Tun-O-Kain

Major Sykes had adopted Sir Henry Yule’s theory of the route from Kuh-benan to Tun. He has since altered his opinion in the Geographical Journal, October, 1905, p. 465: “I was under the impression that a route ran direct from Kubunán to Tabas, but when visiting this latter town a few months ago I made careful inquiries on the subject, which elicited the fact that this was not the case, and that the route invariably followed by Kubunán-Tabas caravans joined the Kermán-Rávar-Naiband route at Cháh-Kuru, 12 miles south of Darbana. It follows this track as far as Naiband, whence the route to Tabas branches off; but the main caravan route runs viâ Zenagan and Duhuk to Tun. This new information, I would urge, makes it almost certain that Ser Marco travelled to Tun, as Tabas falls to the west of the main route. Another point is that the district of Tabas only grows four months’ supplies, and is, in consequence, generally avoided by caravans owing to its dearness.

“In 1893 I travelled from Tun to the south across the Lut as far as Cháh Kuru by this very route, and can testify to the general accuracy of Ser Marco’s description, although there are now villages at various points on the way. Finally, as our traveller especially mentions Tonocain, or Tun va Kain, one is inclined to accept this as evidence of first-rate importance, especially as it is now corroborated by the information I gained at Tabas. The whole question, once again, furnishes an example of how very difficult it is to make satisfactory inquiries, except on the spot.”

It was also the opinion (1882) of Colonel C. E. Stewart, who says: “I was much interested in hearing of Kuh Banan, as it is one of the places mentioned by Marco Polo as on his route. Kuh Banan is described as a group of villages about 26 miles from the town of Rawar, in the Kárman district. I cannot help thinking the road travelled by Marco Polo from Kárman to Kain is the one by Naiband. Marco Polo speaks of Tun-o-Cain, which, Colonel Yule has pointed out, undoubtedly means Tun and Kain. At present Tun does not belong to the Kain district, but to the Tabbas district, and is always spoken of as Tun-o-Tabbas; and if it belonged, as I believe it formerly did, to the Kain district, it would be spoken of as Tun-o-Kain, exactly as Marco Polo does. Through Naiband is the shortest and best road to either Tun or Kain.” (Proc. Royal Geog. Soc., VIII., 1886, p. 144.)

Support to Yule’s theory has been brought by Sven Hedin, who devotes a chapter to Marco Polo in his Overland to India, II., 1910, Chap. XL., and discusses our traveller’s route between Kuh-benan and Tabbas, pp. 71 seq.:

“As even Sykes, who travelled during several years through Persia in all directions, cannot decide with full certainty whether Marco Polo travelled by the western route through Tebbes or the eastern through Naibend, it is easy to see how difficult it is to choose between the two roads. I cannot cite the reasons Sir Henry Yule brings forward in favour of the western route—it would take us too far. I will, instead, set forth the grounds of my own conviction that Marco Polo used the direct caravan road between Kuh-benan and Tebbes.

“The circumstance that the main road runs through Naibend is no proof, for we find that Marco Polo, not only in Persia but also in Central Asia, exhibited a sovereign contempt for all routes that might be called convenient and secure.

“The distance between Kerman and Kuh-benan in a direct line amounts to 103 miles. Marco Polo travelled over this stretch in seven days, or barely 15 miles a day. From Kuh-benan to Tebbes the distance is 150 miles, or fully 18 miles a day for eight days. From Kuh-benan viâ Naibend to Tun, the distance is, on the other hand, 205 miles, or more than 25 miles a day. In either case we can perceive from the forced marches that after leaving Kuh-benan he came out into a country where the distances between the wells became much greater.

“If he travelled by the eastern route he must have made much longer day’s journeys than on the western. On the eastern route the distances between the wells were greater. Major Sykes has himself travelled this way, and from his detailed description we get the impression that it presented particular difficulties. With a horse it is no great feat to ride 25 miles a day for eight days, but it cannot be done with camels. That I rode 42½ miles a day between Hauz-i-Haji-Ramazan and Sadfe was because of the danger from rain in the Kevir, and to continue such a forced march for more than two days is scarcely conceivable. Undoubtedly Marco Polo used camels on his long journeys in Eastern Persia, and even if he had been able to cover 205 miles in eight days, he would not be obliged to do so, for on the main road through Naibend and Duhuk to Tun there are abundant opportunities of procuring water. Had he travelled through Naibend, he would in any case have had no need to hurry on so fast. He would probably keep to the same pace as on the way from Kerman to Kuh-benan, and this length he accomplished in seven days. Why should he have made the journey from Kuh-benan to Tun, which is exactly double as far, in only eight days instead of fourteen, when there was no necessity? And that he actually travelled between Kuh-benan and Tunocain in eight days is evident, because he mentions this number twice.

“He also says explicitly that during these eight days neither fruits nor trees are to be seen, and that you have to carry both food and water. This description is not true of the Naibend route, for in Naibend there are excellent water, fine dates, and other fruits. Then there is Duhuk, which, according to Sykes, is a very important village with an old fort and about 200 houses. After leaving Duhuk for the south, Sykes says: ‘We continued our journey, and were delighted to hear that at the next stage, too, there was a village, proving that this section of the Lut is really quite thickly populated.’ [Ten Thousand Miles in Persia, p. 35.] This does not agree at all with Marco Polo’s description.

