A Tatar funeral feast of thirty oxen for Yermak
Editorial contextIn the same chronicle story, the Tatars repented of mistreating Yermak's body, wished they had made him their king, and buried him under a spreading pine at the Begishev burial ground, holding a memorial feast 'after the Tatar custom' at which thirty oxen and ten rams were eaten. They shared out his weapons and clothes, and one coat of mail was offered to a famous Ostyak idol.
They buried him at the Begishev burial ground under a pine with crooked branches, and in his memory held a funeral feast after the Tatar custom, at which 30 oxen and 10 rams were consumed.
Working translation
Original wording
Man habe ihn an dem Begischewischen Begräbniß-Orte unter einer krauß-astigen Fichte zur Erden bestattet, und zu seinem Gedächtnisse nach Tatarischem Gebrauche ein Todtenmahl angestellet, auf welchem 30 Ochsen und 10 Hammel verzehret worden.
About Siberian Tatars; Ostyaks
'Turali': the Tatars who lived in towns
Editorial contextDiscussing the word 'tura' (town or fortress in Tatar and Bukharan), Müller reports that the Bashkirs call the Tyumen Tatars, and after them the Tobolsk Tatars, only 'Turali'. On the next page he gives the Bashkirs' explanation: these Tatars had lived since ancient times in towns and fortresses, or at least in fixed places, while the Bashkirs often moved their dwellings about the steppe.
One may easily think here, since Tura in the Tatar and Bukharan language means a town or fortress, that perhaps the river Tura received its name from this old Tatar fortress of Chimgi. The Bashkirs have no other name for the Tyumen Tatars, and after them for the Tobolsk Tatars too, than to call them Turali
Working translation
Original wording
Man kann hier leicht auf die Gedanken kommen, da Tura in der Tatarischen und Bucharischen Sprache eine Stadt, oder Festung, bedeutet, daß vielleicht der Fluß Tura von dieser alten Tatarischen Festung Tschimgi den Nahmen empfangen. Die Baschkiren haben für die Tümenischen Tataren, und nach selbigen auch für die Tobolskischen, keinen andern Nahmen, als daß sie solche Turali nennen
About Tyumen and Tobolsk Tatars, as named by the Bashkirs
'Sibir' was not the Tatars' name for their capital
Editorial contextMüller corrects a common belief that 'Sibir' is the Tatar word for the capital. When he asked the Tobolsk Tatars, they did not know the word at all; they called the place Isker. He thinks the name Sibir arose in Russia, taken from the Permians or Zyrians who first brought news of the land, and was only later attached to the Tatar capital.
It is commonly believed that Sibir is the Tatar name of the place, meaning a capital or residence. But if one asks the Tobolsk Tatars about this, it is quite unknown to them. They call the place Isker instead
Working translation
Original wording
Man glaubt insgemein, Sibir sey die Tatarische Benennung des Orts, welche soviel, als eine Hauptstadt, oder Residenz, bedeute. Fraget man aber die Tobolskischen Tataren nach diesem Umstande, so ist ihnen solcher ganz unbekannt. Sie nennen vielmehr den Ort Isker
About Tobolsk Tatars
A bird that cried 'Chinggis'
Editorial contextA learned Mongol lama gave Müller a story from Tibetan and Mongol books about the rise of Chinggis Khan. A khan's son and nine nobles fled rather than become monks; the peoples they met joined them and chose the son as khan. As the nine debated his new name, a small bird landed nearby and cried 'Chinggis, Chinggis', and so he was named. Müller calls the story very fabulous but prints it because nothing like it had been published.
At that same time a little bird came flying up, settled near the council, and cried out in a clear voice, 'Chinggis, Chinggis'. At once they unanimously decided to give the khan this name that the bird had sung.
Working translation
Original wording
Zu derselben Zeit sey ein kleiner Vogel angeflogen gekommen, welcher in der Nähe der Rathsversammlung sich niedergesetzet, und mit vernehmlicher Stimme Tschingis, Tschingis, geschrieen. Alsobald habe man einmüthig beschlossen, diesen von dem Vogel angestimmten Nahmen dem Chane beyzulegen.
About Mongols (their own tradition of Chinggis Khan)
A Christian city seen in the sky above Tobolsk
Editorial contextMüller relays, somewhat apologetically, the omens that the Siberian chronicles say foretold the end of Tatar rule. The Tatars living around the site of later Tobolsk often saw a Christian city with churches and bell towers in the air and heard bells ringing. He says he tells it only to stay faithful to his source.
Will I be forgiven for telling them? I do it for no other reason than that I do not like to depart from my original. The Tatars living round about are often said to have seen, above the place where the town of Tobolsk now stands, a Christian city with churches and bell towers in the air, and to have heard bells ringing too.
Working translation
Original wording
Wird man es mir wohl zu gute halten, wenn ich solche erzähle? Ich thue es aus keiner andern Ursache, als weil ich mich nicht gerne von meinem Originale entferne. Oft sollen die umher wohnenden Tataren über dem Orte, wo jetzt die Stadt Tobolsk stehet, eine Christliche Stadt mit Kirchen und Glockenthürmen in der Luft gesehen, und dabey auch ein Geläute von Glocken gehöret haben.
About Siberian Tatars
Yermak's body that bled for six weeks
Editorial contextFollowing the Remezov chronicle, whose author wanted Yermak made a saint, Müller tells how Tatars found the drowned Cossack leader by his armour. When a murza tried to strip it, blood ran from the corpse's mouth and nose as from a living man, so the Tatars laid the body naked on a scaffold and everyone who passed shot an arrow into it, and each time fresh blood flowed. Birds would not touch it, and after six weeks troubling dreams led the Tatars to bury him.
At once much blood ran from the dead man's mouth and nose, just as from a living person … For this purpose they laid the body quite naked on a scaffold, and everyone who came up or passed by shot an arrow at it, and each time fresh blood ran from the wound.
Working translation
Original wording
Alsobald lief dem Todten aus Mund und Nase häufiges Blut, nicht anders, als von einem lebendigen Menschen … Sie legten zu solchem Ende den Leichnam ganz entkleidet auf ein Gerüste, da denn ein jeder, der herzukam, oder vorüber gieng, einen Pfeil nach demselben abschoß, wovon jedes mahl frisches Blut aus der Wunde lief.
About Siberian Tatars of Kuchum Khan
Keep in mind
A hagiographic chronicle story; Müller notes its author wished Yermak to be canonised.
A Kalmyk ruler who searched for the legendary valley of Ergene Kon
Editorial contextDiscussing Abulghazi's legend that the ancestors of the Mongols lived shut in the valley of Ergene Kon until a whole mountain was melted to let them out, Müller adds a curious report he had been assured of: the Zunghar ruler Galdan Tseren, having heard the story from Bukharans, searched for such a valley as a refuge for his treasure and family, and was said to have found one somewhere in his lands.
It is remarkable that, as I am assured, the Kalmyk ruler Galdan Tseren after long searching is said to have found such a plain among the mountains, as Ergene Kon is described by Abulghazi … within the borders of his territory, only no one knows where
Working translation
Original wording
Es ist merkwürdig, daß, wie man mich versichert, der Calmückische Beherrscher Galdanzerin nach langem Suchen eine dergleichen Ebene zwischen dem Gebürge, wie Irgene-Kon von Abulgasi beschrieben ist … innerhalb den Gränzen seines Gebiets, man weiß nur nicht wo, soll gefunden haben
About Kalmyks (Zunghar Oirats); Mongol origin legend