its silence as a great unknown and additional concern. The future of the Antisuyu and its mountains was in the hands of two men born worlds apart.
[FONT="]Chapter 22[/FONT]
[FONT="]Mayapan and Antisuyu[/FONT]
The success of Mayapan’s conquest of Alagh along with the departure of the young Khan Gung-bey-e and his people had an impact that would take years to be fully realized and appreciated by Ahau Cuat Cocom. It was an event that would fundamentally change the trajectory of Mayan history in unimaginable ways. The Ngöbe and the other natives of the Isthmus had been exposed to the blessings and curses brought by the Yuan fleet for several years could better appreciate the changes wrought by the presence of the Asians. Many of the foreigners had been assimilated into the local population but continued to practice their crafts and trades within the context of Ngöbe culture. Because of these aliens and their contributions the peoples of the Isthmus were now the most technologically advanced culture north of the Empire of Chimor. [/FONT]
In the past seven years their already wonderful pottery, metalwork and textiles had been enhanced and improved by Asian skills, techniques and tools. Their ceramics had benefitted from new methods of handling and modeling the clay along with improved firing and glazing techniques. The results were become finer and more sophisticated and more versatile products which were coveted as far as the Mayan homelands. Metal casting was being practiced and the quality of bronze had improved. The Asian designed looms not only improved the quality of the fine textiles they already produced, but increase the production of fabric, making it more profitable. To the cotton and other plant fibers they had employed, they now added wool from their sheep. Dyes introduced by the Asians had added a vast spectrum of colors to their repertoire. Transport had taken a huge leap with the adoption of the wheel, cart and the Ox. The sail and other imported marine design and construction techniques along with navigation and seamanship skills were revolutionizing fishing and trade. The new agricultural methods enhanced the already successful indigenous practices and crop yields had soared, as had the variety of produce being farmed. Hunting was nearly a leisure activity thanks to the introduction of cattle, swine, sheep and chickens.
As a result of the rapid progress the population was growing, as women were freed from constant labor and dairy production freed them from extended nursing of the young. Chinese medical ideas had taken hold and, combined with the enhanced diet, the Ngöbe were now among the healthiest of the peoples they knew of. Immunization, as introduced by the Chinese, had greatly reduced the impact of the plagues which periodically swept the region as Ngöbe shamans and Chinese physicians adapted the technique to other diseases.
Immigrants from the Yucatan were arriving regularly and the Mayan presence grew ever stronger. Ah Kom Xiu, functioning as the viceroy of Alagh, had continued the construction of the city, although with the addition of temples, ball courts and other Mayan urban necessities. Industries established by Songghumal to facilitate the building of his capitol were resumed. The Manufacture of tiles for roofing, flooring and wall covering as well as the milling of lumber and the quarrying of stone expanded to supply the city’s construction as well as demand from the Ngöbe villages. In the villages, the more prominent and important structures were being fitted with stone or tile floors and there was some discussion of replacing existing buildings with stone buildings and tile roofs.
-----
The messenger sent by the Emperor of Chimor to inform Songghumal that aid was not coming sailed into Alagh shortly after the fall of the city. There were still a few junks in the anchorage but they only had caretaker crews on board since most had been called to defend the Khan. Zi yí’s agent learned from them of the Mayan victory and the flight of the Khan’s son to Asi Ügei.
Xiu did not have the means to attack the ships since he only had the small Ngöbe canoes or smaller vessels that his forces did not yet have the skills to operate effectively so he had kept an eye on the anchorage but left them largely unmolested. He did investigate the new arrival but there was no contact between the Mayans and the imperial envoy.
The crews had lost some of their number who had abandoned their posts in order to join their families after the departure of The King. There were now only enough to man two of the war junks. They were offered the opportunity to sail south, if they wished, and serve the Emperor. An offer they quickly accepted. Weapons, fittings and supplies were cannibalized from the other vessels and loaded on two junks of the Khan and the imperial ship. The remaining vessels were scuttled where they were anchored and the small flotilla sailed from the bay.
Ah Com Xiu was not happy when he learned that the ships had been sunk but he was now aware of the Chinese presence to the south. His learned from his captives of the strained relationship between the two Asian powers and determined to try and establish contact once he had consolidated the Mayan gains on the Isthmus.
-----
In Mayapan, Ahau Cuat Cocom and his ministers, priests and other officials were learning as much as they could from the prisoners that had been brought back to the city from Alagh. They had returned with hundreds of Uyghur soldiers along with many other Asians possessing diverse skills and expertise. Once again the exchange of skills and ideas was in progress. Many of the soldiers had additional skills that were valuable on campaign; engineers, blacksmiths, carpenters, leatherworkers and experts in animal husbandry. There were clerics, farmers, herdsmen, weavers and masons among the captives as well.
The King soon realized that in order to fully capitalize on this technological windfall he would need additional artisans and craftspeople in the Mayan homeland. While he now had some skilled craftsmen in his captive Asians he would need many more in order to spread this knowledge widely among the cities of the League. There were many natives and foreigners in the conquered Khanate who possessed this knowledge and he determined that they would share these skills with the Mayans. Mayan craftsmen were sent to Alagh and Asi Ügei to learn and return to their cities to share their new knowledge. This benefitted Alagh as well as it would become an important center of knowledge.
In the meantime, Cocom learned as much as possible from his Uyghur soldiers and began to integrate new ideas, tactics and strategies into his own military. The Uyghurs, for their part, were used to fighting in other people’s wars and were happy to share their skills, particularly since it kept them alive and out of the hands of the Mayan priests. In fact, they were very well treated by the King and lived in comparative luxury.
