Western European map of the mid-17th century.
Fans of Russian history have long known about the existence of geographical maps of the 17th-18th centuries, on which a certain country called Grande Tartarie (Great Tartaria, on Russian maps - Tartaria) is depicted east of the Volga. Academic scholars try not to comment on this fact. But supporters of alternative versions are finding more and more confirmation of the erroneousness of our usual ideas about the past of the Fatherland. An interesting material on this topic was disseminated on the Internet by our contemporary, who appears in LiveJournal under the account yuri_ost.
ALREADY FOR ANYONE it is no secret that the mysterious Tartaria freely spreads on the maps of the past in the vastness of Eurasia. Subsequently, the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union appeared practically within the same borders. Many also know that concepts such as Siberia, Tatars, Russians, Mongols were gradually replaced, which earlier had completely different meanings than we are used to operating today.
On various maps, Tartary was depicted as a country with borders and cities. But why is Tartaria not mentioned as a state in Russian history textbooks?
Perhaps due to the fact that Tartary is not a self-name. Although there is a Russian name - Tataria (Russian map of 1737). So why not tell about it and the names of this country that existed earlier in the world?
The symbols of the state are traditionally the coat of arms, flag and anthem. It can be assumed that Tartary-Tartaria was a state and it may have had its own anthem, but I think we will never know how it sounded.
As for the coat of arms and the flag, theoretically there is always a chance to find them. And it happened! In the book "World Geography", published in Paris in 1676, the article about Tartary is preceded by the image of an owl on a shield, which is known to many specialists (in Fig. 1). It can be assumed that this is the coat of arms of Tartary.
We find a similar image in a frequently encountered illustration for the book by Marco Polo, who described his travels across Asia and stay with the "Mongol" Khan Kublai (Fig. 2). By the way, Marco Polo found the empire well organized and hospitable.
So what do we have? We have two images of an owl on a shield in two different books, which can be considered, however, only hypothetically, as the coat of arms of Tartary.
But maybe Tartary-Tartary had a flag? Let's search the library repositories.
If we look into the collection of sea flags of the world, compiled at the beginning of the 18th century, apparently in France, we will see not one flag of Tartary, but two. At the same time, along with its flags, there are flags of Russia and the flags of the Great Mughals (note that some images are glued together, since they had to be copied in parts).
The first Tartar flag is the flag of the Emperor of Tartaria, and the second is simply Tartaria. Only the trouble is, the images of the flags have practically disappeared (the possibilities of newspaper printing, unfortunately, do not allow reproducing the images of these flags, they can only be seen by Internet users in the electronic version of the article. - Ed.). It is impossible to really determine what is drawn there (like an owl). But for us it is important that the flags of Tartary are shown in the old drawing along with the flags of other countries, and one of them is imperial. That is, no one in Western Europe at the beginning of the 18th century doubts that the empire of Tartary exists and has its own fleet.
Now let's look at one more - this time a Dutch table of the early 18th century, which also contains the naval flags of the world. And again we find two flags of Tartary, but not so worn out, the image on them can, albeit with difficulty, be disassembled (photo in the Internet version).
And what do we see: on the imperial flag (here it appears as the flag of the Kaiser of Tartaria) a dragon is depicted, and on the other flag - an owl! Yes, the same owl that is in the French "World Geography" and in the illustration for the book by Marco Polo. There are also Russian flags, but in the table they are listed as the flags of Muscovy.
Now we know that Tartary had flags, which means that it was a state, and not just a territory on the map. We also learned that one of the flags of Tartary is the imperial one. Therefore, we are talking about an empire!
LEFT find out what colors were used on the Tartar flags. The answer to this question was found in the "Declaration of the sea flags of all states of the universe", published in Kiev in 1709 with the personal participation of Peter I.
Unfortunately, only one copy of "Declarations …" has been found on the Internet with weak resolution, which makes the flag captions difficult to read. Nevertheless, we see that the colors of Tartary were black and yellow.
