Let us now turn to the system of post-horses by which the Great Khan sends his dispatches. You must know that the city of Khan-balik is a center from which many roads radiate to many provinces…. When one of the Great Khan’s messengers sets out along any of these roads, he has only to go twenty-five miles and there he finds a posting station, which in their language is called a yam…. And at each of these posts the messengers find three of four hundred horses in readiness awaiting their command, and palatial lodgings such as I have described. And this holds throughout all the provinces and kingdom of the Great Khan’s empire. By this means the Great Khan’s messengers travel throughout his dominion… more than 200,000 horses are stabled at these posts for the special use of the messengers. Moreover, the posts themselves number more than 10,000, all furnished on the same lavish scale. The whole organization is so stupendous and so costly that it baffles speech and writing…. If it happens at any point that there is some river or lake over which the couriers and mounted messengers must pass, the neighboring cities keep three or four ferry-boats continually in readiness for this purpose. When the need arises for the Great Khan to receive immediate tidings… I assure you that the messengers ride 200 miles in a day, sometimes even 250. Let me explain how it is done…. They tighten their belts and swathe their heads and off they go with all the speed they can muster, till they reach the next post-house twenty-five miles away. As they draw near they sound a sort of horn which is audible at a great distance, so that horses can be got ready for them. On arrival they find two fresh horses, ready harnessed, fully rested, and in good running form. They mount there… and off they go again…. And so it goes on till evening. Document 10 Source: William of Rubrick, Friar William of Rubrick was The Journey of William of Rubrick. one of the first Europeans to visit the Mongol city of Karakorum. Mongke Khan was the fourth Great Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, and the brother of Kubilai, who would succeed Mongke Khan upon his death in 1259. Over the course of the next two centuries, Mongol leaders often converted to the region’s dominant religions: Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism.
Let us now turn to the system of post-horses by which the Great Khan sends his dispatches. You must know that the city of Khan-balik is a center from which many roads radiate to many provinces…. When one of the Great Khan’s messengers sets out along any of these roads, he has only to go twenty-five miles and there he finds a posting station, which in their language is called a yam…. And at each of these posts the messengers find three of four hundred horses in readiness awaiting their command, and palatial lodgings such as I have described. And this holds throughout all the provinces and kingdom of the Great Khan’s empire. By this means the Great Khan’s messengers travel throughout his dominion… more than 200,000 horses are stabled at these posts for the special use of the messengers. Moreover, the posts themselves number more than 10,000, all furnished on the same lavish scale. The whole organization is so stupendous and so costly that it baffles speech and writing…. If it happens at any point that there is some river or lake over which the couriers and mounted messengers must pass, the neighboring cities keep three or four ferry-boats continually in readiness for this purpose. When the need arises for the Great Khan to receive immediate tidings… I assure you that the messengers ride 200 miles in a day, sometimes even 250. Let me explain how it is done…. They tighten their belts and swathe their heads and off they go with all the speed they can muster, till they reach the next post-house twenty-five miles away. As they draw near they sound a sort of horn which is audible at a great distance, so that horses can be got ready for them. On arrival they find two fresh horses, ready harnessed, fully rested, and in good running form. They mount there… and off they go again…. And so it goes on till evening. Document 10 Source: William of Rubrick, The Journey of William of Rubrick. Friar William of Rubrick was one of the first Europeans to visit the Mongol city of Karakorum. Mongke Khan was the fourth Great Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, and the brother of Kubilai, who would succeed Mongke Khan upon his death in 1259. Over the course of the next two centuries, Mongol leaders often converted to the region’s dominant religions: Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism.