Западные миссии против татар в новое время

After Tamerlane’s pogrom, the Tatars, having lost their world-historical significance, were almost completely lost sight of by the papal throne and its missionaries for a long time. The powerful Tatar kingdoms: Persian, Jagatai, Chinese, and Kipchak, with the overthrow of the Chingizid dynasty, were partly completely destroyed, partly changed their appearance and names. The Tatars were expelled from China. In Persia, having adopted Muhammadanism, little by little they lost their nationality and were completely lost in the mass of the native population. The Jagatai kingdom after Tamerlane was divided into many small khanates, which had no political significance, were not at all accessible and almost completely unknown to Europeans and therefore did not attract the attention of Western missionaries. Only at the beginning of the 16th century. a significant horde of Jagatai Mongol-Tatars, under the leadership of their Sultan Baber (b. 1483), moved to India and here founded a powerful kingdom, which became known to Europeans under the name “Empire of the Great Mongol”. This empire, founded by the descendants of those tribes that were once part of Genghis Khan's troops and were known in the Middle Ages as Tatars, attracted the attention of Jesuit missionaries, who operated here at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. The Kipchak kingdom was also divided into several smaller khanates: Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimean. The tribes of Turkish origin that were part of these kingdoms and retained the name Tatars attracted little attention from Western Christians in the Middle Ages. The same thing happened in modern times. Of the Western missions that existed here in modern times, only two are known: one Jesuit in the Crimea, in the first half of the 18th century, and the other Protestant in the Caucasus, among the Nogai Tatars, in the first half of this century. Thus, in the history of Western missions against the Tatars in modern times, only three can be subject to our consideration: a) the mission of the Jesuits in the Empire of the Great Mongol, b) the mission of the Jesuits in the Crimea and c) the mission of Protestants in the Caucasus. But before outlining the very history of these missions, in order to understand the nature and understand their true significance, we will first make a brief overview of what was done in the West for missionary work in general and anti-Muhammadan missionary work in particular in modern times and what features the new Western missionary work acquired as a result. The Character of the New Western Missionary At the beginning of the XVI century. A reformation occurred in the West, which, having divided Western Christians into two faiths, not only did not weaken the missionary spirit and missionary aspirations, but, on the contrary, strengthened and changed them somewhat for the better. First of all, one cannot help but notice that the missionary resources of Western Christianity have increased to almost enormous proportions. New missionary institutions arose in the Latin Church, which not only contributed to increasing the number of Latin missions in all parts of the world, but also to improving their quality, providing missionaries with the means of properly preparing for the performance of their duties and guiding their actions. The first place among such institutions undoubtedly belongs to the Jesuit order, which was founded by Ignatius of Loyola in the first half of the 16th century. Loyola (1491 - 1558) himself, in the first years of his monastic career, tried to become a missionary and, if not for the opposition of the authorities, then perhaps he would have spent his whole life raving about the Turks 219 . Having failed in his intention to become a missionary, he decided to establish in the West such a semi-monastic, semi-secular society, the main goal of which would be missionary work and, in general, the maintenance and spread of the Latin Church. Having carefully examined the charter of the new order, the Roman government was soon convinced that the new society was not like other orders, that it could serve as a lever with the help of which the Roman Church, shocked by the Reformation, would again rise to its previous heights. On September 27, 1540, sotietas Jesu received the legal right to exist. True, in the idea of ​​​​this society there was much that was militant, echoing the crusades: the members of this society, justifying the means by the end, should not have disdained to spread the faith even through violence or war. Nevertheless, this society is mainly a missionary institution. The purpose of the society is to propagate the faith: “it was founded solely to improve people in Christian teaching and life and to spread the true faith by preaching the word of God, spiritual exercises, and educating those who do not have a true understanding of Christianity” 220. Thanks to their excellent organization and influence, the Jesuits soon obtained an almost complete monopoly in missionary work and spread Latin missions to all parts of the world. The congregation de propaganda fide is and has been even more important for Western missionary work. The vast dimensions which Latin missionary work had assumed since the discovery of the new world, the Reformation and the founding of the Jesuit order, gave rise to the need for a proper organization of all missions and an institution that would direct the actions of all missionaries, direct them to unity, control them, force them to act according to one plan, find and provide the missions with the means of subsistence and the better performance of their duties. Even Gregory XIII (1572–1585), having established a college for the Greeks in Rome in 1481 221, tried to give at least the eastern missions a proper organization. He entrusted the management of these missions to several cardinals and ordered catechisms to be printed in obscure languages. One of his successors, Clement VIII (1592 - 1605), repeatedly listened to advice from people close to him to pay attention to the missions and give them a solid foundation and management. Someone especially insisted on this, Peter de la mere de Dieu 222. But this dad did not have time to follow the prudent advice, or for some reason did not want to. Meanwhile, the insistence of the monks close to the papal throne became stronger and more conscious and finally forced Pope Gregory XV (1621 - 1623) to meet the needs of the missionary work. Gregory XV was prompted to this mainly by the advice and suggestions of a Capuchin named Giloramo Narni, who at that time acquired great fame and influence in Rome as a preacher due to his extraordinary eloquence. Bellarmine went to listen to his speeches and compared his eloquence with the eloquence of the apostle. Pavel. Cardinal Ludovisio, nephew of Pope Gregory XV, considered it an honor to be his patron and published his sermons at his own expense. As a result of the advice of this preacher, Gregory XV issued a bull on June 22, 1622, which established the so-called congregation de propaganda fide 223. This congregation was to consist of 18 cardinals and several prelates, who were to meet for deliberations at least once a month in the presence of the pope. Its duty was to take care of all Latin missions in all countries, namely: to send missionaries in the required numbers to all countries of the world and to help these missionaries to better fulfill their duties with their instructions, advice, publication of the necessary manuals for the fight against the infidels and the delivery of sufficient material assistance. At first, the material side of missionary work was properly illuminated and appreciated. The Pope gave the congregation a house of 10,000 crowns and a capital of 15,000 crowns and decreed that the so-called annallii cardinalitii should be used for its maintenance. But the reign of Gregory XV was too short for the new institution to be fully defined and formed. The Congregation de propaganda fide took on its proper form and was able to begin its activities mainly under the successor of Gregory XV, Urban VIII (1623 - 1644), who in 1627 founded an educational institution at the congregation: colleginm urbanum de propaganda fide and sent many missionaries to different countries. The material resources of this institution expanded and were secured even more. Many noble and wealthy persons began to make significant donations, which increased to 100,000 livres and generated an annual income of 24,000 ecus. In addition, the congregation soon acquired many real estate properties, the income from which, together with the rich offerings of Catholics, became a rich resource for the missions; she received the opportunity to send at her own expense many missionaries to all countries of the world, maintain a huge college, print large quantities of religious books in different languages, and so on. Soon a magnificent building of the Urban Collegium was built, which received from Urban VIII all the privileges that were acquired by his predecessors to the German, Greek and other missionary institutions of Rome, and in a short time reached a flourishing state. The collegium established: a library containing books in 36 different languages, a printing house for printing missionary manuals and translations, and an archive where all acts, decrees and affairs of the propaganda congregation were to be received. The college was to be governed by a rector of secular priests, under the supervision of a secretary. The highest supervision of the institution was entrusted to one of the cardinals, who was supposed to receive reports from the immediate superiors of the institution once every 4 months, so that he could visit the college more often in order to supervise the order of teaching and management and conduct examinations at the end of the year. As for the subjects of teaching, the following were taught: a full course of scholastic theology, controversy, or the science of disputes, morality, philosophy, verbal sciences and languages: Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic 224. It is not known how large the initial number of students was and how much they were imbued with the missionary spirit in this institution, but subsequently, students of this college are often found in the history of missions, which made it possible to constantly have several sufficiently trained people on hand to send them to mission work. Thus, with the increase and provision of its material resources and with the founding of a missionary college for the training of missionaries, the Congregation of Propaganda was able not only to manage the Latin missions, but also to support them in the most effective way: it had at hand both missionaries ready to act in accordance with the plans of the congregation, and enormous material resources for maintaining a larger number of missionaries and for providing them with proper benefits. At the very beginning of its existence, as soon as the opportunity arose, the congregation began its activities in this direction. She commissioned several Arabic experts to translate the Bible into Arabic, and one of these experts, the Franciscan Louis Marraccius, wrote a refutation of the Alcoran (1698), which could serve as an excellent tool for missionaries in their competitions with the Muhammadans. At the same time, the congregation sent many missionaries to all countries of the world, and especially to the east, to Turkey, Persia and other countries, Mohammedan and pagan. In addition to the Jesuit Order and the Congregation of Propaganda, which were, so to speak, all-Catholic institutions, in the 17th century. Many more private missionary societies, or congregations, appeared, especially in France. Here, thanks to the pious zeal of the priest Vincent de Saint Paul and some others at the beginning of the 17th century. Several such missionary societies appeared, which at first had a very limited purpose, but then developed to the point that they could take away from Jesuit missionary a significant part of its territory and significance. Vincent de Seeckt Paul 225 was the son of a poor farmer named William de Paul and was born in 1576. in the small village of Puy, located near the Pyrenees mountains. His parents destined him for the clergy and took care of an upbringing appropriate for his future rank. He studied first in one of the nearby monasteries, then in Saragossa and Toulouse. Thanks to his keen abilities and diligence, young Vincent successfully completed the entire scholastic course, in 1600 he was ordained a priest and received a parish. But he was not destined for the quiet life of a rural pastor. While moving by sea from Toulouse to Narbonne, he was captured by barbarian corsairs, who sold him into slavery to the Turks. After various adventures, he was finally bought by a renegade, whom he convinced to return to the Christian faith again and was released. Returning to his fatherland, Vincent became a priest in Chatillon, a parish extremely poor and religiously neglected. Vincent, who by nature had a soft heart and during his disastrous slavery experienced the full weight of misfortune, was not upset by this, but, on the contrary, rejoiced at the opportunity to be useful to people deprived of all joys and prism. His main occupation became works of charity; Since his means for this were too insufficient, he tried to attract as many pious and wealthy people as possible to this cause. Little by little, a sufficient number of people were found who wanted to jointly promote the good of their neighbors. Vincent, who took the initiative in this matter, decided to give this society a proper organization, drew up rules for it, and thus became the founder of the first brotherhood of mercy in France. It is obvious that the brotherhood founded by Vincent had a rather limited purpose and apparently could not have any missionary significance. The very idea of ​​founding such a brotherhood was not new at all. Even earlier, around 1540. a certain Jean de Dieu founded a similar brotherhood in Spain, the purpose of which was to serve the sick and poor and which was approved by Pope Pius V under the name of the Order of Mercy or Benevolence (L´orde de la charite) 226. The activities of this order were the most modest and did not differ in any way from ordinary public charity. The same would have been the case with Vincent de Saint Paul if he had stopped in the foreground; however, it had a brilliant fate. His reputation for holiness and piety soon won Vincent many rich and noble patrons, who enabled him to expand his activities to greater proportions. In 1623, he founded a new brotherhood of charity in Macon, and then in other more significant families, in Beauvais and even in Paris. Dissatisfied with male fraternities, Vincent began to found women's societies with the same purpose, and these latter turned out to be even more capable of doing charity than the first, and subsequently acquired enormous importance in missions. According to the instructions and practice of Vincent, the brothers and sisters of charity were supposed to serve all those in need, without regard to status or religion, and take care of providing them with not only material, but also spiritual help. This gave rise to the opportunity for these brotherhoods to acquire high missionary significance over time. And they did acquire it soon. The brothers and sisters of charity, helping the sick, the poor, the wretched and the galley criminals, at the same time tried to propagate Latinism, partly instructing and confirming ignorant Catholics, partly converting Protestants and even Muhammadans. France soon became too close for their activities, and they began to build charitable institutions in other countries, especially in Egypt, Syria and Constantinople, and modern Latin missionaries look at these institutions as the most useful institutions for successful propaganda. However, Vincent’s activities were not limited to charity: he also founded a real missionary society, which at first also had in mind only an internal mission, the spread and establishment of Christianity among the ignorant and poor class of French villagers, but then expanded its activities and extended it to pagan and Mohammedan countries. In 1617, one pious woman, the Countess of Joigny, who wanted to establish a mission for the villagers on her estates, invited Jesuits, Oratorians and other monks for this cause, donating the sum of 6,000 livres, but in vain. Then she turned to Vincent, who agreed to take over this work in community with several pious priests and thus formed a missionary society. The countess's relative, the Archbishop of Paris, Jean François de Gondi, took the society under his patronage and gave it the college des bon-entants for its premises, which later received the name of the Seminary de Saint-Firmin. In 1627 the society was approved by King Louis XIII, and in 1632 it received the right to legal existence from Pope Urban VIII, and its members became known as priests of the congregation of missions, or infirmaries. They received the last name by chance, settling in the house of St. Lazar, acquired by them in the same 1632, but since it partly expressed the nature of their activities, it remained with them forever. Having received papal approval, the new congregation had to expand the range of its activities to other countries, because Pope Urban himself, who was very interested in missionary work, encouraged it to do so. Soon after his approval, he already demanded from Vincent missionaries to spread Christianity in Babylon and in eastern India, and the Propaganda Congregation, a little later, ordered him to send missionaries to the island of Madagascar, and indeed many of Vincent's employees went at the request and worked not without benefit in various pagan and Mohammedan countries. Around the same time, another similar society appeared in France, the “congregation of external missions” (congrègation des Missions-Etrangeres). Around 1640 Carmelite Jean Duval 227, Bishop of Babylon, in need of well-trained assistants for the spread of Latinism in Persia, conceived the idea of ​​founding a special institution in Paris for the training of missionaries... For this purpose, he arrived in Paris, bought a place in the rue du Baz to build an institution and thus became the founder of the so-called seminary of external missions, the students of which subsequently occupied a fairly prominent place among the Latin missionaries. The pupils and teachers of this institution formed a society which became famous in the West under the name of the Congregation of External Missions and the founder of which is considered to be Pallu, the canon of St. Martin of Tours later became Bishop of Heliopolis and missionary in Topkin in the middle of the 17th century. Thus, by the beginning of the 18th century. The missionary means of the Western Church have developed to a very significant extent. The Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, Bowstrings, Benedictines and others were joined by various new missionary congregations and orders, priests of the Congregation of Missions, missionaries of the Congregation of External Missions, various brothers and sisters of charity and mercy appeared. All these missionaries were numerous and had enormous material resources. As for the Protestants, although their missionary work began to develop relatively very late, precisely at a time when Latin missionary work was already in its flourishing state, they, too, in the 18th century. already owned some fairly solid missionary means, which in essence had almost the same character and form as those of the Latins. Already in the 17th century. The English government under Cromwell tried to found a missionary institution similar to the Roman congregation de propaganda fide, and a Protestant college for the preparation of such people who could usefully serve the cause of the defense and general spread of Protestantism. According to the plan, this institution was to consist of 7 directors and 4 secretaries and use a certain amount annually from the government to carry out its activities. The whole land was supposed to be divided into 4 missionary provinces; it was proposed to include France, Switzerland and IIIemont in the first, the Palatinate and the rest of the reformed lands in the second, the rest of Germany, the North and Turkey in the third, and the East Indies and West Indies in the fourth. The secretaries were to correspond with all countries and communicate to the missionaries operating there the guiding instructions of the Board of Directors 228 . But due to different political systems, this plan was not carried out. Much more successful was the attempt of the Danish government at the beginning of the 18th century. In Denmark, on the initiative of King Frederick IV, around 1705 the so-called “Royal Danish Missionary Society” 229 was founded. Under the patronage of the kings and with significant material support from the government, this society soon expanded its activities to enormous proportions. In 1714 it already maintained an extensive missionary educational institution in Copenhagen, collegium de cursu evangelio promovendo, and then throughout the 18th century it remained the best and strongest missionary institution among Protestants. At the end of the 18th century. and at the beginning of the present, among Protestants of all sects, a particularly large number of different missionary societies arose, which began to send out and support countless numbers of missionaries in all parts of the world. In 1784, the Battist missionary society appeared in England; in 1795 - London Missionary Society; in 1796 - Edinburgh Missionary Society; in Germany, it was in Basel, at the beginning of this century, that the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society appeared, thanks to the personality and activities of its inspector Blumhardt, uniting for a long time all the missionary forces and aspirations of German Protestants. – Later, many other missionary societies were founded in different places of the Protestant world, such as: the Rhineland society (1827), the North German (1836), the Evangelical Lutheran missionary society in Dresden (1848), the Parisian missionary society in France (1815), etc. All these societies had almost the same structure and acted according to the same plans. All of them set as their main task the preparation and maintenance of missionaries in different parts of the world; Therefore, all of them were primarily concerned about the founding and maintenance of missionary schools and institutes and the education of young people to perform missionary duties, and then, even more energetically, they worked to find material resources for the maintenance of missionaries, missionary houses, stations, charitable and educational institutions. As a result of this, the Protestant missionaries were soon not inferior in number to the Latin ones and even surpassed them. But the enormous amount of missionary funds cannot yet fully guarantee the prosperity of the missionary work: reasonable and firmly developed methods are still needed. What character did the methods of Latin propaganda acquire during the Reformation? We have seen that in the Middle Ages the method of violence, military campaign, diplomatic treaties, etc., prevailed in Western missionary work. Has this method changed? In the 16th century Luther, having raised his harsh and energetic voice against all the abuses and excesses of the papal system, did not leave the papal way of propagating the faith without denunciation. The indulgences issued by Pope Leo X regarding his planned crusade served as the immediate cause of protest, and the papal appeals for arms for the extermination of Muhammadanism and the restoration of Christianity in the East and military preparations prompted Luther to criticize the papal method of converting the infidels, namely the method of holy war. Cries against holy religious war were indeed heard long before Luther. Already at the end of the 13th century. a certain Humbert di Romani was forced to refute opinions almost exactly the same as those expressed by Luther. Already in the 13th century. some said that war should not be waged against infidels because a Christian must endure being threatened, and because no benefit could be derived from such a war for the Christian religion, etc. 230 But these cries were too timid and came from people too uninfluential to have a beneficial effect on the papal missionary methods, changing them for the better. But times have changed. Luther's protests found sympathy in all classes of society, produced a formidable movement and therefore were capable of, if not changing the order of things completely, then at least forcing the papacy to somewhat smooth out the extremes and act more cautiously in the execution of its plans. Luther's opinions concerning the holy war against the Turks were nothing new and hardly had any immediate direct influence on the conduct of the Roman pontiffs, but they undoubtedly had a great influence on the public opinion of the greater half of Europe. And this public opinion, no matter how much the popes fought with it, sooner or later had to change, if not the essence of Latin missionary work, then at least the nature of its manifestations. In 1527, Luther published: “Discourse on the War with the Turks” 231, where, justifying himself from the accusation of cooling the courage of the Germans with his teaching, he explained that the religious missionary war is reprehensible mainly because it is completely contrary to the gospel teaching and is inconsistent with the dignity of its initiators and leaders. “Against the Turks,” he said, “they wanted to arm themselves as Christians and fight them as enemies of I. Christ - a thought diametrically opposed to the teachings and name of our Savior. .. By this we only humiliate and disgrace the name of I. Christ, using him for evil deeds; and this would certainly have happened, especially if the pope and the bishops themselves went to war. Obliged to argue with the devil through prayer and the word of God, they would renounce their calling if they began to fight with a sword in their hands, which they were not at all ordered to do, on the contrary, it was strictly forbidden. How would I. Christ have received me on the day of the Last Judgment, if, having put on the sacred dignity for the instruction and salvation of souls, I had abandoned it to indulge in war and arm myself with the sword? How could I. Christ resort to fire and fight when He says about Himself that He came to bring happiness to the world? His will is to act with the gospel, to free man from sin and death by His Spirit and to transfer him from this world to eternity; He shied away from royal dignity; He declared before Pilate that His kingdom is not of the world; He commanded Peter to sheathe his sword.” “Therefore, when the banner of a bishop, or a cardinal, or a pope is raised, then everyone must run away”... “If I were a warrior and saw a spiritual personage, or a banner of the cross, in the ranks, I would leave immediately: even if they were to win, according to the hidden will of God, then I would not want to take any part in the spoils and joy” 232 ... All these thoughts were expressed very sharply; but they hardly had a direct influence on papal policy. Religious wars against the Turks did not stop throughout almost the entire 16th century. Some historians end their history only in 1571 and claim that the last time the cross banner was raised was at the battle of Lepanto 233. While Luther was attacking the papal methods of propaganda, the militant missionary fervor of the Latin hierarchy was still in full force. The desire of the popes to spread Latinism among the Turks manifested itself at this time in the same way as before, in the form of an attempt to organize a crusade against them and forcibly establish Latinism in their possessions. This form, although on the one hand was determined by the need for self-defense, on the other hand, was the product of the medieval Latin view of the methods of converting infidels. According to this view, as we have already seen, converting infidels to Christianity meant making their possessions the property of Christians, and the rulers themselves had to either accept Latinism and submit to the pope, or