We find confirmation of this in the "Book of Flags" by the Dutch cartographer Karl Allard (published in Amsterdam in 1705 and republished in Moscow in 1709): “The flag of the king of Tartary is yellow, with a black dragon lying and looking outward with a basilisk tail. Another Tatar flag, yellow with a black owl with yellowish Persians.
By the way, here, among the Russian flags, a yellow flag with a black double-headed eagle appears.
In the Russian-language "Book of Flags" by the Dutchman Allard, images of the flags of Tartary-Tartaria with Russian inscriptions are quite distinguishable. But here the autocrat of Tartary is called the tsar (Fig. 1).
On the Internet, we managed to find several more tables with Tartar flags - an English table from 1783 and a couple of other tables from the same 18th century. Most surprisingly, a table with the imperial flag of Tartary, published already in 1865 in the USA, was discovered!
In the English table of 1783, the first three Russian flags are indicated as the flags of the Tsar of Muscovy (at that time, according to the academic version of history, Empress Catherine II ruled), followed by the imperial flag of Russia (Russia Imperial), then the trade tricolor, followed by the admiral and other naval flags Russia. And in front of the flags of the Tsar of Muscovy in this table, for some reason, the flag of the Viceroy of Muscovy is located.
This flag is also present in Allard's book, but it is not identified there and is considered a mistake by modern experts.
At the same time, it is known that back in 1972 the Moscow vexillologist A. A. Usachev (vexillology is a historical discipline dealing with the study of flags, banners, standards, pennants, etc. - Ed.) Suggested that this is the flag of Israel Ori, one of the leaders of the Armenian liberation movement. Ori, who was in Russia, on behalf of Peter I, went to the Netherlands, where he recruited officers, soldiers and craftsmen on behalf of the tsar, having great powers. Hence, they say, and the naming of him "Viceroy of Muscovy."
However, we must not forget that Ori died in 1711, and the table was published by the British in 1783. The flag of the viceroy of Muscovy is located in front of the flag of the king, that is, it turns out that he is more important. The flags of Russia, including the imperial (imperial) ones, are shown after the flags of the Tsar of Muscovy.
It can be assumed that the mess with the flags of Muscovy and the Russian Empire is explained by the political necessity of the formation of a new heraldry by the Romanov dynasty.
And yet, the fact that the flag of some incomprehensible viceroy of Muscovy is placed in the first place cannot but raise questions from meticulous researchers. What if something happened in the 1770s that is not told to us in history lessons? And the teachers themselves do not know about it …
BUT LET'S RETURN to the empire of Tartary. If this country had flags (this, as we can see, is confirmed by both domestic and foreign sources of that time), then we can already assume with sufficient confidence that the shield with the image of an owl is still the COAT OF ARMS (or one of the coats of arms) of this power.
Since the sources listed above were about sea flags, therefore, navigation was developed in Tartary …
And yet it is strange that history has not left us a single name of the emperor (kaiser, caesar) of Tartary. Or are they known to us, but under different names and with different titles?
German table of flags. Nuremberg, 1750
We are completing the publication of material about the flags of Tartary, which were found in the tables of sea flags published several centuries ago in Western Europe and the USA.
It probably makes sense to dwell on the flag of the emperor of Tartaria. On the last table we have in 1865 (published in the USA), this flag is no longer called imperial, and there is no other flag (with an owl) nearby. Probably, the time of the empire is already in the past.
If you look closely at this image of the Tartar dragon, you can find that the imperial dragon of Tartaria apparently has no direct relation to the dragons of China-Chyna (now China) or to the legendary snake Zilant on the coat of arms of Kazan (see the figure in the Internet version) …
Oddly enough, the dragon on the imperial flag of Tartary vaguely resembles the dragon on the flag of Wales, although the colors are completely different. But this is already a topic for heraldry specialists …
It is a pity that in those documents in which only images of the flags of the empire of Tartaria were found, there are no at least minimal details about the countries to which this or that flag belonged, with the exception of Allard's "Book of Flags". But there is nothing about Tartary either - only a description of its flags and their colors.
