11-06-2013, 04:22 PM
Alanus wrote:
I have looked through some Chinese & Franciscan sources & you are correct, he wrote from Beijing about Friar John of Monte Corvino (Archbishop of Khan Baliq who died in 1328) that the Alans were good Christians and that 30,000 Alan troops were in the pay of the great king & their families turn to Friar John who comforts & preaches to them. However Father Pelligrini writes 30,000 troops as well as their families. However those figures indicate a group of possibly 75,000 to 100,000. So 30,000 total with possibly 6000 fighting men sounds more realistic. They were known to the Yuan as the Asud & fought in the Imperial army under the direct authority of the emperor, they were considered elite troops & sometimes acted as bodyguards & were based around Beijing as opposed to the territorial armies scattered throughout the empire. Apparently they fought a series of campaigns firstly against Sichuan province, the struggle for succession between Kublai Khan & his brother, the repression of a few rebellions (echoes of how earlier Alans were used in Gaul by Aetius) & the conquest of the Song empire as well as Kublai's long contest for Central Asia with Qaidu. Just a bit of Alan trivia. Because he was one of the few Christians in Chinese court an Alan named Thorgay was part of the first Yuan Chinese delegation that travelled to Europe & established diplomatic relations between the Pope & Yuan emperor in 1338. However this promising start came to nothing when last Mongol (Yuan) emperor fled China in 1368. Sorry to stray from topic but Alans weren't finished after their country was destroyed by Golden Horde & put their fighting skills to good use leaving their footprint from Pacific to Atlantic Oceans & south to Africa as well.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Quote:That time-frame sounds about right. A large group of Christian Alans were mercenaries under Kubli Khan, I think recorded by Father Pelligrini. At that time, about 30,000 of them were living on the mainland across from Formosa. Obviously, this figure must have included families.
I have looked through some Chinese & Franciscan sources & you are correct, he wrote from Beijing about Friar John of Monte Corvino (Archbishop of Khan Baliq who died in 1328) that the Alans were good Christians and that 30,000 Alan troops were in the pay of the great king & their families turn to Friar John who comforts & preaches to them. However Father Pelligrini writes 30,000 troops as well as their families. However those figures indicate a group of possibly 75,000 to 100,000. So 30,000 total with possibly 6000 fighting men sounds more realistic. They were known to the Yuan as the Asud & fought in the Imperial army under the direct authority of the emperor, they were considered elite troops & sometimes acted as bodyguards & were based around Beijing as opposed to the territorial armies scattered throughout the empire. Apparently they fought a series of campaigns firstly against Sichuan province, the struggle for succession between Kublai Khan & his brother, the repression of a few rebellions (echoes of how earlier Alans were used in Gaul by Aetius) & the conquest of the Song empire as well as Kublai's long contest for Central Asia with Qaidu. Just a bit of Alan trivia. Because he was one of the few Christians in Chinese court an Alan named Thorgay was part of the first Yuan Chinese delegation that travelled to Europe & established diplomatic relations between the Pope & Yuan emperor in 1338. However this promising start came to nothing when last Mongol (Yuan) emperor fled China in 1368. Sorry to stray from topic but Alans weren't finished after their country was destroyed by Golden Horde & put their fighting skills to good use leaving their footprint from Pacific to Atlantic Oceans & south to Africa as well.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