The first steps in an unprecedented partnership were being taken. The Asians and Ngöbe had sowed the seeds of a new cultural presence and, under the protection of a growing centralized Mayan polity, were laying the foundation for unheard of commercial prosperity and artistic influence. Three diverse schools of thought in art, industry, agriculture and philosophy were blending together, benefiting from each one’s strengths. The prospect of a brilliant new civilization was on the horizon, although few, if any, saw it.
-----
As the New Year began the Dōngbù Emperor busied himself consolidating his empire and securing his source of iron. His ships now regularly plied the coast carrying trade goods, food and iron ore. People of Chimor could see and feel the growing prosperity under his light hand and were enthusiastic supporters of their Chinese leadership. The Chinese, in turn were quick to see the value of the unique knowledge of the Chimu and find new ways to exploit their particular skills.
Regular trade with the cities of Tawantinsuyu, the land of Mayta Cápac, King of Qusqu, increased the wealth and power and influence of the empire as did trade with lesser polities. The flow of goods, ideas and beliefs was constant and growing. The Chinese scholars had been surprised to discover that the native populations did not have writing, as such. The closest they came was a system of knots in twine which the Chinese found nearly impossible to master. Zi yí ordered them to adapt Chinese script to the Quechua languages spoken by most of the people in his empire. He knew that his dominion over the millions of Chimu and other natives of the Empire was tenuous, although it appeared to be absolute. It was important for the Chinese to do something most uncharacteristic of them; they needed to blend with the people they had conquered. As had happened so many times, the conquered would assimilate the conquerors. This time, however, the conquerors would be active partners in the assimilation.
The Inca’s daughter, Pillcu Ocllo, who had been offered to Zi yí in marriage, kept her father informed of the Emperor’s acts and, as much as possible his state of mind. While not truly an Incan spy, she had a vested interest in continued good relations between the two monarchs. The Emperor was increasingly comfortable with her presence and frequently sought her company. She was making a strong effort to learn Chinese and much of her free time was invested in this endeavor. When she and the Emperor were together they he enjoyed helping her master the language and she was happy to let him believe that he was responsible for most of her progress. The Princess was learning to read and write at the same time which further impressed the Emperor. Over time, Zi yí discovered that she was not only beautiful and exotic but also intelligent and perceptive in the ways of statecraft. For her part, she learned that this strange man from across the sea was determined that the people of his empire be happy and content, prosperous and creative. He had no interest in oppressing them for he knew that there was no benefit in being a tyrant. The two began to relax their guards when they were in each other’s company. She helped him to understand his people and he brought her new ideas and philosophies.
Zi yí had received the news of the fall of the Khanate from his messenger and welcomed the addition of the two refugee war junks and their cargoes of weapons and fittings. He felt a slight pang of sadness at the news for many of the men who had remained with the Khan were good and talented, and some had served him well when he was the Khan’s admiral. His knowledge of the Maya was entirely based upon hearsay and he knew it was suspect. He sent agents to Alagh to garner additional information from Ngöbe friends and discovered that the Khan’s son had led the remains of the Khanate into the Other Sea and on to unknown lands. Learning of the colonization of the Isthmus by the Mayans Zi Yi began to view them as a potential market for Chimor trade.
-----
High in the mountains, Mayta Cápac was also making plans. The conquest of the lands surrounding the sacred lake Titiqaqa and the fertile river valleys leading to the Empire of Zi Yi were his primary focus. As he planned the details of his campaigns he also dwelled on the implications of success. Tawantinsuyu was a power in the mountains and influential in the valleys but their power paled in comparison to Chimor. His daughter informed him that the Emperor was a wise and patient man and dedicated to the well being of his people. She also advised him that Zi yí was intent on consolidation and wished a stable diplomatic situation. This told the King that the time for his own expansion was ripe. Chimor would not intervene as long as his conquests did not challenge the hegemony of the Empire.
Trade with Chimor had dramatically increased and was reaching the limits imposed by the roadways in the mountains; this provided him with an excuse to improve them to accommodate the flow of goods and, naturally, troops. Trade goods would need to be stored in new warehouses, as would supplies for his army.
He needed to insure that Chimor stay out of the coming conflict. He did not want the powerful empire feeling his actions were a threat, nor did he wish to share his conquests. He looked for ways to enforce the neutrality of his stronger neighbor.
Mayta Cápac carefully manipulated his relations with the targeted cities. He created situations where they failed to cooperate with him, where they had little choice but to offer him some manufactured offense, to become increasingly intransigent and belligerent. It was a skillful performance designed to create a sympathetic attitude in Chan Chan.
-----
When the seasons changed there was prosperity and peace on the coast and in the lands of Chimor. Tensions had grown in the mountains but between Chimor and Tawantinsuyu there was growing economic partnership and cultural exchange. Under the influence of its Chinese ruling class, Chimor was learning much from the Incas as well as the peoples it had absorbed. All the subject cities and nations were making valuable contributions to the Empire and they felt they were getting fair exchange. Tawantinsuyu, for its part, was able to plan it’s conquests in peace, knowing that the great power of Chimor was friendly. The lands that had been targeted by the King saw Chimor and its silence as a great unknown and additional concern. The future of the Antisuyu and its mountains was in the hands of two men born worlds apart.
the future
Thanks for your interest everybody. Here I am going to make a change just to try an keep command of this thing (history tends not to be willing to be directed). I will be breaking this into 3 related AHs that will occasionally interact. One will follow Ghung-bey-e, Shifu and Orghui, another will document the Mayapan League and the third will follow Zi yi.
