The Guardians of Marco Polo

By Ches Sharich

Marco Polo was twenty when he reached China in 1274. He spent another seventeen years living and working directly for Kublai Khan, Genghis Khans grandson and the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty. It was customary for senior imperial officials to live in households with several wives. Was Marco Polo any different? Or was he living in celibacy while in China?
After the battle of Hattin, where Salahadin, the sultan of Syria, defeated the Christian army, he conquered Jerusalem. Many treasures from Jerusalem were sent to the ruler of Islam, caliph of Baghdad, where they were placed in the famous treasure tower.
There is no surprise that Kublai Khan enjoyed the company of Christians. His mother Sorkaktani was a Christian. She had a profound influence on her four sons career within Mongol elites, especially on Kublai and Hulagu. Kublai conquered and united China and was elected the Great Khan of the Mongol empire, while Hulagu conquered Persia, and the Islamic caliphate with its capital Baghdad.
What happened to the treasures of Baghdad after the city was conquered by the Mongols? This is the quest that Alex and Nicole Philipson embark on when they come to the possession of an old Chinese parchment written in . . . Latin. They think the riddles in the parchment will lead them to Genghis Khans tomb. In fact, it will lead them to unexpected and astonishing discoveries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jul 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499009019

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Czeslaw Szarycz.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/18/2014

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Contents

Prologue

Chapter One :   Mineral Exploration

Chapter Two :   Singapore

Chapter Three :   Mooncakes

Chapter Four :   Beijing

Chapter Five :   Mongolia

Chapter Six :   Sorkaktani

Six Months Later

PROLOGUE

A sly grin appeared on Caliph Al-Mustasim’s face. Hassan, the captain of his personal guard, reported to him about the attack on the Mongolian envoys, sent by Hulagu Khan, who had to be protected by his personal guard. ‘The mob’ had attacked them outside the towering, thirty-metre-high walls of Baghdad, the capital of Islam. If it were not for his impeccable education that had taught him temperance and respect to abide by the rules of war, he would have ordered Hassan to arrest and behead the Mongol envoys a long time before this latest mob at tack.

‘How did these barbaric nomads dare to demand that he, caliph of Baghdad, the successor of prophet Mohammad, the head of Abbasid dynasty that ruled the Islamic world for 500 years, was to surrender the capital of the Muslim empire to this second-tier khan?’ He was fuming, but at the same time, he was pleased that his subjects were showing their indignation and contempt for the Mongolian representatives. Citizens of Baghdad loved their ruler. Perhaps not all of them: Christians and Jews continued to be stubborn and did not yet accept Mohammad as the true prophet of Allah.

Caliph’s heart was pounding; his hands shook with fury.

‘This is preposterous!’ But he needed to respond to Hulagu Khan’s insult. Therefore, he summoned his chancellor and vizier to draft a response. Caliph knew that the two men were not exactly friends with each other as they competed for his favours. This rivalry suited him. At least they wouldn’t collaborate against him. If either of them failed in his duties, the other would report this to Caliph instantly.

‘What response should we give to this Mongolian infidel?’ asked Caliph. Both Chancellor and Vizier looked at each other, trying to read each other’s mind.

Chancellor cleared his throat, looked at Vizier again, and said, ‘We should tell these heretics to go back to Karakorum and never return, otherwise, the wrath of Allah will destroy his armies before they come within 100 miles from Baghdad.’

Vizier quickly gathered his counter response. ‘My Lord, we should tell Hulagu that we are friends of Mongke, the Great Khan and Hulagu’s brother, and we don’t want any war with Great Khan’s army. We should also send envoys to Berke Khan, Hulagu’s cousin, who is the khan of Golden Horde who recently converted to Islam, asking him for mediation and support. We should also send him great gifts as a sign of our friendship,’ Vizier continued, while smugly eyeing his counterpart.

‘My Lord, this is treason! Vizier clearly doesn’t have confidence in our defences, and what’s worse, he is willing to collaborate and share your wealth with the invaders!’ cried Chancellor.