perish. In relation to more distant peoples, this method could not always be applied, and therefore the Latins in this case were sometimes forced to modify and soften it. But in relation to the Turks at that time, almost no one thought about the possibility of using another method, more consistent with the spirit of the gospel. The spread of Christianity in Turkey through its conquest then seemed to the entire West to be the only possible option. Even the Franciscans, who worked so hard to spread Latinism in Tartary and looked at missionary work as one of their most important duties, were of the same opinion and burned with warlike ardor. They were the main preachers of 234 crusades, in which they sometimes even took personal part 235; they made plans, wrote proclamations and made speeches in favor of the Crusades. After the capture of Rhodes by the Turks in 1523, the Minorites became the head of the European movement and in July of this year presented Pope Adrian VI with a plan for a crusade, remarkable in that it proposed to exterminate the Turks with the help of monks. The Minorites argued that the Latin monasteries, with their own resources alone, could equip an army capable of completely destroying the power of the Turs, namely, at least (if one person was taken from each monastery) an army of 144,000 people 236 . – Jesuit propaganda was originally of such a militant nature. This propaganda was based on the same violence that had previously taken the form of the Crusades. In the early days of their existence, when the spirit of the Crusades still had some, albeit extremely weak, influence on minds and politics, when statesmen were still sometimes subject to this influence, although not so much from internal motives as from tradition and habit, the Jesuits often tried to clothe their mission in the crude old form of violent conquest and with their cunning they often achieved what the popes could no longer achieve with their thunder. With their cunning they often managed to arouse the religious fanaticism of the Latins to such an extent that religious wars arose as if by themselves, for the personal reasons and motives of the Latin sovereigns and peoples. The Thirty Years' War owes its beginning, duration and religious character to the machinations and participation of the Jesuits, who for a long time thwarted all attempts to restore peace and often themselves personally took part in the most brutal atrocities against Protestants. Heresy could expect no mercy from them; they apparently had no idea about purely Christian methods of exterminating it. The Jesuits went so far as to have one of the most famous members of their order, Gregory Possevinus, threaten Emperor Ferdinand I with eternal damnation for granting religious peace to the Protestants. “Why do we have guns,” they said. Tanver, Pavel Windeck and Ebermann - what is the use of money, soldiers and sabers, if not to use them against enemies? what are we waiting for? Why are we slow to speak out against heretics? Why are we not in a hurry to eradicate the Lutheran and Calvinist horrors? Beat them, kill them, overthrow them, drive them away, burn their houses, so that this accursed breed will disappear from the face of the earth, and the true faith will finally be protected from danger 237 . This was the method of propaganda used by the Jesuits during the Thirty Years' War, which was nothing more than a practical application of the Jesuit plans. At first, they tried to apply this method wherever they found the slightest opportunity. The religious war in France against the Huguenots was also the work of the Jesuits, who took a very active personal part in it and did their best to assist the Catholic troops in exterminating the heretics. “They even took part in battles, such as the siege of Poitiers, where Fr. Lelio Sanquini commanded the papal auxiliary corps, and in the battle of Jarpac, where Fr. Ponie had the honor of dressing the Duke of Anjou in a cuirass and buttforts. On St. Bartholomew’s night, the Parisian College of Jesuits served as one of the main points of support for the gangs of murderers unleashed on the Huguenots” 238. Initiating and leading religious wars against Protestants, the Jesuits did not ignore both the Turks and the pagans. They were ready to use the violent method at any opportunity. The history of the Jesuit missions in Japan and Abyssinia provides the most striking proof of this. In both of these countries they managed to achieve the widest influence on the sovereigns and, with their help, began the violent extermination of the old religion. Their violence and cruelty were the reason that in the end they completely lost their cause and had to leave the field of their military missionary activities in disgrace. They were happier in the Portuguese, Spanish and French colonies. The European troops promised them certain success, because their assistance was ensured in the most lasting way by a community of interests and unity of goals. – The Turks also did not escape the warlike plans of the Jesuit company. The Jesuits dreamed of conquering the Turkish Empire and even tried to realize their warlike dreams. In the last half of the 16th century. they found a weapon to carry out their plans in the young king of Portugal, Sebastian 239. Brought up by the Jesuits, who not only did not try to destroy his excessive passion for glory and military exploits, but on the contrary even encouraged it, explaining to him about the immortality that a Christian king could acquire in a war with infidels and heretics, Sebastian constantly dreamed of the glory of Christian Alexander and looked forward to an opportunity to begin military exploits against the infidels. The opportunity arose in 1577. At this time, an internecine war broke out in the African empire of Morocco between Emperor Mulei-Muhammad and his uncle Mulei-Muluk. The first was defeated and fled to Lisbon to seek protection from Sebastian. The king, delighted at the opportunity to distinguish himself and carry out his mental plans, turned for advice to his confessor, Fr. Jesuit Caspar Mauritius. The Jesuit was very happy about such a favorable circumstance, recognized in it the revelation of the will of God, and even volunteered to accompany his spiritual son on the campaign in order to reap with him the fruits of the victories of Christians over the Muhammadans. Sebastian drew up a plan for the campaign, dreamy to the point of recklessness. He “intended, having conquered Africa, to then go to India, penetrate into Persia, return to Europe through Turkey and finally wrest Constantinople from Islamism” 240. In 1578, Sebastian began to prepare for the campaign, despite the lack of funds, the depletion of the treasury, the objections and arguments of all his advisers, and even the convictions of Philip of Spain, known for his zeal for the spread of Latinism, who refused to assist him in this crazy enterprise and dissuaded him from going to Africa. The Jesuits completely entangled him and he burned with the desire to become a victorious hero of the faith. In June 1578, the reckless king set sail with a small army of 15,000 people, accompanied by sad forebodings and tears of the entire people. Father Mauritius, the king's confessor, and 12 other Jesuits went with the army, which was a complete failure. Mulei-Muluk in August of the same year surrounded the new crusaders with an army of 100,000 and destroyed them almost completely at Alcazar. The king fell on the battlefield and out of his entire army, several hundred people barely escaped, bringing the sad news to their homeland. This fact, as a Jesuit enterprise, clearly shows that the missionary relations of this order to the Muhammadans were in essence exactly the same as those of the papacy during the very height of the Crusades. Jesuit missionary work among the Muhammadans maintained this character for a very long time. But subsequently the Jesuits were forced to abandon, or at least significantly change, this crude method of missionary work, because every year reformation ideas penetrated deeper and deeper into the consciousness of European society, every year science and education, together with indifference to religion, spread more and more and any kind of religious war became positively impossible. Public opinion was no longer sympathetic to the papal policy regarding the east and forced the popes to abandon their previous course of action. Clement VII, after many useless attempts to convince Christian sovereigns to undertake a crusade against the Turks and stop their rapid conquests in Hungary, was forced to conclude a formal peace with the Turkish Sultan and abandon any new crusading attempts. Approving the end of peace negotiations with the Turks, the pope exclaimed with sorrow: “we can only pray to heaven that it itself will take care of the salvation of the Christian world” 241. It is obvious that the Crusades were drawing to a close. The military-political mission against the Mohammedans did not find sympathy in Europe and this forced the popes to turn to a different course of action. “The spirit of sacred warfare,” says Michaud, “was at first supported by popular opinion. When these opinions weakened and great powers were formed, everything pertaining to war and peace was concentrated in the council of monarchs. They no longer discussed distant campaigns at councils, and they no longer talked about military enterprises in church pulpits and before the congregation of the faithful. The state and sovereigns, who by their calling decided matters, even when making war with the Mohammedans, obeyed not so much the influence of pious ideas as political ones” 242. Luther's protest, which had such a huge influence on public opinion in Europe, on its religious and even political views, undoubtedly had an influence on opinions regarding religious wars and crusades. From this point of view, one cannot help but call upon Luther some influence, although not direct, in changing the methods of Latin missionary work. After a long struggle with the indifference of Europe, the popes little by little completely abandoned all attempts at a crusade and a military mission to convert the Muhammadans. They began to conduct their missions in the east against the Muhammadans somewhat differently. It is obvious, however, that the change was forced. The old, medieval ideal of the mission remained in all its strength, and if it could not be realized in the old way, the way of the crusade, then for the popes it was extremely regrettable and they resorted to a new method, which, although not so noisy, was not inferior in merit to the first. Where it was impossible to start directly with violence, they applied another method to the matter, the method of union, or mutual concessions. This method, which is also based on a significant amount of lies and violence, they applied not only to Christians of other confessions, but also to the Mohammedans. The union they introduced in western Russia is well known. They tried to conclude the same kind of union at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. in India with Muhammadanism and paganism, with paganism in China and Japan. Preaching Christianity in these latter countries, they kept silent about the Trinity, about the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ, about the atonement and other Christian dogmas and sacraments, in a word, they also preached paganism with minor changes. They reasoned that in order to acquire proselytes who could bring them wealth, power and authority - tools for the forcible introduction of real Latinism in the future, they had to turn a blind eye to many things. Therefore, in China, for example, they did not forbid converts to adhere to their previous rituals and beliefs, to celebrate the Lantern Festival, to worship Confucius 243, etc. But they did not introduce this order of things in order to leave it forever. Whenever possible, where possible, they changed their course of action, abandoned their compliance and became picky to the point of pettiness. This is clearly confirmed by the testimony of one of the most honest Jesuits, Alexander de Rhodes, who, upon his arrival in India, observing this course of action of the Jesuit missionaries, received an extremely unpleasant impression. “I cannot hide,” he wrote 244, “two things that gave me extreme displeasure, which, in my opinion, contribute no little to the stubbornness of the infidels. I know very well, at least, that it was very difficult for me to persuade them to one or the other. Firstly, it is a rule among missionaries: to honor and caress the unbaptized in every possible way, and then, having baptized them, barely deign to pay attention to them. Secondly, as soon as the pagans are baptized, they are forced to leave the native attire worn by their unbaptized fellow countrymen.” Thus, by allowing a union, or making concessions to the old religious beliefs of the converted peoples to the detriment of the purity of preached Christianity, they only meant to quickly acquire influence, power, wealth, so that later, having seized everything into their own hands, they could freely act in the desired direction. Thanks to their compliant way of acting, they achieved the fact that they received the highest positions in pagan states, could surround themselves with a large and brilliant retinue, build factories and factories and engage in trade on a large scale. In 1697 the governor of the French colonies in India, Martin, wrote to Europe that “after the Dutch, the most extensive trade is carried out by the Jesuits, so in this respect they are inferior to the English, the Danes, the French and even the Portuguese themselves, who installed them in this region... Many Jesuits go around the country in disguise with Indian merchants called Banians, and collect diamonds and pearls, which cause extreme a loss to the East India Company and a disgrace to the Christian name. They dress exactly like the Banians, speak the same as them, eat and drink with them, and observe all their customs. Anyone who doesn’t know them will mistake them for real Banians, especially since they worship pagan deities along with the natives. True, they say that they do this to convert the pagans, but in reality they deal with them only for trading purposes, of which the best proof can be the fact that they have not yet converted a single Banian. One Banian, who made three distant journeys with the Jesuits, assured me that he had never heard a word from them about Christianity and had not seen the slightest attempt to convert them. It is very likely that the facts presented by the governor are completely fair, but his idea that the Jesuits were engaged in trade solely for wealth is incorrect. All their countless scams, robberies, bankruptcies, etc. were committed in the name of religion and with the aim of spreading it. They rarely managed to complete their plans, but where they did, it always turned out that they immediately used the acquired power, influence and wealth for the forcible introduction of the papacy. To prove this, let us recall Japan and Abyssinia. As a matter of fact, papal missionaries and other orders were not alien to this method. Like the Jesuits, these missionaries, both in the Middle Ages and in modern times, often sought influence on pagan and Mohammedan rulers in order to use their power to forcibly establish Latinism in their possessions. But the indiscriminateness of means that the Jesuits discovered in achieving their goals outraged everyone and revealed the true meaning of such a method. The strict Dominicans and Franciscans could not even imagine such a distortion of Christianity and its adaptation to pagan concepts, which the Jesuit missionaries allowed themselves to do. They were horrified when they learned the essence of the Jesuit preaching and began to strictly condemn the too compliant preachers. “But the Jesuits were convinced that they were acting according to the commandment of St. Paul and wittily laughed at the cowardly conscience of monastic orthodoxy" 246. The Dominicans, not seeing any benefit from their admonitions and denunciations, finally decided to let the pope know about everything. The Jesuits, for their part, also wrote a note in their justification. Pope Urban VIII, having learned the essence of the dispute between the Dominicans and the Jesuits, was extremely perplexed and ordered the established congregation de propaganda fide to sort out the matter. The Congregation, having examined the matter, spoke out decisively against the Jesuits and on September 12, 1645. issued a decree signed by Pope Innocent X, by which the Jesuit method of propaganda was completely condemned as inconsistent with the dignity of the Christian religion. The Jesuits, however, did not give in and decided to defend their method in any way. From then on, an energetic struggle arose between the pope, who stood at the head of the propaganda congregation, and the Jesuits, all of whose actions were directed by their general, which lasted for more than a century and ended, if not in the complete triumph of the Jesuits, then at least in the fact that they made almost no concessions. The Congregation of Propaganda and the popes several times issued the most decisive decrees condemning the Jesuit methods of missionary and sent nuncios to China with enormous powers and formidable bulls, but the Jesuits, taking advantage of the remoteness of China and their strong position at the court of the Chinese emperor, constantly opposed, the papal bulls were declared forged, or based on false facts and therefore lacking proper force, papal legates were imprisoned, poisoned, and finally convinced the Chinese government to expel all monks from China except the Jesuits, and not to allow any interference by the pope or European sovereigns in the affairs of the Chinese Jesuits 247 . In dealing with the Muhammadans, especially Turkish subjects, the Jesuits diversified their method in a slightly different way. A union with Muhammadanism could only be concluded somewhere in remote India, so that no one would know, otherwise every religious feeling would be outraged to the core. It was absolutely impossible to use violence within a country with a powerful and hostile government. Resorting to exhortations and true Christian methods was also dangerous. In general, any kind of propaganda directed directly against the Mohammedans was extremely difficult given the legislation that existed in Turkey regarding propaganda, and given the relationship in which this power stood towards Western Christianity. The Turks did not fight to please only the love of power of their sultans: they had in mind the spread of their faith everywhere and the destruction of Christianity; they wanted the Koran to triumph wherever they carried their weapons, and they looked at their war with Christians as a holy war. “Before the start of the war, the Mohammedan warriors were convinced that the extermination of Christians was written in the book of destinies: “when all the enemies of the prophet,” they said to each other, “are exterminated, then all that remains for each of us will be to walk behind the plow and look at our war horse in the stall” 248. Mohammed II, after the conquest of Constantinople, used the same means as the popes to excite the enthusiasm and courage of the Muhammadans; “In the presence of the divan and muff, he swore an oath to renounce all pleasures and never turn his face from west to east until he destroys and tramples under the feet of his horses the gods of the European nations. He vowed to wipe out the wickedness of Christians from the face of the earth and proclaim from east to west the glory of the God of Hosts and Mohammed" 249 . According to Turkish law, “every true believer is obliged to take part in the holy war. When Muslims are in front of infidels, they must first of all try to convert them to Islamism; and if the infidels accept this law, then all hostility must immediately be abandoned. If, on the contrary, they do not want to convert to the true faith, then they should be required to pay the poll tax; and if they agree, then reconciliation and mutual intercourse follow. In case of refusal, the Muhammadans must, with the help of the Almighty, fight their enemies and use military weapons to destroy their land, devastate their forests and destroy their harvest." 250 “An Islamite sovereign can make peace legally with the infidels only in such a case when tangible benefits flow from this peace for all Muslims; in any other case the world cannot be considered legitimate. As soon as the opportunity arises to gain benefits by breaking up, then it is necessary and must break the peace” 251. All these legalizations existed at that time for the Turks not only on paper, but in fact, they were a living conviction and a rule of behavior towards the infidels of every Turk. It was fulfilled even more than what was prescribed. Every city, immediately after its conquest by the Muhammadans, completely changed its appearance. Churches were turned into mosques, Christians had to stop all solemn correction of the rites of their faith and worship and sacrifice a significant part of themselves in favor of Muhammadanism. The younger generation, almost all of them, were usually lost to Christianity, some were converted into slavery, some were distributed among seraglios and harems, some entered the Janissaries and were forcibly converted to Muhammadanism. During these difficult times for Christians, the Latins, just like the Greeks, had many martyrs, and even more apostates. During the conquest of Chios, Cairo, Rhodes and other Latin possessions, many Latins, even belonging to noble families, were taken captive to Constantinople, where those who were not ransomed were forcibly converted to Muhammadanism and only a few who remained firm became martyrs. In general, the propaganda of Muhammadanism, due to the brilliant and rapid military successes of the Turks, was extremely successful. Christians constantly lost region after region and filled the ranks of the enemies of their religion with their own relatives and fellow tribesmen. Muhammadan legislation not only prescribed armed propaganda among Christians, but also protected its subjects from the latter’s propaganda. The Muhammadan himself had to spread his faith, but under no circumstances should he abandon it and not listen to any admonitions of Christian missionaries. “If a Muslim departs from the true faith, then we must convince him to return to it and try to eliminate his doubts; if he asks for a term, he must imprison him for three days for reflection; after this period, if he still persists in his rejection, he must be condemned to death” 252. Christians, for their part, having become subjects of the Mohammedans, must refrain from any propaganda among their rulers. Muhammadan laws tried to deprive them of even the opportunity to refute Muhammadanism and spread their teachings. They were forbidden to learn Arabic, they were forbidden to teach their children the Koran and to prevent their coreligionists from becoming Muhammadans 253. The enmity and contempt of the Turks for Christians was so great that hardly any of them would listen to a Christian teacher. This enmity and the spirit of propaganda that animated the Turks made them so unresponsive to accepting the teachings of Christ that it was extremely difficult to hope for their conversion through peaceful means. True, we see that from the middle of the 16th century. The enmity of the West with Turkey begins to subside, the Western powers apparently come to terms with the fact of the existence in Europe, in the neighborhood of Christian powers, on ancient Christian soil, of a Mohammedan power hostile to Christianity, and allow into their communication a neighbor who has nothing in common with them. King Francis I of France, forced by extremes, was the first to enter into negotiations with the Turks in 1528 and was the first to receive from the Turkish Sultan Selim I a promise not to restrict the freedom of the Latins living in Jerusalem 254 . After Francis, European sovereigns, especially the French kings, repeatedly entered into negotiations with the Turks regarding the position of Christians in Turkish possessions. So in 1604, Henry IV received from Sultan Ahmed I some concessions on this subject and permission for the Jesuits to settle in Turkey; in 1673, Louis XIV received similar concessions from Sultan Mohammed IV; and in 1740 Louis XV from Sultan Mahmud 255 . Thanks to these treaties, the position of Catholics in Turkey was formally quite secure, but in reality it was constantly as humiliating and precarious as that of other Christians. The Turks did not see any difference between Catholics and non-Catholics and could not understand the superiority of the former over the latter, despite the strengthened and constant suggestions of European ambassadors 256. Often the Latins were subjected to severe persecution on the mere suspicion of an attempt to seduce the Mohammedans, or even the regions subject to them, into Christianity. Such was the persecution in 1727 in Syria, on the island of Chios, in Constantinople and other places. Sultan Ahmed III, having learned that “some devils from the Frankish monks with evil goals and wrong intentions, traveling and prowling around the country, attract the Greek and Armenian regions to their rotten Frankish teaching, issued a firman forbidding the Frankish monks to travel to other places, except those where European consuls live in accordance with the treaties, and to attract Turkish subjects to their faith” 257 . The consequence of this firman was the said persecution, which was stopped only by the energetic intervention of the European ambassadors. Despite all this, however, Latin missionaries, especially the Jesuits, made every effort to stay in Turkey and conducted the most active propaganda, but not between the Muhammadans, but between the Armenians or Orthodox Greeks and Slavs. Taking into account the strict laws of the Ottoman port against seducers and seducers, the prudent Jesuits never decided to act directly and openly against Muhammadanism: they directed all their efforts against schismatics, although they always had Muhammadan in mind. The method of the Jesuits in this case was to convert Turkish Christians to Latinism, who were closer to the Muhammadans and more familiar with their customs, language and character (which is what a missionary must call), through them to act on the Muhammadans, or at least give more legitimate reasons to the Western powers for armed intervention in the affairs of Turkish Christians, for the destruction of Turkish rule over Catholics and for forced conversion Turk to Christianity. All the missionary actions of the Jesuits in relation to the Muhammadans were limited only to the fact that at every opportunity they tried to preach in Turkish, harboring the hope that maybe some Turk would listen to them out of curiosity, and using the pretext that Greeks and Armenians speak Turkish at home. The same last method was constantly used by Protestant missionaries when they acted among the Mohammedan population, despite the fact that, apparently, they should always have acted completely differently from how the Latin missionaries acted. Luther, as we have seen, strongly condemned the papal method of propaganda among the Muhammadans. Luther's followers were not content with simply condemning him; From the very first stages of their separation from the Latin Church, they tried to indicate and formulate a new method of propaganda, more consistent with the spirit of the Gospel. During Luther's lifetime, Melaikhthon published, with the assistance of some of his other followers, a collection of materials for the knowledge of Muhammadanism, under the title: Mahumetis saracenorum principis vita ac doctrina. Here in the first part there is a Latin translation of the Alcoran by Peter of Cluny with corrections and a preface by Bibliander, in the second there are several polemical and anti-Muhammadan works by Ricold, Nikolai Kubansky and others, in the third there are several historical and ethnographic articles regarding the Turkish empire. This entire collection was published with the direct purpose of pointing out to the missionaries a new method of converting the Muhammadans through oral and written competition with them and providing auxiliary means for this. But this