In the middle 90-s of the XX-th century, historically thus is was formed, the founders of the company PERSEPOLIS started to restore the idea of passage the transport route previously made by Afanasy Nikitin and described in his itineraries (Voyage Beyond Three Seas).

There is no other records about Afanasy as only as a simple Russian merchant fromTver. His father’s name Nikita became his cognomen. Afanasy certainly could never imagine that, five centuries later, he would be acknowledged as one of the great travellers of the Medieval World.

He made a journey to Persia and India.

The information about his extraordinary journey is only kept in Afanasy’s diary, the geographical document and historical record, under Ermolinsky edition.

In his notes the traveller tells the story of his itinerate on the Caspian Sea shore, Persia, India, Turkey, Crimea and the South of Russia. On his way back he visited the African shores of Somali and Masqat.

In summer 1466 the venturers from Tver set the far sail on two ships down the Volga River beyond the sea “Derbentsky” or “Khvalynsky” (thus the Caspian Sea was called in former times).

The Karavan sailed “with caution and fear”. It safely passed Kazan and other Tatar towns, but in the mouth of Volga it was attacked by the Tatar band of Khan Kasym. The merchants took up arms. The Tatars “shot down one of our men, we shot two Tatars”, reports Nikitin.  Unfortunately the first ship stalled in the fishing seine, the other went aground.

The Tatars robbed the ships and took four Russian prisoners. The ships remained unhurt and put out to the Caspian Sea. The smallest ship with “six Moscow merchants and six Tverich” have been hacked in the storm and stranded on the sea-sand beside Tarkha (Makhachkala). The coasters harried the goods and took the prisoners. Afanasy on the other ship with 10 merchants safely reached Derbent. First of all he started to find out the way to save his friends and in one year time his ado were crowned with success. The prisoners have been unbinded. But the goods remained expendable. Afanasy founded himself overseas, lamented not only because of the goods but also regretted of a loss of the books during the robbery by Tatars in the mouth of Volga.

In 1468 Nikitin reached Baku. And in September sailed towards the Persian province Mazanderan. He was travelling leisurely, occasionally stayed in small places and traded.

In spring 1469, by passing the Elbrus mountain range, Afanasy moved to the South. He reached Hormuz – a big and roaring port, where the routs from Asia, Egypt, India & China intersect.

In a short time Nikitin alighted in Chaul and exclaimed: “And this is where the land of India lies, and where everyone goes naked; the women go bareheaded and with breasts uncovered, their hair plaited into one braid. Many women are with a child; they bear children every year, and have many children”.

In June he crossed the Western Gaty mountains and went up the country, 200 miles to the East from the sea to a small town in the headwaters of Sina (Krishna basin), and after to the North-West to the Dzhunar-fortress, situated on the point of the high mountain to the East of Bombay.

In 1472 from Dzhunar Afanasy turned his steps towards the sacred city Parvat, on the right bank of Krishna with the prayers for the Night Feast devoted to God Shiva. The traveller notes that this city is sacred for Indians like Mecca for Muslims and Jerusalem for Orthodox. More than 100 thousand prayers came together for that Night Feast.

From Parvat Afanasy came back to Bidar which he left in April 1473. After staying for the next five months in the “diamond” province Raichur, Afanasy decided to go back home. He travelled through Iran and crossed the Black Sea – but he never made it back home. The merchant died 200 kilometres away from his beloved Tver.