In the guise of a dervish

Reception by the khan of Khiva

A special place among them belongs to a Hungarian scholar and traveler Armin Vamberi. Lured to the East by romantic dreams of his youth and an important scientific task, he was one of the most outstanding researchers of Central Asia of his time. His Oriental Pilgrimage crowned by the publication of many research papers, is astounding in its courage and daring, as at that time it was dangerous for Europeans to travel in this part of the world.

On March 27, 1863, the Turkish envoy to Teheran gave a farewell feast in his honour. During the feast the embassy physician gave Armin his talisman - a few white grains of a deadly poison and said, "When you notice the signs of final preparations for torture and no hope is left, swallow this."

On the following morning Armin Vamberi disappeared, and a lame dervish Rashid-efendi dressed in a cloak of coarse fabric with numerous patches, tied up with string, and joined a crowd of pilgrims on their way from Mecca to Bukhara. His feet were wrapped in rags, there was a huge turban on his head and, like all hadji (pilgrims), he had a bag with the Holy Quran hanging from his neck and resting on his cheats.

That was the beginning of a daring journey of a European under the guise of a dervish. As befitted a Muslim, he prayed five times a day and recited suras from the Quran. He got used to sleeping on horseback, washing his face and hands with sand, eating with his hands from a communal dish, and spreading his clothes near anthills in order to get rid of varmint.

During the journey he felt cold at night and suffered from heat and thirst in day. His skin cracked, and his eyesight deter rated. But the anguish of body was nothing compared to the fear of betraying himself. There were a lot of watching and suspecting eyes around, especially an Afghan from Kandahar, who time and again shouted that there, was a spy among them and promised to expose him when they reached Bukhara.

Fortunately the esteemed and respected hadji Bilyal and Sali, whom Vamberi had met at the Turkish Embassy and traveled with from Teheran, vouched for him. Vamberi successfully reached Bukhara and returned from his journey safe and sound.

But that was much later. Meanwhile, after a fortnight of traveling, the caravan of pilgrims crossed the hot Turkmen steppes and deserts, and entered Khiva. At the city gates a huge crowd of people waited for them. It was for the first time that Khiva saw so many holy men who had been on a pilgrimage to the sacred Mecca. People kissed their hands and tried to at least touch their clothes. A rumour about a holy hadji from Turkey spread across the city. Vamberi was invited to the palace of the khan of Khiva. The palace was situated among the mosques and minarets of Ichan-Kala - the inner city, the name that has survived to this day. Half-lying on a raised platform, the khan received the blessing of the dervish.

The pilgrims stayed in Khiva for a month. Disguised as a dervish, Vamberi could not make notes. He had excellent memory, and he remembered all he saw which he would later share with his contemporaries and descendants.

Caravan meets the herd of wild donkeys

With his guise Armin roamed the streets of Khiva, walked into the shabby huts of poor people and the houses of the rich, memorized house hold details and clothes, tasted local dishes, inquired about local customs, mingled with noisy crowds during celebrations, and learned what goods the caravans brought into and taken out of that land.

From Khiva the Hadji made his way across scorching sands to Bukhara and its shrines. The journey took six days, and they ran short of drinking water. They were in a hurry, and the caravan moved on day and night. The hardships of the journey were too much even for pack animals.

Two camels died in the first two days. A day later a pilgrim died, his body was left among the sands. Then a terrible sandstorm broke out.

Vamberi came to his senses in a shabby hut. He asked for water and was terrified failing to realize in what language he had spoken. But everything turned out fine. Some Arab shepherds, slaves to rich head owners, saved the pilgrims. To them each drop of water was precious in the desert but they spared some for those who were in trouble.

Later on Vamberi would recalled the how women treated them with kumiss (fermented camel's milk), directing a trickle of it from the goatskin right into their open thirsty mouths. He would write with surprising detail how women put up a yurt (a circular tent of skins), and wove woolen carpets. Vamberi justly noted that in the life of nomads much depended on women. They were their husbands' first counselors and companions.

At long last, the caravan overcoming all these difficulties arrived in Bukhara. At that time the ancient city was regarded as a bulwark of faithful Muslims, and foreigners were barred from entering it. Vamberi felt that he was being followed. But the spirit of a researcher proved stronger than the fear of exposure.

Vamberi visited the tomb of saint Bohauddin where he prayed zealously. He was invited for a scholarly discussion with the Bukharian mullahs. Our Hadji stood the test with honour, and was finally, left in peace and permitted to familiarize himself with ancient manuscripts.

The next stopover en route of the caravan was Samarkand. The city awed the traveler. In the 19th century it still retained its former splendour. Vamberi admired the blue domes of the Shah-i-Zinda Mausoleum, the portals of the Bibi-Khanum Mosque, and the majestic Reghistan Square. He descended into the shrine Gur-i-Amir to touch the nephrite tombstone of the great autocrat Amir Temur. He held in his hands the Quran of Osman, and attended lectures at the madrassah. He also went to see the Ulugbek observatory...

Returning to Tehran

Half a year had passed by since the dervish had started on his dangerous journey. Finally the moment came when he had to say goodby to his faithful companions Bilyal and Sali, his eyes brimming with tears. They had shared so many hardships with him and had been his defenders. Yet they did not know that he was a European disguised as a dervish. After visiting some other Central Asian cities on his own Vamberi returned to Constantinople.

His very first publications about his journey seemed so unbelievable that many suspected him of a fraud. Only later researchers of Central Asia fully confirmed what he had said.

Everything Vamberi had seen he depicted with extraordinary details. He wrote his most prominent book - Journey across Central Asia - at first in English, and then in German. Later on it was translated into almost all of European languages. In 1865 the book was published in the Russian.

The contents of the book testify to the wide range of the scholar's interests. Take the chapter on Khiva, for instance. It contains information about the capital, its gates and residential quarters, marketplaces, mosques and madrassahs, and how they were founded and functioned, the police, the Khan and his government, taxes, courts, canals, trade and roads, population, and Khiva's history of the 19th century.

Besides those mentioned, the following books by Armin Vamberi were translated into Russian, namely, The History of Bukhara and Transoxania, Sketches of Central Asia, Railway in a Sea of Sand (Transcaspian railway) and some others.

Wherever the books by that remarkable Hungarian scholar and traveller appeared, people read them voraciously, discovering unknown lands, and admiring the author's vast knowledge along with his courage and daring. In Hungary, he was elected a corresponding member of the Pest Academy of: Sciences.

Not all of Vamberi's works have equal scientific value. In some of them he is politically biased and subjective. However, to end this short essay on Armin Vamberi, I would like to quote Vamberi who said, "Asia will soon become a part of the world where Europe will seek solutions to many extremely important political, cultural and social issues." That time has come. Central Asian countries are open to the world, and many countries including European ones are actively collaborating with them.

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