Ivan Moskvitin
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Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin (russian: Иван Юрьевич Москвитин) (? - after 1647) was a Russian explorer, presumably a native of
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, who led a Russian reconnaissance party to the
Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...
, becoming the first Russian to reach the Pacific Ocean. Moskvitin is first attested in 1626 as residing among the
Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
in
Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...
. In 1636 or 1637 Dmitry Kopylov with 54 men including Moskvitin were sent east toward
Yakutsk Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkutsk; sah, Дьокуускай, translit=Djokuuskay, ) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of ...
. He went down the
Lena River The Lena (russian: Ле́на, ; evn, Елюенэ, ''Eljune''; sah, Өлүөнэ, ''Ölüöne''; bua, Зүлхэ, ''Zülkhe''; mn, Зүлгэ, ''Zülge'') is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean ...
and up the
Aldan River The Aldan (russian: Алдан) is the second-longest, right tributary of the Lena in the Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia.Maya River The Maya (russian: Мая) is a river in Khabarovsk Krai and Sakha, Russia. It is a right tributary of the Aldan of the Lena basin. The length of the river is . The area of its basin . The Maya freezes up in late October and stays under the ice ...
and about 250 km southeast of Yakutsk. From a local Shaman Kopylov learned of a south-flowing "River Shirkol" (
Zeya River The Zeya (russian: Зе́я; from indigenous Evenki word "djee" (blade); zh, 结雅; mnc, m= , Mölendroff: jingkiri bira) is a northern, left tributary of the Amur in Amur Oblast, Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The average ...
?) where sedentary people grew grain and had cattle and, according to some sources, a silver deposit. In May 1639 he sent Moskvitin with 20 Tomsk Cossacks and 19 Krasnoyarsk Cossacks and an Evenk guide eastward. They went down the Aldan River and up the
Maya River The Maya (russian: Мая) is a river in Khabarovsk Krai and Sakha, Russia. It is a right tributary of the Aldan of the Lena basin. The length of the river is . The area of its basin . The Maya freezes up in late October and stays under the ice ...
and from the upper Maya crossed the
Dzhugdzhur Mountains The Dzhugdzhur Mountains (russian: Джугджу́р) or Jugjur Mountains, meaning 'big bulge' in Evenki, are a mountain range along the western shores of the Sea of Okhotsk in the far east of Siberia. The mountains are quite deserted, the ...
and went down the
Ulya River The Ulya (russian: Улья) is a river in northern Khabarovsk Krai in Russia. The length of the river is , the area of its drainage basin is . The Ulya originates in the Dzhugdzhur Mountains, flows northeast parallel to the coast and turns east t ...
and in August 1639 reached the
Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...
. At the river mouth, or 25 km above its mouth, they built winter quarters. On the first of October he and 20 men sailed east for three days and reached the
Okhota River The Okhota (russian: Охота, from an Even word ''окат'' (okat) meaning "river") is a river in Khabarovsk Krai which flows south to the Sea of Okhotsk near the port town of Okhotsk.Okhotsk Okhotsk ( rus, Охотск, p=ɐˈxotsk) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Okhotsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located at the mouth of the Okhota River on the Sea of Okhotsk. Population: ...
was later built. Then they either sailed 500 km further east to the Taui River, or they learned enough from the natives to make a map of the coast as far as the Taui River (sources differ). That winter they built two large boats. There was some fighting with the local
Lamuts The Evens ( eve, эвэн; pl. , in Even and , in Russian; formerly called ''Lamuts'') are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha east of t ...
and they captured a man to use as a guide and interpreter. The captive told him of a "River Mamur" at whose mouth lived the "sedentary Gilyaks". In late April or early May 1640 he sailed southwest as far as
Uda Gulf Uda Gulf or Uda Bay (russian: Удская губа; ''Udskaya Guba'') is a gulf or bay in Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Federation. Geography Uda Gulf is located in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk. It lies just west of the Shantar Islands. The Uda ...
at the southwest corner of the Sea of Okhotsk. There they learned of the
Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
, the
Zeya River The Zeya (russian: Зе́я; from indigenous Evenki word "djee" (blade); zh, 结雅; mnc, m= , Mölendroff: jingkiri bira) is a northern, left tributary of the Amur in Amur Oblast, Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The average ...
and the
Amgun River The Amgun () is a river in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia that flows northeast and joins the river Amur from the left, 146 km upstream from its outflow into sea. The length of the river is . The area of its basin is . The Amgun is formed by the c ...
and of the "sedentary Gilyaks" on the coasts and islands and the " bearded Daurs" who had big houses, cattle and horses, ate bread and lived like Russians. They also heard that the bearded Daurs had recently come in boats and killed many Gilyaks. They then headed east, sighted the
Shantar Islands The Shantar Islands (russian: Шантарские острова, translit=Shantarskiye ostrova) are a group of fifteen islands located off the northwestern shore of the Sea of Okhotsk east of Uda Gulf and north of Academy Bay. Most of the isla ...
and entered the
Sakhalin Gulf Sakhalin Gulf (russian: Сахалинский залив) is a gulf in the Sea of Okhotsk between continental Russia (north of the Amur River, Amur's mouth) and the Schmidt Peninsula (Sakhalin), Schmidt Peninsula, at the northern tip of Sakhalin Is ...
. They may have seen the west coast of Sakhalin Island and seem to have reached some islands of the sedentary Gilyaks which may have been at the mouth of the
Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
. Because of the late season, they turned back and in November built winter quarters at the mouth of the Aldoma River which is 30 miles northeast of Ayan. By the middle of July 1641 they were back at Yakutsk. Information he provided enabled
Kurbat Ivanov Kurbat Afanasyevich Ivanov (russian: Курбат Афанасьевич Иванов, (died 1667) was a Cossack explorer of Siberia. He was the first Russian to discover Lake Baikal, and to create the first map of the Russian Far East. He also ...
to make the first map of the coast (March 1642). In 1645 he and Kopylov proposed to the Tomsk voyevod Shcherbatsky a large military expedition to the Amur. The proposal was not acted upon. He was sent to Moscow in 1646 and returned to Tomsk in 1647 with the rank of ataman. The remainder of his life is undocumented.


References

*George V Lantzeff and Richard A Pierce, "Eastward to Empire",1973
Москвитин Иван Юрьевич
// hrono.ru * for accuracy problems see the talk page. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moskvitin, Ivan Year of birth unknown 17th-century deaths Russian explorers Explorers of Siberia Explorers of Asia Russian Cossacks Year of death unknown 17th-century explorers 17th-century Russian people Tsardom of Russia people