The witnesses
Who wrote it, how they knew, and what to watch out for. The richest come first. Six of them left a road you can follow: ride with a traveler.
- 1245 to 1255Friar William's journey to the Mongol court, with Carpini and Benedict the Pole
Three friars' eyewitness reports from the Mongol empire: Carpini and Benedict in 1245 to 1247, William of Rubruck in 1253 to 1255.
- 1793 to 1794Pallas's travels through southern Russia and the Crimea
A great German naturalist's survey of the lower Volga, the Caucasus steppe and the Crimea, 1793 to 1794.
- 1768 to 1774Pallas's journey through the provinces of the Russian Empire
A German naturalist's day-by-day journal of the Academy expedition from the Volga to Siberia and back, 1768 to 1774.
- 1581 to 1582A papal envoy's report on Muscovy, bound with a Polish envoy's description of the Crimean Tatars
Jesuit legate Antonio Possevino's report on Ivan IV's Muscovy (1581 to 1582), with Marcin Broniewski's eyewitness account of the Crimean khanate (1578 to 1579) in the 1595 edition.
- c. 1436 to 1479Two Venetians among the Tatars: Barbaro at Tana and Contarini at Astrakhan
Venetian merchant-diplomat Giosafat Barbaro's sixteen years at Tana (Azov) from 1436, and envoy Ambrogio Contarini's perilous return through Tatar Astrakhan in 1476.
- 1823Two Moravian missionaries among the Kalmyk hordes of the lower Volga
A German missionary's day-by-day account of three months in Kalmyk tent camps north of the Caspian, May to August 1823.
- c. 1245 to 1329Carpini and Rubruck in the original Latin
The Paris Geographical Society's 1839 volume printing the Latin reports of the friars John of Plano Carpini (1245-1247) and William of Rubruck (1253-1255), with Jordanus and learned notes.
- 1715 to 1738John Bell's travels from St Petersburg across Asia
A Scottish doctor's eyewitness account of Russian embassies to Persia, Peking, Derbent and Constantinople, 1715 to 1738.
- 1709 to 1729Strahlenberg's description of Russia, Siberia and 'Great Tartary'
A Swedish officer, prisoner in Siberia for over a decade, maps and describes 'Great Tartary', its peoples, tombs and languages.
- 1692 to 1695An envoy's overland journey from Moscow to Peking
Peter the Great's envoy Isbrand Ides describes the peoples, towns and ruins between Moscow and Beijing, 1692 to 1695.
- 1844 to 1846Two French priests cross Mongolia on the way to Tibet, 1844 to 1846
Lazarist missionaries Huc and Gabet travel by camel through Inner Mongolia, living in tents among Mongols, on their famous journey to Lhasa.
- 1821 to 1822James Baillie Fraser's journey into Khorasan and the Turkmen frontier
A Scottish traveller's 1821 to 1822 journey through Persia to Mashhad and the Turkmen camps of the Gorgan plain, with long appendices on Bukhara, Samarkand, Merv and Khiva gathered from informants.
- 1220 to 1223The Daoist master Changchun's journey to Chinggis Khan
A disciple's diary of the Daoist sage Qiu Chuji (Changchun) crossing Mongolia and Central Asia to Chinggis Khan's camp in Afghanistan and back, 1221 to 1224.
- 1743 to 1745Jonas Hanway's history of British trade over the Caspian
An English merchant's own journey down the Volga to Persia in 1743 to 1745, bundled with other travellers' journals to Khiva, Bukhara and Derbent.
- 1828 to 1829Adolph Erman's scientific travels across Siberia
A young German physicist's journey from Kazan to Kamchatka, full of Tatar towns, mosques, graves and history, 1828 to 1829.
- 1838 to 1841The Hommaire de Hells in the Caspian steppes and the Crimea
A French engineer and his wife describe the Kalmyks, Nogais and Crimean Tatars they lived among in southern Russia, 1838 to 1841.
- 1325 to 1354Ibn Battuta's travels, in Samuel Lee's 1829 abridged translation
The Moroccan traveller's account of the Golden Horde, Central Asia, India and China in the 1330s and 1340s, from an Arabic abridgement.
- c. 1245 to 1307Bergeron's 1634 French collection of the friars' journeys into Tartary
The first French edition of Rubruck, Carpini and Ascelin's reports on the Mongols, bound with Bergeron's own treatise on the Tartars, Paris 1634.
- 1819 to 1820Muraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva
A young Russian officer's account of crossing the Turkmen desert to Khiva in 1819, being held prisoner for 48 days, and meeting the Khan in his felt tent.
- 1466 to 1533The memoirs of Babur, Timurid prince and founder of Mughal India
Babur's own Turki memoir of his wars in Fergana, Samarkand, Kabul and India, in the 1826 Leyden and Erskine translation.
- 1675Spafarii's 1675 journey across Siberia to the Chinese border
The travel diary of the tsar's envoy to China, crossing Siberia from Tobolsk to Nerchinsk in 1675.
- 1839 to 1840A British officer's winter ride from Herat to the Khan of Khiva
A young British artillery officer's eyewitness account of Turkmen camps, the court of Khiva and the Kazakh steppe, 1839 to 1840.
- 1517 to 1526Herberstein's Notes upon Russia (Muscovy and its Tartar neighbours)
A Habsburg ambassador's description of Muscovy in 1517 and 1526, with a long chapter on the Tartars of Kazan, the Nogai steppe, Astrakhan and the Crimea.
- 1733 to 1743Gmelin's journey through Siberia, volume 1
A German naturalist's eyewitness diary of Kazan, Tobolsk and the Tatar, Kalmyk and Teleut lands of western Siberia, 1733 to 1735.
- 1750 to 1779Baron de Tott's memoirs of the Crimean Tatar court
A French officer's memoir of his years as consul to the Crimean Khan, 1767 to 1769, including a Tatar winter campaign.
- 1795 to 1796Maria Guthrie's letters from a tour of the Crimea
Letters of a Scottish woman living in Russia, written on a journey through the newly Russian Crimea and Nogai steppe in 1795 to 1796.
- 1829A British officer's ride through 'Crim Tartary' in 1829
A Scottish officer's travels through Russia and the Crimea during the Russo-Turkish war of 1828 to 1829, with close views of Crimean Tatar towns, villages, palace and people.
- 1820 to 1821A Russian mission crosses Mongolia to Peking, 1820 to 1821
The escort officer of a Russian church mission records the Mongol steppe, Urga and Peking as he rode through them in 1820 and 1821.
- 1831 to 1833Alexander Burnes's journey from India to Bukhara, 1831 to 1833
A young British officer rides in disguise from the Indus over the Hindu Kush to Bukhara and home through the Turkmen desert and Persia.
- 1843 to 1845Joseph Wolff's mission to Bukhara to find two missing British officers
An eccentric missionary's account of his dangerous 1843 to 1845 journey to the Emir of Bukhara, mixing eyewitness scenes, desert tales and borrowed statistics.
- 1820 to 1821The Russian embassy's march from Orenburg to Bukhara
A Baltic German officer's account of crossing the Kazakh steppe with a Russian embassy to Bukhara in 1820 to 1821, in a short, selective English version printed in Madras.
- c. 1271 to 1295The Book of Ser Marco Polo (Yule's edition)
The Venetian merchant who served Kublai Khan for some seventeen years describes the Mongol 'Tartars', their camps, capitals, customs and empire, c. 1271 to 1295.
- 1807 to 1808Julius Klaproth's travels in the Caucasus and Georgia
A German orientalist's scientific expedition through the North Caucasus and Georgia in 1807 to 1808, with a close study of Golden Horde ruins.
- c. 1830 to 1849J. G. Kohl's Russia, from St Petersburg to the Crimean Tatar villages
A German travel writer's lively picture of the Russian Empire in the late 1830s, including Tatars in Moscow and St Petersburg and a horseback tour of Tatar Crimea, in an 1844 English abridgment.
