Nogai round huts of bulrushes, each with its hawk
Editorial contextBruce says the Nogais around Astrakhan lived mostly in small round huts of bulrushes or canes with a smoke hole at the top, and that even the smallest had a hawk, since they were great falconers. On the next page he says they packed the huts onto carts in summer and moved with their herds.
The Nagayans live for the most part in round huts made of bull-rushes, or canes, and seldom exceed twelve or thirteen yards in circumference, with a hole at the top to let out the smoak ; yet the least of these huts has a falcon, or hawk, as those Tartars are great masters of this sport
About Nogai Tatars ('Nagayans')
Keep in mind
This description closely follows Adam Olearius's account of the 1630s and may be borrowed rather than observed.
Kazan Tatars who 'live all in houses'
Editorial contextBruce contrasts the Kazan Tatars with the nomads: they all lived in houses, farmed and supplied the south with food, which made them the most civilised of the Tartars in his eyes. He adds they were mostly Muslims, though many townspeople were Orthodox, and were forbidden to enter Russian fortifications. On the previous page he describes Kazan itself: wooden houses, a stone castle, and a population of Tatars and Russians.
The kingdom of Casan lies on the left side of the Wolga, and its inhabitants live all in houses, and subsist by agriculture : they supply the southern provinces with all sorts of provisions, and by this means they are the most civilized of all the Tartars.
About Kazan Tatars
'Vagabond Tartars' with huts by the rivers
Editorial contextBruce reports what an envoy sent by Peter the Great to the 'northern Tartar princes' found on a journey toward the Lena. He said they were all wandering Tartars in tents, rich only in cattle, but that along the rivers there were some houses or huts and a little corn, where their khans usually lived. The prince of the Yakuts turned him back.
He reported, that they were all vagabond Tartars, living in tents, and shifting their residence from place to place for pasturage, as all their riches consisted in herds of cattle ; but he observed a sort of houses, or huts, on the sides of rivers, and some corn, and in these situations their chams generally resided.
About Northern Siberian peoples ('northern Tartars')
Keep in mind
Second-hand; the envoy is not named and the peoples are not identified beyond the Yakuts.
Not a single house between Saratov and Astrakhan
Editorial contextBelow Saratov Bruce entered Kalmyk country on the left bank of the Volga. He says the whole huge tract had not one house: the Kalmyks lived in tents, moved with horses, camels, cattle and sheep, grew no crops and ate meat (especially horse), fish and game, with plenty of milk and a strong clear spirit made from mare's milk.
in all which immense tract there is not so much as one single house to be seen, as they all live in tents, and remove from one place to another in quest of pasturage for their large herds of cattle, consisting of horses, camels, cows, and sheep ; they neither sow, nor reap, nor make hay for their cattle, so that they live without bread
About Kalmyks (Oirat Mongols)
Left behind with a sheep and a jar of water
Editorial contextBruce says the Kalmyks feared smallpox like the plague. When someone caught it they struck camp and fled, leaving the sick person in their worst kibitka with a killed sheep, water and firewood; few survived. On the same page he describes being served roast and boiled suckling foal by Prince Dasan, and calls it delicious.
The small-pox is as much dreaded among the Kalmucks as the pestilence amongst us : when any of them are seized with it, they immediately break up their camp and fly, leaving the sick person in one of their worst kibbets with a killed sheep, part of which is roasted and part raw, and a jar of water and some wood for fire
About Kalmyks (Oirat Mongols)
A skin on a pole to plead with God
Editorial contextBruce calls the Mari (Cheremis) of the middle Volga 'Tartars' and describes them as heathens without churches or priests. When they sacrificed a horse, cow or sheep they hung its skin on a high pole and prayed to it to intercede with God for more cattle. He adds details on naming, polygamy and dress.
when they offer a sacrifice to God, they kill a horse, cow, or sheep, and extend its skin on a high pole, which they implore to intercede for them with God, that he may increase the number of their cattle. They have a high veneration for the sun and moon … They make use of no churches, priests, or books
About Mari ('Ceremisse Tartars')
Keep in mind
The Mari are a Finnic people, not Tatars; this account closely matches Olearius and is probably borrowed.
Nogais said to be Indians, and Astrakhan named after King Astra
Editorial contextIn his 'short account of the Tartars', Bruce says the ancients knew them only as Scythians and Sarmatians, and that the Tartars were really several nations. He repeats a story that the Nogais and Kazan Tatars were Indians who rebelled around 1212 and migrated to the Sea of Azov, and that Astrakhan was named after its founder, a Tartar king called Astra.
The Nagayans, with the Tartars of Casan, and some others inhabiting between the Wolga and the Don, or Tanais, are said to have been Indians, who revolting from their sovereigns about the year 1212, emigrated … Astrachan, their principal city, they relate to have been built by a Tartar king, whose name being Astra, gave his city the name of Astra chan, or king.
About Nogai and Kazan Tatars
Keep in mind
Both stories are origin legends reported as hearsay ('are said', 'they relate'); they appear in earlier writers such as Olearius.
The khan who wanted no gold: the Khiva massacre
Editorial contextBruce tells how Prince Alexander Bekovich, sent to find gold on the Amu Darya, was lured into quartering his men among the Uzbeks. The khan assured him he had no use for gold or silver, since his people owned only herds and tents and had no castles or towns to lose. That night the troops were massacred and Bekovich cut to pieces. The story reached Peter through a surviving captive officer.
for his own part, he neither valued gold nor silver, as it was of no use in their country, for they lived without that, or even bread, consequently had no use for either ; their whole riches consisting in herds of cattle, which, with their tents, they could remove at pleasure ; and, consequently, could not fear having either castles, towns, or villages, rifled or taken from them
About Uzbeks of Khiva ('Usbeck Tartars')
Keep in mind
Hearsay and dramatised; the khanate of Khiva in fact had walled towns, so the khan's speech (if spoken) was a ruse.