In addition, the “Essays...” provides a description of the main stages of exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic, including the achievement of the North and South Poles. In other words, the work will cover only territorial discoveries related to the creation and refinement of the map of the Earth within the framework of the written history of peoples.
"Essays..." are intended primarily for teachers, but they can also be useful for specialists in geography and history, and for many other readers.
For the first volume, covering the geographical achievements of the peoples of the ancient world and the Middle Ages, the following chapters were written anew: “Peoples - the creators of the most ancient civilizations of the Middle East” (Chapter 1), “Peoples of Western Asia (from the Hittites to the Persians)” (Chapter 2), “ Ancient peoples of South Asia" (chapter 4), "Ancient peoples of East Asia" (chapter 9, except for section I), "Discoveries of the peoples of Central, East and South Asia" (chapter 10, except for section I). Together with my father, with my later additions, the following chapters were rewritten: “The Phoenicians and Carthaginians” (Chapter 3), “Discoveries of the ancient peoples of Southern Europe” (Chapter 5), “Geographical achievements of the Romans in Western Europe” (Chapter 6), “ The Romans in Central Europe, Asia and Africa" (chapter 7), "Discoverers and explorers of the Atlantic" (chapter 11), "Europe in the 7th–15th centuries" (chapter 14).
In a number of chapters the following sections have been rewritten: in Ch. 5 - “Discoveries of the ancient Iberians”, “Etruscans: discovery of the Apennines and the Alps”, “Greeks in North and West Africa”, “Herodotus on North-East Africa”; in ch. 11 - “The First Exploration of Ireland”; in ch. 12 - “Normans on the Baltic Sea and the discovery of the Baltic states”; in ch. 13 - “Masudi and al-Garnati about Eastern Europe”, “Arabs in Asia”, “Arabs in Western and Equatorial Africa”, “Arabs off the coast of South Africa and Madagascar”, “Arabs in the Philippines”, “Ibn Majid and the sailing directions” Indian Ocean"; in ch. 14 - “Continuation of the opening Central Europe"; in ch. 15 - “Discovery of the “land of Grumant”, “Russian land surveyors of the 15th century”, “Stephen of Perm - the first explorer of the Komi country.” I also made some additions and changes in chapters 8, 12, 14, 16 and 17.
In the second volume, dedicated to the great geographical discoveries since the end of the 15th century. until the middle of the 17th century, in particular, new materials will be presented about the “rivals” of Columbus, about the discoveries of the Portuguese off the coast of South America, East Africa and the islands of Indonesia, the work of the Arabs in North Africa and in the Indian Ocean basin will be described, the achievements of European surveyors and Russian explorers and the discoveries of Dutch sailors.
The third volume, containing a description of the discoveries and research of modern times (mid-17th–18th centuries), will provide new data on the research of Russians in Eastern Europe, Western Europeans in the center and west of the continent, and will describe the work of the pioneers of scientific study of India, the Philippines, Japan and Sakhalin.
The fourth volume examines the progress of discovery and exploration from 1801 to 1917; it plans to re-examine the achievements of representatives of a number of nationalities in the study of Europe, the work of Russians in Western Siberia and Primorye; the research of the British and French in Central and South Asia, the Russians and the British in the west of the continent will also be considered, the first survey of the Japanese islands will be described; the achievements of Americans, Russians and Canadians in familiarizing themselves with certain regions of North America, the French and Russians - with North Africa, and researchers of a number of nationalities - with Equatorial and South Africa, as well as with Madagascar.
The final volume, the fifth volume, is devoted to discoveries and research. modern era(1917–1985), it will contain, in particular, a summary of data on the discoveries of the 70s and 80s. in Antarctica, recent research in the American and Soviet sectors of the Arctic, in Africa, South America and Australia; it is planned to consider the results of the work of Soviet researchers on changing the maps of Western and Eastern Siberia, Central Asia, as well as the northeast of the continent, to highlight the progress of the discovery of the sources of some of the planet's large rivers, to characterize the discoveries of the topography of the bottom of the oceans and seas, and to describe the results of space photography of the Earth.
V. I. Magidovich
PART 1. DISCOVERIES OF ANCIENT PEOPLES
Discoveries of the Harappans, Indo-Aryans and ancient Indians (according to V. I. Magidovich)
Chapter 1
PEOPLES - CREATORS OF THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST
Ancient Egyptians
In ancient times, the Egyptians developed a narrow strip of fertile land, limited by the valley and delta of the “breathing river” Hapi (Nile). Adjacent to it was the Fayum oasis with Lake Merida, its modern remnant- Birket-Karun. The Egyptians called their country Ta Kemet (“Black Land”) and correctly considered it a gift from the Nile. This agricultural strip, fenced on three sides by red lands (deserts) - Nubian, Libyan and Arabian - is accessible only from the north, from the Mediterranean Sea.
After the unification of the country under the rule of the pharaoh Menesa (Aha) around XXX century BC e. Egypt began to pursue an aggressive policy. The eastern direction of his expansion became one of the most important. In the XXIX century. BC e. Pharaoh Den (Udimu) first invaded the Sinai Peninsula and defeated the troops of the nomadic tribes of the Sechet and Menchu-Sechet, immortalizing his victory on an ivory tablet: “The first case of defeat of the East.” On the Isthmus of Suez, the conventional geographical border of Africa and Asia, the Egyptians discovered the Great Black - a system of bitter-salty lakes (Timsah, Big and Small Gorkoe) and reached the top of the Gulf of Suez. (Here, by the middle of the 26th century BC, Pharaoh Sahura built a shipyard.) At the beginning of the 28th century. BC e. large military expedition under the command Netanha, directed by Pharaoh Djoser, annexed the entire Sinai to Egypt. In this desert area, the conquerors discovered a dense network of temporary streams (wadis) and began to exploit building stones stronger than Nubian sandstone, as well as deposits of copper, malachite and turquoise.
In an effort to break through to the northeast, the Egyptians waged a stubborn struggle for several centuries with the peoples of Palestine and Syria. Almost no information about these clashes, sometimes real wars, has survived. One of the main goals of the campaigns was access to Mount Lebanon, where the ash-cedar tree grew, necessary for the construction of large ships. In the XXIV century. BC e. Pharaoh Piopi I five times he sent thousands of troops to the country of Heriusha (Southern Palestine?), led by a military leader and shipbuilder named Una"for devastation and pacification." The Egyptians marched east through El Arish, the largest wadi in Sinai, and invaded the Negev region. They probably reached the Ghor (El-Ghor) depression, the southern shores of the Dead Sea and crossed the Wadi al-Arab valley-graben. To the south they reached the Gulf of Aqaba. Una returned safely to Egypt, devastating the country of Herius, destroying its fortresses, cutting down date palms and vineyards, killing troops of many tens of thousands of soldiers, bringing a great many captives.
Thutmose I, continuing the policy of his predecessors to penetrate Western Asia, around 1530 BC. e. crossed all of Syria and reached the Land of Two Rivers on the upper Euphrates. He left an inscription here - the first description of this river that has reached us, flowing in the opposite direction to the Nile. The Egyptians considered it a curiosity. Reports of the trip described "inverted" water as moving upward while the "true" flow was downward.
At least 3000 BC. e. in the mountains of Lower Egypt, between 28 and 25° N. sh., the Egyptians developed deposits of gold and building stone; They established caravan routes across the Arabian Desert to Waj-Ur (the Red Sea), opening several passages to the east along wadi valleys originating from a narrow mountain range parallel to the seashore.
After unification, Egypt extended up the Nile 1000 km to the First Cataract (at 24° N, near Aswan). On an island located in the middle of the river, the “Open Gate” fortress was soon built to expand expansion to the south, to the country of Takens (“Curved”), i.e. to Nubia, from where thousands of black slaves and huge herds of cattle were driven. Military campaigns in Nubia up to the Third Cataract, at 20° latitude, where tribes of powerful Majai lived, were undertaken by the pharaohs Djoser (beginning of the 28th century BC) and Sneferu(late 28th century BC). He made four large military and trade expeditions, each lasting 7–8 months, to little-known areas of Nubia in the 23rd century. BC e. ruler of Elephantine Khufhor (Hirhuf). He probably passed from Fr. Elephantine to the southwest about 1500 km along the so-called “Elephant Road” through the oases (now wells) of Dunkul and Selima to the eastern slopes of the Darfur plateau in Sudan. Here, already in the savannah zone, was the capital of the country, Iam, near 14°30 N. w. Khufhor returned back, accompanied by a military escort attached to the leader of the country, and on donkeys delivered to Egypt “... incense, ebony, leopard skins, elephant tusks, all kinds of precious gifts. Never [no one]… has done anything like this from the beginning.” As a gift to the king Piopi II he brought a pygmy who came to him through intermediary trade with the southern regions of Sudan. Khufhor completed the first historically proven double crossing of the Eastern Sahara to the savannah strip he discovered.
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Magidovich I. P., Magidovich V. I.
ESSAYS ON THE HISTORY OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES
VOLUME II
Great geographical discoveries (late 15th – mid 17th century)
PREFACE
Geographical discoveries were made throughout historical eras, since ancient times, by representatives of all civilized peoples. But for ancient centuries it is very difficult, almost impossible, to identify the exact chronological sequence of discoveries. Sometimes it is possible to approximately determine in what century a particular remarkable geographical discovery was made. In a number of cases, one has to confine oneself to only indicating which millennium BC it belongs to. This must be kept in mind when using materials about ancient discoveries.
The largest geographical discoveries (territorial and equatorial) made by European navigators and travelers in the mid-15th – mid-17th centuries. (in foreign literature usually only the mid-15th - mid-16th centuries), they are usually called Great due to their exceptional significance for the destinies of Europe and the whole world. The Age of Great Discoveries, the chronological scope of which in Volume II is limited to the end of the 15th - mid-17th centuries, is divided into two periods:
the Spanish-Portuguese period, the end of the 15th - mid-16th centuries, including the discovery of America starting with the first expedition of Columbus (1492); Portuguese voyages to India and the shores of East Asia starting with the expedition of Vasco da Gama; Spanish Pacific expeditions of the 16th century. from Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world to the Villalovos expedition (1542-1543);
the period of Russian and Dutch discoveries (mid-16th – mid-17th centuries). It includes: the discovery by Russians of all of Northern Asia from Ermak’s campaign to the voyage of Popov-Dezhnev (1648); English and French discoveries in North America; Dutch and Pacific expeditions and the discovery of Australia.
Common reasons for equipping expeditions for discovery include: growth in European countries commodity production; lack of precious metals and the associated search for new lands, where they hoped to find gold, silver and gems, spices and ivory (in the tropics), valuable furs and walrus tusks (in northern countries); the search for new trade routes from Europe to India and East Asia, caused by the desire of Western European merchants to get rid of trade intermediaries and establish direct connections with Asian countries (Turkish conquests almost completely closed the road to the East through Asia Minor and Syria). Great geographical discoveries became possible thanks to the successes of science and technology: the creation of sailing ships (caravels) that were reliable enough for ocean navigation, the improvement of the compass and sea charts, etc. Big role the increasingly established idea of the spherical shape of the Earth played a role; The idea of the possibility of a western sea route to India across the Atlantic Ocean was also associated with it. Advances in the field of geographical knowledge and the development of navigation among the peoples of the East were important for the Great Geographical Discoveries.
The great geographical discoveries were events of world-historical significance: the contours of the inhabited continents were clarified (except for the northern and northwestern coasts of America and the eastern coast of Australia), most of the earth's surface was explored, but many of the interior regions of America remained unexplored, Central Africa and all of Inland Australia. The great geographical discoveries provided extensive new material for many other areas of knowledge - history, botany, zoology, ethnography. As a result of the Great Geographical Discoveries, Europeans were first introduced to a number of agricultural crops (maize, tomatoes, tobacco), which then spread to Europe.
Great geographical discoveries had major socio-economic consequences. The discovery of new trade routes and new countries contributed to the fact that trade became global in nature, and there was a gigantic increase in the number of goods in circulation. This accelerated the process of decomposition of feudalism and the emergence of the “capitalist era” (1) in Western Europe. Colonial system, formed after the Great Geographical Discoveries (already during this period, Europeans, exterminating the indigenous population, captured vast territories in America and organized bases on the coast of Africa, South and East Asia), was one of the levers of the so-called primitive accumulation of capital; This was facilitated by the influx of cheap American gold and silver into Europe after the Great Geographical Discoveries, which caused a significant increase in prices here.
During the first period of the Great Geographical Discovery, when the main trade routes moved from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, these routes were dominated by Portugal and Spain. At the same time, the main producers of industrial goods were the Netherlands, England and France, which made it possible for their bourgeoisie to grow rich especially quickly: by pumping gold and silver from the Pyrenean countries, it gradually ousted its competitors from the shipping routes and from their overseas colonies. After the defeat of the “Invincible Armada” (1588), the Spanish-Portuguese power (and in those years both Pyrenean powers constituted a single state) was dealt a crushing blow. Particularly in Pacific research and south seas at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. the main initiative passed to the Netherlands, and in the 40s of the 17th century. The bourgeois revolution in England brought this country into the wide arena of the struggle for markets, dominance of the seas and colonial possessions.
The great geographical discoveries had a revolutionary influence on the development of philosophical thought and natural science. Not only did people’s spatial horizons expand: in those days, “an infinitely wider horizon opened up to the external and internal gaze of man” (2).
The great geographical discoveries affected, in particular, the development of geographical knowledge, the main “suppliers” of which in that era were not natural scientists, but people who had a very distant relationship with science. Therefore, the process of accumulating knowledge was very complex and had a multi-stage nature. Scientific generalizations were hampered by medieval prejudices and religious myths firmly rooted in people's minds. The liberation of geographical thought from church dogmas was carried out slowly and painfully, although steadily... At the end of the period under review - in 1650 - "General Geography" appeared in the Netherlands, written by an outstanding scientists of that time Bernhard Varenius(1622-1650) (3) . His work seems to sum up the geographical achievements of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries. In it, based on new information about the Earth obtained by that time, for the first time since ancient authors, broad geographical generalizations were made - mountain systems of land, forests and steppes were described, considerable attention was paid to the oceans and seas and, in particular, for the first time as an independent water area in southern hemisphere The land is highlighted by the Southern Ocean.
Without exaggeration, we can say that the work of B. Varenius is an ideological milestone separating the Great Geographical Discoveries of the late 15th – mid-17th centuries. from geographical discoveries and exploration of the New Age. At the same time, this is the emergence of a new branch of geographical knowledge - general physical geography. Only the Great Geographical Discoveries could become its basis, and they accomplished this task.
INTRODUCTION
Offered to the reader, volume 2 of the five-volume edition of “Essays on the History of Geographical Discoveries” covers a short period of time, from the first voyage of X. Columbus (1492) to the great discoveries of Russian explorers and sailors in northeast Asia in the middle of the 17th century. inclusive. After the publication of the second edition of “Essays...” (1967), a large number of works appeared, characterizing in varying degrees of detail the geographical achievements of representatives of a number of peoples, mainly the Spaniards and Portuguese, mainly in North and South America.
Many publications are devoted to the progress of the discovery of Northern Asia by Russian explorers and polar sailors. The first voyages of the Dutch off the coast of Australia and the Portuguese off the coast of South America are also not ignored.
Thanks to numerous works on historical and geographical topics in the text of both parts of the second volume of “Essays...” I made numerous corrections, clarifications and additions. In a number of cases, newly discovered documents made significant adjustments to the history of geographical discoveries, and the author had to abandon previously harmonious, colorful and truthful versions, provisions or facts. The above can be briefly illustrated by the following, perhaps most striking examples: the progress of the discovery of the coastline of South America, the personality of Verrazzano, the campaigns of Ermak and Moskvitin.
For the second volume I wrote two new chapters: “Arab explorers of the Indian Ocean and Africa of the late 15th – early 16th centuries.” (ch. 11) and “Western European explorers of Madagascar and the Greater Sunda Islands” (ch. 34), and also significantly revised ch. 23. “The campaign of Ermak Timofeevich and his death.”
Together with I.P. Magidovich, the following chapters were created: “The first search for the Northeast Passage” (chapter 20), “Researchers of Great Britain, Scandinavia and Finland” (chapter 21), “ Filming work Russian and Polish surveyors" (chapter 22), "Dutch expansion in Asia, discovery of Australia and the islands of Oceania" (chapter 32) and "Exploration of Central Asia and East Africa from 1550 to 1650." (chapter 33).
For a number of chapters I wrote several new sections: in Ch. 7– “The Voyages of Sebastian Cabot” and “The Discoveries of Fagundis”; in ch. 10 - " Secondary opening Madagascar", "Portuguese off the coast of Madagascar", "Fernandes at Monomotape" and "Portuguese off the coast of Australia and New Guinea"; in ch. 12 – “First shooting
Cuba and Haiti" and "The Conquest and First Exploration of Cuba"; in ch. 13– “The voyage of Froish and Lizboa”; in ch. 17 – “Swimming Camargo”; in ch. 18– “First spanish colony on Atlantic coast North America", "Gomez's Land" and "Cabrillo-Ferrelo Sailing"; in ch. 19 – “Swimming of E. Grijalva”; in ch. 22 – “Filming of Western Siberia and Kazakhstan”; in ch. 25 – “Opening of the sea passage north of Taimyr”, “Opening of the North Siberian Lowland and the first Russians on the Central Siberian Plateau” and “The first Russians in Transbaikalia and Lake Baikal”; in ch. 26 – “The Campaigns of Malomolka and Gorely” and “The Amur Odyssey of Beketov”; in ch. 28– “Pirate Voyager Ingram”; in ch. 30– “Gutierrez and Oñate in the center of the North American continent”; in ch. 31 – “The Search for Eldorado on the Guiana Plateau” and “The Great Ban Deirant”; in ch. 33– “Ataydi: the first crossing of Africa.”
Together with I.P. Magidovich, the following sections were created: in Ch. 12– “The First Spaniards in Yucatan”, “Search for the Island of Eternal Youth” and “Discovery of Florida and the Gulf Stream”; in ch. 15 – “Pizarro’s campaign of conquest in Peru” and “Valdivia and the discovery of Southern Chile”; in ch. 16– “Discovery of the Middle Orinoco” and “Welser Country” and the search for Eldorado by mercenaries of German bankers”; in ch. 18 – “French discoveries: the voyage of Verrazzano”; in ch. 25 – “Discovery of East Siberian rivers from Anabar to Kolyma.”
I have radically revised some sections: in Ch. 5 – “Discovery of Brazil by the Spaniards”; in ch. 6 – “The Kuzliu-Vespucci Expedition”; in ch. 9– “The Second Voyage of Vespucci”; in ch. 10 – “Portuguese in Indonesia”; in Chapter 14 - “Expeditions to the South Sea and the discovery of the California Peninsula”; in ch. 15 – “Discovery of the Galapagos Archipelago”; in ch. 17– “Discovery of Parana and Paraguay”; in ch. 18– “The Legend of the “Sivol” and the “Seven Cities”, “The Spaniards’ Discovery of the Colorado and the Western Tributaries of the Mississippi” and “The Spaniards’ Search for the “Seven Cities” - the Soto Expedition”; in ch. 24 – “Development of the upper Ob basin” and “Development of the lower and middle Yenisei basin”; in ch. 26– “I. Moskvitin’s campaign to the Sea of Okhotsk”; in ch. 32– “The progress of the discovery of New Holland to Tasman”, “The First Tasman Expedition: the discovery of Van Diemen’s Land, New Zealand and the islands of tropical Oceania” and “The Second Tasman Expedition: New Holland - a single continent”; in ch. 33 – “The first European explorers of the Himalayas and Tibet.”
V. I. Magidovich
Indexes for Volumes II and subsequent ones will be placed in Volume V.
PART I.
THE AGE OF GREAT DISCOVERIES.
I PERIOD (UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF THE 16th century)
Chapter I.
COLUMBUS' FIRST EXPEDITION
Reasons for Spain's overseas expansionIn the second half of the 15th century. Feudalism in Western Europe was in the process of decay, large cities grew, and trade developed. Money became the universal means of exchange, the need for which increased sharply. Therefore, in Europe the demand for gold has increased greatly, which has increased the desire for the “Indies” - the birthplace of spices.” 1
On the importance of spices for medieval cities, see vol. 1, ch. eleven.
Where there seems to be a lot of gold. But at the same time, for Western Europeans, as a result Turkish conquests it became increasingly difficult to use the old, eastern combined land and sea routes to the “Indies.” At that time, only Portugal was searching for southern sea routes. For other Atlantic countries by the end of the 15th century. only the path to the west across the unknown ocean remained open. The idea of such a path appeared in Renaissance Europe in connection with the dissemination among a relatively wide range of interested parties of the ancient doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth, and long-distance voyages became possible thanks to the achievements in the second half of the 15th century. successes in shipbuilding and navigation.
These were the general prerequisites for the overseas expansion of Western European countries. The fact that it was Spain that was the first to send a small flotilla to the west in 1492 Christopher Columbus, explained by the conditions that developed in this country by the end of the 15th century. One of them was the strengthening of the Spanish royalty, previously limited. A turning point began in 1469, when the Queen of Castile Isabel married the heir to the Aragonese throne Ferdinand. Ten years later he became king of Aragon. Thus, in 1479, the largest Pyrenean states were united and a united Spain emerged. Skillful politics strengthened royal power. With the help of the urban bourgeoisie, the crowned couple curbed the rebellious nobility and large feudal lords. Having created in 1480-1485. the Inquisition, the kings turned the church into the most terrible weapon of absolutism. The last Muslim Iberian state, the Emirate of Granada, could not withstand their onslaught for long. At the beginning of 1492, Granada fell. The eight-century process of the Reconquista ended, and “United Spain” entered the world stage.
Overseas expansion was in the interests of both the royal power itself and its allies - the urban bourgeoisie and the church. The bourgeoisie sought to expand the sources of primitive accumulation; the church is to spread its influence to pagan countries. The Spanish nobility could provide the military force to conquer the “pagan Indies.” This was both in his interests and in the interests of the absolutist royalty and the urban bourgeoisie. The conquest of Granada put an end to the almost continuous war with the Moors in Spain itself, a war that had been the trade of many thousands of hidalgos. Now they sat idle and became even more dangerous for the monarchy and cities than in last years The Reconquista, when the kings, in alliance with the townspeople, had to wage a stubborn struggle against the robber gangs of the nobles. It was necessary to find a way out for the accumulated energy of the hidalgo. The solution, beneficial for the crown and the cities, for the clergy and nobility, was overseas expansion.
The royal treasury, especially the Castilian one, was constantly empty, and overseas expeditions to Asia promised fabulous profits. The Hidalgos dreamed of land holdings overseas, but even more of gold and jewelry from “China” and “India,” since most of the nobles were in debt to moneylenders like silk. The desire for profit was combined with religious fanaticism- a consequence of the centuries-old struggle of Christians against Muslims. One should not, however, exaggerate its importance in Spanish (as well as Portuguese) colonial expansion. For the initiators and organizers of overseas expansion, for the leaders of the Conquest, religious zeal was a familiar and convenient mask under which the desire for power and personal gain was hidden. A contemporary of Columbus, the author of the “Short Report of the Ruin of India” and the multi-volume “History of India,” Bishop Bartolome Las Casas with his catchphrase: “They walked with a cross in their hand and with an insatiable thirst for gold in their hearts.” “Catholic kings” zealously defended the interests of the church only when they coincided with their personal ones. That Columbus in this case was no different from the kings is clearly evident from those documents that were personally written or dictated by him.
Christopher Columbus and his project
Almost all facts from the life of Columbus are controversial 2
Columbus is the Latinized form of the Italian surname Colombo. In Spain his name was Cristoval Colon.
Relating to his youth and long stay in Portugal. It can be considered established, although with some doubt, that he was born in the autumn of 1451 in Genoa into a very poor Catholic family.
Christopher Columbus.
At least until 1472, he lived in Genoa itself or (from 1472) in Savona and, like his father, was a member of a woolen guild. It is not known whether Columbus studied at any school, but it has been proven that he read in four languages - Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin, and read a lot and, moreover, very carefully. Probably, Columbus's first long voyage dates back to the 70s: documents contain indications of his participation in the Genoese trade expeditions that visited in 1474 and 1475. O. Chios in the Aegean Sea. In May 1476, Columbus went by sea to Portugal as a clerk at a Genoese trading house and lived there for nine years - in Lisbon, Madeira and Porto Santo. According to him, he visited both England and Guinea, in particular the Gold Coast. We, however, do not know in what capacity he sailed - a sailor or a clerk at a trading house. But already during his first expedition, Columbus, despite the inevitable mistakes and failures of a new enterprise, proved himself to be a very experienced sailor, who combined the qualities of a captain, astronomer and navigator. He not only completely mastered the art of navigation, but also raised it to a higher level. According to the traditional version, Columbus, back in 1474, sought advice regarding the shortest sea route to “India” Paolo Toscanelli, astronomer and geographer. The Florentine sent in response a copy of his letter to the Portuguese scholar-monk, who had addressed him earlier on behalf of the king Afonso V. In this letter, Toscanelli pointed out that there was a shorter route across the ocean to the spice countries than the one that the Portuguese were looking for when sailing along the western coast of Africa. “I know that the existence of such a path can be proven on the basis that the Earth is a sphere. Nevertheless, to facilitate the undertaking, I am sending... a map made by me... It shows your coasts and islands, from where you must sail continuously to the west; and the places where you will arrive; and how far you should keep from the pole or from the equator; and how far you must travel to reach the countries where there are the most various spices and precious stones. Do not be surprised that I call the country where spices grow west, while they are usually called east, because people sailing steadily westward will reach the eastern countries across the ocean in the other hemisphere. But if you go overland - through our hemisphere, then the spice countries will be in the east ... "
Map by P. Toscanelli (reconstruction).
Obviously, Columbus then informed Toscanelli about his project, since he wrote in a second letter to the Genoese: “I consider your project of sailing from east to west... noble and great. I am pleased to see that I was well understood.” In the 15th century No one yet knew how land and ocean were distributed on Earth. Toscanelli almost doubled the extent of the Asian continent from west to east and accordingly underestimated the width of the ocean separating Southern Europe from China in the west, defining it as a third of the circumference of the Earth, i.e., according to his calculations, less than 12 thousand km Japan (Chipangu) lay, according to Toscanelli, approximately 2 thousand km east of China, and, therefore, from Lisbon to Japan you need to travel less than 10 thousand km; The Azores or Canary Islands and the mythical Antilia could serve as stages in this transition. Columbus made his own amendments to this calculation, relying on some astronomical and geographical books: it is most convenient to sail to East Asia through the Canary Islands, from where you need to go 4.5-5.0 thousand km to the west to reach Japan. According to the French geographer of the 18th century. Jean Anvil, it was "the greatest mistake that led to the greatest discovery." Neither the originals nor copies of Toscanelli’s map have reached us, but it has been reconstructed more than once on the basis of his letters.
Columbus proposed his project Juan II. After much delay, the Portuguese king handed over his project in 1484 to the scientific council, which had just been organized to compile navigation manuals. The Council rejected Columbus's evidence. Excessive rights and advantages also played a well-known role in the king’s refusal.
which Columbus reprimanded himself if the enterprise was successful. The Genoese left Portugal with his young son Diego. According to the traditional version, in 1485 Columbus arrived in the city of Paloia near the Gulf of Cadiz and found shelter near Palos, in the Rabida monastery. The abbot became interested in the project and sent Columbus to influential monks, who recommended him to the Castilian grandees, including the Duke Medinaceli. These recommendations only harmed the matter: Isabella was suspicious of an enterprise that, if successful, would enrich her political opponents - large feudal lords - and contribute to the growth of their influence. The Duke asked Isabella to allow the organization of the expedition at his own expense. The Queen ordered that the project be submitted to a special commission for consideration. The commission, consisting of monks and courtiers, gave a negative conclusion four years later. It didn't reach us. If you believe the biographers of Columbus in the 16th century, the commission cited various absurd motives, but did not deny the sphericity of the Earth: at the end of the 15th century. A clergyman claiming to be learned would hardly dare to dispute this truth 3
On the contrary, Christian writers at that time tried to reconcile the data confirming the spherical shape of the Earth with biblical concepts, because outright denial of the truth, which had become generally known, could damage the already shaken authority of the church. Let us note by the way: the version of the ceremonial meeting of the council of the University of Salamansa, at which Columbus’s project was allegedly rejected on the grounds that the learned men were outraged by his ideas about the sphericity of the Earth, is fictitious from beginning to end.
However, the kings have not yet expressed their final judgment. In 1487-1488 Columbus received benefits from the treasury, but his business did not move forward while the kings were busy with the war. But he found the most reliable point of support: with the help of the monks, he became close to Spanish financiers. This was the right path that led him to victory. In 1491, Columbus again appeared in the Rabid monastery and through the abbot he met Mr. Martin Alonso Ponson, an experienced sailor and an influential Palos shipwright. At the same time, Columbus's ties with royal financial advisers and Seville merchants and bankers strengthened.
At the end of 1491, Columbus's project was again considered by a commission, and prominent lawyers took part in it, along with theologians and cosmographers. And this time the project was rejected: Columbus’s demands were considered excessive. The king and queen joined in the decision, and Columbus headed to France. At that moment, a man appeared to Isabella Luis Santangel the head of the largest trading house, the closest financial adviser to the kings, and convinced her to accept the project, promising a loan to equip the expedition. A policeman was sent for Columbus, who caught up with him near Granada and escorted him to the court. On April 17, 1492, the kings expressed written consent to the draft treaty with Columbus. The most important article of this document read: “Their Highnesses, as lords of the seas-oceans, grant Don Cristobal Colon as their admiral of all the islands and continents that he personally ... discovers or acquires in these seas and oceans, and after his death [bless] his heirs and to posterity forever this title with all the privileges and prerogatives attached thereto... Their Highnesses appoint Columbus as their viceroy and chief ruler in... the islands and continents that he... discovers or acquires, and for the government of each of them they must choose one who is most suitable for this service ... "(from the candidates nominated by Columbus).
On April 30, the king and queen officially confirmed the award of the title “don” to Columbus and his heirs (this meant that he had been elevated to the dignity of nobility) and. if successful, the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor, as well as the right to receive salaries for these positions, a tenth of the net income from the new lands and the right to try criminal and civil cases. The overseas expedition was viewed by the crown primarily as a risky trading venture. The Queen agreed after seeing that the project was supported by major financiers. Luis Santangel and a representative of the Seville merchants loaned 1,400,000 maravedis to the Castilian crown 4
This is equivalent to almost 9.7 thousand gold dollars in 1934 prices. At the end of the 15th century. The sailor's salary was 12 maravedis per day, a pound of wheat cost 43.4 maravedis.
The support of representatives of the bourgeoisie and influential churchmen predetermined the success of Columbus's efforts.
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Name: Essays on the history of geographical discoveries - Volume 1.
A fundamental work in five volumes, written by the famous historical geographer Joseph Petrovich Magidovich (1889-1976) with the participation of his son, is considered one of the most significant works in Russian geographical literature. An encyclopedic educated person, I.P. Magidovich made a significant contribution to the history of geographical knowledge with his works. The authors of the essays wanted to show how, as a result of many travels, from antiquity to the present day, the modern idea of the physical map of the world has developed. The essays describe territorial discoveries associated with the creation and refinement of the map of the Earth within the written history of mankind. The authors selected the material in such a way that it allowed them to fairly fully describe the history of these travels and discoveries. The authors draw on data not only historical science, but also archeology and linguistics. Sometimes priority is revised geographical studies some peoples or the scope of discoveries of others is presented in a new way.
The first volume is dedicated geographical discoveries of the peoples of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages (before the voyage of Columbus). Talks about ancient civilizations Middle East, about the Roman campaigns in Western Europe, Asia and Africa, about the discoverers and explorers of the Atlantic, about the discovery of Eastern and Northern Europe by Russians, about the first campaigns in Western Siberia.
A geographical map in its diverse forms - from maps of hemispheres to maps of individual continents, countries, small territories - has long served people as an indispensable reference book, enriches them with knowledge, accompanies them on the road, and helps in many different works. At the same time, the map of the Earth is one of the most remarkable monuments of the history of science and culture; it, as it were, accumulates the centuries-old path of mankind’s knowledge of the surface of our planet.
The geographical map reminds us of the works and exploits of many, many sailors and travelers, people different countries and eras, famous and anonymous researchers. It also reminds us that the history of the discovery of new lands and seas is firmly connected with the socio-economic history of society, conditioned by it, and was accompanied in the history of class pre-capitalist societies and especially under capitalist conditions by conquests, the enslavement of peoples, the emergence of colonial powers and their rivalry.
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Semenov and the beginning of scientific research of the Tien Shan
The first European scientist-researcher to penetrate the Central Tien Shan was Pyotr Petrovich Semenov, who received the right to be called Tien Shan for his scientific feat. Back in 1853, while working on additions to Karl Ritter’s “Earth Science,” Semenov decided to visit the mysterious Tien Shan, forbidden to Europeans. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs jealously guarded Asian countries “from the invasion of geographical science,” and Semenov had difficulty obtaining permission to visit Altai and the “Kyrgyz steppes” (Kazakhstan).
In 1856, from Semipalatinsk Semenov reached Balkhash, which with its “withered tip - Lake Ala-Kulem [Ala-kol] - separates the systems of Central Asian ridges from the monotonous Kyrgyz steppe.” To the southeast of Balkhash, he saw a chain of high mountains, explored by A. Shrenk, “dazzlingly brilliant... with eternal snow,” stretching to the southwest and called it the Dzungarian Alatau. Behind this ridge began the “low and hot” river valley. Or. Having passed it, he reached the city of Verny (now Alma-Ata).