- 1220 to 1259Fine Talk from the Jade Hall: two Chinese journeys through the Mongol world
Wang Yun's notebook preserving a Chinese scholar's 1247 to 1248 journey to Khubilai's camp in Mongolia and an envoy's 1259 ride west to Hulegu in Persia.
- c. 852 to 1305The Laurentian Chronicle: the Mongol storm over Suzdal Rus
The oldest surviving Russian chronicle codex (copied 1377), with year-by-year entries on the Tatar conquest of Vladimir-Suzdal and life under the Horde to 1305.
- c. 680 to 735The Orkhon inscriptions: the Turks write their own history in stone
Royal memorial stones of the Turk khagans in Mongolia (c.720 to 735), deciphered in the 1890s, where the name 'Tatar' first appears in writing.
- 1241 to 1242Thomas of Split on the Tartars (History of Salona and Split, 1241 to 1242)
A Dalmatian archdeacon's account of the Mongol invasion of Hungary and their pursuit of King Béla to the Adriatic, with a chapter 'On the nature of the Tartars'.
- 1655 to 1657Nieuhof's Dutch embassy to the 'Great Tartar Khan' in Beijing
A Dutch steward's illustrated eyewitness account of travelling from Canton to Beijing in 1655 to 1657, just after the Manchu ('Tartar') conquest of China.
- 1768 to 1770Lepekhin's journal of the Volga and Ural journey
A Russian academician's day-by-day journal of 1768 to 1770, through Tatar, Chuvash, Mordvin, Kalmyk and Bashkir country on the Volga and in the southern Urals.
- 1768 to 1774Samuel Gmelin's journey through southern Russia and Persia
A young German academician's journals of 1768 to 1774 from the Don, the lower Volga and Astrakhan to the Caspian shores of Persia, ending with his death as a captive in Dagestan.
- 1826Ledebour's botanical journey through the Altai and the Kazakh steppe, 1826
Three Dorpat botanists describe Altai 'Kalmyk' camps, Kazakh (Kirghiz) life, Tatar traders and the ruined Zunghar temple of Ablaikit in 1826.
- 1774 to 1812Bogle's mission to the Panchen Lama and Manning's journey to Lhasa
An East India Company envoy in Tibet in 1774 to 1775 and an English scholar in Lhasa in 1811 to 1812, gathered with older missionary reports by Clements Markham.
- 1836 to 1838Lieutenant Wood's winter journey to the source of the Oxus
A British naval officer's eyewitness account of the Uzbek state of Kunduz, Badakhshan and the Kirghiz nomads of the Pamirs, 1836 to 1838.
- 1800 to 1839Gerard's account of Kinnaur and the 'Tartars' of the Tibetan frontier
A Scottish surveyor's first-hand description of the Himalayan valley of Kinnaur and its Tibetan-speaking 'Tartar' neighbours, 1817 to 1821.
- 1843Baron von Haxthausen's travels through Russia in 1843
A Prussian expert on peasant life tours Russia in 1843 and visits the Tatars of Kazan, the Volga ruins and a Nogai village.
- 1566 to 1599Fletcher's Russe Common Wealth and Horsey's Travels
Two Elizabethan Englishmen on Russia under Ivan the Terrible and his son: an envoy's survey (1591) and a merchant's memoir (1573 to 1591), both full of the Crimean Tartar threat.
- 1403 to 1406Clavijo's embassy to Timur at Samarkand
A Castilian envoy's day-by-day account of his journey to Timur's court at Samarkand, 1403 to 1406.
- 1633 to 1639Olearius's embassy down the Volga to Persia
A German scholar-diplomat's eyewitness account of the Tatars of Kazan, Astrakhan, Dagestan and the Terek, 1633 to 1639, with Mandelslo's travels appended.
- 1660 to 1679Chardin's journey through Crimea and the Caucasus to Persia
A French jeweller's eyewitness account of Crimean Tatar towns and tents, Georgia and Persia, 1672 to 1673.
- 1792 to 1794Staunton's official account of the Macartney embassy to China and Tartary
The British embassy's official history of its 1792 to 1794 mission, including the journey through the Great Wall to the Qing emperor's summer court at Chengde.
- 17th centuryA French officer's account of the Cossacks and the Crimean Tartars
A 1663 French description of Ukraine's Cossacks and the Tartars of Crimea, with a history of the Cossack wars against Poland, in a 1672 English translation.
- 1810sMary Holderness's four years among the Crimean Tatars
An Englishwoman's close, first-hand notes on the daily life of the Crimean Tatars in their village of Karagoss, 1816 to 1820, published with her journey from Riga.
- 1339 to 1353Friar John of Marignolli's mission to the Great Khan
A Florentine friar and papal legate remembers the Tartar courts, Khanbaliq and the roads between them, 1338 to 1353, in asides scattered through his chronicle of Bohemia.
- 852 to 1292The Hypatian Chronicle: Kiev, Galicia and the Horde
The southern Rus chronicle, whose Galician-Volhynian part describes the fall of Kiev in 1240, Prince Daniil's visit to Batu and a century of living beside the Tatars.
- 1722 to 1724Captain Unkovsky's embassy to the Dzungar khan
A Russian artillery captain's day-by-day journal of ten months at the felt-tent court of the Dzungar ruler Tsewang Rabtan on the Ili river, 1722 to 1724.
- c. 1294 to 1340The Cuman Codex: a phrasebook from the Golden Horde
A Latin-Persian-Cuman word list made by Italian merchants in 1303, with Franciscan prayers and riddles in the steppe Turkic language.
- 1260 to 1305Hayton's Flower of the Histories of the East
An Armenian prince who knew the Mongol court dictates, in 1307, a geography of Asia and a history of the Tartar khans from Genghis to his own day.
- 1647 to 1673Struys's three calamitous voyages: the Volga, Astrakhan and slavery in Daghestan
A Dutch sailmaker's adventure story of sailing down the Volga to Astrakhan in 1669 and being enslaved by 'Tartars' in Daghestan in 1670.
- 1701 to 1708De Bruyn's travels down the Volga to Astrakhan, 1703
A Dutch painter's eyewitness account, with drawings made on the spot, of the Tatars and Kalmyks of the Volga and Astrakhan in 1703 and 1707.
- 1829Gustav Rose's narrative of Humboldt's Russian journey, 1829
The day-by-day German account of Alexander von Humboldt's 1829 expedition from Kazan to the Altai, the Chinese frontier and Astrakhan.
- 1768 to 1775Güldenstädt's travels through southern Russia and the Caucasus
A German naturalist's expedition journal from the Volga, Terek, Kuban and Don steppes and Georgia, 1768 to 1775, published after his death by Pallas.
- 1785 to 1794Martin Sauer's account of the Billings expedition
The secretary of Russia's Billings expedition describes the road across Siberia and the Yakuts, 1785 to 1794.
- 1820 to 1823Captain Cochrane's walk across Siberian Tartary
A British naval captain's mostly on-foot journey from St Petersburg to Kamchatka and back, 1820 to 1823.
- 1712 to 1715A Qing envoy's journey to the Torghut khan on the Volga, 1712 to 1715
A Manchu official sent by the Kangxi emperor records crossing Siberia and Russia to visit Ayuki Khan of the Torghut Mongols near the Caspian.
- 1783 to 1784Turner's embassy to the Panchen Lama in Tibet
A British officer's eyewitness account of Bhutan and Tibet in 1783, with reports on Mongol pilgrims and the 'Tartars' beyond.
- 17th centuryAbu'l Ghazi's Genealogical History of the Tatars
A 17th-century khan of Khiva tells the Turkic and Mongol peoples' own story of their origins, from Adam and the Flood through Chinggis Khan and his heirs.
- 1466 to 1566The Tarikh-i-Rashidi: a Moghul prince's history of Central Asia
Mirza Haidar Dughlat's Persian history of the Mongol (Moghul) khans of eastern Central Asia, written about 1546.
- 629 to 645Xuanzang's Records of the Western Regions
A Chinese Buddhist pilgrim's country-by-country description of Central Asia and India, 629 to 645, with the Western Turks as overlords of the Silk Road.
