Written source · English

Clarke'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.

Full title Travels in Various Countries … Part I: Russia, Tartary, and Turkey

Edward Daniel Clarke

Read the 7 passages Open the original book

Edward Daniel Clarke (1769-1822), a Cambridge mineralogist and antiquary, travelled from 1799 to 1802 through Russia, the Crimea, Turkey, the Levant, Greece and the Balkans, and published his Travels in six parts from 1810. The catalogue card is for Part I (Russia, Tartary and Turkey, 1810), with its famous Crimean chapters. The corpus copy, however, is a different volume: Part II, Section III (London, 1816), covering Greece, Macedonia, Thrace, Constantinople and the ride to Vienna in 1801 to 1802. Here Tartars appear mainly as the Ottoman mounted couriers called 'Tatars', plus a few backward glances at the steppe tumuli and Crimean peoples Clarke had seen earlier.

How they knew: Eyewitness
Who “Tartar” means here: In this volume, mostly the Ottoman government couriers, a job title not an ethnic name, as a quoted footnote explains. Elsewhere 'Tartary' means the southern Russian steppe and Crimea Clarke had crossed earlier, known for its burial mounds.
Why read it: A vivid eyewitness picture of the 'Tartar' couriers who carried the Ottoman post, and a clear statement that this 'Tartar' was a profession, not a people.
Watch out: This is not the Crimea volume named on the catalogue card: the Crimean and steppe material of Part I is not in this corpus copy. Clarke refers back to it only in passing.

What it says: 7 passages

Cities Chufut-Kale, Crimea1800 (recalled 1816)

Chufut-Kale, the 'Castle of Miscreants'

Editorial contextContrasting the Jews of Constantinople with the Karaite Jews of the Crimea, Clarke praises the Karaites' character. He notes that their town was known by a Turkish insult, Tchufut-kaleh, the 'Castle of Miscreants' (his footnote glosses Tchifuit as 'a vile miscreant'), and says their good name had turned it into an honourable title.

How different from the character borne by the Karaite Jews of the Crimea! whose virtues have rendered even the opprobrious name, derived from their Turkish brethren, an honourable title ; for their place of residence is called Tchufut-kaleh, the "Castle of Miscreants."

Edward Daniel Clarke (1816)

See the original page (p. 522)

About Karaite Jews of the Crimea

Keep in mind

A passing remark; Clarke's full description of Chufut-Kale is in Part I, not in this volume.

Buildings Malkara, Thrace (Turkey)January 1802

Burial mounds 'precisely similar to those of Tartary'

Editorial contextRiding across the bare plains of Thrace, Clarke is reminded of the steppes of southern Russia and its tumuli (kurgans), which he had seen on his earlier journey. He does not say who built either set; he treats them simply as the same kind of ancient earth mound.

This part of Thrace resembles the steppes in the South of Russia ; and to add to the similitude of the two countries, there are here tumuli precisely similar to those of Tartary.

Edward Daniel Clarke (1816)

See the original page (p. 462)

About (ancient mound builders; comparison with the steppe)

Buildings Larissa, Thessaly1801

Unrobbed mounds, unlike those of Tartary

Editorial contextOn the plain near Larissa Clarke saw many large tumuli in good condition, some with shepherds' huts built on top. He notes that, unlike the mounds of 'Tartary', they did not seem to have been dug open for treasure. The steppe kurgans were well known for being plundered for their gold.

They did not seem to have been opened and ransacked for the hidden treasure which it is possible some of them contain, as it has often happened in Tartary ; but, upon some of them, small huts had been constructed, as dwellings for the shepherds.

