The explorers are explorers of Siberia and the Far East of the 17th century. Thanks to their activities, many major geographical discoveries were made. They belonged to different classes. Among them were Cossacks, merchants, hunters engaged in fur trade, and sailors.
Meaning of the word
According to encyclopedic dictionaries, explorers are participants in campaigns in the Far East and Siberia in the 16th-17th centuries. In addition, this is the name of those who explore the poorly studied areas of these regions.
The beginning of the development of Siberia and the Far East
Pomors living on the White Sea coast have long traveled in small vessels to the islands of the Arctic Ocean. For a long time they were the only travelers in the north of Russia. In the XVI century, the systematic development of the vast lands of Siberia began with the defeat of the Tatar troops of Khan Kuchum, Yermak Timofeevich.
After the first Siberian cities — Tobolsk and Tyumen — were laid, the process of developing new spaces began with accelerated force. The rich Siberian land and the open spaces of the Far East attracted not only service people, but also merchants. Russian explorers actively explored new territories and moved deeper into unexplored lands.
Initially, the development of Siberia and the Far East was reduced to the construction of jails, and only at the beginning of the XVII century the Russian government began to relocate peasants to these regions, since garrisons standing along large Siberian and Far Eastern rivers were in dire need of food.
Famous discoveries
Russian explorers discovered the basins of such rivers as the Lena, Amur and Yenisei, reached the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. They traveled all over Siberia and the Far East and discovered the Taimyr, Yamal, Chukotka and Kamchatka peninsulas . Russian explorers of the 17th century Dezhnev and Popov were the first to go along the Bering Strait, Moskvitin discovered the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, Poyarkov and Khabarov explored the Amur Territory.
Way to travel
Explorers are not only explorers traveling by land. Among them were sailors who studied river basins and the sea coast. Small ships were used to navigate rivers and seas. These were kochi, rooks, plows and planks. The latter were used for rafting on rivers. Storms often led to the death of ships, as happened with the Dezhnev expedition to the Arctic Ocean.
S. I. Dezhnev
The famous Russian explorer, 80 years before Bering, passed completely along the strait separating North America and Asia.
At first he was a serving Cossack in Tobolsk and Yeniseisk. He was engaged in collecting yasak (tribute) from local tribes and at the same time sought to scout and explore new territories. To this end, with a large detachment of Cossacks on several Kochs (small ships), he went from the mouth of the Kolyma River to the east along the Arctic Ocean. Severe trials awaited the expedition. The ships got into a storm, and part of the ships sank. Dezhnev continued his campaign and swam to the ledge of Asia, the cape, which later received his name. Further, the expedition traveled along the Bering Strait. The ship Dezhnev could not land due to attacks by the local population. He was thrown onto a deserted island on which Russian explorers of Siberia were forced to spend the night in holes dug in the snow. Having reached the Anadyr River with difficulty , they hoped to go out on it to people. At the end of the expedition, 12 people remained from the large detachment. They went all over Siberia to the Pacific coast, and this feat of Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev and his associates was highly appreciated in the world.
I. Yu. Moskvitin
He discovered the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin Gulf. At the beginning of the service, he was listed as an ordinary foot Cossack. After a successful expedition to the Sea of Okhotsk, he received the rank of chieftain. About the last years of the life of the famous Russian explorer nothing is known.
E.P. Khabarov
He continued the work of Poyarkov on the study of the Amur Territory. Khabarov was an entrepreneur, was engaged in the purchase of furs, built a saltworks and a mill. Together with a detachment of Cossacks, the entire Amur passed on ships and compiled the first map of the Amur Region. Along the way, he conquered numerous local tribes. The Manchu army assembled against Russian travelers was forced to turn back Khabarov.
I.I. Kamchatky
He has the honor of discovering Kamchatka. The peninsula now bears the name of the discoverer. Kamchatka was enrolled in the Cossacks and sent to serve on the Kolyma River. He was engaged in fur trade and walrus bone search. He was the first to discover the Kamchatka River, having learned about it from local residents. Later, as part of a small detachment led by Chukichev, Kamchatka set off in search of this river. Two years later, news came of the death of the expedition on the Kamchatka River.
Conclusion
The explorers are the great Russian discoverers of Siberian lands and the Far East, selflessly setting off on long hikes with the goal of conquering new territories. Their names are forever preserved in the people's memory and the names of the capes and peninsulas they discovered.