Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (russian: Пётр Кузьми́ч Козло́в; 3 October 1863 in
Dukhovshchina – 26 September 1935 in
Peterhof) was a
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
traveller and explorer who continued the studies of
Nikolai Przhevalsky in
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
and
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
.
Although prepared by his parents for a military career, Kozlov chose to join Nikolai Przhevalsky's expedition. After his mentor's death, Kozlov continued traveling in
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
with Przhevalsky's successors,
Pevtsov and
Roborovsky. In 1895 he took general command of the expedition from ailing Roborovsky. From 1899 to 1901 he explored and later described in a book the upper reaches of the
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...
,
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
, and
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...
rivers, for which he received the
Constantine Medal
The Russian Geographical Society (russian: Ру́сское географи́ческое о́бщество «РГО»), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection wi ...
in 1902.
During the first decade of the 20th century, when
the Great Game
The Great Game is the name for a set of political, diplomatic and military confrontations that occurred through most of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – involving the rivalry of the British Empire and the Russian Empi ...
reached its peak, Kozlov rivaled
Sven Hedin and
Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein,
( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...
as the foremost researcher of
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
. Although he was on good terms with Hedin and other foreign explorers, the British government, as represented by
George Macartney, monitored his movements across Central Asia. Kozlov's 1905 visit to the
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...
in
Urga gave "the
British War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from th ...
a fright", especially after the Lama declared his intention to "settle within the confines of Russia".
During his expedition of 1907–1909, Kozlov explored the
Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...
and discovered the ruins of
Khara-Khoto
Khara-Khoto (; mn, Khar Khot; "black city") is an abandoned city in the Ejin Banner of Alxa League in western Inner Mongolia, China, near the Juyan Lake Basin. Built in 1032, the city thrived under the rule of the Western Xia dynasty. It has b ...
, a
Tangut city destroyed by the
Ming Chinese
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
in 1372. It took him several years to excavate the site and bring to
St. Petersburg no fewer than 2,000 books in the
Tangut language
Tangut (Tangut: ; ) is an extinct language in the Sino-Tibetan language family.
Tangut was one of the official languages of the Western Xia dynasty, founded by the Tangut people in northwestern China. The Western Xia was annihilated by the Mo ...
he uncovered there. Kozlov described his findings in a large volume entitled ''Mongolia and Amdo and the Dead City of
Khara-Khoto
Khara-Khoto (; mn, Khar Khot; "black city") is an abandoned city in the Ejin Banner of Alxa League in western Inner Mongolia, China, near the Juyan Lake Basin. Built in 1032, the city thrived under the rule of the Western Xia dynasty. It has b ...
'' (1923). He was awarded the 1911
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
's
Founder's Medal for his explorations.
His last expedition to Mongolia and Tibet (1923–1926) resulted in the discovery of an unprecedented number of
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
royal burials at
Noin-Ula.
After bringing to Petrograd some amazing samples of 2000-year-old
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...
n textiles, Kozlov retired from scientific work and settled in a village near
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
.
Kozlov married
Elizabeth Kozlova
Elizabeth Vladimirovna Kozlova née Pushkariova (19 August 1892 – 10 February 1975) was a Russian ornithologist who worked on the avifauna of the Tibetan plateau.
Life and career
Elizabeth was the daughter of Saint Petersburg physician Vladimi ...
, a woman 29 years his junior, who accompanied him on his final journey of exploration as the expedition
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
, and who was to publish many monographs and scientific papers on the avifauna of
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
.
Kozlov was a mentor of the Russian explorer and writer
Vladimir Arsenyev
Vladimir Klavdiyevich Arsenyev, (russian: Влади́мир Кла́вдиевич Арсе́ньев; 10 September 1872 – 4 September 1930) was a Russian explorer of the Far East who recounted his travels in a series of books — "По ...
.
In 1904, the botanist
Vladimir Ippolitovich Lipsky
Vladimir Ippolitovich Lipsky or Volodymyr Ipolytovych Lypsky (russian: Владимир Ипполитович Липский; uk, Володимир Іполитович Липський; 11 March 1863 – 24 February 1937) was a Ukrainian sc ...
published a genus of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
s from Central Asia (belonging to the family
Apiaceae
Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...
) as ''
Kozlovia'', in Pyotr Kozlov's honour.
References
External links
Kozlov's biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozlov, Pyotr
1863 births
1935 deaths
People from Dukhovshchina
People from Dukhovshchinsky Uyezd
Explorers of Asia
Explorers of Central Asia
Explorers of Tibet
Russian archaeologists
Russian explorers
Russian orientalists