- 1792 to 1794John Barrow's Travels in China
The Macartney embassy's comptroller on China, its Manchu 'Tartar' rulers and Chinese society, 1792 to 1794.
- 1700 to 1733Peter Henry Bruce's memoirs of service under Peter the Great
A British-descended officer's memoir of Russian service, including the 1722 Volga voyage and Persian campaign and a 1723 expedition among the Kalmyks.
- 1825 to 1828James Webster's ride through the Crimea in 1827
A young Scottish lawyer's travel journal of the Crimea in 1827, with Tatar villages, the Khans' palace at Bakhchysarai and a dervish ceremony, published after his death.
- c. 1640 to 1659Martino Martini's history of the Tartar War in China
A Jesuit missionary's history of the Manchu ('Tartar') conquest of Ming China, much of it witnessed, first printed in Latin and English in 1654.
- 1602 to 1607Brother Bento de Góis and the search for Cathay
How a Jesuit lay brother crossed from Mughal India over the Pamirs to the Chinese border, 1603 to 1607, and proved that Cathay was China, told in Ricci's Latin history of the China mission.
- 1712 to 1727Jesuits crossing Tibet and 'Tartary', 1603 to 1721 (with Desideri's account of Tibet)
Jesuit travellers' letters and Ippolito Desideri's Tibet memoir, quoted and checked by a 1924 editor, on the 'Tartars' who ruled, raided and invaded Tibet.
- 1016 to 1447The Novgorod First Chronicle: the Tatars arrive
Year-by-year records kept in Novgorod, with the closest Russian testimony to the Mongol arrival in 1223 and 1237 to 1238.
- c. 1230 to 1552The History of the Kazan Tsardom: a captive's story of Kazan
A Russian account of the Kazan khanate from its legendary founding to its conquest in 1552, by an author who says he spent twenty years at the Kazan khan's court.
- c. 1627The Book of the Great Map: Muscovy's road book of the steppe
A 1627 government description of a lost map of Muscovy and its steppe borderlands, listing rivers, fords, Tatar raiding roads, ruined mosques and Crimean palaces.
- 1820 to 1822Levshin's Description of the Kazakh Hordes and Steppes
A Russian official's three-part geography, history and ethnography of the Kazakhs (then called 'Kirghiz-Kaisaks'), 1832.
- 1401 to 1422Ibn Arabshah's hostile life of Timur, with the Golden Horde from inside
An Arab captive's rhymed-prose biography of Timur (1435 to 1437), with memories of Sarai and the Qipchaq steppe.
- 1241 to 1242Master Roger's lament for Hungary, destroyed by the Tartars (1241 to 1242)
An Italian cleric's eyewitness account of the Mongol invasion of Hungary, written after a year as their captive.
- 1530 to 1549Michalo the Lithuanian on the customs of the Tartars, Lithuanians and Muscovites
A Lithuanian envoy who had been in the Crimean khanate holds up the Crimean Tatars as a mirror of sober virtue to shame his own nobles, c. 1550.
- 1613 to 1637Álvaro Semedo's Empire of China
A Portuguese Jesuit's description of late Ming China, written after two decades there, with the first Manchu ('Tartar') attacks seen from inside the empire.
- 1692 to 1695Adam Brand's journey with the Russian embassy to China
A German secretary's eyewitness account of the Russian embassy from Moscow through Siberia and Mongolia to Beijing, 1692 to 1695.
- 1698 to 1712Captain John Perry on the state of Peter the Great's Russia
An English canal engineer's report on Russia, 1698 to 1712, with eyewitness notes on the Kalmyks and Tartars of the Volga.
- 1808 to 1809Elphinstone's account of Kabul and its Tartar neighbours
A British envoy's survey of the Afghan kingdom, 1808 to 1809, with chapters on the Uzbeks, Aimaqs and Hazaras built from informants.
- 1396 to 1427Johann Schiltberger's thirty years as a captive among Turks and Tartars
A Bavarian squire captured at Nicopolis in 1396 serves the Ottoman sultan, Timur and a prince of the Golden Horde, and comes home in 1427 to tell the tale.
- c. 1550 to 1579Early English voyages to Russia and Persia, volume II
Letters, charters and travel reports of Anthony Jenkinson and other Muscovy Company Englishmen in Russia, on the Volga and in Persia, 1557 to 1581.
- 1785 to 1786Lady Craven's letters from Crimea
An English aristocrat's letters from newly Russian Crimea in April 1786: Tatar towns, houses, women and the khan's palace.
- 1803Jean Reuilly's travels in the Crimea, 1803
A young Frenchman's survey of the Crimea twenty years after Russian annexation, with chapters on the Tatars.
- 1680sFather Avril's search for an overland road to China
A French Jesuit's 1680s journey through Armenia and Persia to Astrakhan and Moscow, with everything he could learn about 'Great Tartary' on the way.
- 1730 to 1749John Cook's travels as a doctor on Russia's Tartar frontier
A Scottish physician's memoir of Russian service at Astrakhan in the 1740s and a Russian embassy through Dagestan to Nadir Shah's Persia.
- 1839 to 1840Captain Jesse's Crimea: Tatar villages and Bakhchysarai in 1839 to 1840
A British half-pay officer's travel notes on Russia, Circassia and the Crimea, 1839 to 1840, with nights in Tatar houses and a visit to the Khans' old capital.
- 1780William Coxe on the Russian conquest of Siberia and the China trade
An English clergyman's 1780 compilation of Russian voyages to Alaska, the Cossack conquest of the Siberian Tatar khanate, and the Russia and China border trade at Kiakhta.
- 1812 to 1813Mir Izzet Ullah's journey from Kashmir to Bukhara
An Indian Muslim traveller's route journal through Ladakh, Yarkand, Kashgar, Kokand, Samarkand and Bukhara in 1812 to 1813.
- 852 to 1558The Nikon Chronicle: Moscow's grand history of the Horde and the khanates
Muscovy's largest 16th-century chronicle compilation, retelling the Mongol conquest with added tales and recording Kazan, Nogai and Siberian affairs down to 1558.
- 1581 to 1659The Siberian Chronicles: Yermak and the fall of Kuchum's khanate
Seventeenth-century Russian chronicles of the Cossack conquest of the Siberian Tatar khanate (1581 to 1585) and of the towns and rulers that came before it.
- 1663 to 1668Evliya Celebi's Book of Travels: Crimea, the Kalmyks and the Volga (vol. 7)
An Ottoman traveller's vivid, embroidered account of Crimea, the Kalmyk steppe, Kazan, Astrakhan and the Tatars, 1665 to 1667.
- c. 1288 to 1300Friar Riccoldo's pilgrimage book, with chapters on the Tartars of Persia and Baghdad
A Florentine Dominican who lived under Mongol rule in Tabriz and Baghdad around 1288 to 1300 describes the Tartars' looks, laws, women, funerals, legends and conquests.
- 1241Letters of 1241 on the Mongol invasion, printed in the Golden Chronicle of Hohenschwangau
Latin letters written in 1241 by kings, dukes, bishops and a Dominican friar as the Tartars overran Poland and Hungary, printed by Joseph von Hormayr in 1842.
- c. 1300 to 1320Sanudo's crusade plan: the Secrets of the Faithful of the Cross
A Venetian merchant-noble's crusade treatise of c. 1321, with a history of the Tartars and advice on using them against Egypt.
- 1699 to 1779Edifying and curious letters: Jesuit reports from China and Tartary
Letters from French Jesuits in Qing China, 1690s to 1770s, reporting on Manchu and Mongol 'Tartary', in Querbeuf's Paris edition of 1780 to 1783.
- 1761Chappe d'Auteroche's journey to Siberia
A French astronomer's account of his 1761 journey from Paris to Tobolsk for the transit of Venus, and of the Tatar villages and towns he passed.
- 1714 to 1738Weber's 'Russia Transformed', with reports on Siberia, the Kalmyks and the Tatars
A Hanoverian diplomat's account of Peter the Great's Russia, 1714 to 1720, stuffed with other people's reports from Siberia, Astrakhan, China and Bukhara.
