Part II

The World of the Wild Field

    This example with kolobok is significant: nothing tasty can be baked without flour. Whatever you may say, but a kolobok, even kneaded with sour cream, is uneatable… The same thing happened to Russian history: can the history of a great nation exist without the truth?
    Only THE TRUTH - bitter truth! - is the best medicine for Russia and its future. Only the truth will save the country from befallen shame and ruin. For History, in its higher meaning, is an instrument of protection of the Truth from the pressure of inventions.
    Consolidated lie never brought luck to anybody: neither to the Slavs who are wearing a foreign hat, nor to the Turki who were deprived of their own one. But historical Truth remained. It can't disappear - it can only sometimes be forgotten. Unfortunately it hasn't been documented yet. It remained in people's memory, legends and traditions…
    How long will we be at odds with each other? And in the name of what? We've forgotten our relationship, we don't remember how our murderous conflict originated: we've been scowling for centuries. Russians are not guilty of Turkic tragedy. It occurred long before Kiev Russia…
   
    Everything started in IV century. That time the whole Europe trembled having heard the thud of horses' hoofs, having seen the dust on the road. That was a signal of Kipchaks' arrival; the towns came to a standstill in expectation of their fate, anxiety sprang up there. The Great Nations Migration was completed.
    In IV century formation of the face of modern Europe began. European nations became free from power of Roman despots. Hated empire has fallen, pagan Rome collapsed together with former dependence, humiliation, slavery and fear which had been tormenting Europe for more than seven centuries making it perhaps the most backward corner of civilized world.    
    Unfortunately not many documents of those times remained - perhaps, only the notes of Prisk, a Byzantine ambassador, and a few other papers. These are the only documents written by the eyewitnesses. The rest was written later by a craven hand on deceitful paper.
    No other nation, no other European country has ever been described as deceitfully as Attila and his nation - founders of Desht-I-Kipchak - have. All sins known to the world have been ascribed to the Turki. Savages, nomads, Huns, depredators, barbarians… What else?
    European historians, as though mocking at the Kipchaks, were dividing them for "nations" and "small nations", they rarely mentioned the community of the newcomers and their national unity. Their culture, at last. The word "Turki" has obtained a shade of faceless wildness. It became indecent to be called a Turki!
    And invention of new names for the Kipchaks wasn't accidental. Greeks used to call them "Huns" some time. But at first the words "Huns" and "Turki" meant the same in their language. Here is the line from a Byzantine document of 572: "At that the Huns whom we usually call the Turki…". Later the word "Huns" obtained another meaning - "riffraff", "crowd".
    Why was it a crowd? Can a nation be called a crowd having conquered half of the world? Or can it be called riffraff? Soldiers from defeated countries were really fighting under Kipchak flags - the strong have subjugated the weak. But in the word "Hun" there isn't the slightest allusion to the native nation in whose hands battle flags were waving. The Huns were turned into a nameless mass, a hostile army having no ethnic signs. But is that true?
    And who are they from a European viewpoint?
    The article about them in Encyclopedia Britannica is rather punctual. The emphasis is placed on their nomadic life but their culture is passed over in silence. Historic dates are accurate… But it is impossible to understand what nation is called with the word "Huns". It is also impossible to determine what language it was speaking. Much has been said but it means nothing.
    There is an article, it seems to be right, but lack of most important details makes it impossible to consider it a source of information. We should mention that it has become a secret rule for scientific literature concerning the Turki. It seems keeping back has become an indispensable condition of certain publications… Evidently it is the authors' goal - to talk without finishing.
    In Russia the Huns were described in a rude and candid manner. "Nomad nation having been formed in II-IV centuries near Ural of Turkic-speaking Hunnus and local Ugros and Sarmats, - one can read in the most popular modern Encyclopedia. - Mass migration of Huns to the West (since 70-s of IV century) gave rise to so-called Great Nations Migration. Having defeated several German and other tribes, they headed a powerful union of the tribes which used to perform devastating campaigns against many countries. Their power was at its highest point during Attila's reign. Huns' advance to the west was stopped as they were defeated in Kataluan Fields (451). After Attila's death the union of the tribes broke up".
    Each line is full of lie. Big lie or little lie, malevolent or accidental. Thus, for example, the Great Nations Migrations commenced not in the end of IV century, but in the beginning of II century, it started not in Ural but in Altai. The Turki have already become a single nation by the 70-s of IV century, they were well-known in the East, they had their literature. In 372 Balamir-khan crossed Don (Tanais) and entered European steppes. And one century earlier the Turki have settled Caucasian foothills and the whole steppe from Altai. It would be wrong to assert that the nation formed the tribes and that the Sarmats lived near Ural - they originated from Persia. And Attila's army wasn't defeated in 451; that fact was invented by the Europeans

    Desht-I-Kipchak state can be hardly called a "union of tribes". Turkic state system with a single ruler, power institutes and economics had been enrapturing the Chinese for two thousand years, that is witnessed by Chinese chronicles and, for instance, "The Book of Shan Region Governors"… What else can be said?
    Yes, there were the Roman Empire, Byzantium - great European powers, but Desht-I-Kipchak also existed and both those powers had been paying levy to it from the beginning of IV century. And, indeed, it is inconvenient to remind of things which are written even in Encyclopedia Britannica.
   
    Ancestors should be seen as they were, without embroidery and not concealing their deeds. And one should better trust the facts but not emotions.
    The area of Desht-I-Kipchak impressed the contemporaries. The Roman Empire looked like a miserable province as compared with Turkic land, and Byzantium could be treated as a remote district. It covered the Alps in the West - the very center of Europe near Danube source and stretched for thousands of kilometers to the East - beyond Baikal lake: according to Zimarkh, the Byzantine dignitary, Arab traveler Ibn Battuta and other travelers, it took eight months to cross the Turkic country form East to West.
    In the South Desht-I-Kipchak bordered upon Bosporus, it remained up to the present time in a general way; it still divides Greece and Bulgaria which was a Desht-I-Kipchak chaganat and was called the Great Bulgaria.
    Northern Caucasus foothills also belonged to Desht-I-Kipchak, the border got deep into the South, it stretched over Caspian Sea coast through the "Iron Gates" to Transcaucasia and Iran - in the middle of III century the whole Nakhichevan territory became a Kipchak outpost in the remote South.
    The northern border of Attila's kingdom was cut off by nature itself: coniferous forests and morasses impassable for a rider. One of its sections lay on Moskva-river, others - on Oka and marshy woodlands… The lands of modern Tatarstan were the north of Desht-I-Kipchak A vast country, impressive scales… The strongest irritant for envious rulers of Rome and Byzantium who had been unconditionally yielding to the Turki until the middle of V century.

    The great steppe country appeared almost "out of nowhere"… Europe had time to forget about its existence having dazzled itself. But still, the country existed! And the Turki whose horses have reached the Mediterranean Sea coast and have been trampling the earth of British Isles lived there… This is the real and forgotten history of Europe of IV-V and all the following centuries. The Turki haven't ever left their land, unless for America!
    And whatever Europeans call the Turki and Attila, documents of those times remained. These are the words by Romul, the Roman dignitary, which haven't been lost by a fluke: "None of those who have ever reigned over Scythia or other lands has ever performed anything compared with Attila's great deeds. His dominion stretches over islands in the ocean. And the Scythians are not the only ones who pay levy to him; Rome was also forced to do it. His military power is so strong that no nation is able to stand up against it (bold provided - M.A.)". Should we comment on these words? That person was versed in politics; he was taking part in it.
    Not only Europe but China and Persia also paid levy to the Turki.

    "His military power is so strong that no nation is able to stand up against it…" It seems these words gave rise to that hatred which dazzled Europe and hasn't been forgotten yet. One couldn't even dream of an army like a Turkic. The Kipchaks used to wage a war with iron sabers and long pikes, they had iron chain armor and helmets. European arms and armor were made of bronze for the most part. Steppe inhabitants used to go into action on horses while for Europeans a horse was an unheard-of luxury… It wasn't the same with the Turki. Everything was much better.
    Speaking about the Kipchak army historians usually neglect their evident technical and tactical superiority. The Turki usually defeated backward Europeans due to their fighting tactics and excellent armament. Their army was well equipped and organized. There were no wild hordes having appeared from the East.
    The Romans called the Kipchaks "barbarians" due to their fighting tactics. The Greeks used to call the Romans the same some time. Many mysterious things are contained in this word. What was meant? At first "barbarian" meant "someone failing to act in accordance with certain rules". In Rome it obtained another meaning - "one not being a Roman citizen", i.e. "an alien"… There may be other explanations, apparently. But this word didn't have a pejorative shade which emerged later.

    And why should the Kipchaks accept backward rules of a European fighting? They were the artists on a battlefield. A horse and a saber made them the masters of the situation in the Roman Empire and far beyond its bounds.
    Could Europe forgive the Turki its former weakness after the revenge? Such things can never be forgotten.
    The Kipchaks regarded Byzantium as their tributary to whom they were obliged to render assistance according to steppe customs. And they did. In 306 Constantine became the emperor, his position was very strong. As a matter of fact he was a formal emperor, until 312 when Turkic cavalry ("barbarians") defeated Maksentsian's army on Mulviysk Bridge and unexpectedly appeared near the walls of Rome itself! Thus the Kipchaks delivered Byzantium from Roman power. Byzantine emperor was obliged to pay levy for that… Normal relations between two countries - the vassal and the master.
    As he took the superior position, sometimes Attila was talking to Byzantine ambassadors sitting on a horseback and not showing his respect to them. He was the master of Europe, and the ambassadors knew that. They would stand before the leader in roadside dust and catch his every sight… The Byzantines were driven crazy due to their weakness, they tried to poison Attila several times - they didn't know any other way to overthrow him. Having exposed another conspiracy, Attila uttered the only word: "War!" in response to apologies. And that was enough - a single word gave rise to a tumult in the whole great Byzantium.
    Feodosiy the emperor promptly made the amount of levy twice as much as it was. Constantinople humbly carried out any orders of incensed Attila: everything but war. Cowardly Greeks were shrinking having seen any cloud coming from the North.
    At first they paid 350 libres annually. But the historians called that levy "insignificant payment, a kind of gift". A nice gift - two buckets of gold! Later the Greeks gave 2000 libres, also "as a gift".
    Of course, liberality was not peculiar to Byzantine emperors; while the Turki were acting by force, the Byzantines used gold and ruse.
    Secret confrontation between them has always existed. It became apparent in big and small issues. Because evident difference in moral climate of two allies has always existed. This moral gave rise to many controversies and misunderstanding which became the part of history

    Thus, one day a debate arose during one of Attila's feasts, the Greeks compared Feodosiy, their emperor, with God, and the Kipchaks - kindly souls - were at a loss: "Man cannot be compared with God". "Divine" and "earthy" were incompatible terms for them. The Huns "resignedly honor their belief in the simplicity of their soul", - marked the Greeks with a smile of superiority.
    But the Turki knew: "one should speak and believe without any doubts". Thus their wisdom taught, on which the moral of Turkic society based. The image of Heavenly God was above all for a Turki. Mental freedom was in their blood - and God saved the Turki.
    Similar discrepancies have been arising earlier between the Turki and the Chinese: they also considered their emperor to be a living God. Wars commenced due to those discrepancies. Is it a conflict of belief or a conflict of cultures?.. It seems neither this nor that. Different world outlooks.
    Sacred war against China lasted for about five hundred years. Kipchak army was defeating a million strong army again and again, but the victory wasn't gained in the battlefield. The Chinese, being versed in diplomacy and having another moral skillfully bred strife in Turkic society and finally split it to Northern and Southern branches. The Turki couldn't lie. "Don't give false evidence" was the commandment of their belief in Altai.
    It is important to emphasize the fact that discrepancies between Attila and Rome and Byzantium were not of military character: there were no controversies in the battlefield. Everything was more intricately and deeper - two cultures, eastern and western, confronted again. Two different outlooks, two morals. The Turki believed in Heavenly God - Tengri-Khan, they associated their victories and pleasures with His name, while the Europeans remained pagans although their rulers have rejected pagan deities: unfortunately human consciousness changes rather slowly as compared with the words coming from their lips.
    Freedom-loving Turki offered their cultural wealth to Europe… It turns out that Attila's nickname "God's Scourge" is more than accurate and righteous. His wars were not against belief. They were for belief in Heavenly God.
    Turkic creed is to be described later; we shall just mention that Prisk in V century and later Jordan pointed to Christianity. Although future historians have also "forgotten" that. (Let's not use the word "Christianity" for a while for those days it had a different meaning.)

    The only and the most ancient version of Attila's reign is contained in "Getika", the work of VI century signed by Jordan. Unfortunately the author had a vague idea of his hero: he wrote it a hundred years after commander's death, he wrote it with jaundice and craftiness from dictation of Roman censure. Perhaps the whole black paint available in Europe those days was gathered for that purpose. But other literature has been obliterated.
    To tell the truth, logic and the outline of events remained and they don't tie in with proposed text.   
    Jordan called the Kipchaks Geths or Goths (another name was assigned to a Turkic nation due to him). However, Jordan is an alias or a changed Turkic name. The author himself makes us think so.
    "O, reader, you should know, - he asserted, - that following the writings of the elders I managed to gather just a few flowers from their vast meadows, and I twined a wreath for a searching one to the extent of my mind. But don't you think that I, being the descendant of aforesaid tribe, added something for its benefit in addition to what I've read or learnt. If I didn't cover everything what is written and said of those people, I described it not of their glory but of the glory of those who've defeated them (bold provided. - M.A.)".
    At the end Jordan added: "The work relating to antiquity and Geths' acts is finished; the Geths were defeated by Justinian-emperor through Velizariy-the-consul who was faithful to the empire…". To tell the truth that addition is controversial; it wasn't contained in ancient texts. (Original was also edited, apparently.)
    This unfortunate work gave rise to humiliation of Turkic nation in Europe and deliberate misrepresentation of its true history. Jordan left a thoughtful message. A mysterious one. Can't a penance for everything that was done be read in it - he humiliated his nation to a great extent. And the author himself alludes in so many words to the fact that he has just "twined a wreath for a searching one", i.e. only a searching one will be able to understand him. Although these were not the searching ones who have read "Getika".
    Jordan hasn't written a single word in favor of his fellow countrymen, but the facts, which he has skillfully mentioned, speak for him. And that's why his work is valuable: it was composed of false words but it contains true facts. It's a paradox but it's true.
    And maybe Jordan's innate wisdom becomes apparent in his work - his mind gave him power over tongue and pen? Maybe it is not a dictation of a Roman novice, but a cryptography allowing the inquisitive descendants to learn the truth about the disaster? Who would have let him write his story not being free? Dozens of eyes were fixed on him.
    It is a contradictory writing. The facts are not in accordance with each other as if on purpose. And the sense of proportion has been lost while glorifying the winners; it is read compromising him.
    Was Jordan a Kipchak? This question has been arising repeatedly during the years of "Getika" reading. Sometimes he was called an Allan, even an Italian, supposing that a person, and particularly a Christian, could have humiliated his parents and ancestors that way.
    But he was a Kipchak, that's for certain. He was a real Kipchak. And only a Kipchak. His act is typical for a Kipchak who has diverged from his ancestors' laws and, as a matter of fact, changed his moral. During the whole their "European" history they were notable either for immense devotion, or for immense cruelty. There was nothing else - they couldn't stand half-and-half easily going from one extreme another.
    As a matter of fact, the whole further Turkic history is an example of that - no other nation has ever waged so many internal wars in such a fierce way and for such a long period. No one has been rejecting its parents as often as the European Kipchaks. They betrayed their belief and their moral. And treachery was not alien to them…
    Notes of Prokopi Caesarian, a prominent European historian of VI - VII centuries, are another example. In his book called "War with the Goths" he describes the arrival of secret ambassadors from Don to the emperor of Byzantium. Having offered cooperation, they wondered weather it would be useful for the Roman Empire if neighboring barbarians would be in perpetual conflict with each other… Traitors from the Steppe came themselves, they weren't invited.
    Europe being alien to the Turkic moral taught them a lot; no one lived there in any other way.
    It is amazing how meanness, betrayal, lie have been always getting along together in blood of European Kipchaks with former acute pride, courage, nobility and generosity. An unexpected nation, indeed! Mixture of dignity and terror.
    The Kipchaks became really disjoined, they became envious but not cowardly, they never remember an offence for a long time, they don't bear a grudge, they are open and can enjoy themselves without restraint, they are amazingly hospitable. That's what they are today. Their behavior is unexpected.
    They may promise whatever one likes, vow fidelity, but before another day is over they can forget anything so as to promise and swear passionately next time… They are ready to believe any gossip and to invent a new one… No, they are not tattlers or pretenders, they really believe in what they say or hear. They can't do anything easy and in cold blood - even be on friendly terms with anybody… As if European "today" and Asian "yesterday" are fighting in them!
    One would think, why did Ukrainian "Circassians" become the Slavs? Why did "Russian Cossacks" betray their nation? One would hardly be able to answer these questions not knowing the secret of Kipchak character and their former history.

