Genghis Khan, Makers of History SeriesAbbott, Jacob
History
Genghis Khan, Makers of History Series
Abbott, Jacob
Genghis Khan, 1162-1227; Mongols -- History
The household goods of this traveling chieftain were packed in chests
made for the purpose, the house itself, of course, in order to be made
as light as possible, having been emptied of all its contents. These
chests were large, and were made of wicker or basket-work, covered,
like the house, with felt. The covers were made of a rounded form, so
as to throw off the rain, and the felt was painted over with a certain
composition which made it impervious to the water. These chests were
not intended to be unpacked at the end of the journey, but to remain
as they were, as permanent storehouses of utensils, clothing, and
provisions. They were placed in rows, each on its own cart, near the
tent, where they could be resorted to conveniently from time to time
by the servants and attendants, as occasion might require. The tent
placed in the centre, with these great chests on their carts near it,
formed, as it were, a house with one great room standing by itself,
and all the little rooms and closets arranged in rows by the side of
it.
Some such arrangement as this is obviously necessary in case of a
great deal of furniture or baggage belonging to a man who lives in a
tent, and who desires to be at liberty to remove his whole
establishment from place to place at short notice; for a tent, from
the very principle of its construction, is incapable of being divided
into rooms, or of accommodating extensive stores of furniture or
goods. Of course, a special contrivance is required for the
accommodation of this species of property. This was especially the
case with the Monguls, among whom there were many rich and great men
who often accumulated a large amount of movable property. There was
one rich Mongul, it was said, who had two hundred such chest-carts,
which were arranged in two rows around and behind his tent, so that
his establishment, when he was encamped, looked like quite a little
village.
The style of building adopted among the Monguls for tents and movable
houses seemed to set the fashion for all their houses, even for those
that were built in the towns, and were meant to stand permanently
where they were first set up. These permanent houses were little
better than tents. They consisted each of one single room without any
subdivisions whatever. They were made round, too, like the tents, only
the top, instead of running up to a point, was rounded like a dome.
There were no floors above that formed on the ground, and no windows.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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