The brick ruins of Saraichik on the Ural River
Editorial contextAt the Cossack outpost of Saraichik on the Yaik (Ural) River, Pallas walked the ruins of what he calls a Nogai city, whose people were said to have migrated to Khiva. Inside a rampart four to five versts round he saw foundations and vaults of brick houses, fragments of glazed, porcelain-like pottery in white, blue and yellow, and small copper and silver coins ruined by the salty soil.
Within the rampart there are many traces, foundations and vaults of masonry buildings, from which it appears that some very handsome dwellings must have stood in the middle of the town. The bricks used are oblong and moulded fairly large… Of old vessels one now finds almost nothing but pieces of broken porcelain-like earthenware with a strong and fine glaze.
Working translation
Original wording
Innerhalb dem Wall befinden sich viele Spuren, Grundlagen und Gewölber von gemauerten Gebäuden, nach welchen mitten in der Stadt einige sehr ansehnliche Wohnungen müssen gestanden haben. Die Ziegel, deren man sich bedient hat, sind länglicht und ziemlich groß gestrichen… Von altem Geschirr findet man itzt fast nichts mehr, als Stücke von zerbrochenem Porcellanartigen Irdenzeug, welches eine starke und schöne Glasur hat
About Nogai Tatars
Continue in this sourcePallas's journey through the provinces of the Russian Empire1768 to 1774 · 20 passages