Genghis Khan's Dominions

1897

Mrs. Mary Shears Roberts, in her series of "Historic Dwarfs" in St. Nicholas, writes of Casan, who was in the service of Genghis Khan. Mrs. Roberts says:

After the great Mongolian had conquered China, Persia and all central Asia his empire became one of the most formidable ever established. It extended from the Pacific ocean on the east to the river Dnieper in European Russia and was a wider realm than Egyptian, Greek or Roman conqueror ever knew. The kings of Armenia and Georgia, the emirs of Persia, the grand dukes of Russia and numerous other potentates were compelled to pay tribute to Genghis Khan, and they were all obliged to make the long journey to Karakorum in person or by their representatives.

This town, the capital of the largest empire that ever existed, was little more than a city of tents. It afterward became the residence of the famous Kublai Khan, as Marco Polo tells us, but every vestige of it has disappeared.

Genghis Khan at last retired from active service to lead a quiet life in the enjoyment of the wealth he had acquired at the expense of so much toil and blood. The numerous khans and generals were commanded to return, and they came back encumbered with the spoils of war. They all assembled on a vast plain some 20 miles in extent, and, according to one historian, even this great field could scarcely contain all the tents of the countless hosts. The emperor's quarters alone were six miles around. An enormous white tent capable of containing 2,000 people was spread over his throne, on which was carefully placed the bit of black carpet used at his coronation.