As soon as I have initial posts for Chimor and Mayapan I will let you know. I the mean time I am going to concentrate for the next few updates on the refugees.
Thanks for your interest everybody. Here I am going to make a change just to try an keep command of this thing (history tends not to be willing to be directed). I will be breaking this into 3 related AHs that will occasionally interact. One will follow Ghung-bey-e, Shifu and Orghui, another will document the Mayapan League and the third will follow Zi yi.
As soon as I have initial posts for Chimor and Mayapan I will let you know. I the mean time I am going to concentrate for the next few updates on the refugees.
Thanks, This is fun.
The Refugees have anchored in Terrebonne Bay, OTL Louisiana. This was the primary mouth of the Mississippi in the 13th / 14th century.
More to come.
I can't imainge writing anything in 90F. It barely foes above 80 here.Sorry about that, I thought the almost daily posts would get me in trouble.
Yesterday (Saturday) I woke up to no conditioning and a dead coffee maker. The day was spent finding the right machine for my morning indulgence. Today I dealt with the AC (I live in central Florida and my house has floated about 90 F yesterday and today, with the appropriate humidity level. The AC unit will be replaced later this week and the house should be liveable again.
We are nearing a major turning point in the story and Perhaps a spin-off timeline for Zi yi, at least until the 15th or 16th century. Don't know how I am going to handle that yet.
Thanks and an update will come soon.
Thanks for the dedication. That has never happened before.
Keep up the good work
Firstly phildup , I would like to compliment you on a brilliant timeline. Its very well written and keeps the imagination going. Being half irish half welsh , I love a good yarn (story for you non celts ....) and this is up there with the best of them.
I think a good reason you dont get too many questions is because a lot of us on here are very well versed in european/american history , but when it comes to maya or mongol etc.....our knowledge is , well , in mathematical terms , the square route of squat .So dont think we dont appreciate what your writing , we very much do , we just dont know alot about the subject , well me anyway .I would go further and say for me personally, its very informative and I always look forward to the next update.
Oh and dont worry about daily updates , rast has been doing that for years with his timeline "A change in priorities"..........(thats a great timeline also )
Keep it up fella
....) and this is up there with the best of them.I think a good reason you dont get too many questions is because a lot of us on here are very well versed in european/american history , but when it comes to maya or mongol etc.....our knowledge is , well , in mathematical terms , the square route of squat
.So dont think we dont appreciate what your writing , we very much do , we just dont know alot about the subject , well me anyway .I would go further and say for me personally, its very informative and I always look forward to the next update.Oh and dont worry about daily updates , rast has been doing that for years with his timeline "A change in priorities"..........(thats a great timeline also )
Keep it up fella
The Horse and The Jaguar...23 Yatasi Lands
Ghung-bey-e ordered the boats to be sent out and reconnoiter the bay where they were anchored. The water was shallow and shoals were everywhere. What little dry ground there was rose only a foot or so above the sea and many of the “islands” weren’t really land at all but floating mats of debris where small trees and shrubs had taken root. They moved the fleet farther into the bay, carefully guiding with the smaller boats and sounding the depths as they went until they anchored in the lee of some good islands with tall trees. It was no place to call home but they could walk on real ground that didn’t move under their feet.
There were people who lived in this place; their small villages had been seen amidst the mangroves and marshes, and they appeared to be very poor. Their settlements were small and their huts appeared to be quite flimsy and poorly constructed. The natives themselves, only seen fleetingly as they melted into the swamps, seemed terrified of the Asians and fled from them on sight. No campfires were observed in the villages during the night nor were the natives seen again. As the boats continued their exploration of the bay new villages were always found to be abandoned, usually in haste.
It was discovered that the bay was at the mouth of a great, brown river, many li wide. Soon other outlets of this river were found and some of the men had compared it to the Yangtze or the Hatan Gol. The opinion was that this river, as large as it was, carrying as much soil as it did, had traversed a vast country. Within a few days, the fleet was again under sail, this time, up the great river.
Much of the bank was, like the bay, swamp and mangrove. There was very little real land bordering the main channel and there were many turns and twists. Often lakes had been created where the river had pinched off a bend and these would gradually become marsh and eventually fertile land. For several days, the Asian fleet made slow progress against the flow thanks to favorable southwesterly winds. In time, the marshes gave way to longer and longer stretches of solid ground along the banks. They stopped several times, hoping to find a place to make camp, but there was never enough open ground to accommodate the livestock and a camp.
Finally, after a week and a half, they came across a major tributary which flowed in from the northwest. The Khan ordered the ships to anchor and a small scouting party was sent up the smaller river by boat. When they returned a few days later they reported that they had found a clearing of elevated ground that appeared to have good grazing for the animals as well as enough room for the people. Ghung-bey-e ordered the fleet up the river and they soon arrived at the bluff which rose above the left bank. Along the shoreline there were trees and some marshes but the hill and the land surrounding it was clear and covered in lush greases. The ships pulled to the shore and once the suitability of this place was established, the Khan ordered the construction of a camp and the unloading of the livestock.
They would winter in this place. For the Asians this would be a place of rest and recovery. It was now mid December and the weather had turned quite cool. Orghui and Shīfù, both of whom knew what winter really was, counseled the young Khan on the proper preparations, for this would be a winter such as the young man had never dreamed. Fuel for fires needed to be gathered and they would need to build solid and warm structures for the people and the animals.
The trees and shrubs on the banks of the Bah'hatteno provided little shelter from the bitterly cold wind as the sun rose that January morning. Eight men on the river’s shore pulled their buffalo hide robes closely around themselves as they gazed at the strange sights across the river. They spoke quietly, pointing thing out to each other, trying to interpret and put names and words to what they saw.