goal could not be achieved soon and completely, because troubled circumstances did not give Protestants time for a long time to engage in missionary work, to apply and develop the instructions given by the publishers. When Protestant missionaryism was born, it turned out that it was not entirely convenient to apply these instructions to work, and that it was often completely impossible to admonish Muhammadan. Therefore, Protestants little by little began to assimilate Latin methods of propaganda, especially those of them that were somewhat imprinted with Latin pretentiousness. This was the roundabout method used by the Latin missionaries in the Mohammedan countries. Having begun to operate among the Muhammadans, Protestant missionaries soon came to the conviction that “the Eastern churches, if they could be revived and renewed for vital Christianity (?), could be the key to the hitherto completely inaccessible mass of the Muhammadans, and through them the key to the heart of Asia,” that in this way it was necessary to “first of all evangelize the Greek and Armenian Church, so that through them they could then acquire a powerful influence on the whole Muhammadan and pagan world of Asia" 258. Having drawn up such a plan of action for themselves, the Protestant missionaries followed it steadily when they had to act among the Muhammadans, especially in Turkey. All their missions among the Orthodox Greeks, Armenians and other Eastern Christians living in the Turkish Empire had, in addition to the first visible goal, that is, the conversion of these Christians to Protestantism, another one: “in this roundabout way to shed light into the darkness of the confessors of Islam” 259. Thus, the Western anti-Muhammadan missionaries of modern times obviously tried to act in a strictly calculated manner, according to carefully thought out plans based on practical experience. Such a course of action, apparently, should be crowned with complete success and produce brilliant results. This is all the more to be expected since the new Western missionary almost always had very significant material resources and never lacked people who were sincerely devoted to the task, persistent, well-prepared and capable. In reality, however, that’s not what happened. From the subsequent history of Western anti-Tatar missions of modern times, we will see that these missions, both Latin-Jesuit (in India and Crimea) and Protestant (in the Caucasus), were just as unsuccessful as the medieval ones. History of Western anti-Tatar missions of modern times a) Jesuit mission in the empire of the great Mongol, in India, from 1576 260 India was invaded by Mongol-Tatar tribes at the same time as other countries, precisely when the great conquest movements of these tribes began. It did not get rid of either Genghis Khan's or Tamerlane's invasions and devastations, and, moreover, was subjected to many more from the neighboring Muhammadan sovereigns, who founded several independent states in the northwestern half of it and spread Muhammadanism. At the beginning of the 16th century. (1505) India was invaded by one of Timur's descendants, the Jagatai Sultan Weber (1483 - 1530) 261 in a short time conquered a significant part of the country and founded a famous and powerful empire, known as the empire of the great Mongol. The capital of this empire was Delhi, and the dominant, although far from universal, religion was Muhammadanism, which, despite the violent measures of the conquerors, could not defeat the ancient Indian cult, which had taken too strong roots. During almost the entire period of foreign rule in India, Muhammadanism was mainly only the religion of the victors, who were far inferior in number to the defeated natives. The difference in religion and nationality created deep enmity between the Mongols and Indians, as a result of which uprisings often occurred in the Mongol Empire and the victors had to constantly fear for their peace and dominance, especially at such moments when, above all else, they were in hostile relations with their neighbors or even when they feared such relations. The relations of the Indian Mongols with Persia, which had long had claims to rule in India, were especially strained. The Mongols had no less dangerous neighbors on the other side. At the beginning of the 16th century. here the Portuguese appeared and decided, taking advantage of the discord of the petty native princes, to conquer possessions in India. With weapons and politics, they really soon subjugated all the coastal lands from Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to Malacca. They enjoyed the greatest influence and power here at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, at the very time when the empire of the great Mongol reached its greatest degree of power. Since the power of the Mongol Empire was purely external and did not have strong internal foundations, and since its intelligent rulers well understood the fragility of their power, there were sufficient reasons for friendly relations between the Mongols and the Portuguese, who, with their military superiority, passion for conquest, extraordinary fortitude and courage, instilled fair fears in their neighbors and unwittingly subjected them to their influence. – The Jesuits took advantage of this power and influence of the Portuguese to establish their mission in the Mongol Empire, the rulers of which at first, while they found it advantageous to be on friendly terms with the Portuguese, i.e. While the power of the Portuguese was dangerous, they patronized the Jesuits and even gave them hopes of converting to Christianity, but then, when this power began to decline and the Portuguese became harmless, they cooled down to all the Jesuit machinations and beliefs. The Jesuits entered India very early. This was one of their very first and most brilliant missions. Back in 1540, the Portuguese king John III (1521 - 1557), dissatisfied with the lack of success of the Franciscan missionary activities in his Indian possessions and, having learned about the founding of a new order, asked Loyola to send several missionaries there. As a result of this request, Loyola sent one of his first and best comrades, Francis Xavier, who in 1542 arrived in Goa with extensive powers from the pope and the king of Portugal. With the help of Portuguese weapons, Xavier in a short time destroyed all the pagan temples here that he could, forced many Indians to become Latins, and turned the Franciscan seminary in Goa into the Jesuit College of St. Pavel. Soon, 20 other Jesuits were sent to help him, who began to build their colleges, residences and other institutions throughout India and even penetrated into the Portuguese possessions of Bengal, from where they tried to find out how it would be more convenient to get into the possessions of the Mongols. The Mongol Empire was ruled at that time by Akbar (1555 - 1605), an intelligent, fairly educated and inquisitive sovereign 262 (1). Having respect for the military superiority of the Portuguese and for European education, he maintained fairly friendly and lively relations with the Portuguese kings and their Indian viceroys, who had strict orders to patronize the Jesuits and assist their missionary enterprises in every possible way. Around 1576, Anton Cabral, who was at Akbar's court as a plenipotentiary ambassador from the Portuguese viceroy, and another Portuguese Peter Tavero, talking about various political subjects, also started talking about religion and managed to interest the emperor in favor of Christianity. The consequence of this was that Akbar allowed one of the Bengal missionaries into his domain. It is not known to which order this missionary belonged, but in all likelihood he was a Jesuit, because his actions here were clearly aimed at preparing a safe ground for the permanent establishment of the Jesuits in the Mongol Empire. This missionary became quite close to Akbar, who, as if only for greater convenience in talking with him, surprisingly quickly learned the Portuguese language. Soon Akbar became so interested in the teachings of the Gospel that he decided to invite as many Jesuits to his court as the latter could send. Carrying out his intention, Akbar sent the Jesuits who lived in the Caen Collegium of St. Paul, the following letter: “Akbar, the great emperor of the world, to the venerable fathers of St. Pavel. I send Ebadola to you with an interpreter to testify to you the favor that I have towards you, and to ask you on my behalf that you send to my court some of your Fathers, skilled in the knowledge of the holy books and able to explain to me the deep secrets of your religion. I have a desire to receive instruction in your religion and accept it. From this you may conclude that your fathers will be received here with pleasure and honor. Let them come and let them be sure that I will not restrict their freedom if they want to return to Goa. So let them hope for my protection 263. The Jesuits were very happy about this letter: this was just what they had been waiting for. The Goan provincial of the Jesuits immediately chose for the new mission three most trustworthy priests, Father Rodolphe Acquaviva, nephew of the then general of the Jesuits, the famous Claudius Acquaviva, Father Anton Montserrat and Francis Henriquez, a Persian by birth, who could serve as an excellent translator. Acquaviva was appointed chief of the mission. The missionaries, equipped with detailed secret instructions, immediately set off to their destination, taking with them Alkoran, as a guide for the upcoming competitions with the Muhammadans, and gifts to present to the emperor, namely: a beautifully printed Bible in four languages ​​and two icons - St. John of Christ and St. Virgos. They found the emperor at Fetipura and were received very friendly and favorably. Akbar apparently accepted their gifts with deep reverence: he placed the Bible on his head like a sacred book, and kissed the icons. The Jesuits, as was their custom, came to court in the most modest form, like real mendicant monks. Akbar, seeing their beggarly appearance, offered them a significant amount of money to satisfy their necessary needs. But the Jesuits resolutely refused to accept this proposal, justifying themselves with their vow of non-covetousness and claiming that they observed this vow so strictly that nothing could force them to break it. Akbar liked this very much and he talked with the missionaries all night. Akbar showed great curiosity and expressed a desire to become thoroughly acquainted with the tenets of the Christian religion. At his request, regular debates were held in the palace every Saturday between missionaries and Mohamedan scholars, and he himself was constantly present at them. As for the very course, direction and content of these debates, the Jesuits report only that during the competitions they attacked mainly the practical side of the Mohammedan religion, namely, the sensuality that it makes obligatory for its followers, and the violence that it prescribes for its spread. Akbar apparently agreed with the arguments of the Jesuits and recognized the advantage of Christianity in this regard. “Christians,” he said, “spread throughout the entire earth, shedding their blood, and Islamism gained predominance in the east, shedding the blood of others.” But the emperor did not express a decisive desire to accept Christianity and a complete recognition of the superiority of Christianity over Muhammadanism, despite all the efforts of the Jesuits, so the latter initially suspected the sincerity of those sympathetic expressions that Akbar sometimes allowed himself to make regarding Christianity. The Jesuits rightly believed that one should not attach much importance to Akbar’s affectionate treatment of them and his sometimes flattering comments about Christianity; all this could be explained in another way, by political motives and cunning, which eastern sovereigns often take to naive extremes and as a result of which they often say not at all what they think. Therefore, the head of the Acquaviva mission considered it necessary to act more decisively. Having chosen a convenient moment, he approached Akbar, asking for a decisive explanation. “Sire,” he said, “you are not unaware of the conditions under which we left abundant benefits in order to proclaim Christ to you. You promised us that you would not hinder our departure if the seed of the word of God remained barren in your heart. Therefore, I decide to ask you to set a period during which you will think carefully and decide to accept Christianity, or remain a Muhammadan.” Akbar responded to this very evasively; he did not persuade them to stay, did not set a specific date, but did not completely deprive them of hope for his conversion. “Such a serious change,” he said, “is in the hands of God: for myself, I will not stop asking God for enlightenment and help” 264. Having not managed to force Akbar to take a decisive step in this way, the Jesuits still learned at least that he was not hostile to Christianity, had some kind of need for them, and, it seems, they achieved that he became even more favorable to them after this conversation, their affairs generally went better. Akbar settled the Jesuits in his palace, allowed them to set up a Christian chapel here, where they could conduct Christian worship without hesitation, and where the emperor himself often came to talk with missionaries. He even instructed Fr. Montserrat raised his second son, thirteen-year-old Pashari, who, under favorable circumstances, could be the heir to the throne. If we take into account the fact that the emperor was a Muhammadan and that Muhammadanism was the dominant religion here, then one cannot help but see that the Jesuits made enormous progress, that they laid a solid foundation for the mission and generally did a lot, although they had not yet converted anyone. They could have done even more, especially to spread Christianity among Akbar's subjects, idolaters and Mohammedans, if they had wanted to take advantage of all the benefits that they received from this sovereign. They could solemnly and freely perform Christian rites: - and once, on the occasion of the burial of a Portuguese, they organized a magnificent religious procession on the streets of Fetipur - a phenomenon almost unthinkable in the Mohammedan state. In addition, they were free to preach Christianity to all Akbar's subjects, who could accept the new religion without fear of any persecution from the government. But the Jesuits, according to the old Latin custom, preferred to first convert the sovereign, and then act on their subjects through him. “Although Akbar,” says Henrion, “by allowing his subjects to accept the Gospel, opened a field for the Jesuits in which their zeal, which turned out to be useless at court, seemed to act fruitfully, the missionaries were not unaware of how difficult it was to convert the Muhammadan: hardly anything could turn them away from a religion established by violence, except the power of the sovereign, or the state revolution 265. Therefore, they continued to turn all their attention to Akbar and directed all efforts towards convincing him of the superiority of the Christian religion and forcing him to take a decisive step. But Akbar still gave them some hope, but did not dare to take a decisive step, despite the fact that the Jesuits did not miss a single opportunity and seized every favorable moment to encourage him to take decisive action. Akbar often visited the classroom where Montserrat gave lessons to his son Pashari. Once, in his presence, the young prince began his lesson with the words: “in the name of God almighty.” “Add my son,” said Akbar, “and Jesus Christ, the true prophet.” Then he entered the Jesuit chapel, prostrated himself before the altar and expressed a desire to talk with the missionaries. “You know,” he said, “what feelings of respect I have for the religion in which you yourself taught me. Everything speaks in its favor to me: the miracles of the Messiah, confirmed even by Alcoran, the sound morality of the Gospel, its confirmation through suffering - all this prompts me to consider Jesus Christ a prophet and messenger of God. But when you elevate my spirit above what is sensible in the person of the Messiah, I am lost in the subtleties of your mysteries. Explain to me,” he added, “the eternal birth of the Word from the being of the Father and His miraculous incarnation in time, then I will agree to believe everything that you offer me.”266 It is obvious that Akbar had not yet gone far in his understanding of Christianity, and in his views on I. Christ he fully stood on the point of view of the Koran. He considered I. Christ nothing more than a prophet. But for the Jesuits it was enough that he did not have that fanaticism and hatred of Christianity that is so common among the Muhammadans. Based on the position that I. Christ is a prophet and messenger of God (with which Akbar himself agreed), and that investigators should believe His words, as the words of a prophet, a messenger of the divine will, the missionaries began, using the words of I. Christ borrowed from the Gospel, to expound to Akbar the Christian teaching about the Divinity of I. Christ, about the trinity of persons of the deity, etc. Akbar, apparently, was completely convinced by the missionaries’ arguments and became extremely excited, but noticed that leaving the religion of his fathers and becoming a Christian was too dangerous for him, as for an emperor, and too difficult, as for a person accustomed to conforming his life to the sensual views of the Koran. In general, for Akbar the main obstacle to accepting Christianity was political danger; Regarding the Muhammadan habits, the Jesuits could make him lenient, following their usual missionary practice. Therefore, the Jesuits decided to focus mainly on eliminating political obstacles. Religious and tribal enmity between the victors and the vanquished in the Mongol Empire threatened constant disturbances and could sooner or later completely shake the power of the Mongols. One of the surest means for Akbar to establish his power on solid foundations could be the introduction of one religion among his subjects and the merging of heterogeneous religious and tribal elements into one. What religion should be introduced for this purpose? The victors, the Mohammedans, could not even be thought of converting to idolatry, because they too keenly felt the superiority of their religion over the religion of the vanquished. The defeated Hindus, in turn, were also very difficult to convert to Muhammadanism, because they hated their victors and were too attached to their ancient religion, which, having existed among them for many centuries, became too closely fused with their lives. True, the Muhammadans apparently had on their side the means to gain the preponderance of their religion and unite in its depths all, defeated and victors, since they had government power in their hands. But experience showed that this remedy was very insufficient; the Muhammadans could spread their religion among the idolaters subordinate to them either by persuasion or by violence. But it was not in the character of the Muhammadans and not in the spirit of their religion to convince, and using violence was extremely dangerous, since there were much more idolaters than the Muhammadans. So, some other religion was needed, to which both the victors and the vanquished could be indifferent, and which would surpass both Muhammadanism and idolatry. This could be the Christian religion, which the Jesuits so successfully spread in India, especially in the Portuguese possessions. All this was invented by the Jesuits very cleverly and thoroughly and could easily captivate an intelligent, power-hungry sovereign who wanted nothing more than the strongest confirmation of his power. It was only necessary to bring all this to Akbar’s attention and convince him to carry out the plans drawn up by the Jesuits for the religious unification of the Muhammadans and idolaters. To ensure more sure success, the missionaries attracted to their side the favorite minister of the emperor Abul Fazl, a man completely indifferent in matters of religion, but who took the strength of Mongol rule in India very close to his heart, and decided to act on Akbar through him, and not directly. Abul Fazl was completely carried away by the plans of the Jesuits and became their obedient instrument. He pointed out to the emperor that Muhammadanism, as the religion of the victors, had never been accepted by the Hindus, advised him to test whether Christianity alone could take the place of Muhammadanism and idolatry in Hindustan, and in order to quickly persuade him to accept his advice, he constantly began to talk to him about I. Hrnst and about the absurdities of Muhammadanism, and in general began to fulfill all the duties of a missionary. The results were very favorable. The Jesuit plans for the unification of the Mongols and Hindus promised obvious benefits for consolidating the power of the conquerors and it would be too impractical to neglect them and leave them unattended. Akbar apparently benefited greatly from these plans. He suddenly felt an extraordinary love for Christianity and gave the missionaries hope for decisive action. It seemed that all the efforts of the Jesuits were ready to be crowned with complete success, when suddenly Akbar’s “nascent faith” suffered a test. The Pathans, one of the Indian tribes subject to the Mongols, were indignant and threatened to overthrow the power of Akbar. The emperor's brother, Muhammad Hakim Mirza, became the head of the insurgents, and the entire uprising threatened to take the form of an armed protest by the Muhammadans against the defection of the emperor. The mullahs preached that this uprising was a manifestation of God's wrath against the apostate. Akbar began to seriously fear for his power, was forced to part ways with the Jesuits and began to behave more cautiously. He almost completely stopped his meetings and conversations with them and removed them from his palace. The Jesuits began to despair and think about returning to Goa, but Abul Fazl did not betray them. He continued to support Akbar in his previous intentions and brought encouraging news. “The Emperor,” Abul Fazl once said, “would be pleased to see you in the palace. But political calculations prevent him from publicly declaring himself in favor of the Christian religion, which you preached to him. Yesterday I myself saw him reverently place the gospel on his head - an honor which he did not bestow on Alcoran when it was presented to him. Wait, then, and give time to mature the conversion which your zeal has begun so successfully.”267 Indeed, the position of the Jesuits soon changed for the better. The rebellion was suppressed and Akbar began to treat them even more favorably. This uprising, if on the one hand it frightened Akbar and forced him to be more careful, on the other hand it should have strengthened him in his previous intentions, because it confirmed the idea of ​​the need to, in order to consolidate power and ensure peace, take religious affairs more seriously and take measures to unite the Muhammadans and pagans. Therefore, as soon as the danger was over, Akbar again began his meetings with the Jesuits and conversations with them about religion and finally instructed them and his eldest son to instruct them in European knowledge. However, Akbar still hesitated to take decisive measures, citing his blood ties with Muhammadanism and the difficulty of fighting it. This slowness did not please the impatient missionaries and they again began to ask permission to return to Goa. Akbar did not agree to their requests. “You know, my father,” he said to Acquaviva, “how I need your presence. The more difficult it is to resolve my bonds, the more I need experienced hands to unravel all the knots. Will you really leave me in such extremes? The help of the Jesuits was really needed. Akbar apparently decided to finally begin to implement his plans and needed experienced leaders. The Jesuits remained and also took decisive action. It seems that they made great concessions to the detriment of the purity of Christian teaching and began to prepare a violent revolution. However, not wanting to be exposed to danger during civil strife, they tried to act secretly and carefully and apparently wanted to clear the stage for future events, so as not to lose too much in case of failure. Acquaviva wrote to the provincial of the order that it would be enough to leave one Jesuit with Akbar to monitor his dispositions. As a result, Gepriket had to go to Goa, Montserrat with his pet to Lagore, and Acquaviva alone remained with Akbar in Fetipura “to oversee the good moments of the emperor.” Here Acquaviva entered into the closest relationship with the emperor, so that the Muhammadan party became extremely alarmed and the missionary was repeatedly in danger of losing his life. It is not known for certain what the content of Acquaviva’s conversations with the emperor was, but if one can judge this from subsequent events, then, in all likelihood, all the efforts of the missionary were aimed at convincing Akbar to forcibly introduce, if not real Christianity, then at least distorted by an admixture of Muhammadanism and paganism, in general some kind of union between Christianity, Muhammadanism and paganism. True, the Jesuits do their best to exclude themselves from participation in this matter, and the very idea of ​​​​introducing this kind of Christianity is attributed partly to Abul-Fazl, partly to Akbar himself, who, as a result of his military successes, dreamed too much about himself. But still, the matter remains quite suspicious, and the participation of the Jesuits in it is almost certain. Such a thought could hardly have occurred to Akbar or his minister: although both of them were rather indifferent to religion in general and in particular to the Muhammadan religion, they were nevertheless brought up in Muhammadanism, were proud of their Mongolian origin and were undoubtedly under the strong influence of the Jesuits. Among the Jesuits, this mode of action was very common: for the Chinese they formed another religion, almost completely different from the Christian one; They also made huge concessions to the Indians and Japanese at the expense of the purity of Christian teaching, with the goal of subsequently accustoming converts to real Christianity. Therefore, at that time no one believed that Akbar’s behavior was independent of Jesuit influences. The Mohammedans burned with terrible anger towards Acquaviva, and the emperor, leaving Fetipur in order to begin military measures for the religious unification of his subjects, offered him a guard. But the Jesuit, not wanting to thus arouse even greater suspicions of the Muhammadans, did not agree, saying that he was quite protected by hope in God and that it was better for him to perish than to lack this hope. The war that happened and the victories won by Akbar served as a favorable circumstance for beginning to carry out the Jesuit plans. Akbar openly declared the new religion dominant, and proclaimed himself “Sho-jeladdin,” that is, the powerful king of the ruling law. This new religion was nothing more than a mixture of Christianity with Muhammadanism and Brahmanism, but to what extent one or the other religion predominated in this mixture is difficult to decide. The Jesuits do not give any details about this circumstance, nor about the course of events at the time when Akbar began to carry out the above plans. Probably Akbar met the strongest resistance and was soon forced to leave the matter. The Jesuits, too, probably soon became convinced of the inapplicability of their plans and decided in advance to leave the excited revolution to its own course. Acquaviva, having learned about Akbar's decisive action, went to Lagore, where the emperor was then, and began to ask permission to return to Goa. “Sovereign,” he said to Akbar, “the time of my departure has come. It is indecent for you to keep me with you any longer and allow me to remain any longer at your court. You took advantage of the knowledge that we conveyed to you about Christianity only to disgrace it by confusing it with idolatry and Mohammedan impiety. The temptation of this innovation falls partly on me, and they look at me as the