- 1733 to 1743Müller's Collection of Russian History, with his history of Siberia
The St Petersburg Academy's historical serial (1732 to 1764), including G. F. Müller's archive-based history of the Tatar khanate of Siberia and its conquest.
- 1772 to 1774Georgi's travel journal from Lake Baikal to Kazan
A German academician's day-by-day journal of 1772 to 1774, from the Buryats of Lake Baikal to the Tatar villages, tombs and mosques of the Urals and Kazan.
- 1802 to 1803Bergmann's wanderings among the Kalmyks
A Livonian pastor's letters from a year spent living in the felt-tent camps of the Volga Kalmyks, 1802 to 1803, with their laws, legends and history.
- 1820 to 1823Wrangel's expedition to the Polar Sea
A Russian naval officer's narrative of three years on the Arctic coast of Siberia, with a close look at the Yakuts, 1820 to 1823.
- 1819 to 1825Moorcroft and Trebeck's travels to Ladakh, Kabul and Bukhara, 1819 to 1825
Two British travellers journey through the Himalaya, Ladakh, Afghanistan and Uzbek Turkestan to Bukhara, where their expedition ended in death.
- 1800 to 1833John Francis Davis's The Chinese
A British China hand's 1836 survey of the Qing empire, its 'Manchow Tartar' rulers and the Mongol lands beyond the Great Wall.
- 1549 to 1556Gaspar da Cruz's treatise on China
The first European book devoted to China, by a Portuguese friar who was in Canton in 1556, with a chapter on China's Tartar neighbours and the Wall.
- c. 1321 to 1330Friar Jordanus's Wonders of the East
A Dominican bishop's short book of marvels from Armenia, Persia and India, c. 1330, with a hearsay chapter on the 'Great Tartar' of Cathay and the other Mongol empires.
- 1755 to 1771Memoirs of the Peking missionaries, with Amiot on the Dzungars and the Torghut exodus
The Peking Jesuits' learned series on China (from 1776), with Amiot's translations of the Qianlong emperor's monuments on the destruction of the Dzungars and the flight of the Volga Torghuts, 1771.
- 1824 to 1828Klaproth's memoirs on Asia
Collected essays of 1824 to 1828 in which Klaproth translates Chinese, Manchu and Persian texts on Siberia, Mongolia and the Tatars and argues about what the names mean.
- 1829Humboldt's Central Asia
Alexander von Humboldt's 1843 survey of the mountains and climate of inner Asia, which retires the old 'plateau of Tartary'.
- 1820 to 1821Eversmann's journey from Orenburg to Bukhara, 1820 to 1821
A German naturalist who had learned Tatar in Siberia rides with the Russian embassy across the Kazakh steppe to Bukhara and records tombs, ruins, steppe law and city life.
- 1200 to 1499Hammer-Purgstall's History of the Golden Horde (1840)
The first full western history of the Mongol khanate on the Volga, pieced together from Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Russian and European sources.
- 1816Henry Ellis's journal of the Amherst embassy to China
A British diplomat's journal of the failed 1816 Amherst embassy to the Qing court and its long journey back to Canton.
- 1774 to 1775An early report on Tibet from George Bogle's letters
A Royal Society letter of 1777 summarising what George Bogle learned on his mission to the Panchen Lama, 1774 to 1775.
- 921 to 922Ibn Fadlan's mission to the Volga, as preserved by Yaqut
An Abbasid envoy's eyewitness account of the Rus, Bulghars and Khazars of the Volga in 921 to 922, in C. M. Frähn's editions of 1822 and 1823.
- 1709 to 1722Strahlenberg's advance notice of his book on Great Tartary and Siberia
A Swedish prisoner of war's 1726 prospectus for his great description of Tartary and Siberia.
- 1830 to 1849Mohan Lal's journey from Delhi to Balkh, Bukhara and Mashhad
An Indian munshi's diary of travelling with Alexander Burnes through Afghanistan and Turkestan to Bukhara in 1832, and on into Persia.
- 13th centuryJuvaini's History of the World-Conqueror
A Persian official in Mongol service writes the history of Chinggis Khan and his heirs, about 1252 to 1260.
- c. 1605 to 1609Massa's report on the Russian road into Siberia, 'in Tartary'
A Dutch merchant's 1612 report, from Russian informants, on how Muscovy was taking over Siberia and the Samoyed and Tungus lands 'in Tartary'.
- 1787 to 1788Lesseps's journey across Siberia
A young French consul's diary of carrying La Perouse's dispatches overland from Kamchatka to Paris in 1787 to 1788.
- 1730 to 1799Pallas's 'New Northern Contributions', a journal of reports from Russia's frontiers
A serial edited by Pallas (1781 to 1796) printing field journals, letters and reports from Siberia, the Altai, the Crimea, Mongolia and beyond.
- 1768 to 1774Falck's contributions to the topography of the Russian Empire
A Swedish naturalist's expedition papers of 1768 to 1774, arranged by Georgi, covering the steppes, their ruins and the Tatar, Bashkir, Kirghiz and Kalmyk peoples.
- 1822 to 1824The blind traveller's journey through Siberia
James Holman, a blind former naval officer, crosses western Siberia to Irkutsk and is escorted back as a suspected spy, 1822 to 1824.
- 1830sVigne's travels in Kashmir and Little Tibet
An English traveller's account of Kashmir, the Punjab hills and Baltistan in the 1830s, with glimpses of the Mughal (Timurid) past.
- 1800 to 1801Clarke's travels: the Greek and Balkan volume
The Cambridge traveller's account of Greece, Macedonia, Thrace and the road to Vienna in 1801 to 1802, where 'Tartars' are mostly Ottoman couriers.
- 1695 to 1696Gemelli Careri's round-the-world journey: China under the 'Eastern Tartars'
A Neapolitan traveller's eyewitness account of Kangxi's China in 1695 to 1696, including the Great Wall and Beijing's 'Tartar City'.
- 1805 to 1808Jaubert's journey in Armenia and Persia
A French orientalist's account of his 1805 to 1806 mission from Napoleon to the Shah of Persia, including months in a Kurdish dungeon.
- c. 1466 to 1472Afanasy Nikitin and other fifteenth-century travellers to India
An 1857 Hakluyt Society anthology of four fifteenth-century journeys to India, including the Russian merchant Nikitin's trip down the Tatar-held Volga around 1466 to 1472.
- 1830sEdmund Spencer's 1836 voyage round the Black Sea, volume one
A British travel writer's letters from a Danube and Black Sea voyage in 1836, including the south coast of 'Krim Tartary' and the Russian forts of Circassia.
- 1808 to 1821Father Iakinf Bichurin's Notes on Mongolia
A Russian monk-sinologist's route diary from Beijing to Kiakhta in 1821, with a survey of Mongol life and an essay on who the 13th century 'Tatars' really were.
- 1069 to 1070Wisdom of Royal Glory: a Turkic mirror for princes from Kashgar
A long Turkic poem of advice to rulers written at the Qarakhanid court in 1069 to 1070, in Vambery's 1870 edition.
- 1769 to 1773Pallas's historical collections on the Mongol peoples
Pallas's two-part study (1776 and 1801) of the history, laws, religion and learning of the Kalmyks, Mongols and Buryats.
- 1784 to 1785Hablizl's natural history of the Crimea
The first survey of the Crimea after its annexation by Russia, written by the peninsula's vice-governor in 1784 and 1785 and translated into German in 1789.
- 1792 to 1794Hüttner's report of the Macartney embassy through China and 'a part of Tartary' (1797)
A German tutor with the British embassy of 1792 to 1794 describes the road beyond the Great Wall to the Qing emperor's summer court at Jehol and the 'Tartars' who ruled China.
- 1537 to 1558Mendes Pinto's Peregrination: a Portuguese adventurer's claimed journey through China and Tartary
A famous and unreliable Portuguese memoir (written c. 1569 to 1578, printed 1614) claiming capture by a 'King of Tartary' besieging Beijing in 1544.