They could identify much, the people, of course, the dogs, dwellings, storehouses, smoke of cooking fires and such, but there was so very much that was nearly unidentifiable or totally strange. Not only things and animals, but the way these strangers used and related to these things.
Closest to them, in the Bah'hatteno, floated several great wooden boats far larger than any canoe. They were tethered to the shoreline and possible to the river itself. They had huge sticks, like trees, that rose out of the main body and these had other sticks, like branches, tied to them that carried great pieces of bundled cloth. Many of their dwellings were also made of cloth but many were wood. Most of them were round with a central opening for smoke in the top. The people wore many different types of odd clothes that were often brightly colored and patterned. A few men wore robes that glowed orange like the setting sun but most were dressed in cloth, occasionally one would be dressed in hides and often the men wore shining garments that glinted in the sun. The women all dressed in a similar manner to each other, unlike the men, it was as if the women came from one place and the men from many.
The strangers had many different sorts of animals that lived with them and it was soon apparent that the people fed and cared for many of these beasts. They had turkeys, much as the Yatasi, but they kept them in greater numbers. They also kept ducks, which seemed odd because wild ducks were so plentiful. There was a smaller bird, like a little turkey that they had very many of. Also kept near the village in enclosures of wooden sticks, there was a large, fat animal that was unknown to them. Larger than a dog some were about the size of a young buffalo.
On the grasslands surrounding the settlement were small herds of other creatures. There were groups of dog sized white furred animals grazing on the grasses. These were watched over by young boys who always had dogs with them. The dogs seemed to help control the grazers and responded to the boys as if they could speak. Nearby there were much larger beasts, something like buffalo, but not as heavily built. They had horns also, but their heads appeared longer. Just like the white animals, these were watched over by men and dogs. They did not have a hump and seemed to come in many different shades of white, brown and black. Some of them were used to pull a wooden platform with a fence that was between these wooden circles. The Yatasi had no word for what they saw, but they seemed to be capable of carrying a great deal of things.
The last creature was the most troubling for it was the largest and it happily carried men wherever they wanted to go. It had short fur, long legs, a long head like a deer, but without antlers, and a tail that seemed to be made of hair. As tall as the horned animals, or taller, they were not as heavy and moved with speed and grace, like an antelope. Indeed, they somewhat resembled a large antelope. The villagers would sit on these beasts, which would carry them wherever they wanted faster than the fastest man could run.
The eight men watched the strangers all day, moving along the shore to get a better view, and saw them taking goods and supplies off of the boats in the river, moving animals from place to place with the help of the dogs. One of the big fat animals was slaughtered and then butchered so they knew these people used kept the animals for food. Some of the men had gone down to the river and caught fish as well.
Eventually, on the flats just up river from the village, they witnessed the men on their hornless antelopes being carried back and forth very fast. Moving along the shore to get a better vantage point, they saw that the strangers were in fact shooting their bows at a target as they were carried past it by their animals. They would fire arrows in rapid succession as they approached and continued to fire as they were carried away, turning and shooting behind them. Each would shoot six or more arrows from a short, oddly shaped bow, each time they went by, accompanied by much shouting and cheering. It looked to be a game, and a game they were very good at, for nearly all the arrows found the target. The Yatasi leader thought that they would not be easy to beat in a fight, at least based on their skill with their strange bow and their beasts.
Three of the Yatasi men set off to return to their chief the next morning. They left the other five warriors behind to keep watch on the strangers. They continued to struggle to find ways of describing what they had seen and to put the meaning and context to it.
Who and What were these people and where had they come from? They were not from the chiefs farther up the great rivers for even they did not possess any of the wonderful animals that seemed so ordinary to the strangers, not even in Great Cahokia. They seemed to have good hunting skills, and that translated to fighting skills. They were very organized, although there was no sign yet of a leader, and they seemed to have a peaceful and happy village. The Yatasi War Chief would want to see their skill with bow and arrow, and would probably want one of their bows himself. The leader of the Yatasi scouts was most puzzled by the animals though. Although he greatly enjoyed hunting, seeing it as a pleasurable necessity of life, he had sometimes thought how easy it would be if the buffalo and deer and turkeys and antelope would simply stay near the villages and stand quietly to be taken for food. Why did these animals stay with these people, what did they get from the villagers, why don’t they just run away?
The beasts that they sat on were by far the most troubling. They seemed to be bound to the men as dogs were bound to people, willingly carrying the strangers wherever they wanted to go. Running and walking with a man on their back until he decided to get off, and then patiently waiting for him to sit on them again. Very strange behavior. These people must have very great magic and be specially loved by Kadhi-háyuh. It had even been said that their huge wooden things in the river had come up the river on the breath of the wind. Great magic indeed.
-----
The Mongols were not aware that they were under surveillance from the other side of the river. They were busy with preparations for winter and knew that they were behind. The Khan, having spent his entire life in the tropical land of the Ngöbe, had little idea of a northern winter, and deferred to the guidance of Orghui and the others who had experienced the winters in Mongolia. As was usual, he plunged into the necessary work and learned all he could.
There were large amounts of game in the region, including a huge lumbering version of cattle that provided massive amounts of meat, sinew, hide and bone. With enough of these, as well as the deer and other game, not all of which was familiar, they might be able to avoid eating all their livestock during the winter and have growing herds and flocks in the spring. The pastures were good and the horses, having taken to them readily, were thriving. The winds were fairly constant and getting very cold, but the Mongols were making certain that everyone stayed warmly dressed and the fires were constantly tended. This was particularly important since there were many Ngöbe women who had accompanied their men and many children as well.
