Compare And Contrast Al-Athir And Polo

Even though, both Al-Athir and Polo are describing the same matter, the way they see Tatars is quite different. Both authors came from a rapidly different background and it can be seen in the way they are approaching Tatars and describing their way of living. Muslim scholar, Al-Athir see Mongols as a threat. For Al-Athir Tatars are «…the greatest catastrophe and the most dire calamity…» Therefore, Al-Athir does not take into considerations any possible good sides of the Tatars. For example, Tatars were tolerant to other religions and allowed conquered people to practice their own beliefs. But Al-Athir’s source saying how he is ought to «…defend the True Faith», even though Tatars were not specifically targeting Islam. Tatar’s lifestyle is the complete opposite to what Al-Athir is used to as well. Coming from the land with strict rules on diet and marriage, Tatar's diet of «for they eat al beasts» is unacceptable. The same is with the way Tatars treat women and marriage ties. For Al-Athir, the possibility of several man sharing one woman is repugnant as well.
Coming from Europe, extremely patriarch society, Polo’s seeing Tatar’s women «…attend to their trading concerns, buy and sell…» is exotic and man being able to take into his wife’s more than one women is rather berserk. He is also referring to the Tatars' war tactics as being organized and well-trained. Where Al-Athir saw Tatars as savages, that "... slay them one after another ...". Contrary to the fact that Marco Polo actually witnessed the Tatars conquering, his book can be hardly called reliable. Possibly, because he was captured, his book fails to address the destructions Tatars brought to other