Marco Polo: The Age of Exploration

Recommendable! I can never get enough of Marco Polo's travels! On his death bed he is reported to have said he only told half of what he saw!

Rabban Bar Sauma: The Asian Marco Polo

Here is a contemporary of Marco Polo, the Asian Marco Polo who traveled to the West! Why do Westerners know so little about his travels?



Rabban Bar Sauma - Wikipedia



First Chinese Visitor Describes Medieval Europe // The Incredible Journey of Rabban Sawma (1287)

Mongol Female Warrior & Princess Khutulun

Posted: 1/12/2019

Just a few days ago I watched this incredible YouTube biography of Khutulun, who lived from 1260 to 1306 AD. Wikipedia describes her as a “... Mongol noblewoman and wrestler. The most famous daughter of Kaidu, a cousin of Kublai Khan, her father was "most pleased by her abilities", and she accompanied him on military campaigns”

“Marco Polo described Khutulun as a superb warrior, one who could ride into enemy ranks and snatch a captive as easily as a hawk snatches a chicken. She assisted her father in many battles, particularly against the Yuan Dynasty of her cousin the Great Khan – Kublai (r. 1260–94).

Khutulun insisted that any man who wished to marry her must defeat her in wrestling. Winning horses from competitions and the wagers of would-be suitors, it is said that she gathered a herd numbering ten thousand.” (Source 2; emphasis added)

Many men tried, but were defeated by her in wrestling.

Friedrich Schiller, Giacomo Puccini, and others memorialized this Mongol warrior in their works.

Apparently, there were other influential Mongol women in history (see Source 3).

By the way, this Biographies channel by host Simon Whistler on YouTube offers lots of great, concise biographies.

Sources:

1. Khutulun: The Mongol Warrior Princess
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khutulun
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_History_of_the_Mongol_Queens