- Part 1 -
At first glance, the most ordinary-looking documents are of great help in the reconstruction of true historical events. More information can be gleaned from a cookbook, for example, than from a dozen scientific papers written by the most eminent historians. It never occurred to destroy or counterfeit cookbooks. The same is true of various travel notes that have not become widely known. In our digital age, publications that were not even considered as historical sources, but they often contain sensational information, have become open access.
One of these, undoubtedly, is the report of Ruy Gonzalez De Clavijo, Ambassador of the King of Castilla, about his journey to the court of the Ruler of Great Tartary, Tamerlane in Samarkand. 1403-1406 from the incarnation of God the Word.
A very curious report that can be considered documentary, despite the fact that it was translated into Russian and published for the first time, already at the end of the nineteenth century. Based on the well-known facts, about which today we already know with a high degree of certainty, in what exactly they were distorted, one can draw up a very realistic picture of the era in which the legendary Timur ruled Tartary.
The original version of the reconstruction of Tamerlane's appearance based on his remains, made by academician M. M. Gerasimov in 1941, but which was rejected by the leadership of the USSR Academy of Sciences, after which the typical facial features characteristic of modern Uzbeks were betrayed to Timur's appearance.
Despite the fact that the main topic of this article is the reconstruction of the history of the reign of Great Tartary by Tamurbek Khan, I will give a summary of the entire Diary, because it contains a lot of truly amazing information that characterizes the features of the history of the medieval Mediterranean and Asia Minor. When I began to study this work, the first thing that surprised me was that the official document, which meticulously recorded all dates, geographical names, names of not only nobles and priests, but even the captains of ships, was presented in a vivid, vivid literary language. Therefore, when reading it is perceived as an adventure novel in the spirit of R. Stevenson and J. Verne.
Promotional video:
From the first pages, the reader is heading into the outlandish world of the Middle Ages, and it is incredibly difficult to break away from reading, while, unlike “Treasure Island”, de Clavijo's Diary leaves no doubt about the authenticity of the events described. In great detail, with all the details and reference to dates, he describes his journey in such a way that a person who knows the geography of Eurasia well enough can trace the entire route of the embassy from Seville to Samarkand and back, without resorting to reconciliation with geographical maps.
First, the royal ambassador describes a Karrak voyage in the Mediterranean. And in contrast to the officially accepted version about the properties of a ship of this type, it becomes clear that Spanish historians greatly exaggerated the achievements of their ancestors in shipbuilding and navigation. From the descriptions it is clear that the karraka is no different from the Russian planes, or boats. Karraka, not adapted for travel on the seas and oceans, is an exclusively coaster capable of moving within sight of the coastline, only if there is a favorable wind, making "throws" from island to island.
The description of these islands attracts attention. Many of them at the beginning of the century had the remains of ancient buildings, and at the same time were uninhabited. The names of the islands mostly coincide with the modern ones, until travelers find themselves off the coast of Turkey. Further, all the place names have to be restored in order to understand which city or island is being discussed.
And here, we come across the first great discovery. It turns out that the existence of which is not considered unconditional by historians to this day, did not raise any questions at the beginning of the fifteenth century. We are still looking for the "legendary" Troy, and De Clavijo describes it simply and casually. She is as real to him as his native Seville.
This is the place today:
By the way, now little has changed. There is a continuous ferry service between Tenio (now Bozcaada) and Ilion (Geyikli). Probably, in the past, large ships moored the island, and between the port and Troy there was communication only by boats and small ships. The island was a natural fort that protected the city from the attack of the enemy fleet.
A natural question arises: - Where did the ruins go? There is only one answer: - dismantled for building materials. A common practice for builders. The Ambassador himself mentions in the Diary that Constantinople is being built at a rapid pace, and ships with marble and granite flock to the pier from many islands. Therefore, it is completely logical to assume that instead of chopping the material in a quarry, it was much easier to take it ready-made, especially since hundreds and thousands of finished products in the form of columns, blocks, and slabs are wasted in the open air.
So, Schliemann "opened" his trio in the wrong place, and tourists in Turkey are taken to the wrong place. Well … Absolutely the same thing happens with us with the place of the Kulikovo battle. All scientists have already agreed that the Kulikovskoye field is a district of Moscow called Kulishki. There is a Donskoy monastery there, and Krasnaya Gorka, an oak grove in which an ambush regiment was hiding, but tourists are still taken to the Tula region, and in all textbooks no one is in a hurry to correct the mistake of the 19th century historians.