Vizier laughed at Chancellor’s accusation and continued. ‘Lord, I am your chief minister of war, and I am in charge of the city defences. I beseech you, Lord, this is a good way of spending your wealth. Let’s send him gifts and buy time to prepare our defences. You have treasury tower full of gold and silver collected by your ancestors, and it is the right time to spend some of your vast wealth to extend city walls and expand our army.’

Chancellor’s face turned red, and his eyes were burning with contempt for Vizier.

‘Are you suggesting that we waste Caliph’s treasures based on meagre threats coming from these nomadic brigands? Don’t you have any confidence and pride in our current army that fought hundreds of battles and was never defeated? We must not show any weakness to those barbarians and we should treat them as mongrels!’ shrieked Chancellor.

‘Stop this bickering!’ hissed Caliph through his clenched teeth. ‘We tell Hulagu this: I, Caliph, the lord of the Muslim world stretching between the western edge of Africa and India, installed to the throne by Allah himself, advise you, Hulagu, brother of our friend the Great Khan Mongke, to return to your capital, Karakorum, and never return. We have sent you our gifts as a token of our friendship, but if you fail to take my counsel, your army will be destroyed by the wrath of Allah.’ Caliph stared at the now-timid-looking face of his chancellor.

‘That seems appropriate, you are dismissed,’ Caliph snarled at his advisors.

‘Lord, as a precaution, we need to strengthen the walls of Baghdad and raise additional armies,’ pleaded Vizier.

‘Be silent! Do you think that I am afraid of this infidel?’ Caliph’s roar would intimidate most; however, it was Vizier who was carrying most of the burden of ruling Caliph’s realm, and Vizier was fully aware that it wasn’t just his career that was at stake but the whole city’s if he chose not to speak up, so he continued his plea.

‘Lord, all great cities, like Bukhara, Samarkand, Alamut Fortress, and all cities of Persia fell to the Mongols. Not a soul was left alive, they didn’t spare women or even children. I beg you, mobilise our troops and start extending city walls,’ Vizier confidently addressed Caliph, who gave him a long and suspicious look.

‘Vizier, if it wasn’t for your unblemished service to me and my father, I would think that Chancellor was right in accusing you that you don’t trust our defences.’ He walked to the balcony that was giving him a panoramic view of his capital, and the view was nothing short of impressive. The city was surrounded with four thirty-metre-high walls; the outer wall was fifty metres thick at the base and fifteen metres thick at the top. Each wall was crowned with merlons and embrasures, giving the defending army maximum protection against invaders. In addition, the outer wall was studded with glacis, which, like spears, would pierce the advancing armies, which would have to stop to negotiate wide moat underneath, giving his army an opportunity to slaughter aggressors even before they reached the very first city wall. Each of the four main city gates was like four separate fortresses, with double iron doors that were never penetrated by any army. And crossing the Tigris and dozens of irrigation canals wasn’t an easy task for an individual, not to mention the whole army that, for sure, would get bogged down in silt and mud accumulated over the years at the bottom of city irrigation dykes. He took a deep breath and looked to the city’s main granaries, which were full, and could sustain the city for months. This would give ample time for the sultan of Damascus to send his army and attack the Mongols at their rear. Caliph wasn’t happy with the rescue scenario. He didn’t like the sultan, who wasn’t hiding his desire to become the leader of the Muslim world. ‘No, Mongols will give up, as they’ve done it a few times before. They don’t have any provisions to sustain the siege.’ He ordered to hide all the grain that could not be stored within the city walls in the surrounding caves. He smiled. Well, Vizier was getting old, he’s losing his courage and fortitude, he thought. His eyes moved down to the most beautiful and prestigious part of his metropolis, the Circular City. Three kilometres in diameter, this city within the city was the place where all his high dignitaries had their mansions and villas, surrounded with lavish gardens that many European kings could only dream of. And his Golden Gate Palace was right in the centre of this inner universe.

Yes, I need to find a new vizier, he thought, but not yet, not yet, I still need this old man to serve me for at least another year. However, right now I needed to deal with his stubbornness. He walked back inside his audience hall and looked at Vizier and said, ‘All right, you can start to levy additional troops. Chancellor is authorised to give you funds for this.’ A sly smile glinted upon his face, knowing that Chancellor would make every effort to make Vizier’s task impossible to complete.

