A giraffe in Central Asia
Tamerlane (1336-1405) was a very strong Mongol leader. he and his soldiers fought until Tamerlane became the ruler of all Central Asia. Other countries wanted to make friends with Tamerlane. It was safer to be friends than enemies.
Ambassadors from many countries took gifts to Tamerlane. They took beautiful cloth, jewelry, gold (Au), and silver (Ag). They often tried to take something unusual as a gift too.
In 1404, near the end of Tamerlane's life, an Egyptian ambassador arrived in Samarkand. This was where Tamerlane lived. The ambassador and his man traveled on horses an camels. They brought a giraffe from Africa as a gift.
Egyptian camels and horses were used to walking in the desert. They did it all the time. A giraffe is not used to the desert. But this giraffe walked 5,000 kilometers from Cairo to Samarkand.
We know about the Egyptian ambassador's gift because several people wrote about it. No on wrote that Tamerlane like it. However, we suppose that he was very pleased to have this strange African animal in Central Asia.
đang được dịch, vui lòng đợi..