However, the most important thing is that the flags of Tataria were found in tables published by different countries and at different times. An idle reader can, of course, say: "Is it possible to draw a conclusion about the existence of an empire only from a few designs of flags?"
In his own way, he's right. Indeed, we have only considered symbolism here.
But now we know for sure that on the maps and books of those distant times there were references to Moscow Tartary (with the capital in Tobolsk), Free or Independent Tartary (with the capital in Samarkand), Chinese Tartary (not to be confused with Tea-China, which is on the maps - another state), and, in fact, the Great Empire of Tartary.
We found documentary evidence of the existence of state symbols of the empire in the northeast of Eurasia. We do not know which Tartary these flags belonged to: the entire empire or some part of it. However, the main thing is that the flags were found.
* * *
IN SEARCH flags of Tartary, two more facts that did not fit into the canonical history were discovered.
Fact 1 … In the 18th-19th centuries, the flags of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were depicted among the flags that were modern at that time (pictured).
According to the traditional version of history, this kingdom ceased to exist in the 13th century. But the flags signed by Jerusalem are found in almost all the collections of naval flags mentioned above. Information about the possible use of this flag after the defeat of the crusaders was not found. And it is unlikely that the Muslims who seized Jerusalem would have left the city a flag with Christian symbols.
In addition, if this flag had been used in the XVIII-XIX centuries by any order (such as the Jesuits), then, most likely, the authors would have written in the documents.
Maybe there are some facts on this score that are known only to a narrow circle of initiates?
But that's not all. In a note by a member of the Special Meeting on Russian National Colors, Lieutenant-Commander P. I. Belavenets "Colors of the Russian State National Flag", published in 1911, suddenly something amazing is revealed.
And this "something" makes you wonder if Jerusalem was placed in Palestine by a misunderstanding?
Think about it: Pyotr Ivanovich Belavenets writes that he, by imperial command, brought to St. Petersburg the flag presented by Tsar Peter Alekseevich to Archbishop Athanasius of Arkhangelsk in 1693.
In the illustration with the caption "Flags kept in the Cathedral of Arkhangelsk" we see three flags, two of which are the flags of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with a white-blue-red tricolor attached to one of them. Not otherwise, the Holy City of Jerusalem should be looked for somewhere on the East European Plain and, most likely, not in the XII-XIII centuries.
Fact 2 … In the 17th century manuscript republished in 1904 "On the conception of the sign and banners or ensigns" we read: "… The Caesarians began to have their sign of a two-headed eagle, from such an event as it will be announced here. From the creation of the world in 3840, the same from the conception of the building of the city of Rome in 648 and from the Nativity of Christ our God in 102 years, there was a battle between the Romans and the people of Tsysar, and at that time the Romans had a burmister and regimental commander named Caius Marius. And he Caius for a special sign, instead of the head banner for every legion, he built a single-headed eagle, and the Romans kept that sign until the tenth year after the Nativity of Christ our God, during the reign of Caesar Augustus. And at the same time, great battles still took place between the Romans and the Caesars, and the Caesars beat the Romans three times and took from them two banners, that is, two eagles. And from that date the Tsysaryans began to have a double-headed eagle in the banner, in the sign and in the seal”.
And what do we learn from the source? "Tsysaryans" and "Romans" are not the same thing. "Tsysaryans" began to have a sign in the form of a two-headed eagle, which means they are Tsargorodians, that is, the Byzantines.
The "Eastern Roman Empire" fought against the "Western". Emperor Octavian Augustus (he died 4 years after the events described) was a "cesar" and, if we proceed from the logic of the text, fought on the side of the "Tsysarites", that is, Byzantines, against the "Romans"!