    In V century after Attila's death a long fighting commenced in Europe; blood was shed on both banks. Numerous commander's heirs waged a war for the power in Desht-I-Kipchak. Miserable splits of former five hundred thousand Attila's army survived and they kept on fighting between each other furiously.
    And after those "splits" have also split Roman legionaries settled their last disputes. Having buried the hatchet, the third "one being pleased" - Justinian the emperor - celebrated victory, and, as far as we know, victors need never explain. That's why in VI century, when everything was finished, the Romans needed Jordan - the man knowing Latin, with a good name and who seemed to be weak and broken.
    Those years a part of the Kipchaks has already recognized the power of the Roman emperor. Or, as Jordan wrote, "they preferred to ask the Roman Empire for land". They stayed within the bounds of Dakia. The Romans treated the Turki who have turned to their side with outward respect, they took them to the army, paid good wages, gave them land and called them the "federates", showing by this queer word that their Kipchaks are not hirelings or prisoners but the volunteers who are bound only by a free agreement.
    Trustful steppe inhabitants entered Roman emperor's service and became the mice in a mousetrap… By the way, world history of the Cossacks begins from those federates - these were the Turki who agreed to wage a war against their nation for money. As they used to say in the Steppe in such cases, blind colt was searching for teats on stallion's body…
    Of course Jordan doesn't mention that he "was following the writings of the elders" and "gathered just a few flowers from their vast meadows" accidentally. It means vast meadows existed! As well as the ancestors. These are Cassidor and other historians whose works have mysteriously disappeared during the period of inquisition. Jordan was gathering the weed form those meadows in a pointed manner: his works were kept for that.
    That's what his work is valuable for; it should be read as if through a looking-glass. All that irritates an enemy witnesses of the opposite: the more paltry the Kipchaks are in the text, the more majestic they were. That is the rule of "mirror" reading.
    Of course it is sad that a man having called himself a Kipchak didn't find a good word for his nation. But he made another thing through his "mirror" truth. Jordan devoted half of the text dedicated to Attila to a false defeat in Kataluan fields. Not a single word has been said about glorious victories. Why?
    It turns out that the Turki had a wise rule - "one should become a frog living among the frogs". "Ukrainian Circassians" acted that way as well as "Russian Cossacks" who were compelled to serve their yesterday's enemy. Federates and remained Usuls who were searching for protection in foreign lands played that sorrowful part before. Jordan was leading his life in accordance with the same rules.
    Everything was rapidly changing in Europe in VI century. Everything became covered by secrecy which was kept as a relic. Europe was trying to conceal shame which can't be concealed.
    … Rome was skillfully provoking Attila, but it was afraid to oppose it. Having learnt the Turkic customs the Romans sent Aetsius, the scion of noble birth, to be brought up with the Kipchaks, which was in accordance with traditions of the Turki who used to send and accept children of rival clans for upbringing.
    Aetsius gained Attila's favor. The Kipchaks have brought up a spider and later they entangled in his web like flies. Their souls being open to the friend did not have the slightest notion of the fact that a person with whom they have been sharing bread and salt was able to act meanly. That was in contradiction with the moral of the Great Steppe. But… that man was a European.
    Having returned to Rome Aetsius, a young and highly experienced fellow, became the emperor's councilor with regard to relationship with Desht-I-Kipchak. When Attila understood whom he has called his friend and brother it was too late.    
    Having enticed and bribed several Attila's warriors, Aetsius headed Roman army. Years spent with the Turki were not spent in vain - correlation of forces in Europe was changing not in favor of Desht-I-Kipchak.
    Infuriated Attila, having learnt of Aetsius' betrayal demanded to give up all betrayers from the Romans, he even provided a written list, but the Romans were wriggling, refusing and lying. Finally they sent an embassy to Attila; Prisk, an envoy of Byzantine emperor, was among its members. Having realized that a brief talk is not likely and the enemy is trying to save its strength and gain time, laconic Attila exclaimed: "I march into battle against you!" The ambassadors delivered these words to the emperor.
    O, you wise Jordan! Having skillfully reported of enticement of the riders, he kind of didn't mention that Attila had the reason to exclaim: "I march into battle against you!" He uttered his
    Attila had a foreboding: he's been surrounded by betrayal. Rome was enthusiastically carrying out its policy, it was weaving plots one after another; simple-minded Kipchaks, not being versed in peculiarities of European moral, heard out one thing form Roman envoys while they were doing another. At last certain information relating to open and hidden preparations of the enemies of the Turki in the north of Italy was obtained; it became evident that they were getting ready for an attack.

    Attila has become anxious - but not scared! - and Jordan skillfully expressed that.
    "He was a man born to shake the nations, he was the horror for all countries which made everybody tremble for some unknown reason; hew was known everywhere for a frightful attitude towards him. He had a haughty pace, fastened his eyes here and there and showed his mind by his motions. Being fond of wars he managed to be moderate, he was a strong man of sense, affable to the beggars and gracious to those in whom he has once confided. He was undersized, he had a strong chest, big head, small eyes, thin beard, slightly gray hair, flat nose and disgusting skin color - he showed all signs of his origin. Although he was always notable for his conceit, it has been rising in him since he had found a Mars sword which was recognized to be a sacred one". And he told the legend: that sword - the symbol of divine election - was found accidentally. A certain herder brought it to Attila. Mars sword, according to a legend, conferred power to its owner.
    However in 451 anxious foreboding stopped the commander, nothing of that sort has ever happened to him. He turned to the fortunetellers with a heavy heart. The biggest ram was slaughtered in accordance with the custom and when the fortuneteller looked at the animal's shoulder he shrank back and foretold a disaster. It is not inconceivable that he has also received something from Rome. Those days Rome wasn't stingy of a bounty.
    Thus Aetsius was being a winner until the battle in Kataluan Fields - he has performed all necessary preparations: he managed to bribe several Kipchaks, to gather a united European army secretly; he got away with distemper bred in the heart of invincible Attila. Everything was for Rome's sake.
    Attila accepted Aetsius's conditions without thinking, he got ready for a fight in Kataluan Fields which was not advantageous for the riders: relief was favorable to the Romans… The fighting was to take place where the enemies wished. Attila remained a Kipchak even in this unnecessary concession; he wasn't able to deny a wittingly disadvantageous offer because of his pride - he couldn't get a reputation of a weak in the eyes of his associates.
    The foreboding was increasing, it unbearably oppressed Attila's heart. And Attila delayed the attack when the troops have been already formed. As though some mysterious force kept his horse back, tied his wrists and troubled his mind. Commander's uncertainty transmitted to the troops, the army became worried.
United European army was awaiting not having made a single step.
    Longed-for morning passed and the battle hasn't begun yet. Attila delayed perhaps until midday being a prey to doubts. He kept silent looking into the sky, as well as Aetsius. "flight is sadder than fall", - the great Kipchak broke his silence at last and gave an order when the sun has already risen high.
    With "Hurrah!" battle-cry (which meant "beat!", "strike down!" in Kipchak language) the riders rushed to the attack. The battle was happening like an outburst, like a sudden storm. Aetsius, the foster child of Attila himself, was aware of fighting tactics of the steppe inhabitants; he has calculated everything rightly. The attack was stopped.
    Nothing of that king has ever happened to Attila. The Kipchaks were taken aback. That was the first time they had to recede.

    And at that time their tsar showed former wisdom: he settled down himself. That was perhaps the most difficult victory in his life - the victory over himself. In a little while he went to his troops and found all necessary words. His brief phrases inflamed Kipchak hearts like the sounds of a slashing saber:
    "Defence is the sign of fear".
    "That one is brave who strikes a blow".
    "Revenge is the great gift of nature".
    "Recover your spirit and let your fury boil up".
    "The arrows can't reach the one longing for victory".
    "The one being calm when Attila is fighting has been already buried" - these words completed the speech. He took his saber out of the sheath, struck with it showing an equilateral cross above the troops and uttered silently: "Alla bilae" ("God save us!", "Godspeed us" in Turkic).

    "Saryn kyocchak" - the commanders pealed in reply, and their exclamation ("Saryn kyochak" means "hail to the braves" in Turkic, it is a slogan to rush to the attack (thus a Russian proverb which means "the crowd should be on the prow").) drowned in a furious "Hurrah" of the whole army.
    In a moment everything was mixed up. Battle-cries, luster of the sabers and the dust over the rushing riders, - the world was turning over. "Alla bilae! Alla bilae" was thundering over Katalaun Fields, the sun and the sky were then reflecting in Turkic hats. Thus the battle with united European army was happening in the right way.
    Tens of thousands of corpses remained there. Steppe inhabitants returned to their camp late at night - tired but happy. In the morning, having shown the mercy upon the Romans, Attila generously let the remains of their army go away, which was estimated by the European historians in their own way. Who's going to recognize its defeat even in a lost war? And the historians made Attila the looser and Aetsius, who has been defeated by him, was proclaimed a winner. His victory is really odd! One can even believe in it not being aware of the continuation.
    And the continuation was grave: the "loser" Turki moved his troops against Rome. He, "having been defeated", passed over the towns of Northern Italy leaving the ruins in place of them. The emperor's deputation headed by Lion I, the Pope, was waiting for him near Rome.
    In the Ambulei Field the emperor's deputation begged Attila to bury the hatchet. They were ready for everything not to have another massacre in their town. The Pope fell down on his knees raising an equilateral cross - the symbol of the Kipchak culture - above him. The same cross was on Attila's flags. Thus Rome acknowledged the superiority of the Turki.
    Laconic Attila, intending to humiliate Valentinian, the Roman emperor, demanded to bring Gonoria, his sister, with the part of the property due to her… Rome has become "an Eternal City" since then, and Attila started his way home with a heavy spoil having the stained European capital behind him.
   
    The record of the battle, as well as the record of a symphony allows reproduction of the chords of that great music of life in a thousand years. War, the same as love, death or a song was and remains the satellite of man. Having realized that, the ancient Turki brought up the youth in their particular way. For example a youth not having passed the military training was forbidden to marry in the Great Steppe. Wars and warriors were especially respected in the Great Steppe; special history was kept in relation to them. They were able to estimate the outcome of any battle.
    The battle of Kataluan is not an exception.
    Why weren't the European authors embarrassed by the fact that "defeated" Attila razed the Northern Italy and Gaul to the ground? That only recognition of the Turkic cross by Lion I, the Pope, saved Rome from destruction? That Valentinian the emperor, the glorious "winner", violated the sanctity of his sister himself?..
    And they call it HISTORY? People get knowledge from poisoned sources and pass it to their children. And the latter will never be proud of their glorious ancestors.
    Let's consider for a moment: according to Jordan, Attila's army counted half a million warriors, and after him up to three million of people came to Europe (that the general proportion of army and population - 1:5, 1:7). But I doubt whether more people lived in the rest of Europe.
    It turns out every second European has Turkic roots!..
    Until IV century, i.e. until the Great Nations Migration, most part of European lands remained empty, there were no many settlements on them. And while later, for different reasons, European Turki changed their language and belief, not everybody was able to rid themselves of appearance and customs of their ancestors. Blue-eyed, white-haired, a little bit broad faced - they remained as the Kipchaks should be… A common mirror would remind them of the past.
    What does it reflect? It reflects that there is no and there has never been "ethnic purity" in Europe. Integral tissues cannot be found neither in Germany, neither in France, neither in Italy, neither in Spain nor in England - nowhere! Europe is sewed of "ethnic rags". And that's natural.
    Bavarians, Austrians, Saxons, Englishmen used to understand Kipchak language sometimes, they've been hearing it from their very infancy. It was native for the Serbs, Croatians, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Cossacks, Hungarians and Czechs… And can the Savoys or Burgundies, for example, be treated as the French while Turkic blood is running in their veins? These were the Turkic khans who led them to Gaul from Altai.
    That's right, they've forgotten their native language, but they haven't forgotten the traditions of their ancestors!.. The symbol of Turkic culture - equilateral cross - is still present on the flags there; Turkic symbols are vividly seen in armory.
    Here it is, the Finger of God!
    And sacred places also cannot be forgotten! In Southern England (Sutton-Who) the tsar's barrow is known, it was raised in VI century. In whose honor? And after all, how did the barrows appear in England while neither Britons nor Celts - the natives of the isles - have never built them… living traces of Time?!
    And that happens not only on the British Isles. It is also happening in Bulgaria - the barrows are also found there and Kipchak culture, which became "Slavic" all of a sudden, dominates there. And where have the Bulgarian khans - Asparukh (Isperikh, to put it more preciously) and others - gone to? Where has the Great Bulgaria chaganat, which was a part of Desht-I-Kipchak, disappear?.. The same questioned can be asked about Kurbat-khan and his ulus - today's Croatians. Their barrows and ancient temples are quite the same as Turkic, steppe ones… Doesn't Hungary put anybody to a nonplus for its inhabitants - the sekels (seklers) - the nation having been speaking Turkic language and writing in runes until XVI century? "Seklers" meant "keepers" in ancient Turkic, and they really were the warders, the warriors, as well as Russian Cossacks. In a word, the early history of the Balkans doesn't give rise to any doubts concerning its origin.

Imperceptible becomes visible. For example, one can have a look at cheese production in French Savoy and become astonished. That is the steppe cheese! Apart form the Turki no other nation of the world produces cheese that way. And they make halva (chakchak) exactly in a Turkic way. And they boil beshbarmak (khinkal) for holidays, but they call it otherwise - in French manner…
    National cookery is the most conservative element of national culture. People can forget everything but their favorite food.
    Everything has got mixed up, indeed. But the traces of the past remained. People are those traces. Although forgetful, but still they are the people. Turkic voice hasn't faded out; no, it remained and it is just keeping silence in blood of certain Europeans who haven't got the slightest idea of their ancestors… "Respect your parents" - these were the basic words of the Turkic society some time. And all the rest went after that. The man respecting his ancestors was the top of priorities, he was the only one having the right for respect.
   
