Przhevalsky Nikolai Mikhailovich: brief biography, research

FEDERAL AGENCY OF MARINE AND RIVER TRANSPORT

FEDERAL BUDGET EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

“STATE UNIVERSITY OF MARINE AND RIVER FLEET NAMED AFTER ADMIRAL S.O.

MAKAROV"

Coursework in the discipline

“History of tourism” on the topic:

“The scientific significance of the travels of Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky”

Completed by: 1st year student T-11

Shadrina Daria Igorevna.

Checked by: Maria Dmitrievna Korableva, PhD, Associate Professor.

Submission date: 05/29/2013

Saint Petersburg

Introduction

Chapter 2. Travel

1 First trip

3 Third journey

4 The Fourth Voyage

5 Not only geography

Conclusion

Introduction

journey Przhevalsky discovery

Przhevalsky Nikolai Mikhailovich - Russian traveler, explorer of Central Asia, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1878), major general (1886).

Nikolai Mikhailovich led an expedition to the Ussuri region (1867-1869) and four expeditions to Central Asia (1870-1885).

Przhevalsky's greatest achievements are the geographical and natural-historical study of the Kuen-Lun mountain system, the ridges of Northern Tibet, the Lob-Nor and Kuku-Nor basins and the sources of the Yellow River. In addition, he discovered many new forms of animals: wild camel, Przewalski's horse, Tibetan bear, new species of other mammals, and also collected huge zoological and botanical collections, which were later described by specialists. Przhevalsky’s works are highly appreciated; the Gold and Silver medals of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) were established in his honor.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky entered the world history of discoveries as one of the greatest travelers. The total length of its working routes in Central Asia exceeds 31.5 thousand kilometers. The Russian explorer discovered a huge number of previously unknown ridges, basins and lakes in this region. His contribution to science is priceless.

The purpose of the course work is to study the research of Central Mountain Asia and prove the true significance of the works of N.M. Przhevalsky.

I will need this work in the future to develop new tourist routes.

The subject of the course work is the study of Central Asia by Przhevalsky N.M.

The object of the course work is Przhevalsky's travels.

The objectives of the course work are:

studying the biography of Przhevalsky;

study of Przhevalsky's travels to Central Asia;

analysis of the scientific contribution of Przhevalsky's discoveries.

Research methods. The method of work of Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky became a powerful impetus for steel scientists, one might even say that this served as the foundation for the creation of new methods

research.

“This technique was the foundation on which other studies that glorified Russian science, pushing it forward in world geography, relied - Przhevalsky, Roborovsky, Kozlov, Potanin, Pevtsov and others,” emphasized in the Preface to his Memoirs “Travel to Tien Shan 1856-1857." This quote belongs to P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky - the creator of the new technique

geographical discoveries.

Chapter 1. Biography of Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky

I decided that this chapter will be devoted to the biography of Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, as this will give some understanding of him not only as a traveler, but also as a person in general.

The future explorer of Asia, Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, was born on May 31, 1839 on the Karetnikovs' estate, Kimborov, Smolensk province. In the fifth year, Nikolai’s uncle Pavel Alekseevich began to teach and become his teacher. He was a carefree man and a passionate hunter, he had a beneficial influence on his charges (Nikolai Mikhailovchia and his brother Vladimir), teaching them not only literacy and French, but also shooting and hunting. Under his influence, a love for nature awakened in the boy, making him a traveler-naturalist.

Nikolai was a good friend, but had no close friends. His peers succumbed to his influence: he was the horse breeder of his class. He always stood up for the weak and newcomers - this trait testifies not only to generosity, but also to an independent character.

Learning was easy for him: he had an amazing memory. His least favorite subject was mathematics, but even here his memory came to the rescue: “He always clearly imagined the page of the book where the answer to the questions asked was, and what font it was printed in, and what letters were on the geometric drawing, and the formulas themselves with all their letters and signs "

During the holidays, Przhevalsky often spent his time with his uncle. They were housed in an outbuilding, where they came only at night, and spent the whole day hunting and fishing. This was undoubtedly the most useful part in the education of the future traveler. Under the influence of life in the forest, in the air, health was tempered and strengthened; Energy, tirelessness, endurance developed, observation became more sophisticated, love for nature grew and strengthened, which later influenced the traveler’s entire life.

Gymnasium education ended in 1855, when Przhevalsky was only 16 years old. In the fall, he went to Moscow and became a non-commissioned officer in the Ryazan infantry regiment, but was soon transferred as an ensign to the Polotsk infantry regiment, stationed in the city of Bely, Smolensk province.

He soon became disillusioned with military life. He longed for something reasonable and fruitful, but where to find this work? Where to put your strength? Sex life did not provide an answer to such questions.

“Having served five years in the army, having been dragged through guard posts, through various guardhouses, and into shooting with a platoon, I finally clearly realized the need to change this way of life and choose a broader field of activity where labor and time could be spent for a reasonable purpose.”

Przhevalky asked his superiors for a transfer to the Amur, but instead of answering, he was put under arrest for three days.

Then he decided to enter the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. To do this, it was necessary to pass an exam in military science, and Przhevalky zealously set to work on books, sitting over them for sixteen hours a day, and to relax he went hunting. An excellent memory helped him cope with subjects that he had no idea about. After sitting over books for about a year, he went to St. Petersburg to try his luck.

Despite strong competition (180 people), he was one of the first to be accepted. In 1863, at the beginning of the Polish uprising, it was announced to senior officers of the Academy that anyone who wished to go to Poland would be released on preferential terms. Among those interested was

Przhevalsky. In July 1863, he was promoted to lieutenant and appointed regimental adjutant to his former Polotsk regiment.

In Poland he took part in quelling the rebellion, but seems to have been more interested in hunting and books.

Having learned that a cadet school was opening in Warsaw, he decided that he needed to transfer and in 1864 he was appointed there as a platoon officer and at the same time as a teacher of history and geography.

Arriving in Warsaw, Przhevalsky zealously began his new duties. His lectures were a huge success: cadets from other sections of the class gathered to listen to his speech.

During his stay in Warsaw, Przhevalsky compiled a textbook on geography, which, according to the reviews of people knowledgeable in this matter, is of great merit, and studied a lot of history, zoology and botany.

He studied the Central Russian flora very thoroughly: he compiled a herbarium of plants from the Smolensk, Radom and Warsaw provinces, visited the zoological museum and botanical sal, used the instructions of the famous ornithologist Tachanovsky and botanist Aleksandrovich. Dreaming of traveling to Asia, he carefully studied the geography of this part of the world. Humboldt and Ritter (contributed to the formation of the theoretical foundations

geography of the 19th century) were his reference books. Immersed in his studies, he rarely went to visit, and by his nature he did not like balls, parties and other things. A man of action, he hated vanity and crowds, a spontaneous and sincere person, he had a kind of hatred for everything that smacked of conventionality, artificiality and falsehood.

Meanwhile, time passed, and the thought of traveling to Asia haunted Przhevalsky more and more persistently. But how to implement it? Poverty and uncertainty were strong obstacles.

Finally, he managed to achieve inclusion in the General Staff and transfer to the East Siberian District.

In January 1867, Przhevalsky left Warsaw.

While passing through St. Petersburg, Przhevalsky met P.P. Semenov, at that time chairman of the physical geography section of the Imperial Geographical Society, and, having explained the travel plan to him, asked for support from the Society.

This, however, turned out to be impossible. The Geographical Society equipped expeditions from people who had proven themselves through scientific work, and could not trust a person completely unknown.

At the end of March 1867, Przhevalsky came to Irkutsk, and at the beginning of May he received a business trip to the Ussuri region. The Siberian Geographical Society assisted him by issuing a topographical document.

tools and a small amount of money, which was useful given the meager means of the traveler.

The enthusiastic mood he was in was reflected in the following letter: “In 3 days, that is, May 26, I am going to the Amur, then to the Ussuri River, Lake Khanka and to the shore of the Great Ocean to the borders of Korea.

Overall the expedition was great. I'm crazy happy!

The main thing is that I am alone and can freely dispose of my time, location and activities. Yes, I had the enviable lot and difficult duty of exploring areas, most of which had not yet been trodden by a European.”

Thus began the first journey of Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky. There were four trips in total that made a definite contribution to science.

Unfortunately, Nikolai Mikhailovich died on October 20, 1888. Having caught a cold while hunting on October 4, he nevertheless continued to go hunting, choose camels, pack his things, and on October 8 he went to

Karakol, where the next journey was to begin. The next day, Nikolai Mikhailovich quickly pulled himself together and said a phrase that seemed strange to his friends: “Yes, brothers!” Today I saw myself in the mirror so bad, old, scary that I just got scared and shaved quickly.”

The companions began to notice that Przhevalsky was not at ease. He didn’t like any of the apartments: sometimes it was damp and dark, sometimes the walls and ceiling were oppressive; Finally he moved outside the city and settled down in a yurt, camp-style.

October he felt so bad that he agreed to send for a doctor. The patient complained of pain in the pit of the stomach, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, pain in the legs and back of the head, and heaviness in the head. The doctor examined him and prescribed medications, although they did not really help the patient, because already on October 19, Przhevalsky already realized that his career was over. He gave the last orders, asked not to reassure him with false hopes and, noticing the tears in the eyes of those around him, called them women.

“Bury me,” he said, “on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, in my hiking clothes. The inscription is simple: “The traveler Przhevalsky.”

And by 8 a.m. on October 20, the agony began. He was delirious, from time to time he came to his senses and lay there, covering his face with his hand. Then he stood up to his full height, looked around at those present and said: “Well, now I’ll lie down...”

“We helped him lie down,” says V.I. Roborovsky, - and several deep, strong sighs took away forever the priceless life of a man who was dearer to us than all people. The doctor rushed to rub his chest with cold water; I put a towel with snow there, but it was too late: my face and hands began to turn yellow...