However, according to canonical history, Byzantium begins its countdown from 330, i.e. 320 years after the events described! Then the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (who, by the way, bore the title "Augustus") moved the capital to the city of Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople.
We see a not very clear interpretation of the appearance of a two-headed eagle in Byzantium in the aforementioned Book of Flags by Allard of 1709: “One eagle was faster during the time of the old Roman CAESARIES; expressing their strength, in which the aftermath of the last CESARI even until now (after the subjugation and the union of the two kingdoms, that is, from the east and from the west), a double-headed eagle was taken to that place."
That is, both kingdoms, according to Allard's version, existed simultaneously and independently, and then were united.
“Eh, simplicity,” the same idle reader will say with a wink, found some dubious sources and casts a shadow on the fence. This, I suppose, the authors have confused everything or made up their minds."
May be so. But the reprint of the manuscript "On the conception of signs and banners or ensigns" was carried out by the Imperial Society of Russian History and Antiquities at Moscow University. This is not any kind of office. And the publishers of the collections of flags in the 18th-19th centuries, given the relatively high cost of producing documents, it seems to me, would hardly have published deliberately unreliable collections.
Why did you have to dwell on these two seemingly unrelated facts? They seem to have nothing to do with the empire of Tartaria …
LET'S think about it. Peter I, who personally edited the "Expression of the naval flags of all states in the universe" in 1709 (this is a fact from canonical history), recognizes the existence of Tartary, headed by the tsar.
In the Russian-language version of the "Book of Flags" of the same 1709, there are only three types of Caesars: "Old Roman Caesars", Caesars of the Holy Roman Empire and Tatar Caesar.
In the "Declaration" the imperial flag of Russia is yellow with a black two-headed eagle, the "Caesar" flag of the Holy Roman Empire is also yellow with a black two-headed eagle, the flag of the Tatar Caesar is yellow with a black dragon.
A double-headed eagle is depicted on the coins of the Golden Horde during the reign of the khans Uzbek, Janibek and, it seems, Aziz-Sheikh. The coat of arms of Byzantium is also a two-headed eagle.
The appearance of the two-headed eagle in Byzantium took place, according to one version, after victories (victory) over Rome, according to the other - after “the union of the two kingdoms”.
Apparently, Peter I tried on the flag of Jerusalem (Kingdom of Jerusalem). Maybe he had a right to it. The flag of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, we repeat, was in circulation in the 18th-19th centuries!
Yes, there were more questions in our study than there were answers. Let everyone decide for himself whether the empire of Tartary-Tartary existed as a state or not.
History is like a religion: where there are canonical books, there are also apocrypha, which are anathematized by zealous worshipers.
But when the flock has many questions, and the preacher does not give exhaustive and understandable answers to them, faith weakens and religion gradually fades away, and then dies. And on its wreckage … Think about this academic science.
Brief conclusions of the author:
• in addition to the image on the maps of the territory of the empire of Tartaria, there are enough images of its flags in the documents of the 18th – 19th centuries;
• the flag is a symbol of the state, not the territory, which means that the empire of Tartary existed as a state;
• this state existed independently of the state of the Great Mughals and China (modern China);
• despite the presence of the imperial flag of Tartary, we cannot yet say with certainty whether these flags were symbols of the whole of Tartary or any part of it;
• in a number of the considered sources there are strains, inconsistencies and contradictions (the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Rome-Byzantium), which give rise to doubts about the truth of the canonical version, require additional research of our past; there is also a doubt whether the dragon should be on the flag of the empire of Tartaria or another symbol;
• The author just likes the flag with an owl, because there are many flags with eagles, but one with an owl. Owls are beautiful and useful birds. Among the Slavic and Turkic peoples living in the territory of the former Tartary, as well as among the Greeks, owls are revered. But among many other peoples, owls personify dark forces, which is suggestive. I wanted all doubts to be dispelled and the yellow flag with a black owl would be recognized as the flag of the Eurasian Great Empire.
