■ Source: Morris Rossabi, Voyager from Xanadu. New York: Kodansha, 1992, pp. 99–121 and 139–153.

An Embassy to the West

Organization of an Embassy

By 1286 Arghun was prepared to dispatch a delegation to the West to seek help in defeating the Mamlūks and forcing them out of Syria and the Holy Land. He was feeling particularly hard-pressed not only by the Mamlūks but also by the Turks, Kurds, and other Muslims who often cooperated with the Mamlūks in attacking Nestorians and communities of other Christians in his domains.1 He would try to secure the Europeans’ assis- tance, indeed to persuade them to launch a Crusade; in return, he would offer them jurisdiction over and a guarantee of the security of the Outremer communities. He now believed that they might come to an agreement if his embassy sufficiently impressed them. Thus, the composi- tion of the embassy was critical. Arghun would be best served if he could recruit a well-traveled, sophisticated, and admired envoy fluent in several foreign languages. Another useful, if not essential, qualification was that the envoy be a Christian. If possible, he ought to be highborn or at least in a respected occupation. On every count, Rabban Sauma was an ideal choice. He had traveled extensively through Asia, from Tai-tu to Tabrīz, and had shown a coura- geous and intrepid spirit in undertaking a demanding, difficult, and dan- gerous journey to secure a glimpse of the Holy Land and other religious sites and relics. He was certainly sophisticated, having dealt with Chinese and Mongols in China, Turkic peoples in Central Asia, and and Persians in the Middle East. He was literate and had spent much of his early life in study and meditation. From childhood and early adulthood, his devotion to his faith and his scholarly work had earned him the admi- ration of the Önggüd community and had impressed Nestorian leaders as well as the secular hierarchy in Persia. His skill in a variety of languages no doubt contributed to his repu- tation. His earliest languages were Turkic and spoken Chinese, he could read Syriac, and he probably knew Mongol as well. His years in Persia had given him the opportunity to become fluent in Persian. In fact, he would write his account of his travels in Europe in that language. A few 386 an embassy to the west

Italian merchants as well as a few European ambassadors to the court of the Ilkhans had mastered Persian, so Rabban Sauma could readily find interpreters able to translate his Persian into the European languages. Because Arghun was eager to send a Christian to the Western Christian world, the monk’s status as one of the leaders of the Nestorian Church in the Middle East also recommended him. Such an emissary would surely strike a responsive chord in Christian Europe. In addition, his closeness to the Patriarch made him an attractive candidate and would impress Europeans. When Arghun requested from Mar Yaballaha the name of a suitable Nestorian ambassador, therefore, the choice was obvious. Yaballaha rec- ommended his master, old traveling companion, and good friend Rab- ban Sauma as the “wise man capable of undertaking [such] an embassy.”2 Yet on the eve of Sauma’s departure, Yaballaha was reluctant to have his indispensable helpmate leave. He said that without Rabban Sauma “my affairs will fall into a state of confusion.”3 Yaballaha would naturally have had misgivings about being separated from the comrade who had man- aged his household so well since he had been elected Patriarch. Rabban Sauma too must have needed to be convinced to undertake this mission. Doubtless one of its attractions for him was the possibility of visiting some of the holy sites and seeing some of the Christian relics in the Byzantine Empire and the West, and the opportunity to meet with leaders of the Catholic Church was of as much importance to him as the diplomatic objectives at stake. Presented with these enticements, Rabban Sauma agreed to lead a mission to the West, an assignment that he never would have foreseen when he set forth from China about a decade earlier. He would be the first ambassador from the to meet any European monarch, the first to write an account of his travels—and of course the first man from China to reach and write about Europe. Arghun gave him letters and oral com- munications to be delivered to the Pope, the Byzantine Emperor, and the Kings of France and England, as well as presents for the Pontiff and each of the monarchs. The also provided him with gold for his expenses, thirty good riding animals, and a letter-patent that ensured safe passage. The account of Rabban Sauma’s travels does not reveal the contents of the letters to the Western rulers. Nor does it describe the instructions given to Sauma.4 What was he authorized to offer the Pope, the Byzantine Emperor, and the European monarchs in return for their support? What treatment should he consider unacceptable? Was he ordered to bring