The Travels of Marco Polo 1: Chapter 23

<-Back to Marco Polo

CHAPTER XXIII.

CONCERNING THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN.

[... only the segment of the text relevant to Armenia presented]

Khanikoff, and before him J. R. Forster, have supposed that the name _Mulehet_ represents _Alamút_. But the resemblance is much closer and more satisfactory to _Mulhid_ or _Muláhidah_. _Mulhet_ is precisely the name by which the kingdom of the Ismailites is mentioned in Armenian history, and _Mulihet_ is already applied in the same way by Rabbi Benjamin in the 12th century, and by Rubruquis in the 13th. The Chinese narrative of Hulaku's expedition calls it the kingdom of _Mulahi_. (_Joinville_, p. 138; _J. As._ sér. II., tom. xii. 285; _Benj. Tudela_, p. 106; _Rub._ p. 265; _Rémusat_, _Nouv. Mélanges_, I. 176; _Gaubil_, p. 128; _Pauthier_, pp. cxxxix.-cxli.; _Mon. Hist. Patr. Scriptorum_, III. 1559, Turin, 1848.) [Cf. on _Mulehet_, _melahideh_, Heretics, plural of _molhid_. Heretic, my note, pp. 476-482 of my ed. of Friar Odoric.--H. C.]