‘I need a rest after listening to all your complaints, I’m tired.’ He raised his hand at his chamberlain, who immediately understood his master’s wish. There were two pleasures that Caliph liked to indulge in. First were his daily visits to his treasure tower, which stood thirty metres high and spanned fifteen metres in diameter at its base and ten metres at the top, with ten levels. The ground level was furnished with a multitude of precious artefacts collected by his predecessors for over the past 500 years. The most recent additions were treasures that Salahadin sent to his grandfather as an act of tribute, after the Muslim army conquered the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187. Salahadin’s gifts were lavish. There were solid-gold crosses, chalices, a multitude of plates decorated with rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, which dazzled Caliph’s eyes when exposed to flames of torches. However, one of those gifts appeared to be out of place. It was a five-metre long, rough-looking wooden chest that was partially covered by a plain dusted white cloth. Caliph had never opened the trunk; however, he always looked down on it with reverence and fear, longing to touch each time he made his way to the second floor. Whatever lay inside the chest was of great importance to him, a treasure so great that its casing could not even be displayed to the unworthy. His father tried to destroy it, but in the process, over 100 of the most faithful warriors perished, struck by convulsions that the best medics could not find an explanation for. He looked up. The next two floors in the tower contained chests of gold and silver coinage from every part of the world. Two other floors contained coinage used by Caliph as currency throughout his realm. The other floors housed gold and silver jewellery, precious stones of all types accumulated by his ancestors over hundreds of years gone by.

His second indulgence was his harem with 700 of the most beautiful women extracted from his dominion and beyond. In fact, running this harem was one of the most influential jobs within Caliph’s court, and the Chamberlain was fully aware of his powers. He didn’t have armies or access to Caliph’s treasure tower, but he had at his disposal 3,000 eunuchs who were the most faithful and trusted servants Chamberlain could ever have. His army was making sure that Caliph’s women lived in blissful splendour, in a world of surrealism and fantasy. Chamberlain’s job was to create heaven on earth for Caliph’s wives and consorts, and he was excelling at it. The paradise he created consisted of gardens and terraces with manicured grasses, shrubs, and evergreen trees, augmented with magnificent palm trees, a variety of fruit trees meandering along the stone paths: plum, apricot, and pear blossoms were giving off a sweet aroma, spread around by an ever-present gentle and cooling breeze. The summer heat of the desert was soothed by an elaborate system of fountains and pools aesthetically positioned throughout the vast palace gardens. Several pergolas also provided shade to the scorching sun in summer, and in winter it was a place for bonfires, poetry, and music. To add additional splendour to Caliph’s paradise, Chamberlain ensured that the garden was ornamented with a multitude of exotic birds, which included peacocks, parrots, and hornbills imported from distant Siam. This surrounding was for Caliph, now at the age of forty-five, a way to escape from a burden of running his vast Muslim empire. He lost his interest for war and expansion of his realm. He in fact despised all military conflicts, as he considered them barbaric. His true weapon was diplomacy, and it served him well. He had managed to keep his arch-enemy, Persia, at bay by instead persuading the Mongols to attack Persia from the east. However, in recent events, Mongolian hordes have turned against him.

‘How dare they! I made them wealthy by advising them to attack Persia!’

He frowned his eyebrows; his eyes couldn’t find a single object around him that could soothe his anger. His chamberlain knew him well.

‘Remember, Lord, I mentioned to you that we have received new gifts and new brides from the sultans of Granada, Morocco, and Egypt. I must tell you, Lord, this batch is truly special. Would you like to inspect them now?’ The result was immediate. Caliph looked at Chamberlain with gratitude and clapped his hands out of joy.

‘Yes, let’s do that. Bring them in!’

‘My Lord, if I may say so, you take too heavy of a burden on your shoulders. Let Vizier and the Chancellor deal with those Mongols. You are already very generous for tolerating their ill tempers. Why do they always bring those problems to you, my Lord? Aren’t you rewarding them enough for their services? All they own comes out of your good graces, but I think they just don’t understand how much pressure they are passing on to you.’

