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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
CHAP. XXXII. THE PLATEAU OF PAMIR
173
~i
of late by the Mirza and Faiz I3akhsh. It is true that the river is reached from Badaskhshan Proper by ascending another river (the Vardoj) and crossing the Pass of Ishkáshm, but in the brief style of our narrative we must expect such condensation.
WAKHÁN was restored to geography by Macartney, in the able map which he compiled for Elphinstone's Caubul, and was made known more accurately by Wood's journey through it. [The district of Wakhán " comprises the valleys containing the two heads of the Panjah branch of the Oxus, and the valley of the Panjah itself, from the junction at Zung down to Ishkashím. The northern branch of the Panjah has its principal source in the Lake Victoria in the Great Pamir, which as well as the Little Pámir, belongs to Wakhán, the Aktash River forming the well recognized boundary between Kashgaria and Wakhán." (Captain Trotter, Forsyth's Mission, p. 275.) The southern branch is the Sarhadd Valley.—H. C.] The lowest part is about 8000 feet above the sea, and the highest Is ïshlak, or village, about 11,5o°. A few willows and poplars arT the only trees that can stand against the bitter blasts that blow down the valley. Wood estimated the total population of the province at only moo souls, though it might he capable of supporting r000. * He saw it, however, in the depth of winter. As to the peculiar language, see note i, ch. xxix. It is said to be a very old dialect of Persian: A scanty vocabulary was collected by Hayward. (j. R. G. S. XXI. p. 29.) The people, according to Shaw, have Aryan features, resembling those of the Kashmiris, but harsher.
[Cf. Captain Trotter's The Oxus below Wakhan, Forsyth's Mission, p. 276.]
We appear to see in the indications of this paragraph precisely the same system of government that now prevails in the Oxus valleys. The central districts of Faizabad and Jerm are under the immediate administration of the Mir of Badakhshan, whilst fifteen other districts, such as If ishm, Rustdk, Zebák, Ishkáshm, Wakhán, are dependencies " held by the relations of the Mír, or by hereditary rulers, on a feudal tenure, conditional on fidelity and military service in time of need, the holders possessing supreme authority in their respective territories, and paying little or no tribute to the paramount power." (Pandit lllanphul.) The first part of the valley of which Marco speaks as belonging to a brother of the Prince, may correspond to Isbkáshm, or perL-aps to Vardoj ; the second, Wakhán, seems to have had a hereditary ruler ; but both were vassals of the Prince of Badakhshan, and therefore are styled Counts, not kings or Seigneurs.
The native title which Marco gives as the equivalent of Count is remarkable. Non or None, as it is variously written in the texts, would in French form represent Nono in Italian. Pauthier refers this title to the " Rao-nana (or nano) Rao" which figures as the style of Kanerkes in the Indo-Scythic coinage. But Wilson (Ariana Antigua, p. 358) interprets Raomranzo as most probably a genitive plural of Rao, whilst the whole inscription answers precisely to the Greek one BAv'IAETE BAIIAEON KANHPK0Î, which is found on other coins of the same prince. General Cunningham, a very competent authority, adheres to this view, and writes : " I do not think None or Non can have any connection with the Naga of the coins."
It is remarkable, however, that Notvo (said to signify " younger," or lesser) is in Tibet the title given to a younger brother, deputy, or subordinate prince. In Cunningham's Ladak (259) we read : " Nono is the usual term of respect which is used in addressing any young man of the higher ranks, and when prefixed to Kalalon it means the younger or deputy minister." And again (p. 352) : "Nono is the title given to a younger brother. Nono Sungnam was the younger brother of Chang
* " Yet this barren and inaccessible upland, with its scanty handful of wild people, finds a place in Eastern history and geography from an early period, and has now become the subject of serious correspondence between two great European Governments, and its name, for a few weeks at least, a household word in London. Indeed, this is a striking accident of the course of modern history. We see the Slav and the Englishman—representatives of two great branches of the Aryan race, but divided by such vast intervals of space and tii' e from the original common starting-point of their migration—thus brought back to the lap of Pamir to which so many quivering lines point as the centre of their earliest seats, there by common consent to lay down limits to mutual encroachment." (Quarterly Review, April, 1873, p. 548.)
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