- 1785 to 1793Sarychev's voyage to north-east Siberia
A Russian naval officer's account of the Billings expedition, with notes on the Yakuts, 1785 to 1793.
- 1829 to 1831Arthur Conolly's overland journey from England to India, 1829 to 1831
A young British cavalry officer travels through Russia, Persia, Herat and Afghanistan to India, and weighs a Russian march on Khiva.
- 10th centuryThe Oriental Geography of 'Ebn Haukal' (a 10th-century Islamic geography)
A 10th-century Arabic geography of the Islamic world, in a Persian version translated by William Ouseley in 1800, with an early description of the Khazar capital on the Volga.
- 1200 to 1399Yule's Cathay, volume I: Friar Odoric and other medieval notices of China
Henry Yule's 1866 Hakluyt Society collection of medieval writings on China, centred on Friar Odoric's travels of the 1320s.
- 14th centuryThe Travels of Sir John Mandeville
A hugely popular fourteenth-century book of travels to the Holy Land, Cathay and the Great Khan's realm, largely assembled from other writers.
- 1600 to 1733Du Halde's Description of China and Chinese Tartary
A Jesuit compendium of 1735 on China and the lands of the Manchus and Mongols, built from missionaries' journals and the great Qing map survey.
- 1792 to 1793A soldier's diary of the Macartney embassy to China and Tartary
Sergeant Samuel Holmes's plain diary of the 1792 to 1794 British embassy, including the march through the Great Wall to the emperor's summer town of Jehol.
- 1682A Jesuit rides with the Kangxi emperor to Manchuria, 1682
Ferdinand Verbiest's letter describing the emperor's spring journey from Beijing to the Manchu homeland on the Sungari River.
- 1683A Jesuit rides with the Kangxi emperor into Mongolia, 1683
Ferdinand Verbiest's second letter, on the emperor's great summer hunt beyond the Great Wall among the Mongol 'Western Tartars'.
- 1689A 'voyage into Tartary' that finds a philosophers' City of the Sun
A 1689 English book, presented as a Frenchman's true travels, describing a perfect classical city called Heliopolis somewhere in Tartary.
- 1336 to 1406The 'autobiography' of Timur (Tamerlane)
An 1830 English translation of Persian memoirs said to have been written by Timur himself, covering his rise in fourteenth-century Central Asia.
- 1700 to 1733Pétis de la Croix's History of Genghis Khan
A French court orientalist's life of Genghis Khan, compiled from Persian, Arabic and Turkish histories and European travellers, in its 1722 English translation.
- 1835What pilgrims from 'Chinese Tartary' told a Bombay official in 1835
A British official in Bombay writes down what Muslim pilgrims from Yarkand, Kashgar and Khotan told him about their Qing-ruled homeland.
- 1366 to 1433Tamerlane's court history, in English via French
The official Persian history of Timur (Tamerlane), written about 1424 to 1425, in the 1723 English translation made from Pétis de la Croix's French.
- 18th centuryGrosier's General Description of China and Tartary
A French abbé's survey of China and 'Chinese Tartary' compiled from Jesuit reports, in the English translation of 1788.
- 1219 to 1224Yelü Chucai's Record of a Journey to the West
A Khitan scholar in Chinggis Khan's service describes the road west with the Mongol army, 1218 to about 1224, in Bretschneider's English translation.
- 1300 to 1333A Florentine merchant's handbook for the road to Cathay
Practical trade advice, compiled around 1340, for merchants going from Tana on the Sea of Azov across the Tartar lands to Khanbaliq.
- c. 1160 to 1240The Secret History of the Mongols
The Mongols' own 13th-century chronicle of Chinggis Khan's family and rise, preserved only in a Ming Chinese transcription.
- c. 1206 to 1310Rashid al-Din's Compendium of Chronicles: the Mongol emperors after Chinggis
The great Persian history of the Mongols, written c.1300 to 1310 by the vizier of the Mongol rulers of Iran.
- c. 1600 to 1705Witsen's North and East Tartary
An Amsterdam burgomaster's huge 1705 compilation describing every land then called Tartary, from Crimea to Korea.
- 1206 to 1368The official History of the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty
The Ming court's official history of Mongol rule in China, compiled in 1369 to 1370 from Yuan state records.
- 1368 to 1644The official History of the Ming: the Tatars, the Oirats and the Western Regions
The Qing court's official history of the Ming dynasty, with chapters on the Mongols (Dada, 'Tatars') and Central Asia, completed in 1739.
- 1744The Comprehensive Gazetteer of the Great Qing: Mongolia and the outer lands
The Qing court's official geography of its empire, including Mongolia, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Tibet, the lands Europeans called Chinese Tartary.
- 1684The Imperial Gazetteer of Shengjing (Manchuria)
The Qing court's official geography of Manchuria, the land European maps called Eastern or Manchu Tartary, in its 1784 recension.
- 1777 to 1783Researches on the Origins of the Manchus
The Qianlong emperor's official study, finished 1777 to 1783, tracing the Manchus back through the Jurchens, Bohai and Sushen of Chinese records.
- 1748Sumpa Khenpo's Wish-fulfilling Tree: a Tibetan history of Buddhism
A Mongol-born Amdo lama's 1748 history of Buddhism in India, China, Tibet and Mongolia, with a year-by-year chronological table.
- 1200 to 1833Jigme Namkha's History of Buddhism in Mongolia
A Mongol lama's 1819 Tibetan-language history of the Mongol khans and of Buddhism among the Mongols, in Georg Huth's German translation.
- 17th centuryThe Chronicles of Ladakh and minor chronicles
The royal chronicle of Ladakh in western Tibet, with A. H. Francke's 1926 edition and translation, including the Mongol-Tibetan invasion of the 1680s.
- 1581 to 1599The Kungur Chronicle: Yermak's conquest of Tatar Siberia
A short illustrated Siberian chronicle, written around 1700, telling how Yermak's Cossacks took Kuchum's Tatar khanate in the 1580s.
- 1654 to 1657Fyodor Baikov's embassy from Tobolsk to Beijing
The official route diary of the first Russian envoy sent to the Qing court, travelling up the Irtysh through Oirat (Kalmyk) and Mongol lands to Beijing, 1654 to 1657.
- 1730 to 1760Rychkov's Orenburg Topography
A provincial official's description of the Orenburg frontier (southern Urals and the Kazakh steppe) and its peoples, published in 1762.
- 1733 to 1743Gerhard Friedrich Müller's History of the Siberian Tsardom
The first scholarly history of Siberia, written from archives, chronicles and Tatar informants gathered on the Academy expedition of 1733 to 1743.
- 199 BCE to 999Bichurin's Collection of Information on the Ancient Peoples of Central Asia
Russian translations (published 1851) of the chapters on the steppe peoples in the Chinese dynastic histories, from the Xiongnu to the Uighurs.
- 1380Zadonshchina: the Russian poem of the battle of Kulikovo
A 14th to 15th century Russian prose-poem celebrating Grand Prince Dmitry's victory over the Horde leader Mamai on Kulikovo field in 1380.
- 1300 to 1333Mustawfi's Delight of Hearts: a geography of Mongol Iran
A Persian tax official's gazetteer of the Ilkhanid realm and its neighbours, written in 1340.
- 9th centuryIbn Rusta's Book of Precious Records: the peoples of the Volga c.900
An Arabic geography of about 903 to 913 describing the Khazars, Volga Bulghars, Magyars and Rus before the Mongol age.
- c. 842 to 885Ibn Khurradadhbih's Book of Routes, with Sallam's journey to the Wall of Gog and Magog
An Abbasid postmaster's route book (c.846 to 885), including an envoy's tale of a great iron wall in the far north-east.
- 1200 to 1333Abu'l-Fida's Survey of the Countries, with Reinaud's introduction
A Syrian prince's gazetteer of 1321, with notes on Sarai and the Golden Horde, in Reinaud's French edition of 1848.