No one could control themselves; what happened to us - I won’t even dare to write to you. The doctor could not bear this picture - the picture of terrible grief; Everyone was sobbing loudly, and the doctor was sobbing too...

Regarding the traveler’s personal life, we can say that until the end of his life he remained single, leaving no offspring behind. However, a woman was present in his life - a certain Tasya Nuromskaya. This stately and beautiful girl met Przhevalsky when she was a student, and both of them, despite the age difference, became interested in each other. According to legend, before Nikolai Mikhailovich’s last trip, she cut off her luxurious braid and gave it to her lover as a parting gift. Soon Tasya unexpectedly died from sunstroke while swimming. Przhevalsky did not survive her for long.

The conclusion to this chapter states that Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky was a man of action, striving to achieve his goals no matter what. He was not afraid to change his direction in order to fulfill

dreams are to travel and discover something new for the world and science. Even love for a girl could not resist love for nature.

Chapter 2. Travel

1 First trip

As it became known from the first chapter, the first trip, approved by the Siberian Department of the Geographical Society, took place in 1867, to the Ussuri region.

The voyage along the Ussuri, among wild, wooded areas, lasted 23 days. The travelers mostly walked along the shore, collecting plants and shooting birds, while the Cossack oarsmen, cursing the gentlemen who slowed down the movement with their undertakings, followed them in the boat. Having reached the village of Busse, Przhevalsky went to Lake Khanka, which was of much interest botanically, and especially zoologically: it serves as a station for myriads of birds during migration. Having collected a decent collection of plants, birds, insects and other things, he headed to the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan, and from there, in winter, he undertook a difficult and tiring expedition to a little-known part of the South Ussuri region. The expedition, during which 1060 miles were covered, lasted three months. On January 7, 1868, travelers returned to the village of Busse.

In the spring, Przhevalsky again went to Lake Khanka with the special purpose of studying its ornithological fauna and observing the passage of birds. “There are so many breeds of birds here,” he writes to his uncle, “that you couldn’t even dream of them. I now have 210 stuffed birds. Among the stuffed animals there is a crane - all white, only half of the wings are black; this crane has a wingspan of about 8 feet. There is also a sandpiper on Khanka, the size of a large goose and all of an excellent pink color; There is an oriole the size of a dove and a bright yellow color, and it whistles so loudly! There are herons as white as snow, black storks, and many, many rarities, both among animals and between plants. Among the latter, especially remarkable is the huge (the size of a hat) water lily, the sister of the Guiana Victoria; she’s all red and smells great.”

Having completed his observations on Lake Khanka, Przhevalsky was going to go to Manchuria. But at this time a gang of Chinese Honghuz robbers invaded our possessions on the coast of the Sea of ​​​​Japan,

exterminating Russian villages and inciting the local Chinese population to revolt. Przhevalsky was torn away from his studies and went to pacify the uprising, which he did quickly and successfully. For this he received the rank of captain, was transferred to the General Staff and appointed senior adjutant of the headquarters of the Primorsky region troops. He moved to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, where he lived during the winter of 1868/69.

Having supplemented his research with new excursions during the spring and summer of 1869, he went to Irkutsk, where he lectured about the Ussuri region, and from there to St. Petersburg, where he arrived in January 1870. Here he was accepted as one of his own among the Geographical Society.

From the first days of his stay in St. Petersburg, he began to bother about a new expedition - to countries still unknown to Europeans.

Such an unknown country before Przhevalsky’s travels was the Central Asian Plateau. This huge area, six and a half million square miles, covers Tibet, Mongolia and

Dzungaria, replete with wild deserts, steppes, lakes, eternally snow-capped ridges and giant peaks; Here are the sources of the great rivers of China: the Yellow (Huang He) and the Blue (Yangtze Jiang) - in a word, the region is of deep interest in all respects.

For the first time, he intended to go to the area of ​​​​the sources of the Yellow River, to the basin of the vast Lake Kukunoor, known until then only by name, and if possible, make his way to Northern Tibet and Lhassa.

In 1870, the Russian Geographical Society organized an expedition to Central Asia. Przhevalsky, an officer of the General Staff, was appointed its head. His former student at the Warsaw School, Second Lieutenant Mikhail Aleksandrovich Pyltsov, was traveling with him. Their path lay through Moscow and Irkutsk and further - through Kyakhta to Beijing, where Przhevalsky hoped to receive a passport from the Chinese government - official permission to travel to areas subject to the Heavenly Empire.

On January 1871, he arrived in the capital of China, which made a disgusting impression on him, which he expressed with the usual harshness: “I have not yet become acquainted with the city itself, but even the first impression is enough to unmistakably say that this is an unimaginable abomination. The same fanzas as on Ussuri, except in larger volume and number. The dirt and stench are unimaginable, as residents usually pour all the slop onto the street.”

He remained in Beijing until spring, preparing for a dangerous and risky expedition into areas engulfed by the Dungan uprising. The Dungans - Chinese Muslims - rebelled in the 60s and caused terrible devastation.

The detachment consisted of four people: Przhevalsky, Pyltsov and two Cossacks, who, however, had to be replaced with new ones. This circumstance delayed the travelers for some time, and in order not to waste time, Przhevalsky decided to make a small expedition north of Beijing, to Lake Dalainor in South-Eastern Mongolia. “Small”, however, is only relative: within two months, a thousand miles were covered, this entire area was mapped, the latitudes of the cities of Kalgan, Dolonnora and Lake Dalainor were determined, the heights of the distance traveled were measured, and significant zoological collections were collected. Returning from the expedition, the travelers rested for several days in the city of Kalgan and upon the arrival of two new Cossacks, they set off on their journey to the west.

Having followed the course of the Yellow River upward from Baotou to Dingkouzhen (about 400 kilometers), Przhevalsky moved southwest through the “wild and barren desert” of Alashan, covered with “bare shifting sands”, always ready to “suffocate the traveler with their scorching heat,” and reached a large, high (up to 1855 meters), but narrow meridional ridge Helanypan, stretched along the Yellow River valley.

But with the onset of winter we had to turn back. In addition, Pyltsov fell seriously ill. Przhevalsky himself suffered frostbite on both hands. North of the Yellow River, the expedition reached a treeless but rich

the keys to the Lanypan ridge, which stands as a “sheer wall, occasionally cut through by narrow gorges,” and Przhevalsky traced it along its entire length (300 kilometers), and to the east he discovered another ridge, smaller and lower - Sheiten-Ula. Travelers celebrated the New Year in Zhangjiakou.

Przhevalsky walked about 500 kilometers through the valleys along the banks of the Yellow River and found that in these places the great Chinese river has no tributaries and, moreover, the channel itself lies differently than can be seen on the maps.

Along the way, he collected plants, mapped the area, made a geological description of rocks, kept a weather log, observed and amazingly accurately recorded the life, morals, and customs of the people through whose lands

passed. After spending two weeks in the Alashan Mountains, which provided zoological material, the expedition had to turn back. The funds were depleted to such an extent that they had to sell some of the weapons in order to somehow get out.

On the way back, they captured a vast inconsistent area along the right bank of the Yellow River.

Over the course of ten months, three and a half thousand miles were covered, the deserts of Ordos, Alashan, South Gobi, and the Inshan and Alashan ridges were explored; the latitudes of many points have been determined, rich

plant and animal collections and detailed meteorological data.

Having traveled to Beijing, Przhevalsky obtained money and, having re-equipped the expedition, set out from Kalgan in March 1872, with 174 rubles in his pocket. True, he still had a small supply of goods.

In May we reached Dyn-Yuan-In, sold goods, exchanged one of the fittings for camels, and with a caravan of Tanguts moved to Lake Kukunor. We walked along the hot sands of Southern Alashan, where sometimes for hundreds of miles there was not a drop of water, and the rare wells were often poisoned by the Dungans, who threw the bodies of the dead into them.

“It still hurts my heart when I remember how one day, after drinking tea from a similar well, we began to water the camels and, having scooped up the water, we saw a rotten corpse of a man at the bottom.”

No population was found in these areas; everything was devastated and exterminated by the Dungans.

The travelers spent more than two months in the mountainous terrain of Gan-su province. With the onset of autumn, they decided to move to Kukunar.

In October they finally reached Kukunor. After devoting some time to exploring this lake and its surroundings, we moved on to Tibet.

Having crossed several mountain ranges and passing through the eastern part of Tsaidam, a vast plateau replete with salt lakes and swamps, the expedition entered Northern Tibet. The two and a half months spent in this harsh desert were the most difficult period of the journey. Frosts made hunting difficult: hands became numb, it was difficult to insert a cartridge into a rapid-fire gun, eyes filled with tears, which, of course, spoiled the speed and accuracy of the shot.

Storms that raised clouds of sand and dust darkened the air and made breathing difficult; it was impossible to open one's eyes against the wind.

The thin air made walking difficult: “The slightest ascent seems very difficult, you feel short of breath, your heart beats very hard, your arms and legs shake, and at times you begin to feel dizzy and vomit.”

The reward for these hardships was rich scientific results. Everything here was new, unknown to science: mountains, rivers, climate, fauna.

In March 1873, travelers reached Kukunor, where they sold and exchanged several revolvers for camels.

After spending two and a half months in the Ala-Shan Mountains, we moved to Urga through the Middle Gobi. For 1100 miles there is not a single lake here; wells are scattered over vast distances. The July heat, hot air, hot sand, dust and salt, flying in clouds in the air, greatly tormented the travelers.

Finally they came to Ugra, exhausted, in tatters: “There are no boots, instead of them there are torn high boots; the coats and trousers are all in holes and patches, the caps look like old, discarded rags, the shirts are all torn: only three are half-rotten...”

From Ugri, Przhevalsky went to Kakhta, from there to Irkutsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg...

