The significance of Afanasy Nikitin's discovery. Afanasy Nikitin is a traveler and pioneer from Tver. What Afanasy Nikitin discovered
Afanasy Nikitin is a Russian writer, Tver merchant and traveler who traveled to India and Persia in 1468-1471. Returning home, he visited Somalia, stopped in Turkey and Muscat. The notes he made along the way “Walking across 3 seas” are a valuable historical monument of literature.
It is believed that he was distinguished by religious tolerance, devotion to his native land and faith, unprecedented for the Middle Ages. Afanasy Nikitin's homeland was Tver. The exact date of his birth has not been established. It is known that he was the son of the peasant Nikita (where the patronymic Afanasy comes from). Died in the spring of 1475.
Tver heritage of Afanasy Nikitin
In the 16th-17th centuries. Afanasy Nikitin's notes “Walking across the three seas” (Black, Caspian and Arabian) were rewritten several times. This journey was not originally part of Athanasius's plans, but he became the first European to give an intelligent and important description of medieval India.
The work of Afanasy Nikitin is a monument to the living Russian language of the 15th century. In 1957, a 3,500 m high peak and a huge underwater mountain range in the Indian Ocean were named after him. In 1955, a monument was erected to Afanasy Nikitin in Tver.
Afanasy Nikitin, a mediocre Tver merchant, became the first European to study and describe medieval India a quarter of a century before the Portuguese colonialists arrived there.
His notes “Walking across Three Seas” have become a most valuable literary and historical monument, in which the versatility of his observations is combined with religious tolerance and devotion to his native land.
Biography of Afanasy Nikitin. The beginning of the way
It is unknown when the biography of Afanasy Nikitin begins. The fact is that he is the son of the peasant Nikita, which means that Nikitin is his patronymic, not his last name. How he became a merchant is also unknown. Now we only know that the Russian traveler Afanasy Nikitin by the mid-1460s was already a fairly wealthy man trading furs abroad. By this time, he had already become an experienced merchant who had visited Byzantium, Moldova, Lithuania and Crimea. And luck accompanied him everywhere.
Apparently, a competent merchant always obtained the relevant documents (letters) from the Tver prince. The large geography of trade trips of the traveler Afanasy Nikitin indirectly indicates that he knew a number of Turkic languages and Farsi. In addition, one should not lose sight of the fact that the Tver Principality was then part of the large and powerful Tatar state of the Golden Horde, which allowed Russian merchants to trade freely with many Muslim countries. The most famous journey in the biography of Afanasy Nikitin also began quite smoothly.
Routes of Nikitinsky “walking”
It is now impossible to establish the exact date when the merchant caravan began to leave. Some historians date it to 1466, others shift it to 1468. Omitting exact dates and relying on specific facts, the following can be stated.
The trip that gave the world the discoveries of Afanasy Nikitin began in the spring. Then a group of Russian merchants equipped a caravan of ships for a trade trip to the Lower Volga and the North Caucasus. The caravan had two ships, loaded, among other things, with “soft junk”, i.e. furs, which were well valued in those parts.
The Grand Duke of Tver Mikhail Borisovich gave Nikitin a letter allowing him to begin extensive trade in the south of the Golden Horde near Astrakhan. For greater security, it was planned to join the caravan to the Russian embassy of Vasily Papin, but it left earlier. Then the caravan waited for the Tatar embassy of Shirvan Hasan-bek, with whom it went to the Lower Volga.
Alas! The merchants' cover did not help. Near Astrakhan, a caravan of ships was attacked by local robbers, who did not even look at the embassy's cover, and took away all the merchant's goods. Returning back without money and without goods entailed dire consequences, so the ruined merchants scattered in all directions. Nikitin headed south to Baku, then part of Persia, and further to Mazanderan. Thus began the geographical discoveries of Afanasy Nikitin.
The way to India and back
Nikitin lived in Persia for over two years, trying to somehow make up for the goods lost near Astrakhan. Having learned that thoroughbred stallions cost good money in India, he headed there. Afanasy Nikitin's journey to India began in 1471, when he, with a horse purchased in Persia, loaded onto a ship heading to the Indian port of Chaul.