Scouts sent out by the Khan had found signs that many people used this land, although they had not seen any of them yet. There were village sites that were apparently used seasonally every year or so and regularly visited camp sites probably used by hunting parties. They had found little but some broken pottery, woven baskets and stone implements. They had seen no signs of gold, copper, bronze or iron in the refuse left behind at these sites.
Others had continued up the river by boat to find out where it led. They returned within a few weeks with tales of a huge logjam which closed the river to the ships. It began about a day’s sail or so up the river. Small boats could work their way through the jam, but none of the ships could journey beyond it. The logjam extended up the river for a hundred li or so, a massive tangle of fallen trees and branches which clogged the river from shore to shore. In some places they had to portage the boats across particularly dense portions and had even walked across the river at one point. The trees had all appeared to have fallen naturally and been in the river for a very long time. The fleet was about as far up this river as they could go.
Plentiful wood in the lowlands kept their fires burning and allowed repairs to the ships. Men had been sent out to scour the countryside for various resources and they found many, from medicinal plants to edible fungi to free growing variants of maize and rice. The pinewoods provided not only lumber but sap for pitch and other uses. Rabbits and squirrels furnished not only meat but furs. There were plentiful fish in the rivers and swamps as well as shellfish and water plants that could be used. They found few usable minerals however. This place would require that they carefully use their plant derived resources until they could plant and reap a harvest. This would be a winter of mostly meat and fish for food.
When the warriors returned to Natchitoches they were brought before Dehahuit, the Caddi, or chief, and the priest, Ta’Sha. They told the two leaders what they had seen at the stranger’s settlement and answered many questions as well as they could.
Word had spread among the settlements along the bayous and the great river of the passing of the strangers and had reached the Caddi. These stories told of the monstrous canoes that had traveled up the river without paddles and the trees with cloth hanging from their branches and how the wind gently blew into the cloth and sent the strangers up the stream.
These canoes were the things tied to the river the scouts told him. The stories were true. But Dehahuit had heard nothing of the strange animals or the manner in which the people and the creatures lived together. This was news, strange news and something that Ta’Sha would have to explain.
Dehahuit sent runners to the chiefs of the other towns and villages, including the True Caddi at Kadohadacho, to let them know what his warriors had seen and to ask for a council of the Caddi to determine what was to be done. He asked Aashi, a community leader who was a strong and brave warrior as well as a wise and respected man, to take 50 of the most impressive Yatasi warriors to the river to contact the strangers. He wanted to gain some understanding of their intentions and instructed Aashi to avoid confrontation. His warriors would be fully armed but he was to avoid bloodshed. Aashi was to return to Natchitoches before the council began in order to tell the gathered Caddi what he had learned.
Aashi’s band took a few days to reach the strangers village. They brought with them some trade goods which were prized by neighboring settlements, including preserved foods, some copper items and pottery, which was favored as far away as Great Cahokia. He camped in the woods on a small rise, just upriver from the strangers. His campfires were clearly visible in the stranger’s village, which was what he wanted. Aashi wanted them to make the first move; he wanted them to come to him.
In the Mongol camp, the presence of the nearby fires prompted Ghung-bey-e to increase the sentries and maintain a close watch through the night. Additional armed men were sent to the pastures where the sheep, cattle and horses were grazing.
The Khan and Orghui decided that they would send a small detachment of men to take positions in the woods near the neighboring camp and that he, Orghui, Shīfù and another monk would ride out at dawn to greet the natives. The men in the trees would provide protection to their party.
Aashi was made aware of the Mongol archers moving through the forest and had his own men shadow them. It was much like a hunt, but the Asians were in strange country and so disadvantaged that they did not know they were watched.
As dawn broke, the Mongol Archers (and their Yatasi shadows) had taken their positions in the woods. The Khan and his party rode into a clearing near the river bank, a short distance from the Yatasi camp. They stopped, and waited for a response.
It took some time for the response to come. Aashi had been aware of their approach and knew the advantage was his. Two hours after dawn, Aashi and three of his warriors walked out of the trees and approached the men sitting on their animals with a dignity that belied the nervousness they all felt. As he came down the hill he was taking the measure of the men before him; which one was the leader? Two were similarly dressed in brilliantly colored robes, but they hung somewhat behind the other two men, they could be dismissed as underlings. Of the other two, which was the senior? They sat side by side on their animals, position giving no hint of rank. Their clothes were of different colors and configuration, but both wore vests of shining metal plates, like fish’s scales, one dark and the other bright. They also wore hats of metal and cloth that were unlike anything he had ever seen. These people had plentiful cloth apparently and wore little animal hide, indeed only a few pieces of animal fur could be seen in their dress. One, wearing the darker metal, was distinctly older than the other, who seemed to be a mere boy. Curiously, the boy also looked different than the other three. His eyes were shaped differently as was his nose. His skin was of a different color as well, much healthier looking than the three men, who looked pale in comparison. Aashi and his party stopped some distance from the Mongols. He made his decision, and turned clearly toward the older man in front.
The four men got down from their animals, which grazed patiently as the strangers walked toward Aashi. The boy, Aashi could now see, was taller than the man and they exchanged a few words in an unintelligible language as they approached. Aashi kept his focus on the man who, although shorter was powerfully built. They carried the strange bows that he had heard of and a quiver of arrows each as well. From their belts hung knives of prodigious length.
When they were a few feet away, they stopped and placed their bows on the ground and removed the quivers from their backs. They also removed their hats and handed them to the men in the orange robes. The Yatasi did the same. The strangers did not lay down their knives, so the Yatasi retained the axes they wore in a similar manner.
Aashi gave a sign and deerskin blankets were laid on the ground between the two parties. He motioned that they should sit, and the boy sat first. Had he come to the wrong conclusion about the leader? Then the boy reached up to steady the man as he sat.
Silence…
The eight men sat and looked at each other in silence…
Finally, Shīfù spoke up, slowly, clearly and softly. The monk made the introductions, repeating their names several times. The Yatasi, caught on and Aashi did the same in his turn. The Khan tried some Ngöbe, but that was just as unintelligible as Mongol to the others. He and his party could make no sense of the Yatasi language either and the conversation quickly became one of signs and drawings in the dirt. This was something the Yatasi were quite used to, and was also familiar to the Khan, who became the Mongols interpreter.
The eight met several times more in the coming days and the sentries behind the trees were dispensed with. The Yatasi were invited into the Mongol camp and shown whatever they had an interest in seeing. The goods they had brought were exchanged for pieces of fabric, carved wooden objects and one steel knife which was a gift to the Caddi from the Khan. The Yatasi saw the sheep, pigs and cattle close up and walked among the horse herd. True wonders they thought. They were taken on board the ships as well and were amazed to find that there were dwellings inside these huge wooden things. Finally, the Khan had a feast prepared for the entire Yatasi party, who were surprised at the variety of meats and fowl presented.
Aashi needed to return to Natchitoches and Dehahuit. He left behind several of his men to teach them the Yatasi language and perhaps learn some Mongolian. With him went Shīfù. He had learned much in the few days he had spent with the Khan’s people. He now knew they were the entire tribe and they were looking for a place to settle and raise their crops and tend their animals. He had also discovered that they were generous and polite, peaceful but not weak and fond of a good joke. They knew many things the Caddo and Yatasi did not and could teach his people if they would share, but there were also things they did not know about this country and the creatures in it, including the other nations. Aashi thought that the Mongols were lucky to have found Yatasi lands and not some other people’s country.
The only thing he had not been able to determine was who the leader was, the boy or the man.
[FONT="]Chapter 23[/FONT]
[FONT="]Yatasi Lands
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There were people who lived in this place; their small villages had been seen amidst the mangroves and marshes, and they appeared to be very poor. Their settlements were small and their huts appeared to be quite flimsy and poorly constructed. The natives themselves, only seen fleetingly as they melted into the swamps, seemed terrified of the Asians and fled from them on sight. No campfires were observed in the villages during the night nor were the natives seen again. As the boats continued their exploration of the bay new villages were always found to be abandoned, usually in haste.
It was discovered that the bay was at the mouth of a great, brown river, many li wide. Soon other outlets of this river were found and some of the men had compared it to the Yangtze or the Hatan Gol. The opinion was that this river, as large as it was, carrying as much soil as it did, had traversed a vast country. Within a few days, the fleet was again under sail, this time, up the great river.
Much of the bank was, like the bay, swamp and mangrove. There was very little real land bordering the main channel and there were many turns and twists. Often lakes had been created where the river had pinched off a bend and these would gradually become marsh and eventually fertile land. For several days, the Asian fleet made slow progress against the flow thanks to favorable southwesterly winds. In time, the marshes gave way to longer and longer stretches of solid ground along the banks. They stopped several times, hoping to find a place to make camp, but there was never enough open ground to accommodate the livestock and a camp.
Finally, after a week and a half, they came across a major tributary which flowed in from the northwest. The Khan ordered the ships to anchor and a small scouting party was sent up the smaller river by boat. When they returned a few days later they reported that they had found a clearing of elevated ground that appeared to have good grazing for the animals as well as enough room for the people. Ghung-bey-e ordered the fleet up the river and they soon arrived at the bluff which rose above the left bank. Along the shoreline there were trees and some marshes but the hill and the land surrounding it was clear and covered in lush greases. The ships pulled to the shore and once the suitability of this place was established, the Khan ordered the construction of a camp and the unloading of the livestock.
They would winter in this place. For the Asians this would be a place of rest and recovery. It was now mid December and the weather had turned quite cool. Orghui and Shīfù, both of whom knew what winter really was, counseled the young Khan on the proper preparations, for this would be a winter such as the young man had never dreamed. Fuel for fires needed to be gathered and they would need to build solid and warm structures for the people and the animals.
-----
They could identify much, the people, of course, the dogs, dwellings, storehouses, smoke of cooking fires and such, but there was so very much that was nearly unidentifiable or totally strange. Not only things and animals, but the way these strangers used and related to these things.
Closest to them, in the Bah'hatteno, floated several great wooden boats far larger than any canoe. They were tethered to the shoreline and possible to the river itself. They had huge sticks, like trees, that rose out of the main body and these had other sticks, like branches, tied to them that carried great pieces of bundled cloth. Many of their dwellings were also made of cloth but many were wood. Most of them were round with a central opening for smoke in the top. The people wore many different types of odd clothes that were often brightly colored and patterned. A few men wore robes that glowed orange like the setting sun but most were dressed in cloth, occasionally one would be dressed in hides and often the men wore shining garments that glinted in the sun. The women all dressed in a similar manner to each other, unlike the men, it was as if the women came from one place and the men from many.