    If one takes a look at the map being two thousand years old he may find that western world looked a little bit wild. It huddled in the backyard of human civilization. Only those countries having close contacts with the East (the country between two rivers, India, China) could claim to leadership within the bounds of the cultural Europe.   
    Why did Hellas become the leader? It was nearer to the East. Later Rome became the leader, having intercepted the trade routes in the Mediterranean, having pushed the Greeks aside live-giving eastern roads… In fact, European civilization was formed around the Mediterranean Sea transport was its circulatory system.
    They used to construct ships in Greece and in Rome. They were the only ones having relations with other countries increasing the power of the state. That's why the borders of Hellas lay not far from the sea - as a rule, big towns were built on the shores. Romans made "all the roads lead to Rome" but there were two or three those roads at most, heavy and unwieldy carriages and slaves with load on their shoulders could be met there.
    Sail was the symbol of Europe; it wasn't on friendly terms with a wheel. Thus continued until IV century when Kipchak tilt carts and wagons appeared. We should emphasize the fact that the Turki arrived not by sea as they used to "wonder" in the whole Roman Empire but by fry land! A very important detail, a matter of principle, which explains a lot. For example, why did the first Turki settle in the steppes of Central Europe. Why they didn't rush to the shore…
    And their tilt carts were excellent. Harnessed with two or there horses, they filled the desolate spaces of deep-laid Europe. They didn't need roads. A tilt cart is a perfect technical invention of those times. Its construction is light and firm.
    Indeed, much has been written about "wildness" of the Kipchaks and almost nothing about their technical skills. Curious "trifles" were overlooked; and those trifles explain how the Turki managed to perform what other nations haven't been able to do… Nothing happens just by accident in life. Especially if the Great Nations Migration is in question.
    Neither weather nor distance were the obstacles for a covered cart. There were no barriers for it in the steppe. Hence is easiness and liveliness of the steppe nation, its fantastic vitality under hard steppe conditions - houses on wheels! No other nation could ever think about that.
    Although it was all estimated otherwise by certain Europeans: "the nomads". This verdict was brought on the Kipchaks… And after all, why were they "nomads"? Why did they have to lead a nomad's life? And could they do it in the Great Steppe with its inclement conditions?
    That's true, the Kipchaks have passed thousands of kilometers, they learnt to cook in a moving tilt cart or in a hut (izbushka - thus was a warm cart called), they invented a samovar (which has later become a "Russian samovar") for that purpose. But the goal of their long road was the settlement of vast spaces of Europe and Asia. The settlement, indeed.
    Than shouldn't the Europeans also be recognized as the nomads for they were populating America? Aren't they the nomads? And was Australia inhabited otherwise? By the way, these were also the Kipchaks. It is possible they remembered the past.
    "Nomads" is a lame word. Nobody can tell what does it mean?
    Monographs of "nomadic civilizations" have been written, the Kazakhs have invented their "nomadic theory" and pride themselves upon it. But nomadic life of the Mongols is applied also to the Turki in it and it is forgotten that in XIII century the Mongols have been destructing ancient towns in the country between seven rivers to make certain Turki change their settled way of life for nomadic. That was the destructive policy of Desht-I-Kipchak conquerors, which was lasting for centuries. Under the Mongols and under Russians as well… "Nomadic" monographs of the Kazakhs are evident recurrences of the Mongol yoke.
    After all, any movement is a "nomadic life". Any movement. Movement of a herder's family after the herd, work of a crew of a sea craft, passages of geologists and builders. And even business trips and expeditions. And visits in the country in summer - what are they if not a nomadic life? People have always been the slaves of words and terms. The word "nomad" is a tribute to yesterday's fashion, worn out boots of Mr. Karamzin…
    Another thing is more interesting - what if the Great Nations Migration hasn't been over in V century? What if settlement of America and Australia by the European migrants was a continuation thereof?! It was quite the same on the surface - covered carts, field camps, herds and flocks, permanent risk, fighting and sacred feeling of freedom.
    And - this is probably the most important - people were the same! To tell the truth they haven't already been speaking Turkic language but it was Kipchak blood running in their veins. And certainly they were not to borrow courage. They held a bridle in one hand, a gun - in the other, and moved straight forward, to the West, the same as with Attila.
    All the first American settlers are the natives of Western Europe. From the regions where advance-guard of Attila's army has settled. They were the Turki, there definitely were no other nations there. Knowing that, should one be surprised by appearance, for example, of American cowboys? Their solemn devotion to a horse, their reckless boldness for which the Kipchaks have been known in Altai?... Everything has its sources.
    By the way, the cowboys have invented nothing new there in America, their exciting competitions are the continuation of ancient traditions of the Great Steppe.

    That's what the eyewitnesses of the events say about the life of the Kipchaks. Those who have seen them with their own eyes. For example, Prisk, the Byzantine ambassador, having visited Attila. His writings are interesting for they reproduce the "spirit of presence" of the European author having come to the Turki who had already arranged their way of life in V century.
    "Having crossed several rivers, Prisk wrote, - we arrived to a huge settlement where Attila's palace was located. As we were made to believe, it was far more magnificent than his palaces in other places. It was built of logs and planks skillfully polished and enclosed in a wooden fence being more suitable for its decoration than for defence".
    Tsar's palace was also decorated with hipped roofs, big and small towers which were rising like the guards above the fence… Here it is - the Turkic architecture! In Europe that architecture wasn't known. Prisk was one of the first of those Europeans who've noticed that.
    Tsarina Kreka's terem ("Terem" - a wooden house) was standing in beauty near the tsar's palace, magnificent and light due to its patterns. To tell the truth, nowadays the word "terem" is deemed to be of Greek origin and that seems especially strange after having read Prisk: in Kipchak lands the history of that building is centuries-old and the Greeks just managed to see it ()The word "terem" originates from another Turkic word, "terek" - a "wood", or "wooden house"… However, there are other interpretations which are more correct, but they are not in question. Archeologists have been using the term "carpenter culture" long since which reflects appearance of the first log constructions - about four thousand years ago in Altai. Prisk, being a European, was amazed with log buildings.
    The remark of the translator who worked with Prisk's notes is interesting in this connection. He was Russian and he perplexedly marked in a reference that he didn't understand Byzantine's amazement with wooden architecture of Attila's palace. "Could wooden houses and columns amaze an ambassador?" - asks the translator with distrust?
    Of course they could. He has seen them for the first time in his life! And his amazement was valid. Thus Europe got acquainted with Turkic architecture.
    In tsar Attila's capital almost all the houses were carpentered. A log lay next to a log. A built house was called either "terem", if it was built for nobility, or "isb" if it was built for ordinary people. The word isb means "warm premises" in Turkic (it originates from "issi bina"). An isb could have four walls - for a small new family having recently moved away from their parents, or for the aged parents themselves who feel better being close to their children. That's why a family usually had two or three houses.
    Carpenters skillfully made the framework: they applied all methods known those days. Traces of their work were thoroughly investigated by professor S.I. Rudenko. It turned out that in old times the carpenters worked aside from the place of future house, beginning one year before construction, they were waiting for the logs to get dry, after that the logs were marked, the framework was demolished, transported to the required place and constructed again… The logs found by the archeologists retained ancient marks.

    However, the Kipchaks used to build kurens more often. That is also a wooden building, octahedral in its form and half-deepened into the earth. The living space of a kiren was bigger in comparison with an isb. Earthen steps led to an entrance into a kuren. The building was deepened on purpose: so that in winter, when soil is frozen through, it is possible to stay on warm wattle and daub floor, and having laid the carpets not to feel any inconveniencies. In isb floor was made of planks hence the building wasn't deepened.
    The dwellings were heated in different ways. An open hearth was placed in the center of a kuren because many people lived there - and it wasn't cold. A kuren is more ancient than an isb, no doubt. Isbs appeared in Altai, Sayany and other regions of Southern Siberia. They were really suitable for life in towns where severe earthquakes were taking place. During a shock the logs moved and didn't roll out, and the building remained safe. A new hearth - pech (oven) was invented for an isb (that is also a Turkic word, as well as hearth).
    The form of an oven was changing as centuries went by: they used to sleep on a stove, cook and even took steam baths inside it. As a rule a good man had usually had more than one stove. One - inside the house; another (summer) - in the street, and the third - with an oven - in the outhouse where bread was baked.
    … In the town of tsar Attila amazed Prisk was discovering something new at every step. The Byzantine ambassador was very amazed by the baths - he had never seen it before.
    White baths made of stone was the only non-wooden construction in Attila's capital. Baths are not that simple as it seems. Baths of Ancient Egypt, for instance, are evidently different from Chinese ones. In Europe baths were built according to Egyptian traditions, and according to Chinese ones in the East and in Siberia. The essence of the differences - the Europeans bathed in warm water which temperature couldn't vary, while for the Siberians water was not as important as air temperature inside the baths. Their bath was not water but aerial…

    Turkic architecture hasn't disappeared; it remained, its ideas are the basis of Gothic. To tell the truth nobody wants to speak about its Turkic origin today, but the Turki are the only ones to blame; that's due to ignorance of their own history… But let's return to Prisk's notes for he could see from the outside; entered Turkic buildings and talked to Attila's cronies.
    The amazed Greek, for example, having entered a terem, wasn't able to comprehend how could one cut and put the logs that skillfully so that the building seemed to be round while it wasn't round? Tsarina Kreka's terem only seemed to be like that - in fact in was octahedral.
    Carved platbands and shutters, as well as laces over the windows, high porch with a carved shed - they were constructed those times. And now Prisk enters the chamber of tsarina Kreka:
    "I opened the door and passed by the barbarians standing over there and found Kreki lying in the soft bed. The floor was covered with woolen carpets on which they walked. A lot of slaves were standing around tsarina; female slaves, sitting on the floor opposite her, were speckling linen coverlets with different paints and those coverlets were put on the shoulders of female barbarians as a decoration. Having come up to Kreki I hailed her, gave her the gifts and went out".

    This scene (and the whole Prisk's story) contains nothing wild which is ascribed to the Turki through an evil habit. Subjects of day-to-day life are clearly described - they were permanently attracting attention of the Byzantine due to their novelty.
    The floors were covered with woolen carpets on which they walked. Felt carpets are really traditional for the Kipchaks. They were different from Persian carpets familiar to the Byzantine; that's why he has noted them. The Europeans didn't know the felt method of wool handling. They should have been very surprised by felt cloaks, felt boots and other ordinary small items which were the part of Kipchak life.
    And one observation is to Byzantine's credit - he could have not noticed what female slaves were doing - they were decorating their wraps with which Kipchak women still adorn their clothes. An important detail of ancient national clothes. Today it is known as "shawl" or "kerchief". And the Gutsuls are the only ones who still call it the old way - "guni".
    Guni was made with a long fringe - with tassels like falling branches of a weeping willow. They were white and solemn - for a temple and for a funeral repast, and the motley ones - for feasts and day-to-day life. A tradition!
    Maybe that's why Kipchak women are that beautiful…
    Prisk wrote of Attila's fellow men rather tiffly: "They wear short cloth caftans of not dyed wool which their wives spin and weave, white wide trousers and leaver boots tied by the straps on the instep. They are especially notable for their tender treatment and love for the nearest. (That was really so! Bold provided - M.A.). Their (woman's) clothes is rather neat and comfortable, it consists of an apron and a jacket of dark-blue color trimmed with a light border and without it, a white shirt lower than a skirt and adorned with folds near the neck and hands with a frill like the laces, maids are usually bareheaded decorating their hair with all sorts of coins. They all wear ear-rings, bracelets and rings since they are three years old".
    National clothes of the "barbarians" haven't noticeably changed during the centuries. And they couldn't change! Archeologists found them in burial places in Altai; certain nations retained the same fashion. But of course some things were changed. For example, one won't find "the straps tied on the instep", they are not necessary no longer. They used to tie the heels that way.

    Prisk also described Attila's chambers where he has seen the commander among the feasting cronies. Table traditions of the Kipchaks are impressive and they haven't changed.

"When we returned to our tent father Erestov came to us and declared that Attila has invited us both to the feast…" Here we'll interrupt Prisk's story and focus on a very important fact which becomes evident from it: there was a clergyman, father Orestov, with Attila - commander's confessor. He fetched Byzantine guests "according to a custom of his country so that we also pray before sitting down to table", - Prisk wrote (Doesn't that witness that Attila, as well as his cronies, was a believer or at least not indifferent to sacred rites. A very important observation.
    Later the Turki, having become the Christians or the Moslems, haven't rejected their ancient customs. Meal only after a prayer. And the Greek wasn't the first one who has noticed that, but Favst Buzand, the chronicler of Caucasus (30s of IV century). To tell the truth, after Prokopi Caesarean Turkic culture hasn't been thoroughly analyzed and following historians have neglected it and called them "Arians", "shamanists" and "nasty Tatars".).
    … How did they sit down to table? Not by accident. Senior guest of honor sat at the head of the table, other guests of honor sat from the right. His (Attila's) elder son was sitting at the edge of his coach, not close to him dropping his eyes due to respect to him".
    The guests were to drink after each toast accordingly to the ranks. The eldest guest was the first to bring the cup to his lips, and everyone were looking at him with inspiration; after that the baton was passed round the table.

"When everyone was sitting in due order, - Prisk writes, - the cup-bearer, having come up to Attila, gave him the cup of wine. Attila took it and greeted the first one sitting from the right. The one in whose honor the greeting was made, stood up and he couldn't sit down until Attila returns the cup to the cup-bearer having drunk wine. When he sat down all the ones present honored him the same way, accepted their cups and having greeted him, drank their wine. One cup-bearer was standing near each guest". After that the second guest was greeted the same, and after that - all the rest.
    The chambers where the feast took place smelt like fresh wood. Wide benches were standing along the walls; massive oak tables were near them. Commander's couch was at the end of the premises. Several steps led to the throne. That place of honor was called tver, it was closed by thin variegated curtains… The same ones as on the paintings of Kiev chroniclers.
    Dishes were served on silver plates. Wine - in golden and silver glasses which, again, are absolutely the same as those found by the archeologists and depicted by Kiev chroniclers.
    They were drinking honey and kama - light heady drink of brown color made of couched barley or millet. What is it if not beer? Beer - the drink being very popular among the Tuki. As well as kvass.
    Of course modern drinks are different. But the Chuvashes have kept that ancient custom of invitation to pay a visit. The Chuvash will say on any occasion (be it a wedding, a meeting or for no particular reason): "Come to drink some beer". And they are a good judge of beer. Each family has its recipe… It turns out that in Prisk's times Europe didn't even know about beer. It seems it was also presented by the Turki? Beer-lovers (beer countries) remained just exactly among European Kipchaks; it's amazing that their geography coincides with forgotten borders of Desht-I-Kipchak.     
    … After that the songs were sung at Attila's table - sincere and quiet ones. Those that flow into soul and relax it. They were singing accompanied by music. A harp, harmonica, kobyz (cello's ancestor) were trembling in the hands of skilful players… The musical nation lived in the Great Steppe.
    In V century, as well as before and after that, a steppe inhabitant couldn't live without music, songs, hot folk dances after which the heels come loose. "After the songs some ugly one, having stepped forward, made odd absurd speeches having no sense and made everybody laugh". This tradition - to play tricks! - also remained with the Turkic nation… Whom can one laugh at if not himself?
    And wasn't the intention to imitate Attila the reason of appearance of fools in the palaces of European kings, which amused and diverted the guests at the balls? Those fools would tell the truth to the kings' faces and then get away with it?.. Attila laughed from the heart at his fool together with the others.
    Of course Attila's greatness was not in table competitions - it lay somewhere else. He used to wear modest clothes, not "as a tsar". Kipchak rulers were not notable for magnificent clothes disfiguring their bodies. Tsars would wear modest clothes peculiar to common people and become famous for their deeds. In Dest-I-Kipchak people were respected for their deeds and actions.
    Attila "was moderate in everything. Those participating in feasts drank from golden and silver cups while he had a wooden one. His robe was also simple and notable only for its neatness. Neither his sword, neither the laces of his barbarian footwear nor the bridle of his horse were decorated with gold, stones or something precious as the others are fond of".

The Kipchaks used to wear papakhas. The aristocrats (the uzdens) had astrakhan ones, papakhs of free people (the Cossacks) were made of sheepskin and the slaves were prohibited to wear papakhas. In summer they wore a peaked cap or a felt cap with brims. A real man wore a bashlyk on his shoulders for the whole year, especially on journeys, - another ceremony is connected with it. Everything mattered - the way it was tied, the way it was worn.
    One can even judge about the haircuts on the basis if the notes of eyewitnesses. Certain Kipchaks would shave their heads. And others, on the contrary, wouldn't cut their hair but palate it. Rushing to the attack the riders let their plates down and their hair waving from under their helmets terrified the enemy.
    Prisk wrote about the "blood-thirstiness" of the Turki as follows: "They lead a calm and careless life after a war, each one deals with what he has". Calm and careless! Only self-assured nation could lead such a life. When there was no war, relations between the settlements became not that strong and khans' power wasn't that strict. However, in case of danger the Steppe promptly awakened; everybody was alarmed. It was a shame for the whole family not to be ready to fight. Families and yurts united - separate fingers formed a fist; khan's power became absolute… The Steppe has always been a misery for the aliens.
    Having met a Greek taken prisoner Prisk suggested that he should return to motherland but he, having just been delivered from slavery, refused asserting that its better among the Turki than in Byzantium… It might be an insignificant detail but it bears a lot of information. Sometimes a phrase let fall by an eyewitness is enough.    

