13th-century Turkic Nestorian monk,traveller and diplomat.
Rabban (ܪܒܢ)
ܒܪ ܨܘܡܐ Bar Ṣawma ("Son of Fasting")
Church
Church of the East
See
Baghdad
Personal details
Born
c. 1220
Zhongdu (modern-day Beijing), Jin China
Died
January 1294 (aged c. 73–74) Baghdad, Ilkhanate
Denomination
Church of the East
Residence
Baghdad, Maragheh
Occupation
Monk, ambassador, writer
Rabban Bar Ṣawma traveled from Beijing in Asia to Rome and Paris[1] and Bordeaux in Europe, meeting with the major rulers of the period.
Rabban Bar Ṣawma (Syriac language: ܪܒܢ ܒܪ ܨܘܡܐ, [rɑbbɑnbɑrsˤɑwma]; c. 1220 – January 1294), also known as Rabban Ṣawma or Rabban Çauma[2] (simplified Chinese: 拉班·扫马; traditional Chinese: 拉賓掃務瑪; pinyin: lābīn sǎowùmǎ), was a Uyghur or Ongud monk turned diplomat of the "Nestorian" Church of the East in China. He is known for embarking on a pilgrimage from Yuan China to Jerusalem with one of his students, Markos (later Patriarch Yahballaha III). Due to military unrest along the way, they never reached their destination, but instead spent many years in Ilkhanate-controlled Baghdad.
The younger Markos was eventually elected Yahballaha III, Patriarch of the Church of the East and later suggested his teacher Rabban Bar Ṣawma be sent on another mission, as Mongol ambassador to Europe. The elderly monk met with many of the European monarchs, as well as the Pope, in attempts to arrange a Franco-Mongol alliance. The mission bore no fruit, but in his later years in Baghdad, Rabban Bar Ṣawma documented his lifetime of travel. His written account of his journeys is of unique interest to modern historians, as it gives a picture of medieval Europe at the close of the Crusades, painted by a keenly-intelligent, broadminded, and statesmanlike observer.[3]
Bar Ṣawma's travels occurred before the return of Marco Polo to Europe, and his writings give a reverse viewpoint, of the East looking to the West.
^Rossabi, Morris (2014). From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi. BRILL. p. 670. ISBN 978-90-04-28529-3.
^Mantran, p. 298
^Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rabban Bar Sauma" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 767.
RabbanBar Ṣawma (Syriac language: ܪܒܢ ܒܪ ܨܘܡܐ, [rɑbbɑn bɑrsˤɑwma]; c. 1220 – January 1294), also known as Rabban Ṣawma or Rabban Çauma (simplified Chinese:...
the Church of the East. A native of Koshang, Marcos travelled with RabbanBarSauma, an ascetic Nestorian monk from Mongol-controlled China to Jerusalem...
the Church of the East Bar Sawma of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (d. 1136), patriarch of the Church of the East in Baghdad RabbanBarSauma (d. 1294), bishop of the...
instead to Outer Mongolia. The Turkic Chinese Nestorian Christian RabbanBarSauma was the first diplomat from China to reach the royal courts of Christendom...
Ongud Mongol earlier known as Rabban Marcos, became the Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1281 to 1317. RabbanBarSauma, a Chinese monk who made a...
(Chinese: 拂菻王; Fú lǐn wáng). The Uyghur Nestorian Christian diplomat RabbanBarSauma, who set out from his Chinese home in Khanbaliq (Beijing) and acted...
portal Politics portal Xi'an Stele Daqin Pagoda Jingjiao Documents RabbanBarSauma Yahballaha III Ongud Keraites Church of the East in Sichuan Mogao Christian...
movement, is forced to accept the Magna Carta (Great Charter). June – RabbanBarSauma, Chinese Nestorian monk and diplomat, travels from Constantinople to...
occupied by the portion of the city named Ognina.[citation needed] RabbanBarSauma, a Chinese traveller to the West, recorded the eruption of Etna on...
rulers in 1287, headed by the Ongut Turk Nestorian monk from China RabbanBarSauma, with the objective of contracting a military alliance to fight the...
support crusaders during the Ninth Crusade in 1271. The Nestorian Mongol RabbanBarSauma visited some European courts in 1287–1288. At the same time, however...
of Asia John of Montecorvino, Catholic Italian missionary to China RabbanBarSauma, Uyghur Nestorian Christian monk from Zhongdu (Khanbaliq, modern Beijing)...
his court in Gascony while there in 1287, and one of their leaders, RabbanBarSauma, recorded an extant account of the interaction. Other embassies arrived...
and RabbanSauma". Egitto e Vicino Oriente. 31: 221–242. Grousset 1934, p. 700, Arghun and the Pope. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). RabbanBarSauma. Encyclopædia...
ruled Persia, sent a request to the pope through the Nestorian monk, RabbanBarSauma, to send Catholic missionaries to the imperial court of Kublai (Emperor...
Polo traveled east along the Silk Road, and the Chinese Mongol monk RabbanBarSauma made a comparably epic journey along the route, venturing from his...
Mongol ambassador RabbanBarSauma on his return trip. Gobert is indirectly mentioned in the Syrian accounts describing RabbanBarSauma's voyage to Christians...
later to Urmia and Maragheh. Denha I was patriarch when RabbanBarSauma and his companion Rabban Markos arrived in Persia, on their pilgrimage from China...
Ilkhanate, made a formal conversion to Islam when he took the throne. RabbanBarSauma had initially conceived of his journey to the West as a pilgrimage...
The Mor BarSauma Monastery was a Syriac Orthodox monastery near Malatya in Turkey. The monastery served as the regular patriarchal residence from the...
RabbanBarSauma, ambassador of Great Khan Kublai and Ilkhan Arghun, travelled from Dadu to Rome, Tuscany, Genoa, Paris, and Bordeaux to meet with European...
Rome and becomes the 191st pope of the Catholic Church. March–April – RabbanBarSauma, Chinese Nestorian monk and diplomat, arrives at Rome and is received...
reception at the embassy of the Uyghur monk RabbanBarSauma, originally from the Yuan dynasty of China. BarSauma presented an offer of a Franco-Mongol alliance...
Baltic Sea, Aleutian Islands Martin Sauer English 18th Siberia, Alaska RabbanBarSauma Turco-Mongol 13th Europe, Middle East Johann Schiltberger German 15th...
Clergy Simeon Rabban Ata RabbanBarSauma Patriarch Yahballaha III Sites Cross Temple, Fangshan Related Christianity among the Mongols Sorghaghtani Beki...
Bashi, Ming dynasty general during the 1370s Miao Rebellions Iparhan RabbanBarSauma Mar Yaballaha III Isma'il Beg Jakhangir Khoja Isa Yusuf Alptekin Masud...
Global Information