In September - October, Semenov made two routes to Lake Issyk-Kul. The first ran through the eastern part of the ridge, “steeply... like a gigantic wall” rising south of the city. This was the Trans-Ili Alatau (the name was given by Semenov). Having climbed the ridge at approximately 77 ° 40 "E, he saw in the south the intermountain basin of the Chilika River basin (tributary of the Ili) with several parallel ridges; from the enormous height of the pass they "looked like huge beds." He descended from the ridge to southeast, into the Chilik valley, and, having passed the Kyungey-Ala-Too, through the wide steppe valley of the Tyup and Dzhergalan rivers, came to the lake. “From the south, the entire... blue basin of Issyk-Kul... is closed by a continuous chain of snow giants" This was the “cherished Tien Shan” - the Terskey-Ala-Too ridge: “The snowy peaks [of it] seemed to be directly emerging from the dark blue waters of the lake." Semenov returned to Verny along the same route. A few days later he left for the west, crossed the Trans-Ili Alatau at 76° E and across the Chu River in the southwest saw a very high mountain range (Kyrgyz).Rising along the Chu valley through the wild and gloomy Boam Gorge, Semenov came to the north west bank Issyk-Kul; this route allowed him to refute persistent rumors that the lake serves as the source of the Chu. From Issyk-Kul, Semenov climbed Kungey-Ala-Too, crossed the valley of the right tributary of the Chu and on the way back to Verny crossed the Trans-Ili Alatau in the highest part (at 76°50" E). When descending from the pass, he and his the companions “had a very amusing and quite safe ride through the snow with their horses.”
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Semenov spent the winter of 1856/57 in Barnaul. Returning to Verny, in the summer of 1857, at the head of a large detachment, he walked along the northern slope of the Trans-Ili Alatau east to the river. Chilik; through the parallel ridges of Soget and Toraigyr and the “dry, waterless and... barren plateau” enclosed between them, he reached the upper reaches of the Charyn, a tributary of the Ili. From the narrow ridge of Toraigyr in the southeast, Semenov was the first European to see the majestic Khan Tengri. Having crossed Kungey-Ala-Too, he went south to the northern slopes of Terskey-Ala-Too. One evening, stopping for the night, Semenov enjoyed a wonderful panorama: “The sun was already setting towards evening, dark clouds were hovering over Kungey, spectacularly illuminated by the sunset. At a time when the snowy peaks of Kungei-Alatau had already begun to light up... with an alpine flicker, the soft dome-shaped foothills were bathed in light... as if the mountains were burning and smoking.”
Having climbed the pass (at 78° E) in Terskey-Ala-Too, he saw the river in the south. Naryn is the “upper reaches of the ancient Yaxartes” (Syr Darya), in front of it lies the “undulating plain with green lakes” - the syrty of the Inner Tien Shan. Semenov did not dare to go down to Naryn, since the horses were wounded and exhausted, so he returned to Issyk-Kul, then crossed the Kyungey-Ala-Too and reached the river. Chilik. Having rested in the village and hired fresh horses, Semenov went out to Naryn and climbed its left side. From the pass in Terskey-Ala-Too he was “blinded by an unexpected sight... [on southeast] rose the most majestic mountain range I had ever seen. It all, from top to bottom, consisted of snow giants [Semyonov counted at least 30 of them]... Just in the middle... rose one, sharply... separated by its colossal height, a snow-white pointed pyramid...” - Khan Tengri , for a long time considered the highest point (6995 m) of the Tien Shan. Having descended into the river valley. Sary-Jaz (Tarim basin), he went to its upper reaches, where he discovered huge glaciers, the existence of which he had previously doubted, and then returned to Verny.
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Semenov himself called his short trip “scientific reconnaissance of the northwestern outskirts of Central Mountainous Asia.” But its results turned out to be significant: he traced Kungey-Ala-Too for 150 km, Terskey-Ala-Too for 260 km, examined the Trans-Ili Alatau, which, as he found out, was connected with other ridges of the Tien Shan and formed its forward chain; discovered a huge glacial region in the upper reaches of the Sary-Jaz and the Tien Shan syrts; found that the food of the river. Chu is not connected with Lake Issyk-Kul 1, provided indisputable evidence of the absence of volcanism in Central Asia; first installed high-rise natural belts Tien Shan and the height of the snow line of the ridges; for the first time explored the area at the sources of the Naryn, Tekes and Saryjaz, i.e., rivers belonging to three of the four largest river systems of Central Asia - the Syr Darya, Ili and Tarim; noticed the most characteristic feature of the Tien Shan - the division into parallel chains and the formation of longitudinal, latitudinal, very long valleys. Finally, Semenov, as noted by K.I. Bogdanovich, gave the first and such a clear division of the northern chains of the Tien Shan, based on their orographic and geological features, that none of the later travelers of the 19th century who passed through the same areas could was able to add nothing significantly new to his data.
Valikhanov in the Central Tien Shan
In the 50s XIX century Chokan Chingisovich Valikhanov, from a noble Kazakh family, served in the Russian army, in the West Siberian governorate. In the summer of 1856, he took part in a military expedition to photograph Issyk-Kul, and in the fall of the same year he visited Dzungaria and lived in Gulja for three months.
In 1858, as part of a huge trade caravan, under the guise of a merchant, 23-year-old Valikhanov set off “to the hitherto unknown Kashgar” - a dangerous journey, since the entire East Turkestan was then engulfed in an uprising of indigenous peoples. In July, Valikhanov climbed the Dzhukuchak pass through Kungey-Ala-Too: “... we crossed Zauku and are entering countries unknown and unknown,” he wrote in his diary (quoted from Collected Works, vol. 1-4) . The caravan crossed the Tien Shan syrts, the upper reaches of the river. Naryn and along the Aksai valley and its tributary river. Terekty reached the Chinese border, approximately at 40 ° 30 "N latitude and 76 ° E. Valikhanov established that the space traversed from the Dzhukuchak pass "...represents a highland, cut by transverse valleys of considerable height." At the same time, he discovered " the widest and most extensive plateau" of the Central Tien Shan - Aksai - and quite accurately determined its boundaries. Worried about the fate of his companions and his own, Valikhanov buried the diary near the border.
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Having passed south “through barren terrain, occasionally covered with thorny grass... and pitted with ravines,” the caravan reached Kashgar in October. Due to the difficulties of the transition, out of 101 camels, 65 died. With part of the caravan, Valikhanov penetrated even further to the south - almost to Yarkand. From his own observations and inquiries, he found out that “Kashgaria has the character of a sandy desert, surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges 1, and on the eastern side it is closed by the Gobi steppe. Many rivers flow from the mountains, some of which are lost in the sands, while others form the Tarim-Gol river system, which flows into Lop Nor.”
In March 1859, Valikhanov set off with a caravan on the return journey, crossing the Central Tien Shan for the second time. Based on the materials from his travels, Valikhanov compiled the first scientific historical, geographical and ethnographic description of Eastern Turkestan. His contemporaries highly appreciated his work, considering it a genuine geographical discovery.
In 1860-1861 Valikhanov prepared a map of Asia for publication at the General Staff. His other works are also of great value, in which he collected a lot of facts exposing the tsarist colonialists, Kazakh feudal lords and the reactionary clergy. Consumption cut short the life of this first Kazakh scientist, an outstanding traveler and democratic educator in April 1865, when he was not yet 30 years old.
Severtsov's first travels
For research Aral Sea and the lower reaches of the Syrdarya, the Academy of Sciences organized an expedition, entrusting its leadership to zoologist Nikolai Alekseevich Severtsov: for him, “Central Asia has become scientific purpose whole life" 1 after meeting (in 1845) with G. S. Karelin. At the end of the summer of 1857, Severtsov began a journey from Orenburg with a large caravan towards the Emba along the valleys of the Ilek (Ural system) and Temir (a tributary of the Emba). Having examined the Northern Mugodzhary, he went to the lower reaches of the Emba, where he discovered oil outlets (the first information about the Priembinsky oil-bearing area), and then he explored the northern ledge of the Ustyurt plateau. Having studied the Southern Mugodzhary, he crossed the Big Barsuki sands, rounding the Aral Sea from the north, and past Lake Kamyshlybash in late autumn he came to Kazalinsk, on the lower Syr Darya. Of the 2.5 thousand km of the route, about 1.5 thousand were passed to places not visited by naturalists. From there Severtsov moved south to the Kyzylkum desert, traced the dry bed of the Zhanadarya (near 44° N) and described the eastern shore of the Aral Sea. At the end of 1857 he arrived in Perovs.k (now Kzyl-Orda).
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In the spring of 1858, Severtsov walked up the Syr Darya to study the Karatau ridge, making zoological collections along the way. Here he was attacked and captured: “... the Kokand man hit me on the nose with a sword and cut only the skin, the second blow to the temple, splitting the cheekbone, knocked me down - and he began to cut off my head, struck several more blows , deeply cut his neck, split his skull... I felt every blow, but strangely, without much pain...” Severtsov was saved by two other “Kokandans” who stopped the brutal massacre. The wounded and sick Severtsov spent a month in captivity in the city of Turkestan, “...and for the first time he became acquainted with the southern foothills of Karatau in the most unfavorable conditions for observations.” He was released at the end of May, after an ultimatum from the Russian military authorities; in early September, having finally recovered, he left for St. Petersburg. Based on the materials of the expedition, Severtsov compiled maps of the Aral-Caspian steppe, described in detail the relief, climate and vegetation of this region, noted the process of drying out of the Aral Sea and was the first to determine the ancient boundaries between the Caspian and Aral.
In 1864, having refused an assistant professorship at Kiev University, he finally chose the path of a field researcher and traveler and, having joined the Russian military detachment, continued the study of the Tien Shan, begun by P. P. Semenov. In the summer, Severtsov from Verny, having passed the Trans-Ili Alatau, walked west to the city of Aulie-Ata (now Dzhambul) along the northern slopes of the Kyrgyz ridge, only a year before (1863) first mapped by military topographers, studying its geology and relief. Then he visited Karatau and explored the basins of the Talas (lost in the sands of Muyunkum) and Chatkal (Syr Darya system) rivers. Here he identified two parallel ridges - Karzhantau and Pskemsky. In 1865-1866 he again explored Karatau and the river basin. Chirchik. As a result of the work of 1864-1866. Severtsov was the first to establish the geological connection of the ridges between pp. Chu and Syr Darya and proved that the Karatau ridge (length 420 km) is the northwestern spur of the Tien Shan.
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In the fall of 1867, Severtsov took part in a large Turkestan scientific expedition. Following with a small detachment from Verny, he went around Issyk-Kul from the east, crossed the Terskey-Ala-Too ridge at 77°40" E and reached the upper reaches of Naryn. At the same time, he gave a classic description of the Tien Shan syrt: "...I saw a vast, magnificent view of the syrt: ridge after ridge, hills covered with thick yellowed turf rose on it, like a disturbed sea; like foam on the waves, stripes of snow appeared white on them. Further, the hills rose higher, all with ledges above the agitated steppe, snow stripes appeared on them more and more often, and huge jagged ridges, already covered with solid snow, closed the horizon in a wide arc from the east, south and west, but they also rose in wavy ledges. The sun was already setting, and the illuminated snows of the distant ridges burned with molten gold, next to which the thick, purple-bluish shadows of the snowy hollows seemed all the colder...”
Severtsov crossed the Syrts through the snow in a southwestern direction 1 and through several passes in early October again reached Naryn, then in the south he explored the valleys of the At-Bashi (Syr Darya system) and Aksai (Tarim basin) rivers and penetrated into the southwestern part of the ridge Kakshaal-Too to 41° N. w. He was the first European to enter this part of the Central Tien Shan. Due to severe cold, by mid-October the traveler turned back to the north, to Naryn, and through the Dolon pass (at 75°40"), the valley of the Joon-Aryk river and the Boam gorge at the end of October 1867 he arrived in Tokmak, on the Chu River. Later, based on materials collected during this first crossing of the Central Tien Shan from south to north, Severtsov developed an orographic diagram of the Tien Shan, by which he meant “a whole mountain system.” He came to the conclusion that the wide Tien Shan Shan valleys represent the bottom of disappeared lakes.
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Reconnaissance of the Naryn region
In 1868, military topographer Fyodor Petrovich Petrov conducted reconnaissance of the Central Tien Shan in the area of Lake Song-Kol at an altitude of 3 thousand m. In the summer of 1869, a military detachment under the command of Alexander Vasilyevich Kaulbars, to whom Petrov was subordinate, set out to reconnaissance routes through the Southern Tien Shan to Eastern Turkestan and the Fergana Valley. From the eastern tip of Issyk-Kul, the detachment, having passed Terskey-Ala-Too, went to the upper reaches of Naryn and Sary-Jaz. Petrov mapped a short but powerful ridge, Ak-Shyirak (up to 5125 m), and discovered a number of huge glaciers there; the largest (about 17 km) is named after him. He also found out that the river originates from the Petrov glacier. Naryn. To the east, he mapped, although not entirely accurately, the Kerlyu-Too and Sary-Jaz ridges. From a mountain valley at 79° E. D. Petrov saw in the south an unknown huge ever-snowy ridge with a steep northern slope - Kakshaal-Too. The researchers walked along it to the southwest beyond 77° east. d. to the upper reaches of the river. Kakshaal (like Sary-Jaz of the Tarim system), following along the entire length the Borkoldoy ridge (length about 100 km), then, in the southwest, several short ridges. Behind them could be seen a large mountain arc curved to the south, with a double-headed white cone (up to 4960 m), reaching Lake Chatyr-Kol in the west (the southwestern section of Kakshaal-Too). And to the south of the river. Kakshaal Petrov spotted another snow ridge - Maydantag (up to 4556 m). As the guides correctly explained, it stretches along the entire right bank of the river. Kakshaal almost to the mouth. The ascent of Kaulbars’s detachment to Lake Chatyr-Kel at an altitude of 3530 m was accompanied by almost daily snowstorms. Turning to the northeast, Petrov reached the river. Naryn at 76° E. and explored the Naryn Basin to the Fergana Range. To the south of the basin he mapped the At-Bashy ridge (135 km), to the north - the Moldo-Too ridges (about 150 km) and beyond the 42nd parallel - Jumgal-Too (over 100 km). He traced the Fergana ridge along the steep eastern slope for half its length, climbed the passes three times and quite accurately photographed it, correctly continuing to the southeast to Lake Chatyr-Kol (the length of the ridge is 225 km). From Naryn, Kaulbars’s detachment headed through a series of passes to the river valley. Talas, and Petrov determined the position and length of the Suusamyr-Too ridge (about 125 km). The reconnaissance was completed in the city of Aulie-Ata (Dzhambul). Based on her materials, Petrov compiled a map of the Naryn region.
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The first explorers of the Pamir-Alai
In the summer of 1870, a military detachment under the command of P. A. Aminov, leaving Samarkand, penetrated to the sources of the river. Zeravshan, where a large glacier was discovered. Topographer August Ivanovich Skassi mapped the entire upper course of this significant river (its length is 877 km) and the exact contours of two latitudinal ridges that “compress” Zeravshan - the northern, Turkestan (about 340 km) and the southern, Zeravshan (about 370 km). From the mouth of the Fandarya, where the young naturalist Alexey Pavlovich Fedchenko joined the group, everyone proceeded south to the small beautiful lake Iskanderkul, on the slope of the Gissar ridge. From there, the researchers moved east to the river. Yagnob (one of the components of Fandarya), flowing parallel to Zeravshan. Scassi and mining engineer Dmitry Konstantinovich Myshenkov examined the Gissar ridge from the Anzob pass (3372 m) and found out that it also extends in the latitudinal direction and above the Turkestan and Zeravshan ridges. Due to Aminov’s illness, Gissar’s research had to be stopped and returned to Samarkand. Myshenkov drove from there to the northeast and examined the semi-desert Malguzar ridge (about 60 km) - a low (up to 2621 m) northwestern spur of the Turkestan ridge.
In the summer of 1871, A.P. Fedchenko, leaving Kokand, traced the valley of the river. Isfara to the upper reaches and discovered there, in the eastern part of the Turkestan ridge, a large glacier named after the Altai explorer Grigory Efimovich Shchurovsky, and a number of peaks up to 5621 m high. Having passed through intermountain gorges to the northern slopes of the Alai ridge, Fedchenko explored them, then drove to the south - east of the Fergana Valley, towards the river. Isfayramsay, climbed along it to the source and crossed the Alai ridge. View from the pass at 72°E. D. made him stop: in the south a panorama of gigantic snowy peaks opened up in front of him. It was a huge latitudinal ridge (240 km long), which Fedchenko called Trans-Alai. He fairly accurately estimated the average height of the ridge and the elevations of several peaks. (But its highest point, Lenin Peak, 7134 m, was accurately established only by the Soviet Pamir high-mountain expedition in 1928.) Fedchenko correctly decided that the Trans-Alai ridge constitutes the northern part of the Pamir Highlands, the structure of which he described in general terms as “the sum of high plateaus." Having then descended into the Alai Valley, he gave a detailed description of it, defining it as a highly elevated plateau. Fedchenko examined the river flowing through the Alai Valley. Kyzylsu and the lower reaches of Muksu (both rivers make up Surkhob) and pointed out that the high water content of Muksu should be explained by the existence of higher ridges south of the Trans-Alai. He turned to the northeast, again crossed the Alai ridge, traced the short Kichik-Alai ridge at the 40th parallel and the valley of the river. Akbury descended to the city of Osh.
