The Golden House of Samarkand is a graphic novel, episode of Corto Maltese's adventures, a Maltese sailor. He lives a long journey from the Mediterranean Sea to the heart of Asia, between December 1921 and September 1922. This story was written and drawn by the Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt. This is the twenty-sixth story and eighth album in the series. It was published for the first time in 1980.
Summary Rhodes
Sitting at the foot of a column, Corto still has his head full of images from his previous treasure hunting in Venice, dreaming of St Mark's Basilica. But in this month of December 1921, a new hunt opened up to him. Indeed, he is now in Rhodes (island of Rhodes, Greece), near a column with a deer, to solve another riddle of his friend Baron Corvo. It speaks of the poet Lord Byron's memoir, hidden by Edward John Trelawny on the Kawakly mosque, under the moon. Thus, the sailor discreetly climbs the dome of the mosque and removes the crescent moon adorning the top. In a hidey-hole, among the scorpions, he finds the precious documents including a letter from Trelawny. He speaks of a legendary treasure hidden by Alexander the Great somewhere in the Afghan mountains, as shown on an attached map.
But Corto is quickly overtaken by reality when Italian troops spot his night walk. As he tries to escape them, he is called by a mysterious man who leads him to a secret meeting. The sailor is confused by the participants with a man named Timur Chevket, a leader of a Turanist movement, who is as alike as two peas in a pod. To preserve his life, he decides to pull the wool over their eyes. Commander Bahiar recounts recent events: General Enver Pasha, ousted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (now president of Turkey), wants to regain his place. To reach this goal, he broke with the Bolsheviks and joined the anti-communist Muslims. His aim is to create a great state unifying the Turkish peoples, from Turkey to western China. Bahiar gives an appointment to Chevket/Corto in Adana (in Cilicia, Turkey) and, together, they will go to Turkestan. The sailor is forced to agree and, after the meeting, shows a clean pair of heels. But he is notwithstanding caught by the Italian troops, who lead him to the Carabinieri captain, Antonio Sorrentino. Corto has already met him in Venice in the story The Angel in the Window to the Orient (in the volume Celtic Tales).
Finally, he goes to the house of his Greek friend Cassandra, who lodges him. She uses her skills in tasseography to guess his future in Greek coffee grounds: he will experience dangerous and sad events. In his room, while carefully studying the documents, he receives his Turkish friend Ibahiyah. This one gives him information about Chevket and a Saladin's insignia to be accepted by the Dervishes of Adana.
Turkey
Two days later, Cassandra's brother Narcissus takes Corto across the Levantine Sea (the easternmost part of the Mediterranean) aboard his sailboat. After being blown off course by a meltem, they manage to berth on the Turkish coast, near Tarsus. On shore, they come upon a couple of European actors at the mercy of some Kurdish deserters. Once they get free of them, Corto interacts with the artists. The man, who is British and disguised as John Bull, will die quickly of a syncope brought on by the distressing events. The woman, dressed as Marianne, immediately falls for Corto. But suddenly, the Kurds come back and threaten them. In the end, Corto gets away with promising their leader Reshid a part of the treasure he is looking for and arranges to meet him in the city of Van.
At this era, the country has suffered the consequences of the World War I: the Ottoman Empire, which is almost dead, was dismembered by the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres. The region where Corto is located, although part of Turkish territory, is under the domination of French troops. This explains why he met French soldiers there. Also, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk notably relied on helping the Kurds in his political ambitions. In return, he promised them an independent state. But, after the creation of Turkey, he denied them. The State of Kurdistan does not appear in the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, negotiated by it with European powers to replace that of Sèvres.
Corto, therefore, arrives in Adana in January 1922. There he is introduced to the Mevlevi Order school, whose members are performing a dance: they are the famous 'whirling dervishes'. Later, Maltese discusses with their Imam, who hosts him. He explains that he wants to free his friend, the Russian sailor Rasputin, from the "Golden House of Samarkand". It's a horrible prison, which is located somewhere in Central Asia. It is watched by fierce guards who relentlessly torture and kill their prisoners. The vultures and braziers then remove the remains of the victims. This place is so called because it is only possible to escape through the golden dreams caused by the swirls of hashish. But during this time, Armenian nationalists spy on them: confusing Corto with Chevket, they attack the place to avenge the Armenian genocide, caused by the Turks. The Imam is dead, but the sailor survives.
While walking through the streets of this city, he meets a girl who recites a quatrain by Omar Khayyam (Persian poet of the 11th - 12th century). So, he gives her a pomegranate. Seeing this act of generosity, a mysterious veiled woman laughs at him and tries to scare him by hurting him. He recognizes in her an old acquaintance. Later, he sees Marianne again, who leads him to a shadow play, where a show "Karagöz and Hacivat" is represented. During the play, Corto sees a puppet resembling Rasputin, which calls him. So he goes backstage and meets the woman, who is also looking for the treasure. All at once, he's knocked out and stripped. A dream follows where he finds himself in Paradise and where Rasputin drives him to Pandora, an old love (in the center of the story The Ballad of the Salty Sea).
He wakes up in a truck roading to Van, surrounded by Kurdish soldiers, in a convoy, led by Bahiar. He arrives in this town bordering the Lake Van in March. There he meets an old imam, Zorah, who agrees to help him cross Azerbaijan. But he wants to give him an eleven-year-old Armenian who survived the massacre of her parents. He asked him to take her to his family in Russian Armenia, before recommending that he trust Kısmet (destiny). Then, he shows him his co-religionists who are followers of Yazidism. The youngest of the priests invokes the circle and the young peacock (Melek Taus, head of the seven angels in-charge for watching over the world). Then, he calls Shaitan, whom Corto has already met in Africa under the name of Samael (in the story More Romeos, More Juliets, published in the volume The Ethiopian). This character predicts the future of Corto, speaking of a tree with strange fruits.
Next, Corto must meet Reshid near the Semiramis wall. But Zorah shows him that he was hanged in a tree with his accomplices: these are the strange fruits mentioned by Shaitan. Later, a car awaits Maltese, with Marianne and the mysterious woman inside. The latter is none other than Venexiana Stevenson, an old Corto's enemy. She tells him that Bahiar and the other Turkish nationalists now know his true identity (thanks to the papers found on him) and, moreover, she revealed to them his quest for the treasure. As for the little Armenian, she is taken hostage by the commander, in exchange for the treasure. The latter executes Zorah. Corto, who does not know it, leaves with the two women.
Persia
He recommends that the driver cross the border with Persia, which would be the safest for them. This man, an adept of Isma'ilism (a branch of Shia Islam), leads them to the area of the Alamut Castle. The sailor takes the opportunity to tell the legend linked to this place, that of the Hashshashin. These Saracens once formed a sect of the Nizari Isma'ilism current, having their lair in this castle. Under the influence of hashish, they massacred those whom their leader (the "Old Man of the Mountain") asked them to kill. Their name, translated into Assassins, is the origin of the term "assassin". Maltese continues his account, claiming that the existence of this terrible sect is confirmed by the testimonies of various people. They are for example Gerhardus, "vice dominus" of Strasbourg sent by Frédéric Barbarossa in 1170, as well as Arnold of Lübeck. But this legend is best-known thanks to Marco Polo, who mentions it in 1273 in his Book of the Marvels of the World. The castle has since been destroyed by the Mongols.
But Corto discovers that this order has not disappeared: the pilot is indeed a member. Thus, the latter leads them to the other Hashshashins, to go to the cult's new lair, "New Alamut". Approaching it, members believe it is occupied, possibly by a Persian Cossack Brigade ruled by Reza Shah, and get scared. Corto goes on reconnaissance with a member named Abbas: there is no one there. Despite this, the Hashshashins have already fled. Thus, the three travelers remain on site to sleep. Corto explains his plans for the rest of his trip. He wants to cross the Caspian Sea in order to free his friend. Next, he plans to search for the treasure in the legendary Kafiristan (present-day Nuristan Province in Afghanistan). Hearing this, Venexiana recalls "The Man Who Would Be King", Rudyard Kipling's famous 1888 novella which takes place in this region.
During this time in Turkestan, in the lair of Enver Pasha, Rasputin is introduced to Chevket. The Russian confuses him with Corto, but the leader brutally disabuses him. Thus, Chevket is intrigued by this mysterious man who looks so much like him and whom he hears a lot about. Rasputin explains Corto's character to him, his sense of friendship: he is so noble that he borders on stupidity. This explains why he is able to brave a thousand dangers to save his friend. Afterwards, Chevket offers Rasputin to accept a military post in exchange for his freedom, having all the required qualities. This is why he changes sides to preserve his life, becoming an army instructor at the rank of Qaid.
In "New Alamut", suddenly, the Red Army attacks the fortress. Soldiers escort them until a Soviet customs office. As they are threatened with being shot, Corto asks to call an old friend by phone to ask him to save them. He is none other than Joseph Djougachvili, recently appointedGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, since April 1922. A few years later he will become the dictator of the Soviet Union, under the name of Joseph Stalin. Finally, all three are released by the commissioner and can continue their adventures. The latter suggests that they embark in Baku (in current Azerbaijan) for Krasnovodsk (current Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan), across the Caspian Sea.
Central Asia Meanwhile, the Qaid Rasputin is introduced to his men by Chevket. He also gave him the Armenian hostage. But the girl is impertinent towards this new soldier. Angry, Rasputin wants to punish her and corners her near a chasm. Having no choice, she throws a stone at him, which makes him fall into the ravine. Ten days later, his head wrapped in a bandage, Rasputin comes out of his coma. Marianne is at his bedside. Corto is also there: he teaches him new events. The traitor Chevket has left with the young prisoner, whom he wants to use for bartering for the treasure. He will wait for Corto near the Kofarnihon river.