Ivan Moskvitin: biography and achievements

Outstanding Russian explorer and traveler Ivan Moskvitin, becoming one of the key figures in the development of the Far East and Siberia, left very little information about his life. From us, not only the details depicting the features of his appearance are hidden, but also many stages of the biography. And yet, his services to Russia are so great that a simple Tomsk Cossack - Ivan Moskvitin, whose contribution to the geographical science is truly invaluable - has forever entered the history of Russia.

The era of conquest of new lands

In the thirties of the XVII century there was active development of previously unknown lands lying behind the Great Ural ridge. The starting point for the explorers of that era was Yakutsk. It was from here that they began their journey into the unknown desperate travelers. The main directions of the movement of their detachments were two - to the north and south along the Lena River. It is known that in the remote taiga region, water arteries have long been used as natural ways of communication.

Ivan Moskvitin, whose years of life fell just during this period, was one of those desperate heads that intoxicated the air of unexplored regions. There was also a like-minded person - Tomsk Ataman Dmitry Epipanovich Kopalov. Did not give them peace rumors that somewhere in the East there is a warm sea. It's hard to say why it was called "warm" - perhaps, by association with the sun, which got up from there every morning. But in order to reach this sea, it was required to move not through the river surface, but through the centuries-old, untrodden taiga.

The beginning of the expedition

And in 1637 Kopalov moved with the detachment of Cossacks to the east, and along with him went his friend - Tomsk Cossack Ivan Moskvitin. History has not preserved the date of his birth, nor information about the ways his Lord brought him to Tomsk. One can only speculate on the basis of his surname. In the old days it was customary to call people at the place of their birth, or their immediate ancestors. So it is quite possible to assume that if not Ivan himself, then his father or grandfather came from the Moscow lands.

Starting out in Tomsk, the detachment reached Yakutsk, and continued eastward. Before they delve into the taiga, they used the already known waterway. In search of the "new earth" (as they wrote in the documents of that era) and the Warm Sea, travelers descended in 1638 along the Lena River to its tributary Aldan, and on it climbed upwards for five weeks, moving their scrapers with ropes and poles. Having made this difficult journey, the Cossacks reached the mouth of another taiga river, called May - the right tributary of Aldan.

The first information about the Amur River

Here, in the taiga wilderness, they met a shaman, the real one - at that time such a meeting was in the order of things. With the help of an interpreter Semyon Petrov, specially taken into the detachment for the sake of such cases, Kopalov learned from a forest wizard that a huge river flows right behind the ridge, which the local tribes call Chirkol. But the main news was that, according to the shaman, there were a lot of "sitters" living on its shores, that is, of the settled inhabitants who were engaged in breeding cattle and farming. So for the first time the sovereigns heard about the great Siberian river Amur.

But the main purpose of the expedition - the warm sea, still called the Cossacks to the east. In May 1639, the ataman equips the forward detachment, headed by Ivan Moskvitin, in search of a path to the cherished "sea-ocean". His biography, so incomplete and buying up on the facts, nevertheless reproduces this episode in sufficient detail. It is known that under his command were three dozen of the most experienced and experienced Cossacks. In addition, guides were sent to help them, the Evenks.

Up the Maya River

As his closest assistant, Ivan Moskvitin took a resident of Yakutsk, a Cossack Kolobov. His name was firmly established in history due to the fact that in 1646 he, along with his boss, gave the emperor a written report on his participation in the journey. This document, called "skasca", has become a valuable historical evidence of events related to the discovery of the Sea of Okhotsk. The part of the detachment included the translator - the already mentioned Semyon Petrov.

Formed in this way, the group continued its journey up the Mae in a flat-bottomed parachute - a spacious and capacious boat. But the trouble is that for about two hundred kilometers most of the way had to haul its scourge, chasing through dense coastal thickets. After six weeks of hard travel, the Cossacks reached another taiga river - the narrow and shallow Nyudymi.

The path to the Dzhugdzhur ridge

Here I had to part with a large, but heavy and awkward paraphernalia, and build a few light planes. On them the travelers reached the headwaters of the river. During the journey, Ivan Moskvitin briefly described all the inflows of Lena, Mai and Nyudymy that they saw, which subsequently served to compile geographic maps of the area.

In front of them was a green, cedar-covered low pass with a ridge, later named Dzhugdzhur. This was an important stage of the journey - a mountain ridge separated rivers belonging to the Lena system from those that flowed to the "sea-ocean" they desired. Pass Ivan Moskvin with his detachment overcame for a day, throwing strings, and taking with them only the most necessary.