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The main result of the trip, as he himself noted, was to clarify the orography of the territory south of Fergana. Fedchenko discovered here a series of latitudinal chains, “consistently higher and higher in the direction to the south... and separated by more or less long and vast valleys.” The route along the northern slopes of the Alai allowed him to conclude that the mountains of the Zeravshan basin belong to the Tien Shan (now they are classified as the Hissar-Alai system). From Osh, Fedchenko filmed through Andijan, Namangan and Chuyet, outlining the elliptical Fergana Basin (22 thousand km), and ended the journey in Tashkent. He collected a rich zoological, mainly entomological, collection and established the commonality of forms of the animal and plant world of the Pamir-Alai, mountainous Central Asia and the Himalayas 1.
The study of the Pamirs proper began from the south. Arriving at the end of 1837 in the Afghan city of Kunduz (at 69° E), the Indo-British scout John Wood headed up the river. Kokcha (Amu Darya system), its tributary Varduj generally to the east. Near 72°E. d. he crossed the river. Panj and along the river The Pamir, its right component, on February 19, 1838 reached the high-mountain lake Zorkul. Wood returned to Kunduz along the same route, discovering most of the Wakhan Range and the northern source of the Amu Darya.
Wood's work was continued by Mirza Shaja, one of the so-called pandits ("scientists") - secret intelligence officers specially trained by the British. Following Wood's route at the end of 1868, he penetrated to the southernmost tribe of Pyanj and reached the river upstream. Vakhandarya, the left component of the river. Along its deep valley, suffering from cold and daily snowfalls, Mirza Shaja climbed to the upper reaches, completing the discovery of the Wakhan ridge and the sources of the Amu Darya. There he discovered the alpine lake Chakmaktinkul. In January 1869 he traced part of the northern slope of the Hindu Kush. having passed into the river basin Yarkand, and arrived in Kashgar in early February. The survey, which he had to conduct secretly over more than 3.5 thousand km, so as not to incur mortal danger, made it possible to draw up the first, of course very sketchy, map of Northern Afghanistan and the Southern Pamirs.
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In 1873, a large British military-political expedition of Thomas Douglas Forsyth set off from India through Kashmir to Kashgaria. One of the tasks was to photograph the Pamirs, which the British considered as a very important part of the “North-Western Theater of War” against Russia, which “threatened” British India. The expedition included the young Czech geologist Ferdinand Stolichka and four pandits, including Abdul Sabhan; They were led by topographical officer Henry Trotter. From Yangigisar (near 76th East), his detachment headed southwest and at the end of March reached the river. Tashkurgan. Trotter and the pandits filmed a number of snowy peaks in the Muztagata massif, including the highest (7546 m), somewhat overestimating its “height”. Then they climbed to a pass in the watershed ridge they discovered (Sarykolsky), which has a meridian direction here. The river valley opened before them. Oksu (upper reaches of Bartanga-Murgab). In deep snow in early April, surveyors walked to this river and described a high ridge of snowy peaks - the southern border of the Pamirs, the watershed of the upper Oxu and the river. Tashkurgan. “Accompanied” by a strong wind, they arrived at Lake Chakmaktinkul, the source of the Oxu, and then headed even further to the west and separated at the confluence of the Vakhandarya and Pamir rivers. Abdul Sabhan traced the flow of the Pyanj for 300 km to the confluence of the river. Yazgulem and found out that on the meridional section the Panj flows quickly in a narrow gorge, on the left it receives only two tributaries, on the right there are many small ones and a number of large ones, including the pure Gunt and the dirty red Bartang.
After Abdul Sabkhan joined the main detachment, everyone returned to the Sarykol ridge and returned to Yangigisar, making, according to D. Baker, the first serious contribution of the British to the scientific study of the Pamirs. A book by one of the expedition participants. Forsythe, Lieutenant Thomas Gordon's "Travel to the Pamirs" was soon translated into Russian (St. Petersburg, 1877).
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In 1875, professor of the mining institute N.P. Barbot de Marni with a small detachment moved on a schooner across the Aral Sea to the mouth of the Amu Darya, climbed it about 200 km, explored and mapped the right bank Sultan-Uvays mountain range (length 60 km , height up to 473 m). Then he penetrated into the central part of the Kyzylkum desert and described the flat-topped Bukantau mountain range (up to 764 m), and in the southeast for the first time mapped the Tamdytau mountains, which had extremely sharp shapes (up to 922 m). Further to the southeast, on the way to Samarkand, he discovered two parallel chains of northwestern strike - Nuratau (up to 2165 m) and Aktau (up to 2003 m), the western spurs of the Gissar-Alai mountain system.
Mountain Bukhara until the last quarter of the 19th century. presented a complete mystery to geographers. To find out what lies behind the southern slopes of the Gissar ridge is the task Tashkent military journalist Nikolai Aleksandrovich Mayev set himself. In April - June 1875, he, together with topographer Dmitry Mikhailovich Vishnevsky, examined and mapped for the first time wide strip the right bank of the Pyanj-Amu Darya from the Iron Gates in the west to the river. Yakhsu in the east, i.e. approximately between 66°40" and 70°E. Instead of vast plains with a steppe character, as previously assumed, on the right bank Mayev discovered several parallel wide river rivers elongated in the south-southwest direction valleys separated by small ridges Kugitangtau, Babatag, Karatau, Vakhsh and the highest Khazratishoh. He suggested that all these chains are connected with the Gissar ridge, being its southwestern spurs that drop significantly. However, some of them, as he established, are separated from the Gissar ridge by a latitudinal depression.
In the summer of 1874, N.A. Severtsov again explored the Amu Darya delta and the Aral Sea. When in 1878 the Geographical Society organized a comprehensive Fergana-Pamir expedition, Severtsov took part in it. In July, he and a detachment, which included topographer A.I. Skassi, set out from Osh to the Pamirs, crossed the Alai and Trans-Alai ridges and reached the high-mountain, drainless Lake Karakul (3914 m). Continuing to move south, the detachment passed through the Akbaital pass (4655 m) into the Murghab basin (Pyanj system), and then through the Nayzatash pass (4137 m) through completely unknown terrain - to the west along the river valley. Alichur to the flowing lake Yashilkul and described it. On the right bank of the river. Gunt, flowing from the lake, Severtsov discovered the colossal snowy Rushansky ridge (length 120 km), correctly determined its end at the confluence of Gunta with Pyanj and discovered the main peak of the ridge (Pathur peak, 6083 m). East of Yashilkul he discovered a group of drainless small lakes. The lack of provisions and especially salt, which was lost during the crossing at the beginning of the journey, forced the detachment to return to Osh.
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Severtsov was the first to single out the Pamirs as a special mountain system - “the orographic center of the entire Asian continent... a colossal mountain junction connecting High Asia with Western Asia,” that is, Central Asia with Western Asia. He was the first to give a scientific, comprehensive description of the Pamirs, establishing that there are no real plateaus there at all and that the main feature of this mountainous country is the combination of syrt and ridge topography. He was the first to describe the multi-peaked mountain ranges typical of the Pamirs and all of Central Asia, which, as he proved, play a major role in the formation of glaciers. Rich zoological and botanical collections made it possible for Severtsov to study in detail the little-known fauna and flora of the Pamirs.
In July 1878, a small expedition under the command of entomologist Vasily Fedorovich Oshanin left from Samarkand south to Shakhrisyabz (at 39° N), and then east to Mountain Bukhara to study the Pyanj basin, which laid the foundation for the systematic study of the insects of Turkestan. It included topographer Gavriil Egorovich Rodionov. Following mountain roads along the southern slopes of the Gissar ridge, they reached the river. Surkhob (upper Vakhsh) and along its valley we rose to the mouth of the river. Muksu (left tributary of Surkhob). During this ascent for about 200 km, Oshanin constantly saw in the south, on the left bank of the river, a latitudinal mountain range, rising “as a high wall, almost unmasked by the foothills,” and called it the ridge of Peter the Great. The further to the east, the higher this ridge became: its height in the eastern part reaches 6785 m (Moscow Peak). South of the river Muksu expedition in September discovered adjacent to the ridge large group glaciers and the lower part of the majestic Fedchenko glacier, the largest in length (77 km) in the USSR. Due to the death of several pack horses, the expedition returned through the Alai Valley to the road to Osh and ended its journey in Fergana.
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Based on the materials of the expedition, Oshanin and Rodionov were able to establish the presence of two more ridges: Darvazsky, about 200 km long with a peak of 6083 m south of the Peter the Great ridge, and Karateginsky, shorter (80 km) and relatively low (up to 3950 m).
Mushketov's travels
In 1874, geologist and geographer Ivan Vasilyevich Mushketov carried out reconnaissance of the western foothills of the Tien Shan. In 1875, he climbed the Talas valley to the upper reaches, crossed the Talas Alatau, and along the river valleys of the Naryn system reached Lake Sonkel and explored it. From there, along mountain paths through the upper reaches of the Chu, he went to the Boam Gorge, and from there to Issyk-Kul, explored it along circular routes, made several crossings of the Kungey- and Terskey-Ala-Too ridges, as well as the Trans-Ili Alatau. In the autumn of the same year, Mushketov marched to the northeast, to the valley of the river. Or, and along it - to Gulja. Then he crossed the Borokhoro ridge (the northern outskirts of the Tien Shan) twice at the 44th parallel, explored the high-mountain lake Sairam-Nur, the Dzungarian Alatau and along the river valley. Borotala descended to Lake Ebi-Nur, thus crossing the Western and Central Tien Shan. In his “Brief Report on a Geological Journey through Turkestan in 1875” He was the first to give the geological foundations of the orographic scheme of the Tien Shan.
In the summer of 1877, Mushketov moved south from Osh and, after crossing the Alai and Trans-Alai ridges, reached Lake Karakul. Returning to Osh, he walked to the northeast, to the Fergana ridge, "and from there to the west, to the Chatkal ridge, and reached Tashkent. He thus completed the study of the Tien Shan from the south and outlined the Fergana Valley. The materials obtained allowed Mush - Ketov was the first to approach the identification of the geological structure of the northern outskirts of the Pamirs and determine the direction of its ridges (in the work “Geological journey to Alai and Pamir in 1877”).
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In 1878, Mushketov studied the eastern part of the Fergana Valley and the junction of the Fergana and Alai ridges (between 40 and 41° N), and penetrated to the high-mountainous (3530 m) Lake Chatyr-Kol, connecting his work with English ones. In the summer of the following year, he traveled from Samarkand to the southwest, exploring the western spurs of the Alai Range, to the city of Karshi. Turning southeast, he passed through the Iron Gate gorge to Surkhandarya and descended along its valley to the mouth. By boat, exploring the river banks and making side routes into the desert, Mushketov sailed along the Amu Darya to Turtkul, from there he moved north and crossed the western part of the Kyzylkum desert, reaching the lower Syr Darya near Kazalinsk.
In August 1880, Mushketov with a large caravan left Ura-Tyube to the south, crossed the Turkestan ridge and along the river valley. Zeravshana climbed to the glacier - the source of the river. Having passed from there to the northeastern slope of the Turkestan ridge, he crossed it a second time a little further west and, descending to Zeravshan, traced the river to the lower reaches.
For six years, Mushketov covered most of the Tien Shan, Northern Pamir, Alai system and the western part of the Kyzylkum desert with research. Thanks to his work, the map of Central Asia was significantly corrected and expanded. In his two-volume work “Turkestan” (1886 -1906), Mushketov completely modified the ideas that existed before him about the location of the mountain ranges of Central Asia. He showed “that the Tien Shan and Pamir-Alai consist of a number of flat arcs of latitudinal extent, convex to the south” (V. A. Obruchev). This was the first correct diagram of the orographic structure of the Tien Shan, which has retained scientific significance to the present day. Mushketov presented convincing facts confirming the dominant role of recent tectonic movements in creating the modern appearance of the region, and proved that there are no phenomena of young volcanism in the mountain uplifts of the region.
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Obruchev and Komarov in the Karakum Desert
In the 80s XIX century The Karakum desert remained an almost unexplored territory through which, from the Caspian Sea to Samarkand, a railway was laid. To study this region, I.V. Mushketov sent his student V.A. Obruchev. For eight field months, which “fitted” into three years (1886 - 1888), he made a number of routes across the Trans-Caspian region, i.e. across Turkmenistan. He examined the channel of the Uzboy, found out its connection with the Sarykamysh depression, described the Kelifsky Uzboy - a system of salt marsh basins stretching in a south-easterly direction - and proved its river origin; Obruchev examined the lower reaches of the Tedjen and Murgab, as well as part of the middle reaches of the Amu Darya. He carried out the first physical-geographical zoning of the studied territory. He was able to identify a sandy area here (about 83% of the area), a steppe strip and a hilly (ridged) belt.
The hilly belt, confined to the Russian-Afghan border, includes the Badkhyz and Karabil hills, “filling” the interfluve spaces of Tedjen, Murghab and Amu Darya. Both hills consist of bairs (ridges) with a height of 20 to 210 m, separated by wide valleys filled with salt lakes, takyrs and salt marshes.
Science did not have reliable data about the central part of the Karakum Desert, which was not affected by the works of V. Obruchev. From the available information, probably based on reports from local residents, some scientists suggested the presence of an ancient branch of the Amu Darya there, others - a lake basin. In September 1893, the botanist Vladimir Leontievich Komarov, then just a student, set off from Ashgabat to the north, crossed the Central Karakum to the Shikh well (at 40° N) and discovered several isolated saline basins and takyrs. Komarov traced this system of depressions (Unguz) for about 200 km and found out that it extended almost in a southeastern direction, described character traits its relief and made a series of barometric measurements. From the Shikh well he managed to penetrate 100 km further to the north - into the Zaunguz Karakum. Komarov returned to Ashgabat the same way, having traveled 1200 km through the desert.
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Works of Russian naturalists of the 80s in the Pamirs
Dmitry Lvovich Ivanov first became acquainted with Central Asia at his own request, but in a unique way: arrested in the case of D.V. Karakozov in 1866, he was sent along a convoy to Orenburg and enlisted as a private in the regiment; the following year, at his request, he was transferred to Tashkent, in 1870 he was assigned to a military expedition that explored the upper reaches of Zeravshan. After the amnesty, he graduated from the Mining Institute (1878) and returned to Tashkent as an official on special assignments. In 1879, he studied the part of the Western Tien Shan between Talas and Chirchik, regarding which there was only fortune-telling information. South of Talas, he identified a relatively long (about 270 km) latitudinal watershed chain, crowned majestic mountain Manas (4482 m), and called it the Talas Alatau, traced and mapped its parallel southwestern spurs: the Chatkal and Chandalash ranges, the Oygaim mountains (on our maps - the Pskem range), the Badam branch (now Karzhantau).
In the early 80s. XIX century Attention was again paid to the “roof of the world,” although at first for a purely scientific purpose. The St. Petersburg Botanical Garden sent its employee Albert Eduardovich Regel, who led a detachment of five people, to the Pamirs to collect samples of high-mountain flora. In the summer of 1881, having carried out a number of routes in the Gissar ridge, he crossed the Peter I ridge in the western part and from the valley of the river. Obihingou went to the village of Kalaihumb, where he spent the winter.
In the summer of the following year, Regel and topographer P.E. Kosyakov began studying the western edge of the Pamirs. Kosyakov examined the entire river valley. Vanch, one of the right tributaries of the Pyanj, and at its source marked the beginning of the discovery of the powerful meridional ridge of the Academy of Sciences 1. Regel, having climbed the Pyanj, identified a significant bend in the river, examined the river valley. Bartang and found out that upstream it is called Murghab, and in the upper reaches - Oksu. From the mouth of the river Gunt, both researchers crossed to the left bank, for the first time climbed the Lal meridional ridge that they had actually discovered and mapped the high-mountainous Lake Shiva, which, contrary to rumors, turned out to be a small reservoir. After returning to the right bank of the Pyanj, already in late autumn, Regel examined the river valley. Shahdara to the upper reaches, and at the beginning of winter he tried to penetrate to the upper Pyanj, but the Afghan authorities did not let him in. In Gissar and the Pamirs he collected a large - about 100 thousand specimens - botanical collection. Based on their data and materials from their predecessors, Regel and Kosyakov compiled a map of the Western Pamirs.
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And yet, a significant part of this mountainous country still remained a “blank spot”, and the available maps contradicted each other. Therefore, in 1883, the first official Pamir expedition was equipped under the leadership of the captain of the Russian General Staff, Dmitry Vasilyevich Putyata. Its employees, mainly D.L. Ivanov, covered the Eastern and Southern Pamirs along several routes. To the north of Lake Rangkul, between the Amu Darya and Tarim basins, Ivanov identified a latitudinal watershed ridge and meridional mountains adjacent to it from the north and south 2. Exploration of the area of the lonely mountain Muztagata shown on the map and its glaciers led to a new discovery: it turned out that there were two short ridges located here. In the central and southern parts of the Pamirs, on both banks of the Murghab, Alichur and Pamir rivers, Ivanov established the presence of at least four more or less parallel “mountain lines” of almost latitudinal extent. These are the ridges of our maps: Muzkol, North Alichursky, South Alichursky and Vakhansky; their length is from 110 to 160 km, the peaks are from 5704 to 6281 m.
Ivanov proposed dividing the Pamirs (up to the Chinese border) according to relief features and absolute heights into Lugovoi and Gorny. The first is characterized by relatively wide, flat river and lake valleys, sometimes sharply outlined by steep, more or less high mountains, sometimes connected to each other by low hilly spurs or scattered individual ridges, ridges, and hills. The Mountain Pamirs are distinguished by narrow, deep valleys cut by rapidly flowing rivers. This geomorphological division of the Pamirs basically corresponds to modern ideas about its relief, but the Mountain Pamirs are now usually called Western, and Lugovoi - Central or Eastern. However, the latter term is not accurate, because behind the Sarykol ridge lies the eastern strip of the Pamirs, which belongs to China - the so-called Kashgar Pamirs. Like the Western Pamirs, it is sharply dissected by deep river gorges.
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Ivanov gave the first - and correct - geological information about the Pamirs. An excellent draftsman, he not only illustrated his own work on the Pamirs, but also contributed his works to a number of other publications. According to contemporaries, his drawings, sketches and albums could be used to form a separate exhibition. He also created the first Russian-Shugnan dictionary. The expedition topographer Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bendersky, who sometimes carried out independent routes, compiled a map of the Pamirs, which gave a good (for that time) idea of the geography of this high-mountain region. Putyata in 1884 published “Essay on the expedition to the Pamirs...”.
In the summer of 1887 in the north of the Pamirs, in the river basin. Murghab, a young entomologist Grigory Efimovich Grumm-Grzhimailo worked. Collecting Pamir butterflies, he and his brother Mikhail Efimovich, as a topographer, climbed to the sources of the river. Tanymas discovered a group of glaciers, which turned out to be, as it turned out later, the central part of the single Fedchenko glacier. Soon the rivers began to flood, and the researchers had to temporarily abandon filming. With difficulty, the brothers walked east and, having crossed the Sarykol ridge, mapped the two rivers that make up the river. Tashkurgan (Yarkand river system), as well as one of the large tributaries of the southern component. G. Grumm-Grzhimailo established that in the western part of the Kunlun mountain system the ridges have a meridional direction - the southern section of the Sarykol ridge, Tashkurgantag and Muztag.
Chapter 12
Russian Explorers of Central Asia
Przhevalsky's first (Mongolian) journey
In 1870, the Russian Geographical Society organized an expedition to Central Asia. The talented officer of the General Staff, Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, already known for his studies of the Ussuri region, was appointed its head. In November 1870, with his assistant Mikhail Aleksandrovich Pyltsov and two Cossacks, he moved from Kyakhta to Urga and on the way to Beijing crossed the Mongolian steppes and the Gobi Desert in a southeastern direction, establishing that it was on average lower and its relief more complex than assumed earlier.
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From Beijing, Przhevalsky at the beginning of 1871 moved north to Lake Dalainor and took a complete survey of it. In the summer, he traveled to the city of Baotou and, having crossed the Yellow River (110° E), entered the Ordos plateau, which “lies as a peninsula in the knee formed by the bends of the middle reaches of the Yellow River.” In the northwest of Ordos, he described “bare hills” - sands of Kuzupchi. “It becomes hard for a person in this... sandy sea, devoid of all life... - there is grave silence all around.” Having followed the current of the Yellow River upward from Baotou to Dingkouzhen (40° N, about 400 km), Przhevalsky moved southwest through the “wild and barren desert” of Alashan, covered with “bare shifting sands”, always ready to “strangle the traveler with their scorching heat,” and reached the large, high (up to 1855 m), but narrow meridional ridge Helanypan, stretched along the Yellow River valley at 106° east. d., “like a wall in the middle of the plain.”
Winter came, and Pyltsov became seriously ill, and they were forced to turn back. To the north of the Yellow River, Przhevalsky came to the treeless, but rich in springs Lanshan ridge, standing “as a sheer wall, occasionally cut by narrow gorges,” and traced it along its entire length (300 km), and to the east he discovered another ridge, smaller and lower - Sheiten - Ula. Travelers celebrated the New Year in Zhangjiakou. The Cossacks assigned to the detachment were replaced by two others; one of them is the Buryat Dondok Irinchinov. accompanied Przhevalsky on all other Central Asian travels.
In the spring of 1872, Przhevalsky reached the southern part of the Alashan desert along the same route. “The desert ended...extremely abruptly[;] behind it rose a majestic chain of mountains” - eastern Nanshan, which turned out to be a mountain system, and Przhevalsky identified three powerful ridges in it: Outskirts (Maomaoshan, up to 4053 m), Malingshan (Lenglongling. up 5243 m) and Qingshilin (up to 5230 m). After staying there for about two weeks, he came to the closed salt lake Kukunor (about 4200 km 2), lying at an altitude of 3200 m. “The cherished goal of the expedition... has been achieved. True, success was bought at the price of... difficult trials, but now all the hardships we had experienced were forgotten, and we stood in complete delight... on the shore of the great lake, admiring its wonderful dark blue waves.”
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Having finished filming the northwestern shore of Lake Kukunor, Przhevalsky crossed the powerful Kukunor ridge and went to the village of Dzun, located in the south. eastern outskirts marshy plain of Tsaidam. He established that this was a basin and that it southern borders it is served by the Burkhan-Buddha ridge (up to 5200 m high), constituting “a sharp physical border of the countries lying on its northern and southern sides... On the southern side... the area rises to a terrible absolute height... In the west, the Tsaidama plain disappears like a boundless surface beyond the horizon...” To the south and southwest of Burkhan Buddha, Przhevalsky discovered the Bayan-Khara-Ula mountains (up to 5445 m) and the eastern section of Kukushili, and between them he discovered a “wavy plateau”, which is a “terrible desert” raised to a height of more than 4400 m So Przhevalsky was the first European to penetrate into the deep region of Northern Tibet, to the upper reaches of the Yellow River and Yangtze (Ulan-Muren). And he correctly determined that Bayan-Khara-Ula is the watershed between both great river systems.
The travelers met there a new one, 1873. “Our life was in the full sense a struggle for existence”: the food ran out, the extreme cold, and the clothes were worn out, the boots were especially damaged; The long stay at high altitude began to take its toll. At the end of winter, Przhevalsky returned to Dzun. Having met spring on Lake Kukunor, he walked along the same route without a guide to the southern edge of the Alashan desert. “The shifting sands lay like a boundless sea before us, and it was not without timidity that we stepped into their grave kingdom.” Along the Helanshan ridge (already with a guide), they moved north in terrible heat and crossed the eastern part of the desert, and almost died of thirst: the guide lost his way. Having passed the western foothills of the Lanynan ridge, Przhevalsky passed through the most waterless, “wild and deserted” part of the Gobi and at 42 ° 20 "N latitude he discovered the Khurkh-Ula ridge (peak - 1763 m, the extreme south-eastern spur of the Gobi Altai) He returned to Kyakhta in September 1873
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Przhevalsky walked more than 11,800 km through the deserts and mountains of Mongolia and China and at the same time photographed about 5,700 km by eye (on a scale of 10 versts in 1 inch). The scientific results of this expedition amazed contemporaries. Przhevalsky gave detailed descriptions the Gobi, Ordos and Alashani deserts, the highlands of Northern Tibet and the Tsaidam basin (discovered by him), for the first time mapped more than 20 ridges, seven large and a number of small lakes on the map of Central Asia 1.
The two-volume work “Mongolia and the Country of the Tanguts” (1875-1876), in which Przhevalsky described his travels and published materials, brought the author worldwide fame and was fully or partially translated into a number of European languages.
Second (Lobnor and Dzungarian) journey of Przhevalsky
In 1876 - 1877 Przhevalsky made his second trip to Central Asia. At the same time, he walked a little more than 4 thousand km - the war in Western China, the worsening relations between China and Russia, and, finally, his illness prevented him. And yet, this journey was marked by two major geographical discoveries - the lower reaches of the Tarim with a group of lakes and the Altyntag ridge. The outstanding expert on China, Ferdinand Richthofen, rightly called these achievements the greatest discoveries.
Arriving in Gulja (at 44° N) in July 1876, Przhevalsky, together with his assistant Fyodor Leontyevich Eklon, in mid-August moved up the “smooth as the floor” 2 valley of the Ili and its tributary Kunges and crossed the main watershed chain Eastern Tien Shan. Przhevalsky proved that this mountain system branches in the middle part; between the branches he discovered two isolated high plateaus - Ikh-Yulduza and Baga-Yulduza in the upper reaches of the river. Khaidyk-Gol, flowing into the lake
Bagrashkol. South of the lake, he crossed the western end of the “waterless and barren” Kuruktag ridge (up to 2809 m) and correctly identified it as “the last spur of the Tien Shan into the Lobnorsky desert.” Further to the south, the deserts of Tarim and Lop Nor spread out like an endless expanse. Lop Norskaya... the wildest and barren of all... worse even than Alashanskaya.” Having reached the lower reaches of the Tarim, Przhevalsky described them for the first time. On his map the river. Konche-Daria received correct image 1 ; a “new” northern branch of the Tarim appeared - the river. Inchikedarya. Route through the sands of Tak-la-Makan to the Charklyk oasis. in the lower reaches of the river Cherchen (Lop Nor basin), also first described by Przhevalsky, allowed him to establish the eastern border of the Taklamakan Desert.
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Still on the way across the river. Tarim at 40° N. w. Przhevalsky saw far to the south “a narrow, unclear strip, barely noticeable on the horizon.” With each transition, the outlines of the mountain range became more and more distinct, and soon it was possible to distinguish not only individual peaks, but also large gorges. When the traveler arrived in Charklyk, the Altyntag ridge, previously unknown to European geographers, appeared before him “as a huge wall, which further to the southwest rose even more and went beyond the boundaries of the eternal snow...”. In the deep winter of 1876/77. (December 26 -
February 5) Przhevalsky explored the northern slope of Altyntag more than 300 km east of Charklyk. He established that “in this entire space, Altyntag serves as the outskirts of a high plateau towards the side of the lower Lop Nor desert.” Due to frost and lack of time, he could not cross the ridge, but he correctly guessed: the plateau south of Altyntag is probably the northernmost part of the Tibetan Plateau. It turned out that its border is located not at 36, but at 39° N. w. In other words, Przhevalsky “moved” this border more than 300 km to the north. South of Lake Lop Nor (90° E), according to local residents, the southwestern extension of Altyntag stretches without any interruption to Khotan (80° E), and to the east the ridge goes “very far, but where exactly how it ends - the Lobnors didn’t know.
The second outstanding achievement of this expedition, which, according to Przhevalsky himself, was inferior to the previous trip to Mongolia, was the scientific discovery of the Lop Nor basin, “which had remained so long and persistently in the dark.” In February 1877 he reached Lake Lop Nor. “I myself managed to explore only the southern and western shores of Lop Nor and made my way in Tzo Tarim’s boat to half the length of the entire lake; It was impossible to travel further through the shallow and dense reeds. These latter completely cover the entire Lop Nor, leaving only on its southern shore a narrow (1-3 versts) strip of clean water. In addition, small, clean areas are located like stars, everywhere in the reeds... The water is light and fresh everywhere...”
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This description of Lop Nor confused sinologist geographers, in particular Richthofen: according to Chinese sources, Lop Nor is a salt lake, and it lies further north than shown on Przhevalsky’s map. They assumed that instead of Lop Nor, he described another lake - not drainless, but flowing and therefore fresh. “This is how the problem of Lop Nor arose, a problem that received a satisfactory solution only in our days... Przhevalsky was absolutely right when he claimed that he discovered, described and correctly determined the coordinates of Lop Nor, but Richthofen was also right... Lop Nor turned out to be a nomadic body of water , for it completely depends on the position of the rivers that supply it with water” (E. Murzaev).
To the east of Lop Nor, Przhevalsky discovered a wide strip of Kumtag sands. Returning to Gulja, he went to the village of Zaisan southeast of Lake Zaisan, and from there to the southeast past the sands of Dzosotyn-Elisun (Dzungaria) to the oasis of Guchen (Tsitai, 44° N) and returned to Zaisan the same way .
Potanin's first (Mongolian) expedition
In the summer of 1876, an expedition of the Russian Geographical Society under the command of Grigory Nikolaevich Potanin passed from Zaisan through the Mongolian Altai to the city of Kobdo.
His companions were topographer Pyotr Alekseevich Rafailov and Alexandra Viktorovna Potanina, ethnographer and artist, who accompanied her husband on all major expeditions. From Kobdo, Potanin moved southeast along the northern slopes of the Mongolian Altai, discovering the short ridges of Batar-Khairkhan and Sutai-Ula, and again crossed the Mongolian Altai in a southern direction near 93° E. d. Then he crossed the Dzungarian Gobi and discovered that it was a steppe with low ridges, stretched parallel to the Mongolian Altai and isolated from the Tien Shan. Further south beyond 44° N. w. Potanin and Rafailov discovered two parallel ridges - Machin-Ula and Karlyktag and accurately mapped these easternmost spurs of the Tien Shan. Having crossed them, they went to the Hami oasis, then moved to the north-northeast, again crossed in the opposite direction the spurs of the Eastern Tien Shan, the Dzungarian Gobi and the Mongolian Altai (east of the previous route) and finally established the independence of the Altai and Tien Shan mountain systems . At the same time, they discovered several ridges, the southern and northern spurs of the Mongolian Altai - Adzh-Vogdo and a number of smaller ones. Crossing the river Dzabkhan, they climbed the foothills of Khangai to the city of Ulyasutai. As a result of crossing the Mongolian Altai three times, the expedition established the general features of the orography of the ridge and its great extent from northwest to southeast. In fact, Potanin laid the foundation for the scientific discovery of the Mongolian Altai.
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From Ulyasutai, travelers went northeast, crossed the Khangai ridge, crossed the upper Selenga basin (Ider and Delger-Muren), clarified its position, mapped Lake Sangiin-Dalai-Nur for the first time, and in the fall of 1876 reached the southern shore of Lake Khubsugul. Having passed from here to the west approximately along the 50th parallel through mountainous terrain, in mid-November they reached the bitter-salty lake Uvs-Nur. On this way, they discovered the Khan-Khukhey ridge and the Borig-Del sands, and also mapped the Tannu-Ola ridge (now Western and Eastern Tannu-Ola are distinguished).
At Lake Ubsu-Nur, the expedition split: Potanin headed south through the Great Lakes Basin to Kobdo, and Rafailov, continuing the route along the 50th parallel, crossed and for the first time explored the short mountain ranges between western part Mongolian Altai and Tannu-Ola. All members of the expedition united in Biysk at the beginning of 1878. Rafailov made quite a accurate map Western Mongolia.
Pevtsov's travels to Dzungaria and Mongolia
In the spring of 1866, a grain caravan guarded by hundreds of Cossacks left Zaisan for the Guchen oasis. They were commanded by General Staff officer Mikhail Vasilyevich Pevtsov. The expedition first went south along a rocky plain with uniform terrain between the Tarbagatai and Saur ridges. Pevtsov established that previously it was a deep intermountain depression, later filled with sediments of mountain streams. Having crossed the low border ridge, the caravan proceeded along the southern slopes of Saur to the east to the large lake Ulyungur. Pevtsov explored its basin for two weeks, mapped the bitterly salty lake Baga-Hyp on an accurate map, establishing that relatively recently it was fresh, and much larger in area, and that both lakes occupy part of a vast depression.
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In June, the expedition continued its journey to the southeast along the left bank of the river. Urungu. Pevtsov first explored and mapped it - to the foothills of the Mongolian Altai. Here (at 90° E) the caravan turned south, crossed the eastern part of Dzungaria, described by Pevtsov, and reached Guchen, having covered about 700 km, of which 500 km was through previously unexplored terrain. The results of this journey - a description of the route and a map of Eastern Dzungaria - were published by Pevtsov in 1879 in the work “ Travel Stories Dzungaria".
In 1878, Pevtsov traveled to Mongolia as part of another trade caravan to explore the route along the northern slopes of the Mongolian Altai. From the upper reaches of the Bukhtarma (Irtysh system) in early August, he went east and crossed the border ridge Sailyugem, and established that the Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola mountain range represents the node of the entire Altai system. Turning then to the southeast, Pevtsov passed through the city of Kobdo to the bend of the river. Dzabkhana, examined its middle course and moved further to the southeast along the southern slope of the Khangai ridge. He crossed a number of significant rivers (Baidrag-Gol, Tuin-Gol, Tatsyn-Gol, Argyn-Gol, Ongin-Gol) and established that they all originated in the Khangai ridge. This discovery radically changed the idea of the hydrography of the region.
