Embassy to Tamerlane, 1403-1406 / translated from the Spanish by Guy Le Strange with an introduction.
- Ruy González de Clavijo
- Date:
- [1928]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Embassy to Tamerlane, 1403-1406 / translated from the Spanish by Guy Le Strange with an introduction. Source: Wellcome Collection.
319/420 page 287
![magnificent, bea¿ls and poultry all of a fine breed. The sheep are famous for having those fat tails that weigh each some twenty pounds, in faCt as much as a man can readily hold in the hand: and of these sheep the flocks are so abundant that even when Timur is in camp here with his armies, [and there is a scarcity] a couple of sheep can be had in the market for the price of a ducat [which is about six shillings]. The prices indeed are so low that for a Meri, which is a coin worth [about three pence] or half a real, you may have a bushel and a half of barley. Baked bread is everywhere plentiful and rice can be had cheap in any quantity. The richness and abundance of this great capital and its di¿lri& is such as is indeed a wonder to behold: and it is for this reason that it bears the name of Samarqand: for this name would be more exaClly written Semiz-kent, two words which signify “ Rich-Town,” for Semiz [in Turkish] is fat or rich and Kent means city or township: in time these two words having been corrupted into the name Samarqand.2 Further this land of Samarqand is not alone rich in food ¿luff's but also in manufactures, such as factories of silk both the kinds called Zaytumi and Kincobs, also crapes, taffetas and the ¿luffs we call Tercenals in Spain, which are all produced here in great numbers. Further they make up special fur linings for silk garments, and manu¬ facture ¿luffs in gold and blue with other colours of diverse tints dved, and besides all these kinds of ¿luffs there are the spiceries. Thus trade has always been fo¿lered by Timur with the view of making his capital the noble¿l of cities: and during all his conque¿ls wheresoever he came he carried off the be¿l men of the population to people Samarqand, bringing thither together the ma¿ler-craftsmen of all nations. Thus from Damascus he carried away with him all the weavers of that city, those who worked at the silk looms. Further the bow-makers who produce those cross-bows](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31354932_0319.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