- c. 1300 to 1340al-Umari's Routes of Insight: a Mamluk encyclopedia of the known world
A Cairo chancery official's world encyclopedia of c.1340 to 1349; this copy is the first volume only, on general geography.
- c. 1650 to 1730Katib Celebi's Cihannuma: an Ottoman geography of Asia (printed 1732)
The Ottoman 'Mirror of the World', a geography of Asia that mixed Islamic tradition with European atlases, printed in Istanbul in 1732.
- 1441 to 1783Rosebud of the Khans: a Crimean prince's history of his own dynasty
Biographies of the Giray khans of Crimea, 1441 to 1783, written in 1811 by an exiled member of the family.
- 1245 to 1248Vincent of Beauvais's Mirror of History on the Tartars
A thirteenth-century Dominican world history that preserves the lost report of Simon of Saint-Quentin, who met the Mongol general Baiju in 1247, alongside Carpini's account.
- 1238 to 1247Matthew Paris's Great Chronicle on the Tartars, 1238 to 1247
An English monk's chronicle recording rumours, letters and interviews about the Tartars as news of the Mongol invasion reached England.
- 1560 to 1579Guagnini's Description of European Sarmatia, with a section on Tartary
An Italian soldier in Polish service describes Poland, Lithuania, Muscovy and the Tatar hordes on their borders, 1578 to 1581.
- 1602 to 1664Kircher's China Illustrated: Jesuit reports on China, Tibet and Tartary
A Roman Jesuit scholar's 1667 compendium of missionary reports, including the first European crossing from Beijing through the Kalmyk steppe to Lhasa.
- 1260 to 1559Ramusio's second volume of voyages: Marco Polo, Hayton, Barbaro and the Muscovy texts
The Venetian editor Ramusio's 1574 collection of the classic Italian texts on Tartary, with his own commentaries.
- 1575 to 1582Mendoza's History of the Great Kingdom of China
The best-selling 16th-century European book on China, compiled in 1585 by a Spanish friar who never went there, with Tartary as China's northern enemy.
- 1662 to 1668Dapper's record of the Dutch in Qing China, 1662 to 1668
An Amsterdam writer's 1670 compilation of Dutch embassy and fleet journals from Qing China, with a general description of China and 'East Tartary'.
- 1300 to 1699Thevenot's collection of curious voyages
A Paris editor's anthology of travel reports and translations, 1663 to 1696, with pieces on the Crimean Tatars, the Manchu 'Tartars' who had just conquered China, and Tibet.
- 1160 to 1368Gaubil's history of Genghis Khan from the Chinese annals
A Jesuit in Peking retells the rise and rule of the Mongols from Chinese histories, Paris 1739.
- 1756 to 1758Deguignes' general history of the Huns, Turks, Mongols and western Tartars
A Paris orientalist's four-volume history of the steppe peoples from the Xiongnu to the Ottomans, built from Chinese, Arabic and Persian books, 1756 to 1758.
- c. 1737Mailla's General History of China, translated from the Chinese annals
A Peking Jesuit's multi-volume French version of the Chinese annals, including the Mongol (Yuan) and Manchu (Qing) conquests, printed in Paris 1777 to 1785.
- c. 1719 to 1728Visdelou's history of Great Tartary from the Chinese records
A Jesuit's abridged history of the northern peoples from Chinese dynastic histories, written c. 1719 to 1728 and printed in 1779 as a supplement to d'Herbelot's Bibliothèque orientale.
- 1160 to 1409D'Ohsson's History of the Mongols from Genghis Khan to Tamerlane
A diplomat-scholar's four-volume history of the Mongol empire built from Persian and Arabic manuscripts, The Hague and Amsterdam 1834 to 1835.
- 1820Abel-Rémusat's Researches on the Tartar languages
A Paris professor of Chinese defines the 'Tartar' peoples by their languages (Manchu, Mongol, Uighur-Turkic, Tibetan) and reviews what Chinese and European writers said about them, 1820.
- 1805 to 1808Klaproth's historical tables of Asia
A German orientalist's 1826 history of Inner Asia, people by people, built from Chinese, Persian and Arabic sources.
- 1753 to 1757Peyssonnel on the peoples of the Danube and Black Sea
A French consul to the Crimean khan reconstructs, in 1765, the peoples who held the Black Sea steppe from the Huns to the Tatars.
- 1708 to 1717D'Anville's maps of China and Chinese Tartary
The atlas of d'Anville's maps of China, Chinese Tartary and Tibet (1737), with a foreword on how the Jesuit survey was made and an eyewitness 'Relation of Bukharia'.
- 1500 to 1747Fischer's Siberian History
An Academy historian's 1768 history of the Russian conquest of Siberia, with a long introduction on who the Tatars and Mongols were.
- 1768 to 1774Georgi's catalogue of all the peoples of the Russian Empire
A German academician's 1770s encyclopedia of the empire's peoples, with a whole section on the 'Tatar nations'.
- 1740 to 1744Steller's description of Kamchatka
A German naturalist's eyewitness account of Kamchatka and its Itelmen people, 1740 to 1744, published after his death.
- 1700 to 1808Klaproth's map of the languages of Asia
A German orientalist's 1823 survey that sorted the peoples of Asia by language and argued that the name 'Tatar' had been wrongly stretched over Turks and Manchus.
- 1662Sagang Sechen's History of the Eastern Mongols (1662), edited by I. J. Schmidt
A Mongol prince's own chronicle of Chinggis Khan's line and the Buddhist conversion, printed with a German translation in 1829.
- 1256 to 1353Hammer-Purgstall's History of the Ilkhans, the Mongols in Persia (1842 to 1843)
The Mongol conquest and rule of Iran, from Chinggis Khan's rise to the fall of Hulagu's dynasty, retold from the Persian court historians.
- 1771Schlözer's history of Lithuania (Northern History, part two)
A Göttingen historian's critical history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to 1569, full of wars and alliances with the Tatars, 1785.
- 1832 to 1838Carl Ritter's great geography of Asia
A Berlin geographer's vast 1830s synthesis of everything Europeans then knew about Inner Asia, Siberia, Iran and India.
- 1849Wilhelm Schott on the 'Finno-Tatar' language family
A Berlin orientalist's 1849 Academy treatise arguing that Tungusic, Mongolian, Turkic and Finnic languages form one family born in the Altai.
- 1737 to 1741Krasheninnikov's natural history of Kamchatka
A young Russian scientist's field report on Kamchatka, its animals and its Itelmen people, gathered 1737 to 1741.
- 1640 to 1659A Spanish bishop's history of the Manchu conquest of China
A history of the Manchu ('Tartar') conquest of Ming China in the 1640s, compiled in Mexico from reports sent via the Philippines, in the English edition of 1676.
- 1220 to 1221A Jin envoy's report from Chinggis Khan's western campaign
A short account of the Jin dynasty envoy Wu-ku-sun Chung-tuan's mission to Chinggis Khan in the Muslim west, 1220 to 1221, written down from his own telling.
- 1206 to 1259Bichurin's History of the First Four Mongol Khans
A Russian translation (1829) of the Chinese official history of Chinggis Khan, Ögedei, Güyük and Möngke.
- 1750 to 1779Bichurin's Description of Dzungaria and Eastern Turkestan
A Russian translation (1829) of Qing Chinese geographies of the region Europeans called 'Chinese Tartary' or 'Little Bukharia'.
- 1763 to 1780Four Ottoman state papers on the end of the Crimean khanate
An Ottoman copy (c.1775 to 1780) of memoirs and a treaty text about Russia, Crimea and the Tatar khans in the 1770s.
- c. 1711 to 1719The newest state of Siberia (Nuremberg, 1720)
An anonymous German compilation of 1720 on Siberia and its 'Tartar peoples', built from Swedish prisoners' reports and earlier travel books.
- 1727 to 1736Lorenz Lange's caravan journals from Kiakhta to Peking
A Russian trade agent's journals of two caravan journeys across Mongolia to Peking, 1727 to 1728 and 1736, edited by Pallas in 1781.