Unfortunately, the merchant was unable to immediately sell the animal at a decent price, and then Nikitin’s path took him through Indian cities. In the capital of the Bahmani state, Bidar, he finally sold his horse and went to Parvat, the holy city, where he lived for a year and a half. From there, Afanasy Nikitin’s route led to the “diamond” province of Raichur, where he spent another six months, earning money for the return journey.
Three years of Afanasy Nikitin's travels around India disappointed him. He saw almost nothing useful there for his homeland. They were not allowed to export cheap goods without duty, and there were many robbers at sea, which made trade extremely difficult. Having not been particularly successful in Indian trade, the Russian traveler began to get ready to go home.
This route of Afanasy Nikitin ran through the Arabian and Somali peninsulas, Hormuz, Tabriz, Trabzon. Here, suspecting him to be a Turkmen spy, all his goods were seized, leaving Nikitin only with his notes. From Trabzon he reached Kafa, where he spent the winter, waiting for the Russian merchant caravan. In the Cafe he became friends with Moscow merchants, with whom he went home in the spring of 1475.
Unfortunately, Nikitin’s health, weakened by years of travel, failed him, and he suddenly died not far from Smolensk. His notes were brought to Moscow and subsequently glorified the merchant
A brief report about Afanasy Nikitin, a Russian traveler from Tver, merchant and writer, is presented in this article.
Afanasy Nikitin: report
The date when Afanasy Nikitin was born is not reliably known. It can be said with certainty that he was born in 1442 into a peasant family. Little is known about his life. At a young age he was already a merchant, visiting Lithuania, Crimea and Byzantium on trade visits. Some historians believe that Nikitin was a secret spy and diplomat for the Tver Grand Duke Mikhail Borisovich.
Pursuing a commercial goal, in 1466 the Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin supplied the expedition and set off along the Volga to explore new eastern lands. But first, having reached Moscow, he and the Tatar caravan arrive in Astrakhan. They were robbed and everything did not go as smoothly as expected. Having gone bankrupt, the Russian traveler Afanasy Nikitin decided to engage in small, intermediary trade in order to improve his affairs. Having saved up the required amount, he moved on with renewed zeal. And so began his new sea voyage to new lands.
Which seas did Afanasy Nikitin cross in search of India? He conquered the Black and Caspian Seas, as well as the Indian Ocean, reaching the shores of Africa, Persia and India. The traveler stopped for a long time in settlements along the way, engaging in trade and studying the languages spoken by the locals. In 1469, he arrived in the port city of Hormuz, where the trade routes of Asia Minor, Egypt, India and China intersect. Having bought an Arabian stallion with the hope of reselling it in India, he boarded a ship and went to the Indian town of Chaul. The voyage took a month and a half. India made a strong impression on Nikitin. The merchant tried to record all the details in his diary, publishing the book “Walking across Three Seas” upon arrival home. In it, he described everything about this amazing country - from everyday life to religion, from army weapons to the political system.
By the way, he failed to sell the Arabian stallion in Chaul and went further across the country. Nikitin visited the upper reaches of the Sina River, Junnar. Stopping here, the merchant described in detail agricultural activities and winemaking, the basis of which was coconuts. Then the traveler went to Alland to the fair, Bidar and Parvat. Only in 1471 did he manage to sell the horse he bought in Hormuz.
Start of activity of Afanasy Nikitin
Very little is known about the outstanding representative of the Russian people Afanasy Nikitin. There is no reliable information about his birth (date and place), about his childhood and adolescence. But the glory of a great traveler and explorer deservedly belongs to this brave man.
According to some reports, Afanasy Nikitin was born into the family of a peasant Nikita. This means that “Nikitin” is Afanasy’s patronymic, not his surname. Date of birth is also unknown. Some scholars date it to approximately $1430-$1440 years.
Note 1
It is known that he left peasant labor and joined the merchant class. At first, he was hired on trade caravans, as they would say now, as a “laborer.” But gradually he gained authority among the merchants and began to lead merchant caravans himself.
