HIS 101 – World Civilizations 1 Name: Catelyn Brehm

Primary Source Analysis # 3
Answer the questions below after reading the Primary Source Reading linked on MO2
Context

Who was the author of the source
A Russian
What is the source (eg, poem, letter, official decree)
This source is a letter
Where was the source written
In Arabia
When was the source written
During the Silver Age
Why was the source written
To inform people about the invasions that the Tatars were performing, and how the author was so upset about it.
Content (outline/main ideas)
Starts off by saying that while this is not something that they don’t want to recall, it would not do anyone any good by just ignoring it. The writer claims the Chinese marched through towns and cities while “destroying them and slaying most of their inhabitants, of whom none escaped save a small remnant.” Also the author bitterly states, “As for their religion, they worship the sun when it rises, and regard nothing as unlawful, for they eat all beasts, even dogs, pigs, and the like; nor do they recognise the marriage-tie, for several men are in marital relations with one woman, and if a child is born, it knows not who is its father,” which clearly makes the “bad guys” Muslims, or, Tatars. At the end of the source, one man tells about how everyone was afraid of the Tatars. The man suggests, there are more of them than the Tatars, so why shouldn’t they just go after him?

Consequences
Importance of the source in its own time