‘Your words must’ve been inspired by Allah, my faithful friend. You are the only one who understands how difficult it is to be chosen by Allah to deal with quarrelling sultans, lazy generals, an uncontrollable Vizier, and a greedy Chancellor.’

‘My Lord, please help me take some of this burden away. I’m sure your heart will be pleased with what you will see.’

‘My dear friend, sometimes I think that I’m not rewarding you for your devotion. So for every new bride I select from your new collection, I will allow you to take one of my concubines who is over eighteen and has been in my harem for at least three years.’

‘My Caliph, I don’t deserve such an honour, but your wish is a command for me.’ Chamberlain bowed with his head to his knees, and then clapped his hands. Immediately, a side, double-winged door opened up and the chief eunuch walked in, followed by five other eunuchs and twenty hooded and fully gowned Chamberlain’s prized merchandise. Eunuchs lined them up and when the Chamberlain gave them a sign, they removed the hoods and gowns, unveiling twenty girls who swiftly clustered around the tallest, blond girl whose defining eyes were showing innate strength and determination. After a few minutes, the eunuchs forced the girls again to stand in a straight line. Now, in their skimpy skirts and bras, they were showing bodies of girls who only recently reached puberty. Their eyes were in tears, their knees shaking; but for the Caliph those signs of fear were all too common. For him, those girls were the same as young, unbroken horses that needed a strong man’s hand who would train them to become fully appreciative of their new master. They also needed to be converted to Islam.

Yes, Chamberlain had a bit of work ahead of him, especially with the European and Christian girls who were the most stubborn out of all of his women in the harem. Nevertheless, once broken, many of them became his favourite and loyal brides, who longed for his visits in their bedrooms. He smiled at the thought of what was ahead of him. Chamberlain gave a sign to the chief eunuch who brought the first girl in front of Caliph, a tall and dark girl from Abyssinia. She had a sad look in her gorgeous eye as her full lips were quivering from fear.

‘Delightful, I’ll keep her.’ He liked to have a number of truly exotic women in his household. The second girl who was brought in front of him was a tall blond. She was staring at him with fury.

‘Where is she from?’

‘She’s from France. She was sent to you from the sultan of Granada, who is asking for help against advancing Spanish and French armies.’

‘And who is going to defend Baghdad against the Mongols if I send him our troops? I’ll have her too!’ At the mention of the Mongols, his joyful face became somber again. Chamberlain realised that he made a mistake, which he needed to correct quickly.

‘Lord, let’s finish the selection tomorrow. Let’s go to the gardens where you can dine with Jasmine.’ Caliph became alive when he heard the name of his current favourite concubine, who had recently turned sixteen.

‘Yes, I’m a bit hungry and I need more rest,’ then he got up and briskly walked across the hall towards the exit doors leading to the palace gardens. Chamberlain and the eunuch raced behind Caliph, who slowed down as he got closer to the grand pergola located in the middle terrace, beautifully designed and constructed out of tick and mahogany timber, lavishly decorated with floral and animal paintings. He sat on the floor surrounded by intricately designed cushion arrangement. He closed his eyes and was infusing himself into idyllic surroundings filled with sweet aroma of incense and sounds of birds. He opened his eyes when Chamberlain clapped his hands and five long-legged, full-breasted girls walked in, dressed in skimpy translucent blouses, interwoven with golden threads, flowing silk skirts, and sandals made of the most delicate leather, studded with precious stones. They were followed by eunuchs who brought plates filled with dates, almonds, grapes, and a variety of baklavas. Freshly brewed coffee filled the air with a seductive aroma, which instantly soothed Caliph’s senses. This was the part of his life that he relished most. He made himself comfortable on the cushions as Jasmine sat next to him and gave him a long and passionate kiss. He put his arms around her slim waist and started caressing her young and tender body sensuously. At this moment, his mind drifted away from the Mongolian threats and dangers his capital was about to confront.

