Baraba Tatars: houses dug into the earth
Editorial contextBetween Tara and Tomsk lay the Baraba district, home to Tatars who had once paid fur tribute both to the tsar and to the Kalmyk prince Ablai, and now paid only the tsar. They spoke both Kalmyk and Tatar, lived in dwellings dug into the ground like cellars, had their own princelings and small 'dug' towns (earthworks), and lived by hunting of every kind.
and in that Baraba district live Tatars who formerly paid tribute (yasak) to the Great Sovereign and to Ablai taisha, but now pay only to the Great Sovereign. And these Tatars speak Kalmyk and Tatar, and their dwelling is this: they dig cellars in the ground; and they have princelings, and dug-out little towns, and they carry on all kinds of hunting.
Working translation
Original wording
и въ той Барабинской волости живутъ Татары, которые прежъ сего платили есакъ Великому Государю и Аблаю тайшѣ, а нынѣ только Великому Государю платятъ. И тѣ Татары говорятъ по калмыцки и по татарски, а жилище ихъ есть, копаютъ въ землѣ погребы, и князцы у нихъ есть, и городки копаные, и звѣриные промыслы всякіе промышляютъ
About Baraba Tatars
Keep in mind
Baraba was off his route; this is Tobolsk knowledge, not his own observation.
Brick halls in Kalmyk country, built by craftsmen from China
Editorial contextFollowing the upper Irtysh through Kalmyk country, Spafarii notes its few buildings. The Kalmyk prince Ablai had built two halls of fired brick in a strong place among stone mountains, and the craftsmen had been sent to him from China, because Mongol and Kalmyk princes exchanged envoys and gifts with the Chinese emperor, 'since now a Kalmyk and Tatar race rules in China'. On the same page he mentions the Kontaisha's clay town with two brick halls where Kalmyk lamas lived.
And on that stream Ablai taisha built 2 halls of fired brick in a strong place among stone mountains, and the craftsmen were sent to him from the Chinese state, because the Mongol and Kalmyk taishas often exchange envoys with the Chinese khan and take and give presents, since now a Kalmyk and Tatar race rules in China.
Working translation
Original wording
А на той рѣчкѣ Аблай тайша сдѣлалъ 2 палаты изъ зженаго кирпичю въ крѣпкомъ мѣстѣ межъ горъ каменныхъ, а мастеры къ нему присланы были изъ Китайского государства, потому что Мугалскіе и Калмыцкіе тайши ссылаются часто съ Китайскимъ ханомъ и поминки емлютъ и даютъ для того, что нынѣ въ Китаехъ владѣетъ родъ Калмыцкой и Татарской.
About Kalmyks (the Oirat prince Ablai taisha); 'Tatars' here means the Manchu rulers of China
Keep in mind
Not eyewitness: the editor says Spafarii took the upper Irtysh from the reports of the envoys Baikov (1654) and Seitkul Ablin. Historians link Ablai's buildings to the Ablai-kit monastery of the 1650s; the text does not use that name.
The lama's stone temple 'like a city', built by Chinese masters
Editorial contextSpafarii copies the report of the party of Ivan Porshennikov, who rode from Selenginsk across Mongolia to China and back in 1675. On the Tola (Tuul) river lived the Khutukhta lama, head of all the priests 'like our metropolitan', who had built for his idols a great stone temple 'like a city', with craftsmen brought from China. A little further down the Tola stood an empty stone city, very strong, whose walls needed only a little repair.
and in that place he built for his idols a great stone temple, like a city, and the craftsmen who made that temple were brought from China. And on the same Tola river, a little below the Khutukhta, there is an empty stone city, and around its wall little repair is needed, and the city is very strong.
Working translation
Original wording
и въ томъ мѣстѣ построилъ капище своимъ идоломъ великое каменное, будто городъ, а мастеры, которые дѣлали то капище, приведены были изъ Китаи. Да и по той же рѣкѣ Толѣ пониже немного Кутухты есть городъ каменной пустой, и около стѣны его починки немного надобно, а городъ самой крѣпкой.
About Khalkha Mongols and their chief lama, the Khutukhta; Chinese craftsmen
Keep in mind
Second-hand, from Porshennikov's men; the same page says a nearby gold mine was 'not yet certain'.
An empty brick hall on the steppe: 'an old work'
Editorial contextThe route list down the Irtysh names the Kalmyk lama's two halls of fired brick coated with lime, and then a place the Kalmyks call Kabal-Gasun, which Spafarii renders in Russian as 'stone hall': a building of fired brick, standing empty, 'an old work'. He says nothing of who built it or when.
the Kalmyk lama lives by the Irtysh river on the left side; and two brick halls have been set up for him, of fired brick coated with lime … Kabal-Gasun in the Kalmyk tongue, and in Russian 'a stone hall': fired brick, empty. An old work.