From the very first days after our return, ceremonial meetings, congratulations, and dinners began.

Rewards were sent. The Minister of War offered Przhevalsky a pension of 600 rubles, the next rank and an annual allowance of 2,250 rubles for the entire duration of his stay at the General Staff.

Three years after returning from the trip were devoted to processing its results. Thus ended a memorable expedition, one of a kind, both in terms of the courage of the participants and in the enormity of the results achieved with meager means. Over the course of three years, 11 thousand miles were covered; 5300 of them were taken by eye; the hydrography of the Kukunor basin, the ridges in the vicinity of this lake, the heights of the Tibetan Plateau, and the least accessible areas of the great Gobi Desert were studied; the magnetic declination and voltage of the earth's magnetism were determined at various points; meteorological observations, data produced on the climate of these wonderful areas; rich collections of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, plants...

2 Second journey. Lobpor expedition

The next project of the new expedition was the mysterious Lake Lop Nor, known, but almost only by name, since the time of Marco Polo, from here to Kukunoru, to Northern Tibet, Lhassa and further to the sources of the Irrawaddy and

Bramaputra. 27 thousand 740 rubles were allocated from the state treasury for this expedition. Nikolai's companion

Mikhailovich, on the first trip, Pyltsov got married, and therefore stayed at home, he was replaced by the volunteer Eklon.

In May 1876, Przhevalsky left with his companions for Moscow, from there through Nizhny Novgorod to Perm, where they spent several days waiting for 2l cartridges released by the War Ministry "for

decisions of various animals in the deserts of Asia, not excluding humans, if circumstances force it.”

Having reached the Tien Shan, Przhevalsky stopped for three weeks in the vast Yuldus basin, replete with all kinds of animals: bears, deer, argali, and so on.

Beyond the Tien Shan, travel became more difficult. Here began the possessions of Yakub-bok of Kashgar, the founder of a vast state in Eastern Turkestan. He received the travelers very kindly, sent them guides, fruits, sheep, various “delights,” but in every possible way interfered with their enterprise: he forbade the local population to communicate with them, assigned them a convoy, which led the expedition along circuitous roads, forced them to swim across rivers at 17" frost, interfered with scientific

research.

Having reached the Tarim River, the expedition headed down its course. A little south of Lop Nor, the Altyntag garden ridge and within 40 days

tracked it for 500 miles under extremely unfavorable conditions: At a huge absolute altitude, in deep winter, among extremely barren terrain, we suffered more than anything from lack of water and frost.

There was very little fuel, and with unsuccessful hunts we could not get ourselves good meat and were forced to eat hares for some time. At the stopping places, the loose clay-salty soil instantly kneaded into dust, which lay in a thick layer everywhere in the yurt. We ourselves had not washed ourselves for a week, the dust was incredibly dirty, our dress was soaked through with dust, and our underwear had taken on a grayish-brown color from the dirt.”

From here Przhevalsky returned to Lopnor, where he spent two spring months watching the birds fly by. The first act of the expedition ended with complete success. Thanks to Przhevalsky’s filming, the orography and hydrography of this section of Inner Asia appeared in a completely new light.

In August, Przhevalsky again set out from Kulja and in November of the same year arrived in the Chinese city of Guchen at the foot of the Tien Shan. Here we had to abandon further travel. While still on the Lop Nor expedition, he contracted a disease - body itching; in Ghulja it began to pass, then resumed. There was no peace day or night: it was impossible to write, make observations, or even go hunting. After suffering for three months and making sure that the disease did not respond to the medicines of his camp pharmacy - tar, tobacco and blue vitriol - he decided to return to Russia, get a good cure and then go to Tibet.

After the second expedition, Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky was awarded the Big Gold Medal

Humboldt by the Berlin Geographical Society. Also, the London Geographical Society awarded the Royal Medal, and our Academy of Sciences and the Botanical Garden elected Przhevalsky an honorary member.

Thus ended his second journey.

3 Third journey

Having lived in the village, recovered, and regained his spirit, Nikolai Mikhailovich began to bother about traveling to Tibet. The State Treasury gave him 20 thousand rubles in addition to the amounts remaining from the Lobpor expedition.

On January 1879, he left St. Petersburg, and on March 28, 1879, a detachment of thirteen people set out from Zaisansk.

Having explored Lake Ulyugur with the Urungu River flowing into it, Przhevalsky moved across the vast arid steppe to the Khamiya oasis, famous since ancient times.

Days dragged on monotonously: no more than 25 fingers passed per day, as the journey was slowed down by photography, hunting, collecting plants, lizards, insects, and so on. At some well or spring they stopped for the night, pitched a tent, lit a fire, and cooked dinner.

They stopped in the Khamiya oasis for several days: it was an important trading and strategic point, and Przhevalsky wanted to get to know it better. From Hami, the expedition headed to the city of Sa-Zheu through the desert, in comparison with which even the previous steppe could be called a garden.

This was one of the most difficult crossings of the entire trip. There was nothing living in the desert: no plants, no animals, no birds, not even lizards and insects. “The bones of horses, mules and camels are constantly lying along the road. A cloudy atmosphere hangs over the hot daytime soil, as if filled with smoke: the wind does not move the air, does not provide coolness. Only hot whirlwinds often run through and carry spinning columns of salty dust far away. Deceptive mirages play in front and to the sides of the traveler. The heat during the day is unbearable. The sun burns from sunrise to sunset.”

We trudged through this hell for two weeks; Finally we came to the Sa-Zhsu oasis, where we rested.

Having with great difficulty requested a guide from the local Chinese authorities, Przhevalsky moved further through the unknown ridges of Nanshan. The Chinese guide led him into such a remote area, riddled with ravines, that the expedition barely got out of there. Placed in a hopeless situation, Przhevalsky decided to find the road by patrols: two or three people were sent from the parking lot in different directions, a hundred miles or more away, and looked for the way: then the whole caravan set off. Finally, one of the patrols accidentally came across two Mongols. They were taken without ceremony, brought to the bivouac, and partly with gifts, partly with threats, they were forced to lead the expedition. Having crossed Nanshan, discovering two huge ridges (Humboldt and Ritter), Przhevalsky entered Tsaidam. Next, Przhevalsky moved to Tibet. Here the travelers were again greeted by thin air, sudden changes in temperature, storms - sometimes with snow and hail, sometimes with clouds of sand and dust, and finally, attacks by robber tribes. And again they were amazed by the incredible abundance of wild animals.

The Tibetan plateau is cut by ridges, first discovered and explored by Przhevalsky. Having reached one of these ridges, the expedition found itself in an almost hopeless situation. The snow covered all the paths and signs that the guide could use to navigate, and the latter became completely confused. The caravan traveled for a long time through the mountains, descending into gorges, rising to heights, and finally ran into a wall.

Having made sure that nothing could be squeezed out of the guide either by threats or a whip, Przhevalsky drove him away and decided to look for the road by traveling. Happiness again helped the brave ones; The caravan safely got out of the mountains, crossed three more ridges and entered the valley of the Mur-Usu River.

In the Tan-La Mountains, the expedition was attacked by the Erai, a bandit tribe engaged in robbing caravans. About 60-70 egrayans attacked the travelers in one gorge, but were repulsed and retreated with damage.

Amidst all these hardships and dangers, the caravan moved forward irresistibly. There were no more than 250 versts left to Lhassa; we had to stop beyond the Tan-La pass.

The Tibetan government did not want to let Przhevalsky into Lhassa.

By the end of January 1880, the expedition returned to Tsaidam, partly along the same route, partly to new places.

From Tsaidam, the expedition went to Kukunar, from here to the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the study of which - replenished in the fourth trip - constitutes one of Przhevalsky's major services to geography. After spending three months in this area, we returned to Kukunar, completed the survey of this lake and finally decided to move home - through Ala-shan to Urga.

“Today we said goodbye to Kukunar. Probably forever... Before leaving, I looked at the beautiful lake for several minutes, trying to more vividly capture its panorama in my memory. Yes, probably more than once in the future

I will remember the happy years of my wandering life. She endured a lot of hardships, experienced a few pleasures, experienced many moments that will not be forgotten until the grave.”

Przhevalsky's return to St. Petersburg was triumphant.

All members of the expedition were awarded awards: Przhevalsky a lifelong pension of 600 rubles in addition to the previous 600, and an order; the rest also received monetary awards and insignia. Moscow

The university elected him an honorary doctor, and various Russian and foreign scientific societies elected him an honorary member.

4 The Fourth Voyage

Before Przhevalsky had time to rest, he was drawn to the distant deserts of Asia.

In October 1883, an expedition consisting of 21 people set out from Kyakhta to Urga, and from there to Dyn-Yuan-Ying.

Having crossed the giant Burkhan Buddha ridge, we entered the plateau of Tibet and soon reached the Odon-Tala basin, in which the sources of the Yellow River lie. “Our long-standing aspirations were crowned with success: we now saw with our own eyes the mysterious cradle of the great Chinese river, and drank water from its sources. There was no end to our joy..."

Having completed the exploration of this part of Tibet, we moved through Tsaidam to Lop Nor and further through the desert.

Eastern Turkestan to our border with China. This entire part of the journey was replete with geographical discoveries: mountain ranges, snow-capped peaks, lakes, oases of Tsaidam and Eastern Turkestan were mapped.

In October 1886, the expedition reached our border, from where it went to the city of Karakol (now Przhevalsk).

In general, the journey lasted more than two years, the sources of the Yellow River were explored, the study of Tsaidam, the Lop Nor basin and the colossal Kuen Lun system was completed and expanded.

For this expedition, Przhevalsky received the rank of major general. This fourth journey was the last for the traveler.

5 Not only geography

I would like to place a special emphasis on Przhevalsky’s discoveries in the world of wildlife. Several books were published containing the traveler's observations throughout all the expeditions.

The first trip turned out to be a major contribution to our knowledge of Asian nature.

Przhevalsky collected here a unique ornithological collection, to which all later research could add only very little; provided interesting information about the life and customs of animals and birds, about the local population, Russian and foreign; explored the upper reaches of the Ussuri River, the basin of Lake Khanka, the eastern slope of the Sikhote-Alnn ridge; finally, he collected thorough and detailed data on the climate of the Ussuri region. The result was the book “Travel in the Ussuri Region,” which revealed not only an energetic and tireless traveler, but also an excellent observer with broad interests, a passionate love of nature and thorough preparation.

Also on this same journey, rich scientific results served as a reward for the deprivation of amenities. Everything here was new, unknown to science: mountains, rivers, climate, fauna. What delighted and amazed travelers most was the fabulous abundance of large animals.

“At almost every mile we came across huge herds of yaks, wild donkeys, antelopes and mountain sheep. Usually around our tent, especially if it stood near water, wild animals could be seen everywhere, very often grazing along with our camels.”

After the first trip, it took three years to process the material and its results. The Geographical Society took over the publication of the book. The first volume of Mongolia and the Land of the Tanguts was published in 1875 and was soon translated into French, German and English. It contains a description of the trip, pictures of nature and life in Central Asia, a whole mine of information about the flora, fauna, climate, and population of the countries passed by the traveler. The second volume is special. Przhevalsky processed bird information and meteorological data for him.

After the second trip, Nikolai Mikhailovich presented the results in the brochure “From Kulja beyond the Tien Shan and to Lop Nor,” which was also translated into European languages ​​and aroused rave reviews from Western European scientists.

The third trip was memorable for the fabulous number of animals.

“The herds of kulans moved a little to the side and, turning around in a heap, let us pass by, and sometimes even followed the camels for a while. Antelopes, orongos and adas calmly grazed and frolicked around or crossed the road in front of our riding horses, while the wild yaks lying down after feeding did not even bother to get up if the caravan passed them at a distance of a quarter of a mile. It seemed that we had found ourselves in a primeval paradise, where man and animals did not yet know evil and sin.”

After this trip, what he saw was also described. Like the previous ones, the book was translated into Western European languages. A report was made about it at the Paris Academy - a rare distinction, since reports on new books are usually not allowed there.

Conclusion

Let us summarize all four expeditions. What did Przhevalsky do for science?

The field of his research was the Central Aznat Plateau, which he consistently studied in its least known parts. He spent 9 years, 2 months and 27 days in this area, covering more than 30 thousand miles on his expeditions.

The largest of his geographical discoveries were the exploration of the Kuen-Lun mountain system, the ridges of Northern Tibet, the Lop Nor and Kukunar basins and the Yellow River.

In the distance of the northern outskirts of Tibet stretches the colossal system of the Kuen Lun mountain ranges - in Richthofen’s words, the “backbone” of Asia. Before Przhevalsky's research, she was known only by name and

depicted as an almost straight line; thanks to his expeditions, “the rectilinear Kuen-Lun definitely came to life, its most important bends became clear, it was divided into separate ridges connected by mountain nodes and

separated by deep valleys."

The discovery of the Altyntag ridge immediately revealed the general outline of the Tibetan fence, which has the appearance of a gentle arc curved to the north. Then the eastern part of the system (Nanshan) was explored, in which Przhevalsky discovered the North and South Tetungsky and South Kukunorsky ridges. Humboldt and Ritter; Central Kuen-Lun, a colossal interweaving of ridges, completely unknown before Przhevalsky (Burkhan-Buddha. Go-

Shiln, Tolay, Shuga and Khorosai, Marco Polo, Toran, Garynga ridges, Columbus and Tsaidamsky ridges, Przhevalsky, Moskovsky and Toguz-Daban ridges, western Kuen-Lun, consisting of the Russian ridges,

Cairn and Tekelik-Tag mountains). In these ridges there are often individual eternally snow-capped peaks covered with grandiose glaciers, such as the Tsar Liberator Mountain, the Kremlin Mountains, and Jinri. Monomakh's hat and others.

Exploration of the northern part of Tibet is also one of the largest geographical discoveries. Przhevalsky gave a general description of this plateau - the only one in the world in height and enormity - discovered and

explored a number of ridges scattered on it (the Ku-ku-Shili ridge and its continuation Bayan Khara, the Dumbure, Kongin, Tan-La ridges and individual mountain peaks of Dzhom, Darzy, Medu-kun), and the discovery of the eternally snow-capped Samtyn group -Kansir closed his research with the English ones, pointing out the connection between the Severo-Tibetan mountains and the Trans-Himalayan.

Lake Lop Nor was explored by him on two trips. Przhevalsky determined its true position, shape, size; mapped its tributaries, one of which, the Cherchen-Darya, was completely unknown before him, and the other, the Tarim, which forms a rather complex network with its branches and branches, was depicted incorrectly.

The vast Lake Kukunor, previously known only from legends, is now one of the most famous Asian lakes. Like Lop Nor, it represents the remnant of a once huge pool,

existed in a long geological era.

The first of the European travelers, Przhevalsky made his way to the upper reaches of the Yellow River, explored the Odon-Tala basin, in which it originates, and showed that it is composed of two rivers, which,

Having united, they flow into Lake Expedition and Lake Russkoe, which follows them. Next, he explored the least accessible areas of the great Gobi: the desert of Eastern Turkestan with its oases, the deserts of Ordos and

Alashan, the southern outskirts of the Gobi from the city of Kalgan to Dyn-Yuan-In, and its central part from Alashan to Kyakhta, in addition, he crossed the Gobi in other directions, in areas already touched in part by previous explorers. In general, his travels gave us a complete picture of the great Asian desert: its orography, oases, wells, lakes and springs, peculiar flora and fauna and original climate.

These discoveries put Przhevalsky's name on a par with the names of the greatest travelers - geographers of our century. Przhevalsky combined two types: a pioneer and a scientist. Love for a wild, free life, a thirst for strong sensations, dangers, and novelty created him as a pioneer traveler and adventurer; a passionate love for nature and especially for what lives, breathes, moves - plants, animals and birds - made him a scientist-traveler, whom the Germans compare to Humboldt.

Not limiting himself to collecting collections, he observed the life of animals. For the most remarkable species, he kept special books where biological data was recorded. In this way he compiled entire monographs. He collected about 1,700 plant species in 15-16 thousand specimens. His research revealed to us the flora of Tibet and Mongolia, and with the materials of Pevtsov, Potanin and others, they gave a complete picture of the vegetation of the entire Central Asian Plateau.

He did almost the same thing to study the climate of Central Asia. “While his travels continued,” says Professor Voeikov, “the enlightened and richest countries of Western Europe competed in the study of Africa. Of course, space was given to the study of the climate of this part of the world, but our knowledge of the climate of Africa has advanced less through the efforts of these numerous travelers than our knowledge of the climate

Central Asia with information collected by Przhevalsky’s expeditions alone.”

I would like to end by saying that the memory of the great traveler is not forgotten. Quite a lot of architectural monuments have been preserved on the territory of our country, reminding us of such a talented person.

At the birthplace of N. M. Przhevalsky, a memorial sign was erected, and at his grave in the village of Pristan-Przhevalsk (near the city of Karakol) a monument was erected based on a drawing by A. A. Bilderling (see appendix, Fig. 1).

Another, according to his own design, was erected by the Geographical Society in the Alexander Garden in St. Petersburg (see appendix, Fig. 2).

In 1891, in honor of N. M. Przhevalsky, the Russian Geographical Society established a silver medal and a prize named after him, and in 1946, a gold medal named after Przhevalsky was established.

In Soviet times, not far from the grave, a museum was organized dedicated to the life and work of N. M. Przhevalsky.

In 1999, the Bank of Russia issued a series of commemorative coins dedicated to N. M. Przhevalsky and his expeditions.

Named in memory of the researcher:

geographical objects: Przhevalsky Ridge, discovered by him; glacier in Altai, etc.;

a number of species of animals and plants, including Przewalski's horse, Przewalski's pied, buzulnik

Przhevalsky;

the city of Karakol, in Kyrgyzstan, from 1889 to 1922 and from 1939 to 1992 bore the name Przhevalsk;

the village of Przhevalskoye in the Smolensk region, in which the traveler’s estate was located;

Przhevalsky streets in Moscow, Minsk, Irkutsk, Smolensk and other cities;

gymnasium named after N. M. Przhevalsky, Smolensk;

in the Primorsky Territory, a mountain system was named in honor of N. M. Przhevalsky - the Przhevalsky Mountains, a cave near the city of Nakhodka and a rock massif in the Partizanskaya River basin.

List of used literature

Przhevalsky N.M. “Travel in the Ussuri region 1868-1869.” - Vladivostok: Far Eastern Book Publishing House, 1990 - p.330

N. M. Przhevalsky “Travels to Lop Nor and Tibet”

Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (BEKM)

N.M. Przhevalsky. “From Kulja beyond the Tien Shan and to Lop Nor.” - St. Petersburg, 1878.

Dubrovin. "N. M. Przhevalsky." - St. Petersburg, 1890.

In memory of Przhevalsky. Ed. Imperial Russian Geographical Society. - St. Petersburg, 1889.

Vesin. “Przhevalsky and his travels; - Bulletin of Europe, 1889, No. 7-8.”

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Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky(March 31, 1839, village of Kimborovo, Smolensk province - October 20, 1888, Karakol) - Russian traveler and naturalist. Undertook several expeditions to Central Asia. In 1878 he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences. Major General (since 1886).

Born on April 12, 1839 in the village of Kimborovo in the family of retired lieutenant Mikhail Kuzmich Przhevalsky. The place where the village of Kimborovo was located is located four kilometers from the village of Murygino, Pochinkovsky district, Smolensk region. A memorial sign has been installed here.

Przhevalsky belonged to a noble family that had the coat of arms “Silver Bow and Arrow, turned upward on the Red Field,” granted for military exploits in the battle with Russian troops during the capture of Polotsk by the army of Stefan Batory.

A distant ancestor of Nikolai Mikhailovich was a warrior of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Karnil Perevalsky, a Cossack who distinguished himself in the Livonian War.

After completing a course at the Smolensk gymnasium in 1855, Przhevalsky became a non-commissioned officer in the Ryazan infantry regiment in Moscow; Having received an officer rank, he transferred to the 28th Polotsk Infantry Regiment. Then he entered the General Staff School. At this time, his first works appeared: “Memoirs of a Hunter” and “Military Statistical Review of the Amur Region,” for which in 1864 he was elected a full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. After graduating from the Academy, he volunteered for Poland to participate in the suppression of the Polish uprising. Subsequently occupying the position of teacher of history and geography at the Warsaw Junker School, Przhevalsky studied the epic of African travels and discoveries, became acquainted with zoology and botany, and compiled a geography textbook published in Beijing.

Since 1867, he made expeditions throughout the Ussuri region and Central Asia. Having completed the processing of the fourth trip, Przhevalsky was preparing for the fifth. In 1888, he moved through Samarkand to the Russian-Chinese border, where, while hunting in the valley of the Kara-Balta River, after drinking river water, he became infected with typhoid fever. On the way to Karakol, Przhevalsky felt ill, and upon arrival in Karakol he fell completely ill. A few days later he died. He was buried on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. Fulfilling the last will of the deceased, they chose a flat place for his ashes, on the eastern steep shore of the lake, between the mouths of the Karakol and Karasuu rivers, 12 km from the city of Karakol. Due to the hardness of the soil, soldiers and Cossacks dug the grave for two days; two coffins: one wooden and the other iron - for the outside.

Travel and research activities

In 1867, Przhevalsky received a business trip to the Ussuri region. Along the Ussuri River he reached the village of Busse, then to Lake Khanka, which served as a station during bird migration and provided him with material for ornithological observations. In winter, he explored the South Ussuri region, covering 1,060 versts (about 1,100 km) in three months. In the spring of 1868, he again went to Lake Khanka, then pacified Chinese robbers in Manchuria, for which he was appointed senior adjutant of the headquarters of the troops of the Amur region. The results of his first trip were the essays “On the Foreign Population in the Southern Part of the Amur Region” and “Travel to the Ussuri Region.”

In 1872, Przhevalsky made his first trip to Central Asia. From Beijing he moved to the northern shore of Lake Dalai Nor, then, after resting in Kalgan, he explored the Suma-Khodi and Yin-Shan ridges, as well as the course of the Yellow River (Huang He), showing that it does not have a branch, as previously thought on the basis Chinese sources; Having passed through the Ala Shan desert and the Alashan Mountains, he returned to Kalgan, having traveled 3,500 versts (about 3,700 kilometers) in 10 months. In 1872, he moved to Lake Kuku-Nor, intending to penetrate the Tibetan Plateau, then through the Tsaidam Desert he reached the upper reaches of the Blue River (Mur-Usu). After an unsuccessful attempt to cross Tibet, in 1873, through the central part of the Gobi, Przhevalsky returned to Kyakhta through Urga. The result of the trip was the essay “Mongolia and the Country of the Tanguts.” Over the course of three years, Przhevalsky walked 11,000 versts (about 11,700 km).

In 1876, Przhevalsky undertook a second journey from Kulja to the Ili River, through the Tien Shan and the Tarim River to Lake Lob-Nor, to the south of which he discovered the Altyn-Tag ridge; he spent the spring of 1877 on Lob-Nor, watching the migration of birds and doing ornithological research, and then returned to Gulja through Kurla and Yuldus. The illness forced him to stay in Russia longer than planned, during which time he wrote and published the work “From Kulja to the Tien Shan and to Lob-Nor.”

In 1879, he set out from the city of Zaisan on his third journey at the head of a detachment of 13 people. Along the Urungu River through the Hami oasis and through the desert to the Sa-Zheu oasis, through the Nan Shan ridges into Tibet, and reached the valley of the Blue River (Mur-Usu). The Tibetan government did not want to let Przhevalsky into Lhasa, and the local population was so excited that Przhevalsky, having crossed the Tang-La pass and being only 250 miles from Lhasa, was forced to return to Urga. Returning to Russia in 1881, Przhevalsky gave a description of his third trip. He described a new species of horse, previously unknown to science, later named in his honor (Equus przewalskii).

In 1883, he undertook a fourth voyage, leading a detachment of 21 people. From Kyakhta he moved through Urga along the old route to the Tibetan Plateau, explored the sources of the Yellow River and the watershed between the Yellow and Blue Rivers, and from there he went through Tsaidam to Lob-Nor and to the city of Karakol (Przhevalsk). The journey ended only in 1886.

In any conditions, every day N.M. Przhevalsky kept a personal diary, which formed the basis of his books. N. M. Przhevalsky had a brilliant writing gift, which he developed through persistent and systematic work.

Scientific merits

Przhevalsky's greatest achievements are the geographical and natural-historical study of the Kun-Lun mountain system, the ridges of Northern Tibet, the Lob-Nor and Kuku-Nor basins and the sources of the Yellow River. In addition, he discovered a number of new forms of animals: the wild camel, Przewalski's horse, the Himalayan bear, a number of new species of other mammals, and also collected huge zoological and botanical collections, containing many new forms, which were later described by specialists. The Academy of Sciences and scientific societies around the world welcomed Przhevalsky's discoveries. The British Royal Geographical Society named Nikolai Przhevalsky “the most outstanding traveler” in the world. The St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences awarded Przhevalsky a medal with the inscription: “To the first explorer of the nature of Central Asia.”

According to A.I. Voeikov, Przhevalsky was one of the largest climatologists of the 19th century.

Personality

In adulthood, N. M. Przhevalsky was absolutely indifferent to ranks, titles and awards and was equally partial to live research work. The traveler's passion was hunting, and he himself was a brilliant shooter.

Being a well-educated naturalist, Przhevalsky was at the same time a born traveler-wanderer, who preferred the lonely steppe life to all the benefits of civilization. Thanks to his persistent, decisive character, he overcame the opposition of Chinese officials and the resistance of local residents, which sometimes reached open attacks and skirmishes.

Family

Brother Vladimir is a famous Moscow lawyer. Brother Evgeniy is a famous mathematician.

Addresses in St. Petersburg

• 1881-2014 - furnished rooms I. Ts. Loshevich - Stolyarny Lane, 6

Addresses in the Moscow region

• 1882-2014 - Estate in the village. Konstantinovo, Domodedovo urban district, Moscow region

The first mention of the village of Konstantinovo dates back to the 16th century; until the mid-17th century it belonged to the famous boyar family of the Golovins. The estate changed a large number of owners, among them Prince Romodanovsky, Count Mikhail Gavrilovich Golovkin, Colonel Lopukhin, Tatishchev, and finally, under Ivan Fedorovich Pokhvisnev, the estate ensemble that has survived to this day was created.

In 1882, the estate came into the possession of the brother of the famous Russian traveler and geographer Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky. The family owned the estate until 1917.

In 1905, Przhevalsky’s widow, Sofia Alexandrovna, drew up an insurance policy for an estate in Podolsk district, 4 miles from Domodedovo station near the village of Konstantinovo. In addition to a detailed inventory of buildings and their assessment, the insurance file had a plan of the estate, which showed all the estate's residential, non-residential, and outbuildings, as well as a pond with a dam, a landscape park and a formal garden. The main house was described in sufficient detail: “... stone, one-story with a mezzanine, mezzanines and a basement under vaults, covered with iron, with a stone terrace on columns...”, “... the house was heated by 10 Dutch tiled stoves...”. During the restoration of the manor complex in 1990, data from this particular document were used.

Now the estate is in a deplorable state - in many places the plaster has fallen off, exposing the wooden frame. Some of the windows were broken and filled with pieces of plywood. On weekends, the gate is locked, but on the left side of the estate there are a couple of passages in a dilapidated wire fence.

Addresses in Karakol

• Karizhensky House - Dzerzhinsky (Dzhamansariev) Street, 156.

Awards

• Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class. (1866);
• Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class. (1881);
• Austrian Order of Leopold, Knight's Cross (1874).

• Large gold Constantine medal - the highest award of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (1868)
• Small silver medal of the Russian Geographical Society for an article on the population of Primorye
• Certificate of Honor from the International Geographical Congress in Paris
• Gold Medal of the Paris Geographical Society
• Order of the Academic Palms (France)
• Great Alexander Humboldt Gold Medal of the Berlin Geographical Society
• Royal Medal of the London Geographical Society (1879)
• Vega Medal of the Stockholm Geographical Society
• Grand Gold Medal of the Italian Geographical Society
• Gold personalized medal with the inscription: “To the first explorer of the nature of Central Asia” of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Honorary titles

• Honorary citizen of Smolensk (1881)
• Honorary Citizen of St. Petersburg
• Corresponding Member of the Berlin Geographical Society
• honorary member of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1878) and the Botanical Garden
• honorary member of St. Petersburg University
• honorary member of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists
• honorary member of the Ural Society of Natural History Lovers
• honorary member of the Russian Geographical Society
• Honorary Doctor of Zoology, Moscow University
• honorary member of the Vienna Geographical Society
• honorary member of the Italian Geographical Society
• honorary member of the Dresden Geographical Society
• honorary member of the Moscow Society of Lovers of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography

Memory

• Named in memory of the researcher:
  • geographical objects: Przhevalsky Ridge, discovered by him; glacier in Altai, etc.;
  • a number of species of animals and plants, including Przewalski's horse, Przewalski's pied, Przewalski's buzulnik;
  • the city of Karakol, in Kyrgyzstan, from 1889 to 1922 and from 1939 to 1992 bore the name Przhevalsk;
  • the village of Przhevalskoye in the Smolensk region, in which the traveler’s estate was located;
  • Przhevalsky streets in Moscow, Minsk, Irkutsk, Smolensk and other cities;
  • gymnasium named after N. M. Przhevalsky, Smolensk;
  • in the Primorsky Territory, a mountain system was named in honor of N. M. Przhevalsky - the Przhevalsky Mountains, a cave near the city of Nakhodka and a rock massif in the Partizanskaya River basin.
  • passenger motor ship of project 860 of the Amur River Shipping Company.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky - quotes

“Basically, you have to be born a traveler.”

“The traveler has no memory” (about the need to keep a diary).

“Travel would lose half its charm if it were impossible to talk about it.”

“And the world is beautiful because you can travel.”

In Central Asia, I left a lot of offspring - not in the literal sense, of course, but figuratively: Lop Nor, Kukunar, Tibet and so on - these are my brainchildren.

P Rzhevalsky (Nikolai Mikhailovich) - famous Russian traveler, major general. Born in 1839. His father, Mikhail Kuzmich, served in the Russian army. His initial teacher was his uncle, P.A. Karetnikov, a passionate hunter, who instilled in him this passion and with it a love of nature and wandering. After completing the course at the Moscow gymnasium, Przhevalsky became a non-commissioned officer in the Ryazan infantry regiment in Moscow; Having received the rank of officer, he transferred to the Polotsk regiment, then entered the Academy of the General Staff. At the same time, his first works appeared: “Memoirs of a Hunter” and “Military Statistical Review of the Amur Region.” Occupying the position of a history teacher at the Warsaw cadet school, Przewalski diligently studied the epic of African travels and discoveries, became acquainted with zoology and botany, and compiled a geography textbook. In 1867, Przhevalsky received a business trip to the Ussuri region. Along the Ussuri he reached the village of Busse, then to Lake Khanka, which served as a station during bird migration and provided him with material for ornithological observations. In winter, he explored the South Ussuri region, covering 1060 versts in 3 months. In the spring of 1868, he again went to Lake Khanka, then pacified the Chinese robbers in Manchuria, for which he was appointed senior adjutant of the headquarters of the troops of the Amur region. The results of his first trip were the essays: “On the foreign population in the southern part of the Amur region” and “Travel to the Ussuri region.” In 1871, Przhevalsky undertook his first trip to Central Asia. From Beijing he moved to Lake Dalai-Nor, then, after resting in Kalgan, he explored the Suma-Khodi and Yin-Shan ridges, as well as the course of the Yellow River, showing that it does not have a branch, as previously thought based on Chinese sources; Having passed through the Ala Shan desert and the Alashan Mountains, he returned to Kalgan, having covered 3,500 versts in 10 months. In 1872, he moved to Kuku-Nor and further to Tibet, then, through Tsaidan, to the upper reaches of the Blue River (Mur-Usu), in 1873 to Urga, through the Middle Gobi, and from Urga to Kyakhta. The result of this journey was Przhevalsky’s essay “Mongolia and the Country of the Tunguts.” Over the course of three years, Przhevalsky walked 11,000 miles. In 1876, Przhevalsky undertook a second journey from Kulja to the Ili River, through the Tien Shan and the Tarim River to Lake Lob-Nor, to the south of which he discovered the Altyn-Tag ridge; in the spring he took advantage of the migration of birds at Lob-Nor for ornithological research, and then returned to Gulja through Kurla and Yuldus. The illness forced him to return to Russia for a while, where he published “From Kuldzha to the Tien Shan and to Lob-Nor.” In 1879, he set out from Zaisansk on a third journey with a detachment of 13 people, along the Urungu River, through the Khali oasis and through the desert to the Sa-Zheu oasis, through the Nan Shan ridges to Tibet, and reached the Mur-Usu valley. The Tibetan government did not want to let Przhevalsky into Khlassa, and the local population was so excited that Przhevalsky, having crossed the Tan-La pass and being 250 miles from Khlassa, was forced to return to Urga. Returning to Russia in 1881, Przhevalsky gave a description of his third trip. In 1883, he undertook a fourth trip, leading a detachment of 21 people. From Kyakhta he moved through Urga, along the old route, to the Tibetan Plateau, explored the sources of the Yellow River and the watershed between the Yellow and Blue Rivers, and from there passed through Tsaidam to Lob-Nor and to Karakol, now Przhevalsk. The journey ended only in 1886. The Academy of Sciences and scientific societies around the world welcomed Przhevalsky’s discoveries. The Mysterious ridge discovered by him is called the Przhevalsky ridge (see above). His greatest achievements are the geographical and natural-historical study of the Kuen Lun mountain system, the ridges of Northern Tibet, the Lob-Nor and Kuku-Nor basins and the sources of the Yellow River. In addition, he discovered a number of new forms: the wild camel, Przewalski's horse, the Tibetan bear, a number of new forms of other mammals, and also collected huge zoological and botanical collections, containing many new forms, later described by specialists. Being a well-educated naturalist, Przhevalsky was at the same time a born traveler-wanderer, who preferred the lonely steppe life to all the benefits of civilization. Thanks to his persistent, decisive character, he overcame the opposition of the Chinese government and the resistance of local residents, sometimes reaching the point of open attack. Our Academy presented Przhevalsky with a medal with the inscription: “To the first explorer of the nature of Central Asia.” Having completed the processing of the fourth trip, Przhevalsky was preparing for the fifth. In 1888, he moved through Samarkand to the Russian-Chinese border, where he caught a cold while hunting and died on October 20, 1888 in Karakol, now Przhevalsk. A monument was erected at Przhevalsky’s grave based on a drawing by A.A. Bilderling, and the other, according to his own design, was erected by the Geographical Society in the Alexander Garden in St. Petersburg. Przhevalsky's works have been translated into many foreign languages. In all expeditions, Przhevalsky carried out route surveys based on astronomical points determined by him, altitudes were determined barometrically, meteorological observations were carried out tirelessly, collections on zoology, botany, geology and information on ethnography were collected. He spent a total of 9 years 3 months in Central Asia and walked 29,585 miles, not counting his travels around the Ussuri region; During this time, he identified astronomically 63 points. Barometric observations gave heights of up to 300 points. Before Przhevalsky, there was not a single accurately mapped place in Central Asia, and very little positive was known about the nature of this part of Asia. Przhevalsky's research covered a huge area from the Pamirs in the east to the Greater Khingan ridge, 4000 miles long, and from north to south - from Altai to the middle of Tibet, i.e. width up to 1000 versts. In this space, Przhevalsky crossed the Great Gobi several times; He crossed the so-called Eastern Gobi in two directions, and, summarizing all the available data about these countries, gave a complete description of these areas. Przhevalsky gave the first description of Eastern Turkestan, finally established on the map the course of the Tarim and the place of Lob-Nor, where it flows. Having explored the entire southern outskirts of East Turkestan for 1300 versts, Przhevalsky was the first European to visit these areas. He also has the honor of surveying for the first time Kuen-Lun, the northern border of the huge Tibetan Plateau, which before him was indicated on fortune-telling maps. For the first time, they clarified the structure of the earth's surface in these places, where the huge Altyn-Taga ridge, rising south of Lob-Nor, separates two completely different natures. In the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, Przhevalsky was able for the first time to examine in detail the entire region of Lake Kuku-Nora and visit the sources of the Yellow and Blue rivers. In general, Przhevalsky was the first to give a generally correct picture of the entire northern Tibet. Works of Przhevalsky, in addition to those mentioned above: “The Third Journey in Central Asia” (St. Petersburg, 1883), “The Fourth Journey in Central Asia” (St. Petersburg, 1888); then, some have already been published, some are about to be published: “Routes and meteorological diaries”, “Flora Tangutia” and “Enumeratio plantarun bacusgue et Mongolia notarum”, “Zoological Department”, with a description of all Przhevalsky’s zoological collections and “Insects”. The most complete biography of Przhevalsky is given by N.F. Dubrovin "N.M. Przhevalsky" (St. Petersburg, 1890); see "News of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society" (vol. XXIV, 1888, pp. 231 - 288)

EPISODES OF PRZHEVALSKY'S LIFE

England took possession of the Suez Canal (1875), Balochistan (1876), tried to conquer Afghanistan (1875), sent scouts to Tibet (in 1872 and 1875), preparing an invasion of its borders. England tried to give the appearance of “defense against Russia” to its Indian possessions to its expansion in Asia. England pursued the same imperialist policy in the Black Sea region under the pretext of “protecting the inviolability of the Ottoman Empire from Russia.” Having concluded an alliance with each other, England and Turkey sought to use the new Muslim state in Central Asia - Jety-Shaar - for purposes hostile to Russia. This state was formed on the territory of East Turkestan, which separated from the Chinese Empire as a result of the following events.

In 1861–1862, the oppressed Muslim national minorities of these provinces, the “Dungans,” rebelled in Shaanxi and Gansu. The Dungan uprising was the last wave of the Great Peasant War in China, the so-called Taiping Uprising. In 1863–64, the Muslim uprising spread to the cities of Eastern Turkestan - Gulja, Chuguchak, Urumqi, Kucha, Aksu. The descendants of its former rulers who dominated here before the Chinese conquest - the “Khojas” - tried to take advantage of the uprising to the best of their ability to seize power over East Turkestan.

In 1865, one of them, Buzruk Khan, at the head of a cavalry detachment, invaded Kashgaria (in East Turkestan) from Western Turkestan. Buzruk Khan's cavalry detachment was commanded by the enterprising and power-hungry Yakub Beg. Muhamed Yakub Beg was born in 1820 in Western Turkestan. By the time of his appearance in Kashgar, he had already gained some fame for his activities hostile to the Russian government in Western Turkestan: he fought against the troops of General Perovsky at Ak-Mosque in 1853 and against the troops of General Chernyaev in Chimkent and Tashkent in 1864. In East Turkestan, Yakub Beg, having concentrated power over the armed forces of Buzruk Khan in his hands, overthrew him in 1866.

In 1870–72, after a successful struggle - on the one hand with the Bogdokhan troops, and on the other - with the independent khanates formed as a result of the uprising and the Dungan Union of Cities, Yakub Beg became the autocratic ruler of East Turkestan. His state received the name “Jety-shaar”, Yakub-bek - the title of emir. England and Turkey tried to use the power-hungry Yakub Beg in order to create a state hostile to Russia in Central Asia. They tried to turn Jety-shaar into the center of “gazavat” - the “holy war” of Muslims against infidels, to spread gazavat under Anglo-Turkish leadership to Western Turkestan, to separate Western Turkestan from Russia.

To this end, the Turkish Sultan took care of creating religious prestige for Yakub-bek in the eyes of Muslims and recognized him as the “leader of the believers” - “atalyk-gazi”. England and Türkiye sent military instructors to the emir's army. England supplied him with European weapons. With the help of these weapons, Yakub Beg and his military clique established such terror in East Turkestan and placed such a heavy tax burden on the shoulders of the people that the life of the population did not become better than it was under Bogdokhan’s rule.

The Russian government, trying to block the path of British aggression in the Middle East, temporarily sent troops into the Ili region in 1871. Russia tried to establish diplomatic ties with Jety-Shaar. But Russia could not recognize as an independent state the territory that belonged to its friendly China and fell under British influence. Naturally, the Russian government was interested in receiving diverse information regarding the geographical areas to which British aggression was directed - Jety-shaar and Tibet.

Przhevalsky's expedition could have provided valuable scientific information about these areas.
PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND CENTRAL ASIAN EXPEDITION

On March 5, 1876, the Russian government agreed to allocate 24 thousand rubles for Przhevalsky’s two-year expedition.

On May 23, Nikolai Mikhailovich said goodbye to his mother and nanny Makaryevna. On June 6, he and his companions arrived in Perm. On June 13, with all the equipment of the expedition, they left Perm on 13 post horses. It was troublesome and expensive to carry huge luggage along the bad Ural road - the carts often broke down and you had to pay for their repairs.

Beyond the Urals lie vast steppes. The closer to Semipalatinsk, the steppe became more and more harsh and deserted and more and more resembled the Gobi. On July 3, in Semipalatinsk, Przhevalsky had a joyful meeting with his old comrades - the Cossacks Chebaev and Irinchinov.

From here the expedition left on five troikas. In Verny (now Alma-Ata), Nikolai Mikhailovich took three more Cossacks, and in Gulja he hired a translator, Abdul Yusupov, who knew Turkic and Chinese. The expedition acquired 24 camels and 4 horses.

Equipment for a long journey, correspondence with the governments of China and Jety-shaar detained Przhevalsky in Kulja for several weeks. On August 7, Przhevalsky received from the Governor-General of Russian Turkestan K.P. Kaufman a translation of a letter from the Dzhetyshaar Emir Yakub-bek. The emir wrote that he would receive the expedition members as guests and provide them with all possible assistance in his possessions.

On August 9, the Russian envoy in Beijing E. Byutsov sent the expedition a pass to Chinese Turkestan. This pass was obtained with great difficulty from the Bogdokha government. As in 1871, the Bogdokhan ministers, in order to dissuade the Russians from traveling, tried to intimidate them with all sorts of dangers. This time, the ministers even stated that they could not take upon themselves the protection of the lives of travelers. This statement not only did not alarm Nikolai Mikhailovich, but, on the contrary, made him very happy.

“I received a passport from Beijing for passage from Hami to Tibet,” he wrote to Pyltsov on the same day. - Only the Chinese refused to guard the expedition. This is what is needed." Since the Bogdohan authorities refused to guard the expedition, they would have no excuse to assign a convoy to it. And the convoy would interfere with the orderly work of travelers.

On August 12, 1876, Przhevalsky and nine of his companions set out from Kulja and headed up the banks of the Ili River.

Near Lake Lob-nor, discovered by Przhevalsky. Photo by Roborovsky.

Przhevalsky after hunting during the Lop Nor expedition. From a watercolor by Bilderling.

IN THE KINGDOM OF YAKUB BEK Travel from Kulja through the Tien Shan to Lob-nor and through Dzungaria to Guchen in 1876–1878.

During the previous expedition, Przhevalsky’s route to Tibet lay from the northeast (from Beijing) to the southwest. The new expedition headed from northwest to southeast. Its closest goal was the banks of the Tarim River and Lake Lop-Nor.

The travelers had to cross the possessions of the Jety-Shaar emir Yakub Beg. Having crossed the rivers Ili, Tekes and Kunges, and crossed the Narat ridge, Przhevalsky and his companions entered the Yuldus plateau. The very first weeks of the trip showed that Nikolai Mikhailovich, despite all his experience and insight, made a mistake when choosing one of his companions.

“Our entry into Yuldus was marked by an extremely unpleasant event. My assistant, warrant officer Povalo-Shvyikovsky, almost from the very beginning of the expedition could not bear the difficulties of the journey,” says Przhevalsky. “I was forced to send him back to his previous place of service. Fortunately, my other companion, volunteer Eklon, turned out to be a very diligent and energetic young man. With some practice, he will soon become an excellent assistant for me.” Having crossed the southern spurs of the Tien Shan, the travelers arrived in the Jetyshaar city of Kurlya.

Here, by order of Yakub-bek, they were placed in a house allocated for them, and a guard was assigned to them, “under the pretext of security,” as Przhevalsky says, “in essence, in order to not allow any of the local residents here , generally extremely dissatisfied with the rule of Yakub Beg.” Przhevalsky and his companions were not allowed into the city. They were told: “You are our dear guests, you should not worry, everything you need will be delivered.” These sweet speeches were only a pretence. True, lamb, bread and fruit were delivered to travelers every day, but this was the extent of the hospitality promised by Yakub Beg.

Everything that interested Przhevalsky was closed to him. “We didn’t know about anything beyond the gates of our yard,” he says. To all questions regarding the city of Kurlya, the number of local residents, their trade, the nature of the surrounding country - he heard the most evasive answers or outright lies. The next day after Przhevalsky’s arrival in Kurlya, the emir’s close associate, Zaman-bek (or Zaman-khan-efendi), came to him.

Imagine Nikolai Mikhailovich’s surprise when the adviser to the Dzhetyshaar ruler spoke excellent Russian! Przhevalsky describes Zaman-bek as follows: “In appearance he is obese, of average height, dark-haired, with a huge nose; age about 40 years.” Answering Przhevalsky’s questions, Zaman-bek said that he was a native of the city of Nukha in Transcaucasia and was in the Russian service.

From Russia Zaman-bek moved to Turkey. The Turkish Sultan sent him to Yakub Beg along with other persons knowledgeable in military affairs. Zaman-bek announced from the very first words that the emir had instructed him to accompany Przhevalsky to Lob-nor. “I was shocked by this news,” writes Przhevalsky. “I knew well that Zaman Bey was being sent to monitor us and that the presence of an official would not be a relief, but a hindrance to our research. That’s what happened later.”

Although Zaman-bek was sent to Jety-shaar by an ally of the British - the Turkish Sultan, he himself sympathized not with England, but with Russia. Przhevalsky appreciated Zaman-bek’s friendly attitude towards the Russians. The traveler fully understood that Zaman-bek was better than any other “honorary guard” assigned to him by the Jetyshaar emir. But even the most benevolent guard prevented Przhevalsky from freely photographing the area, getting to know the local population, and carrying out the necessary research. Nikolai Mikhailovich would prefer freedom to the best convoy.

That is why Zaman-bek aroused in him a mixed feeling of gratitude and annoyance. “Zaman-bek was personally very disposed towards us,” says Przhevalsky, “and, as far as possible, he provided us with services. I owe deep gratitude to the venerable bek for this. With him at Lob-Nor we were much better off than with any of Yakub-bek’s other trustees - of course, as much as it can be better in bad things in general" Przhevalsky was outraged not only by his position as an “honorary prisoner” of Yakub-bek, but by the entire political regime established by the emir in Jety-shaar.

On July 6, 1877, Przhevalsky wrote to Russia: “Being under the strictest supervision during our entire stay in the possessions of Badualet, we could only occasionally, by chance, enter into relations with the local population, but from this random, fragmentary information, the most important the contours of the internal life of the kingdom of Yakub Beg... Even if Badualet floods the field of his dominion with streams of blood, if only the shoots of the future prosperity of the state will sprout on this field. But there are no such sprouts at all. The bloody terror in today's Jityshar has the sole purpose of strengthening the power of the king himself - there is no concern for the people.

They look at him only as a working mass from which the best juices can be squeezed... The petty worries of the day absorb all the attention and time of the Jityshar ruler. Badualet listens to all sorts of denunciations of his servants, knows which merchant has brought what to the city (and some of the goods are taken for free), accepts gifts in the form of horses, rams, etc., from the simplest of his subjects he takes into the harem, at his own choice, women, sometimes at the age of a child. Constantly fearing for his life, Yakub-bek lives outside the city in a fanza, surrounded by guards and a soldier’s camp, does not sleep at night and, as Zaman-bek told us, even enters the mosque with a Winchester rifle in his hands.” According to Przhevalsky’s angry and correct description, Yakub-bek is “nothing more than a political rogue”, who used the national liberation movement of Muslim peoples against the Bogdokhan yoke only in order to “seize power over them and oppress them together with a clique of his closest adherents” .

“The clique of his henchmen is a match for Badualet himself,” wrote Przhevalsky. “All of them are known to the local population under the common name “Anjanov”. The most important positions in the Jita-shara are distributed to these anjanas. For the local population, these people are hateful.” Not as an indifferent outsider, but with passionate sympathy for the fate of the masses, Przhevalsky depicts their situation in the state of Yakub Beg: “It is very bad to live in today’s Jityshar.

Neither person nor property are secured; espionage has developed to terrifying proportions. Everyone is afraid for tomorrow. Arbitrariness dominates in all branches of government: truth and justice do not exist. The Anjans rob the residents not only of their property, but even of their wives and daughters.” From everything that the traveler saw in Jety-shaar, he was able to draw an insightful conclusion regarding the viability of this state: “ The kingdom of Yakub Beg will fall in the near future(Przhevalsky's italics - S. X.).

Most likely, it will be conquered by the Chinese; in the event of any peaceful combinations on this side, which is, however, very doubtful, an uprising will inevitably break out within Jityshar itself, for which there are, even to the extreme, all the ready-made elements, but which is now delayed by military terror and the commonality of the Muslim cause.” Przhevalsky pointed out that “the local population, guilty of little, will, of course, pay in this case, perhaps even with a complete massacre.” History soon fully confirmed Przhevalsky’s predictions. The “Kingdom of Yakub Beg” really fell a year later. It was conquered by the Bogd Khan's troops, as Przhevalsky predicted.

The population, as he also foresaw, paid in the “total massacre” that the Bogdokhan government ordered. Tens of thousands of residents of Jety-shaar fled to the west, to Russian Turkestan, and settled here forever.

THE WAY TO LOB-NOR On November 4, the expedition, accompanied by Zaman-bek and his retinue, set out from Kurl to the shores of Tarim and Lob-nor. “A whole horde is traveling with Zaman-bek,” Przhevalsky was indignant. “Food (sheep, flour, etc.) and pack animals are taken from the residents for free.” Nikolai Mikhailovich spoke about Zaman-bek himself with mockery and indignation: “On the road and at Lob-Nor itself, our companion, probably out of boredom, married four times, including once to a 10-year-old girl.” The society of Zaman-bek and his retinue prevented Przhevalsky from not only mapping the area, but even hunting.

Russian traveler Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky went down in history as a tireless explorer of Central Asia, who discovered previously unexplored lands with their unique nature, population and original culture to the Western world. Nikolai Mikhailovich has several expeditions to Central Asia and the Ussuri region.

short biography

The future naturalist was born on April 12, 1839 in the village of Kimborovo, Smolensk region. The Przhevalsky family belonged to an old noble family, and had its own coat of arms, bestowed for their valor during military battles.

After graduating from high school, Nikolai began serving in the Ryazan Infantry Regiment, where he received the rank of officer. Unlike most of his colleagues, he spent all his free time not in idle revelry, but in hunting, collecting herbariums, and studying ornithology.

Rice. 1. Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky.

After serving for five years, Przhevalsky continued his education at the Academy of the General Staff, where he closely studied the works of outstanding geographers. For excellent studies, the capable student was elected a full member of the Geographical Society.

Having joined the Warsaw Junker School as a teacher of geography and history, Przhevalsky simultaneously studied botany, zoology, and even compiled a textbook on geography.

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Getting to know the Ussuri region

Przhevalsky always dreamed of traveling to distant countries, about which he read so much in books. Soon he was presented with such an opportunity - in 1867, a promising specialist was sent to the Ussuri region for two years to study the local flora and fauna.

Having arrived at the place, Przhevalsky began to study the nature of Ussuri in earnest. During his exploration of the southern region, he covered more than a thousand miles in just three months: the naturalist approached the task entrusted to him very responsibly and tirelessly carried out observations.

Rice. 2. Ussuri region.

During his expedition to the Ussuri region, Przhevalsky managed to collect about three hundred species of plants and produce the same number of stuffed birds. Moreover, many of the exhibits he collected were discovered for the first time.

Traveling in Central Asia

Przhevalsky's famous travels in Central Asia began in 1870, when the Russian Geographical Society appointed the researcher as head of the first expedition.

It is very difficult to overestimate the merits of the great traveler, because during all four expeditions in Central Asia he made many important discoveries:

• Przhevalsky became the first white man who managed to penetrate deep into Northern Tibet, to the headwaters of the great Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, and thoroughly explore these territories.
• He presented detailed descriptions of the Alashani, Ordos and Gobi deserts, and the highlands of Northern Tibet.
• Updated maps of Central Asia, on which previously unknown ridges, large and small lakes were plotted.
• Explored the mysterious Lake Lop Nor - a muddy freshwater lake that changed its location.
• Discovered the lower reaches of the Tarim and the Altyntag ridge.
• He discovered an entire mountainous country - Kunlun, the existence of which no one in Europe even knew.
• He filmed several thousand kilometers of his journey through the regions of Central Asia.

During his expeditions, Przhevalsky collected an impressive herbarium - more than 1,500 different species, as well as large collections of various animals of Central Asia. He discovered new species, which later received his name: rhododendron, split-tail, lizard, wild horse.

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Presentation about the famous Russian traveler Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, the first explorer of Central Asia. The spaces of Central Asia, studied by N.M. Przhevalsky stretch from north to south for 1000 km, and from west to east for 4000 km. The scientific results of his travels are enormous and multifaceted. Based on the overall results of his work, N. M. Przhevalsky took one of the most honorable places among the famous travelers of all times and peoples. His work is an exceptional example of a steady pursuit of his goal and a talented execution of his task.

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Great discoveries of Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky Completed by: Koptyaeva A. I. student of 10 “B” class of MBOU “Secondary School No. 3” Teacher: Asanova S. L.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888) Przhevalsky Nikolai Mikhailovich - Russian traveler, explorer of Central Asia; honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1878), major general (1886). He led an expedition to the Ussuri region (1867-1869) and four expeditions to Central Asia (1870-1885).

Childhood and adolescence. Born into a small noble family, a descendant of a Zaporozhye Cossack. Przhevalsky's father died in 1846, and the boy was raised by his uncle, who instilled in him a passion for hunting and travel. In 1855, after graduating from the Smolensk gymnasium, he enlisted in military service as a non-commissioned officer in an infantry regiment. A year later, Przhevalsky entered the Academy of the General Staff. In 1860, he made a report “On the Essence of Life on Earth.” Having brilliantly graduated from the Academy, he taught geography and history at the Warsaw Junker School, cultivating humanism and love of truth.

First expedition At the end of 1866, he was assigned to the General Staff with an appointment to Eastern Siberia. In 1867 he came to St. Petersburg, where he met with P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, who helped organize the expeditions. In 1867-1869 he explored the Ussuri region, where he collected an ornithological collection. In his first expedition to Central Asia in 1870-1873, exploring Mongolia, China and Tibet, Przhevalsky found out that the Gobi was not a rise, but a depression with hilly terrain. Nanshan is not a ridge, but a mountain system. He discovered the Beishan Highlands, the Tsaidam Basin, three ridges in Kunlun and seven large lakes. The results of the expedition brought him world fame; Przhevalsky was awarded the highest award of the Geographical Society - the Great Konstantinovsky Medal.

Second expedition During the second Central Asian expedition of 1876-1877, Przhevalsky discovered the Altyntag Mountains; the first description of Lake Lop Nor (now dried up) and the Tarim and Konchedarya rivers feeding it is given; the border of the Tibetan Plateau has been “moved” more than 300 km to the north.

Third expedition In the third Central Asian expedition of 1879-1880, he identified a number of ridges in Nanshan, Kunlun and the Tibetan Plateau (including Tangla and Bokalyktag), photographed Lake Kukunor, the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze.

Fourth Expedition Despite a painful illness, Przhevalsky went on the fourth (second Tibetan) expedition of 1883-1885, during which he discovered a number of new lakes and ridges in Kunlun, outlined the Tsaidam Basin, almost 60 years before the discovery of Pobeda Peak (7439 m) indicated to his existence.

Fifth Expedition In 1888, setting off on a new journey, he cried bitterly, as if saying goodbye forever. Upon arrival in Karakol, he felt unwell and died a few days later - according to the official version, from typhoid fever. Already today, three medical experts have come to the conclusion that the cause of his death was lymphogranulomatosis.

Przhevalsky is known as one of the greatest travelers, who spent 11 years of his life on 5 expeditions. The total length of its operating routes is 31,500 km. He received the highest awards from a number of geographical societies, was elected honorary doctor of several universities, became an honorary member of 24 scientific institutions in a number of countries and an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg and Smolensk. World fame

In 1891, in honor of Przhevalsky, the Russian Geographical Society established a silver medal and a prize named after him; in 1946, a gold medal named after Przhevalsky was established.

During the expeditions, rich zoological collections were collected (over 7.5 thousand exhibits); several new species of animals were discovered, including wild camel, wild horse, pika-eater bear, etc.)

The following names were named in his honor: a city, a ridge in Kunlun, a glacier in Altai, several species of animals (including a horse) and plants. Monuments to Przhevalsky were erected: near Lake Issyk-Kul (at his grave) and in St. Petersburg.

Its herbariums contain about 16 thousand plant specimens, comprising 1,700 species, of which 218 species and 7 genera were described for the first time. His mineralogical collections were striking in their richness.

On October 20, 1888, the great traveler Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky passed away. In 1889, a monument was erected at his grave. A bronze eagle with an olive branch in its beak rises on a block of granite as a symbol of the glory and greatness of the brave explorer, who became an example for many generations of scientists and travelers around the world.

Literature http://www.c-cafe.ru/days/bio/7/027.php https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki http://go.mail.ru/search_images http://orient- tracking.com/Story/Przhevalsky.htm