When the tomb of Tamerlane was opened, the war began. The Curse of Tamerlane's Tomb: Why the Great Patriotic War Started

The appearance of Tamerlane, restored by M. M. Gerasimov.

Curse of Tamerlane

Tamerlane (Timur 1336–1405) - commander, emir.
The founder of the Timurid state with its capital in Samarkand. Defeated the Golden Horde. He made aggressive campaigns in Iran, Transcaucasia, India, Asia Minor and other countries, which was accompanied by the ruin of many cities, the destruction and captivity of the population.
Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius. 2000

Scientific expedition of high rank

1941, March - by the personal permission of I.V. Stalin, a scientific expedition was organized, the task of which was to establish the burial place of Tamerlane.

This expedition was led by a well-known historian and mathematician from Uzbekistan, future academician and president of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, Tashmukhamed Kary-Niyazov. The expedition included: Alexander Semyonov, a historian and expert on the ancient languages ​​of the East; famous archaeologist, anthropologist and sculptor Mikhail Gerasimov from Leningrad - the creator of a unique method of restoring the appearance of a person based on skeletal remains; writer, scientist and public figure of Tajikistan - Aini (real name - Sadridtsin Said-Murodzoda) - later the first president of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, and 4 cameramen, whose duty was to capture on film the main stages and results of the expedition. As one of the operators was 28-year-old Uzbek Malik Kayumov, in the future a well-known documentary film director, People's Artist of the USSR, Hero of Socialist. Labour, laureate of the USSR State Prize and the Nika-91 ​​Prize in the Honor and Dignity nomination.

By the end of May 1941, the scientific expedition was assembled in Samarkand, the ancient capital of Tamerlane's empire and the supposed place of his burial.

Four hypotheses

According to most scientists, the Gur-Emir mausoleum, which was built in Samarkand in 1403-1404, became the resting place of Tamerlane. But there were also versions of the alleged burial of this outstanding commander of antiquity.

Alexander Semenov suggested that Timur was buried in the ancient city of Otrar, which is located in the middle reaches of the Syr Darya River and existed until the middle of the 16th century. The remains of Otrar are located in Kazakhstan, near the Timur railway station. It was in this city in 1405 that the great conqueror suddenly died, leading his hordes to the east - to conquer China. One of the arguments in favor of his hypothesis Semenov considered the fact that the leader's close associates concealed his death for some time, counting on a successful campaign and large military booty.

According to Kara-Niyazov, the grave of Tamerlane should be looked for in the ancient Afghan city of Herat, which, according to Alexander the Great, founded. There, according to the scientist, Timur's body was secretly taken by his son, Shahrukh.

According to the last of the hypotheses, Tamerlane was buried in Uzbekistan, in his native city of Shakhrisabz, where the emir had previously ordered the construction of a magnificent mausoleum for his father and mother. In the underground part of this mausoleum, a special sarcophagus was installed, which was covered with a marble slab, which weighed three and a half tons. In 1941, no one knew what was inside the sarcophagus.

Petroglyph warns

Nevertheless, the search was started from the Gur-Emir mausoleum, because it was there, according to historical documents, that the remains of Timur's closest relatives, his sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were located. Work on the opening of the first burial, which was identified by Mikhail Gerasimov as the grave of Tamerlane's son, Shakhrukh, began on June 1, 1941. Scientists and master masons copied all the images and inscriptions carved on stone slabs that could be accidentally damaged during excavations. In addition, the entire process was photographed and filmed by chronicler cameramen.

And it was then that Alexander Semenov discovered a mysterious inscription in ancient Arabic engraved on one of the marble slabs. It contained 16 names of Tamerlane and quotations from the Koran. And it ended with a warning of the following content: “We are all mortal and in due time we will die. Many great people have been before us and will be after us. Whoever allows himself to rise above others and dishonor the ashes of his ancestors, he will suffer a terrible punishment.

Semyonov was able to read the full text of this inscription only on June 17, when the excavations were already in full swing. punishment for disturbing the peace of the ancient rulers, made a strong impression on scientists, but no one dared to interrupt the work. After all, not only Soviet and foreign journalists, who literally kept their eyes on the researchers, sought to receive detailed reports on the progress of affairs in Gur-Emir, but Comrade Stalin himself, whose anger could be much more real than the threat inscribed on stone 500 years ago . And therefore, after a short meeting, Kary-Niyazov, Gerasimov and Semyonov decided to continue the work, and not to make the text of the found inscription public. Moreover, the sarcophagus of Shakhrukh has already been opened, and after him the burial place of Timur's grandson - Ulugbek, the famous astronomer and mathematician. But nothing out of the ordinary happened during this time.

Strange events in the tomb

Early in the morning of June 21, they began to open the third burial - presumably the grave of Tamerlane. For some reason things didn't work out right from the start. Almost immediately, the winch, with the help of which stone monoliths were raised to the surface, broke down, and all the participants in the excavations had a chance to remove another marble slab from the grave by hand. When the slab was pulled out, they found that the pit was filled to the brim with earth. Some members of the expedition thought that the grave was empty and Timur's remains should be looked for elsewhere.

And suddenly, all those who were in the tomb were simultaneously seized by a feeling of some kind of incomprehensible anxiety, a sense of a growing threat. People silently exchanged glances, tried to calm their nerves, to suppress unreasonable excitement. And they continued to dig the grave.

Archaeologists raked the earth out of the sarcophagus with their hands, and soon another marble slab appeared before their eyes. It was not until noon that it was possible to lift it up and drag it aside. A wooden coffin lid appeared from under the slab. And at that very moment in the mausoleum all the lamps went out overnight, and the archaeologists began to feel the lack of air. It was decided to take a "lunch" break and go outside to catch our breath and calm down. And the cameraman Malik Kayumov took advantage of a break in work to drink tea.

New warning

“I went to the nearest tea house,” he recalled, “I ordered tea and sat down with three elders sitting at the table. In front of them lay an open book with text in Arabic. Since I studied Arabic at school, they suggested that I read one sentence from the book. It read: "Whoever disturbs the ashes of the great leader will unleash a great war."

After reading this, I ran as fast as I could to get Kary-Niyazov and Semyonov to talk to these elders. The conversation took place, but scientists expressed great distrust of such a prediction, a dispute ensued, which turned into a quarrel. Offended, the elders got up, took the book and left the teahouse. I wanted to stop them and ran after them, but they turned into an alley and ... melted into the air!

Later, Kayumov repeatedly asked the inhabitants of Samarkand about the Arabic book and the prediction contained in it. Many have heard of the tome, but no one held it in their hands.

Desired find

In the afternoon, the excavations continued. Gerasimov went down inside the sarcophagus and began to take out the boards that formed the lid of the coffin.

“And all those present immediately felt an unfamiliar, but very pleasant smell spreading throughout the tomb,” recalls Kayumov. - After the boards were raised to the surface, everyone saw the remains of a very tall man with a large head. Scientists began to carefully remove the preserved bones from the coffin one by one. They paid special attention to the femur of the left leg, which, although not broken, showed signs of serious damage. Seeing this, everyone was convinced that they had discovered the skeleton of Emir Timur, nicknamed Timur-Leng - Iron Lame, which the Europeans pronounced as Tamerlane.

It should be noted here that the origin of Timur's lameness is interpreted differently in different sources. According to some, he began to limp in childhood, after he fell from a horse, and received the nickname Timur the Lame from his boy peers. According to others, the lameness was due to a wound he received in battle in 1362. There is no consensus on which leg Timur limped on. True, most sources state that on the left.

Convinced that the discovered remains belonged to Tamerlane, the scientists did not hide their joy: this means that the expedition completed the task received from the leader of the Soviet Union, Comrade Stalin.

Did the prediction come true?

But the members of the expedition did not have a chance to rejoice for long. The next morning, the radio reported on the perfidious attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. The Great Patriotic War began.

In this situation, all excavations were stopped, the members of the expedition began to leave Samarkand. Gerasimov, having packed the remains of Timur, took them to Moscow. Cameraman Malik Kayumov volunteered for the army. Soon he was at the front as a newsreel war correspondent. But the curse of Tamerlane did not go out of his head, and he decided to inform someone from the senior command staff about it.

“At first I ended up near Rzhev, on the Kalinin front,” Kayumov said. - Having learned that the headquarters of the front command is located nearby, I decided to take advantage of this good fortune. Without any problems, I managed to get permission to meet with General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, who received me in his dugout and even gave me tea to drink. I told him in every detail about the work of the expedition and about the mysterious warnings.

Since the future marshal of the Soviet Union took Kayumov's story very seriously, he, having plucked up courage, asked Zhukov to report everything to Stalin. Zhukov promised to fulfill Kayumov's request, but did not.

Stalin's reaction

But in October 1942, the paths and fate of the war again brought Kayumov to the location of the headquarters of the front command, where Zhukov was at that time. They met again, and Kayumov reminded the general of the curse of Tamerlane and the promise to inform Stalin about it. This time, Zhukov called the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and told him everything.

After that, Stalin was connected with the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, Usman Yusupov, and the leader suggested that he urgently organize the return of Timur's remains to the Gur-Emir mausoleum.

To fulfill the task set by Stalin turned out to be not an easy task, because these remains were still in the laboratory of Gerasimov, who was working on restoring the appearance of the great conqueror. By October 28, 1942, the remains of Timur and his descendants left the laboratory to go to Uzbekistan.

But they ended up in Samarkand not immediately, but only a month later. It happened because of one of the most amazing military operations of the time, the purpose of which was to strengthen the morale of the Red Army units defending Moscow.

According to Vadim Chernobrov, head of the international organization Kosmopoisk, which is engaged in research, the remains of Tamerlane were on board a special military aircraft for several dozen days, flying over the most dangerous sectors of the front near Moscow. And we can assume that this was done not without the knowledge of the People's Commissar of Defense, Supreme Commander Stalin.

“All the soldiers knew very well that a plane with the ashes of the great commander of the 14th century was flying over their heads,” Chernobrov says. - And such an action was not isolated. Previously, the same plane circled over the troops, having on board relics from among Orthodox shrines, as well as a miraculous icon that was supposed to protect Moscow from enemy invasion. Holy icons, relics of Orthodoxy and other areas of Christianity, as well as Islam, often appeared on all front lines.

Consequences of returning to Gur-Emir

The remains of the Timurids, which were seized from the Gur-Emir mausoleum, were again in their graves on December 20, 1942. On the occasion of this event, a special protocol was drawn up, written in four languages: Persian, Uzbek, Russian and English. One of the copies of the document was placed in a sealed capsule and placed in a coffin with the remains of Tamerlane.