The strangers had many different sorts of animals that lived with them and it was soon apparent that the people fed and cared for many of these beasts. They had turkeys, much as the Yatasi, but they kept them in greater numbers. They also kept ducks, which seemed odd because wild ducks were so plentiful. There was a smaller bird, like a little turkey that they had very many of. Also kept near the village in enclosures of wooden sticks, there was a large, fat animal that was unknown to them. Larger than a dog some were about the size of a young buffalo.
On the grasslands surrounding the settlement were small herds of other creatures. There were groups of dog sized white furred animals grazing on the grasses. These were watched over by young boys who always had dogs with them. The dogs seemed to help control the grazers and responded to the boys as if they could speak. Nearby there were much larger beasts, something like buffalo, but not as heavily built. They had horns also, but their heads appeared longer. Just like the white animals, these were watched over by men and dogs. They did not have a hump and seemed to come in many different shades of white, brown and black. Some of them were used to pull a wooden platform with a fence that was between these wooden circles. The Yatasi had no word for what they saw, but they seemed to be capable of carrying a great deal of things.
The last creature was the most troubling for it was the largest and it happily carried men wherever they wanted to go. It had short fur, long legs, a long head like a deer, but without antlers, and a tail that seemed to be made of hair. As tall as the horned animals, or taller, they were not as heavy and moved with speed and grace, like an antelope. Indeed, they somewhat resembled a large antelope. The villagers would sit on these beasts, which would carry them wherever they wanted faster than the fastest man could run.
The eight men watched the strangers all day, moving along the shore to get a better view, and saw them taking goods and supplies off of the boats in the river, moving animals from place to place with the help of the dogs. One of the big fat animals was slaughtered and then butchered so they knew these people used kept the animals for food. Some of the men had gone down to the river and caught fish as well.
Eventually, on the flats just up river from the village, they witnessed the men on their hornless antelopes being carried back and forth very fast. Moving along the shore to get a better vantage point, they saw that the strangers were in fact shooting their bows at a target as they were carried past it by their animals. They would fire arrows in rapid succession as they approached and continued to fire as they were carried away, turning and shooting behind them. Each would shoot six or more arrows from a short, oddly shaped bow, each time they went by, accompanied by much shouting and cheering. It looked to be a game, and a game they were very good at, for nearly all the arrows found the target. The Yatasi leader thought that they would not be easy to beat in a fight, at least based on their skill with their strange bow and their beasts.
Three of the Yatasi men set off to return to their chief the next morning. They left the other five warriors behind to keep watch on the strangers. They continued to struggle to find ways of describing what they had seen and to put the meaning and context to it.
Who and What were these people and where had they come from? They were not from the chiefs farther up the great rivers for even they did not possess any of the wonderful animals that seemed so ordinary to the strangers, not even in Great Cahokia. They seemed to have good hunting skills, and that translated to fighting skills. They were very organized, although there was no sign yet of a leader, and they seemed to have a peaceful and happy village. The Yatasi War Chief would want to see their skill with bow and arrow, and would probably want one of their bows himself. The leader of the Yatasi scouts was most puzzled by the animals though. Although he greatly enjoyed hunting, seeing it as a pleasurable necessity of life, he had sometimes thought how easy it would be if the buffalo and deer and turkeys and antelope would simply stay near the villages and stand quietly to be taken for food. Why did these animals stay with these people, what did they get from the villagers, why don’t they just run away?
The beasts that they sat on were by far the most troubling. They seemed to be bound to the men as dogs were bound to people, willingly carrying the strangers wherever they wanted to go. Running and walking with a man on their back until he decided to get off, and then patiently waiting for him to sit on them again. Very strange behavior. These people must have very great magic and be specially loved by Kadhi-háyuh. It had even been said that their huge wooden things in the river had come up the river on the breath of the wind. Great magic indeed.
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There were large amounts of game in the region, including a huge lumbering version of cattle that provided massive amounts of meat, sinew, hide and bone. With enough of these, as well as the deer and other game, not all of which was familiar, they might be able to avoid eating all their livestock during the winter and have growing herds and flocks in the spring. The pastures were good and the horses, having taken to them readily, were thriving. The winds were fairly constant and getting very cold, but the Mongols were making certain that everyone stayed warmly dressed and the fires were constantly tended. This was particularly important since there were many Ngöbe women who had accompanied their men and many children as well.
Scouts sent out by the Khan had found signs that many people used this land, although they had not seen any of them yet. There were village sites that were apparently used seasonally every year or so and regularly visited camp sites probably used by hunting parties. They had found little but some broken pottery, woven baskets and stone implements. They had seen no signs of gold, copper, bronze or iron in the refuse left behind at these sites.
Others had continued up the river by boat to find out where it led. They returned within a few weeks with tales of a huge logjam which closed the river to the ships. It began about a day’s sail or so up the river. Small boats could work their way through the jam, but none of the ships could journey beyond it. The logjam extended up the river for a hundred li or so, a massive tangle of fallen trees and branches which clogged the river from shore to shore. In some places they had to portage the boats across particularly dense portions and had even walked across the river at one point. The trees had all appeared to have fallen naturally and been in the river for a very long time. The fleet was about as far up this river as they could go.
Plentiful wood in the lowlands kept their fires burning and allowed repairs to the ships. Men had been sent out to scour the countryside for various resources and they found many, from medicinal plants to edible fungi to free growing variants of maize and rice. The pinewoods provided not only lumber but sap for pitch and other uses. Rabbits and squirrels furnished not only meat but furs. There were plentiful fish in the rivers and swamps as well as shellfish and water plants that could be used. They found few usable minerals however. This place would require that they carefully use their plant derived resources until they could plant and reap a harvest. This would be a winter of mostly meat and fish for food.