culprit. It is my duty to protest against this by publicly denying it. My voluntary departure will show that it was not my suggestions that prepared the revolution that you are starting” 269. Akbar tried to keep Acquaviva, whom he loved very much, but then, probably understanding the real meaning of his act, he gave in and let him go with honor, giving him a parting gift of one Christian family of slaves as a sign of his affection. With this booty, “snatched from unbelief,” Acquaviva returned to Goa, from where the provincial sent him as a missionary and rector of the college to the island of Salzetta. In 1583 he was killed there by idolaters, a month after his return from the Mongol Empire. Montserrat probably left this empire even earlier than Acquaviva, having been sent by Akbar as an ambassador to the Spanish king Philip. He did not have time to fulfill this assignment and in 1589 he was sent as a missionary to Abyssinia, but he was unable to penetrate there either and, after various adventures, returned to Goa in 1596. But this did not end the attempts of the Jesuits to introduce Christianity into the Mongol Empire. The Jesuits, having retired from this empire themselves, left behind their zealous follower Abul Fazl, who continued to support the failed emperor in his previous intentions and dispositions. He advised him to call for new Jesuits who would be able to achieve their goal under his auspices. As a result, Akbar sent a new invitation letter to the Pan Jesuits with the following content: “In the name of the Lord. The most powerful and invincible Emperor Akbar greets the Holy Fathers. Paul, who are in favor with God, enjoy the gifts of the Holy Spirit, obey the law of the Messiah and lead people to the knowledge of the truth. What I say now I received from you, most honorable fathers, who flee the world and despise honor and wealth. I have carefully studied all the religions of the world and, however, I feel that I am still unsatisfied in the mysteries of the Christian religion and therefore I wish to receive more perfect instructions through the medium of your Fathers, whom I love and whose conversation will give me pleasure. The Armenian Grimon, who will hand you my letter, assured me that I will find among our people experienced people who are capable of resolving all my doubts. So come here to disgrace all the teachers of the Mohammedan law and rest assured that I will rejoice in your victories. If the missionaries you send me want to establish themselves firmly in my capital, then I will give them a home and even greater privileges than what they had before. If they consider it best to return to Goa, then I will give them permission and release them with honor" 270. Attached to this letter was a significant amount of money, which the bearer of the letter, the Armenian deacon Grimon, probably a follower of the Jesuits, was supposed to distribute to the poor in Goa. In pursuance of the request contained in this letter, two Jesuits, Edward Leighton and Christophe de Vega, were appointed to Akbar's court. Arriving in Lagore in 1591, they found that the emperor, judging by his appearance, was seriously devoted to Christianity. He dismissed all the women of his seraglio and left himself only one wife. He observed many Christian rituals in public: on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, he erected a throne in his chambers, placed the image of the Mother of God on it and worshiped it together with his children and courtiers, who received gifts from their ruler for this. He received the missionaries extremely kindly, allowed them to open a school to teach Hindus to read and write Portuguese, often talked with them about the Christian religion and at the same time expressed great sympathy and respect for it. But “surprised by the Christian religion, he did not accept it,” and this was extremely unpleasant for the missionaries, who burned with “impatience and jealousy, which excluded any delay” 271. Not content with the freedom of preaching and the patronizing favor of Akbar and not satisfied with peaceful missionary activities, they decided to leave their post and returned to Goa without permission. This act of the missionaries, inconsistent with Jesuit discipline and the views of the higher authorities, did not please the Jesuit general very much. He expressed his extreme displeasure and decided to send new missionaries to the Mongol Empire. Jerome Xavier, nephew of the famous Apostle of India Francis Xavier, and Emmanuel Pinheiro were chosen for this purpose. Having received the appointment and proper instructions, the missionaries went to the court of Akbar and arrived in Lagore in May 1595. Akbar, as usual, received them very kindly and gave them quarters near his palace, in a safe place on the banks of the Ganges. At their first meeting, he showed the missionaries the icons of I. Christ and the Mother of God, which were given to him by previous missionaries and which he treated with great reverence. – Seeing the icons, the Jesuits bowed before them. Their example, as a result of childish imitation, was followed by the grandson of Akbar, who was here, the son of the heir to the throne. This amused Akbar and he said to his grandson: “My son! Let these European preachers be your fathers: imitate them, obey their instructions, and thus become worthy to rule the vast country that I have conquered for you.” The Jesuits remembered these words well, hoping that this future ruler of the Mongol Empire would be given to them for education and that thus the chances for the future establishment of Christianity among the Mongols would increase even more. However, even in the current state of affairs, they could hope for a lot. One of the emperor's sons was their pupil; the emperor himself showed extraordinary favor and even respect towards them. When they approached his throne, he always greeted them with a bow of his head and seated them near him - a distinction that he did not honor either envoys or even the sovereign persons - his subjects who sometimes came to his court. He was often present at the festivities that the Jesuits celebrated in their chapel, participated in their prayers and knelt with them before the Christian altar. Moreover, Akbar gave the missionaries a place to build a church and promised to bear all the costs of its construction. The Jesuits, for their part, tried to use every means to induce in Akbar the determination to accept baptism. Xavier, in order to convince Akbar. in the truth and superiority of Christianity and specifically Roman Christianity, wrote for him in Persian the history of I. Christ and the history of St. Petra 272. According to the missionaries, Akbar read these books with pleasure 273. – But despite this outward, very noticeable favor towards Christianity, Akbar not only did not accept baptism, but for political purposes and due to his indifference to all religions, he sometimes tried to please even idolatry. On Easter 1597, wanting to flatter the pagans, he decided to celebrate, in accordance with their customs, a holiday in honor of the sun. But a thunderstorm spoiled the celebration: the palace caught fire from lightning and was destroyed by fire, along with a huge amount of jewelry contained in it. Xavier took the opportunity to point out this fire to Akbar as a clear punishment from God and, apparently, made a strong and very favorable impression on the emperor for Christianity. From then on, Xavier became Akbar's inseparable companion. When circumstances required Akbar's presence in Kashmir, Xavier and another Jesuit, Benedict Goes, who had recently arrived from Goa to help the former, were to accompany him. there 274. Meanwhile, Akbar began to be haunted by family misfortunes. In 1599, his eldest son, Murad Mirza, died. This could have pleased the Jesuits, since as a result of this, Akbar’s second son, a pupil of Montserrat, Pashari or Daniel Mirza, became the heir to the throne. but after a while he also died. The death of this apparently beloved son made a grave impression on the old emperor. He became more religious and more receptive to the admonitions of the missionaries, who also lost a lot with the death of Pashari and wanted to compensate themselves for the loss by baptizing the emperor. It is unknown, however, whether they achieved their goal. Akbar died on October 13, 1605 in Agra and was buried near this city in a magnificent tomb built by himself. In the interior of this tomb they later found, previously hidden behind magnificent wallpaper, a crucifix and two Christian statues of St. Virgins and Ignatius of Loyola. On this basis, they think that before his death, although perhaps secretly, Akbar received baptism 275. While Jerome Xavier was trying to convert Akbar, his comrade Pineiro was busy preaching Christianity to Akbar’s subjects in Lagore, where a church had already been built. At first, Pineiro encountered great difficulties here: he was able to baptize only the dying, and then only by deception 276. Little by little, with religious ceremonies, he interested the Hindus in favor of Christianity and they willingly began to allow the missionary to perform the rite of baptism on themselves, in most cases without attaching any significance to this rite. “In 1598, the Nativity (of Christ) was celebrated in Lagore in the most solemn way: a manger was displayed for 20 days; numerous catechumens flocked to the church with palm trees in their hands and were baptized” 277. That same year, on the feast of Pentecost, baptism was administered to many catechumens. The ceremony was magnificent: the streets of Jiaropa were covered with branches in order to moderate the heat of the sun. Tambourines, drums and other instruments preceded the neophytes, who went in procession to the church. Pineiro was waiting for them at the door and baptized them in view of the multitude of people attracted by the news of the spectacle 278. Soon another Jesuit, Carsi 279, arrived to help Pineiro and the conversion process went even more successfully. This continued until Akbar's death. But even after this event, the affairs of the Jesuits did not become worse, as one might have feared. Akbar's successor was his son Selim, who upon his accession took the name Jegangir. The Jesuits wrote about him that he was less inclined towards Christianity than his father, that “if he liked anything in the Christian religion, it was only freedom regarding the consumption of wine and all types of food” 280. Indeed, at the beginning of his reign, he tried to appear politically as a zealous Muhammadan and once even ordered the forceful circumcision of two Christian children. But in fact, deep down, he was as indifferent to Muhammadanism as his father. As soon as the new emperor felt that he was already firmly established on the throne, he began to behave towards Christianity as favorably and tolerantly as Akbar. Despite the Mohammedan's aversion to all kinds of images, especially sacred objects, Jegangir filled his palace in Agra with Christian icons. In the gallery where he gave audiences, icons of the Savior and some saints were placed in the most prominent places: John the Baptist, Paul, Anthony, Gregory, Amrosius, Bernardin of Siena and others. The wallpaper depicted the scourging of the Savior and other sacred Christian events. In addition to his imperial seal, he used another one, on which the Savior was depicted on one side, and St. on the other. Virgo. The missionaries soon began to enjoy such favor and protection that they could fulfill their duties: in the Mongol Empire as freely and safely as if they lived in some Catholic country, and they apparently tried to do everything they could for the benefit of Christianity in this country and especially for the conversion of the emperor. Not content with oral, very frequent conversations with him about the Christian religion, they tried to influence him with written refutations of Muhammadanism and apologies for Christianity. Xavier worked quite a lot in this direction. In addition to the above-mentioned treatises on the life of I. Christ and the apostle. Peter, which, although they were compiled specifically for Akbar, were undoubtedly known to Jegangir, he also wrote in Persian (in 1609) an extensive treatise in defense of Christianity and in refutation of Muhammadanism, entitled: “The Mirror Showing the Truth” 281. This treatise contained detailed evidence of the superiority of the Christian religion over Muhammadanism, the truth of the former and the falsity of the latter, and was written very intelligently, logically and conclusively. At one time, it was noticed by the Muhammadans and caused their refutation, although weak and incomplete 282. But it did not have the desired effect on the emperor. Jegangir did not accept baptism after that, although he still had a favorable attitude towards the missionaries and their activities. Some members of the imperial family were more sensitive to the missionaries' arguments. In 1610, three princes from the imperial house were baptized and Jegangir did not prevent this. One may suspect (as Latin historians themselves do) that Jegangir allowed his relatives to be baptized solely from a political perspective in order to increase the obstacles for them to inherit his throne, but nevertheless this was a very favorable circumstance for the establishment of Christianity in the Mongol Empire. The Jesuits were very happy and the baptism ceremony was performed in the most solemn atmosphere: the princes rode to church on white elephants, Xavier met them with the sound of trumpets and cymbals 284 . Thus, little by little, Christianity began to establish itself in the Mongol Empire, although with some hesitation, depending on the degree of friendliness of the Mongols towards the Portuguese. In 1621 a Jesuit college was established at Agra and a station at Patna 285 . Sometimes even the emperor himself built churches and other Christian buildings 286. So in Delhi, at his own expense, he built two Christian churches, in Lagore, a church and a house. Especially towards the end of his life, the emperor began to give missionaries hopes of his conversion to Christianity. He often forced the Jesuits to compete with the Muhammadans in his presence and at the same time always seemed to give preference to the Gospel 287. However, all this did not prevent him from officially remaining a Muhammadan. Obviously, Jegangir's favor towards Christianity did not have the meaning that the missionaries would like to see in it. This favor was based not on a living consciousness of the superiority of the Christian religion over Muhammadanism, but on religious indifference, which, since the time of Chungiz Khan, had been, as it were, hereditary among the Mongol sovereigns. Like his father Akbar, Jegangir was indifferent to all religions; not being convinced of the truth of either Christianity, Muhammadanism, or even more so paganism, he looked at all religions as human and state institutions; in all of them he found his own shortcomings, which he did not like, and his own advantages, which he liked. It is not surprising, therefore, that he, like his father, considered himself capable of inventing a new and better religion by selecting from the old ones everything that he liked about them. Akbar's idea of ​​the religious unification of the diverse population of the Mongol Empire through the introduction of a new religion did not die with him. Jegangir mastered it and, like his father, tried to bring it to fruition. He even began to compose something like a code of a new religion - a book of rules of a new faith, but, as historians note, “he did not have the intelligence or abilities of Muhammad” 288 . It was difficult for a person with such views on religion to be convinced by dry logical arguments, as the Jesuits did, of the absolute superiority of any religion and to persuade him to accept it. Due to an extreme lack of religiosity, which the Jesuits apparently did not try to arouse at all, he could agree only with what was accessible to human understanding, but not with what should be believed. Towards the end, the Jesuits seem to have begun to despair of the possibility of convincing Jegangir to accept Christianity through logical arguments. At least they began to resort to this kind of evidence, which could only be inspired by despair or extreme impatience. In this regard, quite remarkable is the dispute that probably took place in the last years of Jegangir’s reign between the Muhamnedan mullahs and the Jesuit Joseph Acosta, Xavier’s successor and the then superior of the Jesuits in the Mongol Empire. Henrion tells the following about this debate: “one day Jegangir ordered Father Joseph Acosta to propose to the teachers of Islam the strongest objections to the Koran. The Jesuits satisfied the sovereign and caused confusion among the mullahs. Meanwhile, the more daring of them referred to the fact that the Bible was forged. To this Acosta calmly replied: let them build a huge fire and let the representative of Muhammadan enter it from one side, holding the Koran in his hands, and I will enter from the other with the Gospel in my hands. Then it will be clear in whose favor heaven will declare itself, in favor of I. Christ, or Muhammad. With these words, St. Jegangir turned his gaze to the horrified Muhammadans, but out of pity for them he did not allow such a dangerous test. As for the Jesuit, from then on they began to call him nothing other than Father Atax, that is, the Father of Fire” 289. This act of the Jesuit shows how great the impatience of the missionaries was if they decided to resort to such risky evidence to prove the truth of their teaching. Protestants even say that for the same purpose the Jesuits sometimes resorted to other, highly suspicious, means. This is the story of the Protestant Bgoe, repeated by Catroux and Henryon - Catholics 290 about a monkey who, in the presence of Jegangir, three times took out from a vase filled with tickets with the names of different religions, a ticket with the name of the Christian religion and thus proved to the emperor the superiority of this latter religion. However, this proof did not have any effect on him: he died a Muhammadan, or rather, outside of any religion in 1627. His successor Jehan was also very indifferent to religion, and therefore treated the missionaries, like his father and grandfather, very favorably and tolerantly. According to the testimony of later Jesuits 291, during his reign the Christian mission in the Mongol Empire still made significant progress, but, however, mainly among idolaters, and not among the Muhammadans. Convinced of the difficulty of converting the Muhammadans, the missionaries almost completely abandoned them and turned all their attention to the idolaters - the Hindus, who, moreover, were much more numerous in the Mongol Empire than the Muhammadans. Thus, the anti-Muhammadan mission itself receded into the background. “But soon the missionaries had to reduce their activities and the environment of idolaters. Jehan's successor, Aurungzib (1658 - 1707), was far from being similar to his predecessors in terms of religious tolerance 292 . He was sincerely devoted to Muhammadanism and, as a result, was distinguished by intolerance and often allowed himself to use violent measures to establish and spread Muhammadanism. All this had an unfavorable effect on the Christian mission and it apparently began to decline. However, it did not cease to exist until the very end of the 18th century, but it existed in a very dull form. The Jesuit government, probably not expecting any particular benefit from it, paid little attention to it and did not want to take advantage of even favorable circumstances, which at times appeared, to strengthen this mission. In 1701, one of the Jesuits, Diius, wrote to the director of the French missions in China and eastern India about the need to pay more attention to the mission in the Mongol Empire. He pointed out the fact that Muhammadanism in India was actually only a court religion, that other subjects of the Mongols - idolaters - were very inclined towards Christianity, and that the Muhammadan princes themselves were not distinguished by fanaticism and were very friendly towards missionaries. As proof, he pointed to Prince Alem or Muezzin, the eldest son of Aurungzib, who later ascended the throne of the Mongol Empire under the name of Baghadur Shah. “Prince Halem,” wrote the missionary, “constantly expresses great kindness to our Portuguese fathers living in Agra; he even invited the old missionary of Delhi and Agra, Fr. Magalgaen, and ordered the rulers and other officials of the places through which his father would pass to supply him with everything necessary for the journey. They think that he called this father to his court so that he could take care of the Christians in his retinue” 293. However, the Jesuits did not pay special attention to this mission and they ceded the main concern for it to other orders. At the end of the 17th century. the Congregation of Propaganda, to take care of the converts, sent here Bishop Custode de Pineau 294, a native Hindu raised in the Roman College of Propaganda, but there is almost no news about the activities of this bishop. At the beginning of the 18th century. The Capuchins established themselves here (1707), successfully operating from here to Tibet, and a Capuchin bishop settled in Agra 295. But the favorable time for the Christian mission here had already passed and the new missionaries could no longer stop its decline. The reasons for the fall of this mission lay mainly in various unfavorable external circumstances that the Latin missionaries did not want or were unable to combat. On the one hand, the decline of Portuguese power in India had a very harmful influence on this mission. Noticing this decline, the Mongol emperors began to view the missionaries much less favorably, who thus lost support from both the Portuguese and the Mongol rulers. On the other hand, the mission was greatly harmed by the civil strife of the Mongol princes for the throne and the constant wars with the Persians. These wars and civil strife, weakening the empire, forced its rulers to seek an alliance with the enemies of Christians and Persians, the Turks, and especially adhere to Muhammadanism. Friendly ties between the Indian Mongols and Turks, which existed before 296, especially strengthened with the death of Jegangir, who in the last part of his life in 1626 sent an embassy to Turkey to Sultan Murad IV 297, asking for help against the Persian Shah Abbas. The civil strife that arose after the death of Jegangir served as a reason for strengthening these friendly ties between the Mongols and the Turks, which were favorable for Muhammadanism. One of the contenders for the throne, Bayzankor, the son of the famous Daniil or Pashari, brother of Dzhegangirov, fled to Constantinople and strove here in 1633 for help 298 . Such relations continued in subsequent times. The timer mentions Indian embassies to Turkey under the years 1653, 1656, 1750,299 and others. These friendly ties with Turkey, which were produced mainly as a result of the hostile relations of the Indian Mongols towards the Persians, strengthened the Mongol sovereigns in their commitment to Muhammadanism and removed their attention from Christianity. However, the Mongols’ hostility to the Persians also caused material harm to Christian missionaries and, in general, often destroyed all their work and deprived them of all means of subsistence, which should also have contributed greatly to the downfall of the mission. “Our society,” wrote one French missionary Seny after one of the most devastating invasions of Nadir Shah in 1740, “our society had two churches in Delhi and they burned down during this fire. These churches were built by the bounties of Emperor Jegangir. This sovereign, as well as his successor, was very disposed towards the Christian religion, which during his reign made significant progress here... Then there were very good hopes for the future; but these hopes died along with the Portuguese power in India... Two Portuguese Jesuits, who lived permanently in Delhi and took care of the remnants of Christians in the amount of 700, were still quite happy that they escaped the massacre... The house of one noble Christian woman, famous for her piety and who was in great honor with the emperor and his court, had the same fate as our churches” 300. Soon the Mongol Empire was completely powerless and fell under the rule of the British. Currently, traces of the activity of Latin missionaries are still noticeable within this empire. The Catholics have two apostolic vicariates there, 301 one in Agra, where there are up to 20,000 Catholics, and the other in Patna, where there are 4,000 Catholics. b) Jesuit mission among the Crimean Tatars in the first half of the 18th century The Tatars settled in Crimea and initially, at least until the second half of the 14th century. 302, who, together with their other fellow tribesmen, professed shamanism, from the earliest times of their settlement here entered into the closest relations with the Crimean Christians - Western colonists and could easily be influenced by Western missionaries, who were often sent here by the popes and who had solid support for their actions in the Genoese and Venetian colonies. However, this influence was so weak that it could not overcome the opposite influence of Muhammadanism and soon had to give way to the latter complete predominance. In the half of the 15th century. Muhammadanism has already become significantly established here, although not so much as to destroy the old religious tolerance of the Tatars. Khan Deulet-Girey (1428 – 1467) made a pious journey to Mecca and was therefore called Haji. But this same khan, despite his piety and strong commitment to Mohammedanism, in the words of Sostrentsevich-Bogush, “contrary to the imperative Mohammedan law, which prescribes the conversion of all non-believers in all kinds of ways, ... had almost evangelical tolerance” 303. They even noticed in him “a certain kind of reverence for the Mother of God, to whom he made vows and made sacrifices in the church that was dedicated to Her in Tavria, near the city and Mount Kirkel” 304. - Probably having heard a lot about this religious tolerance, in 1465 305 Pope Paul II, who was at that time busy with a crusade against the Turks, sent his legate, the Franciscan Louis of Bologna, titular Patriarch of Antioch, to Deulet with instructions to persuade the Crimean Khan to war against the Turks together with Frederick III, the German Emperor, under the crusades banners. Deulet, apparently, did not refuse this war and answered the legate that he would do everything that his friend and ally, the Polish king, Casimir 306 would do. Such a peaceful and friendly attitude of the Crimean Tatars towards Christianity was preserved, no doubt, partly due to the fact that these Tatars were still very bad Muhammadans, and partly due to the neighborhood and influence of Christian settlers who owned great wealth, had all trade in their hands and were far superior to the Tatars in education. But with the destruction of Christian colonies in Crimea and the subjugation of the Crimean horde to the Turkish Sultan (1478), Christian influence disappeared here and a wide path opened for the spread and establishment of Muhammadanism. This latter began to penetrate especially strongly into the life and morals of the people from the middle of the 16th century. 307 when Turkey's power over Crimea increased to the point that the sultans, at their own discretion, began to elevate and dethrone khans, when the Crimean khans began to receive education in Turkey and when Turkey became a model for the Crimean Tatars in all respects. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Crimea was already almost completely a Mohammedan power, it lived the same life as Turkey and had the same sympathies with it, although on the other hand, the nomadic, equestrian life and the feudal structure of the Crimean yurt did not allow Muhammadan fanaticism to be grafted onto the Tatars in its full force. – However, with the establishment of Muhammadanism and the destruction of Christian colonies, the Christian population of Crimea did not disappear, and did not even decrease; on the contrary, it was increased by a numerous class of slaves. As a result of constant raids, in which the whole life and history of the Crimean Tatars consisted, this last class increased every year and, left without any spiritual protection, for many decades replenished the ranks of the Muhammadan population of Crimea. Free Christians - Greeks and Armenians, who were subject to the Crimean khans, were also numerous, especially Armenians. These latter had two bishops in Crimea, one of whom ruled all the churches from the eastern side of Caffa to Keni in Cherkassy, ​​while the other ruled the churches of the entire western part of Crimea from Bakhchisarai to Kovtan on the Dniester. The Greeks had an archbishop who lived in the monastery of St. George, on the southern coast of Crimea 308. Only the Latins, since the conquest of Caffa by the Turks, had no hierarchy there, although the Catholics, who made up the majority of the slave class, had a need for spiritual leadership. It was this last circumstance that served as the reason for Latin missionaries to establish themselves in Crimea. Knowing well that Muhammadan fanaticism has not yet had time to penetrate deeply into the character of the Crimeans, that the nomads, especially the Nogais, who made up a significant part of the Crimean Horde, are still weakly attached to Muhammadanism; Knowing that in Crimea there lived many Christians of the Orthodox and Armenian confessions, not protected from alien claims by the same faith, and even more slaves, deprived of almost any spiritual guidance, the Jesuits rightly calculated that here they could reap a bountiful harvest, if not among the Muhammadans, then between Christians subordinate to the Muhammadans. The first news about the religious state of the population of the Crimean peninsula and surrounding countries, about the need and opportunity to establish a mission here, the Jesuits probably received from their brother, the Polish Jesuit Francis Zgoda, who around 1612 accidentally managed to penetrate into Crimea 309. The Crimean Khan Janibek Giray (1610 - 1623) around this time sent one Genoese from Caffa to negotiate with the Polish government in Poland. Pending further orders from the khan, this ambassador was supposed to live for several months in Kamenets. Here he met the Jesuits, described the religious state of the Crimean population and expressed his opinion on the need to establish a Christian mission in Crimea. Zgoda volunteered to go to Crimea and take on the duties of a missionary. But the ambassador explained to the Jesuit that a Christian spiritual person, according to the laws in force in Crimea, can only come to this country either with the permission of the Turkish Sultan, or as a slave, and suggested that he first of all obtain permission from Constantinople to settle in Crimea. Zgoda agreed, and, having received a recommendation from the Polish government, went to Turkey with a Wallachian prince in the rank of his house priest. On the way, they met the Tatars, who had gone out to plunder the surrounding lands, and in one mistake they were captured 310. Thus Zgoda achieved his goal, but the title of slave, unenviable in itself, did not reconcile well with the title of missionary. Soon, however, this inconvenience was eliminated. The Khan's ambassador, the already mentioned Genoese, returned to the Crimea via Vedelya, found Zgoda and, having bought him from slavery, settled him not far from Caffa. Having established himself here, Zgoda began to preach the Gospel to the natives, and his preaching was supposedly so successful that “many, having been acquired by I. Christ, formed a new society out of themselves” 311 . It is unknown how long Zgoda stayed in Crimea, whether he had employees and immediate successors. In accordance with the regulations of his order, Zgoda lived in Crimea, no doubt with the permission of his superiors, gave detailed reports on his actions, reported his observations of the people around him, and had at least one comrade. If the information collected by Zgoda promised the success of the mission, then the Jesuit authorities would not fail to place more Jesuits in Crimea; Apparently this did not happen, probably due to some mysterious calculations, and not as a result of unfavorable news, because there are solid grounds to assert that this news was of an unpleasant nature. Almost a century passed from the time of Zgoda to the official establishment of the Jesuits in Crimea. This last circumstance happened in 1706 as a result of the petition of the French envoy in Constantinople, the Marquis of Feriol. But there is reason to think that even before this time the Jesuits were already in Crimea, where they could conveniently penetrate from Poland, and already had fairly developed missionary institutions here. French physician Ferrand, in 1702 traveling along the northern and eastern shores of the Black Sea, through the lands of the Nogai Tatars and Circassians, describing in his journey the morals of the latter and their special inclination to accept Christianity, says the following about the family of a Kabardian prince who wanted to marry him (Ferrand) to his niece: “I wanted to baptize them, but since it was necessary to first introduce them to the mysterious principles of our religion and since, without knowing language, I had to resort to the help of a translator, who was a Muhammadan and to whom I did not want to trust my intentions, then I left this project until another time, hoping to find another opportunity to return to this land with one of our Bakhchisarai missionary fathers" 312. Henrion 313 from the last words rightly draws the conclusion that in the first years of the 16th century there were already ministers of the Gospel in the capital of Crimea, but he does not think that they were Jesuits and, it seems, not entirely thoroughly. Sestrentsevich-Bogush talks, even with some details, about many Jesuits active in the Crimea under Selim Girey (d. 1704). “The Jesuits,” he says, “had a house church, in which it was possible to perform all church services, but there would be no fence outside. In this way they enjoyed great freedom for a long time. But one of them, one of the enterprising, proud or fanatical, relying on his power, built another dwelling over the house, increased the rope and hung the bell. Selim-Girey, a sovereign who completed his career in 1704 and who could hardly tolerate Christians in his regions, saw these changes while going hunting; He was angry most of all because the windows were painted green, and in his anger he not only destroyed this church, but also gave the order to destroy the others. The richest of the Greeks and Armenians were imprisoned and were very happy that they escaped with an exorbitant penalty. Until that time, these various sects (i.e., confessions) deliberately agreed to serve mass in case of need, one from another, and the archpastors’ message gave them the right to do so” 314. Thus, if you believe this story (and there is no reason not to believe it), the Jesuits lived and acted in Crimea long before their official establishment there. Even earlier than 1704, they already had a church there and freely performed spiritual services, although without the permission of the Turkish Sultan, hiding behind the Armenians, who had such permission and therefore enjoyed complete tolerance from the Crimean khans. The persecution that occurred in 1704 and is mentioned in Bogush's story probably served as the main motivation for the Jesuits to seek official approval for their mission and thus at least somewhat ensure the peace and legality of its existence. First of all, the aforementioned physician Ferrand took care of this. In 1704, he obtained from Selimov's successor, Kazy-Gprey (1704 - 1706), permission for one Polish Jesuit to settle in Bakhchisarai and freely perform missionary duties among the Bakhchisarai slaves, mostly Catholics and Poles. But ten months after his arrival, this Jesuit died of the plague along with 20,000 slaves at the end of 1704 315. At almost the same time, the Jesuits of Constantinople began to convince the French ambassador at the port, the Marquis Feriol, that it was necessary to establish a Jesuit mission in Crimea and petition the government for this. In 1706, the aforementioned physician Ferrand arrived in Constantinople and added his voice to the voice of the Jesuits. He described in detail the pitiful state of the Christians living in Crimea, and touched Feriol so much that he decided to try by all means to establish a Jesuit mission in Crimea. One of the Constantinople Jesuits, Duban, volunteered to start this mission and go to Crimea, where Kazy-Girey reigned at that time. This is how Duban describes his arrival in Crimea during his first activity there in a letter to the Marquis of Torcy dated May 20, 1713: “I am happy that the choice fell on me. I will never forget his (Feriol’s) nobility, truly royal. He not only honored the new mission begun by me with his patronage, but also volunteered to support it with his own resources and present it in a favorable light before His Majesty. You know, monsignor, the letters, full of fervor and Christianity, that he wrote at that time; he also wrote very urgent letters to the Tatar Khan, his old friend, and enclosed rich gifts with them. Having provided me abundantly with everything that he considered necessary for my journey, he made it possible for me to set off immediately. I sailed on August 19 of the same year (1706), accompanied by Mr. Ferrand... As soon as we set foot on land, as soon as we thought about going to Bakhchisarai, the capital of the country and the usual residence of the khan. Letters and rich gifts from the Marquis of Feriol very soon brought us the most affectionate audience. Khan, named Sultan Kazy-Girey, a man of about 40, makes a very pleasant impression with his special person: he has a noble appearance, an open look, very regular facial features; in this respect he is very different from other Tatars, who almost all have very ugly faces. His person and everything around him looks more warlike than magnificent. I was especially delighted by the kindness with which he received me; he asked me many questions about the king and about the wars of France, in which he seems to be very interested; he also spoke to me about the envoy, with expressions of great respect and friendship. I chose this very moment to ask permission to help the slaves and other Christians of his state. He agreed without a word with such a benevolent and patronizing air that I could only wish for.”316 Having further described the mode of government in Crimea, the morals of the Perekop, Nogai and Circassian Tatars, Duban depicts in the darkest colors the religious state of slaves and other Christians, i.e., Armenians and Greeks who lived in Crimea and were to become the main subject of the Jesuit mission. “It is impossible to imagine,” he says, “a more deplorable state than the one in which I found this oppressed Christianity. Contagious diseases of the past years killed more than 40,000 slaves. Those who remained and who could still walk, from 15 to 20,000, constantly expected the same fate, being completely indifferent to the future life. The severity and length of their slavery, the enormous vices and unbelief of the barbarian country, where most of them grew old without preaching, without the word of God, without the sacraments - all this brought them closer to beasts. Some of them became Mohammedans, many were inclined to do the same, many went over to schismatics. Those who preserved their religion forgot it and did not fulfill its instructions. Other Christians, Greeks and Armenians, although free and have their preachers and their churches, were however deprived of proper supervision and good servants. The priests and the people, equally corrupt and deluded, lived in deep and gross ignorance; the spirit of greed, superstition, and self-will of morals prevailed everywhere” 317. The zealous Jesuit had to struggle with such, probably somewhat exaggerated, obstacles and, if one can certainly believe his story, he set to work very energetically, conducted it intelligently and soon achieved quite brilliant results. “Among these strange devices,” says Duban, “for more than 6 months I have not seen a day that would console me; I worked hard and achieved little. Wherever I turned, I met only indifference and coldness towards the cause of salvation. I have always looked upon the condescension of the Armenians as a divine inspiration, who allowed me to settle among them for a long time and gave me a small part of their poor church, half destroyed, for the exercise of my office. Here, after much labor, I began to gather some lost slaves with the intention of teaching them the truths of salvation. The novelty of listening publicly to the word of God and the preaching of repentance in the Bakhchisarai Armenian church produced the fact that the first came accompanied by some others and there were a lot of people. Many of those who were constantly busy carrying out the orders of their masters and whom I could stop only for a few minutes, suddenly began to find leisure; remorse awakened in them insensitively; they tried to calm her down with kind repentance... From the city, rumor spread among the slaves of the villagers. They said that in Bakhchisarai there was a pere france, who arrived from Constantinople to be a priest of the Catholics, that he preaches, says the misses, teaches the sacraments in the Armenian church, that he was sent by a French envoy and that the khan himself gave him permission... After a few months I saw myself surrounded by people of 7 or 8 different nations, Germans, Poles, Hungarians, Transylvanians, Croats, Arabs, Russians. Hitherto I had always given instructions in German, which was the common language of the first newcomers. I wanted to continue, but I noticed that not everyone understood me; I even noticed some germs of national envy between them on this subject. I proposed to change the method and from now on preach in the Tatar language, which, as the language of their masters, they should all understand. They liked this means, and I liked it even more than they did, because I had in mind the Greeks and Armenians, who have this family language in the Crimea, and through it I hoped to attract them to my instructions. In fact, from that day on I saw that the Armenians came in droves and mixed indiscriminately among the slaves. Then, without showing that I had any intention of speaking to them, I began to speak freely in front of them everything I wanted and everything that I considered necessary for their instruction: thus, thanks to this method (maniere) of preaching indirectly and hiddenly (indirecte et enveloppèe), the mission became common to both. God showed his glory in her" 318. Such a successful start promised brilliant results, especially since the cunning Jesuit, while successfully pursuing his official goals - satisfying the spiritual needs of Catholic slaves and converting schismatics to Latinism - did not lose sight of the further, albeit secret, goal - acquiring the power of attorney of the Muhammadans and then converting them to Latinism. In accordance with the nature of the Latin-Jesuit method of converting the Muhammadans, he did not dare to directly preach the Gospel to them, but tried to act indirectly, instilling in his first proselytes, who were more familiar with the Tatars, the spirit of propaganda and intensifying to enter into trust and establish a close relationship with the khan. The latter was almost achieved by him. Kazy-Girey had such a power of attorney for him and treated him so friendly that he often called upon him to discuss various important subjects and instructed him to write very secret letters 319. But one of those coups d'etat, which were so frequent in Crimea at that time, almost destroyed the mission work begun by Duban. At the end of 1706, Kazy-Girey was overthrown from the throne and his brother, Deulet-Girey 320, was installed as Turkish Sultan in his place. This circumstance greatly alarmed Duban. The new khan did not know him and did not give him permission to do in Crimea what he had previously been doing. Duban feared that Deulet-Girey would not recognize the rights he had acquired under the previous khan, and would even treat him, as Kazy-Girey’s favorite, with particular hostility. Alarmed by such concerns, he almost completely suspended his missionary activity, behaved in the most cautious and secretive manner for several weeks and turned “to his usual refuge, the Marquis Feriol.” But it turned out that the missionary’s fears had almost no basis and were in vain. “The vigilance of the Marquis Feriol has already prevented everything, eliminated everything.” After some time, the new khan himself sent him to tell him not to be afraid of anything and that in case of any offense he should complain to the vizier, who would give him proper satisfaction 321 . This greatly encouraged Duban: he saw that his mission had stronger foundations than he thought, and he began to continue his activities even more energetically and freely among the Armenians, Catholic slaves and especially Lutherans. “This announcement (the above reassuring announcement of Deulet-Girey),” says Duban, “restored my courage, and the mission found more prosperity... It did not lose at all even from the removal of the Marquis of Feriol, its founder and father, with whose removal it seemed that it was bound to fall. This worthy envoy, after 12 years of service equally glorious and useful for the state and religion, was replaced by Prince Desaleurs, in whom I found the same point of support and the same jealousy... Under the Sultap of Kazy (Girey), there was an agreement between him and the Marquis Fermius regarding the construction of a French chapel, and the khan gave his consent, but with his overthrow the matter was suspended. Desaleur again proposed this project to the khan and happily completed the matter. We have already received permission from the Khan 322 to open a house for us in order to convene Christians there and read the Gospel to them there, and thus, in the style of the country, we can say that we have our own church... The mission has so noticeably changed its appearance that I myself no longer recognize it. Icy coldness and hopeless indifference were replaced by jealousy and ardor, which spread even to Protestants of both sexes and quite numerous ones. Some of them are Calvinists, but most are Lutherans. The Tatars give them all the name Franks, just like us. This name means nothing more than Western Christians. My good Catholics, freed from the severity of their sins and having become zealous to atone for them, took upon themselves the very serious business of converting their comrades devoted to heresy... Until now there has not been a year in which I have not reunited less than 5 or 6 people with the Church” 323. Such active propaganda of the Latin missionary among Armenians and Lutherans naturally should have provoked opposition from the Armenian and Lutheran clergy and aroused struggle. This really happened. However, on the part of the Armenians, this opposition was extremely weak, according to Duban, partly due to their special respect for the Catholic religion, i.e. due to the fact that they, especially their clergy, were under the strong influence of the Jesuits, partly due to their practical prudence: they saw that Duban and Ferrand enjoyed the special confidence of the Khan, that the mission was under the special protection of the French ambassador in Constantinople, and this ambassador could be very useful to their brethren living in Turkey 324. But on the part of the Lutherans, this opposition was very serious and threatened the Latin mission with complete destruction. The rumor about the propaganda of the Bakhchisaray Jesuit among the Lutherans there reached Bendery. where a Lutheran pastor, originally a Swede, lived at that time. Having learned that Bakhchisarai Lutherans were converting to Latinism in large numbers, he decided to help his coreligionists and stop the success of Jesuit propaganda. For this purpose, he, having stocked up with money, arrived in Bakhchisarai and began propaganda here in the opposite direction, exhorting the Lutherans who had been seduced into Latinism to return to their old confession. But “seeing that generosity and means do not bring any benefit, that even the converted Swedes do not turn their ears away” from the Jesuit instructions, the pastor decided to turn to the Muhammadan government of the country to stop the Latin propaganda. He found an opportunity to speak with the khan and explained to him the true meaning of the Jesuit's missionary actions, showing that Duban had in mind mainly the conversion of the Muhammadans to Christianity and that by converting the Lutherans to Latinism, he was acting contrary to the provisions of the Muhammadan legislation, which prohibits Christians from moving from one sect to another. This whole intrigue of the Swedish pastor against Duban was carried out secretly and very cunningly. Duban learned about her from Ferrand and took such clever measures against her that he remained completely safe and sound. He explained to the khan that he was not introducing any new sect into Crimea, but was only returning the Lutherans to the religion of the French, which they had left willfully, and generally presented his cause in such a favorable light that the khan completely agreed with him and rejected all the machinations of the Swedish pastor. The latter was ordered to convey that the French father was teaching slaves to perform their prayers according to the khan’s command and that he, the pastor, should no longer interfere with this matter. Having destroyed this intrigue, Duban felt himself in an even stronger position and began to take care of spreading the circle of his activities. Not content with preaching in Bakhchisarai, he began to travel to his girlfriends in the cities of the Crimean Khanate and soon acquired many proselytes here. The usual time for his missionary trips to the vicinity of Bakhchisarai was the period from Easter to autumn. During these trips, he never stopped with those residents who owned slaves, fearing to arouse suspicion and considering it too indecent. For his Jesuitical reasons, he stopped in some of his own cities and called the surrounding Christians there. The most convenient cities for this were Karasu (Chufut-Kale), Kuzno (Evpatoria), and Orkani (Perekop), all almost equidistant from Bakhchisarai. Upon arrival in one of these cities, he would let the surrounding area know about his arrival and the time he would stay there. As a result of this notification, everyone who wanted to listen to the missionary’s sermons and had the opportunity to leave their places of residence gathered. There were many or few of these, depending on what the surrounding slave owners were like. He followed the same method of preaching as in Bakhchisaray, that is, he preached in Tatar or Turkish and thus attracted a huge number of Armenians to the audience. - However, while Duban lived alone in Bakhchisarai and did not yet have assistants, such trips could not be frequent and long, and therefore could not bring such benefits as the Jesuit would have liked. In order to further spread Latin missionary activity in Crimea, he took care of finding assistants for himself. He asked the khan for permission to call another Jesuit from Constantinople, Father Cournillon, who arrived in Bakhchisarai in 1712. The new missionary was well acquainted with the Turkish language, and therefore could soon get used to the language of the Crimean Tatars and become an active assistant to Duban. Duban, having learned about his arrival, was so happy that he immediately left his missionary studies in Karasu, where he was at that time, and galloped to Bakhchisarai. “Even before, Duban tried, on the other hand, to prepare assistants for himself from the natives. In 1710, he bought 4 boys from slavery and began to prepare them for the position of Catholicists. Two of them turned out to be of little ability and were each sent to their homeland, while the other two, who had acute abilities, were prepared for the aforementioned position and in 1713 they were already performing it very successfully. Thus, around 1713, 7 years after his arrival in Crimea, Duban was already at the head of a fairly firmly organized mission and felt all the safer that the French government took him under its special protection and invested him with the title of consul. Duban hoped to take advantage of the benefits provided by this title to ask the khan for permission to build a Catholic church in Bakhchisarai 325. Efforts regarding this subject had already begun, but had not yet been crowned with success, despite the intervention of the French envoys in Constantinople. Deulet-Girey gave permission to the Jesuits to build only a house church; Although he was apparently inclined to build a public one, he did not officially allow it. Bogush reports that he was offended by the fact that relations with the port were first made on this subject and therefore “gave secret orders very contrary to the enterprise” 326. This matter of building a church was so far the only circumstance unfavorable for the mission. Everything else was so well arranged that all that remained was to work earnestly. In 1713, Duban wrote to the Marquis of Torcy: “everything is favorable. The Tatars are getting used to seeing us among them; their slaves, in whom they are very rich, at every opportunity tell them thousands of good things about us; they notice, as they say, that the slaves, since they have been visiting us, have begun to serve more faithfully and more willingly. The native Christians are day by day abandoning the prejudices which were instilled in them from childhood against the Catholic faith; many accept her and everyone respects her. The work has begun: all that remains is to improve it and approve it.” 327 In order to successfully continue the work and give the Crimean mission the opportunity to develop its activities on a large scale and with great success, Duban considered it necessary, firstly, to increase the composition of the mission with four more Jesuits who would have great courage, great patience and great mercy, as well as some scientific knowledge, especially medical; secondly, to build a church near Bakhchisarai with the official permission of the Crimean government; thirdly, to provide the mission with means to help the poor, the elderly, the sick, etc., “in order to thus amaze the Tatars with an example of Christian humanity” and instill in them new respect for the Catholic religion; fourthly, finally, to provide the mission with the means to redeem from slavery children born of slaves, boys and girls, to educate them in the spirit of Christianity and especially for the office of catichists, so that over time they would form a core, a body of the faithful (un corps de fideles), around which an independent Christian community could group. Explaining these needs to the Marquis of Torcy, Duban promised that if they were satisfied, then it would be possible to spread missionary activity not only throughout the Crimea, but also throughout the land of the Nogai Tatars and Circassians 328 . “It seems that Duban’s insistence was not in vain. Around 1725 we see two more new Jesuits in Bakhchisarai. Stephen and Delatur, of whom the second was a physician and managed the home pharmacy of the Jesuits. But detailed news about the activities of the Jesuits in Crimea after 1713 has not been preserved. From Stephen's letter, which can be dated no later than 1730, 329 it is clear, however, that around this time the Jesuit mission in the Crimea existed not in the same size as Duban expected, but still larger than what it had in 1713, and successfully defended its existence against the unfavorable circumstances arising from the frequent change of khans and the willfulness of the powerful aristocratic surname Chprinbeev. “The work of God is being done,” wrote Father Stephen, “our Catholics fulfill their duties freely and zealously, while the passions usually born in the hearts of those who govern instilled in us fair fears for our mission and for all our students. But the Lord, who sent his workers to the helicopter city, did not allow his heritage to be destroyed” 330 ... Here the missionary means the revolutionary movements of the Crimean aristocracy of the Chirinbeys against