To the south, Pevtsov discovered and described a long (about 500 km) and narrow drainless depression between Khangai and Altai, calling it the Valley of Lakes. As he correctly decided, this depression is the western wedge-shaped branch of the Gobi. With his hydrographic research and the discovery of the Valley of Lakes, he proved that the Khangai ridge is nowhere connected with the Mongolian Altai, which was first correctly shown on his map in the form of a long (about 1000 km) ridge stretching in the southeast direction.
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The further route of the caravan ran along the outskirts of the Valley of Lakes along the eastern part of the Gobi Altai. Pevtsov discovered here two short, almost parallel mountain ranges rising above 3.5 thousand m: Ikh-Bogdo-Ula with signs of modern glaciation and Baga-Bogdo-Ula. To the southeast of the Valley of Lakes, he discovered a low (up to 3 thousand m) marginal ridge of the Gobi Altai (Gurvan-Saikhan, 150 km) and showed that the southeastern spurs of the Altai beyond 42° N. w. finally disappear in the vast Galbyn-Gobi plain (intersected by 107° E). So Pevtsov established the direction and extent (more than 500 km) of the Gobi Altai and with this basically completed the discovery of the entire system of the Mongolian Altai.
From Gurvan-Saikhan the caravan continued to go southeast and crossed the Mongolian Gobi. Pevtsov discovered that its northern part is a hilly country with low ridges, and the southern part is higher and belongs to another mountainous country with an approximately latitudinal extension - the Inypan ridge. Thus, he proved the isolation of the Gobi Altai from Ininan.
After a two-month rest, Pevtsov in the spring of 1879 again passed through the Gobi, but now to the northwest along the caravan route to Urga (from 1924 Ulaanbaatar). He gave the first comparative characteristics northern and southern regions of the Gobi, noted the youth of the country's topography and the gradual drying out of the rivers and lakes of the region, which was once abundantly irrigated.
After spending more than a month in Urga, Pevtsov moved west in early May, crossed and mapped the mountains stretching from Urga to the river. Orkhon, and found out that they are the western continuation of the Khentei system. Then he crossed the southern part of the Selenga basin, several northern spurs of the Khangai and the main ridge. As a result, for the first time he correctly determined not only the direction, length (about 700 km) and height of the third large orographic unit of Mongolia - Khangai, but also identified its most important northern and southern spurs.
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Even further to the west, Pevtsov examined the lower reaches of the river. Dzabkhan and established that this river (more than 800 km) flows into Lake Airag-Nur, the southern basin big lake Khirgis-Nur, and that it connects two other large lakes with Khirgis-Nur - Khara-Nur and Khara-Us-Nur. And Pevtsov correctly assumed that previously this entire part of Northwestern Mongolia - the Great Lakes Basin - was covered with water and represented a single fresh lake. Having reached Lake Achit-Nur, Pevtsov discovered its connection through the river. Kobdo with the Great Lakes Basin. In the summer of 1879, he finished work in the village of Kosh-Agach, on the river. Chuya.
The overall result of the second expedition was the establishment of the main features of orography and hydrography of the northwestern part of Central Asia. In “Essay on a Travel to Mongolia and the Northern Provinces of Inner China” (1883), Pevtsov, by the way, gave the first comparative description of the landscapes of the Mongolian and Russian Altai. And based on the route survey, he compiled fundamentally new maps of Central Asia.
Potanin's second (Mongol-Tuvan) expedition
Having set out from Kosh-Agach in June 1879 to the east, to Lake Uvs-Nur, Potanin along the way studied in detail the mountains near 50° N. w. Having covered the entire Great Lakes Basin with research, he also came to the conclusion that Khirgis-Nur, Khara-Nur and Khara-Us-Nur are mutually connected river system. All three lakes, according to Potanin, are located on wide flat plains - “steps”, descending from south to north and separated by low mountains and hills, but Lake Uvs-Nur has no connection with the others. Potanin thus completed the study of the Great Lakes Basin - a huge (more than 100 thousand km 2) depression in the north-west of Mongolia. From Kobdo in September he returned to Uvs-Nur. Expedition member topographer P.D. Orlov made the first complete survey of the lake - it turned out to be the largest body of water in Mongolia (3350 km 2). In addition, Orlov independently traced in the south and accurately mapped the Khan-Khukhey-Ula ridge (length about 250 km, peaks up to 2928 m).
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Rising from Uvsu-Nur to the mountains, the travelers saw the wooded Tannu-Ola ridge in the north. “The mountains seemed to stand like a solid wall,” wrote A. V. Potanina, “the peaks were covered with spots of snow and smoked with fog in the mornings...” At the end of September, having crossed the ridge, the expedition descended into the central part of the Tuva Basin - into the valley of the river. Ulug-Khem (upper
Yenisei) - and, moving east, traced it for more than 100 km and the same amount - the river valley. Small Yenisei (Ka-Khem) to the mouth of the river. Ulug-Shiveya. As a result of crossing Tannu-Ola and a 200-kilometer route along the Tuva Basin, the expedition accurately mapped the outlines of the main ridge and its northern spurs, and also clarified the cartographic image of the upper reaches of the Yenisei. She climbed the Ulug-Shivei to the upper reaches, crossed the Sangilen ridge and, turning east to the upper reaches of the Delger-Muren, reached the western bank of Khubsugol, along which the Bayan-Ula ridge stretches with heights of more than 3 thousand m.
The journey ended in Irkutsk. The diaries of Potanin’s two expeditions amounted to four volumes of “Essays on North-Western Mongolia” (1881 - 1883), of which two volumes of ethnographic materials collected mainly by A.V. Potanina.
Third (First Tibetan) journey of Przhevalsky
In March 1879, Przhevalsky began his third trip to Central Asia, which he called the “First Tibetan”. From Zaisan he headed southeast, past Lake Ulyungur and along the river. Urungu to its upper reaches, crossed the Dzungarian Gobi - “a vast undulating plain” - and quite correctly determined its size. Having passed Lake Barkol, Przhevalsky reached the Hami oasis, near 93° east. He further crossed the eastern edge of the Gashun Gobi and reached the lower reaches of the river. Danhe (the left tributary of the lower Sulehe), and to the south of it he discovered the “huge ever-snowy” Humboldt ridge (Ulan-Daban, length about 250 km, peaks 5300 - 5400 m). Through the Danjin Pass (3519 m) - at the junction of Altyntag and Humboldt - Przhevalsky went south to the Sartym Plain, crossed it and established the beginning of the Ritter Ridge (Daken-Daban, length about 200 km, peaks more than 5 thousand m). Having crossed two other, smaller ridges, he descended to the southeastern part of Tsaidam, to the village of Dzun.
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From Dzun, Przhevalsky moved to the southwest and found out that Kullun here has a latitudinal direction and consists of two, sometimes three parallel chains (64 to 96 km wide), which have different names in their different parts. According to the nomenclature adopted for Soviet maps, Przhevalsky identified the following ridges: at 36° N. latitude, between 94 - 96° E. d., - Sasun-Ula and the western part of Burkhan-Buddha; slightly to the south, between 91 and 96° E. d., - Bokalyktag, which he called the Marco Polo ridge (with a peak of 6300 m). South of Bokalyktag, having passed Kukushili, Przhevalsky discovered the Bungbura-Ula ridge, which stretches along the left bank of the Ulan Muren (upper reaches of the Yangtze), between 92 and 94° east. d. (peak 5800 m).
Further to the south, Tibet itself stretched out before the traveler, representing “a grandiose, nowhere else globe in such dimensions a non-repeating table-shaped mass, raised... to a terrible height. And on this gigantic pedestal are piled... vast mountain ranges... As if these giants are guarding here the inaccessible world of sky-high highlands, inhospitable for humans by their nature and climate and for the most part still completely unknown to science...” For the 33rd Przhevalsky discovered the parallel watershed between the Yangtze and Salween - the latitudinal Tangla ridge (with peaks up to 6096 m). From a gentle, barely noticeable pass at an altitude of about 5000 m, going south to approximately 32° N. sh., Przhevalsky saw the eastern part of the Nyenchen-Tangla ridge. He found the way to the forbidden Lhasa and was about 300 km from it, but was forced to turn back: a rumor spread in Lhasa that a Russian detachment was coming with the goal of kidnapping Dalailama. Przhevalsky followed the same path to the upper reaches of the Yangtze and somewhat west of the previous route - to Dzun. From there he turned to Lake Kukunor, walked around it from the south, almost completing the survey, and to the south 36° N. w. (at 100° E) for the first time explored the upper reaches of the Yellow River (Huang He) for more than 250 km; in this area he discovered the Semenov and Ugutu-Ula ridges. An attempt to penetrate to the sources of the Yellow River was unsuccessful due to the impossibility of crossing the river.
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Returning to Dzun, Przhevalsky reached Kyakhta through the Alashan and Gobi deserts. During this journey, he covered about 8 thousand km and photographed more than 4 thousand km of route through areas of Central Asia completely unexplored by Europeans. He found two new species of animals - the Przewalski's horse and the pika-eater bear. Przhevalsky's assistant, Vsevolod Ivanovich Roborovsky, collected a huge botanical collection: about 12 thousand plant specimens - 1500 species. Przhevalsky outlined his observations and research results in the book “From Zaisan through Hami to Tibet and the upper reaches of the Yellow River” (1883), from which we took the above quotes. The result of his three expeditions were fundamentally new maps of Central Asia.
Przhevalsky's fourth (Second Tibetan) journey
In November 1883, Przhevalsky set off on his fourth journey. In addition to V.I. Roborovsky, he took as an assistant the 20-year-old volunteer Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov, formerly a clerk at a brewery, in whom Przhevalsky guessed the real researcher. From Kyakhta, by the twice-explored route, by May 1884 the expedition proceeded to Dzun. To the southeast of Tsaidam, behind the Burkhan-Buddha ridge, Przhevalsky discovered a barren saline “undulating plateau, often covered with small... jumbled mountains,” which continued far to the southeast. Countless herds of wild yaks, kulans, antelopes and other ungulates grazed on the plateau. Having passed this animal kingdom, Przhevalsky came to the eastern part of the intermountain basin of Odontala, covered with “many hummocky swamps, springs and small lakes”; “small rivers wind through the basin, partly formed from the same springs, partly running down from the mountains. All these rivers merge into two main streams, connecting to the north-eastern corner of Odontala. “From here, that is, actually from the confluence of all the water of the Odontala, the famous Yellow River originates” (Huang He). The good weather, which had delighted travelers for several days, “suddenly gave way to a strong snowstorm, and by morning the temperature dropped to -23°C. We had to wait two days for the snow that fell so inopportunely to melt.” Finally the detachment was able to move further south. Przhevalsky crossed the watershed of the sources of the Yellow River and Yangtze (the Bayan-Khara-Ula ridge), invisible from the Tibetan plateau, and found himself in a high-mountainous country: “Here the mountains immediately become high, steep and inaccessible.” Having examined a small section of the upper reaches of the Yangtze, Przhevalsky decided not to waste time and effort on reaching Lhasa, dear to his heart. On the way back, east of Odontala, he discovered two lakes - Dzharin-Nur and Orin-Nur, through which the “his-born Yellow River” flowed.
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Returning to Tsaidam, Przhevalsky followed its southern outskirts, discovered the narrow but powerful Chimentag ridge in the southwest and, thus, almost completely contoured the huge (more than 100 thousand km) Tsaidam plain. Having crossed Chimentag and the northwestern spur of the newly discovered Kayakdygtag, the detachment entered the large, wide plain of Kultala, which went “to the east beyond the horizon.” Far in the south, a gigantic ridge of latitudinal direction opened up in front of Przhevalsky, which he called Mysterious, and the peak he saw - Monomakh's Cap (7720 m). Later, Mysterious was given the name of the discoverer (local name Arkatag; length about 650 km, height up to 7723 m). Turning back and reaching approximately the 38th parallel, Przhevalsky passed to the west the vast intermountain Valley of the Winds, which he named so because of the constant winds and storms (Valley of the Yusupalyk River). To the north of it stretched Aktag, and to the south - Kayakdygtag and the previously unknown Achchikkoltag (Moscow). On the southern slope of Kayakdygtag, at an altitude of 3867 m, Przhevalsky discovered a salt lake, even at the end of December, covered with ice, and called it Unfrozen (Ayakkumkol). Further movement to the south was impossible due to the approaching winter and the severe fatigue of the pack animals; the detachment headed north, descended into the basin of Lake Lop Nor and met the spring of 1885 on its shore.
At the beginning of April, Przhevalsky climbed the river valley. ChercheEsh to the Cherchen oasis, and from there moved south, at 37° N. w. discovered the Russian ridge (up to 6626 m) and traced it to the west along its entire length (about 400 km) - to the oasis of Keria, and Eia parallel 36° N. w. he discovered the short but powerful Muztagh ridge (peak 7282 m), adjacent to Russky. Then the detachment went to the oasis of KhotaE!, crossed the Taklamakan, the Central Tien Shan in a northern direction and returned to Issyk-Kul in November 1885. In 1888 it saw the light of day last work Przhevalsky “From Kyakhta Eia are the sources of the Yellow River” (the above quotes are taken from it).
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Sino-Tibetan (Gansu) Potanin expedition
In 1883, Potanin’s third expedition was organized with the participation of A.V. Potanina and A.I. Scassi. They sailed around Europe by sea through the Suez Canal to the port of Chifoo (Yantai, Northeast China) and then by land to Beijing for final equipment. In the summer of 1884, from Beijing they headed west to the city of Guisui (Hohhot), crossed the Ordos Plateau and arrived in Lanzhou (on the Yellow River) for the winter. In the spring of 1885, travelers moved to Xining (at 102° E), moved south and through the mountainous treeless region of the upper reaches of the river. The Yellow River, the southeastern spurs of the Kunlun and the eastern slopes of the Sino-Tibetan mountains reached the headwaters of the river. Minjiang (northern large tributary of the Yangtze). Having proceeded from there to the east for about 150 km, they turned north and through the mountain ranges of the Qinling system returned to Lanzhou, where they again wintered. As a result of this double intersection of the “Tangut-Tibetan margin” of China, Potanin divided it into two parts: the northern (between 36 and 34 ° N) is a highland with an altitude of more than 3000 m with rare ridges and shallowly incised river valleys; the southern (between 34-32° N) is characterized by complex mountainous terrain with deep river valleys.
In April 1886, the expedition went west to Lake Kukunor, turned from there to the north and, having crossed several nameless ridges, reached the source of the river. Zhoshui, precisely established by her. At the same time, Potanin and Scassi discovered the first chain of the Nanshan system, the structure of which turned out to be more complex than Przhevalsky showed. Having traced the entire course of Zhoshui to the lower reaches (about 900 km), they came to the closed lake Gashun-Nur and accurately mapped it. Moving further north through the Gobi, the expedition, when crossing the Gobi Altai, identified four of its southern low latitudinal spurs (including Tost-Ula), correcting Pevtsov’s map. Potanin described the Gobi strip he crossed as follows: the southern part - as a flat hill with low ridges; the central one - like a desert depression no more than 900 m; the northern one is like a low mountainous country, a continuation of the Mongolian Altai. From Lake Orog-Nur the expedition went north along the river valley. Tuin-Gol to its headwaters, crossed the Khangai ridge and, turning to the northeast, across the river basin. The Orkhona reached Kyakhta in early November 1886. At the same time, the watershed of the Selenga and Orkhon - the Buren-Nuru ridge - and a number of small spurs of the Khangai were put on the map.
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Potanin's expedition crossed Central Asia approximately along the 101st meridian, and the mountain ranges were passed across their main direction, which is why it was not possible to establish the length and extent of individual ridges. The results of the expedition are described in the work “Tangut-Tibetan outskirts of China and Central Mongolia” (1893, 1950).
In 1888, Przhevalsky organized a new expedition to Central Asia. His assistants this time were V.I. Roborovsky and P.K. Kozlov. They reached the village of Karakol, near the eastern shore of Issyk-Kul. Here Przhevalsky fell ill with typhoid fever and died on November 1, 1888. Before his death, he asked to be buried “certainly on the shores of Issyk-Kul in a marching expedition uniform.” In 1889, Karakol was renamed Przhevalsk. Przhevalsky entered the world history of discoveries as one of greatest travelers. The total length of its working routes across Central Asia exceeds 31.5 thousand km. Having made a number of major geographical discoveries, he radically changed the idea of the relief and hydrographic network of Central Asia. He initiated research into its climates and paid a lot of attention to the study of flora: he personally and his collaborators, mainly Roborovsky, collected about 16 thousand specimens of plants belonging to 1,700 species, including more than 200 species and seven genera unknown to botanists. He made a huge contribution to the study of Central Asian fauna, collecting collections of vertebrates - about 7.6 thousand specimens, including several dozen new species.