Working translation
Original wording
лама Калмыцкой, живетъ подлѣ рѣки Иртыша на лѣвой сторонѣ; и поставлены у него двѣ палаты кирпичныя, кирпичь зженой смазыванъ известью … Кабалъ-Гасунъ - калмыцкимъ языкомъ, а по руски - палата каменная: кирпичъ зженой, пустая. Дѣло старинное.
About Kalmyks (Oirats); the builders of the ruin are not named
Keep in mind
Taken from earlier envoys' route reports, not seen by Spafarii. Dashes in the printed text are shown as hyphens.
No towns or villages: Mongols in felt yurts
Editorial contextIn the same passage Spafarii sketches how the Mongols lived: under many princes (taishas), with the Saïn khan as overlord and the Khutukhta lama as their high priest. They roamed near Selenginsk, he says, because they had no towns or villages, and so wandered over the steppes in felt yurts to feed their great herds.
and they roam not far from the Selenginsk fort, because they have no towns or villages; and for that reason they wander over the steppes in felt yurts, to feed their many herds.
Working translation
Original wording
и тѣ неподалеку кочуютъ отъ Селенгинского острогу, потому что у нихъ городовъ и селъ нѣтъ; и для того кочуютъ по степямъ въ юртахъ войлочныхъ для прокормленія многаго скота ихъ.
About Khalkha Mongols
The salt-lake fair where Kalmyks, Bukharans and Tatars sold horses and captives
Editorial contextAt the Yamysh salt lakes, where the 'Siberian kingdom' ended, 30 or 40 river boats came every year from Tobolsk, Tomsk and other towns to load natural salt. While the Russians gathered it, a fair sprang up: many thousands of Kalmyks, Bukharans and Tatars came to sell horses, captives and Chinese goods. After two or three weeks everyone left and the place stood empty again, and Spafarii suggests a fort should be built there.
And at the time when the Russian people gather salt from the lake, a fair takes place. And many thousands of people come, Kalmyks and Bukharans and Tatars, and trade with the Russian people. And they sell horses, and captives, and other Chinese goods. And they hold that fair for 2 or 3 weeks
Working translation
Original wording
А въ то время, какъ Рускіе люди собираютъ соль изъ озера, учинится ярмарокъ. И приходятъ многіе тысящи людей Калмыки и Бухарцы и Татары и торгуютъ съ Рускими людьми. И они продаютъ лошади, и ясырь, и иные китайскіе товары. И держатъ тотъ ярмарокъ недѣли по 2 и по 3
About Kalmyks, Bukharans and Tatars trading with Russians
Keep in mind
'Yasyr' means captives taken in raids and sold as slaves.
'Tatars' who seized China thirty years ago
Editorial contextIn a dispatch to Tsar Aleksei from Yeniseisk, Spafarii passes on what Russian traders just back from Peking (Kambalyk) told him. The 'Nikan kingdom' the Chinese were fighting, he explains, is simply the old Chinese kingdom: about thirty years before, 'Tatars' had taken the Chinese realm, the old royal line fled to distant coastal provinces, and 'the Bogdykhan's Tatars' now call it Nikan. Russian deserters in Peking whispered that two thousand soldiers could win all Dauria for the tsar.
And that Nikan kingdom is nothing other than the old Chinese kingdom, because it is now some thirty years since the Tatars took possession of the Chinese kingdom, and the royal line fled into the distant coastal Chinese lands, and the Bogdykhan's Tatars now call that the Nikan kingdom.
Working translation
Original wording
И то Никанское царство нѣтъ иного, опричь стараго Китайскаго царства, потому что нынѣ есть лѣтъ съ тридцать завладѣли Китайскимъ царствомъ Татары, а поколѣніе царское бѣжало въ дальніе приморскія китайскія страны, и то нынѣ называютъ Богдыхановы Татары Никанскимъ царствомъ.
About Manchus (called Tatars) and the Han Chinese 'Nikan' kingdom
Keep in mind
Second-hand from traders. The editor's footnote explains that the war was the revolt of the southern provinces led by Wu Sangui, not a restored Ming kingdom; 'Nikan' was the Manchu word for the Han Chinese.
Why Siberia's rivers have Tatar names
Editorial contextSpafarii notices that the Irtysh, Tobol, Tura and other Siberian rivers have no Russian names: Russians still use the names the Tatars or Ostyaks gave them before the conquest. The Irtysh, he says, took its name from the Tatars because Kuchum, 'the Tatar tsar', ruled widely along it over Tatars, Ostyaks and other peoples. Even under Russian rule, he adds, a great multitude of Tatars and their faith lived along the river.
The river Irtysh has no Russian name, because Irtysh is named in Tatar and not in Russian … So too the river Irtysh took its name from the Tatars, because Kuchum, the Tatar tsar, ruled widely along the Irtysh, and not only over the Tatars but over the Ostyaks and other foreign peoples too
Working translation
Original wording
Рѣка Иртышъ имя руское не имѣетъ, для того что Иртышъ именуется по татарски, а не по руски … Такъ же рѣка Иртышъ приняла имя свое отъ Татаръ, потому что Кучюмъ, царь Татарской, владѣлъ по Иртышу пространно и не токмо надъ Татары, но и надъ Остяками и надъ иными иноземцы
About Siberian Tatars of Kuchum's former khanate
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.
A cliff of unknown writing on the Yenisei
Editorial contextBefore the great rapids of the Yenisei, Spafarii was told, a stone cliff carries carved writing in an unknown script, with crosses among the letters and carved men holding maces, and 'many other such works'. Nobody knew what it said or who made it. The upper Yenisei is famous today for its rock art and early Turkic runic inscriptions, but Spafarii could only report the mystery.
And before one reaches the great rapids there is a place, a stone cliff along the Yenisei. On that cliff there is carved in the stone some unknown writing, and among the writing crosses are carved too, and men are carved as well, and in their hands they hold maces, and many other such works. … And no one knows what is written or by whom.
Working translation
Original wording
А до болшого порогу не доѣзжая есть мѣсто, утесъ каменной по Енисѣю. На томъ утесѣ есть вырѣзано на каменю невѣдомо какое писмо и межъ писмомъ есть и кресты вырѣзаны, такъ же и люди вырѣзаны, и въ рукахъ у нихъ булавы, и иные многіе такія дѣла. … А никто не вѣдаетъ, что писано и отъ кого.
About unknown carvers
Keep in mind
Hearsay ('as they say'); he did not travel that stretch of the Yenisei.
The Mongols as Gog and Magog
Editorial contextAt Selenginsk, where by his reckoning the Siberian realm ended and the 'Mongol state' began, Spafarii offers a learned identification: the Mongols are the Gog and Magog of the Bible, 'because they call themselves Mogol'. It is an old pun on the name from biblical geography, not something the Mongols told him. He then describes them as a very great people stretching from the Amur to Bukhara and India.
And here the Siberian state ends and the Mongol state begins. The Mongols are those of whom the Bible writes, Gog and Magog, because they call themselves Magol. And that Mongol race is very great
Working translation
Original wording
И здѣ скончается Сибирское государство, и начинается государство Мунгальское. Мунгалы суть, о которыхъ пишетъ въ Библіи - Гогъ и Магогъ, потому что они называютъ себя Маголь. И тотъ родъ Мунгальской зѣло великой
About Mongols (Khalkha)
Keep in mind
A bookish word-play, repeated from the European and Byzantine tradition. The printed dash is shown as a hyphen.
A great stone ghost city near Lake Dalai
Editorial contextDescribing Lake Dalai (Hulun Nur) from what the local peoples told him, Spafarii reports a great stone city a day's ride from the lake, 'with every kind of building', its stone halls still whole. Some said its people all died of plague and left their goods behind, so that no one dared enter and people only looked at it from afar; others said war had emptied it. On the same page he repeats that the lake is so deep it holds whales and seals.
A day's journey from the Dalai there is a great stone city with every kind of building, and the stone halls in it are whole; and they say that in that city the people all perished of plague, and all their goods remained there; and the natives dare not go into that city, but look at it all from afar; and others say that it was laid waste by war.
Working translation
Original wording
Отъ Далая днище есть городъ великой каменной со всякимъ строеніемъ, и палаты въ немъ каменныя цѣлы; и говорятъ, что въ томъ городѣ отъ мору люди всѣ пропали, и осталось имѣніе ихъ все тамъ; и иноземцы въ тотъ городъ иттить не смѣютъ, а смотрятъ все издали; а иные говорятъ, что отъ войны запустѣло.
About Mongols nomadising around the lake; the city's builders are not named
Keep in mind
Rumour from local informants; a gap in both manuscripts cuts off the sentence just before, so the river it stood on is lost.