the disintegration of the empire 99
although reports on the crossing of the cuman steppe are rare, or
rather they are unevenly spread both qualitatively and chronologically,
nevertheless they allow us to discern three distinct stages unfolding in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
the earliest information to filter back to the West was from dominican
friars, who set out in the 1230s to look for “greater hungary” on the upper
volga. fulfilling their mission meant dreadful privations and unusual
risks, which conclusively point to a state of anarchy prevailing among the
cumans at the time.167
this is in total contrast to the order that the mongols imposed once
they settled in the steppe, after ending their great campaigns in central
and south-eastern europe in 1242. the first Western travellers to enjoy the
blessings of this Pax Mongolica were the franciscan friars John of plano
carpini and, ten years later, William of rubruck.168
these sources clearly show that once the golden horde came into exis-
tence, it was possible to travel safely from one end of its territory to the
other. rather less clear are the circumstances under which the route that
the friars travelled became one of the great arteries of eurasian trade: it is
certain that the mongols cleared the road, as it were, but the moment or
the period when this happened is unknown. the obscurity surrounding
this question is due to a constellation of factors.
the information that we have is far too sporadic, and too random, to
reflect accurately what seems to have been the slow and steady evolu-
tion of a great trade route. in the absence of quantitative data that would
bear rigorous analysis, the image that we have is wholly impressionistic,
and risks being gravely distorted by the lop-sided distribution of material:
given the scarcity of eastern sources, the relative abundance of accounts
by Western travellers might easily create the impression that Westerners
were the main agents in trade on this route, although we cannot exclude
the possibility that eastern merchants made up the bulk of trade with
their caravans.169
the earliest reference to trade in the history of the golden horde is
by friar John of plano carpini, who met merchants from genoa, venice
and pisa in Kiev in 1246, on his return from his visit to the mongols. the
167 cf. dörrie, “texte.”
168 Brătianu, Recherches, pp. 210–211, points to the relative comfort in which they trav-
elled compared to the misery which the dominicans endured.
169 on this see Bautier, “relations,” pp. 289, 308.