Batu's golden horses. Batu Khan's golden horses - legendary treasures, exact location

Legends say that the Tatar-Mongol Khan Batu during the invasion of Russia captured a lot of treasures that are hidden somewhere on the territory of our country. But so far no one has been able to reach them.

Burnt Fortress

One of these places may be the vicinity of the village of Zolotarevka near Penza. There are remains of the ancient city. According to the historian Gennady Belorybkin, in the XIV century there was a fortress here, which was destroyed and burned by the army of Batu Khan. For some unknown reason, the corpses of dead soldiers, weapons and jewelry were left on the site of the burned fortress. Marauders were afraid to touch the valuables, as they were afraid of a curse that allegedly hit everyone who encroached on them. So everything remained in place. Already in our time, archaeological excavations were carried out in the Zolotarevka area, but no Khan's treasures were found.

golden horses

Another legend tells about the "golden horses of Batu Khan." They were allegedly cast from gold collected from all over Russia as a tribute to the khan. These horses with ruby ​​eyes once “guarded” the gates in Sarai, the capital of the Tatar state of the Golden Horde, located in the lower reaches of the Volga, serving as a symbol of its power.

Then the Tatar-Mongols moved their capital to the area of ​​the present village of Tsarev, Volgograd region. The golden horses also moved with her. But after the victory of the Russians over the army of Khan Mamai on the Kulikovo field, nothing more is heard about the legendary treasure. One of the horses was allegedly buried along with the body of Mamai so that he would “guard” the owner. According to legend, the khan was buried on one of the hills beyond the Volga. But no one knows the exact location of the Mamaev Kurgan.

The second horse was allegedly first taken with them by the Cossacks who attacked the camp of the Horde. But they rushed after the convoy, which carried the loot. A battle took place in which many people were killed. As for the statue of the golden horse, it disappeared without a trace. Some historians suggest that the Cossacks threw it into one of the nearby reservoirs, and it still lies at the bottom of some lake ...

True, there were still many rumors about this golden horse. So, the Soviet writer Ivan Efremov in the book "The Andromeda Nebula" assured that the statue rests at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Another writer, Sergei Alekseev, wrote in the novel “Treasures of the Valkyrie” that both Batu’s horses were found back in the 60s of the 20th century by a “special group of the KGB”. But whether the literary fiction is supported by some real facts, it was not possible to find out.

In the late 90s of the last century, information appeared that one of the Batu's horses was discovered during excavations near the village of R. An expedition of the Kosmopoisk Research Association visited it. The researchers interviewed the local population, but received no information about the find.

Convoy on Seliger

According to another myth, the warriors of Batu hid a whole convoy with stolen valuables somewhere near Lake Seliger, in the Tver region. He was allegedly searched for back in the time of Catherine II. Then people from St. Petersburg arrived in these parts with old papers, which indicated the location of the treasure. In particular, they said that if you dig from the east, then the diggers will stumble upon a cast-iron door, behind which "such wealth that the entire Tver province will last for a hundred years."

According to legend, excavations were carried out in the area of ​​the village of Zherebtsovo. Finally, we stumbled upon a huge cleaver and a corner of some stone structure. But they didn’t have time to get to the bottom of it: at night, a black-moustached warrior in armor appeared to the head of the excavation with the same cleaver in his hand and threatened that if everyone didn’t get out of here in the morning, they would find their death here. Others saw the warrior too... They did not tempt fate, the expedition returned to the capital.

About ten years ago, search engines from the Moscow Raritet club tried to find a convoy with the treasures of Batu at the bottom of Silver Lake. The fact that the values ​​are there, they were told by a certain psychic woman.

They took water samples from the lake. It turned out that they really have a high content of silver. Also, there were no fish in the pond. And in the very middle of it, an incomprehensible mound stuck out. But it was not possible to obtain permission to conduct serious search work on Serebryany, since the lake is located on the territory of a state reserve.

Treasures at the bottom of the lake were also tried by private individuals. They say that there were cases of death of divers: the cause was convulsions due to a sharp temperature drop: at the depth of Serebryany there are areas with ice water. But the local population is sure: the seekers fell victims of a curse, because the treasure of Batu is guarded by supernatural forces...