“I therefore consider it more probable that Marco Polo, as Sir Henry Yule supposes, travelled either direct to Tebbes, or perhaps made a trifling détour to the west, through the moderate-sized village Bahabad, for from this village a direct caravan road runs to Tebbes, entirely through desert. Marco Polo would then travel 150 miles in eight days compared with 103 miles in seven days between Kerman and Kuh-benan. He therefore increased his speed by only 4 miles a day, and that is all necessary on the route in question.

“Bahabad lies at a distance of 36 miles from Kubenan—all in a straight line. And not till beyond Bahabad does the real desert begin.

“To show that a caravan road actually connects Tebbes with Bahabad, I have inserted in the first and second columns of the following table the data I obtained in Tebbes and Fahanunch, and in the third the names marked on the ‘Map of Persia (in six sheets) compiled in the Simla Drawing Office of the Survey of India, 1897.’

From Tebbes to Bahabad. From Fahanunch to Bahabad.

1. Kurit

Moghu

4½

2. Moghu

Sefid-ab

3. Sefid-ab

Belucha

4. Burch

God-i-shah-taghi

5. God

Rizab

6. Rizab

Teng-i-Tebbes

4½

7. Pudenum

Pudenun

4½

8. Ser-i-julge

Kheirabad

9. Bahabad

Bahabad

Farsakh

43½

Map of Persia.

Maga Salt well.

Chasma Sufid „ „

Khudafrin Sweet spring.

Pir Moral Salt well.

God Hashtaki „ „

Rezu „ „

“These details are drawn from different authorities, but are in excellent agreement. That the total distances are different in the first two columns is because Fahanunch lies nearer than Tebbes to Bahabad. Two or three discrepancies in the names are of no importance. Burch denotes a castle or fort; Belucha is evidently Cha-i-beluch or the well of the Baluchi, and it is very probable that a small fort was built some time or other at this well which was visited by raiders from Baluchistan. Ser-i-julge and Kheirabad may be two distinct camping grounds very near each other. The Chasma Sufid or ‘white spring’ of the English map is evidently the same place as Sefid-ab, or ‘white water.’ Its God Hashtaki is a corruption of the Persian God-i-shah-taghi, or the ‘hollow of the royal saxaul.’ Khudafrin, on the other hand, is very apocryphal. It is no doubt Khuda-aferin or ‘God be praised!’—an ejaculation very appropriate in the mouth of a man who comes upon a sweet spring in the midst of the desert. If an Englishman travelled this way he might have mistaken this ejaculation for the name of the place. But then ‘Unsurveyed’ would hardly be placed just in this part of the Bahabad Desert.

“The information I obtained about the road from Tebbes to Bahabad was certainly very scanty, but also of great interest. Immediately beyond Kurit the road crosses a strip of the Kevir, 2 farsakh broad, and containing a river-bed which is said to be filled with water at the end of February. Sefid-ab is situated among hillocks and Burch in an upland district; to the south of it follows Kevir barely a farsakh broad, which may be avoided by a circuitous path. At God-i-shah-taghi, as the name implies, saxaul grows (Haloxylon Ammodendron). The last three halting-places before Bahabad all lie among small hills.

“This desert route runs, then, through comparatively hilly country, crosses two small Kevir depressions, or offshoots of one and the same Kevir, has pasturage at at least one place, and presents no difficulties of any account. The distance in a direct line is 113 miles, corresponding to 51 Persian farsakh—the farsakh in this district being only about 2·2 miles long against 2·9 in the great Kevir. The caravans which go through the Bahabad desert usually make the journey in ten days, one at least of which is a rest day, so that they cover little more than 12 miles a day. If water more or less salt were not to be found at all the eight camping-grounds, the caravans would not be able to make such short marches. It is also quite possible that sweet water is to be found in one place; where saxaul grows driftsand usually occurs, and wells digged in sand are usually sweet.

“During my stay in Tebbes a caravan of about 300 camels, as I have mentioned before, arrived from Sebsevar. They were laden with naft (petroleum), and remained waiting till the first belt of Kevir was dried after the last rain. As soon as this happened the caravan would take the road described above to Bahabad, and thence to Yezd. And this caravan route, Sebsevar, Turshiz, Bajistan, Tun, Tebbes, Bahabad, and Yezd, is considered less risky than the somewhat shorter way through the great Kevir. I myself crossed a part of the Bahabad desert where we did not once follow any of the roads used by caravans, and I found this country by no means one of the worst in Eastern Persia.

“In the above exposition I believe that I have demonstrated that it is extremely probable that Marco Polo travelled, not through Naibend to Tun, but through Bahabad to Tebbes, and thence to Tun and Kain. His own description accords in all respects with the present aspect and peculiarities of the desert route in question. And the time of eight days he assigns to the journey between Kuh-benan and Tonocain renders it also probable that he came to the last-named province at Tebbes, even if he travelled somewhat faster than caravans are wont to do at the present day. It signifies little that he does not mention the name Tebbes; he gives only the name of the province, adding that it contains a great many towns and villages. One of these was Tebbes.”

XXII., p. 126.