Curse of Tamerlane
The legend of the curse of Tamerlane: history, facts, myths
The news was passed from mouth to mouth: “The Russian expedition is going to open the grave of the Great Timur! A curse will fall on our heads!” – such conversations rushed through the bazaars and streets of Samarkand in June 1941, when an expedition led by Tashmukhammed Kary-Niyazov and Mikhail Gerasimov began excavations in Gur-Emir.
Local residents and the Muslim clergy tried to stop the excavations, but the expedition, in spite of everything, continued its work.
The expedition leader was T. N. Kary-Niyazov, the expedition also included the writer and historian Sadriddin Aini, the famous orientalist A. A. Semenov, and M. M. Gerasimov. The expedition also included a young cameraman Malik Kayumov. The task of these excavations was to study the remains of people in the tombs and prove that they belong directly to Temur and his closest relatives. Excavations began on June 16. The first to be opened were the graves of Ulugbek’s sons. Then the tombs of Timur’s sons – Miranshah and Shahrukh. On June 18, the remains of Ulugbek, the grandson of Timur, were removed. On June 19, a heavy tombstone was removed from the tomb of Tamerlane himself. On June 20, Temur’s coffin was opened, and the mausoleum was filled with a sharp, suffocating smell of a mixture of some resins, camphor, rose, and incense.
It should be noted here that Timur died in the city of Otrar on his way to China, so for his transportation and burial in Samarkand it was necessary to embalm the body. Even English and French scientists noticed that when opening the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, a sweetish smell spreads in the air. At first, the Europeans also grabbed various curses, but then it was proved that this was just the smell of oils used by the priests during embalming. So in the case of Timur, we can safely say that the smell when opening the grave does not come from the curse, but from the embalming oil.
Two days after the opening of Timur’s grave, on the night of June 22, fascist Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war. Many associated this with the discovery of the tomb of Tamerlane. Panic broke out in Samarkand. The expedition was urgently curtailed, and the remains of Temur and the Temurids were sent for research to Moscow.
But if you think deeply, all these events will seem like a chain of coincidences, since the Second World War began in 1939 with an attack on Poland, and the Barbarossa plan of attack on the USSR was approved by Hitler back in 1940.
However, one more important fact is given by supporters of this hypothesis. The turning point in the war came with the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad. A month earlier, Stalin had given the order to return the remains of Timur and the Timurids to Samarkand and bury them with full honors. According to legend, the plane with the remains was carried over the front line for a month, which caused enthusiasm and enthusiasm among the Muslims who fought on the fronts of the Second World War. Many believe that it was this event that caused the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad – one of the most terrible and at the same time heroic battles of this War, but in fact this battle was won thanks to the heroism and self-sacrifice of the soldiers who died in the name of peace.