THE GOLDEN HORSES OF KHAN BATYYA are legendary treasures, the exact location of which is still unknown. The history of horses is something like this: After Batu Khan ravaged Ryazan and Kyiv, he returned to the lower reaches of the Volga and, with the help of skilled craftsmen gathered in subject and conquered countries (including Russians), built here, to the surprise of all neighboring peoples, in the middle of the steppes the capital Saray - a beautiful city with palaces, mosques, water supply, fountains and shady gardens. Batu ordered all the tribute collected during the year to be turned into gold, and two horses were cast from this gold. The order was carried out exactly, but until now, people's rumors differ on the question of whether those horses were hollow or completely golden. Cast shiny horses with burning ruby ​​eyes were placed at the entrance to the capital of the Golden Horde Khanate at the city gates. Khans were replaced, but the golden statues were still the personification of the power of the state.

When the capital was transferred to the new Saray (near the present village of Tsarev, Volgograd region), built by Khan Berke, the golden horses were also transported. When Mamai became Khan, the former prosperity of the Khanate came to an end. Russian troops defeated Mamai's army on the Kulikovo field, and Mamai was forced to flee...

The fate of the golden horses is not known for certain. Legends say that one horse was buried along with the body of Mamai, the exact location of the grave is unknown. They say that somewhere on one of the hills near Akhtuba [in the 6th volume
capital historical and geographical work "Russia" it is mentioned that near the village of Rastegaevka near Prishib there are several "Mamaev mounds", in one of which the "living Mamai" sleeps. In all the numerous versions of the retellings of this legend (which are told by old people in Leninsk, the former Prishib, Khaboly, Sasykolye, Cherny Yar, Selitrennoye and other villages in the Trans-Volga region), only one golden horse appears (and Mamai guards him). But where is the other?

As the old men used to say in the Trans-Volga Cossack villages (which is near the Astrakhan path), pursuing the retreating Horde troops, the Cossack patrols became so bold that they began to penetrate in small groups
deep into the horde's diminishing territory every day. One such detachment, taking advantage of the panic in the camp of the enemy, broke right into the capital Sarai. And, as the Cossack Alekseevich once said, this detachment took possession of the city for several hours. [Lashchilin B. "It was." Nizhne-Volzhsky book publishing house, Volgograd, 1982, p.12]. Now it is difficult to say whether the golden horses were the real purpose of the raid or whether they accidentally caught the Cossacks on
eyes. In any case, planning such a daring action in advance is pointless - stealing heavy statues, which are the pride of the khan and the whole nation, is tantamount to suicide. However, the daring Cossack patrol broke off the base of one of the golden horses and turned back. The overloaded convoy moved very slowly, so the Horde had time to come to their senses and organize a chase. Sensing something was wrong, the Cossacks turned around and took an unequal
the battle. Those who were catching up were hundreds of times more catching up, so the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion: all the Cossacks died, no one surrendered, many times more Horde horsemen died. But despite the losses suffered, the Horde did not regain the golden horse.

The Horde never found out the truth, because not one of the Cossacks surrendered and did not betray his comrades. There was no statue near the mountain of corpses. The Cossacks didn’t have time to take her far, so they hid her and the rest
treasure somewhere nearby. To bury in the steppe - this also takes time. So - drowned? ...

So where is the first and where is the second golden horse? Centuries later, this question still hasn't been answered...

These precious metal statues that adorned the capital of the Golden Horde have not yet been found.

Well, the legendary golden horses that once adorned the main gates of the capital of the Golden Horde are definitely not hidden in Mamaev Kurgan. By the way, Mamaev Kurgan has nothing to do with the military leader who failed on the Kulikovo field. As philologists and historians unanimously say, the Russians simply began to call this hill the same way as the Volga Tatars had long called. "Mamai" means only "hill". So, translated into Russian, the surname Mamaia would be Bugrov or simply Bugor. If you believe the folk legend described in the book of the famous Volgograd historian Boris Lashchilin “In the native expanses. Notes of a local historian ”, Mamai was buried in one of the barrows on the banks of the Akhtuba. And one horse, cast in gold, was supposedly placed in his grave.

