Alak-tsin, a town where every pot is silver
Editorial contextIn his chapter on the Tatar people, the Khivan khan and historian Abu'l-Ghazi describes a great town and many villages on a 'Bitter Sea' fed by the Uighur river (Klaproth identifies it as the Yenisei). The people shift their dwellings often, own only dapple-grey horses, mine silver nearby and cook in silver pots. Klaproth gives his own new translation because the old French version garbled the passage.
On the shores of this sea stands a great town and many villages. The inhabitants often change their dwellings; they own numerous herds and a considerable number of horses. … All are dapple-grey … The name of the town is Alak-tsin; near it there are silver mines. Among this people all the cooking pots and bowls are of silver.
Working translation
Original wording
Sur les bords de cette mer est située une grande ville et beaucoup de villages. Les habitans changent souvent de demeure; ils possèdent de nombreux troupeaux, et une quantité considérable de chevaux. … Tous sont pommelés … Le nom de la ville est Alak-tsin; dans son voisinage il y a des mines d'argent. Chez ce peuple toutes les marmites et les jattes sont d'argent.
About a tribe of the 'Tatar people' in Abu'l-Ghazi's history
Keep in mind
Abu'l-Ghazi wrote four centuries after the events from Rashid al-Din and oral tradition; the silver pots are hearsay, and Klaproth is unsure where the 'Bitter Sea' was.
Mammoths that burrow underground and die in the light
Editorial contextThe Ides section reports mammoth tusks and bones thawing out of riverbanks, and a member of the embassy who found a head with half-rotten flesh. The Yakuts, Tungus and Ostyaks say the mammoth lives underground, making the earth rise and sink as it moves, and dies as soon as it sees daylight. The Russians of Siberia think it was an elephant-like beast buried by Noah's Flood.
The Yakuts, Tungus and Ostyaks claim that they never come out of the bosom of the earth, under which they go this way and that. They even say that one often sees the earth rise and sink when they are moving … They assure us that they die as soon as they see the light
Working translation
Original wording
Les Jakutes, Tungufes, & Ostiaques, prétendent qu'ils ne sortent jamais du sein de la terre, sous laquelle ils vont de côté & d'autre. Ils disent même qu'on voit souvent la terre s'élever & s'affaisser lors qu'ils sont en mouvement … Ils assurent, qu'ils meurent aussi tôt qu'ils découvrent la lumière
About Yakuts, Tungus and Ostyaks (and Siberian Russians)
Keep in mind
Native belief and Russian flood theory reported by Ides; the bones and tusks themselves were real finds.
A town of pied horses and silver plate on the Yenisei
Editorial contextAnother branch of the Tatars, Abu'l Ghazi says, settled on the river Ikar (glossed in the margin as the Yenisei). Near its mouth stood a great town called Alachzin ('pied'), ruling smaller ones, whose people rode only piebald horses and, thanks to local silver mines, used nothing but silver plate. He adds that the Uzbeks had a tradition of such a nation but could not say where it was.
Near its Mouth there is a great Town, which commands several small ones thereabouts, call'd Alachzin, that is to say, pied; because the Inhabitants of that Town have none but pied Horses … There are rich silver Mines in the Neighbourhood of that Town; and 'tis for that reason that nothing is seen there but silver Plate.
About A branch of the Tatar tribe
Keep in mind
Hearsay bordering on legend; Abu'l Ghazi himself says the Uzbeks know of it only 'by Tradition'. The page footnote compares a Russian tale of a 'pied people' in Siberia.
Transcribed from the page image (corpus OCR for this volume is unreadable); long s normalized.
Kurgan graves of 'a race now extinct'
Editorial contextAt Krasnoyarsk Erman studied a collection of bronze objects dug from the kurgans (burial mounds) of the Minusinsk district, including round mirrors decorated with animals. The local Tatars told him the mounds belonged to 'a race now extinct, and totally different from theirs'. Erman noted that similar mirrors were still used in Buryat Buddhist rites, and wondered whether the builders were really so different from living Siberians.
The most important consideration, however, is, that these mirrors are found in graves which, as the present Tatar inhabitants of the circle maintain, belong to a race now extinct, and totally different from theirs.
About Tatars of the Minusinsk basin (Khakas); unknown ancient builders
Keep in mind
Erman saw the objects in a private collection, not the graves; the 'extinct race' is local Tatar belief. Modern archaeology links most Minusinsk bronzes to Bronze and Iron Age cultures (such as Tagar) long before the Turkic-speaking Khakas.
A Kachin shaman in ribbons and printed cotton
Editorial contextPallas saw a young Kachin shaman perform at the Karysh mine. The man was said to have been mad, or to have played mad, for years before taking up the craft, and still sometimes 'witched' all night until he collapsed. As a beginner he had no drum, only a paddle-shaped rattle stick; a shaman earned the right to a drum by sacrificing a horse and stretching its hide over it.