    So many interesting things around… Everything is mixed up in history of nations, everything is under the heel of politics and prejudices. Unfortunately these are the politicians who often estimate archeological findings. For example, in the Hermitage or the Fine Arts Museum named after A.S. Pushkin in Moscow one won't find a single exhibit or item relating to the Kipchak culture. There is nothing. It is never mentioned. Although entire collections of works of art are stored in the store-rooms, they've never been exhibited. It was prohibited. They are from the Steppe! Treasures get dusty on dark shelves; and according to Russian history they've never existed.     
    Coffee and tea sets of delicate work, porcelain statuettes, marvelous cups and jewelry, as well as many other items, are known just to a narrow circle of professionals
    Are not the articles by V.V. Radlov, the academician, indicative for he mentioned in the middle of XIX century how Turkic barrows have been pillaged, with what greedy eyes Russian settlers - "archeologists" have cut golden items. Ancient vases, ornaments of delicious work turned into contemptible metal in their trembling hands. And Turkic history was turning into what it has become…
    I'll repeat, disdain for Turkic culture originated not in Russia; Russia simply inherited it as a tribute to a formed European fashion. "History" by Ammian Marcellin, the Latin author, is a good example where information of the Kipchaks of the close of IV century is provided; that was the first time they appeared in European steppes beyond the "Meotiysk Marsh" (Sea of Azov). That book set the fashion which remained for centuries.
    According to Marcellin the Kipchaks were notable for stumpy constitution, their faces were beardless, they were "ugly and looked like eunuchs". Well, tastes differ, as the saying goes. Of course those times they didn't know about the eastern newcomers in Europe. Otherwise Marcellin wouldn't have called a papakh worn at a rakish angle a "wry hat" and the boots - "soft high footwear". The Europeans have worn neither papakhs nor boots.
    "All of them, not having any residences, hearths, laws and stable way o life, - Marcellin writes, - roam from one place to another like eternal runaways with the tilt carts in which they spend their lives. Tilt carts with curved covers are made of bark. Having come to a place rich in grass they arrange their carts in circle and feed on in an animal way; having used all the fodder they carry on riding their towns, so to say, placed on the carts. Leading draught animals and herds before them, they pasture them; especially they care for their horses. Everyone who is not suitable for a war due to age or sex would remain near the tilt carts and be busy with peaceful affairs".
    It's a surprise - the repelling description is uncommonly unbiased! As well as the fact that "the youth having got used to riding since early childhood considers it a shame to go on foot". That's true - the Kipchaks are a horse-riding nation, they've "adhered to a horse". At first a child was put on a horse and after that he learnt to walk.

    But it seems Marcellin's observations still need a comment.
Since we are talking about the close of IV century it should be mentioned that those days a grandiose battle for Don has just been finished; the Kipchaks won a victory hence the settlement of Don steppes has barely begun and it is reasonable that people lived in tilt carts, children were born there and later those children could hardly answer the question: "Where is your motherland?" The Turki were choosing places for new villages and towns. They were searching for land. History of ancient Don towns and villages - Kobyakov settlement and others - begins exactly from IV century! After the year 370.
    Observations of a man not understanding the question - thus one can call the notes of the Latin historian, which is also twice as interesting. His lines are valuable for that, unprejudiced objectivity is contained in them. For example, Marcellin wrote about the Kipchaks: "they eat like animals"… And what did he mean?
    It turns out the Europeans were eating with hands, they weren't using any place settings as against the Turki. Greek grandees, for example, kept Arab boys in a house to wipe their hands with their curly and tough hair while eating. To tell the truth, a spoon became widespread in Greece very soon and a fork wasn't used until XIII - XV centuries… So who was eating "like animals"? The Turki, of course!
    Or another example from nations history. When the Europeans came to the Middle East for the first time they were struck by ugliness of its yellow-skin inhabitants. But in remaining witnesses of the aboriginal population this fact is also cited; only the aboriginals reported of ugliness of the white newcomers "whose awful look could make one faint away".
    Similar examples - and there are many of them - convince: we are all people and no human qualities are alien to us. The Turki, the Greek, the Chinese have their own idea of the beauty!. It is certainly hard for an historian from the shore to judge about another life, especially in the steppe, which he couldn't even imagine. That's why it is better to avoid any estimations in historical works - not to be taken in! But how can that be done? Of course, the author of these lines is also subjective - to the same extent as Marcellin was having sincerely written about ugliness of the steppe inhabitants. "He is not a handsome man", - the Turki could have said about him.
    And they would have been right. For example, emperor Julian (331 - 366) was considered to be a really handsome man in the Roman Empire. His thick beard was covered with lice as with ashes… There is no doubt that the beauty is a complex category.

    Marcellin's reports of Kipchak arms are confirmed by the archeologists… How can one do without estimations here? A saber doesn't need any recommendations, that's for sure, its advantage is evident: a rider slashes with a saber much faster than his enemy with a sword. And the Turki invented stirrups - a foothold - to make a slash quicker.
    After the battle for Don a bow became the favorite arm of the Turki. They were excellent shooters. A warrior adjusted a bow "to his hand" by himself. Arrow-heads also provide food for scientific research: they were with trilobate heads, of harpoon type, "whistling" - with a hole on one side.
    A bow of a steppe inhabitant went down in world arms history under the name of "a bow of Turkic type". That is a heavy bow, according to European name. It size is up to 1,5 meters. Strength was necessary in order to stretch it. But an arrow could break through the arms of the Romans like through an egg-sell… Arms, fighting, attack and retreat methods are the usual topic of Turkic culture studying. Permanent wars to which the nation got used required invention of new arms and skilful Kipchak craftsmen were always busy.    
    There were towns in Desht-I-Kipchak where aliens were prohibited to come. One of them was called Tulu ("full" in Turkic) or Tolum (arms), blacksmiths - armourers lived there since V century. The town appeared near Oka river where iron ore was found. The same town was situated not far from modern Belgorod. Other towns also existed, apparently.
    A strong and original country was forming in the steppe as the centuries went by; in IV century European world got acquainted with it. There were holidays and workday routine in that country of which the Europeans have never heard.
    Attila loved to hunt; only elite was invited to see it and only a few could take part. They hunted as the Kipchaks should - on horses. They beat bears, boars, deers with clubs or pole-axes riding their horses. Dogs were not used in hunting. But it was falconry that impressed the Europeans most.
    Sok-kol (falcon) means "to call on a hand", ber-kut (golden eagle) means "to bring the prey". Birds "calling on a hand" worked wonders before the very eyes of astonished Greeks. They searched for ducks and cranes with their keen eyes, made them fly and caught them flying. And after that they returned on a good master's hand.
    And weren't the nervous trembling looking at the favorite amusement of the Kipchaks - bear fight? One wild bear was put into a paled place and a bold fellow with a knife or a bear-sparer came to it. It was necessary to bring the bear to the ground with iron as soon as possible. By one stroke, right in the heart so that the people could hail the winner. Kipchak warriors were tempered that way! That was their idea of amusement.
    Slashers were especially conciliated for they used to break horses in wild races mortifying their vice. Horse race, games were obligatory for a holiday. As well as wrestling with belts. Lads stood in circle not because of a big ram (a usual prize for the winner!) but to prove themselves and control the rivals.
    The Turki were always able to invent something; they were rarely wasting their time… For example, if all the conversations were over at table a dispute began - who will be able to break the cannon-bone of a just eaten ram. It should be mentioned that a person with weak hands would hardly manage to break it. There were certain fellows who managed to kill a bull with a punch on a bet. It was important to know where to strike. And to have a good fist. And any man having self-esteem could kill a bull - an everyday affair.
    Participation in fisticuffs was a great honor; not everyone was admitted to take part. They were fighting for their pleasure. The boys started the fight and were fighting to the first drop of blood. After them the elder lads entered in twos or "crowd against crowd". And after that, having enjoyed the show, real fighters got up. Nobody would ever break the sacred rules of fisticuffs - that meant he would never take part again. Besides, one could be killed for that at the very same moment.

    Maybe we shouldn't have described the life Attila that thoroughly if a reader knew the details about him. "Attila (? - 453), the leader of the Huns since 434. Headed devastating campaigns against the Eastern Empire (443, 447-448), Gaul (451), Northern Italy (452). Under Attila Hun union of tribes reached its highest magnificence".
    That is the whole information provided by the Big Encyclopedia about the Great Turki having been the personification of Desht-I-Kipchak. Attila also died on account if his needless trustfulness… The historians pass over in silence who was that beautiful woman named Ildiko of whom loving Attila had taken notice. Either she was sent from Rome, or everything is really happening as the fates decree. In a word, the great commander fell in love in 453. And real love is never without a feast and a tender night.
    Jordan writes on this point: "Having become weaker at the wedding due to great enjoyment… he was lying swimming in blood because his nose was usually bleeding, but this time it was stopped in its usual way and, having taken the fatal way through the throat, choked him. Thus intoxication was the reason of the shameful end of the glorious fighter".
    In the faraway Constantinople emperor Marcian had a vision that tragic night: he saw a broken Attila's bow in his dreams.

An astonishing concatenation of circumstances! But being aware of mendacity of the Greek and their attempts against Attila for some reason one doesn't have the slightest wish to believe. Attila's death brought joy to the Europeans! Each Jordan's letter is full of joy: "Those days Attila was really dangerous for the great Empires that his death was sent by heaven to the regnant instead of the gift".    
    A dreadful confession - in can be seen through a mirror. They were afraid of Attila and even his tragedy was taken as a gift.   
    The nation of Desht-I-Kipchak was distraught with grief; absurd death of their leader almost lay it down. As the custom required, men started to cut off the tufts of their hair and make deep incisions of their faces. The great warrior has died! His loss should have been mourned with blood and not with tears.
    Deep mourning commenced in the Steppe. A silk tent was pitched in open country where the remains of untimely-departed commander were placed. The best riders of his army were going round the tent day and night paying tribute to the great tsar. Women were not let to take part in the mourning ceremony - their howls could disturb the warrior.
    After the bloody mourning the funeral feast began - it was a grand feast. A fantastic sight: funeral sorrow was mixed up with frenzy rejoicing. A striking philosophy of that ceremony - departing the tsar should see that well-being that he has left to his nation is still there and a happy life is going on.
    Late at night the body was committed to the earth. Attila's remains were put into three coffins - one made of gold, the other made of silver and the third made of hard iron. Arms gained in the battles with the enemies were also wrapped there as well as his orders and decorations which Attila has never put on in life but he could need them in the world beyond.
    In order to prevent marauding everybody who knew the burial place was killed as soon as they came back and thus they departed together with their master.

    The mourning days haven't been over yet when internal wars commenced. It turned out that the great number of heirs (and there were more than a hundred of them!) burdens the reign far more than lack of them. And when Ellak, the Elder son, the only legal heir of the ruler, was dead, Roman and Byzantine politicians had already known what to do Having made use of the discord they unleashed a fratricidal war which lasted for centuries. That's all. The great Attila, the Turkic commander, who inspired fear on the whole Europe, was dead. And a great deal of things departed with him.
    But Attila's inheritance - his victories, his place in history of Europe gave no rest to many people. Thus, for example, in 1858 a book was issued in Russia and, generally speaking, it was a lame book but with an expressive title - "Attila and Russia of IV - V centuries". Its author, professor A.F. Veltman, without batting an eyelid, emphatically asserted on more than two hundred pages that Attila… was Russian. And Desht-I-Kipchak was called Russia.
    That's not a joke. Similar opinions were also expressed by other historians

       The Wild Field - The Great Steppe

    The Germans also succeeded in appropriation of Kipchak inheritance. They made Attila their national hero, the personage of epics. Etzel Alps were named in his honor.
    How does that go: the Germans, calling themselves the descendants of Celts (those Celts who were mercilessly defeated by Attila!) recognized him as a national hero. And the Turki have forgotten about him. Is that normal?..
    Atli, Etzel - those were the names of the great Turki in German and Scandinavian epics and sagas. But in Southern German tales, for example in a heroic song "Valtariy", Etzel is glorified as a powerful monarch who, due to his generosity, sometimes ventures to be weak and hesitating. Thus he watches and doesn't take part in the intrigues in the palace, he doesn't save his son and wife from death. And it is astonishing that he isn't judged; on the contrary - they are delighted with him.
    Literary critics couldn't get the reasons of Attila's "passive" behavior; they were just surprised. However, their ignorance shows again the differences between eastern and western moral, eastern and western outlook.
    If only the Europeans knew that according to the law a Kipchak never helped his son in anything, even in case of fatal danger. He didn't have the right to touch his son with his finger, wherever he was - even on bull's horns. Only other man could help a child being in trouble.
    Is that rough? Sure it is… Bat at the same time that is right! Using rough laws the Kipchaks brought up a young man who had to live in the Great Steppe: he should drive away the clouds over his head by himself! Mama's boys were despised in the Turkic society. They were a shame. Only things gained by yourself were taken into consideration. Man had to care for himself and his reputation and the latter was especially esteemed. Hence is acute feeling of honor.
    The authors of "The Song of the Nibelungs" and "Valtariy", there is no doubt, were the Kipchaks by birth - they remembered the steppe laws. That is evident due to certain details. That's why their hero Atzel (Attila) remained noble even in a situation unacceptable from a European viewpoint. He acted regardless of European moral and that aroused admiration.
    But the authors of "The Song of Atli" and "Atli's speeches" were not aware of Turkic customs. Those works are also related to Ancient German ones, but they were written by the Northern Germans. Attila's character is different in them; there he is an alien, a conqueror harshly dealing with his enemies: they cut out the heart of one of them under his order and another was thrown into a hole with snakes.
    Who were they - the authors? They were not the Kipchaks, that's for sure. Cruelty was not in the traditions of the Steppe: the Turki acted toughly but they were not cruel. They rapidly rendered justice (according to the code), execution was simple - there was a dagger, there was a saber, there was a lasso and a horse. And that was enough. As a last resort they used a rope - if they dealt with a man not deserving a decent death. And at the very least, say, for stealing in a temple, the thief was dug into the earth alive…
It might be that first texts of "The Song of Atli" and "Atli's Speeches" were in Russian (Swedish) language - traditions of the Northern Europe are described in them. These were Hunnara and Khengi whom Atli pursued. And "Hunnar" and "Khengi" seem to be Varangian names. However, the word "Huns" which can be read in them may be the key to another version.    But still there is a feeling that the text is "Russian"; it becomes stronger after reading other Varangian songs. For example, in Icelandic "Saga of Velsungs" or Norwegian "Saga of Tidrek" Attila is also shown as a crafty ruler having ensnared the Burgundy (!?) king Hunnar and his brother Khengi in order to have their gold… And that is much stranger.
    What gold has to do with it? The Burgundy waged a war under Attila's flags; they were the Turki. It is evident that they didn't have a king; there was a khan - the leader of an ulus… It is not unlikely that he had a quarrel with Attila's father in 435 and the son was avenging. But for what purpose should the Burgundy be turned into the northerners; still they are the nation having come from the East.
    Attila, as well as other Kipchaks, was notable for indifference to money, gold, treasures - that was marked by Prisk and other Europeans who have seen him. Those were the values only for the Europeans!.. They were not the values for the Kipchaks. Nobody would be at enmity for gold. One could sit on a bag full of gold and have no respect in the Great Steppe; furthermore, he could have fallen into contempt.
    The Turki estimated not things but actions! The Eastern moral put the spirit above materialism. A horse was worth more than gold. As well as a saber and a bow. And all the rest people gained through hard work.
    Three wishes are sacred for a real Turki. The first one - to saddle a horse. The second - to eat meat. And the third - to love his wife. Attila acted in full accordance with Kipchak traditions; each element of the latter provided an action, a deed. An action of a man! Domination of spirit was the basis of the Turkic psychology. That circumstance is extremely important. It leads to understanding of the prime causes of many historical events, even human tragedies. The Southern Germans, for example, felt an eastern mark in their souls which is still their distinguishing feature, although they are the Europeans. That's why their literature about Attila is more strict and accurate; knowledge of the free Steppe is contained in it, maybe even in spite of authors' intentions.
    In poems and ballads of Southern Germans Attila's warriors could "become" even the knights of XI or XII centuries. The poets were not afraid to break the chronology because people wanted to see their heroes instinctively making them closer to their history. Bavarians and Saxons are proud of those pages of their history and are not willing to give them up.
    Isn't that accusation of Church against Gunter (Another "Hun" name, he took the pulpit since 1057 until 1065 in Bamnerg.), the bishop, indicative? It turns out that the German bishop preferred the stories about Attila to diligent reading of church literature. He even mentioned the great Turki in his sermons… Because he was a Kipchak himself and he recognized his native history in the history of the steppe riders.
    One shouldn't be astonished. According to N.M. Karamzin the German elite was fond of koumiss - mare's milk. And the language of the Kipchaks, again in accordance with documents, remained in the Southern Germany until XV - XVI centuries. It means the crusaders who have been leaving those places in 1204 to conquer Constantinople or to destroy Rome, gave commands in Turkic (Kipchak) language.
    Alas, that's not an exaggeration!
William Thomsen, the Danish scientist, was among the first ones who opened a new section in European linguistics; his academic works performed last century form a part of most favorable possession of science. Thomsen was about to turn the whole Europe up - the outburst threatened to turn into a big fire in coherent history of the Old World.
    "What Huns?", "What are these barbarians about?", - many people questioned having read an irreproachable work of an outstanding Danish scientist who has brought out clearly that European history is empty without Turkic one.    
    William Ludvic Peter Thomsen (1842 - 1927) was born in a postmaster's family in Randers; he spent his childhood there and started his university career. Young man wasn't satisfied with theology; he became fond of other sciences - philology and botany. Thomsen was lucky: he had met outstanding teachers who noticed his phenomenal memory and recognized a philological gift in him.    
    He was brought up according to exemplary traditions of a classical European school which provides for combination of laboratory and field research. A living unique world was opening to the beginning scientist during his journeys, and in the libraries he discovered a departed world. Arabic, Persian, Japanese, Chinese, Gipsy - Thomsen learnt dozens of languages until he went into Turkic language which was exotic for Europe.
    The scientist felt a certain mystery in it; he felt something like the "motherland" of several European languages with his heart, their linguistic base but his mind has been opposing to the voice of his feeling for a long time. Until he had a chance.
    In 1887 Thomsen was invited as a professor to the department of comparative philology to Copenhagen University. Those years he became world-famous due to his work about the connections between the Ancient Russia and Scandinavia and about origin of Russian state. (Russian state but not Slavic!) Is it necessary to say that investigation of a Danish scientist expressed the viewpoint which was considerably different from this accepted in Russia. As a matter of fact, professor Thomsen was one of the first scientists who has written a truthful - no politics! - history of Russian as it was. His work was accepted by world community; it became classics and students are brought up with it.
    Inability neither to deny nor to accept the conclusions of that fundamental research in which there was no place for legends and inventions made the name of professor Thomsen if not forbidden than at least neglected among Russian scientists; his works are not known in Russia: they translated and published a single small article, nothing was found. Such a pity! The world could have known the truth about Kiev Russia from them.
    Professor Thomsen visited Russia more than once, he gained a deep understanding in European (Wend) roots of Slavic culture. That outstanding linguist discovered everything which has been always escaping attention of Russian scientists, - he revealed the Turkic base of the culture which nowadays is mistakenly called Russian.
    But, no. Respected professor simply provided a scientific base for the facts known for a long time. They say: "Scratch a Russian and there is a Tatar there". Thus Thomson scratched Russia.
   
