'May you stay in one place like a Christian'
Editorial contextHerberstein reports that the roving Tartars thought staying put was a misfortune, and that their worst curse on a child was to wish it a fixed home like a Christian's. He is careful to add that Tartars who live in towns and cities live differently, so he is describing the herders, not all Tartars.
They never stay for any length of time in one spot, for they consider it a great calamity to be obliged to remain long in the same place ; hence, when they are angry with their children, and wish to utter a heavy imprecation against them, they are accustomed to say, " may you abide in one place continually like a Christian, and inhale your own stink !"
About Nomadic Tartars (contrasted with town dwellers)
Keep in mind
A saying reported secondhand; the next lines note that Tartars in towns and cities live otherwise.
Kazan's wooden fortress burns
Editorial contextDuring a Russian campaign against Kazan, bribed Russians set fire to the Tartar fortress, which was built of wood, and it burned to the ground in sight of the Russian army. Herberstein, relying on soldiers' reports, scorns the Russian commander for letting the Tartars rebuild it. It is a clear statement that the Khanate's fortress in the 1520s was timber, not stone.
In the meanwhile the fortress of Kazan, which was built of wood, was set on fire by some of the Russians who had been bribed for that purpose, and was burnt to the ground under the eyes of the Russian army.
About Kazan Tartars; Russian army
Drinking their horses' blood, prizing mare's milk
Editorial contextOn long rides, Herberstein was told, Tartars open a vein in their horse and drink the blood, believing it does the animal good. They steer by the Pole Star, which they call the 'iron nail'. On the same page he describes their love of mare's milk and how chiefs share out the entrails of a slaughtered animal and lick the knife clean.
Moreover, if during a long ride they are troubled with hunger or thirst, it is a practice to lance the veins of the horses on which they sit, and relieve their craving by drawing their blood ; and they think that this is an advantage to the animals. As they nearly all wander on uncertain tracks, they are accustomed to direct their course by the observation of the stars
About Steppe Tartars (Crimean, Nogai)
Keep in mind
Reported from Russian and Lithuanian informants, not seen by Herberstein.
The feigned flight, which they call a dance
Editorial contextHerberstein explains the classic steppe tactic: attack from a distance, pretend to flee, shoot backwards at the pursuers, then wheel round and charge. The Tartars fight in a wheeling circle rather than a battle line and, he says, call this manoeuvre 'a dance'. Without shield, lance or helmet they avoid close combat in narrow places.
they do not, however, continue this mode of warfare long, but pretending flight, take an opportunity while their enemies are pursuing them to discharge their arrows backwards, and then, when the ranks of the enemy are broken, turn their horses suddenly round and attack them.
About Tartar cavalry
One name for many nations
Editorial contextHerberstein warns his readers that 'Tartar' is not the name of one people. It is a label drawn from one group and stretched over many nations living far apart. It is a useful early statement that the word was an umbrella term.
He who attempts to describe the Tartars will have to describe many races ; for they derive this name from one sect alone, while they consist of various nations lying wide apart from each other.
About Tartars in general
Moabites from the desert: a Russian origin legend
Editorial contextFrom the Russian chronicles Herberstein copies a story that the Tartars were 'Moabites' who came out of the north-eastern deserts, driven by a prophet named Gideon who preached the end of the world. The chronicle's date of AD 1025 for the Kalka battle is wrong (it was 1223), and the editor Major notes the attribution to Bishop Methodius is an anachronism.
They say that the Moabites, who were afterwards called Tartars, and who differed from the rest of mankind in language, manners, and dress, came to the river Calka ; but that no one knew whence they came, or what religious doctrine they held.
About Tartars (Mongols of the 13th-century invasion)
Keep in mind
A biblical-style legend from the chronicles; Herberstein reports it without endorsing it.
Hordes that hate being called Turks
Editorial contextHerberstein explains that 'horde' means a multitude, that the Tartars are split into hordes (Savolha, Precop, Nogai and others), all Muslim, and that they take offence at being called Turks, preferring 'Besermani' (Muslims). He then describes their looks: broad faces, shaved heads, and black hair kept only by the great men.
The word " horde" among them signifies a concourse or multitude. But although each horde has its peculiar name, such as the horde of Savolha, Precop, Nahaisa, and many others, and all are of the Mahometan religion, yet they are highly offended if they are called Turks, and consider it a reproach, but delight in being called Besermani
About Tartar hordes (Great Horde, Crimea, Nogai)
Khan, sultan, murza: Tartar titles explained
Editorial contextHerberstein closes his Tartar chapter with a little glossary of ranks: khan (king), sultan (a king's son), murza (a duke's son) and said (chief priest), with other noble grades in between. The same titles run through later Russian records of Tatar nobles. He also names the four great councillors of the Tartar kings.
The titles of dignity amongst the Tartars are nearly as follows : khan, as I have said above, signifies a king ; sultan, the son of a king ; … mursa, the son of a duke ; … said, a chief priest.
About Crimean and Volga Tartars
Keep in mind
The OCR garbles several of the rarer titles on this page (bey, noble ranks); check the page image for them.
The vegetable lamb of the Volga
Editorial contextHerberstein's most famous marvel: a Russian informant said his father, on an embassy to the Tartar king, saw a seed that grew into a lamb-like plant called 'boranetz' (little lamb) with wool, blood and hoofs, which grazed until the grass around it ran out. Herberstein admits it sounds incredible but repeats it because trustworthy people vouched for the wool. Editor Major adds that it was a fern (Polypodium baromez) trimmed to look like a lamb.
he had seen in the island a certain seed, somewhat larger and rounder, but not unlike the seed of a melon, from which, when planted, grew up something very like a lamb, of the height of five palms, and that it was called in their language " boranetz", which signifies a lambkin
About Tartars of the Great Horde (Savolha)
Keep in mind
Thirdhand (informant's father); Herberstein calls it 'almost incredible'.
800,000 captives and old men given to boys
Editorial contextAfter the 1521 raid the Crimean khan is said to have driven off more than 800,000 prisoners, selling many to the Turks at Kaffa. Herberstein repeats the lurid claim that old captives, worth little at market, were handed to Tartar youths for practice in killing. He flags the numbers himself ('scarcely be considered credible', 'they say').
But he took with him from Moscow so great a multitude of prisoners as would scarcely be considered credible ; they say that the number exceeded eight hundred thousand, part of whom he sold in Kaffa to the Turks, and part he slew.
About Crimean Tartars
Keep in mind
The figure is a rumour and far larger than is plausible; the slave trade through Kaffa itself is well documented.
Dining with the last khan of the Great Horde
Editorial contextHerberstein says the Crimean khans came from the old 'Savolha' royal line and fought its last king, Sheikh Ahmed. Defeated, the khan fled to Lithuania, was held in the island castle of Trakai, and there Herberstein met him at dinner. He writes that this ended the line of the Great Horde kings, heirs of the Golden Horde.
was apprehended in the attempt and taken back to the castle of Troky, four miles from Vilna, where I saw him and dined with him. This was the termination of the reign of the kings of Savolha, and together with them ended the race of the kings of Astrachan, who derived their origin from the same royal line.
About Sheikh Ahmed (Scheachmet), khan of the Great Horde (Savolha)
Keep in mind
His claim that the Astrakhan line ended here is contradicted a few pages later, where a king of Astrakhan regains his throne.