If you want to know why an ordinary Russian peasant poured into the son of Allah - Jesus and knew, in addition to the Russian language, Turkic and Persian, then you are definitely on the way with us!
So, let's begin.
Let's start with the fact that "Voyage across the Three Seas" is a literary monument in the form of travel records, which were made by the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin during his long trip to one of the Indian states - Bahmani in 1468-1474.
Nikitin's work was the first Russian work to describe in detail a trade and non-religious journey, completely different from previous journeys. The author of the essay visited the Caucasus, Persia, India and the Crimea. However, most of the notes were devoted to India: its political structure, trade, agriculture, customs and traditions. "Walking Beyond Three Seas" is a vivid reflection of the Russian medieval worldview; it combines political, moral, commercial and religious interests.
Afanasy Nikitin's walking route.
Until now, researchers have not come to definitive conclusions about many controversial issues. For example, about the transition of Athanasius to another faith and about the bilingualism (fluency in two languages) of people in Russia, captured in this work. For decades, there have been discussions between historians, linguists and religious scholars, which have not led to final results.
The main thing that all scientists note is a number of oddities and contradictions in official history. So, for example, some of Athanasius' notes are written in Turkic / Persian. It is very strange for an ordinary Russian peasant to be fluent in the "Busurmans" languages. Even considering that Afanasy Nikitin is a merchant, this does not negate the strangeness of this fact.
Promotional video:
In his notes, he very abruptly, but at the same time freely, switches from Russian to Turkic (Tatar) and Persian. Not only does he begin to write in another language, he also writes Russian prayers in the Busurmian dialect.
A page from one chronicle, where the text of the prayer of Athanasius is given without censorship editing.
So, for example, more than once in his notes one can find a seemingly Orthodox prayer, but in which he prays to Allah and his son Jesus. Very strange, isn't it?
Don't believe me? And rightly so! Check it out for yourself!
Sophia Chronicle II, Undolsky's list, Etters and Trinity list and others at your service. But it should be borne in mind that our entire history was rewritten by the Romanovs, by the hands of German historians. Indeed, isn't it strange that our libraries were constantly burning, as a result of which not a single original remained. All chronicles were allegedly rewritten in the 17th and 18th centuries. from the originals, and the originals miraculously disappeared. In total, we have pseudo chronicles edited by the German censorship. But it is not all that bad. Even under these circumstances, one can find a grain of truth in this sea of lies.
Why am I? Moreover, all the annals and lists I mentioned above are different from each other. Someone corrected more, some less. In some, everything is in Russian, and in some, the real text of walking with the Persian-Tatar dialects and prayers has been preserved.
Here are the names of the lists and chronicles, so that you yourself would check everything and make sure of this.
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Throughout the entire work, we can observe how Athanasius is tormented by a religious question. He suffered from the fact that he was in a foreign land and lost count of the day, because of which he could not observe fasting and celebrate Orthodox holidays: “O faithful Christians! He who often swims to many lands falls into many sins and loses his Christian faith. I, the servant of God Athanasius, was saddened by faith: four Great Lent, four Bright Sundays have already passed, and I, a sinner, do not know when Bright Sunday, when fast, when Christmas and other holidays, neither Wednesday nor Friday; I have no books: when they robbed me, they took the books from me; I went to India out of grief, because I had nothing to go to Russia with, there was nothing left for the goods. Four Bright Sundays have already passed in the land of Busurmans, but I have not left Christianity: further God knows,What will happen. Oh my God! On thee hopes, save me! I don't know how to get out of Hindustan; war is everywhere! And living in Hindustan - you will spend everything, because everything is expensive for them: I am one person, but I spend two and a half altyns a day, I don't drink wine and are full. This was probably his main problem during his stay in India.
At the same time, the work of Athanasius ends with something like an Arabic prayer in Turkic / Persian. This is how this fragment looks in the Troitsky (Ermolinsky) edition of the "Voyage": Bismilnagi rahmam rragym. Huvo mugu lezi, la ilaga illya guya alimul gyaibi wa shagaditi. Hua rahman ragym, huvo I can clang. La ilaga illya huya. Almeliku, alakudos, asaloma, almumin, almugamina, alaziz, alchebar, almutakanbiru, alhalik, albariuu, almusavir, alkafara, alkahara, alvahadu, alryazaku, alfatagu, alalimu, alqafasubizu, alkhavizu, alfatagu alakama, aladjul, alatuf.
This is a listing of the first thirty names of Allah. According to the hadith transmitted from Abu Hurayrah, there are 99 names of Allah, which in Islamic tradition are called the Quranic expression الأسماء الحسنى (al-asma 'al-husna, "beautiful names"). Several slightly different lists of 99 names are known in Muslim literature. All of them open with 13 names, the list of which is given in the verses of the Koran 59: 22-24. If we compare the text of Afanasy Nikitin with the first 30 names of Allah from the list of the Iranian mystic and theologian at-Tirmizi (d. After 930), we can be convinced that Afanasy Nikitin everywhere very accurately reproduces Arabic names (in their Iranized pronunciation), slightly mistaken only once: he writes alvahad instead of al-Wahhab (name 16). However, it is possible that the mistake was made not by the author, but by the scribe. Apparently,this is the earliest record of the names of Allah in Cyrillic graphics.
What do we have from this?
First, there were probably no strong differences between Islam and Christianity before. Indeed, it is not without reason that both of these religions are called Abrahamic. In historical science there is such a term as Eastern Protestantism, it means Islam. And given the chronological shift, and that Jesus probably lived in the 12th century according to modern chronology, everything becomes quite logical. Let us recall the descriptions by travelers of the court of the Moscow tsars. All of them are depicted in chelmakhs and in oriental robes. We will tell you about all this later. Even the etymology of the word ISLAM speaks of this. Isa Lam. (Isa in Islam is Jesus, LAMA, so everyone understands. After all, before his work, he studied in India with the lamas, studied the Vedas, and probably became a lama himself, hence the name).
Secondly, it is likely that Turkic and Arabic languages were widespread in Russia along with Russian. Take a look at the armor of all Moscow tsars. They are all in arabica! And Orthodox prayers are written on them in Arabic! Something is wrong here … Plus, just look at the Russian cursive. You won't read it. This is the Russian analogue of the Arabic script. See for yourself.
Thirdly, the yoke, during which Afanasy Nikitin allegedly lived, did not exist. All these are our languages and the languages of the peoples inhabiting our territories. All together were called TARTARS or simply TATARS.
This was the name in Russia for everyone who did not accept Christianity. And Bulgars, and Kalmyks, and Caucasians, and Cheremis, and Bashkirs, and us, Russians, Slavic-Aryans.
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In connection with the presence of the Arabic-Persian vocabulary (mentioned by us earlier) and Muslim prayers (in particular, the final text from the Koran) in the “Walking”, the question was discussed whether Athanasius had converted to Islam in India. A number of researchers (for example, G. Lenhoff) considered him an "apostate", while Ya. S. Lurie believed that one should trust Nikitin's own words about his preservation of Orthodoxy.
Although another example reflects his concessions to the customs of a foreign country in matters of observance of Christian rituals (also in Turkic): "ketmyshtyr imen, uruch tuttym", translated - "with a thought: my faith perished, I fasted in a non-German fast." As we have seen, although Nikitin calls God in Russian God, he also refers to Ollo (Allah), Khudo and Tangra. In his Eastern prayers, formulas are found that are characteristic of Islamic religious practice. Yes, I prayed to God the Almighty, who created heaven and earth, and otherwise, if he did not call on whose name, god ollo, god kerim, god ragym, god bad, god akber, god of tsarslava, ollo boiled, ollo ragymello, sensen ollo you! (Trinity chronicle edition, fol. 380v.)
All this is the official point of view. We believe that you should not think about the transition to another faith, etc. In our opinion, in the 15th century there was not yet that clear split between Christianity and Islam, or it was just beginning. It is no coincidence, as we wrote earlier, that Islam is called Eastern Prostantism.
Indeed, the issue of the change of faith by Athanasius is the most important and not "closed" to this day. Perhaps we, modern people, do not fully understand the close connection between these religions, which could have existed in antiquity. It is no coincidence that in his prayers Athanasius combines both Christian and Islamic culture, uniting them into something unified. He calls Jesus the spirit of Allah or, as in some translations, the son of Allah. It seems ridiculous to us, but it is possible that more than half a millennium ago it sounded not so strange as it does now. This question is good because it gives food for thought to scientists and subsequent researchers of this unique monument of ancient Russian literature.
In conclusion, I would like to say that "Walking across the Three Seas" by the Tver merchant of the 15th century. Afanasy Nikitina, undoubtedly, is one of the most "magnificent" and unique monuments of ancient Russian literature. The most important feature of which should be considered is its completely unofficial nature and the opportunity to find a grain of truth in this history rewritten by the Germans.