The second question that needs to be resolved is how the seaside Troy got so far from the surf line? I suggest adding a little water to the Mediterranean. Why? Because its level is constantly falling. On the frozen lines on the coastal land, it is perfectly visible at what mark the sea level was in what period of time. Since the days of the De Clavijo embassy, the sea level has dropped by several meters. And if the Trojan War actually took place thousands of years ago, then you can safely add 25 meters, and this is the picture:
Full hit! Geyikli is ideally becoming a seaside town! And the mountains behind, exactly as described in the Diary, and a vast bay, like Homer's.
Agree, it is very easy to imagine the city walls on this hill. And the moat in front of him was filled with water. It seems that further Troy can no longer be sought. It's a pity about one thing: - No traces have survived, because Turkish peasants have been plowing the land there for centuries, and even an arrowhead cannot be found in it.
Until the nineteenth century, there were no states in the modern sense. The relationship had a pronounced criminal character on the principle "I cover you - you pay." Moreover, citizenship is therefore called Tribute, which is not related to origin or location. A lot of castles on the territory of Turkey belonged to the Armenians, Greeks, Genoese and Venetians. But they paid tribute to Tamerlane, like the court of the Turkish sultan. Now why Tamerlane named the largest peninsula in the Sea of Marmara from Asia Turan. This is colonization. The large country Turan, which stretched from the Bering Strait to the Urals, which was owned by Tamerlane, gave the name to the newly conquered land in Anatolia, opposite the Mramorny Island, where there were quarries.
Then the embassy passed Sinop, which at that time was called Sinopol. And it arrived at Trebizond, which is now called Trobzon. There they were met by a chakatai, a messenger of Tamurbek. De Clavijo explains that in fact "Tamerlane" is a contemptuous nickname meaning "cripple, lame," and the real name of the Tsar, whom his subjects called him, was TAMUR (iron) BEK (Tsar) - Tamurbek.
And all the warriors from the native tribe of Tamurbek Khan were called chakatays. He himself was a Chakotai, and brought his fellow tribesmen to the Samarkand kingdom from the north. More precisely, from the coast of the Caspian Sea, where to this day live chakatai and arbals, tribesmen of Tamerlane, fair-haired, white-skinned and blue-eyed. True, they themselves do not remember that they are descendants of the Moghulls. They are confident that they are Russian. There are no external differences.
Then there is a detailed description of the overland travel in Kurdistan and the lands of the Turkomans. (Nothing in this world changes)
But, by the way, after Tamurbek defeated Bayazet and conquered Turkey, the peoples of Kurdistan and southern Armenia breathed more freely, because in exchange for an acceptable tribute, they received freedom and the right to exist. If history develops in a spiral, then perhaps the Kurds again have hope for liberation from the Turkish yoke, with the help of their neighbors from the east.
The next discovery for me was the description of the city of Bayazet. It would seem that what else can be learned about this city of military Russian glory, but no. See:
At first I could not understand what I was talking about, but only after I translated the leagues into kilometers (6 leagues - 39 kilometers), I was finally convinced that Bayazet was called Kalmarin at the time of Tamurbek.
And here is the castle, which was visited during the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez De Clavijo. Today it is called the Iskhak-Pash Palace.
The local knight tried to "bend" the ambassadors, they say he exists only at the expense of the passing merchants, to which the chakatai remarked that these were the guests himself … The conflict was over.
By the way, De Clavijo calls knights not only the owners of the castles, but also the chakatai - officers of the Tamurbek army.
During the trip, the ambassadors visited many castles, and from their descriptions their purpose and meaning becomes clear. It is generally accepted that these are exclusively fortifications. In fact, their military significance is greatly exaggerated. First of all, it is a house that can withstand the efforts of any "burglar-burglar". Therefore, "castle" and "castle" are cognate words. The castle is a storehouse of valuables, a reliable safe and a fortress for the owner. A very expensive pleasure available to "oligarchs" who had something to protect from robbers. Its main purpose is to hold out until the arrival of reinforcements, the squads of the one to whom the tribute is paid.
A very curious fact. Even at the time of the embassy, wild wheat grew in abundance at the foot of Mount Ararat, which, according to his testimony, was completely unsuitable, because it did not have grains in the ears. Whatever one may say, but everything indicates that Noah's ark is not a fairy tale.