And 2 days later, news was received about the beginning of the rout of 22 divisions of the Nazi troops encircled near Stalingrad, totaling 330,000 people. Having repulsed the enemy's attempt to free the encircled grouping, the Soviet troops liquidated it. In early February 1943, the remnants of the German Sixth Army, a total of 91,000 people, led by Field Marshal Paulus, surrendered.

Another noteworthy event is connected with the epic of Timur-Leng's return to his tomb. In the summer of 1943, during the beginning of the famous “tank” battle on the Kursk Bulge, which ended in the defeat of 30 fascist divisions and the liberation of the cities of Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov, Stalin signed an order to allocate a million rubles for the restoration and reconstruction of the Samarkand mausoleum. At that time, 16 tanks could be made with this money, or an entire army division could be maintained for a month.

“You should never disturb the remains of people - neither great nor simple,” summed up this story Malik Kayumov, who went through the whole war with his movie camera, reached Berlin with it, and then filmed the Victory Parade.

"Secrets of the XX century" - (Gold series)

Until now, many of our compatriots believe in the myth that the opening of the tomb of Tamerlane in June 1941 caused the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. Despite the fact that this legend was born recently, in the second half of the twentieth century, it has deep historical roots. Alas, the stereotypes of the ancestors' thinking do not disappear without a trace.

Needless to say, the legends about the curses that the dead send on those who open their graves are one of the most popular among people. Perhaps, in every country there are many such myths, the age of which is sometimes hundreds of years old. And although the content of such legends may be different, however, they are all a product of the same property of the human psyche - fear of death and everything connected with it. There is another common feature - no curse actually happened.

Not so long ago, Pravda.Ru published an article that debunked the myth of the curse of the pharaohs (those who wish can read it). However, it should be noted that we also have a very similar myth, in which many still believe. We are talking about the so-called curse of Tamerlane. Interestingly, this legend was born relatively recently - in the second half of the twentieth century. Therefore, it is not so difficult to calculate its author.

So, the myth that the opening of the tomb of Tamerlane caused the beginning of the Great Patriotic War was created by the talented cameraman of the Soviet cinema Malik Kayumovich Kayumov, who was present at the opening of this tomb in the 40s of the last century. In addition to him, archaeologists T. N. Kary-Niyazov and A. A. Semenov, anthropologist M. M. Gerasimov, as well as writer and philologist Sadriddin Aini and his son Kamal took part in the expedition. Kayumov's memories of that day (June 21): " ... I entered the nearest teahouse, I saw three ancient old men sitting there. I also noted to myself: they are similar to each other, like brothers. Well, I sat down nearby, they brought me a teapot and a bowl. Suddenly, one of these old men turns to me: "Son, are you one of those who decided to open the grave of Tamerlane?" And I take it and say: “Yes, I am the most important in this expedition, without me all these scientists are nowhere!”. Jokingly decided to drive away his fear.

Only, I see, the old people, in response to my smile, frowned even more. And the one who spoke to me beckons. I come closer, I look, in his hands is a book - an old, handwritten one, the pages are filled with Arabic script. And the old man runs his finger along the lines: “Look, son, what is written in this book: whoever opens the grave of Tamerlane will release the spirit of war. And there will be such a bloody and terrible massacre, which the world has not seen forever and ever".

The alarmed Kayumov conveyed these words to the rest of the expedition, but they only laughed in response and the next day they opened the tomb of Tamerlane. By the way, according to him, scientists found an inscription on the tombstone with the following content: "When I rise (from the dead), the world will tremble." Moreover, inside the coffin there was another warning: "Anyone who disturbs my peace in this life or the next will be subjected to suffering and perish", which also caused only smiles of the expedition members.

However, in the evening of the same day, when the group was already resting at the hotel, everyone was not laughing. A message was broadcast on the radio about the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. After that, scientists tried to find these mysterious elders, but the owner of the teahouse said that on that day, June 21, he saw them for the first and last time.

Further in his memoirs, Kayumov reports that later (in October 1942), while at the front, he achieved a meeting with Army General Zhukov, told about this story and offered to return the ashes of Tamerlane back to the grave. Zhukov promised to discuss this with Stalin, who eventually gave the go-ahead. The ashes of Tamerlane returned to the tomb on November 20, 1942, after which there was immediately a turning point in the Battle of Stalingrad, which Kayumov for some reason mistakenly considers the first victory of Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War. However, his memory fails him not only in this case - the counteroffensive near Stalingrad began not on November 20, but on November 19, that is, at a time when the remains of Tamerlane were still in Moscow.

However, these are trifles - the fact is that Kayumov generally constantly confuses dates and events. So, according to the testimonies of other participants in the excavations, as well as the journal of the expedition, the tomb was opened much earlier - on June 16. Two days later, the remains of Timur's grandson Ulugbek were removed from the coffin, and on June 20, the burial place of the Shaker of the Universe himself was opened. That is, in fact, his peace was disturbed two days before the start of World War II.

In addition, photographs taken by the same Kayumov testify that there were no warning inscriptions on Tamerlane's coffin. There is also no mention of them in the expedition log. True, there was an inscription on a large dark green jade gravestone, but it contained only a list of the great Timur's ancestors, starting from one of the great-grandmothers of Genghis Khan Alankuva. As for the three elders and the book, they, oddly enough, were present, but even here Kayumov slightly altered the real story.