- 1800 to 1833Peter Dobell's travels across Kamchatka and Siberia
An Irish-born merchant in Russian service describes crossing Kamchatka and eastern Siberia by dog sledge and horse, about 1812 to 1813.
- 1830 to 1831Gutzlaff's voyage on a Chinese junk to the edge of Manchuria
A Prussian missionary's journal of sailing up the China coast on a trading junk in 1831, as far as Liaodong on the frontier of 'Mantchou Tartary'.
- 1666 to 1699Nicolaas Witsen explains his new map of Great Tartary to the Royal Society
A 1686 exchange of letters in the Philosophical Transactions in which the Amsterdam burgomaster Witsen tells how he gathered the information for his map of 'Great Tartary'.
- 1848A reported road from Phari to Lhasa, 1848
The Darjeeling superintendent's stage-by-stage itinerary of the road from the Tibetan frontier to Lhasa, compiled from informants, with notes by B. H. Hodgson.
- 199 to 100 BCEThe Han histories on the Western Regions and the steppe
Sima Qian's Shiji (about 91 BCE) and Ban Gu's Hanshu (1st century CE) on the Xiongnu nomads and the oasis kingdoms reached by Zhang Qian.
- 99 BCE to 33Strabo's Geography, volume II (Scythians and the Black Sea and Caspian lands)
The Greek geographer Strabo's description of the northern nomads, the Sea of Azov and Central Asia, written about 2,000 years ago, in an 1854 English translation.
- 1783 to 1784A surgeon's notes on the plants and minerals of Bhutan and Tibet
An embassy surgeon's field notes on plants, rocks, springs and diseases along the road from Bengal through Bhutan into Tibet, 1783.
- 1763An earthquake on the Siberian frontier, 1761
Reports from Russian forts on the Irtysh and Altai frontier of a widespread earthquake on 28 November 1761, sent to St Petersburg and printed in London.
- 1741 to 1742Steller's voyage from Kamchatka to America with Bering
The naturalist's own journal of Bering's 1741 voyage to Alaska and the shipwreck winter on Bering Island.
- 1837Schrenk's journey through the Samoyed tundra to the Arctic Urals, 1837
A Baltic German botanist's detailed account of the Russian far north and the Nenets (Samoyeds), with almost nothing on Tartars.
- 1760 to 1779Count Benyowsky's memoirs, volume two: from Kamchatka to Madagascar
The second volume of a Hungarian-Polish adventurer's much-doubted memoir, covering his 1771 voyage from Kamchatka to Macao and his Madagascar colony.
- 10th centuryThe Regions of the World (Hudud al-'Alam)
An anonymous Persian geography of 982 to 983 that describes the peoples and lands of Central Asia and the steppe before the Mongols.
- 1787Father Joseph's letter on borax from Tibet
A missionary's letter, printed in 1787, on how borax was gathered and traded from Tibet, learned at second hand.
- c. 1720 to 1739Breyne's letter on mammoth bones from Siberia
A letter of the 1730s on great bones dug up in Siberia, explained as elephant remains carried there by the Flood.
- 499 to 400 BCEHerodotus on the Scythians (Histories, Book IV)
The Greek historian's fifth-century BCE portrait of the steppe peoples north of the Black Sea.
- 220The Western Regions chapter of the Book of the Later Han
A fifth-century Chinese history chapter on the kingdoms, roads and trade west of China in the first two centuries CE.
- 3rd centuryYu Huan's Weilue: Peoples of the West
A third-century Chinese survey of the western lands and trade routes, known through quotation.
- c. 235 to 325Kharosthi documents from Niya
Third and fourth century local records, mostly on wood, from an oasis on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin.
- 313 to 314The Sogdian Ancient Letters
Private letters written about 313 to 314 CE by Sogdian merchants living and trading in China.
- 399 to 414Faxian's Record of Buddhist Kingdoms
A Chinese monk's account of his pilgrimage across Central Asia to India, 399 to 414.
- 448Priscus at the court of Attila
An eyewitness account of a Roman embassy to the camp of Attila the Hun in 448.
- 700 to 899Tang histories on the Uighur empire
Chinese court histories on the Uighur steppe empire of Mongolia in the eighth and ninth centuries.
- 1266 to 1299The History of Mar Yahballaha and Rabban Sauma
A Syriac life of two Christian monks from Mongol China, one of whom travelled to Europe as an envoy.
- 1221Zhao Hong's Full Record of the Mong-Tatars
A Southern Song envoy's 1221 report on the Mongols, one of the earliest outside eyewitness descriptions.
- 1750 to 1763The Qing gazetteer of Western Regions names
An imperial glossary of 1763 giving Central Asian place and personal names in six scripts.
- 1750 to 1769Illustrations of Tributaries of the Qing Empire
An imperial album of pictures and short notes on the peoples on and beyond the Qing frontiers.
- c. 1640 to 1749The Mongol-Oirat Laws of 1640
The law code agreed by Mongol and Oirat princes in 1640, with later additions, edited in Russian in 1880.
- 600 to 1499The Blue Annals of Gö Lotsawa
A fifteenth-century Tibetan religious history, useful for dating Mongol patronage of Tibetan schools.
- 1247 to 1248Zhang Dehui's journey to Mongolia, 1247 to 1248
A Chinese envoy's travel notes on the road from Beijing to the Mongol court, in Palladius's 1867 Russian translation.
- 1380sThe Ming Sino-Foreign Glossary of 1389
A Ming court glossary of spoken Mongolian in Chinese characters, with sample letters, compiled in 1389.
- 1583 to 1839Wei Yuan's Record of the Sacred Military Exploits
A mid-Qing history of the campaigns that brought Mongolia, Dzungaria and Xinjiang into the empire, first printed in 1842.
- 1844Wei Yuan's Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms
A Chinese world geography of the 1840s and early 1850s with chapters on Russia and Central Asia.
- 1812 to 1819Xu Song's Record of the Waterways of the Western Regions
The most precise Chinese survey of Xinjiang's rivers and lakes before 1850, written by an exiled official.
- 1583 to 1795Qi Yunshi's Essentials of the Dependent Territories
A Qing annalistic history of how each Mongol, Oirat, Tibetan and Muslim region came under the dynasty.
- 1583 to 1799Tables and Biographies of Mongol and Muslim Princes
The Qing court's 120 chapter genealogy of the noble houses of the Mongols, Oirats and Muslim regions, 1779 to 1795.
- 18th centuryThe Qing trilingual Mirror of the Manchu language
A 1780 imperial dictionary matching Manchu, Mongolian and Chinese words with their sounds.
- 1607 to 1636The Old Manchu Chronicles (Manwen laodang)
The Manchu state's own records from 1607 to 1636, recopied in the 1770s and published in 2009.
- 1559 to 1626Veritable Records of Nurhaci (Qing Taizu shilu)
The Qing court's official account of Nurhaci's rise, 1559 to 1626, rewritten several times.
- 1368 to 1627Veritable Records of the Ming
The Ming court's reign-by-reign record, 1368 to 1627, with dated entries on Mongol, Oirat, Jurchen and Western Region embassies.
- 1414 to 1415Chen Cheng's account of Herat and Samarkand, 1414 to 1415
A Ming envoy's report on the Timurid cities of Herat and Samarkand, known here through a Russian translation.
- 600 to 1499The Great Record of China and Tibet (1434)
A fifteenth-century Tibetan compendium of Chinese, Mongol and Tibetan history.
- 1643The Fifth Dalai Lama's Chronicle of Tibet (1643)
A Tibetan history by the ruler who allied with the Mongol Gushri Khan, covering antiquity to 1642.
- 1820The Tsenpo Nomonhan's world geography (1820, revised 1830)
A Tibetan geographer's description of Tibet, Mongolia, China, Russia and beyond, written without the name Tartary.
- 17th centuryDesi Sangye Gyatso's White Beryl (1685 to 1687)
A Tibetan treatise on astrology and the calendar, the key to dating Tibetan and Mongolian chronicles.
