Harold Lamb was one of the big guns of the early Adventure magazine -- or so I perceive him today. Whether his name on the cover of the magazine actually increased sales, I don't know. But during his lifetime Lamb was considered an excellent historical novelist and an expert on the periods he wrote about.
Steve Young is a retired professor of music who has become an avid pulp fan and researcher in recent years. He has kindly graced us with this article about i>The Grand Cham by Harold Lamb. Take it away, Steve:
This novel appeared complete in the July 1, 1921 issue of Adventure magazine. In lieu of a plot summary of this novel (some of you may wish to read it and others will have already done so), I would like to comment on Lamb's use of historical characters in his story. Lamb was an avid reader of Oriental history and spoke and read several languages including Arabic and at least one dialect of Chinese. Of the four main characters, three are historical figures (I could not find any historical references to the Irish-French hero of the novel, Michael Bearn.)
The three are Tamerlane (1336-1405) the grand cham (Kham or Khan) of the title, Sultan Bayezid I (1360-1403) an Ottoman ruler, and Ruy de Gonzales Clavijo, traveler and author of the first known biography of Tamerlane, and the first Spanish travelogue of any kind. Of the three, Tamerlane is portrayed the most accurately, followed by Bayezid the Lightning (as he was known). The relationship of historical fact and fictional license is the most vague -- and consequently the most interesting -- in the case of Lamb's portrayal of Clavijo.
“Tamerlane” is a Westernization of Tamer Lenk, a Persian pejorative term for Tamer (Timur) meaning “Timur the Lame.” This does not refer to a physical ailment (as one writer maintains) but is meant sarcastically in the sense of "useless," or "no good." In encyclopedias, he is usually referred to as Timur or Timour. The name Timur comes from the Arabic word Tamuru, meaning “it shall shake.” When the baby was first born, his parents took him to a holy sheikh to be blessed. As they arrived, the sheikh was reading a section of the Koran with that word, and instantly upon seeing him declared that his name would be Tamuru. During his lifetime, he conquered more territory than anyone except Alexander. His rule extended from his home base in Samarkand, southern Russia (present-day Uzbekistan) down through Iran and Syria in the west and into Northern India (1398) on the south, and eastward into the westernmost parts of China. Although at times a brutal conqueror, he was also a man of compassion and great intelligence. He spoke several languages and was a patron of art, poetry and music.
Bayezid I (c. 1360-1403) was equally determined to annex territory and conquer new peoples, so it was only inevitable that he and Timur would eventually clash. His sobriquet was “Yilidrim” or “the Thunderbolt.” While still in his 30s, Bayezid fought off the combined attacks of Hungary and Venice and established control over most of the Balkans. Shortly before his final defeat at the hands of Timur, he established the first centralized Ottoman Empire, based on a blend of Turkish and Muslim ideals. His character in Lamb's novel is that of the villain, and thus rather one-dimensional. However, I was unable to find out very much about his personality, only his deeds, so I have no idea if he was any better or worse than Timur in real life. He died in captivity not long after the crushing defeat at the hands of Timur.
The climactic battle of the novel is that between the forces of Timur and Bayezid I, which occurred in 1402; this historic battle took place near the end of Timur's life, so Lamb's story correctly begins in 1394 and moves through 1403. Michael Bearn has been captured and tortured by the Ottoman Turks under Bayezid, and his right arm has been brutally broken. He later escapes and vows vengeance on the Turk; the story unfolds from there. Bearn accompanies Clavijo and a group of Venetian adventurers and merchants on the long and perilous trip east; the Venetians are in search of wealth and gold and Bearn convinces them that he knows the land at least as far as Persia.
Clavijo is portrayed as a glib liar, and he convinces the Venetians that he has been all the way to China. He tells of the magical land of Cathay with gold and jewels everywhere and marvelous animals, but it soon turns out that he has never been much of anywhere before. He further boasts that he knows the way to Cathay and will guide the Venetians. It soon develops that he does not know his way at all, and furthermore is a cowardly sort; plot-wise this allows Bearn to gradually assume a more important role in the long trip, and also incurs the jealousy and enmity of the Venetians.
Many of the details about Timur are correct; in fact, Lamb later wrote a biography of the Khan. Among the details mentioned are Timur's age (near seventy), his commanding height and physical presence, his interest in the arts and his fondness for his own version of chess, which doubles both the number of pieces and the squares on the board.
After taking Baghdad (Iraq), Aleppo and Damascus (Syria), Timur thoroughly routed Bayezid and the Ottoman Turkish army at Ankara (modern-day Turkey) on July 20, 1402. There were two Spanish ambassadors as guests of Timur before and during the battle with Bayezid, but Clavijo was not one of them.
Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo did, however, join Timur's army for the triumphant return to Samarkand and reports faithfully on all the splendid celebrations in that city. From this beginning, he goes on to write the first Spanish narrative of any kind about his trip. The book is entitled Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarkand, 1403-6. As Lamb portrays him, Clavijo was a great liar (or a great embroiderer of the truth), and historically this is true. But most of his stories were about Spain for the benefit of Timur, not to the Venetians about Cathay, as Lamb tells it. Clavijo died in Spain in 1412 but his narrative was not published until 1587, with a second edition in 1787.
Lamb's novel is vividly written and excitingly paced, and I heartily recommend it to all fans of historical fiction, pulp or otherwise.
-submitted by Steve Young
Links:
The Grand Cham is available from Amazon in a new edition published by Wildside Press. To learn more, click here.
For those who are interested, Clavijo's Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarkand, 1403-6 is available from Amazon by clicking here.
It's also available in paperback ($15) or E-book format on Adobe Reader( $10) from Elibron.com. Click here to visit.
Howard Jones has developed a marvelous site devoted to Harold Lamb. Called The Curved Saber, every fan of Lamb and of Adventure magazine should check it out. It's full of great info about Lamb, including a biography, a bibliographical listing of his fiction and non-fiction in books and magazines, and more. Click here to check out this great site!
Posted by ds at October 15, 2002 02:54 PM
I tried The Curved Saber link, but could not get there- was this temporary or has it moved?
sincerely
Jan van Heiningen
Posted by: Jan van Heiningen at July 13, 2003 04:57 PM