Edward Daniel Clarke (1816)

See the original page (p. 276)

About (ancient Greek mound builders; comparison with the steppe)

Daily life Farsala, Thessaly1801

Ten minutes, a pipe and a spoonful of coffee

Editorial contextAt a khan in Pharsalus Clarke watched 'Tartar' couriers change horses. Each squatted against the wall for about ten minutes, smoked hard, gulped a spoonful of muddy coffee, said 'God be praised' and rode on, travelling night and day. Clarke says no couriers in the world could match their endurance, and that Europeans travelling alone in Turkey disguised themselves in their dress.

the Tartar squats (for it cannot be called sitting) with his back against the wall, supporting himself upon the soles of his feet, and inhaling rapidly the fumes of his pipe upon his lungs; sending it back in curling volumes through his nostrils. Then, if he can procure about as much muddy coffee as would fill the bowl of a table-spoon, he utters his Alhandilla! (God be praised !)

Edward Daniel Clarke (1816)

See the original page (p. 259)

About Ottoman couriers ('Tartars')

Show 3 more passages

The name Ottoman Empirec. 1800 (quoted 1816)

'Their name by no means indicates their origin'

Editorial contextIn a footnote Clarke quotes Thomas Thornton's book on Turkey (1809) to explain the couriers: 'Tartar' was the name of the job, not of a nation. The men came from every province and were marked out by the Tartar calpac (fur cap) they wore instead of a turban. A good reminder that 'Tartar' could mean a role or a costume.

The Tartars are public couriers, much respected for their good conduct and fidelity. Their name by no means indicates their origin, as they are taken indifferently from all the provinces in the empire, and are distinguished by the Tartar calpac, which they wear instead of the turban.

Thomas Thornton, The Present State of Turkey (1809), quoted in a footnote by Clarke

See the original page (p. 457)

About Ottoman couriers ('Tartars')

Strange tales southern Russian steppec. 1800 (written 1816)

Russian treasure hunters in 'Tartarian tombs'

Editorial contextIn a long footnote on tomb treasures, Clarke suggests that Turkish beliefs about gold hidden in ancient ruins may come from real finds in tombs. He adds that the Russians had found 'immense treasure' in 'Tartarian tombs', referring readers to his earlier book on the Tomb of Alexander (1805). The graves he means are the steppe kurgans, not necessarily Tatar at all.

The immense treasure found by the Russians in Tartarian tombs has been alluded to by the author, upon a former occasion.

Edward Daniel Clarke (footnote, 1816)

See the original page (p. 343)

About (ancient steppe burials)

Keep in mind

'Tartarian tombs' is a loose label for any ancient burial mound on the steppe; the footnote does not say who was buried in them.

Strange tales Boeotia, Greece1801

No poets on the flat steppe

Editorial contextAdmiring the mountains near Thebes, Clarke argues that great poetry needs great scenery, and that flat countries like Scythia or Belgium never produced it. Even Homer, he says, would not have been a poet if raised in 'oriental Tartary'. It is a period prejudice, not an observation, but it shows how Tartary served as a byword for dull, flat emptiness.

Even Homer himself, if he had been a native of oriental Tartary, and had been cradled and brought up under the impressions made by such scenery, and under the influence of such a climate, would never have been a poet.

Edward Daniel Clarke (1816)

See the original page (p. 49)

About Tartary as a stereotype

Keep in mind

Clarke's own opinion and prejudice, not a report about any real people.

The fine print

How we know

firsthand The author saw the places or people described.

Traveler

Research notes

Part I verified; quotations should retain the work's regional context.

Why it matters

Crimean antiquities, cities and communities.

Places named

Southern Russia; Crimea; Black Sea

Keep exploring

The witness before

1800 to 1839Gerard's account of Kinnaur and the 'Tartars' of the Tibetan frontierA Scottish surveyor's first-hand description of the Himalayan valley of Kinnaur and its Tibetan-speaking 'Tartar' neighbours, 1817 to 1821.Eyewitness · 13 passages

The witness after

1800 to 1833John Francis Davis's The ChineseA British China hand's 1836 survey of the Qing empire, its 'Manchow Tartar' rulers and the Mongol lands beyond the Great Wall.Part eyewitness · 10 passages

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