- 18th centuryChangkya Rolpe Dorje's Source of Scholars (1741 to 1742)
A Tibetan-Mongolian technical dictionary made for the Mongolian translation of the Tanjur.
- 1368The Clear Mirror of Royal Genealogies (1368)
A Tibetan royal history by a Sakya hierarch, ending with the Sakya and Mongol period.
- 1709 to 1770The Khalkha Jirum, laws of the Khalkha Mongols
The assembly laws of the Khalkha Mongols under Qing rule, 1709 to 1770, in a 1965 Soviet edition.
- 1508 to 1607The Jewel Translucent Sutra: the life of Altan Khan
A Mongolian court biography of Altan Khan (1508 to 1582), composed about 1607, in Elverskog's 2003 edition.
- 1783 to 1792What was heard about the Northern Raft: Japanese castaways in Russia
A Japanese scholar's 1794 record of a castaway captain's years in Siberia and Russia, 1783 to 1792.
- 1793 to 1804Strange Tidings from around the Seas: the Sendai castaways in Russia
A 1807 record of Japanese sailors who crossed Siberia to St Petersburg and came home by sea, 1793 to 1804.
- 18th centuryDescription of Russia: a Dutch geography turned into Japanese (1793)
Katsuragawa Hoshū's 1793 Japanese version of the Russia chapter of a Dutch geography book.
- 1618 to 1619Petlin's report on the road to China (1619)
A Tomsk Cossack's account of the first Russian journey to Ming China, 1618 to 1619.
- 1715 to 1722Lorenz Lange's journals from Siberia to Beijing
A Russian agent's journals of a Beijing journey and a stay at the Chinese court, 1715 to 1722.
- 1725 to 1728Raguzinsky's secret report on China (1731)
A Russian ambassador's private assessment of Qing power, written for Empress Anna in 1731.
- 1731 to 1733Tevkelev's journal from the Kazakh Junior Horde (1731 to 1733)
A Tatar interpreter's diary of the talks that brought the Junior Horde of the Kazakhs under Russian rule.
- 1233 to 1236Brief Information on the Black Tatars (Heida shilüe)
Two Song envoys' eyewitness report on the Mongols, whom they call Black Tatars, 1233 to 1236.
- 1549 to 1550Book of Victory of the Kazan Province (1550)
A Kazan-side account, in Ottoman Turkish, of the Russian siege of Kazan in 1550.
- 1267 to 1379Golden Horde khans' charters to the Russian church
Russian copies of khans' charters (yarliks) to the Orthodox clergy, 1267 to 1379.
- 1370 to 1404Nizam al-Din Shami's Book of Victory (Zafarnama)
The earliest surviving history of Timur's campaigns, written at his command, 1401 to 1404.
- 1335 to 1427Hafiz-i Abru's Cream of Histories (Zubdat al-tawarikh)
A Persian Timurid history of 1335 to 1427, written for Prince Baysunghur in the 1420s.
- 1200 to 1433Selected Histories for Mu'in al-Din (Muntakhab al-tawarikh)
A Persian chronicle of 1413 to 1414 with unique material on the Jochid ruling houses.
- 1200 to 1649Mahmud ibn Wali's Sea of Secrets
A Balkh court historian's seventeenth-century account of the steppe khanates, 1634 to 1641.
- 1500 to 1704History of Muqim Khan (Tarikh-i Muqim-khani)
A Bukharan chronicle of the Ashtarkhanid khans, from the sixteenth century to 1704.
- 1702 to 1711Book of Ubaydullah Khan (Ubaydulla-name)
A court chronicle of Bukhara under Ubaydullah Khan II, 1702 to 1711.
- 1200 to 1700History of Kashgar (anonymous)
An anonymous Persian chronicle of the Moghul khans and Khojas of Kashgaria, written after 1696.
- 1546 to 1676Shah Mahmud Churas's chronicle of Kashgaria
The main native narrative of the Moghul khans of Kashgaria, about 1546 to 1676.
- 1304 to 1470Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi's Rising of the Two Auspicious Stars
A Timurid history of 1304 to 1470 by a court historian who also travelled as an envoy.
- 800 to 1099Gardizi's Ornament of Histories (Zayn al-akhbar)
An eleventh-century Persian history whose famous chapter on the Turks is not in this edition.
- c. 1050 to 1120Marvazi on China, the Turks and India
A twelfth-century Arabic natural history with ethnographic chapters on the peoples of the steppe, about 1120.
- 1030 to 1041The Tarikh-i Baihaki: life of Mas'ud of Ghazni
A Ghaznavid secretary's eyewitness history of 1030 to 1041, including the Turkmen entry into Khorasan.
- 1257 to 1328Vassaf's History: the Mongol Ilkhans of Iran and their rivals
A Persian court historian's ornate chronicle of the Mongol rulers of Iran and the other Mongol khanates, 1257 to 1328.
- c. 915 to 947al-Mas'udi's Meadows of Gold
A tenth-century Arab universal history and geography with chapters on the Caspian, the Khazars and the Turkic peoples, 943 to 947.
- 900 to 1220Yaqut's Geographical Dictionary (Mu'jam al-buldan)
A thirteenth-century Arabic gazetteer that preserves earlier travellers, including long Ibn Fadlan extracts, about 1224 to 1228.
- 1220 to 1459Tiesenhausen's collection of sources on the Golden Horde
The standard anthology of Arabic and Persian extracts on the Golden Horde, 1884 and 1941.
- 1659 to 1661Abu'l-Ghazi's Genealogy of the Turkmen
A Khivan khan's history of the Turkmen tribes, gathered from oral tradition in 1659 to 1661.
- 1532 to 1551History of Sahib Giray Khan
A Crimean court physician's account of the reign of Khan Sahib Giray, 1532 to 1551.
- 1644 to 1651Book of Campaigns of Islam Giray III
A Crimean Tatar chronicle of the khan's alliance with Khmelnytsky's Cossacks against Poland, 1648 to 1650.
- 1200 to 1399Book of Chinggis by Otemish Hajji
A Khorezmian history of the Jochid ulus, written about 1550 from oral steppe tradition.
- 1200 to 1602Qadir Ali Beg's Compendium of Chronicles in Tatar
The earliest surviving history written in Volga Tatar, made at the Kasimov court in 1602.
- 1633 to 1666Account of Chinggis Khan and Timur (Daftar-i Chingiz-nama)
A seventeenth-century Volga Tatar collection of legends about Chinggis Khan, Timur, Bulghar and Kazan.
- c. 1050 to 1077Mahmud al-Kashgari's Compendium of the Turkic Dialects
An eleventh-century Turkic dictionary and world map by a Qarakhanid prince, made at Baghdad, 1072 to 1077.
- 1245 to 1247The Tartar Relation of C. de Bridia
A Franciscan's 1247 Latin history of the Mongols, written from the reports of the Carpini mission, surviving in one fifteenth-century manuscript bound with the Vinland Map.
- c. 1500 to 1517Miechowita's Treatise on the Two Sarmatias (1517)
The first systematic Western account of the Tatar hordes, written in Kraków from prisoners' and merchants' reports.
- 1525Giovio's Little Book on the Embassy of Basil of Muscovy
A Roman account of Muscovy and its Tatar neighbours, written in 1525 from a Russian envoy's answers.
- 1578 to 1579Broniewski's Description of Tartary (Tartariae descriptio)
A Polish envoy's Latin description of the Crimean khanate, written after his embassy of 1578 to 1579.
- 1655 to 1657Nieuhof's manuscript journal of the Dutch embassy to China (1655 to 1657)
The handwritten journal and drawings behind Nieuhof's famous printed book on the Dutch embassy to the Qing court.
- 1245 to 1339Abel-Rémusat on the Mongol emperors and the Christian princes
A French scholar's 1822 to 1824 study of the letters between Mongol rulers, popes and the kings of France.
- 1753 to 1757Peyssonnel's Treatise on the commerce of the Black Sea (1787)
A French consul's account of the trade and government of the Crimean khanate in the 1750s.
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