102 chapter three
supported by the idea that fundamental features of eurasian trade are
hardly likely to have changed much in the period from the polo brothers’
journey to 1289, when documentary sources resume.178
the next document to be preserved is a true monument in trade history,
a register of the documents lodged with the genoese notary lamberto di
sambuceto at caffa in 1289–90. amongst a multitude of export goods from
the steppe and the taiga, such as slaves, hides, fleece, wheat, barley, mil-
let, wax, salt, cheese, and fish from both the don and the Kuban,179 silk
also features, which can only have been of asian origin. two sorts of silk
recorded are clearly named for the place of manufacture: great merv in
sogdiana, and new Khwarezm, which is Urgench. this record shows that
there was a trade link from central asia to the crimea, and also shows
the genoese at caffa content to buy their silk from neighbouring solkhat,
although in later times the ligurians certainly did not settle for such
mediated trade.180
returning from china to persia in 1293–1294, marco polo talks of the
genoese returning to the caspian as though this were a recent state of
affairs: here they brought precious silk from gilan, a province on the
Actes, pp. 73–169; silk and spices are mentioned only once, with no indication as to their
provenance (ibid., p. 128).
178 the Byzantine restoration in constantinople in 1261 and the replacement of vene-
tian maritime power with genoese in the Black sea did not in the least stifle the develop-
ment of golden horde commerce. Quite the opposite.
179 Brătianu, Actes, pp. 173–297; cf. heyd, Histoire, ii, pp. 175 ff., Balard, “notes,” p. 382,
Bautier, “relations,” p. 315. horses were one of the most important steppe exports but do
not feature in the genoese notary’s record, since the herds of horses were not driven to
the Black sea ports but rather through central asia to india; ibn Baṭṭūṭa/defrémery, san-
guinetti, ii, pp. 371–374, was impressed by the size and number of these herds.
180 Brătianu, Actes, pp. 205 (seta de Merdacaxi), 210 (seta merdacaxi [.. .] empta in Sor-
cato), 211–212 (a shipment to genoa of seta merdacasi et carusmisna), 213 ( fardello sete
de merdacaxi, bought in solkhat); heyd, Histoire, ii, p. 673, suggests that seta merdacaxi
comes from “merv chahidjan, centre d’une oase située sur la frontière de sogdiane, du
côté de l’iran, arrosée par le mourgâb et qui a de tout temps produit et exporté une grande
quantité de soie” (on the location of great merv in the middle ages, see le strange, Lands,
p. 398); Brătianu, Actes, pp. 8 and 25, assumes that carusmisna silk come from Khwarezm,
though this cannot refer to the province of the same name but rather its capital, new
Khwarezm, also called Urgench (le strange, Lands, p. 449); for the commerical importance
of the city see petrushevskiy, “pohod,” p. 102); note also that the name is still used today for
the particular weave of organdy silk (cf. petech, “marchands,” p. 558, lopez, “importance,”
p. 25); seta [.. .] carnia may be a misreading of seta canzia, which racine, “marché,” p. 405,
explains is a “soie provenant de gandja, au sud de la caspienne” although this is more
likely to be gangea in caucasian armenia. Berindei, veinstein, “tana-azaq,” pp. 113–114,
point out that central asian silk has only a modest place among the transactions recorded
by the notary lamberto di sambuceto, and that spices are similarly poorly represented.