To choke on bones with envy

According to the testimonies of foreign ambassadors at the khan's headquarters, the founder of the Golden Horde and the destroyer of the Russian lands, Batu, was very ambitious. He wanted to amaze foreigners with his flaunting luxury. This grandson of Genghis Khan ate only from golden dishes. And Batu's hat trimmed with sable fur was crowned with a huge emerald the size of a chicken egg, which once served as the eye of a deity in an Indian temple. Batu Khan dreamed of making the city of Saray-Batu, which he founded, the greatest of the capitals in the world, so that both the German and Chinese emperors would “choke with envy on their bones”. Therefore, he drove skillful craftsmen and artisans from all conquered lands to the newborn city. What was not in the capital of the Golden Horde: gardens, fountains, water supply ... But the great khan wanted every traveler who entered the capital to understand: he came to the greatest and richest ruler of the world.

And when his beloved white Arabian horse died, Batu ordered to perpetuate him in gold. By the way, imitating the famous grandfather Genghis Khan, Batu took this white horse with him on all military campaigns, but he did not ride it himself. It was believed that on a handsome horse, so unlike the undersized Mongolian horses, the god of war Sulde himself rushes invisibly.

The horse was cast by a bell-maker who was captured in Kyiv. History has not preserved his name. The annals only mention that 15 tons of gold were used to make the horse - the entire tribute collected from the Russian lands during the year. Then Batu decided that two identical equestrian statues on the sides of the gate would look better. The master made a second golden horse, an exact copy of the first. Golden horses with ruby ​​eyes were placed at the main gate of Sarai-Batu, after which the Russian master was killed so that he could not repeat his masterpiece.

Golden horses struck the imagination of everyone who saw them. Here is what the ambassador of the French King Louis Saint Willem Rubruck wrote about this in his report: “From afar, we saw a sparkle at the gate and decided that a fire had started in the city. When we got closer, we realized that it was two life-sized golden statues of horses shining in the rays of the rising sun. How much gold went into this miracle and how rich is the khan? These were the questions I asked myself at that moment.

Genoese - sponsors of Mamai

After Batu died and power passed to his brother Berke, he transferred the horses, a symbol of the wealth and power of the Golden Horde, to his city of Saray-Berke on the banks of the Akhtuba. For more than a hundred years, golden horses have adorned the main gates of the two strongest cities of the Golden Horde. But when a man of non-Khan origin, the military leader Mamai, became the ruler of the great Mongol Empire, the horses mysteriously disappeared.

Mamai was a power-hungry upstart. He became the ruler of the Horde after the death of Khan Berdibek, whose daughter he was married to. Berdibek had no sons, and the khan exhausted his twelve brothers with the help of his son-in-law Mamai, who was not weighed down by conscience. The uprisings of the Khan's nobility after the accession of Mamai followed one after another. Three times he was expelled from Saray-Berke. The unpopular khan had to wander around the western part of the Golden Horde, in the Lower Volga region, at the mouth of the Don and Dnieper, in the Crimea.

Olga Poplavskaya

Artist — Victor Motorin

Continue reading in the December issue (No. 12, 2013) of the magazine "Miracles and Adventures"

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From time to time, articles about traitors to the Motherland, who during the Great Patriotic War went over to the side of the enemy in order to fight against Stalinism with weapons in their hands, flicker in the media. But there was something else: the Germans ran across the front line to fight fascism. Yes, there were few such people, but they were.

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Ancient legends about treasures that disappeared mysteriously for many centuries excite the imagination of archaeologists and adventurers - treasure hunters, who still do not lose hope of finding legendary treasures. They are not embarrassed, which is quite likely, these are just beautiful fairy tales that have nothing to do with real history. However, the legendary treasures of the Golden Horde, although they look like a fairy tale, still have documentary evidence.

