Members of the expedition. Photo courtesy of Ilya Bannikov
The Indian stage of the «Afanasy Nikitin — 550» project has been completed. The participants of the international expedition followed the path of the Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin and visited the cities of India, which the traveler described in his book «Voyage Beyond Three Seas».
«The Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences is preparing a new, fourth, academic edition of 'Voyage Beyond Three Seas’», says Aleksandr Bobrov, the scientific director of the project, a leading researcher at the Pushkin House. «To write this book, it is necessary to describe all the toponyms, all the names of Indian cities, and compare them with modern maps. This is a difficult task. For example, we found, presumably, the village of Suri, the last one on Afanasy Nikitin’s way back. There is nothing like it on the maps. On the way, we saw a signpost for the village of Sural, which is very similar in name to Suri and is located almost on the way to Dabhol. Future research will help unravel this tangle. The most interesting thing is the search for the still-missing Parvat. A large scientific commentary will accompany the book. The second important significance of our trip is that usually the distance between settlements in Afanasy Nikitin’s book is indicated either in days of travel or in kovas. Kova is a local measure, it is approximately equal to 10 versts, as Afanasy Nikitin writes. And the verst in his time was about 1.5 km. Accordingly, kova is about 14 km. Thus, we can measure the distance between the cities that Nikitin passed. And this is very important for finding the Pervoti. He walked there for a month — we can see how fast he covered the distance between the cities.
The «Afanasy Nikitin — 550» project is an international initiative that will help explore Russia’s historical and cultural ties with India. The project is carried out in collaboration with the autonomous non-profit organization for the development of humanitarian cooperation «Dialog» with the support of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and the Russian House in Delhi. The expedition is supported by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Branch of the RGS.
The expedition’s route went from Revdanda (the former port of Chaul) to the city of Dabhol, from where Afanasy Nikitin set off on his return journey. During the expedition, a meeting was held with the Deputy Commissioner of Bidar District, Ms. Shilpa Sharma. During the conversation, the initiative to erect a monument to Afanasy Nikitin in Bidar was voiced again. This is the city where he lived and worked for a long time. Initially, the project was planned to be implemented by journalist Aleksey Garetovsky, who visited Bidar in 1991.
Following a meeting of the expedition participants with the Rector of the English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad, Professor Haribandi Lakshmi, it was decided to translate «Voyage Beyond Three Seas» into Indian languages. Translators to Marathi, Telugu, and Kannada have already been appointed, and an updated Hindi translation has been commissioned. The participants of the «Afanasy Nikitin — 550» project will take part in writing the new edition.
«There are currently 15 known translations of 'Voyage Beyond Three Seas’ into foreign languages,» says Denis Khrustalev, the head of the «Afanasy Nikitin — 550» project, historian. «The first one was performed by the historian Dmitry Yazykov back in 1835, to German. In 1857, the first English translation was published by Count Mikhail Vielgorsky. In 1960, Yashwant Umranikar, a professor at the University of Tehran, translated the book into Hindi. Participants of the "Afanasy Nikitin — 550" project Professor J. Karimi-Motakhhar and Professor Yahyapour first translated "Voyage" into Farsi, the language used by Afanasy Nikitin himself during his journey.
Bidar Fort is located in the old town area of Bidar, Karnataka, India. Photo: Ilya Bannikov
The research team visited the places associated with the main versions of the location of Pervoti (Parvat), a significant religious center that was visited by Afanasy Nikitin, Ellora and Srisailam. An additional version has been identified that makes it possible to match Pervoti with Tirupati (Tirumala). Its preliminary justification was provided by Kunwar Kant, a lecturer at the English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad.
— Мы шли путем, которым следовал Афанасий Никитин: видели храмы и форты, которые он описывал, участвовали в паломничестве индийцев в Шрисайлам на празднике Махашиваратри. Предположительно, мы нашли город Умри, который почти 200 лет искали исследователи разных стран. Думаем, что это нынешняя деревня Навлакх-Умбре, — рассказывает руководитель индийского этапа экспедиции, член Красноярского отделения РГО Илья Банников. — Во-первых, локация удобна для остановки караванов — все хорошо просматривается. Во-вторых, деревня находится на древнем торговом пути на север, после перехода через Западные Гаты. Это соответствует направлению, которым следовал Афанасий Никитин в Джуннар. Она расположена в определенной точке между Пали и Джуннаром. Это отвечает хронологии, указанной путешественником в своих путевых заметках. Также в Навлакх-Умбре есть древние храмы XII–XIII веков, где проводились большие базары. Безусловно, играет свою роль топонимическое соответствие названия, ведь дополнительная приставка Навлакх, которая обозначает «девять лакхов», появилась несколько позднее. Все эти факты мы будем дополнительно прорабатывать, чтобы подтвердить данную теорию.
Ellora is a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra, about 30 kilometers west of the city of Aurangabad. Since 1983, the cave system and numerous castles have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Photo: Ilya Bannikov
Following the results of the expedition, the scientists plan to prepare a new academic commentary on «Voyage Beyond Three Seas», develop an interactive travel map and create methodological recommendations for a tourist route along the path of the Russian merchant.
«All three academic publications of 'Voyage’ in the second half of the 20th century were directly or indirectly related to the current relations between India and the USSR, ” says Natalya Belyakova, Director of the Expeditionary and Tourism Development Department of the RGS. "Each new rapprochement forced us to turn again to the unique source, which is a rare genre, for the 15th century, of personal notes. It was different from secular annals and religious literature. The current aligning of the Russian 'turn to the East’, the request to rethink the contents of the Tver Merchant, and a new academic commented edition are no coincidence. There are still many unclear places in the chronology and toponymy of 'Voyage’, and the combined efforts of the RGS specialists and the leaders of the 'Afanasy Nikitin — 550’ project are aimed, among other things, at clarifying the geography of the trip. We are sure that any format for popularizing this monument of Russian medieval literature, which is remarkable in terms of the dramaturgy of the events described and the style of their presentation, from popular publications to the creation of tourist routes, should be preceded by deep scientific search."
The expedition combined the stage of long-term in-office historical and philological research with field experience of the route, creating the basis for the correct use of data from a medieval literary source and familiarization with it to a wide audience.
Maria Buldakova