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Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky
Born April 12, 1839(1839-04-12)
Smolensk
Died November 1, 1888 (aged 49)
Karakol
Nationality Russian
Occupation explorer
Known for exploration of Asia

Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (Russian: Никола́й Миха́йлович Пржева́льский, also transliterated Przewalski (Polish-style) and Prjevalsky, pronounced [prʐɛˈvalʲskʲi]; April 12 [O.S. 31 March] 1839—November 1 [O.S. 20 October] 1888 ), was a Russian geographer of Polish origin and explorer of Central and Eastern Asia. Although he never reached his final goal, Lhasa in Tibet, he travelled through regions unknown to the west, such as northern Tibet, modern Qinghai and Dzungaria.[1] He significantly contributed to European knowledge on Central Asia and was the first known European to describe the only extant species of wild horse[2], which is named after him.

Contents

Biography

Przhevalsky was born in Smolensk into a noble Polish family (the original, Polish name is: Przewalski), and studied there and at the military academy in St. Petersburg. In 1864, he became a geography teacher at the military school in Warsaw.

In 1867, Przhevalsky petitioned the Russian Geographical Society to be dispatched to Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia. His intention was to explore the basin of the Ussuri River, a tributary of the Amur. This was his first expedition of importance; it lasted two years. Przhevalsky published the diary of the expedition as Travels in the Ussuri Region, 1867-69.

In the following years he made four journeys to Central Asia:

  • 1870–1873 from Kyakhta he crossed the Gobi desert to Peking (now Beijing), then exploring the upper Yangtze (Chang Jiang), and in 1872 crossed into Tibet. He surveyed over 7,000 sq mi (18,000 km2), collected and brought back with him 5,000 plants, 1000 birds, and 3,000 insect species, as well as 70 reptiles and the skins of 130 different mammals.[3] Przehevalsky was awarded the Constatine Medal by the Imperial Geographical Society, promoted to lieutenant-general, appointed to the Tsar's General Staff, and received the Order of St Vladimir, fourth Class. The journey provided the General Staff with important intelligence on a Muslim uprising in the kingdom of Yakub Beg in western China, and his lecture to the Imperial Geographical Society was received with "thunderous applause" from an overflow audience. The Russian newspaper Golos called the journey "one of the most daring of our time".[4]
  • 1876–1877 travelling through Eastern Turkestan through the Tian Shan range, he visited what he believed to be Lake Lop Nor, which had reportedly not been visited by any European since Marco Polo.[5] The expedition consisted of ten men, twenty-four camels, four horses, three tonnes of baggage and a budget of 25000 roubles, the expedition was beset by disease and poor quality camels. In September 1877 the caravan was refurbished with better camels and horses, 72000 rounds of ammunition and large quantities of brandy, tea and Turkish Delight, and set out for Lhasa but did not reach its goal.
  • 1879–1880 via Hami and through the Qaidam basin to Lake Koko Nor. Then over the Tian Shan mountains into Tibet to within 260 km (160 mi) of Lhasa before being turned back by Tibetan officials;
  • 1883–1885 from Kyakhta across the Gobi to Alashan and the eastern Tian Shan mountains, turning back at the Yangtze. Then back to Koko Nor, and westwards to Khotan and Lake Issyk Kul.

The results of these expanded journeys opened a new era for the study of geography of Central Asia as well as the studies of the fauna and flora of this area that was relatively unknown to his Western contemporaries. Among other things, he reported on the wild population of Bactrian Camels as well as the Przewalski's Horse and Przewalski's Gazelle named after him in many European languages. Przhevalsky's writings include five major books written in Russian and two English translations: Mongolia, the Tangut Country (1875) and From Kulja, Across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879).

Przhevalsky died of typhus not long before the beginning of his fifth journey, at Karakol on the lakeshore of Issyk-Kul in present day Kyrgyzstan. The Tsar immediately changed the name of the town to Przhevalsk. There are monuments to him, and a museum about his life and work, there and another monument in St. Petersburg.

