Moskvitin Ivan Yurievich - a famous Russian explorer and traveler, who made a significant contribution to the study of new lands. And today, many Russian minds want to know in more detail about who Ivan Moskvitin was. What did you discover? What contribution did you make to the development of Russian lands?
On the account of this brave man who was not afraid to face the harsh climatic conditions of the North, the weather, hunger and hostility of the local population, the discovery of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Far East and Sakhalin Island.
Some information about Ivan Moskvitin
Being a native of the Moscow Region, Ivan Yurievich Moskvitin, whose years of life are not exactly known, began serving as an ordinary Cossack in Tomsk Ostrog. In 1636, as part of a detachment led by ataman Kopylov Dmitry Epifanovich, he went from Tomsk to Yakutsk for furs and in search of the Warm Sea, about the existence of which there were vague rumors. In 1637, the expedition reached Yakutsk, in the spring of 1638 Dmitry Epifanovich equipped Moskvitin and with him thirty Cossacks to continue the search for the sea and new territories.
The expedition descended from the Lena River to Aldan (the right tributary of the Lena River) and for five weeks under the most difficult conditions on poles and with a rope went up.
Expedition Start
In May 1639, a new expedition was set up, aimed at finding deposits (due to a lack of silver in the state) and new, not yet explored territories. They helped thirty Cossacks, led by Moskvitin, on such a responsible journey by the Evens, the Siberian people, who knew the area well developed.
The participant of the expedition was Kolobov Nekhoroshko Ivanovich - the Yakut Cossack, who presented in 1646 a "skasku" (the most important document of that time) about his own service in the Moskvitin detachment. There is also evidence of participation in the expedition Chisty Semyon Petrovich - interpreter (translator). The campaign lasted about six weeks, of which eight days explorers descended to the mouth of Mai along Aldan. What difficulties did the brave explorers encounter? What sea did Ivan Moskvitin go to?
About 200 kilometers along the May River, the expedition of Ivan Moskvitin went on a flat-bottom plank, passed the mouth of the Yudoma River, which was a tributary of May. There, travelers had to build two kayaks in order to rise in six days to the source of the river. A light and short pass over the Dzhugdzhur Ridge (discovered by them) separated the Lena River from the rivers flowing to the ocean.
Ivan Moskvitin: the path to the ocean
In the upper reaches of the Hive River, leading to the open sea, travelers built a new plow. For eight days, they descended on it to the waterfalls, the existence of which was warned by the guides. Here the ship had to be left again, to go around the dangerous section on the left side and to build a new vehicle that could accommodate twenty to thirty people. Along the way, the Cossacks fed on what came to hand: roots, tree, grass, and fish caught in ponds.
At the end of the summer of 1639, Moskvitin Ivan Yurievich, whose discoveries made an invaluable contribution to the history of the Russian state, left for the first time in the “Lam Sea” (later called the Sea of Okhotsk). Traversed by the Cossacks through an unknown locality with stops took more than two months. Thus, they were the first Russian to discover the existence of the Sea of Okhotsk.
In the fight against difficulties
On the Ulye River, where Evenk relatives lived, Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin, whose biography is of genuine interest to geographers, cut down the winter quarters, which became the first Russian village on the Pacific coast. From the local population, he learned new information about the densely populated river in the north and, without waiting for the onset of spring, in early October sent a group of brave Cossacks, consisting of twenty people, on the "river vessel".
Within three days, Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin, at the head of the expedition, reached the Okhota River, from there passed the sea further east and, having gotten acquainted with more than 500 kilometers of the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, discovered the mouths of several small rivers and opened the Taui Bay. A hike in the fragile little boat proved the urgency of building a sea koch - a ship, the development of which later had the chance to work for more than one generation of sailors. Its main advantage was maneuverability and the ability to swim in broken ice. The winter of 1639-1640 became significant for the Russian geographical society: at the mouth of the Ulja River, the history of the Pacific Russian fleet began. The explorers built 2 strong seventeen-meter-long kochs with masts so that you can walk on the sea.
Information about the Amur River and the population living at its mouth
In November 1639 and April 1640, the Cossacks repelled the attack of two large (600 and 900 people) Even groups. From the captive, Ivan Yurievich Moskvitin saw about the Mamur River (Amur), flowing in the southern part. In her mouth live "sedentary gilyaks" (sedentary nivkhs). With the onset of the summer of 1640, the Cossacks sailed south, taking the prisoner as a guide.
The explorers crossed almost the entire western mountainous coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, visited the mouth of the Uda River (where they received new information about the Amur River, tributaries of the Omuti and Chiye and the people living there), bypassing the Shantar Islands from the south, and then penetrated the Sakhalin Gulf. In that area, the conductor disappeared somewhere, and the Cossacks moved further, reached the islands (perhaps it was a question of small islands at the entrance to the Amursky estuary from the north). The expedition was turned back by the running out of food supplies and the inability to obtain food.
High appreciation of the pioneers' merits by the authorities
Stormy autumn weather did not provide an opportunity to get to the Hive, and explorers in November stopped for the wintering season at the mouth of the Aldoma River, 300 kilometers south of the Hive. In the spring of 1641, again crossing the Dzhugdzhur ridge, Ivan Yurievich Moskvitin came to May, and by mid-July reached Yakutsk with the desired booty: a large number of sables. Thanks to Moskvitin, the Russian treasury was enriched in 440 sable skins, which in 1642 were taken to the capital by Buza Elisey, the explorer and the first messenger, who informed Moscow about the Russian people entering the Sea of Okhotsk. The Yakut authorities appreciated the merits of explorers: they awarded each with rubles and cloth, Moskvitin was made into Pentecost. The people of Moskvitin on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk lived for about two years. In the newfound edge of the place were fish, and the fish are big - they have never met such anywhere else.
An invaluable contribution to the development of Russian lands
Today, few people know who Ivan Moskvitin was. What this brave explorer discovered. And what effort did it cost him?
The campaign of Ivan Moskvitin became one of the most significant events in Russian geographical history and provided an opportunity to assess the limits of the Russian land. The Sea of Okhotsk was discovered, about two thousand miles of the coast were overcome. Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin was the first to see the Ud Bay and the Shantar Islands, opening the way for a large number of Russian explorers. To develop the Far East, Moskvitin decided to send a large detachment of Cossacks (at least a thousand individuals), well-equipped and armed. The information collected by Ivan Moskvitin was used in March 1642 by Ivanov Kurbat to compile the first map of the Far East.
