For centuries, elephants remained a living embodiment of power and strength, which is why many rulers wanted to acquire these visible symbols of might. Russian autocrats were no exception, who learned from experience that owning an elephant was not only very troublesome but sometimes quite profitable. For example, for improving domestic transportation routes. Since the time of Hannibal, elephants were not only a symbol of power but also a means to improve transport pathways.

Since the reign of the first Russian emperor, there was a common belief that it was Peter I who first brought an elephant to Russia. Traveling through Europe, the reforming tsar saw at a fair an extraordinary animal performing various tricks on command from its trainer and decided to get the same kind of beast in Saint Petersburg. A few years later, he obtained one by the same means as Ivan the Terrible had many decades earlier.

In 1569, the Russian tsar sent an embassy to the Persian Shah Tahmasp I led by the guest A. A. Khoznikov, along with a very valuable gift — 100 cannons and more than 500 rifles. The generosity of the Russian autocrat was quite simple to explain: Rus and Persia had a common enemy — the Ottoman Empire, and by arming the enemy of his enemy, Ivan the Terrible reduced the likelihood that the Crimean Tatars, supported by Turkish troops, could retake the recently conquered Astrakhan Khanate. In response, the shah sent rich gifts to his ally, among which was an Indian elephant.

The exact date of the rare animal’s arrival in Moscow has not been preserved. This event itself gave rise to many stories, in which it is quite difficult to separate grains of truth from speculation. It was said that the beast did not please the tsar. And maintaining it and paying its keeper cost a considerable amount from the modest state treasury. Thus, the story of the German oprichnik Heinrich Staden about how the foreign animal was blamed for a plague outbreak in Moscow during the 1567-1571 epidemic seems, if not convincing, then quite logical.

"There was a great famine then," wrote Staden, "people killed each other over a piece of bread... Moreover, the Almighty God sent a great plague... The Grand Prince was given an elephant along with an Arab who cared for it. The Arab received a large salary in Moscow. This was noticed by Russian drunkards, i.e., dissolute people, drunkards who drink in taverns and play dice. For money, they secretly killed the Arab’s wife. This Arab was slandered and falsely accused by the Russians along with his elephant, claiming that the plague, which was not even thought of in Moscow, came from him and his elephant. Then the Arab and his elephant were exiled in disgrace to the settlement of Gorodetskaya. The Arab died there, and the Grand Prince sent a nobleman with orders to kill the elephant with the help of peasants... and townsfolk. The elephant stood in a shed, and around the shed was a fence. Nearby, the Arab was buried. Then the elephant broke through the fence and lay down on the grave. There it was finished off; its tusks were knocked out and delivered to the Grand Prince as proof that the elephant had indeed died."

The reforming tsar acquired the elephant in the same way — as a gift. Moreover, the first attempt to obtain the Indian giant, according to some accounts, ended in failure. Or Peter I was misled. On January 2, 1703, the Peter’s "Vedomosti" (News) reported:

"From Persia they write: The Indian king sent as gifts to our great Sovereign an elephant and many other things. It was sent from the city of Shemakha to Astrakhan by land." "Expenses included the purchase of paints to color the elephant for parade appearances."

However, in reality, the exotic animal appeared in Russia in 1712 as a gift from the Persian shah. Transporting the animal along the Volga at that time was a very complicated task — besides rapids and shallow places, there were many robbers on the river. Therefore, to deliver the gift intact, it was decided to lead the elephant overland from Astrakhan to Moscow. It was said that hundreds of Astrakhan residents escorted the unusual beast on foot for forty versts. Upon arrival in the capital, it turned out that the elephant required considerable expenses for its upkeep. On September 12, 1712, the State Embassy Office informed the Governing Senate that along with the Persian embassy to Moscow came a whole menagerie — besides the elephant, there were two lions, leopards, and exotic birds. The Moscow embassy yard was dilapidated and unsuitable for housing the ambassador, his retinue, and the animals, so it was necessary to rent the house of Prince S. P. Dolgorukov for 80 rubles a month and spend another 200 rubles to bring the chambers and buildings into order.

But this was only the beginning of the expenses. To keep the elephant off the cold ground, a platform of beams had to be built. To prevent the giant from escaping, special chains weighing 7.5 poods (about 123 kg) were forged. To keep it from freezing, a special fur blanket lined with gray cloth was made, and a "Volos coat for the trunk" was issued. The predators, birds, and embassy officials with their servants also had to be protected from the cold. In a report from the Embassy Office to the Senate dated October 13, 1712, it was stated: "For the ambassador and all his people for their Bayram holiday, vodka, wine, beer, mead, and livestock were issued for 47 rubles." Soon it turned out that vodka was also needed for the elephant.

In 1714, upon the elephant’s arrival in Saint Petersburg, the tsar housed the long-awaited Indian guest in one of his personally owned houses. In November 1715, he ordered the construction of a special "Elephant Yard" for it. How long this elephant lived is not mentioned in archival documents. However, even in 1723, when the next one was delivered, and in 1737, when a gift from Persian Nadir Shah arrived, a daily ration for the royal elephant already existed, which, according to a review of the Palace Office documents, included:

"50 pounds of saracin millet (rice), including 10 pounds instead of maize, which was not available for sale; 2 poods of wheat flour; 5 pounds of sugar; 8 pounds of cow butter; 20 zolotniks of pepper; 20 zolotniks of ginger; 4 zolotniks of cinnamon; 4 zolotniks of cloves; 4 zolotniks of cardamom; 4 zolotniks of nutmeg; 1 zolotnik of saffron; 5 pounds of salt; in summer, a quarter of white grape wine; in winter, a quarter of vodka; in summer, a cartload of grass; in winter, 5 poods of hay and cane. In addition, expenses for the elephant’s upkeep included: daily purchase of 10 tallow candles for the guards; purchase of milk, goat and mutton fat, and eggs for making medicines; purchase of paints to color the elephant, probably for parade appearances; hiring two servants to carry water for the elephant and chop wood."

Most likely, neither the spices nor the vodka ever reached the elephant. This was evidenced by an incident in 1737. Until then, the Palace Office annually issued 169 rubles 60 kopecks to buy 53 buckets of vodka for the royal beast. But on July 20, 1737, the Palace Office decided to issue the elephant’s vodka ration in kind — one bucket per week. On October 27, 1738, the elephant keeper presented evidence to the office that the new arrangement was harmful to his charge, submitting a sample of the vodka, which he wrote was "unpleasant to the elephant because it tasted burnt and was weak." However, vodka continued to be issued in kind even after that.

It became clear in 1741 that elephants could be useful not only to those who cared for them. That year, Persian Nadir Shah, who in 1739 had conquered India, decided to wage war against the Ottoman Empire and wanted to secure Russia’s help in fighting a common enemy. Therefore, in September 1741, his new rich gifts arrived in Saint Petersburg, including 14 elephants. The shah’s calculation was correct, but its execution did not take into account all the subtleties of relations at the Russian court. The elephants were intended not only for the infant Emperor Ivan VI and his mother Anna Leopoldovna. One was to be presented to Peter I’s daughter — Grand Duchess Elizabeth Petrovna. But she was treated with hostility and distrust at the imperial court. Therefore, the Persian ambassador, so as not to irritate Anna Leopoldovna, refused to personally hand over the shah’s gift to Peter’s daughter, which was considered a direct insult to the Grand Duchess. On November 25, 1741, a palace coup took place, and Elizabeth ascended the throne.

The herd of seemingly useless elephants not only burdened the treasury but also caused direct damage. That same year, three elephants began to rampage, "getting angry among themselves over the females," broke free from their tethers, and ran away. Two were soon caught, and one, as reported by the elephant keeper Aga-Sadyk on October 8, 1741, "went through the garden and broke the wooden fence, passed to Vasilyevsky Island, and there broke the Chukhon village, and only there was caught."

But the elephants also brought obvious benefits. When it became known in spring 1741 that they were about to arrive, the Chancellery received reports from the buildings that the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg, over which the elephants were to be led, was "in considerable disrepair." Therefore, the master carpenter von Boles was instructed to immediately begin repairs. In addition, several other bridges in the empire’s capital were repaired. By order of the Chancellery, the master of the huntsman’s affairs Aga-Sadyk traveled from Saint Petersburg to Moscow and compiled a list of necessary road repairs for the safe passage of the elephants.

Indian elephants continued to help improve Russian roads and bridges in the following years. On August 13, 1849, the famous publicist I.S. Aksakov wrote from Rybinsk to his parents:

"This week an elephant passed here, gifted to the sovereign by the Khan of Bukhara. The elephant’s retinue consists of several Bukharans and an official from the Orenburg province. I was mistaken in saying it passed. It sailed; in Nizhny Novgorod it was loaded onto a 'tikhvinka,' a boat or vessel of a special design. At the Rybinsk pier, it stayed for a day because it was stocking up on bread. It is fed white baked bread, which it eats about two poods a day, plus 20 pounds of sugar and 10 pounds of butter. The whole town came to see it, including me. I saw an elephant for the first time: the beast is rather ugly but smart and gentle. From Hindustan to Petersburg!.. The funny thing is that it fixed roads in many places. Before Nizhny, it walked on foot, and since it is very timid, it stepped onto a bridge, felt its instability, and immediately turned back. Nothing to be done: they are building a strong bridge so that the elephant will not be afraid!"

Therefore, Krylov’s fable about "The Elephant and the Pug" has a quite real basis:

They led the Elephant through the streets,

As if for show —

It is known that Elephants are a rarity here.

Most likely, Krylov either saw this himself or heard about it, which he reflected in his fable.

Sources:

https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2861282

https://www.academia.edu/39654351/Живые_подарки_слоны_посольства_Надир_шаха_1739_1742_годов

https://dzen.ru/a/YMIY5NAeKXPTKU4i