According to the memoirs of the son of S. Aini, Kamal Sadreddinovich, the situation was as follows:

"When everyone left the crypt, I saw three elders talking in Tajik with my father, with A. A. Semenov and T. N. Kary-Niyazov. One of the elders was holding some old book in his hand. He opened it and said in Tajik: "This is an old-written book. It says whoever touches the grave of Timurlane, misfortune, war will overtake everyone." All those present exclaimed: "Oh, Allah, save us from troubles!".

S. Aini took this book, put on his glasses, carefully looked through it and addressed the elder in Tajik: "Dear, do you believe in this book?" He answered him: "Why, it begins with the name of Allah!". S. Aini asked again: "What kind of book is this, do you know?", To which he received the answer: "An important Muslim book that begins with the name of Allah and protects the people from disasters." And then S. Aini said to his interlocutor: "This book, written in Farsi, is just "Jangnoma" - a book about battles and fights, a collection of fantastic stories about certain heroes. And this book was compiled only recently, at the end of the 19th century And the words that you are talking about the grave of Timurlane are written on the margins of the book with a different hand.By the way, you probably know that according to Muslim traditions, it is generally considered a sin to open graves and sacred places - mazars.

And those words about the grave of Timurlane are traditional sayings that are similar to the burial places of Ismail Somoni, and Khoja Akhrar, and Khazrati Bogoutdin Balogardon and others, in order to protect burial places from seekers of easy money, looking for values ​​in the graves of historical figures. But for the sake of scientific purposes in different countries, as in our country, ancient burial grounds and graves of historical figures were opened. Here is your book, study it and think with your head."

T. N. Kary-Niyazov picked up the book, carefully looked through iteand in agreement with S. Aini nodded his head. Then Malik Kayumov, whom everyone there called "suratgir" (photographer), took the book into his hands. And I saw that he turned the pages not from the beginning of the book, as it should be from right to left, but, on the contrary, in European style from left to right".

Pay attention to the last phase - it clearly indicates that since Kayuimov did not know how to read a book written in Farsi, he had very vague ideas about the Tajik language. From this it follows that he hardly understood what exactly Aini was talking about with the old people - after all, the conversation was conducted in Tajik! How, then, can one trust his account of the mystical warning?

It should also be noted that this conversation took place on June 16, after the door to the mausoleum was opened, but scientists had not yet begun to open the graves themselves. That is, Kayumov was mistaken again - the elders talked with scientists much earlier than the remains of Tamerlane were disturbed. And all the members of the expedition saw them, and not he alone.

As for the alleged conversation with G.K. Zhukov about the re-burial of Timur, there is no evidence that it really took place. He is not mentioned in his memoirs either by the famous commander himself or by his close associates. At the same time, it is known from the journals of Gerasimov's laboratory that the scientist completed the work "on a comprehensive study of the remains of the Timurids" on October 28, 1942. Then a special commission was created, which buried the remains of the Timurids on December 20, 1942.

By the way, Mikhail Mikhailovich wrote in his book that "all the Timurids buried in the central crypt of the Gur-Emir (Timur, Shahrukh, Ulugbek, Muhammad Sultan, Miranshah) were buried again with a longer or shorter period from the time of their first burial." That is, the reburial on December 20, 1942 was already at least their third burial, which means that the ashes of the Shaker of the Universe were disturbed even before that. However, the annals do not say that before the opening of the mausoleum was accompanied by some kind of global cataclysms.

As you can see, the facts indicate that no curse of Tamerlane actually existed. Yes, even if it was, then this curse clearly had nothing to do with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. It has long been known that the plan for the war with the USSR was developed at Hitler's headquarters back in 1940, the date of the invasion was first set for the spring of the following year, then it was finally approved on June 10, 1941. That is, the issue of the attack was resolved long before the opening of the grave of the Shaker of the Universe.

Tamerlane, the Great Emir of the Timurid Empire, was a conqueror and commander who had a significant impact on the history of the East and Eastern Europe. His name brought terror to the vast territory from the Black Sea to Central Siberia.

The Great Lame was remembered as a brilliant warrior and commander, a cruel and resolute leader, a man with a unique memory, a sharp mind and remarkable physical abilities, who spent a significant part of his life in campaigns and battles. The scale of this person's personality filled an important page in world history, and he himself became part of the national idea of ​​Uzbekistan.

The last for the great commander was a campaign against China, during which on February 18, 1405, he fell ill and died. His body was embalmed, and he was buried in the tomb - the magnificent Gur-Emir mausoleum. His ashes are kept in a jade sarcophagus, on which sayings from the Koran are inscribed, and on both sides of the coffin are white marble sarcophagi, in which the bodies of Timur's beloved wives are kept. It would seem that after the death of a figure, his memory should remain only in museums, history books and magnificent architectural ensembles built at the behest of the emir, but this is not so.

Contrary to quite logical expectations, the history of the Great Timur continues and in the 20th century passes into a new, active phase. It is at this time that the so-called ...

The death and burial of the Great Lame was initially shrouded in a heap of myths and secrets. According to various information from not quite reliable sources of different years, various sayings and warnings are inscribed on the sarcophagus of Tamerlane. Some historians argue that the lid of the coffin predicts misfortune and suffering for the whole world if the ashes are disturbed.