After the death of Przhevalsky, M.V. Pevtsov was placed at the head of the expedition, who invited K.I. Bogdanovich. This third - Tibetan - expedition of Pevtsov turned out to be the most fruitful. Previously, he acted as a subtle observer, an outstanding geographer who made a number of important generalizations, an accurate calculator-surveyor and a good cartographer; now he has shown himself to be an excellent organizer. He entrusted his employees with long-distance independent routes, and they became outstanding explorers of Central Asia.
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In the summer of 1889, the expedition, leaving Przhevalsk to the south, crossed the Terskey-Ala-Too and Kakshaal-Too ridges and descended to the river. Yarkand, having established that R. Kashgar, considered a tributary of Yarkand, is lost in the sands south of the Kelpincheltag ridge. Next, the expedition traced western border the Taklamakan desert, ascending the river valley to the city of Yarkand.
Back in the spring, Pevtsov sent Bogdanovich on a route that lasted a month and a half. From the western edge of Issyk-Kul, Pevtsov walked along mountain paths south to a small village at 38°30"N, 76°E, and from there he turned west, crossed the Kashgar ridge south of the Kongur massif (7719 m ) and walked around from the north, west and south another massif of this ridge - Muztagata (7546 m), discovering a group of glaciers there, the presence of which had previously been denied. Having proceeded east through several passes at approximately 38° N latitude, Bogdanovich descended along river valleys to Yarkend, where he met with Pevtsov. From there, the expedition moved along the caravan road along the southern edge of the Taklamakan desert and in mid-October wintered in the Niya oasis. Bogdanovich had previously walked from the Kargalyk oasis south to the foot of the Tiznaf ridge (peak - 5360 m ), turned to the west, crossed the Tokhtakorum ridge and went to the upper Yarkand, and from there to Niya. He gave a brief description of the part of Western Kunlun he explored: “Sharp peaks, peaked snow groups, an occasionally clearly visible snow ridge, the main lines of river valleys, noticeable by the strong descent of the mountains towards them - such is the case here general character mountain panorama". During wintering (February - March 1890), Bogdanovich continued the exploration of Western Kunlun, independently of B. G. Grombchevsky, discovering to the south of Khotan the strongly dissected Karangutag ridge, about 200 km long with a peak of 7013 m, and to the east of it, in the basin R. Yurunkas, on both sides of the Muztag ridge discovered a complex system of small mountain ranges. He descended along the Yurunkasha valley to Khotan and returned to Niya. As a result of three routes, Bogdanovich found out the main features of the orography of Western Kunlun, established the arched bend of its ridges, their strong dissection, the presence of a number of “diagonal transverse valleys” and discovered the connection of Kunlun with the Pamirs.
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In March, Roborovsky traveled from Niya to the northeast along the caravan road to the Cherchen oasis. Turning from there to the south, up the river valley. Cherchen, he crossed the sands of Kumkatta and established that there was a river here. Cherchen made its way in the powerful Tokkuzdavantag ridge (peak 6303 m). Following east, up the Cherchen valley and its right tributary Dimnalyk to the Gulchadavan pass (4313 m, 88° E), Roborovsky discovered the complexity of the structure of the Western Altyntag.
By May, everyone had moved from Niya to the southeast, to the Karasai tract, on the northern slope of the Russian Range, beyond which Przhevalsky’s map showed “a completely unknown area.” Sent to find ways to Tibet, Roborovsky climbed the river valley. Tulankhodzha, crossing the Russian ridge, to its origins and reached the Atyshdavan pass (4976 m), from which he saw a huge snowy ridge (Ustyuntag) in the southwest. Having passed to the southwestern extremity of the Russian ridge, from another pass he saw “... for the second time, and much more clearly... a ridge extending... to the southeast. The enormous glaciers of this gigantic range fill its majestic gorges, and the peaks, probably rising above 20,000 feet above the sea, were shrouded in thick, dark clouds.” Undoubtedly, he had already seen another ridge - Lyushishan (peak 7160 m), at 35 ° 20 "N, stretching for 200 km (between 80 and 82 ° E) to the sources of the Keriya River. But because of Due to food shortages, he was forced to return to Karasai.
Soon, to further study the routes to Tibet, Pevtsov sent Kozlov and Roborovsky along different routes. Kozlov, southeast of Karasai, crossed the Russian ridge and discovered an intermountain depression behind it, and in it, at an altitude of 4258 m, a small lake. Along the valley of the river flowing into this lake, Kozlov walked to its upper reaches along the foot of the Russian Ridge and from the Dzhapakaklyk pass (4765 m) he saw the eastern end of the ridge. Thus, Kozlov and Roborovsky established the length of the Russian Ridge (about 400 km) and completed its discovery.
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In front of Roborovsky, who again moved through the Atyshdavan pass and then turned south, a lifeless rocky plateau opened up, along which he walked about 80 km and at the same time crossed two rivers. “It was the first time I had to be in such a wild and terrible desert. Complete absence of any life, bare, black shale ridges... stretched out with sharp jagged skeletons in a north-easterly direction.” Roborovsky established that to the east of his route “no mountains are visible; the flat plain, lowering slightly, goes beyond the horizon.” This was the first data on the rocky high-mountain desert of Northwestern Tibet.
In June, the expedition moved to the lake discovered by Kozlov. Pevtsov climbed the Kozlov Pass in the Przhevalsky Range (5085 m) and from the top he saw the same rocky high-mountain desert in the south. Having passed through the highlands to 36° N. sh., Pevtsov turned back due to the extraordinary difficulty of movement, even for experienced travelers. At the same time, Kozlov climbed the Przhevalsky ridge much further to the east and from the pass observed the same rocky desert.
Later, everyone united in the Cherchen oasis. Roborovsky climbed up the river valley in August. Cherchen and its left tributary Ulugsu and at the source of the river reached Mount Ulugmuztag (7723 m), the highest point of the Przhevalsky ridge. From here Roborovsky turned east. He walked along discovered by Przhevalsky intermountain basin along the northern slopes of the ridge for more than 100 km, discovered the high-mountain drainless lake Achchikkel and the rivers flowing into it and completed the discovery of Lake Ayakkumkel and the rivers of its basin. Here he connected the filming of the expeditions of Pevtsov and Przhevalsky. As a result of this route, Roborovsky established the dimensions of the intermountain basin of Kultala (about 20 thousand km 2), described its rivers and lakes, and clarified the position of the eastern section of the Przhevalsky and Uayakdyg ridges.
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The expedition traveled the already explored route through the valleys of Cherchen and Dimnalyk, and moved to the sources of the river. Charklyk and completed the discovery of the Aktag ridge (peak 6161 m). She descended along the Charklyk valley to Lake Karaburankol (southwest of Lop Nor) and found that it consisted of several small lakes. Here Roborovsky caught up with the expedition. As a result of the overall work, the opening of the entire Altyntag was largely completed.
Kozlov explored the second wandering river of the Lop Nor basin - Konchedarya, and Bogdanovich for the first time established the migration of Lake Lop Nor: “... along the entire course of the Tarim from Lop Nor to the confluence of the Ugen Darya (the northern branch of the Tarim) begins to be clearly revealed... the process of reduction of the Tarim... to put it bluntly figuratively, then Lop Nor slowly begins to move up the river.”
Pevtsov, having summarized the materials of his own and previous expeditions, drew a conclusion about the size, boundaries and topography of the Tarim Basin, while noting the process of drying out of Lop Nor. From the large freshwater Lake Bagrashkel (1.4 thousand km), first described by the expedition, it passed through the eastern spurs of the Tien Shan and discovered, instead of the simple ridge shown on Przhevalsky’s map, several relatively low (up to 4230 m) and short ridges , including Bogdo-Ula. To the northeast of it, the Toksun depression was discovered, the western part of one of the deepest continental depressions on Earth - the Turfan. From there the detachment went northwest in the foothills between the Eastern Tien Shan and the sands of Dzosotyn-Elisun, discovered and went around Lake Telli-Nur (Manas) from the west, then crossed, moving north, the Semistai ridge (2621 m) and came to the village of Zaysan at the beginning of 1891.
results last expedition Pevtsov, described in the work “Proceedings of the Tibet Expedition of 1889 - 1890.” ... "" (1892 - 1897) were very large: the boundaries and dimensions of the Taklamakan desert were established; the Kunlun mountain system from 76 to 90° E was explored and a schematic map of the entire Kunlun was compiled for the first time (by Bogdanovich); the high plateau of Northwestern Tibet was discovered and its approximate dimensions were clarified; the discovery of the Russky, Przhevalsky, Altyntag ridges and the intermountain basin of Kultala was completed; a number of new ridges were discovered; the relief and hydrography of the western part of Central Asia were characterized; the solution to the “mystery of Lop Nor” was greatly advanced.
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Works by Grombchevsky
In the summer of 1888, the Russian Geographical Society sent a small detachment to an almost completely unexplored area - the junction of Kunlun, Karakorum and Hindu Kush. It was headed by captain Bronislav Ludvigovich Grombchevsky, an officer for special assignments under the Governor General of Fergana. From Margilan, the traveler went south, crossed several Tien Shan and Pamir ridges, and on September 1, along a mountain path, reached Baltit, the capital of a small khanate located in the river basin. Gilgit (Indus system). Cholera epidemic in neighboring locality and the Khan’s illness forced Grombchevsky to hasten his return.
The return journey followed the same path, partly along ovrings (balconies), in a number of places destroyed by snow landslides. At the end of October, Grombchevsky examined the Muztagata massif, one of the components of the almost meridional powerful Kongurmuztag (Kashgar) ridge with rocky steep slopes. The difficulties of the road, frost and lack of food killed almost all the horses, and the travelers had to walk about 850 km. Nevertheless, Grombchevsky photographed a number of left tributaries of the river. Raskemdarya (in the lower reaches - the Yarkand river, one of the components of the Tarim), including the river. Tashkurgan.
In the summer of 1889, Grombchevsky led a new expedition. The tense political situation significantly complicated the movement of the detachment. And yet he managed to penetrate the Raskem Darya basin again: in October - November, he first explored and mapped the complexly branched Raskem ridge. (Nowadays there are two ridges here - the short and powerful Raskem and the shorter, longer - about 300 km - Tokhtakorum.) Then Grombchevsky walked up the left large tributary of the Raskem Darya to the region of Chogori, the second highest eight-thousander on the planet (at 36° N). .), and discovered the northern part of the significant (400 km) Agyl-Karakorum ridge.
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At the end of November, with frosts down to 30°C, Grombchevsky crossed to the source of the river. Tiznaf to connect his filming with the filming of Pevtsov’s expedition. And at the end of the year, with frosts intensifying to -35°C and significant winds, sometimes reaching hurricane force, along the river. Karakash climbed the Tibetan Plateau. On the right bank of the river, he discovered and traced almost the entire length of the powerful Karangutag ridge, the watershed of both components of the river. Khotan. On the highlands the wind raised clouds of aching, salty taste; it penetrated everywhere, hitting the eyes especially hard. According to Grombchevsky, the part of the Tibetan Plateau he visited is undulating terrain, crossed in different directions by smoothed mountain ranges; There are often deep hollows with lakes.
Due to lack of food and lack of water (all springs and lakes froze) the horses began to die. The detachment retreated and, having passed Karangutag on New Year's Eve, descended to the foot of Kunlun, and then headed along the caravan road to Kashgar. Here Grombchevsky received financial assistance from the Russian consul, purchased about 30 horses, and in the spring of 1890 continued his work. In early March, in the Niya oasis, he met with Pevtsov, which made it possible to mutually link the shooting.
From Niya Grombchevsky walked west to the river. Keria and along its valley on May 10 again ascended to the Tibetan Plateau, which greeted him with severe frosts (down to -24°C) - the heat below reached 31°C. The beginning of the death of pack animals forced him to hurry. But still, he advanced through the saline-sandy high-mountain desert to the south much further than the members of Pevtsov’s expedition: he discovered most of the Ustyuntag ridge on the right bank of the river. Keria, discovered its sources, and on the left bank, undoubtedly, saw the meridional segment of the Liushishan ridge. At the beginning of June he returned to the plain, to Khotan, and on October 15 he completed the expedition in the city of Osh.
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Through the inaccessible mountains of Kunlun, Karakorum and the high-mountain desert of Western Tibet, Grombchevsky covered 7.7 thousand km, including almost 5.5 thousand in areas not visited by any Europeans. He made significant changes to the cartography of the upper basins of the Yarkand, Khotan and Keria rivers, collected large botanical and zoological collections, as well as interesting ethnographic material.
Central Asian journey Grumm-Grzhimailo
To study the Eastern Tien Shan, the region between the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts, as well as the mountainous country of Nanshan, the Russian Geographical Society organized a small expedition. It was headed by geographer and entomologist G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo; the duties of topographer, as before, were performed by his brother, artillery officer Mikhail Efimovich. At the end of May 1889, the detachment set out from Dzharkent (Panfilov, 80° east), crossed the Borokhoro ridge at 83° east. and headed east. G. Grumm-Grzhimailo found out that these mountains and their continuation (the Iren-Khabyrga ridge) have a very steep northern slope and are drained by numerous small rivers.
In search of a pass to the southern slopes of the Tien Shan, travelers climbed to the upper reaches of the river. Manas, to the foot of a mountain cluster with glaciers giving rise to a number of rivers. Not finding a passage, they retreated and, continuing the route to the east, by the end of September they traced the entire ever-snowy Bogdo-Ula ridge (about 300 km). Then the expedition crossed the depression between it and the mountains stretching further to the east, among which G. Grumm-Grzhimailo identified two ridges - Barkeltag with rocky northern spurs and Karlyktag with patches of snow shining on the peaks. Passing to the southwest, he discovered and in October - November explored the deepest continental depression in Central Asia - Turfan; its height turned out to be negative, i.e. below ocean level (according to the latest data - 154 m).
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At the same time, M. Grumm-Grzhimailo headed south for reconnaissance - towards the “white spot”. He crossed the low latitudinal ridge of Cheltag and, instead of the “Khamian Desert” shown on previous maps, he discovered a plain with steppe vegetation, bounded in the south by the Kuruktag ridge.
From Turfan the expedition followed the caravan road to the east and met in 1890 in the city of Hami. From there, at the end of January, she headed southeast, crossing the low and short ridges of Beishan along the way. G. Grumm-Grzhimailo intended to study the territory south of the city of Siny, beyond the bend of the upper Yellow River. But plans had to be changed abruptly due to a misfortune with one of the Cossacks. In mid-summer, the detachment went around Lake Kukunor from the south and west, crossing Nanshan, and in September again crossed Beishan, about 100 km east of the previous route. G. Grumm-Grzhimailo identified this mountainous country as an independent orographic unit of Central Asia (more than doubling its area, however).
Further, the detachment’s route ran along the southern slopes of the Eastern Tien Shan, examined for the first time for about 500 km. Then G. Grumm-Grzhimailo re-examined about 800 km of the northern slopes of this mountain system and ended the expedition in mid-November in Dzharkent, having covered more than 7 thousand km, of which 6 thousand km in areas that had not been visited by researchers before. He delivered a large collection of insects and brought back the first four specimens of Przewalski's horse.
Obruchev's travels
Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev was enrolled in Potanin’s fourth expedition as a geologist and received an independent assignment. Leaving Kyakhta at the end of September 1892, he reached Beijing through Mongolia, where he prepared for his further journey. In 1893, bypassing the Ordos plateau from the south and following along the Great Chinese wall, he moved to the city of Suzhou (now Jiuquan on the lower reaches of the left tributary of Ruoshui). From there he began exploring the mountainous country of Nanynan and discovered or completed the discovery of a number of previously unidentified or completely incorrectly mapped ridges with peaks over 5 thousand m. The largest of them, the Richthofen Ridge (Qilianynan, up to 5934 m high), extends over more than 500 km on the northeastern outskirts of Nanshan; to the southwest is Taolaishan, parallel to it; in the south, near 38° N. sh., - the Suessa ridge (Sulenanynan), where the sources of the river are located. Sulehe; downstream along its right bank is Taolainanshan, and on the left bank are Yemashan and Daxueshan (with a peak of 6209 m). Obruchev also completed the discovery and gave names to the Mushketov ridge 1, separating the Syrtym plain from Tsaidam from the south, and to the southeast of Tsaidam - the Semenov ridge, crossed by the 36th parallel. Between them he discovered the ever-snowy Kurlyk-Daban (250 km long) and the shorter and lower Sarlyk-Ula. And he explored, attributed to the Nanshan system and united under the common name Longshoushan the low, almost latitudinal mountains (peak 3658 m), stretching along the southwestern edge of the Alashan desert.
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Having rounded Lake Kukunor from the south and returning to Suzhou, Obruchev at the end of 1893 moved down the river valley. Ruoshui. Having bypassed the Alashan desert from the north, he went to the northern bow of the Yellow River, to the city of Ningxia (Yinchuan). In 1894, having crossed the Qinling ridge, he penetrated the Sichuan Basin, turned to the northwest, returned to Suzhou again and through Beishan reached the Hami oasis. Although his route along Weishan coincided with the route of G. Grumm-Grzhimailo, Obruchev clarified the position of the northern and southern borders of this mountainous country. He found out that Beishan is not connected with either Nanynan or
Tien Shan. From Hami he reached Gulja, following through Turfan and along the southern strip of Dzungaria.