#

Back in the Mongolian camp, near Hamadan, some 400 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, Hulagu Khan was sitting in his yurt, a circular Mongolian tent, centrally located among the sea of other tents, listening to his envoys, who just returned from Baghdad. After hearing Caliph’s message from his messengers, Hulagu stood up and jovially laughed.

‘Caliph is crooked like a bow, but I will straighten him to be like an arrow.’

He knew from previous invasions that Caliph wasn’t a warrior, and his love for fine art and good life had made him soft and in recent years ineffective in the art of war. Hulagu, on the other hand, was the grandson of Genghis Khan, the greatest military genius that had ever lived. He and his brothers the Great Khan Mongke, Kublai, and Ariq-Boke grew up surrounded by their grandfather’s presence, as if Genghis Khan’s spirit never left them, playing a guiding role in their successes in their individual conquests. The Mongol empire has stretched now from the East China Sea in the east to the Black Sea in the west, and included China, the most advanced country in the world, which had fallen to his brother Kublai Khan a few years earlier. Now it was Hulagu’s turn. The great shaman had revealed to him Genghis Khan’s spirit’s will, which ordered Hulagu to conquer the Muslim world and extend the Mongol empire as far as the Mediterranean Sea. The first part of his conquest was accomplished. He had subdued mighty Persia, and now Baghdad, the capital of the Muslim world, was within his reach. His spies had already reported to him that the people of Baghdad grew soft as their caliph was reluctant to fight wars; moreover, they told him about disputes between the chancellor and the vizier, which pleased him enormously. Disunity among senior commanders at the time of war was his biggest advantage. Nevertheless, the main obstacle ahead of him was Baghdad’s army with 60,000 men. In an open field they would be no match for his ten-tumen army, with 10,000 warriors in each tumen, which he inherited after the death of his father, Tolui Khan, the youngest and the least impressive son of Genghis Khan. However, his grandfather had 700,000 horsemen when he wiped out the Tungut Kingdom, with all its fortified cities. He, Hulagu Khan, had only 100,000 warriors at his disposal, which had to face the biggest city in the world with, so far, impregnable city walls. He needed a plan to bring Caliph’s army to the outside of the city walls.

He summoned his two generals, experienced Baiju and brilliant strategist Kitbuqa. Kitbuqa wasn’t just a military genius; he was also Hulagu’s closest friend who happened to be a Nestorian Christian from Naiman tribe, conquered by Genghis Khan and now close allies of the Mongols.

‘We need to bring Caliph’s army outside the city walls, how do you suggest we do that?’ Hulagu asked his generals.

‘My khan, let’s split our forces and send three of our best tumens as a bait and hide the rest of our army till we engage them in a battle, this is how we had conquered other great cities,’ suggested Baiju eagerly. Hulagu looked at Kitbuqa, waiting for his input.

‘What’s your advice, my friend?’

‘I have already discussed our strategy with Baiju, and we are in total agreement on this, my khan. We can bring their forces one day’s ride away from Baghdad, and at that point, our remaining seven tumens will join our first contingent and we will crush them.’

‘Good, but once we get close to the city walls, can we breach them?’ asked Hulagu, looking in anticipation at Kitbuqa.

‘We need to collect boulders for our catapults while we are still in the mountains, there are no rocks in the vicinity of Baghdad, and yes, I believe we can take the city, as its walls have not been repaired for the past twenty years. We will find a weak spot, and that’s where we will focus our bombardment.’ Kitbuqa’s reasoning pleased Hulagu.

Suddenly the door to the yurt opened up, and without any announcement a woman entered the tent. It was Hulagu’s wife Doquz. Hulagu’s eyes brightened when he saw her, but his generals looked at each other with consternation. This woman was interrupting their war council meeting. Hulagu noticed their reaction, but he chose to ignore it, and for a minute an awkward silence transcended the khan’s tent. This forced the generals to pay respect to Hulagu’s wife and bowed towards her direction. Doquz was a Christian from Kerait tribe, which converted to Christianity some two hundred years earlier. Moreover, she was related to Hulagu’s