    Everything started with written monuments found in Russia or rather in the Southern Siberia, in the ancient Turkic motherland. Those monuments were neglected during more than a thousand years. History of "infidel" nations wasn't interesting for Russian science.

    That's why the findings of Daniel Gothlib Messersmidt were passed over in silence. That naturalist from Danzing was the first European who traveled through Siberia (Another "Hun" name, he took the pulpit since 1057 until 1065 in Bamnerg.) in 1719 - 1727. Not far from Merchinsk Messersmidt examined the remains of an ancient cemetery where two queer stones remained and those stones were covered with relief pictures and inscriptions.
    Everything was clear about the pictures: scenes of a hunt and oblations, animals, faces, ornaments were harmonious and skillfully made. Written signs seemed familiar to the German scientist; they reminded of the ancient German runes. But he rejected the guess - Siberia was too far from Germany.
    In Petersburg Messersmidt's finding didn't impress anybody - as though it wasn't a new thing. They didn't even look at the copies of unique monuments not to mention the possibility to publish them. They ordered to consider the writings Scythian and recommended to hand the copies to the archives as not wanted.
    Later, with assistance of one of ambassadors of Catherine II those copies were secretly delivered to Europe and published there. Stealing and underground trade with antiques were a common practice those days, apparently. Thus the world learnt about one of forgotten pages of its culture - to tell the truth, ancient Turkic culture wasn't in question.
    Siberian steles with strange paintings became widely discussed. For it seemed too mysterious and magnificent. Especially after public speeches of Balha, the abbot, concerning Siberian Atlantis and Siberian Atlases who perished under strange circumstances.

    Of course Messersmidt's publication wasn't utterly neglected. Searching for Siberian antiquities has become a passion for many European scientists since then. Rare works of art were bought for a trifling sum; not only Siberia but the whole steppe Russia and its barrows were lavish in them. We have lost so many treasures - and they have found a great deal of them - in the course of that stealing.
    By the beginning of XIX century seven monuments were discovered in the Southern Siberia - those monuments being dappled with mysterious writings. Traces of amazing and unknown culture were becoming evident; those traces attracted but, alas, not researchers but adventurers.
    In Paris, in World Oriental Studies Centre new and new findings brought from steppe Russia were being discussed almost every year. Of course the owners didn't report about many findings not to be in conflict with legislation: golden items were in question and certain documents were necessary to own them.
    Finally Parisian orientalists decided that they had enough information and it was time to think about deciphering the mysterious writings. The first ones who took the charge were A. Remyuza, the academician, and his constant opponent in scientific discussions Y. Klaprot. Both of them, being excellent experts in ancient history, were trying to roll a mountain like the Titans. It was all in vain. They didn't even manage to determine to which group of languages mysterious writings relate. Mystery around the findings was thickening.
    And there was no lack in hypotheses. The exhibits gave no rest to the archeologists. Some were inclined to the version of their Scythian roots. They even invented a nation called "Chud". However the majority of experts agreed upon recognition of new writings as ancient German runes for no other reason than their superficial resemblance. Thus they ascribed them that way having no reasons, and that was it.
    As it often happens in science, futility, lack of new ideas little by little damped the interest to mysterious monuments and again they fell into drowsiness waiting for their hour to come.
    Interest to the Siberian findings was awakened in 1875 when M. Kastren, the Finnish scientist, returned from Minusinsk expedition. He published the work called "Yenisei Inscriptions". That was possibly the most detailed and complete work. Whatever irrepressible soul of an archeologist wished was contained there. The linguists were to say the final word but they kept silence. They didn't have any ideas!
    It seems that excitement of foreign researchers awakened Russia. On the VIII Russian Archeological Congress N.M. Yadrtintsev "has taken Holland" as it is said: having visited Manchuria he found what has been studying by the archeologists for more than a century.
    Yadrintsev's report was taken into consideration.
    At the same time, in spring of 1890, in a deserted place near Orkhon river, A. Geykel, the Finnish researcher found another two ancient monuments near Kosho-Tsaidam lake. It is hard to describe excitement of the scientist who has made his way there together with his brother and wife.

    The first monument was a heavy stone similar to a memorial stone. Due to position of that stone Geykel guessed that it had been thrown from a pedestal. It seemed a grand construction was standing there and only ruins remained after it… An earthquake or these were people who destroyed the monument? It is not clear.
    One could distinguish dragons and little pentagonal tables with inscriptions on remaining ornaments. But many things were destroyed, wiped by merciless disasters. Having got what he could get from that monument Geykel came to a conclusion: that was a Chinese work.
    To tell the truth, one small item seemed to be embarrassing - Chinese inscription covered only one part of the plate. On the other three sides there were the letters of a familiar "ancient German" alphabet. The same as on other Siberian findings. Why?
    Not far from that plate being nothing but a cast down stele, as the scientist concluded, there was a big quadrangular altar. Near it - dug into the earth - there were the remaining parts of a long building. Geykel made a plan of the monuments. And he started to dig. Soon he found the wall made of bricks covered with earth. Working with a spade the archeologists found seven statues with broken heads. It was evident that they were not of Chinese origin. Looking at them Geykel realized that the version of their Chinese origin should be rejected. Clothes and arms known due to the findings near Don, Danube and in other parts of forgotten Desht-I-Kipchak pointed to the Turki.

    However that finding didn't make things clear: what had the Turki to do with that? What relation could those savages bear to high culture which the archeologist was researching?
    In one kilometer from the dig Geykel and his fellow travelers found another monument which was exactly the same, it was just a little bit bigger. It was also covered with inscriptions, but unfortunately a considerable part of them was wiped out. And again - one of the sides of the monument was with Chinese hieroglyphs and the rest three were covered with familiar "unknown" letters - possibly, of Turkic origin.
    He and his fellows didn't suspect that they've found the headstone of prince Kul-Teghin and his brother Bilghe-Kagan. They copied found inscriptions, took them when they left and published them in Helsingforce in 1892. It seemed that mysterious letters were about to find their owner although everybody new - ancient Turkic writing language has never existed - that was a savage nation. They were the barbarians, after all!
    There was more than enough information of mysterious "Siberian writing", as it was cautiously called. Its traces were marked in the findings near Ural, Volga, Don, Dnepr, Danube - around the whole steppe. It remained only to find a person being able to read what was gathered by archeologists during a hundred years.
    And luckily that person was found. To tell the truth, at first nobody paid the slightest attention to his thin report (just several pages) which he presented to the Danish Royal Scientific Society. The report was signed by a name which told nothing to the archeological world, - it was some W. Thomsen, the professor of comparative philology department of Copenhagen University. It happened on December 15th, 1893 - the date of the second birth of the Turki.
    Copies of inscriptions with mysterious "Siberian" letters were transferred to professor Thomsen just by accident. And in the right moment. At first he detected the direction of the writing in order to understand how to read those writings. It turned out they should be read not from left to right, like Mongolian ones, but from right to left, like vertical lines of Chinese writing.
    The next step was to count the letters. It also didn't weary the venerable professor. It allowed making a conclusion that a unique and unknown written language is in question which stood apart between the alphabetical syllabic writing accepted in the West and in the East.
    And after that everything was easy for a person who knows about thirty foreign languages.
    The first word which the Danish professor William Thomsen managed to read was the word "Tengri". A divine omen! It was the first to come out of a silent stone:


    The scientists didn't know what that unknown word had meant, and later from the text he comprehended that "Heaven" and "Heavenly God" were in question.
    Actually that was right. The great Tengri-Khan opened in XIX century ancient Russian writing language which was considered to be non-existent while it moved from Altai to Europe in II century and was lost there together with the Kipchaks.
    The language read by Thomsen belonged to a nation which the Chinese used to call "tu-kue". The pure Turkic language, the dialect, being considerably elder than all the other Turkic dialects known those times.
    After that discovery Thomsen became an outstanding expert in Turkic dialects; very soon he was able to read, write and speak Attila's language. Due to professor's sufferings the Turkic alphabet was pulled out from tenacious paws of oblivion. It was clear: a unique and almost unknown culture had been discovered which was spread among the "Huns", "barbarians", "Geths" etc. - in a word, the Turkic Kipchaks. It was impossible to neglect their culture.

Three years have passed after that triumphal December evening in Danish Royal Scientific Society where professor Thomsen had presented his fabulous report. The book written by the scientist was published where under laconic title "Deciphered Orchon Inscriptions" the key to reading ancient Turkic texts was hidden. Not only the full alphabet was published in the book but also a commented translation of all known inscriptions. As a matter of fact that was the first and the only textbook in grammar of Turkic language; at the same time it seems that Russian ancestors of the Kipchaks have never heard about it.
    There were no doubts (and further researches confirmed that): five centuries before Common Era a glorious empire existed on the territory of the Southern Siberia. It lead its life leaving written and material traces. And by first centuries of Common Era the nation had disappeared. Where? How? Why? Nobody knew that.
    Running a few steps forward let us mention that together with Messersmidt and his followers an outstanding Russian archeologist S.I. Rudenko and his Siberian colleagues headed by A.P. Okladnikov also had a feeling of a discoverer. They discovered their Siberia in XX century - that vanished empire whose existence was surmised by European archeologists in XX century.
    Thus in XIX century the world learnt what was contained in stony messages transferred by the ancestors to their descendants. The stones began to talk. The real Turkic history was speaking after centuries of silence.
    The texts revealed to W. Thomsen were different in their age and contents. Some monuments were dated back to the period before the Great Nations Migration. Their language and expressiveness of the phrases cannot keep one indifferent:
    "Dissimilar, born in heaven… Turkic kagan, today I took the reign. You, followers, listen to my speech, my younger relatives and the youth, my allied tribes and nations.
   
    When blue sky was created on high, dark ground was created below, between them human sons were created. My ancestors - Bumyn-Kagan and Istemi-Kagan were sitting above human sons. Having got the reign they organized a tribal union and thus Turkic nation appeared. Four parts of the world were their enemies. Setting out with their troops they conquered all the nations living in four parts and made them all live in piece. Those who had heads had to bend their heads; those who had knees were forced to kneel.
    My younger brother, Kul-Tegin, was dead and I was mourning; my seeing eyes were almost blind, my prophetic mind was almost fading away. Heaven allots the sky, human sons were born to decay."
    These are the lines from an epitaph. Their wisdom is in their simplicity.
    Thomsen's book contains many useful things. At first it was interesting only for orientalists. Then linguists, historians and politicians joined them. And new facts were revealed.