Obruchev established that Central Asia is a very ancient mountainous country, not covered by the sea for a long time and leveled by the processes of weathering and demolition. He gave a more correct idea of the relief and geological structure of this region. Based on the collected materials, he developed a hypothesis about the aeolian origin of loess. V. Obruchev described his journey in the books “From Kyakhta to Kulja” (2nd ed., 1950) and “Central Asia, Northern China and Nanynan” (two volumes, 1900 - 1901).
Dzungaria - the “great gate” of the Asian continent - was the main road for a number of famous expeditions of the second half of the 19th century, striving for the unexplored depths of Central Asia, but part of Dzungaria itself remained, essentially, a “blank spot” until the beginning of the 20th century, until Obruchev did not enter this area. During the summer months of 1905, 1906 and 1909. he was the first to study or explore in detail two almost parallel pairs of ridges of Western Dzungaria, extending in a northeast direction - Mailitau and Jair, Birlyktau and Urkashar, two parallel latitudinal ridges - Saur and Semistai, to which Urkashar approaches from the west, as well as valleys and depressions between these chains, small hills south of Semistai and the eastern section of Tarbagatai. It turned out that these hills are not mountain ranges, “but simple and complex plateaus... single or connected into complexes in the form of steps different heights, collectively forming one whole." "They have the appearance of wide, smooth ridges of an unusual wedge-shaped shape, located below the mountain systems surrounding them.
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Roborovsky's last journey
In June 1893, V. Roborovsky, taking P. Kozlov as his assistant, set out from Przhevalsk to the east and walked along the Eastern Tien Shan, following through the least explored areas. Having then descended into the Turfan depression, Roborovsky and Kozlov crossed it in various directions and contoured. They took different routes from there to the river basin. Sulehe, to the village of Dunhuang (near 40° N, at the foot of Nanyian). Kozlov moved south, to the lower reaches of the Tarim, and studied the Lop Nor basin. He discovered the dried-up ancient bed of the Konchedarya, as well as traces of the ancient Lop Nor, 200 km east of its then location, and finally proved that the Konchedarya is a wandering river, and Lop Nor is a nomadic lake. Roborovsky walked east to the Hami oasis, turned south and along the eastern edge of the Gashun Gobi reached Dunhuang, where Kozlov also arrived by February 1894.
Now the travelers began to explore the Western Tien Shan. Using different routes during 1894, they crossed it in many places, traced a number of longitudinal intermountain valleys, accurately established the extent and boundaries of individual ridges, correcting and often greatly changing the maps of their predecessors. In the winter of 1894/95, intending to pass through the highland country to the southeast, into the Sichuan Basin, in frosts up to 35 ° C, they reached the Amne-Machin ridge (up to 6094 m) south of Kukunor, beyond the 35th parallel. crossed it through a wild rocky gorge. But Roborovsky suddenly fell seriously ill, and a week later, in February 1895, Kozlov, who had taken over the leadership of the expedition, turned back. Roborovsky, in those days when he felt better, with the greatest efforts continued geographical and ethnographic observations, even made independent trips and botanical collections. During all this time, mainly thanks to him, the expedition collected about 25 thousand plants belonging to 1300 species. (Kozlov made mainly entomological collections - about 30 thousand specimens of insects.) Returning to the Turfan depression, they headed northwest and for the first time crossed the Dzosotyn-Elisun sands (about 45 thousand km 2). Instead of many ridges shown on old maps at 46° N. sh., Kozlov discovered the Kobbe sands. Having finished their journey in Zaisan at the end of November 1895, Roborovsky and Kozlov traveled to total about 17 thousand km.
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Kozlov's Mongol-Tibetan and Mongol-Sichuan expeditions
Kozlov's third trip to Central Asia (1899 - 1901) was at the same time his first independent expedition. It was called Mongol-Tibetan: it can be defined as geographical, in contrast to the next two, which are mainly archaeological. In the mid-summer of 1899, the expedition proceeded from the border along the Mongolian Altai to Lake Orog-Nur (45° N, 101° E) and at the same time made the first accurate survey and detailed study of this mountain system. Kozlov himself walked along the northern slopes of the main ridge, and his companions, botanist Veniamin Fedorovich Ladygin and tonographer Alexander Nikolaevich Kaznakov, crossed the ridge several times and from 92° east. They also traced the southern slopes. It turned out that the main ridge extends to the southeast to 98° E. d. in the form of a single mountain chain, gradually
descending, and ends with the Gichgeniin-Nuru ridge, and then stretches the Gobi Altai, consisting only of a chain small hills and short low spurs. Then all three in different ways crossed the Gobi and Alashan deserts; Having united, they climbed to the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, and bypassed the Kham country, located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Mekong rivers, from the north. Here Kozlov discovered four parallel ridges in a southeastern direction: on the left bank of the Yangtze - Pandittag (200 km), on the right - Russian Geographical Society- the watershed between the upper Yangtze and Mekong (length about 450 km, peak up to 6 thousand m), on the right bank of the Mekong - the Woodville-Rockhill ridge (400 km), to the south - the Dalai Lama (400 km, unnamed on our maps listen)) is the watershed of the upper Mekong and Salween basins.
On the way back, after a detailed inventory of Lake Kukunor, the travelers again crossed the Alashan and Gobi deserts and reached Kyakhta on December 9, 1901. Kozlov’s telegram dispelled persistent rumors about their death: for almost two years no information was received from them. This expedition is described by Kozlov in his two-volume work “Mongolia and Kam”, “Kam and the Way Back”.
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In 1907 - 1909 Kozlov led the so-called Mongol-Sichuan expedition. His assistants were topographer Pyotr Yakovlevich Napalkov and geologist Alexander Alexandrovich Chernov. Following from Kyakhta through the Gobi Desert, they crossed the Gobi Altai and in 1908 reached Lake Sogo-Nur, in the lower reaches of the right branch of the river. Ruoshui. Turning south, Kozlov, after 50 km (at 41°45"N and 101°20"E), discovered the ruins of Khara-Khoto, the capital of the medieval Tangut kingdom of Xi Xia (XIII century AD). During excavations, he found a large library (2000 books) in the Tangut language, more than 300 examples of Tangut painting, etc.
From Khara-Khoto, the expedition moved to the southeast and crossed the Alashan desert to the Alashan ridge, and Napalkov and Chernov explored the territory between the river. Ruoshui and the middle Yellow River and the western strip of Ordos. In particular, they established that the Ruoshui is the same wandering river as the Tarim, and that the Arbiso ridge, on the right bank of the Yellow River, is the northeastern spur of the Helanshan ridge. Turning to the southwest, the expedition penetrated into the upper bend of the Yellow River - into the high-mountainous (up to 500 m) country of Amdo (34 - 36 ° N, 100 - 102 ° E) - and for the first time comprehensively explored it. In the spring of 1909, Kozlov arrived in Lanzhou, and from there he returned to Kyakhta along the same route, completing his outstanding archaeological journey in mid-1909. Kozlov described it in his work “Mongolia and Amdo and dead city Khara-Khoto"; it was published already under Soviet power (1923, 2nd ed., 1947).
The death of Przhevalsky and the third (Tibetan) expedition of Pevtsov
In 1888, Przhevalsky organized a new expedition to Central Asia. His assistants this time were V.I. Roborovsky and P.K. Kozlov. They reached the village of Karakol, near the eastern shore of Issyk-Kul. Here Przhevalsky fell ill with typhoid fever and died on November 1, 1888. Before his death, he asked to be buried “certainly on the shores of Issyk-Kul in a marching expedition uniform.”
In 1889, Karakol was renamed Przhevalsk. Przhevalsky entered the world history of discoveries as one of the greatest travelers. The total length of its working routes across Central Asia exceeds 31.5 thousand km. Having made a number of major geographical discoveries, he radically changed the idea of the relief and hydrographic network of Central Asia.
He initiated research into its climates and paid a lot of attention to the study of flora: he personally and his collaborators, mainly Roborovsky, collected about 16 thousand specimens of plants belonging to 1,700 species, including more than 200 species and seven genera unknown to botanists. He made a huge contribution to the study of Central Asian fauna, collecting collections of vertebrates - about 7.6 thousand specimens, including several dozen new species.
After the death of Przhevalsky, M.V. Pevtsov was placed at the head of the expedition, who invited K.I. Bogdanovich. This third – Tibetan – expedition of Pevtsov turned out to be the most fruitful. Previously, he acted as a subtle observer, an outstanding geographer who made a number of important generalizations, an accurate calculator-surveyor and a good cartographer; now he has shown himself to be an excellent organizer. He entrusted his employees with long-distance independent routes, and they became outstanding explorers of Central Asia.
In the summer of 1889, the expedition, leaving Przhevalsk to the south, crossed the Terskey-Ala-Too and Kakshaal-Too ridges and descended to the river. Yarkand, having established that R. Kashgar, considered a tributary of Yarkand, is lost in the sands south of the Kelpincheltag ridge. Next, the expedition traced the western border of the Taklamakan desert, rising along the river valley to the city of Yarkand.
Back in the spring, Pevtsov sent Bogdanovich on a route that lasted a month and a half. From the western edge of Issyk-Kul, Pevtsov walked along the mountain thrones to the south to a small village at 38°30"N, 76°E, and from there he turned west, crossed the Kashgar ridge south of the Kongur massif (7719 m) and went around from the north, west and south another massif of this ridge - Muztagata (7546 m), discovering a group of glaciers there, the presence of which was previously denied. Having proceeded east through several passes at approximately 38° N latitude, Bogdanovich descended along river valleys to Yarkand , where he met with Pevtsov. From there, the expedition moved along the caravan road along the southern edge of the Taklamakan desert and in mid-October wintered in the Niya oasis. Bogdanovich had previously walked from the Kargalyk oasis south to the foot of the Tiznaf ridge (peak - 5360 m), turned to the west, crossed the Tokhtakorum ridge and went to the upper Yarkand, and from there to Niya. He gave a brief description of the part of Western Kunlun he explored: “Sharp peaks, peaked snow groups, an occasionally clearly visible snow ridge, the main lines of river valleys, noticeable by to the strong lowering of the mountains towards them - this is the general character of the mountain panorama here.” During wintering (February - March 1890), Bogdanovich continued the exploration of Western Kunlun, independently of B. G. Grombchevsky, discovering to the south of Khotan the strongly dissected Karangutag ridge, about 200 km long with a peak of 7013 m, and to the east of it, in the basin R. Yurunkas, on both sides of the Muztagh ridge, discovered a complex system of small mountain ranges. He descended along the Yurunkasha valley to Khotan and returned to Niya. As a result of three routes, Bogdanovich found out the main features of the orography of Western Kunlun, established the arched bend of its ridges, their strong dissection, the presence of a number of “diagonal transverse valleys” and discovered the connection of Kunlun with the Pamirs.
In March, Roborovsky traveled from Niya to the northeast along the caravan road to the Cherchen oasis. Turning from there to the south, up the river valley. Cherchen, he crossed the sands of Kumkatta and established that there was a river here. Cherchen made her way in the powerful Tokkuzdavantag ridge (peak 6303 m). Following east, up the Cherchen valley and its right tributary Dimnalyk to the Gulchadavan pass (4313 m, 88° E), Roborovsky discovered the complexity of the structure of the Western Altyntag.
By May, everyone had moved from Niya to the southeast, to the Karasai tract, on the northern slope of the Russian Range, beyond which Przhevalsky’s map showed “a completely unknown area.” Sent to find ways to Tibet, Roborovsky climbed the river valley. Tulankhodzha, crossing the Russian ridge, to its origins and reached the Atyshdavan pass (4976 m), from which he saw a huge snowy ridge (Ustyuntag) in the southwest. Having passed to the southwestern extremity of the Russian ridge, from another pass he saw “... for the second time, and much more clearly... a ridge extending... to the southeast. The enormous glaciers of this gigantic range fill its majestic gorges, and the peaks, probably rising above 20,000 feet above the sea, were shrouded in thick, dark clouds.” Undoubtedly, he had already seen another ridge - Lyushishan (peak 7160 m), at 35 ° 20 "N, stretching for 200 km (between 80 and 82 ° E) to the sources of the Keriya River. But because of Due to food shortages, he was forced to return to Karasai.
Soon, to further study the routes to Tibet, Pevtsov sent Kozlov and Roborovsky along different routes. Kozlov, southeast of Karasai, crossed the Russian ridge and discovered an intermountain depression behind it, and in it, at an altitude of 4258 m, a small lake. Along the valley of the river flowing into this lake, Kozlov walked to its upper reaches along the foot of the Russian Ridge and from the Dzhapakaklyk pass (4765 m) he saw the eastern end of the ridge. Thus, Kozlov and Roborovsky established the length of the Russian Ridge (about 400 km) and completed its discovery.
In front of Roborovsky, who again moved through the Atyshdavan pass and then turned south, a lifeless rocky plateau opened up, along which he walked about 80 km and at the same time crossed two rivers. “It was the first time I had to be in such a wild and terrible desert. Complete absence of any life, bare, black shale ridges... stretched out with sharp jagged skeletons in a north-easterly direction.” Roborovsky established that to the east of his route “no mountains are visible; the flat plain, lowering slightly, goes beyond the horizon.” This was the first data on the rocky high-mountain desert of Northwestern Tibet.
In June, the expedition moved to the lake discovered by Kozlov. Pevtsov climbed the Kozlov Pass in the Przhevalsky Range (5085 m) and from the top he saw the same rocky high-mountain desert in the south. Having passed through the highlands to 36° N. sh., Pevtsov turned back due to the extraordinary difficulty of movement, even for experienced travelers. At the same time, Kozlov climbed the Przhevalsky ridge much further to the east and from the pass observed the same rocky desert.
Later, everyone united in the Cherchen oasis. Roborovsky climbed up the river valley in August. Cherchen and its left tributary Ulugsu and at the source of the river reached Mount Ulugmuztag (7723 m), the highest point of the Przhevalsky ridge. From here Roborovsky turned east. He walked along the intermountain basin discovered by the Przhevalskys along the northern slopes of the ridge for more than 100 km, discovered the high-mountain, drainless Lake Achchik-Kol and the rivers flowing into it, and completed the discovery of Lake Ayakkum-Kol and the rivers of its basin. Here he connected the filming of the expeditions of Pevtsov and Przhevalsky. As a result of this route, Roborovsky established the dimensions of the intermountain basin of Kultala (about 20 thousand km 2), described its rivers and lakes, and clarified the position of the eastern section of the Przhevalsky and Uayakdyg ridges.
The expedition traveled the already explored route through the valleys of Cherchen and Dimnalyk, and moved to the sources of the river. Charklyk and completed the discovery of the Aktag ridge (peak 6161 m). She descended along the Charklyk valley to Lake Karaburankol (southwest of Lop Nor) and found that it consisted of several small lakes. Here Roborovsky caught up with the expedition. As a result of the overall work, the opening of the entire Altyntag was largely completed.
Kozlov explored the second wandering river of the Lop Nor basin - Konchedarya, and Bogdanovich for the first time established the migration of Lake Lop Nor: “... along the entire course of the Tarim from Lop Nor to the confluence of the Ugen Darya (the northern branch of the Tarim) begins to be clearly revealed... the process of reduction of the Tarim... to put it figuratively, then Lop Nor slowly begins to move up the river.”
Pevtsov, having summarized the materials of his own and previous expeditions, drew a conclusion about the size, boundaries and topography of the Tarim Basin, while noting the progress of the drying out of Lop Nor. From the large freshwater lake Bagrashkel (1.4 thousand km 2), first described by the expedition, it passed through the eastern spurs of the Tien Shan and discovered, instead of the simple ridge shown on Przhevalsky’s map, several relatively low (up to 4230 m) and short ridges, including Bogdo-Ula. To the northeast of it, the Toksun depression was discovered, the western part of one of the deepest continental depressions on Earth - the Turfan. From there the detachment went northwest in the foothills between the Eastern Tien Shan and the sands of Dzosotyn-Elisun, discovered and went around Lake Telli-Nur (Manas) from the west, then crossed, moving north, the Semistai ridge (2621 m) and came to the village of Zaysan at the beginning of 1891.
The results of Pevtsov’s last expedition, described in the work “Proceedings of the Tibetan Expedition of 1889–1890.” ..." (1892–1897), were very large: the boundaries and dimensions of the Taklamakan desert were established; The Kunlun mountain system was explored from 76 to 90° east. and for the first time a schematic map of the entire Kunlun was compiled (by Bogdanovich); the high plateau of Northwestern Tibet was discovered and its approximate dimensions were determined; the discovery of the Russky, Przhevalsky, Altyntag ridges and the intermountain basin of Kultala has been completed; a number of new ridges have been discovered; characteristics of the relief and hydrography of the western part of Central Asia are given; The solution to the “riddle of Lop Nor” has made great progress.
Materials:
Material: http://www.isihazm.ru/?id=816