the khans. Under Mengli-Girey (1725 - 1730), this struggle between the powerful aristocratic family of Chirinbeys and the Crimean khans, who defended the unlimited and independent power of their power, reached the highest degree of tension and threatened the Jesuit mission with destruction. The Jesuits, as usual, probably maneuvered between two hostile parties and interfered in their struggle, at this time could no longer remain completely neutral. They lost the patronage of the Chirinbeys and constantly expected that their “chapel and house would be plundered and could be destroyed by schismatics, enemies more terrible than even the Turks themselves.” But having the patronage of the Chirinbeys, they did not know what kind of relationship the new khan Mengli-Girey, who had just been enthroned by the Chirinbeys (1724), would have with them, whether he would act in accordance with the wishes of the Chirinbeys, or otherwise. The latter happened, both in general and in particular in relation to the Jesuits. Deciding to destroy the power of the Chirinbeys and put an end to their self-will, the khan convened a sofa, at which the head of the Chirinbey family was to be present. Mengli-Girey intended to capture him and execute him, but the latter, having learned about this, fled from the divan and completely retired from Crimea to Circassia 331. The Jesuits at this time, thanks to the medical knowledge of one of their brothers, were already in power with the khan. Stefan talks as follows about the incident that gave them the opportunity to serve the khan and acquired his power of attorney and patronage: “the new khan,” he says, “arrived in Crimea unwell, with a small wound on his hand. Until now, he was looking for a person who would cure him completely. Having learned by chance that missionaries established in this city often receive medicines from France, that they supply the sick with these medicines for free and that those who use them receive great relief, the khan, who wanted to be cured, sent to us, asking for our medicines. O. Delatour, who constantly practiced acts of mercy with the sick and was engaged in distributing our medicines, gave him those that he considered more suitable for his illness, the properties of which he took care to find out. Khan received him with the kindness with which a sick person treats a physician from whom he hopes to receive healing. Father Delatour taught him how to use the medicines given to him. A few weeks later, the Khan sent for him, intending to reward him for the ointment given to him and give him a patent to receive a daily pension, consisting of 800 drachmas of meat, three loaves of bread and two candles. This pension greatly improved the situation of our home... But the success of the medicines about. Delatura did even more for our mission. When the khan completely recovered, he called his benefactor and asked him how to reward him for his service, assuring him that he would not refuse him anything. O. Delatour took advantage of such a favorable opportunity that Providence gave him to ask one favor from the khan, namely, that he honor the mission with his patronage and give the missionaries the opportunity to directly and freely offer their services to anyone who needs them and turns to them. Khan was delighted that he could agree to patronage without spending anything more than paper” 332. – Thus, the Jesuit mission in Crimea, thanks to the skill of its members, was apparently established in the most durable way, so that it could despise the civil disorders of the Crimea, which were able not only to hinder the successful conduct of the mission’s business, but also to completely destroy it. They had so far extricated themselves from all difficulties in the most happy way, but in 1736 they could not prevent a blow to their mission from the other side, from Russia, which at that time was at war with the Crimea. The Russian army under the command of Minich invaded the Crimea and began to burn all the towns and villages they came across. Bakhchisarai, the capital of the Khanate, was also in danger. Realizing this, the khan fled; The Jesuits also, according to Manstein, “having been obliged to follow the khan, left their home and library as prey to the enemy” 333. The city was burned by the Russians, and all the Jesuit buildings and “a wonderful library containing many rare manuscripts” were destroyed 334. The Crimean mission apparently could not bear this blow, which destroyed almost all the acquisitions of the Jesuits, which they had made with such difficulty and over such a long time. At least there is no detailed news about its further history. And after this pogrom, the Jesuits did not leave Crimea, but they hardly engaged in propaganda among the Muhammadans here. In the list of missions and residences of the Jesuit order, which it had in different countries of the world before its destruction (1773), a Jesuit residence (but not a mission) is shown in Bakhchisarai 335. But it is not known whether the Jesuit residence in Crimea was destroyed after the destruction of the order. What is certain is that it could not exist here officially after the French Revolution, because at the insistence of the new French government, the papal bull on the extermination of the Jesuits was carried out in Turkey. But it is known that official destruction did not always prevent the Jesuits from continuing their actual existence. The Latin mission in Crimea did not cease to exist after this time; only it was transferred from Bakhchisarai to Odessa and handed over to other monastic orders, as well as other missions in the Turkish Empire. The Crimean mission continued to be dependent on the Constantinople mission and in the closest connection with it. The head of the Constantinople mission, which consisted of converted minorities and was under the direct supervision of the Congregation of Propaganda, was the chief prefect of the Crimean mission: he was obliged to send missionaries to the Crimea and sent there monks of various orders, mainly Franciscans and Carmelites. This mission existed in this form until the beginning of this century, when the Jesuits acquired special power in Russia and decided to resume their activities in Crimea. First, in 1805, they appeared here unofficially and in small numbers (there were two of them), and then in 1810, through various machinations, they managed to obtain official permission from the Russian government to settle in Crimea, where they immediately began to act to strengthen Latinism. They began to build many churches and chapels in the colonies and big cities and tried to take control of public education. Among the upper classes of Russian society, to which the Jesuits directed all their attention, their propaganda was not unsuccessful. The lower classes did not receive their attention. They paid even less attention to Muhammadan. Apparently they did not mean them at all, at least there is no news that among their proselytes there were converted Muhammadans 336. However, as for the results of the actual anti-Muhammadian activities of the Jesuits in Crimea, then, regarding their first mission here, one can positively assert, without any fear of error, that there were no results, although there is no positive news about this subject. It is only known that in subsequent times no one noticed any traces of Jesuit activity among the Crimean Tatars to plant Christianity among them and weaken Muhammadanism; Muhammadanism in Crimea during the stay of the Jesuits apparently not only did not weaken, but even intensified. When the Jesuits settled in Crimea at the beginning of the 17th century, the Tatars here were very bad Muhammadans and were quite tolerant of Christians; by the end of the 17th century. they have already become the same fanatics as the Turks. During the annexation of Crimea to Russia, the Crimean Tatars were complete Mohammedans and then, throughout their citizenship of Russia, they constantly gravitated towards Turkey of the same tribe and faith. – So unsuccessful and without a trace was this mission, on which a lot of intelligence, energy, patience and material resources were spent! Such ineffectiveness is all the more surprising and incomprehensible because in this case it is impossible to refer to the lack of funds, insufficient training and the skill of the missionaries to explain it: this mission was run by very well trained people who had many benefactors and patrons, both in France and in the Crimea itself. It remains to turn to the method that the Jesuits followed: was there anything in it that contributed to the failure of their missionary activities. We saw that the Jesuits followed here a method that can be called the roundabout method and which consisted in acting not directly, but through persons closer to the Tatars and more familiar with them, which persons the Jesuits considered to be native Armenian Christians and slaves in the Crimea. In itself, this method obviously did not contain anything reprehensible and nothing that could promise it failure. It is nothing more than an application to the case of that missionary axiom, which states that every person will more readily listen to and better understand the instruction of his fellow countryman and fellow tribesman than of a person completely unfamiliar, completely alien in language and morals, in habits and customs 337 . This method can always and should even be used without fear of failure, but not exclusively by it, as the Jesuits used it. They erred here mainly in two points: 1) they, wanting to act on the Tatars in a roundabout way through the natives, unsuccessfully chose intermediary agents between themselves and the Tatars. They elevated the Crimean Armenians and slaves of all confessions to the level of such agents, but neither the Armenians nor the slaves were fellow tribesmen of the Tatars and, moreover, stood in a special relationship with them, which almost completely excluded even the possibility of their influence on their overlords, the Muhammadans, who looked at the Rai with the deepest contempt and considered it a crime to borrow from them anything especially related to religion. 2) The Jesuits used this method too exclusively, almost completely eliminating themselves from direct action on the Tatars and leaving everything to the aforementioned intermediary agents, while in missionary work success depends as much on the quality of the methods as, if not more, on the personal influence of the missionary. In general, a missionary who uses this method exclusively is always in danger of completely losing sight of his main goal and directing all his activities to completely extraneous objects, since this goal here becomes too distant to strive for unremittingly, especially when external circumstances do not provide the opportunity to continue his activities calmly and completely calculatedly. These were precisely the circumstances in which the Jesuits found themselves in Crimea, as we have already seen. These shortcomings of the Jesuit method were the main reason for the failure of their mission. We will see that the Protestants followed the same method in relation to the Muhammadans and therefore their mission was equally unsuccessful, although they acted under more favorable circumstances. c) Protestant missions among the Nogai and Kuban Tatars at the beginning of this century The first of the Protestant missionary societies to turn their attention to the Tatars was the Edinburgh or Scottish one, founded by some pious Presbyterians in 1796, almost at the same time as the London one 338 . The directors of this society, who were looking for the most convenient place to establish their missions, the activities of which they intended to give enormous dimensions, especially liked the lands between the Caspian and Black seas, as completely corresponding to their species. “For several years now,” they wrote, “we have been turning our attention to the shores of the Caspian Sea, as especially convenient for the Christian mission. The longer we pondered, with the map before our eyes, the moral and religious state of the peoples living there, the deeper this thought sank into our soul. This country - we thought - lies almost in the center of the old continent, bordered by various world kingdoms - Persia from the south, Turkey from the west, Russia from the north and Tartary from the east, surrounded on all sides by numerous tribes immersed in deep ignorance and corruption, some of which, although called Christians, are (as one might think) completely alien to Christianity (?), and the rest are Mohammedans, or followers Dalai Lamas, or pagans and idolaters of other kinds: - what a vast field for faithful missionaries has opened before our eyes! What an opportunity to sow heavenly seeds with your hands full! And what a rich harvest could be reaped there with God’s blessing, converting and protecting many millions of mortals” 339 . From this it is clear that the Edinburgh society did not think of limiting its missionary activity exclusively to the Tatars, but circumstances and lack of funds subsequently forced it to limit itself only to them. Having proposed to establish a central missionary post on the Caucasian isthmus, the society began to fulfill its proposal, although with great fears, considering the success of the enterprise almost impossible. However, the obstacles and difficulties were more imaginary than real, because the desire of the Edinburgh society to establish a missionary colony in southern Russia coincided with the plans of the Russian government to populate the southern, desert lands with foreign colonists and thus revive the region with trade and crafts. There could only be one obstacle on the part of the Holy Synod, which constantly tried to eliminate foreign missionaries from propaganda among Russian subjects, but the secular government always knew how to bypass this obstacle either by complete silence about the main goal of the foreign colonies, or by ambiguous formulation of it 340. Having made some preliminary investigations, the directors of the Edinburgh society finally decided in the spring of 1802. send two agents to St. Petersburg for negotiations and to Astrakhan to inspect the area. These were: Brunton, already an experienced missionary, who had proven himself with foresight, tireless zeal and a special ability to master foreign languages, who had recently arrived from Africa and, without any external motivation, volunteered solely out of love for the work to undertake a “daring undertaking”, that is, to make a trip to St. Petersburg, and Paterson, still a young man, who had been preparing for two years already. yourself to missionary activity. Along with these missionaries there also went one young African, Gillarum Garrison, who had been taken from Africa by Brunton and brought up under his leadership. Sailing from Edinburgh in April, they arrived in St. Petersburg at the beginning of May. This is how the directors of the Edinburgh society describe their stay in St. Petersburg and the efforts to find a place to settle: “here they were received very well by everyone to whom they were recommended, extremely politely and friendly. But regarding the subject of their mission, at first they saw very little comforting around them. All the information and reconnaissance they made for this purpose produced results of such a kind that they could shake their courage and destroy all their hopes of good success, because almost all their acquaintances agreed that they would meet with great difficulties and great dangers if they settled in the southern part of Russia, and especially if they began to convert the inhabitants there to the Christian Protestant faith; so they feared for their own freedom on such a journey. However, while they thought that they were in a hopeless situation and fell into sad thoughts about this, the good right hand of God took care of them, dispelling their sadness and doubt, destroying seemingly insurmountable obstacles and smoothing the road for them. He, in whose hands the hearts of all people, raised, completely unexpectedly for them, a friend in Mr. Novosiltsev, a Russian nobleman who was a chamberlain and a confidant of the emperor. Through this gentleman they not only retained their trust, but also gained the approval and attention of the Russian government for their enterprise. They were given a passport to travel freely throughout the empire and permission to settle wherever they pleased. Further, they were given post horses and a very favorable letter of recommendation for them. Moreover, Novosiltsev also gave them a letter on his own behalf, in which he recommended to all civil and military authorities to most urgently protect them, assist them in everything and treat them friendly. In this way, not only were difficulties that society considered the greatest overcome, but, moreover, the mission acquired such obvious attention as the wildest dreamers did not dare to expect. Encouraged by obvious signs of divine care, our missionaries set off through Moscow, Tambov and Sarepta further to Astrakhan. They completed this journey of almost 1,400 English miles in almost two months, without experiencing, however, any unfortunate adventures or other difficulties other than those that were inevitable during such a journey and over such land. They were treated very friendly, the local authorities always showed a readiness to help them, many private individuals friendly invited them to their homes and treated them extremely hospitably... Since Astrakhan, for various reasons, seemed to them inconvenient for starting missionary work here, on August 10 they left this city and headed southwest, to Georgia. They intended to settle in Tiflis or in its vicinity, but... General Knorring, the governor general of this province, advised them not to go to Georgia, because the state of this country was very turbulent, and instead advised them to go to Cherkassy. Therefore, after resting for a while in Georgievsk, they went further to Constantine City, to the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, where the local commander, by order of the governor-general, gave them guards so that they could safely survey the surrounding areas for their intended purpose. A few days later they found a suitable place where the Tatar village of Karasts is located, which has no more than 500 inhabitants and lies in the vicinity of the fortress. It was in this village that our missionaries settled, moving into a house called the Sultan’s. From here, under the external protection of the Russian garrison and under the invisible protection of almighty divine Providence, they will begin missionary work" 341. The locality chosen by Brunton and Paterson for the founding of the mission was indeed very convenient and greatly pleased the directors of the society. “Take, dear reader,” they wrote with delight, “the map and see in what a convenient and reliable place divine Providence has placed them. Consider the crowded isthmus separating the Black Sea from the Caspian Sea. At the northern border, at an equal distance of almost 400 versts from each of these seas, near the headwaters of the Kuban, separating the Russian possessions from the Turkish, lies the above-mentioned Tatar village of Karasts, the inhabitants of which consist of Mohammedans, flocking here from all the border lands and speaking 6 or 7 different dialects. In the immediate vicinity on one side of this village there are hordes of Nogai Tatars, Russian subjects, and on the other side there are Kuban Tatars who recognize Turkish domination; the other peoples living in the vicinity are: Circassians, Kabardins and Abaza. Here, in the midst of darkness, misfortune and sinful slavery, two men appeared who left their fatherland and their friends - everything that is so highly and dearly valued by people, in order to proclaim eternal salvation to their brothers, these poor people ignorant of the Gospel of Christ, etc. They could only be seduced by the directors of the newly founded missionary society, who thought of nothing more than giving the activities of their non-existent missions the widest possible dimensions. The missionaries who settled in Karasts truly came under the special protection of the Russian government, which not only ensured their personal safety and well-being, but was also always ready to give them real help. But this very close friendly relationship between the Russian government and the Scottish missionaries was supposed to hinder the success of the latter. They had to act among peoples who, for the most part, were still waging a fierce struggle for their independence with the Russians and therefore looked extremely hostile towards everything Russian and everything connected with it. In relation to religion, this hostility should have manifested itself all the more strongly since the peoples mentioned were either under the strong influence of Muhammadanism, or were real Muhammadans, i.e. That is, they professed a religion that was especially hostile to Christianity. The closest neighbors of the newly founded missionary station were the Nogai and Kuban Tatars: it was to them that the Scottish missionaries had to direct all their attention. These Tatars, who once formed part of the Golden Horde, in 1261, under the leadership of Nogai (the same one who married Euphrosyne, the natural daughter of the Byzantine emperor Michael Palaiologos), separated from it and formed an independent Nogai horde. This horde, almost until the very beginning of the 19th century, usually wandered between the Danube and the Kuban, but after its subjugation to Russia it had to reduce the limits of its migrations. It was divided into four more separate hordes or tribes: Budzhak, Dzhedisan, Jeditkul and Dzhambayluk, and was constantly in the closest relationship with the Crimean horde, lived the same life with it and was even somewhat dependent on the Crimean khans: it recognized the supreme power of these khans over itself, who sent their sons to be its leaders 343. As Mohammedanism intensified among the Crimean Tatars, it also intensified among the Nogai, although not simultaneously, because the Turkish influence on their religious dispositions did not penetrate to them directly, but through the mediation of their neighbors, the Crimeans. At the beginning of the 18th century, when the Jesuits were active in the Crimea, the Nogais were still devoted to the Muhammadan religion to a weak degree, 344 but from the time of subjugation to Russia, when they began to lead a more settled life and when the state of subjection to a heterodox and foreign government increased their sympathy and susceptibility to the influence of their fellow Muhammadans on them, the Muhammadanism between them intensified and even instilled in them a particularly hostile attitude towards Christianity. One part of the Nogai horde, which lived beyond the Kuban and was called the Kuban, even recognized Turkish domination and stood in directly hostile relations towards the Russians. The Scottish missionaries seemed to understand these difficulties and therefore drew up a plan of action for themselves that would not directly affect the religious sympathies of the Tatars and would place them in a position completely neutral in relation to the religious hostility of the Tatars - the Mohammedans to Christianity. To spread Christianity among the Tatars, the missionaries chose the following two means: 1) ransoming captured Tatar children and raising them in the spirit of Christianity in order to use them for missionary purposes, namely for the catechization of converts and for establishing direct relations with the Tatars; 2) distribution of the Bible and polemical treatises in the native language among the surrounding population. With the first means in mind, Brunton and Paterson, in their letter submitted to Emperor Alexander I through Novosiltsev regarding permission to settle in Russia, asked “to be allowed to buy slaves from the Circassians and Trans-Kubanians (point 2), so that those whom they buy for no more than 16 years, “be in their dependence for no more than 7 years (3rd), so that those purchased by them under 15 years of age serve them only until twenty-three years of age (4th), and that it would be forbidden for them to sell any of the peoples they bought (7th)” 345. Although the missionaries, due to understandable caution, did not express here the purpose for which they needed the calculated benefits, this purpose is clear from the very statement of the conditions they proposed. It is clear that they wanted to acquire the right to purchase slaves not primarily in order to use their services in their household and not for trading purposes, but in order to educate the purchased boys in the spirit of the Christian religion for a missionary position. This was also known to our secular government, which agreed to all these conditions, however, with an important, albeit small, limitation. In the highest approved (November 22, 1802) report of the Minister of the Interior on allowing the Scots to establish a settlement in the Caucasian region on the terms they proposed, it was said that “the purchase of slaves may be allowed to them, but with the precise condition that they should not be Russians and not breastfeeding: for it is known that the Circassians and other mountain peoples capture Christians and turn them for sale, and it would not be possible to limit this with a tax a reason for these peoples’ deep attempts to steal our people” 346. Having thus deprived the Russians and Georgians of the opportunity to be slaves of the colonists, the Russian government, perhaps unintentionally, protected them from heterodox propaganda and deprived them of the honor of being the mediating organs of this propaganda among the surrounding Christians and Mohammedans. This restriction, however, should have brought some benefit to the Scottish missionaries, because it forced them to elect to intermediate bodies people closer to the Muhammadans than the native Christians, and thus somewhat improve the roundabout method of converting the Muhammadans, common in the West, which they intended to use. Having received permission, the missionaries tried to exercise their right as soon as possible: they bought slaves and started a school to educate them. However, until 1806, missionaries could not use this means as they would have liked, partly due to lack of funds, partly because they were embarrassed by the lack of positive permission from the Russian government to convert ransomed slaves to Protestantism. In 1806 these obstacles were almost completely removed, thanks to the Russian government, which filled their school with foreign boys, without demanding any payment for them, and gave them permission to convert any foreigner who wished to become a member of their colony. “Since the fund - says one modern news - no longer allowed missionaries to ransom young people to educate them in the Christian religion, divine Providence provided the means to instruct in Christianity more than 40 children sent to them without any expense on their part from a remote part of Tartary. These children belonged to the generation of Tatar-Kyrgyz, were of both sexes and ages from 5 to 15 years. In their homeland, for all human reasons, Divine mercy would not have been available to them through the Gospel, but He who said: “I will say to the north: bring it through! and to the south: do not forbid! Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth” (Is. 43:6), - forced the generation through hunger to give their children to the emperor for bread. This same God persuaded the Russian government to send some of them to missionaries; so that under their supervision they may grow in the Christian religion" 347. In this way, the missionaries acquired a sufficient number of people over whom they could demonstrate their ability to educate in the spirit of Christianity and prepare new native missionaries. They could do this all the more freely because around the same time they received formal permission from the Russian government to convert the Muhammadans to Protestantism and make them members of their colony. In 1806, the commissioner of the Edinburgh missionary society, Mitchell, with the assistance of Novosiltsev, Count Kochubey and Romantsov, obtained a new preferential charter for the Scottish colony, which “to encourage the activities of colonists tending to spread industriousness, crafts and factories in a region so sparsely populated and adjacent to the peoples of the Muhammadan confession, or pagans who have no education,” allowed, among other things: 1) “to every Kabardian, Circassian, or other Mohammedan, or pagan from the free people.... accept the religion of the colony and become a member of it with the consent of the council,” and also 2) “every Kabardian, Circassian, Tatar and pagan from slaves accept the religion of the colony and become members of it with the consent of the council, if the owner releases him, having previously received from him proper satisfaction” 348. Having received such permission, the missionaries could no longer hesitate to convert foreign boys studying at their school to Christianity. In 1808, missionaries wrote about this school that it was in a flourishing state, that the young natives whom Brunton had redeemed from slavery continued to justify the hopes placed in them, that the progress they were making was very high and that many of them could already read the Bible 349. But this prosperity of the school, in all likelihood, did not last very long. After 1809, there was no longer any news about it, and news about the activities of missionaries in general speak more about the decline of this activity, and not about its development. The missionaries tried even more zealously to use their second missionary means, which they considered perhaps the most reliable. “To convert a people,” Brunton wrote in 1808, “you need to instruct them; and in order to instruct the Muhammadan, the shortest way for this is to discreetly distribute among them small treatises and copies of the holy books written in their language. Scriptures. If this be done in a prudent and wise manner, I am convinced, from my previous experiences, that it will produce the happiest results.”350 The directors of the company also agreed with this. In 1804, the missionaries received a printing press from them and began to print in their colony a small polemical treatise against Muhammadanism in Turkish, which the native Tatars, especially the learned mullahs, could understand quite freely 351 . In 1806, the missionaries finished printing this treatise and began distributing it among the Tatars with considerable success. “The treatise against Muhammadanism,” the missionaries wrote, “received wide circulation in the surrounding districts and created a great movement among the people. Effendi Shelliwe, who arrived in Karasts to talk with the missionaries, after reading it, was so excited that he could not sleep for several nights. The passages of the Koran given in the treatise are accompanied by a Turkish translation. Shelliwe and other representatives find that the meaning of the words is conveyed very well and clearly, and they frankly admit that they cannot object to the exhortations of the missionaries. 411 copies were sent to Sarepta to the city of Wigand, who intends to distribute them among the Muhammadans of Kazan and Bukhara” 352. The missionaries especially wanted to distribute the sacred message among the Tatars. Scripture in their own language. But this desire could not be fulfilled so quickly, because the translation still had to be done first. In the first years of the mission's existence, all of Brunton's works were devoted to this matter. In 1806, the translation of the New Testament into Turkish was almost ready 353 and was not printed only due to lack of funds. Brunton was very annoyed by this, wrote letters to England asking for help and even suggested to the directors of the society “to establish a special fund in England for this purpose,” hoping that “maybe there will be many who will willingly donate to this item.” However, nothing helped. The Edinburgh Society, as a still new and little-known society, found few donors and could not supply its missionary colonists in sufficient quantities with material resources, and they themselves, despite their increased prosperity, did not want to spend anything from their own funds on this cause, which every year began to recede further and further into the background, especially since 1808, when political unrest in Europe made it almost impossible for them even written communications 354 with society and thus depriving them almost completely of even moral support on his part. As a result, the translation remained unpublished for a long time, until the Russian Bible Society, which was founded in 1812, took up the matter. not without the influence of Scottish missionaries and not without their participation. In 1817, this translation was already published in 3000 copies 355. Soon, however, the missionaries were to become dissuaded of the absolute suitability of this means of spreading the Christian faith among the Muhammadans. The translation was made not into the popular Tatar language, but into scientific Turkish in the sentence that the priest. Writing in Turkish can become much more widespread. Therefore, one could not expect from him the benefit that he could bring, because ordinary Tatars could only understand the Turkish language with difficulty, and scientists, and not all of them, although they could understand, were imbued with Muhammadan fanaticism, often did not want to read or listen to it, with very few exceptions. On top of all this, the missionaries also tried to personally get acquainted with the surrounding Muhammadans, entered into discussions with them about religious subjects, and sometimes managed to overthrow their old religious beliefs and convert them to Christianity. New newcomers with different morals, with a different religion, skilled in many crafts, naturally should have attracted the curiosity of the surrounding Tatars, and therefore it was not difficult for the missionaries to begin relations and acquaintances with them, just as it was not difficult to enter into an interview with them about religion. It was much more difficult to argue with the Muhammadans, to destroy their prejudices against Christianity and to convince them to change their religion. This should especially be said regarding the learned mullahs, with whom the missionaries especially tried to get acquainted and with whom they especially often entered into such interviews. Such is the property of the scholastic Mohammedan science that it not only does not make a person more receptive to the truth and inquisitive in relation to everything that concerns the highest needs of the human soul, but it completely blinds him and makes him almost completely incapable of understanding and properly appreciating anything that does not fit the standard of his school views: - that is why it is so difficult to talk about religion with a learned Mohammedan and induce him to take a critical view of his opinions. However, Scottish missionaries sometimes managed to do this too. Brunton and Presbyter Obadiah, who served as a school teacher and priest and died of the plague in 1808, were particularly distinguished in this regard. 356 Not having a priest at hand. Scriptures in the Tatar language, they ordered several copies of the New Testament in Arabic from England, read it to the assembled mullahs, gave it to them to read at home, which for the latter was perhaps a more external than internal reason to visit missionaries and here, willy-nilly, listen to arguments about the superiority of the Christian religion. Already in 1806, the directors of the Edinburgh Society wrote: “the natives look with great respect on the missionaries, for they feel their superiority in the knowledge and useful arts of this life and, on the contrary, their own ineptitude. The strong prejudices that still prevailed against Christianity at the time of Mr. Brunton's arrival in this land have weakened greatly: even some of the Effendii are very friendly towards the missionaries. Several copies of the Arabic New Testament were given to the learned mullahs and they diligently read them. But although they can read the Koran, they understand little Arabic, so they cannot correctly and easily understand other books. Therefore, they often visit the city. Brunton, who reads the New Testament to them and spends a lot of time on it. Some of them are surprised and give it a clear advantage over the Koran” 357. The missionaries, who were still well acquainted with the character of the eastern peoples, especially the Muhammadans, gave this surprise and these reviews a literal meaning. Somewhat later, Brunton wrote that “various effendi of the first rank no longer hide the consciousness of the falsity of their own religion and express a great desire to understand the new testament better than in Arabic” 358. If we take into account the fact that none of these Effendii accepted the Christian faith, and that many of them even positively prevented others from accepting it, then the sincerity of the mentioned statements is more than doubtful. – It was much easier to act on the common people and in general on people unspoiled by the still dead and fanaticism-inducing Muslim science. And indeed here the missionaries initially had quite significant success. Already in 1805 “Brunton baptized two natives who gave the most sufficient evidence of the sincerity of their acceptance of the Gospel,” 359 and there were many more who were also ready to be baptized soon. After this, the missionaries managed to baptize several people almost every year until various obstacles and disorders limited their zeal and completely destroyed all success. They made a particularly important acquisition in 1808, when, as a result of their admonitions, Sultan Kata Gerry (Girey?), the son of the Nogai Khan Mengli-Girey, one of the descendants of the Crimean Gireys, was baptized. The directors of the Edinburgh society were extremely happy about this circumstance. “The history of this young man,” says modern news, “is very remarkable: he descends in a direct line from the Crimean khans and has connections with some noble eastern families. His father, the Khan of the Tatars, lives not far from Karasets. The son met Mr. Brunton soon after his arrival and since then had boundless heartfelt affection for him. G. Brunton, captivated by his wonderful qualities, began to instruct him in the principles of Christianity. It took him a little time to understand the superiority of Christianity over Muhammadanism. And now it’s been more than two years since he renounced it and clearly professed Christianity. Since then, he not only firmly adhered to his confession, but also zealously tried to spread the teachings of Christ among his fellow countrymen. He took every opportunity to recommend Christianity to their attention, and defended it when attacked. In a word, he showed increased concern for its dissemination and the conversion of his fellow countrymen. With this goal in mind, he not only talked with the common people, but often debated even with the mullahs and effends, trying to expose in the true light their absurd opinions, their godless and superstitious customs and behavior, which so greatly harmed their neighbors. Until now he had resisted all persecution: neither the promises nor the threats of his relatives had such power as to shake his attachment to the Gospel. Despite this, the missionaries, when Kata-Gerry found it difficult to earn food for himself after baptism, for some reason did not bother to strengthen his position, did not want to assign him to their colony and take advantage of his zeal for the conversion of his fellow countrymen for the benefit of the mission. The convert was forced, in order to obtain a means of subsistence, to ask the Russian authorities to accept him into the crown service as a scribe and was accepted. Subsequently, he left for Georgia and there he probably got lost in the mass of Russian officials. Such were the successes of the Scottish mission until 1809. From that time on, the zeal of the missionaries began to noticeably weaken, and their successes almost completely ceased. Modern news speaks for the most part only about the obstacles with which the missionaries had to fight, and almost nothing about their activities and successes. Among these obstacles, the suddenly opened opposition of the Muhammadans, who had previously apparently been very friendly towards the missionaries, occupies an important place. News from 1809 tells, for example, about the persecution to which one young Tatar was subjected for a long time for his intention to convert to Christianity 361, and about the open armed uprising against Christianity of the Muhammadans under the leadership of a certain Arslan Bey. This Arslan Bey, noticing that some Tatar villages, which belong to the missionary colony, were not sufficiently devoted to Muhammadanism and even fell into paganism, and attributing this to the influence of the missionaries, constantly, for several years in a row, made predatory raids on this area and threatened the missionaries with his revenge, so that the Russian local authorities, having learned about the intentions of the mountain rider, considered it necessary to send to the colony for protection missionaries, a detachment of soldiers: “his intention,” the missionaries note in their letter, “was all the more disgusting because he openly pretended to be our friend” 362. The hostile disposition of the Muhammadans was also the main reason that the missionaries could not penetrate the settlements of one mountain tribe, Sonna, which had previously professed Christianity, but with the conquest of the country by the Muhammadans was forced to almost completely abandon their religion, and whose princes invited missionaries to instruct their people in the Christian faith. This behavior of the Muhammadans in relation to Christianity showed the missionaries that in their chosen area it was not so convenient to reap a bountiful harvest in favor of Christianity, as they initially believed. They suddenly realized that there were many obstacles to their activities and that they alone could not fight them. “The difficulties and obstacles with which we have to fight are great. There are few of us and we are constantly in danger” 363. The latter was not entirely fair, because in 1808 the colony consisted of 50 souls of both sexes 364. If we take into account the fact that the responsibility to spread Christianity lay in some way on all members of the colony, then at first there were too many activists. Another thing is zeal for the spread of Christianity, the missionary spirit that was supposed to animate the members of the colony in accordance with the purpose of their settlement. It is very likely that such a spirit and such jealousy were the property of very few of them, and then, under unfavorable conditions, weakened among these few. Resistance on the part of the Muhammadans, which appeared at a time when political difficulties had temporarily stopped the relations of the Scots with Edinburgh society and deprived them of moral and partly material support, was the first unfavorable circumstance of this kind, depriving the inexperienced missionaries of almost all vigor. Further, the removal of their best missionaries from this activity adversely affected the missionary activity of the Scottish colonists among the Tatars. In 1808, Presbyter Obadiah, extremely skilled in polemics with the Muhammadans and in teaching children, died. Brunton, who started the business and continued it with particular success and skill, also seems to have died or left the colony; at least after 1809 there is no news of his activities and the head of the colony is already Paterson, a power-hungry man, quarrelsome in character and little capable of missionary work. Finally, all this was supplemented by internal unrest in the colony, strife and quarrels, which almost completely distracted the attention of the colonists from their main goal. German immigrants who settled in Sarepta, seduced by the privileges of the Scots, moved to Karasts, but the Scots excluded them from enjoying the same rights that they themselves enjoyed, and although they gave them a plot of land for settlement, they did not agree to separate from them and live with them 365 . From here, disagreement and disorder arose in the colony and grew to such an extent that it came to government intervention. Many of the missionary colonists began to leave their place of residence and return abroad: the colony began to empty out, the colonists remaining under the leadership of Paterson almost completely stopped their missionary activities, and if they did anything to spread St. Scriptures between the Tatars, then with the assistance and on behalf of the Russian Bible Society. The Edinburgh Missionary Society, seeing the decline of its mission and not having sufficient means to support it, turned for help to the Basel Missionary Society, newly founded in Germany 366. Help was provided (1821), but this did not make the mission any more successful. The Basel Missionary Society, founded in 1816, mainly for the education and preparation of young people for the missionary field, 367 soon found itself in such favorable circumstances that it could not only help others by sending well-prepared and imbued with the missionary spirit, but also support its own missions. Blumhardt, who stood at the head of the Basel society, the idea of ​​which was inspired in its founders by the presence of Tatars and Kalmyks in the Russian armies that besieged Güningen (1815), focused his attention on the Tatars inhabiting Russia, and 368 drew up an extensive plan for the Basel mission in the east. Blumgardt intended to make the German colony of Zurichstal in Crimea the fulcrum for his missions. “This community,” says Merz, “seemed to represent a reliable support for the mission between the Muhammadans, on whom they placed more hopes then than now, when they learned what kind of opposition fanaticism and apathy they oppose to Christianity in those places where they are united in the masses. With a shining gaze, the noble Blumgardt pointed to this center of the old Turkish or Tatar light..., suggesting from there to fill with true life not only the tribes living in the steppes in the south of Russia and in the east to Siberia, but also in the eastern and western Caspian lands, in mysterious Turkestan and in the wonderful mountains of the Caucasus between the remnants of different peoples who had accumulated there over the course of centuries. At the same time, they hoped, in the event of the spread of Christianity in the Caucasus, to enlighten the lands towards Persia and further to the lands at the sources of the Euphrates, to even go down to Mesopotamia and there lend a hand to the companions who penetrated there from Syria and Asia Minor. Added to this was the intention to transform the ancient Christian Church of Armenia and the even more ancient Nestorian Church - this is the fatherland of missions of centuries gone by.”369 This plan was approved by English society and all the friends of the mission. In 1820, it was decided to begin its implementation. There were no obstacles. The Russian government was very sympathetic to Protestant missionary work, despite its obvious failure 370. “Thanks to the pious mood of the Emperor, the influence on him of Mrs. Krüdner, Young Schilling, etc.,” the Protestants could hope that their attempts would be crowned with complete success. Prince Golitsyn, probably with the knowledge of the emperor, already in 1818 entered into personal relations with the Basel missionary society and negotiated the establishment of a missionary directory for northern Asia in St. Petersburg. In the same year, Emperor Alexander I himself expressed a desire for 10 Greek Catholic youths to enter the Basel Missionary Institute to prepare for missionary work. Members of the biblical Russian society, which was under the special patronage of the emperor, Paterson and Pickerton. in 1819 and 20 they turned to Basel for people capable of preaching, exposing the spiritual needs of the German colonies in Russia, as well as various Russian foreigners. Thus, the desire of the Scottish colonists to receive help from Basel was completely consistent with both the plans of the Basel missionary society and the views of the Russian government and therefore soon received complete satisfaction. In 1821, the Baselians sent two of the noblest brothers of their missionary house, Count Felicion Zaremba, a Russian subject, and Doctor Dietrich, to St. Petersburg to negotiate with the Russian government. The result of the efforts of these two commissioners was that the Basel missionaries on December 17, 1821 371 were granted the same privileges that the Scottish missionaries in Karasz had long enjoyed, and permission to choose anywhere a convenient place for the establishment of a missionary station. After this, Zaremba and Dntrich went to Astrakhan. They were soon followed there by other missionaries from Basel, Lang, Hohenacker and Benz. Here they intended to prepare themselves for the upcoming work with lessons and advice from Scottish missionaries who had a printing house here and were involved in the printing of St. Scriptures and various treatises in Tatar and other local languages ​​with the assistance of the Russian Bible Society. But before the newly arrived assistants, unfamiliar either with the local Muhammadan languages ​​or with the local conditions of missionary activity, could become truly useful, the Scottish missionaries, thanks to a happy circumstance, acquired such an assistant who made the help of the Baselians almost superfluous, who could replace them all in the matter of anti-Muhammadan missionary work. They unexpectedly acquired such an assistant in the person of one young and talented Persian, Muhammad Ali Bey (b. 1802, d. 1870). Being the son of one of the learned Persian mullahs, from an early age, under the guidance of his father and some famous Persian scientists, he began to study Muhammadan science and in a short time, thanks to his brilliant abilities, became extremely thoroughly acquainted with it. In 1819, while still only 18 years old, he was already trying to enter the literary field as an independent author 372. Arriving after his father in Astrakhan in 1821, he soon met Scottish missionaries here and, as an inquisitive person and as their teacher in the Turkish language, entered into the closest relationships with them. Frequent conversations with missionaries, irritating his curiosity and touching his learned pride, inspired him with the idea of ​​studying all religions and especially Christianity in order to prove the superiority of Muhammadanism over all other religions. But this study soon led him to completely different results. He became convinced of the truth of Christianity and was baptized, taking the name Alexander Kazem-bek around 1822. 373 This conversion was of great importance for the Protestant missionaries and greatly revived their activities. The young, gifted and learned proselyte began to help the missionaries with ardent zeal. During 1822, he wrote several polemical treatises against Muhammadanism in Arabic, Persian and Turkish. These treatises spread among the Muhammadans and created a strong movement among them. Being written by an expert in Muhammadanism and a former Muhammadan, these treatises naturally should have aroused special interest among the Muhammadans and could have had a more fruitful influence on them than similar treatises written by Christian missionaries. The Muhammadan mullahs considered it necessary to take measures to protect their coreligionists from the influence of the writings of Kazem Beg. One of these mullahs, who was famous at that time for his learning in the north of Persia, Khoja-molla Riza, in 1822 in Tabriz, wrote in Persian an extensive objection to Kazem Beg’s treatises on the truth of the Christian religion, a refutation that caused a great stir among the Muhammadans. But Kazem-bey, for his part, did not leave the objection without refutation. He also compiled a refutation in Persian, under the title: “Jevabi-risalei Haji Molla Riza” - a response to the treatise of Haji Molla Riza - and at the end of 1824 he sent it to the Tabriz scientist 374. It is unknown, however, what effect this polemical and literary activity of Kazem-bek in favor of Christianity had on the learned foreign Muhammadans, but as for the Astrakhan Muhammadans, this activity only embittered them. His relatives and fellow tribesmen hated him greatly, and this hatred became stronger the more his fame and influence increased. As a result, the position of Kazem-bek in Astrakhan became more difficult and unbearable every year. It was this circumstance, in all likelihood, that mainly forced him to stop his missionary activity and leave Astrakhan. His response to the treatise of Haji Molla Riza was his last polemical work against Muhammadanism. In 1825, he left Astrakhan to go to the post of teacher of the Tatar language in Omsk, but on the way he was stopped in Kazan, where he was later a university professor and the first teacher of Muhammadan languages ​​at the anti-Muhammadan missionary department at the Kazan Theological Academy. The conversion of Kazem-bek and his missionary, albeit short-lived, activity constitute the last and almost the only bright episode in the history of the Protestant anti-Muhammadan mission in Russia. The affairs of the missionaries among the Russian Mohammedans continued to go very badly. They did not recover even when the Basel missionaries who were still living in Astrakhan 375 began independent activities. Having studied the Tatar language in Astrakhan under the leadership of Kazem-bek, getting acquainted with the area and taking into account the experiences of the Scots, the Baselians chose Shusha, the capital of the former Karabakh Khanate, almost entirely populated by Tatars, who were very much subject to the influence of the Persians here, as the main camp of their mission 376 . A new mass of missionaries soon arrived here from Basel. A school was built here, a printing house was opened, in which missionaries began to print the New Testament and various polemical treatises against Muhammadanism in the Turkish-Tatar and New Armenian languages. In addition to Shusha, the places of activity of the Basel missionaries were: the Scottish colony of Karasts, where Lang was sent, the Madjar colony, where Koenig acted, and the Wintemberg colony near Tiflis, where Zaltet acted. We do not have details about the actions of these missionaries, but German historians themselves admit that all their actions, especially in relation to the Muhammadan Tatars, were completely unsuccessful. “Lang traveled tirelessly around the country, even finding a warm welcome everywhere, but no disposition in the knowledge of the name of Christ. The missionary Koenig was no more successful around 1827 in the remote colony of Majar. The separatist Wintemberg colony in Georgia also could do nothing for the surrounding Muhammadan Tatar hordes. This colony itself was barely brought into the world by Basel missionaries and preachers and to some kind of communal church structure, so there could be no talk of influencing the Tatars and Circassians” 377. Such failure is not surprising when we consider that the Basel missionaries acted according to the same plan and in the same spirit as the Scottish missionaries, that the attitude of the Muhammadans to the Christians was the same as before, and their fanatical spirit could not be shaken as quickly as all the friends of Christianity would like. The fanaticism of the Muhammadans and their stubbornness drove the missionaries almost to despair. The tracts and books of the priests distributed by them. The scriptures were not read by almost any Mohammedan, their admonitions remained without any effect, they managed to baptize only children, who, having grown up, often returned to their old religion and destroyed all the hopes placed on them. A sad picture of the missionary activity of foreign colonists among the Tatars in the 20s of this century is painted by one of the Russian travelers of that time, Ilya Radozhitsky, in the words of the missionaries themselves. Driving to the Caucasian mineral waters through Georgievsk, he met here one of the missionaries, Mr. P. (probably Paterik) and, having talked with him, learned many interesting details about the state of the mission. “Mr. P..., being the chief of the missionary brethren here, spoke with great fervor about the Christian Reformed religion and the benefits of the mission: his comrades are scattered in Persia among the Tatars and even among the Circassians and in the very gorges of the mountains. - How do you manage to convert these robbers to your faith? – I asked. “No other way,” he said, “than by attracting boys from them: in this way we converted many of the Persian and Tatar boys to Christianity. Only unfortunately, at the first opportunity, they again go back to their previous state: for among the Mohammedans, those fanatics of Islam, a Tatar who has accepted the Christian religion is considered damned, and for him the only way to get rid of persecution is to go back to his faith (or, more correctly, to false faith). The mullahs and the Mohammedan clergy in general cause us many obstacles. They try to convince their fans that the Christian faith makes people cowardly and timid, on the contrary, as if the Mohammedan faith alone exalts courage. These vile fanatics consider Christian meekness, humility and patience to be cowardice; on the contrary, their warlike fury, independence and the right of the strong are revered as courage and generosity, which is why they are so violent and indomitable.” - Further, the venerable missionary announced that his main occupation with his comrades now is to translate the books of the Holy. Scriptures in Tatar, Kabardian and various mountain dialects of the peoples living in the Caucasus. They print the translations in their Astrakhan printing house and deliver them for distribution to all the places they can penetrate. But since there are very few Caucasian savages who are literate or willing to read, rarely do any of them pick up books, and more out of curiosity. Literate among the inhabitants of the Caucasus, he said, there are princes, mullahs, qadis and some uzdeni, who, for personal benefit, finding their own interest, keep their subjects in ignorance, and do not allow them to be illuminated with true enlightenment through a change of faith; In this regard, missionaries must act mostly secretly, enduring all sorts of curses and even personal insults from the barbarians for their zeal and zeal for the spread of Christianity.” “On the other hand,” Radozhitsky adds, as if in mockery, “the visible benefit from these missionaries and colonists here is that they supply visitors who come to the mineral waters with excellent potatoes” 378. However, it would be too unfair to say that the Protestant mission brought absolutely no benefit for the spread of Christian ideas among the Muhammadans, because it cannot even be assumed that their schools, their translations, their interviews remained completely fruitless and did not plant a fruitful gospel seed in a single soul. Their whole fault was that with the method they used, they could not make such rapid progress as was expected of them and what they themselves desired, and under those unfavorable circumstances and those arrangements, of which they themselves were mostly the culprits, they could do much less than they were capable of. Their method could be crowned with success only after a long and constant implementation and, moreover, among a population that was calm and not subject to such terrible surprises as the Caucasian population was constantly exposed to; meanwhile, they acted for a short time, intermittently, inconsistently and, moreover, amid various internal disorders. However, the results were too insignificant and this gave rise to people who did not want to see a foreign mission on Russian territory next to the Russian one, to reject all the benefits of Protestant missions and demand their destruction, especially when the mutual discord of the colonist missionaries began to cast a shadow on their very zeal and ability to do their work. In 1827, when the unrest in the Scottish colony reached its highest degree and many of its members began to leave abroad, so that the Russian government took notice of this and wanted to invent measures for better improvement of the colony, A. P. Ermolov, then governor-general of the Caucasus, responded that “he does not consider the departure of the colonists to be an important damage to the Caucasian region due to the little benefit they bring.” 