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Word had spread among the settlements along the bayous and the great river of the passing of the strangers and had reached the Caddi. These stories told of the monstrous canoes that had traveled up the river without paddles and the trees with cloth hanging from their branches and how the wind gently blew into the cloth and sent the strangers up the stream.
These canoes were the things tied to the river the scouts told him. The stories were true. But Dehahuit had heard nothing of the strange animals or the manner in which the people and the creatures lived together. This was news, strange news and something that Ta’Sha would have to explain.
Dehahuit sent runners to the chiefs of the other towns and villages, including the True Caddi at Kadohadacho, to let them know what his warriors had seen and to ask for a council of the Caddi to determine what was to be done. He asked Aashi, a community leader who was a strong and brave warrior as well as a wise and respected man, to take 50 of the most impressive Yatasi warriors to the river to contact the strangers. He wanted to gain some understanding of their intentions and instructed Aashi to avoid confrontation. His warriors would be fully armed but he was to avoid bloodshed. Aashi was to return to Natchitoches before the council began in order to tell the gathered Caddi what he had learned.
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In the Mongol camp, the presence of the nearby fires prompted Ghung-bey-e to increase the sentries and maintain a close watch through the night. Additional armed men were sent to the pastures where the sheep, cattle and horses were grazing.
The Khan and Orghui decided that they would send a small detachment of men to take positions in the woods near the neighboring camp and that he, Orghui, Shīfù and another monk would ride out at dawn to greet the natives. The men in the trees would provide protection to their party.
Aashi was made aware of the Mongol archers moving through the forest and had his own men shadow them. It was much like a hunt, but the Asians were in strange country and so disadvantaged that they did not know they were watched.
As dawn broke, the Mongol Archers (and their Yatasi shadows) had taken their positions in the woods. The Khan and his party rode into a clearing near the river bank, a short distance from the Yatasi camp. They stopped, and waited for a response.
It took some time for the response to come. Aashi had been aware of their approach and knew the advantage was his. Two hours after dawn, Aashi and three of his warriors walked out of the trees and approached the men sitting on their animals with a dignity that belied the nervousness they all felt. As he came down the hill he was taking the measure of the men before him; which one was the leader? Two were similarly dressed in brilliantly colored robes, but they hung somewhat behind the other two men, they could be dismissed as underlings. Of the other two, which was the senior? They sat side by side on their animals, position giving no hint of rank. Their clothes were of different colors and configuration, but both wore vests of shining metal plates, like fish’s scales, one dark and the other bright. They also wore hats of metal and cloth that were unlike anything he had ever seen. These people had plentiful cloth apparently and wore little animal hide, indeed only a few pieces of animal fur could be seen in their dress. One, wearing the darker metal, was distinctly older than the other, who seemed to be a mere boy. Curiously, the boy also looked different than the other three. His eyes were shaped differently as was his nose. His skin was of a different color as well, much healthier looking than the three men, who looked pale in comparison. Aashi and his party stopped some distance from the Mongols. He made his decision, and turned clearly toward the older man in front.
The four men got down from their animals, which grazed patiently as the strangers walked toward Aashi. The boy, Aashi could now see, was taller than the man and they exchanged a few words in an unintelligible language as they approached. Aashi kept his focus on the man who, although shorter was powerfully built. They carried the strange bows that he had heard of and a quiver of arrows each as well. From their belts hung knives of prodigious length.
When they were a few feet away, they stopped and placed their bows on the ground and removed the quivers from their backs. They also removed their hats and handed them to the men in the orange robes. The Yatasi did the same. The strangers did not lay down their knives, so the Yatasi retained the axes they wore in a similar manner.
Aashi gave a sign and deerskin blankets were laid on the ground between the two parties. He motioned that they should sit, and the boy sat first. Had he come to the wrong conclusion about the leader? Then the boy reached up to steady the man as he sat.
Silence…
The eight men sat and looked at each other in silence…
Finally, Shīfù spoke up, slowly, clearly and softly. The monk made the introductions, repeating their names several times. The Yatasi, caught on and Aashi did the same in his turn. The Khan tried some Ngöbe, but that was just as unintelligible as Mongol to the others. He and his party could make no sense of the Yatasi language either and the conversation quickly became one of signs and drawings in the dirt. This was something the Yatasi were quite used to, and was also familiar to the Khan, who became the Mongols interpreter.
The eight met several times more in the coming days and the sentries behind the trees were dispensed with. The Yatasi were invited into the Mongol camp and shown whatever they had an interest in seeing. The goods they had brought were exchanged for pieces of fabric, carved wooden objects and one steel knife which was a gift to the Caddi from the Khan. The Yatasi saw the sheep, pigs and cattle close up and walked among the horse herd. True wonders they thought. They were taken on board the ships as well and were amazed to find that there were dwellings inside these huge wooden things. Finally, the Khan had a feast prepared for the entire Yatasi party, who were surprised at the variety of meats and fowl presented.
Aashi needed to return to Natchitoches and Dehahuit. He left behind several of his men to teach them the Yatasi language and perhaps learn some Mongolian. With him went Shīfù. He had learned much in the few days he had spent with the Khan’s people. He now knew they were the entire tribe and they were looking for a place to settle and raise their crops and tend their animals. He had also discovered that they were generous and polite, peaceful but not weak and fond of a good joke. They knew many things the Caddo and Yatasi did not and could teach his people if they would share, but there were also things they did not know about this country and the creatures in it, including the other nations. Aashi thought that the Mongols were lucky to have found Yatasi lands and not some other people’s country.
The only thing he had not been able to determine was who the leader was, the boy or the man.
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