I saw the costume of a young Kachin sorcerer, who for many years before taking up the trade had been mad or had pretended to be mad, at Karysh… He performed his tricks without a cap and wore only brightly embroidered leather stockings and on his body a tight, very dirty smock of brightly printed cotton cloth (kitaika).
Working translation
Original wording
Ich habe den Aufzug eines jungen Katschinzischen Zauberers, der viele Jahre, ehe er das Handwerk angefangen, närrisch gewesen oder sich närrisch angestellt hatte, in Karysch gesehn… Er gauckelte ohne Mütze und hatte nur bunt ausgenähte lederne Strümpfe und am Leibe einen engen, ganz beschmutzten Kittel, von bunt gedrucktem baumwollenen Zeuge (Kitaika) an
About Kachin Tatars (Khakas)
Continue in this sourcePallas's journey through the provinces of the Russian Empire1768 to 1774 · 20 passagesKrasnoyarsk, where twenty horses stood saddled day and night
Editorial contextThe compiler describes Krasnoyarsk as a large town heavily garrisoned with Cossacks and cavalry against raids by the Kirgiz, so that twenty saddled horses had to stand day and night on the market square before the governor's house. The garrison also guarded the western side against the Mongols and 'the Tartars under them', and the town's name is explained as 'red whirling-river town'.
Krasnoyarsk is a large town, strongly garrisoned by the tsar with Cossacks and cavalry against the incursions of the Kirgiz, on whose account twenty horses must stand saddled day and night in the market before the governor's house
Working translation
Original wording
Krasnajar ist eine grosse Stadt, von dem Czar starck mit Cosaken und Reuterei besetzet, gegen dem Einfall der Kirgisen, um deren willen auf dem Markt vor des Gouverneurs Haus Tag und Nacht 20. Pferde gesattelt stehen müssen
About Kirgiz (Yenisei Kyrgyz) raiders; Mongols and their subject 'Tartars'
Keep in mind
Compiled from reports of Swedish prisoners and travellers, not seen by the compiler.
A Yuan official teaches pottery, metalwork and boats
Editorial contextThe same note says that before the Yuan official Liu Haoli arrived, the local peoples made cups from willow wood and hollowed out logs as troughs to cross rivers, and did not know how to cast farm tools. Liu reported this to the court, which sent craftsmen to teach pottery, metal-casting and boat-building. It is a Chinese state view of 'civilising' the Siberian frontier.
Before this, the custom of these several tribes was to make their cups and dishes of willow and to hollow out logs as troughs for crossing water; they did not know how to cast farm tools. Haoli reported this to the court, which then sent craftsmen to teach them pottery, metal-casting and boats, and the local people found it convenient.
Working translation
Original wording
先是數部民俗皆以杞栁為杯皿刳木為槽以濟水不解鑄作農器好禮聞諸朝乃遣工匠教為陶冶舟楫土人便之
About Kyrgyz and neighbouring Siberian peoples
Keep in mind
Told from the point of view of the imperial administration.
Why 'Tungus' may be a Tatar word for pig-keepers
Editorial contextIn a footnote Bichurin says the word Tungus does not exist in Manchu and no ancient Tungusic ruling house used it. He guesses the Russians took it from the Tatars of the Yenisei, since the Chinese histories say the Tungus peoples bred pigs, still used in shamanic sacrifice, and the Tatar word for pig is 'donguz'. It shows how names for Siberian peoples passed through Tatar speech into Russian.
The word Tungus does not exist in the Manchu language, and none of the ancient Tungusic ruling houses was known by this name. Probably the Russians, when they first reached the Yenisei, borrowed this name from the Yenisei Tatars. … and in the Tatar language a pig is called donguz.
Working translation
Original wording
Слова: Тунгусъ, нѣтъ въ маньчжурскомъ языкѣ: да и ни одинъ изъ древнихъ тунгузскихъ владѣтельныхъ Домовъ не былъ извѣстенъ подъ симъ названіемъ. Вѣроятно, что Русскіе, первоначально достигнувъ Енисея, заимствовали сіе названіе отъ енисейскихъ Татаръ. … а свинья на татарскомъ языкѣ называется Донгусъ.
About Tungusic peoples; Yenisei Tatars
Keep in mind
Bichurin's etymology is a guess; linguists still debate the origin of 'Tungus'.
The scan is too rough to double-check this quote by machine. Compare it with the page.
A governor's cabinet of dug-up antiquities
Editorial contextAt Krasnoyarsk the governor showed Holman his collection of 'Tartar' dresses, weapons and armour, along with objects dug up around the province: metal vases that Holman guessed once held the ashes of great chiefs, copper and stone hatchets, knives and arrowheads. These are the kind of finds that came from the kurgans (burial mounds) of the Yenisei and Minusinsk region.
The governor, on the Tuesday, most obligingly submitted to my inspection his cabinet of curiosities, comprising a large collection of Tartar dresses, weapons, and armour, as also many curious remains that had been dug up in different parts of his government; amongst the rest, metal vases, which had probably been the depositaries of the ashes of the great and powerful of their day
About Unknown ancient peoples of the Yenisei region
Keep in mind
The idea that the vases held ashes is Holman's guess. Compare Erman's report of Minusinsk kurgan bronzes (W011, T0014 n152).
