Until now, a lot of people, including some scientists, continue to believe in the legend of the curse of Tamerlane's tomb. Moreover, some are convinced that it was the opening of this tomb that subsequently led to the outbreak of World War II. The age of this legend is relatively young, but despite this, its historical roots are quite deep.
It should be noted that among people, legends are very popular, which tell about terrible curses sent by the dead to those who dared to open their graves. There are many such myths in every corner of the world, and in some cases their age reaches hundreds of years. Despite the fact that the content of all these myths is different, they have in common the same feature of the human psyche - the fear of death. However, there is one more common feature - no curse actually exists.
Probably, it is necessary to start from the very beginning, that is, from the birth of the future great commander. He was born in one of the Mongol tribes in 1336. Three decades later, they started talking about him, because by 1370 Tamerlane had already managed to achieve significant success in the conquest of lands, and he owned vast territories.
After the defeat of the horde, Tamerlane made Samarkand the capital of his own state. This city became one of the most important points of the caravan route from Europe. Tamerlane made military campaigns until old age. Moreover, he also died during one of his campaigns - it happened in 1405, when he was heading to China.
For a long time, scholars have argued about where the great ancient commander was buried. Some argued that Tamerlane found peace in his native village, while others said that his remains were buried in Samarkand, in Gur-Emir. In Shakhrisabz, where the future great ruler was born, a vertical deep tomb was built during his lifetime, which was laid out with stone, but it remained empty. Therefore, it was decided to carry out excavations in Gur-Emir.
Historian and writer Sadriddin Aini, cameraman Malik Kayumov, orientalist A. Semenov were included in the government commission. T. Kary-Niyazov was appointed the head. The priority goal of the expedition was to study the remains of people in the tomb and prove that these remains belonged either to Timur himself or to his relatives.
The excavations began on June 16. The tombs of the sons of Ulugbek and the sons of Tamerlane were opened first. Two days later, the tomb of Ulugbek, Timur's grandson, was opened, and only then the scientists removed the tombstone from the tomb of Tamerlane. The mausoleum was filled with the scent of aromatic substances that were used in the embalming process. The researchers were not stopped by the formidable inscription on Timur's grave - a warning that if the sarcophagus was opened, terrible and cruel wars would break out in the world. This stopped the scientists a little, but they still decided to open the tomb, which they did on June 21.
It should be noted that the expedition did not go well from the very beginning. Before its start, an accident occurred at a construction site near the excavation site, and water began to flood the sarcophagus, and only at the cost of incredible efforts it was possible to stop it. The opening of the tomb of Tamerlane himself also did not go smoothly - at first the winch broke, then the projectors went out, and besides, it was very difficult to breathe inside the sarcophagus. In addition, Muslim clergy and local residents tried to stop the excavation. All this gave rise to the first talk of a possible curse. The unusual glow that was captured on film also raised many questions. However, it was not possible to establish exactly what it was connected with - either a defect in the film itself, or with electrification characteristic of dry air - it was not possible. However, scientists, overcoming fear, continued excavations.
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After opening the tomb, researchers saw the remains of a man who was tall during his lifetime and had a large head and a deformed dorsal vertebra (a distinctive feature of all Timurids). Scientists no longer doubted that before them was the great Tamerlane.
They returned to the hotel, and the next morning the sad news came - the war began. Involuntarily, the members of the expedition remembered the curse. Therefore, they had no choice but to curtail the excavations and go to Moscow with the samples they got.
Kayumov became a military cameraman. He managed to get a meeting with Zhukov, to whom he told about the results of the expedition and about the curse in which he himself believed. And Zhukov allegedly promised to facilitate the return of the remains of Tamerlane. M. Gerasimov was informed about the need to bury the remains of the great commander and all his relatives, who was engaged in the reconstruction of the appearance of the representatives of the ancient dynasty. He had to speed up the work and complete it well ahead of schedule. The remains were already ready to be sent back to Samarkand, but they did not get there immediately, but only a month later, in mid-November 1942.
Proponents of the curse theory argue that once the remains were reburied, there was a turning point in the course of the war. Allegedly, the plane with the remains of Timur flew over the front line for a month, which generated enthusiasm among the Muslims who fought on the fronts. Some experts say that it was this event that predetermined the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, which became one of the most terrible and most heroic battles in the entire history of the Second World War. On the other hand, there are no objective sources, no eyewitnesses to this.
This would be the end of this mysterious story, if not for one "but": in 1943, Moscow allocated one million rubles for the restoration of Gur-Emir, although it would seem that the time is not quite right for such acts …
Modern scientists assess the situation more soberly, therefore the majority is convinced that there is no curse of Tamerlane. So, in particular, A. Shabashov says that the expedition organized by Stalin, first of all, was necessary for the search for Tamerlane's treasures, which were extremely necessary in view of the outlined war with Germany. If we follow the logic, then the beginning of the war and the date of the beginning of excavations should have approximately coincided.
And Igor Bunich in his historical chronicle "Gold of the Party" wrote that the Soviet government tried to concentrate in its hands all the gold and precious stones. In Russia and Ukraine, long before the start of the war, almost all graves were opened in search of gold, but the Central Asian territories still remained untouched.
According to Islamic law, desecration of graves is one of the most terrible crimes. In addition, a liberation war was going on in Central Asia, so the Soviet leadership did not want to irritate the local population once again.
However, the party soon began to think about the innumerable treasures of Tamerlane, which, according to legend, he ordered to be put with him in the tomb. In late spring 1941, an expedition from the Hermitage was sent to Samarkand. Masud Alaev, who was the keeper of the memorial, was horrified and showed the researchers the words of warning engraved on the tombstone of the great commander. To be on the safe side, the scientists reported this to senior management. As a result, Alaev was arrested for spreading panic and false rumors.
There is another oddity - Kayumov, talking about the coincidence of the first great victory of the Soviet troops and the reburial of the remains of Tamerlane, for some unknown reason, "forgot" to mention the victory near Moscow. Thus, he created an areola of mystery to his vision of the course of events and adjusted the story to his words.
It is impossible to deal with history in a similar way, because it is possible to agree that it was the opening of Timur's tomb that served as the main reason for the outbreak of World War II, although in reality the war began in 1939 from the moment Nazi Germany attacked Poland, and the Barbarossa plan Hitler approved it back in 1940.
The topic of opening tombs and burials themselves is undoubtedly not devoid of interest, therefore it deserves the attention of researchers. However, the most important thing is not to confuse anything and not invent something, which is sometimes very difficult.