Less than a year after his premature death, Mikhail Pevtsov succeeded Przhevalsky at the head of his expedition into the depths of Central Asia. Przhevalsky's work was continued by his young disciple Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov.

Monument to Nikolai Przhevalski in Saint Petersburg

There is another place named after him. Przhevalsky had been living in a small village called Sloboda, Smolensk Oblast, Russia since 1881 till 1887 (except the time of his travels). He really loved the place. The village was renamed after him in 1964, and now it is called Przhevalskoye. There is a memorial complex here that includes the old and new houses of Nikolai Przhevalsky, his bust, pond, garden, birch alleys, and khatka (a lodge, watchbox). This is the only museum of the famous traveller in Russia.

Imperialism

According to David Schimmelpenninck Van Der Oye's assessment, Przhevalsky's books on Central Asia feature his disdain for the Oriental - particularly, the Chinese - civilization. Przhevalsky explicitely portrayed the Chinese as cowardly, dirty and lazy, in a metaphor of "the blend of a mean Moscow pilferer and a kike", in all respects inferior to the "European civilization".[6] He purportedly argued that Imperial China's hold of its northern territories, in particular Xinjiang and Mongolia, was very weak and uncertain, and openly called for Russia's annexation of bits and pieces of China's territory.[7] He was described as a ruthless explorer who roamed Central Asia spaces "with a carbine in one hand, a whip in the other."[8]

Przhevalsky, as well as other contemporary explorers Sven Hedin, Sir Francis Younghusband, Sir Aurel Stein, were active players in the British-Russian struggle for influence in Central Asia, the Great Game.[8]

Urban legend

There is an urban legend that Joseph Stalin was an illegitimate son of Nikolai Przhevalski [9][10]. The legend is supported by the similar appearance of both men, probably exaggerated by the propaganda efforts to make canonical images of Stalin more Slavic-like[11] . On the other hand, Przhevalsky's visits to Georgia are not recorded. The humoristically developed version of this legend appears in book three of Vladimir Voinovich - The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin.

References

  1. ^ Luce Boulnois, Silk Road: Monks, Warriors & Merchants, 2005, Odyssey Books, p. 415 ISBN 962-217-721-2
  2. ^ Hellemans, Alexander; Bryan Bunch (1988). The Timetables of Science. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 304. ISBN 0671621300.  
  3. ^ Wood, Francis (2002). The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. 165–169. ISBN 978-0-520-24340-8.  
  4. ^ Meyer & Blair Brysac, Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia (1999) at p229.
  5. ^ Author August Strindberg, however, believed that Przhevalsky was preceded by Johan Gustaf Renat by almost two centuries. See August Strindberg, "En svensk karta över Lop-nor och Tarimbäckenet" (in Swedish)
  6. ^ See, e.g. Nikolai Przhevalskii, "Mongolia, The Tangut Country and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet", two volumes, translated by E. Delmar Morgan with introduction and notes by Colonel Henry Yule (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1876, vol. 2, p. 24.
  7. ^ David Schimmelpenninck Van Der Oye, "Toward the Rising Sun: Russian Ideologies of Empire and the Path to War with Japan" (DeKalb, Il: Northern Illinois University Press, 2001), p. 34
  8. ^ a b David Nalle (June 2000). "Book Review - Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia". Middle East Policy (Washington, USA: Blackwell Publishers) VII (3). ISSN 1061-1924. http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol7/0006_nalle.asp.  
  9. ^ Alexander Portnov Great pseudonym of Joseph Przhevalsky (Russian)
  10. ^ Thoughts after the exhibition or who are you, Joseph Stalin
  11. ^ S.V. Anuchkov Stalin, Mustache of Przhevalsky and Great Duchess Anastasia (Russian)

Further reading

  • Meyer, Karl E.; Brysac, Shareen Blair (October 25, 1999). Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia. Basic Books. ISBN 978-1582431062.  

External links








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