Note 12 — EXPLANATORY LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME I. (continued 3)

It is probable that Persian, which had long been the language of Turanian courts, was also the common tongue of foreigners at that of the Mongols. Pulisanghin and Zardandan, in the preceding list, are pure Persian. So are several of the Oriental phrases noted at p. 84. See also notes on Ondanique and Vernique at pp. 93 and 384 of this volume, on Tacuin at p. 448, and a note at p. 93 supra. The narratives of Odoric, and others of the early travellers to Cathay, afford corroborative examples. Lord Stanley of Alderley, in one of his contributions to the Hakluyt Series, has given evidence from experience that Chinese Mahomedans still preserve the knowledge of numerous Persian words.