    And the facts are as follows. Munich amateur orientalist Franz Babinger, working in the family archive of Fugger princes and counts in Augsburg stumbled upon some ancient texts which dated back to the events of 1553 - 1555 years. Those texts were copied from the wall of one building which was, apparently, a stable and nobody has ever paid the slightest attention to them considering them to be an exotic painting from Istanbul or an intricate ornament. In a word - nonsense among business papers.     
    But Franz Babinger couldn't call himself an orientalist not having read the book by professor W. Thomsen and having not recognized ancient Turkic runic writings in the found text!
    The happy owner of the finding sent the photocopies to famous Mr. William Thomsen to Copenhagen. But he also was at a loss. New mystery was to be born. Those sent runes, taking their similarity with ancient German ones into consideration, still were different. Only special investigation helped to put everything in its right place: the scientists faced the European dialect of Turkic language. But that gave rise to a new perplexity. Where from?   
    The found text threw light on one historic event known from ancient Hungarian chronicles. So there were no reasons to doubt the trustworthiness of the described fact. The document was authentic. But the scientist noticed that the basis of the writing had been formed by the runes changed in shape, which were more like notches or dents. In fact, that was the difference with "Siberian" runes which form slightly reminded of the elements of Chinese graphics. But in this case it was otherwise, there was its own - European - writing style which was closer to Greek or Latin one.
    W. Thomsen determined the found text as ancient Hungarian language; soon Franz Babinger has become the first expert in it and prepared a big scientific research on that point. To tell the truth having been preparing it it turned out that similar texts have been often met in the archives of different European countries but they were always neglected. It simply happened that nobody ever tried to analyze those casual papers.
    Almost all the found documents were written correctly - from right to left. There was only one text relating to 1501 found at Chiksentmiklosh which was written in a wrong way and was to be read from left to right. It was obvious that Turkic - Kipchak - language was used as the language of international communication in the Central Europe (The right question: why did Turkic language disappear from the Central Europe in XV - XVI centuries? What reasons did the Europeans have to exclude it from their speech that rapidly?. And also from their memory? There were two reasons, apparently - inquisition of the Roman Church which was gradually annihilating all the Turki in Europe. And a new invasion from the East! The Turki, again. But this time not the Kipchaks but the Oguzes instead, they conquered Constantinople in 1453 and in a little while they started colonizing the Central Europe from the East bearing Moslem ideas to the Christian countries. Cruel confrontation of Turkic Oguzes and Turkic Kipchaks was lasting in the Central Europe for centuries and it is still happening as far as we know. The war at the Balkans between Christian and Moslem Serbs, which is considered to be a new war, is actually one of episodes of that endless war which has been flaring up and fading for centuries. The reasons are forgotten, the sources are forgotten, the flags are forgotten but the fratricidal fighting is still happening. And again the Turki are taking part in it.). The whole paper work - execution of purchase deeds, land schemes, accounts etc. - was performed with it. Hence is amazing similarity of ancient Turkic and ancient German runes.
    But again that's not all. Babinger found a forgotten work by Tekegdi, the Hungarian historian, who has written the book about Kipchak language in 1598. It seemed the secret of the European dialect of Tutkic language was about to be revealed, while it was on the surface and wasn't really a secret. It was necessary just to recognize the obvious and to write about it.
    And nobody has ever done that.
    However, Franz Babinger smattered in science. His attention wasn't attracted by the circumstance that in Hungary, near Semigradye town, lives the nation called "Sekels" which - probably, the only nation in Europe! - has been calling itself the descendant of the Turki since olden days, although nowadays it doesn't speak the language of their ancestors. It retained clear historical memory which was embodied not only in literature but also in written documents…
    Destiny didn't give good luck to Babinger; after all, it was him who didn't take it, to put it more preciously.
    When Hans Dernchwam, the bachelor of Leipzig University, came to the Sekels in order to familiarize himself with ancient documents which were mentioned in passing by Babinger he found that they were absolutely different as compared with ancient Hungarian texts. Sekel runes seemed unfamiliar to the young man. He copied them and went away in disappointment.
    Although as experienced linguists looked at them they were at a loss: the documents were executed in ancient Turkic language. Attila's language!
    Finally everything was in its right place. From a scientific viewpoint it was proved and aroused no doubts that the ancestors of the Central Europe inhabitants - and that was there where existence of Turkic language was traced, at least until XV - XVI centuries - are the Kipchaks by birth. Those Kipchaks who performed the Great Nations Migration and who were considered to be vanished.   
    Identity of the language, similarity of writing were unconditionally detected. It seemed a scientific discovery leaving no space for disputes was evident.
    And there were no disputes. That could lead to a new comprehension of European history in accordance with reality which was not suitable, first of all, for the western Church. A lie was convenient for everybody! Nowadays it's the same.
    Someone decided that the works by W. Thomsen and his colleagues affected acute national feeling of Balkan inhabitants. And not only them.
    Kipchak history binds to doubt Indo-European theory of population. Archaeology and linguistics convince that the most of the Europeans had come not from India but from Altai.
    Legendary Arians, as the Germans see them, are that Turkic Kipchaks who had been called "Arians" for a long time in medieval Europe. Of course it is difficult to recognize that. And there's no wish to do it. It is rather easier to forbidden and conceal and keep on believing in something tender, rosy and beautiful even if it is absolutely baseless from a historical viewpoint.
    That's why in XX century there were no important discoveries in the area of linguistics equal to those of brilliant William Thomsen and his keen colleagues. To tell the truth, the researchers are moving on, but they are gradually taking an opposite direction - they are being led far away from the truth.
    For example, who is perplexed by the "lapse" in European chronology, in its history: as a rule found materials are dated back either to the period prior the arrival of the Turkt, or to later times - starting from XV - XVI centuries when the positions of the Kipchaks in Europe became weaker. Boldness is needed to declare: Turkic documents simply were being destroyed as well as everything relating to the Turki in medieval Europe. European Turki were called heretics, they were anathematized, faggoted, tormented, tortured, forced to reject their ancient culture and belief. Papal inquisition was created for them; it was working for renascence of bygone Roman power over Europe… Hence is Renaissance!
    But everything cannot be destroyed. As an eyewitness evidences one of ancient texts of the Bible - "Psalter" - which is stored in the library of Vatican - was written in Turkic language; it was brought to Rome from Don, from Tan town, in V - VI centuries. This and other sacred books having become Christian and having been written in "Hun language" were mentioned by Moses Kagankatvatzi, the historian of early Middle Ages.
    No, one cannot neglect the facts - not everything has disappeared. Even in Rome.
    Vatican and its subtle policy made for weakening of memory of European Kipchaks (How can one forget an apt phrase by R. Kipling, the English writer, which is often mentioned in the West: "Every Russian is a nice fellow as long as he is not drunk. He is charming as an Asiatic. And only when he insists that Russians should be treated not as the most western nation from the eastern ones but as the most eastern nation from the western ones it turns into an ethnic misunderstanding. And it is very difficult to deal with it". If only the famous Englishman knew whom he had been laughing at… At himself! He represented himself as an ignoramus. Attila's warriors - the Turkic Kipchaks - performed Anglo-Saxon campaign in V century; the Celts were the only inhabitants of Britain before their arrival. So I doubt whether any European should brag about his clean "western" origin. Any white European can easily become an "ethnic misunderstanding" himself forgetting that the ancestors of all Europeans have come to Europe from the East, from Asia. The Great Nations Migration colored modern demographic maps on the territory of the Old World and even Albion inhabitants shouldn't forget that. One should reckon the reality and be more restrained. ). That was the revenge for the defeat during the Great Nations Migration times. Rome succeeded in it. In the consciousness of inhabitants of late Middle Ages the Church implied the new (suitable for it) type of culture and the new (also suitable for it) outlook… Here it is - Renaissance - which destroyed everything "unnecessary" in Europe! The traces of historic memory of the defeated Turkic nation were wiping out with gallows, poison, swords and fire.
    One can remember the ominous phrase by Goebbels: "bereave the nation of its history - and in a generation it will turn into a crowd and in another generation it can be easily ruled as a herd…" In Vatican that was declared long before the fascists. They always knew how to plan their policy for a long-term outlook.
    And another thing is absolutely not surprising - the Turki themselves have been always assisting them. Or their customs and traditions, to put it more preciously: among the frogs one must also become a frog. This proverb is for the Turkic Europeans. They willingly became "the frogs" and thus saved themselves from death in foreign lands. But foreign mask has adhered to their faces. Nowadays they are called not according to their names but according to their masks: Bavarians, Saxons, Englishmen, the French, the Austrians, the Bulgarians, the Czechs, the Serbs, the Hungarians…
    And in order to keep their foreign face the Europeans invent unconvincing versions. "One fact is reliable: in this case writing language of Attila and his troops is not in question", - asserts, for instance, E. Dobblehoffer whose materials were used in this chapter. And at that he archly adds: "And besides, nowadays nobody seriously asserts that".
    Sure they assert! And very seriously.
    If Dobblehoffer wasn't a follower of European school in science he would have never ventured such a slip of tongue. Writing language of Attila is the only thing which can be in question. And nothing else. Because those days there were no other Turki in Europe!
    The corns thrown by William Thomsen were sprouting up; they were placed in a fertile field. For example, the works by academician V.M. Zhirmunskiy (1891 - 1971) which proved the unity of German and Turkic linguistics; those works are considered to be classics although they are not popularized. Father and son Kyzlasovs also perform interesting investigations on this point; however, they are also neglected by the Turki.
    The research work by the archeologist K.A. Akishev is also very interesting; he has dotted all "i's" and crossed all "t's" in the so-called Scythian subject. In Issyk barrow in the land between seven rivers (Kazakhstan) the scientist found a cup with a clear runic inscription in Turkic language. The finding is two thousand years old, as well as the barrow! Thus the inscription became the first written monument of the Scythians and the Sachs; it witnesses of their language.
    That was the first but not the only finding.
    In Kara-Tel, near Termez, the archeologists found a destructed Buddhist (or Tengri-Khan?) center of II - IV centuries where among other material the vessels with the same runic writings were discovered… Moreover, the French geologists reported about the finding of the wall with the same runic writings in Afghanistan… The same runes were found in the territory of the Eastern France, in the former Burgundy Kingdom (Sharney clasp). The same as in Romania and in the Ukraine. The language was the same everywhere. And it was Turkic!   
    It turns out the Scythians were absolutely the same as the Kipchaks. It was only their belief which differed them - the unite representatives of the Turkic nation.
    But they didn't wish to recognize the Scythian language as the ancient Turkic one in Moscow. For example, Moscow experts didn't even read the inscription on Akishev cup, but they brought a killing verdict: scratched later. As though the cup was put in the barrow after the burial ceremony…

        In the meantime the inscriptions were read according to the rules of ancient Turkic grammar. "The one prepared the (food), fill…" - from this appeal (to pagan deities?) begins the inscription on Akishev cup… And other inscriptions also had a translation… They were notable for an excellent literary language and light figures.

    Here is an example of ancient Turkic poetry. These lines are the sounds of that time:

    You just leave me munificence
    Let it be my peculiar feature
    Then you find a horse for me
    And send me into the fight!

    Those days the poets managed to rhyme the words and they did it skillfully: at the end of the lines, in the centre or even by the first syllable… Turkic language provides an amazing freedom! Only a few modern poets can deal with freedom of speech of that kind.
    Runic inscriptions found on the ancient monuments (epitaphs) also show that over two hundred and a half years ago the Turki had their own writing language. One of the epitaphs was as follows:

    I parted from my relatives and my wives.
    I was among the enemies in an evil hour.
    Kuck-Kul-Tutuk - I - was severed from the world.

    Today I stay away from ale and from the khan,
    From my horse and golden quiver.
    I was the hero, I was thirty-five.

    Ale Yunanchi, be sure, I was faithful.
    Be grateful our glorious khan!
    Long live my clan and my nation!
    My enemies have no count, and I have left…
       
    This ancient inscription was found in the upper reaches of Yenisei in 1786; for the first time it was translated by V.V. Radlov in 1895 (Comment: "Kuch-Kul-Tutuk" - personal name and title of the departed; "ale" - in this case - Turkic "state"; "Ale Yunanchi" - "representative of the state" (word-for-word).). And the first runes fixed on paper relate exactly to V century - the times of Attila's reign. Alas, that is not a twist of fate.
    The tsar of the Kipchaks could read and write in his native language. Besides, according to Jordan, he knew Greek. The Kipchak commander was a well-bred and educated person. It could happen that he used to read the following lines written by his contemporary, at leisure:

    God created the world of hollow and the world of height,
    To make the firmament turn there forever,
    To make the stars fly there, -
    And night always changes day there.

    God made the heavens of turquoise color,
    He threw the jades of the stars in the sky,
    He created Libra, -
    And night always changes day.

    The racer of destiny galloped above the world -
    He stroke fire and set the grassy world
    On fire: it became hot, smoky and scarlet…
    And the fire hasn't faded yet.

Here it is, the ancient Turkic poetry… It never existed according to the ignoramus.
Not only Attila's cronies were delighted by expressive works of Altai inhabitants, but also the nobility of India and China. And owing to Erka-Khan (Kanishka tsar) ancient texts in Brahmi remained there… And the poems weren't getting worse just because Europe didn't know about them.
    L.Y. Tugusheva, the Leningrad researcher of the Turki, earnestly proved that having published an excellent book called "Uigur Version of Suan-Tzan Biography". She was gathering a scattered ancient Turkic manuscript for her book page after page… And in Attila's times the Kipchaks have already had a literary language in which the poems were written.
    But here is an explanation at first.
Uigur language is related to ancient Turkic one; it is one of its dialects. "Uigur written language is alphabetic - audible… it was the basis for ancient Mongolian writing language; it is traced to one of Siberian Aramaic alphabets". And here, speaking about the Turki, encyclopedia is cunning - yet again! Connection with Syrian - Aramaic alphabets hasn't been determined, Turkic language stood apart, it was searching for the ways of development itself. And ancient Mongolian writing language cannot be called into question at all: the word "Mongol", according to the Mongols themselves, was met in XI century for the first time… Thus ancient Turkic culture is wittingly distorted being ascribed to other nations. To the Mongols, to the Iranians - whoever it may be.
    "One of the most important works of early medieval Turkic literature - Uigur version of Suan-Tzan biography, - Tugusheva writes, - was presented in the only manuscript which separate parts are currently stored in manuscript collections in Paris, Peking, Leningrad. It was determined that all parts of the manuscript found in its time, as well as other monuments of early medieval writing language, in the Eastern Turkestan, were in one place before they were found and later they were separated and delivered to manuscript collections of different countries by different ways".
    This is not a preface but an indictment relating to those who used to squander, steal and sell ancient Turkic literary monuments. And fortunately a man was found who managed to recreate the full text and to read the ancient book. Tugusheva made an impossible thing - she saved the pages doomed to perishing. The only copy of a Turkic literary monument in the world was sold all over the world by smart operators of science! Peter's descendants need the Turki only as "savage nomads".
    Russian science is great but being dishonored by those smart operators it gives rise to nothing but pity for it. And the ancient Turki wrote about it that way:

    The one with empty heart will remain so forever:
    He'll never become reach.
    Having become great, as the law directs,
    You should be close to those who do good.

    "While analyzing the collection, - Tugushevs writes, I was lucky to find the parts of that work among unidentified material in the manuscript collection of Oriental Studies Institute of Academy of Sciences of the USSR and to identify them".
    She is so tactful while the point is that the pages of a priceless manuscript which they didn't have time to sell abroad, were lying about in disorder. They were kept in the institute which should have stored and analyzed the monuments of the East and which treats them that way.
    It never occurred to anybody that those rare pages, although having been written in ancient Turkic language, still remain the pages of history of the Great Russia. The past was embodied not only in Slavic elm deeds but also in monuments written in the Turkic runes. To safeguard one thing and to destroy another is the same as to put out one eye as the competitor of the other.
    Isn't that indicative that the first information about steppe barrows, presented to Russian science, belonged to academicians G. Miller and I. Gmelin, who have written down the evidences of a barrow harrier in XVIII century? The marauder with Selenga alias initiated the classification of Turkic antiquities. And it suited everybody! For it was put within strict "academic" bounds. The monuments weren't seriously analyzed; they were plundered on the sly.
    And there was a lot worth analyzing there.
    For example - the tofalars; there are about 400 people in Siberia. In their language one can retrace connection of Turkic language with the language of Palaeoasiatics and Keths. And it means there was a sole culture in the Central Asia and in Altai in ancient times… Here they are, those everlasting mysteries of the East!
    And now - after all - a few lines which charmed people's ears several centuries ago. And they were written in ancient runes:

    God's generosity is a gem, they say,
    God's generosity - there's nothing more precious.
    But my God - you, the mighty hero, are more precious than sapphire.
    But my God - you, my mighty hero, are more precious than ruby.
   
Or these:

    O, Wisdom, you scare a fool and an ignoramus.
    O, Wisdom, you chasten the careless and the idle.
    O, Wisdom, you give joy to the laid-back.
    O, Wisdom, you send calm to the wise.

    The crystal lines… Derzhavin, Pushkin and the whole golden century of Russian poetry originated from them two thousand years ago!