There is evidence that in 1747 the Shah of Iran attempted to remove a jade tombstone from the sarcophagus. Tamerlane, and at the same time, Iran suffered from a strong earthquake, and Nadir Shah himself unexpectedly fell ill. This combination of circumstances was interpreted as a sign of fate, and the stone was returned to its place.

The mausoleum itself was never intended for visits. Only a small entrance allowed the mullah to get inside to read a prayer and clean up. For a long time, Gur-Emir was under lock and key, but in the first half of the 20th century it became not only an object of interest for tourists, but also a desirable prey for scientists and researchers. They wanted to open the tomb.

Like any myth, the legend of Tamerlane's curse is full of secrets and rumors. They say that civilians, observing the scale of the disasters unfolding in the world, associated this with encroachments on the burial place of the Timurids and the grave of Tamerlane, urged the government to close the tomb for visitors and not to disturb the ashes of the cruel commander. Sacred books, preserved from ancient times, warned of the danger of intrusion into the space of the late Timur, but no assurances were taken seriously by the authorities.

On March 21, 1941, Joseph Stalin signed a decree on conducting a scientific expedition with the aim of exploring the Gur-Emir mausoleum and opening the alleged burial place of the Timurids. And already, on June 20, 1941, the expedition leader decided to open the tomb, despite the protests and warnings of local elders. And according to a seemingly mysterious coincidence, on June 22 of the same year, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. The remains of the Great Lame were urgently brought to Moscow for further study ...

The abundance of variations of this story, as well as points of view on the legend of the curse of Tamerlane, is truly amazing. Supporters of the hoax recall the strange sounds heard in the mausoleum, which caretakers and guides spoke about, and the strange sweetish smell that spilled over the tomb after the opening of the sarcophagus. According to some versions, this was the released spirit of war, which flooded the country with blood and calmed down only when Stalin ordered the reburial of the remains of Tamerlane.

The reburial was carried out with honors, according to some reports, a huge amount of money was spent on it, which was an unaffordable luxury in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War: constant retreats, lack of people and ammunition. Nevertheless, after the repose of the remains of Timur the Great, the Red Army inflicted the first serious defeat on Nazi Germany in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Supporters of the rationalist approach recall that the Second World War began on September 1, 1939, and the Barbarossa plan of attack on the USSR was signed by Adolf Hitler long before June 1941. The smell that spilled over the mausoleum was nothing more than fumes from the aromatic oils used for embalming the ashes of the commander. Rationalists also like to remember that nothing mysterious and inexplicable happened to the anthropologists and the film crew after the opening of the tomb.

The legend of Tamerlane's grave is one of the thousands of plausible myths that invariably accompany the life and death of the famous and great. And, perhaps, like in thousands of other myths, there is a grain of truth in it ...

Samarkand
Excavations in the area of ​​the Gur-Emir mausoleum in Samarkand began in early June 1941. There are several versions that reveal the reason for the study. According to one of them, the study of the possible burial site of Timur took place as part of a large-scale project to open the tombs of famous historical figures. Back in the 1930s, special commissions were set up to identify famous historical figures. So, in 1936, the sarcophagus of Yaroslav the Wise was opened. The study of ancient tombs was continued after the war. Well-known orientalists and anthropologists participated in the research. According to another version, the study of the tomb of Tamerlane was the initiative of Joseph Stalin. The finds obtained during the expedition were to be presented at an exhibition dedicated to the life of the famous conqueror. According to another no less plausible version, the excavations were carried out in search of gold, which the Soviet state so needed at that time. Another version says that the study of the tomb was connected with an accident that occurred near the mausoleum during the construction of the Intourist Hotel. Water began to flow into the tomb, which threatened the loss of the remains and objects in it.

According to several versions that existed at that time, the bones of Tamerlane could be in his native village of Kesh (now Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan) or in Samarkand. Both versions were quite convincing. One way or another, research began in Samarkand in the Gur-Emir mausoleum.



Mausoleum Gur-Emir.


Mausoleum of Timur
The great conqueror who defeated the Golden Horde died in February 1405 during a campaign in China. Timur was 68 years old. According to sources, his body was embalmed and placed in an ebony coffin lined with silver brocade. As scientists found out, Tamerlane was taken to the Gur-Emir mausoleum, the construction of which had not yet been completed at that time. The construction of the mausoleum began in 1403. It was located in the southeastern part of medieval Samarkand. Initially, it was planned to create a center of Islamic education here, but later a burial complex was built in this place.

Later it was completed by Timur's grandson Ulug-bek. The archaeologists realized that the search was going in the right direction when the remains of the youngest son of the conqueror Shahrukh were recovered from the marble sarcophagus. At a considerable depth, the skeleton of Timur's eldest son, Miran Shah, was found. After that, the crypt of Timur's grandson Ulug-bek was discovered, who was killed and beheaded. It became clear: this was the family crypt of the Timurids.




Remains of Timur
Several well-known scientists took part in the study of the tomb of Timur, among whom were the orientalist A.A. Semenov, anthropologist M.M. Gerasimov. The group also included the Tajik writer S. Aini. The future academician and president of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan Tashmukhamed Kary-Niyazov headed the expedition. The remains of Timur were under a large jade slab with an epitaph inscription. She was split. According to legend, the slab was brought to the Persian commander Nadir Shah, who used the tombstone as a step in front of the throne. After that, an earthquake occurred in Iran, and the Shah himself began to be haunted by diseases. Nadir Shah decided to return the slab to its place, but it broke during transportation.


