The Multan affair was a high-profile late 19th century case about a

ritual murder Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

allegedly committed by a group of Udmurt peasants in the village of Old Multan. The affair is called by the name of the village where the initial event happened, "Vuzh Multan" (Old Multan) in Udmurt. It has been subsequently renamed to Korolenko village, in

Vladimir Korolenko Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko (, ; 27 July 1853 – 25 December 1921) was a Russian writer, journalist and humanitarian of Ukrainian origin. His best-known work includes the short novel '' The Blind Musician'' (1886), as well as numerous shor ...

's honour and memory.Tyunkin, K. Commentaries. The Works by V.G. Korolenko in 6 volumes. Vol 6. Pp. 396-419 The case is considered a model of fruitful cooperation between lawyers, investigative journalists, and government officials. Korolenko and

Anatoly Koni Anatoly Fedorovich Koni (Russian: Анатолий Фёдорович Кони; 9 February 1844 – 17 September 1927) was a Russian jurist, judge, politician and writer. He was the most politically influential jurist of the late Russian Empire an ...

are played significant roles in bringing the Multan case to attention.

In culture

In addition to a considerable amount of journalistic and historical research, the case has been fictionalized numerous times. It includes ''The Old Multan'' (1954),

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

of Udmurt writer (1905—1955), and ''Pelagia and the White Bulldog'' (2006), novel from

Sister Pelagia Sister Pelagia is a fictional 19th century Russian nun, the protagonist of a three-book series of mystery novels by Boris Akunin. The first novel, ''Pelagia and the White Bulldog'' (US title: ''Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog'') (Пелаги� ...

mystery series of

Boris Akunin Grigori Chkhartishvili (; ka, გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვილი), better known by his pen name Boris Akunin (, born 20 May 1956), is a Georgian and Russian writer residing in the United Kingdom. He is best known as a write ...

. The Multan affair is also mentioned in Alexandra Brushtein's novel ''At Dawn Hour'' (1958) and

Vasily Yan Vasily Yan (; , Kiev, Russian Empire – August 5, 1954, Zvenigorod, Moscow Oblast), also spelled "Vassily Yan" (or "Ian") or just "V. Yan", was the pen name of Vasily Grigoryevich Yanchevetsky (), a Russian and Soviet writer, author of famous his ...

's book ''Notes of a Pedestrian'' (1901).

References

{{Reflist 1890s in the Russian Empire 1890s trials Criminal cases in Russia History of Udmurtia Human sacrifice Unsolved murders in the Russian Empire

In culture

See also

References