The beginning of the Indian campaign
In the summer of $1446, Tver merchants set off on a long voyage “to overseas countries” on several boats. The merchants appointed Afanasy Nikitin as the head of the caravan. By that time, he already had a reputation as an experienced man, who had traveled and seen a lot. Along the Volga, which already in those days played the role of an international trade route, ships were supposed to descend to the “Khvalynsk Sea”. That's what the Caspian Sea was called in those years.
Nikitin's travel notes on the road to Nizhny Novgorod are brief. This indicates that the path was no longer new. In Nizhny Novgorod, merchants joined the Shirvan embassy of Hasanbek, returning from Moscow.
In the Volga delta, the caravan was attacked by Astrakhan Tatars and was plundered. Four Russian merchants were captured. The surviving ships entered the Caspian Sea. But in the area of present-day Makhachkala, the ships were broken during a storm and plundered by local residents.
Afanasy Nikitin, who had borrowed goods, could not return home. Therefore, he went to Baku, which was then a major commercial and industrial center. From Baku in $1,468, Nikitin sailed to the Persian fortress of Mazanderan, where he stayed for more than eight months. He describes Elbrus, the nature of Transcaucasia, cities and the life of local residents.
Afanasy Nikitin in India
In the spring of $1469 he arrives in Hormuz. More than $40,000 people lived in Hormuz at that time. Having bought horses in Hormuz, Nikitin is transported to India. He arrived in the Indian city of Chaul on April 23, 1471. It was not possible to sell the horses at a profit in Chaul. And Nikitin goes into the interior of the country. The merchant spent two months in Junnar. He then moved even further $400 miles to Bidar, Alland. During the journey, Afanasy Nikitin tries to learn as much as possible from the life of a foreign people (customs, legends, beliefs, architectural features). Nikitin spent a lot of time living with ordinary Indian families. He was nicknamed "Jose Isuf Khorosani."
In $1472, Afanasy Nikitin visits the sacred city of Parvat, where he describes the religious holidays of the Indian Brahmans. In $1473 he visits the diamond region of Raichur. After this, Nkitin decides to return “to Rus'.”
Note 2
Afanasy Nikitin spent about three years in India. He witnessed wars between Indian states, gives a description of Indian cities and trade routes, and the peculiarities of local laws.
The way home
Having purchased precious stones, Nikitin in $1473 headed to the sea in Dabul (Dabhol). From this port it is transported to Hormuz. Along the way, he describes the “Ethiopian Mountains” (the high shores of the Somali peninsula).
Nikitin chose the path home through Persia and Trebizond to the Black Sea and further to Kafa and through Podolia and Smolensk. He spent the winter of $1474-$1475 in the Cafe, putting his notes and observations in order.
In the spring of $1475, Nikitin moved north along the Dnieper. But he never made it to Smolensk. Afanasy Nikitin died on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. His notes were delivered by merchants to the Moscow clerk of the Grand Duke Vasily Mamyrev.
The meaning of Afanasy Nikitin's journey
Over the next two centuries, Afanasy Nikitin’s notes, known as “Walking across Three Seas,” were rewritten several times. Six lists have reached us. This was the first description in Russian literature of not a pilgrimage, but a commercial trip, filled with observations about the political system, economy and culture of other countries. Nikitin himself called his journey sinful, and this is the first description of anti-pilgrimage in Russian literature. Nikitin’s scientific feat is difficult to overestimate. Before him there were no Russian people in India. From an economic point of view, the trip turned out to be unprofitable. There were no goods suitable for Rus'. And those goods that would bring profit were subject to a heavy duty.
Note 3
But the main result was that Afanasy Nikitin, thirty years before the colonization by the Portuguese, was the first European to give a true description of medieval India. In modern times, Nikitin's notes were discovered by N.M. Karamzin as part of the Trinity collection. Karamzin published excerpts in 1818 in notes to the History of the Russian State.