The appearance of Timur, reconstructed by Gerasimov

During excavations, a thick layer of ganch (alabaster) was found under the slab. Five more stone slabs laid side by side were found under it. In a marble sarcophagus lay a wooden coffin, on which the remnants of dense matter could be seen. The fabric was embroidered with gold and silver threads. On some surviving fragments of matter, it was possible to distinguish ancient writings. The coffin was well preserved. Boards and supports that strengthened it were found in it. A skeleton was found under the lid of the coffin. It immediately became clear that these were the remains of Timur. One leg was shorter than the other. The lower cup of the right leg is fused with the lower epiphysis of the thigh. It is known that Timur limped on one leg. In Persian sources, the nickname of Timur - Tamerlane (iron lame) became widespread. The study of the remains of Timur showed that his height was 172 centimeters. He was a strong, strong man. The burial was opened on the evening of June 21, 1941. The skull of the conqueror is poorly preserved due to the presence of water in the sarcophagus, although it contained the remains of hair. Interestingly, Timur was buried not in a shroud, like Shahrukh, but in a coffin, which, according to Gerasimov, corresponds in shape to modern coffins. The poor preservation of the remains did not prevent the anthropologist from restoring the appearance of Timur. Tamerlane's head was placed in a wooden box and taken to Moscow. No jewels found in the mausoleum have been reported. I must say that this was not the first opening of the tomb. The burial was opened at the beginning of the 15th century by order of his son Shahrukh, and then a few years after the death of Ulug-bek.




Legends of Timur's Tomb
Many myths about the tomb are associated with the name of Malik Kayumov, a cameraman who worked in 1941 at the Tashkent film studio. In 2004, the television film "The Curse of Timur" was released, in which the Uzbek cameraman spoke about the opening of the tomb. Kayumov was of the opinion that it was the excavations in the mausoleum that led to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. According to him, there was a curse of Tamerlane: whoever opens the grave will unleash a big war. When Timur's remains were reburied at the end of 1942, Soviet troops began to win the Battle of Stalingrad. Malik Kayumov claimed that the reburial of the remains occurred after he spoke about the curse to Georgy Zhukov, who had not yet received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. According to one of the legends associated with the opening of the tomb, a number of strange events occurred during the work. So, the winch that lifted the plates of the sarcophagus suddenly stopped working, the lighting went out. Kayumov also spoke about the meeting of a group of archaeologists with three elders, who urged scientists not to dig up the tomb, showing them some kind of sacred book. According to Kayumov, they disappeared without a trace after the burial was opened. In response to Kayumov's statement, the son of the writer Aini said that he and his father were also present at the excavations. In his diary there was also a mention of the elders. Aini said that Kayumov did not know the Tajik language, and the elders addressed the group precisely in Tajik, so he could not understand what exactly the writer was talking about with them. According to Aini's son, the elders showed the scholars the book of local legends "Jangnoma", published not in antiquity, but in the 19th century. (

There has long been a legend that if you open the tomb of Timur (Tamerlane), which is located in the Samarkand mausoleum Gur-i-Emir, then a bloody war will begin, which has never been worse in history. But, despite this terrible legend, one day it was decided to investigate the burial. Scientists from different parts of the country have gathered in Uzbekistan! Outstanding scientists took part in the excavations of the Timurid tomb: A.A. Semyonov, S. Aini, M.M. Gerasimov, T.N. Kary-Niyazov ... It is not known whether this was an accident or not, but Timur's ashes were disturbed on June 21, 1941. On the same day, German troops received a prearranged signal to begin military operations against the USSR on June 22 under the Barbarossa plan. German sabotage groups began to operate on the territory of the USSR. The German fleet began mining the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. There were only a few hours left before the start of the Great Patriotic War.

The initiator of the expedition was Stalin himself, who wanted to organize a display of the obtained exhibits at an exhibition dedicated to the era of the famous Iron Lame. That is how the great Central Asian ruler Timur was called after his leg was badly injured. Some historians say that the reason for this was a wound in battle, others complain about tuberculosis of the lower leg. For a long time, disputes arose between scientists over the burial place of the great ruler of antiquity. The main "applicants" were Timur's native village of Kesh and Gur-Emir in Samarkand, where the remains of Tamerlane's son Shahrukh and grandson Ulugbek were buried. It was decided to carry out excavations in Gur-Emir.

The excavations did not start quite as planned: on June 16, an accident occurred during the construction of the nearby Intourist Hotel, and water began to flood the tomb. It was necessary to urgently do something so that the remains did not deteriorate. In emergency mode, the state of emergency was neutralized. Soon the expedition opened the first coffin, wonderful smells began to soar in the air: these aromatic substances escaped from the closed sarcophagus. At the same time, a legend was born about the spirit of the Timurids, or rather, Tamerlane himself.

The remains of Timur's son Shahrukh were poorly preserved: time and the flood took their toll. Ulugbek's bones are better preserved. He was identified by the fact that his head was cut off: this is how the grandson of Tamerlane was executed for betraying the faith for the sake of astronomical research.

On the tomb of Tamerlane, in addition to many of his names, a warning was engraved on those wishing to open the sarcophagus. "The one who violated Timur's covenant will be punished, and cruel wars will break out all over the world," the inscription read. Terrible words cooled the ardor of the researchers, but nevertheless it was decided to open the tomb on June 21, 1941...