379 and that “the admission of foreign missionaries (in the Caucasus) is especially politically incompatible for Russia” 380 and reported that it was much better to establish a Russian society for the propagation of Orthodoxy in the Caucasus 381. Ermolov’s idea was respected at that time and the matter of improving the life of the colony was abandoned. As for the idea of ​​​​establishing a society for the spread of Christianity in the Caucasus, it greatly improved the sovereign and the Minister of Internal Affairs Lapsky entered into communication with the chief prosecutor of the saint on this subject. Synod 382. But the next year (1828) the question of improving the life of the Scottish missionary colony was again raised and resolved in the opposite sense and favorable for the Protestants. The Committee of Ministers, after listening to the note of the Minister of the Interior on the new structure of the Scottish colony, with regard to missionary tendencies it decided the following: “as for the second subject (i.e., missionary work of members of the colony), the commander-in-chief of the postal department in the presence of the committee responded that the Emperor of blessed memory, granting permission to the Scottish missionaries to settle in the Caucasian region, deigned to have the main goal so that through them the mountain peoples were converted to Christianity. Therefore, there does not seem to be sufficient reason to cancel such a beneficial desire of His Majesty. The opinion of the commander-in-chief in Georgia, General Ermolov, that the admission of foreign missionaries, especially from a political point of view, is incompatible for Russia, is an idea that is too general and cannot be applied to the present case. Nationally, the 25-year quiet stay of Scottish missionaries in the Caucasian region removes any fear in this regard. Although their success in converting the mountaineers to the Christian faith, judging by the number of converts, is not too great, nevertheless, a beginning has already been made for this. The establishment of a Russian society for the education of missionaries among us, although it is also very useful, this society has not yet been established, and meanwhile, cases may arise for the conversion of the mountaineers; but if this is prohibited to Scottish missionaries, they will be forever lost to Christianity. Considering all this, the committee believes: 1) Leaving the Scottish colony with all the rights and benefits granted by the charter of December 20, 1806, without preventing the missionaries located there from converting Mohammedans and pagans from the mountain peoples to their religion, which they can then make members of their colony. 2) Basel missionaries located in the city. Shute, in the Karabakh province, if the members of the Scottish colony agree to accept them, allow them to settle in the Scottish colony, giving them the same rights and benefits that they enjoy. 3) To the elder of this colony, Pastor Paterson, in respect of 25 years of labor and care for the benefit of this and the local region, immediately assign 1000 acres of land, which will be given to him on the basis of a charter for hereditary possession. 4) Nine families of baptized highlanders and ten families of Germans accepted as members of the colony are to be allocated on the same basis 60 dessiatines per family, and a total of 1140 dessiatines.” It was further decided (point 8): “to put an end to any disagreements between the Scottish and Saratov colonists, divide the lands and the most internal administration between them, giving Paterson only the management of the Scottish colonists, and allow the Saratov ones to choose public elders on the general rights granted to the colonists 383. On December 15, 1828, this decree was highly approved by the emperor. Thus, the Protestant missionaries, despite the protests of the Orthodox party, remained with their old rights and privileges and became even stronger. But their missionary activity did not become any more successful. The Tatars still remained deaf to their admonitions and did not express any sympathy or interest in their labors. Thus, the reasons to reproach the Protestant mission for its uselessness remained in full force. Even more: there were reasons to consider it dangerous and harmful to the peace of the state. Seeing the stubbornness of the Muhammadans, the Scottish missionaries almost completely stopped their activities, and the Basel ones gave their activities a character consistent with the general plan of Protestant missionary work - to weaken Muhammadanism in the east, acting on it in a roundabout way (auf indirecte Wege), i.e., first converting Armenians and other Eastern Christians to Protestantism (reforming) and then through them already acting on muhammedan. The Baselians, through the distribution of the Bible and especially through the education of youth in the spirit of Protestantism, began strong propaganda among the Armenians, and not without success. They had already begun to build a large educational institution for the upper classes of society, for them “the hope for the reformation of the Armenian Church had already begun to shine with its first twilight light,” 384 when suddenly the Russian government put an end to these successes. The Armenian Catholicos, noticing the success of Protestant propaganda among his flock, became very alarmed and took measures on his part against them. He pointed out to the then Governor-General of the Caucasus, Baron Rosen, the English influence in Persia and the relations of missionaries with the English Bible Society. Baron Roven took note of these instructions and let the higher authorities know about this, who considered the unrest of the Armenians, as well as the political significance of the Protestant mission indicated by them, to be very dangerous and decided in accordance with the wishes of St. Synod to prohibit colonists from engaging in propaganda between Russian subjects. In 1835, under the pretext of finding measures to establish a Scottish colony, a case was opened on this subject regarding measures to establish a Scottish colony near the Caucasus Mountains and regarding granting members of this colony and Basel missionaries staying in Shusha the right to convert Mohammedans and pagans to their religion. “The Committee of Ministers, after considering this case, found that the main circumstance contained in it is the right granted to the Scottish colonists to convert the Mohammedans and pagans to their religion and thereby increase the number of members of the colony. - On this subject, the committee could not help but notice that the actions of the colonists for 35 years, from the time the said right was granted to them, were limited to only the conversion of 9 highlanders and that since 1828, when that right was reconfirmed by them, they did not convert even one person, while the preachers of the Ossetian commission over the course of 17 years baptized 7,000 souls; Such insignificant successes of the colonists completely convince that they are not at all engaged in missionary work, and consequently, in order to multiply their colony, they do not have the slightest need for the right granted to them. - As for those who settled in. Shusha Basel missionaries, it is clear from the case that, from the time of their installation, without converting anyone to Christianity, they deviated from their real goal, fixing their sights on the Armenian youth. Their actions aroused complaints from the Armenian clergy, which, according to the local authorities, could have very unpleasant consequences. - Therefore, the committee, fully sharing the opinion of the chief administrator in Georgia, that the actions of all generally non-religious missionaries in the Transcaucasian region should be, for the reasons set out in detail in the explanations, forever stopped, and, moreover, bearing in mind the review made in the presence of the committee by the synodal chief prosecutor that the rules on the transformation of Caucasian theological schools have already been awarded the highest approval, and for the formation of a mountain-Russian missionary society for The Caucasus is awaiting only the final considerations of Baron Rosep, which he, when he was here, promised to deliver immediately upon his arrival in Georgia - he believed that after this there would no longer be any need to have non-religious missionaries in that region. - According to this, the committee decided... a) prohibit the members of the Scottish colony and the Basel missionaries settled in Shusha from any missionary activities, leaving them to engage in agriculture, factories and crafts in the future, b) the Basel missionaries, in order to prevent any reason for complaints from the Armenian clergy, are also prohibited from accepting Armenian youth into their schools” 385. This definition was approved by the emperor and thus the Protestant missions among the Caucasian Tatars ceased to exist, leaving almost no traces. The Basel Society took its missionaries back and gave them a different purpose. Most of them settled near the Russian border in Turkish and Persian Armenia. Here they continued to reform the Armenian and Nestorian churches, apparently completely forgetting about the main goal of their activity, i.e., the weakening of Muhammadanism. Theodor Griesinger. Jesuits, g. 1. p. 13 – 14. 1868. Rohrbacher. llist. univ. de L'Eglis, cathol. Paris. 1852 t. 25. p. 11, 639. Rohrbacher. t 25 p.m. 12. 13 Henr. t. II. p. 245 – 247. Ranke. Rome. dads, russian translation 1847. volume, II book. 7 pp. 97 – 98. Rohrbacher. t. 25. rub. 286 – 327, 425 – 446, 467 – 477, 678 – 682. Rohrbacher. Hist. univ. de L'Eglis. cat, T, 23. p. 121. Real-Encyclop. von. Herzog. t. IX. s. 564, 566. Michaud. IV, 405 – 467; 696 – 704. Frame. Art. No. IV. Michaud. V, 121 – 128; 417 – 470. Def. Art. No. II. I. Capastram – Franciscan (Mish. V, 9). Simonet (ibid). Franciscan Pavel Tomori, Archbishop of Kolots was the commander-in-chief of the army of Louis II of Hungary, defeated by the Turks at Mogac in 1520 (Misho. V, p. 110). Zinkeisen, Geschihte d. Osman. Reiches in Europa, t. II, s, 637 – 638. Jesuits. Theodor Griesinger vol. I. pp. 13 – 14. 1868. Jesuits. Theodor Grasinger vol. I. p. 167. Griesinger. I, pp. 93 – 113. Histor. Religions vol. II, p. 391. ed. Hana. 1870 Griesinger. vol. 1, pp. 334 – 333. The original documents relating to this case are given in the History of the Jesuits by Abbot Gatte. Guette. Hist. des Iésuites Paris. 1859 t. II, p. 80 – 157. Michaud. IV, pp. 612 – 613. Newest information about tour. imp. Moscow. 1828. Part I, p. 146. Newest information about tour. imp. Moscow. 1828 h, I, p. 194. Newest information about tour. imp. Moscow. 1828 Part I, p. 148. Zinkeisen, t II. s 712 – 713. Michaud. Histor. cr. don't give a fuck vol. V, p. 532. For example, one day in 1703, the Armenians came to complain about the Jesuits and their like-minded patriarch to the Turkish kaya or minister of internal affairs. When this latter asked the head of the deputation, Metropolitan Euphraim; “What are Catholics? Are they unfaithful or not? and when Euphraim began to explain what Catholics were, he objected: "Whether a pig is white or black, it is still a pig, and the high port does not care about the difference between Armenians, Catholics and methods." Hammer, t. VII, p. 57. Real-Encycfop. v. Herzog. t. IX. p. 600. Brief and official information about this mission and especially about the first three decades of its existence can be borrowed from the annual Jesuit reports - Annuae litterae societatis Jesu for various years and from their centennial report - Imago primi saeculi societatis Jesu. The information contained in these reports is extremely dry and brief. Details can be found in various historical Jesuit works, such as the works of Catroux - Histoire general de L'empire Mogol, Tanner - Societas Jesu usque sanguinis et vitae profusionem militans and Duyarik - Histoire de choses plus memorables. A rather thorough and neat summary of these details was made by Henrio in his Ilistuire general des missions catholiques. t. II. p. 158 – 172. Baber is known not only as a great commander and sovereign, but also as a man of high intelligence, a gifted poet and writer. Of his works, especially two are known, written in the Tatar-Dzhagatai dialect - a collection of poems called “Divan” and memoirs about his life - “Baber-pame”. Scholars place this last work on the same level of merit as Caesar's comments. Enz. Plushar's lexicon. Vol. IV. Baberids, cr. Grigorieva. pp. 3 – 25. Akbar is the grandson of Babep, his third successor; the second was Gamayun (1530 – 1550). Akbar was followed by: Jegangir (1605 - 1630), Shah Jehan (1630 - 1658), Aurung Zeb (1658 - 1707), Baghadur Shah (1707 - 1712), Jegandar Shah, Ferruhshir, Refiudderenje and Refiudueble, Muhammad Shah, Ahmed Shah, Allemgir and Shah Alem (1708 – 1803). Enz. lex. Plushara. Vol. IV. pp. 14 – 25. Henrion. Hist. geuer, des miss. cathol. t. II. p. 159. Historia Christi i Historia s. Petri, although not in perfect condition, were later published in 1639 in Europe (Lugduni Batavorum) by Louis de Dieu. See Lee, Controversial tracts on Christianity dan Mohammedanism. Cambridge. 1824. p. VI. Ranke, Rome. dads. pyc. nep. 1847 sq. 7. page 133. Pimenta, Nora relatio de rebus in India orient. a patribus sotiet. Jesu an. 1598 –1599 gestis. Mogunt. 1601. p. 167 - 179. Here, by the way, the Jesuits learned from one Muhammadan merchant that from here they could penetrate into China, where there were Christians, and Akbar promised the most active assistance to the missionaries if any of them wanted to penetrate this way, then unknown to Europeans. Goes took advantage of this promise and soon after made his famous journey to China through Central Asia. Diction. des Missions. t. I, art. Xavier. p. 1392. What kind of deception was there, see above note. on pages 130 and 131 (note 215) Ranke, Rome. dads. sq. 7. page 132. Diction. des Miss. t. I. art. Pinheiro. p. 1112. Ibid. p. 382, 383. art. Corsi. A similar table of contents in Persian and English can be found in Lee, Contoversial tracts on Cliristianity and Mohammedanism. p. XIII – XLI. The treatise consists of five chapters, each with several sections. The first chapter proves the necessity of religion in general and revealed religion in particular and indicates the criterion for distinguishing true religion from false ones. The second chapter sets out the Christian teaching about one God, about the trinity of persons, about angels, about man and his fall and the need for redemption. The third talks about I. Christ as the redeemer, about His deity and the need for the incarnation of God for the redemption of man, about the miracles of I. Christ and about the Gospel, and it is proved that the Gospel was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that it is not damaged, and that the Mohammedans themselves should believe the Gospel, since it has not been abolished by the Koran. In the fourth and fifth chapters, a comparison is made between the Christian religion and Muhammadanism, aimed at refuting the latter. The list of this treatise, which was in the hands of Lee, contained about 800 pages in folio. A refutation was written in 1621 by a certain Ahmed ibn Zain-El-Abidin in Persian under the title: “Divine Punch in Refutation of Christian Error.” Its contents are from Lee. Contr. tracts. p. XLI–CI. Ranke, Rome. dads. book 7. page 133. Lettres edifiantes, ed. Aime-Martin. t. I.p. 408. Enz. lex. Plushara. vol. 4. p. 18. Henr. t. II. r. 171 – 172. Lettres edifiantes. t. I.p. 408. Entsek. lex. Plushara. Vol. VI. page 22. Lettres edifiantes t. II. p. 304 – 305. Dict. des Miss. t. I.p. 1112. Hammer, Gescbichte des Osm. Reiches. 1829. B. III. p. 209. Ibid. V.p. 593, 645. VIII. p. 133. Lettres edif. t. I.p. 408. Dict. des Miss. t. II p. 1306. The first Mohammedan monument in Crimea can be called the Old Crimean mosque, built in 1314. But the appearance of this mosque is much more conveniently explained by the religious tolerance of the Crimean khans. See History. fate of Crimea Tatars, Hartakhaya. West. Egr. 1866 vol. II p. 196 Sestrentsevich Bogut, Historian. about Tavria. Vol. II. p. 252. St. Petersburg. 1806. Wadd. Annal. Minor. 1465. No. 2. West. Heb. 1866 vol. II. page 207. Bogush, Historian. about Tavria. Vol. II. page 403. Bogush, History of Tavria. Vol. II. pp. 302 – 304. Henrion, contrary even to Jesuit writers, assures that Zgoda himself voluntarily gave himself into slavery to the Tatars. The Jesuits themselves did not dare to give themselves such praise even in their Imago primi saeculi, from which we borrowed information about the circumstances of Zgoda’s settlement in the Crimea. r. 223, 224. Henr. t. II. p. 241 Henr. t. II. r. 302 – 304. Voyage en Circassie par le pays des tarlares Nogaes. I.ctt. edif. ed. Aime Martin, t. 1. p. 116. Hist. gen. des miss. cat. t. II. p. 123. Histor. about Taurus. Vol. II. pp. 413 – 414. Lelt. edif. t. I. b. 98. Lett. du P. Duban a monseigneur le marquis de Torcy. Kazy-Girey was overthrown by the Sultan because, perhaps through the influence of Duban, he dared to advise the port to start a war with Russia. Bogush, vol. II. page 323. Lett. edif. et curieus. t. I.p. 105. “It was difficult to obtain such permission,” says Bogush, “for all the Tatar princes generally rejected the requests of Christians in this reasoning, and had condescension towards the Armenians only because the great Sultan gave Berat, or a privilege to their bishops.” Histor. about Taurus. Vol. I. p. 415 Lett. edif. t. I.p. 105 – 108. Histor. about Taurus. Vol. II. page 403. Lett. edtf. t. I. b. 110. Ibid. p. 118 – 122. Stephen’s letter does not indicate the year when it was written, but, based on the political circumstances set out in this letter, it can be assumed that it was written during the reign of Mengli-Girey (1725 – 1730), when the struggle of the khans with the Chirinbeys ended in the complete defeat of the latter. Bogush, vol. II. page 352. Ibid. r. 121. Bogush. Vol. II. page 342. Lett. edif. vol. I. p. 121. Manstein, Notes of historical, political. and military about Russia from 1727 to 1744 Russian. translation 1810 part II. pp. 69, 70. Guette, Hist. des Jesuit. t. III. p. 474. Details about the activities of the Jesuits in Crimea at the beginning of this century are from Moroshkin: “Jesuits in Russia.” St. Petersburg 1870. Part II. pp. 393 – 430. One experienced Indian missionary discusses this subject as follows: “It can probably be said that missionaries, setting out on a journey to convert the pagans (we can add Muhammadan), will do very well if they take with them natives who have been converted, or even only those who have been proclaimed by the word of truth... Since a countryman listens better to a fellow countryman than to a stranger, it is easier for these converts to act than Europeans in the cause of Christianity. If they have less dexterity, eloquence and knowledge than the missionaries, then the fervor with which they convince the unconsecrated passes into the soul of the latter faster and takes root in them more firmly than the speech of some monk alien to them.” Father's son 1848. February. V. art. 38: Extract from the journal. mission. LaCroa. Protestant propaganda among foreigners living on the eastern outskirts of European Russia began even earlier. In 1764, the Moravian brothers or Geriguters, with the permission of the government, settled in the vicinity of Tsaritsyn (Saratov province) and founded the colony of Sarepta there, having mainly in mind the missionary goal of converting the surrounding pagans and Muhammadans to Christianity. Some of the colonists did engage in missionary work, and sometimes not completely unsuccessfully, but soon this main goal of the colony was relegated to the background, and then completely lost sight of. The missionary activity of the Sarepta colonists was aimed exclusively at the Kalmyks, and not at the Tatars, and therefore consideration of it is beyond our task. About Zarephath, see News. Heb. 1868. No. 3. pp. 278 – 326: Sector colonists in Russia, Klaus. Journal min. adv. enlightenment 1869 August: About distribution. Christian. at Kalm. pp. 148 – 152. Nachrichten von der Ausbreitung des Reichs Jesu. B.II. 1803 r. S. 99 et seq. News. Europe. 1868 book. 3. page 290. Nachrichten von der Ausbreit. des Reichs Jesu. B.II.S. 92 – 95. History of the fate of Crimea. tat. West. Heb. 1866 II. page 197. Lett. edif. t. I. b. 101, 115. Bogush says: “The Nogais were as ignorant of their law as of everything else; They barely had the Muslim faith. They tell about this the answer of one jester Selnm-Gireev, who was forced by his sovereign to accept the Mohammedan faith: “No, I can’t,” he answered, but in order not to completely annoy you, I’ll rather become a Nogai.” (History of Taurus. vol. II. p. 402.). Full collection zak. Vol. XXVII, No. 20522. Nachr. ѵоn der Ausbreit. des Reichs Jesu, B. Sh. S. 60. In the Complete Collection of Laws, several similar cases are mentioned, but this is not mentioned Complete Laws, Vol. XXIX, No. 22410, Pune. 12 and 13. Nachricht. von der Ausbreit. des Reichs Jesu. B.III. S. 69. 59 – 51. Nachricht. von der Ausbreit. des Reichs Jesu. B.III. S. 63 Ibid. B.II.S. 63. This treatise was the first fruit of the Karasz press. It consisted of 52 large pages and was printed very cleanly in Arabic letters (S. 62.). Nachricht. von der Ausbreit. des Reichs Jesu. V.III. S. 273 – 275. Known about pacpp. hr-va between the tongue. people. and Mohammed. St. Petersburg 1817 pp. 362 – 363. Nachricht. von der Ausbreit. des Reichs Jesu. V.III. S. 269. Ibid. V. Sh. S. 270 – 272. Full collection zak. Vol. XXXIV, No. 27070. Theolog. Studieu und Kritiken. 1866. 4. Basel. Missionsgeselsocaft. S. 809.( Real-Encyclop. von Herzog. t. IX. S. 587. Theolog. Studieu und. Crit. 4. S. 809. Ibid. S. 809, 810 et seq. Around the same time (1817), a Protestant English mission was established within our Trans-Baikal region, near Selenginsk, among the idolatrous Mongols and Buryats. The first missionaries here were English pastors: Stallybras and Swan, and after them many others were sent. These missionaries had a pharmacy and a printing house here, in which they printed St. Scripture V. 3. in the Mongolian language and St. began to print. Scripture in Buryat language. But in 1850 this mission was destroyed. Jesuits in Russia, Moroshkina. Part II. pp. 437 – 8, note. Arch. law. 1857. Vol. XII. Part II. Charter about count § 100 Art. 18. In 1819, he compiled “An Experience in the Grammar of the Arabic Language” in Arabic, and in 1820 he wrote: “Muamma-wa-Lugaz,” charades in Arabic and Persian. Minutes of the Council of St. Petersburg. University for the second half of 1870 - 1871 No. 4. p. 101 We do not have exact information regarding the year of Kazem-bek’s conversion. Berezin indicates 1821; German biographers date this appeal to 1822 and even to 1823. Some details about this appeal are in the above minutes of the Council of St. Petersburg. University, in Berezin’s article pp. 100 – 130 and in the minutes of the council of the Kazan Theological Academy for 1871 pp. 51 – 55 “An excellent copy of this unpublished answer is in the library of St. Petersburg University, where it was received among the manuscripts sold by Kazem-bek to Kazan University.” Berezin. II mouth. owls St. Petersburg Univ. No. 4. page 102. The Basel missionaries tried to take credit for the conversion of Kazem Beg, although they could only be his witnesses. That Kazem-bek was converted by English and specifically Scottish missionaries is quite clear from the fact that Kazem-bek was of the Presbyterian confession and knew almost no German at all, while he was familiar with English as his natural language. Russian news. 1866. October, pp. 492 – 593. Theolog, Studien und Kritiken. S. 813 – 814. Walk through the Caucasus. miner waters Otech: notes of 1824, part XVII. No. 47. pp. 442 – 446. Histor. minister int. Case Varadinova. Vol. III. 142 – 143 Full collected law. second, vol. III. No. 2517. Full collection law. second, vol. Sh. No. 2517. Theolog. Studien and Kritik. 1865. 4 Hef. S. 184. Full collection law. second, vol. X, no. 8271. You might be interested in: