Nikolai G. Petrusevich (1838–1880) was a Russian general, geologist, geographer, and scientist, notable for being a humanitarian officer in the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

and a geographer of Afghanistan. He is credited with discovering the Sarygamysh Depression in 1876. He died at the siege of Dengil Teppe.

Military career

In 1865, as captain, he took up service with the

Karachai The Karachays ( krc, Къарачайлыла, Qaraçaylıla or таулула, , 'Mountaineers') are an indigenous Caucasian Turkic ethnic group in the North Caucasus. They speak Karachay-Balkar, a Turkic language. They are mostly situate ...

, where he learned the local language, the local customs, abolished serfdom, organized schools for gifted children, and even helped Muslims make their pilgrimage. In the early 1870s, when he was just a colonel, he was active in Turkey. He called the Ottoman Empire "rascals and thieves," because they had been merely enslaving exploiters of "Khivans, Bokharans, Persians." On the other hand, he also criticized the Russian Army for barbarism and cruelty, writing... Petrusevich also acted in a scientific capacity for the Russian Army, surveying the northern Afghanistan border.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrusevich, Nikolai Russian generals Russian explorers Russian geographers Russian geologists 1838 births 1880 deaths