The implementation of the opening of the coffin of Tamerlane did not work out right away: the winch broke, the searchlights went out, breathing inside the tomb became heavy. Involuntarily, there was talk among scientists about the curse and the spirit of Timur. During a break between the opening of the tomb, the old men approached the scientists and asked how the work was progressing. The elders showed a book in which it was written that if Timur's coffin was opened, a war would begin. Despite a chain of inexplicable phenomena, they did not believe in the prophecy, although even fear crept into the souls.

In 1941 I was 13 years old, Kamal told me. - We lived in Samarkand, and my father took me to excavations. And I kept a diary, where I described those events.

“When everyone came out of the crypt,” Kamal wrote in his diary, “I saw three elders talking with my father, with Semyonov and Kara-Niyazov. One of the elders was holding some old book in his hand. He opened it and said: “This is an old-written book. It says that whoever touches the grave of Tamerlane, misfortune, war will overtake everyone. Then the elders exclaimed: “Oh, Allah, save us from troubles!” The father took this book, put on his glasses, carefully examined it and turned to the elder:

Dear, do you believe in this book?

Why, it begins with the name of Allah!

What book is it, do you know?

An important Muslim book that begins with the name of Allah and protects the people from disasters.

To this my father replied: “This book, written in Farsi, is only Jungnoma, a book about battles and duels, a collection of stories about historical and semi-mythical heroes. And this book was compiled at the end of the 19th century. And those words that you are talking about the grave of Tamerlane are written on the margins of the book with a different hand, in the chapter that describes the times of Tamerlane. And the words about his grave are traditional sayings that are also available in relation to the burial places of Ismail Somoni, and Khoja Akhrar, and Khazrati Bogoutdin, and other famous people. To protect the burial from the seekers of easy money. But for the sake of scientific purposes, it is possible to open ancient graves. Here is your book, study it and think with your head.”

Later, - says Kamal Aini, - the book passed into the hands of Kara-Niyazov. He looked it over carefully and nodded in agreement.

After meeting with the old people, the tomb was nevertheless opened: the embalmed body was poorly preserved - only bones remained. The man lying in the coffin was tall, with a large head. The lower leg was mutilated, one of the dorsal vertebrae, like all Timurids, was deformed. The scientists now had no doubts: Tamerlane lay before them!

Joyful, the archaeologists went to the hotel, where the next morning they heard sad news on the radio: the Great Patriotic War had begun. The members of the expedition were in shock, they immediately remembered the mysterious old people and their book. Tried to find - in vain. Even the locals couldn't help. In the morning, about two hundred indignant local residents gathered at the tomb, and their mood was completely unfriendly. The management decided to urgently transport the remains to Tashkent. The scientists had no choice but to hastily break camp, take the obtained specimens and go to Tashkent. And so they did.

A film group led by cameraman Melik Kayumov was sent to the site of the opening of the tomb of Tamerlane to cover the archaeological work. Subsequently, he will become a Hero of Socialist Labor and People's Artist of the USSR, and then, having barely started work, he was sent to the front as a military operator. The thought of the tomb and the warning of the old people did not give him rest, so he tried in every possible way to report the mysterious events to his superiors. I managed to meet with Zhukov, he promised to help, but, apparently, something did not work out. And only after the second meeting of the commander and the cameraman, things got off the ground: Joseph Stalin found out about everything.

M.M. was immediately informed of the need to return the bones of the Iron Lame and his descendants to Gur-Emir. Gerasimov, who worked with the remains of the Timurids, recreating the appearance of the ancient dynasty. The work was accelerated and fairly quickly completed, so that the bones were ready to return to Samarkand. However, they did not get there immediately, but disappeared for a month. Rumor has it that the plane with the ashes of the Timurids flew along the front line, predetermining the victory of the Russian troops near Stalingrad. It is worth noting that in a similar way miraculous icons appeared on difficult sectors of the front, after which success was on the side of the Soviet troops. True, many historians doubt the truth of this version ...

The remains of Timur and his relatives (Shahrukh, Ulugbek, Muhammadsultan, Miranshah) were buried in Samarkand on December 20, 1942. It was as if the Soviet troops were just waiting for this, having liberated Stalingrad in a matter of days. Another coincidence?

An interesting version of Anton Shabashov is that the expedition organized by Stalin was primarily needed in order to find the treasures of Tamerlane, which would help in the impending war against Hitler's Germany. In this interpretation, the "coincidence" is quite logical, and the dates of the excavations and the beginning of the war should approximately coincide.

It has the right to exist and quite a mystical version. In the 1920s and 30s of the last century, Soviet scientists were often very "drifted". With the blessing of the party and the government, they set up experiments on crossing a man with a monkey, searched for Hyperborea and the mysterious "weapon of the gods", magical knowledge in Shambhala and the remains of aliens at the site of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite. In 1922, for example, an expedition led by a certain Alexander Barchenko, on the instructions of the Institute of the Brain, tried to understand a strange epidemic: supposedly, the local Sami - the Lapps - suddenly fell into a trance almost entire villages. They say that Dzerzhinsky was very interested in these events in order to create psychotropic weapons. And three years later, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Georgy Chicherin, at the suggestion of the same Barchenko, submitted a note to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks about the need to search the Kola Peninsula for artifacts belonging to ancient highly developed civilizations. The note mentioned abandoned pyramids and some kind of beam weapon. This series easily fits the idea of ​​the famous archaeologist Mikhail Masson. In 1929, he submitted a note to the Council of People's Commissars of the Uzbek SSR, in which he proposed organizing the opening of Tamerlane's grave. The report of the Samarkand engineer M.F. Mauer was attached to the note: “Magnetic observations in 1925 over the grave of Timur confirmed the presence in it of a large paramagnetic steel body and other metal objects.” Not gold and silver jewelry, but something like hollow objects ... Why not a reason for an autopsy? Moreover, in Samarkand there were always rumors about a mysterious glow that sometimes appears over the tomb.