In the annals there are references to luxurious golden horses located at the entrance to the capital of the horde, but their disappearance has no documentary evidence - only legends that pass from century to century and lead to the search for the disappeared treasures.

According to ancient legends, the khan dreamed of overshadowing the greatness of other rulers and impressing everyone with the luxury of the capital of the horde. When his beloved white Arabian horse died, Batu ordered to perpetuate him in gold. By the way, imitating the famous grandfather Genghis Khan, Batu took this white horse with him on all military campaigns, but he did not ride it himself. It was believed that on a handsome horse, so unlike the undersized Mongolian horses, the god of war Sulde himself rushes invisibly.

The horse was cast by a bell-maker who was captured in Kyiv. History has not preserved his name. The annals only mention that 15 tons of gold were used to make the horse. But Batu decided that two identical equestrian statues on the sides of the gate would look better. The master made a second golden horse, an exact copy of the first. Golden horses with ruby ​​eyes were placed at the main gate of the barn - batu. Batu's golden horses witnessed the rise and fall of a powerful empire.

The statues captured the imagination of everyone who saw them. Here is what the ambassador of the French King Louis, St. Willem Rubruk, wrote about this in his report: “Even from afar, we saw a sparkle at the gate and decided that a fire had started in the city. Having come closer, we realized that it was shining in the rays of the rising sun two golden statues of horses in life size. How much gold went into this miracle and how rich is the khan? I asked myself such questions at that moment."

After the death of Batu, the statues of horses were moved to the new capital by order of Khan Berke, and their disappearance is associated with the period of the collapse of the powerful empire. According to legend, the khan was buried under the fortress wall of the capital, and one of the golden horses was placed in his grave. However, there are many versions about the true grave of Mamai, and it is not known for certain where the khan was buried, and whether he could have been given such honor. It is likely that the golden horse was buried in the grave of another khan.

It is interesting that in most legends only one horse appears, the disappearance of which is associated with the name of Mamaia, and the question arises: what fate befell the second horse? In the Trans-Volga Cossack villages, there is a legend about the kidnapping of a golden horse from a barn - a berk by a Cossack detachment, which captured the city for a couple of hours, but was forced to retreat, daring to grab the capital's golden sufferer. The Horde organized a chase, and it was unrealistic to leave with a heavy convoy. The Cossacks died in a fight with enemies, but before that they managed to hide the statue. The only question that remains is: where could the golden horse have disappeared to? It would take a long time to bury it in the steppe, so it is likely that the statue was drowned in the nearest river.

Being a symbol of power, the golden horses of Batu disappeared without a trace, and the location of these treasures is hidden in the darkness of centuries. Archaeologists and treasure hunters are guided by the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions of Russia as hypothetical places where these treasures can be buried. Did they really exist or are they just beautiful legends? One of the many mysteries of history, to which no answer has yet been found.

High mountain in the center of the city. For all 26 centuries, it has given shelter to many peoples who inhabited the Kerch Peninsula. The dramas of the Greeks, Scythians, Turks, Russians and many others played out here. Of course, it could not do without legends about fabulous treasures. Perhaps the most intriguing is the legend of the golden horse of Mithridates.
At a time when Panticapaeum was the capital of the Bosporus kingdom, it was ruled by the great king Mithridates Evpator. Under his auspices, Panticapaeum reached unprecedented heights, all of Taurida (modern Crimea) submitted to him. The king had his own talisman - a full-length statue of a horse made of pure gold. He always carried a horse with him, from afar one could see the bright glow of gold. Mithridates was so confident in his abilities, after the next victories, that he risked challenging the Roman Empire. Roman legionnaires met in battle with the soldiers of Mithridates. The forces of two powerful armies were equal. Unexpectedly for the king, his son Pharnaces went over to the side of the Romans. Farnak seduced many warriors with gold, promising to divide between them the famous golden horse of Mithridates.
The king's spirit broke when he found out about his son's betrayal. Now he did not hope to become the ruler of the world, the days of the great Bosporan kingdom were ending. Mithridates hid behind the high walls of the acropolis, he decided to leave the world by drinking poison, but the king deceived himself. He was so afraid of betrayal that from adolescence he took a drop of poison and became invulnerable to poison. Then Mithridates turned to his faithful servant, so that he pierced him with a sword. Mithridates died at the hands of a slave, and the mountain swallowed up the golden horse. Many "lucky ones" have since tried to look for the statue in the mountain, but no one was lucky.
This is one version of the legend. There are many of them, they differ, somewhere in details, somewhere it seems at all that this is a completely different story. According to one version, not one horse was golden, but a whole chariot with four horses. And the famous merchant Mesaksudi found it, quickly and fabulously rich. Another version tells that in the depths of the mountain a girl keeps magic grass that turns everything into gold. Even respected scientists expressed their assumptions about the interpretation of legends. There were suggestions that the treasure became a golden horse in the mouths of people. In fact, Mithridates could well have a hiding place where he kept the treasury of Panticapaeum.
The legend and scientists only agree on one thing - the treasure was somewhere, or still is. The gray slopes of Mount Mithridates keep many treasures in their depths and gradually give them to humanity. And it does not matter in what form the treasures are stored - in the form of a beautiful statue of a golden horse, a handful of silver coins or copper fragments of the life of the ancient Bosporans - the main thing is that they are there.

THE GOLDEN HORSES OF KHAN BATYYA are legendary treasures, the exact location of which is still unknown. The history of horses is something like this: After Batu Khan ravaged Ryazan and Kyiv, he returned to the lower reaches of the Volga and, with the help of skilled craftsmen gathered in subject and conquered countries (including Russians), built here, to the surprise of all neighboring peoples, in the middle of the steppes the capital Saray - a beautiful city with palaces, mosques, water supply, fountains and shady gardens. Batu ordered all the tribute collected during the year to be turned into gold, and two horses were cast from this gold. The order was carried out exactly, but until now, people's rumors differ on the question of whether those horses were hollow or completely golden. Cast shiny horses with burning ruby ​​eyes were placed at the entrance to the capital of the Golden Horde Khanate at the city gates. Khans were replaced, but the golden statues were still the personification of the power of the state.

When the capital was transferred to the new Saray (near the present village of Tsarev, Volgograd region), built by Khan Berke, the golden horses were also transported. When Mamai became Khan, the former prosperity of the Khanate came to an end. Russian troops defeated Mamai's army on the Kulikovo field, and Mamai was forced to flee ...

The fate of the golden horses is not known for certain. Legends say that one horse was buried along with the body of Mamai, the exact location of the grave is unknown. They say that somewhere on one of the hills near Akhtuba. In all the numerous versions of the retellings of this legend (which are told by old people in Leninsk, the former Prishib, Khaboly, Sasykolye, Cherny Yar, Selitrennoye and other villages in the Trans-Volga region), only one golden horse appears (and Mamai guards him). Where is the other one?

As the old men used to say in the Trans-Volga Cossack villages (which is near the Astrakhan path), pursuing the retreating Horde troops, the Cossack patrols became so bold that they began to penetrate in small groups deep into the territory of the horde, which was decreasing every day. One such detachment, taking advantage of the panic in the camp of the enemy, broke right into the capital Sarai. And, as the Cossack Alekseevich once said, this detachment took possession of the city for several hours. . Now it is difficult to say whether the golden horses were the real purpose of the raid or whether they accidentally caught the eye of the Cossacks. In any case, planning such a daring action in advance is pointless - stealing heavy statues, which are the pride of the khan and the whole nation, is tantamount to suicide. However, the daring Cossack patrol broke off the base of one of the golden horses and turned back. The overloaded one moved very slowly, so the Horde had time to come to their senses and organize a chase. Sensing something was wrong, the Cossacks turned around and took an unequal battle. Those who were catching up were hundreds of times more catching up, so the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion: all the Cossacks died, no one surrendered, many times more Horde horsemen died. But despite the losses suffered, the Horde did not regain the golden horse.

Golden horse of Genghis Khan

Author Alexey Malyshev
GOLDEN TALES OF SIBERIA
THE GOLDEN HORSE OF GENGHIS KHAN
The great khan of the horde had a favorite horse. They have traveled many paths together. Khan won many victories while sitting on his faithful horse. For a nomad, a horse is the most important part of his life, he starts his day by mounting a horse and only by late dinner does he descend to the ground and let him graze for the night. The warhorse beats enemies with its hooves, bites so that it tears pieces of flesh and takes the owner out of the battle in a moment of danger.
It is impossible to convey in words all the devotion and friendship of the rider and his horse.
And now the hour has come for the heroic horse to die. The age of a fighting horse is short. The beloved friend of the great Genghis Khan fell from old age.
But the grateful ruler did not want to simply bury the bones of the faithful horse.
He ordered his goldsmiths to collect the entire gold treasury of the Volga horde. And smelt from pure gold a statue of his horse in full growth.
After parting, that horse was buried in a secret mound and hidden from predatory eyes in the damp earth.
So the legend of the golden horse remained in those places.
Many diggers and mound-diggers have been searching for it for centuries. But so far they have not found the Golden Horse.
The deeds of a great man remain forever.
People also remember another legend about the golden horses of Batu Khan.
Having passed through Russia with fire and sword and ruined Ryazan and Kyiv, Batu went to the Volga steppes and founded the richest city-capital of the Golden Horde. Everything was in that city and houses and palaces with fountains. They say that the city of the Horde was so wide and large that if a rider entered it in the morning, he rode all day and left it only late in the evening. His bazaars were full of all the fruits of the earth and Chinese silks and Bukhara daggers and Persian carpets.
And so Batu ordered to show his power. He commanded to take all the annual tribute from the countries of the world subject to him and turn it into gold. And from that gold to cast in full growth two golden horses with ruby ​​eyes and golden footstools. They were placed on the gates of the main khan's palace, as signs of the power of the Batu Khanate - the Golden Horde.

Video Fairy tale. "GOLDEN HORSE". Audio fairy tales. Fairy tales for children

Treasures of the Golden Horde. Treasures of the Golden Horde found near Kazan

Archaeologists have found treasures of the Golden Horde near Kazan. The treasure was found by Robert Galimov, an amateur archaeologist. This is his first big find in two years of excavations. According to one version, there was a house at the place of the found things. It completely burned down, and the treasures literally miraculously survived.

A gold find from the period of the Golden Horde: what century the pendant comes from - specialists cannot yet determine exactly. Archaeologists have not yet found similar objects here. But it is already clear: these jewels adorned one of the very rich Muslim fashionistas.

Asiya Mukhametshina, the chief curator of the Bulgarian Museum-Reserve, tells in more detail: "Pendants could be attached to the ends of the hair, which later grew into a tradition among the Tatars."

Earrings, rings and pendants lay in bulk at a depth of more than two meters. So old - they are more than seven centuries old - and in such quantity jewelry is found for the first time in a hundred years, and therefore they don’t talk about their price - they are priceless in every sense.

The treasure was found by Robert Galimov, an amateur archaeologist. This is his first big find in two years of excavations. "A friend says he hasn't found anything like this in seven years," says Robert.

According to one version, there was a house at the place of the found things. It completely burned down, and the treasures literally miraculously survived.

"The building was deeply buried in the ground, in the lower part the temperature was not high, but it was burning in the upper tiers, and things were not damaged," explains Vyacheslav Baranov, an archaeologist and candidate of historical sciences.

Archaeologists planned to explore 4,000 square meters. Now we've only gone through one. It's unlikely they'll be able to finish everything. Builders began to work side by side with them - they are building a river station.

Meanwhile, there was a handicraft district on this territory, and there may be more than one historical value in this land. Copper vessels were found along with the gold. How many centuries exactly the finds will be determined by experts from Ufa. They are afraid to transport the exhibits, so the inspectors will come themselves. They are expected from day to day.

The golden horses of Batu Khan are legendary treasures, the exact location of which is still unknown.