And from Bayazet the expedition went to Azerbaijan and to the north of Persia, where they were met by the messenger of Tamurbek, who ordered them to go south to meet with the royal mission. And travelers were forced to get acquainted with the sights of Syria. On the way, sometimes amazing events happened to them. What, for example, is this:
Did you understand? A hundred years before the discovery of America in Azerbaijan and Persia, people calmly ate corn, and did not even suspect that it had not yet been "discovered". They did not even suspect that it was the Chinese who first invented silk and began to grow rice. The fact is that according to the testimony of the ambassadors, rice and barley were the main food products, both in Turkey and in Persia and Central Asia.
I immediately remembered that when I lived in a small seaside village not far from Baku, I was surprised that in each house of local residents one room was allocated for growing silkworms. Yes! In the same place, mulberry, or "here" as the Azerbaijanis call it, grows at every step! And the boys had such a responsibility around the house, every day to climb a tree and pick leaves for silkworm caterpillars.
What? Half an hour a day is not difficult. At the same time, you will eat enough berries. Then the leaves scattered into newspapers, over the netting of the armored bed, and hundreds of thousands of gluttonous green worms begin to actively chew this mass. Caterpillars grow by leaps and bounds. The week is another, and ready for the device of the doll. Then they were handed over to a silk-breeding state farm, and on this they had a significant extra income. Nothing changes. Azerbaijan was the world center for the production of silk fabrics, not Chin. Probably until the very moment the oil fields were opened.
In parallel with the description of the trip to Shiraz, De Clavijo tells in detail the story of Tamurbek himself, and in a picturesque form describes all his exploits. Some of the details are striking. For example, I remembered an anecdote about how in a Jewish family a boy asks: - "Grandpa, was there really nothing to eat during the war?"
- True granddaughters. There wasn’t even bread. I had to spread butter directly on the sausage.
Rui writes about the same: - "In times of famine, the inhabitants were forced to eat only meat and sour milk." So that I am so hungry!
Indeed, the description of the food of ordinary Tartar subjects is breathtaking. Rice, barley, corn, melons, grapes, flat cakes, mare's milk with sugar, sour milk (here is kefir, and yogurt, and cottage cheese, and cheese, as I understand it by the meaning), wine, and just mountains, mountains of meat. Horse meat and lamb in huge quantities, in a variety of dishes. Boiled, fried, steamed, salted, dried. In general, the Castilian ambassadors, at least for the first time in their lives, ate humanly during a business trip.
But then the travelers arrived in Shiraz, where a few days later they were joined by the mission of Tamurbek to accompany them to Samarkand. Here, with the geography of the campaign, for the first time there were identification difficulties. Suppose Sultania and Orazania are parts of modern Iran and Syria. What then did he mean by "Little India"? And why is Hormuz a city if it is an island now?
Suppose that Ormuz broke away from the land. But what about India? According to all descriptions, India itself falls under this concept. Its capital is Delies. Tamurbek conquered it in a very original way: - against fighting elephants, he released a herd of camels with burning bales of straw on their backs, and elephants, terribly afraid of fire by nature, trampled the Indian army in panic, and ours won. But if so, what then is "Greater India"? Maybe I. Gusev is right, asserting that Big India is America? Moreover, the presence of corn in this region makes us think about it again.
Then questions about the presence of traces of cocaine in the tissues of Egyptian mummies disappear by themselves. They did not fly on vimanas across the ocean. Cocaine was one of the spices, along with cinnamon and pepper, that merchants brought in from India Minor. This, of course, will sadden the adherents of Erich von Deniken, but what can you do if in fact everything is much simpler, and without the participation of aliens.
Okay. Let's go further. In parallel with the detailed description of the path from Shiraz to Orasania, which bordered on the Samarkand kingdom along the Amu Darya, De Clavijo continues to pay much attention to the description of the deeds of Tamurbek, about which the envoys told him. There is something to be horrified at. Perhaps this is part of the information war against Tamerlane, but hardly. Everything is described too truthfully.
For example, Timur's zeal for justice is striking. He himself, being a pagan, never touched either Christians, Muslims or Jews. For the time being. Until the Christians showed their deceitful, greedy, corrupt face.
During the war with Turkey, the Greeks from the European part of Constantinople promised help and support to the army of Tamurbek, in exchange for a loyalty to them in the future. But in place of this, they supplied Bayazit's army with a fleet. Tamurbek Bayazit defeated just brilliantly, in the best traditions of the Russian army, with small losses, defeating many times superior forces. And then he drove him with his son in an iron cage mounted on a cart, like a little animal in a zoo.