The Kirghiz: 'their language and faith are Tatar'
Editorial contextIn the Krasnoyarsk district, Spafarii says, the Russian villages and their thousand or so servicemen were always in danger from the Kirghiz: only about a thousand men, but very warlike, 'and their language and faith are Tatar'. Elsewhere he lists the Kirghiz among the 'Tatars' living at the head of the Ket. In Siberian Russian usage 'Tatar' reached well beyond Kuchum's old realm.
only it is always dangerous from the Kirghiz: there are about 1000 of them, but they are very warlike, and their language and faith are Tatar.
Working translation
Original wording
толко всегда опасно отъ Киргызъ: ихъ человѣкъ съ 1000, толко гораздо воисты, и языкъ и вѣра ихъ татарская.
About Yenisei Kirghiz
Keep in mind
He only sailed two days on the Yenisei, so Krasnoyarsk news is hearsay from Yeniseisk.
'Abakan Tatars': the Kirghiz' descendants in 1895
Editorial contextRadloff notes that the Yenisei inscriptions were left mostly by the Kirghiz, and that their descendants still form a large part of the Turkic population there, 'the Abakan Tatars and Soyots'. In the nineteenth century Russian usage called many Siberian Turkic groups 'Tatars'. The same people who carved runic stones in the early Middle Ages were called Tatars by the time Radloff wrote.
When the Russians came to know them in the sixteenth century in the southern part of the Yenisei province, the Kirghiz were complete Turks, and even now descendants of the Kirghiz form a large part of the Turkic population of that area, the Abakan Tatars and Soyots.
Working translation
Original wording
Als die Russen sie im XVI. Jahrhundert im südlichen Theile des Jenisseischen Gouvernements kennen lernten, waren die Kirgisen vollkommene Türken und noch jetzt bilden Nachkommen der Kirgisen einen grossen Theil der türkischen Bevölkerung desselben Gebietes, der Abakan-Tataren und Sojonen.
About Kirghiz (Khakas), called Abakan Tatars in Radloff's time
Keep in mind
Radloff's own ethnographic judgement; his claim that the Kirghiz were first a non-Turkic people rests on a Chinese remark about red hair and blue eyes.
Checked against the page image.
Kachin weddings and the bride who must lie flat
Editorial contextPallas reports that the Kachin Tatars, rich herders who had not taken up farming or Christianity, keep one wife, court for years, and hold two weddings. The groom's father must set up a new yurt for the couple, while the bride's father supplies the household goods. After the betrothal the father-in-law never sees his son's wife again, and if they meet she must throw herself flat on the ground until he has passed.
The first wedding is held at the bride's father's, the second at the groom's, where the groom's father must set up a new yurt for the young couple… Except at the first wooing the father-in-law never sees his son's wife again, never goes into the son's yurt, and if he does meet his daughter-in-law, custom requires that she throw herself flat on the ground.
Working translation
Original wording
Die erste Hochzeit wird beym Brautvater, die andre beym Bräutigam gefeyert, wo des Bräutigams-Vater dem jungen Paar eine neue Jurte aufstellen muß… Ausser bey der ersten Freywerberey sieht der Schwiegervater seines Sohns Frau niemals wieder, geht nie in die Jurte des Sohns und geschieht es ja, daß er seiner Schwiegertochter begegnet, so will die Gewohnheit, daß sich diese platt auf die Erde niederwirft
About Kachin Tatars (Khakas)
Continue in this sourcePallas's journey through the provinces of the Russian Empire1768 to 1774 · 20 passagesBirch-bark summer yurts and earth-covered winter huts
Editorial contextEast of Tomsk, Pallas describes the dwellings of baptised Tatars: summer yurts of poles or bent birch rods shaped like a Kalmyk tent but covered with boiled and stitched white birch bark, and winter huts of thin birch logs shaped like a box, heaped with earth for warmth, with a clay-and-brushwood fireplace and a square smoke hole.
The baptised Tatars here live in summer in wretched yurts made partly of poles leaned together to a point, partly of birch rods fixed and bent from the ground up around some large hoops, which take the shape of a Kalmyk tent and are covered with strongly boiled, sewn-together white birch bark.
Working translation
Original wording
Die hiesigen getauften Tataren wohnen im Sommer in elenden Jurten, die theils aus spitz zusammen gestüzten Stangen, theils aus Birkenstäben die von der Erde herauf um einige grosse Reife befestigt und gebrochen, die Gestalt eines Calmückischen Zeltes vorstellen, und mit stark gekochten und zusammen genehten weissen Birkenrinden gedeckt werden, bestehen.
About Baptised Siberian Tatars of the Krasnoyarsk district
Continue in this sourcePallas's journey through the provinces of the Russian Empire1768 to 1774 · 20 passages