We quote Bunich from the book "Gold of the Party": "The task set by Stalin to concentrate all gold, platinum and precious stones in the hands of the state continued to be vigorously carried out. If in Russia itself and in Ukraine by the mid-30s all cemeteries had already been plowed up and practically opened all the graves in the hope of finding a gold watch or false teeth, such events have not been held in the territories of the Central Asian republics for the time being. The desecration of graves and mausoleums, according to the laws of Islam, is one of the most terrible crimes. And since the liberation war in Central Asia, which broke out back in the 1920s, it raged unabated and was suppressed only by 1939, having received the romantic name of "the fight against Basmachi", then Stalin himself and his satraps on the ground still had the sense not to give too much reason to irritate the local population But the turn of the Central Asian shrines has come.The majestic mausoleum of Tamerlane in Samarkand. According to legends, confirmed by archival documents, the great Asian conqueror in his campaigns stole fabulous, innumerable treasures, most of which he ordered to put with him in the tomb. In May 1941, a large team of the Moscow NKVD, accompanied by experts from the Leningrad Hermitage, went to Samarkand to open the tomb. The curator of the memorial, eighty-year-old Masud Alaev, was horrified and showed the visitors a warning inscription carved on the tomb in the year of Tamerlane's death. The inscription warned that those who dare to disturb the peace of the deceased ruler and open the tomb will release terrible demons of a devastating war on their country. Just in case, to be safe, this was reported to Moscow. An order came from there: to arrest Alaev for spreading false and panicky rumors, to open the tomb immediately.

In the 1930-1950s, scientific commissions were created in the USSR to open the graves of historical persons in order to truly identify their burials and create their objective, authentic portraits. So, in January 1939, a special commission opened the marble tomb of Yaroslav the Wise in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. In June 1941, a special government commission unearthed Timurid burials in Gurimir in Samarkand. In August 1944, the burial of Admiral F.F. Ushakov was opened. In 1956, in the village of Panjrud, excavations were made of the grave of Rudaki, the founder of Tajik-Persian poetry. These special commissions included prominent historians, archeologists, anthropologists, and government officials. And each commission included M. M. Gerasimov - a reenactor, anthropologist, sculptor, historian, consultant of all the above expeditions, and most importantly - the author of sculptural portraits of the listed historical figures.

Of course, interpreting facts in this way is not the best thing for history, otherwise you can agree that the Great Patriotic War began because Tamerlane's grave was opened. And such an approach is disastrous for history. You can look at it from different angles. The main thing is not to confuse anything and not to invent something that was not even in sight.

Nevertheless, the case of the opening of the tomb is quite interesting and deserves attention. At least by the fact that the portrait of Timur turns out to be not entirely Mongolian, or rather, not at all Mongolian. If Timur really lies in Timur's tomb, then this is an Indo-European with red hair. Such a conclusion is in full agreement with the results of Gerasimov's reconstruction and with the statements of medieval sources depicting Timur as a red-headed Indo-European. Gerasimov cannot long endure the "traditionally Mongolian note" he has taken. As soon as he relaxes for a second, his scientist’s hand involuntarily deduces the following: “However, a significant protrusion of the root of the nose and the relief of the upper part of the superciliary indicate that the actual Mongolian fold of the eyelid is relatively weakly expressed.” Understanding this, Gerasimov very often had to repeat the phrase “looks like a Mongol” ... If Timur is a Mongol, then his hair should be black. But what do we really see? "Timur's hair is thick, straight, gray-red in color, with a predominance of dark chestnut or red. The hair of the eyebrows is worse preserved, but nevertheless it is not difficult to imagine and reproduce the general shape of the eyebrow from these remnants. Well-preserved individual hairs ... Their color is dark -chestnut ... It turns out that Timur wore a long mustache, and not trimmed over his lip, as was customary by the faithful followers of Sharia ... Timur's small thick beard had a wedge shape. Her hair is hard, almost straight, thick, bright brown (red ) colors, with significant greying". Traditional historians have long known that Timur was red. This clearly contradicts his "Mongolian origin. It was suggested that Timur was still black, but was dyed with henna, and therefore" seemed red. But today, after the opening of Timur's grave, we do not need to guess on this topic. Timur's hair was red. Here is what Gerasimov reports: "Even a preliminary study of the hair of the beard under the binocular convinces us that this reddish-reddish color is her natural, and not dyed henna, as historians described." Another strange fact discovered by Gerasimov: "Despite the senile age of Timur (70-72), his skull, as well as his skeleton, do not have pronounced, actually senile features ... All this speaks rather for the fact that the skull of the skeleton belonged to a person full of strength and health, whose biological age did not exceed 50 years. "And if Timur is not in the tomb, then this casts serious doubt on the traditional historical the second version insisting on the authenticity of Timur's tomb. Or a new question arises - whose remains are there?

History is full of mysteries...