Yerofey Khabarov

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Yerofey Khabarov
Ерофей Хабаров
The monument to Yerofey Khabarov in Khabarovsk
Bornc. 1603
Kotlassky District in Arkhangelsk Oblast
Died1671
Bratsk or Kirensk in Irkutsk Oblast
Nationality Tsardom of Russia

Yerofey Pavlovich Khabarov-Svyatitsky

Russian–Manchu border conflicts
.

The major Russian city of

Trans-Siberian railroad in Amur Oblast) bear his name. The 1963-built icebreaker Ledokol-5 was renamed Yerofey Khabarov
in 1966.

A native of the

Kirenga Rivers. Now his descendants live in Stavropol.[citation needed
]

First Expedition 1649–50

In 1649, he became the second Russian to explore the Amur after

Shilka River. Reaching the upper Amur (Dauria
) in early 1650, he found the country nearly deserted, the cossacks' reputation having preceded them. Having pioneered a good route, he returned to Yakutsk in May, 1650 and gave his report. He praised the land, warned of the danger of Chinese intervention and suggested a larger expedition with professional soldiers.

Second Expedition 1650–53

Given the time delays in communicating with Moscow, the Yakutsk Voivode Dmitry Frantsbekov decided to act independently and sent Khabarov back south with a larger force. The voivode also gave Khabarov letters from His Majesty Tsar Alexis to the Daurian Prince Lavkai of Albazin and "Prince Bogdoi" (Russian: Князь Богдой) asking those potentates to submit to the Russian Tsar, and threatening to send a 6,000-strong army if they don't obey. [3] [4] [5] Frantsbekov assumed that this Prince Bogdoi was another Siberian chieftain. He was, in fact, the Emperor of China.

Khabarov crossed the mountains in the fall of 1650 and this time was met with armed resistance. He built winter quarters at

Ninguta and attacked Achansk. Khabarov somehow managed to defeat them. (The Manchu general, Haise, was later executed for his incompetence) Not knowing how many more Chinese were in the area, on 22 April he withdrew up the Amur. At one point, he encountered another force of 6,000 Chinese but was able to slip around them under cover of fog and darkness.[6] Further upstream he met a force of 117 cossacks who had been sent as reinforcements. He learned from a captive that a new Manchu army was being gathered on the Sungari. On August 1 he reached the mouth of the Zeya. Here 136 of his men mutinied leaving only 212 loyal. (Since Khabarov mentions the mutiny immediately after mentioning where to build winter quarters, it may have been connected with whether it was wise to remain on the Zeya and await a possible Manchu attack.) From the Zeya, he sent a report [7][7] to the Yakutsk Voivode matter-of-factly describing the burning of villages,[7]
to the Yakutsk Voivode matter-of-factly describing the burning of villages, slaughter of natives and the torture of prisoners.

From this point the English sources become unclear. They apparently wintered at the Zeya. In the fall of 1653, 150 reinforcements under Dimitry Zinoviev appeared. As a nobleman, Zinoviev demanded full command. When Khabarov refused, he was arrested. Unable to gain the support of Khabarov's men and having no adequate way to deal with the Manchus, Zinoviev and part of the force withdrew from the Amur. Onufriy Stepanov was left in charge of those who remained.

Khabarov was deprived of his rank and property and was sent on a fifteen-month journey to Moscow to be tried. After a year's delay he was acquitted. He was given a minor noble rank (Syn boyarsky of Ilimsk) on the condition that he return to Siberia. He reappears again in the records in 1658 when the Siberian Office ordered that he be placed in irons if he refused to guide a new expedition to the Amur. After that he disappears from the records.

Khabarov charted the Amur river in his "Draft of the Amur river" (Russian: Чертёж реки Амур).

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The first name is often spelled Ярофей (Yarofey) in contemporary accounts

References

  1. ISBN 0-671-66755-6
    .
  2. ^ Basil Dymytryshyn, 'Russia's Conquest of Siberia', 1985, volume one, document 75
  3. ^ Грамата, данная из Якутска, для вручения ея, через Хабарова, Князю Богдою, после перваго возвращения Хабарова с Амура, в 1650 г. (A letter issued in Yakutsk to be handed by Khabarov to Prince Bogdoi, after Khabarov's first return from the Amur, in 1650) (in Russian)
  4. ^ "ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ АКТЫ О ПОДВИГАХ ЕРОФЕЯ ХАБАРОВА, НА АМУРЕ, В 1649–1651 ГГ. (Historical acts concerning Yerofei Khabarov's Amur exploits in 1649-1651)". Syn Otechestva (1C). 1840.
  5. ^ Dymytryshyn, document 77
  6. ^ Lincoln, page 70,
  7. ^ Dymytryshyn, document 81,

Sources

  • W Bruce Lincoln, The Conquest of a Continent, 1994
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