    Literary and archeological monuments are the echoes of past times frozen in stone, bronze, gold and on paper. And the more stronger this echo sounds, the firmer is the desire to recognize the "voice" having uttered those majestic sounds. Although nothing similar happened to the Turkic history: their voice was lost among the discordance of cultures and nations. Their echo has been elapsing to emptiness for centuries.
    But, thank God, the life went on in the Soviet Union. In the 50s they declared about developing of Siberia. Creation of Siberian cities, scientific centers and gigantic factories was in fashion. The youth, including the archeologists, was moving to Siberia. They needed Siberian science, Siberian history, Siberian archaeology which should have been international, socialist and, of course, outstanding.
    But, as the saying goes, there could be mo fortune but misfortune helped. It happened exactly that way. Due to ignorance - there is no other explanation - prominent scientific forces of the Soviet Union proceeded to "global" investigation of Kipchak subject. Nobody of the Kremlin strategists had the slightest idea of where national funds had been directed… Here it is, God's will! It was the first time destiny favored to the Kipchaks.
    In 1961 one of scientific conferences - which were also in fashion those years - was attended by Alexei Okladnikov, the archeologist. An ordinary Soviet scientist came to a common scientific conference in Gorno-Altaisk. An ordinary event, but it was to become the part of history.
    It should be mentioned that the conferences were usually dull and boring; the hall was usually half-empty. The participants gathered for the opening and then they wandered off until the closing and banquet. The scientists appreciated communication between each other and not listening to the reports which were to be published anyway.
    Okladnikov wasn't an exception. On that memorable conference, saving himself from boredom and persistent fellow scientists in Gorno-Altaisk, he went to the city park to have an airing. Thousands of people visited that park before him; thousands of people followed the beautiful path along Upalinka river. A common river - purling water, stones scattered to the banks. The scientist fixed his look at one of those stones. Okladnikov couldn't continue his way.
    One must be born a hunter to find a hidden beast. One must be born fisherman to feel fish in the river. Alexei Pavlovich was born an archeologist; he has been searching for the traces of the past all his life. And he found them!    
    Even oval pebble, which he had picked up in the city park, was sharpened on one side. A primitive has taken away everything unnecessary to make an instrument - a stone ax - out of pebble. Neither river nor glacier are able to split a stone that way. Only man could do it.    
    However, archaeology is an amazing science - it makes a man be happy with a common stone! Just because it was in hand of another man a thousand years ago. Due to imperceptible traces, due to tiny details sliding away from am average man, the scientists judge about the past. That is the secret of their science, its magic attraction. The real archeologist will find the only stone among a thousand of others.
    After that an expedition came to the bank of Upalinka and the excavations were commenced. In the city park, where a brass band still used to play in the evening, one of the biggest camps of a primitive was discovered. That was exactly what people from the Kremlin had expected. Here it is - the big Siberia!
    The archeologists met hundreds of items. Altai became the subject of disputes and conversations all over the world - there were a few similar discoveries in the history of the planet. A unique "Siberian" culture was in question. The scientists proved that Siberia had been settled in great antiquity; and who were the people who had been living there? That question didn't arise.
    Everything was going on in the best way possible; the authorities didn't grudge the funds for excavations of "Siberian archeology": it was a national affair - to develop Siberia!
    But the more items the scientists discovered the more their astonishment grew - the findings were not the same as any others in Siberia. It seemed ancient Siberians knew their own special technology of stone treatment. Their instruments weren't beaten off but treated. As though they were grinded on a modern grinding machine. For example, one could easily shave with certain stone knives. Wonders beyond the reach of a modern man. The phantom of an important scientific discovery appeared on the horizon.
    Later, after engagement of engineers, physicians and representatives of other sciences being far from archaeology, it turned out that Altai inhabitants really didn't beat off the stone as it was done everywhere else but treated it with fire and water. Hence their instruments were that perfect and different from others'.
    Ancient Altai inhabitants showed themselves as quite good connoisseurs of nature. They knew which stones could be treated that way and which couldn't. It means mountains were not only mountains for them but the storage of rock. Running a few steps forward it should be mentioned that in modern archeology and mining a lot of terms remained which have come to the world geological science from that Altai nation - they are of Turkic origin: a hack, a mandrel, a pick, a sledge-hammer, a wedge and many others.
    But the most heated disputes began when they tried to determine the age of the most ancient findings; those disputes were really strained.
    When were those stone instruments made? By radioactive dating method it was determined: almost two hundred thousand years ago! And in relation to certain items devices indicated to eight hundred thousand years… Nothing of that kind has ever happened in Russian archaeology.
    Thus the age of appearance of first quarries in Altai was determined. It turns out those times people lived there and one day it happened so that they needed those quarries… Who were they - those masters of stone treatment? No, it was too early to call them a nation. People were communicating with each other by gestures and separate sounds. Thousands of years of their life in Altai should pass before they learn to speak their own language, think, become delighted and surprised. But the archeologists gave them the name - the troglodytes. That is the name of the tribes living in caves.
    Today a great many caves are known in Altai foothills and in other places of the Southern Siberia where ancient people lived. However the cave on a high rock near Kan river was the richest in findings. Troglodytes lived there for several thousands years - cultural layer near the foot of that cave was over six meters.
    A great deal of stone instruments was contained in that treasure. It became clear how technology of stone treatment was changing as time went on: from rough ancient items to accurate, even ones. According to remaining bones archeologists recreated the nature of distant past.
    Antelopes, rhinoceroses, mammoths and other big animals couldn't save themselves from skillful hunters. Loads of bones remained under the precipice where the entrance to the cave near Kan river was situated.
    Craftsmen were living close to the hunters in the cave. Otherwise how can one explain found storages of stone knives and daggers? How can one explain the appearance of beads and other women ornaments made of shell of ostrich eggs? Those findings are 40 - 45 thousand years old.
    Isn't it amazing? The first ornaments! Women used to try them on - not all of them, of course, just selected beauties. It means aesthetic feelings originated in Altai, which was followed by appearance of the first songs, fairy tales, memories which were kept for centuries, but there wasn't a way to express their feelings to their fellow countrymen.
    Other unexpected findings relate close to the same period, for example - thin blades were quite the same as modern daggers. The thing was that they were made of stone. Simple stone knives were also met - they were used in everyday work. There were many elegant and sharp arrow-heads.
    There is really a great deal of findings. Different findings. And they all showed the way amazing culture known as "Siberian" or "Altai" was developing from century to century. How it made its way from a rough ax found near Upalinka river in Gorno-Altaisk and at last, as though from a seed, it grew into a young branchy tree in a severe taiga garden.
    Those new perfect instruments allowed the tribes to leave Altai - their cradle, their motherland - and to start their way to the plain, into the forest. They were able to leave. They had all necessary means to protect themselves. People left for uncertainty - to explore flat Eurasia… Slow settlement of empty lands commenced, those lands being covered with forests; in thousands of years those lands have become known as Russia.
    Those tribes didn't come to the steppe: their warriors weren't strong enough - stone axes couldn't save them dealing with a beast of prey; and they had no other means to protect themselves. But "Brazen Stone Age" didn't leave without a trace. Archeologists found its traces. It turned out that there was a route from Altai to Europe, it lay in the southern ends of a forest zone, there - in Ural and Volga region - the places of camps were found with different items being like those from Altai.
    The earliest finding was discovered near Karabalykty Lake, it is dated back to the period of middle paleolith. The camp was situated on the eastern vaults of Ural, closer to Altai. Later traces of ancient people were discovered in the territory of modern Bashkortostan, along Agidel (White) rived. The most famous of them is Shugan-Tash cave, ancient paintings were found there… The findings gladdened and invariably surprised the archeologist with their singularity.
    Of course one cannot assert that these were the Turki who inhabited ancient Ural, although anthropological researches seem to give cause to it. No. Those were the bearers of ancient Altai culture, Turkic culture appeared in it close to Ugro-Finnic one. There was no division into nations - it was too early!
    Even during the Bronze Age (here: the middle of the II and the beginning of the I thousand years B.C.), when the rise of metallurgy commenced and Arkaim, Sintashta and other towns of metallurgists appeared, Turkic culture wasn't strongly pronounced. Like young wine, it was slowly ripening here, in Altai, neighboring with Ugro-Finnic culture and being almost the same as it. But it was ripening to amaze the world with its delicate taste.
    Inhabitants of Bulgaria of the Volga chaganat are the descendants of those ancient cultural traditions which were brought to Ural by the natives of Altai… And that is the continuity of Turkic history, its unity, magnificence and antiquity of its neighboring Ugro-Finnic sister nations.
    Findings of Ural and Volga region made one think about global things - about intercommunication and mutual influence on Eurasian continent. It turns out the routes between East and West have always existed since man was born (There was an idea about existence of Nephritis Route but it wasn't confirmed. In the spurs of Sayany Mountains rich fields of that rare stone are known; their development could have begun in extreme antiquity especially since nephritis was highly estimated by the ancestors of the Turki - their sharp stone knives were made of nephritis.)
    People have been wandering from the immemorial. Their way lay from Altai. Certain tribes settled in Europe having passed it; later they called themselves Ugros, Finns, Liths, Ests, Wends, Celts, Vikings. But at first they were not noticeably different. They all settled in forests, on river banks; they have all been hiding from wild beasts and wandering until they reached their "legal" abodes… That was the first Great Migration, although these were not the nations which took part in it. But it originated in Altai - in the European cradle.

    And those not attracted by long roads remained in Altai, in the Southern Siberia. They still lived in caves, went hunting and made excellent arms and instruments. And besides they learnt to admire the beauty made on stone.

    The first rock paintings are thousands of years old. Not each rock turned into an artist's canvas. They chose only a few which were perceptible from afar, - of yellow, orange or brown color. Life suggested the subjects to the artists. On a big rock the paintings were placed in groups - in this or that place. From a technical viewpoint they are absolutely the same: points stamped with a chisel flow together into a fillet which "leads" the image.
    One keen look is enough to see: rock paintings show that ancient Altai inhabitants could count. Archeologists noticed that the figures of animals on stony paintings had been gathered into groups. But how? Five or ten figures. That is the counting on fingers!
    And another figure - "seven" - Altai artists also new it. Why seven? Because it is connected with phases of the moon; hence are seven days in a week. But could the savages know that much?.. It turns out they haven't already been the savages.
    And they hunted with dogs - that fact was also fixed by the artists. On one of the paintings one can see a man hunting with a bow on his back, a leather quiver with arrows and a dog running after him. They are valuable for their commonness and simplicity - those scenes of everyday life.
    Of course it is difficult to describe the paintings - one should see them. However it should be mentioned that changes outlined in the subjects of stony "paintings" made approximately four thousand years ago: animal silhouettes took a back seat to the images of people.
That was a critical moment for the Siberians: a plow (That's when agriculture in Altai arose! It turns out the Turki had a good school and experience. It is useless for "experts in nomadic life" to dispute against archeological material, thus they never mention it.)and a wheel appeared, new culture was arising which was to turn their former "troglodyte" economy. The first kurens also appeared those days.
    At first simple, and later accurately made figures of people, mainly women, filled the canvas of a "painting". They are primitive and rough only by sight, those stone pictures, - one must be able to see and feel their magnificence. Route stones are known since that distant times, and later - stone sculptures ("stone women"), they've turned into companions of Altai inhabitants for a long time almost without being changed. The same broad faces. The same straight expressive noses. Stocky figures. And unique eyes… Blue eyes of a Turki always remind of a young moon. Regardless of a widespread delusion ancient Altai inhabitants were etalon Europeoids. Future Europeans originated from them.
    About three thousand years ago a union of tribes which was called pre-Turkic was formed in Altai. People were united by language, appearance, culture. All signs of a state are evident. It seems the word "ale" appeared in Turkic language those days - it means the state, the country.
    Imak tribe was the head of the union for a long time. "Imak" meant "serpent", "dragon". A serpent has become the symbol of Altai Turki. It was flaunting on the flags, it became an element of patterns and ornaments. It seems those days Serpent Gorynich (Firedrake) became the kind hero of fairy tales.
    It is more likely that the image of a serpent originates not from Altai but from Indo-China where spiritual traditions were polished with time to a greater extent. The image of a serpent is still alive in the consciousness of Turkic nation, it remained in proverbs, sayings and ancient legends as an image of spirit - clean, home, native and very close one.
    Arising of a cult of a serpent enriched the spirit of Europeans but it didn't lead to considerable changes in economy. To tell the truth, archeologists mark out copper items among the findings of that period, which appeared in Altai more and more often. Bit where are they from? From Indo-China and Ural, apparently. It is evident they were brought. They weren't able to arrange local manufacture for a long time; lack of copper ore played its part. And nevertheless… There were tin fields and copper was found beyond Baikal Lake. They started to deliver copper to Altai in order to create bronze metallurgy; and they used to carry tin from Altai. That was determined by the archeologists.
    That's the explanation of appearance of Altai "affiliates" beyond Baikal and expansion of the Turkic geography. Ore is the reason! "Altai" rock paintings and settlements of "Altai" architecture appeared in the Eastern Siberia - on Lena and Angara. A striking resemblance: art images and styles - everything was the same.
    But not everything, though. In the Eastern Siberia air was better and water was cleaner. Otherwise how can one explain the fact that the artists of that place were much more gifted than their Altai teachers? In their paintings two opposite qualities appeared which were to become the etalons of Turkic arts later: realistic accurate representation of an object and unusual stylization thereof.
    Mixture of fantasy and reality, commonness and sublimity, materialism and spirituality is evident. Maybe that is the ideal of any art? Dynamism, struggle, passion and stone calmness. In fact, annalistic miniatures are full of that style.
    An explosion which separated the Stone and Bronze Ages from the Iron Age was about to happen. It happened in V - III centuries B.C. That event was marked by appearance of the new god with the Turki - Tengri-Khan. He taught people to smelt iron ore. A new epoch in the life not only of Altai but of other nations commenced.
    Professor Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko (1885 - 1969), an outstanding archeologist and the scientist of the highest level was the best expert in that epoch. It is a real pleasure to read his monographs: he wasn't just searching for the traces of antiquity and finding them; he explained the findings (Thoroughness of the works by S.I. Rudenko allowed me to speak about ancient Turkic culture being a humble follower unconditionally believing his Master) e wasn't inventing or "reconstructing" as a vain historian; he was explaining because he was also an engineer and the Doctor of Technical Sciences. The range of his interests was really wide. From the anthropological type of Altai people to the ornaments on carpets and clothes - how and with what they were made? There are only a few such broad-minded persons in science.

    It doesn't matter that Rudenko didn't call his "Altai inhabitants" the Turki - that wasn't allowed those days (the country was fighting against it). He found a neutral term - "Scythians" although he comprehended that the Turkic culture was in question. And he softly-softly was making it clear in his works about the Huns…
    Professor gathered the proofs, evidences and facts which take one's breath away. And that is enough… Rudenko's findings allowed him to speak not only about the log dwellings of the Turki but also about the cattle-pens. Even found earthenware crockery witnessed of the settled way of life of its owners. And a separate book can be written about the "metallurgical" findings.
    Of course iron is an ancient metal; even Egyptian Pharaohs knew it. In the Caucasus and in the Minor Asia iron was produced from iron ore but it wasn't smelt but burnt getting the so-called "ball iron" suitable for forging.
    In Altai the Turki invented their own technology which is used in the whole world until now. Siberians hit upon an idea not to burn out iron but to smelt it in furnaces getting cast iron and steel. That gave a considerable advantage and increased the output of metal.
    By the way, "cast iron" is the Turkic word as well as "damask steel". They are the monuments of those remote times when the new epoch of human history commenced. For the Truki iron was not a precious thing as for Egyptian Pharaohs, it turned into an operating metal.
    Altai inhabitants would hide their blacksmith furnaces from alien eyes but these were the blacksmith furnaces and iron items which accompanied them on their way to Europe.
    Blacksmith furnaces were built near iron ore fields. On the territory of modern Belgorod region, for example, due to Anatoli Grigorievich Nikolaenko, an enthusiastic student of a local lore, an entire metallurgical "plant" was found which was built by the Turki in V - VI centuries. Thousands of furnaces were smoking there. And this is not the only finding in the Great Steppe.
    There's no need to describe the history of iron, apparently, which was estimated equally with gold; these facts are well-known. Another thing is not sufficiently known - opinions of the contemporaries about the Turki of those times - the eve of the Great Nations Migrations. One can come across eloquent opinions.
    The neighbors were interested how and why unknown forces were gathered with the Kipchaks? What allowed them to win?.. To lead a happy life? To have a strong army? Numerous families? Wellbeing couldn't have arisen by accident, "all of a sudden".
    The Chinese, for example, marked a surprisingly high level of the Turkic economy development. China was the first country which felt the strength of the "new" Kipchaks who, having defeated its army, made China pay levy to them. China with population of many millions and secular dynastic traditions was powerless: it provided everything ordered by the Turki.
Turan nations of the Middle Asia also felt the slashes of the Turkic sabers. They were also forced to pay levy. According to the Chinese in 165 B.C. strong Turans (the Alans, apparently?) left their motherland for new lands. Later they appeared near the Caucasus foothills.
    There are similar witnesses of rise of the Turki to the top of power and magnificence in Iranian literature; one can speak of them for a long time…
    European literary sources cover a later period and they are eloquent to the certain extent. In "History" by Menandr Protector, for instance, it is told about the travel of a Zimarkh, the Byzantine dignitary, to the Turkic country. The Byzantine was amazed - iron being precious (he used the word "precious") in Europe was offered by common street traders here!
    This single fact taken from a series shows that a scientific and technical revolution is evident - a real turnover (Of course this statement will give rise to disputes. They say iron has been known in Europe long since. Maybe. But one thing is to know, and the other - to have it. Judging by Zimarkh's notes there was no excess "precious" black metal in Europe. At least the Europeans didn't sell it to anybody but, on the contrary, they tried to get it by fair means or foul. Metallurgic centers on the territory of the Old World also haven't been found. Being hurt by that injustice, ambitious Europeans name the Alps, to tell the truth, but at that they forget that even if there was iron production there it was insignificant - there was no technology! One - two hundred kilograms of metal a year could hardly affect the European economy and the strength of its army. If there was iron it was delivered in minor quantities from the Minor Asia and the Caucasus, the regions which would remain the subject of rivalry between Persia and Rome for a long time.) wich was performed by the Turki in Altai and after that it became widespread in China and in the whole Europe.    
    Be it good or bad but the nations and countries defeated by the Kipchaks joined to achievements of high technology: generally speaking they left the Bronze Age and entered the Iron Age. One shouldn't deny this fact. One should be proud of it - scientific and technical achievements of one nation and country became the common property of the people. Similar things have happened in human history. And not only once.
    It is natural that literary sources witnessing of the great "iron" epoch of the Turki appeared later than the furnaces. And archeologists found what was hidden from alien eyes. For example, the finding of the cast-iron plough in Altai speaks for itself, and the plough is over two thousand years old. Nothing of that kind ever happened in the world. And that plough, or the new cultivation technology came to Europe together with the Kipchaks… Barbarians and destroyers brought it… But what did they destroy? Hoe-mattock agriculture in Europe!