Down the Hive River

On the opposite slope they again met a river - unhurried and shallow, making on its way wide loops, before connecting with the Hive - one of the rivers of the Sea of Okhotsk basin. I had to take up the axes again and get on with the plows again. But now the river itself helped travelers. If up to now, while going upstream, they had to carry their boats, but now, going down, one could take advantage of a short rest.

Eight days later, a characteristic noise was heard ahead, warning of approaching the steep and dangerous rapids, which the conductors-the Evenks had told them. These stones, which filled the river bed, stretched for a long distance, and again it was necessary, having thrown recently made strings, and having loaded on the shoulders luggage, to wade through the impenetrable taiga. To top it off, the Cossacks had run out of food by this time, and it was not possible to replenish their reserves at the expense of natural resources - the river was bezrybnoy, and on its banks managed to collect only a handful of berries.

The long-awaited exit to the ocean

But the Cossacks did not lose courage, and Ivan Moskvitin was an example for them. Years of life spent in the taiga region, taught him to be strong. Passing the dangerous part of the river, they again took up the habitual business of building boats. This time they built a kayak for the advanced group, and for everyone else - a large and heavy transport boat capable of accommodating thirty people and the entire cargo of the expedition. Soon they reached the deep and rich fish of the Lama River. If before the Cossacks had to eat wood bark, grass and roots, now it's time for hearty fish meals.

Five days later, an event occurred in the history of Russian geography - Ivan Moskvitin and his detachment reached the Sea of Okhotsk. All the way from the mouth of the River Mai to the "sea-ocean" was overcome in two months. It should be taken into account that it was located on an unexplored territory, and various circumstances required frequent stops from travelers. As a result, in August 1639, Russian explorers for the first time in history reached the northwestern Pacific Ocean - the Sea of Okhotsk.

The beginning of the study of the coast

Autumn has come. From the hut set on the river Houllier, a group of Cossacks went north, to study and describe the coast of the sea. All the leadership of their actions carried out Ivan Moskvitin. The contribution to the geographical science made by this party was enormous. They overcame the distance of more than five hundred kilometers, during which the records were kept. Much of the way was done by sea on a boat.

The experience of this trip showed the need to build larger and more reliable ships, and for further travels the Cossacks built two small but sturdy kochs equipped with masts and sails. Thus, in the winter of 1639-1640 the symbolic beginning of the construction of the Pacific fleet was laid.

In the summer, the whole detachment sailed south to the sea and reached the Sakhalin Bay. The sea route of Ivan Moskvitin and his team was also described in detail, as well as their land wanderings. The mainland coast of the Sea of Okhotsk for a thousand seven hundred kilometers, for the first time in history, was passed and studied by Russian people.

On the approaches to the great Siberian river

In his voyage Ivan Moskvitin came very close to the mouth of the Amur, but he could not enter into it. There were two reasons for this: the famine, which led the brave explorers to turn back, and the stories of the conductors about the extremely aggressive disposition of the inhabitants of the coastal regions. Trying to enter into contact with them and replenish thus the food reserves was extremely risky, as a result, decided to return back. In the spring of 1641, the Cossacks again overcame the Dzhugdzhur ridge, and came to one of the tributaries of the May River. In July of the same year the entire detachment returned safely to Yakutsk.

From the taiga wilderness - to Moscow

Documents of those years inform that Ivan Moskvitin, whose discoveries were deservedly evaluated by the Yakut authorities, was promoted to Pentecostals, and his Cossacks received prizes ranging from two to five rubles for all four years of work and deprivation. The most distinguished ones were, moreover, given out on a piece of cloth. In 1646 Moskvitin was seconded to Moscow for a report to the sovereign himself. So for the first time in the capital it became known about the march to the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk. The brave traveler returned home already in the rank of ataman.

To further conquer the open lands, he recommended sending there a large armed detachment of at least a thousand people with ten cannons and sufficient food. According to his testimony, those regions were unusually rich in fish and fur-bearing animals, which could bring significant revenue to the treasury.

Here, I will also send all the information Ivan Moskvitin left about himself. The years of life and death of this man remained unknown, but his name and the contribution he made to the development of the Far East entered history forever. His business was continued by other travelers, among whom VD Poyarkov became one of the most famous. Without a doubt, the motto of Ivan Moskvitin and his followers could be expressed in the words of Christ: "Seek and ye shall find." And they went in search of the unknown and in the taiga distances, and in the vast sea spaces.