Moskvitin Ivan Yurievich is a famous Russian explorer and traveler who made a significant contribution to the exploration of new lands. And today, many Russian minds want to know more about who Ivan Moskvitin was. What did you discover? What contribution did he make to the development of Russian lands?
On account of this brave man, who was not afraid to face the harsh climatic conditions of the North, bad 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, Moskvitin Ivan Yuryevich, whose exact years of life are unknown, began his service as an ordinary Cossack in Tomsk Ostrog. In 1636, as part of a detachment led by ataman Dmitry Epifanovich Kopylov, he went from Tomsk to Yakutsk in search of furs and in search of the Warm Sea, the existence of which was vaguely rumored. In 1637 the expedition reached Yakutsk, in the spring of 1638 Dmitry Epifanovich equipped Moskvitin and with him thirtyCossacks continue to search for the sea and new territories.
The expedition descended from the Lena River to the Aldan (the right tributary of the Lena River) and for five weeks in the most difficult conditions on poles and with a tow line climbed up.
Start of expedition
In May 1639, a new expedition was equipped to search for deposits (due to the lack of silver in the state) and new, yet unexplored territories. Thirty Cossacks, led by Moskvitin, were helped in such a responsible journey by the Evens, a Siberian people who knew the area they were developing well.
A member of the expedition was Kolobov Nekhoroshko Ivanovich, a Yakut Cossack who presented in 1646 a "kaska" (the most important document of that time) about his own service in the Moskvitin detachment. There is also information about the participation in the expedition of Chisty Semyon Petrovich, an interpreter (translator). The campaign lasted about six weeks, of which eight days the explorers descended to the mouth of the Maya along the Aldan. What difficulties did the brave explorers have to face? Which sea did Ivan Moskvitin go to?
About 200 kilometers along the Mae River, the expedition of Ivan Moskvitin walked on a flat-bottomed plank, passed the mouth of the Yudoma River, which was a tributary of the Mai. There travelers had to build two kayaks in order to climb in six days to the source of the river. An easy and short pass through the Dzhugdzhur ridge (discovered by them) separated the Lena River from the rivers flowing to the ocean.
Ivan Moskvitin: the path to the ocean
BIn the upper reaches of the Ulya River, leading to the open sea, the 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 area on the left side and build a new vehicle capable of accommodating twenty or thirty people. Along the way, the Cossacks fed on what came to hand: roots, wood, grass and fish caught in reservoirs.
At the end of the summer of 1639, Moskvitin Ivan Yuryevich, whose discoveries made an invaluable contribution to the history of the Russian state, went out for the first time into the Lamskoye Sea (later called the Sea of Okhotsk). The path with stops passed by the Cossacks through an unknown area took more than two months. Thus, they were the first Russians to discover the existence of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Struggle against difficulties
On the Ulya River, where Evenk relatives lived, Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin, whose biography is of genuine interest to geographers, cut down a winter hut, which became the first Russian settlement 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 he commanded a group of brave Cossacks, consisting of twenty people, on a "river boat".
Within three days, Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin, at the head of the expedition, reached the Okhota River, from there he went by sea further to the east and, having familiarizedwith more than 500 kilometers of the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, discovered the mouths of several small rivers and discovered the Tauiskaya Bay. A trip on a fragile boat proved the urgency of building a sea koch - a vessel, on the improvement of which more than one generation of sailors later had a chance to work. 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: the history of the Pacific Russian fleet originated at the mouth of the Ulya River. The explorers built 2 strong seventeen-meter kochs with masts so that you can walk on the sea.
Information about the Amur River and the population living in its mouth
In November 1639 and April 1640, the Cossacks repelled the attack of two large (600 and 900 people) groups of Evens. From the prisoner, Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin found out about the Mamur (Amur) River, which flows in the southern part. In its 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, the tributaries of the Omut and Chie and the people living there), bypassing the Shantar Islands from the south side, after which they penetrated Sakhalin Bay. In that area, the guide disappeared somewhere, and the Cossacks moved on, reached the islands (perhaps they were talking about small islands at the entrance to the Amur Estuary from the north side). To turnthe expedition was forced back by running out of food supplies and the inability to get food.
High appreciation of the merit of the pioneers by the authorities
Stormy autumn weather did not provide an opportunity to get to Ulya, and explorers in November stopped at a winter hut at the mouth of the Aldoma River, 300 kilometers south of Ulya. In the spring of 1641, having again crossed the Dzhugdzhur ridge, Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin reached Maya, and by mid-July reached Yakutsk with the desired prey: a large number of sables. Thanks to Moskvitin, the Russian treasury was enriched by 440 sable skins, which in 1642 were taken to the capital by Buza Elisey, a explorer and the first herald who informed Moscow about the Russian people entering the Sea of Okhotsk. The Yakut authorities appreciated the merits of the explorers: they rewarded each with rubles and cloth, while Moskvitin was promoted to Pentecostalism. The people of Moskvitin on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk lived for about two years. In the newly discovered region, the places turned out to be fish, and the fish are big - they have never seen such a thing 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 how much effort did it cost him?
Moskvitin Ivan's campaign 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 coast were overcome. Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin was the first to see the Uda Bay and the Shantar Islands,opening the way for a large number of Russian explorers. For the development of the Far East, Moskvitin decided to send a large detachment of Cossacks (at least a thousand people), 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.
Getting Started
Ivan Moskvitin was an amazing person. Nothing more is known about his life and death, except that he visited the capital of Russian cities and returned in the summer of 1647 with the rank of Cossack chieftain to his native Tomsk. It was thanks to him, who made a significant contribution to the history of Russia, that it became possible to represent more realistically the boundaries of its vast territories. It was the expeditions led by Ivan Moskvitin, the pioneer of the northern lands, that laid the foundation for exploring the Far East and making other geographical discoveries.