    It is unlikely that anybody has performed more discoveries than academician A.P. Okladnikov - Columbus of Siberian archeology. The trouble is that that outstanding archeologist - organizer was working during the years of struggle against Turkism; there was a special way of thinking unacceptable for a normal human being. Scientists and authorities were deceiving each other.   
    Okladnikov rarely pointed out what nation lived in Altai and what happened to it. That was forbidden for anyone willing to play the game. "A vanished nation" - that was a conventional name chosen by him. And sometimes he deliberately emphasized the fact that these were not the Turki living in Altai. He said the Turki lead a nomadic life and they were the Mongoloids and his mythical "Altai inhabitants" and "Siberians" lead a settled life in log huts and were the Europeoids, which was a clear allusion to Slavic settlements. And that "allusion" was comprehended by the Slavophiles in the Kremlin.
    One should think that those incoherent phrases were meant not for science but for those "running science". For the politicians it is important to see only what they want to see. There's no need to argue with them. The most important thing is that archeologists recognized new agricultural methods relating to the "vanished nation" and confirmed that by specific findings. That's all! All the rest is trifle and nonsense.
    And if there was "not primitive hoe-mattock cultivating in Altai but highly developed plough one", continues academician Okladnikov, there was an "application of pulling power of cattle". Of course there was… And I would like to pay special attention to it. That idea came to Okladnikov's mind after the excavations of Ulan-Bator settlement on the bank of Unga river left by people more than a hundred and a half years ago. An amazing place!
    Firstly, Ulan-Bator settlement was inhabited by the Europeiods, it has been existing for dozens of centuries. Secondly, craftsmen lived there who made millstones for hand mills among other inventory. It turns out people of Ulan-Bator settlement had something to mill.
    A jug of millet seeds was found near one mill. It means the "vanished nation" was dealing with millet being a crop for them. Prisk, the Byzantine ambassador, also mentioned millet and rye.
    Cattle-breeders and farmers richly lived in the settlement. This only fact tells a lot about the way of life of Altai inhabitants. But, no doubt, the nomads were also among them - for distant pastures. And how could they do without summer nomads' camps? Or without haymaking? It turns out there were tilt carts and herders used to live in them during pasture seasons. Rock paintings confirm that.
    The Turki preferred a horse to all other animals. It was deified which is shown by burial places. Horse harness was always ornamented with crosses - the signs of Tengri - Heavenly God. For a real Turki there was no creature purer than a horse; there wasn't a grander creature. Its smell was better than any nectar. By the way, in Turkic language there are forty epithets meaning the color of a horse… Let us think about it - forty epithets…
    Professor Rudenko wrote: "It is necessary to recognize that Altai inhabitants of that times had saddle-horses which were equal to the best horses of ancient world known due to excavations if not left them far behind". What can be added to the expert's words if the chronicles of Persia and India witness of the same?

    A horse became flesh and blood of a Kipchak and replied with faithfulness to the nation - it lead the Turki to the steppe, opened its bewitching expanses. In fact, the whole life of steppe inhabitant since "Hun" times was lead on a horse or close to it. That was the way of life! Neither nation of the world had anything of that kind.
    For their "horse" way of life - with a horse and on a horse - Altai inhabitants invented the clothes. A saddle with stirrups, a heel for a boot and many other items appeared because some fidgety Turki understood that having saddled a horse he would see the world better. That's why "to saddle a horse" was the first sacred will of a Kipchak.   

    Cemetery of Ulan-Bor also surprised the archeologists with burial ceremony. They hadn't met that ceremony before.
    In Siberia departed were buried together with different items since olden days. Even the poorest person was to be let to another world with at least two arrows in his grave. On Ulan-Bor cemetery they found nothing. In neither grave. Neither a bead, nor cheap ornaments. Just the bones.
    It is evident that Ulan-Bor inhabitants had another religious conception formerly unknown for science - it was deprived of a cult of subject. It means these were not the pagans living there! Scientists tried to connect it with Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Christianity and Manichaeism. All in vain. There was no connection. Although there was something in common. The buried were lying in coffins made of whole larch trunks; they were lying on their backs, their heads to the East. A certain religion was present; it was witnessed by other findings.
    Thus, for example, several times the scientists have met stone plates with images of the clergymen in long dresses with a fluffy head of hair, with rods and a caducei (Caducei - a rod in the view of a winged stick embraced with two serpents. Caducei was an attribute of a God's herald (high clergyman); it was also used as a modern flag of truce, it was the sign of the messengers having a privilege from arrest sent to the enemy's camp) in their hands, sometimes with rapids(Ripid - round image of a cherub on a pole with which a member of higher orders of clergy blesses the Holy Gifts during a liturgy. Ripids mean presence of the angels in spiritual sense.). In the same place, on ancient rock paintings there is an image of altar with a chalice (Chalice - liturgical vessel for wine consecration and communion, a cup on a high tem, often made of precious metal and jobbing stones) standing on it together with the figures of clergymen on ritual dressing (robes).
    Ceremonial paintings were found not only near Yenisei: an unknown religion, as it turned out later, had been becoming widespread almost in the whole Southern Siberia where the Turki lived. They looked unlikely. The most ancient finding was a stone fish of ritual meaning. There were three equilateral crosses on its belly.

    These are the sun heavenly crosses! They are depicted on a fish which, according to an ancient eastern tradition, had a sign of a heavenly deity… An extremely important finding! But having answered one question it gave rise to dozens of others… For example, why did the Pope, who was supposedly God's deputy on the Earth, have an ancient ring with an image of that fish on his finger? That ring is handed over from generation to generation in Vatican. It is the symbol of the origin in Christianity. Then what did that symbol have to do with a wild Altai nation? And it appeared much earlier than in Rome or Greece? And why in Altai?
    In later ritual findings the "heavenly" fish was accompanied by a sun deer. Okladnikov supposed that the Turki have formed their own vision of the world three thousand years ago: fish was a water inhabitant, a serpent lived in the nether world, they embodied the "lower and middle world", a deer represented the "higher" world - the heavenly element.
    Later a cross became the symbol of Altai mental culture. An equilateral one. And not a cross, to put it more preciously; it cannot be called a cross. Four lines joined each other at right angles in the holy center. The upper perpendicular - the deer's line, two side lines represented a fish and man himself, the lower line was the line of a serpent. Thus there was the sign embodying the world harmony - it was called adzhi.

    Archeologists found equilateral "crosses" made of gold or iron in the burial places of the Kipchaks more than once; their size was similar with size of St. George order or the German Cross. That tradition was born long before Attila… But how and when did all those ritual religious images appear in the Southern Siberia? With clerics in long robes? With a chalice? With a "cross"?
    Okladnikov dated that period rather strangely. Within the interval: end of the past - beginning of Common Era; IX century is the latest possible date. A strange estimation, indeed! But that approximation isn't casual: in the country where atheism has become an official ideology discussion of religious issues wasn't in favor…
    Items of a religious cult - the same chalices or caducei - clearly witnessed of Christian rituals on their Orthodox variety. Presence of a "cross" on the images dispelled the last doubts. Everything seemed to be clear… But what Christianity before Common Era (!) could be in question? They were excavating the "wild" Asian culture… Thus archeologists had to slip out. They had to act in compliance with the rules accepted in Soviet science; the works were financed and publications were guaranteed.

    Okladnikov applied another usual method of Soviet science: in case a discovery wasn't in accordance with an ideological conception of the wild Turkic nomads, they invented another nation - Sogdians - who have supposedly come from Tajikistan - became such a nation in Ulan-Bor.
    Why from Tajikistan? Lamps similar with those having been found in Ulan-Bor were fond there. That was enough to make a statement about the "Sogdians".
    Academician A.P. Okladnikov was not only a good archeologist; he was a "politically correct" scientist, especially when he wrote: "Deep Asia was the motherland of Turkic nomad tribes which have been also rushing for the West, up to Dnepr and Danube, at all times". Thus - in a versatile Soviet language being unacceptable for normal science - he described the borders of Desht-I-Kpchak which are in full accordance with the descriptions by Jordan and other historians and archeological data.
    Turkic world originated in "deep Asia"; the cradle of Turkic civilization was discovered and investigated by Soviet archeologists, perhaps, against their will. Their findings confirmed the formation of a unique culture which master was never called. In Soviet Union the new culture was called "Siberian" and it was ascribed to the "vanished" nation. Let it be. Facts are the top of priorities.
    For example, in one of the caves archeologists found a sculpture having seen which they suspected it to be a fake - it looked too accurate from the modern viewpoint. It had a woman face, that impression was growing in the candlelight, but as soon as one went away to the edge of the cave the oval of the face would change. An image of a warrior was seen in the stone. A brave face of a strong man. A very delicate work. The artist has cut it of a natural stalagmite and left his work in that sacred cave for centuries.
    What was the most surprising thing? The lock, hair, hanging down form the shaven head - a "tuft". An outlined oval face, shortened chin with a dimple and a lock on the left side of the head. Here it is - a khokhol (in Russian language the words "khokhol" and "tuft" are close in pronunciation). The most ancient sculpture in its honor: a "heavenly man" whom the warriors worshipped. Words of oaths for faithfulness to the Turkic nation were said there.
    The Turki borrowed a tradition to leave a lock on a shaven head from Krishna followers, apparently, who were the personification of sanctity in the East. Among the Kumyks, as the aged told, people with a tuft on a shaven head could be met in the beginning of XX century. They left it with a boy who was about to die. They thought that God would see a lock from above and not let a person be lost another time.
    … Ancient art of the Southern Siberia is more convincing than words. Maybe not all the images and sculptures were made by a Tutkic hand. Maybe international origin is present in the "Siberian culture". Furthermore, the Turki borrowed certain things from the Chinese, Persians, Tibetans with whom they used to keep in touch. But…
    In II century, when the Great Nations Migration began, when towns and villages in the "deep Asia" became empty - towns and villages near which typical everyday items, rock paintings, statues were found, - nobody has breathed life in those lands - the Kipchaks left for Europe, and their culture departed with them. However, it hasn't departed; it remained. But its scope was changed.
   
    Stone images are a marvelous sight. Everything is sedate and solemn in them. The paintings on rocks along Lena River remained well; time had mercy on them. Okladnikov: "Images of horses and riders are often the main subject here. Horses are often ornamented with plumes and tassels under bridles. Sharp scallops of a cut mane are seen on their necks. Sometimes the horses are put into a special armor which, as well as armor on the figures of the riders, is reproduced by transverse lines. Spears with flags are seen in riders' hands".
    It might seem that was enough to hear the clatter of horses' hoofs, to see the riders themselves having trusted one's imagination. These are the images of the Great Nations Migration, after all! But everything is in silence. Even the poets kept silence. And those rock paintings coincide with written evidences of European historians who have seen Kipchak warriors in IV century for the first time. Isn't that interesting? Doesn't that explain and prove anything?
    In Shishkino village near Lena River a battle scene is excellently depicted on the rock: riders with flags in their hands; their horses in rich harnesses. Even the smallest details of riders' clothes were painted. Are these the unknown warriors? Who, which nation of the world apart from the Kipchaks had a similar army? How long should they keep silence in taiga backwoods?
    Let us have a look at the flags of the riders. All of them are fixed to a staff, three transverse "tails" are fixed from the side - these tails were fluttering on the move, during the galloping. Flags with two tails were also met.    
    It turns out the cult of a flag existed three years ago with the Turki for a flag was deemed to be a talisman of an ulus, the spirit being the guardian of the family that lived there; it helped to gain victories. Thus a flag became a relic: they made sacrifices to it; it was the centre of the family, its spirit… And God forbid if anything happens to it. It led to mental death of a family; it wasn't recognized even by people living. To let a flag fall and especially to break a staff was an evil omen. Hence are the phrases "broken spirit", "to loose heart", apparently…(It is interesting that in the paintings from Radzivillovskaya Chronicle in the battle scenes the lost part could be distinguished by a flag which was always inclined) A flag ("tuh" in Turkic) was the reflection of the Turkic philosophy.
    Should one be surprised at the fact that in Europe flags of the Turkic type became widespread after IV century and remained until now. As well as attitude towards a flag being a relic, although the origins of that tradition have been forgotten.
    Rock paintings of "deep Asia" gibe answer to many "European" questions… Besides the series of images sometimes one can come across the writings - runic inscriptions - conjurations. They were made by the authors of paintings and sculptures. Here is an autograph of the "vanished nation". It shouldn't be invented…
   
    Everything (including Altai letters) appeared in Europe at the same time in IV century. Even flags with a cross (An equilateral cross was the totem sign of Kerei ulus. Attila belonged to that family, apparently, the cross was on its flag. Each Turkic ulus had its sign, its guardian, its tree, its bird. Kerei family is known with almost all Turkic nations).
    Archeological monuments, discovered, for instance, by Hungarian scientists, are very similar to "vanished" Siberian ones, they seem to be their copies; the only difference is that they are younger… The Great Nations Migration couldn't leave without a trace, otherwise it couldn't be called Great!
    In Hungarian burials of the warriors archeologists found the plates with a "Siberian" ornament. Those plates are double: the upper (silver or golden) plate was fixed to the lower (copper or bronze) one. There were no such plates in Siberia. But the sabers, the harness ornament, arrow-heads and belt plaques were absolutely the same with Siberian ones. It turned out the "vanished nation" retained its customs in Europe. And at the same time the Kipchaks discovered many new things there. Their culture wasn't dead, it wasn't dissolved but kept on developing.
    Later the district where those amazing plates have been produced was found between Dnepr and Don; it was called Lebediya (Kumaniya in Turkic). People worshipped swans there (in Russian the word swan is pronounced as "lebed"). And that technology of "double" gilding has been invented much earlier.
    It is fixed in the findings of Pazyryksk barrows. Two and a half thousand years ago Altai inhabitants dealt with gold and mercury: they covered items with golden foil (using mercury solutions). By the way, in the Middle Ages the Europeans used to gild the domes of churches the same way.
    And isn't the finding near the foot of a rock near Krasnoyarsk surprising? The map of starry sky is depicted there. The Great Bear, the North Star are vividly seen… Five thousand years ago someone needed to "draw" that map. People were just learning to deal with bronze those days, coming from the dense Stone Age. And the map of starry sky. That is fantastic.
    Another finding also nonpluses; the one from Azhirai-Adzhirai sanctuary. A crocodile eating the Sun is depicted there. How did they know about a tropical monster in Altai?.. It turns out the map of starry sky had an actual practical purpose - it helped to wander.
    Even common bricks also bear serious information for archeologists. Buildings in the "deep Asia" were made of the same bricks as the sites of ancient settlements on the Lower Don. For example, an entire underground town of V - VI ages in Aksai! Now there is a museum there with the stand of exhibited bricks of all conceivable and inconceivable shapes, sizes and ages.
On Don, as well as in Altai, they produced similar bricks - with images (stamps) of absolutely the same animals and riders. Ancient Bulgarian capital Pereslava was made of bricks with the same "trade marks"; maybe that was the town where Prisk came. There are rock paintings in Bulgaria which seem to be the copies of known Altai ones… All this is far from being casual coincidences.

    By the way, "brick" (in Russian pronounced as "kirpich") is the Turkic word. It comes from the word "kirpech" - "loam from an oven". Archeologists suggest that a brick should be called another "identity card" of the Turki. Why not? Especially since the Turki knew about palace architecture. Near Abakan, the Siberian town, a "building of a palace type", as it was humbly called by archeologists, has been excavated. Almost two thousand years ago… And how many palaces are still under the ground due to public ignorance?

    Thoughts are in a whirl after reading the books by professor S.I. Rudenko and academician A.P.Okladnikov. The latter, during the years of censorial terror, plucked up his courage and not long before his death entered the immortality as the scientist having written the truth: "It turns out that ancient Turkic Siberia is closer connected with the West than with the East. Its cultures were found richer and brighter than one could have expected. On Baikal banks, on Angara and Lena the ways of cultures of East and West met and parted, original cultural hearths, powerful for those times, existed; and the history of Eurasia cannot be understood not taking those hearth into consideration… As we can see due to the findings from… Baikal lands… those connections lead to Don And Danube".
    The truth about the Kipchaks, without any reservations, was openly declared for the first time. Europe originated in Siberia, indeed!

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	Adji Murad. Asia's Europa. Volume 1 (Europa, Turkic, the Great Steppe)   Author's Preface We are the Kipchaks! Altai Cradle The Great Nations Migration Our Spiritual Wealth European Kipchaks Part One “Moscow Stories” Saint Cyril and Methodius - Who Were They? “Mist” over the Baptism of Russia Rewriting History Kipchak Kiev Pictures on the Pages of the Chronicles Main Sources Part Two The World of the Wild Field Wild Field – The Great Steppe Main Sources Part Three Tengri-Khan and Christ, His Foster Son The Vanished Heritage Splits and Splitters Main Sources Part Four Desht-I-Kipchak – an Unknown Country? Main Sources Appendix Near St. George Spring “Gyurdzhi's Day” Different Georges The Voice of Forgotten Motherland The Mystery of the Cross “Iron Gates” Gregoris - George Diocletian Who Suffered Not Being Guilty Every Nation Has Its Own George Beginning of the Catastrophe The Great Enlightener of Armenia Contradictions Let the Christians Be the Christians again “Where Will this Lead? Where to Go?” Dzhalgan Settlement Spring of the Known Legend Notes and Comments to the Appendix Bibliography