But he did not forgive the vile Greeks, and since then, he persecuted Christians mercilessly. Just as the White Tartar tribe, who also betrayed him, did not forgive. In one of the castles they were surrounded by Tamurbek's squad, and they, seeing that they could not escape the reckoning, tried to pay off. Then the wise, just, but vindictive king, in order to save the lives of his soldiers, promised the traitors that if they themselves brought him money, he would not shed their blood. They left the castle.
- Well? I promised you that I will not shed your blood?
- I promised! - White tartars began to chorus.
- And I, unlike you, keep my word. Your blood will not be spilled. Bury them alive! - he ordered his "commander-in-chief of the Tartarguards."
And then a decree was issued stating that every subject of Tamurbek is obliged to kill all white tartars whom he meets on the way. And he will not kill, he will be killed himself. And the repression of the Timurov reform began. For several years, this people was completely exterminated. About six hundred thousand in total.
Rui recalls how they encountered four towers on their way, "so high that you can't throw a stone." Two still stood, and two collapsed. They were composed of the skulls of the White Tartars, held together with mud as mortar. Such were the customs in the fifteenth century.
Another interesting fact is described by De Clavijo. This is the presence of a logistics service in Tartary. Actually, this is not news for me, I wrote earlier that the merit of creating a unified postal service, and the road network of pits in Tartaria belongs to Khan Khubilai, who lived two hundred years earlier than Tamurbek. But the latter, significantly reformed it, and some details of this reform can serve as a clue to another mystery, what kind of mythical Mongols, together with the Tatars, mocked unfortunate Russia for three hundred years:
Thus, it becomes clear to us that "Tatar-Mongolia", in fact, is not Tataria, and not Mongolia at all. Tartary, yes. Mogulia, yes! Just an analogue of modern
Further we will focus on the "Iron Gates". Here the author most likely had an overlap in his head. He confuses Derbent with the "Iron Gate" on the way from Bukhara to Samarkand. But not the point, using this excerpt as an example, I highlighted keywords in the text in Russian with markers of different colors, and the same words, I highlighted in the original text. This clearly shows what sophistication historians went to to hide the truth about Tartary:
It is possible that I am as wrong as the translator who translated the book from Spanish. And "Derbent" has nothing to do with it, but "Darbante" is something, the meaning of which is lost, because there is no such word in the Spanish dictionary.
And here is the original "Iron Gate", which, along with the Amu Darya, served as a natural defense of Samarkand from a sudden invasion from the west:
Iron gates. Uzbekistan.
Or maybe these … It is difficult to judge, not being able to visit there in person.
Iron gates.
And now about the chakatai. The first thought I had was that this tribe could somehow be connected with Katai, who was in Siberian Tartary. Moreover, it is known that Tamurbek paid tribute to Katay for a long time until he took possession of him with the help of diplomacy. Here it is, in the south of modern Yakutia:
But later, another thought came. It is possible that the author simply did not know how to spell the name of the tribe, and wrote it down by ear. And in fact, not "chakatai", but "chegodai". After all, this is one of the Slavic pagan names - nicknames such as chelubey, nogai, mamai, run away, catch up, guess, etc. And Chegodai is, in other words, "Beggar" (give me something?). Indirect confirmation that such a version has the right to exist, I found:
Chegodayev is a Russian surname, derived from the male name Chegoday (in Russian pronunciation Chaaday). The surname is based on a proper male name of Mongolian origin, but widely known among the Turkic peoples. It is also known as the historical name of Chagatai (Jagatai), the second son of Genghis Khan, meaning brave, honest, sincere. The same name is known as an ethnonym - the name of the Turkic-Mongolian tribe Jagatai-Chagatai, from which Tamerlane came. The surname sometimes changed to Chaodaev and Cheodaev. The surname Chegodaev is a Russian princely family.
Although there is no need to be modest, in my opinion this is a direct allusion to Tamurbek's relationship with Genghis Khan.
It was also interesting to understand the origin of the toponym "Samarkand". In my opinion, too many city names contain the root "samar". This is biblical Samaria, and our metropolis on the Volga - Samara, and before the revolution Khanty-Mansiysk was called Samarov, and Samarkand itself, of course. We have forgotten the meaning of the word "samar". But the ending of the "kand" fits perfectly into the education system of toponyms in Tartary. These are Astrakh (k) an, and Tmu-cockroach, and many different "kans" and "vats" (Srednekan, Kadykchan) in the north-east of the country.
