Evening star., 1928-06-03
ion of Cathay Was Shattered by Mongol Thunderbot

II send thee greeting. I know thy
power and the great extent OF thine
empire, and look upon thee as most
cherished son. On thy part. thou must
know that / have conquered Cathay
and many Turkish nations. My coun-
try iB an encampnaent of warriors,
mine OF silver, and have no need OF
other lands. To me it seems that we
have an equal interest In encouraging
trade between our subjects"
For Molgol Of that day, there was 2
mild message. To the Emperor or
Cathay, Gengffs Khan had sent sheer,
provocative insult. To Ala-eddin Mu-
hamnad, Shah Of Kharesm, he for
warded a matter -of-fact invitation to
trade. There was, TO be sure, disparage-
ment in calling the Shah his son
which in Asia implies dependent. And
there was barb in the mention Of the
conquered Turkish clans. The Shah
was Turk
The ENJOYS of the Khan brought rich
| gifts TO the Shah, bars Of silver, pre-
cious jade and white camels hair robes.
| But the barb rankled. Who is Gen9htS
| Khan?" he demanded. Has he really
conquered China?"
The ENJOYS replied that this was 70.
| Are his armies as great as mine2"
| the Shah then asked.
| To this the ENJOYS made response
tactfully-they were M0i1ammedans. not
| Mongols-that the host Of the Khan
was not TO be compared TO his own. The
Shah was satisfied, and agreed to the
mutual intercourse Of merchants Mat
ters went well enough for year or so
MEANWHILE the name Of GenghtS
! AVA Xhor hara%1a a.
Mohammedan lands The Kaln Of
Bagdad WIS then being oppressed by
| this same Shah Of Kharesm And the
Kalif was persuaded that his cause
| might be aided by the shadoTy Khan
on the borderland Of Cathay. An en-
voy was sent from Bagdad TO Kara
| korum, and since he must pass through
| the lands Of the Shah to get there, Ger
tain precautions were taken.
/ The chronicle has 1t that the authori-
cation of this envoy was written on his
skull with a fire pencil after his hair
was shaved of. The hair was then al
lowed TO grow. and the envoy given his
message of appeal to study until he had
| 1t by heart All went well The agent
Of the Kaln reached the Mongol Khan.
his skull was sfaven again, his identity
established and his message repeated.
Genghis Khan paid no attention TO It.
In all probability the solitary enissary
and the furtive appeal did not impress
him favorably. Besides. there was the
trade agreement nth the Shah.
But the MongoPs experiment with
trade came TO an abrupt end. A cara
van Of several hundred merchants from
Karakorum was seized by one Inaltuk,
governor Of Otrar frontier citadel
belonging to the Shah. Inaljuk re-
ported to his master that spies were
among the merchants. which may very
well have been the case.
Muhammad Shah, without consider
ing the matter overmuch, sent to his
governor an order to slay the mer-
! chants, and all o. them accordingly were
put to death. This in due time was
reported to Genghis Khan. who dis
protest And Muhamnad saw 1T TO
slay the chief Of the ENJOYS and burn OF
the boards Of the others
When the survivors Of his embassy
returned to Gengnis Khan the master
of the Cobb went apart TO a mountain
to mediate upon the matter. The slay-
! ing Of Mongol envoy could not go TN
punished; tradition required revenge for
the wrong inflicted.
There cannot be two suns in the
heavens" the Khan said, "or two Kha
| Khans upon the earth"
Then spies were sent N earnest
i through the mountain ranges and cot1r-
| iers whipped over the desert to summon
men to the standards Of the horde.
| brief and ominous message went this
| time to the Shah.
Thou hast chosen war That VIII
happen which viii happen, and what u
/ is to be we know not. God alone knows.
(Couyright 1881