The history of horses is something like this: after Batu Khan (1209 - 1255) ruined Ryazan and Kyiv, he returned to the lower reaches of the Volga and, with the help of skilled craftsmen gathered in subject and conquered countries (including Russians), built here to the surprise of all neighboring to the peoples in the middle of the steppes their capital Sarai (Old Sarai or Sarai-Batu).

It was a beautiful city with palaces, mosques, plumbing, fountains and shady gardens.

Batu ordered all the tribute collected during the year to be turned into gold, and two horses were cast from this gold. The order was carried out exactly, but until now, people's rumors differ on the question of whether those horses were hollow or completely golden.

Figurines of golden horses. Illustrative photo

Cast shiny horses with burning ruby ​​eyes were placed at the entrance to the capital of the Golden Horde Khanate at the city gates. Khans were replaced, but the golden statues were still the personification of the power of the state.

When the capital was moved to Novy Sarai (Saray-Berke) (near the current village of Tsarev, Volgograd Region), built by Khan Berke, the golden horses were also transported. When Mamai became Khan, the former prosperity of the Khanate came to an end. Russian troops defeated Mamai's army on the Kulikovo field, and Mamai was forced to flee.

Fragments of the tiled decor of Genghisides' palace. Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu. Ceramics, overglaze painting, mosaic, gilding. Selitrennoye settlement. excavations in the 1980s.

The fate of the golden horses is not known for certain. Legends say that one horse was buried along with the body of Mamai, but the exact location of the grave is unknown. They say that somewhere on one of the hills near Akhtuba.

In the 6th volume of the capital historical and geographical work "Russia" it is mentioned that near the village of Rastegaevka near Prishib there are several "Mamaev barrows", in one of which the "living Mamai" sleeps.

In all the numerous versions of this legend (which are told by old people in Leninsk, the former Prishib, Khaboly, Sasykolye, Cherny Yar, Selitrennoye and other villages of the Volga region), only one golden horse appears (and Mamai guards him). But where is the other?

The ruins of Saray-Berke

As the old men used to say in the Trans-Volga Cossack villages (which is near the Astrakhan path), pursuing the retreating Horde troops, the Cossack patrols became so bold that they began to penetrate in small groups deep into the territory of the horde, which was decreasing every day.

One such detachment, taking advantage of the panic in the camp of the enemy, broke right into the capital Sarai. And, as the Cossack Alekseevich once said, this detachment took possession of the city for several hours.

Now it is difficult to say whether the golden horses were the real purpose of the raid or whether they accidentally caught the eye of the Cossacks. In any case, planning such a daring action in advance is pointless - stealing heavy statues, which are the pride of the khan and the whole nation, is tantamount to suicide.

Nevertheless, the daring Cossack patrol broke off the base of one of the golden horses and turned back. The overloaded convoy moved very slowly, so the Horde had time to come to their senses and organize a chase. Sensing something was wrong, the Cossacks turned around and took an unequal battle.

Those who were catching up were hundreds of times more catching up, so the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion: all the Cossacks died, no one surrendered, many times more Horde horsemen died. But, despite the losses suffered, the Horde did not regain the golden horse.

The Horde never found out the truth, because none of the Cossacks surrendered and betrayed their comrades. There was no statue near the mountain of corpses. The Cossacks did not have time to take her far, which means they hid her and the rest of the treasures somewhere nearby. To bury in the steppe - this also takes time. So - drowned?

Of course, they were looking for horses. The search for golden statues in the 19th century was mainly done by lone seekers. In the 1950s, science fiction writer Ivan Efremov wrote in The Andromeda Nebula that some kind of golden horse would definitely be found in the future (however, according to Efremov, for some reason he would be found at the bottom of the Indian Ocean in the XXX century).

In the 1990s, Sergei Alekseev, in his novel Treasures of the Valkyries, wrote that back in the 1960s, these golden horses were found by a “special KGB group.” However, what was written was not supported by at least some reliable information and in many ways raises legitimate doubts).

In the late 1990s, rumors spread that one golden horse was found during excavations near a certain village of R., but the matter never went beyond this information.

Based on materials from "Encyclopedia of Mysterious Places in Russia" by V. Chernobrov