Perhaps all these endings are associated with the word "ham" or "khan". And we could have inherited from the Great Tartary. Surely in the east, cities were named after their founders. Just as Prince Slovens founded Slovensk, and Prince Rus founded Russa (now Staraya Russa), so Belichan could have been the city of Bilyk Khan, and Kadykchan - Sadik Khan.
And further. Do you know how the Magi actually named the pagan Ivan the Terrible at birth?
Ivan IV Vasilyevich, nicknamed the Terrible, by the direct name Titus and Smaragd, in the tonsure of Jonah (August 25, 1530, the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow - March 18 (28), 1584, Moscow) - sovereign, Grand Duke of Moscow and All Russia since 1533, the first tsar of all Russia
Yes. Smargd is his name. Almost SAMARA-gd. And this may not be a coincidence. Why? Because when describing Samarkand, the word "emerald" is repeated dozens of times. There were huge emeralds on Tamurbek's cap and on the diadem of his main wife. Clothes and even numerous palaces of Tamurbek and his relatives were decorated with emeralds. Therefore, I would venture to suggest that "Samara" and "Smara" are one and the same. Then it turns out that the person in the title picture is the wizard of the Emerald City?
But this is a retreat. Let's go back to medieval Samarkand.
The description of the splendor of this city makes you dizzy. For Europeans, it was a miracle of miracles. They did not even suspect that what they previously considered a luxury, in Samarkand, even the poor are considered "jewelry".
Let me remind you that we were all taught from childhood that the peak of civilization was the magnificent Constantinople. But what a "non-folding" … The author devoted several pages to the description of this "navel of the Earth", of which only the temple of John the Baptist is remembered. And in order to express the shock from what he saw in the "wild steppes", it took him fifty. Is it strange? Obviously, historians are not telling us something.
Everything was perfect in Samarkand. Powerful fortresses, castles, temples, canals, pools in the courtyards of houses, thousands of fountains, and much, much more.
The travelers were amazed by the wealth of the city. Descriptions of feasts and holidays merge into one continuous series of grandeur and splendor. The Castilians have never seen so much wine and meat in one place in such a short period of time in their entire life. The description of the rituals, traditions and customs of the Tartars is noteworthy. One of them at least has come down to us in full. Drink until you collapse. And mountains of meat and tons of wine from the palaces were taken to the streets to distribute to ordinary townspeople. And the Festival in the palace has always become a national holiday.
Separately, I would like to express the state of corruption in the kingdom of Tamurbek. During his absence, the official who remained I. O. The king, abused his power, and offended someone. As a result, I tried on a "hemp tie". More precisely, the paper one, because in Samarkand everyone wore a natural cotton dress. Probably the ropes were also made of cotton.
Another official was also hanged, who was convicted of embezzling horses from the giant Tamurbek herd. Moreover, capital punishment was always accompanied by confiscation in favor of the state treasury under Timur.
People of non-boyar origin were executed by beheading. It was scarier than death. By separating the head from the body, the executioner deprived the convict of something more important than just life. De Clavijo witnessed the trial and the chopping off of the heads of the shoemaker and the merchant, who unreasonably raised the price during the absence of the Tsar in the city. This is what I understand, an effective fight against monopolies!
And here's another little discovery. For those who think Homer invented the Amazons. Here, in black and white:
And in conclusion, about Baba Yaga:
Witch? No, Queen! And that was the name of one of Timur's eight wives. The youngest, and probably the most beautiful. That was how he was … Wizard of the Emerald City.
Modern finds of archaeologists confirm that Samarkand was actually an emerald city during the time of Tamerlane. Today it is called the "Mughal Emeralds." India".
Emeralds of Tartary 1
Emeralds of Tartary 2
Emeralds of Tartary 3
The description of the ambassadors' return journey through Georgia is interesting, of course, but only from the point of view of a fiction writer. Too many dangers and severe trials fell to the lot of travelers. I was especially struck by the description of how they ended up in a snow captivity in the mountains of Georgia. Interestingly, today it happens that snow falls for several days, and sweeps houses over the roofs?
Note: - Piszoni, this is probably a profession, not a surname.
Author: kadykchanskiy