In 1825, during the Greco-Turkish War, the English adventurer Trelloni discovered a hidden unimaginable treasure in the mountains of Kafiristan. Under the guise of assisting Greece, many "gentleman adventurers" arrived in Messolonghi to participate in the battles, aiming to reach Kafiristan and seize the treasure of Alexander the Great.
Many were murdered by brigands of the Afridi tribe, while the unluckiest faced inhumane tortures in a horrific prison, the "Golden House of Samarkand." In this story, we will reunite with Corto Maltese and his friends during a tumultuous period in the history of Western Asia, which involved the entire planet.
Turkey was emerging shattered from the Balkan Wars, England was losing its influence in Afghanistan, Russia threatened India, and Persia was facing insurgents and revolution within its borders. In 1911, the Italo-Turkish War broke out, resulting in Italians seizing Ottoman Tripolitania, Rhodes, and other Greek islands.
Subsequently, there would follow the massacres of Armenians, the Balkan Wars, World War I, and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Amidst coups and revolutions, the quest for the treasure would continue, becoming increasingly unattainable.
The Golden House of Samarkand is not just about the search for treasure, but it also unravels the thread of the geopolitical situation prevailing in Western Asia, as Corto Maltese meets Enver Pasha in Dushanbe, in Russian Turkestan.