Afanasy Nikitin, merchant from Tver. He is rightfully considered not only the first Russian merchant to visit India (a quarter of a century before the Portuguese Vasco da Gama), but also the first Russian traveler in general. The name of Afanasy Nikitin opens the list of brilliant and interesting sea and land Russian explorers and discoverers, whose names are inscribed in golden letters in the world history of geographical discoveries.
The name of Afanasy Nikitin became known to his contemporaries and descendants due to the fact that throughout his stay in the East and India he kept a diary, or more precisely, travel notes. In these notes, he described with many details the cities and countries he visited, the way of life, customs and traditions of peoples and rulers... The author himself called his manuscript “Walking across the Three Seas.” The three seas are the Derbent (Caspian), Arabian (Indian Ocean) and Black.
A. Nikitin did not reach his native Tver quite a bit on the way back. His comrades handed over the manuscript of “Walking across Three Seas” into the hands of clerk Vasily Mamyrev. From him it was included in the chronicles of 1488. It is obvious that contemporaries appreciated the importance of the manuscript if they decided to include its text in historical chronicles.
Brief information about the journey of Afanasy Nikitin
Nikitin Afanasy Nikitich
Tver merchant. Year of birth unknown. Place of birth too. Died 1475 near Smolensk. The exact start date of the journey is also unknown. According to a number of authoritative historians, this is most likely 1468.
Purpose of Travel:
an ordinary commercial expedition along the Volga as part of a caravan of river vessels from Tver to Astrakhan, establishing economic ties with Asian merchants trading along the Great Silk Road passing through the famous Shamakhi.
This assumption is indirectly confirmed by the fact that Russian merchants went down the Volga, accompanied Asan-bey, ambassador of the ruler Shamakhi, Shirvan Shah Forus-Esar. The Shemakha ambassador Asan-bek was on a visit to Tver and Moscow with Grand Duke Ivan III, and went home after the Russian ambassador Vasily Papin.
A. Nikitin and his comrades equipped 2 ships, loading them with various goods for trade. Afanasy Nikitin's goods, as can be seen from his notes, were junk, that is, furs. Obviously, ships of other merchants also sailed in the caravan. It should be said that Afanasy Nikitin was an experienced merchant, brave and decisive. Before this, he had visited distant countries more than once - Byzantium, Moldova, Lithuania, Crimea - and returned home safely with overseas goods, which is indirectly confirmed in his diary.
Shemakha
one of the most important points along the entire Great Silk Road. Located on the territory of present Azerbaijan. Located at the intersection of caravan routes, Shamakhi was one of the major trade and craft centers in the Middle East, occupying an important place in the silk trade. Back in the 16th century, trade relations between Shamakhi and Venetian merchants were mentioned. Azerbaijani, Iranian, Arab, Central Asian, Russian, Indian and Western European merchants traded in Shamakhi. Shemakha is mentioned by A.S. Pushkin in “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” (“Give me a maiden, the Shemakha queen”).
A. Nikitin's caravan secured passing certificate from Grand Duke Mikhail Borisovich to move across the territory of the Tver principality and Grand Duke's travel letter abroad, with whom he sailed to Nizhny Novgorod. Here they planned to meet with the Moscow ambassador Papin, who was also on his way to Shemakha, but did not have time to capture him.
I died from the holy golden-domed Savior and be by his mercy, from his sovereign from Grand Duke Mikhail Borisovich Tversky...
It’s interesting that initially Afanasy Nikitin did not plan to visit Persia and India!
A. Nikitin’s journey can be divided into 4 parts:
1) travel from Tver to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea;
2) first trip to Persia;
3) travel around India and
4) return journey through Persia to Rus'.
Its entire path is clearly visible on the map.
So, the first stage is a trip along the Volga. It went safely, right up to Astrakhan. Near Astrakhan, the expedition was attacked by bandits of local Tatars, the ships were sunk and plundered
The bandits robbed the merchants of all their goods, apparently purchased on credit. Returning to Rus' without goods and without money threatened with a debt trap. Afanasy’s comrades and himself, in his words, “ crying, and some dispersed: whoever had anything in Rus', went to Rus'; and whoever should, but he went where his eyes took him.”
A reluctant traveler
Thus, Afanasy Nikitin became a reluctant traveler. The way home is closed. There is nothing to trade. There is only one thing left - to go on reconnaissance in foreign countries in the hope of fate and your own entrepreneurship. Having heard about the fabulous riches of India, he directs his steps there. Through Persia. Pretending to be a wandering dervish, Nikitin stops for a long time in each city and shares his impressions and observations on paper, describing in his diary the life and customs of the population and the rulers of the places where his fate took him.
And Yaz went to Derbenti, and from Derbenti to Baka, where the fire burns unquenchable; and from Baki you went across the sea to Chebokar. Yes, here you lived in Chebokar for 6 months, and in Sara you lived for a month, in the Mazdran land. And from there to Amili, and here I lived for a month. And from there to Dimovant, and from Dimovant to Rey.
And from Drey to Kasheni, and here I lived for a month, and from Kasheni to Nain, and from Nain to Ezdei, and here I lived for a month. And from Dies to Syrchan, and from Syrchan to Tarom... And from Torom to Lar, and from Lar to Bender, and here there is the Gurmyz shelter. And here there is the Indian Sea, and in the Parsean language and Hondustan Doria; and from there go by sea to Gurmyz 4 miles.
Afanasy Nikitin's first journey through the Persian lands, from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea (Chebukar) to the shores of the Persian Gulf (Bender-Abasi and Hormuz), lasted more than a year, from the winter of 1467 to the spring of 1469.
From Persia, from the Port of Hormuz (Gurmyz), Afanasy Nikitin went to India. Afanasy Nikitin's journey across India supposedly lasted three years: from the spring of 1469 to the beginning of 1472 (according to other sources - 1473). It is the description of his stay in India that occupies most of A. Nikitin’s diary.
And Gurmyz is on the island, and every day the sea catches him twice a day. And then I took the first Great Day, and I came to Gurmyz four weeks before the Great Day. Because I didn’t write all the cities, there are many great cities. And in Gurmyz there is sunshine, it will burn a person. And I was in Gurmyz for a month, and from Gurmyz I went beyond the Indian Sea.
And we walked by sea to Moshkat for 10 days; and from Moshkat to Degu 4 days; and from Degas Kuzryat; and from Kuzryat to Konbaatu. And then paint and paint will appear. And from Konbat to Chuvil, and from Chuvil we went in the 7th week along the Velitsa days, and we walked in the tawa for 6 weeks by sea to Chivil.
Arriving in India, he will make “research trips” deep into the peninsula and explore its western part in detail.
And here there is an Indian country, and people walk around all naked, and their heads are not covered, and their breasts are naked, and their hair is braided in one braid, and everyone walks with their bellies, and children are born every year, and they have many children. And the men and women are all naked, and all are black. Wherever I go, there are many people behind me, and they marvel at the white man. And their prince has a photo on his head, and another on his head; and their boyars have a photo on the shoulder, and a friend on the guzna, princesses walk around with a photo on the shoulder, and a friend on the guzna. And the servants of the princes and boyars - a photo on the guzne, and a shield, and a sword in their hands, and some with sulits, and others with knives, and others with sabers, and others with bows and arrows; and they are all naked, barefoot, and tall, and do not shave their hair. And the women walk around with their heads uncovered and their nipples bare; and boys and girls walk naked until they are seven years old, not covered in rubbish.
The customs and way of life of the Hindus are conveyed in “Walking the Three Seas” in detail, with numerous details and nuances that were noticed by the inquisitive eye of the author. The rich feasts, trips and military actions of the Indian princes are described in detail. The life of ordinary people, as well as nature, flora and fauna, are also well reflected. A. Nikitin gave his assessment of much of what he saw, however, quite objective and unbiased.
Yes, everything is about faith, about their trials, and they say: we believe in Adam, but the buty, it seems, is Adam and his entire race. And there are 80 and 4 faiths in Indians, and everyone believes in Buta. But with faith we neither drink, nor eat, nor marry. But others eat boranin, and chickens, and fish, and eggs, but there is no faith in eating oxen.
Saltan goes out for fun with his mother and his wife, and with him there are 10 thousand people on horses, and fifty thousand on foot, and two hundred elephants are brought out, dressed in gilded armor, and in front of him there are a hundred pipe-makers, and a hundred dancers, and simple horses 300 in gold gear, and a hundred monkeys behind him, and all of them are gauroks.
What exactly Afanasy Nikitin did, what he ate, how he earned his livelihood - one can only guess about this. In any case, the author himself does not specify this anywhere. It can be assumed that the commercial spirit was evident in him, and he conducted some kind of small trade, or hired himself out to serve local merchants. Someone told Afanasy Nikitin that thoroughbred stallions are highly prized in India. Supposedly, you can get good money for them. And our hero brought a stallion with him to India. And what came of it:
And the sinful tongue brought the stallion to the Indian land, and I reached Chuner, God gave me everything in good health, and I became worth a hundred rubles. It has been winter for them since Trinity Day. And we spent the winter in Chunerya, we lived for two months. Every day and night for 4 months there was water and dirt everywhere. On those same days, they shout and sow wheat, and Tuturgan, and nogot, and everything edible. They make wine in great nuts - Gundustan goat; and the mash is repaired in Tatna. The horses are fed with nofut, and the kichiris is boiled with sugar, and the horses are fed with butter, and they are given hornets to wound them. In the Indian land they will not give birth to horses, in their land they will give birth to oxen and buffaloes, the same ones they ride and carry goods on, they carry other things, they do everything.
And in Chuner, the Khan took a stallion from me, and withered away that Yaz was not a Germanic - a Rusin. And he says: ‘I will give a stallion and a thousand golden ladies, and stand in our faith - on Mahmet Day; But if you don’t believe in our faith, in Makhmat Deni, I will take a stallion and put a thousand gold pieces on your head’…. And the Lord God had mercy on his honest holiday, did not leave his mercy on me, a sinner, and did not order me to perish in Chyuner with the wicked. And on the eve of Spasov, the owner Makhmet Khorosanets came and beat him with his forehead so that he would grieve for me. And he went to the khan in the city and asked me to leave so that they wouldn’t convert me, and he took my stallion from him. This is the miracle of the Lord on Savior Day.
As can be seen from the records, A. Nikitin did not flinch, did not exchange his father’s faith for the promises and threats of the Muslim ruler. And in the end, he will sell the horse for almost no gain.
Along with descriptions of the areas that Afanasy Nikitin visited, he included in his notes comments about the nature of the country and its works, about the people, their morals, beliefs and customs, about popular government, the army, etc.
The Indians do not eat any meat, neither cowhide, nor boran meat, nor chicken, nor fish, nor pork, but they have a lot of pigs. They eat twice a day, but do not eat at night, and do not drink wine, nor are they full68. And the demons neither drink nor eat. But their food is bad. And one with one neither drinks, nor eats, nor with his wife. They eat brynets, and kichiri with butter, and eat rose herbs, and boil them with butter and milk, and they eat everything with their right hand, but they don’t eat anything with their left hand. But they don’t shake a knife, and they don’t know liars. And when it’s too late, who cooks their own porridge, but everyone has a fork. And they hide from the demons so that they don’t look into the mountain or into the food. But just look, they don’t eat the same food. And when they eat, they cover themselves with a cloth so that no one can see it.
And the Shabbat refuge of the Indian Sea is great... May silk, sandalwood, pearls, and everything be cheap be born on Shabbat.
But in Pegu there is a lot of refuge. Yes, all the Indian derbysh live in it, and precious stones, manik, yes yakhut, and kirpuk will be born in it; but they sell stone derbysh.
But the Chinskoe and Machinskoye refuge is great, but they do repairs in it, but they sell the repairs by weight, but cheaply. And their wives and their husbands sleep during the day, and at night their wives go to bed with the garip and sleep with the garip, and give them alaf, and bring with them sugar food and sugar wine, and feed and give water to the guests, so that they love her, but they love guests of white people, and their people are black velmi. And whose wives conceive a child from a guest, and the husbands give it to Alaf; and a white child will be born, otherwise the guest will pay a fee of 300 teneks, and a black child will be born, otherwise there will be nothing for him, what he drank and ate is free for him.
Understand this paragraph as you wish. Garip is a stranger, a foreigner. It turns out that Indian husbands allowed a white foreigner to sleep with his wife, and if a white child was born, they also paid an extra 300 money. And if it’s black, then only for grub! Such are the morals.
And the land is crowded with velmi, and the rural people are naked with velmi, and the boyars are strong and kind and magnificent with velmi. And all of them are carried on their beds on silver, and in front of them are horses in gold harnesses up to 20: and on the horses behind them there are 300 people, and five hundred people on foot, and 10 people with trumpets, and 10 people with pipe makers, and 10 people with pipes.
In Saltanov's courtyard there are seven gates, and in each gate sits a hundred guards and a hundred Kaffar scribes. Whoever goes is recorded, and whoever leaves is recorded. But the Garips are not allowed into the city. And his courtyard is wonderful, everything is carved and painted in gold, and the last stone is carved and described in gold. Yes, there are different courts in his yard.
Having studied Indian reality from the inside, Afanasy Nikitin came to the conclusion that further “market research” was futile, because from his merchant point of view, the mutual commercial interest of Rus' and India was extremely meager.
The Besermen dogs lied to me, but they said there was only a lot of our goods, but there was nothing for our land: all the white goods for the Besermen land, pepper and paint, were cheap. Others are transported by sea, and they do not give duties. But other people won’t let us carry out duties. And there are a lot of duties, and there are a lot of robbers on the sea.
Therefore, at the end of 1471 - beginning of 1472, Afanasy Nikitin decides to leave India and return home to Rus'.
And that accursed slave Athanasius of the Most High God, creator of heaven and earth, was conceived according to faith, according to Christian faith, and according to the baptism of Christ, and according to the godly saints of the father, and according to the commandments of the apostles, and We set our minds on going to Rus'.
The city of Dabul became the last point of A. Nikitin’s Indian journey. In January 1473, Nikitin boarded a ship in Dabul, which, after an almost three-month voyage calling at the Somali and Arabian peninsulas, took him to Hormuz. Trading spices, Nikitin passed through the Iranian Plateau to Tabriz, crossed the Armenian Plateau and in the fall of 1474 reached Turkish Trebizond. The “customs” of this Black Sea port raked out all the goods acquired by back-breaking labor (including Indian gems) from our traveler, leaving him with nothing. The diary was not touched!
Further along the Black Sea, A. Nikitin gets to Kafa (Feodosia). Then through Crimea and Lithuanian lands - to Rus'. In the Cafe, Afanasy Nikitin apparently met and became close friends with wealthy Moscow “guests” (merchants) Stepan Vasiliev and Grigory Zhuk. When their joint caravan set off (most likely in March 1475), it was warm in Crimea, but as it moved north it became increasingly colder. Apparently, having caught a bad cold, or for some other reason, Afanasy Nikitin fell ill and gave up his soul to God somewhere in the Smolensk region, which is conventionally considered the place of his final resting place.
The results of “Walking across Three Seas” by the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin
Without planning a trip across three seas in advance, Afanasy Nikitin turned out to be the first European who gave a valuable description of medieval India, depicting it simply and truthfully. His records are devoid of a racial approach and are distinguished by religious tolerance, rare for that time. With his feat, A. Nikitin proved that at the end of the fifteenth century, a quarter of a century before the Portuguese “discovery” of India, even a not rich, but purposeful person could travel to this country.
As was said, A. Nikitin did not find anything interesting or profitable in India from the point of view of trade for the Russian merchants. It is interesting that the Portuguese naval expedition of Vasco da Gama, who was the first European to approach the same western Indian shores, only by sea around Africa in 1498, came to the same result.
And how much effort was put in by the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs, as well as their sailors, to open a sea route to fabulous India! What names: Bartolomeo Dias, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan... Oh, if only all these gentlemen of good luck would read the notes of the Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin... You see, they wouldn’t break spears and crash ships to search for a “fabulously rich country” called India!
