CARPINI

CARPINI, Giovanni del Plano (ca. 1180 or, according to other data, ca. 1185 — 1252), Italian Traveler, Monk. In 1245, he headed the first European mission to the Mongolian Empire (the route crossed the territory of the Volga region, the Urals and Central Asia). Author of the literary works called The History of the Mongols, Whom We Call Tatars, and The Book about Tatars, which contain information on the conquest of the Bashkirs by the Mongols after their conquest of Mordva and Bulgars. Bashkirs are mentioned by the name Baskart. He also considered Bashkortostan as being part of Greater Hungary (the ancient homeland of the Hungarians). Various research results by C., V.Rubrik, Julian and others formed the basis of the Finno‑Ugric theory of the origin of the Bashkirs.