Vladimir Vasilyevich Atlasov or Otlasov ( or Отла́сов; between 1661 and 1664 – 1711) was a

Siberian Cossack Siberian Cossacks were Cossacks who settled in the Siberian region of Russia from the end of the 16th century, following Yermak Timofeyevich's conquest of Siberia. In early periods, practically the whole Russian population in Siberia, especiall ...

who was the first Russian to organize systematic exploration of the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and w ...

Atlasov Island Atlasov Island, known in Russian as Ostrov Atlasova (Остров Атласова), or in Japanese as Araido (阿頼度島), is the northernmost island and volcano and also the highest volcano of the Kuril islands, part of the Sakhalin Oblast ...

, an uninhabited volcanic island off the southern tip of Kamchatka, and the

Atlasova Atlasova (also known as Atlasov or Nylgimelkin) is a basaltic shield volcano situated in Kamchatka. It is named after Russian explorer Vladimir Atlasov. See also *List of volcanoes in Russia This is a list of active and extinct volcanoes i ...

volcano are named after him.

Biography

Atlasov was born in

Veliky Ustyug Veliky Ustyug (russian: Вели́кий У́стюг) is a town in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the northeast of the oblast at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 31,665. Velik ...

. The first mention of him in the historical records comes from around 1682, when he was collecting

Yasak ''Yasak'' or ''yasaq'', sometimes ''iasak'', (russian: ясак; akin to Yassa) is a Turkic word for "tribute" that was used in Imperial Russia to designate fur tribute exacted from the indigenous peoples of Siberia. Origin The origins of yasa ...

on the

Aldan River The Aldan (russian: Алдан) is the second-longest, right tributary of the Lena in the Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia.Uda rivers. In 1695 the voyevoda of Yakutsk appointed Atlasov prikazshchik of

Anadyrsk Anadyrsk was an important Russian ostrog (fortified settlement) in far northeastern Siberia from 1649 to 1764. It was on the Anadyr River, near the head of small-boat navigation, about 300 miles upstream, 12 miles northeast of the present Mark ...

. The Russians here had heard reports of a 'Kamchatka River' to the south and were already collecting yasak on the headwaters of the rivers that flow south toward Kamchatka. At least one of them had followed the

Penzhina The Penzhina (russian: Пенжина; Koryak: Мыгыкивэем) is a river in Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The name "Penzhina" originated the Chukchi word ''"Pennyn"'', meaning "place of attack". In ...

river 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 ...

. In 1696 he sent Luka Morozko south to explore. Morozko got as far south as the Tegil river on the west side of the peninsula and returned with some 'mysterious writings', apparently from a wrecked Japanese ship. In 1697 Atlasov set off south with 65 serving-men and 60 Yukaghirs. Travelling on

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subs ...

, they reached the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of the Penzhina river. He went down the west coast for two weeks and then crossed to the east coast. (Lantzeff has this as February 1697 on the

Olyutor Gulf The Olyutor Bay (russian: Олюторский залив) is a gulf or bay of the Bering Sea in Olyutorsky District, northern part of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Geography It is bounded on the west by the Govena Peninsula which separates it from K ...

, but the Russian wiki has him leaving in the spring of 1697 and the Olyutor Gulf is rather far to the northeast). He left Morzoko to explore the east side and returned to the west side, but Morozko had to be recalled to deal with a Yukaghir mutiny (at the

Palana River The Palana is a west-flowing river on the west side of the upper Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. It flows into the Sea of Okhotsk. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The town of Palana lies on its right bank, near its mouth. Jurassic radi ...

). Going south to the Tegil river, he heard reports of the Kamchatka river and recrossed the Central Range to the Kamchatka where he met the

Itelmens The Itelmens (Itelmen: Итәнмән, russian: Ительмены) are an indigenous ethnic group of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. The Itelmen language is distantly related to Chukchi and Koryak, forming the Chukotko-Kamchatkan langua ...

for the first time. He made an alliance with one clan and went downriver and burned a village of their enemies. Returning, he learned that some

Koryaks Koryaks () are an indigenous people of the Russian Far East, who live immediately north of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Kamchatka Krai and inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea. The cultural borders of the Koryaks include Tigilsk in the south ...

had stolen his reindeer. He chased them, killed about 150 and retrieved his reindeer. Continuing down the west side he reached the Icha River where he rescued or captured a Japanese sailor who had been shipwrecked. Further south he reached the

Golygina River The Golygina (russian: Голыгина)

area, from which he was able to see

. Here he met the first

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

and managed to kill fifty of them. Returning north to the Icha, he sent a party of men over the mountains to build an ostrog at Verkhnekamchatsk on the upper Kamchatka. Here he decided to return to Anadyrsk, either under pressure of his men or because he was running short of gunpowder and lead. He reached Anadyrsk in July 1699 and wrote a report. He reached Yakutsk in June 1700 and in February 1701 reached Moscow where he presented his report. He was promoted to Golova and sent back to administer Kamchatka. On the

Angara River The Angara ( Buryat and mn, Ангар, ''Angar'', "Cleft"; russian: Ангара́, ''Angará'') is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is ...

in 1701 he met and plundered a merchant's boat loaded with Chinese goods. For this he and his men were thrown in jail. Kamchatka became increasingly disorderly and in 1707 Atlasov was released and sent to Kamchatka to restore order. On the journey his methods were so rough that most of his men sent a letter of protest to Yakutsk. He pacified the natives to some degree, but in December 1707 his own cossacks revolted and imprisoned him. He escaped (from Verkhnekamchatsk) and went downriver to Nizhnekamchatsk, but the local commander refused to step aside and give him command. What he did for the next four years is uncertain. In January 1711 he was murdered in his sleep by another band of mutineers.

References

*George V. Lantseff and Richard A. Price, 'Eastward to Empire', 1973
Russian historians about Vladimir Atlasov
by N.V. Tolkacheva